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Noctus scooped me up, placing me in my usual cat hug position. “Thank you,” he repeated as he headed for the door, which Charon held open in anticipation.
“I like this place,” Aristide announced as Ker also guided him toward the door. “You can be sure I’ll make an appointment for my guide dog.”
“I look forward to meeting her!” James smiled, before the door swung shut behind us, and our little band of merry supernaturals stood on the sidewalk of the still-quiet street.
Ker looked up and down the street—besides Paw & Order, the only places open on main street were Dream Bean and a few eating places, none of which were on the same block. “I donotget mud on my belly,” she announced.
“No, but you kick up lots of grit and sediment when it’s wet outside, and it sticks to your sides,” Aristide said.
“That’s hardly my fault!” Ker said.
“No,” Aristide agreed. “But you make me brush your teethandyour coat. Why not get a professional grooming?”
“Grooming is a Pack bonding thing,” Ker said.
“I drink your furry-tasting blood. Isn’t that bonding enough?”
“No,” Ker said plainly.
“Then what about everyone else?”
Ker stopped next to the SUV and waited for Charon to unlock it. “Noctus plays fetch with me, and Charon rubs my paw pads with balms when they get rough.”
“What about Chloe?” Aristide asked. “She’s Pack now, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” Ker said. “And I’m hoping she’ll take naps with me in our alternate forms. I miss having naps with other furry packmates.”
“Ah.” To Aristide’s credit, Ker’s wistful observation immediately shut him up.
I waited until everyone had piled into the car before I climbed off Noctus’s lap and made my way to my open seat, where I changed into my human form.
“What did you get from that visit, Ker?” I asked.
“Wow.” Ker shook her head as she studied me from head to toe. “I just can’t get over how convenient your changing powers are.”
“They are.” I hurried to buckle myself in as Charon turned on the car and pulled out onto the street. “But you figured something out—I saw it in your eyes when James was talking about the dogs going nuts.”
“I might have,” Ker said. “But it’s a bit of a long shot.”
“What is it?” Noctus asked.
“Well, we already knew the few werewolves who were downtown at the time were adversely affected by the noise, right?” Ker asked.
Noctus removed his aviator sunglasses. “Yes. They reported ringing ears and hearing loss. Though there may be more to it than I recall. Charon?”
“Those symptoms were all temporary.” Charon checked his mirrors before turning off main street. “They were given clean bills of health within the hour, and it was ruled as being a side effect of the noise used to take the windows out.”
“What if the sound’s purpose wasn’t to break windows, but to test how well the noise disabled werewolves?” Ker asked.
“That’s a chilling thought,” Aristide said.
“But not out of the question,” Noctus said. “One could conclude the first artifact was similarly built for vampires.” Although I couldn’t see Noctus’s face since he sat in front of me, I could feel his frown forming. “Chloe, you were downtown during the attack. How adversely did the werewolves react at the time of the event?”
I stared up at the ceiling of the car as I tried to recall that frantic day. “They were on their knees,” I said. “They weren’t attacking anyone, that’s for sure.”
“Did they make any noise, like James said the dogs did?” Charon asked.
I furrowed my eyebrows as I struggled to remember. “I don’t think so, but I also don’t know that I would have heard it since there were so few of them. It was mass chaos down there. Pat would know, though.”
