Page 36 of A Little Red
She stared at the wolf who stared back for a moment and then tried to crawl in her lap.
“I think I’m going to have to take you to my Grandma,” said Scarlet, hugging him. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but she’s been around a lot longer than me and she knows lots more about magic. So she’ll be able to help. Hopefully, she’ll know what to do about that strange man too. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
The wolf let out an unhappy growl.
“I agree,” she said. “I did not like him either. The thing is that I’m pretty sure he was one of the people in Liam’s files. I don’t even know what to think about that. I wish he would call. I wanted that anyway, but now I extra wish it. I don’t think I can wait for Liam. I think you need help and to get out of town. What do you think? Do you want to go to Grandmother’s house?” she asked. The wolf didn’t reply, but he didn’t stop snuggling her either.
The next morning, Scarlet packed her backpack, and after careful consideration, put on her belt and slung on her hunting knife. She and the wolf had slept fitfully, and he had been pacing since the previous night’s stealth pee break out in the back parking lot.
“OK,” she said, looking around the apartment, “the plan is to run to the car rental place. You stay out of sight while I get the car and then we drive to Grandma’s. We can do that, right?”
The wolf looked fully confident. Scarlet wished that she felt the same.
Episode 19
Out the Window
Paxton
Paxton leaned out the window and inhaled. He felt stupid driving around Brooklyn with his head out the window, but the other option was to put Cousin Conner on a leash and walk around pretending that he was a dog while they tried to pick up Liam’s scent. The smoking wreck of Liam’s car had been discovered yesterday morning after sunrise and Cousin Deidre in the State Patrol had come pounding on the door shortly thereafter. She couldn’t tell them much, but she was absolutely certain that she’d picked up Liam’s scent trail leaving the scene. warlock scent was all over the accident and Cousin Deidre had banned them all from the scene saying that it would have to be remediated before she thought it was safe for a wolf to get close. Not that anyone cared about the car. Liam was what mattered. Paxton hadn’t seen the grim expression on his mother’s face since his father’s death and he’d hoped to never see it again. Liam had to be OK. He had to be. Otherwise, Paxton wasn’t sure their mother would make it.
It had taken Paxton the better part of the day to track Liam across the fields, culverts and greenbelts with his cousins awkwardly driving behind him in a van. Paxton knew that Aisling, as pack leader, would be able to sense Liam’s general movement and direction better than even the best nose, but the pack had been of one mind—Aisling was not to be allowed out with warlocks on the loose. It was too dangerous. So Paxton was the one who had gone, and Aisling had not been happy about it. But sometimes the pack leader got outvoted.
Liam’s trajectory had become quickly obvious, but what no one could figure out was why Liam had gone to the city instead of coming home. And the gods only knew how no one had noticed him crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. Or maybe they had. Paxton had already spotted someone jogging in the snow in nothing but gold lame bike shorts and earmuffs. Maybe in the city, a wolf crossing the Brooklyn Bridge was the least weird thing someone was going to see at four in the morning.
“Right,” barked Paxton, catching a niggling little hit of Liam.
Conner swerved right at the next corner.
He inhaled again, picking up the woodsy floral scent of spring wrapped up in human femaleness and realized exactly where his brother had gone. But directly behind the smell of Scarlet was the skunky dark smell that made him want to sneeze.
“warlocks, too,” said Paxton, looking into the back of the van. “Get ready.” The Brown brothers looked at each other and held out their hands for rock-paper-scissors—Devin lost and reached for his gun. Derek pulled off his shirt. Paxton, already half naked, stripped out of his pants.
The sun was barely beginning to crack the heavy, flat clouds full of snow above them when Paxton spotted Liam. He was in wolf form on the corner of a vacant and overgrown lot. He was standing back-to-back with Scarlet who had a long hunting knife in one hand. They were facing four warlocks, and as he watched, a black cloud formed and struck at Scarlet. She dodged right and lunged at the nearest warlock, slicing through the black cloud and into his arm and chest. When the warlock tried to avoid her, Liam lunged and tackled him, pulling him to the ground. The man gave a guttural yell, but the other two warlocks stepped forward and the black cloud doubled in size, sweeping down and slamming into Scarlet, flinging her off her feet. She tumbled into the overgrown debris and snow-covered grass of the lot, sprawling awkwardly. One of the warlocks charged at her, pulling a knife that was close to a foot long and had a black blade.
Paxton’s heart was in his throat, his claws already shredding through his fingertips as Scarlet rolled, narrowly avoiding the warlock’s downward slice. She stabbed upward, making contact, but as she shoved her knife into his shoulder the black cloud struck at her again, hammering her to the ground. Liam dropped the warlock he had hold of and sprinted toward Scarlet, just as Conner pulled the van to a screeching halt.
Paxton heard the back doors slam open behind him, but he was already out of the van and running toward his brother. He didn’t remember changing, he only remembered the burning cold of snow under his paws. He heard the hot pop, pop of Devin’s gun, but he already had his jaws around someone’s throat. He squeezed tight and then ripped, twisting his head sharply. He felt flesh tear and the sudden gush of blood. The body under him went limp and Paxton gave it an extra shake, for certainty, and then let go and looked around.
He shifted and looked around again through human eyes. Liam was standing over Scarlet’s unconscious body, watching them warily. The other warlocks were dead. Paxton couldn’t tell who was responsible for what damage. He supposed it didn’t matter, but his stomach was roiling and he wanted to lick the snow to get the taste of warlock out of his mouth. He tried to pull himself together. He didn’t want the Brown brothers to think he was an idiot. They already looked down on any of the pack who hadn’t gone into the military.
“Liam,” said Paxton. “Change back. We’ve got to go.”
Liam continued to watch him with the same distrustful expression. In the distance they heard sirens.
“We’ve got to go,” said Devin.
“Liam!” barked Paxton. “Let’s go. Come on. Change!”
Liam jumped a little at Paxton’s tone, but didn’t move.
“I don’t think he can,” said Conner. “Look at him. He’s not…” Conner trailed off and they all stared at Liam. Paxton felt a hit of adrenalin and panic as he realized what Conner meant. The wolf in front of him was definitely Liam, he was also definitely all wolf. There wasn’t anything human in the way he was watching them. It wasn’t unusual for pups to get stressed and stuck in one shape or another, but this didn’t feel the same.
“Liam,” said Paxton, taking a step forward. Liam’s jowls lifted in a silent snarl and Paxton stopped. He was both freezing and sweating at the same time. It was as though Liam wasn’t Liam anymore. What was he supposed to do?
“Derek,” Paxton said, turning to his still wolf-shaped cousin. “Talk to him.”
Derek took a cautious pace forward. Liam in wolf form or out was bigger and outweighed him. Derek didn’t want to piss Liam off. There was the subtle tail flip and head cock as Derek tried to communicate.The pack has to go. Danger approaches.
