Claire De Lune (20 page)

“No, it’s okay,” Emily relented. “I’m just pissy. Go talk to your mom and call me when you’re done. I’m going to go eat some chocolate or something.”

As soon as she’d hung up, Claire tossed down the phone and sprinted for the door.
If the worst thing that had happened to me all summer was some nice farm boy trying to give me jewelry, I’d be freaking ecstatic.

Claire ignored the jealousy that wound its way around her neck like a snake and swung open the darkroom door.

Things were bad. Claire knew it before her mom said a single word. The table in front of her mother held four cameras, neatly arranged. There was no film on the table. There were no prints. Behind her, the computer monitor cycled through its screen saver—no digital shot filled its wide frame. Her mother was just
sitting
there, her dark-circled eyes staring into space. She never did that.

“Mom? You, uh, wanted to see me?”

“Yes. Claire, I don’t want to scare you unnecessarily, especially at such a … vulnerable time in your transformation. But I really don’t see how I can keep this from you.”

Claire sank onto one of the high stools that surrounded the table, her heart jumping up and down in her chest.

“I have little proof—only suspicions, but I went back out alone after you were in bed last night, and what I found … Claire, we are in much more danger than any of us had thought. Until I know for sure that I am right, I won’t say anything else. It would be unfair. But you must be incredibly careful, Claire. I am no longer sure who—or what—to trust. Please, you must promise not to go out at night without me until I say.” Her mother took Claire’s chin between her long fingers. “Promise me.”

Claire nodded. “All right. But, Mom, what—” A faint ping interrupted Claire midsentence.

Her mother glanced down at the phone on her hip and frowned. “We’ll discuss it later,
chérie
. I need to answer this. I’m going out later to look for more proof, and Lisbeth will be running some errands for me. If she comes home before I do, call me immediately.” Marie spun toward her computer and lifted the phone to her ear. “This is Marie.”

Claire slid out of the darkroom while her mother made plans for a shoot in Turkey. Her mother hadn’t really told her anything at all.
Well, at least things are back to normal in one way. And why the hell does she care if Lisbeth gets home before she does, anyway?
Without a backward glance, Claire bolted away from the darkroom and went straight upstairs.

In her room, the phone stared at her accusingly. Matthew was the only person Claire really felt like talking to, but she had promised Emily she’d call back.

Claire sighed and dialed Emily’s number.

“Hey, thanks for calling back.” Emily sounded genuinely relieved.

“No problem.”
It turns out that I’m in mortal danger, apparently, but sure, let’s solve a boy problem. Huh. Can I still be in
mortal
danger if I’m not really human?
Claire shook her head.

“So? What am I going to do about Dan?” Emily asked.

Claire wanted to tell Emily that she was being ridiculous, that she should be grateful that this was the worst thing that had happened—but that wasn’t fair. None of this was Emily’s fault.
I’m the abnormal one here.
Claire struggled to imagine what she would have told Emily if this had happened last summer.

“I don’t think you should do anything. I mean, either he’ll get over it or he won’t, you know? It’s not worth stressing over. If he has any brain cells at all, he’ll realize he’s being an idiot and come crawling back to you. If not—well, your parents can’t leave you out there forever, right?”

Emily sighed. “It already feels like I’ve been here for ages, but I guess you’re right. I’m just pissed. I mean, so much for a silver lining, you know?”

Claire heard the crack of a soda can being opened. Emily was the worst Diet Coke addict Claire knew, and that one little sound made Claire miss her more than ever.

“I wish you were home,” Claire said. “Everything’s more
fun when you’re here.”

“Like what? What have you been doing without me? God, Claire, I miss you so much! Seriously—I want to hear what’s been going on with you.”

“Not that much, really. And, um, I sort of need to make another call.”

Claire was dying to talk to Matthew. It was a whole lot easier than talking to Emily. It made Claire’s squirm to realize that, but it was true.

“Matthew?” Emily squealed.

“Yes, and I really do not want to talk about it right now.”

“Okay, but I am so serious, Claire, if I do not get some details
soon
I am going to freak out on you.”

“I know, I know. We’ll talk later, okay?”

“I’ll say hi to the cows for you.”

Claire could hear Emily giggling as she hung up.
At least she’s in a better mood.
She shook her head while she dialed Matthew.

“Hello?” The rasp in his voice caught Claire by surprise.

“Matthew, hey—are you okay?” she squeaked.
Oh, very sophisticated, Claire.

“Yeah, I know I sound like crap. Ever since Dad planned his meeting for today, the phone’s been ringing nonstop.” He sounded exhausted.

“So, how come you’re stuck answering it?”

Matthew sighed. “They’re all upstairs in Dad’s stupid ‘War Room,’ trying to figure out where they need to set the traps.”

Claire’s heart stuttered against her ribs. “T-traps?”

“Yeah, for the werewolf ? It’s his new plan. They’re gonna try to get them put up before dark—they think the werewolf may be following the press coverage, so they’re keeping it supersecret.” He paused. “Oops. Uh, don’t say anything about that, okay?”

“No problem.” The lie came easy. Too easy. Her mother’s voice echoed in her head.
In this world—we are driven to lie a great deal, Claire. More than most.
“So, are you playing secretary all day?” she asked.

“Nah. I’ll be finished pretty soon. Can you hang out?”

“Yeah—” The memory of Dr. Engle’s piercing eyes made Claire’s wolf-brain twitch. “Mom and Lisbeth will be gone later this afternoon, and it’s gonna be wicked hot again. Maybe you could come over and we could hang by the pool?”

“Sounds great to me.”

Claire snapped her phone shut
.
Having Matthew over was probably a bigger risk than she should take. But between the memory of Matthew’s warm, crooked smile and her mom refusing to actually talk to her,
again
… maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. And her mother had said that she didn’t want her alone any more than necessary, right?

A few hours later Claire sat in the kitchen with Lisbeth while she made up an enormous grocery list.

Her mother appeared in the hall, beckoning Claire with a
long finger.

“Claire, may I speak with you for a moment?” The sharp lines etched in her mother’s forehead were a bad sign. Claire slid out of her chair.

“I’ll be right back,” she mumbled to Lisbeth. Claire followed her mother into the hall. “What’s up?”

Her mother frowned. “I’m going out. I think I have an idea wh”—she stopped, her eyes trained on the kitchen where Lisbeth was banging the cabinet doors closed a little too obviously—“in regards to our earlier conversation.”

Claire’s mouth went dry. She couldn’t let her mother go traipsing around the woods with Matthew’s dad and his whackos out setting traps, especially not if she was in her wolf-form. And she probably would be, since it was the best way to hide her identity.

“Mom, I need to talk to you first, okay? Let’s, umm, can we go talk in my room or something?”

Marie shook her head. “I don’t have time,
chérie
. We’ll talk when I return. I may be out a bit later than usual. And no matter what happens, you are not to leave this house until I tell you that you may.”

The closed-off look that Claire knew all too well slid across her mother’s eyes. Before she could say anything, her mother turned and strode down the hall with unnatural speed.
Werewolf speed.

“Mom!”

Marie turned, her face a mask of irritation. “Not now, Claire!” Her voice was a growl, the command in it clear. “Later” wasn’t a request—it was an order from a higher-ranked pack member.

“Just—be careful,” Claire sputtered, her gaze darting to the kitchen door. “There’s … dangerous stuff out there.” As warnings went, it was pretty crappy, but between her mother’s insistence and Lisbeth hovering in the kitchen, it was the best Claire could manage. If her mother really was planning to transform and search the woods, then she was taking a huge risk.

Lisbeth left a few minutes later, looking distracted and irritated.

Claire sat in the empty house and waited for Matthew, wondering if it were possible for time to pass any slower.

“Hey.”

Matthew’s smile hit her like a blast of tropical air. So did the actual air—the heat wave showed no signs of letting up any time soon.

“Wow, it’s awful out there.” Claire waved him into the house. “Ready to hit the pool?”

Matthew waved the rolled-up towel in his hand. “Absolutely.”

“Great. I just need to change into my suit.” Claire left Matthew in the kitchen and threw on her bathing suit as fast as she could.

Ten minutes later, they were floating in the pool chairs
with the sun beating down on them. Claire kept glancing at the kitchen windows, half-hoping to see her mother staring back at her—even if it meant getting caught with Matthew. She was worried enough not to care
.

“This is heaven,” Matthew announced.

Claire looked at the drops of water sparkling on his chest.
I’ll say.

“You okay?” Matthew asked. “You seem sort of distracted.”

“Sorry, I guess I am, a little. My mom and I had some … weirdness this morning, and I can’t shake it.” That was putting it mildly. But she couldn’t exactly tell him that she was worrying about what might happen if her mother ran into his dad in the woods.
Maybe she’s not even there. She didn’t say exactly where she was going. …

Claire sighed and bit her lip.

Matthew slid off his pool chair into the water and swam over to her. “Sounds like it’s been a bad parent day all around.” He took her hands and gently pulled her off her floating chair. “Is there anything I can do?”

Claire leaned into his chest. “Distract me?” she suggested.

He smiled. “That could be arranged.” He leaned in and kissed her, tightening his arms around her. Claire felt the two parts of herself rise up and begin to battle. The human in her relished the touch of his soft mouth, welcomed the pressure of his hands against her shoulders. The rest of Claire—the
werewolf—wanted to go off by herself, to think about what she could do for her mother. She didn’t know which side to listen to—didn’t know which voice was the angel on her shoulder, and which was the devil.

I tried to warn her … There’s nothing I can do about it right now, anyway.

In spite of her anxiety, Claire gave into the familiarity of being human, and wrapped her arms around Matthew’s warm back.

Long before the sun threatened to sink, Matthew suggested that they’d pushed their luck far enough for one day. After his car had disappeared down the drive, Claire slipped out onto the front steps and sat down. She wrapped her arms around her legs and stared out at the trees in the distance, shivering in spite of the heat.
Please let her be okay. Please.

Darkness fell, and Claire’s mother still hadn’t come home. She couldn’t stand the waiting anymore. Something had gone wrong. Claire could feel it. She had to talk to Beatrice.

The phone felt hot in her sweaty hand. After a quick Internet search to find the number, she dialed, and then stared at the digits glowing on the tiny screen. All she had to do was hit
SEND
. Claire closed her eyes and pressed the button.

It rang only once before Victoria answered. “Hello?”

“Victoria? It’s Claire. Listen, I really need to talk to Beatrice.”

“On the
phone?
”

The dismay in Victoria’s voice sent doubt slithering through Claire’s stomach like an eel.

“Um, yeah. It’s kind of urgent. Is she there?”

“No, she’s not. What on earth is going on?”

Claire’s voice wobbled when she answered. “Mom took off, Victoria. I think she went to look for something in the woods—the
seule,
I guess—but Dr. Engle put traps out there, and if she’s been caught—” Claire couldn’t finish the sentence. The words were too horrible to say. “We have to look for her. She might need help.”

“Claire, there’s no reason to think anything’s wrong. Your mom probably just wants to catch the
seule
before Zahlia does. I’m sure she’s fine. Marie is a very capable woman—and she’s an even more capable wolf.”

Claire’s jaw tightened in disbelief. “You think this is just about her wanting to beat Zahlia?”

“Probably. I know you’re too new to know all of this, but your mom and Zahlia aren’t exactly best friends.” Victoria hesitated.

“Okay, so they don’t love each other. Victoria, I really think my mom might be in trouble—”

“Claire,” Victoria said, interrupting her. “Your mother is fine. Trust me. Go watch a movie or something, and try to relax. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Fine.” Claire hung up. If they were going to treat her
like that—like she was just some stupid newbie—then maybe she’d go ask someone who thought she was capable of doing something.

She called Zahlia, but it went straight to voicemail.

“Hey, it’s me, Claire. Could you call me as soon as you get this, please? Thanks.”

Claire hung up the phone and stared out at the dark lawn, desperately wishing that there was an easy answer to just one of the questions that spun through her mind.

L
ISBETH
GOT HOME
a few minutes after the first stars glimmered to life.

“Claire?” Lisbeth poked her head into the living room.

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna put some steaks on the grill. Is your mom home?”

“Um, no, she’s not here.” Claire wriggled her toes, willing
herself to hurry up and invent some plausible reason her mother wasn’t back.