Page 31 of Loup Garou

The knife came hurtling at me. Gina tackled me just in time to prevent something ugly from happening and the knife stuck into the wall. I glanced at her and then the knife. “Can we file that under me showing up for self-defense class today? I think it counts.”

Something struck my stomach and sent my body into Gina’s. The force sent us both sliding across the floor. Gina screamed. “Jay, do something! I felt the force it hit Lindsay with. It’s not playing games.”

Exavier was suddenly next to me, touching my shoulder. Myra grabbed for him but he avoided her. “Linds?”

I smiled. “Sorry, slippery spot on the…umm…floor.” I rubbed my stomach and glanced around the room, trying to sense the evil.

It loomed up behind Exavier and I did the only thing I could think of—I grabbed hold of his leg and yanked him to the ground. “Get down!”

The evil swept past, narrowly missing him. Panting, I stared down at him. Every ounce of me wanted to shout the truth about supernaturals but I liked the guy too much to lose him. If I could even keep him as a friend, I’d be happy, so I went with a lie. I didn’t care how crazy it all sounded or if he believed it. I was sticking to it. It certainly looked as though I’d need to call my father later. “Umm, hi. There was a big spider by your head. Sorry about knocking you over.”

I rolled off him quickly and got to my feet. Myra helped him up and stared around the room. “Lindsay, why am I getting the feeling this thing was just toying with us?”

No sooner did she say it than the shadows merged into one and took shape. For a moment it looked like thousands of bugs crawling in and out of each other and then it took on the look of hundreds of snakes. Its outer form was of a man, but it was grossly unnatural to see it composed of bugs and snakes. My stomach churned as my pulse sped.

I took a step backwards and bumped into Myra. “Do me a favor.”

“What?”

“If that thing gets in me, behead me. Set my body on fire and whatever else is standard protocol. I don’t want to be brought back after that thing…” I did the creepy-crawly dance and shuddered. “I hate bugs and snakes. Eww. Myra. Eww. Ohmygod, maggots. I’m going to throw up.”

“Maggots? Lindsay, what is it? Where is it?”

The demon smiled and I cringed. “Call the prince to you now,” it hissed.

A stray snake leapt free of it and landed on me. Screaming, I spun in a circle to get it off me. It slithered up my arm, around my back and I couldn’t stop the heebie-jeebie quiver that tore through me.

The demon laughed as Myra tried to calm me down. “Honey, what’s going on? Where is it?”

I threw the snake free of me and shook. “S-snakes. It threw one on me.”

“Baby, you freak at the sight of a spider,” Jay said, sliding up behind me.

I stared at the demon before me with wide eyes. “Jay, tell me you can see it. Please. Tell me I’m not crazy. Right?”

Jay reached for me. “Tell us where you see it, Lindsay. Exavier can help. We just need to understand. It’s attacking under our radar. You’re about ten times more sensitive than all of us put together and it knows it.”

The demon smiled. “Yes, he speaks the truth. It is how it must be for the mate of the prince.”

“What? Why do I have to be so sensitive? I’d be perfectly happy not having to stare at your ugly ass.”

“Lindsay, what did it say?” Myra asked.

I forgot about attempting to hide what was going on in front of Exavier and simply spoke. “Something about me having to be this sensitive because of the prince guy.” I let out a nervous laugh. “What? Am I supposed to just know when the prince of darkness is pissed off and head it off with a good joke? A nice massage? Sex?”

“Yes,” it said, making me take a huge step back. “That is exactly what you were made to do, Lindsay.” The way it said my name was pure evil.

I shook my head. “Fuck that. I’m no man’s mood ring. And I’m not scared of you.” I swallowed hard. “Okay, notthatscared of you.”

“Lindsay, tell us where it is. We can stop it,” Jay said.

The demon tossed snakes at Jay and I lunged forward, using my body to block his. Several of them bit down on my arms and I screamed out. Gina’s breath caught. “Holy shit! You’re bleeding.”

The demon laughed. “Take me to the prince.”

As I knocked the snakes free of me, I stomped on each one. I should have been screaming hysterically. How I wasn’t was a mystery to me. “I don’t know where he is.”

“What?” Myra asked. “What are you talking about?”

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