Chapter 24
I saw again the wolf at the window - the wolf that had possessed Adam's eyes.
"Diana?" Cassandra grabbed my forearm as Marie scurried away to intercept her daughter-in-law, and squeezed hard.
"I'm OK. "
I wasn't. Not really. I wanted to sit down, maybe lie down, or stand up, maybe throw up. What I did was drag Cassandra away from the Favreaus' and back to her place. Luckily, it wasn't a long trip.
Once inside the cool, shadowed interior, I sat at her kitchen table and put my head between my knees.
"Don't faint on me," she snapped.
"I donor faint. "
"You're doing a damn good imitation. " She sat, too. "The wolf at the window?"
Slowly I lifted my head and nodded.
I'd told her my dream, that I'd seen a wolf with human eyes, but I hadn't mentioned whose eyes they were. From the expression on her face, she already knew.
"When you saw the wolf, where was Adam?"
"In bed with me. " I took a deep breath, let it out slowly. "Must have been a dream after all. "
"Or a premonition. "
"I don't have premonitions. "
Cassandra went silent. Still a little woozy, I was having a hard time assimilating the information, having no luck at all interpreting it
"You dreamed of a wolf with human eyes before we knew that werewolves have them. " She glanced in my direction. "Human eyes, I mean. "
"Probably just a coincidence. "
"A coincidence is running into someone right after you thought about them. What you described to me is not a coincidence. "
"What is it then?"
"No clue. "
"Damn, you're helpful. "
She didn't rise to the bait. Why I was baiting her, I wasn't sure. Right now, she was the only friend I had, the only person I trusted. I tried to make amends by making excuses.
"Maybe I read something about werewolves in the past and my subconscious remembered. I read a lot of bizzaro stuff. "
"Could be. "
"My husband never mentioned it, though. "
Cassandra cast me a sharp glance. "He saw one?"
"So he said. "
Out on the moors, D-baby. A man became a wolf and then ran beneath the full moon.
"I'm thinking he didn't get close enough to see the eyes. " Until that last night anyway.
"There's one thing that bugs me," Cassandra murmured
Thrilled to leave the memory of Simon and his death behind, I jumped on the comment "Just one?"
She didn't bother to acknowledge my attempt at levity. "Why is it a wolf?"
"Huh?'
"Or maybe I should ask, how is it a wolf?"
"Cassandra, what are you talking about?"
"Marie Favreau said wolves make wolves. "
"If we can believe her. If she isn't crazy. "
"Do you think she is?"
"If she is, I am. " I rubbed my forehead. "I don't feel crazy. "
"Crazy people never do. "
"Har-har. Could we get back to the topic at hand, which I'm still not clear on?"
'If it takes a wolf to make a wolf, where did the first wolf come from?"
"Is that a riddle?"
Cassandra ignored me again. She was getting very good at it "No wolves in Louisiana. That's what got you here in the first place. "
"There were wolves once. Red wolves. "
"Is this a red wolf?"
I shook my head. "Too big, too black, too timber wolfy. "
"Which brings us back to the curse. "
"According to you," I murmured, "man became beast with no biting involved. "
"But why a wolf? Why not an alligator, or a snake, or a leopard for that matter?"
Yeah, why?
I had a bad feeling. Without asking permission, I headed for Cassandra's office, started clicking away on her computer before she even got there.
"What are you thinking, Diana?" she asked.
"Names have power," I muttered.
Seconds later I saw how much.
" 'Ruelle,'" I read. " 'French for "famous wolf. "'"
Cassandra drew in a quick, sharp breath.
"That's why the curse created a wolf. "
"We don't know for sure - " she began.
"Maybe not" I stood and started for the door. "But I plan to find out"
No wonder he'd said there wasn't a loup-garou. No wonder he'd volunteered to be my guide. No wonder he'd distracted me with the sex of a lifetime.
What better way to make sure I never found what I'd come to find? If I was looking forward, I wasn't seeing what was right under me - had been right under me more than a few times.
"Wait" Cassandra called. "You need to take a weapon. "
"I don't suppose you have any silver bullets handy. "
"No, but - " She hurried into the shop, murmuring to Lazarus when he hissed. As I stepped through the beads hanging in the doorway, she slapped her knife into my palm. "Silver, through and through. "
The idea of shoving a knife into Adam -
"I can't. "
"Believe me, Diana, if he grows fangs and a tail, you can. "
"What if he doesn't?" I glanced at the window. "It's daytime. "
"Touch him with the thing. See if he smokes. "
"Terrific," I muttered. "He's going to think I'm insane. "
"Good. If this is insane, then he isn't the loup-garou. "
And we had a whole new set of problems. Because if Adam wasn't, who was?
Cassandra bit her lip. "Maybe I should go, too. "
"So he can kill both of us?"
"He isn't going to kill you. "
"Nor
"If he wanted you dead, you'd be dead already. "
"Great"
"You could take Detective Sullivan along. He wants to talk to Ruelle anyway. "
I considered the notion, men put it away. "Adam isn't going to tell me the truth if I bring a cop. Besides, he hasn't hurt me. He might hurt Sullivan. "
"You have to let me know you're all right Tell me what happened, what he said. "
"OK. "
"By - " She glanced at her watch. "Seven o'clock. "
"In the morning?"
"Tonight!"
"No. Morning. "
If I was wrong about Adam, I might have to make it up to him. Considering the accusation, that could take a while.
Night Creature: Crescent Moon Page 24
