that just wasn't right.
Werewolves had human eyes. But Zee's eyes had gone wolf. With fur all over her face, and the canines she revealed when she smiled, the effect was pretty repulsive. That wasn't even taking into account the body of a human, covered with fur. She twirled for me, as if showing off a new dress.
"Uh, nice tail," I managed.
"Thanks."
Her voice was different - gravelly, more a growl than a smoker's grumble.
She didn't resemble the wolf god in the drawing, but I doubted the artist had ever seen one, either.
"Walking upright is good," Zee murmured. "And talking." She wiggled her fingers. "Opposable thumbs will come in handy."
"I bet."
There was a flash of movement behind her and a sudden snarl from one of the wolves. Zee turned, and Will plunged the machete into her chest.
All I could do was blink, shocked. Zee stared down at the hilt of the knife; then she lifted her gaze to Will. "You have got to be kidding me with this."
She grasped the machete and yanked it out, then tossed the thing into the bushes. A sickening slurping, sucking sound came from her chest. As I watched, the wound closed before it even had time to bleed.
"Told you they'd come in handy." She wiggled her thumbs. Then she backhanded Will so hard he flew into the forest in the wake of the knife.
I didn't realize I'd jumped to my feet and taken several steps after him until Zee grabbed me.
"Not so fast." She leaned closer. "How about a little nibble?"
I backed up; she let me go. The guns were still behind her. I wasn't going to get to them anytime soon.
Will was unconscious, maybe dead. Mandenauer was still surrounded by wolves, if they hadn't eaten him already.
We were, to put it in the usual vernacular, screwed.
"Join me, Jessie. I'll rule; you can be my right-hand woman. We'll have so much fun."
"All I have to do is get furry."
"It's not so bad. You might even grow to like it." She waved her hand at the werewolf army. "Most of them do. Embrace your inner wolf, girl. Or die."
A movement from the forest caught my attention. I cast my eyes toward the ground. "Let me think a minute."
"A minute, starting now."
I made a great show of rubbing my head. It still hurt, but what I really wanted to do was see behind Zee without her following my gaze.
Will hovered in the sparse tree line at the edge of the forest. Though his lip was bloody, his cheek already swollen, he didn't hesitate. He grabbed my pistol from the pile. Unfortunately, his hands were still bound and he fumbled, unable to lift the thing or fire it.
His dismayed gaze met mine and I held out my hand. He tossed me the pistol just as I kicked Zee in the chest. Her wound might have healed, but from the way she howled it still hurt like a bitch.
The gun connected with my palm as she gained her feet. Would silver bullets work on the wolf god? Only one way to find out. I shot her as she whispered my name.
After the incident with the machete, I half-expected Zee to laugh and kick my ass. Instead, flames shot from the wound, so bright I had to shield my eyes. The wolves howled mournfully.
When I lowered my hands, a great white wolf lay at my feet. She was beautiful and she was dead.
Chapter 41
I sat next to Zee for quite awhile. No one bothered me. She'd been my best friend. My only friend. And I had loved her.
I didn't trust many people, but she had been one of them. Look where that had gotten me.
"Jessie?"
I glanced up. Mandenauer and Will hovered over me. There wasn't a wolf in sight.
"I've called my team," Mandenauer said. "They'll be here within the hour."
"Your team?"
"We have to do something about this, yes?" He indicated the empty clearing.
"What's this?"
He sighed. "Jessie, the wolves ran off when Zelda died."
"Won't they be cured now that she's dead?"
"There is no cure but the silver."
"Oh." I saw what he was getting at. "How are you going to figure out who's a werewolf?"
"A few of them I know. Miss Cherry, for instance. Karen Larson."
I shook my head. "I saw Karen get her brains blown out."
"With lead. She walked out of that morgue, and her principal, too."
"Clyde shot her," I insisted.
"Exactly. He knew better than to shoot one of his own with silver."
The conspiracies just kept on coming.
Mandenauer leaned over and