CHAPTER

Mary crouched in a corner nook she’d created by pushing several wooden crates and some old dusty chairs together. She watched the big, shaggy, gray wolf pace nearby, either oblivious to her presence or simply having stopped caring that she was there. She suspected the latter.

At one point while Andreas had been sniffing around the remnants of their meal, she’d grabbed her tote and scurried back to her makeshift bunker.

She didn’t want to draw attention to herself until she knew what that animal was capable of. She hadn’t heard any recent news in town about wild animal attacks, but that could have simply meant the beast hadn’t had an opportunity. Or he had, and his hunting territory was too far away from town for anyone to have discovered the carnage yet.

She needed to make a call. There was a woman who knew about their magic and what their people had been like before they’d crossed the seas. She’d recently left Fallon, but she was the only person Mary could think of who could tell her what she was dealing with. She happened to be Oliver’s aunt. Contacting her was risky. Maggie would be suspicious of her intentions.

Also, contacting anyone with the wolf so close was likely risky for Mary’s health.

Andreas settled onto his belly and looked toward the windows, though seemingly at nothing in particular. She had no way of knowing how good his ears were, though—whether he had human hearing, or a true wolf’s, or something in between. Anyway she sliced the situation, though, he was going to be able to hear her.

But maybe he won’t understand.

She massaged the corner of her phone for a few moments, and then took a deep, bracing breath.

“I’ll risk it,” she whispered. She suspected that if Andreas had been in his human form, he wouldn’t have wanted her to make the call—not to the Afótama. They were enemies to Fallonites, after all.

While scrolling through the dozens of numbers in her phone’s contact list, she muttered, “Come on, come on, be in here.” Some numbers, she simply didn’t program in if she didn’t expect to use them often, but that number should have had a gold star.

“Ah,” she exclaimed quietly, finding a good number under the D listing. Sheldon Dent.

Holding her breath, she let the phone dial and put the cell to her ear.

The wolf got to his feet.

Her gut plummeted.

He stalked to the windows and jumped up onto a shelf for a better view.

Clutching her chest over her rapidly beating heart, she let out a relieved titter.

“Sheldon Dent,” came the lethargic response through her phone.

“Um,” she whispered, and licked her lips. “This is Mary Nissen.”

“Huh? Speak up, will ya?”

She cringed, and attempted a slightly louder volume. “I can’t speak loudly. I’m having a bit of a situation. This is Mary Nissen.”

Sheldon seemed to need a moment to make out the words, and while he did, she watched the wolf.

His focus was still on something out the window.

“Oh! Mary!” Sheldon exclaimed. “How are things goin’? You calling me from work?” He laughed. “Did you finally get fed up and decide you want to come work for me?”

She cringed. “Well, not exactly. I need a referral.”

“A referral for what? I do mostly family law. You got a New Mexico marriage you need to have quietly annulled or somethin’? I’m not licensed in Nevada.”

“No, this isn’t a legal issue. I need to speak with your chieftain’s aunt. Maggie? Do you know her?”

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “I know Mags. Hard not to.”

“Yeah. The old lady’s a bit of an institution. I need to talk to her about an important issue, and I don’t have her Norseton contact information.”

Sheldon was silent.

The wolf looked her way.

Mary wriggled back more into the shadows. She really couldn’t go any farther.

“What do you need to talk to her for?” Sheldon said after a minute.

She pulled in a ragged breath and, flicking her hair out of her eyes, let out the air. “I know you’re protective of the people there, and you should be, but I promise you I’m not trying to make trouble. I need her expertise. That’s all.”

“Regarding what?”

“A person here who has some unusual magic. I was wondering if she could tell me more about the source.”

“Is this for a case?”

“No,” she said emphatically. “Not at all.” People like her who worked in the legal profession went out of their way not to record any references of their magic or psychic abilities in official documents. They always nudged their clients and the people they interviewed to give them more mundane explanations of what they did and saw, if they could.

“So this is a personal matter, then?” he asked.

“Yes. This is personal.” The situation may have started as what should have been a run-of-the-mill fact-finding interview, but that ship had sailed. She didn’t care about the outcome of that case anymore. In the larger scheme of things, the resolution of a fender bender seemed a petty concern compared to what was going on with Andreas. He didn’t know what was happening to him.

If Mary had been in his shoes and someone was snooping around trying to root her out, she might have resorted to extraordinary measures or some bad behavior to make them stop, too.

He was a fucking wolf. The people in Fallon would sharpen their pitchforks for sure if they knew. She had to protect him.

“This is…” She realized she was whispering again, and tried once again at a more audible volume. “This is an old curse that’s been reignited. He doesn’t know anything else about it. He needs to know what’s happening to him, and his parents can’t tell him anything.”

“So there are people out there in Fallon reaping from the magical flood, huh?”

“He’s the first I’ve encountered to have anything. At least, anything significant.”

“Why him?”

“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t know much about this at all, but I’m kind of in a pickle here. Could you please tell me how to get in touch with Maggie Gilisson? I promise you, I don’t have anything devious up my sleeves. I just want to help this guy. I just want to…” She swallowed.

Finally, the wolf looked away.

“I want to help him, but I’m helping myself, too. He’s got me trapped.”

“Do you want me to call the police?”

“No! No, don’t. Just give me a chance to resolve this without anyone using force. The police in Fallon don’t know there are people like us, and if there’s any way for me to reach A—”

She’d been about to say Andreas’s name, but stopped herself before she could speak it. She didn’t want to rouse his attention.

“If there’s any way for me to reach him without anyone else coming in and escalating the situation, I’d like to try.”

“Well, jeez Louise, woman, are you safe?” Sheldon asked.

“Safe enough for the moment. I’m being careful. I know that wild animals can sometimes be unpredictable.”

“You got that right,” Sheldon murmured. “Okay. Give me a minute to see who I can get in touch with over at the mansion. I don’t have Maggie’s number, but the queen’s executive aide, Lora, would certainly have it. I just need to… Ugh. Need to figure out how to put you on hold. I’ve got a new phone system and don’t know all these damn buttons yet. Ugh. Oh! Here it is.”

He must have hit the right button, because playback began of a cheerfully recorded marketing spiel about Sheldon’s services.

She switched her phone to the other ear and leaned rightward.

Andreas had given up his perch at the window and, just as quickly, she’d lost him to the room.

“Where’d he go?” she murmured. She turned hear hearing outward to the big storage space and listened for sounds of movement, but there were none.

She hated not being able to sense him. Having taken the wolf form, he’d gone completely off her psychic radar. She’d never heard of anything like that happening amongst their kind, and she wondered what other kinds of long-suppressed magic people were hiding for fear of conflict.

Sheldon came back on the line. “You got a pen?”

“Yes.” Mary quickly rooted one out of her tote along with one of her pads.

He gave her the number. “She said she’ll be expecting you to call.”

“Great. Thank you so much!”

“Oh, I’ll just consider this advance pay.”

She furrowed her brow. “Pardon me?”

“Signing bonus?”

“Sheldon.” Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Ah, come on. You know you wanna.”

“I’m still thinking about the move. After so long in Vegas, I figured I’d stay in Fallon for a while. I’ve got memories here.”

“The memories won’t go away if your scenery changes. Maybe they’ll even become more precious.”

She considered that. He was probably right. All of her good memories of Fallon were of her father, and she’d never forget him, no matter where she went.

“I’ll let you know,” she said quietly.

“Okay, then. Don’t be a stranger. And hey! Pick up the phone when you can and let me know you survived.” Chuckling, he hung up.

Mary immediately started dialing Maggie Gilisson’s number. She’d gotten to the eighth digit of the sequence when the hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

She forced down a swallow and raised her gaze slowly.

The wolf was in front of her, sitting back on his haunches and staring at her dead-on.

Oh shit.

For an animal, the creature’s eyes seemed far too intelligent. That frightened her even more than his size—big as a man, but made more imposing with all that fur and those sharp teeth. He looked at her like she needed to be watched. Like he meant her harm.

She didn’t know if he did yet. She didn’t know if that animal and Andreas were one in the same. In spite of what Andreas had done to her—drugging her unconscious and carting her to his basement—she didn’t want him harmed. Had she been in his shoes, she might have done the same thing he had.

“Andreas?” she whispered.

If the animal recognized the name, he didn’t give any hints thereof. He just stared.

“Are you in there? Is your mind still there? How do I get you back?”

Of course, he didn’t answer. Just stared.

She laughed nervously and dragged her hand down her face.

“Okay. Well then.” She backspaced the numbers she’d input and instead of making the call to Maggie, opened her camera app. If the wolf were going to sit so close, she wanted to document him. Should Andreas ever return to his two-legged form, she could show him the beast that took his place.

She hoped he returned. She hadn’t considered that before—hadn’t considered that perhaps he wouldn’t. Maybe he was stuck in that form.

Gods, please don’t tell me you’re that cruel.

She willed her nervous hands to still and took the picture. Her first effort was blurry.

“Just be still for me,” she said, propping the bottom of her phone against her knee.

Her second image was clear enough. She closed out the camera app and pulled up her phone’s dial pad again.

“I’m not going to hurt you as long as you don’t try to hurt me, okay?” she said. “I’m going to make a call. I’m going to try to find out what you are. That’s all. Do you understand?”

He stared.

“I’m just getting information. I wouldn’t hurt you on purpose. Not unless you show me you’re dangerous. Please don’t show me that.”

She hoped he wouldn’t, but she had no way of knowing if she were getting through to the beast.

He didn’t even blink.

___

 

She sounds like the goddess.

Is she? Is that the goddess there?

Why is she cowering? What happened?

Why did she stop talking to me?

The woman in his domain—he’d seen her before. He’d seen her in the streets, walking with others. They were all beneath her. She was everything, and they were nothing. She had to know that.

 

How did she come to this place? Did I bring her?

He couldn’t remember. There was something in his brain hidden away from him. He couldn’t access the information, or maybe he just wasn’t smart enough to understand the significance. He felt like he’d once known more.

Who is she? She’s mine, is she not?

He settled onto his belly and looked between the gaps in the wall she’d constructed around herself.

Why is she behind those things? I’m here. Why does she keep me out?

She started talking into that small silver thing she held and looked at him. Her brow was furrowed and gaze too serious.

Trouble? Is she in trouble?

He picked his head up and listened. Her words didn’t make sense to him. They were just sounds. Beautiful tones that meant nothing to him, but her face wore tension he didn’t like.

What does she fear?

“…Curse…shifted… Right now,” she said.

Those sounds—he knew those. Her sounds were language, and he’d known language once. Or perhaps he still did? But more was a mystery to him than what made sense. He couldn’t understand her.

He wanted badly to. He wanted her to come out of that castle she’d erected around herself.

Why did she do that?

“…Fallon…moon?” were some other sounds she made.

He kept listening, but he didn’t understand. He understood, however, that he was supposed to.

But how?