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Sunny’s Outlookwas slow for breakfast. After we’d closed the day before and news of the murders had gotten around, we apparently declined in popularity for Jubilee attendees. Granted, the body had been left outside, but still—it wasn’t exactly an appetizing image to associate with a restaurant.
The bridge out of town had been manned with guards because the town council and the Tri-State council had voted to close off the town, nobody in or out until the murderer was found.
The sheriff’s office was busy tracking down everyone in town both residents and visitors to take their information. Sunny volunteered us to help man the intake booths to get initial information from folks in the afternoon. I wanted to smack her, but I couldn’t very well say, “No,” now. I told her I couldn’t do it until after four. I had lunch with Dom, and no way was I missing my meet-up with Billy Bob at three…not that I told Sunny about it. As a matter of principle, I had avoided proximity with my bestie all morning.
I wasn’t ready to answer questions about what was going on with me and the doc, especially since it involved more than just my heart. Was I really turning into a lycanthrope? How was that even possible? Yes, there was wolf blood in my family dating back several generations, but Ruth had been right the night before when she’d talked about how therians were always only one animal, no matter their parentage. Jo Jo was a coyote like his dad, not a mountain lion like his mom. This was how our biology worked. So how could this be happening to me? Billy Bob was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a liar. If he said I turned into a timber wolf, no matter how incredulous, I believed him.
It is my doing, sister, the voice in my head said. I dropped the plate I was washing.
Now that I knew the voice was real, I replied back. “How? And for fuck’s sake, why?”
I can only communicate with my children. Coyotes are not mine.
“I thought I was your sister.”
You are my sister, my daughter, my mother. Where I am, we are all.
“That’s some real philosophical shit there, Brother Wolf.”
I could almost feel his smile.Good, then we are accepted.
“How did you manage to make me into a lycan?”
It was already in your blood, little wolf. I just called to the part of you that I knew would answer.
“That explains everything.” Not really. I still didn’t understand everything about this spirit talking, but I thought it strange that I could talk to Brother Wolf while doing the dishes, while Billy Bob needed a sweat lodge and a whole bunch of ritual.
You did not call to me, sister. I called to you. The summoning is mine.
I wanted to get it, but I didn’t. “So, you find me. Is that what you’re saying?”
In order to find you, you have to be lost. You are important to me, child. If you need me, I will come.
“Uh, thanks.” I felt his presence fade. I rinsed the dishes I’d just scrubbed and contemplated the fact that I’d was talking to a spirit in theaether, a type of otherworld plane of existence. At least that’s how Billy Bob had explained it. And not only was I talking to him, but he'd also turned me into one of his own. I wanted to be mad about it, but without Brother Wolf, I would have never made it out of that hunters’ lodge alive. I would have shifted. I know that now. He’d kept me strong. Sane.
Well, as sane as I could be after everything I’d been through. Belatedly, I sent up a silent thank you to my spiritual guardian. Mom and Dad were going to be seriously freaked out when they found out that not only was I dating a wolf, I was turning into one, and I was talking tothewolf spirit.
Oh well. They’d get over it or they wouldn’t.
“I’ll finish up,” Sunny said as she peeked around the door to the kitchen. “It’s almost noon. I say we close up for the rest of the day. I don’t think we’re going to get more customers. Besides, you better get going for your date with Dominic.” She made kissy faces, and I flipped her the bird.
“Love you too,” she said.
I unplugged the drains in the triple sinks and hung up my apron. After a quick check of my hair and makeup, I headed out for Blonde Bear Cafe.
Main Street was quiet compared to the prior three days. The murders had definitely put a damper on the festivities. However, Blondina’s restaurant was packed. Even horrified, people needed to eat. Dominic was seated at a table in the far corner of the room. His expression was darkly contemplative. He was doing something with his phone, but it was hard to tell what. He could have been texting, searching the Internet, checking out his social media, or playing a game of Angry Turds. When he set his phone down, he looked up and saw me. The darkness ebbed in his expression as his frown turned into a very charming smile. It gave me a warm fuzzy to know he was glad to see me.Bad Chavvah.
He waved at me. I waved back and headed to the table.
Before I could sit down, Blondina Messer came over with a tall glass of ice tea for me. She was a tall, curvy woman, who always reminded me of Flo from Mel’s Diner, a TV show my parents used to watch. She set the tea on the table. Its perfume made me gag. Sassafras. Ugh.
“I’m sorry, Chav.” Blondina blinked. “I thought you’d like it. Elton Brown got some great sassafras wood in for his furniture shop, and he’s chipped the bark for tea and potpourri. It tastes really good. I swear.”
“Elton’s the one selling all this sassafras?”
“Yes,” she said. “He’s made some fine-looking pieces with it as well. Some of his best work.”
The eight-point star was burning a hole in my windbreaker pocket. I resisted the urge to reach for it.
