Pulling his face down for a long heartfelt kiss, Flora tightened her legs around his waist, holding his softening length inside as aftershocks rippled her sheath. “That was incredible,” she feathered kisses along his jaw, “but even more incredible, how did we get into my bedroom.” He just laughed and held her to his heart.
****
Lunchtime at the Farmington Diner wasn’t what Celena wanted, but she didn’t want to put Marc, Lora, or Flora out of a meal while they hashed things through. She hoped and prayed that her mother wasn’t on duty, but the effort was as futile as praying for the sun not to rise.
Dr. Tomas was sitting alone at the long Formica topped table in the center of the room. On busy days folks shared the table with anyone, but on slower ones large groups could claim it for informal meetings over coffee. He was nursing a cup of coffee as Celena and Madden sat down. She scanned the room and started to breathe a sigh of relief when Sandy Black stepped out of the server’s nook off of the kitchen. Celena felt an almost atomic shock pass through her body, it was her mother, but it wasn’t. Sandy’s hair was a darker color than she remembered, almost flax gold to her own white. Didn’t they have the same color hair? But the time-worn face was the same slightly squared pretty array of high cheek bones and pert nose that Celena had loved so deeply. There were more lines on her face and a few more pounds on her once spare frame, but it was definitely Sandy Black.
“Well, if it isn’t the wolfman clan and its star whore,” she sneered, slapping an order pad against a thigh. “Heard you were back in town missy, sniffing after your mongrel lover.”
“A pleasure as always, Sandy,” Celena drawled, pushing the menu aside, ordering her favorites from years ago. A cursory glance told her the selections hadn’t changed since high school. Madden was so tense that she would have sworn sparks of electricity snapped in the air, she rubbed the top of his thigh, urging calm. It hurt deeply that her mother had seemingly lost her mind. Not for the first time Celena wondered just when Sandy Black had lost touch with reality. Her behavior had been erratic as far back as junior high. The bell by the door jingled merrily and Celena knew from the contorted grimace on Sandy’s face that it must be Flora and Frank.
“Cunt,” Sandy hissed at Flora, and Celena surged to her feet, backhanding the older woman with icy disdain.
“Enough! It’s bad enough I’ve had to put up with your insults, you will not say another unkind word to anyone at this table.” The resounding smack had brought out another waitress, the line cook, and a few restaurant patrons. Without looking away from Sandy’s insane neon glare, Celena addressed the room at large, “This is a private matter, right, Mother?” Oh, the gossip mill would be raging tonight. Celena smiled sweetly and gestured for the younger waitress to take their order, dismissing the seething older woman.
Sitting at the table she flushed at the looks of astonishment on the faces of her lunch mates. “I probably should have done that a decade ago,” she offered lamely. Madden dropped his head into his hands, choking on laughter.
“If she has you arrested I’ll post your bail, Lena.” He wiped at his eyes. “Remind me not to piss you off.”
“I, uh, should thank you too, I guess.” Flora looked miserable. “But I think I really deserved that since I was stupid enough to sell her the wolfbane flowers in the first place.” She felt the weight of all the eyes at the table and flinched. Faunus supported her by putting an arm around her shoulders. “I didn’t know that they would do anything. The plant is poisonous even dried but not so bad as the seeds or the roots. I just thought--I thought maybe if I sold her the plants she wouldn’t be so nasty to Red all the time.” There, it was out in all its lame glory. The weight off of her heart and mind was incredible but she couldn’t bring herself to look at the condemnation that had to be on everyone’s faces.
“True.” No one was more surprised than Red at his agreeing. “There really wasn’t anyway you could have known that the flowers could be used as a weapon.”
Celena agreed.
“You studied plant pharmacology not occult sciences. Even if you knew the stories from the old myths, you had no way of knowing that they would apply.” Celena turned to Frank. “Those hides were Diana’s harts weren’t they?” His flinch was answer enough. “The whispers of their being hunted in the 1700s were true then. Is that why you emigrated here?” A terse nod was his answer. Lacing his fingers with Flora’s he leaned forward.
“I’ve some questions if I may?” he waited for Celena to relax back in her chair before looking at Tomas SaoBria. “So, this Faust woman seduced you, correct?” An inscrutable look and a nod answered him. “How did she come to have your pelt?”
“Nothing like being direct, eh? That I don’t know. My memory isn’t clear. Laura called and asked me to a hunter’s moon picnic dinner. It sounded really romantic despite the cold and the late hour. On Friday’s I work later hours traveling and visiting the farms so it worked out well, having a nice late dinner on her property. To make things convenient I decided to wait and check on Red’s horses last.
“It was almost ten when I pulled in at Laura’s but the lights were on and she was waiting at the front door with a big basket and a folded blanket. There was this hidden meadow she really wanted to show me. Seemed to take forever, but I guess I was tired and sort of impatient.” He shrugged sheepishly, “You know how that is.”
Celena quirked a brow at the knowing nods shared between the men. Leaning over, she whispered into Madden’s ear, “I realize you didn’t exactly live the life of a monk, but how many picnics did you go on in the last ten years?” Instead of answering he gave her an enigmatic look and kissed her pursed lips. Looking at Tomas with not a little exasperation she asked, “Do you think you could remember how you got to the meadow?”
“No, and I’ve tried. Even Red tried. He’s the one who suggested that the meadow might be in a time pocket the way the shed was.” Time-pockets? Madden hadn’t said anything about time pockets beyond a rambled mention the last night she managed to catch him on the phone.
“Stars and stones,” she whispered. Her mind tumbled over the possibilities as she jotted some quick notes. “What happened to your memory of the night?”
“Simple enough, Laura got me drunk on the world’s worst red wine. I laid out the blanket and she opened the bottle. I remember having a glass and thinking it tasted like something died in the vat.” His light brown eyes had a faraway look. “There was something gritty in it, I made to dump it out and she stopped me, said she added… I can’t recall the words, something to enhance the taste. The next thing I clearly remember we were both naked chasing each other around this stupid stump like drunken teenagers and I fell. When I fell, I changed. It was horrifying, I wanted to stop but,” he clenched his fists in remembered frustration, “I couldn’t run either I was so stupid drunk. Felt like I was burning all over, then I felt the knife.” Hands shaking he unbuttoned his shirtsleeves and exposed bandages at wrists and elbows. “Don’t know what kind of knife it was but everyplace she made a cut I still haven’t healed.”
Celena leaned over and with fresh eyes examined the wound on his wrist as the waitress scooted around the table dispensing drinks. A part of her mind wondered if the food was going to take as long to arrive and if her mother was responsible. The other side wished she had a microscope to examine the damaged layers of flesh. Looking up into the sad rum shaded eyes she knew he had beaten her to the process.
“We won’t need those lab tests I wanted, will we? Its epidermolysis bullosa, isn’t it?” Madden shifted at her side. “It’s the human form of equine EI. You’re a genetic carrier but the wolf side of your nature kept it back; wolves aren’t susceptible. There are lesions on your back and other places where the knife touched aren’t there? Junctional?” she asked gently.
“No,” he studied his coffee face set into haggard lines, “dystrophic.”
Celena gripped his hand. “It is still lethal unless we can figure a way to reunite you with your
pelt.”
The waitress returned carrying a tray of food. Without being conspicuous the men all sniffed suspiciously at the dishes. None of them looked reassured but there wasn’t anything threatening enough to keep them from eating.
Finishing his limp looking salad first, Faunus tossed down his napkin and asked, “Well, where do we go from here?”
The bells at the front door jingled merrily as the county sheriff walked in and dead-eyed the table.
Madden leaned back grinning, “I guess I get to accompany Dr. Black to the jail.”
“No, you do not Madden, quit being ridiculous. Sheriff,” Celena nodded, “if you would please have a seat for a moment.” She turned and rifled in her pockets dragging out that electronic wonder toy and a jumble of wires. Within minutes she had two separate state Representatives hassling a judge and the sheriff about the false allegations and systematic persecution of one Madden Silvestri. Sandy spoiled her rapidly collapsing case, choosing to emerge from the back room screaming profanities during the middle of a conference call with a state level judge. The sheriff merely raised his brows in surprise and escorted her from the building.
“That ends that particular nuisance,” Celena smiled smugly. “I sincerely hope they do insist she get professional mental help. But it also keeps us from knowing what she did or why or how Laura Faust knew her.”
“In the end Lena, we still end up at the jail.” Red tapped her nose. “Only this way I don’t have to fork over any cash to get your butt back in bed tonight.”
Chapter Fourteen
Braiding Loose Ends
Driving to the country prison, Red looked sideways at Celena as she sat pouring over the list of books that had been in the Faust woman’s library before the Sabine Group descended like locusts and emptied the house. He couldn’t imagine how she kept pulling all of the odd endings together and making these weird little diagrams of inter-connected triangles. It all fit together and made sense after she explained it, but at first blush, her reasoning seemed so off the wall.
“Madden, I found the book!”
“Honey, I hate to tell you but there were close to five hundred on that list, I’m not surprised you found one.”
“Smart ass,” she punched his leg, “No, I mean I found the book Laura Faust must have used as a guide for the ceremony she did with Tomas. I remember reading this about three years ago and thinking it had to be just a bunch of tripe. It’s an old book of Russian folksongs, one song is about a witch chasing a wolf around a stump and stealing his coat. By taking his fur, the witch becomes the wolf until she pulls the blade from the stump and reverses the circle.”
“Only problem, Lena,” he ruffled her hair affectionately listening to her outraged squawk, “the Faust bitch never changed shape; she wore it like a cloak.”
“Yes, I remember all of the accounts, but it still bleeds. I wonder if Tomas were to shift and don the cloak if it would retake to his body.” Her mind began figuring the amount of blood that would need to be stockpiled for the surgery to reattach the pelt. It would take a plastic surgeon and a huge team hours.
“No.” Madden gently but firmly interrupted her stream of thoughts. “There is no way I am going to allow my beta to risk his life on an experimental surgery. You know the rules; we can’t shift shape more than once a twenty-four hour period. If he shifts and it doesn’t work, he could bleed to death before he could change back.” He loved Celena but couldn’t risk the loss of someone as valuable as SaoBria, no matter his betrayal to the clan. Ashley had been right when she bitched him out, Red didn’t know if he would have done things differently if he’d been in the doc’s shoes.
****
Faunus and Flora were headed home, mulling over the different events when his cell phone chirped. He pulled to the side of the road and listened intently as Celena relayed her findings and notions on restoring the doctor. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that just because an antiquated spell in a book sort of worked, that the cure would be so simple. Looking at Flora, he agreed to try to find the meadow SaoBria had been led to.
“What’s with the sad face sunshine?” He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand snapping the phone closed.
“Celena was very nice, wasn’t she?” Her fingers plucked at the front of her sweatshirt. “She smacked her mom for calling me that word.”
“Sweetheart, somehow I got the feeling that sooner or later Celena had every intention of landing that nasty woman in the corner.” He smiled but she was lost looking out the window. “But, yes, it was very nice of her to defend your honor.”
“I haven’t been especially nice to her is all, kind of kept thinking of her as this nasty person who was going to break Red’s heart and leave.”
“Flora, everyone thought that because that is what everyone wanted to believe on account of her mother. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” He sighed, “May as well start looking for this damned meadow right now. Steer me, my navigator.”
She laughed and the mood in the car lightened as they headed toward the Faust property.
Driving up the graveled road, Faunus didn’t like the feeling the tree lined lane afforded. He felt…watched. Getting out of the car and walking up to the house the feeling only intensified, he turned and looked but saw nothing. He wanted very badly to drop the veneer of humanity and see what turned up but worried at exposing himself to an enemy.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, hands in her jeans pockets. Flora hunched her shoulders, she’d never really liked this farm it always felt creepy even as a kid. She looked at Faunus; he was pacing like an expectant dad. “This place gets to you, too?”
“Someone or something is watching,” he muttered just loud enough for her to hear.
Flora crowded close. She was not a hero; she had a plant nursery and cooked occasionally for her sister’s business. “You don’t think that they’re armed do you?” her eyes were wide as they darted around the house and fields.
He pulled her close, acting like they were a couple in love out for a stroll. After all, it was exactly what they were.
“They haven’t used firearms yet, have they?”
She nodded agreement and relaxed a small degree. “We’ll just have a look around, see what we can see,” he waggled his brows suggestively, “maybe we can even put on a floor show.” Her heart wasn’t into it when she aimed a weak punch at his shoulder but it made him feel marginally better that she relaxed long enough to glare.
“Let’s see, the good doctor didn’t say anything about flashlights so they had to have started on a fairly clear path into the woods. He did talk about walking through woods, and voila, there is a path in the woods.”
“Frank, how did you see that?” Flora pulled back and looked at him sideways before stepping hesitantly onto the path. “I’ve never seen this before,” she whispered looking straight up. “The trees are the wrong size.”
“What do you mean?” He looked around the small wooded glade. The trees looked pretty much like trees to him.
“The timber around the Faust farm had been harvested about the time Lora and Marc got married. There shouldn’t be a tree as big as that oak on the grounds.” She walked forward and placed her hands on the base of the huge tree. It was easily four feet in diameter, a rich prize for any timber crew.
“Well damn,” Faunus was not thrilled, “I guess I managed to find one of those annoying time pockets the wolves were so excited about.”
“But, how did you find it?” Her eyes loomed big in her face again.
He studied the ground and lifted his head, sniffing the air. “I don’t know, my little Flower, but our watchers are here, too.”
****
“What do you mean we can’t talk to Laura Faust?” Celena nearly yelled into the phone in frustration. Through the wide glass window separating her from the cops, sat a middle-aged bulldog of a man, scowling as his lips moved.
“There has to be visiting hours for prisoners at some point.” Red reached around her and pul
led the receiver out of her hand.
“Celena, come on, yelling at the desk sergeant isn’t going to get us anywhere. She isn’t allowed to see anyone but family and legal counsel because of the severity of her crime.” He hated having to repeat what the cop had just told her, but he didn’t need the aggravation of having her arrested for cursing at the police. Assaulting her mother, oh yeah, he’d pony up cash for that any day, but not for harassing a cop.
She looked like she was going to explode as he pulled her close, “I know how to use up all that energy.” He could feel the cop in the window watching and ignored him. There had to be a way to get to someone who had talked to the Faust woman.
When Celena called ahead a different officer had assured them that Laura Faust was eligible for visitors and was in fact meeting with her attorney and a family member. All he had to do was keep Celena distracted long enough to explain his plan.
Celena wanted to stomp on Madden’s foot or at the least kick him in the shin for being so damned patronizing. He’d never treated her like that before. She was on the verge of giving him a solid piece of her mind when the light went on in her head.
“I am such a blonde.” She sagged against his chest. He shook with laughter under her cheek but to his credit never vented it. She smoothed his shirt and shifted suggestively against the front of his jeans before peeking up through her bangs at his face with a naughty smile. “They shouldn’t be in there much longer, right?”
It was a good plan, Red reminded himself as his body hardened in reaction. Well, it was a good plan until Celena displayed a great affection for sexual play in front of an audience. Two could play at this game. He loved the way she felt so small and delicate in his arms, palming her elbows he smirked down into her gamine face. Open handed he caressed her arms, slowly pushing her arms behind her back until his arms crossed over hers, leaving his hands free reign over her supple ass.
Forget Me Knot Page 14
