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booksabaking) wrote2021-04-06 08:29 pm
A WEREWOLF IN OCTOBER - CHAPTER 4 (Line Editing left)
Jayla stared at the empty chair. Arturo had been sitting in it. She was sure of that. Pretty sure. Now it was lying on the floor and Arturo wasn't in the room. Starting to suspect vampires can teleport.
"I'm so sorry." Dorothy leaned down and righted the chair, giving Jesse a smile that screamed sitcom homemaker covering for her unruly children. "Arturo gets a little jumpy when he's sleep-deprived. You should have said you were a shapeshifter! That would have required a lot less tiptoeing around last night for many of us."
Many? Wasn't Melissa the only one to turn? Had they had guests over? Maybe she was begin cautious around Jesse? Were shapeshifters, like, the enemy or something?
That's when the word 'shapeshifter' caught up with her.
"You were taller than me when I first met you!" Jayla whirled around in her seat and stared at Jesse, unsure if she wanted to yell at him or applaud him for that level of sneakiness.
"I was wondering when you'd catch on."
Jesse looked completely at ease, smiling and leaning back in his chair. Did that mean everything was fine? Arturo had vanished into another dimension for all she knew, but Dorothy looked more embarrassed than worried and Vivian hadn't stopped eating her breakfast.
"In your defense, we were both pretty drunk and I only shrunk half an inch at the time. Didn't want to be too obvious as I'm sure you understand. There's stretching the limits of magical protections and then there's being foolish."
"Uhm," was all Jayla got out before Jesse turned back to Dorothy.
"I'm the one who should be apologizing," he said, pleased rather than repentant. "I'm fairly new in town and was being overly careful."
"Can't blame you for that," Vivian said around a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "Don't worry about us though. We've got no evil plans or secret sex dungeons. We're also not planning on eating you. Don't believe everything you see on TV."
Jesse's eyes widened a fraction, but that was all the change in expression Jayla caught.
Dorothy, taking a seat in the chair Arturo had abandoned, cut in with, "As Vivian said, we understand your caution. Our kind has a reputation for a reason."
Jayla found herself on the receiving end of a meaningful look and let out a laugh that came off as nervous despite her best efforts.
"Don't worry about me! I'm alive, aren't I? On top of that, I have superpowers now. You're even paying my hospital bills. No complaints from me. Nope!"
Her cheeks were beginning to cramp from smiling too long and too wide. She hated how unconvincing all that had sounded, how she felt like a broken record stuck replaying the same three notes. It was exactly how movie hostages talked when told to reassure the police that everything was fine. Great, just great. Really convincing.
Her short speech got her mixed reactions. Dorothy looked caught between guilt and concern, Vivian seemed confused, and Jesse stared at her with either amusement, puzzlement or both.
"I mean that." Jayla sunk in on herself. Digging myself deeper here! Why couldn't I have been bitten by a telepath?! "Nothing I'm saying is coming out right. Is this bad? Are shapeshifter and werewolves at war or something? What am I missing?"
Vivian was the first to break. She doubled over and spit half-chewed egg all over the table, dissolving in a heap of laughter. Dorothy shook her head and chuckled. At least Jesse wasn't laughing. Or was he? The man was damn hard to read, with a permanent smirk that could mean anything from 'we're all friends here' to 'I've stolen all your silverware and you won't notice until I've left town'.
"Man, we really should have a 'how things work' tutorial with you, shouldn't we?" Vivian brushed tears out of her eyes and straightened up. "You, new guy."
Jesse's mask of calm amusement turned toward Vivian.
"I'm guessing you've run into shitty, messed up werewolves. We're nothing like that. You're welcome to hang out here any time you like, but don't feel you've got to swear fealty or whatever messed up shit the big city packs do. Just don't mention that alpha, beta, omega stuff in here and you'll be fine."
A light frown marred Jesse's forehead but he kept right on smiling. "What happens if I do mention such 'stuff'?"
"You'll get a four hour lecture from our resident science nerd on how the whole alpha myth is based on a poorly planned wolf study that the researcher himself has tried to erase from the cultural consciousness." Vivian winked and gulped down the last of her eggs. "Give it a try if you want. Can't guarantee your safety."
Jayla took a big gulp of orange juice in an attempt to hide how she was following the conversation like a spectator at the Wimbledon. Well, rather like someone trying to remember every lore drop from two NPCs, seeing as she had only the vaguest idea of how you scored in tennis.
A breath of air left Jesse, too light to be a sigh, too loud to be an exhale. He poured out of his chair and gave an oddly formal bow.
"As lovely as it has been to make all of your acquaintance, I should be preparing for work. It's my first week on the job and I'm trying to be on my best behavior. Need to touch up my eyeliner before customers start pouring in."
"Right, work! Working is good. You go do that." Jayla said, worry rearing its head like a stepped-on snake. She really should get back to job hunting.
"See you around, new friend!" Jesse gave her a wave, then saluted Vivian and Dorothy. "New acquaintances. I'll see myself out."
Jayla sat chewing bacon until the front door closed.
"That's something you don't see everyday." Vivian pushed her plate aside and leaned her elbows on the table, chin resting in her hands.
"Shapeshifters?"
"Yup." Vivian managed an awkward nod, chin still in hands. "They're pretty rare. Lisa will have a long questionnaire for him to fill out."
"Okay."
Jayla's attention began to slip elsewhere. She had too many questions to think about and they all tugged at her focus, splitting it into tinier fragments. She almost missed Vivian asking:
"How did you meet up with peacock-hair?"
"Jesse?" Jayla waded her way through all questions she'd be saving for said shapeshifter, dodged around musings on how antiques combined with science, and fumbled together an answer. "I was looking for someone to talk to at the club and he misunderstood and thought I wanted to threaten him off our territory. Cleared that up, got drunk together, and ended up here watching cartoons."
Before anyone else could speak, she went on with, "Are werewolf territories a thing? Do vampires teleport? How do you tell if someone's a magical person without doing the eye-flash thing? Jesse seemed to know I was a werewolf right away."
To her surprise, Dorothy let out something close to a whimper. When Jayla looked over at her, she was met by a look of pity.
"We really haven't done right by you, my dear."
This again. Jayla managed to not roll her eyes, but it was a close thing. "Excuse me, what?"
"You've been thrust into this parallel reality of magic and secrecy." That should have come out ridiculous and melodramatic. Dorothy made it sound sincere. "You're adrift in a new world, and we haven't given you any maps, only a boat without paddle, steering toward the unknown."
"When you put it like that, it just sounds cool. Do you write poetry?"
Vivian, finished arranging the breakfast dishes into a neat pile, chimed in. "What she's trying to say is this: Lisa might have given you the science and transformation rundown, but we've all kinda skimmed over the social things since we've been busy looking out for Melissa."
Now we're getting somewhere! Jayla leaned over the table, cheering Vivian on.
"Is there like a whole secret society? How many werewolves are there out there? Are there werewolf elections? Do we have a royal family? Or is it like a council of elders?"
Dorothy rose with a thud, her chair a hair's breadth from tipping back over. "I'll get started on the washing up."
Vivian steadfastly ignored Dorothy's hasty retreat, while Jayla couldn't help staring. Man, there are so many issues in this house I'm basically walking a conversational minefield. Like visiting Carla's family on Thanksgiving. Though with more superpowers, which is a plus.
Leaning forward to meet Jayla halfway across the table, Vivian cast a meaningful look toward the kitchen.
"Dorothy's story isn't mine to blabber, but she's 95 years old and has seen some fucked up shit. I, on the other hand, have had it pretty easy and we're hoping you will too. I'll do my best to answer all your questions and I'll get things double-checked with the others if there's anything I don't know. Just, give Dorothy and Arturo space, all right?"
Arturo? Why would she ask him werewolf questions? Or…Yeah, probably other questions. Better take one step at the time.
"Got it! Now, spill the secret society info!"
Dragging her fingers through her messy ponytail, Vivian let her face relax into a grin that Jayla suspected mirrored her own.
"Man, I wish it was that simple! There's sadly no real organized 'society'. We're all struggling to make sense of things on our own. We've got a lot of douchebags. Totally get why your new friend is jumpy and wears a ton of witch talismans. Pretty impressive collection! Must have been stockpiling them for years."
Jayla nodded. "He said something like that."
"Poor guy."
Vivian crossed her arms and leaned forward until she was lying on the table top, grin briefly switching to an expression Jayla had a hard time pinpointing. Worry? Guilt?
"But this isn't about him, it's about you. What you need to know is that the mainstream werewolf either is a loner who hates themself, a hit-and-run who doesn't know what's going on, or a creep who wants to boss people around. Most of them don't know about the 'eating before the moonrise' trick. Of the ones who do, far too many want to keep it on the down-low so they can control their packs."
That turned Jayla stomach far more than the previous night's drinking had managed. "Pretty lucky I got bitten by Melissa, huh?"
"For a given value of luck." Vivian's gaze drifted upward, as if she could see through the ceiling into Melissa's room.
"But yeah, a lot of other people would have either eaten you, or bitten and left." She raised one of her hands. "That's what happened to me. Was one hell of a bar fight. The third option is that they try to recruit you to their death cult. Vampires are about as nice. Which is why we non-culty people like to stick together."
"Understandable." Immortal manipulative murderers with superpowers. She was not sleeping tonight.
"Vampires and werewolves tend to hate each other. Don't ask anyone why, especially not Lisa. That grudge goes back at least two hundred years and her research network hasn't tracked down any trustworthy clues as to why yet. Just keep in mind that talking to vampires, other than Arturo, generally is a bad idea if you're on your own."
Great, more rules to remember. Not that they were complicated, but all rules that involved possible death were kinda vital to remember word-for-word.
"Noted. What about witches and shapeshifters? Anything else I should be looking out for?"
Vivian shrugged. "Nah, they're generally okay. Merrihollow is a bit out of the way, so we and Ava's lot are usually the only supernatural types in town. Others pass through, but don't tend to stick around. This isn't our 'territory' though, that'd be creepy. The house is ours. The town is a town."
She grumbled something under her breath that could have been a curse, but Jayla's hearing played tricks on her and she didn't catch the exact words.
"Werewolves and vampires are the most common supernaturals you'll run into since we can 'reproduce', in the least sexy way possible. Then there are quite a few witches around and a number of vampire thralls. Shapeshifters are pretty rare. I'm not a hundred percent sure what else is out there. Finding that out is 50% of what Lisa does when she's not being our resident shopkeeper."
Jayla sunk down to join Vivian in sprawling on the table.
"Let's see if I've gotten this straight. One, no telling people I'm a werewolf. You didn't say that out loud, but it's been pretty heavily implied. Two, watch out for other werewolves and pretty much all vampires, minus Arturo. Three, witches and shapeshifters are overall like meeting any other stranger, except magic is a factor. That about right?"
"That pretty much covers it, for now." Vivian frowned, worried at her lips with her teeth, and sat up a little. "Damn, almost forgot the most important part." That didn't sound good. "You know how in monster movies, an angry mob and/or an expert monster hunter tends to show up?"
Jayla groaned and buried her head in her arms. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"Probably not."
Vivian placed a hand over one of Jayla's, becoming a tiny source of warmth and comfort.
"There are hunters. Don't freak out, because they're far from common. I think only Dorothy's ever seen one, and not face-to-face. Like your new shapeshifter friend hinted at, you have to do pretty obviously supernatural stuff to be noticed by non-supes. Don't know why, it's a kind of natural protection we've all got. Lisa's looking into it."
Vivian drew in a deep breath, her voiced steadying. Jayla wished her own nerves could mimic that.
"Hunters are mostly humans and generally go after people who kill. Don't kill anyone, and you won't draw their attention. Also, don't kill people, period. In the very unlikely event that you do blip on their radar, we've got your back, but as long as you avoid the whole murder thing you should be safe. Just be aware that hunters exist and are one of many reasons why ripping your clothes off and transforming in the middle of a mall is a bad idea. Got it?"
"You said they're mostly human."
"Yeah." Vivian squeezed her hand, which shouldn't have felt so ominous. "They've got witches working with them. Gives them a chance to find us out through our eye-trick."
"I don't even know how to do the eye-flash thing on my own," Jayla mumbled into her arms. It seemed better to say that than screaming "What?!" right in Vivian's face.
"I'll teach you later. It's pretty much impossible not to respond to a flash, which I guess is the whole point of it, but starting one on your own takes practice. It's like learning to wiggle your ears. Luckily for you, I'm a great teacher."
Jayla's chest tightened. Breathing was getting harder and not in the good heart-fluttering way it usually did when pretty women held her hand.
"On a scale from one to ten, how likely is it that I'll be shot dead in the streets by an old dude who's seen Van Helsing too many times?"
"Less likely than you getting hit by a car." No hesitation in that reply. That was some comfort.
The hand moved from hers to her shoulder. With a nudge from Vivian, Jayla sat up a bit and met her eyes.
"You're welcome to stay here as long as you want. I mean that, and I speak for the whole house. Even Arturo. He adores your cat."
That hadn't exactly been a secret and Jayla couldn't begrudge him the instant love. Ginger was amazing.
"You don't have to be pack, but you don't have to decide yes or no to that right away either, got it? We barely know each other. Besides, we're still trying to figure out what being a pack even means, since the pseudo-traditional meaning is all kinds of messed up. Sleep on it?"
"I'll do that."
She needed fresh air. That and a hike in the park, to help her smother the urge to cling to Vivian and never let go. A normal person would be running for the door now or having a sensible panic attack. First rule of being desperate for affection was never show you're desperate for affection. She'd learned that the hard way, over and over, and she begged for the lesson to finally stick. The last thing she needed right now was to alienate her fellow werewolves.
"I'll be right back. Just need to take a long walk."
Vivian patted her on the shoulder and smiled. The smile had an edge to it, but Jayla had a feeling it wasn't directed at her.
"You do that. I'll be here until two if you want to talk more and then Lisa can take over. She's pretty good at talking and listening, when you remind her of it. Okay?"
"Okay!"
Jayla all but bolted for the door. For once, job hunting sounded like a relaxing way to spend a day.
"Hey, Art, you okay in there?"
Arturo automatically minimized the window of his research and whirled his chair around to face the door. The earlier nausea grew worse knowing what would happen next. He braced himself.
"Can we come in?" Dorothy's voice joined Vivian's on the other side of his bedroom door. "I made cookies."
Arturo winced. He was a selfish asshole. He'd bolted and left Vivian and Dorothy with the strangers, no backup, no distractions. Whatever had happened, it had resulted in Dorothy baking. Things must have gone all kinds of wrong.
He put his screen in sleep mode, more out of embarrassment than to keep secrets. They'd likely guess what he'd been doing.
The door he opened like he'd rip off a band-aid. Dorothy's smiling face greeted him. She was indeed holding a plate of cookies. Chocolate chip cookies. Arturo's stomach plummeted to his feet.
Vivian shouldered her way in without invitation and occupied his bed.
"Don't give us that face," she said, all but glaring at him. "No one is dead, no one is cursed and no one is angry with you. You have the right to leave if you feel uncomfortable."
Lisa had once described Vivian as 'caring but blunt'. That's how Arturo always described her.
Sinking back into his computer chair, he warily eyed Dorothy putting the plate of cookies on his bedside table. For the first time in weeks, he actually felt like having some, but he restrained himself. The impending conversation would be made worse if he had to chew in-between answers.
"I'm sorry," he said as Dorothy joined Vivian on the bed. Being cornered like this would have sent his heart racing if they hadn't been family.
"I told you, you've got nothing to apologize to us for." Vivian leaned around Dorothy and grabbed a cookie. She'd never had any qualms about speaking with her mouth full. "That guy clearly freaked you out."
Arturo knew crossing his arms over his chest made him look defensive, but he couldn't help himself.
"The new girl dragged home a person she supposedly randomly met at a club. A person who shows up covered in powerful talismans and happens to be a shapeshifter. I doubt I was the only one 'freaking out'."
"So you went down here and used your super leet hacking skills-"
Arturo groaned. "Please don't ever use those words again."
"-to figure out as much as you can about the two of them."
No point in lying. "Yes."
"What did you find out?"
Arturo's cheeks burned, the fresh blood in his veins working against him, though thankfully not able to bloom into an actual full blush. "I couldn't research the shapeshifter since I've practically nothing to go on, but I did have time to dig up everything available on the new girl."
"And?" Vivian's tone singsonged that she knew what he'd found, which almost was worse than Dorothy's continued silence and air of 'I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed'.
"Nothing."
He switched on the computer monitor and pulled up the window he'd so fruitlessly hidden. Circling through the tabs fast, he narrated:
"Jayla Govender, family migrated over from South Africa when she was three, has been living here ever since. No arrests, no records out of order, the social media accounts you'd expect for anyone her age. That's all I've got."
He shut off the monitor and turned his chair back around, hunching in his seat.
"I know I messed up. I know I'm not supposed to do this. But this was too much of a coincidence." It was a poor excuse and he knew it.
Vivian had started in on her second cookie and had sprawled herself over Dorothy's lap to get at it. "You think so?"
"Back when I was on my own," Dorothy broke in, making both Arturo and Vivian snap their mouths shut, "the first thing I did when coming to a new town was try and sniff out anyone like me. We also have Lisa's theory of magical attraction to consider. I don't think this is a sinister thing. We're just…"
"Spoiled with being the only game in town?" Vivian said, rolling over to look up at Dorothy, who nodded. "Ava did say there were other supernaturals showing up around town. Merrihollow isn't exactly a village, but it's small enough that we're bound to run into them eventually. Especially if we go out alone. I guess we're less scary to approach when we're not moving in groups."
Arturo shifted in his seat. He had many regrets about digging up information on Jayla; regrets that had spiraled out of control for each normal thing he'd found, that had spurred him on to continue, to find something to justify the terrible invasion of privacy he'd committed. The shapeshifter was another beast entirely (pun not intended).
"If that guy is so rightfully afraid of werewolves, why did he follow one home?"
"Guess we'll have to get to know him to find out."
Vivian would never have called that an order, but Arturo chose to take it as one. "I won't do anymore searching, even if I learn his name. I promise."
"You know we'll have to tell Jayla what you did."
Dorothy nodded along with Vivian's words and Arturo silently scolded himself for feeling hurt. He'd done this. Actions and consequences.
"Yes. I'll tell her myself."
"She might not let you pet her cat ever again."
"I am well aware." That prospect really shouldn't have been such a blow. He'd been around Ginger for roughly two days. That should not be long enough to bond deeply with any creature, much less one that couldn't speak. Better not tell anyone.
"Right." Vivian rolled off Dorothy's lap and snagged one final cookie. "I think we'd better go inform Lisa what's happened. See how long she shouts at us for letting a shapeshifter walk out the door without grabbing his phone number. Could even distract her from that 'wand' thing."
She stretched, fighting a few nights' worth of tension. Arturo had never transformed into anything, but he suspected it left your muscles a little wonky afterward.
"It might also be a while before you get to talk with Jayla, Art. I had to let her know about hunters being a thing and she's gone off on a long walk."
Of course. Because everything about being a werewolf was new to Jayla and she was an ordinary young woman who'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time. God did he feel like a complete douchebag for digging through her past.
Arturo kept his eyes downcast as Dorothy and Vivian got up to leave. He'd as of yet not managed to make any floor swallow him on command, but this could be his lucky day.
Vivian paused at the door. "You feeling okay today? Not about this. I mean in general."
"I'm fine." At her skeptical look, he corrected it to, "As fine as I'll ever be."
"You mean, as fine as you'll ever let yourself be."
Like a werewolf with a bone. "Could we please not talk about that now? I feel shitty enough as is."
"Fine. But we will talk about it. The bags under your eyes are asking me to bring them for my next shopping trip."
She didn't slam the door shut and he hadn't expected her to, but that would almost have been better.
Left alone once more, Arturo turned back to his computer. Needing to apologize was one thing. Not knowing if you'd ever get the chance - that made him want to go to bed and not get out of it for a week. After he'd deleted all data about Jayla, he'd see about getting actual work done. Maybe that would dampen the guilt a little.
Maybe.
Jayla got back to the mansion late and left even later. She vaguely remembered stringing together an excuse about needing to water the plants she didn't have. Carrying her stuff back to her crappy apartment had been surprisingly easy, which must have been that werewolf strength kicking in. Two boxes and a cat carrier might not look like much, but when you packed mostly books it should be a pain to carry across town.
"Can't be clingy if I'm at my own place!" she told Ginger as she let him out. He didn't look too happy about getting his territory shrunk back down so she stayed up and spent the better part of the night and morning spoiling him with treats and play time.
Step two of not being clingy had been to not text first, or call, or visit. Job hunting kept her distracted from breaking that self-imposed restriction, as did her balancing act of keeping in touch with her parents and posting online enough that no one thought she'd died, without calling too much attention to herself. Her mom wouldn't put up with text only communication for much longer, but luckily her brother posted in the family group chat about proposing to his girlfriend, so she had a grace period of at least another week to rely on. She even managed to ignore how few people commented on her posts. How she hadn't gotten a single non-family text, even from Carla. She soldiered on.
Before she knew it, Saturday had come around.
[Text me back when you want to talk D&D or clubbing.] That's what Vivian's text read. Same as when Jayla had first read it. Three days ago.
"I am the worst!" she moaned into her pillow, resisting the urge to headbutt the wall. "I start making friends with superpowers and cool interests, and what do I do? I ghost them. On accident!"
Ginger's purring drowned out her angry sobbing. She let him rub his face all over hers until she calmed down.
"You know I suck at keeping in contact with people. Seems being a werewolf doesn't help with that."
Ginger went on purring and getting his fur wet with her tears. The only way to stop him was to sit up and cuddle him, which wasn't a huge hardship.
"Now we're stuck inside on a Saturday because I still don't have a job and I can't decide if three days of silence is too long to salvage a barely-there friendship. I can never fucking tell."
She made sure to not hug Ginger too close. No matter what Vivian had said, the mess she'd made of the buckle on her favorite belt the other day had her walking on eggshells.
"But you're right," she said once she'd gotten the crying under control. At least pretending to have a conversation helped her sooth herself. "I should focus on getting a job first. Three days isn't that long. I'll just say I was crazy busy with the new job I'm definitely getting soon when I text Vivian back. After that, I can call mom."
Lying to yourself shouldn't be that easy.
"You know what?"
Ginger meowed in reply.
"I think we've earned ourselves a real distraction. I'll be right back."
Ignoring Vivian's text once more, Jayla went hunting through her notes for the hairdresser Jesse had recommended. If there was a time for a cool haircut, it was now. If they worked weekends.
Arturo didn't like the way Sledge had deviated from her usual seat at the dinner table. She hadn't even accepted tea from Dorothy and had barely glanced at Lisa, who played along in ignoring the elephant in the room.
"What's wrong?" Vivian had taken up position in a doorway, poised to dash for the front door at any second.
Had the mood been lighter, Sledge would have made a quip about visiting purely for their company. She didn't.
"We've got more than loners in town. Last night, I registered a whole coven of vampires crossing my sensors around Merrihollow." Sledge steepled her hands and continued, "I'm working on getting eyes on them again but they're sneakier than I'd expected. If we're lucky, they'll pass on through and I can hand the tracking of them over to people with better resources."
A whole coven of vampires. A coven.
"I'll get in touch with Seong-Jin. He should have people close by who can help."
Arturo envied Lisa her serenity. She had to be panicking, same as the rest of them, but she held her voice in check. He doubted his would hold if he could unclench his jaw long enough to speak.
Sledge leaned back in her chair. "Noted. How's the new one doing?"
The heavy atmosphere turned to pure lead.
"Jayla chose to go back to her apartment after the full moon," came Dorothy's diplomatic answer. "Vivian has reached out to her and we're giving her space to answer in her own time or choose not to remain in contact with us. We assumed you'd keep an eye on her now that she's part of your jurisdiction."
"I have been. As close as I can justify while respecting her privacy."
Arturo didn't follow the rest of the conversation. He remained at the table and listened, but the words became a blur, his attention overloaded by what he'd already been told. Sledge couldn't know what he'd done - Vivian and Dorothy wouldn't have told her even if they'd had opportunity - but her words hit home despite not being aimed. He needed to tell Jayla what he'd done to her. She deserved to know. But how to do that without violating her integrity further?
Apologizing in writing wouldn't do. He wasn't even supposed to know her e-mail address and calling her wouldn't do, even if Vivian would give him her number. It had to be face to face. She deserved a chance to yell at him and punch him. She also deserved to be left alone if that's what she wanted.
The guilt of that would have been significantly distracting on its own. Combined with Sledge's news, it left him swinging between beating himself up and pure dread.
One or two other vampires in town were bad, yet manageable. Whatever Sledge's attitude toward the pack right now, she and hers wouldn't let the loners in town hurt anyone. Multiple vampires working together? No one could expect her and her allies to deal with that as thinly as they were stretched. The normal people of Merrihollow would be in danger as long as the coven remained in town.
Arturo's chest kept tightening. The edges of his vision took on a black tint.
"Stay on your toes," Sledge said before she left. "I suspect you'll be a point of interest for our new neighbors."
Arturo couldn't contradict her there. He needed to go through all their security, from scratch.
It shouldn't be a relief to know he'd have no free time for days to get that done. He was such a coward.
"Listen up, kids! Gather round!"
Isha resisted the urge to elbow herself closer to the center of the gathering. The whole hunting party had shown up for this, close to thirty experienced hunters armed to the teeth. It was a heady sensation, being among such skilled people. Skilled and usually prideful. But no one had flinched at the nickname, even though Isha and Rahul were the only ones present who could pass for 'kids'. Hunters rarely took umbrage at Woxell talking down to them. He tended to have the higher ground.
"We've been in this town for a week now," Woxell began and a murmur of confirmation rushed through camp.
Isha had been counting the days since they'd gotten to Merrihollow, and she doubted she was alone in that. Generally, hunters had the wise habit of not remaining in the same place for too long. A week was basically a year in hunter time.
"I know you're all getting a little impatient. I know we haven't gotten any solid leads. But before you start your yammering and complaining, I've got good news to share."
A muted cheer spread through the crowd. Isha exchanged a look with Rahul, who raised his eyebrows and shrugged. Outside the circle, shadows played on Emma's barrier, shifting eerily against the dark forest beyond.
"The group of unnaturals we've been herding have done their work in stirring up the local dreck. We'll soon be in a position to root them out, along with anything else lurking here, feeding on students and the elderly."
The crowd booed and hissed at the mention of the enemy. Isha joined in and took a step closer to the people in front of her. The bonfire lit in the center of camp painted all the hunters in silhouette, making it easy to blend in and be part of a whole.
"But we're not only here to deal with pests, as I'm sure you've all figured out by now."
Isha's heart skipped a beat. This was it. Woxell, Emma and Jamerson had been up late whispering among themselves for days, rarely including any of the other hunters. This had to be the big reveal. Whatever was at stake had to be of enormous import.
"We are looking for a talisman." Emma joined Woxell on the crate he'd been looming from. She held up a large piece of paper. In the dim light Isha could make out blurred scribbles.
"I came across vital documentation during my last hunt." Despite the paper hiding her face, Emma's voice rang out loud and clear across the crowd. "Once we became aware of how powerful it could be, Woxell, Jamerson and I made finding this talisman our top priority. The trail has been hard to follow both because we've had purely verbal information to go on and because it's being shielded. However, we know for a fact that it's here in Merrihollow, likely in the hands of unnaturals or witches allied with the beasts."
"So that's why you've dragged us to the ass end of nowhere," Dave shouted from within the crowd. Isha had gone through a mere handful of conversations with the man, but had gotten the impression he was far too full of himself, even for a hunter. She made a face as his insubordinate comment got a laugh or two from the crowd.
"Pretty much."
Woxell gave a shrug that mixed agreement and indifference in a fine balance. Isha knew when Woxell was dismissing someone as insignificant; she'd been the target of that gesture far too often. Playful jeering cropped up around Dave before Emma hushed them all.
"This talisman ain't no toy," she said, her words cutting, knife-sharp. "It's a merging tool."
Isha bit the inside of her cheek too keep from gasping. The crowd around her grew eerily still.
A merging tool!
Isha tried to catch Rahul's eye across the crowd, but he had his attention fixed on Emma and her paper. With the low light Isha had no way of reading his expression. Was he as hopeful as her? Scared?
"I think that's all I need to say on that." Emma's gaze swept across them, judging. "I'm glad to see you all finally taking this seriously."
A beat of silence followed. Then a woman near the gathering's center asked, "What now?"
"Now we get ready to strike. You've all been very helpful in tracking our quarry this week, even if you haven't been aware of it."
Folding the piece of paper with the talisman description and handing it to Woxell, he stepped down and Emma took center stage. She smiled at them in a motherly fashion. That was the face she showed on the rare occasions something pleased her.
"I know you're all spoiling for a fight. The patrols you've been sent on might have felt meaningless, but you've all been laying a net for the talisman. We have several leads to follow up and no signs of traitors, so we can now share information freely within our group. This is why you were asked here, ladies and gentleman. One big raid, where we'll get an invaluable power source and have the added bonus of ridding the world of whatever is hogging it. If you should run across any unnaturals who don't have the talisman..."
She made a theatrical pause and winked, drawing relieved laughter from the group.
"I think you know what to do."
Jamerson then claimed the crate and began calling out assignments. Most were going in pairs, as expected. Safety and practicality kept you alive. Two pairs of eyes were better than one and all that. But once the area of main interest had been covered, the single assignments would start cropping up. They were guerrilla fighters, not a full scale army, as Jamerson liked to constantly remind them. You had to know how to handle yourself solo too.
For the first time, Isha stood waiting for her name to be called. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears so loud she worried she'd miss it.
The crowd began to thin out. Rahul got paired up with Dave, and Isha managed to hide her wince. She clapped her brother on the shoulder in sympathy and he pulled a face like he'd bitten into a lemon.
"Not getting my first kill with that glory hound around," he muttered to her as they parted ways.
Isha had no words of encouragement to offer since she knew they'd ring hollow. They both stood at zero kills, despite ten years of training. Hunter apprenticeship might be tough, but no real mentor threw young people into the meat grinder. No, an apprentice's life consisted of fight-training, lore, patrolling, and helping to dispose of mangled inhuman corpses, until you were judged ready or you got unlucky. Being deemed a full hunter didn't guarantee a kill. Safety first.
Isha knew she should be grateful for that. She also knew she'd go spare if her baby brother got to see a live werewolf or vampire before her. Or if he tried to outdo Dave and accidentally tapped into his more unorthodox skills. Would Dave report him for a display like that?
"Isha!"
She started. Guilt at missing who she'd been paired with flashed through her.
Jamerson continued, unperturbed, "You're taking the northeast side of town. We've got a faint trace of alarming energy readings in a park there, and around a residential area. Might be werewolves. Check that out and report back. Do not engage anyone, got it? We're trusting you to handle yourself. Don't let us down by getting yourself killed, all right?"
Isha suspected her eyes were sparkling. Emma had said, mockingly, that it happened when she got too excited. In this moment, she couldn't make herself care about embarrassing displays of emotion.
"Got it!"
Probably not a strong lead. Probably she was being sent off on a wild goose chase. But she was being sent alone. Just her, her tricks and her fighting skills, against whatever lurked in Merrihollow's suburbs.
She couldn't stop herself from grinning, despite knowing the comments she'd have to suffer through later. She even managed a salute. "I won't disappoint!"
Jamerson's expression of grim amusement, along with his "See that you don't" followed her out of camp, fueling her determination. She wouldn't disappoint, even if she had to die trying!
The week had flown by, which was weird since it also had dragged on worse than a math class on a Friday afternoon. Yes, it had gotten to the point where she was thinking in high school similes. She was a mess.
"Will you quit your sulking?" Jayla asked Ginger, but her words had no real bite to them.
She'd been up at the crack of dawn and out looking for work until late evening, and she'd left him in a cupboard-sized apartment instead of a goddamn mansion where hands available for ear-scritches abounded. She too would have been sulking atop the fridge if given the chance.
"We need money," she said and threw herself on her lumpy couch. Grey and covered in coffee stains it nonetheless beat her bed for comfort. "For that, I need a job. Which turns out to be easier said than got when you haven't finished high school. Go figure."
I'm an idiot. Tears prickled at the edges of her eyes. She brushed them away roughly and, for good measure, rubbed her eyelids until they burned. I'm a complete idiot who moved halfway across the country to a tiny town with no savings, no job, and no friends. All to shut my ex up.
Her mind carefully darted around the other reason for her move. That was behind her. Out of sight, out of mind. Sort of. Out of biology, out of mind?
Better keep moping about Brandon. Safer that way. I'm all the women in all the romantic comedies, minus the comedy part.
Carla had once said that characters in good movies never knew what genre they starred in since no one wanted to watch a movie about people having an okay, average day. There had also been Shakespeare quotes invoked, but Jayla couldn't for the life of her remember which ones. Hope I'm in one of those 'girl goes to find herself and succeeds' afternoon specials. At least I finally have blue hair.
That wasn't a fully cheering thought. The hairdresser Jesse had recommended had been brilliant, and her current blue excellence had been worth every penny, but that solved none of her current problems.
Ginger meowed in the grumpiest way possible. He sat like a loaf of furry bread on the fridge and glared at her, as if reading her thoughts.
"Don't worry, your food has priority."
She wasn't going to stoop so low that she'd starve her cat. Worse came to worse she'd have to give him to a better home. The thought clawed at her insides and she had to push back another rush of tears, but there was no idea denying it. If things got that tight, she'd have to. It would be for the best.
The pack might like to take him in. Despite all the dangers that apparently came with being a werewolf or a vampire, they seemed to have theirs lives on solid ground. The vampire guy had given off all the right cat-friend signals and Ginger hadn't acted worried. The chances of him getting eaten by a werewolf was probably smaller than the risk of him accidentally ingesting rat poison in this dump.
Why did I have to freak out like that? she asked herself for the umpteenth time. She should have gone back the day after moving her stuff out and not held off on answering Vivian's text until it got too awkward to. Now, it was too late. You couldn't exactly show up at someone's doorstep days after you'd gathered your things and your cat, and bolted for a cockroach motel, leaving a spacious guest room behind without replying to contact attempts. That was the kind of behavior that put you in the No Friend Zone. Running out on the only people I've actually gotten to know here. Great job.
That's what she got for trying to not look desperate for company. She'd aimed to mimic 'realistically cautious' and overshot to 'I'm clearly terrified of you all'. No coming back from that.
Her brain kept trying to nudge her attention back on track, but it didn't seem to know what that track should be. The result had been her arguing with herself all day. Should she give up on the job hunting? Should she go back 'home'? Was there a flower arrangement you could make that said 'Sorry for accidentally giving you the silent treatment, let's be maybe friends anyways?'
Ginger yowled. A knock came at the door.
"Did you order pizza?"
She hadn't had a real conversation with anyone since she'd left Vivian in the pack's dining room last week. While she'd never been the kind of person who needed to always have a girlfriend or boyfriend around, touch starvation was definitely a thing and it had begun to hit her hard. The price for being comfortable hugging relative strangers, I suppose. If I'm lucky, whoever's at the door is spreading a religion. Guaranteed hour of conversation without the urge to hug a stranger, coming right up!
With trembling fingers, Jayla unlocked the door.
"Hello, friend."
It should not be a relief to have a guy you barely knew show up at your home. That particular feeling still swept through Jayla as the opened door revealed Jesse's cautious grin.
"No need to let me in, I just wanted a quick word with you. Love the hair by the way."
"Thanks."
She unhooked the security chain without hesitation. Jesse didn't look like the strongest of people, but shapeshifters could probably get through a door without using force, should he really want to. Despite that, he'd knocked, and any company with the capacity for language was welcome, showing up unannounced or no.
"How did you figure out where I live?"
Jesse slipped inside and made a beeline for the couch, eyeing her poor excuse of a living room/kitchen with mild curiosity.
"Sorry, didn't mean to be creepy," he said over his shoulder before taking a seat. "Promise I won't show up uninvited again and that I won't ask for your number. You're free to kick me out and never see me again."
He peered up at her as Ginger swiftly abandoned the fridge and settled in his lap, doing his cattiest best to trap their guest on the couch. Jesse didn't seem to mind.
"Remember, you're easily five times stronger than I'll ever hope to be."
The increased strength had definitely begun to make itself known more frequently. She'd had a close call that morning with the shower tap, and she had no money to pay for damages. She'd be lucky to make rent for November. That's stress we really don't need right now.
She sank down on the couch next to Jesse, who made room for her while keeping Ginger on his lap.
"I'm not gonna lie, I'm honestly glad you're here. This has been a shitty week and it's only Monday. But how did you find my apartment?"
She eyed the pins on Jesse's jacket with a good degree of suspicion. What could talismans do?
"Rhoda told me."
"Rhoda?" Jayla blinked up at the ceiling, going through the names of the werewolf pack. No bells. Then she stared on her second list.
"Rhoda! Hairdresser Rhoda!" She'd told Rhoda where she lived, mostly because she'd run out of other normal things to talk about.
"Who you got in contact with because of me, which is why she was willing to hand out your personal information."
Jayla wanted to buy that line, and yet... "Really?"
She needed to ask him for poker lessons because he kept on going, calm as you please. "I may have implied I'd lost your address in a terrible drunken cell phone accident."
"Good lie."
"White lies are my specialty."
Jayla slowly allowed herself to enjoy being in the presence of another person. She made sure to keep to her side of the couch, for fear of freaking the guy out or sending the wrong signals. This was enough for now. Company.
"You're staying here."
Jayla followed Jesse's gaze to where a cockroach was making its not so inconspicuous way across the ceiling toward the bathroom. Or rather, to the closet with a toilet.
"Yup."
"When you could be living in a mansion."
"With a bunch of strangers." She knew she'd said that too quickly, but real life had no undo button. She bit her tongue and waited to be lectured.
Jesse leaned back on the couch - a brave move for anyone who gave a damn about their clothes - and fixed her with a look of pure sympathy. She had to fight hard to keep her determined frown in place.
"A bunch of werewolf strangers. I'm pretty sure they have a better grasp of your full moon situation than your current neighbors."
Yeah. That. That huge, enormous new part of her life that she'd have to deal with eventually. Jayla bent forward and groaned, panic playing hell with her insides.
"I'll figure something out." Somehow. Maybe. Fuck.
"Listen." A gentle hand landed on her shoulder, pulling her away from the brink of hysteria. Jayla tried to not show how welcome the hand was, because Wrong Signals. "I know I'm even more of a stranger than the people over in that big house, but I've been a shapeshifter all my life and you've been a werewolf barely over a week."
Huh, that was interesting news. She'd have to ask how exactly shapeshifters came to be when she knew how to have a normal conversation again. Abnormal conversation? Ack, whatever!
"Trust me when I say you'll want to build a network of good magical people when you can. You have a chance now and you should take it."
That made perfect sense. It also didn't fix her earlier behavior.
"Do you always show up to give people pep talks about huge life decisions?"
"Only for people I like." Jesse gently pulled her to sit back upright. She followed his example and sank into the couch's backrest. "Besides, I think you're a good magical person and I'd like to add you to my network. This is purely a selfish act."
Jayla found herself grinning like an idiot. Was there a word for having a friend-crush? Hadn't Carla said what that was called, way back when? She'd have to text her later or be up all night thinking about it. She might even get an answer without dealing with awkward questions first.
"I'm sure you're a super selfish person, here for your own nefarious schemes and nothing else."
Ginger begrudgingly accepted a neck scratch from her now that Jesse had lowered his defenses. Her insides were warming in a most cliche way. It was lovely.
"By the way," she said as the thought came bubbling up to the surface of her mind, "the pack has a D&D group. They play every other weekend."
Jesse froze. He looked at her as if she'd told him the pack spun gold out of their fur and had a magical chocolate fountain in their backyard.
"Lady, if you don't move in with them, I will."
"Right." He was right. Having a group of people around for regular scheduled tabletop roleplaying was more fantastical than any werewolf transformation.
This only made her own idiocy worse. She pretended to study a stain on the couch and said, "There's just one small problem."
Jesse's eyes narrowed into an even more intense searching look. "Which is?"
Jayla inhaled deeply through her nose. Here goes.
"I kinda took my stuff and ran the moment they started talking about hunters and vampire feuds and all that less-than-fun-stuff." She carefully skipped over the part where leaving had seemed like the normal thing to do, not the thing she'd actually wanted to do. That'd complicate things further. "Not exactly the actions of a team player, y'know?"
A brief silence fell between them. Jesse kept looking at her and she kept wishing the couch would turn into quicksand and swallow her up.
"Jayla," Jesse said at last, words slow and deliberate, "do you seriously think you're the only person to isolate themselves for a bit of soul-searching after joining our part of the world?"
That was not the reply she'd expected.
Jesse had a glint in his eyes she'd seen before, when her brother had sat her down and told her about why dropping out of high school would be a bad move. This time, however, the glint made her sit still and listen instead of bolt for the door.
"I know a guy who in his late thirties discovered he was a witch. He spent a year living alone on a mountain before he spoke to anyone else about it. And he wasn't even turned immortal."
"Or hunted by angry mobs with magical guns." That felt like an important distinction. A normal thing to say. Sort of.
Jesse squinted at her. She'd clearly smashed into and derailed his train of thought.
"Magical guns?"
Shrugging, Jayla got up from the couch and headed for the kitchenette. She busied herself filling up Ginger's food bowl.
"I assume werewolf hunters don't use regular bullets." Getting shot had already been high on her list of worries before becoming a werewolf. She apparently had healing powers now to rival a comic book superhero, but would that really be a hindrance for people who specialized in killing people like her - like, them?
Ginger, having heard the siren song of the food bucket's lid popping open, jumped out of Jesse's lap and scampered over to fill his belly. Jesse took the opportunity to stretch out on the couch, lying prone with his arms crossed on the armrest closest to the kitchenette. Chin on his hands he frowned and gave a thousand-yard stare.
"You know," he said after a long pause, "I actually have no idea. The silver thing is real though, so they might have silver coated bullets? Did the pack warn you about silver?"
Jayla put the cat food back inside the one cupboard Ginger hadn't managed to open yet. She leaned against the sink and held up her left hand for Jesse to see. "Yeah. It sucks. All my rings burn like hell when I try to wear them and they're not even pure silver." Not even close.
One lone ring occupied her index finger, its innocent gold-mixed-with-whatever the only jewelry she'd been able to put on all week. Good thing werewolves healed quick. She still had her favorite necklace, which was a comfort. At least this solved the 'silver or white gold?'-disagreement that she and her mom had been through more than once, though 'fake-y cheap copy material' was still on the table. Maybe she could learn to smell different metals, tell them apart that way?
Jesse arched his back ever so slightly and waggled his fingers at her. "I have slim fingers and accept offerings of jewelry. Trades are also welcome."
"Silver doesn't hurt shapeshifters?" Better state the obvious than guess.
"Nope, silver's fine for me." Jesse brushed a finger against his eyebrow piercing, "and having some on hand helps if you run into werewolves who can't take a no. Not directed at you, of course. You've been a paragon of virtue despite my abundance of charm."
The levels of playful sarcasm Jesse exuded made Jayla once again skip commenting on how she'd recently gotten out of a crappy relationship, how she didn't see him that way and so on. Instead, she pushed off the kitchen counter and settled down on the rug next to the couch. Its thread-count landed somewhere close to one, but it still beat sitting on the floor.
"You often worry about your virtue when you're alone with werewolves?"
A kind of giggle that had more in common with half-choked shrieking than laughter escaped Jesse.
"Friend, you could literally bench press me. You do realize that I'd have to shift into a gorilla before standing a chance against you in unarmed combat? I am always prepared to dodge terribly one-sided tickle fights with malicious werewolves."
A metaphorical bell rung in Jayla's head, as if she were standing in a church tower at high noon. This was Twilight Zone level bizarre.
Taking in the guy sprawled on her couch she tried to impose theoretical facts on physical reality. He might be shorter than her, but he wasn't exactly rake thin. He didn't look fragile. She certainly hadn't gained any bodybuilder muscles from turning into a werewolf.
Yet her squished shower tap told a different story.
Will have to deal with that reality eventually. On the bright side, there was so much stuff she'd be able to do! Stuff she'd already been doing but now could do without worrying as much. Walk home alone at night. Flirt with people while out and about and make sure they backed off if she lost interest. She'd get right on being happy about all that as soon as she had her money-and-friendship troubles solved.
Back from that brief daydream, she focused her attention on Jesse's clothes. His outfit looked nearly the same as when she'd last seen him, though with jeans instead of a skirt. He smelled like he'd had a shower fairly recently. Thinking with my nose! I'm acing this whole werewolf-thing. Except for the part where I fail to make friends with other werewolves. Boo.
She'd been staring at Jesse for far too long. He'd begun smirking at her as if he could read the roller coaster journey of her thoughts. She'd better say something.
"Do you ever take off that leather jacket? I mean, I know the heating in this place is nonexistent, but I'm pretty sure you fell asleep in that back at the mansion."
Jesse pushed himself upright on the couch, crossed one leg over the other and put his arms up on the backrest. The smirk morphed into a self-deprecating grin.
"Us shapeshifters lose body heat ridiculously fast, especially if we haven't shifted in a while. Dunno why, but I've learned to put up with it. If I could, I'd live in a sauna. Or cuddle. Twenty-four seven cuddling."
"Twenty-four seven cuddling does sound good. Though I don't think I'd be able to sit still for that long." Did werewolves sleep in puppy-piles? Had she and Vivian been nesting during the full moon?
"Fair enough." Jesse scooted over on the couch and patted the empty seat. "And it's unprocessed iron, for me."
"Huh?" Jayla took the offered seat without question, soaking up the faint body heat left there. That's it, I'm never going another week without meaningful human interaction ever again!
"It messes me up," Jesse clarified, poking at his forehead. "Doesn't burn or anything, but it makes me crazy dizzy. Inner ear damage dizzy. Thanks for not insisting on knowing that."
Jayla squirmed with sudden joy. She'd honestly lost that thread of the conversation, having no intention of figuring out anyone's secret kryptonite. That was some show of trust!
"Do you mean raw iron ore? Where would you stumble upon that?"
"Not only, I'm afraid. I've thankfully not had much opportunity to experiment, but as I figure it, it's kind of like an allergy. I went to a renaissance fair a couple of years ago and almost threw up in the smithy. Managed to inhale iron filings once and that was the exact opposite of a good time." He hummed and rested his head on the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "Direct skin contact with pure steel feels cold no matter the actual temperature of the thing, but it doesn't hurt or throw me off more than it would affect a normal person. I don't know where the line is drawn exactly. Things tend to get messy and logic-defying when it comes to magic."
The previously ever-present dread began to steal back into Jayla's head. She had only a vague idea of what a shapeshifter was and no clue as to how one became one. She literally knew nothing. What if she ended up hurting him?
"Do you have any food allergies? Anything else I should avoid wearing or bringing around so I don't send you into anaphylactic shock?"
That drew a banshee shriek of a laugh from Jesse. Jayla was getting rather fond of that noise, as ear-piercing as it was. Jesse pinched the bridge of his nose and doubled over, shoulders shaking.
"Man, the week you've had and you focus on why I wear a jacket to bed and if I might have dietary restrictions. That is so perfect." He let go of his nose and grinned up at her, genuine warmth in his eyes. "You are easily the most chill werewolf I have ever met."
Another bell rung in Jayla's mind; this one like the noise you'd hear when the right answer came up on a game show. Because it just did!
"You know, you're right." Jayla pushed up from the couch again, but this time offered Jesse a hand up too. "I am pretty chill and that's what I should keep on being. Moping around this shoe box and going to dead-end job interviews is not how I should be spending my time."
As she spoke she dove into her wardrobe/broom cupboard and grabbed her jacket.
"You and I are going to get coffee, and then we're marching up to that werewolf mansion and we're getting invited to their D&D group. Then I'll work my way up to getting an actual invitation to move in."
Jesse waited patiently at the door as Jayla dug through the couch cushions after her keys and bribed Ginger with a saucer of milk to stop him crying when they left. She promised him she'd be back before he knew it. It felt like a weight had fallen from her shoulders and crashed downstairs to smash her annoying neighbor in the face; the one who played loud music at all hours and turned up the volume if you told him to stop. He was currently blasting something with a lot of base.
"I'm so glad you convinced me to rethink this," Jayla said as she locked her apartment door and they set out for the coffee shop.
"I don't think I convinced you to do anything you wouldn't have talked yourself around to eventually."
"If you say so."
Maybe she would have. Or maybe she would have slunk back to her equally tiny hometown and moved into her parents' basement. And ended up eating them.
A sobering thought.
Jayla shook her head to clear away that awful but avoided future. "Either way, it's settled now. All I have to worry about from this minute on is finding a job. Can't move into a new place without being able to help out with the rent."
"I know a lovely café that's hiring. We should make a detour there on the way."
"…are you my fairy gothmother?"
Jesse winked at her, exaggerated and goofy. "Darling, I just might be."
"I found another one."
Arturo heard Lisa curse all the way from her lab. "What's that, the fifth?"
"Sixth," Arturo answered, not raising his voice. One bonus of living with werewolves was that you rarely had to shout. "The northern cameras caught a girl with pink hair skirting the ward boarder two hours ago." He rewound the video, double-checking. "She'll be easy to spot out on the town at least."
"Unless she wears a hat," Vivian grumbled. She'd taken up guard position in the hall between Arturo's room and the lab, making no move to get dressed for work. She'd claimed her colleagues could do without her today. Arturo suspected she'd called in sick. Hard to blame her with their home under unknown vampire surveillance for the second night in a row.
"Any news from…?" Lisa trailed off, waiting with bated breath.
"No. Not yet."
Arturo fixed his eyes on the screen. It had been close to a week since they'd last seen Jayla. He pushed that fact aside and focused on their current closest problem.
He replayed the video. The pink-haired girl showed up again and vanished, a soft blur the only clue she'd been in frame to begin with. Definitely another vampire.
What did they hope to gain, brushing against the wards like that? They didn't stay long enough to leave any message or allow the pack to come greet them. Not the most trustworthy behavior. At least they had to stay away during daytime.
Lisa sighed. "I'll call Ava. She might have tracked the coven's location by now."
Arturo didn't stop her. He doubted Sledge had made progress since yesterday, but anything that got Lisa and her talking was welcome.
Vivian slipped into Arturo's room the second Lisa closed the door to her lab. "You think they'll make up?"
He could lie. He didn't. "I don't know."
"I don't either." Vivian threw herself down on his bed with a grunt. "This sucks."
"This?"
"Do you want me to list everything?"
Arturo couldn't stop himself from sighing. "No."
"Didn't think so. Want me to help you look through the candid camera vampire glamor shots?"
"Please."
Late afternoon. Merrihollow park couldn't be said to be bustling, but Isha didn't think it fair to estimate its popularity on few visitors during a regular work day. Snow, on the other hand, could be found in abundance. The trees had a nice shine to them, all covered in frost, and the white fluff on the ground could have constructed dozens of snowmen.
It was only October. Either this weather was unnatural or global warming truly had upset the seasons. Climate controlling witches had of course been brought up by Emma as they arrived in town. She'd either been dead serious or daring people to call her out on her fabulations. Isha doubted the truth would ever be revealed. She'd learned to live with Emma's moods.
A helpful ping from her GPS halted her procrastination and told her to go left at the next branch in the path.
She'd thought about doing it the traditional way, buying a tourist map and writing down the coordinates she'd been give on it. Thought about it, yes, but not seriously committed to it. She'd made the mistake of trying to impress far too many times. Rahul kept telling her, in his roundabout brotherly way, warning her. Isha would have taken him to task for his comments long ago, if he hadn't so obviously spoken out of concerned for her.
She knew people talked. What they said belonged in made-for-TV high school dramas and wasn't worthy of note. But it pained Rahul to hear the comments, even if they were directed at her.
Thus, no tourist map. It didn't matter that Woxell only worked with paper maps. All other hunters had gone digital years ago, even Jamerson. Isha would go with the flow, avoid ruffling feathers, and perform her task with grace and efficiency. The patrols had gone well and so would this.
She'd do great.
Nerves hit as she reached the edge of the forest. 'Forest' might be too grand a word for it, being an extension of the park that eventually got cut in half by the freeway. That said, it was werewolf territory. Had to be. Her earring had begun a telltale pendulum movement when she left the path, which slowed her heartbeat to a crawl and sent ice through her veins. For a second, she wished she had Rahul's predisposition for-
No! You can do this.
Isha pulled off her gloves and dug her fingers into the bark of the tallest oak in reach. The fox tattoo on her shoulder burned, the heat taking her by surprise despite having braced for it. She gritted her teeth and prepared for what should happen next.
The vision of the fox was as unsettling as the burning in her shoulder.
Keep it together. Isha eyed the vague outline of the fox, a blue ghost at the base of the oak tree. It stared up at her with black eyes, awaiting her attention, hollow. Was it supposed to look like that? Did all of Emma's searchlights look as dead or had she done something wrong?
No doubt. She squared her shoulders, glared down at the wisp of a fox. Doubt will ruin this for you. Do not leave room for it. It's frustrating how knowing your own weaknesses did nothing to reign them in.
With her back to the park she pulled her hood up to hide her face as best she could, then crouched down and focused all her energy on the searchlight. "Find me the werewolves," she told the ghostly figure.
It darted off in among the trees. Isha followed as closely as she dared.