“If I were you, I wouldn’t want to find out. I doubt healing is fun when you’re missing half your head.”
Winston bared his teeth. “You don’t get it, do you? Nothing can hurt me ever again—including you.” His voice was cruel and without compassion, as if he had willingly shed the vestiges of his humanity.
“Is that what this is about?” Ellie’s expression softened. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Winston, but there are bigger things happening than you and me. My mother’s life is at stake.” She lowered the gun. “You don’t have to do this. You can fight her control. I can help you.”
He growled. “Maybe I like being a werewolf. For the first time in my life, I have real power. Who’s going to make fun of me now?”
“Aristae’s toying with you! This is all a game to her. Do you think she’s going to keep you around once she gets what she wants?”
A flicker of doubt—and perhaps remorse—crossed his face. “You shouldn’t have come here, Ellie. Especially alone. Once night falls, there won’t be anywhere you can run.” He took a step toward her.
Ellie took aim again. “I won’t ask again.” At least her plan was working. She was using herself as bait. With Aristae’s attention on her, Alex and Matt—following at a distance—would be able to free her mother.
“I tried to warn you, Ellie. Follow me.” Winston led her farther away from the farmhouse. It wouldn’t be long before sunset. If she didn’t find her mother soon, the moon would appear, and Winston would become far more dangerous. “We’re close now.”
An old stone well lay past the cleared trees. A scream sounded from the well, and Ellie broke into a sprint. She pried the lid off the top and shone her flashlight into the depths.
“Ellie!” Her mother was inside. “It’s a trap.”
“You’re not supposed to be here,” a voice said.
Sarah.
Sarah’s voice was distant. Her eyes were clouded, and her words sounded mechanical. “Aristae told me to guard the well.”
Winston drew near, and the pair circled her. The gun hung uselessly in her hands. Ellie couldn’t bring herself to use it. Not on Sarah. She looked up at the red horizon. Her time was running out.
“Stay back!” She shot at the ground instead. That kept Winston away, at least, freeing her to concentrate on Sarah. “Sarah, it’s me—it’s Ellie! I know you’re in there. You have to fight it.”
Sarah seemed to struggle to remember. “Ellie? What are you doing here?” Her hands went to her head. “It hurts. I can feel her clawing inside my head.”
With Ellie distracted, Winston lunged. They struggled over possession of the gun, which slipped from her hand and landed out of reach. Ellie grasped at it, but Winston pulled her back with impossible strength, and his hands inched towards her throat. Alex and Matt were too far away to help.
A gunshot rang out. “Let her go!”
Winston’s grip on Ellie relaxed, and they both looked back to see Sarah holding the gun.
“I don’t want to shoot you, Winston, but I will. You’re not yourself.”
Winston snarled. “You don’t know me. Everyone thinks I’m a joke. Well, no one’s laughing now.”
Sarah’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, Winston. I was wrong.”
“You’re sorry!” He looked even angrier.
Sarah met his gaze and held it. “Yes.”
Winston gritted his teeth and moaned. “I can’t get her out of my head.” He growled and turned back to Ellie.
Sarah shot him in the leg.
Winston cried out and clutched at his leg. “You shot me.” Despite the pain, he sounded more himself.
“Be thankful I only shot you in the leg.” Sarah screamed suddenly, fell to her knees, and dropped the gun at Ellie’s feet.
Ellie threw her arms around her friend. “You saved my life. I knew you were still in there.”
Winston rolled around on the ground. “She’s coming. I feel it.”
Sarah whimpered. “Help us, Ellie.”
“I will. I promise.” Ellie scooped the gun from the ground. Aristae still hadn’t shown herself. Did she suspect Alex and Matt were waiting for her? “We don’t have much time. We have to get my mother out of the well.” Ellie squeezed Sarah’s shoulders and approached the well. “Mom, I’m going to throw the rope down to you. Tie it around your chest and we’ll get you out of here.” She tossed the rope to her mother.
“I’ve got it!” Samantha called from below.
“Ellie, something’s wrong.” Sarah started to shake. Dusk was approaching.
“A pity to come so close.”
Aristae.
“It appears the game is over before it begins.”
Ellie backed away. “Is it?” She glanced over her shoulder.
Aristae followed her gaze. “Waiting for someone? I’m afraid Alexander’s not coming.” Her teeth grew into fangs. “I’ve been at this far longer than you, girl. I left him in a pool of his own blood. Don’t worry, he’s still alive. I want to see if I can make him eat you alive.” Aristae stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. “There’s another scent. She didn’t come alone.”
A shotgun blast violently picked Aristae off her feet and took a sizable chunk of her abdomen. Matt, who had circled behind them, came running. Blood streaming from her gut, Aristae clawed at the ground, and her hand shot out and wrapped around Ellie’s ankle. Ellie reached into her pocket and jammed a syringe into Aristae’s neck.
Aristae’s eyes grew heavy. “You tricked me.” She released Ellie’s ankle and slumped forward. The tranquilizer was enough to do the job, at least for the time being.
Ellie glanced back at the well, where Sarah writhed in place, and saw Winston’s pupils disappear. “We have to get Mom out of the well!”
Working together, Matt and Ellie pulled Samantha up slowly. When Matt helped Samantha over the top, mother and daughter shared an all-too brief embrace.
“Your father—is he alive?”
Ellie nodded and squeezed her mother’s hand. “We have to go.”
Above, the last sliver of sunlight faded like a forgotten memory. A laugh rattled in the back of Aristae’s throat as the full moon revealed itself. “You think this is over? It hasn’t even begun.”
Together, they sprinted through the field as Winston and Sarah began to transform.
“Alex and I split up,” Matt explained.
Ellie quickened her pace. “Aristae got him.”
Matt reloaded the shotgun. “I left the horses hitched to a shed near the cornfield. I figured the werewolves couldn’t smell them from that distance.”
Samantha looked confused. “Horses?”
Ellie offered a weak smile. “We found them when we came looking for you. It was my idea to take them with us in case we had to make a run for it. They should be fast enough for us to outpace the werewolves and get back to Matt’s cruiser.”
Howls sounded behind them.
“Run!”
Ellie caught sight of a gray werewolf pursuing them, and Matt pivoted and fired at it. The second werewolf appeared behind the first, quickly picking up speed. “This way!” Ellie ducked into the cornfield and slipped between the rows. “We’re close!” She glanced back and saw trampled cornstalks moving where the werewolves followed.
A growl came from nearby, and the stalks parted as a werewolf leapt at Ellie. Matt blasted it away with his shotgun, came to a stop and stood his ground. “Go!”
Ellie and her mother fled through the rows and emerged at the other side. The shed where Matt had hitched the horses loomed ahead.
“Ellie, look out!” Her mother jerked her back, and a claw missed her by inches.
One werewolf burst free of the cornfield at Ellie’s back. The other landed in front of them, barring their path forward. Moonlight glinted off the creature’s fangs as it came for her mother. Ellie shot it with her handgun. The bullet barely grazed it, and it turned on her with a roar.
Alex appeared out of nowhere and tackled the monster,
forcing it into a headlock. They moved so swiftly Ellie could barely keep up with their movements. Matt came crashing out of the cornfield and discharged his weapon directly into the second werewolf’s chest. Despite the beast’s best efforts to shake Alex loose, he held on and slit its throat with Aristae’s silver dagger.
Ellie took her mother by the hand. “Come on.”
The horses were almost within reach. The second werewolf knocked Matt off his feet and vaulted toward them on all fours.
“Go!” Ellie pushed her mother ahead and fired at the creature to get its attention. Her plan worked too well, and the monster came running at her. Ellie sprinted toward the woods, away from the others.
Ellie had only meant to lead the werewolf away from her mother, but now she was in the forest alone. Tree limbs cracked behind her, and Ellie was afraid to call out for fear of what might reply. A pair of glowing eyes appeared in the shadows, and Ellie stumbled forward and pushed deeper into the forest. The werewolf came out of nowhere. Claws grazed her shirt but missed her skin.
Before it could attack her, Alex appeared and stabbed the monster in the back with the silver dagger. He twisted the werewolf’s arm behind its back, snapped it out of place, and thrust the dagger into the creature’s chest. He ripped the blade free as the monster collapsed, convulsing under the fading moonlight. Clouds covered the sky, and the creature once more took the shape of Winston Henderson.
Ellie rushed toward them. “Alex, don’t kill him!”
“It’s him or you. I choose you.” Alex stopped as something moved in the brush, and he tensed, dagger at the ready.
Ellie nearly collided with the emerging figure. She jumped—startled—and found herself face to face with Sarah.
“Ellie? Where am I? I’m confused.”
Alex stepped forward, but Ellie shook her head. “Let me handle this. Sarah, everything’s going to be OK.” She wrapped her arms around Sarah, injected her with a second syringe, and lowered her to the ground. “Sleep.” She did the same to Winston.
“That won’t stop them for long.” Alex’s features were barely visible in the dim light.
“We should go.” Despite her mistrust, Alex had kept his word, and now safety was finally within reach. “We should get back to the others before Aristae wakes up.”
“That can wait.” His tone was different from before. Alex stepped into the light and opened his mouth to reveal a row of razor-sharp fangs glistening in the moonlight.
Chapter Twenty
“What are you doing?” Ellie took a step back.
“I’ve been alone for so long,” Alex said. “But we can change that—you, me, and your mother. We can be a family.”
“This is what you were after the whole time, wasn’t it?”
He smiled, as if attempting to put on the mask he’d shed earlier. “It’s for your own good, Ellie. Once I’ve turned you and your mother, Aristae won’t harm you. We’ll be a pack.” He reached out to her, but she recoiled from his touch. “Besides, once I’ve turned you, you’ll both be bound to me forever. I’m sure you’ll forgive me in time.”
“Like you forgave Aristae?” Ellie looked for somewhere to flee, but there was no way out.
“Think of it as a gift, Ellie. It will only hurt for a second. Then nothing will ever hurt you again.”
The full moon bathed the clearing in light. The gun shook in her hands. She wasn’t sure if there were any bullets left in the chamber.
“We both know you’re not going to shoot me, Ellie.”
“You used me, lied to me, and nearly got my father killed. And now this?” Ellie shook her head in disgust. “Was any of it real?”
That stopped him. “Of course it was.”
“I wanted to believe that you were good deep down—that the curse had turned you into something twisted and wicked. I was wrong.”
Ellie shot him point blank. She sprinted wildly across the woods, ignoring the stray branches scraping against her. Whatever his purported concern for her, Alex was consumed by darkness. Maybe he wasn’t pure evil, like Aristae, but he would carry demons with him for the rest of his life.
A red light ignited in the distance. Matt must have fired a flare. Ellie followed the light out of the forest. Sweat streamed down her brow and matted her hair to her face. Her muscles ached, and she felt herself slowing. You’re so close. Don’t give up now.
The barn where they’d found the horses stood within reach. Maybe she could hide there, catch her breath, and wait for the others. The farmhouse would be close, and Matt’s cruiser with it. Ellie stumbled into the barn and sank to the ground. It was all she could do to maintain her composure. How could she have been so wrong about Alex?
“You loved him, didn’t you?” Aristae stepped from the shadows. Her green eyes glowed with a malevolent light. “He broke your heart. I can see it in you.” For a moment, there was nothing predatory about her. “I know how it feels.”
“You’re a monster.” Ellie backed away reached into her backpack for the beaker with the hydrochloric acid.
“Even monsters get their hearts broken, girl. You’re afraid, yet here you stand. You’re braver than most. I’ll give you that.” Aristae moved like a blur and hurled Ellie across the barn, and the beaker landed on the floor. “Perhaps I’ll give you a quick death after all. Consider it a reward for a game well played.”
A shotgun blast reverberated somewhere outside the barn. With Aristae distracted, Ellie crawled to the beaker and poured it into the second container with shaking hands. Her timing had to be perfect. She wouldn’t get a second chance.
Aristae regarded her fumbling attempt with amusement. “What are you playing at? We’ve already established you can’t hurt me.”
When Aristae was close enough, Ellie hurled the mixture at her. Aristae screamed as aqua regia burned silver ions deep into her skin. The frothing liquid devoured everything it touched and stripped away the flesh underneath.
Hooves sounded outside the barn. “Mom?” Ellie ran from the barn and waved her arms to Matt and her mother. “Mom! Over here!”
“Ellie!” Samantha spurred her horse forward and held out her hand. “Take my hand.”
Aristae stumbled from the barn, her eyes blinded to the world around her. Her hair was gone, as was the entire layer of skin covering her once beautiful face. When the moonlight hit her, the damaged muscles began rearranging themselves as her bones enlarged, dislocating and rejoining. She threw back her head and howled as red fur covered her body.
Alex’s eyes snapped open. “Ellie?”
She was gone. He was alone.
His face lay in a pool of blood. Alex tried to move, but his body refused to respond. His fingers twitched uselessly at his side.
She shot me.
He had lost control again. Or had he? Hadn’t he wanted to bite her—to bind Ellie and her mother to him? That was his plan, to make a perfect family.
Alex managed to put a hand to his head. Part of his skull was missing.
A howl carried through the night.
Aristae. She would kill Ellie and Samantha just to spite him, all because—according to her own perverse logic—it would bring them closer together. Aristae was a monster driven by twisted and obsessive love, and yet, was he so different? He had told himself that he was doing it for love—but he had been willing to turn Ellie into a creature like him against her will.
He finally saw himself clearly. All this time, he had focused on himself. His heartbreak. His loneliness. It had been easy to blame his actions on Aristae, or the curse, but his choices were his own. His selfishness was to blame. That wasn’t love. Now they were in danger, because of him.
Slowly, he began to heal. Maybe—just maybe—it wasn’t too late to try to make things right.
Ellie clutched her mother tightly as the horse bolted away. Aristae’s green eyes glowed in the darkness as the werewolf sprinted toward them.
“Hold on!” Samantha jerked the reins to the right and jumped a fence without losing he
r grip. The farmhouse and Matt’s cruiser came into view. Behind them, Aristae smashed through the fence like it was made of paper.
Matt turned his horse in their direction and fired at Aristae. The shotgun hardly slowed her down.
Ellie stared at the cruiser. They’d never get there in time. “We’re too exposed!” She pointed at the woods. “The trees! They’ll cover us.”
Aristae leapt off the ground and landed in front of them. Time slowed as the horse reared and Ellie fell from the saddle. She hit the ground hard. The horse landed beside her, pinning her mother underneath. Aristae, far larger than the other werewolves, crawled over the squealing horse and sank her fangs into the mare’s neck. Blood spurted everywhere.
“Aristae, stop!” It was Alex.
No one moved. Ellie, unsure of his intentions, clenched her teeth. Matt brought his horse to a stop.
“It doesn’t have to end this way. I know what you want.”
When Alex drew closer, Aristae, still in wolf form, looked back and hissed at him.
“This is about you and me. Leave them out of this.”
Aristae watched him but made no move to attack.
Alex held out the silver dagger and let it fall away. “I know you love me. Let them go, and I’ll come with you. It’s not too late. We can start over.”
Aristae lowered her claw and seemed to consider his offer. Then Alex’s gaze moved to Samantha, who remained trapped under the dead mare, and Aristae’s monstrous features contorted in hate. Before she could turn on Samantha, Alex slammed into her like a blur.
Ellie picked herself up, hurried to her mother’s side, and worked to pry her out from under the horse. Aristae shredded Alex’s back with her claws. Alex’s eyes flashed amber, and as the moonlight washed over him, black fur covered his body, which twisted and grew. Both monsters leapt for each other, exchanging bites and scratches in midair.
Matt’s horse rebelled at the sight of Aristae’s rampage. Matt jumped from the saddle, rolled onto his feet, and fired his weapon to give them cover as Ellie and her mother staggered toward the woods. Alex moved swiftly, striking at Aristae several times in succession before she grabbed him, lifted him off the ground, and slammed him against the earth. He shook himself and pounced on Aristae, and they almost landed on top of Ellie. Aristae reached towards her with a claw, but Alex dragged his counterpart backwards, giving Ellie and Samantha time to escape.
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