Claire de Lune

by Christine Johnson

  Matthew pushed away his plate. “God, I’m sorry he’s such an ass.” He looked at Claire. “I can’t believe you stood up to him like that. Everyone else just buys his crap without even thinking about it.” Admiration shone in his eyes.

  “Buyer beware, right?” Claire grinned. Tonight was going to be her night. Matthew was furious enough with his father that she was sure she could convince him to show her where the lab was. Once she knew how to get in, all she had to do was figure out how to sneak her mother out without being seen.

  Maybe once she got her mother back they could start their own pack, just the two of them. Let Beatrice and Victoria clean up the mess Zahlia had made. Her mother shouldn’t have to sneak around doing the work that their Alpha was too scared to do. That was the only reason she’d gotten caught, after all. If Beatrice had kept Zahlia in check, her mother never would have been captured.

  “Ready to go?” Matthew asked.

  Claire nodded. She blinked hard, clearing her head, and followed Matthew out to the car.

  They drove around aimlessly while Matthew ranted about his father. Claire’s senses strained as she tracked his scent, his expression, the way he held his body. Carefully, she fed his rage, using little comments and almost unnoticeable gestures. The last thing she wanted was for him to think that she was egging him on.

  “It’s just ridiculous!” Matthew pounded the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. “I mean, you should see this wolf, Claire. It’s the most gentle thing—I know it’s an animal, but, dammit, there is nothing evil about it!”

  Her surge of adrenaline was strong enough to be painful. This was the moment.

  “I wish I could see it,” she said softly. “If it’s really as gentle as you say …” An image of her mother ripping at a newly dead deer flashed through her mind. Well, she’s gentle where people are concerned, at least.

  Matthew turned to her, his eyes ablaze. “You can!”

  Success leapt through Claire. “Really?” She kept the excitement in her voice to the tiniest glimmer.

  “Yes. Dad’ll be busy with the freaking media for hours, and no one goes to the lab at night, anyway.” His face turned serious. “You’d have to swear never to tell a soul that I took you.”

  “Of course,” Claire said.

  “Okay.” Matthew’s grip on the steering wheel turned purposeful. “It’ll only take us about ten minutes to get there. My dad”—he snorted—“hates long commutes.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  THE BUILDING LOOKED exactly the same as the ones on either side of it: a long stretch of cinderblock, punctuated with corrugated metal doors. Far above, a lighted sign announced to the highway self storage! first month free! Claire stared at Matthew. In the eerie light of the mercury lamps, his face looked drawn.

  “Why are we here? Isn’t your dad’s lab at the university somewhere?” She kept her voice to a whisper.

  Matthew shook his head. “He has two labs. That one’s mostly for show. He kept the werewolf there long enough for the news crews to get their shots, but then he and his lab techs brought it here. This is where he does all of his actual experiments and stuff. No one knows about it, except for him and the techs. And Mom and me, obviously.”

  Claire trembled at the thought of what must be going on in this building if Dr. Engle needed to keep it so secret. The two of them pressed against the damp stone wall, waiting, watching. On one side of the facility, the highway wound past in a concrete ribbon, but the other side was bordered by a copse of trees at the edge of a farm. Finding her way back here later would be easier than Claire had hoped.

  “No one’s going to catch us sneaking in, right?”

  Matthew shook his head. “It’s Saturday. Everyone leaves at five on Saturdays, and they don’t come back until eight o’clock Monday morning. My dad’s always going on about how Sunday’s a ‘day of worship and rest.’”

  We’ll have a whole day’s head start after I get her out. But all she could think to say was, “Oh, okay.”

  It was nearly impossible to be patient when her mother was so close. She had to do something to quiet the itching in her limbs. “So, which door is it?”

  The corner of Matthew’s mouth turned up. “All of them. He had the building converted. He rents this one, all the way down to the end. As long as he keeps sending the owners a fat check every month, I don’t think they care what he does.”

  Claire’s mouth fell open as she did a quick calculation. The lab was nearly a city block long.

  “Okay, I think we’re clear. We’ve gotta get down to the fifth door. The lock’s broken on that one, but no one knows it. When I say go, we run.”

  “Got it.” Claire’s breath quickened and she bent her knees.

  “Go,” Matthew whispered and took off at a sprint. He was no match for a werewolf, but the hours of soccer training showed in the way he ran. For a human, he was fast.

  He glanced back at Claire in surprise, one hand on the door handle. “You should go out for track,” he said, wrenching open the metal with a twist. “You’re wicked quick.”

  You have no idea.

  Claire grinned to herself as they slipped into the lab and the scent of her mother washed over her.

  In the darkness, the instruments glimmered like stars. No papers littered the counters, no school pictures stood next to the computer monitors—it was as bare and soulless as Zahlia’s apartment had been. Claire grimaced at the memory of the dog lying on the black wolf’s bed.

  “I don’t want to turn on the lights,” Matthew whispered, “just in case. Can you make it through in the dark?”

  Claire squelched an urge to snort. Her eyesight was good enough to read the brand names on the lab equipment. “Yeah, I’ll be okay,” she said. She could smell her mother at the far north end of the lab. Make an effort to seem human, Claire.

  “So, um, where’s the cage?”

  Matthew took her hand, and Claire cursed the little electric tingles that shot up her arm. This is not the time. I’m here to find my mother. I can ignore my hormones. She repeated it like a mantra as he pulled her clumsily through the lab. He made it so hard to focus. Standing up to his father like that made it difficult for Claire to remember that he would run away screaming if he knew what she really was.

  Claire’s breathing grew ragged when she spotted the silver bars of the cage at the back of the lab.

  Matthew peered over his shoulder at her. “Scared?” There was no taunting in his voice, just concern.

  Claire shook her head. “Just, uh, trying not to trip.”

  The cage came into full view and Claire struggled to keep from whimpering.

  Her mother lay curled up in the corner of the cage with her nose tucked underneath her tail. Misery shimmered around her like an aura.

  Without thinking, Claire took a few quick steps toward the silver wolf.

  A strong arm caught Claire across the chest. “Easy,” Matthew whispered. “I don’t want you to startle it.”

  Claire nodded and forced herself to move more slowly. In her human form, she couldn’t communicate with her mother silently. Marie lifted her head and stared straight at Claire for a moment before she slunk to the front of the cage and pressed her flank against the bars. Ignoring Matthew’s astonished gasp, Claire knelt down and pressed her forehead against the soft fur of her mother’s neck. The wolf whimpered too softly for human ears to hear. Hot tears leaked out of Claire’s eyes and dripped down onto her mother’s pelt. Claire stroked her mother’s haunches, feeling the bones underneath. On top of everything else, Dr. Engle wasn’t feeding her enough.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. Matthew was only a few feet away, so it was hard to talk quietly enough that he wouldn’t hear, and there was so much Claire wanted to say. “I’m going to get you out before the full moon,” she murmured, fighting off the dragging weight of her sadness.

  Matthew’s shoes squeaked on the linoleum when he finally walked up to the cage. “You really aren’t scared of anyth
ing, are you?”

  Claire looked up at him. “I’m not scared of this wolf,” she said. “I can’t believe anyone thinks it’s okay to treat her like this.”

  Claire mistook the astonishment that flashed across Matthew’s face when she turned to him. He’s surprised that I’m crying.

  “How—how did you know it was a female?” He knelt down next to her.

  Oh, crap.

  “I—I think I heard it on TV,” Claire stammered. Her mother’s ears pricked up, and Claire felt the muscles in the wolf’s side ripple in concern.

  “Really?” Matthew cautiously ran his fingertips along the wolf’s shoulder. “Huh. Dad really wanted to keep that secret. He’ll be megapissed if it’s gotten out.”

  “Oh,” Claire said. “Maybe I’m mixed up. I thought I’d heard that, but it must have just been a lucky guess.” Change the subject, change the subject! “Um, how many times have you visited it?” Talking about her mother this way when she was close enough to touch made Claire nauseous.

  “A few times,” Matthew said. “It took me a while to get brave enough to pet it like this, though.” While he stroked the wolf, Claire made the most of her night vision, looking for a way to get her mother out of the cage. The bars were solid—too solid to be harmed even by a werewolf in its prime. Obviously, or Mom would already be free. They have to keep a key around here somewhere. …

  Claire’s mother began to pant, and Claire could smell the hunger on her breath. “Is there any meat around here?” she asked Matthew.

  “You—you want to feed it?”

  “She looks hungry.” Claire used the word “she” carefully. The sooner she could get Matthew to see that the animal in front of them wasn’t a thing, but a feeling, thinking creature, the better.

  Matthew pursed his lips. “There’s food in the fridge, but my dad says if it’s fed too much, it’ll get bloodlust and they might not be able to control it.”

  “Do you think there’s a chance he’s wrong about that, too?” Claire stared at him intently. “Matthew, he’s starving her.” She got up and walked to the refrigerator. Let him chew on that one for a minute. Inside the immaculate fridge, test tubes and bottles covered the top rack, but the bottom two shelves were stuffed full of family-sized packages of hot dogs. Cheap hot dogs, Claire noted with disgust. She bent down and grabbed four packages of the food from the bottom shelf. After she pulled the other packages forward, it didn’t even look like anything was missing.

  Claire hurried back to the cage and knelt down in front of it. Matthew stared at her strangely while she ripped off the plastic wrappers and slid the meat through the bars. The smell of it hit her like a slap—it was no better than dog food. Her mother dragged the hot dogs to the back corner of her cage and gulped it down. The whine of relief that whistled through her nose as she ate sent desperation zipping through Claire. She couldn’t leave her mother here for one more minute, not with what Dr. Engle was making her endure.

  Claire looked at Matthew, her patience worn thin. “What?” There was more sting to the question that she’d meant to show.

  He leaned back. “Sorry. It’s just—I didn’t expect anyone to understand why I didn’t hate it—I mean, hate her. But you seem to feel even sorrier for her than I do. I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

  Claire ran a hand across her forehead. She really had to be more careful. “You told me she wasn’t dangerous,” she said. “And I trust you.” Flustered, Claire turned to ball up the trash from the hot dogs. It’s the truth. I do trust him.

  Matthew’s warm hand brushed her hair back from her face and he leaned toward her. Out of the corner of her eye, Claire saw her mother cock her head at them. Before he could kiss her, Claire ducked to the side and gave him a brief hug. There’s no way I’m kissing anyone in front of my mother.

  “It’s late,” she whispered. “We should get home before Lisbeth kills me.”

  “Oh, yeah, you’re right.”

  Claire could feel his confusion through the shift of the muscles in his back.

  “Thanks for bringing me,” she whispered. Claire pulled away from him and they both looked at the caged wolf.

  “We’ll come back soon,” Matthew said.

  Claire couldn’t tell if he was talking to her or to her mother. He started back to the door. Claire hesitated. She stared into her mother’s gold-flecked eyes.

  “Be ready,” Claire mouthed. “I’m coming back for you.”

  The silver wolf blinked and twitched her tail once.

  Before he could notice her dawdling, Claire followed Matthew back through the maze of equipment. If only she’d been able to find a key! It doesn’t matter. I’ll find it next time, even if it means that I have to tear this entire place apart. Which might not be a bad idea, anyway.

  Outside, Claire took long breaths of the night air. The disinfectant smell of the lab lingered in her nose. She turned to Matthew. “I wish everyone could see that.”

  He suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Yeah, but we can’t tell anyone, okay? I mean, I wish there was something we could do about it, but no one’s going to believe us instead of my dad, you know?”

  Claire opened her mouth, ready to disagree, when something moved at the far end of the building. She blinked and wondered if the tree shadows were playing tricks on her eyes. The security light showed nothing but a bare expanse of concrete and a chain link fence.

  But then, whatever was out there twitched again and a pair of yellow eyes flashed in the darkness. Zahlia streaked toward the fence, her blackness separating from the shadows of the trees. She was coming for them.

  Claire had always heard people say that certain things happened in slow motion—a car accident, a bad fall, the moment before a glass smashed against the floor. Each step Zahlia took registered in Claire’s mind like a photo. She could almost hear the snap of the shutter. Matthew had his back to Zahlia. He didn’t see her coming. Before Claire made her decision, she had time to register two separate thoughts: If he sees me change, his father will kill me. It was the second thought that was the strongest. Not him, not now. The moment those four words flowed though her mind, Claire threw off her clothes and burst into her true form. Please, she prayed, let him not have seen me naked.

  Without looking at his face, Claire knocked Matthew into the alcove of the lab door and bounded past him. Zahlia cleared the fence with one leap and landed in the pool of bluish light. Her head lowered and she laid her ears back.

  Claire mirrored Zahlia’s posture while a low warning growl rumbled in her throat. She tried to tell Zahlia to stop, but Zahlia acted as though she hadn’t understood. Her shoulders hunched under her dark fur.

  The cost of meddling is higher than you thought it would be, Young One. You will not stop me. You can’t. Zahlia growled, baring her teeth.

  Claire shook her head and whined as the noise filled her ears. That moment of distraction was all Zahlia needed. Behind Claire, Matthew let out a gasp as Zahlia charged at her.

  Claire crouched low and bucked hard just as Zahlia reached her. The black wolf flew over Claire’s back and landed hard on the pavement, but not before she managed to grab the very tip of Claire’s ear in her teeth. Claire spun around before Zahlia could attack again. Blood from her frayed ear dripped onto the ground below her.

  Zahlia glanced at Matthew, crouched in the doorway. You first, she said, baring her teeth to Claire. Then him.

  Claire slammed herself into Zahlia’s flank, her teeth snapping at Zahlia’s dark neck. Zahlia twisted her head away at the last second, and Claire was left with a mouthful of fur. The pavement rushed up at Claire’s snout as Zahlia spun out of her grip. Claire tucked her shoulder under and rolled hard. Zahlia’s claws landed where Claire’s eyes had been only a moment before. Leaping to her feet, Claire jumped hard and landed on top of Zahlia, knocking her to the ground. There was a huffing sound as the air rushed out of Zahlia’s lungs. Winded, Zahlia rolled over onto her back. Before she could get her teeth around the soft underside
of Claire’s belly, Claire slashed at Zahlia’s snout with her paw.

  The dark wolf let out a howl. Blood poured down her nose and ran into her eyes. Claire looked at Zahlia, blinded and defenseless, her throat exposed. She faltered, unable to complete the kill. Without thinking, Claire snapped her jaws around Zahlia’s front paw. She heard the bones crunch under her teeth. Zahlia screamed in pain.

  Claire heard a metallic clang behind her and whirled around in time to see the lab door slam shut. Matthew had barricaded himself inside the lab. Good. When she spun back to face Zahlia, the black wolf was already halfway through the open gate. She hobbled along, three-legged and blood-covered.

  Exhilaration flooded Claire. She’d stopped Zahlia, at least for a little while. Zahlia wouldn’t attack anyone with a mangled paw—she couldn’t. Mom will know what to do. The endorphins that surged through Claire started to fade. Her ear throbbed where Zahlia had bitten her, but it was nothing compared to the pain of realizing that Matthew had seen her transform.

  Now what do I do?

  Chapter Twenty

  CLAIRE’S FIRST INSTINCT was to hide. To go wait until Matthew left the lab and then find a way to free her mother. But if she could talk to him, reason with him, maybe he wouldn’t tell his father what she was. Just maybe he wouldn’t hate her.

  Pain surged through her when she forced herself back into her human body. Claire winced when she yanked her shirt over her damaged ear. She kept one arm wrapped around her sore ribs and limped toward the lab door. It was locked.

  “Matthew?” she called. “Please, let me in. I can explain!” Knocking on the metal door sent a stinging jolt down her arm. She’d been too focused to notice her injuries while she was fighting with Zahlia, but now they crowded around her, screaming for attention.

  “Matthew?” she tried again. “Please, just let me in. Everything’ll be okay, I promise. I—I won’t hurt you. I wouldn’t hurt you. Please, just let me in.” Claire’s voice broke and tears ran down her cheeks.