Black Wolf (12 page)

"He was
threatening Jesse," Bryan pointed out reasonably. "It's not like
you just pounced him for no reason and with no warning."

"I still
shouldn't have lost control!"

"Kev," Cynthia
said gently, laying a slim pale hand over Bane's rib-scores; the
bleeding gradually slowed, as she hurried the clotting process as
much as she could. Not a lot, she was witch, not healer, but
enough. "You are nothing like what you were when Dia hauled you
away from Rebecca. You've done better than anyone expected at
learning how to keep your temper under control, and you've done it
much faster. One mistake, under provocation like that, isn't the
end of the world."

"Bryan said
you warned him first," Lori said. "And it's not like he could have
been unaware of how strong you are. If he persisted, then he made
his own choice and took his chances."

"I might have
burned out his gifts totally. That's kind of a steep penalty for
being obnoxious, don't you think?"

"No," Bane
said, unruffled. "I don't. We decided to protect Jesse, and we did.
Leave it at that, phoenix. You're tired, most of that power you
were using was pure adrenaline and there wasn't much light to back
it up. That's making things look worse than they are. Someone take
down the circle."

Deanna simply
grounded the raised power directly into the earth, while Cynthia
did a hastier than normal thanks-and-dismissal of the summoned
elements. As the support of the circle faded, Flynn sagged forward,
then let himself sprawl on the carpeted floor, clearly worn
out.

"Dia, get Kev
to bed?" Cynthia requested. "I'll call Gisela and Liam and then get
Flynn into bed. Lori, can you find Kev and Flynn and yourself
something to eat? Naomi, can you keep an eye on the wolves and keep
doing what you can? You're better at healing than I am anyway."

Lori headed
for the kitchen, and Naomi only nodded, still examining Bryan with
witch-senses for other damage. Deanna urged Kevin to his feet and
up the stairs to his room.

"Stay?" Kevin
said pleadingly, as she swiftly stripped his shirt and jeans
off.

"I intended
to." She wriggled out of her own clothes equally quickly.

By then, Lori
brought a couple of sandwiches, one of Kevin's home-made brownies
and a glass of juice—she said nothing, but the support and
reassurance and love she was radiating were clearer than words
could have been, between two telepaths. Kevin looked at the food
without appetite, but obediently ate, not really tasting it; his
rapid metabolism made it too dangerous to sleep without a start on
replacing what he'd just used. There was no way Deanna and Lori
would let him risk it, regardless of how little he wanted food
right now. Only once he'd finished it did Lori leave quietly with
the dishes.

Deanna curled
up with him in his bed, tucking the blankets around him,
automatically making sure that her somewhat cooler body was less
completely covered. He snuggled closer, resting his head on her
shoulder, still trembling.

"I hurt him
bad," he whispered. "And I attacked first."

"Shh. Go to
sleep. We can talk about it tomorrow." She stroked a hand lightly,
repeatedly, over his hair and down his back. "I know, Kev, I know,
but let it be for now, sleep."

Even with
Deanna's comfort, it took him a long time to fall asleep.

The
Quicksilver Sphynx

Miscellanea, November 1993

Nick 'Winter

Aha! The guilty party
has been found! Josh Neumann made that chocolate cake! He even gave
me the recipe, with permission to print it.

Lupe Ravenflight and
her partner Gwenna Merilon are offering to teach classes in pottery
and hand-weaving respectively over the winter to anyone interested,
and they're willing to divide it into beginner and advanced groups.
They'd like to get started soon, so give them a call.

Make sure you read
Trista 'Merrymoon's article on smith-magic on the front page. If
you find it as wonderful as I did, let us know, and maybe Trista
can be persuaded to do more for us.

There's a personal
peeve I really have to bring up. Over Samhain, I heard a hundred
references to Alessandria 'Starluck's seventh child being conceived
on Hallowe'en night. Not having been there two centuries ago, I
can't say for sure, but would people please think? Alessandria,
practically the founder of Haven, had six known children. Seven
makes a nice round magical number, sure, but really, folks—a wolf
as strong as Alessandria, bearing a daughter with the father
variably a demon, a faerie, a predator, or something unknown,
depending on which version you hear? A daughter no one knows
anything about? If someone can show me some reference to any child
but the six, from whom descend as we all know very nearly every
Haven wolf of today, I will gladly apologize publicly and print the
information. Until then, stop talking about it like it's history
and keep in mind that it's a legend! Despite the fact that we all
grow up hearing it, "Black wolf, demon wolf, Shadow in the night,
Wild heart, wild blood, Born and die to fight," does not count as
conclusive proof of
anything
, either, so
don't try throwing that at me.

I have been informed
by our local guitar-god Alex that his new band will be playing for
us on the solstice. They'll be at the school gym, and they'll be
playing off and on all night, including the sun-setting and
sun-rising. I guess not even they can play all the way through the
longest night of the year! The cafeteria will have lots and lots of
food (if you have something to offer, call Avery 'Prism), and the
library will be open as quiet space. Wild-sounding party in the
plans! Cari 'Dragonfire tells me Exotica are planning a Yule
Mystery play for us, combining elements of just about every
midwinter festival ever, it sounds like.

There's going to be a
dance at the school on the full moon (the 29th) at 7 pm. Usual
school dance rules: preferably students Grade Nine and up, covens
permitted.

I'm told Coven
Tabbycat are contemplating a role-playing game weekend in the near
future, no experience necessary. Give one of 'em a yell if you're
interested. I'd be going if I weren't working every weekend. Have
fun!

Breaking news: Our
mysterious Cinderella in the red and gold belly-dance dress, who
had the amazing dance moves giving ideas even those of us happily
committed to covens, has let herself be identified. Yes she's new
at the college this year, no she's not part of a coven yet (I've
been asked that about fifty times), and her name is... Darik
Albertine. Yes, the sexy blonde woman in fire colours is a male
dryad. Genderbending may be normal enough but not like that! It's
tricky to get noticed at the dance when everyone is trying for the
same, but that worked. And cheers to those from Falias who knew and
those with senses that let them see who "Sabine" was but played
along anyway. Hm, I know someone who did something similar, not
many years ago. I hope this works out just as well!

7

Gisela
unlocked the kitchen door with the key Cynthia had given her when
they'd moved in, and padded quietly into the silent house. She'd
sensed Jesse's presence with increasing intensity since her
second-last class, prompting uncharacteristic impatience to escape
the school and come find him. His shoes lay carelessly by the door,
a battered black canvas backpack beside them; she could hear music
turned down low in the living room. She left her own boots and bag
there, and crossed the kitchen towards the rest of the house.

When she
reached the living room, she was glad she tended to move so
quietly: he was curled up on the couch, one of Kevin's magesilk
blankets tangled around him, his head pillowed on his arm and his
other hand cradled close against his chest. He didn't react at all
to her presence. Sound asleep.

She smiled to
herself, and decided to let him be. There was nowhere she needed to
be on a Thursday afternoon. The house would be empty until Sunday
evening, so there'd be nothing to disturb Jesse. He could probably
use the rest.

She prowled
back out to the kitchen, and found what she halfway expected: a
note.

Jess, Flynn
had a hunch you'd show up this weekend. We left Thursday morning,
we'll be back Sunday evening. You're welcome to stay. Unfortunately
everyone you know is gone. If you need anything call Gisela or
Evaline or Lori, phone numbers are on the wall by the phone. They
know who you are. See you when we get home. Kevin. PS, this key is
yours to keep.

The key in
question lay beside it on an unadorned ring. Most likely, Sundark
had simply left the door unlocked earlier.

Flynn had a
hunch, huh? Like that was anything new. There were those in Haven
who could see farther places in the world, see farther into the
future, see things with no more focus than an item or two of
information or an object; Flynn was, however, hard to rival when it
came to matters close to home and of the immediate future and
relevant to those he was familiar with.

She got
settled in one of the living room chairs, her feet tucked up under
her. Being barely five feet tall and willowy-slim had few
advantages, but one was that she could get comfortable in places
and positions her friends couldn't. She closed her eyes and let
herself doze off, listening for Jesse to wake. The slow dryad
metabolism was the opposite of the elves' rapid one: they were fine
eating once or twice a day, but tended to need more sleep. Why pass
up the chance for a catnap?

Motion roused
her; she lay still, but opened her eyes to watch Jesse extricate
himself from the blanket and stretch lazily.

Belatedly, he
noticed her; she saw him tense like a startled cat, trying to
decide between fight or flight.

She smiled,
sat up and crossed her legs, combed honey-brown hair out of her
eyes with her fingers. "It's okay. Only me."

The wariness
remained. "I don't know you."

"I'm Gisela. I
knew you were here so I came." She made a face. "Dia'd yell at me
if she knew. She'd say I'm invading when you wanted to be alone. So
nobody knows."

"No one ever
tell you it's dangerous being alone with a guy you don't even
know?"

The relevance
of that she dismissed with a wave. "You won't hurt me."

"So why did
you come?"

"Because you
hurt yourself, and I can help if you'll let me." She got up and
came to sit beside him. "Give me your hand."

Jesse obeyed
automatically, and let her take his bad hand in hers. She frowned
thoughtfully.

"Can you
stretch it flat?"

"It hurts, but
almost."

"Can you close
it all the way?"

"No." He
showed her how far he could, about halfway, and his thumb was
definitely not cooperating.

Gisela caught
his hand again, held it between both of hers, and turned her senses
inward, tracing the damage. Connective tissue, mostly, which was a
nuisance to fix but better than bone, and most of it radiated out
from the joint of his thumb. Once she knew what was wrong, she
began to repair it, coaxing everything back the way it should be,
easing the inflammation, rebuilding attachments. She felt the
familiar warmth in her hands, felt it spreading into Jesse's,
working its way through skin right down to the damaged muscle and
tendons. Jesse felt it too, because he tensed again, poised as if
he'd bolt at any instant.

She opened her
eyes and released his hand. "Now try."

He stretched
it fully, closed it tight, a few times, with only one small wince
of discomfort.

Gisela smiled
when he raised wondering eyes to hers. "I'm a healer. I'm still
learning a lot, but I help take care of my friends. I'm glad you
came so I could fix it. Take it easy on it for a few days, though.
Come tell me any time you get hurt and I'll always fix it. I
promise."

"That's...
incredible. Thank you."

She shrugged.
"That's what healers do."

"Can everyone
around here do things like that?"

Gisela gave
him her most guileless smile. "I'm the only healer you've met. Lots
of people in Haven can do things the rest of the world doesn't
believe in. That's why we stay here, so no one finds out and we'll
be safe. Part of why, anyway. Dia says we can't tell you everything
yet 'cause we don't know you well enough. I think that's crazy. You
won't tell anyone. You don't like normal people either. And I don't
think you'd have a very hard time getting used to it. But I'll
behave. Usually Dia knows what she's talking about better than me,
so I listen, but nobody's right all the time, right?"

"As a general
rule, it's safer not to trust someone you don't know," he
cautioned.

"Maybe
generally, sure. But you're safe." Most likely her friends would
tell her she was counting too heavily on the link that bound her
and Jesse and Kevin like delicate strands of spider-silk. She
doubted she'd have been able to make them understand that it wasn't
the link that made her sure she was safe, only her own instincts
telling her Jesse would attack only to defend.