Silver (9 page)

I grinned and pushed open the sliding door.
She sighed and returned to her book on the couch.

“
Your mom worries?” Nikki
asked from the darkness of the yard next door.

I tossed the skates over the back fence and
jumped over after them. “I’ve had kind-of what you might call a
troubled history.”

She climbed over the fence and gave me a
teasing smile. “Oh, a rebel, huh? My dad warned me to stay away
from those.”

I glanced at her. “So what are you doing out
here?”

She smiled, her eyes catching the starlight.
“Being rebellious.”

I glanced at her skates. She had tied the
laces together and hung them over her shoulder. They were bright
neon pink and sparkled with glitter. I lifted an eyebrow.

She pushed my shoulder. “I got them when I
was going through a pink phase. All little girls go through
it.”

I laughed. “How long ago was that, last
year?”
She shook her head. “We better get going, rebel, or we’ll miss out
on the fun."

We jogged down the aisle between the
fences.

“
Wow,” I said after a few
minutes.

She frowned. “What?”

“
You must have had thumper
feet to fit in those when you were younger.”

I laughed when she shoved me. “My parents
bought them big so they wouldn’t have to buy a new pair when I grew
out of them.”

“
I guess they thought the
pink phase would last a while.”

She grabbed my roller skates before I could
protest. “Let’s see what we can learn from your little skates,
shall we?” She slowed to a walk as she looked them over. “Geesh,
you don’t take care of your stuff.”

I glanced at the deep grooves cut in the
sides, the scuffed toes and holes where the brake screws should be.
“Let’s just say these have seen a lot of botched dares over their
time.”

“
No brakes?” she asked
skeptically.

“
They get in the way,” I
replied with a grin.

She shook her head and handed them back.

We walked along in amiable silence until we
reached the mall parking lot. We waited a few minutes and, sure
enough, along came the security guard swinging his nightstick as he
moseyed between the few street lamps that still worked.

Nikki bent down and took off her shoes.

“
What are you doing?” I
whispered.

“
Having a little fun,” she
replied. She looked pointedly at my skates. “Care to join
me?”

I watched her silently as I took off my
shoes, tied the laces together and hung them over one shoulder,
then pulled on my skates.

Nikki took off before I was finished. She
skated slowly across the parking lot, weaving between the circles
of light around the street lamps that hadn’t burned out yet. She
got surprisingly close to the security guard before he noticed
her.

“
Hey, you!” he shouted. He
ran toward her with his nightstick raised. I didn't think he meant
to hit her with it, but adrenaline rushed through my veins just the
same and I finished tying my skates with a growl.

Nikki just laughed and skated backwards out
of his reach. “Just wanted to say hi,” she said sweetly.

“
You know there’s a
curfew!” he huffed as he fought to keep up with her.

“
Is it to keep us safe, or
you?” she asked, her eyes glittering as she teased him. She let him
get closer and he waved his nightstick menacingly.

“
To keep us from the
werewolves,” the guard growled. He swiped the stick at her
sword-like and she jumped back just in time, her eyes widening
slightly.

I crouched to increase my speed and my
wheels hummed like angry hornets over the pavement. I reached out
and grabbed the nightstick before he could make another attempt to
catch her. He let go in surprise and I spun to a halt a few steps
away.

“
What do you mean, to keep
us from the werewolves?” I pressed, my heart racing.

He held out his hand and glared at me, his
chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath. He looked mad, but
there was a light in his eyes like he secretly enjoyed a bit of a
tussle after all the lonely nights on the job.

I shook my head. “Uh-uh. Not until you talk
to us.” I twirled the nightstick experimentally. It was weighted
well and moved smoothly in my hands.

He shrugged and bent over with his hands on
his knees. “You kids shouldn’t be out here. It’s dangerous. Why do
you think I patrol?”

“
You’re bored?” Nikki put
in helpfully.

“
You like adventure?” I
added, glancing around pointedly at the very empty lot.

“
You’re afraid someone will
steal the light bulbs?” Nikki looked up at the lamp closest to us,
a baleful gray pole with a missing light. “You’re not doing a very
good job.”

The security guard cracked a smile. “Nice
try. I do it because the curfew’s set for a reason. Things happen
here that you don’t want to know about.”

“
We do want to know,” I
pressed. I glanced at Nikki, hoping this could lead us into a
conversation later about her dangerous werewolf
boyfriend.

The guard held out his hand again. I
hesitated, then handed him the nightstick with a flourish. “Your
sword, sir knight,” Nikki supplied. I bowed and she giggled when
the guard took the stick back.

“
Yes, well, hmph,” he
muttered, shoving it back into his belt. Then he glanced back at
us. “I shouldn’t be telling you these things. It’s really against
the rules.”

I shrugged. “Well, we’re breaking the rules
anyway, so we might as well know why they're there in the first
place.”

Nikki nodded, her long black hair swaying.
“We might be more inclined to follow them if we knew what they were
for.”

The guard regarded us silently for a moment,
then sighed. “Very well.” He glanced around as though afraid
someone might be spying in the middle of the huge empty parking
lot. He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “There’re werewolves
in this town, and I suspect more than the city knows how to deal
with.”

“
Werewolves?” I forced a
skeptical tone.

He nodded. “I’ve seen ‘em.”

Nikki and I glanced at each other. Her eyes
were wide.

The guard continued. “No normal wolf is that
big. These werewolves are bigger than Great Danes and have bright
golden eyes that reflect the moon.” He warmed up to the telling,
his voice lifting. “They run in packs, huge packs, and howl the
likes of which makes my blood run ice cold in my veins. They came
right through here, and the lamps went out as they ran by.” He
leaned closer to Nikki, his expression dramatically horrified. “One
of ‘em stopped and looked me straight in the eyes. He licked his
big chops and grinned like he was laughing at me, then he turned
and ran off with the rest of ‘em.”

I fought back a smile at his scare tactics.
“Then we’d better get outta here, huh?”

He nodded. “I’d recommend it. That curfew’s
in place for a reason. The city’s scared and they don’t know what
to do about it. So they hide the people and let the werewolves run
wild.”

I shrugged. “Sounds reasonable.” He and
Nikki both stared at me and I rolled back a couple of inches on my
skates. I rushed on, “Well, if they’re as dangerous as you say,
it’d be good to avoid them.”

The security guard nodded in agreement.
“Exactly what I’m saying. It’s not safe for you kids to be roaming
around here with who knows what other creatures lurking in the
night.”

Nikki smiled. “We’ll take that into
consideration. Thank you, Mr. . .”

“
Sathing, Charlie Sathing.”
He stuck out his hand and she shook it.

I followed. “I’m Jaze and this is Nikki.
It’s good to meet you, Mr. Sathing. We’ll watch out for the
werewolves,” I said as lightly as I could.

“
You do that,” he replied
with a satisfied nod.

We turned and skating slowly across the
parking lot and into the shadows beyond. We stopped and switched
back to our shoes on the dead brown grass.

“
He’s a nice guy,” Nikki
said, a touch of surprise in her voice.

I nodded. “Very nice. I thought he was going
to hit you with his club!”

“
Me, too!” She laughed, “I
guess people aren’t always what they seem.”

A chill ran through me and I nodded in
wordless reply, wondering what she would think if she knew my
secret.

“
Well,” she said, oblivious
of my train of thought. “Let’s get going before we miss
out.”

“
Right,” I
agreed.

We walked through the darkness to the fence
and the sounds of voices beyond. I linked my hands together and
Nikki grinned at me. “Good thing you moved next door, rebel boy.
Things were starting to get boring.”

“
Never a dull moment in my
life,” I said. Luckily, she didn’t catch the bitterness of my tone;
I hefted her over the fence and then jumped up after
her.

We stopped at the main junction between the
aisles just in time to avoid the oncoming puck and a pack of roller
skaters inches behind. A scrawny kid in the front tripped on a
rock, the one behind fell over him, and suddenly the whole group
lay in a massive laughing heap on the cement. Nikki and I sat to
lace up our skates.

“
Hey,” the scrawny kid
said, pushing back his scratched up helmet. “More
players!”

“
Yeah,” a few others
shouted as they fought to untangle themselves from the
pile.

An older student dressed in black from head
to toe skated over and handed us a couple of sticks and two strips
of cloth. “Nice to have ya. Just jump in on the blue team. They’re
short a few today.”

“
Uh,” Nikki said, taking
the cloth. “Are there any rules we need to know about?”
Several students still sprawled on the pavement laughed. The older
student shook his head. “Just don’t go crying home to mommy if you
get hurt.” He smiled, but there was a hint of steel behind his
words.

“
We’ll be fine,” I said. I
took the sticks from his hands.

He looked at me closer. “Hey, aren’t you the
kid from that fight?” When I didn’t deny it, he laughed. “Dang,
guess I’ll choose the blue team next time!” He skated off with a
stick in hand and threw me one last look over his shoulder before
joining the fray.

I glanced at Nikki and shrugged. She smiled
and tied the blue cloth around my arm.

“
Come on, they don’t wait
for anybody around here,” one of the blue team members
shouted.

I finished tying her band, tossed our shoes
on a nearby pile, and gestured with my stick. “Ladies first.”

“
Thank you,” she
said.

My heart skipped a beat at the smile she
gave me as she passed by. I stared after her, noticing the way the
lights made purple highlights in her black hair. My attention was
torn away when the puck raced back in my direction.

“
Hey Romeo, gonna play?”
someone shouted. I jumped in and hoped no one noticed my crimson
face.

After a long hard game in which nobody kept
score, Nikki and I relaxed on top of one of the long rows of
selling stalls. The roofs were metal and still held some of the
warmth of the sun that had long set. It helped ease the ache from
my sore muscles.

We drank cold sodas and watched the few
stars that made it through the light-polluted sky. The moon rested
on the edge of the horizon, quietly observing its subjects. A week
from today it would be full. My bones ached for the change while I
dreaded it. A forced change in strange territory was not a good
thing.

Now would be my best shot to break the news
to Nikki that her boyfriend was a werewolf, and not just any wolf,
the leader of the biggest pack I had ever seen that was about to be
decimated by my power-crazy uncle so he could have the control for
himself. I grimaced inwardly. There really wasn't ever a great time
to tell someone that. I swallowed, searching for a delicate way to
say it, when she spoke.

“
So the security guard was
sure interesting with his theory of werewolves,” she said in a
neutral tone.

I glanced at her. “About that,” I started,
but she cut me off.

“
I need to tell you
something.” She sat up and looked at me, her expression
guarded.

I sat up, too, and turned the soda can in my
hands. The condensation pooled on my fingers and I wiped it on my
knees. “Shoot.”

“
I’ve never told anyone,”
she said with a nervous laugh. “I didn’t want them to think I was a
freak or something.”

I could understand that. “So why tell
me?”

She gave me a soft smile that stole my
breath. “You’re different. You don’t seem to care what anyone
thinks, and you’re not caught up in the petty stuff everyone seems
to care about.”

“
Such as?” I prompted,
curious.

“
Oh, you know. Money, hair,
clothes, that sort of thing.”

I glanced down, wondering if that was a
shot, and she grabbed my arm. “Not that that’s bad,” she said
quickly. She smiled again, this time showing pretty white teeth.
“It’s refreshing. And I like your hair.” She ran a hand through my
tangled blond strands and a tremble ran through my body.

I closed my eyes for a second to compose
myself, and when I opened them she was looking at me, her bright
blue eyes large. “I’ve never met anyone like you. I feel like I
could talk to you about anything. And we’ve only known each other
for two days. Is that weird?”