Apocalyptic Moon (After the Bane) (7 page)

“Shh.” She pointed to the camera. “You best brush your teeth before the lights go out. Trust me, it becomes pitch dark.”

“Darkness is not a problem.”

“That’s right, werewolves can see in the dark.” She smiled at him as if humoring him and then brushed her teeth.

She still didn’t believe him.
Can’t wait to prove you wrong
. “You got that right.” He followed her lead and brushed his teeth. He found a small bottle of waterless shampoo and shaver on his sink. Why not? He wanted to smell and look clean, for her. Was it because her scent was sweeter than honey? Alluring. Like the scent of a mate. Not one just for hot sex but one he must protect and cherish above others. He shook his head. Must be some after-effect of the wolfsbane or the silver gleipnir collar around his throat, conflicting with his nature. She was just a human. And he, a confirmed player. Born to be wild and never bound to any female, at least for more than a night or two. Even sexy Marla never got him to commit. Still, his sister had taken a human mate, but he, as the male alpha didn’t have that choice. Dirk was already twenty-eight and Talon insisted he soon find a shifter mate, preferably a she-werewolf. He stole a glance at her nice ass as she bent over the sink and spat out toothpaste. Dirk turned away so she wouldn’t notice his swollen beyond reason erection. Must be because he’d gone without sex for nearly a month.

A computer generated female voice announced, “Lights out in one minute.”

Dora pulled down her covers and fluffed her pillow before she lay on her back, covering herself to her chin. “Goodnight, Lon Chaney.”

“Who?”

“Some werewolf you are. He was one of the first actors to play a werewolf.”

“Oh, that guy. He looked more like an unshaved bum.” The lights flicked off. Dead dark. Dirk’s night vision switched on. He smiled as she lowered the blanket and exposed her hot curves. If zombies existed, why couldn’t she believe his kind existed? He stood next to the glass. “What the hell kind of a place is this? I can smell and hear zombies everywhere.”

“Lab Zero. It’s some deep black ops place where they experiment on ways to kill and even find a cure for the zombie contagion. We’ll be taken down to the zombie lab and you can see for yourself.”

“So you were a doctor? Here?”

“No.” She squirmed as if the question brought bad memories. “I was a resident at University Hospital in Austin, Texas. My specialty was as a diagnostician.”

He’d heard the medical term from a talk show. A person who could figure out diseases. “You don’t sound Texan.”

“I’m not. I was raised in San Francisco, California, until five years ago when I left for my residency and stayed.”

“Well, Doc, you’re lucky to be alive. San Francisco, Austin and most other major cities are infested with zombies.”

She sighed in empty hope. “Before I was bitten, the news reported martial law was enforced and the military’s full force prepared to crush the zombie threat. Then, Mansfield said all of our efforts failed. At first, I told myself he lied, but at the rate the infection spreads, I knew he spoke the truth. But, there must still be a military battle going on.”

“You’ve been here for a long time. A second wave of Z-phage struck and infected global military installations. The U.S., British, Russian, Chinese armies, and all other big and small nations are without their protective forces.”

“Whoever released this germ meant to destroy all humanity.”

“That’s what the pack leaders believe. We just don’t know who or what.”

“Maybe it was the werewolves.” Her tone edged in sarcasm.

“Many of our kind are not friends of humans, but even we like your technology, movies, music, and let’s face it, human civilization.” Not to mention human women were hot in bed.

“The irony is that I was supposed to die on May 13
th
.
On my twenty-seventh birthday.”

“Why’s that?”

“Not sure. My mom, grandmother, hell, pretty much everybody on my maternal side, died at age twenty- seven.”

Could she be a witch? She was immune, just like the powerful wise women were during all the great plagues. Legend was that their powers did not come into play until the age of twenty-seven. He’d been well versed on the Benandanti treatise, Malleus Melandanti, similar to the book written during the dark ages by human witch hunters. As teenagers, he and his friends burned the book in defiance against the Benandanti. His pack and witches had once been allies long ago. He sniffed, trying to decipher if there was a reason why her scent was distinct, alluring. A witch’s rich floral aroma, but that was not proof enough. “Have you noticed anything different since your birthday?”

“Okay, you’re going to think this is weird.” She sniffed as if holding back laughter. “But you’re a werewolf, so maybe not. I dream a lot about flying. Before I was brought here, I actually woke up with my face pressed against my bedroom ceiling.”

“But not here?”

“No. See? It just goes to prove it was only a dream.”

“Anything else?”

“This is harder to explain away. On my birthday, yeah ironic, I ran into my neighbor weeding her garden. Betty complained about her dead rosemary bush. I leaned in and touched it.” She brushed her hand through her hair. “I know what I saw. The plant turned from dead brown to green. Purple flowers appeared.” She laughed. “Betty was so impressed that she invited me over after my shift in ER. That night a zombie bit me. She probably thinks I stood her up.”

He remembered the
Fenrir
Arbor Wolf Guide to the Mythos
: ‘
The Aradia Witch is called upon the fields to heal crops and insure productive fields
.’ “Did your mother or grandmother keep a journal?”

“I was three when my mother died. Her death devastated my father. We left New York and moved to the Bay Area. We had only one picture of her because shortly after her death our home burned to the ground. It was arson, but who would hate us that much?” She shrugged. “We never found out. When I turned eighteen, I searched for close relatives but only found one cousin. He’s the one who told me about the age twenty-seven curse. I went on Ancestry.com and found the pattern. Dad was pissed and told me not to believe such nonsense.”

He nodded. “You are able to diagnose better.”

“Always have, but recently, yes, much better.”

He lowered his voice. “One of the guards today…”

“Yes, I know, he’s infected. Soon his eyes will be bloodshot and then he’ll get a high fever.”

Dirk nodded. Her intuition was super human. She had to be an Aradia witch. Would she believe him if he told her what she was?

Dora reached for the flashlight on her nightstand and then shone its beam on him. She gasped. “Your eyes glow.” She stood and moved closer to the glass. “Only animals with the tapetum lucidum in their eye can do that.”

He smiled. “The better to see you in the dark.”

She shook her flashlight and shone it at him again. “This can’t be.”

He covered his eyes with his hands. “Oww. Are you trying to blind me?”

She aimed it away. “Sorry.”

“I would shift but the gleipnir collar prevents it.”

“Convenient,” she quipped.

“However, I can still do a few things despite the collar. Even in our human state, we can extend our nails into claws and display our fangs and pointed ears. Promise me, not to freak out?”

She lifted her chin in challenge. “Bring it.” She flashed the light on his face.

He growled and twisted his head. A clawed hand slapped on the glass and he snarled, displaying his long fangs.

She dropped the flashlight, screamed and fell back to the corner of her cell.

He pressed his furred face against the glass. She sat on the floor, her fear stricken eyes bore into him. Did she think he meant to kill her? His voice garbled between fierce growl and classic demonic, “I won’t harm you.”

The alarms went off and the high pitched siren forced him to cover his sensitive ears and grovel in pain. The lights switched on, and soldiers dashed in followed by a disheveled-looking angry doctor in his robe.

“Shift back or else!” Mansfield pointed the gleipnir remote as if it were a gun.

Dirk growled at Mansfield, and then mustered all his strength and obeyed. He stretched his neck and shot Dora a quick glance.
Great, I scared the shit out of her.

Dora stood. “It’s nothing, I just got spooked.”

Dirk cocked his head to the side and she gave him a sheepish smile.
Hmm. Hot and brave. You’re growing on me, babe.

Mansfield turned his attention to Dora. “Dr. Adler, you’re forbidden to talk after lights off. Don’t make me take you below with the zombies.” Mansfield sneered, “They’d love a little taste.”

She lowered her head. “I understand.” Her pulse raced and her scent smelled of raw fear.

Dirk’s protective nature snapped and again, he partially shifted, displaying his fangs and claws. He roared and slammed against the glass.

Mansfield jumped and then pushed the red button.

The collar’s zap sent him into a frenzied howl. Pain! He longed for death. His world became gray before pitching him into merciful darkness.

Chapter 4

Poor Dirk. Tortured and maybe dying. Why did she have to scream like a banshee? She promised not to freak out. But good God, his face went all out horror movie werewolf. Who could fault her? Since the zombie pestilence, she’d been jumpy to say the least. She glanced at her clock. Five a.m. In another hour, the lights would come on. She pushed her jumbled bed sheets aside and stood. Anxious to check on him again, she shone her flashlight through the glass. He lay sprawled on the cold floor, his muscular arms spread out in a T. His large frame made the room look closet-sized. His werewolf fangs and claws gone and his breathing steady. At least somebody was able to sleep.

Mansfield needs to die for this
. Wishing someone dead went against her medical training, but enough was enough. She pressed her face against the glass.
I wish he could tell me how he feels without disobeying the new stupid rule.

His lip twitched, and he moaned, but his eyes remained shut.
“Dora, you can.”

As clear as day, she heard Dirk’s voice in her mind. It was similar to the intuitive feelings she had about her patients. Yet this had one major difference, his voice was auditory. Perhaps werewolves use telepathy. She closed her eyes and asked in her mind, “
Dirk, are you in pain?”

“I feel like I was struck by lightning, but I’ll survive.”

She opened her eyes and shined the light where he lay dead still.
“Oh my God. You really are talking in my head. No. I must be going mad.”

He covered his eyes from her blinding light and turned his head away
. “Tell me to do something.”

She aimed the beam away from his face
. “Hmm. Can you beat your chest like a gorilla?”

Dirk grimaced as he sat, knuckled his hands and thumped his chest. He cocked an eyebrow. “
How did you know King Kong was my
f
avorite movie?”

“It is?”
Gooseflesh traveled down her arms
.
She sat down and switched off her flashlight.
“That’s amazing. We have telepathy.”
She pinched her recent bite. It hurt like hell. She wasn’t dreaming.
Maybe there’s another logical explanation. Insanity could not be one of them. Her stepbrother, Josh believed in ESP and she’d been open to the idea. At least to others having it, not herself.
“I wonder if it’s related to our immunity against Z-phage.”

“Actually, only you have telepathy. You allow me to receive and send.

Jeez, what private thoughts had he read? She bit her lower lip.
“How do you know?”

“Since I was zapped, you’ve been sending like crazy. And so far, everything you’ve told me makes it obvious you’re an Aradia witch.”

“A witch? If that was true, wouldn’t I just wiggle my nose and turn Mansfield into a toad and then fly out of here, maybe to Fiji?”

“Doesn’t exactly work that way. Aradia witches are healers and their magic helps bring a good crop. You can also learn to fly, but from what I’ve heard it takes practice and training. I think a witch even needs to be middle-aged before she can actually fly.”

“So, I’m supposed to find an…Aradia…witch and she’ll teach me the powers of the force.”
She imagined Jedi Master Yoda guiding her to use a light saber.
She’d laugh, if not for the fact they were communicating telepathically.

“The Benandanti werewolves have killed most witches but I heard a few still exist in Europe. They search and kill a witch when she turns twenty-seven, when her powers first manifest.”

Damn, he made some sense
.
At least the age twenty-seven part did.
“Werewolves kill witches?”

“Yep.”

“Great. If the zombies don’t kill me, you will?”

“No, neither will my pack. We are the Fenrir Arbor pack. We’ve always sided with the witches. Though we signed a pact with the Benandanti to not interfere with witch-hunts, we would do our best to protect one. As long as our alpha agrees. However, harboring a dangerous witch would break our treaty and mean pack war.”

Dora stared in the dark. Not a curse or even an accident, but murder.
“My mother was killed by a hit and run driver but my cousin said my grandmother was ripped to shreds by some wild animal.”

Dirk snorted in distain.
“Most likely it was a Benandanti. Killing someone with a vehicle is more subtle than how they used to kill while in their large wolf form.”

“Come on, if what you say is true then how come there’re so many followers of Wicca and numerous pagans who call themselves witches. Half of my sorority dabbled around with spells.”