almost colossal in size, and Ben and I rest before pressing onward. From where I’m standing, I notice the claw marks ingrained in the door. Now that will make for an interesting story, should someone ask how they appeared.
“This is it,” Ben says. “We’ll actually come face to face with our ancestors. I know we’ve talked about it before, and that’s the purpose of our visit, but I think it’s just now hitting me. Shit just got real.”
I roll my eyes and snap my fingers a couple of times. “Focus. Their fate,” I say, pointing at the house, “rests in our hands. We have to keep ourselves in check.”
Ben shoots me an annoyed glare. “I wasn’t going to chicken out, if that’s what you’re saying. I just meant this is pretty fucking surreal at the moment. Like, our past meets our future at the same time, and they won’t even know it. If that doesn’t count as a mind fuck, I don’t know what does.”
“Yeah, I’ve reached my daily limit for cerebral fornications. C’mon, we have work to do.”
Ben motions toward the front door. “After you.”
I stomp up the steps first, and then rap three times on the door. Idly, I run my fingers over the indentations on the wood. Had we not been on the road here, I hate to think what would’ve happened to them. Would the werewolf have continued its assault until it broke through the paneling? Would it have cornered them, possibly ripped them apart, limb by limb? I shudder.
The door slowly creaks open, and the woman on the other side is none other than the bitch I had words with at Fiona’s. I’ll be damned.
“Thou art not welcome here,” she says pointedly.
“You see, that’s the thing. I think you need our help.”
Cautiously eyeing the two of us, she asks, “And why would thou think such a thing?”
Ben says, “We know about your wolf problem, and we’ve come to lend a hand.”
Her eyes enlarge, then progressively contract. “We are just fine without thee.” She begins closing the door, ready to shut it in our faces, but I jam my foot in the crack before she can seal it.
“Listen, you crazy woman, if I have to fight you, I swear I will. It’s nothing to me to punch you in the face and knock some sense into that thick skull of yours. We’re helping, whether you like it or not. You need us.”
She huffs. “I need naught from thee! Leave now!”
“I don’t think so,” Ben growls. He rams the door with his shoulder, nearly causing the woman to fall down. While he virtually foams at the mouth, and I try my best to calm him down.
Easy, tiger. Let’s not scare them just yet. We have to be civil for this to work.
Screw what’s correct. If they’re going to listen to us, we have to be aggressive.
I sigh. Totally unnecessary. Watch. Taking a couple of steps forward, I say, “I’m sorry about all of this, but I want you to know we’re not here to harm you. I’m sure you’re frightened. I would be, too. I’m Candra, by the way. Candra Low—” I catch myself before I make a big mistake. “Candra Lowry.”
Pulling herself together, the woman says, “And I am Daciana Lowell.”
I knew it, I think.
You should just call her great-grandma, you know, Ben adds.
I smack his arm for the internal monologue he provided, but Daciana doesn’t need to know that. “Apologize,” I tell him, making up an excuse.
“For what?”
“For busting through the front door uninvited.”
Though reluctant at first, Ben resigns. “I’m sorry.”
I face Daciana again. “You have to understand this is for your own good”—I peer around, noticing she’s alone—“and the good of the man we saw you with earlier. Where is he, anyway?”
“He is ensuring the doors and windows are securely fastened,” she replies. Jutting her nose in the air, she says, “If we plan on working together to rid this town of the wolf, then I suggest we begin by acquainting ourselves.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I say. God, I can’t believe I’m concurring with her at all, the crazy lady who has a knack for making others feel like shit. But if this is the path to Ben and I gaining her trust, then I’m willing to do whatever it takes to go the distance.
Daciana leads us down a long, dim hallway. No candles are lit, and even though it’s late afternoon, light is few and far between. Turning the corner to our left,