My eyebrows went up. “Sounds like he wants to talk.”
Gail drew her own Colt and said, “Ya’ think?”
She slid over to the window on her side of the door and I joined her. I ducked under the window, to the far side, and then stood out of any line of fire. We had left the shutters and the glass open to air the cabin out. I darted a quick look out the window. No one was in sight, but we’d parked the van twenty feet from the porch and anyone could be behind it.
“What do you want?” I yelled out the window without exposing myself.
“I want to give you a chance to get out of this alive.” The voice was deep and masculine.
“That’s enormously decent of you. What’s your problem with me?” I called back. Then in a soft voice I said, “It sounds like he’s in the woods to our right.”
Gail nodded in agreement.
“No problem, other than you killing my children.”
I looked to Gail. She shrugged and said. “Okay, I guess he’s the packmaster.”
“That’s right,” the man yelled back.
“Damn,” I said. “That’s a pretty good set of ears he’s got.”
“The better to hear you with,” he yelled back.
“Okay, you’ve got great hearing. What’s your play here? You can’t get in the cabin without eating a shitload of silver,” Gail called in a normal voice.
“I’m just here for you, sweetheart. I let you live in Chattanooga so you could join my pack, not so you could kill them.”
We swapped glances. I mouthed, “I told you so.”
Gail frowned and then called. “I’d been wondering about that. Why didn’t you just kill me?”
“Are you kidding? A cute little thing like you and a hunter to boot? I couldn’t resist. A hunter will make a great asset.”
“A hunter that’s going to take your head,” Gail said.
“Not likely. You felt me last night and you almost changed. I can’t wait to find out how you resisted, but once you’ve changed, you’ll be mine.”
“That ain’t going to happen,” I called.
“Oh, the impetuous youth. You fought well last night. I didn’t think a non-hunter would stand a chance against my children, and yet you managed to survive, unbitten, that’s impressive, almost impressive enough for me to convert you too.”
“Sorry, I already have a religion,” I called.
Laughter came from the woods. I took another peek but didn’t see any sign of the man.
“So what do you want?” Gail said. “You should be putting miles between us rather than tempting fate.”
“Fate? You’re amusing for a hunter. So many of the hunters I’ve killed were so serious, no sense of humor in them anywhere.”
“We’re still waiting for what you want,” Gail called.
“I thought I’d give the lad a chance to save his life. I only want you. You come to me and I’ll leave your partner in peace.”
“Fuck off!” I yelled.
“So eloquent a speaker, hardly becoming a civilized conversation; look, this offer is only good for the immediate future, once the moon rises, you’re both mine.”
“Come on in, I’ll stack your corpse next to those of your children,” I said.
A low growl came from the woods.
I smiled at Gail and lowered my voice to a whisper. “I think I touched a nerve. Can you tell where he is?”
She took a quick look out the window and then ducked back. Whispering, she said, “It sounds like he’s to the right of the van, maybe ten feet from the sweet gum.”
I risked another look to identify the tree.
I nodded to Gail and then called. “All right out there. You want her; you have to convince her that she’d be better off with you, rather than me.”
I left the window and went to the table. Gail followed. When I stepped onto a chair and then onto the table, she whispered, “You’re not going out there alone.”
“Someone needs to keep him talking. That’s your job; I’m going to take him out.”
Gail frowned, then grabbed my shirt, and pulled my face down to hers. She kissed me hard and then released me. “Take him out and we’re no longer hunting.”
I grinned. “Why do you think I’m in such a hurry?”
“All right then, but Jesse, stay downwind of him.”
“Oh, yeah, right. If his ears are that good—”
“Exactly.”
While I climbed into the rafters, Gail went back to the front window and called out, “Hey out there, why me? I mean there are plenty of other hunters. I can’t believe you want me just because you think I’m pretty.”
I reached the skylight on the opposite side of the roof from the shooter. I pulled the edge of the tarp toward the hole until I had room to climb through it. My clothing caught on the rough edge of the hole and stopped me for a moment, but then I got it loose and pulled myself onto the roof. I thought I was going to lose a few staples doing it, but when I glanced down, I didn’t see fresh blood on any of my bandages.
As I slid down the back edge of the roof, I heard the man say. “Sweetheart, the last hunter to come after me was an old man. If I’m going to recruit a hunter, it’s not going to be an old man.”
I crab-walked to the chimney in the back of the cabin and climbed down its rock surface.
“Maybe so,” Gail called. “But that’s no reason for me to join you. You’re evil, why would I join someone who’s evil?”
I checked the wind and then slipped into the woods directly behind the cabin. I circled to the right of the cabin, staying a dozen yards deep in the woods.
Gail kept the conversation going loud enough for me to track the werewolf’s position.
“Sweetheart, I’m no more evil than the next man. You hunters spend too much time listening to your own rhetoric. Sure, some werewolves kill indiscriminately, but not all of us are like that. A young wolf may kill anyone that crosses him, but when you have a mature
