***
Muffled voices filtered through her haze. Her back was cold, but her neck and shoulder felt swarm and wet.
Gabrielle tried to open her eyes, when something sharp, a pungent scent burned the inside of her nose. She bolted up, blinking.
“Easy, mademoiselle. You’ve got a nasty gash on your head.” A woman spoke, and then said something else in French.
Gabby blinked again, her eyesight clearing. She was still in the church, but the place looked like a battleground. Pews were broken, with jagged pieces of wood strewn across the stone floor. The pretty runner was shredded and bloodstained, along with half the church missals.
She scrambled to get up, but pain in her head sent her reeling. “Where’s Luke?”
“We don’t know. We were hoping you could tell us what happened.”
The priest nodded, one hand gripping the crucifix around his neck. There was no way these simple people would understand the truth, let alone accept it. For them, day was day, and night was night, and nothing lived in the in between.
“I was attacked by an animal. A wild dog. My fiancé tried to shield me, but it knocked me back and then went for him.” She looked from one to the other. “Where is he? He’s hurt. I know it.”
“Ssh, ma chére. The local police are on their way. Is there anyone I can call?”
Gabrielle shook her head, wincing. “I can call them.” She looked around for her purse, and the priest nodded in understanding, reaching behind his hip for her bag. She thanked him, and then unzipped the top for her phone. She had twelve missed calls, but none of them were from Luke.
If there was ever a time, she wished she had the telepathic thingy Raven shared with Aiden, it was now. Dialing Raven, the phone barely rang before she answered.
“Where the hell are you? We’ve been worried sick! Aiden nor Jared can reach Luke. Are you guys all right?”
“Ray,” her voice cracked. “Something’s happened.”
“Where are you.”
“St. Cecelia’s.”
“Don’t move. We’ll be right there.”
Gabrielle locked her phone, dropping it into her purse before a wave of nausea and dizzy pain took her again. Raven and the others were coming, but where the hell was Luke?
The woman stuffed a rough blanket under her head, helping her lie back. The local police officer walked in with a single paramedic. Another exchange in rapid French, in which she only caught three words. No, American, and English.
“Mademoiselle, can you tell me your name?” the paramedic asked, putting her medical supply case down.
“Gabrielle Sancier.”
“Quebecois?” The police officer raised an eyebrow, surprised.
“Originally, but I moved to the States when I was ten. My mother was American.”
He nodded. “Your fiancé was with you in the church.”
“Yes, but—”
“Jacques, she’s traumatized and injured. You can do your interview after she stops bleeding.”
He backed off immediately, and the paramedic winked. “Men…one-track minds, eh?”
Gabby tried to smile, but winced.
“You’re going to need a few stitches, I think.” She ripped open a large, sterile piece of gauze, holding it under the laceration as she cleansed the area with saline.
Raven and Aiden rushed in at that point, with Tanya, Jared and Capiria on their heels. “Jesus, Gabs. What the hell happened?”
The woman who found her stood from one of the unbroken pews. “I’m Matilde Cheval, Father Anton’s housekeeper. We found your friend. She told us a wild dog attacked her and her fiancé. I must tell you, mademoiselle, we have no wild dogs on this island.”
Aiden stepped forward. “Then a rabid dog.”
“You found her after the attack?” Capiria asked.
The woman nodded.
“Is the rectory attached to the church?”
“Yes, through the sacristy, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
Capiria shared a look with Aiden. “This place looks like Armageddon, and you didn’t hear a thing, though you were only a door or so away?”
Before she could answer, Capiria took Tanya’s and muttered a handful of sentences in Latin. Father Anton’s eyes widened, and he took a step back. He gripped his cross, opening his mouth to speak, but it was too late. The spell took form and all three were struck silent.
“Okay, boys. Do you want help, or can you handle the memory wipe on your own?” Tanya asked.
“We got it, babe,” Jared replied. “Just get Gabby back to the house. You do your healing thing. We’ve got to track Luke, and we can’t do so with these three hanging around.”
Raven kissed Aiden’s cheek. “Find him.”
“Jared,” Tanya raised an eyebrow. “Don’t do anything stupid like put the priest and his housekeeper in compromising positions.”
He grinned. “Spoil sport.”
“Meet you back at the house.” She pecked his cheek as well. “Be careful. None of this smacks of demon, but it does of shifter, so don’t take any chances.”
The women left, and the two wolves turned to the terrified humans. In seconds, three sets of eyes blinked with blank stares.
“What should we do with them? We can’t hide the wreckage.” Jared looked around, but then stopped. “You smell that?”
Aiden lifted his face to the air and inhaled. There was a greasy feel to the air over one part of the runner.
He moved the humans back like moving so much cordwood, and straddled the noxious smear. He inhaled again, a scowl creasing his forehead.
“Fuck.”
“What?”
“Was Gabrielle anywhere near this spot?”
Jared shrugged. “How should I know? She was five feet away when we walked in. Why? What do you sense?”
“Poison mixed with body grease. I only smelled it once when I was a kid, but once was enough. Dad showed it to me so I would remember. It’s a lupine paralytic, but it only works if ingested. Dad said
