A Werewolf's Moon (The Council) (21 page)

“Fine, more than like…I’m crazy about her.”

“Clearly.”

“She’s just not used to our way of doing things. I think she’s amused by me. I think she likes me more than she lets on, but for her to have feelings for me is way too soon.”

“Hmm,”
Henry
nodded. “I see your point. She can’t possibly develop feelings as quickly as you.”

“No,” I stated walking again, thinking he was trying to make a point. I’m not sure I wanted to know what it was. Mostly, I was scared
Pepper
wouldn’t feel about me the
way I felt about her.

“Quinn,” he caught up to me. “You know, you’ve never been the forthcoming sort, and I see this as very encouraging.
Pepper
is good for you and whether you realize it or not, you’re very good for her.”

“Maybe,” I said, slowing just a little.

“And you should probably pay closer attention to the way she is acting. You’ll see that she not only likes you, but that she’s just as crazy about you as you are about her.”

I stopped, “When did you become a shrink?”

Henry
shook his head, “This is not entirely me talking.”

“It’s your witch.”

“Venna is just trying to help.”

I grunted. “Tell her thanks.”

“No problem,” his laughter cut off.
“Venna?”

I knew that look, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. She’s fine, I think. She just really needs me.” I couldn’t follow if he phased to her, since not even he knew where he was going. So he held out his hand, waiting. A flat, smooth board sailed through the trees seconds later and he caught it, swinging up to stand on it. He called it an
airboard
, and it was
fricking
awesome.

I ran after him, mowing over small trees and bushes, sending the animal life fleeing. We ended up at the lake, and found his witch perched on a rock, high over the water. She was red in the face, but not in any danger.

“Where’s
Pepper
?” was the first thing that came out of my mouth.

Henry
didn’t seem to hear me and flew on his bored up the side of the rocks until he was floating right beside to her. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, and looked down at me. “
Pepper
’s gone.”

“Where?”
I sniffed, smelling her cherry scent. It was strong.

“She ran, just took off. I have no idea why, and I can’t catch her.” She glanced at
Henry
’s boar
d. “We’ll have to make one of those for me.”

“I’ll find her,” I left them by the lake, tracking
Pepper
even deeper into the woods. It wasn’t long before I realize
d exactly where she was headed.

Chapter 22

Pepper

I loved my best friend. It was hard to leave her, but she’d be fine. I had a meeting and I wasn’t going to miss it. I was running fast. Everything whisked past me in a blur. I wasn’t sure how I was doing it, and I wasn’t even out of breath. I reached the mill in a fraction of the time, and didn’t run into anything. Just a small adjustment gave me the ability to weave in and out of the trees like a pro.

It was dark now. Completely pitch black under the heavy tree limbs. What was left of the full moon cast minimal light. I didn’t hate the woods as much as Venna. Being able to see in the dark
if I really concentrated helped.
B
ut still, p
art of me wished a certain werewolf was around.

Though, if he was, I wouldn’t be able to meet the stranger at the mill.

I padded to a stop. There was nothing left of the mill, just a pile of brunt wood and rusted metal. My new life had begun here. Never in my life would I have dreamed one night could change so much, that I would change.

I slipped up next to the rocky foundation. It still smelled like sawdust, though the wood lay in charred, ashy piles from the supposed
lightning
strike.

“I’m here,” I said. A breeze ruffled my hair. It picked up to a blustering wind, whipping the trees and branches, sending leaves flying around my face. I pushed my hair out of my eyes, waiting for it to die down. There, ahead in the darkness, floated a pair of red eyes.

What had I been thinking? Of course it tricked me. That thing that appeared behind me was the werewolf that attacked my father, and like an idiot, I ran right into his trap.

The red eyes grew larger as the werewolf neared.

But I wasn’t human anymore.

This werewolf was pissed and heads were going to roll.

“What do you want?” I hadn’t tested out my new nails yet. I hoped they pop
ped right out if I needed them.
Quinn hadn’t gotten to teaching me about
Pepper
2.0. I knew
Pepper
1.0, and she had the running and screaming thing down. Fighting was another story.

A voice slithered out of the dark, and the monster stopped from nearing. “To be left alone.”

I rolled my eyes. “But you tried to kill my father.”

“No, I’m trying to save everyone.”

“By attacking?”
What kind of backwards thinking was that? “You made mincemeat out of my backdoor,
twice!”

“I only did it the first time. That was just to scare you.” He laughed. “It worked too.”

“Well, yippee for you. You did a great job. But why just scare me?”

“I wanted the prince even more vigilant. You were both in danger.”

I was really not following him. “What danger? I’m turned now. And I’m marked. No werewolf will even think about coming near me.”

“Yes, you are safe.” He spat, the threes shrouding him quaked and shuddered. “Good for you. I wish you would shut up. Lis
ten to what I’m trying to say.”

Oh, so someone had a temper. “My ears are at your disposal, so talk.”

“It was not a werewolf. It was a demon.
One of many demons, actually.”

What was he talking about?

“There are no such things as demons.” I said, moving towards his shadow. His voice was gruff and distorted, but he sounded…he sounded young. I was hoping for a glimpse of him. I’d be able to give Quinn his description, and then he’d know what to look out for.

“I’m a demon.”

“
Really,
and why haven’t I seen any other demons?
Hmm?
You’re a terrible liar and a bad werewolf.”

“You don’t see us because we don’t want you to.” The trees around him shuddered again
.
H
is
red
eyes drifting closer.
“Ask your mate about us. I’m sure he will make you think twice.”

He could be lying, but any information I weaseled out of him was going to help. “How many of you are there?”

“I’ve counted five.”

“That’s it?” five would be a piece of cake.

“Don’t get comfortable. You’re dead the second you do.”

“Okay, so spell it out for me. My father was attacked by a…”

“Demon.
Not a werewolf.”

“Why? I thought the werewolf…uh, the demon, was after me.”

“He was, but your father got in the way. You were to be used to open the portal to the demon realm for a short time. You had the power of one of the immortals but no way to tap into it until the moon rose. You were perfect.”

But that meant… “If you didn’t use me then who did you use?”

“It was not me. This time no sacrifice was made and their number remains at the five I’ve seen.”

“Who was sacrificed for you?”

“I don’t kno
w.” His voice filled with agony.
M
y heart hurt for him.
He would have rather stayed with the demons, probably in
a
hellish place, to spare someone
.
“I’m not like them. I’m not like you. This is bigger than you know, even bigger than the Resistance.” The red of his eyes faded away, but his voice came at me louder, stronger than ever. “The portal to the other realm will open, and the world you know will cease to exist.”

“But we can stop it, it hasn’t opened yet.”

“You don’t know what you’re up against.”

“And you do?”

“I know more than all of you.”

“So you can help us.” I clasped my hands tightly. “Just tell me, tell one of us something…anything.”

“Only one can cross over at a time when the portal opens, in exchange for another. It must be an equal trade. The demons are looking for the perfect sacrifice. You would do anything, even at the expense of your own soul, to save someone you love. Love is more powerful than any magic we have.”

“So if that happens, it opens the portal fully?”

“I knew you were smart. Yes, it will open permanently.”

“Great, so how do we find the demons?”

His laugh echoed around me, “Find?”

“Yeah, do you know where they are?” Why wouldn’t we want to find them and stop them before they found someone else to open the portal?

“Have you ever walked past the mill?”

I shook my head.
“No, never.
It’s a wilderness preserve.”

“Well, maybe you should, but I wouldn’t go alone.”

What, he couldn’t just say, hey, they are hiding in the preserve? “I’ll tell Quinn.
Henry
and Dmitri will help too.”

He growled. “The vampire has his hands full.”

I raised my eyebrows. Did he know about Dmitri’s search for Christy? “Why?”

“All this commotion has woken a monster up.”

“You’re not going to tell me something else is out there too, are you?”

He didn’t answer.

“Hello?” My feet shook.

I stopped and looked down.

It wasn’t my feet. It was the ground. The earth trembled. I looked up and the leaves also shook in the trees. Everything around me went silent, still.

A crash sounded off to my left, followed by a thundering boom. The sounds drew nearer, a tree in the distance fell, hitting the ground and sending a violent tremor under
my feet. I
turned,
ready to run as fast as I could. No telling what it was, but I did not want to run into a demon.

“
Pepper
!”

“Quinn?” That was him? He was mowing over the landscape.

His footsteps thundered against the ground, suddenly behind me. I couldn’t keep up with him. His arms came out of nowhere, swinging me up. He phased out of the woods. We appeared in the living room of
Henry
’s house. The change of locations happened so fast I had to blink several times to get my bearings straight.

Quinn set me on my feet and spun me around. His chest was heaving and his eyes fierce gold. “Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine. Why?”

“I scented him. I smelled the wolf that had been in your house.” He bent so we were eye to eye. “You know what he smells like. We passed around a piece of your father’s shirt earlier. You smelled him on that.”

I swallowed, knowing I’d been caught. There wouldn’t be time for me to think about how to tell him or break it to him without just dropping the bomb on him.

One thing I knew for sure was that the demon I spoke to wasn’t the demon that attacked my dad. Because I hadn’t smelled anything out of place.

“
Pepper
, I want you to be honest with me.” His growl rumbled low through the room. “Why did you leave Venna?”

“This guy, he wanted to talk, that’s all. It was to give me a message, to give you.”

My back hit the wall. I realized I’d been moving away from him. I couldn’t back away anymore. He braced his hands on either side of my head. “
Pepper
, you need to be
more careful. Don’t.
Trust.
Anyone.
Outside of the Council, you don’t know who you are dealing with.”

“But…” I’d never seen him so angry before.
Seriously pissed off.
But I didn’t feel like he was mad at me. I wasn’t scared of him. I got a feeling from him though, under all that anger was fear. He’d been scared. He was still scared.
And worried.

I fought a smile.

“I don’t care if it’s the Queen of England.” He growled again. “Things are different now. People will try to use you if they get the chance. Use you to get to me, to the Council.”

The wall trembled behind me. Quinn’s hands changed. His long nails carved into the plaster, leaving deep holes. “Were you worried about me?”

He
cursed,
his voice full of sarcasm. “No, I was fine with you going into the woods alone, not telling me. Not telling anyone. I was also not worried that you could have been kidnapped or killed.”