MisStaked (38 page)

Stud had been all but blind. He saw Luna go down, but that was it. The last clear sight of her he had was when she rolled under the rabid Sharbano. Stud looked for an opening he could exploit, but found none. He was kept rooted in place by the uncertainty of the situation. For the first time in his life, Stud didn't know what to do. If he rushed in, he could do nothing more than get hurt himself. The chimp was no fighter. Stud hated to admit it, but he was too small to be of any help, hated himself for thinking it, but knew it was true.

Then, the situation changed. Sharbano flew through the air, right toward him. Stud ducked out of the way, as the boy skidded into the snow. Sharbano landed hard, throwing a blanket of snow into the air with his impact. The man flinched twice and didn't move again. Stud didn't know what kind of kung fu she had used, but good for her.

Jumping to his feet, Stud looked for Luna. His eyes went to the spot he last remembered seeing her and Sharbano. Instead of his friend, a hulking shadow moved from the darkness toward him. The moon moved from a bank of clouds lighting the land. Stud let out a strangled gasp. Okay, now was definitely the right time to wet himself.

A wolf the size of a small horse drifted across the ground. It was huge. Stud was no fool, he watched Animal Planet. These things were killers. Oh my God! It was covered in blood. The big-ass dog had eaten Luna and was coming at him, like he was dessert. He'd seen the Temple of Doom. He knew what they did to chimps. He was just a little chimpanzee. He was too young to be served chilled.

Fumbling for his last shred of bravery, Stud ran. His little legs pumped for all they were worth, but it wasn't enough. He felt the wolf sink its teeth in the loose folds of his jacket. Closing his eyes, decided to face death with all the strength he could muster and promptly passed out to avoid the whole thing, all together.

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Okay, vampires can have bad days, but don't expect it to be today.

The tire was flat and there was nothing Lewis could do to change the fact. Leopold thought differently and was quite vocal about it. As a result, Lewis had tuned him out thirty minutes ago. It was the only thing that had stopped him from finding a stake and driving it through Leopold's old ass. Before his death Lewis had been a pimp and a player. Players did not change flats. They had ‘hos to do that shit. Just because he was a vampire did not mean he had magically changed into the type of man who changed tires.

He reached over and hit the clock button on the radio. It flashed 9:42. They had been sitting in the truck for over an hour. Leopold slapped his hand away from the dash, continuing his tirade, blissfully unaware Lewis had stopped listening. Okay, maybe he could change a flat. Anything was better than listening to Leopold bitch all night.

Without a word Lewis opened the door and jumped to the ground. His legs sank up to the knees in snow. Shit. These pants were dry-clean only. Well, Mr. High and Mighty was going to buy him a new pair. Grumbling under his breath, he walked around the truck looking for the flat. The vamp made two circuits before giving up. He had heard the pop and felt the truck drag to the right. The tire had to be flat. Checking the tires again, nope, they were all aired up. What the hell was going on?

"Having car trouble?” a voice asked, sending Lewis tumbling into the truck. The bundled up owner of the voice bent over and gave his hand to the floundering man. “Here, let me help you up, young feller."

Lewis got back to his feet. “Where the hell did you come from?"

"South Dakota originally, but I've been about everyplace."

In the light from the open truck door, Lewis gave the man a good once-over. What little he could see of him, he appeared to be an Indian—an old one at that. The rest of him was covered in the biggest parka Lewis had ever seen. Except for his face, there wasn't an inch of the man was left bare to the weather. But, it was the old man's eye that haunted him. They were black as coal. As dark as they were, the twin orbs contained a twinkle that made Lewis nervous. The eyes belonged to a man who was liable to do anything.

Lewis found the voice to ask, “No, I mean, what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Oh, you'll have to speak plainer than that. My granddaughter ran off with some white boy from the States and I came up here to make sure he didn't try anything funny. I don't have to tell you what them pale-skins will try to get away with. Do I?” The old man gave Lewis a jab in his ribs with his elbow. “But you don't want to listen to an old man jabbering away in the middle of a blizzard, do you?"

"No, I really don't,” Lewis sneered.

"See there. I told you so.” The old man laughed. “Now, what seems to be the trouble with your truck?"

"I thought we had a flat, but it looks like we just bogged down in the snow,” Lewis said, hoping the man would just walk on down the road.

"Well, old Coy knows a thing or two about these tricky suckers. Why don't you just hop back on up in the cab, and I'll see what I can do to get you back on your way.” Coy pushed Lewis back toward the front of the truck.

Lewis grumbled the entire way to the cab. The old man was crazy as a loon, but anything was better than standing out in the cold.

"Now, I'm going to try and wedge something under your back wheels. When I give the word, you gas it and pull it forward,” Coy said, walking away. His voice was almost lost on the rising wind.

Lewis shook his head and jumped back into the cab. He ignored Leopold, who was ranting to his own reflection. Lewis didn't know what was worse—a crazy vampire in the truck, or a crazy Indian outside. He turned the key. The engine sputtered, but he pumped the gas until it finally caught. Sticking his head out the open window, Lewis waited for the man's call. He didn't have to wait long. The cab was just beginning to warm up when he heard the Indian call out. Throwing the truck into gear Lewis slammed on the gas.

The truck rolled back. Lewis rocked back and forth in his seat to help it get going. After several attempts the truck rolled free. He let it coast forward for about twenty yards before putting it into neutral and letting the truck idle.

"About damn time,” Leopold told his reflection.

Lewis ignored him. He threw the truck door open and hopped down. He looked back expecting the old man to come ambling up. Lewis saw no one. Thinking maybe the old guy slipped when the truck broke free, he walked back to where the truck had been sitting.

Even though the snow had yet to let up, Lewis could see his own footprints in the snow, for the life of him he couldn't find any for the old man. He saw the hole where the back tire had been stuck. There was even a broken slab of wood with streaks of rubber where the back tire had run up it, but nowhere was there a single sign the Indian had been anywhere near the truck.

Standing in the blowing snow, Lewis rubbed his head. He was losing it. Being cooped up with Leopold had finally driven him mad. It was bound to happen. He'd just thought it would have taken him longer than thirty years to do it. The wind picked up, deluging him in a shower of fresh snow from the treetops. Not about to stand in the dark nursing his paranoia, Lewis ran back to the truck and hopped in. Lewis wasn't even in his seat when he threw the truck into gear and took off.

The belching of the truck vanished into the night. When the sound was nothing more than distant thunder, the old Indian walked out of the woods. He smiled a shifty grin. It might not have been his best trick, but it had been enough to get the job done. Then again, Coyote had been known to be subtle when the need called for it.

In spite of his efforts, he wasn't sure it would be enough. Luna and her man had a wall of trouble heading for them, and there was little more he could do to stop it. This wasn't his game to play out. He might be able to wiggle his finger here and there, but that was about it. As much as his children meant to him, there was little he could do when he wasn't running the show. True, he had his own scheme in play. So he could dabble a bit to keep it going. Ultimately, the main event was out of his hands.

Soberly, he walked back the way the truck had come from. The old man hoped the white boy could handle this. A lot of people seemed to think he could. For Luna's sake, Coyote prayed they were right.

Stud was in the middle of praying, a sport he rarely played. He had already worked his way through the Egyptian, Greek and Roman Pantheons and was about to start on the Hindus, when he felt himself being slowly lowered to the ground. Here it comes, the last chomp before that last trip to the great banana tree in the sky.

"Stud, I can't believe you wet yourself,” a gruff voice laughed.

Stud's ears perked up. Luna! It sounded like Luna, but it didn't. What if it was Luna talking from inside the wolf's belly? He didn't remember hearing a wolf could swallow somebody whole, but anything was possible.

Against his better judgment, he cracked a single eyelid. Then, promptly slammed it shut again. The wolf was right over him. It was a talking wolf. How dare a wolf talk, and with Luna's voice to boot! Everyone knew animals couldn't talk. It was ridiculous. Wait till he got home. He was going to start an Internet campaign to put an end to this talking animal shit, if it was the last thing he did.

"Come on. Open your eyes, Silly Butt,” the Luna-wolf ordered.

"I am not. Now, take your wolf-talking ass somewhere else."

"You're one to talk. You're a monkey and you talk."

Stud crept one eyelid open. “That's different. Besides I didn't just eat a perfectly good girl and then start talking like her."

"Stud, it's me, Luna,” the wolf said.

"What chou talkin’ ‘bout. Willis?"

Luna sat back on her haunches beside the flinching chimp. This would be harder than she thought. If it hadn't been for Sharbano, her secret would have been safe. Now, it was out in the open, and she was scared—scared of what she would say to Stud. Most of all she was scared of what Breathred would say when he found out. Sighing, Luna guessed the best thing to do was tell the whole truth. It wasn't like she could lie her way out of this.

"I was born like this,” she said, turning her head to look at Stud's reaction.

"You were born a dog!” Stud exclaimed.

"No, a werewolf. See, in my tribe, in every generation a daughter of Coyote is born. My family has had the honor of being the heirs of Coyote since the dawn of time."

"And you've been hiding this from us?” Stud asked, sounding a little hurt.

"I didn't want to, but look at it from my side. By the time I knew I could trust you, I was afraid you wouldn't like me, if you knew the truth."

"Then, why tell me? I mean you could've run off or changed back before I saw you."

"I can't change back until morning, and I couldn't just leave you out here with Sharbano,” Luna said, tears rolling down her furry face. “Please don't hate me. I'll understand if you do, but please don't tell Breathred. Let me do it."

"I don't hate you. You're my best friend,” Stud said, tearing up himself.

"I am?"

"Yep.” He threw his arms around her neck. All right, he was a big softy.

"What about Breathred? Are you going to tell him?” she asked, worried by what he was going to say.

Stud released her. “I won't tell him, but you're going to have to. He loves you, and he has a right to know."

"I know, but I don't want to tell him right now. With everything else I don't think he could handle it. Do you?” Luna asked.

"No, the boy ain't exactly flexible, when it comes to change,” Stud agreed. “But you can't keep something like this a secret from him forever."

"I'll tell him, when he's ready."

"So can I ask you something?” Stud asked with a devilish grin.

"Yes..."

"Does this mean I can call you a bitch without getting my head chewed off?"

"No,” she growled, giving him a good look at her teeth.

"Just checking. So what are we going to do with Sharbano?"

"Take him back to camp,” Luna said, looking over at the unconscious man.

"You mean he's not dead?” Stud asked.

"No, I just knocked him out. He should wake up soon, though, so we better get going,” Luna said, butting him to his feet with her muzzle.

"How do you expect to get back into camp like that? Hey, you aren't going to be able to. Are you?"

"No, I won't. You'll have to take him into camp. I'll help you get him there. You'll have to do the rest."

"Okay, but what am I going to tell Breathred, if he asks where you're at?” Stud asked.

"We just better hope he's still asleep. Otherwise, ‘Lucy we got a lot of ‘splaining to do!'” She laughed in spite of herself.

Luckily, the clearing was deserted when Stud dragged Sharbano's limp body the last few feet into camp after Luna had drifted back into the shadows. Seeing no one moving about, he assumed everyone must be asleep. He looked back to see Luna's golden eyes flashing in the darkness and waved to let her know it was all clear. He heard the rustle of leaves, as she slipped back into the forest. Stud hoped she would be okay. She might be a wolf-girl, but it didn't mean she was Wonder Woman. There were worse things than wolves out there. You just had to look at the lights by the tomb to know that for a fact.

He'd made it about half way across the camp when Stud heard the unmistakable sound of Brogan lighting a cigar. Just great! Did that bastard ever sleep?

"Wondered where he got to,” Brogan said, through a haze of smoke.

"If you wondered, why the hell didn't you go after him?” Stud snapped.

"Saw you and the girl take off after him. Figured if you needed help, you would have called."

"Thanks.” Stud dropped Sharbano's head to the ground. “So, where was Roberts?"

"He fell asleep. Said he didn't think Sharbano was going anywhere."

"Guess, he was wrong."

"Looks that way. So, where's the girl?"

"She went on into the tent,” Stud lied, hoping Brogan hadn't been watching him come into camp, but doubting it.