There are other things intended for a girl’s wedding night and that special first year of married life when everything is new and the falling-in-love part of marriage is still taking place. Hopefully. There would be useful things in it, like underwear. They might even be pretty.
Hesitantly, I lifted the lid and the old scent of red cedar rushed out onto the air and mixed with the lemon verbena. The scents should have clashed. They didn’t. They mixed perfectly.
* * *
Excitement swept through me like a hot wind when I saw myself in the mirror, dressed in such wonderful clothes. I almost looked . . . pretty. And that vision of myself warmed my cheeks. I was no longer a churchwoman. I was just me.
I was wearing the silky mint green skirt and a soft floral blouse with pearl buttons that ran the collar high up my throat, with pretty, store-bought green slippers I had found in the trousseau chest. They were lined with something like sheep’s wool, but didn’t smell like sheep and they were warm. I was also wearing new underwear from a store, with lace on the bra, which itched, and on the top of the panties. They were pink and glossy and might have been a smidge too loose, but they both stayed up when I moved.
I was also wearing a tiny smear of lipstick, pale pink. It hadn’t smelled real good and the taste suggested that lipstick could go bad, but the color had been so pretty with the green clothes and pink underwear that I had added a dab to my cheeks and smeared it in.
When I left the room, my heart was pounding and it was hard to breathe, as I stopped in the doorway observing the others. Listening.
Rick was standing, his back to me, debriefing, “There was nothing left of them but piles of ash. We know for a fact that Jackson Jr. is dead. Only one adult gwyllgi survived at Benton’s mountain lodge, the one the captive vampire nearly drunk down. There were half a dozen in the house, all juveniles. We got three adults from the farm where Mira was kept, including Joshua, who survived the drinking down at the initial attack. This means that there are probably more gwyllgi around, people. Maybe lots more, as vampire blood makes the trait breed true.”
“The scent is subtle,” Occam said, “and so close to a dog’s that it’s difficult to differentiate, but we have it now. So does Sam Nicholson’s tracker dog.”
“Good. All of Benton’s gwyllgi sons were secured by the state child services until they changed shape and attacked them. Paka and Occam had to change shape and teach them some manners.” I could hear the amusement in his voice as he wrapped things up for his unit.
“After that,” Rick continued, “they were turned over to a handler from PsyLED. They’ll be taken to the werewolves of Montana to be trained in proper behavior. They aren’t weres, but they’re close, and sturdy enough to stand up to being taught proper manners, and the right way to hunt by werewolves. What happens after that will be up to the wolves.”
“I get why the gwyllgi were tied in with the HST, but how did Benton manage to hide his condition from the entire FBI?” T. Laine asked. Beside her, Pea jumped from the couch to the window, to peer into the pale dawn light. I had slept clear through to morning.
“They aren’t moon-called,” Rick said, massaging one arm as if it pained him, “so they weren’t conspicuously absent on full moons. They can work regular hours and regular jobs.
“Case summation,” Rick said, changing the subject. “From what PsyLED Central in Virginia has put together, we were right when we postulated that Colonel Ernest Jackson Sr. had begun to breed for the gwyllgi trait, which proved easier when drinking vampire blood.
“Benton’s family were formerly members of God’s Cloud of Glory Church and, when Dawson ran into Benton during his trek through the juvenile system, that connection was reestablished. Dawson also brought HST, and information about their list of paranormals, to the church through an accomplice named Oliver Smithy, met in rehab. Smithy has been identified by dental records among the deceased at the warehouse.
“The Stubbinses were located and rejoined the group when Jael began exhibiting some dog traits.
“From the HST, the factional churchmen learned how to structure their finances and how to add to cash flow through kidnapping humans and blackmail of paranormals who