The Mountain's Shadow

Who do you think?

Iain, I presume.

Yep.

I’m afraid I can’t let you.

I tried to gauge his seriousness as well as a possible escape route.

Why not?

You got your one chance earlier. My loyalty, although forced, is with Cabal. If the FDA finds out about the viral vectors in the vaccines, the higher-ups will kill my wife.

I narrowed my eyes. And that would be a bad thing?

Don’t let the wolf take over your humanity, Joanie. She’s pregnant.

The statement hit me in the gut, the force of this second betrayal almost enough to knock the vial out of my mouth.

How far along is she?

Three months.

I did some calculations with my eyes closed. That was when we were still together. I opened them to find him breathing in my face.

She wanted a baby. I thought it would help keep her distracted and out of the way so I could carry on with you. Then all this happened.

I backed up until my tail brushed against a tree. You did use me. You’re no better than sleazy Peter Bowman.

C’mon, Joanie. We could get out of this together, and then they’d let Sarah go, and it would be just as before.

For a moment, I was tempted. I could almost smell the faint chemical odor of the lab, the scent of his leather sofa as he lowered me on to it so we could make love again, just as before. Wasn’t that what I had been missing, yearning for ever since our fateful meeting?

But married men always go back to their wives. This was a lesson I had learned all too well. And this one had ruined my career so he could keep stringing me along. With a growl, I leaped aside just as he lunged for me, and I heard the crack of his skull against the tree. I didn’t look back to see if he was hurt—if he was, well, I could let the wolf take over that part of my humanity, because I didn’t want to admit to my broken heart and the fact he’d almost fooled me again.

Chapter Twenty

I returned to Wolfsbane Manor and realized, although I had meant to give the vial to Iain—and as far as I could smell, he was still alone there—I had one small problem: I didn’t have opposable thumbs, and all the doors were closed and likely locked. So I did the next best thing—I went around to the side door by the kitchen and rang the doorbell with my long nose. I heard Iain pad through the kitchen and pause by the window by the sink. I knew I had told him to be careful, but I hadn’t counted on it working against me. The door opened. He looked down, and his eyes widened in surprise.

“Well, hello there,” he crooned. “What’s a pretty girl doggie like you doing here?”

I carefully placed the vial on the mat and sat on my haunches.

“What’s this, then?”

It’s a sample of the serum, idiot. But all that came out was a whine.

“Have you been to the lab in the woods? Did you see Joanie? Is she okay?”

As okay as one can be separated from one’s body. I hoped his saying my name wouldn’t keep me from being able to return, but he was likely too far away from my physical self to have an effect.

Iain still didn’t pick up the vial. Instead, he glanced behind me and gave it a quick nudge with his foot. It rolled until it rested in a crack between the mat and the threshold stone with a clink.

I realized something was horribly wrong, and I turned to see the barrel of a gun pointed straight at my head by the charming Sheriff Knowles. All trace of friendly mountain cop was gone, his expression determined.

“You know keepin’ wild animals as pets is illegal, don’t you, Scotty? Especially ones not indigenous to the area.”

I tried not to growl. Good for you, Sheriff, that’s a big word.

“My name is Iain, and it’s not a pet. It just appeared.”

“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.