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“Wait a second. Who said anything about werewolf?”
Matt had been thinking it, but he hadn’t said it.
“Did I get ahead of myself? I apologize, but I hate to waste time. The only reason for Isaac to call me is for help. The kind of help only I can give.”
“What kind of help is that?” Matt asked. “Isaac wasn’t clear on what, exactly, you do.”
“I kill monsters.”
Silence settled over the line.
“Am I wrong in assuming you have werewolves?” Mandenauer at last broke the silence. “The glyphs you described—the man-wolf face, the larger-than-life being, the word Nahual—give that impression.”
“I … uh … well…”
“Have dead people disappeared? Their bodies seeming to run off under their own power?”
“How did you know?” That had been one of the crazy parts Matt had left out.
“Once bitten, a human being will change within twenty-four hours. Moon, sun, rain, or shine, dead, or alive, the afflicted will become. Ever after they run beneath the moon only, but the first time is different—the first time they must kill. Later they need only imbibe fresh blood, although most kill anyway. Once the demon werewolf takes hold, they like it.”
“What else do you know about the Nahual?” Matt
asked.
“A sorcerer that grows stronger with every kill. Sacrifice increases his power. Blood and flesh are his sustenance.”
“A cannibal.”
“Of sorts,” Mandenauer agreed.
“But how does smoke kill?”
“The Ute confined the creature with magic. The specifics of the spell might explain the Nahual’s appearance, or lack of one. However, no record of the spell was kept, and the sorcerer who performed it was executed soon after.”
“He saves their ass and they kill him for it?”
“The Ute understood that what they were dealing with was something that should never, ever get back out. The consequences could be catastrophic.”
“In what way?”
“As far as my people have been able to determine, the Nahual is invincible.”
Mandenauer had “people”? That was almost as disturbing as what his people had found out or, rather, not found out.
“No one’s invincible,” Matt said. “Every megalomaniac throughout history learned that.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Mandenauer muttered. “But I’d prefer it not happen on my watch.”
“What’s the Nahual going to do?” Matt asked.
“Create more of his kind, build an army, rule the world.”
“Why?” Ruling the world had always seemed like a really shitty job to Matt.
“It’s what megalomaniacs do.”
“What about the others?” Matt asked. “There are werewolves in the yard, and some of them have the eyes of our friends.”
