The Mountain's Shadow

imagined. The ballroom with its strange murals had lain under a layer of dust for months if not years, and who knew whether it was only there to cover up the lab? Nope, no parties here. Just secrets and closet skeletons with fangs.

The hiss of a match startled me, and I noticed Leo leaning against the railing in the shadows with a cigarette in his hand. He appeared lost in his thoughts. I thought about leaving, but I decided to stay—it was my house, after all. He didn’t hunt here.

“Are you the civilized Doctor Leo or are you the boorish Werewolf Leo?”

He hunched his shoulders as though I’d thrown a rock at him. “Would you believe neither?”

“What are you, then?”

A long drag from his cigarette. “I’m not sure. I get in moods. Then I have those outbursts. It’s like the primitive part of my brain takes over.”

I tried to hold my breath against the cigarette smoke, but I coughed anyway. “It’s the impulse control part of CLS—the part that takes over the brains of its victims around the full moon and makes the kids do crazy stuff at night.” But those were kids, and this was a full-grown man of tremendous strength.

“Oh, is that all?”

I ignored the sarcasm. “And it’s not so bad for Ron?”

“He’s different. We’ve always been like night and day. I was always the one getting him into trouble. He’s more of a follower than a leader, but he’s also a survivor.”

“How so?”

“He’ll do whatever needs to be done to preserve that golden hide of his. You know, he’s the one who told me about you. That you’re the famous Joanna Fisher, CLS researcher and that I had been an idiot to confront you right after my transformation. You see, I knew you’d been watching us. I could smell you on the night air.”

“And Ron was watching you? Oh, and I was the famous CLS researcher.”

“He’s never far away.” He took another drag at the cigarette. He blew the smoke out slowly, and I watched as it rose and dissipated. “So you lost a lot, too.”

“I lost my career.”

“And gained a fortune and an estate. Seems like a good-enough trade.”

“For all the good it’s done me. I don’t even know exactly what happened to my grandfather. Until I find out something certain, I only feel like I’m staying here, not that it’s truly mine.”

“How well did you know your grandfather?”

“Not very. I spent summers out here after my brother died. He took care of me, we’d go for long hikes, and then he’d fix these great, fancy dinners in the old kitchen.”

Leo almost smiled. “He did love to cook. He’d feed me and Ron after a long night when we were first learning to hunt. That was before the others joined us.”

“Is that why he redid the kitchen?”

“That’s a good question. He seemed to be preparing for something those last couple of months. He said he’d need to do some field research and that the house needed to be ready if he was going to be gone for a while.”

“Ready for what, I wonder?”

“Who knows? He was pretty secretive.”

“And what do you know about Gabriel?”

His lips curled in a sneer. “He appeared around here about a year ago and ingratiated himself to Charles. He tried to be part of the pack, but his English sensibilities just didn’t fit in. So then he agreed to be a lab rat for whatever your granddad was working on.”

“Any idea what that was?”

“No. Just that it had something to do with CLS. Gabriel had it from childhood, you know.” He stubbed the cigarette out on the railing, and I winced for the wood.

“Yes, he told me.” That made for an interesting new angle on the pack...and Gabriel with all his secrets. “And I thought doctors weren’t supposed to smoke.”

“They’re not supposed to turn into werewolves, either.”

“Touche.” I realized that we had been conversing like two normal human beings. Of course, the insight then gave way to awkwardness.

“Well, I guess I’ll go on in, then,” I said. “I’ll tell Gabriel that the two of you will be staying in the same guest rooms. How did you like the ones you slept in this morning?”

“They were comfortable. It’s amazing that your grandfather built such a big house for just himself.”

I looked back over the lawn, the imaginary party imposing itself on the broad expanse. “I agree. I’m happy to be able to share it. I don’t think he would’ve minded.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” I think.

I turned back at the door to glance out into the night and saw Leo had dropped his customary scowl for a small smile. My cheeks grew hot when I realized I had caused it. I probably wasn’t supposed to see his grin, but it helped dispel any doubts as to the wisdom of letting them stay. Now if only I could convince Gabriel of that. The butler, however, was nowhere to be found, but when I checked the upstairs bedrooms, all of them had been prepared for the night. A wave of sleepiness overcame me, and I decided to turn in.

In my dreams that night, I was back at Andrew’s funeral, and his loss was fresh in my mind and heart. He had always been by my side, my twin brother. I would say it was like having a shadow, but it was more like I was the shadow, and he was the real thing, the full person, the class clown and center of attention. I was just the shy sister—the studious, quiet one who hung in the background, more than content to let him have the spotlight. His death left a huge hole in more lives than just mine and my parents’. So many people came to his funeral, all of his friends, even ones I didn’t know he had.

In my dream, I was there, and it played out in vivid detail. I grew weary of all the condolences, all the tears, the way the people looked at me like they were just now seeing me, the shadow without a body, so I had closed my eyes, put my head on my arms on the table, and opened my ears. My mother, deep in conversation with another woman, didn’t notice, or I would have had my ears boxed for such insolent behavior.

I heard a conversation behind me. This particular little boy, a redheaded kid whose striking dark orange hair made him stand out, sat with his mother. I had noticed them earlier.

“See, Michael?” I heard the mother’s nasal voice. “This is what can happen when you go running alone in the woods at night.”

A snort. “Andrew’d had his tonsils out. That’s what killed him.”

“Even if you’ve always been ridiculously healthy, it doesn’t mean you’re invincible. You have to stop sneaking out, or the next funeral is going to be yours.”

I started awake. Those were harsh words, but the woman had been worried. I wondered what had happened to them, to the little boy. I searched my memory for the last name but came up blank. I wondered if he was still alive and if I could talk to him. He would be my age, maybe a little older.

I bit my lip. That would mean a conversation with my mother, and that was something I wasn’t ready to do yet. My father had passed away when I was in high school, but by that time, my parents had been divorced and I hadn’t seen him in years. He had never had much use for me anyway.

But there was one thing I could do. The phrase “ridiculously healthy” had sparked my curiosity and connected another strand to the web in my brain. I put on my robe and crept down to the study.

The box with the letters sat on the small end table by the armchair. I pulled out the top one and started reading.

Dear Grandfather,

Something awful has happened. Andrew had his tonsils out, and he ran away the day after. I went to his room to bring him ice cream, and he was gone. They found him in the woods, covered in blood, and he was dead…

Tears pricked my eyes. It had taken me weeks to be able to write that letter, a child of nine. I couldn’t read that one yet, not with the new grief on top of the old. I pulled out the next one.

Dear Grandfather,

Mama says I may spend the entire summer with you this year! I’m so excited! Ever since