“They’re not real witches, at least ones with real powers.”
“Okay,”
she drawled in her mind
. “So why wait until a witch is twenty-seven? Wouldn’t it be better to kill them earlier?”
“The Benandanti priest waits until the witch uses her energy, since the girl has a fifty-fifty chance of being a witch. Their law forbids them from killing normal women. Once her powers emerge, all bets are off, and the priest gets the message from reading the Bloodstone.”
“A rock?”
“No. It’s a red crystal ball that becomes charged when a witch awakens. The witch is located and then the priest sends assassins. They do on occasion lose track of a maternal witch line. Lucky for you, the zombie pestilence has curtailed their witch hunting. For now.”
“What are the Benandanti?”
He explained about the Hounds of God, Keepers of the Faith and briefed her about what he called the Mythos Consortium, a United Nations equivalent council for shifters and at one time great witches and wizards. He mentioned that they recently gathered with members of the Consortium and agreed to help fight the zombie pestilence or what they called the Bane.
She sat on her bed and bundled herself in her blanket. Her thoughts roiled.
This can’t be happening. I’m sitting here, listening to a werewolf tell me I’m a witch.
It wasn’t too late for the onset of schizophrenia. Besides, if she did have the brain disorder, why had they not given her antipsychotic medication? She grabbed her pillow and wept. She was screwed. If she wasn’t insane that meant zombies and other creatures were real, and she was screwed big time.
“Trust me, you’re not crazy.”
Of course, zombies had taken over the world. She grabbed a tissue, composed herself and decided this was her new reality.
“I’ll read Mansfield’s mind and figure out an escape.”
“Love the enthusiasm, but it ain’t going to work. Witches can only intuit with humans, but back and forth telepathy only with members of the Mythos Consortium. You can turn on a telepathic line with shifters you most trust and care about, like me, babe.”
She quirked her eyebrow.
“Let’s just say I trust a fellow inmate bent on escape.”
“I forgot. Witches can read simple things from humans like numbers. You would have been a hell of a poker player in Vegas.”
She left her bed and leaned against the glass, in need of physical contact with her new friend
. “I’ll hone in on the access codes to the other parts of the lab.”
This would prove that what he said was indeed true.
“Excellent.”
He pressed his big hand on the glass.
Dora laid her hand on the glass over his. The cold surface wasn’t the only barrier that separated them. They were different species. Though it was dark, she sensed his smoldering eyes burning into her, like an invisible guiding light. A halo appeared around his face. Night vision.
“I see you.”
“Aradia witches can provide their own luminosity. Damn good, considering you are a self-learner.”
The radiance faded and Dora swayed.
“I’m light-headed.”
“New powers overload. You’ve been mentally sprinting and your muscles are feeling it. Much as I enjoy talking with you, let’s keep our normal conversation brief. We don’t want to rouse suspicion. Best to make it look like we can’t stand each other. I have ideas about escape. After you’re rested we’ll continue our telepathy.”
The lights turned on, interrupting their discussion, which was good because besides feeling dizzy, she developed the headache from hell. She rubbed her fingers over her throbbing temples
. “Will do.”
Breakfast was brought in through the window slit. Mansfield and his assistant strode in, holding their medical charts. The guard with the early Z-phage symptoms wasn’t with them. He was either identified as ill or like so many others, shot himself in the head.
She lifted the tray cover. “Eggs. To what do we owe this treat?” Breakfast also included muffins, and bacon. Better than the usual hideous high-vitamin shake.
Mansfield dashed a genuine smile. “From my personal chicken coop. I’m upping your protein intake.”
She forced a smile. “How generous.”
Mansfield sighed.
“Only the best for our new Eve.”
“Give the Eve bullshit a rest. It’s making me lose my appetite.” She shivered but was thrilled if Dirk and not Mansfield would be her Adam.
Oh shit.
She’d forgotten the werewolf with the wide grin could read her mind. Her face heated.
“
Feelings mutual, babe. Don’t worry. You can turn me off.”
He bit his bacon and winked at her.
“Not sexually, but yes mentally, we can stop communicating.”
Mortified, at his teasing, she flushed from head to toe
. “How?”
“Just quit sending.”
She frowned at him
. “Okay, and quit calling me babe!”
She bit her lip and imagined turning off the television. It must have worked because the Dirk channel went dead.
Mansfield laughed. “No need to blush, Dr. Adler. You and the werewolf will not be mating in the traditional way. I plan to collect your ova and his semen. Best to keep it in-vitro fertilization. I wouldn’t want the bull to harm the cow.”
Dirk growled. “Get near my cock and I’ll break your neck.”
Mansfield curled a smile. “I have no doubt about that. We’ll perform the surgery while you’re sedated with enough wolfsbane to knock out an entire pack.”
Dirk threw her a caddish look. “She’s hot, why don’t you let me do her the old-fashioned way?”
Dora frowned. “Keep his paws away from me.”
Mansfield tapped his chart. “Don’t worry, my illustrious Dr. Adler. No time for doggie style. We need to make as many embryos as possible. I think triplets would be a good start.”
Big and pregnant, how would she outrun zombies, eager for human veal? “You can’t do this. I have rights!”
“My dear Dr. Adler, do you really think you’ll be able to contact your local congressman about your ill treatment or PETA about the werewolf’s?”
“It would be a start.”
“Even the president just turned zombie, I doubt you’ll find anyone who would give a damn about your rights. Especially if it means the continuation of mankind. I’ll come get you later this afternoon. We need to start you on hormones.” He turned and left.
Dora picked up her plastic cup of OJ and threw it against the glass. She clenched her fist. “Ass!” She wanted so badly to be a wicked witch and turn him into a zombie toad.
Dirk cracked an amused smile. “Doc, you have a werewolf’s temper.” He whispered, “Let me in.”
“Can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear.”
He winked again in that I’m a big naughty wolf way.
“We need to get the hell out of here and soon.”
“No kidding.”
He gripped his collar.
“But I’m incapacitated. You’ll need to get the gleipnir remote from Mansfield.”
“How? My new powers are only good for making plants bloom.”
“When he picks you up.”
“I’m not going to let him shoot me up with hormones.”
“Of course, you’re not. I won’t let anybody hurt you anymore.”
He met her eyes with his sharp penetrating gold-speckled blue ones.
“I promise.”
His sincerity warmed her. He needed to protect as much as she needed a crusader. Her eyes widened. Jeez. She picked up on his steamy thoughts. An ass he couldn’t wait to nibble? Her cheeks burned. Holy hell! If only she could filter out their inner thoughts from their telepathic conversation. She squirmed and glowed in his strong attraction to her, but immediately switched him off. God knows, she felt just as drawn to him. She mustn’t go there and encourage his ‘hey babe’ wolfish flirting. As soon as they broke free, she’d look for Josh and Mel and he’d return to his pack. End of story.
He tilted his head to the side, his brows arched in confusion.
Focus on escape only! She turned him back on and smiled, enjoying her new power.
“Good. Doc, we need to make plans.”
Of course. “
With the access code to the doors we can leave this room but I’m sure they use a retinal scanner to get into the other labs and perhaps to the outside exits.”
“Let me worry about getting an eyeball.”
She squirmed in horror
at the thought of him ripping out someone’s eye
.
Kind of went against her ‘do no harm’ physician’s oath.
“Let’s keep that as an ‘as needed’ basis.”
He chuckled
. “Sure, Doc.”
“Good. If you can fight them off, we might just escape.”
His jaw tensed slightly.
“Not without freeing me of the collar.”
“Fair enough.”
He smiled
. “Okay, let’s finish eating. We’ll need our strength.”
“Okay, shutting down communication.”
The use of telepathy weakened her body, as if she suffered from anemia. Her new abilities made her malaise worse and gave her an instant headache. Her mind raged over tumors that might cause such odd symptoms.
She sipped her already cold bitter tasting coffee, hoping the caffeine would lessen her throbbing head. A world without gourmet coffee made by expert baristas sucked.
She took a bite of her scrambled eggs. “Jaeger said you were one of the strongest beasts he’s ever run across. What did he mean?”
“I’m an alpha.”
“Hmm. Like real wolves? So you are the dominant pack leader?”
“Yes, but more. The alphas can control their shift and achieve two forms, the fierce large wolf and the bipedal monster or lycanthrope form.” He laughed. “Although humans aren’t supposed to know of our existence, the movie,
The Howling,
got our lycanthrope appearance right. The lower rank werewolves can only shift on the full moon and then only in the large wolf form. I’m considered by many as one of the most lethal creatures of the Mythos Consortium.”
God knows, he had better be
The
Werewolf of London
, if they were to escape. “So I take it your parents were alphas?”
“No, it doesn’t work that way. In our pack, my uncle Talon is the alpha. At age ten, our uncle determined that me and my twin sister, Sierra were alphas.”
“So how did such a powerful alpha allow a human to capture him?”
Dirk blushed and stared at his plate. She wondered, was he angry or ashamed? “I hate to admit it. But I have a soft heart for dogs. And humans, too.”
Why was he embarrassed? A werewolf with a heart must be a weakness. Goes against all the fierce legends. What’s next a vegetarian zombie? “That’s good to know. What happened?”
“I spent a few weeks hunting Jaeger, but I lost track of him in Idaho. Werewolf hunters know every trick of the trade to mask their scent. Anyway, I went to work on my next assignment. Mapping out all the available fuel stations. Other pack members were sent to search for pilots and boaters.” He threw her a roguish smile. “Top priority is to find medical and engineering professionals, like you, Doc.” He quirked a smile and swallowed his last strip of bacon.
She sighed. So much for calling her babe. She was no love interest, but just a useful pawn in a werewolf board game. With her witch status, would they want her, doctor or not? “And then what happened?”
“I found a station and fueled my tank when my radio went off. A man screamed that he was surrounded by zombies and they were killing his dogs. Kind of odd, because zombies only go after humans, still I heard barking and asked for his location. I thought, maybe their feeding habits had changed. He radioed he hid inside a school, locked in the gym. I took out ten zombies and headed in. I found two beautiful dead shepherd mix dogs, their throats slashed.” He winced. “But not by zombies. It was a trap. I prepared to shift but Jaeger and his men shot me with wolfsbane. Pretty stupid, huh?”
“For running into a dangerous situation to help a complete stranger? No, I’d say your heart was in the right place.” In a dreamy tone, she said, “You were heroic.”
Shit, I sound love-struck.
He shrugged and wolfed down his miserly breakfast. It wasn’t enough for a man or rather werewolf of his build. At this rate, he’d starve. He sipped his coffee and then met her eyes. “I’m done rescuing puppies. I think I’ll stick to rescuing you.”
Oh? She drank her coffee, hoping the rim of the cup hid the worst of her heated cheeks. She wiped her lips. “So why didn’t the pack search for you?”
“Before my cell phone died, I phoned Talon and reported that I’d need another month or more on the road to locate fueling and power stations. He agreed and said he would tell my sister to continue watching Fang. A few days after the call I fell into the fuckin’ trap.”
“This werewolf hunter, Jaeger, said he wanted to stomp Fang. Is he your dog?”
He laughed. “Yeah, the fiercest dog you could ever imagine.”
She swallowed her last piece of toast. “Pit bull or one of those wolf/dog hybrids?”
He face flushed red. Finally, something actually embarrassed him. “Fang is white teacup Chihuahua. He’s just a tad bigger than a can of beer but with the heart of a wolf.”
She suppressed a laugh. “You mean you have the kind of dog Hollywood starlets carry in their tiny purses?”
“He travels in a pet carrier on my Harley and wears a spike collar,” he retorted defensively.
She held her hands up in mock defeat and shot him a smug smile. “Can’t be more macho than that.”
“That’s right.” He drank his juice as if he was chugging beer at some college frat party.
“Is this werewolf hunter part of the military?”