We all turned toward the stairs and my heart skipped a beat. The man from my dream stood at the top in the exact same pose as the vision, complete with cane. The darkening foyer meant the upper half of his face was still shrouded in shadows, but I couldn’t miss those glowing eyes. One white and one yellow.
“We have quite a crowd,” the man mused in a deep, reverberating voice. He walked down the steps and his cane clacked against every other one. I noticed he limped a little on his left side, though the effect was so slight I almost missed it. He reached the bottom and paused as he looked up at the chandeliers above our heads. “A little light, I think.” He snapped his fingers and the electric lights flicked on.
For the first time I could see his full face, and the truth about his white eye. A scar ran across it, and the white color was the result of the damage.
Nobody spoke a word as he walked over to the pair of wolves and turned to our small group with a soft smile on his lips. He was equally as tall as Chris, but not so broad-shouldered and his frame showed his age. His gray hair stood out against his black suit, especially when he bowed his head to us.
“It’s a great pleasure to meet you all, you who found the determination to reach the end despite the many trials set out before you.”
Veronica shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard.”
The man lifted his head and those brilliant eyes shut her trap. “I see. But where are my manners? I am Ethan Greylock, master of these grounds and this manor.”
Adam scoffed. “What’s the point in telling us when we’re about to have our minds wiped?”
Greylock’s good humor wasn’t diminished. “You may have your memories wiped, but you will take with you the emotions of your trials and through them you will have grown as a person.”
My pulse quickened as I gripped Chris’ hand tighter. “You mean we won’t forget what we learned here?”
He shook his head. “Not at all, and in fact you will be compensated not only emotionally, but financially.” Exclamations arose from three of our other companions. He held up his hand and they quieted. “You were not told of this fact to prevent greed from becoming a factor.”
I cast a look at Veronica and snorted. “Too late…”
The woman herself downed the rest of her wine and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine, they get some money, but when do I get my reward?”
Greylock set both hands on the top of his cane and studied her with an arched eyebrow. “You are the winner?”
She lifted her chin and smiled. “Of course.”
Greylock turned his head to one side and his yellow eye studied the werewolf pair at his back. “Is this true?”
Bonnie couldn’t suppress her grin as she shook her head. “Nope.”
Veronica’s jaw hit the floor, which was the same place all of the rest of ours were laying. “What?! But I was here first! Ask anyone!”
Greylock had a bemused smile on his face as he returned his attention to her. “I have no doubt you were here first, but there was a hidden aspect to these trials.”
“The pairings,” Chris spoke up.
Greylock inclined his head toward Chris. “Just that.”
Veronica wrinkled her nose. “What about them?”
He gestured to the pair of werewolves. “No doubt my friends here told you that only one could win the contest of wills. That ‘one’ was actually one pair. This was a team effort.”
“Then I still win!” Veronica insisted as she grabbed Timothy’s arm and yanked him against her side. “He was the second person to come in!”
Greylock shook his head. “That doesn’t quite succeed in representing the point of the exercise. The point was for you and your partner to work together to overcome the obstacles laid out before you.” Adam glanced at Mary with pursed lips, and she in turn frowned and turned her face away. Greylock gestured to the werewolves. “Duncan and Bonnie’s assignment was to watch you at all stages of the event, and from what they told me only one pair deserves the honor of becoming werewolves.”
His eyes fell on Chris and me. My eyes widened and I used a finger to point between us. “Us?”
Greylock nodded. “Yes.”
“This isn’t fair!” Veronica marched up to Greylock and shoved her face into his as best as her short stature would allow. “I won! It was me! I get the money and the werewolf powers!”
Greylock’s glowing eyes fell on her, and the dark look behind that gaze killed her tantrum. She shrank away from him as he grasped the top of his cane. “You deserve neither of those things, so you will get nothing.”
Veronica’s eyes widened. “Not even the money?”
“You will not even get the pleasure of that,” he snapped as he cast one eye at Duncan.
Duncan strode forward with a grin on his lips and looped an arm through one of Veronica’s. “Time to go.”
“But I won!” Veronica screeched as he nearly had to drag her toward the front doors. “It was me! I did it!”
Mary stood up but kept her eyes on the floor. “Reward or not, I think I want to go, too.”
Timothy set his drink down and nodded. “Yeah. . .”
Adam sighed. “I’ll third that. It’s been fun and all avoiding death, but I think I’ve had enough.”
Bonnie stepped forward and gestured to the front doors. “We’ll take you all home.”
The group marched past us in single file. Timothy gave me a small smile that I returned, but the others avoided us.
“Well then,” Greylock mused as he studied the pair of us. “You two have shown some incredible fortitude. More than I could have imagined.”
Chris tightened his grip on my hand as he furrowed his brow. “Sir, if you don’t mind-”
“I do mind when you call me ‘sir,’” Greylock lightly scolded him with a bemused smile. “It reminds me of how old I am. Call me Ethan.”
“What does it mean to become a werewolf?” Chris asked him as he jerked his head toward the front doors. “Your two associates were a little vague on the subject.”
Greylock chuckled. “An understandable question, but one that needn’t be asked tonight. You two are no doubt tired-”
“Not so tired that we can’t hear the details of the contract before we sign,” Chris insisted.
“If we sign,” I added.
Greylock’s unusual eyes settled on me, and I detected a strange muddling of emotions in them. There was curiosity mixed with. . .sadness? “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come across as inconsiderate of your curiosity. Please” He gestured to the couch in front of him. “have a seat and I will answer all your questions.”