A dining room chair is now under my butt. Without him carrying it in. Without me moving.
The “need to vomit” feeling intensifies.
“You have injuries?”
“Yes. Glass in my hands. My knees.”
“Eddie Hyde and Dr. Ellsworth are coming over then. Izzy and Ardy, too. Ian Kane. Shit, I might need more power than I have. I’m going to need Minegold and Madge.”
“Who are they? What are you?”
“Warlock and family and business lawyer. The werewolf is Jasper. Don’t faint, okay?”
“Trying.”
“I know I sound like I’m being unsympathetic, but I need to get this body and that truck out of here.”
I nod.Jasper is a werewolf?Well, no, obviously not.
But I don’t want him to go to jail. “He only did what he did to save us,” I whisper. “He even waited until I got the baby away from Matt.”
“I’m not surprised. Werewolves are still sentient. They can let themselves become fully animalistic, violent killers, but the ones in our town work hard to be responsible citizens. There are tonics and isolation procedures that are best practices.”
Werewolves. Isolating. Taking tonics.
Clues slip into place, even in the murk of my overtaxed mind. Clues like the little blue bottles that used to be in the kitchen and are now in Jasper’s bedroom, and the water and beef jerky in the “recording” room. The gray and black fur that’s only downstairs.
Alban runs and shuts the basement door. “He didn’t scratch or bite you? Not even a little?”
“Never touched me. He walked right past me, like he had a target in mind.”
“He probably did. He heard you scream. I didn’t hear you scream until the very end, but when I drove past and saw a strange truck in your driveway and the door hanging open, I thought I had better drop in. Glad I did.”
“What’s... What’s happening now?” I ask. “Why are people coming?”
“Damage control. Jasper killed an intruder, an attacker violating an order of protection. In court, it’d hold up, but the whole mauling him in werewolf form? Nope. And you don’t need this drama. You’re a widow, Loretta, and I’m sorry if this is a lot to process. We’ll help, I promise, but first, we have to help Jasper before Matt’s family reports him missing or someone who doesn’t know Pine Ridge is paranormal-friendly comes to investigate.”
“Paranormal-friendly?” I ask, scooting forward. I wince as the glass in my knees makes itself known.
“Home to quote-unquote monsters. Humans, too, of course. Human minds are oblivious to most things that don’t make sense to them. Most people never see the monsters or magical beings. Or, they don’t see magic when it happens, when warlocks use it.”
“Warlocks like you?”
“And Alain. Or magical beings like Ardy Walsh.”
“What’s Ardy?”
“I’m a Pooka.”
Ardy Walsh slips into the house, eyes sweeping the area and settling on the body in the hall.
“How’d you get here so fast?”
“I used my horse form. Quicker than the car—I could go cross-country.”
“Horse form?” The words have no meaning. Ardy as a horse.Is he a werehorse?The room feels wobbly.
“Don’t show her now, Ardy, she’ll faint. Minegold and Madge are coming over. I want to send the truck back where it came from—with the body in it.”
