Hunter Moon: A Grazi Kelly Novel #2

by C. D. Gorri

  The door opened on its own. Startling us from our conversation. A lightly accented voice from inside called to us.

  “You know if you want to argue can you do it at your home? I was up late in case you don’t remember.” Ronan placed himself in front of me immediately and crouched into a defensive position.

  “Easy, young Hound. I’m too tired for battles. What are you waiting for? Come in, you’re letting the heat out.”

  Hmm. I guess Witches worried about their heating bills too. I walked around Ronan and stepped inside closing the door behind us. He growled deep in his throat. I shrugged. He’d just have to get over it.

  We had to walk through the storeroom for the shop. It smelled of aromatic oils, hair, nail and various beauty products. It wasn’t unpleasant at all. We exited the shop and came to the residence section of the building. The little hallway was small and painted a bright cheerful yellow. Like her car. There was a narrow staircase at the end.

  I inhaled deeply. Beneath the herbal, flowery and somewhat chemical scents of the spa was another smell. Cinnamon rolls or apple pie. It was sweet and spicy.

  I found it calming. Homey even. Like walking in on Nonna when she was in the kitchen baking. My stomach growled. Werewolf metabolism. I really needed to start carrying granola bars with me.

  Ronan placed his hand on my shoulder. I could tell he wanted to be in front. He was afraid for me. I allowed him to step in front of me. It was the least I could do and from his posture I could tell he was much more at ease this way. We came to a blue door at the top of the stairs and he opened it.

  As we got closer to where her voice came from the scent got stronger. We walked into the little apartment and I scanned the table for cookies or something, but there was nothing like it.

  The appetizing aroma was Sherry herself. She was lying down on a small chaise that was off to the side of what I realized was the kitchen/dining/living room. Jeez, the place was super tiny. I think our kitchen at home was bigger than her entire apartment.

  She had a gel mask over her eyes and cream slathered over her face. She was a pretty woman, petite but curvy and she smelled heavenly. I couldn’t place her accent, but that wasn’t unusual. It’s not like I was a world traveler or anything.

  “Sit down please. Having two Werewolves hovering over me when I am trying to rest is not very comforting.”

  I sat down at the small kitchen table. Ronan was torn between keeping his place in front of me or sitting in the chair that gave him the best vantage point in the room and kept his back covered by the wall at the same time. I nodded at him and he took the seat.

  “Sherry, I need to ask you some things.”

  “I know, child, so go ahead then.” Her voice sounded weary.

  “First, I think I should tell you some things that have been happening to me. Dreams I’ve been having.” She took the mask off her eyes and looked at me for the first time since we entered her home. Her eyes changed from brown, to green, to gold in an instant. Whoa. Neat trick.

  “Dreams? I’m not a Gypsy, Grazi, I do not know much about dreamscaping. But go ahead and I will try and help.” I didn’t know anything about dreamscaping either and from the looks of him neither did Ronan.

  I went on anyway and told her about my dreams. First the ones of my mom and ending with the ones of the boy prisoner. Sherry was sitting up. Her now blue eyes intent on me.

  “You say you are a Wolf when you dream of this boy? And that you’ve touched things when you are there? Opened doors and such?” She rubbed her hands together absently.

  “This is more complicated than I thought. First, I will tell you what I think. The dreams of your mother and you as a child are memories that you have probably forgotten. Your mind is trying to get you to remember something important. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what that is. I do not know why that memory is so important, but I would suggest you writing down every detail of the dream that you can. Your feelings and impressions too, not just facts. Especially if you have it again.”

  Sherry stood up slowly, as if drained of energy and walked to the coffee pot. She turned it on and stepped over to the fridge taking out bacon and eggs. As she placed a frying pan on the small stove, my stomach grumbled again. I was relieved when she kept on talking. I so hoped she didn’t hear it. I’m such a weirdo.

  Ronan definitely heard the racket my stomach was making. His growled too and I knew he was hungry as well. He ignored it though and continued following the white Witch around the room with his eyes.

  Nevertheless it made me feel better. I may be a weirdo, but so was he I guess. I smiled a little at the thought.

  “Second, I want you to describe to me the Witch you saw. You said you hid under the bed and then what happened?”

  I was watching Sherry work competently around the kitchen. I tried to concentrate. It was like I forgot why I was there the minute she started frying the bacon and scrambling the eggs.

  Never mind, Ronan couldn’t possibly be this weird. I’m such a freak. The smell of the bacon was enough to make me salivate. Ew.

  “Um, I was under the bed and saw she was missing fingers. She waived her hand and the bed the boy was on was cleaned and so was he. His wounds seemed slightly healed too. But that could have been from me. I um, licked them. Like I did with Ronan the night we fought the Wendigo. I’m not sure who cured him.”

  “Hmm, dark Witches do not cure. That was probably you, though I am not really sure how you did this. Not even with your little Hound here. Werewolves are so secretive. Anyway this Witch, she did not even clean the bed. What you saw was dark magic working to hide and manipulate the squalor that the prisoner lives in. Whatever she took off the mattress will turn up somewhere else in the house. Probably that rank kitchen you described.”

  She turned the eggs with the spatula and the bacon sizzled beautifully. My mouth filled with saliva and it was all I could do not to drool all over the table. Yup, definitely a weirdo.

  “His wounds were healing though and he was clean.” There was a question in my voice. She had to have helped him. It’s what I saw.

  “Not from her. I cannot explain the boy healing. Like I said, Werewolves are secretive about their magic, though you would probably call it divine intervention. Either way, miracles or magic, I’m telling you though, dark Witches can only use their power for what the Demon allows. And Demons don’t do healing.”

  “You seem to know a lot about dark Witches for someone who is supposed to be a white Witch.”

  “Yes, well so do you for a supposed Hound of God.” She glared at Ronan and I kicked him under the table. Be polite.

  Sherry took out some dishes and scooped up plates of eggs and bacon. She placed one in front of Ronan and one in front of me along with forks. The third plate she placed down on the table I assumed was for her. It held half the food of ours. Great, we’re pigs and she knows it.

  She went and grabbed a bag of rolls and tossed them on the table along with butter, jam and a carafe of orange juice. Ronan sniffed his food and shrugged. I couldn’t smell anything other than the food and Sherry’s own cinnamon scent.

  “Go on now. It’ll get cold.” She brought back a mug of coffee for herself. Ronan picked up his fork, he bowed his head and said a quick grace. I copied him. Then we dug in.

  “Thank you, Sherry. It’s really very good.” She seemed pleased with the compliment.

  “Yes, well as you’ve probably guessed I dated Seff for a while and I know how hungry a Werewolf can be in the morning. You must take precautions to eat properly. It will give you strength and protect you.” I nodded and drank some juice. Fresh squeezed. Mmm.

  “Grazi, I wonder if you recall what the dark Witch smelled like?”

  “Yeah, um, you know, it was really weird. She smelled like rancid grape Kool Aid or cough medicine. You know the kid kind?”

  Sherry looked angry, her eyes turned a dark red and her hair seemed to move about of its own volition. Her perfectly manicured hand gripped her buttered ro
ll until it crumbled to pieces.

  “The Scarred Sisters. It is definite then. And you saw fingers missing from her hand. Hmm, probably Ursula. She is missing a nose as well or she would have smelled you hiding there.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Dark Witches must sacrifice parts of themselves to the Demons they wish to borrow power from. The Scarred Sisters is a coven of dark Witches who go beyond what a regular practitioner would deem responsible. Even those who follow the dark have their limits. But not them. They have brutally maimed themselves in order to contact the older, more powerful Demons. The scent you described, it is death and rot, and a very high sugar diet.”

  “But it was just a dream.”

  “No, it was more than that. I just want to be sure first.”

  “If you know something, tell us. Please.” I couldn’t believe Ronan said please to a Witch. Maybe the eggs were be-spelled or whatever he said to me earlier.

  “There are things beyond Witches and Werewolves, Grazi. This you and your Hound here must understand first. The Hounds of God have long since denied the goodness in things not like them. So to them all Witches are black magic users, all Vampires are evil and soulless, all Fairies are vile tricksters, and so on. But there is so much more to it than that.” I could see Ronan wanted to argue, but in the end he looked unsure of himself and remained silent.

  “Thousands of years of evolution and still we are blinded by fear, ignorance and prejudice. It is why there are still things like war, famine, and disease in this world. Terrible isn’t it? We can build weapons to wipe out countries, computers the size of a pinhead, rockets that can fly to Mars, but we cannot find a way to broker peace with each other. Supernatural or human, we are all still struggling with the concept of mutual cooperation and tolerance.”

  Sherry closed her eyes and took a deep sip of her coffee. Weird, it was still steaming. I imagine that was some magic on her part. I excused myself for the restroom and she directed me down to the spa.

  “The toilet up here is on the fritz. You can use the one in the shop.” I went reluctantly. I didn’t want Ronan to offend her while I was gone. He seemed busy eating another scoop of eggs and a buttered roll with grape jelly. Should keep him busy for a minute or too at any rate.

  I thought about all of the things I had just found out. But if they weren’t dreams how was I visiting that boy? OMG! Is he real? Is he suffering right now while I eat eggs and bacon?

  I felt sick to my stomach at the thought. I washed my hands and made my way back through the shop stopping to look at some new shades of nail polish. Ooh, Angela would love the dark green one. Mental note to tell her about it.

  I walked silently through the hallway that led to Sherry’s apartment. It was peaceful hear. Relaxing. Maybe a spell to put customers at ease? I inhaled and smelled lavender and rosemary oils. Maybe it was just aromatherapy put to good use.

  I headed towards the stars. I may be new to being a Hound of God and there was much I didn’t understand, but I couldn’t believe Sherry was bad. She was right. Things were not that simple. I paused when I heard Ronan’s voice.

  “I know that the things Maria can do, I have never heard of before. My ma writes me emails. She says some are talking about it back home. There are those who think the prophecy is coming true, they are afraid.”

  “Ah, yes the prophecy,” Sherry’s voice took on a dark quality. It gave me shivers.

  I strained my ears to hear. Finally. Some answers.

  “‘Against the dark ones to unite them; The Wolf from the West will rise; Enemies, friends to war; Who seeks truth with closed eyes; And God in His Heaven; While empires burn; Light within dark; The rebellion ends; the Wolf destroys all; And new dawn begins’ Only an excerpt remains and still they tremble. And what do you think little Hound? If she is the one, will they accept it? Will they welcome her? To change their entire world. Or will Maria be imprisoned, mutilated or worse?”

  “I’d die first.” Three short words.

  That’s all he said, but my heart stopped. He meant it. He’d die for me. I didn’t know what to say. How to respond. But he wasn’t looking at me to respond. He was talking to Sherry.

  The Wolf from the West? It could be anyone. It didn’t have to be me. It sounded like nonsense. A lot of it. Light within dark? Rebellion, from what? I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

  I took the stairs heavily. He would hear me coming then and I’d play it off like I hadn’t heard what he said. It’s not like he’d ask.

  We left shortly afterwards and I thanked Sherry for her help. When I got back home Nonna was just waking up.

  “Buon giorno, bella.”

  “Morning, Nonna.” I kissed her on the cheek and went to pour some juice. I was pretty full from Sherry’s house, but I knew she would expect me to eat. Since my change that was pretty much the one thing she could count on. My incredible appetite. She placed a bowl of oatmeal, four hardboiled eggs, and sliced fruit in front of me. I exhaled and tucked in.

  “You know, you’re birthday is on Thanksgiving this year, Grazi. Isn’t that nice? We can make a big chocolate cake for afterwards along with the pies and tiramisu, si?”

  “Is it? Cool.” My birthday. Hmm. I hadn’t even thought about it. Julianna had a huge party when she turned sixteen. Once of those ball type thingies. I pretended to be sick that night so I didn’t have to deal with the humiliation of being excluded at the party. Nonna didn’t make a big deal out of it though I’m sure she knew I was fibbing.

  I definitely wouldn’t be having one. A big party that is. I found it amazing how things like not being invited to parties and stuff like that had ceased to matter to me. Now all I could think about was that boy from my dream. And being a Werewolf. And Angela and Sebby. Okay and Ronan too. So I’m not really above all the teenager hoopla. I guess I’m just more selective now.

  I ate quietly and after rinsing my dishes and utensils I returned to my room. There was an email alert on my computer and my phone was ringing. I looked at it. Unknown. It could only be one of three people. No one else had my number. I picked it up.

  “Hello.”

  “Is this WolfGirl2014?”

  “Who wants to know?”

  “You contacted me, girl.” I didn’t recognize the voice. It was deep and accented. His manner of speech was old. I knew who it was.

  “SilverWolf.”

  “Not on the phone. If you want to talk meet me at Ninth Street Espresso in Chelsea Market in two hours. Bring Chaney, no one else. Capisce?” Did he seriously just say that? He hung up before I got the chance to ask. I called Ronan right away. He picked up second ring.

  “Maria?” He sounded tired. Maybe he was napping.

  “Yeah, I need you to come here.”

  “Right.” Funny he didn’t even need an explanation. I called, he ran. I’d think on that later.

  After explaining to Ronan the phone call, we got on a bus to the New York City Port Authority.

  “I don’t know Grazi, maybe we should let Sean or even just Dimitri know where we are headed?”

  “He said to only bring you. I don’t want to spook him. After what Sherry told us I think we better gather all the information we can.”

  “Alright then. I’ve always wanted to go to Chelsea Market anyway.” Thirty-five minutes later we were getting on a subway for our meeting. Two stops over and we headed out of the musty terminal and walked the few city blocks to seventy-fifth street and ninth avenue.

  “Since we’re going to be early, how about we stop at the Creperie?”

  “Really?” I was distracted by the enormous brick building, the sounds around us, and the thousand smells invading my senses all at once.

  “Oh yeah, you better believe it. I’ve been dying for a Nutella and banana crepe. Dimitri’s one hell of a cook, but his crepes need work. Don’t tell him I said that or he’s liable to never feed me again.” Ronan seemed to notice my agitation and he put his hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes.

&nb
sp; I couldn’t help it. The crowds thing again. My Werewolf senses still needed some getting used to.

  “Hey, I’m with you. Just breathe and count to five. Only focus on what you need to. I’ve got your back, Maria.” We inhaled and exhaled, and counted to five together. My Wolf was contented again. I breathed easier by his side.

  I hadn’t realized it, but I was about halfway into a panic attack before he calmed me down. I wondered how Werewolves lived in cities. There was so much stimuli to take in I was completely overwhelmed. Ronan ordered his crepe to go and munched on it in the hallway. Four bites and gone.

  “Hey, you got a little, you know. Oh never mind, come here.”

  He stopped and tried wiping his face, but he missed the smear of Nutella and powdered sugar. I used my thumb and wiped it off for him. He stilled my hand and kissed the Nutella off. A smile on his face. Um, okay. I admit it felt nice. I got a little shiver down my back from that tiny kiss.

  We wandered the crowded mall for a few minutes before coming to the coffee shop. It was very different from what I expected. The menu was quite small, but the rich scent of fine espresso permeated the air. Clearly quality and not quantity was their motto. I could so get behind that idea.

  I noticed a man sitting against one wall. A large cup of steaming coffee sat in front of him. His head was down and his posture appeared casual. But I’m a Werewolf and I could tell he was tense. His position against the wall was defensive.

  He clearly didn’t want any surprise attackers. He had a view of everyone entering and exiting from where he sat. Bingo. Werewolf. Or special ops guy. Either way that had to be him.

  I tapped Ronan on the arm and he focused immediately on the man. Tattoos marked his body from his neck down his arms in full color sleeves from what I could see. I wondered if there were more.

  The most prominent tattoos I could make out were of a red Fleur de lis topped cross that looked like a dagger on his right forearm and another similar to Ronan’s Celtic cross, only smaller, marked his neck. Others were various symbols, crosses, fish, moons, stars, and some words in various languages.