Artemis watched Meg leave the house and he smiled. She should be vulnerable, ripe for the picking by now. He didn’t know what Durante did, but he informed them this would be the time to move on her. Artemis still couldn’t figure out how she escaped from her room, when it was locked and she was strapped to a bed, but she was his daughter after all, so he shouldn’t be that surprised. At that moment, she stopped in mid-step and turned in his direction, though he was hidden. “Who are you, and why are you watching me?”
Slightly taken aback, Artemis stepped out of the shadows. “I . . .”
“You’re Nicole’s uncle,” she cut him off. “I saw you at her house that night you tried to kill her.” Meghan was in no mood to stand around talking the night away.
Artemis bristled at the mention of that night. He never intended to attack Nicole. Things got out of control. That sort of thing happened a lot over the past century or so. He couldn’t control himself anymore when things upset him. That lack of control led to a great deal of his problems. “She simply misunderstood my intentions, I assure you.”
“I’m not interested.” Meg began walking again, ignoring Artemis. She wanted to be alone, lost in a crowd, right now, and he was keeping her from accomplishing that goal.
Undeterred, Artemis followed a few steps behind. “I think you might be, if you knew what I have to tell you.”
“Right, like I buy that.” She rolled her eyes dismissively. There was nothing he could say that would be of interest to her.
“I knew your mother many years ago.”
Meg looked over her shoulder, still walking. “Yeah, you and half the state.” She held no grand illusions about what kind of a person her mother was in her youth. Over their brief time together there were a lot of “boyfriends,” and few of them ever lasted for very long. Various conversations Meg overheard since then, mainly from staff at the orphanage, confirmed her mother was always like that, even before Meg was born.
“Well, I knew her about twenty three years ago.”
Meg almost missed a step, but otherwise she didn’t show any outward indication that what he said meant anything to her. “Your point?”
“I think you know my point.”
Meg spun to face Artemis. “Just say what you want to say so you can leave me alone.”
“I’m your father,” he said with a hint of pride in his voice.
Meg laughed and looked at him incredulously. “As if.” Turning, she began to walk again.
Artemis felt mildly surprised at her skepticism. “Where do you think you got your werewolf blood from?”
Meghan realized for the first time she never thought about the origin of her abilities. Shaking her head, she tried to figure out what was going on with her. How could she not wonder why she could suddenly turn into a wolf? Before she thought much about it, the significance of the question began to fade away again. It didn’t matter, did it? So, she was a werewolf, big deal. Just one more screwed up fact to add to her life. “Like you’re the only werewolf who could have knocked up my mom? I’m afraid you’re going to have to do better than, ‘Hey, trust me, I’m your papa.’”
Artemis reached out and grabbed Meg’s arm, spinning her around to face him. “Look at me and sense the truth of my words. I’m telling the truth.” She was being much more difficult than he expected. She should be honored to be part of such an illustrious bloodline. Instead she was being oddly cold and cynical.
Meghan felt his hand on her arm like a burning coal. She wanted it gone, and she wanted it gone, now. Looking up at him, her head still tilted downward, she spoke with deceptively soft words. “I don’t give a damn who you are. Get your hand off of me.”
Artemis dropped his hand immediately, struck by the intensity of her reaction. Her voice might have sounded calm and unthreatening, but there was no mistaking the strength and power behind her words. A maelstrom of energy was gathering inside and around her, ready to be focused into whatever action she wished. The most alarming part was how unaware of it she appeared. She wasn’t trying to build the energy. It came to her simply in reaction to her supremely powerful will and desire. He must be careful not to upset her anymore than he already had. There was no telling what she would do if pushed. “You know I am telling the truth.”
Still shaken by the contact, Meg didn’t respond right away. She felt something, a recognition. He was right about that much. Closing her eyes, she tried to make sense of everything. A few days ago she knew who she was, what she was capable of, but in the beat of a hummingbird’s wing, that changed.
“He’s telling the truth.”
Meg opened her eyes at the sound of her mother’s voice behind her. Turning, she saw her mother standing there calmly. “Oh, Meghan, we’re together, at last. We can be the family you’ve always deserved.”
“But, you were angry with me,” Meg said weakly.
“That’s in the past. You’re my daughter. I could never stay angry with you.”
“But . . .” Meg heard the childish tone in her voice but was unable to help it.
“Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“I . . . of course I am.” Meghan felt faint, not even sure how she remained standing. How could this be happening? This was all like some kind of bad dream.
Tammy clapped her hands together in a display of extreme satisfaction. “Wonderful. We’ll be so happy together.” Tammy stepped forward, pulling Meghan into a tight embrace.
Meg stood limply in her mother’s arms, unable to voice a response. As she stood there, as still as the nonexistent wind, she felt a cold knot of pain form in her stomach at the unspoken words she could hear running through her mother’s mind. Pulling free of her arms, Meg swiped away the tears running down her face. “How dare you? What kind of a mother are you? What kind of a person are you?”
Tammy looked back at Meghan in confusion. “What do you mean?” To her credit, the confusion seemed genuine. She honestly didn’t know what angered Meghan so badly.
“I know what you feel. I could hear what you thought of me just now. You don’t care about me. You’re using me.” Meg felt her anger rising, clearing away the childish hesitation she experienced moments before.
Tammy’s eyes lost any hint of warmth. “You always make things difficult, don’t you?” Her voice no longer reflected the love of a mother reunited with her offspring. Instead, it was filled with venom and malice.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Meghan screamed. Hearing her mother’s thoughts was bad, but hearing her words out loud was even worse.
“See, this is what I’m talking about,” Tammy continued. “You always were more trouble than you were worth. I should have let Eddie do what he wanted. Then he wouldn’t have put me in that coma, and I wouldn’t have been forced to kill him.”
“Y-you, you killed him?” Meg’s voice shook with emotion. Her mother killed a man, and not just any killing. She brutally ripped him into pieces.
Artemis watched in shock, unable to fathom what he was hearing. He enjoyed no illusions about himself. He wasn’t a very good or kind man, but this bordered on cruelty. Meg took a jerky step back, eyes wide with pain. He must do something if he would salvage this situation. Obviously, Tammy was going to be useless. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said to Tammy. “You’re being spiteful. You’ll regret what you said later.”
Meg looked over at Artemis and back at her mother again. “No, she won’t,” Meghan said softly, calm again. “That’s how she feels.”
Taking the hint from Artemis, Tammy struggled to put on a face of concern and contrition. It was a mediocre attempt at best. “I’m so sorry. You’re father is right. I’m not dealing well with everything that’s happened. I’m still adjusting, and I’m taking my frustration out on you. I’m so sorry.”
Meg dodged Tammy’s outstretched hand and moved farther away from the two of them. “Save it,” she spit out angrily. “You couldn’t give a damn if I was alive or dead so don’t try to pretend you do. It doesn’t suit you.” Sighing loudly, she shook in frustration. “Why couldn’t I be an orphan like Nicole?” she said, mostly to herself. Turning, she transformed and ran as fast as she could away from the two of them.
* * *
“Hello,” Susan answered her desk phone distractedly, still reading through the file open in front of he.
“Uh, Ms. Anderson?”
The nervous, young male voice on the other end of the line pulled her attention completely to the phone call. She would need to take care of whatever this boy wanted before she could get anything else done. “Yes, can I help you?”
“Oh, wow, it’s really you. I’ve tried like five numbers and kept getting sent to different people who said I had to talk to someone else who said I had to talk to the person I had just talked to . . .”
Susan tapped her pen against the desk as he kept going, failing to make his point. “Well,” she took a quick breath to compose herself and make sure the aggravation she was feeling was not evident in her voice. “You’re talking to me now, so what can I do for you?”
“Oh, yeah, the thing is,” his voice broke slightly but he only took a momentary pause before continuing. “I’m calling about a woman who was killed a couple of days ago. Her name is Karen Michaels, was Karen Michaels. The thing is, they said she was killed in a mugging or something like that, but . . .”
“You don’t believe them,” Susan finished for him.
“No. I mean, the officer I spoke to was really dismissive, and he didn’t seem to be taking it seriously at all. He just blew me off when I asked about her hair being cut off.”
“Her hair was cut?” Susan suddenly felt very cold. “Who did you speak to?” she asked, though she already knew the answer.
“I think his name was Brian or Brent . . .” he trailed off in thought, trying to recall the name.
“Bryant?” she asked hesitantly, closing her eyes as she said it.
“Yeah, that’s it, Officer Bryant. Anyway, I thought I heard something about hair getting cut in that serial killer case, but I didn’t know who I should talk to, since the police officer didn’t seem to care, and well, my brother said I should call you since you were involved with that case. Do you think the serial killer could be the same person who killed Karen?”
Susan rubbed the bridge of her nose, unsure what to say. Given everything she learned the kid probably was on to something. Then again, she didn’t know how far this corruption went. If the boy displayed interest in the case, he could end up getting killed like his friend. Of course, on the off chance she was wrong, which she didn’t believe she was, she couldn’t go around confirming to the pubic the man in jail wasn’t the real killer, that the real killer was still on the lose. She needed a lot more evidence before she did anything like that. Otherwise she would be inciting city wide panic, not to mention throwing her job away, for nothing. “I don’t know,” she answered as honestly as she could. “I can promise you that I will look into this matter. In the meantime, you probably shouldn’t talk about this to anyone else, at least not until we know more.”
“Okay.” He agreed readily enough, sounding relieved she didn’t hang up on him or call him crazy outright. At least for the time being, he probably wouldn’t say anything. Unfortunately, he already talked to people before he reached her. She hoped his inquiries weren’t already known to Bryant. Susan took down the boy’s contact information and the murdered girl’s name and hung up the phone. Turning back to the file on her desk, she tried to sort through this additional information. Two supposed muggings that weren’t muggings, and they were both worked by the same officer who was covering up evidence on the strangler case. It couldn’t be a coincidence. One look at the file on her desk confirmed her earlier suspicion. The man who attacked her and Katie at the hospital was Officer Bryant’s cousin. And her boss was the man who helped that same cousin with earlier legal problems.
“What are you doing here on a Sunday?”
Susan closed the file on her desk with a surprised snap and looked up at her boss, Gary, as he absentmindedly tore the jagged edge of tape off the end of the tape dispenser. “I had a few things to go over, and I left the files I needed here.” Susan slipped the file into her bag, careful not to take her eyes off Gary. She felt no doubt now he was somehow involved in all of this, but she didn’t know how much he was involved, and she didn’t know how far he would go to keep his secret. Hearing the ding of the elevator, she looked up with relief to see the janitor enter the floor with his push cart. It was comforting to not be the only one in here with Gary. There was some degree of safety in numbers. “I have what I need, now though, so I’ll be going.”
Barely glancing up at Gary, Susan stood with her bags and walked quickly from the office, anxious to put some distance between herself and her boss. She wished she brought her car today, but it gave her problems again this morning, so she took the bus instead. John would have driven her, but he scheduled a meeting with a professor today to take an exam. She shoved her hands into her pockets and continued walking. There was still some distance between her and the bus stop. She could hear the sound of her shoes softly padding across the concrete. It was getting slightly chillier again. She sighed in frustration, pulling her jacket tighter. Why couldn’t the weather make up its mind? It was unusually unpredictable lately. One minute it was storming, then it was hot and dry, and then it was freezing again. She could never figure out how to dress.
Susan noticed the shadows increase as she passed another building. It was followed by the flickering of a light near some steps. Wet gravel crunched under her feet with every step. There were puddles everywhere. The low hum of machinery, possibly an air conditioner or heating unit, caught her attention. It nearly drowned out the sounds of her footsteps. Eventually, she could hear her steps again. Her shoelaces hit against her shoes with every step. Pausing, she tried to decide which way to go. There were two options. She could go between the buildings or through the parking lot. Both ways were deserted. Normally, she would go either way without much thought, but she was feeling increasingly paranoid today, and at least the parking lot was more open.
Her decision made, she started walking again. In the distance, she could see lights on in a few buildings. The sound of tires on wet pavement caught her ears. She tensed until the car passed her, the sound of tires fading into the silence. The only thing more frightening than walking alone through a deserted parking lot was walking alone in a not-so-deserted parking lot. Every stranger was a threat. Of course, it wasn’t the strangers you should usually fear. After all, most victims were attacked by people they knew. Random violence from strangers was supposedly rare. At least, that was what the statistics said. Of course, tell that to Katie. And looking at her personal experience disproved the theory. Of the two men she encountered last night, the one she knew gave her the creeps but left her alone. It was the stranger at the hospital who attacked her. Maybe statistics like that didn’t apply to people in her line of work.
Susan jumped over a puddle, onto the grass. It was still a little soggy from the rain. She could almost see her breath, now. Exhaling loudly a few times, she tried to see it better. On the third try, she was greeted by a small cloud of white. It quickly dissipated into the wind. A shift in the shadows caught her attention. Before she could react, an arm came around her waist, a gloved hand covering her mouth and nose. She struggled in the man’s grip, turning only enough to see a reflection of them in the window of a nearby building. Before she lost consciousness from lack of oxygen, she thought to herself, the statistics were right after all.
* * *
Meghan swayed in time to the music, losing herself to the sounds and movement. Knocking back another vodka with cranberry, she lifted her arms above her head closed her eyes. This was what she should have been doing from the start. The rest of her life was a waste of time. This, she could get used to.
A familiar presence touched her mind. Meg tried to shrug it off, but her mind couldn’t focus enough to push away Nicole’s probing touch. She felt concern and support flood in, their intensity making her miss a step. She growled in frustration. Why couldn’t everyone leave her alone? Getting a refill on her drink, she returned to the dance floor of the club.
Nicole gracefully made her way through the crowd, sidestepping waiters and dancers as she walked over to Meghan. Meg noted, not for the first time, what a confident and commanding presence Nicole portrayed now, ever since she learned about her heritage. People made room for her without her doing anything. She exuded an aura of strength and power. She came to a stop in front of Meg. “Having fun?”
Meghan stopped dancing long enough to look pointedly at Nicole. “I was.”
“Oh, well don’t stop on my account. Mind if I join you?”
Meg didn’t bother looking up at Nicole again. “Suit yourself.”
Nicole began dancing in time to the music, letting it relax her. She was extremely tense thinking of what she should say or do, but tension wouldn’t help Meg. Meg was already tense enough for the both of them. She needed to relax Meg if she hoped to get anywhere with her, and the easiest way to do that was to start with herself. After a couple of songs, Nicole was actually beginning to enjoy herself. Singing along with the song playing, she leaned into Meg, silently daring her to sing along. After the second chorus, she did, and with a smile on her face, Meg began to enjoy herself, too.
Meg found herself laughing and smiled a little more. How long since her and Nicole hung out like this? She forgot how much fun they could have together. They danced through a few more songs like that, singing and laughing. Then, hearing a slow song come on, Meg and Nicole made their way to an empty table and ordered some pizza and a couple of soft drinks. Eating in silence, they watched the other people in the club, laughing at some poor dancing attempts and even worse song selections.
Nicole finished her slice and sat back. The food was good, or as good as club food could be. It definitely took the edge off her hunger for the moment. More importantly, the dancing and eating gave her a good chance to spend uninterrupted, low pressure time with Meg. Nicole knew she needed to have a serious talk with Meg, but she couldn’t blame her for being a little skittish. Sensing a somberness come over Meg, Nicole watched in silence as Meg finished her food and leaned forward, her face resting in her hands. Forcing herself to remain quiet, Nicole waited.
Meg closed her eyes and tried to push away the haze once again coming over her mind. Why couldn’t she get her thoughts straight? It was increasingly difficult to focus. “What’s happening to me?” she said at last. “I can’t . . . think. I can’t . . . focus on anything for very long.” She turned a pleading look up to Nicole. “I don’t think I’m in control of my mind anymore.” She stared unblinking, holding a stiff hand at her chest, her words increasingly choked with emotion. “I’ve been having these weird . . . visions . . . hallucinations.” Nicole’s hand reached out to hers, wrapping Meg’s fingers in warmth and compassion. Meg could almost see the waves of support originating from Nicole and washing over her. For a moment, the voices and conflicting feelings in her head were quiet, calm. She could think again. The moment was short lived.
Nicole watched as Meg began to let go and felt a sense of relief. She could get through to her. She could help her. But then, the dark cloud began to form again. Nicole felt the moment Meg began to retreat, felt the other presence permeating the air around her. Meghan’s fingers slipped from Nicole’s and her eyes dropped to the table. The moment was over, and now it would be more difficult to reach her. Nicole sighed. In for a penny . . . “I found out something I think you should know.” She waited for Meg to look at her again and continued. “It’s about Artemis. He,” she took another fortifying breath, “he’s your father.”
Meghan laughed, a short bark devoid of humor. “I guess he was actually telling the truth.”
“You knew?” Nicole felt a slight shock at hearing her news received this way.
Meghan nodded. “A couple of hours ago he and my ‘mother’ decided to lay the ‘happy family’ routine on me.” Meg felt her bitterness rise to the surface, again.
“What happened?” From Meg’s tone, it couldn’t be good.
“I told them to leave me alone. I don’t need any family, and I sure as hell don’t need anyone pretending to care about me because we happen to be related by blood.”
Nicole was expecting that kind of response. Meg always professed a negative opinion about families, and Nicole didn’t blame her, but she could also feel the pain Meg was attempting to hide right now. “Meg, they’re your parents. Are you sure you won’t regret cutting them out of your life?”
Meghan met Nicole’s gaze and held it without blinking. “They don’t give a damn about me, and I don’t give a damn about them. I’ve done fine without family all these years.
Despite having heard the same type of comments from Meg for years, this time her words stung a little. “Meghan, I’m your family.”
Meg waved a hand dismissively. “That’s different. You’re a friend, not family.”
“Meghan, Artemis is my uncle, remember? That makes us cousins. We are family.”
Meg looked at her for a split second, finally realizing what Nicole was telling her, before she looked away again. “Great, now you can pretend to care about me, too.”
“Meghan Knight Mason Davis Watson Butler Freeman,” Nicole said forcefully, recounting last names for every foster family who ever tried to take Meghan in when she was a child, ending with her current last name, the name Meghan finally chose for herself when she turned eighteen. “I’ve been with you from the beginning, since we were both a couple of traumatized kids in the orphanage, no family or friends to speak of. So don’t you ever accuse me of not caring. I won’t stand for it.” Nicole finished off her drink and slammed the cup down a little harder than she intended. She must calm herself. She was letting herself get overly worked up.
Meg sat in silence, unable to think of any way to respond. They were related to each other, were since the beginning. What did this mean? Did she reevaluate her entire belief system on how worthless family was, or did she now lump Nicole in with the likes of her useless parents? If they were cousins . . . Meg felt a pressure build on her head and found herself looking at Nicole’s pendant. It was a simple stone with a wolf carving on it. It was a family heirloom, Nicole said. A family heirloom . . . her family . . . Nicole told her it was some kind of power booster, strengthening her, making it possible for her to do things otherwise near impossible. If it belonged to her family, then Meg could claim as much a right to it as Nicole. She deserved it. Nicole kept it to herself for twenty years or so already. Shouldn’t other people get a chance to use it, too? Why was Nicole so special? Meg thought back on every attack she suffered, every time someone hurt her. If she wore the pendant, no one could hurt her again.
As she continued to think about what she would be capable of with that kind of strength, Nicole’s phone rang. Nicole answered and covered her other ear against the music in the room. This was Meg’s chance. She could take the pendant while Nicole was distracted, and then she would wield the power Nicole selfishly hoarded. Meghan’s arm twitched, ready to follow through with her plan, when Meg snapped back to herself. What was she doing? Nicole was her friend, her family, and she was thinking about stealing from her? What was wrong with her? She must get away from her, put some distance between them.
She stood, and Nicole stood with her. “I have to go,” they said in unison. Neither of them smiled or called jinx. It was one more indication of their current states of mind.
“That was John,” Nicole continued. “Susan is missing.”
“What?” Meg felt her blood run cold. How could Susan be missing? Didn’t she just rescue Susan from an attack?
“She went to her office to get some papers, but she never returned. Her purse was found in a parking lot near there. It looks like she was on her way to the bus stop when she disappeared. I’m going to call David and head over there to look around and see if I can find anything if you want to come along.” She didn’t want to leave Meg, but Susan could be in real danger. If there was a chance she could find Susan, Nicole should go and try.
“I . . . I can’t.” Meghan held her hands together to keep them from shaking. The urge to take the necklace was still bubbling under the surface, despite the news about Susan. She couldn’t trust herself around any of them. There was no telling what she would do if she lost control completely. She jumped at the feel of Nicole’s hand on her arm. She never saw or felt her move.
“Call me if you change your mind or if you need anything.” Meg nodded weakly. “I hate to leave you like this. Are you sure you won’t come with me?”
Meg shook her head and waited for Nicole to leave before sitting back down. Motioning to her waiter, she ordered another drink.