by ST Branton
I leaned in to object, but my boot landed on a branch and snapped it in half. The crack rang out through the air. I looked down, then back up at the smiling girl.
“There are sidewalks in New York. And streetlights.”
“Yeah, well out here you’re kind of walking like an asshole.”
“Fair enough,” I smiled. “Maybe we should take a break. I think there’s a clearing right up there. We could make a fire, get some rest. We can pick this up again at dawn—quietly this time.”
Amber nodded, hiding her grin, then set off to prepare for our night under the stars.
We collected kindling around the edge of the small open space while Maya sort of idled in the middle. I had to move her aside to clear a space for the fire. She acted like she was in a daze.
“Are you sure you’re good?” I said. “Maya?”
“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.” She sat down in the grass. “Maybe I don’t feel that great.”
I flashed back to her leaving the bar because she hadn’t felt well, and I furrowed my brow. She didn’t look sick on the outside, but I wondered if she had a virus or something. Still thinking about it, I arranged my firewood in the middle of the makeshift fire pit.
Amber added hers and produced a book of matches from her pack. The flames crackled to life, throwing their flickering light over us. The heat was minimal but better than nothing.
I knelt, holding my palms toward the fire. Amber took off her pack and gun and reclined on her hands, gazing up toward the hole in the canopy through which we could see the sky. The moon was brilliant, and hundreds of stars dotted the blue velvet backdrop.
“You know,” Amber said, “I always thought I wanted to get the hell out of here someday. It’s so dull here. Everything crawls along. But then this happened, and I don’t know. All of a sudden, I’m invested in a way I never was before.”
“Makes sense to me,” I said. “Your hometown being boring is a lot different than your hometown being gone.”
“Yeah. Plus, Silver Banks means a lot to my granddad. And Pops means a lot to me.” A blush crept into her cheeks, and she turned her body defensively away from me, probably hoping I wouldn’t notice.
I smiled to myself. Kids. Man, I was glad not to be a teenager anymore. It’s a bitch trying to be cool.
“These monsters,” Maya asked, her eyes locked on the sky above. “Where did they come from? I’ve been studying animals my whole life, and there is nothing—nothing that can do what they do. They may look like wolves, but they’re not in the family tree. Hell, they aren’t even in the same forest.”
“That,” I said. “Is a long story.”
“Isn’t that what campfires are for,” Amber pushed. “Long stories.”
Good point.
“OK, but you all better get comfortable. Our story starts thousands of years ago.”
I launched into the tale that Marcus told me, of the gods and the violence they wrecked upon the earth. My friends took it well enough. Amber’s acceptance made sense—she had seen a god first hand. That’s not the kind of thing one forgets. But Maya only nodded, as if the missing pieces of some mental puzzle were finally shifting into place.
“Wow,” Amber said as I finished telling them about Lysiani and her hoard of whorish Harpies. “And you fought them all with that glowing sword.”
I nodded. “The Gladius Solis. It’s a kickass weapon in a fight. I would have been sunk without it.”
“Let me see it.”
I turned to look at Maya. Here voice was cold and low, but her eyes reflected the fire in an angry way.
“Maya, what—”
“The sword. Show me it, now!”
Be careful Victoria.
I nodded. Amber inched away slowly from Maya, the creepy vibe she was giving off was almost tangible.
I pulled the golden hilt from my belt and held it forward. Maya hissed, almost as if in pain.
“Maya, it’s OK.”
“No. No, no, no.” She started mumbling to herself, her head in her hand.
I rose to my feet and stepped toward her. “Maya.”
“No!” she screamed then took off running into the woods.
“Shit.” Without waiting I sprinted after her.
Branches whipped across my face and arms, but I paid them little attention, as I let my body’s new speed carry me forward. I was moving fast, faster than I ever had before. Driven by fear for my friend.
But she was moving faster.
At first I could hear her crashing through the brush but the sound was growing faint as I lost the foot race. I knew in my gut that if I lost her, she’d be gone forever.
But the race ended before that could happen.
I broke past a large pine into an expansive clearing. There, in the middle was Maya. She was kneeling in the moonlight, her arms out to the side like she was waiting for something.
I covered the ten feet between us at lightning speed, but before I could reach her, she fell to the grass and started convulsing.
Though I’d never witnessed a seizure in person before, I thought she must be having one, so I reached to support her head in case she started thrashing. Her eyes snapped open, and I jerked my hands back.
Maya’s irises were the color of new pennies. I’d seen that shade of bronze before—in the wild eyes of the Weres roaming the town.
“Oh, this can’t be happening,” I murmured.
Amber dropped down next to me panting. “What do we do? If we cut through the woods, we can get her back to the main road fairly quickly, but there isn’t a real hospital within at least fifty miles.” Like me, she reached instinctively for Maya’s head. I grabbed her arm.
“Don’t touch her.”
Amber looked at me like I was crazy. “You want me to just sit here and watch her—”
Maya tilted her head back and let out a noise that was part howl and part human scream. It started as the word no, but quickly morphed into the eerie sound of a demon. The teeth in her mouth surged from her gums, elongating into nasty fangs before my eyes. She arched her back as the muscles in her arms and shoulders rippled outward, tearing through her sleeves. Coarse, reddish fur sprouted over most of her exposed skin.
“What the hell?!” Amber shouted. “She’s one of them!”
Maya struggled to her feet, the tattered remains of her clothing hanging off her transformed, much larger body. She was right before, whatever she was it wasn’t something natural to this world.
“Maya,” I whispered.
But the creature bared its teeth and howled.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Run, Amber!” I lifted the Gladius Solis and stood in between the girl and the creature who was once Maya. I had just lost one friend, I wasn’t about to lose another.
To her credit, Amber followed instructions without hesitation, fleeing into the cover of the trees. Maya’s head tracked her for a second before she focused back on me and the blazing sword of light I held in my hands.
“That’s right. I’m the one you want.” I strafed to the side just as she made a grab for me, her claws narrowly missing my midsection. I sucked in my breath, my heart hammering.
As her lupine face glared down at me, with those baleful penny-eyes, it dawned on me that I’d seen this werewolf once before. Standing on the edge of the road, staring at me like this.
“That was you?” I asked her. But if this red furred creature was the same one who had saved my life before, it seemed intent on undoing that good deed. She snapped her jaws, and I pictured them biting through steel.
You know what must be done, Victoria.
“If you’re about to say what I think you’re about to say, you better not say it,” I warned.
He said it anyway. You must kill the beast.
“She’s not a beast, Marcus! This is Maya. We just saw her transform. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.” Maya lashed out again, and I barely dodged her attack as I desperately racked my brain for a way to neutralize her threat without e
ndangering her.
That won’t matter if she tears you apart. Your quest is bigger than one person—better to be safe than sorry and end this.
“Not when it means I’d be safe and sorry.” Maya took a heavy step toward me, and I jabbed at her with my blade, trying to make sure I wasn’t close enough to actually hit her. She shrank back. Her hackles went up. “See, look? She hates the sword just as much as the rest of them. I can do this.” I paused. “I’m not killing her, Marcus.”
Necessary casualties are a soldier’s burden.
I gritted my teeth. “I’m not supposed to be a soldier. I’m supposed to be a hero.”
Maya lunged at me. Evading her grasp, I ran around to the left, aiming to use my position to confuse her as much as possible. But I’d forgotten that she was smaller and slenderer than most of her counterparts, and that made her faster. My margin of error was much reduced against her.
One of her claws caught the bottom of my pant leg and ripped the fabric up to my calf. A thin line of blood welled to the surface, and when she saw it, I swore her eyes grew brighter. The next thing I knew, her jaws were swooping down toward me, wide open.
I swiped the blade at her, praying she wouldn’t be close enough to take the blow. She yelped and twisted away from its shining arc. The blade’s flat connected briefly inside the crook of her arm, burning off a patch of fur. Maya flailed and howled in pain. The point of her elbow buried itself in my solar plexus.
The next thing I knew, I was on the ground frantically willing my lungs to fill up again. Her silhouette loomed over me, eyes burning in her skull. I tried to call her name to see if she was capable of understanding or recognizing me, but my vocal cords refused to generate anything more than a hoarse croak.
Maya lifted me up by the arm and held me dangling in front of her, appearing to scrutinize me. Then she flung me across the short expanse of the clearing. I slammed into a tree trunk so hard I saw stars.
Remember what I told you about necessary casualties, Victoria.
I grimaced. “No. No necessary casualties. I can save her.” I hauled myself to my knees, tightening my muscles against the pain. “Don’t say anything. Just let me do this, man.”
He stayed silent, and I refocused my energy on Maya. The Gladius Solis returned to my hand. She honed in on the light of the blade.
“Come on, Maya,” I said. “I’m trying to help you.”
She lifted her snout to smell the air, and for a split second, I thought she might leave, which wouldn’t have been so bad. Then, I’d have time to recover and track her down. But she headed straight for me instead, head low, ears back. Her growling was deep and full of menace.
I shook the fog from my head and forced myself to think. In roughly three seconds, she would be on me, and I had a feeling I could expect to get tossed again if I let her get too close. I looked around for pieces of a puzzle I could put together to form a solution. My gaze fell on the ever-present trees standing sentinel at my back. The one that had cushioned my impact was missing some bark. Seeing the damage gave me an idea.
Maya’s last steps took the form of a pounce, and as she pushed off, I swung my sword deftly behind me. Tendrils of smoke floated up from the point of incision in the tree trunk. The tree wobbled, and I rolled out of the way. Maya, intent on me, didn’t notice until the tree fell diagonally across her back, pinning her to the ground.
She scream-howled, throwing herself into a frenzy, but the ancient trees in the forest were too massively old and heavy for even a werewolf to lift. I soon discovered that it didn’t matter anyway; her cry was cut off, and she started to shrink. Her uncanny wolfish face morphed back into a human’s. The fur disappeared.
She was a young woman once again.
***
As I stared down at the unconscious form of my friend, I rejoiced inwardly that I had subdued her without casualty. It took me a second longer to realize that if I didn’t move her soon, the tree trapping her would finish the job.
I dove forward, wrapping my arms around the thick trunk. Digging my feet into the dirt, I pushed, but the thing wouldn’t move. So I turned to the only other tool I had.
Lifting the sword carefully, I hacked at the tree on either side of Maya’s body, then pushed the now newly cut round off of her. The bruised flesh of my back screamed in protest, but I ignored it. Seconds later, Maya was clear.
I leaned down and checked her pulse, relieved that she was still quite alive. Whatever Lupres had done to her, it obviously enhanced her strength and resilience, even in human form.
I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I couldn’t just leave her lying there naked. Nothing but rags remained from her earlier outfit, so I took off my coat and used it to cover her as much as possible. Then I lifted her up, fireman style, and began to move.
I’d be lying if I said there was a clear destination in my mind, but staying where we were would have been the death of us. There were enemies in this forest, and it was likely they heard the commotion our little fight had caused. For a second, I worried about Amber’s safety. But that young woman was tough as nails, and whatever danger lurked out here was more likely to come after me now. I was the one bleeding after all.
I walked through the pitch-black woods with the vet over my shoulder, watching my breath puff in front of my face. The cold wasn’t as much of an issue as I thought it might be, so at least I had that going for me.
So far, the night was almost eerily quiet, but I still traveled fast, in fear of what would happen if she awoke. Would she be herself or would the animal inside take over? The anxiety was enough to spur me into a slow jog.
Off to the side, nearly in my peripheral vision, the shape of a dark building emerged from the general shadow of the forest. The faint impression of a path traced through the ground cover toward its front façade. I followed it, adjusting Maya over my shoulder. She was clearly breathing, but her weight was disturbingly slack otherwise. I picked up my pace even more.
The building turned out to be a hunter’s cabin tucked in the embrace of two huge trees. I ran up the steps and breathed a huge sigh of relief when I found the front door open. Cobwebs stuck to my face on my way over the threshold. I brought Maya to the bare mattress in the corner and laid her out.
The cabin had no lights, so I used the flashlight on my phone to take stock of the room. The place was decently furnished but falling into disrepair; it hadn’t been used in a long time. All the surfaces slept under a thick layer of dust, and every corner was stuffed full of more cobwebs.
I knelt on the floor beside the mattress and took off my sweater, unwrapping my coat from around Maya’s body. The sweater, already baggy on me, was basically a dress on her. Satisfied with my efforts and shivering in just an undershirt, I put my coat back on, dug in the pockets, and used some of the rope I bought from Amber to lash Maya to the carrying handles on the mattress.
“Better safe than sorry, right Marcus?” I blew into my hands to keep my fingers from fumbling the knots. “Shit, I keep forgetting it’s almost winter. Isn’t this climate supposed to be like, temperate or whatever?”
If— He stopped, apparently rethinking his choice of words. Would it be more comfortable in your home metropolis tonight?
“Hell no. It’s probably sleeting or something terrible like that. You’re lucky you were there for a week in fall.” It struck me as odd to be talking about the weather while I sat waiting for post-werewolf Maya to regain consciousness, but I think both Marcus and I knew we were just trying to fill the space… and avoid mentioning how he had advised me to kill Maya.
That was going to be the elephant in the room for a while.
I was half drowsing, fighting to stay completely awake, when Maya stirred, groaned, and tried to move her arms. The restriction snapped her into a fully conscious, minor panic attack. She sat as bolt upright as she could, gasping and kicking. Her left foot hit me in the back of the shoulder.
“Whoa, whoa.” I caught her ankle. “Calm down. You’re fine. Mor
e or less.”
The sound of my voice captured her attention. “More or less? Why can’t I move my arms? Where are we?” She glanced down at herself. “Was I naked again?”
I nodded, not without sympathy.
Maya tensed up. “Damn it,” she muttered. Thinly veiled emotion bubbled below the surface of her words. “What happened? Did you see it?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, I did. It’s my sweater by the way, and you can’t move your arms because I’ve tied you up. We’re in an old hunting cabin I found while I was hauling your ass out of there.”
“I…” Maya trailed off, processing everything I said. “That raises more questions than it answers. These ropes necessary?”
I took a minute to debate my options with myself, hesitant to ask Marcus’s opinion because of the Centurion’s preferred, more draconian approach to handling her. Ultimately, I doubted we’d have the luxury of circumventing the truth for much longer anyway, so I opted to be honest. After all, we couldn’t afford to stay put overnight, and there was no telling what might happen now that she was awake.
“I’m going to give it to you straight,” I told her. “Okay?” She nodded somewhat warily. “You’re not sleepwalking. You’re a freaking werewolf.”
Under different circumstances, the look of shock and utter disbelief on her face would have been hilarious. I guessed it still was, in a way, because then, she immediately started laughing. Not just the normal kind of laughter, either. The kind where you start to wonder if they’ve really cracked up halfway through.
She stopped to breathe, and I interrupted. “I’m not kidding, Maya. You’re one of them, one of the monsters. I saw you transform. That’s why you’re tied down right now.”
Maya tried to wipe her eyes. “Sorry, Vic. I’m sorry. You don’t look like you’re joking, but I can’t even begin to believe that.”
This was not a conversation I wanted to get into with her at the moment, so I brushed it aside. “It’s fine, but I believe it, even if you think it’s some strange damn lie. So, I really, really need to know what’s going on with you. What you know. How this happened. It’s the only way to stop this.”
