Hunter Moon: A Grazi Kelly Novel #2 (20 page)

“Technically yes. But you have to understand,
the
Romani
are wanderers. My ancestors have been wandering
this land for almost two hundred years. I have a lot of mixed blood
flowing through these veins. Eastern European, African,
Mediterranean, Muslim, Catholic, Jewish, Cherokee and some Lakota
too. I’m a
real
American, a human melting pot.” He
smiled.

In that smile I saw an image of an older
looking Alessio with straight black hair riding a horse. He was
bare-chested and his stern face was smudged with paint.
A
warrior’s spirit
. I shook my head and focused on the Alessio
who sat in front of me.

“Dreamcatchers are powerful magic. Most
people think they’re just a dumb tourist thing. Hang that up on the
ceiling over your head when you go to bed tonight. It should keep
the dreams at bay until I can arrange a
scaping
with my
puri daj
.”

I looked to Ronan for a hint at what to do.
He shifted his shoulders. The movement so small I’m not sure I
would’ve caught it if not for my keen eyesight. It was up to me.
Ronan had my back.
Always
.

It looked like I’d be making this decision
myself. Alessio may be telling the truth. I didn’t smell a lie, but
I was unfamiliar with how well my sense of smell stood up against
people with magic. And he had magic. That was one thing I was
totally sure of.

“
Puri daj
is what I call my
grandmother.” He explained.

“Your grandmother? Okay, I mean, I guess it’s
okay then. You know, you kind of smell like cinnamon. Like someone
else I know.”

“Oh, you must mean Sherry. She’s sort of my
Aunt. That is, my great-great grandpa had a fling with her mom, and
anyway, you get the picture. Don’t mention her to my
puri
daj
or we’ll never hear the end of it.”
His great-great
grandfather? Wow. She must age like a Werewolf.

“Anyway, my sweet, sweet scent is actually my
anima magicae
. It’s like the heart of my powers. Sexy,
right?” I rolled my eyes at him. Ronan bared his teeth. White,
long, and sharp looking even in human form. Alessio gulped.

“So magic powers smell like cinnamon?” I
asked.

“Not all powers no. But white magic, you
know, good magic usually smells that way. Like familiar spices and
pleasant fragrances. I can smell you too, you know.”

“But I’m not magic.”

“Sure you are.”

“What do I smell like?” Ronan let out a low
growl before Alessio could answer my question.

“Relax dude, I wasn’t going to be
disrespectful. Although Werewolves in general do have a certain
canid
body odor, but a good one! I swear!”

“I smell like
dog
?”

“No, no, not to me. And not to anyone else
either! Ow!” Ronan threw his spoon across the table. It wasn’t a
really hard throw. Especially not for Ronan. It was sort of gentle.
Kinda.
Not.

It hit Alessio smack in the middle of his
forehead. I covered my mouth, but couldn’t stop the laughter that
bubbled out. Alessio furiously rubbed the small red welt and tried
not to pout. He scowled in Ronan’s direction, but never attempted
eye contact.
Smart guy.
Ronan turned to me.

“You know, your Uncle Sean told me
Gypsies
were charming. Charming, really? What was the man
thinking?”

Ronan leaned back as Derek came over with his
heavy tray. He passed out the steaming dishes. Everyone dug in. I
was starved.
As usual.

Alessio forgot about his welt and grabbed a
fork. He ate with gusto. Like he had never eaten a meal before. I
could almost believe it, he was so slender.

But not in an unattractive way. His limbs
were long and gangly, but he was alright. His curly hair looked
almost black. His equally dark eyes took in everything around him.
From the brightly painted walls, to the images on the small flat
screen at our booth.

He seemed to type things as he thought of
them.
Sweet potato fries and their history. What is organic
beef? CyberSodas’ hours and staff. Top secret recipes of all
time.
Stuff like that. His face was angular, a little on the
long side, but not unpleasant. Still. He had nothing on Ronan’s
chiseled features and his tall, muscled frame.

But it really wasn’t fair to compare anyone’s
physique to Ronan’s. He was in a class all his own. I felt his eyes
on me. I hoped he wasn’t reading my mind or anything right now.
How embarrassing would that be!
Great, Grazi, why don’t
you just wear a sign saying this guy’s a hottie. Weirdo.

I could feel my blush as I took a bite of my
sandwich. What does it matter what either of them looked like? I
was the last person in the world to judge anyone based on looks. I
mean, I’d never win a beauty contest.

Suddenly, I wished it were possible. I wished
I was petite and blonde and pretty, like, well, like Julianna. Then
maybe I’d stand a chance. I shook my head to clear it.
Was I
really this shallow? Ugh.

I finished my food in record time.
Dang
it, I should have ordered more.
I snagged one of Ronan’s
choco-bacon fries. It was actually pretty good. He put them between
us and I grabbed another. He smiled as he took a sip of his shake.
He had such a great smile.

“Grazi, is it true you went to CyberSodas
without
me
? Like WTH?” I could sense Angela’s anger as we
changed into our winter gym uniforms. Brown sweatpants with the
same mud splattered zephyr on the front of the see-through t-shirt.
The sweatpants were ugly, but
way
better than the shorts so
I was not going to complain.

“Well yeah, but it wasn’t planned or
anything. It was a last minute thing.”

“Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes and
squatted down to tie her sneakers.

“Hey Angela, believe me, I had no intention
of ending up there yesterday.”

“Yeah, well you could have called, Grazi.
That’s what friends
do
. It would have given me an excuse to
go see Derek. We’ve been texting almost every night and playing
Wolf Moon
together.”

“You have?” I sounded surprised even to my
own ears.

“Yes, we have. I know it’s kind of corny, but
I like it and so does he. You don’t have to sound so shocked
either. Some guys may actually find me attractive too, you
know.”

“Of course I know guys find you attractive!
Look, I’ll apologize again. I really am sorry. And you don’t have
to explain yourself, Angela. I think it’s nice you both like the
same things.”

I felt her anger dissipate a little and I was
glad. I never intended to hurt her feelings. How could I explain to
her that I never really had a friend before? It was embarrassing
enough. Truth was I had spent most of my younger years standing
behind Julianna’s spotlight.

Sure, Nonna was great, but going to Church
and playing Scrabble with a bunch of seventy year olds was hardly
educational in so far as how to treat one’s friends as a teen. And
what was with the ‘guys may find me attractive too’ stuff? I mean I
always thought she was super comfortable in her own skin.

Guess I’m not the only one with self-esteem
issues.
Great, now I’m a neurotic, self-obsessed Werewolf.
I
pulled my hair into a loose braid and swung it over my shoulder. I
looked at Angela as she fluffed her short red curls. They were
glossy and pretty and her green bow looked great as always. I wish
there was something I could do to help her know how special
was.

“You know, Angela, Derek is lucky to have you
be interested in him. Not the other way around.” She seemed
embarrassed by the compliment and shrugged her shoulders.

“Ew, look who it is? Hey Grazi, I hear you
and Sebby are official. Like officially losers. Hahaha.” Lizette
rolled her waistband down revealing a small tattoo under her navel.
When did she get that?
My Werewolf eyes picked up the image
faster than I would have been able to before.

My breathing stopped. It was a familiar
symbol. It was in the shape of a pentagram. It was upside down and
it spiraled outwards.
Like the one Ms. Vorax had after the
Wendigo possessed her
. The sign of the coven. This was
so
not good.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s like one thing for you to
like,
give it up
to him, but to actually make him ask you
out in return? You’re like totally ruining his reputation. Forget
prom king next year. He probably won’t even get into a good college
now.” Lizette continued her nasty rant oblivious to the tension in
the air. She smelled sweet. Like
sickeningly
sweet. I rubbed
my nose.

“You are just so selfish. I bet you don’t
even care he might lose the Student Council elections coming up!”
Julianna trembled in her anger. She didn’t look directly at me when
she spoke.
I think she’s still a little scared of me
.

She has been ever since she and I argued
before the Harvest Dance last month. She stared at the ground as
she rolled down her pants to hip level also. I breathed a sigh of
relief when I didn’t see a tattoo matching her friend’s.
At
least she was safe. For now.
I grabbed my bottle of water and
left the locker room.

My mind was going in a million different
directions. I had to slow it down. Focus on one thing. Help. I
needed help. I heard the squeak of Angela’s sneakers as she
followed me.

“Grazi, where are you going? The gym is that
way.”

“Um, I don’t feel well Angela, you go on.
I’ll meet you there.”

“No way. If you don’t feel well I’ll go to
the nurse with you. There is no way, I’m going to Phys. Ed. without
you.” I was too amped up to argue with her. I needed to get on a
phone to Uncle Sean ASAP. I headed to my locker where I kept my
cell.

“Alright, fine. I need to make a call.”

“You could get in trouble, Grazi, if someone
catches you.”

“I know. Last chance for you to leave,
Ang.”

“Grazi, I’m going with you.
Friends
,
remember?”

“Fine. Keep a look out then.” Last thing I
needed was for Sr. Diane to be patrolling the halls while I was
breaking one of our more serious rules.
No cells during
classes
. I found my phone, turned it on as quickly as I could
and texted a message to both Uncle Sean and Ronan.

Ronan responded first.

I’m in the gym where are you?

By my locker. You have your phone?

Duh.

Don’t you follow any rules?

Um, no. Not really. Hurry up then.

Next message was from Uncle Sean.

Do nothing. Do not approach or engage her,
Grazi. It may be just a decoration. I’m at a Church function, I’ll
be back before five. I’ll check it out then. Just follow your
routine.

I threw the phone back in my locker and
slammed the door shut.

“Oooh, Grazi! Someone’s coming. Hurry up!
Let’s go.”

I heard the clacking of Sr. Diane’s low
heeled shoes. She wore the same beige dress shoes every day. I
instantly recognized the sound they made when they hit the old worn
linoleum floors.

They were a marbled dark green color and
several were cracked and discolored with age. I think every
Catholic school in the state had the same floors. Maybe they got
them at a discount or something. At any rate they were functional.
Ugly, but functional.

We ducked down the hall in the opposite
direction and made it to the gymnasium just before coach Vinnie
finished dividing up the teams for volleyball.
Great. I really
hate gym.
Even with my new physical abilities I still did not
like Phys. Ed.

I simply was not good at team sports. I guess
it was because I was always such a loner. I stood next to Ronan as
Coach yelled out instructions.

“No hitting the ceiling folks! If you do,
point goes to your opponent. Remember ladies get under the ball.
You hit it up and over, got it?” A few immature giggles at that,
but I wasn’t paying close attention.

“So what did you see?” Ronan’s voice was low
enough for my ears only. I answered him in kind.

“Wait for Lizette to hit the ball and when
she does look at her stomach. She has a tattoo. I swear it’s
identical to the one Ms. Vorax had on her back.” He nodded as Coach
blew his whistle and the game began.

Was that sound ever going to get any
easier to bare?
I could hardly think as I shook my left ear. My
entire equilibrium felt off.
Boom!
I took a volleyball to
the face.
Ouch.

“Hey Grazi! Wake up!” Julianna called. She
was serving for the other side.

I couldn’t believe I just took that hit. My
face heated up and I could imagine my blush. Sebby looked away from
me. He was on Julianna’s team. You know, the side with all the
cheerleaders and star athletes.

The team I was on included Angela, who was my
best friend, but hardly knew which way to face and an assortment of
other juniors I hardly spoke to. Most were in the honors program
and several were puffing from inhalers, checking the clock, or just
sitting on the floor.
Lovely.

Ronan was the only one I knew could hit the
ball, but he wouldn’t be showing off here.
Werewolves were
supposed to be a secret.

It was your basic jock versus geek set up.
Been watching teen movies from the eighties again, Coach?
I
so
hated Phys. Ed.

The only thing worse than sucking at it, was
being good at it and being forced to suck!
What was the point in
being good at stuff if you couldn’t show it in front of
people?

Faith, service, grace, loyalty, mercy and
humility
. It was sort of our Werewolf code. And right now it
was all I could do to not pick up the ball and aim it at Julianna’s
perfect golden head.
The rat!