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"Yeah," I said, and the urgency in his voice told me something was wrong. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"There's been another murder," he said. "One of our guards patrolling the compound's been killed. He was found near the arrastra, just like the others. Delilah, we have to find out who's doing this before everybody's dead."
As I stared at the phone, I spied a spider crawling up the wall and, without missing a beat, slammed my hand against it, squashing it flat.
"We'll be there," I said, staring at the blood and guts on my skin before wiping them on a paper towel. "Zachary, don't let anybody go out alone. In fact, I'd call everybody in for the night."
"Yeah," he said, sounding frustrated. "I just hate leaving our borders unprotected. But we'll just leave the guards at the main gate and up the ante to four instead of two." He paused, then added, "I'll see you tomorrow night then."
"Until then," I said and hung up. We had to find out more about the Hunters Moon Clan. And I knew one sure way, though the thought scared the hell out of me.
We could pay a visit to the Autumn Lord, who ruled over the season of sacrifice. The lord of spiders and bats, of crisp autumn leaves and mists that rose in the night, he was Jack Frost's master. The Autumn Lord lived in a palace of frost and flame high in the Northlands, only reachable by traveling on the north wind. But if anybody could tell us about the werespider clan, it would be him. And there would most likely be a steep price to pay for his help.
* * *
CHAPTER 6
I peeked back into the living room, my stomach twisted in knots. The thought of traipsing off to visit one of the Elemental Lords scared the crap out of me, and I already knew what Camille and Menolly would have to say about the idea. The Autumn Lord was bound to this world, but he also lived in the world of the Elementals. He was related to the Lord of Flames, who ruled a large city in the realm of the dead, though I wasn't clear on their connection.
Then again, when I thought about it, tripping into the arms of somebody bound to the underworld was a lot more appetizing than coping with the denizens of the Subterranean Realms. At least the underworld could be a beautiful and peaceful place, depending on where you were hanging out. The Sub Realms were just nasty.
Iris was sweeping up the mess in the living room. Or rather, the broom was doing the work while she supervised. Menolly had anchored the tree to the ceiling, and they were all debating on what kind of ornaments to redecorate with.
"What do you think will have the least chance of setting you off, Delilah?" Camille asked, turning as I entered the room.
I blinked. Now there was a thought I hadn't even entertained. Anxious to forestall the inevitable fireworks when I told them about Zachary's phone call and my idea, I gave it some thought.
"I tend to go for dangly, shiny things. How about those satin balls? They aren't that sparkly, and they don't break. At least not unless you step on them."
Iris piped up. "Good idea! I also am thinking resin ornaments might work. Of course, I could just erect a barrier to keep animals out, and that might do the trick."
"You can do that?" I asked.
She nodded. "It was a spell my family originally used to keep household dogs and cats out of the larders, but I could easily adapt it to just surround the tree. It won't hurt you. I promise. Consider it a mild deterrent."
"What about when I'm not in cat form?"
"I doubt that it will affect you out of your Were-form," she said, frowning. "I can't promise, but I'm fairly certain."
The broom finished its work and fell to the floor, the dustpan landing beside it after emptying debris into the trash can one last time. I stared at the remains of the blown glass baubles and balls and sighed.
"I really mucked it up this time, didn't I? Iris, why don't you put the delicate ornaments up top, get some satin and resin ones for the lower branches, and then go ahead and use your spell. I'll try to keep myself under control." I didn't want to destroy the holidays, and when I thought about our childhood, this was pretty much the way our mother had taken care of the issue.
Iris relented. "Okay. Just be good, please? I'll go put the kettle on for tea. We've had quite enough excitement for one evening," she said, bustling out of the room, taking the trash, can with her.
I motioned for Menolly and Camille to join me on the sofa. "If only Iris was right, and the excitement is over, but it's not." I glared at the tree.
"What's going on?" Camille turned down the music—Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker—and curled up on my left side. Menolly snuggled up on my right, and we held hands like we had when we were little.
I told them about Zachary's call and my visit to Siobhan. "So, the Hunters Moon Clan is a nest of unnatural werespiders. Hobo werespiders."
Camille looked ready to swallow her tongue. "I'm not afraid of spiders, but this isn't exactly Charlotte hanging out in the barn, is it? Spiders don't think. Werespiders have all the natural cunning of regular spiders plus intelligence. And if they're an abomination, who knows what other abilities they have? Yuck." She shuddered.
"Tell me about it." I was about to bring up my idea about visiting the Autumn Lord when the phone rang again. I grabbed the cordless phone in the living room. It was Chase.
"Hey, Puss, got the info you wanted. Or what I could dredge up," he said.
"Let me get a pen," I said.
