Forging Day (Crucible of Change Book 1)

by Noelle Alladania Meade

  The police officer from the Grove has stated that she is experiencing enhanced precognitive ability since her return. Right now, the officer is in the hospital under observation after being bitten by the werewolf mentioned earlier.

  One of the other roommates has demonstrated healing ability. He was observed to mend a concussion, broken bones, sprains, and lacerations. He can also detect someone’s general wellness.

  Minor issue: Sergeant Mitchell has drawn the attention of the local press. He seems to have identified a serial killer for them.

  Memo

  To:Major Parker

  From:General Dxxxx

  Continue observation. I want a werewolf retrieval team prepped and dispatched as soon as possible. Let me know when a subject is in hand. Tell Sergeant Mitchell, informally, to stay away from media attention.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  No One is Safe

  Leo and Tessa were both late to dinner. He certainly had a healthy appetite, and couldn’t get the grin off his face.

  I dinged my glass, like people do before making a toast at a wedding. I got funny looks, but it did get people’s attention. “Anyone that’s interested—I’m holding a werewolf disposal meeting in the library after dinner. Refreshments will not be served, but no doubt Mikah’s bar will be raided.”

  My sister looked suspicious. “What do you mean by ‘werewolf disposal meeting’?”

  “I had a chance to do research today, while Leo was out. I want to share what I found, but not over dinner.”

  “Fair enough,” Cordie said. “Count me in—as long as you aren’t planning to do the disposing yourself.”

  The rest of the meal was somewhat subdued, but I’d wanted to catch people before they went off and got involved in their own projects.

  After dinner I had everyone gather around the huge dining table where we did tabletop gaming. The document projector we used to display maps would be perfect for what I needed.

  At the top of the page, I wrote, “Werewolves” and then below that, “‘What we know”.

  “One—we know that werewolves can shift quickly from man to wolf. Two—we know that it doesn’t require the full moon or any special time of day to shift. Three—they are stronger than a normal Human. Four—they are faster than a normal Human. Did I miss anything?”

  “They smell really bad,” said Leo, “but that’s probably not critical. You might want to mention that they’re immune to normal bullets.”

  “We’re not discarding anything as unimportant at this point. Five—they smell bad. Six—they’re immune to standard issue bullets.”

  I drew a line across the middle of the page, and wrote “Weaknesses.”

  “I know a few, from experience. One, they are flammable, at least with magical flames. Two, they don’t like silver. From my research, I’m going to add one more. Three, they are vulnerable to aconitum, common name monkshood, at least according to popular lore.”

  I could tell from the unhappy faces that no one liked the balance of strengths versus weaknesses. I didn’t care much for it myself.

  “I don’t have de silver weapons, mon,” said Korembi.

  “I don’t either. But my necklace did protect me to an extent. I figured we could do some shopping around tomorrow and see if we can find any silver daggers. Maybe at a Pagan bookstore.”

  “Just a minute,” said Mikah. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the dining room, and came back carrying a heavy leather-bound case. “I think we’re set for silver.” He opened the case, exposing Grammy’s best silver flatware.

  “Holy Blue Raja, Batman! Would you get a load of this haul?” Leo was practically drooling.

  We divvied up the silver knives all around. Everyone except Tessa took at least one. Leo and I took extras. We’d actually fought the werewolf. These were nice, but we both knew we needed bigger knives.

  “I don’t suppose you have any silver bullets stashed around here?” asked Leo.

  “I’m afraid not. Grammy generally didn’t use bullets for entertaining, but she did have a favorite silversmith that might be obliging. It couldn’t hurt to pay him a call tomorrow and see what he has to say. I have to work, but I’ll write you a note. He owed Grammy a few favors, as I understand it.”

  “What about the monkshood?” Kat wanted to know.

  “That one will be trickier. I called around town, and no one has any in stock. The bookstores referred me to garden centers. The garden center hung up on me for being ‘another prank werewolf call’. I did find, however, that our own Botanic Gardens have a lovely display of monkshood. Other than the fact that it’s closed due to the exploding bluebird infestation, it’s actually quite close.”

  I’d printed a map of the Botanic Gardens earlier. I replaced my list with the map and pointed to where the monkshood display was supposed to be. “We’d just have to get over this wall, through these gardens, past this walkway, and then find the right plants without the bluebirds or anyone else noticing us. Or, we could just focus on the silver and skip the monkshood for now.”

  Leo shook his head. “It’s nearly the full moon. That bastard is going to just keep getting stronger. I think we need to hedge our bets and get the monkshood too. I’ll pull together a mission plan. We can hit that tomorrow night.”

  “That sounds good. Anyone else have anything to add?”

  Cordie raised her hand. “I do. Why the hell are my brother and sister plotting how to kill a werewolf? Why don’t you give this information to the police and keep the doors locked?”

  “The police are looking for him, Cordie, and I will share this information with them. The fact part, I mean, not our specific plans. I researched this so we could defend ourselves if it turned up again. And that was before I knew it was Colby.”

  Tessa waved her hand. “You didn’t tell them my part.” She pouted.

  “What part?”

  “The part where that Dark Elf woman, Vivian, is lying about not knowing what Colby was doing. She lied about this being a shock to her.”

  “That can’t be right,” Mikah said. “She’s ruthless, sure, but she’s an officer of the court.”

  “I know when someone is lying, Mikah. You know that. She was lying. I don’t know what she’s getting out of it, but she’s hiding something. If you take any evidence to the police, you better hope they aren’t her friends, and you’d better make sure you have witnesses.”

  “Sharon knew Vivian bailed Colby out of jail. She told me. What if she goes after Sharon in the hospital?”

  “Unless something radically changes,” Mikah said, “I think Vivian will stick with the innocent girlfriend routine. It’s working for her so far. Why tip her hand by attacking people directly?”

  “I hope you’re right, Mikah.”

  “Even if I’m not, I know they have officers guarding Sharon’s room at the hospital. I gather it’s both for her safety, and that of the staff.”

  I looked around at our flatware armament and tried not to feel like this was a lost cause. Hopefully the police would chase him to the Wyoming border and the ranchers would take care of the rest. We already knew they liked wolves even less than Elves.

  Kat and I retired to my room. Since Tessa was back, we made sure both of our doors were locked before we undressed for bed. We turned out the lights, and I spooned into her arms. “I bet he’s halfway to the border by now.”

  “He’ll be long gone,” she said. “Now get some sleep.”

  * * * *

  I dreamed a monster was trying to suffocate me. Leathery tentacles were pulling me into a swamp. Insects were biting me, buzzing in my ears and stinging my face. I was drowning and I couldn’t scream. I sat up, gasping for air, but my mouth was covered with heavy tape.

  Wolf Colby slapped my face again, scoring my cheek with his claws. “Pay attention,” he growled, “unless you want me to hurt her more.”

  He forced my head around until I saw Kat. She was bound, naked, to my chair with her mouth taped closed. There
was blood in her fur, and a thin metal noose was around her neck. He said, “If you scream, or fight, or do anything but exactly what I say—you know how a slip knot works. I’ll give the wire a yank and you can watch the kitty die. Nod if you understand.”

  I nodded.

  “Good. Let’s get started. Take off that necklace and throw it across the room.” I only hesitated for a split second, but that was enough. He gave the wire a little tug and the metal noose disappeared into Kat’s fur. “I’m not going to tell you twice.”

  Kat’s eyes were huge and her chest heaved with effort, but she was still breathing.

  I ripped off the necklace and threw it into the corner. I wasn’t screaming, but I couldn’t stop crying either. If I didn’t get a grip, I was going to suffocate on my own mucus. Wouldn’t that be a laugh?

  “Now there are things I need your mouth for, especially you telling me how much you love what I’m doing. I’m going to take off the tape now. You’re not going to scream or make a sound unless I tell you, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Good. I’m glad we have an understanding.”

  He yanked off the tape, taking skin and hair with it. I gasped, but he didn’t punish Kat.

  “I had a good thing going, before you came along. You were supposed to be an easy lay, while Viv was busy. You were easy, too, weren’t you? Somebody broke you a long time ago. What a pity. You’d do anything I asked, just so I wouldn’t get mad and leave you. Even when you cried, you made sure your roommates didn’t hear. That was thoughtful. What I don’t understand is, why did you have to wait until I left to start fucking her? We could have had some wonderful threesomes. I suppose it’s still an option. I’ll just have to be more creative with the restraints, but that’ll have to be later. Here’s what’s going to happen tonight. You’re going to do everything I tell you, and you’re going to make sure I know you like it. I’m going to fuck you until I get bored, and then I’m going to bite you so many times you’ll wish I’d just killed you in the park. In a few days, you’ll be my new werewolf playmate and we’ll play with your pussycat until we break her, too.”

  Crom give me strength, I prayed. I had to get him to drop that wire, no matter what it took.

  “I think we’ll start with an old favorite,” he said. “At least it’s an old favorite of mine. You, not so much. Get on all fours facing your friend. I want you to watch each other while we play.”

  I’d like to say I thought of something brilliant or heroic, but I didn’t. I was paralyzed with fear. I’d seen what he did to that woman in the park and my body remembered every hurt he’d ever inflicted on me. I wouldn’t let that happen to Kat, but I didn’t know how to save her.

  Colby got behind me and grabbed my hips, sinking his talons into my skin, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of Kat and that horrible wire noose. I gasped at the sudden pain. Kat shook her head no and pulled at her bonds.

  I was the only one who saw a pair of utility scissors floating toward the length of wire running from Colby’s hand to the noose around Kat’s neck. Kat flung the chair backward just as the scissors severed the wire.

  “Crom!” I shouted, as I lunged away from Colby. I spun to face him, and a glowing silver hammer appeared in my hand. I swung at his head as hard as I could. He was fast, but not fast enough. It was only a glancing blow, but he roared as the side of his face burst into silver flames and his eye boiled in its socket.

  He shrieked and clawed at the flames. Someone pounded at the bedroom door and I tried to scramble toward it. Colby backhanded me, sending me flying into Kat. We both crashed hard into the wall. He loomed over us, arm drawn back, and roared again. His roar changed to a yelp of agony as his ass burst into flame. When he grabbed for his backside, the flames enveloped his hand as he yanked two gleaming silver knitting needles out of his butt.

  The door crashed inward, spilling Leo and Tessa into the room. Colby gave me the finger as he leaped out through the open window. He shouted, “I’ll kill you both, you bitch!”

  Leo lunged after him, but he wasn’t fast enough. “He leaped over the wall. He’s gone.”

  Lights blazed and I heard distant sirens, but nothing mattered except getting that loop of wire from around Kat’s neck. It took half a lifetime to hook my finger under the wire and free her.

  * * * *

  I couldn’t believe my sister. She did what normal people do when a murdering rapist breaks into your home—she called the police. Now the crime scene techs were taking my bedroom apart. Kat and I, wrapped in blankets, were downstairs talking to Lieutenant Clark again. He was insisting I go to the hospital and get a rape exam.

  I glared at him. “I told you, I’m not going. There’s no need for it. And by the way, he doesn’t appear to be halfway to Wyoming, does he?”

  “Ms. Mitchell, we’re asking for your cooperation. You want him captured and convicted, don’t you?” The lieutenant was using his best speak calmly to the victim voice, and it was really making me mad.

  “Get your evidence from my room,” I told him. “Match it to the girls in the park. I’m not going anywhere.”

  He turned to Kat, but before he could start, she rasped out, “I’m not going either. He tied me up and you already have pictures. He didn’t rape me.”

  “Leo, give the lieutenant our werewolf notes.”

  Leo led him over to the gaming table. “Here. This is what we know about werewolves. Share it with your officers.”

  His techs took pictures of all of the notes, but Clark wasn’t done with me. “We’d like you to consider protective custody, at least until he’s been apprehended. You’re obviously a focus of Mister Green’s rage, and he seems to have no problem getting into this house.”

  “No. I’m not going anywhere. Just get what you need and go. Please.”

  I don’t know how long they were there. I saw Mikah talking quietly with the lieutenant, but I couldn’t hear what he said. All I wanted to do was huddle with Kat. I flinched every time someone came into the room. Kat and I were half dozing when they finally finished.

  The lieutenant looked in one more time. “If you decide to make a formal statement, or if anything else happens, you know how to reach us.”

  I couldn’t stop shaking by the time the front door finally closed on the last police tech. “I can’t take this anymore. I don’t care what it takes. I’m going to find him and I’m going to kill him.”

  I couldn’t get the scene out of my head—Colby’s hot breath on my neck as Kat pitched backward with the noose still around her neck. I grabbed Kat and hugged her until she squeaked. “Why did you do that? If Grammy had been a second later with the scissors, I couldn’t have reached you in time.”

  She squeezed me back. “I wasn’t going sit there and watch him rape you.” She gave me a watery smile. “Besides, I kinda hoped you’d figure something out.”

  “The worst thing he could have done was take you away from me.” I clung to her as the dam broke and the tears finally came. Taking a deep breath, I pulled the blanket tight around me. “Berto, I hate to ask, but could you help me with some scratches? In the other room?”

  Kat started to follow us, but I stopped her. “Please. I don’t want you to see the scratches. I promise we’ll be right back.”

  I led Berto into the downstairs powder room and closed and locked the door. “I don’t want Kat to know. Can you help?” I turned around and dropped the blanket.

  I heard his sudden intake of breath. Colby had left bloody grooves with his talons when I’d bolted out from under him, and he’d hurt me more than I’d admitted to anyone.

  “Olivia, sweetie, of course I’ll help.” His voice was thick with tears. He gently kissed my forehead, and his prayer was too quiet for me to hear. I could barely stand still to let him tend me, and I loved him.

  His touch took away the pain and healed the wounds, except for the ones in my heart. He got me a warm damp washcloth and a towel. “We should get you cleaned up, and I’m going to have someone bring u
s a robe, okay? You don’t want to use that blanket again.”

  I did what I could, and he helped with the rest. He answered the quiet knock on the door and helped me into a soft, fuzzy robe. “You ready to go out?”

  I carefully hugged him. “Thank you, Berto. I’m as ready as I’m going to be. Can’t live in the bathroom forever, right?”

  I was drinking something warm and alcoholic when Cordie came back down the stairs. “You can’t sleep in your room tonight. It’s a disaster, even if the screen wasn’t broken out.”

  “Maybe we could put some sleeping bags in Mikah’s safe room?” I was at least half serious.

  A loud rapping noise sounded from the hardwood floor upstairs. Everyone jumped, and Leo took off at a run. Mikah reached to stop him. “That sounded just like Grammy’s cane, when she was trying to get my attention.”

  Leo drew his gun and flicked the safety off. “Everyone wait here.” He stalked up the stairs, but it wasn’t a minute before he called down. “It’s okay. Mikah’s Grammy has something for Olivia and Kat.”

  Leo was waiting at the top of the stairs. He led us around the corner and down the hall and pointed to the double doors leading to Grammy’s suite. Normally closed, they were wide open. Nobody used Grammy’s rooms, except the cats, ever. Leo pointed at the ornate mirror above her cherry dresser. The glass was fogged, and in it was sketched a heart with OM + KS in the center.

  “Grammy, are you sure?” I asked.

  An exclamation point appeared next to the heart. The coverlets drew back on the matching king-size four-poster bed, and it looked like someone was fluffing the pillows.

  “Thank you, Grammy! I love you.”

  Kat smiled and hugged me. “Grammy saved my life. I can’t think of a better place in the world than in her care.”

  Tears shone in Mikah’s eyes as he and Berto stood arm in arm, smiling at us. “Be safe. Try to sleep.”

  Berto hugged Mikah before he came over and hugged me and Kat. “You make a lovely couple, and Grammy knows it. Good night, my lovelies. If you need anything, anything at all, we’ll be right downstairs.”