A Bite's Tale: A Furry Fable (8 page)

“It was addressed to me, yes,” Dunston answered.

“I don’t understand.” The natural order? Dunston had mentioned it the other day. That I was meant to be human. “You think I’m the sin they’re referring to?”

Dunston nodded. “We believe so. A second letter came also, advising me to rectify my mistake or they’ll do it for me.”

I blinked. “The only way to undo it is to stake me or cut off my head.”

The lights above flickered and my eyes shot to my father. I’d only seen him this angry one other time. When my mother was murdered, my dad’s fury had caused a tsunami. Thankfully, no one on the island had been killed, but we’d lost a few trees and several buildings.

“It’s ironic that werewolves are angry with us for turning the prince into a vampire, yet it was one of their own who nearly killed him and made it necessary to save him,” Dunston said.

He wasn’t helping me in my struggle to get them to accept Cinderella, but I saw no point in arguing with either of them, for the moment.

“Maybe if they knew why you turned me, they’d back off,” I said.

“They want power,” my dad said. “I believe this is just an excuse to make war on us.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I can’t believe that all werewolves are bad. We have some on staff here and they’ve proven themselves loyal.”

“As far as we know,” my father added.

“At this time, we can’t trust anyone, Remy,” Dunston said.

I ignored that and left my chair to pace the conference room. “We can’t demand saliva swabs from them and every werewolf in the area, unless you want to make these letters public and scare everyone on the island. It could cause unprovoked attacks on werewolves. I can help though, maybe get samples from the staff. You know, when they leave a glass around.”

My father nodded his approval. “Excellent. Between the three of us, we might come up with something. Meanwhile, Dunston, have the men continue following other leads.”

“While we wait, your solution to our problem is to throw a big party where anyone can come?” I sprung out of my chair and glared down at them. “Just make it easier for them to waltz in and take me out, Dad.”

His jaw clenched. “We will not put our lives on hold for terrorism.”

“You will be perfectly safe. Security measures have been taken,” Dunston assured me. “At least four of us will be watching you at all times and we’re doubling up on the cameras, which, of course, will be monitored closely.”

“Like I haven’t seen a million movies where the bad guys find a way to get whoever they’re after. Cancel the ball.”

“No. The connections we will make that night are too important. We can handle the terrorist.”

“And what if the terrorist is one of your connections?” I threw his own words back at him. “Then what? Too bad for me? You’ll bury my body in a gold casket and say I died for my country?”

“We’ve been dealing with threats for centuries,” Dunston said, rising from his chair to go toe-to-toe with me. “We’ll handle it, just like we always do.”

“Whatever.” I stormed out and slammed the door.

Fifteen minutes later, Dunston found me in the library. Books had always been my sanctuary. This time, I found my solace in photo albums of my mother.

Dunston remained silent, watching as the seconds ticked by. He knew I was aware of his presence. I had no plans to speak first. I refused to give him that.

“Remy.”

I kept my gaze on a photograph of my mother holding a baby, me, in her arms and smiling at the camera. She looked so pretty, so alive. I wondered if I’d meet the same fate — murdered, because someone had a vendetta against the king.

“We can root out the culprit or we can live in fear. But whatever we do, it will
not
involve cowering. We will not lie awake at night waiting for them to come. Nor will we alter our lives to accommodate them. And, very important: The first rule of staying in power is building a defense. We’ve done that. Next step is attack. The ball provides the perfect opportunity.”

My father had stayed in power for centuries, with Dunston by his side. I needed to trust that they knew what they were doing. They’d come this far.

“Each second that we worry about you, each moment that you pull us in another direction, each time you fight us…” Dunston shook his head. “Those are the things the enemy watches for. We mustn’t give them that opening. Anything we do, we must do as a team.”

I sighed, knowing my father and Dunston would never knowingly put me in jeopardy. “Okay, I’ll attend the ball. But make sure Cinderella is there or I’m locking my bedroom door and we both know that door is impenetrable. All the girls can dance with themselves for all I care.”

“If you don’t come downstairs to the ball, how will you know if she’s there or not?”

I met his gaze. “I’ll know.”

“Remy…” Dunston took a step forward, casting a shadow over the photo album. “It’s been years. You probably don’t even know what she looks like anymore.”

I set the album on the arm of the chair and stood. “I still remember how I
felt
. That’s all I need to remember.”

Dunston met my gaze and his face softened. He looked away, giving me some degree of power over him. But that wasn’t what I wanted from Dunston. I just wanted him to find my Cinderella. I could still picture her fiery red hair, the shape of her neck and the feel of her lips. The lines of her face had blurred with time, but I’d know her if I saw her.

Chapter Eight

Cydney

My aunt and cousins had come home giggling and weighed down with shopping bags. Apparently, a new gown required matching shoes, delicate lingerie and, of course, sparkling jewelry. Aunt Mina must have really broken the bank.

“Cydney, you have to see this.” A black shopping bag with swirly gold letters swung from Beatrice’s outstretched arm. “If at least one guy doesn’t faint at the ball, I’ll be extremely disappointed.”

“Mine’s not too bad either.” Winnie beamed.

I set my calculus book on the coffee table and rose from the sofa. “Good to know it’s not just girls at the ball.”

“Yeah, well, one guy and a zillion girls would be awkward, don’t you think? Come upstairs and see what we got.” Winnie zipped up the steps behind Beatrice.

His eyes held a vacant look for just a moment before he focused on me. “That was a low point in my life. If they ever make me shop with them again, I’m running away from home.” He popped off the sofa, stomped up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door a moment later.

“He was a good sport.” Aunt Mina suppressed a laugh and followed him up the stairs, keeping a noticeable distance from me.

I locked the front door, then caught up with my cousins in Beatrice’s room. She was such a girl, which was emphasized by the pale pink walls and lavender lace curtains. They’d already laid out their new clothes on her velvety purple bed.

Beatrice held a periwinkle-blue dress to her chest. “Isn’t it gorgeous?” She peeled off her t-shirt, then seemed to vanish while she slipped into the dress. Seconds later, she emerged to tie the straps of the halter top around her neck. The front dipped so low, I wondered how she’d gotten it past Aunt Mina.

“It… might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” I reached out to touch the silky-soft fabric. “Did your mom see this on you?”

“Yes,” Beatrice squealed. “She threatened to have it altered. I told her if she didn’t buy it for me, I’d use the money I saved from my allowance to find the most horrible dress I could find, just to embarrass her.”

I laughed. “Wow. Blackmail works with Aunt Mina. Who knew?”

The dress fit her so well she practically glowed. I could see her in my mind’s eye being swept around the dance floor by some hot guy, maybe even the prince. Or maybe by Wolf Boy.

“Check this out.” Winnie held up her own dress. “It’s not as daring as hers, but it’s pretty. Don’t you think?”

“Oh, Winnie.” The straps were narrow, but it didn’t reveal much below her collarbone. The lavender satin slid between my fingers and I let out a small sigh. “It’s absolutely lovely. You’ll be so beautiful.”

Crap. Now I wanted to go to the ball. I stifled the longing. Pretending to be someone else — someone normal — wasn’t my style.

They spent the next few minutes showing me their accessories and discussing which hairstyle would look best. At that point, I knew I had nothing to offer. The last time I wore makeup was… I couldn’t remember. When I last saw Jack, probably.

“I need to talk to Aunt Mina. But first I’m going to check on Gavin to make sure he didn’t tie his sheets to the ceiling and kick the chair out,” I joked.

I hesitated. Should I tell him? He’d worry about me. If I left him in the dark though, he’d think I was just being stubborn. Or being weird. “I’m still afraid, Gav. I could never forgive myself if anything happened.”

“Yeah, we get that. We see it in your eyes every day. But, Cyd, when are you going to let it go? You can’t undo what happened. If you let it control you, you’ll always be afraid. Like, forever.”

When did my baby brother get so insightful? “I know. But I have no clue how to make it stop.” I rose from the side of his bed, then ruffled his hair. “I’ll let you convalesce from your traumatic mall experience. Goodnight.”

Outside his room, I stopped to listen for Aunt Mina, and I mentally located her. Backtracking and passing Beatrice’s room, I tapped on the open doorway of my aunt’s room.

Aunt Mina was sitting on her bed examining her own dress — a slinky black number. She gave me a tight smile and averted her eyes. “Hi, Cyd.”

Oh, God. My own aunt could barely look at me anymore. She didn’t want me there. How awful it must be to take care of someone else’s kids out of obligation and duty.

“Did you change your mind? We can go shopping tomorrow, just you and me.” She tapped her chin. “Although it might be amusing to kidnap Gavin and make him go with us. That’s great leverage. We could threaten him with it if he doesn’t do his chores.”

I relaxed a little and chuckled, relieved that she felt comfortable enough to make jokes around me. “As appealing as that sounds, my little brother is already scarred for life.” I pointed to the black dress on her lap. “Pretty. Looks like your mall trip was a success.”

She rose and laid the gown on her bed, then turned to me. “You should’ve come with us. I understand why you’re reluctant, so there’s no pressure. If you change your mind though, I can rearrange my schedule.”

“Thank you, but I won’t be needing a new dress any time soon.” I stepped closer and ran my hand over the fabric of her dress, picturing her in it. “You guys will be the belles of the ball.”

“It’s not too late for you.” Aunt Mina smiled, but there was something else behind her eyes.

Did she really want me to go with them or was she just being polite? I stood there staring at the dress, my eyes stinging. I missed my mom. But whether Aunt Mina wanted me here or not, she was still my family and I needed to protect them.

Was she relenting, because she knew she couldn’t force me? Or did
okay
mean that she agreed with me?

“I was thinking I should go to the woods and morph and stuff. Get it out of my system now before coming back tonight. Then maybe I won’t… you know, make so much noise as a wolf later.”

“Okay,” she echoed.

Aunt Mina wasn’t making it easy with her one-word answers.

I’d planned to move my things to one of the guest bedrooms, but I couldn’t bear the thought of alienating Aunt Mina any more than I already had. Besides, if that vampire intended to hurt me, he would’ve already done so. He wanted something. If his plan was to persuade me to go to the ball, as he’d said earlier, then killing me would only ensure I couldn’t go. Instinct told me I was safe — at least until the day of the ball, when he didn’t get what he wanted.

Tonight, I’d sleep in the basement with the door locked. Just like Aunt Mina wanted.

****

Wednesday, I sat in Mr. Williams’ class, struggling to pay attention — he made it so hard when he droned on for what seemed like hours. It didn’t help that I couldn’t stop thinking about my disastrous non-talk with Aunt Mina the night before.

My renewed disinterest in Mr. Williams and his lecture must have shown. After the bell rang, he caught my eye and glared at me until I stopped in front of his desk. He pointed to a chair in the first row and I sat. About sixty seconds later, he flicked his thumb toward the exit and growled, “Get out.”