I sat up. Little flashes of light swam in front of my eyes. "Why didn't you tell me my brother is the monster?"
Daniel turned to the window. "Because I wasn't sure myself. I don't remember biting him. I tried to deny that I could have done anything like that until the day James went missing. That was Jude's blood on the porch--but it didn't smell normal, his scent was confused."
"Because he's a werewolf?"
Daniel gazed out the window at the full moon hanging over the parish next door. He brushed his moonstone pendant. "He's not a werewolf. Not yet anyway."
"But he hurt those people. That was him, wasn't it? Wouldn't that turn him into a full-blown werewolf? A predatory act?"
"Not if they were already dead when he found them. Maryanne froze to death. Jessica must have died from something else--overdose, maybe. He must have mutilated their bodies somehow, making it look like a wolf attack. Violence against common animals doesn't count. That cat that turned up dead was just for show. And he didn't intend to kill James. He just wanted to scare people."
"But how could he do those things? How could he take Baby James? Didn't he know James could have gotten hurt or worse? James would have died if it weren't for you."
"It was the wolf, Grace. The wolf hasn't taken him completely over yet, but it has enough control to influence his actions. It feeds off his emotions. The stronger the emotion, the more hold it has. Each time he did something was after we were together. ..."
"He knew that you fixed my car on Markham," I said. "And somehow he knew I was at that party at your place. He knew that Jess was there, too. Do you think he followed me, followed my scent?" I rubbed my eyes--they still didn't want to focus quite right.
"Jess was so wasted," I went on. "Maybe he found her. Maybe the wolf made him do something to her body and then he planted it somewhere, but no one found it." My stomach churned when I pictured my brother with her mutilated corpse. "And he was at the market today. He must have seen us together, and with all those rumors Lynn was spreading ... Pete said it took Jude three hours to pick up the corsages." My throat closed in an involuntary gag. "Do you think he went to the city to retrieve the body--to plant it where you work?"
Daniel nodded. "Here's the crazy thing, Grace. He probably doesn't remember doing any of those things. He's probably only aware that he's been losing minutes, even hours of his life. But he doesn't know what he's done. He really believes I'm. the monster."
"And he thinks he has to stop you."
Daniel stiffened. He stared far out the window. After a moment, I heard it, too: police sirens blaring toward the school.
"Jude wants to kill you," I said.
Daniel backed away from the window. "Then the police are the last of our worries."
"We have to find Jude." I swung my legs over the side of the table. "He's here looking for you. We need to go find him first." I felt stronger now so I tried to stand.
Daniel pushed me down. "We aren't going anywhere. You are staying here while I go look for Jude."
"Like hell I am." I got right back up. "Stop telling me what to do."
"Grace, this isn't a game. Just stay here."
"But what if he finds me first?" I asked, trying a new tactic, "What if he goes home? Charity's babysitting James. They have no idea what's happening to Jude. What if he tries to hurt them, too?"
Daniel rubbed his hand across his face. "So what do you think we should do?"
"Take me with you. We have to find Jude. We have to get him away from all these people. If he sees us together, then we can lead him away from here." Then what, I had no idea. "Maybe I can calm him down. If only we had another moonstone." I looked at his pendant. "Could you ... ?"
"No, Grace. Not tonight. Not under the full moon. I don't know if I could control it--not with you even in the same county." He gripped the pendant between his fingers. "I might destroy everyone."
"Then there has to be another way."
Multiple sirens blared into the parking lot. There was more than the sheriff and deputy on their way. The city police from the crime scene must be coming, too.
"We need a plan," Daniel said.
Car doors slammed outside the window.
"There's no time." I grabbed his hand, and we ran out of the room.
The echoes of our footsteps were lost in the music as we got closer to the gym. The dance seemed like the most logical place to start looking for Jude. I didn't know who had called the police--Pete? Don?--or who exactly they'd be looking for; all I knew is once they entered the dance, we'd lose our chance to get Jude away from everyone else.
Daniel pushed open the gym doors. Red and green streamers reached across the room in a zigzag pattern. Balloons hobbled in the air. A strobe light bounced off the dancers, who twirled and swayed to the music--- completely oblivious to what was going on. How we'd be able to pick out one person in this din seemed impossible.
We slipped inside the gym, and T hugged Daniel to me, linking my arms around his neck so it looked like we were dancing, quite intimately.
Daniel stared down at me. He raised one eyebrow.
"My dress is a mess."
Daniel, clad in jeans and a white shirt, stood out enough in a room full of suits and slacks, but we definitely wouldn't be able to search for my brother incognito if anyone noticed my bruises or Pete's blood smeared across my white dress.
Daniel wrapped his arms around my waist. And for a fleeting moment, I felt safe to be in his strong embrace-- like it was a promise that everything would turn out the way it should.
Daniel rested his chin on my shoulder. I heard him inhale deeply, holding the breath in the back of his throat, mulling it for tastes. The room wafted with so much sweat and perfume, could he really pick out one person's scent? Daniel lifted me off my feet and twirled us toward the center of the crowd. His movements were lithe and graceful, navigating us through the other dancers without disturbing anyone. For a second I forgot to breathe--forgot why we were even here.
"There," Daniel whispered into my ear.
I followed his gaze. I could see the top of a dark, disheveled head moving beyond the wall of dancers, following Daniel and me as we glided across the room toward the locker-room doors.
"We just need to keep him following us," Daniel said. "Get him out of here before--"
The music stopped and the lights flipped on. We halted as the crowd came to a standstill.
"May I have your attention?" Principle Conway said from a microphone near the DJ. "Please, stay where you are. Stay calm. There's been a crime near the school. The police are locking us down until they have the situation under control. No one will be allowed to leave..."
Cries of concern went up in the crowd as uniformed officers moved toward all the exits. Someone shouted and stumbled, as if she'd been knocked aside. Her cry was followed by the clanking of one of the metal exit doors as it swung open and shut. Three officers ran to the door, shouting. The dark head that had been following us was no longer in the crowd.
Daniel cursed. "That was an outside exit."
He looked at the door to the men's locker room. The guard there was distracted by the commotion. Daniel swept me up in his arms. He flew at the door and knocked the officer flat before he even knew we were there. Daniel whipped the door open and lunged into the locker room.