At the edge of the kitchen, I turned to face them again. “Excuse me?”
“Our friend,” the girl said, pausing to swallow. “You know him. That’s why we came to you.”
“Who’s your friend?” I hoped against hope that they were wrong. With the werewolves fighting and P.E.A.C.E. knocking on my door with homemade bombs, I didn’t need anything else laid at my feet.
“Whelan,” she said.
The world shifted around me, and I had to hold on to the counter for balance. Whelan was a friend of mine. He had moved into the neighborhood when he started college, and he worked part time at a local record store that specialized in hard-to-find, underground music. He was going to college on a music scholarship because he was a gifted pianist. He also suffered from insomnia that I often treated with calming draughts and sleep stones. Now I knew why these two seemed so familiar; the three of them could have been members of the same punk rock band.
“How long has he been gone?” I asked.
“Three days,” the boy said.
“At first we thought he was just pulling a hermit crab on us, you know?” The girl stood, wringing her hands. “We left him alone for the first two days when he wouldn’t answer calls or texts, but we got worried and went to check on him today.”
“Yes?” I prompted, leaning toward her, desperate for her to go on.
“His apartment was empty. His cell phone was on the charger with, like, dozens of missed calls and texts. There were dirty dishes in the sink like they were some science experiment in the study of mold growth.”
“Laney,” the boy said, cutting her off.
“Sorry.” Laney shook her head, making her hair move like a wave of water around her shoulders. “So yeah, he’s just gone. None of his stuff is packed; his parents haven’t heard from him. No one has.”
“Does he have a girlfriend?” I asked, realizing that was something I should probably know.
Laney shook her head. “He always said he worked too much and had too much school crap to do to have a girlfriend.”
“Sounds like Whelan,” I said.
“Actually…” the guy said, looking at Laney. His brow was pinched as though he was debating whether or not to share his sudden thought.
“What?” I asked when I couldn’t stand his silence anymore.
“There was that girl,” he said, looking to Laney for help.
“Oh right! Bu said this one chick was coming around the record store a lot.”
“Bu?” I asked.
“Yeah, that would be me,” the guy said, holding up two fingers. “Shinobu, but people just call me Bu.”
“Ah,” I said. “So this girl?”
“Yeah, this chick was real hung up on Whelan,” Bu said, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. “She would come around every day and hang out for hours, but mostly just to moon over Whe, you know?”
“And you don’t know who she is?”
“I know she’s a Were.” Laney’s voice changed into something angry and hard.
“How do you know that?”
“Because the bitch wigged out on me,” she said, her voice rising. “She thought I was hitting on Whelan, and she followed me out to my car and threatened me with a fully clawed hand.”
“Easy, Lane,” Bu said in his gentle voice.
Even I wanted to calm down when he spoke. I had to wonder if he wasn’t fully human.
“So yeah, that’s how I know,” Laney said, her voice calmer.
“A Were, huh?” I tried to remain calm, but the bottom of my stomach had just dropped out and I felt a light sheen of sweat on the small of my back.
Whelan was a human, through and through, and only humans could be turned. I thought about all those smiling faces in Tollis’s camp and the huge number of humans living with all of those Weres. Tollis had sworn that no one was there against their will, but I didn’t know him well enough to just believe him. Jameson certainly didn’t trust him, nor did he believe that the humans were there willingly, at least not all of them. The unusual number of missing human teens was just too high, and I didn’t assume there’d been some mass runaway conspiracy.
More than that, I knew Whelan wouldn’t have run away to join a werewolf pack. He loved the supernatural community, but he’d never, ever talked about trying to become a Were. He’d talked about learning magic, trying to become a hedge or kitchen witch, but not a Were.
“He’s never said he wanted to become a Were,” I said, more to myself than to the others.
“No,” Bu said with a shake of his head, “he hasn’t.”
Bu’s eyes locked on mine, and we stared at each other in silence. It was good that he agreed with me. I hadn’t known whether or not Whelan had a girlfriend, so it was entirely possible there were other big things about him that I didn’t know either.
“All right,” I said, clapping my hands, “I’m going to make that seeking charm.” I heard them shuffling behind me, and I turned in time to hold up a hand to stop them from digging out money. “It’s on me.”
Whelan was my friend, they were right about that, so I couldn’t charge for this. I just prayed we found him before anything permanent happened to him.
With trembling hands, I pulled out the supplies I needed and began the spell.
***
I didn’t give Bu and Laney the locator charm when it was done; I called Ronnie, and we took it over to Tollis’s encampment. Laney had thought to bring Whelan’s hairbrush with her, figuring I could use his hair in any potion I would brew for them. As soon as I wrapped three strands of his hair around the wooden disk, it came to life.
I didn’t go to Jameson because I didn’t want to cause an all-out war between the two packs. Ronnie and I would sneak into the encampment, find Whelan, get him home, and then I would call Jameson. Sure, Jameson and his pack could go in to save Whelan and whatever other humans might be being held against their will, but I was afraid of casualties. It was the week of the full moon. Once the fighting began, many of the wolves would lose control, and I didn’t want to risk any innocent lives when I could try stealth first.
I parked on the side of the road by the state park, and I strapped on my wrist sheaths. Each sheath held silver knives that would be lethal against a werewolf, but I hoped I wouldn’t have to get close enough to use them. The locator charm was straining against the rearview mirror, almost touching the windshield as it pointed toward the encampment. I heard the click of Ronnie’s gun as she loaded a silver bullet into the chamber. I had expected her to bring it since we were going to a werewolf camp, but it still made me nervous.
“Ready?” she asked, a little too excitedly.
“Yeah.” I crammed my keys into my pocket and grabbed the charm off of the mirror before climbing out of the car.
Carefully, I poured some knockout powder into my jacket pocket, holding my breath so I wouldn’t accidently inhale any. The knockout powder probably wouldn’t work on the Weres, but there were plenty of humans around, and it would send them right off to La La Land. Between the powder, my knives, and my telekinetic hexing ability, I felt as secure as I possibly could.
“What are you doing?” Ronnie asked as she came around the car to stand beside me.
I was bent over, digging through the trunk. I found the canister I was looking for and turned toward her. “Close your eyes and hold your breath.” I unscrewed the cap and shook the silky powder inside. It was silvery with bright sparkles throughout, and it smelled like the air after a spring rain.
“Oh, yeah, good idea.” Ronnie squeezed her eyes shut and took a loud breath, making her cheeks puff out as she waited for me to douse her with the invisibility powder.
It wasn’t foolproof. If we moved too fast, people would notice us moving, like a shadow moving through their peripheral vision, but it was better than stomping through the encampment in full sight.
“Dissimulo,” I muttered as the powder drifted over Ronnie. As I watched, she shimmered out of sight until all I could see w
as a slight disturbance in the air when she moved.
“Good?” Ronnie asked. The air rippled in front of my face as if she were waving her hand.
“Good enough.” I shook the can over my head, trying not to breathe. I made sure to hold one hand over my jacket pocket to keep any of the invisibility powder from mixing with my knockout powder.
Ronnie whispered the incantation for me so I wouldn’t inhale any of the powder. A cool sensation washed over me, like a trickle of water running over my body. In a moment, all that was left was the canister in my hand, looking like it was floating on a current of air.
“Great.” I capped the canister and put it back into the trunk. I closed the lid as quietly as possible.
“Be careful,” Ronnie said, catching my attention.
“What?”
“When you reached for the trunk lid, your sleeves came down.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I could see your knives. They were just, like, floating there.”
I glanced at my invisible hands, but I couldn’t see the knives strapped to my wrists. “Seriously?” I pushed up one sleeve and revealed the silver knife strapped to my arm. “Frogs.”
“Probably because they’re silver,” Ronnie said. “Impenetrable.”
“Right.” I tugged on my sleeve, hiding the glinting silver again. As long as I didn’t reach over my head, I would probably be okay. “Can you see this?” I held up the locator charm, the wooden disk swinging on the leather cord it was tied to
“Yep,” Ronnie said.
“Tadpoles. How about now?” I turned my body so my back was to Ronnie and held the charm up again.
“No.”
“Okay.” I sighed. “I’ll just have to be sneaky about it.” I gathered the string and disk until it was all hidden in my hand. I would wait to use it until I was among the trees and better hidden. “Let’s go. And stay close.”
I stepped out onto the road, the air shifting next to me as Ronnie came up to my side. I had to almost look past her to see any hint of her. At the edge of her body, I could just make out a slight disturbance in the air, reassuring me she was there.
“Remember,” I whispered, “don’t move too fast or someone might notice you.”
“Got it.”
We crossed the road, and I had to fight my anxiety to keep a measured pace. All I wanted to do was run into that encampment as fast as I could and find my friend. Music filtered through the trees, and the closer we came to the first clearing, the louder the voices became. They were singing and dancing around the fires, cooking and talking in groups. They were just going on with life as though they didn’t have a care in the world, as though they hadn’t kidnapped my friend.
We headed farther into the woods, trying to stay among the trees and avoid the clearings where the gypsies and wolves had set up camp. It was slow going. My heart was racing, urging me to go faster and hurry to Whelan. But with every step we took, we crushed leaves and twigs under our feet. Every sound seemed as loud as gunfire, so I dared not go any faster.
We came to the same clearing where I’d first found Tollis. Across the way, I saw him holding court near a large fire. He was the only one sitting in a chair. The rest of the people, wolves and humans alike, sat on the ground, staring at him as if he were the messiah, and hanging on his every word.
“Creepy,” Ronnie whispered behind me.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Leaves and twigs crunched underfoot somewhere behind us.
“Mattie,” Ronnie whispered.
“They’ve probably picked up our scent. Should’ve put on some wolf’s bane.” I turned to see two men creeping through the narrow trees. Their faces were turned up, and they were obviously sniffing the air. A rock formed in the bottom of my stomach as they angled toward us.
“Mattie.” Ronnie’s voice sounded strangled, as though she was trying to say my name as quietly as possible.
But she wasn’t quiet enough. One of the men turned in our direction, his eyebrows high as he listened for the source of the noise. I silently cursed and reached out to grip Ronnie’s wrist and pull her closer.
I moved forward, pulling Ronnie along. As we entered the encampment, the charm jumped in my hand, fighting against my fingers. With a glance over my shoulder, I saw the two men break the line of trees and hesitate. They looked back and forth, trying to find us, but now that we were in the clearing, too many smells were mixed with our scents. The smoke of the fires, the many bodies, the rusting and oily vehicles all worked in our favor.
I let the charm hang from my hand, hoping my body hid it from any passing glances. The charm swung to the left, trying desperately to reach a large, rusted tin can of an RV. It was old, probably thirty years or more, and the windows were broken and taped over with plastic. It had once been white, but now was gray and rusted. And Whelan was trapped inside.
I glared at Tollis, positive the heat of my stare would make him aware of my presence. But instead of going to him and demanding Whelan’s release, I headed for Whelan’s prison. A tug on my arm made me stop and glance over my shoulder again. Two more men had joined the two who’d followed us through the trees. The foursome were whispering, brows furrowed and hands clenching and unclenching as their eyes swept the clearing, looking for us.
I gathered the charm and hid it in an empty pocket. I knew where Whelan was, and I didn’t want anything to accidently give us away. I tugged on Ronnie’s arm, forcing her to follow me, but she stumbled. A small noise of surprise escaped her as she gripped my shoulder to regain her balance. One of the wolves turned his head in our direction, seeming to stare right at me. I swallowed my thundering heart and stepped toward the RV.
The wolf tilted his head before heading right for us. When Ronnie had her footing again, we hurried to the RV. I called power to my arms, holding it back from my hands since I wasn’t sure if the snapping kinetic power would be visible under the invisibility powder. But I wanted to be ready, just in case.
When I got within ten yards of the RV, I heard Tollis call something, but he wasn’t speaking to me; he was speaking to the men tailing us. I felt the shift in the air as they started to run.
“Mattie,” Ronnie hissed. She was pushing against me, urging me to run.
I gripped her arm and pulled, running toward the RV. We were so close, but when Ronnie screamed, I knew we were caught.
Chapter 10
When I turned, I saw Ronnie in full Technicolor. One of the wolves had touched her and broken the invisibility spell. With her wrist still in my hand, Ronnie had broken the spell hiding me as well.
“For the love of frogs,” I swore and let go of Ronnie.
I spun around, putting Ronnie behind me, and drew one of my silver knives. I held the knife in one hand, letting them see the glint of the blade, and called my power to my empty hand. The electric blue pulses danced around my fingers like tiny bolts of lightning. Ronnie drew her gun, clicked off the safety, and held it in front of her with both hands.
“Don’t even think about it, furface,” I said to the Were closest to us.
His nostrils flared, and I knew he could smell the silver of our weapons. Then he stopped in his tracks. His hands were mid-shift from fingers to claws, stretched out and reaching for us. Faintly, I heard a low rumbling growl.
“Ms. Kavanagh,” Tollis called out as he approached. His voice was jovial, but it held a threat. “So nice of you to visit us again so soon!”
“That’s him?” Ronnie asked, not hiding her surprise.
I knew what she meant. When you heard that someone had challenged Jameson, you expected someone huge, formidable, and terrifying. Tollis was none of those things. He had a nice face, wasn’t very tall as werewolves go, and he was so young.
“Look,” I said, lifting my hand and letting my power spread, making the closest wolves step back. “We’re just here to get my friend, and then we’ll be gone, okay?”
“Your friend?” Tollis made his way through
the crowd. He stood in front of me, too far for me to threaten him with my knives but close enough that I could throw a blast of power and knock him on his ass.
“Yes. You have a friend of mine in that RV back there.” I motioned with my head. “I know he’s not here of his own free will like you claimed everyone was. I’m going to take him home, and you’re going to let me.”
“I am, am I?” He arched one smooth brown brow and placed his hands on his hips. For a fleeting moment, he looked like Peter Pan.
“Obviously we can’t take you all,” I said, earning a round of snickers from the crowd. “But this blade is silver, and it’ll get one of you. This”—I called more power to my hand—“will definitely get one of you, and her gun is just packed full of silver. So we won’t get you all, but we’ll get some. Is it worth it? Really?”
There was movement in the crowd—a few on the fringes moved back, and others shifted and looked at each other, gauging how cowardly they would look if they retreated. Unfortunately, the men around Tollis, the ones in mid-shift, weren’t moving.
“I told you everyone is here because they want to be.” Tollis spread his hands, trying to look oh so innocent.
“Well, you’ve made a mistake with my friend.”
“I doubt that.”
“I don’t,” I said. “Look, this can be bloody or easy, but I’m not leaving without my friend. I’ll even call the police and get dozens of collars out here if I have to.”
Tollis’s eyes flashed at that threat, his green eyes shifting into an eerie glow. The men around him pressed forward, baring their teeth and growling.
“Don’t,” Ronnie said, putting her finger on the trigger.
The wolf closest to her froze, his bright yellow eyes fixed on the barrel of the gun.
“You come into my home and threaten us, and expect me to do as you say?” Tollis tried to sound calm and collected, but his elongated pupils and swirling irises gave him away.
“I didn’t want to threaten you.” My fingers tingled uncomfortably, and I fought to ignore the sensation. “You lied to me. I’m taking my friend home. It’s that simple.”
Samhain (Matilda Kavanagh Book 2) Page 11
