Seven Kinds of Hell (38 page)

His gaze never quite made it to my face until I slid in next to him.

Perfect fit.

I hadn’t let myself remember the simple joy of making out naked with Will. Denied the possibility of it ever happening again, I couldn’t bear to recall it. Now the simple friction of our bodies was almost more than I could bear. I ached in all the right places.

He brushed the back of his fingers against my nipples. I threw my head back into the pillow and gasped. We kissed again. I grabbed his butt, urged him into me. He found his way, and we were there.

I wrapped my legs around him and bit his shoulder to keep from howling.

The next morning, I awoke alone in my cabin. That didn’t surprise me until I saw my clothing was not piled neatly on top of the locker, but was flung all over the floor.

I burrowed down into my pillow, testing my feelings.

Well, I felt…
great.
Once I’d gotten the hang of sex, I’d liked it, and with Will, it had always been amazing. Last night had pushed the needle toward “mind-bending.”

Even so, I wasn’t looking forward to our next meeting. It would have been easier if he’d just stuck around, so we could—

What, Zoe? Talk it over? You were always so very good at that. Maybe another go-round…?

Something like that. My face warmed, and I noticed I was whistling as I got washed up and dressed.

Besides being reunited with Will, something else had changed in me. Fighting alongside my Cousins last night had been a powerful thing. I had a glimpse, the merest idea of what Gerry had been trying to teach me, about being Fangborn. Part of a Family, with a purpose. It had almost entirely obliterated my shameful feelings about Changing. No more fear of the Beast. No more Beast. The Beast was me, and I now understood I was part of an ancient and powerful Family.

I had a lot to think about.

Everyone else had beaten me to breakfast, and their faces were as somber as the day was beautiful. There was no room next to
Will, so I sat at the end. He did wink at me when our eyes met, so I felt pretty good about that.

Not so about the discussion. Even fruit, eggs, and fresh goat cheese couldn’t cheer that up.

“We’re pretty sure we need to split up, Zoe,” Danny said as I ate. “If the men who attacked us last night knew where to find us, it’s clear they’re looking for the same things we are. They know where we are, and there’s just the seven of us against who knows how many of them. If we split into three groups, we can probably dodge them, or at least distract them from our real target.”

“The sanctuary at Claros,” I said, finally putting my thoughts about Will, and food, aside.

He nodded. “We’ll get there this morning. Ben and I will take the ship north. The rest of you will head into town. You’ll split up there and, with Claudia and Gerry, find your way straight to Claros. Ariana and Will will head south, then loop around. We’ll keep in contact, and if we don’t see anyone following us, we’ll all meet you at Claros.”

“But what about my training?” I said.

“On hold,” Gerry said. “Or at least on the fly. That’s why we’re going together. So eat up, then get ready. Don’t take anything more than you need—”

“I don’t have anything more than I need,” I said, shoveling the last of my breakfast down. I didn’t realize I’d been sneaking looks at Will until I saw him smile, faintly, secretly.

Danny sat on my bunk while I packed up my clean clothes. He looked better than he had in days. Actually, he looked better than he had, ever, period, and I told him so.

“This agrees with you,” I said. “I wouldn’t have guessed it.”

“Me neither. I guess gallivanting doesn’t bother me as much now that it’s on my terms.”

“Even getting kidnapped?”

“Even getting the shit kicked out of me.”

I must have looked surprised.

Danny’s good humor evaporated. “If I ever see Dmitri again, he gets a bullet in the eye.”

“Just give me a chance to ask him about my father.” I explained how he had a piece of the figurine that matched the fragment my father had somehow acquired. I looked at him. “You’ve been bullied before, not like this. But even so, this time…you seem different. Better?”

“Zoe, I kept myself
alive.
I’m different because I’m not helpless like a kid is, even if it’s just attitude. This time, the only reason it happened was because five huge guys with
guns
were the bullies, and it took all five of them to get me out of that apartment quietly. That could have happened to anyone, but
I
survived. I like knowing that, and next time…”

“Next time, I’ll tear his—no. I’ll save him for you.”

“Yeah.” He looked thoughtful. “Last night, I thought I heard Georgian being spoken. As in Tbilisi, not Atlanta. I think the men who found us were Dmitri’s; one of his guys was a Georgian.”

It was a good clue; I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between Russian, Georgian, or anything else. “You should tell the others.”

“I already did. Will and Ben and I discussed it this morning. That’s why we decided to split up, to keep them and Knight off our trail.”

“So…” I wasn’t exactly sure how to bring this up. “You know I’m…I’m a werewolf?”

“Yeah.” Suddenly he was shy, too. “Can…would you show me?”

I shrugged. “I can try. I need a minute.”

I tried
not
to think about wanting to show Danny what I’d always wanted to confide in him. I tried
not
to think about how bad I was at this, how conflicted I was, how worried I was about what the day would bring, my feelings about Will…I shook myself, closed my eyes, and tried to think of nothing. Then I thought,
trowel bite.

I felt the Change, opened my eyes, saw Danny, agape.

Then, just as quickly, it faded. I was Zoe again.

No, you’ve always been Zoe. This is just another aspect,
I berated myself.
No, don’t blame yourself. It will just make it worse.
“Did you see—?”

“I did. It…lasts longer, usually?”

“I didn’t say I was a
good
werewolf. But I’m learning.”

“You’ll get the hang of it. I’m so proud of you.” He hugged me.

“You’re proud I can turn into a werewolf?”

“Yep. And someday I’m going to find out just how long you suspected before someone told you it was OK.”

“Sorry, like I said, I thought I was crazy.”

“Well, you’re that, too.” He handed me my bag. “Time to go.”

I shouldered my bag, unspeakably weary all of a sudden. “Don’t fall overboard.”

“Don’t get kidnapped by Russians,” he returned. “I can’t recommend it.”

I said good-bye to Ben and got into the Zodiac. The ride to the marina was noisy only because of the engine. No one was talking. Once we were in the marina and we’d gotten our visa stamps in our passports, Ariana and Claudia went to find a rental car. Gerry disappeared.

Will and I had about thirty seconds to say good-bye.

“So…what’s the deal?” I said. “Are we back together, or dating, or having sex or what?”

As soon as the words left my lips, I wanted to call them all back. I just sounded so horrible and defensive and prickly. Same old Zoe.

“Why?” Will crossed his arms, joking, acting tough. Maybe he wondered how much of the old Zoe was there, too. “You got plans lined up, depending on my answer?”

I couldn’t pretend to be casual. “I’m sorry, I just…I just want to know what last night was. That’s all.”

He shrugged, looking just as bewildered—tormented?—as I was. “I don’t know. I think we can’t make any quick decisions about the future while we wait for Ariana’s credit card to clear at the rental desk. I think we need to talk seriously, and we haven’t got time.”

I nodded, looking away. A thought struck me: What if he really didn’t want me? What if my wish had acted like one of Claudia’s suggestions, and I’d made him want me?

“If it helps, I’m going to do my best not to get into any romantic entanglements before I see you again,” he said, smiling. “And if I don’t get to see you again, I’ll be very happy we made a bad decision last night.”

“Don’t talk like that.” I wanted to believe last night was the first step to repairing us.

“Don’t fool yourself, Zoe. This is dangerous. We all know the risks.”

I nodded again. For now, I’d have to be satisfied with the illusion we might be together again someday. “Right.” Ariana and Claudia were returning, so I stuck out my hand. “Good seeing you again.”

He laughed for real this time and pulled me close.

I tried not to think of it as a good-bye kiss. It was too nice for that. I tried to think of it as a “see you soon, and then we’ll see what happens” kiss. For two cents, I would have chucked it all right then and there and dragged him back to my bunk, and I had very nearly decided to do so when he pulled away.

He caught his breath, cleared his throat. He’d been thinking about the bunk, too. “Gotta go.”

I couldn’t speak; he was right. I just nodded again.
Jesus, Zoe. You may be more articulate as a wolf.

Ariana hugged the rest of us good-bye, and we set off.

Claudia was driving. I was glaring at the map, because it made it easier to hide my tears. Gerry was fooling with the radio, trying to find something besides Turkish language news, Christian broadcasting, and German disco. Finally we settled for Turkish dance music.

It was a couple of hours driving from Didim to Kusadasi, then to Claros. We had a lot to talk about.

No one was talking, though.

“Gerry, where did you take off to?” I said, finally mastering myself.

“I had to make a call.”

A long beat. No explanation. Unlike the usually voluble Gerry.

I finally asked, “Is that a euphemism?”

“No.” He shifted in his seat. “I made a few calls to some folks at home, folks I know are on our side. Partly to let them know about Knight’s plans so they can keep an eye on his office back home. Part of it was to confirm that it was one of his guys who was leading the group of Fangborn following you in Cambridge.”

He stared at the scenery as it rolled by: flat countryside with hills in the distance, all shades of brown on brown. “At first it was some out-of-town Family looking for strays—for you, Zoe. That was bad enough, coming into our neck of the woods, instead of letting us know about you and letting us take care of bringing you in. It’s the politics, you see—they wanted one more vote on their side. Then Knight’s people stepped in and took over their efforts. He has a lot of sway with the various, more conservative Fangborn factions. He’s definitely going to make a move, and he’s consolidating power.”

“So the Fangborn are…getting ready for war?”

He scowled. “With any luck, we’ll stop Knight before he can get that far.”

We arrived at the site, a bit of low ground just off the road, surrounded by fields and ringed with hills in the distance. The site was empty at the moment, but we’d passed a van leaving as we pulled up. It was about lunchtime, so we dug into the bag of food we’d brought from the boat. After, Claudia dusted off her hands. “Ready, Professor?”

“Uh, for what?”

“Little tour of the site. Tell us what we’re looking at so when we come back tonight we can be ready and acquainted.”

I looked around, gathering my thoughts. The air was hot and smelled of oranges from a nearby grove and stale water in ditches around the site. There were huge slabs of marble that contrasted brightly with brown ground, patches of scrubby pale-green bushes, and weedy, prickly plants. There were orchards just beyond the site, leading up to bare, rocky hills. I could see the remains of archaeological field seasons past, as well as some hints of the season in progress: fresh-cut trenches, square and regular; a pump system to drain the groundwater away; a small shelter, hastily constructed with palm fronds and sticks from around the site, was set up over a table. I knew that’s where the maps would be drawn, or perhaps the supervisor would oversee progress in the various units from here.

It felt familiar. It made me miss Will all the worse.

Beyond the remains of the temple were the ruins of colossi, of Apollo and Artemis. Pillars tens of feet high gave the idea that once, long, long ago, this place had been splendid.