Worlds Apart (10 page)

A pregnant female. But the babe
was newly conceived, not large enough to make it worth killing her.
He followed, curious. Her back was turned to him as she sank into
the car, and he stepped closer. She saw him as she reached to close
the door, her eyes widening in fear. He was puzzled for a moment as
he froze in place, meeting her gaze. There was something odd about
her. About the pregnancy.

She slammed the door and put a
cell phone to her ear. She spoke into it for a minute, then put it
down to start the car. After one more intense glance at him, she
drove away.

He followed.

~~

Tina pulled into her garage,
closing the door before she left the car.

God, that was freaky.
She’d
never seen a wolf in town before. There weren’t that many in the
forest.

She hoped Eddie didn't hurt the
animal, but she'd felt it necessary to warn him there was a wolf
outside the tavern. He'd promised to check, and scare it
off.

She switched on the kitchen light,
murmuring to Beowulf as he rubbed a greeting against her leg. She
turned up the heat, then did a series of stretches, holding onto
the kitchen counter. Her body buzzed with restless energy. People
were nervous about the spreading illness, and Eddie’s usual crowd
stayed away or kept to themselves. No one wanted to
dance.

Beowulf growled, staring at the
front of the house.

“What's wrong, kitty?” Tina
reached upward as she balanced on one foot, tucking her other foot
into the opposite thigh. Beowulf sank to the floor and crept into
the living room.

“Do we have a mouse?” Tina
whispered, dropping the pose and creeping after him. He was staring
at the window, the open curtains revealing rain drops shimmering in
the light of the front porch. Beowulf jumped in a fluid movement to
the sill, then snarled in alarm, leaping three feet as he turned in
mid-air, and dashed up the stairs.

“Fuck, Beowulf!” Tina put a hand
to her chest, then with tight lips, went to close the drapes. Her
heart nearly stopped beating when she saw the wolf sitting on her
porch, just a few feet from the window.

She couldn't move. He returned her
stare, his yellow eyes glinting in the porch light. His fur was
dark from the rain, but she glimpsed silver along his head and
legs. He tilted his head, as if trying to figure something
out.

Tina slammed the drapes closed and
backed away from the window until she bumped into the hearth. She
groped behind her until she found the poker and brought it forward.
There was no hint of movement or sound from the porch.

Would she hear anything,
anyway?

She glanced around the house with
darting eyes, assuring herself that everything was closed. He
couldn't get in. But he was big, bigger than she'd known wolves
could be. If he decided to throw himself at a window, he just might
break it.

Maybe he'd cut his throat in the
process.

She fished her cell out of her
pocket and pressed a button. When Eddie answered, she had to force
herself to speak up so he could hear her. Even then, her voice
shook. “That wolf followed me home. I know it sounds crazy, but
he's on my front porch right now.”

“You're shittin' me.” Eddie
sounded impressed. “Sheriff's still here. I'll send him
down.”

“Stay on the phone with me.” She
brandished the poker, her back hard against the mantel.

“Yeah, okay, Doc. Take it
easy.”

She heard him call to Ringstrom,
heard him explain, heard answering voices, and the sounds of chairs
and bodies moving around. Eddie's voice returned to her ear. “He's
on his way with a few fellows. You all right?”

“Just freaked, that's all. He's
big. Why would he follow me?”

“I don't know, Doc, especially
with the smell of food around here. You got any interesting samples
of things in your car?”

She thought about it, but shook
her head. “No, nothing.”

A crash from the back of the house
made her scream as she turned that way.

“What?” Eddie yelled. “Talk to me,
Tina!”

“I don't know.” She kept the poker
in front of her as she slipped into the kitchen. The French doors
to the backyard were closed and latched, the windows still intact.
“The trash cans out back, I think.”

She forced herself to peek out the
kitchen window, ducking when a silver streak touched the back
light. “God, he's in the back, now. He's looking for a way
in.”

“Stay calm, Doc. Men'll be there
in a minute.”

Tina sank to the floor, squeezing
her eyes shut. She was shaking so hard, she had to hold the phone
with both hands, even though it made the poker bounce against her
head. “Everything's closed up. He can't get in here, can he? God,
Eddie, I'm so scared.”

“No, of course he can't get in.
Wolves can't open doors.”

The air outside exploded into a
siren, then squealing tires and honking horns. Tina jumped to her
feet. “They're here!” She raced to the living room, pushing aside
the curtain. Three cars blocked the road between her house and the
office, the blue and red of Ringstrom's light flashing color over
the men fanning out into her yard. Headlights were angled in three
directions, but all of the men were focused on the forest behind
the clinic. Ringstrom had his gun out and dropped three shots into
the trees. The men shouted curses as Tina turned back to the phone.
“I think they chased him off. Let me go talk to them.”

“Okay. Call me back.”

She hung up, at last able to let
go of the poker. She grabbed her jacket just as steps pounded on
her porch, and she opened the door to see Jake Wilson's anxious
face. “You all right?” he asked.

She nodded, stepping onto the
porch. “Did you see him?”

“Hell yeah, we saw him. Headed
into the forest. I don't think we hit him.”

The men had turned back, heading
for her house. She brought them inside.

“Think we scared him off,”
Ringstrom told her. “I doubt he'll be back.”

“I didn't know wolves got that
big,” Tina said. “Could he be a different breed? Something more
dangerous?”

They all shook their heads. “He's
big, but I doubt he's anything special.” Ringstrom patted her
shoulder. “I'm sure we convinced him this isn't a great spot to
hang out. You just stay inside tonight. In the morning, I'll have a
team over early to check around before you have to go out. You're
not on call, are you?”

“No.”

He nodded. “Call if you have to go
anywhere.” He glanced around, then turned a piercing gaze on her.
“Will you be all right? Need someone to stay with you?”

“No, no.” Tina chuckled nervously,
embarrassment beginning to tickle her brain. “I'm fine. You're
right, he probably won't come back. There's no food in the trash
cans, so he probably lost interest.”

“Okay. We'll be out here early,
then.”

“Thanks, you guys.” Tina passed
around hugs. “You're all my heroes.” They returned her hugs and
turned to their cars. She made sure her door was shut solid, and
locked, then watched from the window as their tail lights vanished
up the road.

~~

Clive shifted in his dream. Tina’s
weight was a warm softness as she straddled him. She gazed at him
out of the darkness, her eyes bright with contentment and love. He
couldn’t see her body, but his hands brushed over her slender waist
and tickled her ribs as they glided up to cup her breasts. They
filled his hands as full as love filled his heart. Her lips parted
and she leaned toward him, seeking his mouth. Just before their
lips touched, a sudden light behind her stabbed his
eyes.

He raised an arm to block it. The
dream vanished into wakefulness, replaced by a shower of muddy
pebbles falling on his face. A glance showed him the ground he lay
on was covered with them. His muscles protested when he stood. He
swiped a hand down his side and chest to clear the grit away. Dried
blood covered most of his right arm. It was easy enough to find the
injury—a bite just below the shoulder. His back and neck stung, but
he ignored it for now. At least he could move.

He turned in a circle, trying to
get his bearings, stopping with a jerk as a nude, gray-haired woman
appeared from behind a bush. She gasped when she saw him, but
looked away and continued past him through the bushes. He averted
his eyes and let her go, but took note of the sagging breasts and
tanned, wrinkled skin. He wondered how long she had been a
werewolf. Then he wondered if they had mated during the night. His
injuries indicated he'd fought another wolf. Was it over the
she-wolf? As usual, the night was a blank to his human mind. All he
had were injuries and pain as proof anything had happened at
all.

He followed the woman, keeping a
safe distance from her. He heard water, and soon came to a stream.
A short distance down the ravine, he reached an outcrop he
recognized. He paused for a drink of water, and to give the woman a
chance to gain more distance. People didn't like to talk after they
first woke up from the Change. Too many unknowns. Too much
shame.

He was about a mile from the
enclave gate. His left leg hurt, although he could see no injury.
He'd have to take his time. As he walked, his dream came back to
him.

Tina was so warm and giving. Could
he go back? He could never tell her what he was, but he could tell
her he had to travel for business. That was true, after all. He
could always arrange to be gone during the full moon. It could
work. He’d make it work.

The daydream kept his mind off the
pain until the gate came in sight, with two witches standing guard.
Through the gate, he saw the woman standing at a table, collecting
her clothes from the bin assigned to her as another witch inspected
her strap. Two other people were dressing. Clive glanced at the
sun. He'd slept late—most people would be gone by now.

He avoided the stares of the
guards and approached the witch on bin duty. “Clive Winslow,” he
said, pointing at the bin with his clothes. He didn't look at this
guard, either. He never did, even though he'd been coming to this
enclave for years.

The witch put the bin on the
table, grabbing Clive's strap from the top. He inspected it to make
sure Clive was who he said he was. “You must report to your
supervisor within thirty minutes.”

He always spoke as if Clive were a
child, or a criminal. Every fucking month, he said the same thing.
Clive shuddered under the grating humiliation the words gave him.
Because it was a game. One he'd learned the hard way that he had to
play.

Jaw tight, he held out his hand.
“I'll do that. Thank you.”

The witch nodded once, and dropped
the strap into Clive's hand. This was the signal for Clive to
retrieve his clothes and move away to dress. Clive had noticed that
the witch never did this to the other people leaving the enclave.
Just him. And he knew why.

His strap told them he was a
Portal Enforcement officer. Most people didn't think a werewolf had
any business with a job like that. They wondered what he'd done to
get it. They were certain he didn't deserve it. They thought Clive
didn't know his place. This witch just wanted to make sure that
Clive was reminded.

Clive had argued about it once.
The witches on guard were happy to remind him what wands could do
to naked human flesh. They had that right, if a werewolf gave them
trouble. So he played their game, and considered himself lucky
they'd never changed the rules.

Chapter 11

Tina focused on her phone, the
text message wavering into blurriness as she stared at it. The
clinic.

She glanced across the church's
aisle to Will, who was also holding his phone. When he looked at
her, she pointed at herself. He gave a brief nod. She picked up her
purse and stepped into the side aisle as the priest made his way up
the center, trailing a cloud of incense smoke.

Les’ family was Catholic. Jason
and Pete had belonged to the Methodist Church, so their funerals
had been more straightforward. Tina thought the pomp and ritual of
this service provided more time for thoughtful grieving. The
important thing was comforting the family.

Tina wasn’t comforted at
all.

At the door, she whispered her
errand to Mike Ormand, who had stepped out for a smoke. He promised
to give the family her apologies, although Tina knew that Will
would take care of that, too. She cast a last glance into the
church. Not more than twenty people had made it, and they were
scattered throughout the building in clumps of two or three.
Everyone was nervous about the spreading illness.

Tina jogged the two blocks to the
clinic. Sharon, on duty as head nurse, motioned Tina around the
corner as soon as she came through the door. Tina followed her into
the triage area. She told herself it was the smallness of the room
that made it look crowded.

Sharon began strapping a blood
pressure cuff on Jake Wilson's arm, but she pointed Tina down the
hall. “Bishop Carmichael,” she said. “Room two.”