The full moon entered Jenna’s limbs and torso just as it had every month since Alistair first turned her. She tried to give up fighting it. Ryan must know what he was doing, she thought.
Mandy tried to talk to Jenna, to calm her. Maybe, she thought, if she changed form she could stall the birth until morning. But Andrew stepped forward.
“No,” he said firmly, “Alistair’s child must be born tonight.”
Mandy didn’t understand. How could he be talking this way? He was Jenna’s friend. Couldn’t he see that to give birth while she was in wolf form would kill her?
“He’s right, Mandy,” said Jenna, “I can feel it. He wants to be born now. He needs to be born now.”
Behind them, Mrs. Bumsqueak waddled out from the cedar tree followed by Jessamyn and Quentin.
Miri, now in human form, ran to Jenna, whose body was desperately trying to contract into wolf form, but was only able to go about halfway before the contractions forced her back. The baby wanted to be free. That much was clear.
Miri tried to communicate with him, soothe him, but Ryan wasn’t having it. He wanted out and he wanted out now.
In her wolf form, Mandy continued to talk to Jenna.
“Come on, change now, take in the moon, slow down the labor, maybe you can wait until the morning for Ryan to be born.”
Jenna tried to slow her breathing and to reassure Mandy that everything was going to be okay. Her baby was about to be born and he would be beautiful—her shining, golden boy, her Ryan. The pain now filled her whole body as he desperately tried to push himself out, but in this form he was almost as large as she, and as he tore himself free, he tore away the life force of his mother.
Mrs. Bumsqueak moved forward and gathered up the baby in her arms, covered in blood and fur. She realized there was nothing she could do for his mother.
In the morning when the sun rose, the remains of Jenna lay on the soft earth just behind the cedar tree.
Jessamyn cast wards around the area and the members of P.A.W.S. held a funeral for Jenna. Mandy clutched the baby Ryan to her throughout the somber ceremony. Andrew gave a eulogy, tears running down his cheeks.
Quentin watched and wondered. He had yet to tell anyone of Andrew’s visit to his chamber, of the ingredients of the potion he’d created. He wondered how much truth there was in Andrew’s tears.
Miri watched also. She glanced between Andrew and the baby. She had not held the child, was scared to, and kept her mental shield tightly shut.
In the shadows, another watched. He did not really understand what he was seeing, but he understood that it was important. As the members of P.A.W.S. disappeared back downstairs, he slunk back into the park.
Chapter 47
Following the funeral, Andrew disappeared from P.A.W.S.. Everyone assumed it was his way of dealing with the grief of losing Jenna, so no one really questioned it. A wolf, after all, could fend for himself.
Mrs. Bumsqueak kept the baby in the infirmary and Mandy wouldn’t leave his side. She had bonded with baby Ryan from birth. The baby couldn’t have his mother, but he could have Mandy. Ryan thrived and Mandy suggested, after a week in the infirmary, that maybe a crib could be set up for him in her room—the one she used to share with his mother.
Some nights he would cry in the middle of the night and Mandy would get up and take him into her bed and rock him back to sleep. During the day, Mandy carried him in a sling and took him everywhere she went. The only time she was separated from him was during the full moon. On that night, he would go to his sister, Miri.
Miri tried hard to love Ryan. It wasn’t his fault, after all. He couldn’t help who his father was, just as much as Miri couldn’t. The images Miri had seen of Ryan’s future when he was inside Jenna seemed to subside now he was born. His emotions were fuzzy when Miri tried to read them, like those of a baby should be. Yet still, Miri remembered, and when she slept in the same room as Ryan on the nights of the full moon, her dreams were punctuated with visions of cats and wolves wandering in labyrinths, some made of cobbled city streets, and others among vast forests.
Miri would wake in a sweat with Ryan crying in his crib. She would then dutifully feed and rock the baby back to sleep, but inevitably would not return to slumber herself on those nights. She would wait restlessly for the morning to hand the baby back to Mandy; rejoicing, when she did, in the flood of loving emotions that passed between the two of them.
Mandy loved those summer months bonding with Ryan. She wondered at herself. She’d never been one of those girls who fawned over babies, but with Ryan she seemed to have a connection as if he was her own child.
One balmy August morning, she persuaded Josh to go to the zoo with her and Ryan. They walked around the exhibits, laughing and pointing at the animals. They were a relaxed and happy threesome. Zoo visitors who saw them assumed they were a young family, and smiled and cooed at the baby. They went to visit Ian in the monkey house and introduced him to Ryan, the newest member of P.A.W.S.
“Hey, how’s it going?” shouted Ian, while swinging upside down from his tire swing, eating a banana.
Ryan’s face lit up when he saw Ian. It was his first real smile.
“Who you got there? Come on in, guys.” From somewhere in the midst of his vast hairy body he produced a small silver wand and waved it at the glass, which melted, allowing the three of them to walk in. Ian then materialized a small sofa for them to sit on, and switched the TV on to a cartoon channel.
“This is Ryan,” said Mandy.
“Please to meet you, Ryan. I’ve heard a lot about you from the wolves.” He looked directly at Josh when he said it.
“Have you heard any news of Andrew?” asked Josh, quietly.
“No,” answered Ian, “nothing at all, but he’ll turn up, I’m sure. Just will take a while, he was very close to the girl. Something like that takes time to work its way through the system.”
“I suppose,” said Josh.
“Here folks, try these,” and he produced two glasses of yellow frothy liquid. “Banana smoothie,” explained Ian, “my own special recipe.”
The friends took their time that afternoon, catching up, relaxing, and laughing.
“Hey guys, did you hear the one about the monkey who refused to play cards in the jungle?”
“No,” said Josh.
“He claimed there were too many cheetahs.”
Mandy and Josh groaned, and Ryan giggled and pointed at Ian. Ian, empowered, launched into his next joke, and continued until he’d regaled them with his whole repertoire of monkey jokes.
At around five o’clock though, he looked at his purple plastic watch and said: “Wow, look at the time! I’m going to have to ask you fellows to go. I’ve got to get ready. I’ve got a big date with Olivia tonight.” He pointed at a formidable orangutan in an enclosure on the other side of the monkey house.
Josh and Mandy thanked Ian for the smoothies and made their way back to P.A.W.S.
Chapter 48
David paced around his kitchen. He was carrying a small mug of coffee in one hand, which was in danger of spilling as he was so agitated. He’d been determined to get up this morning and go into his office. He’d taken sick leave ever since “the incident” and his staff members were starting to murmur about him.
It was his company. He’d built it up from nothing, but now it was starting to crumble. He needed to get back there or he would lose his business, as he’d already lost his wife. He stared at the official envelope on the table. He’d read its contents countless times since it was delivered by courier early this morning. Divorce—Cynthia was filing for divorce.
He should have seen it coming. Hell, he was surprised the police hadn’t come knocking on his door. He knew he’d done something bad. Problem was, he hadn’t a clue what it was, just that it was somehow linked with his father’s charm that wouldn’t budge from its spot around his neck. He felt its power tightening like a noose, strangling the life out of him, but he couldn’t remove it. It was st
uck.
Yesterday, he’d been determined to remove it. He drove over to an old fixit shop, was going to ask the old man who ran the store to use some tool and cut away the charm, but when he reached below his shirt to show it to the man, it wasn’t there. Embarrassed, he mumbled something about needing a new watch battery, removed the watch from his wrist, and let the old man fiddle with it with his arthritic fingers for twenty minutes. Today, his watch that had always been perfectly precise, was running slow . . . and the charm was back.
Angrily, David shoved the letter into his briefcase, dumped his coffee in the sink, and walked to the door. Today he would drive to his office. The traffic was horrible and David was even more tense by the time he got to his office where there was someone waiting for him.
“Hello, Mr. Katz,” said Andrew.
“What do you want?”
“I’ve heard you’re having a little trouble, with your charming wife. Maybe I could be of assistance?”
“I don’t see how. You’re just a kid.”
“Ah, but I have friends in high places. Do you still have the amulet?”
David put his hand to his throat, wondering if the charm would do its disappearing act again as it had done yesterday in the fix-it shop, but it was there and felt a little warm to the touch today. What if he tried to give it back to this boy, get his money back maybe. He didn’t care anymore if it went back to his meddlesome niece. Miri could have it if she wanted it.
“Do you want it?” David asked. “I would gladly sell it back to you.”
“Oh no, you bought that fair and square. I could never take it from you, but if you wanted to come down to P.A.W.S. and return it personally to Miri, I might be able to arrange a meeting.”
David considered this. “Why can’t you just take it to her?”
“Oh, I could never do that.”
David sighed, glancing absentmindedly at the piles of papers that had built up on his desk during his extended absence. It would take him weeks to catch up. He thought about the charm, the reason for all of his problems. He thought of the images of the wolf and the cat that plagued him in his sleep. The cat, at least, would be happy if he returned the charm to Miri.
“Okay,” said David, “tell me where I have to go.”
“Not so fast,” said Andrew with a smile, “that information is highly classified. What is it worth to you?”
David was shocked. “You got plenty for the charm. Tell you what, you can keep that money if you tell me where I can find Miri.”
“Oh no,” said Andrew, shaking his head. “It’s worth a lot more than that. Let’s say a thousand, today, as a down payment and how about five hundred per month, paid into my bank account. I have pictures you see . . . You look confused. You don’t remember what you did under the influence of the charm, but I do,” he said. “The camera never lies, you know? Do you want to see them?” Andrew brought out a package of photographs from his pocket and started to lay them out on the table.
David was shaking now, gazing in horror at the snapshots. “Okay, you can have the money. Whatever you want, but leave me those. And tell me how to get the charm back to Miri.”
“Oh no,” said Andrew, gathering up the pictures. “I think I’ll hold on to these. I’ll need something in case you stop paying. So, a check for a thousand dollars please, and then I’ll tell you how to get to Miri.”
Chapter 49
“I’m sorry dear, I’m not sure I can help you.”
Miri was sitting in Sarah Sinclair’s kitchen, drinking a glass of iced tea and nibbling on a homemade oatmeal raisin cookie. On a whim, she’d decided to show Josh’s mom the book. She traveled here by herself today, not even telling Josh where she was going. Sarah peered at the cover with interest.
“Argentum,” she read. “What does that mean?”
“It’s silver,” explained Miri, “the Latin word for silver. It’s often used in mag—” She stopped. It wasn’t clear how much Sarah Sinclair knew about what went on within the walls of P.A.W.S.
Sarah turned the page and stared at the Hebrew words.
“That’s odd,” she said. “I could swear I saw something. A sudden glimpse, but now it’s gone.”
“Can I look at the picture again?” asked Miri. “The one of your grandmother Miriam.”
“Of course dear, do you think there’s a connection?”
“I don’t know,” said Miri, “but something drew me here today.”
Sarah slowly walked up the stairs and a few minutes later came back down with her album. She took out the picture of her grandmother and laid it on top of the open book. As she leaned across the pages to look at the old photograph, Miri’s charm gently touched the face in the picture.
“What a beautiful necklace,” said Sarah, “I’ve always loved cats.”
Miri smiled. “It belonged to my omama,” she said.
“And you say the rest of the pages are blank?” asked Sarah.
“Yes,” said Miri, handing the photograph back to Sarah.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Mrs. Sinclair,” said Miri, getting up.
“No bother at all dear, come by anytime,” said Sarah as she walked Miri to the front door.
Miri took the Metro back to Forest Park. As she got off the air-conditioned train, the oppressive heat of the St. Louis summer hit her. It had been a brutal summer, temperatures often going over 100 degrees, and a nasty summer storm had left a lot of the city without electricity.
At P.A.W.S. they were privileged that Bob Stone was able to keep the Institute functioning throughout it all. As she walked back through the park, she noticed with some sadness how many of the beautiful old trees had been lost in the storm. At least the cedar tree that acted as the entranceway to P.A.W.S. had not been damaged, but it, she felt sure, was protected by magical wards.
David waited in the shadows. This was the spot that Andrew had told him to watch from. It was same spot he had been watching several weeks ago, when he thought he might want to add Miri’s charm to his own. But the funeral he had witnessed had shaken him. It seemed like the body had been torn to shreds. His charm had glowed and burned his skin as he had watched them bury the child. He’d wished then he could have torn it off and tossed it into the open grave.
He’d seen Miri among the mourners and understood that P.A.W.S. was close to this spot and also that this scene was something he wasn’t supposed to be witnessing, that somehow the charm around his neck was letting him view what others without magic could not.
He decided that day that he no longer wanted either charm. And so today he was back in this same spot, waiting for Miri. Soon she would appear, then he could give her the charm and it would all be over. And good riddance to it. He only hoped that Miri, with her magic, would know how to remove it when he could not.
He’d not slept for more than an hour or so the night before. He was terrified of the visions that came when he closed his eyes. The staring blue eyes of Alistair that morphed into impossibly golden ones in the body of a tiger ready to pounce. The roar of the tiger combined with the howl of the wolf echoing through his head. He thought he could even hear it now as he waited, crouched behind the tree.
The charm was getting warm again, and he glanced down and saw that its amber eyes were glowing. David decided then that he hated cats, that if he ever saw one again it would be too soon. He watched for Miri. Andrew had said that she could arrive in either form, but in order to enter P.A.W.S. she would have to be in human form. He watched the cedar tree and the charm grew hotter.
Also hidden in the foliage was a blond wolf.
“What do you want me to do, master?” asked Andrew, communicating with Alistair through David’s charm.
“Be patient, Andrew. It will play itself out one way or the other. Of this, I am sure.”
“You will take control, master?”
“Of course,” replied Alistair. “I always do.”
Miri trudged slowly through the park. It was too hot and her body was dripping wi
th sweat. She longed to be back at P.A.W.S. with a cold drink and a cool shower. As she neared the cedar tree, she stopped short. The eyes of her charm were glowing green. In her mind she heard the voice of the grey cat with the green eyes. “Be careful, meine katzel.”
She transformed into her cat form and looked around with her sharp yellow eyes. There was someone here, she could sense them. There, up in the shadow behind the bush.
Pain suddenly filled her body and then the world around her changed.
She was standing in a clearing in a dark forest. Her cat form seemed small and vulnerable here. Just ahead of her was an enormous wolf—Alistair.
“Ah, my daughter returns. How nice to see you! You’re looking well.”
Miri stared. This wasn’t real, she told herself. She must have tripped, maybe she was unconscious. But they would find her, bring her back to P.A.W.S. Everything would be okay.
“What? Cat got your tongue?” Alistair smiled. “I’m here to offer you a truce, Miri. Your dear uncle cannot handle the power of my charm, but someone needs to hold it for my son.”
“I don’t want it,” answered Miri.
David staggered out of his hiding spot and lurched towards Miri who was sitting on the grass, looking stunned. He could feel his body changing and he begged it not to.
“Not now!” he screamed. “Please, not now.”
“Miri—help me!” He grabbed at the charm around his neck, which was now white hot, and tried to wrench it from his neck. But as he did so, his body started to change.
Pain reeled through his limbs as they stretched, threatening to burst out from inside him.
“Please, please make it stop. Oh God, make it stop!” he screamed.
Argentum (P.A.W.S. Book 2) Page 21
