A Werewolf's Moon (The Council) (14 page)

“Yep,” I laughed nervously, knowing exactly what he wanted to do. “You want
to
talk to Quinn?”

“I’d like that.”

I turned to find my werewolf crouched behind me, and handed him the phone.

“Mr. Peterson.” Quinn said, in the kind of tone that anyone would respect.
“Yes, sir.
It was my idea to leave. I don’t like the way Mrs. Hong treats
Pepper
.” Very long pause. “Of course,
Pepper
is safe with me. I look forward to meeting you too, sir.”

Once I was back on the phone, I felt my mood lighten when I heard how much better my dad sounded. He was really relieved. “Quinn seems like a well brought up young man.”

“Uh, yeah.”
He wouldn’t believe how well.

“See you tomorrow. I should be home by lunch. Maybe you, me, and Quinn could got out and grab a bite.”

“I can’t wait, dad.” I hung up and twisted to see Quinn sitting on the edge
of the
couch, watching me intently, as if I were going to freak out or run away or something weird.
“Everything okay?”

“I think so…how about you?”

“I’m good.”

It felt a little awkward, but that was probably me. “Uh, my dad is going to be home tomorrow, but I think you already knew that.”

“Yeah, I look forward to seeing him. So I figured we’d call Zane and see if he doesn’t mind altering a few mem
ories.”

“Zane can do that now?” I wasn’t sure if I felt comfortable with a fourteen-year-old warlock tampering with my mother’s mind.

“With Flora’s help.”

It was almost impossible to verbalize my stress and confusion. Venna must have experienced these same feelings when she found out who
Henry
was, and that she couldn’t leave him because some maniac she happened to share DNA
with,
wanted her to restore his power so he could rule the world. Yeah, like that’s a hard decision. Venna had the option to go back to her regular life afterwards…until their souls bound and she found herself stuck like me. At least at one point she had a choice. I never had a choice, even when I thought I had a choice. Not that I don’t have choices now, I did, but they were vastly different than befor
e, and each one involved Quinn.

“Let’s get this over with before I change my mind.” I stood up and squared my shoulders, hoping I wasn’t about to fry my mo
m’s brain or scar her for life.

Quinn pulled out his cell and sent a text message, a few seconds later his phone beeped and he winked at me. “They’re game. I’ll be right back.”

He disappeared.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, wondering if this would ever seem normal to me.

I could only hope.

There was a cool breeze, and Quinn appeared. On his right arm was F
lora, and on his left was Zane.

I smiled as the very tall, somewhat lanky, blond headed boy strolled toward me. His hair was scraggly, lightened as if he spent long hours in the sun and he had big blue eyes full of mischief.
Capeside’s
resident prankster.
He had a knack for getting into some serious trouble, like when
he
toilet papered the town hall and relocated a flock of geese to the high school gymnasium. Of course he never got caught, Zane was a warlock and his ability to move faster than a camera or a human eye could d
etect meant success every time.

Zane glanced between me and Quinn. “You’re not the one who needs a new memory, are you?”

Quinn moved to sit on the sofa. “No, it’s her mom.”

“Sucks to be her.”
He grinned.

“You’ve changed so much, so quickly.” Flora said by way of greeting. She was dressed kind of odd for a fourteen year old girl. Long white skirt, ruffled white top that
looked almost Renaissance. But now that I thought about it, I’d never seen her dress normal.
Had to be a witch thing.

Zane cleared his throat. “What Flora means is…you look great
Pepper
.”

Flora touched a wilted plant on the table and it perked right up, le
aves turning green and healthy.

“So where were you guys?
Capeside?”
I perched on the arm of the couch.

“France,” Zane said. “
Henry
’s parents have a house there.”

“Yes, Zane and I are staying with them for a few days,
and
then we
’
re going to visit my grandparents in the Swiss Alps.” Flora had every green thing in the apartment vibrant with life before sitting beside Zane.

“Ever been to France?” Quinn’s eyes glinted with enthusiasm for an overseas visit.

“No, and if you’re asking
if I want to go, I’m so there.”

Zane sent a text to
Henry
and he replied instantly. “Venna is looking forward to seeing you, which probably means she’s bouncing off the walls in anticipation.” He pocketed his phone. “So what’s the deal with your mom?”

I gave him a shortened version of what happened today, leaving out a few parts, like when Quinn bit me. “Basically, I want her to think it was her idea that I go home.”

“This will be a breeze,” Flora stood. “Shall we?”

I raised my eyebrows. “We’re just going to show up together? Shouldn’t I tell her I brought friends with me or something?”

“No,” she said. “She won't reme
mber us when we’re done.”

Chapter 16

When I was five I had enough gusto to walk right up to the judge during the final custody hearing and plead to be placed with my dad. Who listens to a five year old kid? But I owed that judge, whoever he was, a lot. I could have turned into the mindless drone my mom preferred if I stayed with her. But did I have it in me to let a couple of young teenagers give my mom a new memory? I was about to find out.

“This will be easy,” Flora reassured me.

That was
easy
for her to say. She’d never met my mom before.

We phased back to my mom’s front porch and Quinn rang the bell. I wasn’t the fidgety type, but he actually stood behind me and grabbed my wrists.
“Chill.”

A minute later the door opened. My mom eyed the small army of magical beings on her porch with a confused, pinched face.

Flora smiled at her. “Hello Mrs. Hong, I was wondering if I could have a word with you.”

“Why?” my mom was the most suspicious person on the planet. “Are you selling something?”

Flora continued, not breaking eye contact. “You told
Pepper
to go home and enjoy the rest of her summer. You had a wonderful time together…and you even offered to return Quinn’s rental car.”

My mom nodded.

Zane was gone in a blink, and back about a minute later. “I took care of the dude upstairs. He’s cool now.”

Meanwhile my mom just stood in the doorway, glazed over.

Flora waved. “Goodbye Mrs. Hong, have a great day.”

My mom smiled happily, oblivious as to what happened to her.

Freaky.

Quinn phased. Next thing I knew, I was hanging onto his arm and we landed in the middle of a monstrous foyer…in a chateau…in
France
.

Zane and Flora were latched
on to his other arm beside us.

“You’ll get used to it.” Quinn whispered in my ear.

I snorted, “I doubt that.”

“We’re back,” Zane shouted.

There was a loud commotion of people running down a hall to my left. It was long, floor to ceiling of shiny amber wood. The windows were stained glass, filtering in beautiful beams of multicolored moonlight.

“
Pepper
!”
Venna raced toward me, Bruno, at her heals.

“I can’t wait till I can phase,” I hugged her. “Then we can see each other any time.”

“Neither can I. Things have been so crazy. I’ve barely had time to practice.
Quinn, thank you for bringing her here.”
Venna hugged him too, despite his sour expression. He wasn’t great with clingy types. Not that Venna was super clingy. He just wasn’t a feelings kind of guy.

“Sure, uh, where’s
Henry
?” he asked, giving Venna a
n
awkward pat on the back.

Venna pushed her red curls out of her face, “He should be upstairs talking to his father.”

“Follow me,” Zane headed for a spiral staircase on the other side of the room.

Flora flitted into a garden through an open door. I could see her distorted figure through the stained glass windows, and it was only a tad crazy looking. I mean, how can you have a conversation with a rose bush?

“Want a snack?” Venna asked, motioning me to follow her. We went through a sitting room. It was full of antique furniture and oil paintings. The couches were brocade, with claw feet.
I kind of felt like I was in a fairytale cottage, or maybe the vacation house of French royalty.
I guess I was lucky we weren’t actually in a real palace.

A sudden, slightly silly, terror gripped me.

Was Quinn’s family going to be formal? Not that I couldn’t handle it. I just hoped they weren’t the fancy pants, perfect house types. I wasn’t sure I’d fit in there. I mean, I was borderline uncomfortable in this big French house.

I glanced around and groaned.

I’m pretty sure I tracked my sneakers across a Persian rug.

“Something wrong?”
Venna stopped before pushing open a door on the right side of the room.

“Is this weird for you?” I asked, motioning around me. “You’ve been with
Henry
for a month now, and you seem to have adapted overnight.”

She crinkled her freckled nose and shook her head, “
Pepper
, you have no reason to feel funny here.”

“I know, but you have to admit, it’s fancy.”

“Yeah, it is.” She smiled. “When I got my memories back, all of this came with it too.
Henry
was a huge part of my life when I was little. All of this was normal for me at some point in time. It’s just a house, and it’s just stuff.”

I took another look around and smiled back at her. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“I’m making dinner, but I have the munchies.
Let’s
talk and find something to snack on.”

“Okay.” My jaw dropped when she pushed open a swinging door.

The kitchen was full on medieval.
With a stone fireplace big enough for me to walk into without bending over, and caldron hanging in the center of it.
There was even an old broom in the corner. Pots and pans hung on the walls, and there were dried flowers and herbs strung over our heads from thin rope.

I eyed the huge black pot, “You’ve got the witch thing nailed. May I ask where you keep the black cat and eye of newt?”

She pulled a hair clip out of her jeans pocket and secured her long red curls at her neck. A wooden spoon flew out of a drawer and plopped in a pot on the stove. It stirred itself, while Venna went through a cabinet next to her. “It’s an antique for show only.”

I watched the spoon, dizzy from following it with my eyes. “So how’s it go
ing with you and Prince
Henry
?”

“Oh, fine.”

“Fine?”
I raised my eyebrows, sitting on a stool at the island counter. “Visiting relatives is fine. Shopping can be fine.”

“More than fine.”
She blushed.

“And?”
I nudged her arm with a wink.

She
gasped,
the biggest smile I’d ever seen on her face, “
Pepper
!”

“I’m glad you guys are hitting it off.”

“More like out of the park.” She covered her cheeks with her hands, “I can’t believe I just said that.”

“I bet you can’t keep your hands off of him.”

“About you and Quinn…” she changed the subject, cheeks flushing bright red. “Are you guys getting along?”

“He annoys me, I annoy him. That’s pretty much it,” and now I was stuck with the mutt because I let him sink his fangs into me.

“Seems like you guys are getting pretty close.”
She smirked. “You know, you are the last two people I ever thought would become friends.”

“Really?”

“He’s not so bad.” She uncovered a plate of oatmeal cookies and the milk poured itself into a couple glasses.

“Quinn?” I bit into a cookie and took a sip of the milk. “I
might
be thinking the same.”

“But I don’t have to tell you that, you’re the one hanging out with him.” She sat on a stool next to me and dunked her cookie in the milk until it was falling apart.