by Grant, Tess
Joe spoke slowly, bending forward. “You don’t need me. Find another excuse for Friday night.”
He dropped into the driver’s seat, slamming the door and starting the car all in one motion. He jammed the car into gear, and Kitty jumped back to get out of the way. She landed in a puddle.
The Escort flew up the road. She watched it go, disappearing up the misty hill. Her feet and the bottoms of her jeans were awash in sludge. Had she thought it was cold out?
It was freezing.
Chapter Nineteen
“When is Joe coming to pick you up? I want to be sure to get some photos.” Anne twirled around picking random Maddie hairs off Kitty’s dress.
“About that—” Kitty started.
Her mom pushed at the sweep of hair hanging over Kitty’s eye. “We should get this out of your face. You have such pretty eyes. Why cover them up?”
“Stop.” Kitty pushed her mom’s hand away. “I like it that way, okay?”
Anne’s hands dropped to her sides, and Kitty knew she had gone too far. Her mother was so fragile since her dad left. Kitty tried to make peace. Smoothing her hands down the front of her dress, she said, “It’s such a nice dress. It’s going to look great at the dance.”
Anne smiled back, warmth flooding her eyes. “You look so beautiful, all grown up.” She paused. “I wish Dad could see you, but that’s what pictures are for, right? I’m so excited for you. Now when is Joe getting here?”
“About that—” Kitty’s voice trailed off. “I need to take the car tonight.”
Her mother suddenly tilted her head to the side and studied Kitty’s face. “You guys had a fight, didn’t you? He buzzed out of here in such a hurry the other day, and I haven’t seen much of him since.”
Sometimes mother’s intuition was a great help. Until she was about to bust you for something.
“Why didn’t you say something? Are you going alone?”
“I’m going to meet some people there. Zoe—a girl from my government class—said she’d be there. She broke up with her boyfriend a few days ago. We’ll make it a girls’ night out.” Kitty tried to smile, but she kept hearing her own angry voice instead—I don’t need your help.
Anne’s intuition kicked in again. “It’ll be okay, Kitty. Joe’ll get over it when he sees you in this dress.”
Joe’ll get over it when I hand him a silver bullet.
“Let’s do the photos outside by the porch. I gotta run.”
The photo shoot went off without a hitch. Goofball Sam stood behind Mom, fingers stuck in his ears and tongue hanging out. By the time it was over, Kitty had exchanged her plaster smile for a real one.
She climbed into the car, leaving the pair waving wildly from the porch. Kitty flicked off the music so she could concentrate on running down the night’s checklist. She had gone over everything Phinney and she had done twenty times and followed every step. She had set up at the boulder where she had met Phinney, hoping it still had some good mojo. It also meant she didn’t have to move the punji sticks—just unearth them and set them up. Without Joe to help, hauling thirty eight-foot spears anywhere seemed huge. She had wrapped the carbine in a towel and tucked it under the granite overhang, loaded and ready to go. The .45 was snugged under the porch steps at Phinney’s ruins. She would need some protection when she trekked out. The bullets she kept separate, tucking them into the tiny spangled purse her mom lent her. Silver bullets, sequins and lip gloss—what a combo.
Bumping into the parking lot, Kitty saw Zoe standing next to her own car. She wheeled into the slot one over and climbed out. It took her a few seconds to negotiate it. She could do the heels well enough now, but the skinny skirt of the sheath dress took some finagling. When she’d managed it, she stood and slid her hands down the skirt, straightening the green silk.
“Hey, girl,” Kitty said, looking at a down-in-the mouth Zoe and smiling big enough for both of them. Maybe if she played like the whole thing didn’t bother her it wouldn’t. She snapped open her clutch and dropped her keys in. They clinked against the motley assortment rolling around the bottom of the bag. “Are we hanging out here for a little while?”
Zoe half smiled, half shrugged, and the two headed toward the front of the parking lot. Other singles gathered in twos and threes, and they joined the crowd. Night came on fast, and the group in front of the school took shelter in the shadows between the lights. Couples floated by on each other’s arms.
Jenna tottered up the walkway, heels a pinch too high. If they’d been hanging out, they could have practiced together in the kitchen. What was she doing out here? She was supposed to be with Joe, but Kitty couldn’t find Joe anywhere in the single-without-a-date crowd.
Kitty studied Jenna’s outfit. Short sequined dress—very cute and very Jenna. White above-the-elbow cocktail gloves with a glitzy ring on one hand—also cute. Unfortunately, she might have an ulterior motive for adding those accessories…like covering up a second heartbeat.
Crap, crap, and crap. How was she supposed to sort that out?
After all the couples made it through the door, the singles slowly filed in. Once inside it looked like there was more mingling than pairs, so that made the whole single-girl-without-a-date thing a little easier.
Kitty picked Jenna out of the crowd in a snap. Her dress made it easy—sequins catching the light and winking every time she moved. Tailing her at a respectable distance, Kitty wound through the groups, trying to see what Jenna was up to. She wasn’t about to admit it, but she might have been looking for Joe as well.
Kitty got caught crossing the dance floor and ended up dancing with a boy from chemistry. He was the only one in class who ever remembered what the whole UU series on the periodic table stood for—one of Mr. Grable’s famous sneak questions—so it was always smart to stay on his good side. As she left the dance floor, she saw Jenna watching her. Detouring in her direction, Kitty waved tentatively.
“Hey, Jenn.”
Jenna peered at the scrollwork on Kitty’s dress. “I love your dress.”
That sounded pretty close to real. “Thanks. How was the game? I didn’t make it to this one either.” She swallowed, feeling even more ashamed. She’d promised Jenna she’d be at every game. So far she had gone to none. “I don’t have a very good record of coming to see you. Sorry.”
“No big deal.” Jenna shrugged. “The game was only good if you like losing. The team sucks.”
“Where’s Joe?” Kitty asked. She wanted to work it into casual conversation, but it popped out there—a big fat giveaway. She could tell by the way Jenna’s head swiveled her way that she hadn’t missed it either.
“How should I know? After you broke his heart, who knows if he even came?”
Kitty frowned. “I broke his heart? He said he was coming with you.”
Jenna waved at someone across the dance floor. “Well, does it look like he’s with me?”
Gotta run. I see some potential over there.”
Kitty saw potential disappearing. As Jenna pushed past, Kitty wrapped her left fingers around Jenna’s gloved forearm and swung Jenna back toward her. Kitty tried to concentrate, to block out the lights and the music, to focus her fingers. She put her right hand next to her left and slid the two apart, covering the span from elbow to wrist. Nothing moved under Jenna’s skin.
Jenna stared at her, eyes wrinkled with distaste. The students on the dance floor closest to them watched curiously.
“What are you doing?” Jenna wrenched her arm away from Kitty and slalomed through the dancing couples to the other side of the room.
Kitty watched her go, frowning. One arm was a good start, but Jenna wasn’t going to show her the other out of the goodness of her heart. Any bridge building Kitty might have accomplished by apologizing for missing the football games was now trashed by that little stunt.
Turning away from the dance floor, she saw Joe. Black sweater and blue jeans, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pocket. One foot was cocked up behind
him. He was watching her but there was no welcoming smile.
Drawing close, she said, “Hey.”
Joe pointed over her shoulder. “That was pretty smooth out there. What are you planning for an encore?”
“Joe, please. You know what I was trying to do.”
His gaze wandered past her to the dance floor. “Maybe I should try the same technique. It got such stellar results.”
Kitty ignored the jab. “Please try to check her other arm.”
“And how do you think I should do that? You saw what happened.” Joe shoved himself off the wall and stood on two feet.
A slow song came through the speakers, and the dance floor cleared of all but couples. “Dance with her. That should give you a chance.”
Joe’s eyes shot to hers. “Do you want me to dance with her?”
Kitty sighed. She knew the answer was supposed to be yes. She should take one for the team. “No, not really.” Her voice was quiet.
“Good.” He took a step closer. “Have you ever thought that maybe Phinney’s second pulse showed up in his arm because that’s where he got bitten? What if she got bitten in the ankle?” Joe could read her dismay. “This isn’t a particularly well-thought out plan.”
Jenna talked to a baseball player on the other side of the dance floor. If this whole thing were pointless, maybe she should take Joe. She didn’t have to do this alone. Still, there was Joe’s dad to think about and Joe could always watch Jenna. She felt torn in two.
Joe glanced down at his wrist. “Aren’t you going to be late?”
“What?’
He held up his arm, bending his wrist backwards so she could read his watch. “Late,” he repeated.
Kitty saw with horror that his watch read nearly eleven. She should have known. She’d been skating after Jenna most of the night, hoping it would lead to Joe.
“Cripes.” Kitty spun on her heels. She silently thanked her mother for the practice in the kitchen. She took half a step, reversed direction, and smacked into Joe who was coming after her at the same time. Their lips met, fast and feather light.
Joe squeezed her arm. “Get out of here before the chaperones throw us in detention.” Then he pulled her back in mid-step. “Watch your back,” he murmured into her ear. “I’ll do my best here.”
She strode away, breaking into a trot when she reached the hall. She found her car in the lot and shoved her key in the door. There was no time to run back to the bathroom and put on the jeans lying in the passenger seat, but she put on the Chinese jacket her mother wanted her to wear. Sliding into the seat, she pulled her feet in and started the car. Jamming the lever into reverse, she backed out. She checked the rear-view mirror once as she sped out of the high school.
A lone figure stood in front of the school doors. She had known Joe long enough to know his shape by heart.
Chapter Twenty
“Holy crow,” Kitty exhaled. “Three of them.” She rubbed her hand down her leg. The green silk of the sheath dress bunched and slid under her sweaty palm. The jacket had pulled at her shoulders, and she’d dropped it near the rock. Her mom would not be happy if she found out about Kitty’s real homecoming night activities. She nearly had.
Panic had seized Kitty as she got closer to going out alone. She’d decided to stop and get Maddie. Bad decision. The commotion at the workshop had made Anne turn on the lights in the farmhouse, and Kitty had to spirit the dog across the field in the dark to the car parked on the side of the road.
An odd scraping noise came from her right, and she risked a swift sidelong glance. The frantic retriever scrabbled at the rock’s base, desperately trying to dig some hidey-hole. Definitely a bad decision. The grating noise of Maddie’s claws would have sent shudders down Kitty’s spine if she weren’t already shaking. Kitty should have left her at home, curled up on her foam bed and blanket in the workshop. She should have come alone to the nest of silver-tipped punji sticks.
But they both were here…Kitty facing three werewolves and the retriever about to keel over in terror. She couldn’t do this alone. She should have brought Joe, not some poor terrified dog. But she needed Joe to watch Jenna.
Kitty froze. Oh geez. Jenna.
If she had been infected, this would be her first month to turn. She could be one of the wolves facing Kitty right now. Kitty tried to calculate timing and distance. Could Jenna beat her to the Manistee? How did this whole wolf travel thing work anyway?
“A little more of my winning streak,” she whispered. Maybe the sound of a voice would comfort her.
Soft as it was, the whisper cut the silence, a hot knife into cold butter. She dared not risk another word aloud. The breathy whisper had been enough to start the three under the trees jostling in eagerness. They could smell her breath, smell fresh blood. They’d known she was the hunter all along; now the smell confirmed it. As they bumped shoulders, a wave of odor smacked her full on. It threatened to pull her down into it, a riptide of rot and decay. The nausea came next. She couldn’t swallow the sudden river of saliva in her mouth; her throat tightened convulsively. She couldn’t silence the noise she made breathing through her mouth.
I will not throw up. I will not throw up.
Blow, blow. Kitty sounded like one of the football players on the bench press in the gym. Blow, blow. If she had been someplace else, anywhere else, she might have laughed at herself. She knew Joe would have.
Right now there wasn’t much to laugh about.
Something warm touched Kitty’s leg through the slippery fabric near her knee. That should have freaked her out, but Kitty was already too far down that road for it to make any difference. The panting and scratching gave away Maddie’s location, and the little bundle touching her was far too small anyway. She would be a fool to take her eyes off the lethal trio, but cautiously she eased her trigger hand off the carbine and let it slide down her leg. Something soft and very afraid cowered there. From the feel of the long ears, it was a tiny bunny. Apparently anything was better than those things out there, including a human and its dog.
Little critter, she thought as she raised her hand again, I may not be your best bet.
There was movement under the trees, and Kitty snapped back to attention. She had let her mind wander. She’d better not let it happen again. One of the wolves had come to the forefront, shaggy head nearly into the ring of moonlight.
Can I take it from here? Her fingertips whitened as she clutched the carbine. Could she take it not knowing whether it was Jenna or not? Even Phinney had told Kevin to run. A violent crashing broke the heavy air. Whatever it was, it was coming fast or trying to anyway. There was a squeal of panic and a doe broke into the clearing, coming directly between Kitty and the monstrous head she had a bead on. Despite its fear, it moved in graceful arcs.
Kitty took the opportunity to stand up for a better view, nearly stepping on the little bunny in her haste. She wished she had stayed down. One of the wolves from the rear charged out, launching itself. It struck the delicate doe at the shoulder, and the deer rolled. It was up, but not before the slashing teeth had rent a great hole in the poor thing’s side, spilling a dark stain onto the silvery grass. They were gone in an instant. Legs flailing, the doe was moving as best it could, but the wolf followed in a half crouch. Within the space of a few seconds, a desperate dying shriek filled the air. Kitty wanted to throw her hands over her ears. What came next was even worse, an ululating howl hard with triumph. In the slow-motion universe Kitty inhabited right now, it lasted close to forever.
I should have gotten it. I should have…a tiny drumbeat of guilt pulsed in her head. Something moved on the other side of the clearing though, and she shut down the voice. Guilt was another luxury she didn’t have time for.
The two wolves left behind regrouped, tightened up, heads close together. Kitty could have sworn they were planning something, but that was stupid. Her fear was playing tricks on her. The plan was simple.
All they wanted to do was rip her throat out.
The smaller of the two pulled back, fading into the darkness. Relief washed over Kitty as it disappeared. Only one for her to handle and, if size meant anything, the big one couldn’t be Jenna. She would have to trust that general size translated when shape shifting, because there was no way she could hold this last wolf off.
The remaining one paced under the trees for another minute. It moved a little closer with each turn, no longer trying to stay hidden. Now back on familiar ground, she opted to wait for a charge rather than taking it broadside. A low growl reverberated through the clearing.
Bring it on.
As if in answer, it swerved out of its line of pacing, coming in close to the ground. It moved faster than she remembered, great strides bearing down on her. Even so, Kitty had more than enough time to sight and squeeze the trigger. It came in straight without evasion, but jerked a little as the first silver projectile found its mark. The bolt ratcheted open and closed, and Kitty fired again.
The body plowed into the ground, somersaulting once. Kitty saw it thud into the grass with grim satisfaction. Honestly, she had known all along she could do this alone. She brought the gun down to her hip, giving her breathing and heartbeat a few minutes to steady. She checked the direction the deer had gone, but there was no movement there.
The carcass of the wolf she had killed was undergoing its strange metamorphosis—first a human form, then moldering away to dust. Kitty steeled herself to move forward out of her nest of bristling spears, but Maddie’s head butted her leg urgently and the dog whined. Maddie’s head was up in alert, body tense with nerves.
Kitty felt it then. Something hot and wet touched her scalp, sticky fingers spreading across her skin. A steady drip seeped through her French twist. The liquid vaporized, leaving only sticky heat behind. She didn’t need to check the sky; rain didn’t smoke when it hit your hair.
The bottom dropped out of her stomach. Fear wrapped itself around her like a smothering cocoon. Movement was the only thing that would break its silken threads. Unfortunately, she was having a little trouble with that. She counted on gravity to lend a helping hand and allowed her neck to drop backwards so that she looked skyward.
