Sunblind Page 33

  “There was already a full moon this month,” I correct.

  Cackling, Nadine replies, “Guess you’re having so much fun with your friends that you forgot to check the lunar calendar. Tonight’s a blue moon.”

  This time the silence is ominous because it contains truth. I’m an idiot. I’ve not been paying attention, and I’ve overlooked something vitally important.

  “A blue moon?” Caleb starts.

  “The second full moon to appear in the same month,” Arla finishes.

  “Why don’t we celebrate the event by meeting at my cabin tonight?” Nadine proposes.

  I remember how the evening turned out the last time I was invited to the Jaffe cabin, but Archie accepts the invitation before I can decline. “We’ll be there,” Archie replies first.

  I don’t correct him because I can tell by the tone of his voice that nothing I say will deter him from joining me later on tonight. Nor will I be able to stop Arla.

  “And I have the perfect wig for a showdown.”

  Another moment of real human emotion creeps into Nadine’s face. It’s unwanted, but unstoppable. I look directly into her eyes—werewolf to witch.

  “My friends and I will be there.”

  Chapter 27

  “A blue moon!”

  “I thought it was just a phrase, you know, once in a blue moon. Never knew it actually stood for something real,” Caleb whispers to me outside the police station. “Sorry, Domgirl. I should’ve been paying more attention to the full moon chart.”

  “It’s my fault,” I say, squeezing his hand. “I’ve gotten so good at predicting when a full moon will occur by monitoring the sky that I haven’t been checking either.”

  “But now we have a plan,” he says. “I just hope it works.”

  He really is beautiful. Once again I’m overwhelmed by incredibly private feelings, physical and emotional, and I wish Caleb and I were alone. I want to know what he’d look like against the glow of a roaring fire; I want to know how the heat will change the feel and the color of his skin. I want to know him as a girl, not a wolf. So I make my move.

  I grab Caleb by the back of his neck and pull him down so I can kiss him. His lips and his tongue feel good against mine, and when he closes his eyes I keep staring at his impossibly long eyelashes. Breaking the kiss I startle him again, but it’s a good startle, and it makes him laugh a little.

  “Wow,” he sighs.

  “For now,” I flirt.

  There’s so much more that we both want to say, but time is running out. Holding my boyfriend’s hand, I lead him into the police station so we can set our plan into motion.

  “Mr. Bergeron, you have to call off the curfew tonight,” Caleb implores per my instruction.

  “I appreciate your enthusiasm and your interest in our town’s affairs, Caleb,” Louis replies, “but I’m not changing my mind.”

  It’s weird seeing Louis sitting behind my father’s desk even though it’s his desk now. The way he’s leaning forward, his butt only sitting on a portion of the chair, leads me to believe that Louis shares my opinion. It’s been almost a year, and he still hasn’t grown accustomed to the fit. Maybe it’s because of all the recent deaths during his tenure or the fact that Melinda was distracting him and Luba probably had him under some sort of a spell. But even though it’s been a tough adjustment for Louis, he has got to listen to Caleb. My entire plan depends upon it.

  “But tonight is a blue moon!” Caleb protests.

  “A what?” Louis replies.

  Clearly no one pays attention to the astrological charts they way they used to. Well, almost no one.

  “He’s right, Chief.”

  Detective Owenski has one of those influential voices. I suspect that he doesn’t speak very often, so when he does, people take notice.

  “Another full moon this month?” Louis mutters. “Tonight?”

  “Yes.”

  That’s all Owenski has to say to make Louis change his mind.

  “Call off the curfew and reach out to the vigi . . .” Louis starts.

  “The vigilant citizens who helped us search for this killer the last time?” Owenski adds, substituting the innocuous vigilant for the more controversial vigilante.

  “Y-yes,” Louis replies, his voice more thankful than commanding. Melinda really did a number on his self-confidence. Now that he’s been deJaffe-ized, I hope he can get it together to lead the townspeople tonight in the direction I want him to—far away from Nadine’s cabin.

  “How did we all miss this blue moon thing?” Detective Gallegos asks.

  Owenski’s response is snide, but accurate. “When you become a really good detective, you’ll realize the most obvious answers are usually the ones that are most overlooked.”

  Don’t get too cocky, Owenski. The wolf that started this whole panic is standing right next to you. Driving home in the Sequinox, I feel as if the wolf is back. I feel primitive and aggressive, and I can’t keep my eyes off of Caleb.

  “You know you do have some pictures of me on your phone in case you forget what I look like,” he says, smiling and staring straight ahead at the road.

  “Sorry,” I say, blushing a little. “I’m really proud of you.”

  “Well, if it weren’t for Old Cop, I don’t think I would’ve persuaded Mr. Bergeron to reinstate the witch hunt,” he replies. “Which is kind of funny because it’s no longer a metaphorical name, but super literal.”

  I remember what Jess said to me about Caleb and realize she’s right; I do take my boyfriend for granted.

  “Don’t underestimate your power, Mr. Bettany,” I say, kissing Caleb’s cheek. “When this is all over tonight, you’re going to get your reward.”

  Stopping at a red traffic light, Caleb looks at me. He never loses his smile, but the rest of his face adopts a more serious expression. “Listen to me, Domgirl,” he says. “No matter what happens tonight or tomorrow or the next day, I can wait. I’m not in any rush.” Serious cannot survive amid his high-pitched laugh. “Well, that’s a total lie! But I don’t want to rush you into anything.”

  I want to tug on our string with such force that I’ll feel his spirit move right through me.

  “You haven’t rushed me at all,” I reply. “For the first time in a long while, I feel like I’m in complete control.”

  Caleb kisses me softly a few times and then a few more until I stop counting. “Promise me you won’t let go of that feeling tonight,” he says, his lips never leaving mine.

  Right now I’d promise him anything. “I promise.”

  And then he kisses me deeper than ever before, and I moan and howl at the same time. “Because when this is all over,” Caleb whispers, “you and I have some celebrating to do.”

  How quickly I come back to reality. I force myself to keep kissing him, but I know that before I can celebrate I’m going to have to survive the night.

  “I’ve thought it over, and there’s no way that you two are coming with me tonight,” I declare.

  The wolf has spoken.

  “And there’s no way that you’re telling us what to do,” Archie insists.

  The girl has been put in her place.

  He’s sitting next to Arla on her bed, and they both look like they’re going to give each other a makeover, like they did last week, instead of telling me that they’re going to stand behind me when I march into enemy camp tonight. Correction, not behind me, but alongside of me.

  “We aren’t doing this because of you, Dominy,” Arla states.

  Oh really? “Then why are you doing it?!”

  “Because it’s the right thing to do!” she replies as if I’m a few x’s short of the desired amount of chromosomes. “Sure, you’re at the center of this whole thing, but it’s grown; it’s bigger than just you now.”

  “So you can’t be a one-girl army,” Archie adds. “Or a one-wolf army, whatever the case may be.”

  My friends, who started out as my protectors and my defenders, have now become warri
ors just like me. And they have good reason.

  “Luba and her family killed my friend too, Dom,” Arla reminds me. “And because of her curse I was almost blinded.”

  “And I know Napoleon is my first, I know our homance probably won’t last a lifetime,” Archie asserts, “but I love him, and he’s in major trouble and needs my help, so I’m going to give it to him.”

  “Homance?” I ask.

  Tossing his head back, white bangs flailing, he replies, “Oh come on, linguistagirl! Homo meets romance equals homance.”

  “It’s perfect!” And so are they.

  I’m about to launch into a speech about how they need to be extra careful tonight, how Luba and Nadine are formidable opponents who when they team up seem to have really extra-powerful powers, but I realize they already know that. They’ve been paying attention; they’re taking responsibility for their own actions and their own lives. It’s time I did the same thing.

  After Louis leaves with Barnaby and Caleb to meet the others in the center of town and lead them on a wild-goose chase far from the Jaffe cabin, I hop into Louis’s car. Arla is already in the driver’s seat, and Archie is riding shotgun.

  “Wolf Pack ready?” Archie asks, holding out his non-trembling hand.

  Arla lays her hand on top of his, and I cover them both with mine. She and I reply at the same time. “Wolf Pack ready!”

  Just as we turn onto the dirt road that leads up to the cabin, Arla reaches underneath her seat and pulls out a gun.

  “You stole your father’s gun?!” I ask, shocked that she would do such a thing.

  “No!” Arla scoffs. “Just his Taser.”

  Oh, well, that makes all the difference in the world. And actually it does.

  “I figured it could come in handy if things get too crazy,” she explains.

  After a pause, Archie replies, “If?”

  There’s an eerie silence when Arla pulls the key out of the ignition. Nothing, no sounds come from outside or inside the car; it’s as if the world is suspended. I want to say something, but I can’t think of anything that would inspire courage or hope or even get them to retreat. My mind is a blank, probably because I’m trying to forget exactly what could happen when the night takes over. Still shrouded in dusk, we’re safe; our lives are unchanged and not moving forward. But in a few minutes when the moonglow obliterates all sunlight, fate will take over. And, honestly, fate and I don’t have the best relationship.

  Walking toward the main cabin, I catch glimpses of Arla and Archie. Their strides are unbroken; they aren’t hesitating a bit, and I can see in their faces nothing but determination. If I were alone, I’d look and feel the same way, but I’m not. After all this time of complaining and moaning that this curse has only affected me and that I’m the only one to have to go through this and that I have to go through it on my own, I see how wrong I was. I’ve dragged my friends on this ride with me. They would never have had to get on if it weren’t for me.

  Enough! Enough with the guilt-talk and the thinking and the self-pity. It’s time for action, to see if we can end this nightmare and reclaim our lives. It’s time to stop living in fear and confront our demons. In other words, it’s time to say hello to the Jaffes.

  “Welcome,” Nadine says.

  She’s sitting on the couch next to Luba and Napoleon. If their mother is present, she’s in the back room. Not that it matters; she doesn’t appear to have inherited the witch gene either by birth or by marriage. Nope, the triumvirate hasn’t added a fourth.

  “You were right, Grandmother,” Nadine adds. “Dominy’s brought ebony and ivory with her.”

  “I knew she would,” Luba says. “The girl can’t resist an audience.”

  Psycho Squaw looks unbelievably young now that Rayna’s blood and spirit and energy are living within her body. She looks like she could be Nadine’s older sister instead of her grandmother. Problem is, I’m sure that along with her newfound youth she’s also acquired increased strength and power; she’s going to be harder to conquer than before. My plan has got to work. I have to goad her into showing her true self so we can simply fight wolf to wolf; that way I may have a chance to kill her, and the Three W will have another headline tomorrow morning. Until then I have to let them think that we’re here to fight them on their terms, not ours.

  “As much as your crew should be applauded for their loyalty and their bravery in walking into our lair,” Nadine starts, “the time has come for your little posse to go kaput.”

  “What?!” Napoleon shouts. Sounds like he wasn’t privy to his sister’s plan.

  “They know too much, and they’re in the way of Orion’s plan,” she replies, not even deigning to look at her brother, but keeping her gaze focused on us. “They need to be eliminated.”

  Luba slowly runs her long, thin fingers through her now sleek black hair, probably amazed at how soft it must feel. “Starting with Dominy,” she says.

  Napoleon says something, but I’m distracted by the burning sensation that suddenly grips me. Whipping my head to the side to look out the window, I see the full moon hanging in the black sky, fierce and majestic. Just like me.

  “Guess again!” I scream. “I have not come this far to be killed by some sick witch who needs her grandchildren to carry out her deeds!”

  Luba’s eyes turn completely black, and her hand stops moving in mid-fawn. Guess she didn’t like being called out for what she is.

  “You are nothing but a vindictive, vengeful, and ugly woman!” I cry. “You say you cursed me to avenge your husband’s death? That you doomed me because my father took away the man you loved?! You know nothing of love!”

  “Silence!” Luba hisses.

  No way! Not until I’m finished.

  “You’re filled with hate and loathing and evil,” I say. “You want to destroy your grandchildren, go right ahead, but we will not be your next victims!”

  Flying off of the couch, her feet never touching the ground, Luba doesn’t stop moving until she’s an inch from my face. When she stops, her hair swings forward and scratches my cheek; it’s like small knives jutting into my skin. The sensation isn’t as sharp as her voice.

  “I said silence!!”

  A howl spills out of my mouth that matches Luba’s roar in volume and intensity until her voice cannot be heard and she’s the one who’s been silenced. My sound grows louder and more anguished when my bones break and invert. When the needles of fur begin to cover my body, I can’t stand vertical any longer, so my body lurches forward and slams into the wooden floor.

  I twist my head to the left and to the right as the muscles in my neck elongate and thicken to carry the heavy weight of my snout. I snarl and growl as the pain intensifies; my fangs sever my gums, and I taste my own blood. Swallowing greedily I want more; I’m thirsty and hungry and desperate to feed, but it’s not time for that. Not yet.

  My voice and my howl swirl and merge until they become one new sound that human and witch and wolf can hear. “Fight me like the animal you are!”

  Luba proves that while she may be shrewd, she’s also proud, and she can’t refuse an invitation. To my left I hear Arla scream as Luba transforms into the black wolf that killed Essie. Despite how refreshed and youthful Luba now looks, her wolf-state is the same as it was before, mangy and foul and disgusting, the personification of her soul.

  Her hand shaking, Arla fumbles with her coat to pull out her Taser gun, but Nadine gets to the weapon first—with her mind. It flies out of Arla’s pocket and lands gracefully in Nadine’s hand. “Nice try,” she smirks. “But we prefer to fight the natural way.” As she tosses the gun in the air, Archie jerks forward to grab it, but it dematerializes before he can wrap his hands around the metal. The only thing that remains is Nadine’s laughter. Staring at the wolf Luba has become, it’s my turn to show off.

  Our bodies bang into each other as we both lunge forward at the same time. I feel Luba’s claws piercing my arms and her fangs try to grab hold of my neck. Quickly I sen
se that I’m at an advantage; I’ve been in this body longer than she’s been in hers, so I know how to use mine more efficiently and to the best of its capabilities. Snarling viciously, I swipe at her face with my paw, and when I let go, part of her cheek dangles in the air. The black wolf cries out in agony.

  In retaliation, Nadine jumps off the couch, raises her hand and points it at me. She wants revenge. Napoleon wants mercy. “Nadine, stop!” I don’t know what’s keeping Nadine from taking action, Napoleon’s command or her conscience, but she’s abiding by her brother’s wishes. For the moment.

  “We don’t have to destroy,” he continues. “We have all of Orion’s power. We can honor our grandfather’s legacy, but we can do it without leaving behind us a trail of destruction.”

  The bee and the butterfly are staring at one another as if there is one lone flower in a patch of shriveled, sun-baked dirt. There’s only enough food for one. And there’s only enough room in their world for one to survive. Briefly, it looks as if Nadine may acquiesce, that she may relinquish some of the hold she wants on her brother’s life, but when she speaks, it’s clear whatever moment of reason she had is gone.

  “A hunter needs to destroy,” she declares. “That is Orion’s legacy, that is what he has taught us. Instill fear in our prey so they know who is the most powerful, and then we can have anything we desire.”

  “We already have more power than anyone!” Nap shouts, his arms outstretched, grappling the empty air. “Look at us! We can do things people only dream about!”

  “Thanks to Orion!” Nadine replies, her voice sounding like that of a vainglorious and brainwashed disciple.

  “Yes!” Nap screams. “Let’s prove to him that we can hunt with mercy, not for vengeance!”

  Nadine takes a step forward and stumbles to the side. For a moment I can see her face completely; it’s bathed by the silver starlight, and she looks more like a girl than a fiend. But she quickly steadies herself, and when she speaks, I don’t hear a trace of the girl. “We have a mission,” she reminds him.

  “To unleash Orion’s spirit,” Napoleon cries. “Not to unleash his wrath!”