The Werewolf Whisperer (The Werewolf Whisperer Series Book 1) (27 page)

"You
two rocket scientists had quite the night actually," Hanna said bitterly.
Worried, Lucy stood up too fast, and her head started swimming.

"We
just got here, bruja." Xochitl jumped in indifferently before Lucy could
speak. "What are you all up in our shit for?"

"Listen,
manita," Hanna said and glared at Xochitl. "Your little stunt with
the horse trailer has gotten over a million hits since eleven o'clock last
night. You're a web sensation. Congratulations!" Hanna folded her arms in
front of her.

Lucy
was taken aback. "Did that Todd boy post a video of us subduing Travis at
the gas station? That would be bad." Lucy's eyes slowly drifted to Xochitl
who looked like she was about to charge Hanna.

"Bad.
Yeah, real bad." Xochitl wasn't done. "You know what else is bad?"
She waited for Lucy to respond.

"I
don't know. What else is bad?" Lucy wasn't sure where this was going, and
her head pounded. The dizziness returned even stronger, and she rested her hand
on Chasselas' strong shoulder. The labs Brisco and Maggie flanked her, pushing
Kai slightly back.

"Let's
see." Xochitl seemed to consider. "I define two guys with bats, a
jackass with a lead pipe and a twisted motherfucker with a machete trying to
kill us as bad."

"Yeah.
That was bad," Lucy agreed, wobbly.

Hanna
stood still and stayed silent.

"In
the last thirty-six hours, we did a lot of running," Xochitl continued,
her words sounding far away and vaguely underwater to Lucy. "We chased a
couple of teenage Werebeasts through a canyon in the dark. I fell into a patch
of poison oak. Lucy got her leg clawed open. I shot a Feral girl who was dying
of mange. We took a helicopter ride with two pissed off mercs. We spent three
hours crawling a fuckton of miles around never-ending construction. We dealt
with a rampaging Beast in a horse trailer at a truck stop and a broken axle on
said trailer. We were cradled between two eighteen wheelers avoiding Smokey
Bear. We crated my friend's son, loaded him onto a boat named Charon and sent
him off to become Lord of the Werebeasts or die. And for the privilege we paid
a Tolstoy Mofo crusty ship captain an ass and a half of dough." Xochitl
took a breath, but Lucy didn't interrupt. She could tell Xochi was just getting
started.

"Then
we had to listen to a security guard as old as dirt advise us to leave our guns
in the car while we go Hound hunting because guns are dangerous...You know what
I find dangerous, Lucy?"

"Hmm..."
Lucy felt a sway start in her shoulders, and her knees had a distinct gushy
pudding quality to them. "I don't know," Lucy said, unsure of what
Xochitl was talking about. "What do you find dangerous, Xochitl?" Lucy
was distracted by the birdsong from the trees. She smiled thinking about how
many types of birds there were in the world.

"I
find running into a crazy ass team of Catchers dangerous. Running into them not
once, but twice in one night, I find double-dog dare dangerous."

"Uh
huh," Lucy said. "Blue jays are blue, you know."

"And
not only that." Xochitl ignored her and took a step toward Hanna. "My
night wasn't complete until I ran down a heck-a-fast Super Hound, smashed my
face into a steel storage container, got rained on and last but not least was
nearly massacred by a cabal of pinche Were-murdering vigilantes."

"Hmm,"
Lucy said empathetically.

"I
fought my admirers off with only one knife! One knife." Xochitl sounded
self-satisfied. "Couldn't use the other one because some stupid Highlander
wanna-be got in a lucky shot. Hurts like a mother. Pissed me off to no end."

Lucy
turned to puzzle out Hanna's reaction from the look on her face because the
words coming out of Hanna's mouth in response to Xochi's tirade sounded like
the cacophonous sounds of a rusty trombone.

But something went wrong. Instead getting
a better look at Hanna, Lucy got a better look at the gravel. She saw a large
dog tongue coming at her. She meant to say, "It's okay, Poppy." But
the words jumbled in her mouth, and then there was darkness.

*

Kai
howled and ran circles around the three women. Out of the corner of her eye,
Xochitl saw Lucy sway, then hit the ground with a thud.

"Lucy!"
Xochitl rushed to Lucy's side and turned her on her back.

"Quiet."
Hanna growled.

Kai
ignored her and continued his keening.

Lucy's
eyes were rolled in the back of her head, and her skin appeared sallow. She
felt warm to the touch. Blood and pus seeped through her sweatpants where
Travis had clawed her.

Kai
crouched next to Xochitl and sniffed Lucy's leg. As if he'd smelled rancid
meat, he reeled away and bellowed in alarm.

"She's
burning up." Xochi wiped away the sweat beading on Lucy's forehead with
her sleeve.

Hanna
had started to kneel across from Xochitl when Kai jumped atop Lucy, straddling
her protectively. He growled low, threatening Hanna.

Hanna
took a step back.

"Kai?"
Xochitl placed a cautious hand on Kai's arm. "It's okay, boy." She
pointed up to Hanna. "Lucy's family."

Kai
looked at Lucy, then at Xochitl and whimpered.

"That's
right." Xochi, trying to emulate Lucy, used her best calming voice.

Kai
moved off Lucy and squatted next to Xochitl.

"Good
boy." She patted Kai on the back. "Nice job."

Kai
smiled and nudged her with his shoulder.

"Impressive."
Hanna, still keeping an eye on Kai, knelt slowly next to Lucy.

"Just
doing what Lucy would have done." Xochitl waved off the compliment, though
she felt a small sense of pride in receiving a sign of respect from the woman
Lucy regarded as a second mother.

"Not
sure I'm comfortable with a Feral running loose on the property though."
Hanna reached down and touched Lucy's thigh, feeling for broken bones.

Kai
whimpered.

"She
was injured when we nabbed Travis." Xochitl looked apologetically to
Hanna. "I didn't know it was this bad."

"Doesn't
surprise me," Hanna said, cradling Lucy's head in her lap. "Even as a
little girl, she'd go days with a cut or sprained ankle and not let on she was
hurt until Ellie noticed. Used to drive her mama crazy." Hanna reached
under Lucy's arms, causing Kai to whine. "Help me get her into the house."

Xochitl
found it curious that Hanna didn't seem alarmed at Lucy's high fever. "Don't
you think we should take her to a hospital?" She patted Kai on the back,
moving around him to grab Lucy's legs.

"Not
a hospital for miles, and the doc's a drunk. Wouldn't let him near my girl if
her life depended on it," Hanna said, matter-of-fact. She must have
noticed Xochitl's concern because she added, "Which it does not. No. I'll
call Doctor Howard. He'll sort her out."

Hanna
lifted Lucy up by the armpits with amazing ease as Xochitl struggled to get a
proper hold on Lucy's limp legs, her body heavy in her unconscious state.

"Kai,
help Lucy." Xochitl grunted and nodded for Kai to move toward the porch. "Doctor
Howard?"

Kai
smiled and bounded up the stairs to the front door.

"Does
that Feral ever stop moving?" Hanna looked over her shoulder toward the
kennels. "Our other boarders are going to have a problem with him."

Xochitl
gazed up from Lucy's legs to see Kai literally bouncing off the walls doing
back flips as he waited for the women to reach him. "So far, he only stops
when he sleeps. Out cold."

"The
vet," Hanna said, walking backward up the stairs of the wrap-around porch.

"Huh?"
Xochitl struggled to hold onto Lucy.

Shudda had Kai carry her.

"Doc
Howard's a vet," Hanna replied as she eased Lucy up onto the stoop.

"What?"
Xochitl almost dropped Lucy's legs. "You're going to call a vet?"

"Of
course." Hanna seemed at ease with the idea of an animal doctor treating a
human. "He's known Lucy all her life," Hanna continued. "And who
better to cure Cat Scratch Fever, than a vet?" Hanna chuckled.

Xochitl
shook her head.

Now I know who Lucy gets her bad jokes
from.

"What?"
Hanna asked as she waited for Kai to stop bouncing around and open the door.

"Nothing."
Xochitl yelled up to Kai. "Hey, Hound Chow!"

Kai
stopped and tilted his head to the side as if confused.

"Door!"
Xochi nodded toward the wrought iron screen door. "Open."

Kai
smiled, bounced to the door and threw it open.

"Easy,
stray. That's hand-crafted," Hanna grumbled.

"He's
a bit hyper." Xochitl tried to sound conciliatory.

"No
kidding." Hanna stepped over the threshold into the house. "A real
special breed," Hanna muttered with contempt.

"He's
good at a lot of things." Xochitl hoped to cast a good light on the
squirrely boy. Somewhere between fighting off the Vigi Boys and listening to
the Were's nonstop snoring, she'd grown attached to the kid.

I
seem to be doing that a lot lately.

Lucy
mumbled incoherently as Xochitl and Hanna hoisted her into her childhood home. Off
the foyer was a large living room, eclectically decorated with a mix of
comfortable stylish furniture and old world pieces. Beyond the living room,
through the dining room was the kitchen, and around the corner and to the
right, was a long hallway, its walls covered with framed photographs of Lucy in
various stages of her life.

Huh. No Dad.

One
photo in particular caught Xochitl's attention. It was of a beautiful, petite
young woman —
Lucy's mom?
— smiling as she held a little redheaded girl.

Lucy doesn't look like her mom at all.

They
passed another door and stopped at the end of the hall.

Oh thank God.

Xochitl's
arms felt like they were about to fall off. Every muscle screamed, and her body
threatened to collapse at any moment.

Hanna
seemed anxious as she watched Kai sniff his surroundings and pick up various
items for closer inspection.

"Kai
put that down," Xochitl hissed. "Open door."

With
deliberated care, Kai placed a vase back on a decorative side table, skipped
over to Hanna and opened the door — gently this time.

"Kid
catches on quick," Xochitl said, overselling the teen Were to Hanna like a
used car salesman.

They
followed Kai into the room and eased Lucy onto the bed, resting her head on a
down pillow. Hanna walked to the adjacent Jack and Jill bathroom.

Xochitl
sat on the end of the bed and watched Hanna wet a washcloth before returning to
the bedroom. She dabbed at Lucy's forehead with the cloth, continuing down her
arm and stopping at the leather cuff around her wrist.

Xochitl
held her breath as Hanna unbuckled the cuff and slid it off Lucy's arm,
exposing the jagged scars hidden underneath.

As
if they were her own, a flood of emotions rocked Xochitl. Shock turned to
horror, which turned into to what Xochi perceived as anger. Then, as a tear
slid down the side of Hanna's face, Xochitl felt overwhelming sadness.
Lightheaded and dizzy, she placed a hand on the bed to steady herself.

"She
doesn't talk about it," Xochitl whispered, trying to catch her breath. "I
think she's ashamed."

Hanna
turned, her dark curls skimming over her brow, and for the briefest of moments,
Xochitl thought she saw Hanna's chocolate colored eyes glow amber, but then it
was gone and all that remained was pain.

I'm
so tired I'm losing it.

Hanna
placed Lucy's cuff on the side table and lovingly brushed the hair off her
face. "I'll go call the doc." She patted Lucy lightly and left the
room.

Xochitl
remained seated at the foot of Lucy's bed as Kai, curled up on an overstuffed
chair in the corner of the room sound asleep, snored. Going on less than fumes,
her body was beyond aching. It was numb.

Wish I could conk out whenever I wanted.

On
the nightstand next to the cuff, Xochitl noticed a picture of Lucy as a little
girl. She picked it up and studied it.

Lucy can't be more than six or seven
here.

The
old black and white photo looked as if it had been hand-painted to add color. On
a pier over a lake, Lucy cradled a golden puppy in her arms, the sun shining
down on her long copper hair. In the background, out of focus, a woman stood on
the porch of a small log cabin.

Wonder where this was taken?

Lucy,
the cabin and the innocence depicted in the picture reminded Xochitl of her own
small moment of happiness when her parents would picnic and fish by the lake at
Camp Pendleton. Xochi's heart ached.

"Get
a grip, Xoch," she mumbled, shaking off her melancholy as she placed the
picture back on the nightstand.