from becoming."
I pulled the totem from beneath my shirt. "Maybe we should destroy this?"
He lifted a brow. "Maybe we should."
"Got a hammer?"
"In the kitchen."
I found the tool and came back. After placing the icon on the floor, I lifted the hammer and hit the thing as hard as I could. The blow reverberated up my arms. I peered at the stone.
There wasn't a mark on it.
"That's impossible," I muttered.
Mandenauer sighed. "More impossible than humans becoming wolves?"
He had me there. "What next?"
"Fire won't melt rocks - or at least any fire we can produce."
"I could throw it into the lake."
"You could. But I've seen mystical items float right back to the surface. What if the one who wants the totem the most finds it?"
"I could bury the thing."
"It could pop out of the ground like a zombie."
"Zombie? Are you serious?"
"You'd be amazed at the things I have seen." He shook his head. "Perhaps Elise will discover some way to use the icon against them. Then we will need it, yes?"
I shrugged and dropped the stone back down the front of my shirt. Being unable to destroy the thing had creeped me out more than I wanted to admit.
What was the totem made of? Moon rock? Had it been forged in hellfire? I didn't want to know.
The icon shifted between my breasts and I shuddered, then slapped my hand over it. "Stop that," I muttered.
Mandenauer coughed. I blushed. I'd come a long way from believing in nothing I couldn't see, hear, or touch to talking to stones and telling wolves that I loved them.
"Do you need help getting into bed?" I asked.
"Not since I was two." He rose, swayed, then glared when I would have grabbed his elbow.
I lifted my hands in a gesture of surrender. "Fall on your face. See if I care."
"Ah, Jessie, you are so good to me."
I left him in bed with a high-powered rifle and a laser scope, which was the most action he got at his age.
Chapter 34
I slept with a pistol and a rifle. Probably the most action I'd be seeing for years at the rate I was going.
This time tomorrow night, I could be minus one... what?
Boyfriend? Lover? Really cute guy who made me scream? Hell, I could be minus a limb, my sanity, or my life. Better get my priorities in order.
As soon as I walked into the apartment, I glanced at my machine. The message light was blinking.
"Dammit, Jessie. Where are you?"
Cadotte sounded seriously pissed. Had he realized I'd read his notes, seen his book, knew he'd lied?
Or was he just mad he hadn't gotten a little early-evening delight?
I set traps in front of the picture window, the door, hell, every window. I didn't plan on being surprised by any furry friends, or enemies. I had to sleep today, or I'd be no good at all tonight. Nevertheless, I awoke in the heat of midday and knew I wasn't alone.
I'm not sure what woke me. The mousetraps by the windows? The bells on the front door? The marbles in front of the balcony entrance?
None of the above or all three? I heard nothing now. But I felt someone. I crept out of bed, taking along both guns for company.
Barefoot and in my underwear, I checked every room, every closet. Not a single trap, bell, or marble was out of place. I was losing my mind.
When I glanced out the picture window, the bright light of midday hit my eyes and made my head ache.
When I turned around, I saw stars. When the stars went away, I saw him.
I cocked my pistol. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall in the hall. His earring swung merrily as he tilted his head. "Are we back to this again?"
"How did you get in here?"
"It wasn't easy."
"Get out."
He started to walk toward me. My heart sped up.
"I mean it, Cadotte!"
The gun shook. I lost the rifle so I could steady the pistol with both hands. He laughed. "Got silver bullets in there?"
"I've been packing silver since I met you, Slick."
He stopped a foot away, blinked, snorted. "Good girl. You may need it."
"Have you come to finish the job?"
"I thought I finished pretty well." He wiggled his brows.
Cadotte was behaving oddly for a man who'd tried to murder me a few hours back. He didn't have any weapons that I could see. Of course he could strangle me with his bare hands, if I let him get close enough.
"You know damn