Jonathan turned to face me and I was glad there was some distance between us. The dark look in his eyes gave them a glint I’d never noticed. With the last light of day surrounding him, he looked downright scary. “Are you sure? It’ll be here soon.”
I nodded and regretted the sudden move. The room swam in front of me but I couldn’t stay. “I’m sure. I just need to get some rest. Thanks for letting me nap here this afternoon.”
Jonathan didn’t say anything until I reached the front door. “Sierra, I love you. Don’t ever forget that. My door’s always open for you, no matter what.”
“Thanks,” I said without turning, and ducked out of his apartment. My heart thumped hard against my chest and I couldn’t understand why. When the scent of pizza filled the wide corridor around me, I raced for the elevators in the opposite direction.
Woozy or not, I realized Jonathan was now the one hiding behind his job.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Several hours later, I threw myself onto the swivel chair in my office. This time the exhaustion wearing me down was from work.
The afternoon’s effects had been cured with a quick stop to Monster Coffee Break. Nothing like the mixture of sugar and bad coffee to make the lightheadedness fade from your system. Washing everything down with a few headache tablets had also helped the situation before a bit of spook catching.
“Phew, that was a hard night’s work but very productive.” Ebony held up the bag filled with four spook canisters. She’d caught three out of the four. Not bad for someone who’d struggled with her talent only the day before.
“Sure was,” I said with a proud smile. “You did great out there.”
Her beaming smile didn’t falter. “Thanks. It was awesome to finally cross over with you!”
“Congratulations, you’re certainly on your way now.”
“Thanks for believing in me, Sierra.”
I leaned back into the chair. “I’ve wanted to share the workload with you for months. I should be thanking you.” Maybe now we’d be able to catch up on our outstanding case files a lot faster.
“Oh, don’t let me stop you. Thank away,” Ebony said with a cheeky grin. “I’m going to lock these canisters away.”
I watched her go about the business of shoving the bulging bag into our small safe and setting the code again. I wasn’t sure if it was secure to leave them there overnight, but it was better than lugging them around as I’d done with the others.
Of course, she didn’t know the real reason I’d dragged her to the office at one o’clock in the morning. I wanted to see if Vixen dared to return. She was obviously after something Papan had access to, and would more than likely return to claim it.
It’s what hunters did.
Ebony headed back to her chair. “Is it just me, or are those things getting heavier?”
“It’s probably just you.”
A loud thump from upstairs made her jump. I was glad she’d already locked the canisters away. The last thing we needed to do was accidentally release a ghost in the office building.
“What the hell was that?” she whispered.
Someone was in the office above ours—Papan’s office. So I was right. Vixen had returned, how predictable.
I got to my feet and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To check it out,” I said.
“What—are you some bimbo in a scary movie? You never head towards the noise. Let’s get the hell outta here.”
“It’s coming from Papan’s office.”
“How do you know for sure? It could be anywhere up there.” Her eyes were wide and she was shaking a little. “And if it is in his office, so what? You’re not a cop.”
“Listen, you finish up here and get out.”
“No way. I’m not leaving without you,” she said with a firm shake of her head. “I’ll call the cops.”
“No, don’t call anyone. Just lock the door behind me and stay put.” If Papan didn’t want to involve the police, there had to be a reason. I wouldn’t betray him.
“But, Sierra—”
“No buts, just do it…please.”
Ebony nodded and followed me to the office door. “Be careful, okay?”
“Always am. Lock the door as soon as I’m out.” I stepped into the deserted corridor and waited until I heard the tiny click behind me. “Get away from the door.”
Ebony’s shadow disappeared from behind the frosted window and I took a deep breath before heading to the next floor. The small staircase was located parallel to the window, so I paused to gaze at the full moon outside.
I took one careful step after the other, holding on to the banister as hard as I held my breath. I wasn’t wearing my squeaky sneakers.
When I stepped onto the landing, my heart sped up. Was it beating so loud that it would give away my approach? I wasn’t even sure if who I was dealing with was Vixen. This was a totally insane thing to do. With all the crazy shit going on in my life, who the hell even knew what kind of trouble Papan could’ve gotten himself into? Why was I involving myself in it?
I had a sneaking suspicion the answer wasn’t something I wanted to face right now.
As I approached the office directly above mine, I noticed the door was wide open. Actually, it was hanging solely by the top hinge. The small glass panel was completely gone, leaving jagged edges around the top and bottom corners.
No conversation spilled from the room, just the muffled sounds of a struggle followed up with thumps against the walls.
As I was about to step into the office, a chair was thrown out of the doorway. I jumped out of the way just as it slammed and cracked into the wall where I’d been standing just a few seconds ago. What the hell was going on in there?
A gunshot pierced the silence, followed by shattering glass.
No use in prolonging this. I closed the distance in two steps, rushing inside and staying close to the wall to make sure I didn’t get knocked out by another flying object. Or shot.
I pressed my back against the wall.
The scene that greeted me was not what I’d expected. The small amount of furniture Papan possessed was strewn around the room, in pieces. Nothing was left standing. Even his small filing cabinet was a ruined mess of metal. Papers littered every corner.
Among the mess, Vixen stood proud with her tightly braided hair trailing behind her. The darkness of her leather outfit gleamed against the small amount of light weaving in through the windows behind the splintered desk. One of them was smashed.
She was pointing her gun at someone.
“Vixen,” I called.
She glanced over her shoulder, holding her pose. “What the hell do you want?”
“I’d like to ask you the same thing.”
“Just turn around and get the hell out!”
I shook my head. “No way, this is my friend’s office you’re trashing.”
“This has nothing to do with you. Just walk away and forget you saw any of this. Your friend isn’t who he seems. Now get out!” Vixen yelled, turning her back on me and shooting the other window. Glass shattered everywhere.
My ears rang, while I strained my eyes trying to see who she had cornered.
The stench of sweat mingled with dog fur assaulted my nose and a howl tore through the office.
What did she know about Papan the rest of us didn’t?
“It’s not his fault if he was hired by a werewolf,” I said. A stab in the dark was better than nothing.
Vixen half turned, amusement burning in her eyes when she looked at me. She cackled like a witch in a cartoon. “Right, so that’s what you think is going on? You think I trashed his office because I’m trying to track down a werewolf client of his?”
I nodded. What else could it be?
“You’re so naïve and stupid. You claim not to know any of these creatures exist, yet one of them works out of an office right above you.”
“What’re you saying?”
Sh
e rolled her eyes. “The werewolf’s not a client, it’s Jason Papan.”
My heart stopped for a second. Had I heard her right? No! It couldn’t be. I was just so tired and my ears were still ringing, so I hadn’t heard her right. “Stop messing with me. Papan’s not a—”
“Fox, it’s true. Get out!” Papan’s familiar rumble yelled.
“No. I can’t leave you with her.” My pulse quickened. If Papan really was a werewolf, Vixen was going to shoot him. I couldn’t let her kill him. Not Papan.
“Go, Fox!” His howling was deeper, scarier.
Vixen raised her weapon and the silver barrel glinted in the dark. “You heard him. He knows it’s time to meet his destiny. So just walk away and let me finish this.”
I took a couple of steps forward. “You can’t kill him. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“It’s my job to kill these furballs. I don’t tell you how to do yours.”
“Has he hurt anyone? How can you bring yourself to kill someone just because they’re a werewolf? Is that all it takes? Papan’s never hurt anybody!” I had no idea what he did when he was in human form, let alone a werewolf. Papan was a werewolf?
Vixen turned around. The large gun in her right hand sat at her side. I had no clue about guns, but this one was huge. If mythology was accurate, I was positive she had a barrel full of silver bullets. She looked at me as if she wanted to put a bullet in me, just to shut me up.
“You don’t know what these werewolves do when they change. You haven’t seen firsthand how they can tear a person limb from limb and then devour the evidence until they just become another missing person to add to the ever-growing list, another that’ll never be found.” Vixen paused with a glimmer of sadness in her eye. “This guy’s killed before. I know because I’ve been stalking him for several weeks now. He’s as much of a monster as the rest of them and needs to die.”
“No!” Papan yelled. “Lies.” An ugly popping noise, which sounded suspiciously like bones, echoed around the room.
“Vixen, please, there has to be another way.”
She shook her head. “The only way is a bullet through his brain.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“And how you gonna stop me?” She raised the gun.
I had no idea how to stop her from killing Papan. She was a werewolf hunter—it would probably take one shot to pin him to the spot. I averted my gaze to look at Papan, on his hands and knees with his spine convulsing. His eyes shone in the darkness, staring directly into mine.
“Sierra,” he whispered. His face looked different—a snout was stretching outward.
The sound of my first name coming from him made me feel strange. He hardly ever used it.
Vixen pointed the gun at my chest while Papan was slowly transforming. His arms stretched and his spine arched in an unnatural way. His clothes tore off his body and a tail appeared out of nowhere as every inch of his human body extended and convulsed. Fur sprouted from his body as quickly as the claws scraping away at the floorboards.
It looked like a painful process but it was over sooner than I’d expected.
Vixen caught my expression and turned her attention back to him, re-aiming her gun.
It was too late.
Papan’s transformation was complete.
Vixen fired another shot but it missed him.
Papan, now a shaggy, cream-colored werewolf, pounced high into the air and leapt over Vixen. His massive paws touched down against the floor just in front of me. He might have transformed, but the eyes staring into mine were still his.
He inclined his head and raced out the door.
I followed him, but by the time I reached the corridor, Papan had already run the length of it and vaulted out the window, leaving another shower of shattered glass in his wake.
Those amazing-colored eyes suddenly made sense. I caught my breath, wishing I’d had longer to stare at the beauty of the wolf he became during the full moon.
Vixen pushed past me, firing several shots out the window as she ran towards it. She stopped in front of it and dropped the arm holding the gun beside her hip. She hung her head and sighed before returning her attention to me.
She walked over slowly, every movement fluid in the stifling tightness of her outfit. Her face held disappointment, which turned to anger. I half expected her to strike me.
“You had no right to do that,” she hissed. “I should make you pay.”
“Why would you want to kill such a beautiful animal?”
She shook her head. “They’re not just animals—”
“He looked just like a wolf.”
“They’re all monster.”
I shook my head. “He didn’t look like a monster to me.”
“I’m going to make you pay, ghost girl.”
The weapon was still clutched tightly in her hand but I stood my ground. Even when Vixen stepped into my personal space and looked down at me like I were an insect she wanted to squash, I kept my cool. The speed of my heart was another story, though.
“Anna, is that you?”
Vixen froze. Her braid whipped my face as she turned towards the voice and hid the gun behind her back.
My heart was settling down but my ears were still ringing from the fired shots.
“Oh my God, it is you!” Ebony raced up the stairs.
“I thought I told you to stay put,” I said without any authority. Most of the danger had faded and now I felt weak again.
“I heard shots and wanted to make sure you were okay.” She kept her gaze glued on Vixen. “What’s going on? And why are you dressed like that, Anna?”
Vixen didn’t say anything. Instead, she holstered her shiny silver gun, took a small breath, and rolled her shoulders. A tiny smile stretched her perfectly lined lips. “Hey, Ebony, I didn’t realize you worked here.”
“Sure, this is my boss.”
Vixen’s eyes narrowed as she glared at me. “Oh, it’s all starting to make sense. This is the annoying moron who’s holding back your potential. It figures. I don’t know how you put up with her. I’ve only met her a few times and I can’t stand it.”
Had Ebony actually said that about me or was Vixen exaggerating because she obviously didn’t like me? Now that I’d ruined her chances of killing Papan, I had no doubt I’d ended up on the top of her least-liked list.
I glared at Ebony and asked, “How do you two know each other?”
She offered me what looked like an apologetic smile. One that confirmed she’d been badmouthing me. The ungrateful, little…
“We met at the Church of the Goddess. And for the record, I said those things about you a long time ago. Y’know, before we became such good friends?” Ebony’s smile widened and she batted her eyelashes at me.
I ignored her and turned to Vixen. “I never would’ve placed you as someone who worships Mother Nature, or whatever it is you guys actually worship.”
“Of course I worship all that the Goddess put on this Earth—it’s the reason I do what I do.”
“Right, so you worship everything but wolves?”
Her glare deepened.
“I’m confused,” Ebony said. “You work as a librarian because of the Goddess?”
I stifled a laugh. “You’re a librarian? I hope you don’t dress like this when you’re sitting in the library, you’ll probably scare all the real readers and attract the majority of the male teenage population.”
Her hand poised over her holster.
“Anna never dresses like this.” Ebony stepped between us. “Why are you dressed like this now?”
“This is how she’s dressed every time I’ve seen her. And I know her as Vixen, the woman who hunts werewolves. Not some innocent librarian who worships the Goddess once a week.” I took the liberty of spilling as many beans as I could. Ebony obviously knew this woman in a very different guise.
“No one worships the Goddess once a week. It’s a devotion that spans—”
“Whatever, you’re a
werewolf hunter by night and librarian by day—how do you keep up with your dual personalities?” I teased.
She glared at me, opened her mouth to respond, but Ebony beat her to it. “But you look like a pretty little Stepford wife every time we meet at the Church.”
“I can’t turn up to work dressed like this, now, can I?” Vixen spun in a circle to parade her tall, perfectly toned body. “Besides, there’s nothing Stepford about me, Ebony. I’m not married. I don’t even like men, if you know what I mean.” She winked at her.
“I…oh, forget it! Were you shooting at Sierra?”
“No, she was shooting at Papan,” I said.
“Papan? Why would you be trying to shoot him?” Ebony looked even more confused now.
“You know him too?”
Ebony put her hands on her narrow hips. “Sure I do. Why were you shooting him?”
“Because he’s a werewolf, but thanks to your little boss here, he got away. It’s a full moon tonight and he’ll no doubt need to feed. If he mutilates another body, it’ll be on your conscience.”
Ebony’s jaw dropped as she stared at me in disbelief.
Chapter Twenty-Three
By the time I stepped out of my gigantic car, the sky was starting to lose a little of its dark edge. The cool morning breeze caressed my clammy body but didn’t ease the insane barrage of thoughts inside my head.
Papan was a werewolf. Vixen was a librarian who preferred the company of women, and considered all wolves to be evil. Jonathan was keeping things from me. And the man I’d always believed to be my grandfather really wasn’t.
My life was all screwed up and all I could think about was collapsing into bed. I wanted to go to sleep and wake up to none of this.
Ebony and I had spent several hours talking things over, but the only conclusion we’d come to was that both of us attending the hunter meeting was a good idea. Personally, I couldn’t shake Papan out of my head. The way he’d shifted, the look he’d given me before he raced off and shattered a closed window to run into the night. I couldn’t help but wonder where he was right now, what was he doing? I found it hard to believe that during every full moon he trolled the streets looking for humans to devour. It just didn’t fit.
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