Blood Moon (2 page)

Halfway back to the open fields, the sun sets on the horizon, casting a bright orange-and-pink glow across the clouds.

“It’s so beautiful,” I say.

“Yeah, it is,” Ben agrees, but when I glance over, he’s not staring at the sunset. He’s staring at me. I blush and lightly punch his arm.

As darkness falls all around us, we finally breach the tree line and are out of the forest.
Finally.
I thought for sure we’d be stuck in there for days. I stop walking long enough to breathe the fresh air, smell the wood burning in fireplaces, and view the faint candlelight glowing from inside the sparse cottages in the area. It’s not a sight I see every day, and it’s certainly not one I’ll ever forget, especially since it’s my first night in a different century.

Yet, for as much splendor as I’ve seen today, I can’t quite shake the feeling of gloom residing over this town. There’s an ominous void hovering over the land, and I have the distinct notion Ben and I are the ones to remove whatever is causing this soul-sucking emptiness. Then again, maybe I’m losing my mind. After all, I haven’t had much sleep lately.

Just to be on the safe side, I ask Ben, “Do you feel that weird vibe this place gives off?” We scour the barn and make sure nobody is around before deciding it’s safe.

“Yeah, I feel it. What’s with that smell, too?”

“The cows?”

He rolls his eyes. “No, the
other
smell.”

I shake my head. “I didn’t notice.”

“Here,” he says, climbing up to the loft in our shelter, “let’s put these somewhere to snack on later, and then we’ll go check out the scent.”

We create a nest of hay for the berries, and, as promised, Ben guides me outside. He’s right—there is an odd stench.

“Magic?” I suggest.

“Maybe,” says Ben. “Could be totally different from what we’re used to.”

“Could be.”

“Want to check it out?”

Ben’s words no more leave his mouth than a harrowing wolf cry resounds in the forest beyond. The noise casts a chill over my body, and Ben and I share a glance. Can that be Alaric? What if it’s Ulric or Daciana? There’s only one way to find out.

“Hey, remember that deal I made with you earlier?” I say, as I slip out of my shirt, shoes, and jeans. Ben’s rooted in place, eyes wide and ravenous.

“Candra, are we . . .?”

I unhook my bra, shimmy out of my underwear, and toss the garments into my pile of clothes. “Going for a run? Yeah, we are.” I start forward in a sprint before Ben has time to respond. I mean, his jaw was practically on the ground a second ago.

“That’s not what I meant!” he yells, hurriedly shrugging out of his clothes.

I peek over my shoulder and shout, “Oh, that? We’ll save it for later.” An all-too-familiar tremor cycles down my spine as I sprout fur and fangs, becoming a creature of the night.

Chapter Two

We unquestionably pick up the scent of another werewolf and hear the recognizable howl, but we haven’t been able to locate the source. Our search leads us to a clearing not far from the barn we’ll be occupying. Unfortunately, by the time we arrive, our company is long gone.

Think we can still track it?
I ask.

Ben looks at me from behind golden eyes.
We can try.
I nod.
Oh, and Candra? About what happened earlier . . . Don’t pull a stunt like that again. You’re just asking for it, you know.

My lips peel back, revealing sharp teeth; it’s my only real attempt at a smile in this outward appearance.
Like I said, we’ll deal with it later.

He growls and snaps once at me, a form of domination. Too bad I don’t bow down before anybody, let alone a man. I snap back at him. Our playful jesting would’ve probably continued if yet another howl hadn’t echoed through the trees. Immediately, we dart toward the sound; it’s not far ahead. Maybe this will be our chance to catch up.

The black shadow of a wolf sees us first and quickly runs toward the trees behind it, but we’re quicker, more agile. Ben is slightly bigger than me in size, so he has the advantage—and he’s not far behind the wolf. I have to admit, I’m enjoying this little hunt. It’s not every day that we get to chase an ancient werewolf, let alone one who isn’t a member of our packs.

You’ve almost got him,
I say to Ben. He’s more or less nipping at the wolf’s hind legs.

The cold night air burns my lungs, and my breaths exit my snout in small, white clouds. One might think my senses are completely up to par, but the fact of the matter is I never see the second wolf coming; it attacks me from my right. Where it came from, how it found us, I don’t really know. What I do know is that its fangs are firmly imbedded into my fur, and it’s not letting go anytime soon.

Candra, I’ve almost got him!
Ben excitedly shouts. He doesn’t realize I’m somewhat preoccupied at the moment, which is why I don’t respond.
Candra?
I hear the panic in his voice, but it’s all I can do to fight off this rogue wolf. What bothers me the most is how I didn’t see or hear it coming. That frightens me.
Candra! Where are you?
I see straight through Ben’s vision, as he can with mine, and he’s stopped the chase to search for me.
Hold tight, baby! I’m coming.

Well, this is embarrassing. My boyfriend has to aid me in thwarting off my assailant, when he should’ve been after that other wolf. Jeez, how many of them are there? Seems like these woods are infested, which doesn’t sounds familiar
at all
.

I pivot my head around swiftly enough to bite the wolf’s ear, and it emits a high-pitched yelp. Just as it goes for my skin again, Ben sideswipes it with a loud
oomph
. Both tumble and roll on the ground, through the leaves and twigs and dirt, flipping over each other a few times. I slowly stand on all fours, shaking off the slobber and blood coating my fur, thanks to Mystery Wolf over there, and join in on the social gathering. Ben’s too busy taking his rage out on the midnight creature. I guess he doesn’t like anybody messing with his girl. This makes me smile inside.

Ben, for God’s sake, don’t kill the poor thing.

I’m going to rip it to shreds for touching you!
he exclaims. Yeah, I totally called that one.

We need to find out who it is and what it wants, but we need it
alive
to do that.

Finally seeing past his anger, Ben pins the wolf to the forest floor as I approach. I can’t help but notice the fury in the wolf’s eyes as I stand over it. Apparently, it didn’t see Ben coming, just like I didn’t see it. Completely caught off-guard.

How are we going to do this? Question it, I mean. We can’t drag it back to the barn, and we can’t stand here naked, in the cold, interrogating it.

Ben releases a low growl.
I don’t know, Candra. We didn’t exactly think this through before you performed a peep show and took off after the first wolf. But if this means I stand here all night, then so be it.

Don’t be silly. It’s freezing out here, and besides, what if that other wolf comes back?

Then take care of it yourself.
His eyes cut into mine and weigh me down with their glare.

I sure as hell didn’t ask him to stop chasing the other wolf so he could fight this one off of me. Now he’s pissed? Like this is my fault . . . Whatever.

Looks like we don’t have much of a choice. We need to get it out of these woods and back to the farmland so we can shift.

And if it doesn’t cooperate, if it doesn’t shift like us? What then?

Fiercely glowering at him, I say,
Do you have a better idea, or am I the one making all the decisions now?

Ben tersely removes his paw from the wolf’s side and jerks his head in the direction we came from, hoping the wolf will catch the message. Gradually, the wolf rises to all fours and shakes itself off. But just as we’re about to head back, a black mist, like a fog settling over a lake, rolls in from all around us. I step back a few feet, unsure of what this mist is, or what it might do. Ben does the same.

I have a bad feeling about this,
I say.

Ben concentrates on the shady vapor swirling around his legs.
Candra, we have to get out of here. This is black
magic, darker than anything my family or our Followers ever used.

Hearing his words, my body doesn’t react right away. Instead, I’m too busy eyeing the wolf before us, to which the dark mist is headed. It’s like the wolf is a giant vacuum, and it’s sucking all the fog from the forest. Maybe even the surrounding village and countryside.

Candra, run! We have to get out now!

Ben bounds over and nudges me with his snout, pushing me toward the route we came from. But, me being me, I’m utterly fascinated by this wolf, who holds so much power. Where did it get its abilities? There had to be an original source.

Just like that, I realize my mission for this trip—to find out where the earliest werewolf came from, and how it got its magic. My gut is telling me there’s more to Alaric than meets the eye. It’s also telling me the wolf standing directly ahead isn’t Alaric. And if that’s the case, then who the hell is it?

As the dark fog disappears all around us, the wolf soaks it up. The mist swirls around and around the body of the wolf, and the wolf leisurely rises to stand on its back legs. Ben and I observe the wolf transform into a human, though we can’t see the face because the black vapor swallows it whole. The body is definitely that of a woman, so no Alaric here.

Who is she?
I distractedly think aloud.

Ben barely shakes his head.
I have no idea, but I think there’s more going on here than we originally thought.

The woman’s voice emanates from the dark blur surrounding her, and the sound echoes itself. “The source for which ye seek this magic is nearer than ye think. Be forewarned, young ones, solving the mystery shall come with a price, one which neither of ye are ready to pay.”

She grabs hold of the shadowy veil, as if it’s a cape, and twirls once, exploding into hundreds of black crows. They circle us overhead like vultures over a carcass, cawing incessantly, then nosedive directly at us, so quickly Ben and I don’t have time to react. The explosion when they hit the ground is the last thing I remember, before the darkness settles over me like an icy blanket.

Chapter Three

When I awaken, I’m not lying in the forest, amid the trees and dirt, like I thought; I’m back in the barn, in my clothes, wrapped in a warm, snuggly blanket. The hay scratches my cheek and itches, but it’s better than freezing my naked ass off. Glancing up, I catch sight of Ben, who sits at my feet and is watching me closely.

“Hey,” I murmur.

He smiles. “Welcome back, Princess.”

I smirk and look up at the rafters in the barn, contemplating last night’s events. Maybe it was a stupid idea for me to run off like that, after a wolf we know nothing about. We still don’t. All we’re sure of is that the wolf’s sidekick is some woman, who can turn into a flock of angry birds and summon black fog.

“I know what you’re thinking,” says Ben.

“Of course you do. We’re marked.”

He grins, but in his eyes, he looks exhausted. “That’s not what I meant.” He goes on, “I can’t stop thinking about last night; it was a little too weird for me. I’ve seen some strange shit in my day, but this doesn’t even come close. The magic she used is powerful. My family would love it; it’s what they ultimately want.” He leans forward, resting his arms on his knees and rubbing his hands together. “But what she said about us finding the original Ancient, the first person who conjured this magic, is what’s bothering me. What’s the price we have to pay? And why aren’t we ready? None of this makes any sense.”

I gulp away the knot in my throat. “What if all of this was a trap? What if Alaric knew we couldn’t handle the magic in this time period? He’s probably laughing somewhere in the future, wherever it was we dropped him off.”

“It’s like a bad dream I can’t wake up from,” says Ben. He stands up, walks a few steps, and lies down next to me. I share the blanket with him, and nuzzle up against his neck, entirely content for now.  

“Where’d you get this?” I inquire, lifting the cover a tiny bit.

Ben chuckles. “It’s a horse blanket.”

I bolt upright. “
What?
Ew. Gross.”

“Hush. It’s better than freezing our asses off.” He tugs me down next to him again. “You know, we still need a plan.”

“Like, how
not
to piss off an Ancient, yet still be able to figure out who they are?”

Ben grunts. “Yeah, something like that.”

“We’ll just have to keep an eye out for anything unusual—behavior, people unaccounted for, strange occurrences, etcetera. But first, we need clothes to blend in with the rest of civilization, and food.” He rubs my side, which is slowly lulling me to sleep. I close my eyes and snuggle closer to him, half my body on top of his. “I’m so calm right now, I don’t even want to get up and do anything.”

“Okay, how about we take a nap, and then we can figure our next course of action?” he suggests.

I grin. “Sounds fantastic.”

Later, after we’ve rested, Ben and I wander toward the heart of Colchester. We’re still not entirely certain what we’ll do without money, but I’m sure we’ll figure out something. We need to blend in, not cause a scene. So Ben gets this bright idea of offering our services—cooking, cleaning, whatever—in exchange for clothing. Of course, everybody in this time period sews outfits by hand, and obviously Ben and I don’t have the knowledge or the means to do so. Luckily for us, the woman who owns the fabric store, Fiona, is kind enough to take us up on our proposal, though she never questions why we’re dressed the way we are.

“Ye can start right away,” she says. A tendril of brunette hair dangles in front of her face, having loosened itself from her bun, and she hastily tucks it behind her ear. “I need the floors swept, the materials organized, and the inventory inspected.”