In my mind, I count the number of years from the nineteen-eighties up until now.Is there a middle-aged person I don’t know about living somewhere on Landslide?
Shadow seems to blend into the darkness, leaving only his voice to explain.This is starting to feel more and more like a dream.
“They named the boy ‘Wulf’ as a joke.You see, even when he was a baby, he loved to bite.”
Wulf.Hilarious.But that’s not what I want to know.
“Stop talking in riddles, Shadow, and fucking tell me!”
“What they did was forbidden, Luna.Ifan was excommunicated, and the MC vowed to hunt all three of them down.But Ifan was a skilled nomad—he knew how to keep his family hidden.And then one day out of the blue, Tempest came back to Landslide, alone.”
I’m praying he’s going to tell me that Ifan and Wulf are dead, but no.
“By observing Wulf’s feeding habits, Tempest had discovered a way to brew a drink that could satisfy our hunger without us having to feed on females.She offered to make it for us in exchange for forgiveness.”
Okay, maybe I was overreacting about a monstrous cousin lurking in the woods somewhere!“You forgave all three of them?That must have been one great-tasting drink!”
A flicker of a smile makes Shadow’s teeth gleam in the moonlight.
“It was a winning solution for those of us living on Landslide.No more weak, infertile women from blood loss.No more suspicious husbands when their wives died young or stayed sick.If anything, the drink enabled the MC to reconnect with our humanity.We could give a woman delightful nightmares without feeding on her.The drink allowed us to go for months—years—without the urge to feed on prey.”
Now I find that interesting.“Why bother?I mean, isn’t being with a woman all about the sex-blood thing?”
“Are you seriously complaining about a man who enjoys giving you pleasure, Luna?”
He’s right.“Okay, judge.I withdraw the question.”
Chuckling, Shadow comes to sit down on the couch and pulls me to sit next to him.
“It was almost normal here for twenty years.Girls grew to become women and have kids.They moved to the mainland to live healthy lives.Sam Aherne built the inn, which brought visitors.And the female visitors would return home in one piece—with maybe a few delightful nightmares as fond memories.”
“But it didn’t last.”I feel safe in saying this.Landslide might still be a popular tourist destination from all the letters sent to the chalet inn, but the local population looks as if it’s on its last legs.
Sighing, Shadow agrees.“Yep.And no one could be sorrier about that than me, darlin’.”Draping his arm over my shoulder, he pulls me close.As cold as he is, I feel warm in his rough embrace.
“The truce was the best thing that ever happened to Landslide.Tempest would brew and bottle the drink in the basement before going back to the mainland with a vat of the stuff for her own family.She was happy for Ifan to feast on her, but Tempest did not want Wulf to grow up with female blood on the menu.She showed me photos of her strange family once.Ifan had cut his hair close to the scalp and was sporting a goatee.The dude looked real civilized… and happy.”
“And Wulf?”
Shadow unexpectedly kisses the top of my head.His mouth feels like cold steel when he does it.
“Wulf refused to abide by the rules as he grew older.He was greedy for both blood and drink.And when Ifan attempted to discipline his son, Tempest got in the way.”
I am torn as I imagine the scenario.What would I have done if I were the parent?
“What happened?”
Looking genuinely sad, Shadow sighs.“Ifan bounced, y’all.He was always a half-wild nomad at heart.There was no way he was going to stick around with an ol’ lady who didn’t respect his authority.And if you think Wulf was out of control when his daddy was around, you should have seen him after.”
Single-parent households are difficult at the best of times without adding a monstrous son into the mix.Poor Tempest.
It’s as if Shadow can read my mind.
“Tempest didn’t waste time feeling sorry for herself, Luna.I don’t know how she did it, but she was able to brew some kind of fortified elixir that brought Wulf back under her control.It was too late to save Maria Magoo and Mrs.Steele, but the new fluids satisfied Wulf in a special way.His deadly visits to Landslide stopped.”
I shudder when I think it was my own cousin who killed my neighbors’ wives.And I am beginning to understand how important it is for us to get the brewery at the inn making bottles of that drink again!
“It’s important that you never forget Wulf is a killer, Luna.When he hears a woman’s heart fluttering, it makes him suck harder.He takes pleasure from the seduction.Visiting a female, flirting with her, making her fall in love with him.He gets off on it.”
