“It doesn’t bother you?” I asked.
“No, why?”
“I figured that once you started the change, the allergy to silver would make it affect you in some way.”
“You think it’s an allergy?”
I shrugged. “What else would explain silver killing a werewolf when regular bullets don’t? Magic?”
Gail turned the silver disk over in her fingers and then tossed it back. “Yeah, that’s what I’ve always assumed.”
“Come on, magic? Really? Sure you told me about a bunch of strange critters, but that doesn’t mean magic.”
“Are you sure about that?”
I watched her for a moment. She knew more than she had already told me and for the first time I began to have doubts about my plans. What if werewolves weren’t allergic to silver and there was some magical property making silver deadly to them? What if I couldn’t keep Gail from changing? Would the restraints work if she changed? Maybe I should concentrate more on just locking her in the cabin and hoping she couldn’t escape.
“What haven’t you told me?” I asked.
Gail shook her head slowly. “Jesse, there’s too much for you to absorb in the time we have, but magic is real. It’s not easy to do, but there are witches that can do horrible things with magic.”
“Oh, come on, witches? You can’t be serious.”
“You think I’d joke about this? If you fail, you’re going to have to kill me or take the chance that I’ll kill you. If I change inside a locked room with no way to get out and there’s a human locked in with me … well, what do you think a wild animal would do?”
“I can imagine, but I’m not going to let you down. I’ll do what it takes and come morning you can thank me and apologize for being such a doubter.”
Gail stared at me for a minute, then her lips pursed and she gave a brief nod. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
“I guess we will.” I opened the bags of restraints and began laying the various items beside the silver. Gail came to stand beside me and started helping with the boxes. When we had everything laid out I glanced at the clock, almost no time had passed.
“I guess we could adjust everything for the proper fit,” I said.
Gail nodded but seemed nervous and unsure.
“You’ll have to take off your boots.”
“Yes, of course,” Gail responded almost robotically. She took off her windbreaker and hung it over the back of the nearest cane back chair. Then she sat in the chair to remove her boots. She stood in her stocking feet and I began checking each bracelet and anklet for fit. Mentally marking which notches provide the best combination of restraint and comfort, I set them to the side and picked up the collar.
As I slipped it around Gail’s neck, I noticed the moisture in her eyes. I gave her another quick peck on the lips. “You’re doing fine, Gail. Everything is going to be all right.”
“I can’t help it, I’m scared. Killing monsters is one thing, but I’m about to become what I hunt. You can’t understand how I feel.”
“And I don’t pretend to, but we’ll get through this together.”
She nodded her head rapidly. “Yeah, right, I trust you and your silly idea, but that doesn’t relieve the fear.”
I studied her for a moment; she was tense.
“Is there anything I can do to relax you?” I said and then raised an eyebrow.
She blinked, twice, and then her jaw clenched. Her right fist flew up. I caught her wrist in my hand and yanked her close, grabbing her other wrist as I did. For a moment, she tensed as though she was going to make a fight of it.
I smiled and said, “That’s better. Isn’t anger better than fear?”
Gail’s eyebrows tightened and she stared at me until I released her wrists. She nodded once. “Okay, anger is better. You’d just better stay on your toes if you’re going to keep antagonizing me that way.”
I nodded and went back to adjusting the collar, tightening it until I could see she was getting uncomfortable. I backed it off one notch and noted the position for later. I set the collar back on the table and picked up the arm restraints.
“This is going to be more interesting,” I commented.
“Why’s that?” Gail asked her voice tinged with suspicion.
“I’ve never messed with anything like this. You’re going to have to tell me what’s too tight before I get the whole thing laced up.”
“Okay, how to you want to do it?”
I pulled out the chair she’d been sitting in. “Sit here facing the back. Put your arms behind you and lace your fingers together.”
Gail sat and leaned forward slightly while clasping her hands together behind her. I pulled up another chair and sat down behind her. I slipped the leather over her hands and up her arms until the bottom was snug against her fingers. Taking the straps, I brought them over her shoulders and beneath her armpits to fasten them on the lower side of the leather. Next, I unraveled the cord and started threading it through the laces, leaving them as loose as possible.
After a minute of my threading the laces through the grommets, Gail said, “You know, it seems to me you could have put the laces in before putting it on me.”
“Ah, yes,” I said, a little embarrassed. “I just thought of that myself. Sorry, next time I’ll know better.”
“Yeah, right, assuming we’re both alive for the next time,” Gail said, sarcasm dripping from her words.
I finished lacing up the restraint and grasped Gail’s arms at the elbows. “Okay, rather than tighten everything up, I’m just going to let you tell me when it’s no longer comfortable.”
“It stopped being comfortable when you bought it,” Gail snarled.
“I understand,” I agreed and pressed her elbows in. I moved slowly, afraid of over-stressing her shoulders.
Her elbows were
