Night Creature: Crescent Moon

Chapter 24

 

  I saw again the wolf at the window - the wolf that had possessed Adam's eyes.

  "Diana?" Cassandra grabbed my forearm as Marie scurried away to intercept her daughter-in-law, and squeezed hard.

  "I'm OK. "

  I wasn't. Not really. I wanted to sit down, maybe lie down, or stand up, maybe throw up. What I did was drag Cassandra away from the Favreaus' and back to her place. Luckily, it wasn't a long trip.

  Once inside the cool, shadowed interior, I sat at her kitchen table and put my head between my knees.

  "Don't faint on me," she snapped.

  "I donor faint. "

  "You're doing a damn good imitation. " She sat, too. "The wolf at the window?"

  Slowly I lifted my head and nodded.

  I'd told her my dream, that I'd seen a wolf with human eyes, but I hadn't mentioned whose eyes they were. From the expression on her face, she already knew.

  "When you saw the wolf, where was Adam?"

  "In bed with me. " I took a deep breath, let it out slowly. "Must have been a dream after all. "

  "Or a premonition. "

  "I don't have premonitions. "

  Cassandra went silent. Still a little woozy, I was having a hard time assimilating the information, having no luck at all interpreting it

  "You dreamed of a wolf with human eyes before we knew that werewolves have them. " She glanced in my direction. "Human eyes, I mean. "

  "Probably just a coincidence. "

  "A coincidence is running into someone right after you thought about them. What you described to me is not a coincidence. "

  "What is it then?"

  "No clue. "

  "Damn, you're helpful. "

  She didn't rise to the bait. Why I was baiting her, I wasn't sure. Right now, she was the only friend I had, the only person I trusted. I tried to make amends by making excuses.

  "Maybe I read something about werewolves in the past and my subconscious remembered. I read a lot of bizzaro stuff. "

  "Could be. "

  "My husband never mentioned it, though. "

  Cassandra cast me a sharp glance. "He saw one?"

  "So he said. "

  Out on the moors, D-baby. A man became a wolf and then ran beneath the full moon.

  "I'm thinking he didn't get close enough to see the eyes. " Until that last night anyway.

  "There's one thing that bugs me," Cassandra murmured

  Thrilled to leave the memory of Simon and his death behind, I jumped on the comment "Just one?"

  She didn't bother to acknowledge my attempt at levity. "Why is it a wolf?"

  "Huh?'

  "Or maybe I should ask, how is it a wolf?"

  "Cassandra, what are you talking about?"

  "Marie Favreau said wolves make wolves. "

  "If we can believe her. If she isn't crazy. "

  "Do you think she is?"

  "If she is, I am. " I rubbed my forehead. "I don't feel crazy. "

  "Crazy people never do. "

  "Har-har. Could we get back to the topic at hand, which I'm still not clear on?"

  'If it takes a wolf to make a wolf, where did the first wolf come from?"

  "Is that a riddle?"

  Cassandra ignored me again. She was getting very good at it "No wolves in Louisiana. That's what got you here in the first place. "

  "There were wolves once. Red wolves. "

  "Is this a red wolf?"

  I shook my head. "Too big, too black, too timber wolfy. "

  "Which brings us back to the curse. "

  "According to you," I murmured, "man became beast with no biting involved. "

  "But why a wolf? Why not an alligator, or a snake, or a leopard for that matter?"

  Yeah, why?

  I had a bad feeling. Without asking permission, I headed for Cassandra's office, started clicking away on her computer before she even got there.

  "What are you thinking, Diana?" she asked.

  "Names have power," I muttered.

  Seconds later I saw how much.

  " 'Ruelle,'" I read. " 'French for "famous wolf. "'"

  Cassandra drew in a quick, sharp breath.

  "That's why the curse created a wolf. "

  "We don't know for sure - " she began.

  "Maybe not" I stood and started for the door. "But I plan to find out"

  No wonder he'd said there wasn't a loup-garou. No wonder he'd volunteered to be my guide. No wonder he'd distracted me with the sex of a lifetime.

  What better way to make sure I never found what I'd come to find? If I was looking forward, I wasn't seeing what was right under me - had been right under me more than a few times.

  "Wait" Cassandra called. "You need to take a weapon. "

  "I don't suppose you have any silver bullets handy. "

  "No, but - " She hurried into the shop, murmuring to Lazarus when he hissed. As I stepped through the beads hanging in the doorway, she slapped her knife into my palm. "Silver, through and through. "

  The idea of shoving a knife into Adam -

  "I can't. "

  "Believe me, Diana, if he grows fangs and a tail, you can. "

  "What if he doesn't?" I glanced at the window. "It's daytime. "

  "Touch him with the thing. See if he smokes. "

  "Terrific," I muttered. "He's going to think I'm insane. "

  "Good. If this is insane, then he isn't the loup-garou. "

  And we had a whole new set of problems. Because if Adam wasn't, who was?

  Cassandra bit her lip. "Maybe I should go, too. "

  "So he can kill both of us?"

  "He isn't going to kill you. "

  "Nor

  "If he wanted you dead, you'd be dead already. "

  "Great"

  "You could take Detective Sullivan along. He wants to talk to Ruelle anyway. "

  I considered the notion, men put it away. "Adam isn't going to tell me the truth if I bring a cop. Besides, he hasn't hurt me. He might hurt Sullivan. "

  "You have to let me know you're all right Tell me what happened, what he said. "

  "OK. "

  "By - " She glanced at her watch. "Seven o'clock. "

  "In the morning?"

  "Tonight!"

  "No. Morning. "

  If I was wrong about Adam, I might have to make it up to him. Considering the accusation, that could take a while.