Page 39 of Wolf Bane
No.No it wasn’t.
“I’ll send Greeny and Clinton on a run for supplies,” Benoit interposed smoothly.“Check on beds four and five.Their fevers spiked earlier.”
I stared as Fern hurried towards a little alcove at the other end of the space, shoving the packages off to someone who looked half-awake before she went to a cot midway down the line.
“I need you to tell me everything you know,” I said flatly.“And I’ll tell you what I know.But I’m not doing it unless you let me make a call first.”
* * *
Benoit ledme on a tour around the makeshift infirmary which was, ironically, an old hospital.
“This used to be the community hospital for La Coupe Parish,” he explained, pointing out the ghost of the old logo emblazoned high on the wall over the beds.It was grimy, traces of industrial adhesive remaining in the vague shapes of letters and easy to miss if I wasn’t looking directly at it.“When they built that big corporate one closer to Shreveport, this one was cycled out first as a rehab center, then an old folks’ home, and then just left to rot at the taxpayers’ expense.Until ‘bout six months ago when that shittin’ council bought it up.Now it’s rottin’ on their dime.”
The knowledge that not only had I been kidnapped but was now in another state sent a fresh wave of disorienting nausea though me, rocking me back on my heels unsteadily.“We’re in Louisiana?”
Benoit raised a shaggy brow.“Course.When Stone the Elder Asshole kicked us loose, we came here where my family had a bit of land, somewhere for us to lick our wounds a bit.Besides, you think a Texan gonna name they kid a fine name like Benoit?”He laughed.“Come on now, ‘fore you get started you need to see what we got.”
What they got wasn’t a lot.The cafeteria converted to a sort of hospital, some medical supplies I didn’t have to guess were stolen, and a lot of stress.
“I don’t have a cure,” I said finally.“I just work in that clinic the council set up outside Belmarais.”
“They really love your little pack of freaks.Throwin’ all sorts of money and help your way,” Daniel groused.
“Help?”I laughed hollowly.“Are you fucking high right now?What the hell kind of help are we getting?”
“The clinic,” Slidell muttered.“Attention.You got that live-in ear for the council, don’t ya?And fuckingWaltripis all over the place and?—”
“Whoa, whoa… Waltrip?What the hell does he have to do with any of this?”My head was spinning worse than before.I staggered to a cot, thankfully empty, and collapsed hard on the unforgiving surface.
Benoit hissed something in patois to Daniel, who rolled his eyes and threw up his hands before stalking from the infirmary space.Benoit jerked a nod at Slidell and Zero, seemingly telling them to go.
Zero shook their head.“No, listen to me,” they began, then hissed as a ripple moved over their body.Not a shudder, the actual muscles moving beneath the skin.“Shit…”
“How long has this been happening?”Benoit demanded.“Slidell?”
“Yesterday,” he croaked.“This is the second time.”
Zero snarled, tongue lashing out against teeth that were suddenly too long, too sharp, before retreating to a normal size.Zero grimaced, dropping to the floor in a crouch as their breath came in rapid pants.Finally, they shuddered again, and their breathing slowed.“I can stop it right now,” they explained weakly.“But I don’t know how much more…”
“Let me call someone,” I demanded, turning on Benoit.“If you want my help,let me help,but I can’t do this on my own.I need… I need my friends.”And medical attention and possibly the cavalry.
Benoit and Daniel had a silent conversation that was mostly eyebrows and scowls before Benoit motioned for me to follow him as Daniel stalked away into the clinic.Instead of returning to the grungy office I’d awakened in, he led me through it and into a short, narrow corridor.
“This way,” he muttered, pushing me ahead of him into what was probably a storage closet at one point.A few rotting cardboard boxes, victim to the area’s humidity and probably a bad storm or two, were collapsing slowly beneath one of the lower shelves.My nose burned with the acrid tang of dust and mold setting up camp in my sinuses, no doubt ready to haunt me later.
“Listen before you start runnin’ your mouth,” he said, nudging me to sit on one of the shelves.“You look like you’re gonna die.”
“Well, your friend did maul me, and I lost blood.And I’m dehydrated.And I puked.And?—”
“Pah,” he fussed, waving one hand at me.“If you were a real were, you’d shake it off.Be strong.Heal.”
“Need me to point out the irony in that, hm?If your folks were real weres?—”
The deserved slap was brutal, knocking my head against the side of the shelving unit.Blood bloomed in my mouth, pulsing with the ringing in my ears.
“I’m not letting you leave here till you give us what we need,” he said, voice low enough to shake my bones.“We know all ‘bout Bluebonnet.Hell, I worked for ‘em back in the day.But I didn’t know any of y’all made it out, you know?But I see why the council’s keepin’ you for a pet.You’re gonna kiss their ass for keepin’ you safe, aren’t you?Turning your back on the weres.Is that what you want, punishin’ us for what they did to you?”
I blinked slowly, dizziness not abating this time, and slid to sit on the floor.“Look, it might be the concussion, maybe it’s blood loss, probably an exciting combination of both, but I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about, Benoit.”
