Phoenix shrugged. “Maybe, but why?”
“Perhaps they thought humans were destroying the earth or maybe they wanted to make room for your kind,” said Dora with a slight tinge of sarcasm in her tone.
“Or maybe the one you saw in the lab was stopping the human inventors of the Bane,” said Talon.
“Dr. Mansfield was a sadistic jerk but he was in the dark about where Z-phage came from. Besides, who or rather what got rid of all the weapons of mass destruction?” Dora added.
Dirk agreed. “She’s right. This virus is too specific to humans, created to destroy mankind. Why else would their military power vanish?”
Talon leaned on his elbows with his chin on his fisted knuckles. “That could explain why our shifter DNA protects us from the Bane.”
“Funny how being a witch makes one immune. It’s almost like I’m not human.”
“You’re not,” said Phoenix.
“I’m not?”
“You are, but according to ancient legends, witches may have been created to mediate between shifters and mankind.” She smiled. “And you are the most powerful I’ve ever heard about. Dirk explained how you got away. The Benandanti who abducted you had not expected you to fly. Most witches fly after menopause and then only after training. The fact you’re a doctor means you also have the healing aspect.” She gave her a pointed stare. “Do you have a green thumb?”
“As of my twenty-seventh birthday I do.”
“And she can telepathically communicate with me, which she may do with you too I suppose,” added Dirk.
Phoenix shook her head. “No, a witch can only communicate with her true mate.”
Dirk furrowed his brow and tilted his head to the side. His ignorance had just become clear. That explained why she wasn’t able to read the others. He beamed. “Looks like you chose me as a mate all along, babe.”
“Hmm. I suppose I did.”
Talon smiled at Phoenix. “True mates from the beginning.” He stood. “Go rest. We have much to do and we’ll require your help.”
Dirk stood. “Sure, I’ll help fuel and do anything else that needs to be done.”
Talon nodded. “Sounds good. Dora, if you don’t mind giving the humans a physical to make sure they’re free of the Bane.”
“Will do,” she said.
“Once we reach our new territory I’ll call a meeting with the Mythos Consortium about the Proteans.”
****
A month went fast and in a week at the start of fall, they would finally head for the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Dora finished with her last patient, a former Marine, Cpl. Amanda Greco. She was shell-shocked but otherwise physically un-harmed. Found on top of a high rise in Portland, Oregon by ravens. Dora prescribed her the last of the anxiety medication. After they settled, recon teams would need to raid as many pharmacies as possible. She locked her office and headed for the grand hall.
Today there was a Consortium meeting. Each shifter group had sent a representative to attend. The entire compound teemed with various shifters representing every kind of furred or feathered animal imaginable. The Benandanti, however, would not be attending. A few weeks back, a beta from their pack delivered a box containing Theo’s severed clawed hand and their torn treaty. They were enemies at war. Ridiculous, considering the bigger problem. The shifter population numbered less than five thousand worldwide, the human population of non-infected perhaps less than a million and the zombies outnumbered them all.
Talon was to report the latest status on the state of the earth. Dora sat next to Dirk at the alpha table. Rave saw them and pulled up a chair.
In the past few weeks, the upstart raven shifter had become her good friend. She was fun. Dora loved her energy. Most surprising of all, was Rave’s artistic talent. She had impressed everyone with her paintings of wolves and ravens. Not scenes of the two species in the forest but rather a wolf and a raven together as if mates. However, of late, her sketches depicted realistic portrayals of zombies. Even now, she doodled a scene of zombies roaming an abandoned schoolyard.
Rave whispered in Dora’s ear, “My future mate brought you a surprise.”
“Wait? What?” Prince Bram of Anglia had healed at an accelerated rate, as Phoenix predicted. However, still incapable of flight he’d flown to England on a real plane. He planned to report on the developments across the pond and quickly return. This pleased Rave’s parents, thinking he intended to court the princess. Little did they know, Josh and Bram had been intimate. Sooner or later, the prince would reveal whom he really wanted as an earth mate. Was this the surprise? Probably not. Josh wasn’t here. Last week, he and Melanie had flown to Yosemite along with the last of the humans.
“You’ll see.”
“He’s already back?”
“Yep, a couple hours ago.”
“Where are your parents?”
“They flew south for warmer weather and will be back in the spring, purposively when Bram and I take our mating vows.”
Dora hoped to put a stop to the false vows, if not for Josh then for Rave who talked non-stop about how only werewolves sexually turned her on. Dark and edgy, she liked it rough, an unusual proclivity amongst the ravens, who were prim and proper, despite their human reputation of being sinister harbingers of evil. Edgar Alan Poe described them as "…grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous creatures.” No wonder they never revealed their identity to humans. If only the great poet could see them as they truly were, majestic and beautiful.
Talon entered with Phoenix at his side. Everyone stood and bowed. He signaled them to sit. “Welcome. I have good news. Our zombie free radius has grown to one hundred miles from Yosemite.”
He paused to wait until the end of the applause. Dora smiled at Dirk. He and his pack had accomplished the dirty task of zombie removal.
“I’m also happy to announce that Prince Bram of Anglia found and brought back another rare witch, Willow Bothwell.”
Bram waltzed in, dressed in full black and purple regalia. A tiny, plump elderly woman, clad in a simple gray sweater and black skirt, clutched his arm. Willow immediately honed in on Dora and shot her a playful wink.
Dora’s witchmacallit buzzed, as if jolted by static electricity, sending a tingle through her body. She had recently heard of Willow Bothwell, but never dreamed she would meet her. A witch, like her. At last. Answers. She stopped gaping and bowed in respect.
Willow stood at Talon’s table. “It is with great pleasure I’ve arrived here. I have remained hidden with my raven friends from the likes of the Benandanti, who even during the Bane’s relentless scourge, searched for me. Let me be the first to tell you, the Vircolac defeated the Benandanti in Europe.”
Dora communicated telepathically with Dirk. “
The Vircolac are the bad werewolves?”
“Not bad as in hating witches, but real bad in terms of hating humans.”
She turned her attention back to Willow.
“In the end the Benandanti succumbed to the zombies. Alpha Valeray’s pack is the only one that remains. Now that the witch bloodstones are gone, I have come to teach Dora Adler in the ways of Aradia Witchcraft.”
Dora and the others sat in rapt attention as the older witch talked about what she knew concerning the Proteans. Very little. “Shortly before the Bane, secret British government documents recorded a reptilian shifter around military installations. I’m afraid we have no more information about them or even if they are still on this planet or in our dimension.” She turned to the alpha. “Lord Talon, please continue the discussion.”
A beta offered her a seat and another brought her tea as Talon stood before the podium.
After a discussion on how to continue the effort against the zombie pestilence and finding other survivors, the meeting ended on a positive note by the announcement that the United States would have an especially cold winter. Zombies stopped moving at below zero degrees.
Rave pointed her chin toward Ms. Bothwell. “Witchling, go introduce yourself to your mentor
.
”
Dora nodded and approached Willow. “I’m so happy to finally meet someone who can answer all my questions.”
The old witch covered her mouth and chuckled. “You give me too much credit. Prince Bram has told me all about you. I’m afraid I’m not as powerful as you are. Nonetheless, it would be my honor to teach you. I shall lend you my copy of the ancient Aradia Book of Shadows.”
“A book of spells?”
“More like lessons about your powers.” Willow crinkled a smile, reminding Dora of a pantyhose doll she once had as a child. “I’ll test you before I’m flown to Yosemite.”
“When do you leave?”
“I’m told by this Friday. Normally, I would fly, but I’m afraid my bones can no longer tolerate the cold. Come, let’s sit.”
Dora pulled up a chair next to her. Willow appeared to be in her early seventies. She couldn’t imagine what her life must have been like always looking over her shoulder for the relentless Benandanti. “What age did you learn how to fly?”
“At fifty-six,” she replied. “It’s a crone’s initiation gift. I’m now seventy-five and I’m probably the least talented witch who ever existed.” She pointed a finger. “But you, my dear, may be the strongest born in one thousand years.”
“Are you sure? I don’t feel so magical.”
“Flight at such a young age and without a copy of the Aradia Book of Shadows to teach you how, is indeed quite magical.” Her gray eyes brightened. “Your powers are extraordinary.”
Dora quirked a brow. “Will I be able to turn men into toads?”
She laughed. “No witch could ever shift people into creatures, but Bram told me you are a great healer and have the gift of plant magic.”
Dora pressed her lips and shook her head. “I owe my healing to medical school. As far as a green thumb, I haven’t explored that gift.”
“Ah, but you should. The book will teach you how.”
“I would love that.”
Willow lowered her voice and leaned in. “I too can commune with those beyond the veil.”
Dora did not want to go there. Too damn spooky. She didn’t mind helping Dirk communicate with his dead brother, but at the time, she fortunately had not seen the manner of his death. Only Talon and Phoenix knew about her connection with Derrick and the bear claw. “How did you know?”
“I recognize your essence since we both share this gift. Yours is more powerful and with training you can control it better.”
“I would rather not pursue this aspect of my witchy ability.”
“The spirits of the turned zombies linger around waiting for their release.”
“What do you mean?”
“Imagine being outside your body, watching yourself eat others alive.”
Such a ghoulish thought made her want to gag. “But the zombies are not dead, at least not technically. They have little brain activity.”
“They are in a sort of deep comatose state and a few have had out of body experiences.”
“But they have no memory or cognitive ability. Hmm?” Dora shook her head. “In their vegetative state they might as well be dead.”
“I’m not very good, mind you, but if I concentrate, a nearby spirit of a zombie will warn me not to go to a specific place. It’s how I survived a zombie swarm.”
“Do all of them do this?”
“No, not all. Some just leave their bodies completely and disappear into a limbo-like void. But enough stay to be an important tool in detecting them.”
Nausea welled up within Dora. “Most disturbing. I imagine the spirit wants to end that horrible existence. Tell me, do you have any other specific gifts?”
“Music. I can create whatever music you wish to listen to out of thin-air.”
Phoenix joined them. “And a voice that is angelic.”
“You mean, without a player or musicians?” Dora asked.
Willow closed her eyes and the music of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 played throughout the hall as if they sat in Carnegie Hall and not Werewolf Central.
Dora’s eyes welled. The world had ended but listening to man’s greatest musical achievements gave her hope that someday orchestras, bands and choirs would once again return.
Dirk’s looming frame stirred behind her. He smiled. “This is elk meat for the ears.”
She frowned at him. “Is everything about meat?”
He whispered, “Pretty much, except for…umm…mating.”
She flushed and mumbled, “At least I agree with you on that point.”
Willow opened her eyes, smiled at him and contemporary rock and roll music played.
He bowed. “A pleasure to meet you, Ms Bothwell.”
Everyone referred to her as Miss. Dora stared at her ring finger. Empty. She must have never married.
“Likewise.” The music slowly muted until the only sound was that of the various conversations amongst the gathering. Willow quirked a smile. “Well wolf, you don’t mind if I chat with your wife for a spell? I have so much to tell her.”
“Not at all.” Dirk leaned in and kissed Dora. “I’ll see you at dinner, babe.”
Dora helped Willow stand. “How about we go to the library?”
She nodded. “Perfect.”
Chapter 21
The weeks passed quickly. During the last month, Dora managed to get more medical supplies from a nearby hospital. Thanks to Dirk and his pack, who eliminated the zombies that still lingered in the hallways of the once state-of-the-art local medical facility. The last transport of medical supplies had flown out yesterday. Except for her desk and laptop, her makeshift doctor’s office was empty. The generator provided the energy for some power but only for limited hours. During this brief window, she researched everything about the Z-phage virus, much of it downloaded from Mansfield’s memory stick.
Yesterday, Rave provided her with the raven’s latest findings on what the shifters called the second Bane. She sipped her hours-old coffee and read the screen. Though there had been countless human epidemics, the shifters referred to the Bubonic Plague that wiped out one third of Europe as the first Bane. She tapped her finger lightly on her lips. Interesting that the Protean caught on video back at Lab Zero had chosen to become a rat. Coincidence? Had the Black Death been the first attempt to wipe out humans? Yet, only Europe and Asia had suffered the first Bane of 1347 AD. This time the apocalyptic pestilence had swept the entire earth. The bird shifters had spotted pockets of non-infected humans in various parts of the world. There was hope global societies would someday unite for the greater good. She checked her watch. They were leaving in less than an hour. She clicked off the computer and packed it.