Under a Blood Moon Read online

  I thought for a minute, and then decided to be stupid, “Danny’s gone home for the night. He dropped me at the train. What are the rules here? Can I go back and waste my time waiting for her or do you have to call Danny too?

  “Well,” I could hear Ben sigh over the phone, “the rules say you need to go home. We can’t have you out there alone.”

  I looked at the park and at the lights on the streets, thinking about what Indigo and Rakesh had said about the neighborhood. I felt safe. More than that, I didn’t want my ruined evening to be wasted. “What if I didn’t go home?”

  “That’d be stupid.”

  “I’m a death witch, remember?”

  “Yeah and when I’m in the right mood I can stop the wind from blowing. That’s not going to help either of us tonight. If you don’t want me to call Danny, I can send somebody from here to meet you. It’ll only take thirty minutes for them to get there.”

  “She’ll be gone by then, if she shows.” I thought about how I’d feel if I did the smart thing and went home, only to find the nurse’s body torn to pieces tomorrow morning. I didn’t want another jigsaw puzzle of a corpse, especially if I could stop it. Was it a risk? Yeah. Sure. But I didn’t want to take Danny away from his kids and no one else could get there in time. If it was my only chance to help, well, it was a risk I was willing to take. “Thanks for letting me know, Ben.”

  “So you’re going home?”

  “I’m already at the train station. Bye!” I hung up before he could call me on evading his question.

  I was three blocks from the station when I realized that I might not be able to walk back to the park in time. A jogger passed in front of me, and I was jealous of his sneakers. Ten minutes in the car didn’t seem that far until you had to walk in the middle of a hot sticky July night. I was still two blocks away when I heard a noise coming from the park. It might have been someone shouting, but it ended too fast to be sure.

  I ran into the park. The trees blocked out everything but moonlight. I ran forward anyway, adrenaline overriding good sense. I turned around a corner and saw them: two werewolves. Bigger than I expected, seven, maybe eight feet tall, they had the body shape of a man, but thick black fur and long clawed fingers. Their heads were pure wolf, with snouts and rubbery dog noses. I remembered Indigo calling them puppies. The resemblance was there, as if someone had turned a cute puppy into something huge and filled with rage.

  I was so focused on them, on the way their backs ended in a tail or the way the thicker fur spread out at the base of their neck that I didn’t recognize what was underneath them until it was too late. The jogger that passed me earlier wasn’t going to finish his run. One of the wolves ripped into his stomach and brought out a pink and bloody organ. It swallowed the tissue whole. The sight made me gag, and the noise drew their attention. They turned to me.

  I reached out for anything I could use, anything dead. The biggest thing I could control in the area was a flattened squirrel. I decided it was better to flee than to attack two werewolves with a zombie squirrel. I ran, coming face to face with a large black cat. Its acid yellow eyes stared into my own from the same height before the powerful jaw opened up to hiss. I dropped to the ground, trying to protect myself.

  It jumped over me as if I wasn’t there, going straight for the wolves behind me. I could only see it when the moonlight reflected off its teeth. I smelled blood and heard a wolf yelp. The cat’s sharp teeth rendered the half-wolf, half-men bodies into a pile of bloody meat. I watched as it greedily ate their hearts from their chests, cracking through ribs like candy. When it was finished, it licked its whiskers free of blood, a sick parody of a cat drinking cream.

  I sat frozen on the ground. If the two wolves hadn’t been able to stop it, I wasn’t going to be able to do anything. I briefly thought about bringing the wolves back, animating them. The cat didn’t strike, though. Even as I was contemplating how to save my life, it sat, curling its tail around itself in that classic cat pose. It walked slowly toward me, muscles rippling under that black velvet fur.

  I stiffened in anticipation of an attack but the cat brushed itself around me, nudging me gently. It shepherded me out of the park and down the street. The whole city was shuttered, filled with fear while I walked down empty streets lead by a giant cat that saved my life. The lunacy of it all played out under a giant full moon. We turned down a dark alley and I gave up fighting the urge to stroke the cat. Its fur felt as soft as velvet under my palms. A security light blinked on, in the hazy fluorescent light, I could see it wasn’t solid black. There were patterns of darker black that almost looked like roses.

  I was so fascinated I didn’t realize we had stopped in front of a door. There was a small sign next to a bell. Giving in to the insanity, I talked to the cat. “This is Indigo’s shop. Do you know him, kitty?”

  It gave me that look that cats have, the look that says you are the stupidest thing in the world. It hit me. “Oh crap, you are Indigo, aren’t you?”

  It grinned. I’d never seen a cat grin before, let alone a werejaguar, but it did. “Guess we should go in then, huh?”

  I locked the door behind us. It seemed impractical; locking the door after the danger had passed. Inside we followed a set of narrow stairs up to an apartment. The room was decorated in bright yellow with red accents and terra cotta bowls everywhere. I started to look for a phone, when he nudged me on to the couch.

  “You want me to rest, huh?” He looked at me. “I’m not crazy you know. I can handle all of this. Really.”

  The look continued.

  “Fine I’ll rest.” I was having a one sided argument with a werejaguar who couldn’t answer back. Maybe I wasn’t so sane after all. I flopped down on the couch. The cat resumed its pose, that Egyptian Cat God pose, in the doorway leading to the bedroom. He was still standing there, watching over me, when I fell asleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  Before I opened my eyes, I could smell breakfast. The scent of frying eggs and peppers tempted me awake. The sound of sizzling coupled with a new smell of bacon convinced me. From the kitchen, Indigo, no longer a giant cat, shouted a hearty good morning when he saw my head over the back of the couch.

  “I hope you like eggs, I went overboard.” He started to dish them out on a plate for me. I rushed to the kitchen table, my mouth watering. “Good?”

  I nodded with my mouthful.

  “So what happened last night?”

  “You don’t…” I was stunned. “You don’t remember?”

  “Oh no, I ate two werewolves that were trying to kill you and brought you home. I meant before I got there.” His tone was light and he didn’t stop shaking pepper on to his plate while he discussed the dual homicide.

  “We have to go back, there will be bodies.”

  “We can go back if you like, but there won’t be any bodies.” He swallowed a bite of eggs. “Wolves take care of their own dead. They may eat them, I don’t know. I just know that there won’t be any bodies, there probably won’t even be a blood stain.”

  “What about the jogger?” My stomach felt a little queasy at the thought.

  “Jogger? If they had a kill the pack will take it with them.” He squirted ketchup on a second helping of eggs. He was taking this all too lightly for me.

  “These aren’t the first two people you’ve killed,” I realized.

  “I’m afraid not.” He put his fork down and looked at me. “I look what, 30, 35 years old?”

  “Closer to 30?” I guessed.

  “I’m 83.” He let the fact fall into the silence. I didn’t know what to say. “My kind doesn’t live long if they’re pacifists. But if it makes you feel any better, those are the first two werewolves I’ve had recently.”

  “Recently?”

  “Since I moved here. There’s a reason why I like this city. Up until a few days ago I didn’t run into anyone else on the full moon.”

  “And now you do?

  “Now I get to rescue pretty girls.” He winked at
me. I wanted to be upset that he had called me a girl but the fact that he saved my life stopped me. He took my plate and headed toward the sink.

  “That dress has seen better days. Do you want to try a pair of jeans?” I looked down at the sea of grass stains, tears, and general damage that made up my dress. It would never go shopping again. In fact, I was quite ready to burn it. Unfortunately, Indigo’s body builder hips didn’t look like they would fit the same pair of pants that I would. I thanked him for the offer and started to leave.

  “Before you go, do I prepare a statement?” It took me a minute to figure out he meant a statement from a suspect, a suspect who had killed two people last night. I shook my head. I didn’t know what I was going to do about it all, but I wasn’t going to ruin Indigo’s life for saving me.

  I took the train home in a daze, doing my best to avoid the stares of the rest of the world. I thought about them, families going to the zoo, couples going to the farmers’ market, all normal people taking part in a normal life. I couldn’t imagine how I must look to them, my stained dress, my eyes surrounded by dark circles, and my far away stare as I tried to work out what to do.

  I took a hot shower but stopped myself from throwing the dress away. If I did say something to someone, the dress would be evidence. Maybe even the only evidence if Indigo was right. Two dead werewolves and a dead jogger but the only thing to prove it was thin piece of cotton. The world can be a sad and crazy place.

  I spread myself out on my bed, tired even after the sleep I’d gotten on Indigo’s couch. My mind swam with a thousand deep questions. What should I do? Did I report the murder of the jogger? Could I do that without implicating Indigo? He saved my life, could I repay him that way? I had a duty as a police officer to the law, but I had a duty to Indigo as a friend.

  My eyes landed on the clock. In an hour Danny’s family would take part in that normal life I felt so distant from. They’d pile into the same pew at St. Patrick’s. Nora would sit piously while Emma would squirm and Maeve rolled her eyes. At communion, Danny and Katie would switch off with the younger girls. After church, they’d have an early supper, finishing the whole affair before two o’clock in case Danny wanted to watch the game. Suddenly I wanted to be with them.

  I dressed in a whirlwind, not bothering to find church clothes, throwing on something from one of the shopping bags someone had left close to the bed. Remembering how powerless I’d felt the night before, I grabbed my service revolver and the shoulder holster. It was overkill but it felt safer. I bolted from the apartment and tore toward the subway.

  The train was pulling in as I arrived. I took it as a sign that I was meant to go. I got off the train and sprinted down the block, the church bells were already calling the faithful inside. I stopped running inside the vestibule, panting from the exertion.

  One of the altar boys was staring at me. When I caught my reflection in the crying room window I could see why, the light silk shirt and blazer made my chest look huge. The jeans did nothing to disguise the curves of my backside. Anna might know how to make a woman look sexy but she didn’t know much about church clothes. Blushing, I made my way to the Gallagher family pew. Emma had to remind me to kneel before I sat down. Danny gave me a look that was more question than greeting but I shook my head.

  A minute later Father Sam came down the aisle. The altar boy was too busy holding the large crucifix to gawk at me again. I was grateful. Nora found all of the songs for me in the hymnal, while Emma coached me through the rest of the mass.

  I felt apart from everyone around me, apart and empty. Every other person in the church looked like they had a spiritual connection with God while I was obviously just visiting. Instead of helping my mood it made things worse. Father Sam rose to give his sermon and I redoubled my efforts to concentrate.

  “Today’s Gospel tells us ‘A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people’ and I wonder if that isn’t true for our city right now. We may not expect the return of Christ tomorrow, but we all expect something to happen tonight. Speaking at the noontime mass is always a challenge. By now you’ve all read the newspaper, you know what terrible things have happened in the night, and you expect more terrible things. As your pastor it’s my job to challenge that expectation, to remind you to expect good as well as bad.

  “I think I have my work cut out for me today.”

  The congregation laughed at his joke, but for the first time I realized there was an undercurrent of fear. I had been so absorbed in my own turmoil that I hadn’t felt it, hadn’t seen how everyone seemed nervous. The fear of everyone around me made my own mental gymnastics seem petty. I hadn’t really stopped to think about what could have happened the night before, only on what I should do today.

  Father Sam went on but I didn’t hear it. Instead, I scooped Emma up in my arms and cried softly into her hair. I breathed in her little girl scent, but in my mind, I was back in that park, thinking about what could have been.

  The time for communion came. Katie patted me awkwardly on her way out, Nora and Maeve gave me worried looks. Danny did his best to act like he couldn’t see my red eyes. I was grateful, I knew I’d have to tell him eventually but I didn’t know how yet.

  “If you want a blessing, you can carry me up, and everyone will think it’s for me,” Emma whispered. I’d never gotten a blessing before, but I was willing to take any help I could get. I scooped her up and entered the long queue of people. When we finally made it to Father Sam, he put his hand on Emma’s head and offered a short prayer. She whispered, “Mallory too.”

  I felt a little silly, but when he touched me the feeling vanished. His hand was warm and dry against my forehead. It brought a sense of complete peace, of safety and warmth. I didn’t need to cry anymore. I wasn’t scared anymore about what could have happened. The feeling carried me back to my seat, making my steps lighter.

  The mass ended and we headed home. I explained my tears to the girls saying I had had a bad night. They all fought to sit next to me and comfort me. Danny caught my eyes and I knew we would talk later. Later was fine for me, I was happy to throw myself into popping string beans on the stoop with the girls. When we were finished, I had to view Emma’s new trophy. I told her it was better than any trophy I had ever received. I didn’t bother to mention that I’d never received a trophy in my life. My mom had always been too sick for me to take any kind of dance lessons or be in sports.

  Supper was the usual crazy affair. After dessert, I asked Danny to drive me to Jakob’s. Sure, I’d arrive when Jakob was still dead to the world, but the long drive would give me a chance to talk things out with Danny.

  I got little girl kisses on the way out and a drawing for Jakob from Emma. Before he had a chance to ask any questions I asked one of my own. “When Father Sam blessed me I felt…” I searched for the right words but couldn’t find them, “…I felt great. What is he, a spirit witch? A psychic? Something that can project?”

  “The instrument of God’s grace,” Danny said not so lightly.

  “Oh. That didn’t occur to me.” I fumbled for a way to extract my foot from my mouth, but before I found one Danny answered.

  “Sometimes you don’t ask why things work, you’re just grateful they do. Do I, that is…” he hesitated then spoke quickly. “Is Jakob going to be alive when we get there? I mean, he’s never alive, but not dead, I mean like he was last night?”

  I almost laughed but realized he was serious. “He’ll be asleep but I have my own key. This isn’t about him.”

  “What’s got you upset enough that you’re crying, then?” He looked at me sideways. “I’ve seen you attacked by all sorts of things and you’ve never cried. If it isn’t relationship trouble, what’s up?”

  “Let’s say, hypothetically speaking of course, that you knew a crime had been committed. You knew, but there wasn’t any evidence.” I tried to sum it up without making Danny any sort of an accomplice. “For the record, this crime—no one in the city would be mad about it, in fact most peopl
e would be delighted.”

  “Hypothetically speaking always gets so annoying.” He rolled his eyes. “Why not just tell me what happened?”

  “Okay but when you’re being questioned as an accomplice after the fact, remember you asked.” Somehow, driving in the sunlight after enough time with his family I could be flip about it all. I wondered how long that would last. “Last night our girl called back. I went back to the park without you and disturbed two werewolves who were in the middle of eating a jogger. They came after me, but Indigo stopped them.”

  “The guy who makes chocolate?”

  “That’s the one, except more like a five-foot-tall-at-the-shoulder jaguar with really big teeth and claws.”

  “Yeah, that would make more sense. How is there no evidence of that? I count three bodies someone should be bagging and tagging.”

  “Indigo tells me that wolves clean up after themselves. I have no idea if he’s right but when I went by the park on my way to the train there wasn’t anything left.” Danny hadn’t addressed the real problem, so I prompted him. “If I say anything about the jogger, then I have to mention what Indigo did…”

  “Which is technically a double homicide,” he finished for me. “A decent lawyer would get it declared self-defense. After all, it was two against one. Still, it would probably ruin his life.”

  “Exactly. I don’t want to pay him back for saving my sorry butt by doing that to him but I have an obligation as police officer—”

  Danny cut me off. “I’ve never told you about my family, have I, Mal?” I shook my head. He barely mentioned them and the reference threw me. He took a deep breath. “My family is different. They think that means laws don’t apply to them. In a few cases, I agree. Some things are unforgivable and you’re not going to settle for five-to-ten with time off for good behavior. Some crimes can’t be tried in a court of law.

  “Mind you I’m not saying every crime, and I don’t think that gives everyone the excuse to go out and take an eye for an eye. But sometimes things are terrible enough that you suspend the normal rules.”