“Now a wild animal would never just show up at your door if it didn’t know you. Have you been feedin’ this pretty wolf?”
“No, officer.”
I didn’t know with certainty, but I could guess that Sheriff Knowles’ gun didn’t have the regulation lead slugs in it. I wondered if they made silver hollow-point bullets and how badly it would hurt.
I forced myself to sit on my haunches and give Sheriff Knowles a lupine grin. See? I’m a friendly wolf-girl. Don’t shoot me.
“And did this animal bring anything to you?”
“Nothing, officer.”
“Then you won’t mind if I look around?”
I mind.
“Do you have a warrant, Sheriff?”
Yay, Iain!
“As a matter of fact, I do.” He produced an envelope from his pocket and showed an official-looking piece of paper to Iain. “We suspect Doctor Fisher is harboring suspects in a kidnapping case.”
“Then you may perform a cursory visual inspection of the premises, as the warrant states. I’ll show you around.”
He glanced back over his shoulder, and I debated whether I should wait or disappear. “Go,” he mouthed, and I bobbed my head.
I followed the trails back through the forest, but when I came to the spot where I’d knocked Robert into a tree, he wasn’t there. Only the disarrangement of the dried leaves showed where he’d landed.
You little bitch. I heard him just before he landed on top of me. We rolled, and I alternately struggled to keep his hind legs from disemboweling me with sharp claws and to prevent his teeth from closing in on my neck.
That’s Doctor Bitch to you. But I couldn’t hang on for long—my strength waned. My still unfamiliar werewolf form was no match for his expert maneuvers. All I could do was try not to let him tear apart anything important. I wondered what would happen to my body if he killed me.
Wait. This wasn’t a physical form, although I’d been acting like it was. With a force of effort, I tugged on the wisp of energy connecting me to my body.
I woke and coughed and sputtered in my efforts to spit out the bitter aconite. My body felt strange to me, my senses muffled, particularly hearing and smell. I tasted blood in my mouth.
“How was it?” asked my grandfather.
“Interesting. How long was I gone?”
“It’s hard to say, but I would guess about five hours. Did you accomplish what you needed?”
“I think so.” I passed out.
I woke a few hours later and saw our captors had tossed some bread and bottles of water into the cave within reach of my bound hands. I had dreamed in fragments, of running through the woods, and of Leo as a wolf, his dark eyes in a lupine face.
I ate my provisions and was struggling with the cap on the water bottle when we heard a commotion on the other side of the metal door fitted into the cave wall. It opened slowly, the light spilling in bit by bit to illuminate the floor. I squinted against the glare. A young man in a paramedic’s uniform poked his head in.
“They’re in here.”
It was a whirlwind of people untying our hands, the paramedics checking to make sure there were no injuries past minor scrapes and bumps as well as what would have been caused by partial starvation and dehydration.
“How did you know where to find us?” I asked after I drank an entire bottle of water in one gulp.
“Those two brought us here,” the EMT said and inclined his head toward Leo and Simon. “Once we could tear the boy away from his mother, that is. He insisted on coming with us to help rescue the others.”
“I’m sure she was glad to see him.”
“The mothers of the other boys will be happy to see their sons too,” he said. “That’s why we’re checking them here. We don’t want them to be away from their families for a minute longer than they have to be.”
Iain pushed his way into the cave. “Gentlemen, please do not dismantle any of the equipment. Try not to touch it. The FBI and FDA agents are going to examine it.”
I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up into my grandfather’s eyes. He had a weary smile on his face. “How’s the house?”
“Still in one piece as far as I know.”
“Did you find the surprises I left you?”
“I think so.”
“And the cats?”
I pulled the silver chain out of my shirt. “Yep, here’s Mishka.” He put an arm around my shoulder and squeezed me tightly.
“I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do that ever again,” he said, his voice gruff. I looked away so I wouldn’t see him cry.
“Me too.”
Leo came over. “Are you okay? How’s the wrist?”
“Decent.”
“Sir, how are you?” Leo asked and gave my grandfather a hearty handshake. He cocked his head as if to ask how much he could give away.
“I’m doing much better now I know my granddaughter and all the children are safe. And you can say anything. She’s a smart girl—I’m sure she’s figured it all out.”
“Are you ready to assume the pack alpha role? We could use you on the hunt.”
“In time, Leo, in time. Where’s your cousin?”
Leo frowned, his handsome features distressed. “I can’t find him.”
My grandfather put his hand on my shoulder. “Then it’s a good thing we have a spirit-walker among us. She’ll be able to find him more quickly than anyone.”
“A spirit-walker?” asked Leo.
“It’s the term for a shape-changer who does so with spirit rather than physically, like you did. Not everyone has the talent. With a spirit form, you can move much more quickly and silently.”
I thought about my escape from Robert, and my stomach turned when I thought about how, for a moment, I had been tempted.
“The wolfsbane?” Leo asked. “How does that work?”
“It both helps and hinders the transformation. It prevents the transformation physically but facilitates the spiritual one.”
Leo shook his head. “That’s amazing.”
We walked out of the cave into the waning sunlight of another day. Iain continued to direct the federal agents, but one broke off from the crowd and followed us.
“Doctor Fisher? Doctor Landover? We have some questions for you.”
My grandfather’s brows drew together. “Can’t we go home, get hot showers and a good night’s sleep first? Have mercy on an old man.”
“It will just take a moment.”
“I’ve got to get Simon back to his family,” Leo said. “I’ll catch you later at the Manor. I can give Gabriel and Lonna a ride.”
The two of them hadn’t met each other’s eyes the entire time we were in the main cavern, and I wondered what, exactly, had transpired between them before they were kidnapped. But I didn’t have time for speculation now. The federal agent led us out of the ravine and away from the river to a clearing, where a lone black SUV with tinted windows sat.
I turned to the agent—a nondescript fellow with sandy brown hair and blue eyes—who I had nicknamed “Buddy” in my head, to ask what was going on, but got the answer even before the words came out of my mouth. He pointed a gun at us and gestured to the car.
“Someone wants to talk to you.”
“I’m guessing there are silver bullets in that thing, aren’t there?”
“Of course.”
The window rolled down to reveal Sheriff Knowles in the driver’s seat. “Come on in, Doctors. I’ve got someone here who’s been dying to meet you.”
The back door opened, and I saw Ron as well as a guy who looked like he’d been up all night waiting for us. His salt-and-pepper tufts were messy over his ears, and his greasy comb-over zigzagged in disheveled strands across his shiny head. Bags the color of green tea hung under his eyes, and his jowls wobbled as he introduced himself.