"Don't lose it on me."
Decker took several deep breaths and then nodded. He lowered the sword. "I'm fine."
"The huntsman?" Elise asked.
Decker pointed. "It's that way, but it knows I'm here."
There was a shitload of questions Joshua wanted to ask, but he stuck to the thing that was scaring the other two.
"What exactly is a huntsman?" Joshua said.
"It's a magical construct." Elise watched Decker closely. "It finds, captures and teleports a target to its maker. It is used to collect powerful creatures like Decker."
"Teleports? Powerful creatures like Decker? What does that mean?"
"It means we need to stop it fast." Decker started down the path. "Every person the huntsman kills becomes a seedbed for a hound."
Elise sheathed her daggers and gave Joshua a hard look. "Did you just judo throw that hound?"
Joshua spread his hands in confusion. She made it sound bad. "Brown belt judo. I would be black belt if I weren't a minor. Legal responsibilities and all that."
"Wolves don't learn judo." Elise's voice was full of suspicion.
"Stranger things happen!" Decker called back as he disappeared into the darkness. "All the time! Especially around us!"
Elise trotted down the path, calling, "There aren't any wolves in Boston, Decker. If there were, we wouldn't have the mess we have! Where did you find a wolf?"
Joshua trailed after the two. Obviously everything he thought he knew about the world was wrong.
It was Saturday night.
Friday had been Halloween.
As part of trying to nail a scholarship for college, Joshua had joined the prom committee. Their first fundraiser was going to be a haunted house at the Dwyer barn. They'd gotten permission to leave school early to set up. Joshua spent the afternoon knowing that he didn't fit in. Prom was for popular kids and Halloween was for little kids. He used to love the holiday, running around with his friends in the autumn night, doors opening up to warm brightly-lit houses, people happy to see little monsters at their door, praising them for the work they'd put into their costumes. All happy. All nice. All fake.
He was too old to trick or threat. He was too dorky to fit in with the popular kids.
At dusk, a real monster showed up at the barn.
Joshua wanted the world to go back to making sense. He needed it for his own sanity's sake. He'd lost everything else in the last twenty-four hours; it was all he had left. His classmates were dead. He'd fled his family to keep them safe. He had no money, no place to live, no idea where to go except to follow the two deadly people who knew what the world was really like.
Elise was explaining her day. "I picked up a police report out of Framingham this afternoon."
Joshua was surprised to hear the town name. He'd taken the Lake Shore Limited to Framingham, using up most of the fifty dollars he had to his name. From there, he'd connected with the Boston commuter lines. He'd only had enough money by then to buy a ticket to Yawkey Station. Feeling lost and alone, he'd retreated into the park a few blocks from his stop.
"The Framingham PD had found a seedbed," Elise continued. "They had no idea what it was. From what I could tell, the huntsman made his first hound there, which meant its target was close by. I've been calling you since sunset."
"Framingham," Decker murmured and then, after a long pause. "Yawkey."
With a roar, another hound came rushing out of the darkness. It tried to slip past Decker to lunge at Joshua. The man skewered it with his scary long sword. After the monster collapsed into leaves, he turned to look at Joshua. His eyes were totally black and his breathing was ragged.
"The huntsman knows I'm here," Decker said. "But it's closing on us."
"Maybe you're the target," Elise said.
"It wouldn't have started in Framingham. Any enemy of mine knows that I never venture that far out."
Elise followed Decker gaze. "Where did you find a wolf in Boston?"
"Here," Decker murmured. "In this park. Chasing rabbits. Killing trees."
"Killing what?" Elise said.
"A newly made wolf, connected to their magic, not protected by the pack," Decker whispered. "Someone is playing a deep game."
"He's the target?" Elise asked.
"Yes, someone wants him very, very badly." Decker tilted his head, thinking through the problem. "When he bolted from his parent's house, he was only hours old. I'm thinking that the Wickers had a hand in making him. He'd slipped through their fingers when they went to collect him. They need to catch him fast, before he draws the Wolf King's notice. Any place else, he'd be one of many, but in Boston, he stands out because he's the only one."
Go to Boston's Prince, the black wolf had whispered in his dream, Run!
He'd come to Boston looking for a prince. Was the Wolf King the same as a prince?
"We could just kill him." Elise pulled one of her pistols.
"Hey!" Joshua backed away from her.
"No, you can't." Decker drifted sideways, blocking Elise. "The boy isn't feral. Killing him would violate the Grigoris' treaty with the Wolf King. You'd be starting a war that the wolves would win."
Elise huffed but holstered her gun. "You could kill him. You don't have a treaty."
"Nah." Decker reached out to pat Joshua on the head. "He amuses me."
This would be a whole lot more comforting if Decker didn't have solid black eyes and smelled wild and dark as the night.
Decker ruffled Joshua's hair and turned away. "The huntsman is coming with the other four hounds."
"Are you going to be able to take four without losing it?" Elise said.
Decker laughed. "I doubt it. Kill the huntsman fast and I won't have to."
Elise frowned at Joshua. "Keep your head down and don't let them get ahold of you. If they snare you, they'll drag you through a tear in realty and we won't be able to save you."
The wind rose. Over the thrashing of leaves, Joshua could hear the growling roar of the hounds closing in. He thought of just fleeing. The huntsman was killing people in his wake, though, to make hounds. So no, they had to stop it. And by "they," he meant Decker and Elise because he didn't know what the huntsman was, let alone how to kill it. He hadn't been able to hurt the hound.
The hounds came in a solid wave. Decker stabbed one but the other three kept coming. One of the hounds tackled Elise, and she went down cursing. Joshua caught the third hound as it leapt at him and flung it toward a tree. The fourth slammed into him and they went tumbling into the darkness. The beast filled his nose with the scent of blood and dead leaves and tree sap. All his sparring never prepared him for an opponent that could grow vines around his arms and legs. He locked down on the fear coursing through him and focused on leverage. Fight the opponent, not yourself.
The hounds could be broken by hard impact. He got his legs under him, did a quick roll, followed by a hard body slam pin. The hound howled as it shattered with the sound of a thousand little twigs snapping. It sounded like someone was beating a Rottweiler with a dead Christmas tree. Joshua rolled again and flung it away from him. As it reformed, Decker stabbed it.
"Thanks---" Joshua yelped as Decker caught him by the collar and slammed him into a tree.
The man felt like static electricity against Joshua's skin. Decker snarled, showing sharp teeth.
Vampire! Vampirevampirevampirevampire!
Decker lunged for Joshua's throat.
"Decker!" Joshua punched him. It felt like hitting a stonewall. He caught the man---vampire---by his dark hair. "No! Not me! I amuse you! Remember?"
Decker breathed hard against Joshua's throat. And again. And again. After the fourth time, Joshua realized that the vampire was laughing. "Yes," Decker finally whispered. "You amuse me."
"No biting?" Joshua said hopefully.
"No biting," Decker whispered.
"Goddamn you stupid shrubbery!" Elise cried, rolling around on the ground, slashing at the last hound. "Stay dead!"
Decker too
k a deep breath and whispered, "Don't let me kill her. She is dear to me, despite all appearances."
Joshua nodded, ready to agree to anything at this point. He had no idea how he would actually stop Decker if the vampire attacked Elise, nor was he sure that Elise wouldn't simply kill them both. And somewhere out there was a monster that scared them all.
Correction, the monster was standing over Elise.
It was a mishmash of horrors. The bottom part was a more solid version of the hounds with wicker and grapevines forming a pony-sized dog body. The upper part grew upwards through a scarecrow straw-stuffed body, creating a centaur from hell.
Joshua whimpered as he recognized the bloody ripped shirt. It was Frank Cahall's number seventeen football jersey. It was layered over Kevin's black hoodie. D.J.'s ever-present expensive headphones hung around its neck. The neon glow stick necklace that Chris had been wearing before being beheaded looped under it. The jack-o-lantern that Joshua had carved and left sitting on his parents' front porch snarled down at him, some brilliant red light source blazing within the cavity.
There was no question as to its target. It was there for him.
As Joshua stared in horror, the huntsman lifted up a bow. The weapon was the huntsman's left hand. The bowstring shimmered like a strand of moonlight. It drew the gleaming string taunt with its thumb. Its fingers grew long and pointed. It took aim at Elise, still pinned to the ground by the hound.
"Decker!" Elise shouted.
Decker leapt between the huntsman and Elise.
Joshua tackled the hound, tearing it from Elise. He flung it at a tree, smashing it to pieces.
Elise drew her guns as she rose from the ground. "Decker, move! Don't block my shot!"
The bowstring twanged as the huntsman released it. The four arrows struck Decker with a loud thud.
"You idiot!" Elise opened fire with both pistols at the huntsman as Decker staggered backwards. The bullets flared as they hit, burning their way through the stuffed clothing, lighting the huntsman on fire.
The monster didn't stagger or scream. It drew back the bowstring again.
Joshua snatched up the scary sword that Decker had dropped and plunged it into the huntsman.
"No!" Elise screamed.
...a forest surrounded him, massive trees stretching up to a canopy far, far overhead. Sun dappled the leaf-strewn ground with shafts of pure gold light. The scent of lush green vegetation filled his senses. He took a deep breath, feeling at peace. This was home...
And then he was flat on his back, looking up at faint stars and a worried Elise gazing down at him. Behind her a pile of leaves, sticks, and scraps of clothing burned. The flames crackled and popped; the firelight dancing off the leaves overhead.
"What a stupid ass move!" Elise cried. "You could have gotten us all killed! Keep your hands off his sword!"
Decker started to snicker. He was lying on his back a few feet away, four arrows sticking out of his chest. His eyes, though, looked normal.
"Do you want to be kicked?" Elise turned her attention back to Decker. "Stop making everything sound like a double entendre!"
"I did not say anything; you did," Decker pointed out. "Ow!" This was because Elise had yanked out one of the arrows. "Ow! Ow! Ow! That wasn't nice."
"I can stick them back in and take them back out in a nice way." Elise shook the last arrow at him.
"No!" Decker waved both hands to fend her off. "No, that's fine! Thank you, Elise."
Elise flung the bloodied arrows into the fire. The flames leapt up as if she'd poured gasoline onto it.
Decker got shakily to his feet. Despite Elise's casual treatment, he didn't look very good. Joshua steadied him before he could fall forward onto his face.
Elise ignored them to shine her flashlight on what looked like a hunk of meat.
"What is that?" Joshua really hoped it wasn't what it looked like.
"A heart." Elise confirmed his fear. "The Wickers make huntsmen by sacrificing a human. The victim's life force fuels the spell. Their heart will find the target and forms the huntsman."
"That's a hu-hu-human heart?" Joshua said.
"Yes." Elise cut black threads that crudely stitched shut a hole in the heart.
"What are you doing?" Joshua winced at the awful squishing noise that the wet meat made when she pushed fingers into the opening.
"Getting the heart stone." She pulled out a small bloody item that looked like a pinkie.
"Oh geez, that's so gross," he said. "Why do you need that?"
"If the Wickers recover it, they'll be able to send another huntsman after you."
"Oh! Yeah! We don't want them to get---get---get the what?"
"Heart stone." She wiped the blood from it and held it out to him.
It was a loop of silver about the size of a small donut. One edge was engraved with the face of the man in moon. "Why is that called a heart stone? It looks like it's made out of silver."
"You don't recognize it?" She held it out to him. It made an odd rattling noise.
"No."
"Odd." She pocketed it. "A heart stone needs to be something extremely unique to you for it to work. A baby tooth. A custom-made engagement ring." She took a square of leather out of her other pocket. "A handmade wallet."
Joshua slapped his hand to his back pocket. It was empty.
"Hey! What are you doing with my wallet?"
"Finding out who you are." She pulled out his student ID and squinted at it. "Is this really your name?"
He braced himself for the inevitable teasing. "Yes."
"You poor child." She handed it to Decker.
The vampire gave a surprised laugh before Joshua snatched the card out of his hand. "That has to be an Ellis Island misspelling."
Joshua doubted that spelling it different would have lessened the lifetime of teasing. His dad would insist on the embarrassing pronunciation.
"It's not a werewolf family name." Elise continued to dig through his wallet. His emergency contact and library card followed. "He's seventeen. Freshly bitten."
"He's clearly not feral. If he was, he'd be trying to tear open your throat instead of looking at you like a hurt puppy." Decker patted Joshua on the head. It was surprisingly comforting. "Nor could he have helped me find you quickly. You know how slow my method can be at times."
Elise gave Decker a dark look then studied the empty billfold of Joshua's wallet. "Take him home with you."
Joshua wasn't sure which of them she was talking to or which house she meant. He didn't want to go back to his parent's with monsters chasing after him.
Elise made herself clear when she realized that they were both standing still, staring at her. "The Wickers won't know where the huntsman spawned. Even if they pinpointed Framingham, that's twenty miles out. Where you live is one of the best kept secrets in Boston. Your place is warded against nearly everything. No one will be able to find him if he's with you."
Decker glanced behind himself before pressing a hand to his chest. "Me?"
Elise snorted. "I'm not going to drag a newborn werewolf with me while hunting Wickers. I'd be hip deep in ferals before he learned how to control his wolf."
"You're not going alone..." Decker started.
Elise cut him off with an angry stab of her finger. "I'm not doing that vampire in the trunk thing again. It's entirely too freaky. Besides, I want to take my Jeep, not a rented sedan with no clearance. If he's a pack wolf, then there's a pack. Someplace." Elise had apparently taken her phone out of Joshua's pocket while he was unconscious. She photographed his emergency contact card and then typed in his home address. "It looks like Albany is the closest pack. Was he from Albany?"
It took Joshua a minute to realize that she was talking to him and that "he" meant the werewolf that had bitten him. "I---I don't know. I didn't recognize his car; it was a black BMW i8. It had New York plates; KJV 2341."
She handed back his emergency contact card and empty wallet. "And he didn't tell you anything before or after he ma
de you a werewolf?"
"I don't think so."
Up close she was breathtakingly beautiful and very scary. "You know his license plate but you don't know if he mentioned werewolves?"
He took a step backwards and looked down so he could think. The bonfire threw uneven light and shadows so it looked like something was reaching for him. He backed up another step. "I don't remember a lot of last night. When I woke up in the hospital, I couldn't even remember my name. The police showed me a picture of his car; they wanted to know who drove it to the barn. I was a little freaked out about the amnesia, so I memorized the license plate."
"How do you know it was the werewolf's car?" Elise turned away to stir the fire, making it burn brighter. Driving back the shadows.
"After they left, I remembered him getting out of it," Joshua said. "It was like a circus act: little car, big, big man. After he got out of the BMW, he changed into a wolf. That's when I realized why I felt so---wrong. I was a werewolf."
"And you know nothing at all about werewolves?" Elise collected the sticks that had been the hounds and added them to the flames. The jack-o-lantern leered at Joshua from the bonfire.
"No," Joshua whispered. "Nor about witches and vampires or any of that stuff."
"This doesn't make any sense," Elise murmured and Decker nodded in agreement. "Pack wolves only change their own children."
"I don't think he was trying to change me," Joshua said. "He killed ten other kids from my school. They say the only reason I'm still alive was someone killed him first."
"Who?" Decker asked.
"How?" Elise cried.
"I don't know." Joshua rubbed his shoulder. "I only know that the paramedics had to pull his body off me."
Elise was shaking her head. "You can't kill a werewolf with a normal weapon. I don't think even a chainsaw would work. They heal too fast. A silver blade will work, but short of silverware, no one makes silver knives. The metal is too soft to hold a decent edge. Trust me, you don't want to be stabbing at a werewolf with a butter knife as it tears you to pieces. So it's freaky weird is that a lone pack wolf shows up at a barn in the middle of nowhere and someone there has a weapon that can kill him. Did they shoot it with silver bullets?"