It gets better. The 12 acres I own back right into Bradford Woods. A lot of space to run and a lot of places to hide. And Reb and I knew them all.
When I was twelve, my dad and I had built a tree house in the middle of the acreage I kept. It was one of the reasons I hadn't been able to bear parting with that land. The tree house was special even then, but it had been modified over the years. It was camouflaged so well that a person would never find it if they didn't already know where to look for it.
One of its best modifications was a pulley system to lower a ramp, which could be activated even while in fur form. So the tree fortress was a haven to both skin and wolf in a chase. It lived up to being called a fortress, too. I had made a lot of tree home improvements.
From my house to Bradford Woods was a short half hour drive at best. It took us over two hours. We circled and backtracked our way, taking country roads where any other car in sight would be noticeable. On the off chance that a tracking device had been planted on the Jeep, I parked just under the cover of the trees and we hiked to our new home. If I hadn't been packing dog food, I'd have wolfed.
So many good memories here. I felt my resolve sharpen even more. If the Luparii wanted me, they would pay the price. I may not be able to take on a multi-level organization of assassins, but if I just got one of them, my life would have served its purpose.
My fort was small, maybe eight foot by ten. Most of it was taken up by a queen-sized twin of Reb's fuzzy yellow rug. In his own way, he'd insisted. Trying to sleep with a wolf who isn't happy with his bedding is impossible. In one corner was a rolled up arctic sleeping bag for those cold nights spent in skin form—usually only used while sleeping. Almost an entire wall was taken up by a huge trunk filled with supplies: blankets, candles, first aid kit, clothes. When shut, the trunk served as a table.
The short wall by the entrance ramp held a green metal rack, the kind you sometimes see in garages. It was packed with bottled water, canned meat, crackers, boxes of cereal—the kind I like to eat dry—and various other food stuffs, including a super-sized box of treats for Reb and now, half a bag of dog food, too. We would be good for almost a week without having to restock. If I could last that long on the meager supply of diet soda I had brought with me. Coming off a caffeine addiction is not a pretty thing.
Just to be on the safe side, I furred out and went with Reb on a patrol of our land. Everything seemed normal and just as beautiful as I remembered. Most of the trees had lost their leaves and stood stark against the dark blue sky. The ground was littered with pine needles and damp leaves from the small rainfall we had gotten the night before. Assured that our area was secure, we took a break.
To one who has never had the option of being a wolf, the woods must seem a very ordinary place. It isn't. If ever there was such a thing as magic, it was born in and lives in the forest. Trees represent the shape of all sorts of creatures, from short little stumpy dwarves to tall green elves, to colossal sturdy giants. Among all these wonderful fanciful thoughts, we ran. The damp leaves sent our feet flying and we fell, rolled and ran harder. Thank you, Creator, for making me a wolf.
After we had run ourselves to near exhaustion, we stalked a rabbit for dinner. Out of deference to Lilith, I made sure I ate at least a few blades of grass, too. Besides, it was good for my digestion. Then we headed for our tree.
Rebel ran ahead and pulled down the ramp, and we both charged up into the tiny home. I changed to skin just long enough to pull the ramp back up. That’s something, unfortunately, I hadn't been able to engineer so that a dog could do. Back in wolf form, I snuggled with Rebel on his rug. Tired, well fed, and content, we napped.
"You're just going to lay there and sleep when the Luparii has issued you a direct challenge?"
The only bad thing about being a were—if there was one—was that you can't hold your wolf form while you sleep. So I was laying there as naked as God made me before I started at the sound of a man's voice. In my fort. Some fort.
Reb was up on all fours, snarling, ready to defend my honor—and his for not sensing the man's entrance. Luckily for me, this freed up most of the rug, which I drew around me, covering at least part of me.
"Oh, calm down, Rebel. It is just moi," said the Trickster with a flamboyant hand gesture to cover his heart. "I'm simply checking in on my two favorite wolf Benandanti. Although I am wondering what your plan is, and how sleeping in broad daylight is part of it."
I glared at him, torn between grabbing my gun and blowing him away for his sheer audacity, and prying him for information about how he had found me. No one should know where I am. And there had been no coyote smell in the woods. None.
He smiled at me. "Not that I'm doubting your abilities or anything, but shouldn't you be working on getting the Luparii before they get you? And yes, I know that Rose and Lilith are working on finding them for you, but they aren't born trackers. After all, they're..." his voice trailed off, probably having been sworn to secrecy by Rose. Threatened into secrecy was more like it.
He tilted his head. Knowing the Coyote's ability for mischief, he was probably weighing how much trouble telling me would cause, and how much fun he could generate from it. I took my chance.
"They're what?"
"Not born trackers like wolves are," he said, grinning. Damn his coyote hide anyway. He had no intention of telling me.
"How did you find me? And more importantly, how did you get in here without us knowing it?"
"If I tell you, then can we get down to the business of finding the Luparii?"
I stared at him. "You mean now you're willing to help? What about all that neutral territory crap you gave us before?"
"It still holds. If I help you figure out who the Luparii might be, you can still use that information for good or evil. In the end, either path may be served. Not all Luparii are evil, you know. Some honestly believe they are doing God's work. Some actually do. There is the occasional Luparii hunter that questions whether or not all weres are evil. Maybe the one after you is like that...a protector and not a destroyer."
I thought back to the album on my kitchen table. The package that tied the assassin after me to the one who had killed my family. He was not a protector. My family were not killers, except for the occasional wildlife for food and even humans hunted for food.
"This isn't one of the good guys. Trust me."
He shrugged. "Like I said, could be for good or evil, but either way sure to be fun. For me, anyway."
The rug felt great in wolf form, but it was starting to make my skin itch. Reb had calmed down and was now eyeing the rug draped over me, sadly. In a sense, I was hogging his favorite chair. I'm alpha, so he wouldn't do anything about it but sit there and look at me with his huge sad eyes.
"Okay, I accept your help on one condition."
"You want I should turn my back while you get dressed?"
"No," I said. "I want you to leave while I get dressed. I don't trust you enough in the same room."
Trickster sighed. "I only look young, you know. Although I prefer the male body, I have seen the female form before."
"Yeah, but not mine."
"Wanna bet?" And he was gone. Reb jumped up at his silent disappearing act, circling the small room, whining and sniffing.
"No use, boy, he's gone...or he'd better be," I said to the empty air. I could hear the laughter that had started it all, but at least it was coming from outside. I rushed into jeans and a sweatshirt, accepting Rebel watching as the lesser of two evils. After all, Reb had seen my skin form before, back before I had known he was more than what he seemed.
Then I did something I thought I would not do even in a hundred lifetimes. I invited the Trickster in.
He sat cross-legged on the floor beside Rebel's rug. He had tried the rug, but Reb wasn't willing to share his bed with a stranger. I sat on the rolled up sleeping bag, with my back propped up against the wall.
"You know, a couple of folding chairs might make a nice addition to your decor."
>
"We don't get many visitors."
"Ah, yes." He nodded. "Well, back to matters at hand. Logic would say that we are looking for someone brought to Spencer by the wolf attack, right?"
I agreed.
"Except, technically, there was an alleged attack before the real one. Jimmy Riley."
I scrunched my forehead, thinking. He was right. "And Jimmy had been buried which would suggest a were as the killer."
Trickster nodded happily, the equivalent of giving his student a gold star. "So the Luparii may have been in town for days by now."
"But I just got the album today. Would they have waited that long?"
"Who knows? The main thing to remember is that we need to start looking at newcomers from that first Friday night, or Saturday morning at the latest...to give them travel time." He stopped, drumming his fingers on the wooden floor. "Now, who did we meet for the first time on Saturday? Someone new to Spencer, brought in by the attack? Probably a good tracker, at home in the woods..."
I swallowed, not liking at all where this was going. Now that he had planted the seed, my mind was racing to add the fertilizer and water.
Jed.
He had backed me up on the trail in the forestry. He had agreed that Ralph shouldn't return to the group on his own. Jed, who had also seemed relieved at Dunwood's possible scenario when the trail led to tire tracks. Jed, who had wanted me to move into the motel until he tracked down the wolf. Reb and I together were more than a match for any normal wolf, and Jed would have known that. Everything fell into place when you put Jed into a position of knowing just what we were after.
When you finally realized that Jedadiah Crowe was the Luparii assassin.
Chapter 17
I made one stop on the way to Spencer to drop Rebel off with Rose. He wasn't too keen on being left behind, but this just wasn't his fight. After dealing with Rose's anger over my abrupt disappearance and being lectured on never, ever doing that again, I was on the road again. I was outside of Jed's motel room within minutes, my .38 weighing heavy in my pocket.
Forcing a smile, I knocked on his door. I could see the curtains move as he looked out and gave him a little innocent wave. Hi, let me in. I'm just here to kill you.
He opened the door, smiling. "Well, this is a nice surprise."
"Well, it's a surprise," I said pulling out the revolver. My anger helped me keep my aim steady. Center of the body. Just like Daddy taught me.
"Put Maggie in her kennel." He hesitated, but then complied. I watched him carefully. "Don't think about doing anything stupid. What happens next depends entirely on you." Which wasn't exactly true, but might help me get some answers.
After latching her kennel, he turned to face me. No smile, now.
"I trusted you. I even thought about having sex with you." His eyebrows raised. "Yeah, well that ship has sailed, creep. You murdering bastard. My parents were decent, God-fearing folks. How can you call yourselves emissaries of God when you go around killing His wolves? How can you justify killing the innocent? We should be on the same side you...you...ass of an assassin."
"I have never killed an innocent." No denial of being an assassin.
"And I should accept the word of a confessed killer?"
"I have confessed nothing, simply stated a truth."
"Way to talk around the issue, Jed." I took a deep breath, steadying myself. I had to keep reminding myself he was a trained wolf killer. "How do you sleep at night, killing off your guardian spirits? Or was all that talk about you being wolf clan malarky?"
"I have never killed a wolf," he said, his voice low and quiet like he was trying to hypnotize me into putting down my guard. Being an assassin, he probably had guns and knives hidden all over his body. Well, in his clothing, anyway.
"Yeah, the Luparii are just God's army out doing good works, huh? All werewolves are evil creatures of Satan, right? Well, look at me. I pray, I believe in God, and I protect this town from evil. I'm on His side. His wolf. The biggest thing I've ever killed is a rabbit. I enjoy an occasional steak, but I've never killed a cow, a deer, or a person. Can you say the same?"
He stayed silent, looking down, then away from me.
"I thought not." I hesitated, but I had to know. "Was it you who killed my parents? My sister? Or another Luparii?"
"It was not me." He hesitated but remained silent. For some strange reason, I believed him, though I couldn't for the life of me explain why.
"So tell me this, just what does the Luparii say we are? Agents of Satan? Demons? Fallen ones? Beasts who seek the blood of children? What?"
"Pick one, it really doesn't matter. The beast has no ability to control its aggression." He met my eyes, and I could have sworn I saw tears. "The human may be a God-fearing person like you, Taz. But the creature they become is pure evil. Satan's hound, not His. I've seen them. Seen what they are capable of. You probably don't even know it's you."
"Don't know it's me? What a load of manure. Like my fur shape is some wild creature that I as a person have no control over? Taz Jekyll and wolf-Hyde? I'm not a skin-walker, Luparii." I growled at him. "I am Benandanti. But I don't suppose your kind know the difference, do they?"
He shook his head, rubbing his face distractedly. He seemed to be ignoring the fact that I was still pointing a .38 Smith and Wesson at him, which was starting to make me nervous. Furious and nervous was a dangerous combination in a werewolf. Especially one with a gun. That little voice in the back of my head told me to shoot him and run. After all, he did plan to kill me. I was no longer human to him. Just another crazy beast to kill.
My jaw tightened as my resolve grew. I raised the gun a couple of inches. Center of chest now, still good.
"Strip."
He blinked. Several times.
"What?"
"You heard me. Strip."
He didn't move.
"Look, I'm going to prove my point here," I said through gritted teeth. "But I refuse to get shot because you freak out on me. I've seen men hide guns in some pretty interesting places." Thank you, Mason. "So, strip down to your boxers, put your clothes on the bed, and step over to the sink."
He swallowed, then glanced over at Maggie's crate. She stood at the door, looking out at us with her head tilted in confusion. At least she knew I wasn't evil.
"Let her out."
Jed's eyes widened. "She's no danger to you. Shoot me if you have to, but leave her out of this."
I glared at him. As if I'd shoot an innocent dog. "If she's out, you moron, it'll be two against one when I turn into the demon creature you think I will. Surely the two of you could handle one little ole demon pup?"
He looked at me, then at my eyes, then back to Maggie. Moving in slow motion, he walked over to the kennel and opened the door. Jed motioned her to stay but left the door open. Then he just stood there, turning slightly red. Was he blushing?
"What are you waiting for?"
"I'm not wearing boxers," he said, the red spreading onto his face.
"Lucky me." In spite of everything, I had to smile. If he did freak out and get the drop on me before I could prove my point, at least my last sight would really be something worth seeing.
Seeing. Damn. I forgot my contacts were still in. If I changed with them in, I'd lose them, and these were my last pair. Should I survive the next few hours, I'd be needing them. Frustrated, I growled and Jed jumped and began to take off his shirt. From the look on his face, he thought I was losing it.
I motioned to the bathroom with the gun. "Undress in there. I need a minute."
I assumed he was grateful not to have to undress in front of me because with a last look at Maggie, he went in without protest and closed the door. Hurriedly, I took out my contacts and put them in the solution case I had in my pack.
While I was debating on changing to fur while he changed to skin, I realized I was no longer alone in the room. Whirling, I faced the Coyote, who stood just outside the bathroom door. "Now. Is not. A good. Time."
He smi
led, the devil. "Just thought you'd want to know the wolf-not-wolf is in the park."
The bathroom door had opened at the sound of a man's voice, but the Trickster blocked my view of Jed. "Who the devil are you?"
Coyote didn't move, still facing me with a huge grin plastered on his face. At least one of us was having fun. "It's just me—Roy. I came to let the two of you know that the wolf-not-wolf is out to play in the park. If you hurry, you may be able to stop him before he takes someone."
At that point, two things happened at once. The Trickster disappeared just as Jed, fully clothed with a rifle in hand pulled the trigger. To give the man credit he had only said he'd never killed an innocent.
He'd said nothing about shooting one.
Chapter 18
The first thing I became aware of was a powerful thirst. My tongue seemed swollen three times its normal size and my lips felt parched to the point of cracking. The second thing was a headache at the back of the fog which enveloped my brain.
Gradually I came around to the point of opening my eyes, and slowly my brain functions returned. Every part of my body ached, but my right thigh seemed in more pain than anywhere else. I tried to focus my vision on my legs and found I couldn't move my head. I tried various other parts and found them non-functioning as well.
Moving my eyes as far as possible in each direction I found that I was in a bed in what looked like a motel room. With a wham, my brain sharpened around that last waking moment when Jed had shot me. The son of a mongrel had shot me. Desperate now to see the damage to my leg, I struggled more, trying to force my muscles and tendons to move as commanded. My face and head felt weird, constricted. It took a while, but I finally realized I couldn't move my head because it was muzzled. He had muzzled me. Worse, the cursed thing was attached somehow to the head of the bed.
Taking my time, I stretched and tried each muscle to see what freedom I had. By muzzling me and chaining it to the head of the bed, I was effectively trapped. Even if I wolfed out, I wasn't going anywhere, and without seeing how he had my legs and arms confined, it was possible to do serious damage to myself by changing. I growled, concentrating on my right thigh. It didn't feel wet or any warmer than the rest of my body, so the bleeding must have stopped. Okay, so I shouldn't be in danger of bleeding out. He must have taken care of that before leaving me like this.
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