Secret of the Wolf

by Cynthia Garner

  He pulled off the mitts and set them on the counter. “Whatever. It’s a waste of time.”

  “That may be true,” Tori replied, and God knew she didn’t disagree. “But it doesn’t make any difference.” She took a step closer to him and rested one hand on his forearm. “Since you didn’t show up, the council is going to think you’re trying to hide something from them.”

  “Well, I’m not.” Her brother slid his arm out from under her grasp. “I’m not going to jump through hoops like a good little doggie simply because they tell me to.” His irritation hit her nostrils on a wave of burned rubber.

  “Rand—”

  “No!” He sighed and briefly touched her shoulder. The scorched smell lessened. “Look, I understand that as one of their liaisons you have a job to do. Just this once, can’t you leave the job behind, for me, and just be my sister?”

  She bit back a sigh. He was right, though it was hard, distancing herself from work. It was so much a part of who she was now. How could she attest to her brother’s whereabouts, when even she had no idea where he’d been? “I’ll try,” she told him. “I hope you know that if they ask me about where you were, I’m going to have to tell them you chose not to come.” She hoped it wouldn’t come to that. She didn’t want to have to choose between her job and her family. She liked what she did and couldn’t imagine not being a liaison.

  “That’s fine. You do what you have to do.”

  “So…” She tried to be as nonchalant as possible, but she was afraid she wasn’t going to be successful. “What’d you do last night?”

  “Not much. I sat around and watched TV mostly.” Rand opened a cabinet and pulled out a couple of plates.

  Tori watched him closely. “You didn’t go out at all?”

  “No.” He took two forks from the silverware drawer and placed them on the plates. “Let’s eat.”

  She pressed her lips together. Without coming right out and asking him if he had been turning people into werewolves without permission, she had nowhere else to go with this line of questioning. With Rand being so agreeable, she didn’t want to spoil the mood, which she was probably about to do, anyway.

  “What is it?” He glanced at her as he set the plates on the counter. “You don’t like lasagna?”

  “I love lasagna. It’s just…” She met his eyes. “I’m going over to Dante’s for dinner tonight. I need to leave in about forty-five minutes. But, you know what? I’ll call him and cancel.” She turned and started out of the kitchen. “It’ll just be you and me tonight.”

  “No, don’t cancel.” Rand slid open the utensil drawer and drew out a spatula. “Go have dinner with your cop friend. I have plans tonight, too.”

  “Are you sure?” Tori hated the idea of missing an opportunity with her brother, especially when he seemed so open with her. “I’d really like to spend some time with you. I can have dinner with Dante some other time.”

  He looked up at her. “No, really. It’s okay.” For the first time since he’d shown up on her doorstep, he seemed calm. Almost serene. “It’s not like I’m getting ready to leave town or anything. We’ll catch up tomorrow. Go. Have fun.”

  He seemed to have gotten over his snit about Dante. She was glad, but wondered what had brought about this sudden change of heart. “I thought you didn’t like Dante.”

  “Can I say that I’m happy with the idea of you being with a human? No, I can’t.” His gaze, candid and open, landed on her. “He seems a decent enough sort. I mean, he’s a cop, so he can’t be all that bad, right? And he did check up on you last night when you weren’t answering your phone, so at least he’s looking out for you.”

  “Right.” She lingered a few moments, watching him dish up half the lasagna onto his plate. She halfway expected him to hit her up for some money, he was being so nice. “Okay, then, I guess I’ll see you later.” She turned and went into her bedroom to get dressed.

  She was wrapping a hair band around her still-damp braid when Rand yelled, “I’m leaving now.”

  “All right. See you later,” she called out. She grabbed a thin, short-sleeved blouse and shrugged into it, flipping her braid to the outside, and tugged the jacket down over her fanny pack. Once she was ready, Tori headed out the door.

  On the way, she stopped at a store and picked up a bouquet of flowers—some carnations, a few bright daisies, and some babies’ breath—for Dante’s sister. When she pulled up in front of his house, she glanced toward the corral. A big Appaloosa, a buckskin, and a cute little burro stared at her car, all three with tails swishing, brushing persistent flies from their hindquarters. Tori grabbed the flowers, opened the door, and got out. The horses threw their heads back, their eyes showing white. The burro drew himself up, standing stiff-legged and looking wary. It wasn’t unusual for livestock to react this way upon spotting a werewolf.

  The front door opened and Dante walked out. His full lips lifted in a smile. “Hey.” He walked up to her and leaned over to press a kiss against her cheek. Taking a step back, he put his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. “You look great. You must’ve needed a day off.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Are you saying I looked haggard?” She propped her free hand on her hip and waited to see how he’d get out of this one.

  “Not at all. You’re always gorgeous. You’re just even more gorgeous today.”

  She grinned.

  “Those for me?” He glanced down at the flowers. “You shouldn’t have. Really,” he said, humor dancing in his eyes.

  “They’re for your sister.” Her smile widened at the relief that spread across his face.

  “Oh. Good.” Dante looked over at the horses that were neighing low in their throats and stomping their hooves restlessly. The burro still had his eye on Tori. “What’s up with them, I wonder? They’re acting like there’s a cougar about ready to pounce.”

  “I’m sure it’s me.” Tori lifted her face and took a couple of sniffs. “I don’t smell a cougar or even a coyote. Of course, if I’m upwind of something I wouldn’t be able to pick up the scent.” She watched the horses for a few seconds. “I’ve been around horses before, and after a few minutes, when they see I’m not getting any closer to them, they usually calm down, but these guys…they’re still scared. They’re acting almost as if they’re surrounded by predators.” She glanced around the area but didn’t see anything lurking behind the scrub brush and cacti.

  “I’d hoped we could take a short ride after dinner,” Dante said. “But I can see that’s not gonna happen. I guess they need to get used to you first.”

  “Sorry,” Tori said. He shot a look at her and she shrugged. “I’m a predator, and they sense it.” She couldn’t mask her disappointment. She had looked forward to going for a ride. She shot a sidelong glance at him. Maybe she could just save the horses and ride a cowboy instead. She’d have to see how the evening went.

  “Come on in,” he said, cupping her elbow. “Meet my sister.”

  Tori let Dante guide her into the house. As soon as she walked in she smelled grilled meat, onions, and the fresh scent of rosemary mixed with an orange and vanilla fragrance from a lit candle in the foyer.

  The dining room table was set with midnight-blue-colored plates trimmed in brown, glasses—both wine and water—and silverware.

  A dark-haired woman by the stove wiped her hands on a dishtowel and came forward with hands outstretched. “Tori! How nice it is to meet you.”

  Tori shook her hand as Dante said, “This is my sister, Liliana.”

  “Please, call me Lily. Everyone does.” Lily released Tori’s hand.

  “Lily.” Tori held out the flowers. “Thanks for having me in your home.”

  Lily smiled and took the bouquet. “Thank you, they’re beautiful.” She pulled a vase from the cabinet beneath the sink. After filling it partway with water, she put the flowers in it, arranging them until she had it just so, and carried them to the dining room. She placed them in the center of the table and then went bac
k to the stove. “I should be thanking you, anyway. With you coming over, Dante finally got all his computer crap off the dining room table.”

  Tori grinned at Dante’s abashed look. “What can I help you with?” she asked and walked farther into the kitchen. Looking at the other woman, she could understand why Dante was still so concerned about her. She was too slender, probably at least twenty pounds underweight, and the paleness of her skin bore mute testament to the stress she’d been under. Despite her appearance, she seemed happy, and Dante said the cancer was completely gone, so that was most important. The rest of it, well, Lily just needed time. And if the cancer was gone, she had it.

  “No, you’re our guest. You’re not going to help prepare the meal.” She looked at Dante. “Didn’t you say the two of you had some work to do? Why don’t you get busy on that? I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready.”

  “You’re sure?” Dante walked over to his sister and peered into the pan on the stove. “I’m sure we can—”

  “You’ll make more of a mess, is what you’ll do.” She grinned and made a shooing motion with her hands. “Go on, get. I’ll call you when it’s time to eat.”

  “All right.” He glanced at Tori. “Come on, then. We’ve been given our marching orders.”

  Tori hesitated. It seemed rude to go off and leave all the work for Lily to do. “You’re sure?”

  Lily’s laugh was as cheery as wind chimes. “I’m sure. Go.”

  “Come on,” Dante said again.

  Tori went with him down the hallway and into a home office. More distressed pine in this room in the shape of a complete wall of bookcases crammed full of books of all sizes, and a large desk in one corner. Various pieces and parts of computers lined another wall. She pointed to them and asked, “This is what you had on the dining room table?”

  “Yeah, well, I haven’t had a lot of time lately to work on it. I’m buildin’ my own computer,” he added.

  “Wow.” She’d known he was a gadget guy, and he’d seemed to know his way around the device the last time they’d looked at it, but she’d had no idea he was such a… “You’re just a geek underneath all that manliness, aren’t you?”

  He grinned and tipped an imaginary hat. “Yes, ma’am, I am.” He moved papers and files off his desk and pulled over another chair. “Before we get to work on the rift device, let’s talk shop.” He looked at her, his expression serious. “Did Ash call you about the attack this morning?”

  She frowned. “No, what attack?”

  “This one happened by the horse fountain at Fifth and Marshall.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded. “Left a row of six dead leaves by one of the planters. It was his second attack last night.” He paused, his face grim. “He ate part of the guy, Tori. All of his internal organs were gone. Ripped out.”

  “Oh, God.” This wasn’t good. Crap like that would only enflame an already tense situation with humans. It would make them even more afraid of preternaturals and much more willing to do reckless and desperate things to protect themselves.

  “There was another killing, prior to ours, that happened earlier up north. I’m sure Ash will be in touch to fill you in,” Dante added. “Or you can go ahead and call him.”

  “That’s okay. He’ll call me when he has more info.” God, she prayed the rogue wasn’t her brother. If it was, and she’d stayed silent…she’d have two people’s deaths on her hands. “Let’s take another look at the rift device, shall we?”

  “Sure thing.” He left the room and returned in a couple of minutes with the device and schematics in hand. “I had them locked in my gun safe,” he said. “I would’ve given ’em to you last night, but I didn’t want to wake you. Not that your brother would’ve let me,” he added dryly. He handed her the device. “Here. Hold this a sec.”

  She noticed the difference in the size and shape of their hands—hers slim and dainty, his wide and large.

  She watched those hands as he pulled a small screwdriver from one of the side drawers of his desk. When he held out his hand, she put the device in it and watched as he took the casing off. She tried to focus on anything other than his long, strong fingers. But all she wanted was the feel of those hands all over her body.

  Tori forced her attention onto the rift device. As before, she stared down at a small motherboard with a mini-processor and USB port.

  He traced some fine wires with his finger and pointed to the USB port. “This gets hooked up to a…” He spread out the schematics and bent closer to the rendering. “I’ll be damned.”

  “What?” Tori bent over and looked, too, but nothing made much sense to her.

  “They’ve constructed a Wien bridge oscillator.” He glanced at her, his face only a few inches away. “It’s a type of electronic oscillator—an instrument for producing a voltage of a required frequency—that generates a very low distortion sine wave. This oscillator is built around four resistors and two capacitors and can generate a large range of frequencies.” His gaze dropped to her mouth. His eyes darkened and his lips parted, but then he seemed to collect himself and he shook his head. He looked back down at the schematics. “With something like this they could dial up whatever frequency they wanted and amplify it.”

  “So they make the output of this”—she pointed to the device—“stronger?”

  “That’s my educated guess, yes.” Dante straightened. “But how does that tie into the rift?” He blew out a breath and tucked his fingers into the back pocket of his jeans. “Okay, so walk me through how the rift works. The comet goes by and temporarily opens a rift, a hole, between the two dimensions.”

  “Picture it like sliding down a zipper,” Tori explained. “The opening at the top gets wider the farther down you unzip. Entities spill into this dimension all along the opening, more of them toward the top and middle as it widens.” Using her forefinger and middle finger in the shape of a V, she drew double lines across the desk, bringing her fingers together to complete the shape. “Then as the comet gets farther away from Earth, it…it’s like the release of the effects of gravity snaps the zipper tab back the other way, closing it.”

  Dante gave a low whistle. “Man, can you imagine what it’d be like if the rift wasn’t temporary? Or if it at least stayed open longer?”

  They looked at each other, a look of horror on both of their faces. He must have been thinking the same thing.

  “And this Wien bridge thing…could it have that effect?” she asked.

  He frowned. “No, there’s no way something this size could keep the rift open longer.”

  She looked at the schematics. “What if…” She looked back at him. “Could someone use this to model a larger device?”

  He shared a look of alarm with her. “It’s possible. Shit. If they do that, the human race will be in a lot of trouble.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Then he just sat there, this sheepish look on his little face, while eggs and flour pooled on the floor all around him.” Lily laughed until she had to reach up to wipe tears from her eyes. “Oh, my God. It was so funny.”

  “Mom didn’t think so.”

  Dante’s dry comment set Lily off again.

  Tori couldn’t stop smiling at the interaction between the two. She and Rand had never been close like this. Maybe it was the age difference between them, maybe it was the way they’d been raised. She didn’t know, but watching Dante and Lily made her miss things she’d never had. “What did she do?” she asked.

  “What could she do? I was ten and just trying to help.” He shrugged. “I misjudged how much I could carry.”

  “Hmm. That might explain something,” Tori murmured with a sideways glance at him. “You had early training on not taking on more than you can handle.”

  “These days it’s not a question of if I can handle it, but whether or not I have the time to give it my undivided attention.” He brought the cup of water to his lips. Over the rim of the glass his dark eyes snagged and held hers. “Because th
is particular project I’m getting into seems like it might be rather time consuming.”

  She smiled, slowly, and leaned forward. “And worth every second, I promise.” She stroked her fingers up the stem of her wineglass.

  Lily laughed. “Oh, brother, has she got your number.” She stood and began clearing the table. She paused, holding the bowl with leftover green beans in her hands, and let out a long, loud yawn. “Sorry,” she said when it was over.

  “Why don’t you go lie down?” Dante came and took the bowl out of her hands. “We’ll clean up.”

  “No, I can do—”

  “Don’t be silly.” Tori stacked plates and forks and carried them to the sink. “You cooked, so it’s only right that we clean.”

  Lily was clearly torn between being a proper hostess and being bone tired. Finally the fatigue won, because she said, “Okay. Have Dante make you a margarita. There’s still some left over from last night. His are the best.”

  Tori smiled. “I’ll do that.” She picked up the platter that had held the steaks. Tori’s had been rare, and neither Dante nor Lily had seemed fazed by the blood running from the meat. “Dinner was delicious. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I enjoy cooking. And with you here, it actually forced my brother to slow down long enough to sit and eat a real meal instead of just grabbing something on the run.” She winked at Dante and then left the kitchen.

  “Great, now I have two women ganging up on me,” he muttered.

  “Oh, you’re man enough to take it.” Tori bumped his hip with hers and pulled open the dishwasher door.

  As if they’d been doing so for years, they began loading the machine in unison. Tori finished putting silverware in the basket and, while Dante grabbed soap from under the sink, she pulled an antibacterial wipe free from its container and started wiping down the countertops.

  Dante added soap to the dishwasher tray, then closed and latched the door. He flipped the dial to normal wash and turned toward Tori. She’d taken off her heels a few minutes ago and was giving a few last swipes to the countertop, her hips swaying with her movements.