Page 28

Later, when the bar was close to empty, I found Dave sitting on his usual stool and reading a book. He glanced over and checked his watch. Closing his book and shoving it in his back pocket, he said, “Okay, everyone out! Full moon. Sam’s closing early tonight.”

Everyone scurried out. “Thanks. They moved faster than usual.”

He smirked, shaking his head. “It’s called fear and I like it.” He paused a moment, head tilted to the side. “Everyone’s gone. Have a good run.” And he jogged up the steps, leaving as well.

Turning off most of the lights, I walked behind the bar, sat on the counter, and willed the wards closed to everyone but Clive. Back to the wall and my knees pulled up to my chest, I watched the swirling water in the moonlight and willed the hypnotic rhythm of the waves to calm my racing heart.

When Clive walked down the stairs, my heart lurched. He stopped, finding me in the dark, and then approached slowly, his gray eyes luminous in the fog-filtered light.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.” He flicked the fingers of one hand thoughtlessly, elegantly. “Random problems that needed to be dealt with.”

I nodded, nervous and unsure.

“Hiding?” Clive leaned against the bar, watching me.

I shrugged, “Yeah.”

He sat up on the counter next to me. “You do realize that nothing need happen tonight.” He grabbed a hand that was clasped around my knees and pulled it to his mouth, kissing it.

“What if I suck?”

Clive’s eyebrows rose, “Pardon?”

“What if my body turns you off? Or if my insides are too scarred to feel anything? What if I do it all wrong and you don’t like me anymore? I couldn’t handle it if you—” My breathing was coming faster; my voice was breaking. “I think we need to just forget all of this.” I nodded, agreeing with myself. “We’ll be friends. You can visit in the evenings and sit right over there.” I pointed to his table. “We’ll talk about books and movies and be friends forever. Okay?”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Why?” I heard the wolf’s whine in my voice.

“Because you are a physical ache in my chest. Every time I see you or think of you, I want nothing more than to pull you into my arms and never let you go.” He smiled. “Most friends don’t experience that sort of compulsion. Russell hates it when I try to cuddle him.”

I exhaled a laugh, knowing I’d been beat. “Well, that’s a stupid reason.”

“Perhaps, but it’s the best one I’ve got.”

I jumped off the counter and headed toward the kitchen. “Fine. Let’s get this over with, but if the whole thing is a fiasco, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I reached out to push the kitchen door and found myself swung around in Clive’s arms.

“I don’t think you’re going into this with the right attitude.” His mouth descended on my own in soft, maddeningly light kisses. He nibbled on my lower lip, before feathering kisses across my cheek. I felt his tongue trail down my neck, his fangs teasing me. I shivered and pulled him closer.

“Better.” He found my mouth again, crushing me, his kisses hot and urgent.

I wound myself around him, one hand buried in his thick, soft hair, the other trailing across his broad chest. I heard his growl of approval, my hand sliding lower. When I reached his belt, I stopped. This was becoming too real.

“Chicken,” he said before devouring my mouth again.

He was teasing. I knew he was, but I couldn’t. It was too much. White noise filled my head, the metallic taste of bile in the back of my throat.

And then it all changed. Clive was cradling me against him, a hand rubbing my back as he murmured soothing sounds in my ear. Heart racing, I couldn’t take it in, but I knew I was safe. Eventually, the white noise receded, and I heard his words.

“…wait until the end of time for you. There’s no hurry, no pressure. You deserve love, Sam. You deserve it all. When you’re ready.”

I nodded, my forehead rubbing against his neck in a way that helped settle my raging mind. “I need to shift,” I said against his chest.

“Then let’s do that.”

I looked up and found my pain reflected in his eyes. He hurt for me and I didn’t know how to fix it, didn’t know if it was mine to fix. Throat tight, I nodded and took his hand, leading him into my apartment.

“No one has ever seen me do this.” I wasn’t sure if I could shift while someone watched.

“Would you like me to wait elsewhere?” He was all soft, careful tones, and I hated myself for prompting it, for being so emotionally scarred that touch terrified me.

I wanted—needed—to be a partner, not a fragile pet who required tending. It was time to shed this skin, to feel my claws and fangs, to rejoice in my strength. I needed that very much right now.

“You can stay.” I tried not to think about it as I pulled off my sweater, tossing it on the couch. His body was gorgeous. Mine was less so. He needed to know that. The jeans landed on top of the sweater. Breathing deeply, I undid my bra and slid down my panties. Once naked, I knelt on the floor. Magic surrounded me almost at once, singing through my blood, calling to the moon. My body began to change, my face elongating, my limbs sprouting with fur.

Afterward, I lay panting, recovering from the change. Tensing, I sensed eyes on me. I’d forgotten. Clive sat in a chair, watching me, his expression one of affection rather than disgust. I stood and shook, approaching him slowly.

He held out a hand. “May I?”

In answer, I stepped forward, ducking my head under his hand. His fingers sunk in, and a shiver ran through my body. “You’re stunning. In both forms, absolutely stunning.” He slipped a hand around my neck and found the necklace. “Good. It still fits. And you’re right. It’s lovely.” A grin tugged at his lips and he said, “We probably should have discussed this sooner, but how about if you do what you normally do, and I’ll follow along?”

My tongue lolled out the side of my mouth, ready to run. Sliding out from under his hands, I went to the bookcase, hit the lower shelf, and stepped back as it swung out to reveal a tunnel. I took off running without a backward glance. I could hear Clive behind me, but I had the advantage of knowing this tunnel like the back of my hand.

It was a short run, only a few miles. I emerged out the back of a massive monument in San Francisco’s National Cemetery. The cemetery was thirty acres, filled with trees and wildlife. The rows of headstones made it difficult for anyone passing by to see a wolf.

Like the entrances to the bookstore, this was a magical opening. To the rest of the world, it looked like the back of a huge, black monument. If you were to run your hand along the stone, it would feel solid. When I touched, it yielded. I couldn’t speak, so I thought Let Clive use this entrance, as he needs. I hoped that worked.

Apparently, it did, as Clive stepped out a moment later. I raced up and down the rows, zooming this way and that, as Clive leaned against the monument and watched, a smile on his face. I circled around behind him, intending to catch him off guard, but when I crept around the back of the monument, I found the spot he’d been standing in empty. Where did he go? I sniffed the ground, looking for his trail and found nothing.

A soft whistle sounded from above. And there he was, standing atop the ten-foot memorial. I sneezed, a strange scent in my nose, and took off running out of the cemetery. Clive ran like he had wings on his feet, easily keeping pace with me. We descended a slope and crossed a deserted road, leading to the stables. The horses knew my scent and didn’t fuss much. Tonight, though, I had an unknown vampire with me.

As we got close, the horses neighed and stamped. I didn’t want to upset them, so I veered to the south to a larger open area we could play in. The grass was high. Clive stood in the middle of the meadow, his arms crossed as though bored and waiting me out. I stalked him like a lion on the Serengeti. When I crept close, his scent filling my nose, I pounced and ended up sprawled in the dirt. Where the hell did he go? Searching, I found him thirty feet away, checking his watch. Bastard.

Slinking through the tall grass, I moved with the bending stalks, mirroring the waves created by the wind. There. Just ahead. A shadow passed over the moon, and I sprung. He was gone, and I was eating dirt again. He was close, though. I couldn’t see him, but I felt him. Executing a flip I hadn’t realized I had in me, I pounced on shimmering air and knocked a smug Clive on his ass. Laughing, he hugged me to his chest, and I settled in, content with my prize.

Clive lay back, one arm beneath his head, the other around me, fingers in my fur, as he gazed up at the moon. “It’s a good night,” he said, his voice relaxed.

A horse’s neigh had my ears twitching.

Clive tensed beneath me. “Do you hear it, too? A kind of deep thrumming in the ground. Almost like…” He was up in a blink, his hand on my head as I stood alert at his side. “Someone’s coming. Go!”

We raced across the field, arrowing our way back past the horses to the cemetery and the monument. Leaving the tall grass, I was bowled over and knocked off my feet by a heavy wolf. Snarling, I circled. Never again. I didn’t care what I had to do, but I would never be at the mercy of another wolf.

He sprang and I launched myself straight up, snapped my jaws around his throat and shook him violently. His neck snapped as I slammed his body to the ground.

“Run, Sam. Don’t stop. I’ll be right behind you.”

We ran. Off to the west, I heard the horses neighing again. Clive fell back and came up on my other side, so he was between me and the stables. I could smell it now, too. There were more wolves with us tonight. As we ran, Clive pushed me further east so we would be as far from the stables as possible while still running for the cemetery.

Wolves bayed to the west. They were closer than the stables now. They’d scented us, as well. I ran as fast as I could, but the wolves were pounding toward us from the side. Our paths were about to intersect. I doubted we’d make it to the monument before being overtaken.

A golden-eyed wolf with a rangy, brown body charged out of the underbrush to the west. He was coming straight for me, his scent hitting like a sledgehammer. Randy. He leaped in the air. I skidded to a stop and then Clive was flying over the top of me. He seized the wolf and flung him into the nearest tree. I could smell blood, hear a whine, and a scrabble of claws on dirt, but Clive wouldn’t let me stop.

More wolves circled, looking for a weak spot. As they attacked, I ran to Clive’s side, claws tearing open the fur of those in my path. We carved our way through them and didn’t stop.

We were just rounding the last row of grave markers, when a wolf dove at Clive. As Clive grappled with one, another skulked up behind him. The strategy had changed. They were going to take Clive down first.

I barreled into the wolf, tearing a chunk off his ear. I had his neck in my jaws, my teeth sinking in, blood on my tongue. They would not get past me. The wolf yanked away, leaving fur between my teeth. I sprang back to stand at Clive’s back, a deep growl of possessiveness rumbling through my chest.

A reddish-brown one tried to slink by me, but it wasn’t happening. I wouldn’t let them draw me away. When he was close, I pounced. Claws longer and sharper than I’d ever seen them tore through his muzzle and down his flank. Blood gushed from the wounds, and I gloried in it, grateful I had weapons to protect my own.

“Sam, go!” I looked back and saw dead and dying wolves piled all around us.

The great, black monument was close. I charged for it, knowing Clive would be at my heels. I dove through the entrance, skidding to a stop in the tunnel. Clive didn’t follow. I paced the narrow tunnel. Where was he?

A few minutes later, he stepped through, and I snapped my teeth. He crouched down, and I went to him. “I had to make sure no more were coming. I didn’t mean to worry you.” He rubbed his hands through my fur. “I also needed to call Russell to take care of the bodies. A pack of dead and dying wolves in the city will set off alarms.”

I pressed my cold nose to his ear, making him flinch. And that’s what he got for worrying me.

“Come on, let’s get you home.”

I trotted in the lead, down the dark tunnel, unaware the night was far from over.