Serpent Moon

by C. T. Adams

  In fact, he doesn’t smell at all. That seemed odd and it made her glance at him again. He didn’t notice. He just kept staring ahead blankly, as though in his own world. Yet there was an intelligence to his eyes that told her he was fine mentally. Maybe he couldn’t hear or talk. Either way, she’d follow the others’ lead and ignore him until he chose to be included.

  When everybody had finally calmed down enough to sit back down, and Holly had a glass of wine to sip on, Rose turned to her. “So, tell us all about your trip.”

  The woman on the couch interrupted with a snarl. “We don’t have time for that now, Rose.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes. It’s LittleSis. How exciting. La-dee-dah. But I plan to be home by ten and we have a lot of things to discuss.”

  There were looks of annoyance around the room, but nobody spoke up. Rose turned her head and mouthed the word Breakneck.

  Oh! Martha Tamu, known as Breakneck, was the forum Super moderator, and was the lone human born to a pride of Kenyan lions. She was a snarly, bitter woman online and apparently she was no better in person. It was nobody’s fault that her older brother had once pounced on her in cat form and had fractured her neck. She’d eventually relearned to walk, albeit with a limp, but she’d managed to inflict her festering resentment on everybody she met thereafter. Holly had learned it was best not to antagonize her, so she just nodded pleasantly. “Of course. I don’t mean to interrupt your meeting. I could just go and talk to Dale for a bit while you guys do your thing. Is he home?”

  Rose laughed. “He never leaves home, but he’s not really available. He signed on a new patch and caught a flash so he’s starting a drive. He’ll probably be at it all night.”

  She must have had a confused look because Char laughed and citrus filled the air as she spoke with a thick Australian accent. “LittleSis must not know our lingo, Rosebud. I think you gobsmacked her.”

  Rose joined in the laughter while Breakneck continued to glare. “Quick vocab lesson, sis. A patch is a new lease from the government for a mine. They’re pretty rare lately, so Dale got all excited and started on it last night. Opal mining is done at night with a UV lamp. The raw stones glow like blacklight posters, so when he spotted a flash of color, he decided to go down the hole and start a new hole sideways to see if he could find some more. That’s called a drive.”

  “Ah! Got it. Okay, never mind then. I’ll just sit here and be quiet.”

  “That would be nice.” Breakneck’s words dripped with poison and more than a few people in the room smelled annoyed again. They were scared too, which bugged Holly.

  Rose just nodded quietly. Apparently, Breakneck was in charge of the meeting, because she started snapping orders. “Toadie, treasurer’s report. Char will be next with the old business—”

  A cell phone chirped just then and Toadie reached into his pocket, ignoring the sour face and lowered brows. He glanced at the display and his scent turned excited, even though he gave no outward sign. “I’ve got to take this. It’s Miguel. Char can read the report. She helped me write it.”

  Finally, there was an actual smile from Breakneck. “Hopefully it’s good news.”

  Even Rose held up her hand, two fingers twisted together. “Fingers crossed!”

  Holly sort of tuned out when Char started talking. She’d been to enough meetings of the Denver group to know how it would go. There was never enough money. There were never enough people to help, so nothing got done. They planned useful, important things about awareness for family members and trying to start a private insurance group to help with the bruises and nonthreatening cuts that everybody seemed to get. But again, nothing, because nobody wanted to fund the pot and nobody wanted to be responsible for the work.

  But her ears perked up when she heard, “So, we’re down to only eighty thousand in savings. The loss of the New Mexico plant really hurt our resources.”

  Eighty thousand? What the hell? She remembered dreaming of the day when they’d have one thousand and how much could be done with that amount. But now they were down to eighty? She found herself starting to listen more intently, and noticed that the man in the corner was as well. Apparently he wasn’t deaf.

  Breakneck sighed, but then shrugged. “It’ll have to do, I suppose. I’m less worried now that everything’s coming together. Hissyfit, have you heard any hint that they know of our plans?”

  Hissyfit’s eyes widened and he nearly choked on his drink. After a few sputters, he replied, “Are we going out of order now? My report’s in my case in the kitchen. Should I go get it?”

  He got a withering look in response. “A simple yes or no will do, unless you need a cheat sheet to spit out a single word.”

  “Oh.” He looked abashed and sunk back into the cushions in a futile attempt to escape Breakneck’s intense gaze. “Um . . . well, I mean—”

  “Yes or no? Or should I just give someone else the assignment?”

  “No.” The word was a whisper, his eyes downcast, and he smelled ready to cry. Holly suddenly remembered another reason she’d left the boards. The bullying by one or two of the members was nearly as bad as what she got from her sisters. At first, the forum had seemed liberating. She could chat and post and enjoy herself. But then came the sniping and the snarky responses to even the simplest questions. Near the end, she was feeling more depressed logging out than when she arrived. She remembered Hissyfit from the early days of the forum, when it was just a ragtag group who sent IMs back and forth. He’d started out beaten down by his viper-shifter older brothers. Over the course of a year, he’d gotten to where he was relatively confident. But if this was what he’d been reduced to since Breakneck took over—

  Words started popping out of her mouth and she couldn’t seem to stop them. “Would you knock it off with the pressure already? Hissy doesn’t have to ask how high when you say jump.”

  All motion stopped in the room. Only Breakneck moved—her head turning slowly in Holly’s direction like a creepy doll in a horror movie. “Gained quite the smart mouth when you got your teeth and fur, did you?”

  Emotions roiled over the room and assaulted Holly’s nose. Disbelief, anger, and betrayal rode on a blanket of fear that permeated her senses and threw her into a fit of sneezing.

  Now Rose stood up, her fists clenched and shaking with outrage. “Damn it! I told you that in confidence.” Then she turned to face the others while Holly tried to get a fit of sneezing under control. “Yes, fine. Holly’s a wolf now. She was attacked and nearly killed because of one pack member’s petty jealousy. She stood up for a friend and was nearly put down. I hope we’re better than them, because being turned doesn’t mean she’s against us. If anything, she’s more one of us. After everything that’s happened to her, to come to this—to become what she loathed . . . well, I don’t doubt she’s going to be more than happy to see what we’ve planned to end the animals once and for all.”

  Holly fought to snuffle up the thick mucus that had formed in her nose from the scents as a wet cloud of sorrow abruptly replaced the anger, except for Rose’s and Breakneck’s. More than one person gasped and Char had a hand to her mouth, her eyes open wide in shock. All eyes were on Holly and most were now filled with sympathy. All except the man in the corner, who was watching her with a furrowed brow. His arm was bent up and was resting on the other forearm and his fingers tapped his lips as though he were sizing up an opponent. Once again she couldn’t help but wonder about him, and why she still couldn’t smell him.

  Why?

  Plans . . . eighty thousand . . . plant in New Mexico. End them once and for all. Shit. Could FMU have evolved so much in the time she’d been gone? Could they have gotten even more radical—going beyond simple talking to action? Worse, could they be doing illegal things to fund their revenge?

  Crap. The man in the corner must be a Wolven agent who had infiltrated the group. He was wearing that special cologne Lucas did when he was on a case. And now he’s wondering what the hell I’m doing here with them.

 
Maybe it would help her case—and she didn’t doubt there would be one now—if she got more information he could use. Once and for all had a very final ring to it that she didn’t like.

  She dug into her memory, called up the day she was attacked. The fear and the anger she felt when Corrine and her cronies surrounded her. They’d planned to kill both her and Cat—with the knowledge of the rest of the pack members. She felt her voice harden and anger fueled her. Maybe she wasn’t dealing as well as she’d claimed to be to Eric. “Of course I’m with you. They wanted me dead just because I was friends with someone they didn’t like. I hate that damned pack! Everything’s changed. My life’s a wreck. I used to love to watch deer in the forest and now I can’t stop myself from chasing and eating them. And talk about irony. I was going to be a vet. You remember, Char. The change turned me into a freaking healer. Great! A healer who can’t even get near her patients. Small animals are terrified of me now . . . and who wants to hire a vet who terrifies pets?” She felt tears well and realized she hadn’t ever let this out, not even with Cat. Her hands were clenched so tight she could feel her nails cut through skin. But the healing magic sealed the wounds as fast as they happened. “I have to live where they tell me, can’t go to the schools I want, and will always . . . always have them looking over my shoulder. God, I hate this!”

  She let the tears that had been trying to flow for months come out. Char stood up in a rush, tears likewise streaming down her face, and ran the short distance to where Holly sat. She threw her arms around her and hugged tight. “Don’t cry, LittleSis. Please don’t cry. We can make it better. We can give you back your life. I swear.” She turned her head to look back, burying Holly’s face in her thick dark hair that smelled of fresh apples. “We can make her a special case, can’t we? Couldn’t she be a spy for us, like Toadie? We still need someone inside to feed us information, right? And when we’re sure of the formula, we can make her one of us again. Right? Holly’s not just the little sister of the wolves. She’s our LittleSis. She’s one of us.”

  Apparently, Holly’s speech had even affected Breakneck, because her eyes were filled with teary outrage, not at Holly, but on behalf of her. “We don’t need anyone in the wolves right now. We already get all the intel we need. But yes, when all the tests are done, we’ll make her human again. Sooner if she’s willing to take the risk. We still have some vials of the most recent batch.”

  Say what? Human again? What the hell were they working on? The man in the corner smiled, but with his face affected, it was more of a leer.

  She opened her mouth to ask the obvious question when the front door opened in a rush, and Toadie raced in, pumping his fist in the air in triumph. “Two out of six, baby! Nobody even saw us coming with everything else going on.”

  Cheers erupted from the room, leaving Holly completely confused. But it seemed the Wolven man in the corner was likewise at a loss from the way his brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. Toadie swept around the room, slapping outstretched hands like a baseball player rounding the bases after a grand slam.

  Holly! Cat’s panicked, angry voice slammed into her mind like a brick to her temple. You have to come back. There’s a helicopter heading your way to pick you up at the airport.

  What? What’s happening? I’m at Rose’s. I’ll go back to the hotel and call you—

  No! No time. We’ll send someone for your things, but we need you back in the States as fast as possible. You might be the only person left who can save them. The pilot will know where to go. Don’t even worry about your passport. He’ll take you straight to the jet. We’ve cleared it.

  Holly’s mind was reeling. There was too much input from too many places. I don’t understand. Save who? What’s—

  There’s no time. Lucas and Uncle Chuck are down and we’re evacuating Albuquerque as soon as I can get out of here. I’m with the kids in the computer room for now. I’ve already killed five, but there are more of them than I can fight off and still keep the babies safe. I’ll have to wait for Raphael and the others to get back. I . . . crap! They’re breaching the door! Just get to the airport. I’ll let you know where we wind up.

  Cat? Cat! But there was only silence. The connection shut off before she could find out anything else. The room started to spin and Holly was having a hard time breathing. Two down out of six. Lucas and Uncle Chuck? What in the hell was going on? She stood in a rush, her muscles twitching from the sudden rush of adrenaline. There were few things Cat couldn’t handle and if things were bad enough she was panicking—

  Shit.

  Rose’s telephone rang just then, and her sister went to answer it among the cheers and clinking of glasses. “Hello? Yes, this is she.” Rose turned to her and then put a hand over the mouthpiece. “Holly? There’s a man on the phone who said your flight’s arrived. I thought you said you were staying for a week. What’s going on?”

  Her jaw moved, but nothing came out for at least two tries. She glanced at the Wolven agent and held up her hands in frustration. He’d have to handle whatever was happening alone. The half of his face that worked registered shock at her actions and suspicion soon followed. But she couldn’t worry about that right now. “I forgot . . . that is . . . Look, something came up back home. I have to go back right away. It’s . . . my apartment, or—” Hell, she couldn’t even think enough to come up with a good lie. “—something. Anyway, I have to go. Sorry.”

  She rushed out the door so fast they wouldn’t be able to stop her and started running toward the airport. It was dark enough now that nobody would see her if she ran full out and stayed off the lighted streets. The trick was going to be not falling in the holes that dotted the landscape.

  The lights of the town disappeared behind her. It wasn’t until she narrowly avoided one mine shaft, sending her skittering sideways and wrenching her hip hard enough to make her cry out, that she realized she was being followed.

  The snake was fast, too fast to be anything but a Sazi and there was no way she could outrun it now. Every movement was agony and even though her body was healing rapidly, it was going to catch her before she could reach the airport.

  She stopped and turned to face her pursuer. The helicopter would wait for a few minutes. They’d expect that it would take her time to get there. She raised power in a big enough burst that she hoped it would make the snake back off. It did, but it just let out a series of small hisses that she realized was laughter. “Who are you and what do you want? I’m prepared to fight if I have to.” And she could. She’d stayed with Cat and Raphael for a time when Cat was heavily pregnant and couldn’t exercise. Raphael had needed a sparring partner. He’d showed her a lot of the same moves he’d taught his wife. While Holly wasn’t as vicious as either of them, she was flexible and fast and could put the hurt on nearly anyone.

  The voice was male, a medium baritone that slurred a little around the edges, like he was drunk. “Who I am doesn’t matter, and I have no desire to fight you. If I wanted you dead, you already would be.”

  Holly threw a sudden punch at him that connected hard enough to make pain sing up her arm. Then she stepped backward to put some distance between them. But the ground disappeared under her so fast that she was afraid she’d stepped in a hole.

  It was no hole.

  The snake had gotten behind her before she could blink, sometime between the punch and her step back. She tried to scramble to her feet, but he coiled around her tight enough to make the air whoosh from her chest, and raised a net of power so fast that she couldn’t expand her lungs again. Panic filled her but she couldn’t move. Was she going to be kidnapped? Raped? Killed?

  “That was well executed but foolish, child.” He raised his head above her until she could see venom glistening off fangs that were at least six inches long. “I merely wanted to talk, but you may have me take the information by force. Still, I did sneak up on you, so I’ll give you a chance to make amends. Are you willing to talk quietly, or shall I begin to make you scream?”

  Sh
e couldn’t smell whether he’d enjoy torturing her, but she’d known plenty of snakes who did. In fact, she couldn’t smell him at all. Which probably meant—

  He eased the magic surrounding her enough that she could answer. She made her voice as calm as she could and tried to make it so her scent didn’t telegraph what she was feeling. He flicked his tongue repeatedly while he waited for her to reply. “Okay. We can talk. You’re the man who was in the corner of my sister’s house, aren’t you?”

  The mouth opened wider as he lowered his face until his flicking tongue tickled her nose. “Very good, but I’m curious as to how you saw me. Nobody else in the room did.”

  Nobody saw him? Was that why nobody had looked his way? “I have no idea. Are healers immune to illusion?”

  “It wasn’t illusion, which is why I’m curious. I find it very interesting. But that’s not why I caught up to you.”

  He was beginning to ease his grip on her. If she timed it right, she could likely slide out from his coils and race to the airport before he could catch her.

  Maybe.

  “Why did you then?”

  “I find myself in need of a healer . . . one that’s not known to the Sazi council. I believe you’re just the right person. If you agree to help, I’ll let you live.”

  Something that the council wasn’t supposed to know about couldn’t be good. She shook her head and readied herself to move. “Sorry. Not interested. I guess you’ll have to kill me.”