His body was. . the sheer terror of it was driving him mad. He was hungry. The smell of blood was revolting and good and he’d looked at his wife, wanting to touch her and eat her at the same time. He’d reached for her and she’d screamed and he’d run out of the house. I didn’t mean it! and he was so sorry, sorry, sorry. .
Selina pulled the plug on his conscious state, putting him instantly to sleep. She bit her lip, holding all those emotions in, putting them out one by one by one. . like all the candles on a birthday cake from deepest Hell.
Dear God! The anguish was killing them both. Slumping back on her heels, she closed her eyes and released a huge, pent-up breath. Tears of anger and sorrow leaked from beneath her eyelashes. So many losses. The enormity of Steve’s suffering was too big for one heart to hold.
I can’t do this!
But she’d already done what she needed to do. Steve lay unmoving, his body slowly reverting to his human form. Jake let go of him, releasing a sigh of his own.
“Holy crap,” said Tracy.
“Call the pack,” said Jake in an exhausted tone. “We’ve got to put him in lock-up until this is over.”
Tracy moved swiftly to the reception desk and picked up the phone.
Selina lifted her head. It was starting to pound, the hangover of embracing all that fear and rage. “Lock-up?”
“Sort of house arrest, until he changes all the way to wolf form. Once that happens, usually everything’s okay. It’s like the body learns what to do and can start developing some control.”
“How long is that going to take?”
Jake shook his head. He looked as exhausted as she felt. “Hard to say. He has to stay aware to gain wolf form. A lot of first-timers keep passing out from sheer terror. It takes a few times before they make it through.”
“This wasn’t his first try, was it?”
“I don’t know. This guy had just come in for initial tests. Really didn’t want to talk. I had no idea his situation was this far advanced, or I wouldn’t have had him sitting in the office.”
Selina heard the defeat in Jake’s voice. She guessed past cases hadn’t gone well. “Isn’t there a sedative? Something to relax him but not knock him out?”
“Not so far. We try new drugs as they come on the market, but the werewolf body does odd things during the change.” His warm brown eyes were serious. “What you just did took serious guts.”
Selina didn’t feel brave. She felt depressed and slightly, inconveniently turned on by the concern in his gaze. Guys wanted her, but usually vanished once they got a whiff of her magic. Dr Jake Hallender wasn’t a coward. Then again, he wasn’t a human, either.
She managed a small smile, but it quickly faded. “I’m glad I could help. On the other hand, I guess I didn’t. He needs to change. I stopped him.”
Jake shook his head. “That wasn’t going to happen today. He was too afraid. Besides, we need to get him someplace safe — for himself and others. You gave him that.” He touched her shoulder, the contact light yet comforting as an embrace.
Selina dipped her chin, looking sadly at the now-human Steve while Jake gave some instructions to Tracy. Selena looked at her watch, realizing how much she used the gesture as a shield. Being busy kept people at a safe distance.
“I need to go. Please don’t say anything about what I did here. I have to be able to pass for human.” She swallowed hard, feeling suddenly awkward.
Jake nodded, his expression filled with understanding, but that intense gaze dimmed to a socially acceptable wattage. He was giving her space. The wolf no longer looked out of his eyes, just a tired man.
His withdrawal was a relief, but a disappointment at the same time.
The transition from the vet’s office back to her normal life was disorienting. It was like leaving Friday Night Fright Night and landing in an episode of Antiques Road Show. Not that she wasn’t grateful for the upgrade, but it was a weird segue.
Selina dropped Gary off at home. She made him a nest of towels in the bathtub where he couldn’t hurt himself or anything else, filled bowls with food and water, and shut the bathroom door. She’d gargoyle-proof the rest of the apartment when she got home later and had more time.
As it was, she barely made it back to her office in time to meet with Mrs McAdams about the sale of her snuff box. An ivory oval no more than an inch and a half long, it was decorated with a coat of arms in delicately worked gold. Though small, it would be one of the attractions of the gallery’s upcoming show — if she could get the elderly widow to part with it.
Despite the afternoon’s drama, or maybe because of it, Selina presented the gallery’s offer with extra elegance and passion. She’d always been content to work behind the scenes, but today she sparkled as Old World’s negotiator. Some day, she thought breathlessly, I might even have a gallery of my own.
But not if you keep tempting fate. You have secrets to keep. What do you think you‘re doing, stirring up your magic like that? You know better than to play with other monsters!
Selina pushed her nightmares and daydreams aside, returning her attention to Her Lady of the Snuff Box. “It’s a very good offer,” Selina insisted.
“I just don’t know, dear,” Mrs McAdams wavered — more a negotiating tactic than any sign of weakness. The old lady was herself a keen collector and one of the gallery’s best clients. “The box has been in my family for generations. It would stay in the family if only I’d been lucky enough to have children. Are you planning any children, my dear?”
“Not right now. But did I tell you about my new gargoyle?”
“Once or twice since I arrived,” Mrs McAdams nodded. Laughter softened the sharp, shrewd look in her eyes. “I think your new pet is going to be a keeper. You seem happier than I’ve ever seen you. Much more chipper than old Janos.”
“But about the box — what if I sweetened the deal a little?”
Selina was tempted to add a pinch of fey charm to her smile, but wouldn’t give in to the impulse. She just smiled with all the happiness she’d felt rescuing her new housemate.
Not even Mrs McAdams could resist that.
After the papers were signed and her client shown to a cab, Selina hurried home, conscious that for once someone was waiting for her. It was nice, even if he was short, fuzzy, and an odd shade of grey.
She stopped at the Pet Play Barn to buy a few more supplies. It was a good thing she was warming up to the idea of keeping him. So far Gary had cost as much as the pair of really nice designer shoes she’s been eyeing at that cute downtown boutique.
As she lugged a large driftwood perch up the stairs of her elevator-free apartment, she tried to focus on the fact that shoes weren’t cuddly. Nor did they require squeeze toys, organic Gargy-Treatz at ten bucks a bag, or a freaking thousand-pound perch that shed slivers like a porcupine shooting quills. She was used to flying solo, not catering to another creature’s needs.
That thought ricocheted her mind to Dr Jake and his capable hands. What am I thinking? That whole Hairy Met Sally thing would never work.
She unlocked the door and switched on the apartment light. When she opened the bathroom door, Gary was still burrowed into the terry cloth heap. He cheeped when she came in.