I raised an eyebrow but kept my mouth shut. She hadn’t been much of a drinker six years ago, but she’d been seventeen then and hadn’t been hunting monsters on her own. Who was I to judge?
I added three fingers of whiskey to her glass and returned to the living room with my cleaning kit.
“You need to trade that piece in on something in a forty-five caliber so we can share ammo,” Gail said as she reassembled her Colt. She loaded a fresh magazine, worked the action to chamber a round, and then ejected the magazine to load a replacement round in the top of the single stack. I couldn’t help noticing the each round had started out as a hollow nose. She had filled the tip with silver until it looked more like an FMJ, but with the top tenth of an inch of material being solid silver. I also noticed a layer of patina on the silver and filed that bit of information away for later.
I sat down next to her and picked up the Beretta’s slide. “Why do we have to share ammo? Wait; are you expecting me to partner with you, to become a hunter?”
She frowned and shook her head. “No, nothing like that, but if you’re going to help with this werewolf problem, then you’ll need silver. The forty-five round is big enough to carry a lot of silver in the nose. Those little forties are okay, but not for werewolves.”
“But we killed the werewolf tonight.”
“I already told you that it wasn’t the senior of the two. Since the damn thing bit me rather than killing me, I’m thinking it’s trying to form a pack. You wouldn’t believe how much trouble a pack of the things can be.”
I thought about it for a minute and then nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably nothing I want roaming my neck of the woods. I guess it would be better to finish this one off before it spreads its contagion. Okay, I’m with you until we kill the one that bit you and any others it may have sired in the local area. Then I have to get back to my studies. Oh, shit! My finals. I’m going to have to call in the morning and ask for a delay. Doctor Seacat isn’t going to like that.”
Gail surprised me by looking contrite. “Look, I’m sorry for messing with your plans, Jesse. If there had been anyone else, I could have called—”
“No, I’m glad you called. I always wanted to be your white knight. Well, in high school anyway. I never thought the opportunity would come,” I chuckled. “Or be so damned strange if it came. Hell, monsters, who would have thought? I mean, sure I saw some weird shit in Afghanistan. On my second tour, I actually thought I saw a yeti, but I convinced myself it was oxygen deprivation. We were pretty high up.”
“A yeti, yeah, I hear they aren’t too bad, at least as long as you don’t mess with their young. The hunters in Asia leave them alone unless one goes rogue.”
I stared at her for a minute, trying to decide if she was yanking my chain, and then shook my head. I finished my drink and stood. “I’m pretty tired and I guess you must be too. You can have the bed; I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
Gail gave me a wistful gaze and then shook her head. “I’m not kicking you out of your bed. If it’s big enough for two, I’ll be happy to share, just no spooning.”
I stretched, pulling the staples painfully. “I’m too tired to think about spooning.”
She grinned. “You were never that tired before. You getting old, Jesse?”
“Not so much. Do you have something to sleep in?”
“When I’m working, I sleep in my work clothes, but since no one knows I’m here, I guess I can relax. Do you have a shirt I can borrow?”
“Sure, check the closet; you can take your pick. I’m going to wash up. Mind if I borrow some gauze and tape from your kit?”
Gail nodded. “Help yourself, I’ll have to refill it tomorrow anyway, can’t skimp on the first-aid supplies. Make sure you reapply the poultice after your shower.”
“As the doctor orders.” I picked up my Beretta, loaded a full magazine, and headed for the bath.
After the shower, I studied the new wounds on my chest. They crossed other scars, wounds from shrapnel that had torn and burned flesh and laid me up for weeks on a couple of different occasions. These new scars were going to be a sight. They formed four parallel lines starting just above my left nipple, skirting it and continuing to the bottom of my rib cage. The two deeper ones were seeping; the shower had partially dissolved the clotted blood. I thought Gail could have used a few more staples to close the cuts up neatly, but it would do for now. I opened her kit and located the poultice. I applied the same amount she’d used and then bandaged the wounds with fresh tape and gauze. I slipped into the pajama bottoms I’d taken from the linen closet, picked up my Beretta, and headed for bed.
Gail had taken the near side. She was on her side, facing the door and only the sheet covered her. Her holster rig hung from the bedpost and the Colt dangled inches from her head. Her massive knife was back in its sheath and lay on the nightstand with her nearly empty glass. She snored softly.
I went to the other side of the bed, laid my gun on the nightstand, and slipped beneath the covers. I lay on my back for a minute, staring at the ceiling and thinking back over the night. It was a night I’d never forget. I turned
