by Mac Flynn
A knock on the door brought me out of a peaceful, dream-less sleep. Voices floated through the house. My eyes flickered open, and I sat up and looked around. The couch cushion beside me was empty. The faint sound of voices drifted from the front door. I leaned forward and caught sight of Orion's back at the door. In front of him stood a young woman I'd never met. She was about sixteen with long reddish hair and a stripe of orange down both her cheeks. Her eyes sported the strange feline contacts that were perennially popular with kids her age. Her dark complexion bespoke a mixed heritage of Western and Indian origins. A sweet scent of spice flowed from her clothes and hair.
"She just thought you would want to know." She looked past Orion at me and cringed.
Orion half-turned and smiled at me. "Sleeping Beauty has finally awakened. Trixie, there's somebody I'd like you to meet."
I walked over to the pair and Orion gestured to the young girl. "Trixie Lyal, this is Jasmine Tipu."
Jasmine smiled and bowed her head to me. "Please call me Jazz. Everyone else does."
I smiled and held out my hand. "Then call me Trixie."
We shook hands and Jazz turned to Orion. "I really have to be going."
He nodded. "Send my thanks along when you see her again."
Jazz bowed her head and hurried down the path. The late-afternoon sun reflected off her red hair and showed off a few orange strands. Orion shut the door and turned to me.
I nodded at the closed door. "So who's the 'she' she was talking about?"
He grinned at me. "Jealous?"
I folded my arms and smiled sweetly at him. "That depends."
He arched an eyebrow. "On what?"
"On whether we're in an alternate reality."
He swept me into his arms and pressed a long, passionate kiss against my lips. We came away gasping for air and a blush accentuated my cheeks.
He looked down at me with that mischievous grin of his. "Did that teleport us to that alternate reality?"
I snorted. "That depends. Does it rain donuts here or just water?"
He righted me and shrugged. "Does it matter?"
I nodded. "A lot. I might not like this reality if all we get is rain."
He pursed his lips and glanced at the door. "Speaking of rain, Jazz brought us some wet news from Mab. Chief Orso was attacked an hour ago by an unknown assailant. He's at the hospital, and the whole town is locked up in their houses. If Orso wanted to keep everyone from knowing there was someone loose out there he made a big mistake."
I winced and set a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I mean, I know he's your friend."
Orion shrugged. "It's fine. At least he's not hurt too badly."
"Any way we can talk to him?"
He shook his head. "No. He's on Sickness watch, so nobody but the doctor's can get in to see him."
I pursed my lips. "So what now?"
Orion nodded at the door. "Jazz told me he was attacked responding to a call in the woods." He grasped my hand and grinned. "As long as you haven't washed your hand we should be able to follow any scent that might match the fur we found."
I arched an eyebrow. "Jazz told you a lot in a short time."
He smiled. "She has a way with words."
"And a strange fashion sense."
He pursed his lips. "That isn't exactly her choice. When she experienced her first transformation parts of her body never reverted back."
I furrowed my brow. "Does that happen often?"
Orion shook his head. "Very rarely until the last five years or so."
I glanced out the tall window beside the front door. "This sleepy little town has a lot of problems."
He grabbed our coats, tossed them over his arm and took hold of my hand. "Let's go see if we can dig some more up."
We climbed into my car with Orion at the helm and drove down the road. The slushy streets were deserted. The sleds lay abandoned on the hill.
I turned away from the lonely sight and to Orion. "So how long does it take the Sickness to take effect?"
He shook his head. "It's different for everybody. Sometimes it's a few minutes, sometimes a few days. That's why Orso's being watched."
"Can the Sickness actually kill someone? I mean, not with the sick person doing the killing," I asked him.
He nodded. "If the illness progresses far enough, it could kill the person who's infected."
I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "You know, this place is starting to make a live broadcast from Detroit look safe." I glanced out the window and watched as we left town and headed up the hill toward the Blessing Tree. "Where exactly are we going, anyway? Not to an on-site interview, I hope."
Orion shook his head as we rounded the corner and passed the road to the tree. "Nope, just to the scene of the crime. We'll soon find out if it was our mysterious friend who attacked Orso, or if we have a new problem."
Orion drove for two miles before he pulled off the side of the road onto a squishy dirt spot. We stepped out and he nodded at a pair of ruts like those that led to the tree. "That's where we need to go."
I squinted at the faint road. All the snow was melted, but the water hadn't soaked into the ground, leaving a mess of marshland and puddles. The trees of the forest stood thick on either side, and the brush was even thicker. The darkening of day stretched their shadows over the road and created a cavernous effect that made chills run down my spine.
A snort escaped my lips. "Of course it is."
Orion led the way down the road. We walked for a mile before we reached a small, circular meadow. The trees parted and on either side were small fire pits made from large stones.
I gestured at the pits. "Don't tell me. This is where everyone convenes with nature."
Orion smiled and shook his head. "Not quite." He knelt on the ground and brushed his hand over the road. "More than the chief has been here. There are four recent sets of tire prints on the road."
I knelt beside him and looked over the imprints. "Damn. And me without my camera."
He lifted his smiling eyes to me and tapped the side of his nose. "No need for that. Just use your nose."
I sniffed the air and wrinkled my nose. "Smells like pine needles." I raised my hand and stuck out my tongue. "And dead wet chicken."
"Here, let me smell that." He grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand under his nose. I blushed as his skin brushed against mine.
He closed his eyes and released me. A grin curled onto his lips as he stood. "Sometimes I don't know if you want to kiss me or kick me in the balls."
I stood and glared at him. "Maybe a little of both."
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me against his chest. "Let's try the first one."
Orion leaned down and captured my lips in a searing kiss. Lustful heat traveled up and down my body. I pressed my hands against his chest and pushed us to arm's length.
"I-I think we need to focus on the tire tracks," I told him. Orion looked down at me with eyes tinged with more yellow than was normal. I furrowed my brow and stepped away from him. "Are you okay?"
His chest moved up and down in faster and faster heartbeats. Fur sprouted over his face and his clothes stretched to make room for his bulging muscles. His face elongated into a thick snout and his hands at his sides flexed into long claws.
"What's going on? Why are you changing?" I asked him.
A lecherous grin slid onto his lips. My pulse quickened as I recognized the same lunatic look in his eyes as in the others afflicted with the Sickness.
I backed up and held up my hands. "Orion, listen to me. We can work things out. We can get you some help." He snarled at me. "Okay, so we'll skip the help, but you still don't have to eat me."
He trudged onward and I trudged backward until my back hit the trunk of a thick tree. Orion leapt at me. I swung around the tree and stumbled through the wet, slick brush. Orion got down on all four paws and raced after me. He caught me five yards int
o the woods.
We crashed onto the wet ground. I rolled over onto my back and looked up into his wild face. He slammed his hands down on either side of my head and leaned towards me. I shut my eyes and turned my face away. He leaned forward and brushed his muzzle against my neck. His warm breath wafted over my trembling flesh.
I felt a prick of carnal desire slip into my mind. My body broke out in a sweat as one of his clawed hands glided down my side. My pulse and breath quickened. I bit my lips to keep back a groan as his hand slid beneath my coat and shirt. His warm fingers caressed my skin and ignited within me a fire that hungered for his touch.
But now was not the time for eating. I shook my head to clear the lust-fog and looked around for something to get me out of this mess. I gasped when Orion brushed his hips against mine. His bulging need pressed against my left leg.
Something he said came back to me. He pulled his face away from my neck and looked down at me with those feral eyes. I smiled and shrugged. "Sorry."
I jerked up my knee. My kneecap connected with his swollen, sensitive balls. His eyes bulged and a high-pitched whimper escaped his lips. I grabbed his shoulders and slid him off me. He dropped to his side and curled into a tight ball.
I rolled around him so I faced his admirable butt. His fur covered most of the jeans, but I was able to see the back pockets. A bulge like a wallet pushed out the one on the right. I tried to slip my hand in, but his tight ass made that impossible. A low, dangerous growl told me he was recovering from my low-blow attack.
I grabbed the top of the pocket and pulled. The cloth tore downward, and out dropped a small leather wallet. A whiff of wolf's bane hit my nose. I snatched up the wallet and stumbled back as Orion spun around. He crouched on his feet with his hands on the ground in front of him and curled his lips back in a nasty snarl.
My fingers fumbled in the wallet as I weakly smiled at him. "No hard feelings, right?"
His eyes narrowed and he stalked toward me on all fours. I wrapped my fingers around a dry weed-like substance and tossed it into his face. He yelped and stumbled back. His hands furiously pawed at his face. The scent of wolf's bane invaded my nostrils. The world around me spun around. I fell back just as Orion, too, collapsed.
Then the world went black.
CHAPTER 17
