Blood Moon (6 page)

“
You did help her,” Logan
said. “You walked the rest of us through what needed to be done,
and you—”

Zelda closed her eyes, like she was waiting
for the sky to fall. Logan cleared his throat.

“
And you chased them off,”
he finished.

Selena cocked an eyebrow. “I imagine they
were looking for the girl you dumped on me this afternoon?”

Zelda lifted her chin. “I didn’t point them
your way, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Selena ground her teeth together and stepped
into Zelda’s personal space, looming over her. “It doesn’t matter
where you pointed them. They’re going to be a pain in our asses
until they get their bitch back.”

“
Enough.” Dr. Delph
grasped Selena’s shoulder. They locked eyes, and for a moment, he
thought she might turn on him next. He willed some of his calm her
way, and the tension in her shoulders released, though her eyes
still held daggers for him.

He turned back to Logan and Zelda. “Selena
is right. We need to take some form of precaution, in case this
happens again. The pub is surrounded by businesses that operate
during regular business hours—not evenings and weekends. Perhaps an
alarm system could be of use?”

Selena rolled her eyes at his suggestion.
“Why not just get a dog whistle? It’d be about as useful.”

Dr. Delph sighed, but otherwise ignored her.
“Phil, the locksmith on Monroe Street, works nights—”

“
Because he’s a vampire,”
Selena injected snottily.

“—
he also installs
top-notch security systems. I’ll give him a call and send him over
to get a bid on your place.”

“
He’s expensive,” Selena
interrupted again.

Dr. Delph acknowledged her this time,
jerking his head around. “I’m in a generous mood.”

Selena pulled away from him and flopped down
on the sofa in front of his desk. “Must be nice.”

“
I offered to buy a
security system for you too.”

Dr. Delph felt a stab of annoyance. This was
supposed to be his day off. He turned away from Selena’s scowl and
tried to smile at Zelda and Logan.

“
Go home and get some
rest. We’ll get this sorted out tomorrow,” he said

They left quietly, neither of them saying
goodbye to Selena.

Dr. Delph slumped back down behind his desk.
“You really have a way with people, don’t you?”

The brazen werewolf grinned sharply at him
and folded her arms. “You knew she was a witch, didn’t you?” she
said, surprising him. “She stank of magic, and not the fluffy
bunny, hippy kind. I’ve never smelt it on her before tonight. Why?”
Her tone lost its berating edge and was suddenly serious.

Dr. Delph shrugged. “This is the first time
she’s used magic since coming here.”

“
Why?” Selena asked again,
more intently.

Dr. Delph took a deep breath and looked down
at the scars on his palms. “The same reason you refuse to be part
of a pack again. The same reason none of us are fit for the real
world. We’re broken.”

Chapter Ten

Logan’s big blue truck puttered through
town. He hadn’t looked at Zelda since they left Orpheus House, and
the silence was killing her. The dark clouds had finally stretched
out to claim the entire sky, and the moon peeked through briefly as
the first fat drops of rain splattered the windshield.

Zelda leaned her head against her window and
sighed, fogging the cold glass with her breath. Her blistered hand
and arm still ached, and now the pain extended all the way up into
her chest, where her heart throbbed with each pulse that shot
through her.

“
Why didn’t you tell them
the truth?” she asked softly.

Logan’s brow dipped lower as he squinted at
the road ahead. A long moment passed, and just when Zelda decided
he wasn’t going to talk to her, he did.

“
You’ll have to stop
taking in strays. At least for now. You’re in enough hot water as
it is.”

Zelda’s gratitude dissolved. “I won’t turn
away people in need. I took a sacred oath.” Her voice broke as she
remembered other oaths she’d made—one in particular that had been
broken tonight.

Logan’s gaze flickered to her for a split
second, then back to the road. “Does this oath say it’s all right
to put your former patients in harm’s way?”

A lump formed in her throat as she thought
of Kerri. She swallowed and looked out her window. The rain was
coming down in earnest now. Lightning flickered through the sky,
and she felt her arm tremble with false anticipation.

“
Zee, are you listening to
me?” Logan spoke louder over the roar of the rain. “You can’t take
in any more rejects. It’s not safe for you. It’s not safe for your
wolves.”

“
You don’t care about my
wolves,” she said, rubbing the heel of her hand over her cheek to
wipe away a rogue tear.

Logan gripped the steering wheel and pressed
his lips together. “No, I don’t. But you do. So I suggest you do
right by them.” He gave her a sharp look, but it softened the
longer he stared at her.

Zelda’s anger slipped away. “Why didn’t you
tell them the truth?” she asked again.

Logan looked back to the road and sighed.
“Because someone’s gotta look after those mutts, and it won’t be
me.”

Zelda smiled and hugged herself, shivering
against the chill the rain had brought with it. They pulled into
the pub’s back parking lot just as the storm faded off, leaving
only a sprinkle behind.

Logan put the truck in park and killed the
ignition as he turned to face Zelda. His green eyes had reclaimed
some of their sparkle. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a
witch?”

The question threw her, even though she had
known it would come eventually. Two years, and it still hurt like
yesterday.

“
I took an oath never to
use magic again,” she said, tucking a dreadlock behind her ear. She
looked down at her lap and measured her breath, waiting.

“
Why?” Logan asked
gently.

“
I broke the most sacred
rule of my coven. I used magic in a way it was never meant to be
used, and for that, I had to be punished.”

She left off the bit about how the
punishment had been her own doing, since she had been too much of a
coward to face her coven.

Logan’s brow crinkled. He leaned back
against the bench seat and glared out the windshield. “Never again
though? That seems a little extreme.”

Zelda laughed bitterly. “Believe me, I
deserve much worse.”

Logan’s green eyes found hers. “No, you
don’t.”

“
You have no idea.” Zelda
whispered, her eyes welling with tears again.

The rain stopped, and the sound of squealing
tires filled the silence. A rusty white van ran up over the curb,
digging deep ruts in the soggy stretch of lawn that lined the
parking lot. The side door flung open, and a bloody, naked man was
tossed out like a sack of garbage.

The door slammed shut as the van peeled away
from the curb, and Zelda’s instincts kicked in. She was already
halfway across the parking lot before Logan’s shouts reached her,
echoing over the soft rolls of thunder in the distance.

She knelt in the muddy grass and gently took
the man’s shoulder, rolling him onto his back. He had the same
mutated markings as the men who had ambushed the pub, but the blood
made her assume his condition wasn’t from drugs, but rather an
injury. She felt over his chest and stomach, failing to find the
source of all the blood.

Her hand came away sticky, but the
consistency was all wrong. She pinched her fingers together,
studying the tackiness. When she looked down again, amber eyes
glowed up at her.

The man smiled viciously. His hands latched
on to her injured arm, and he sank his mutated teeth into the bend
of her elbow. Zelda gasped.

Logan was at her side in an instant. His
hands wrapped around the man’s head, one over his chin and the
other across his forehead. His face distorted and he groaned as he
pried the man’s mouth open. As soon as Zelda’s arm slipped free,
Logan twisted the man’s head to the side, breaking his neck with a
wet crack.

Zelda yelped in surprise. She turned her
face away, pressing her good hand over the new wound. Logan’s
precision had left a neater injury than her magic had left Kerri
with, but blood still pooled in the circle of deep punctures. A
green bruise was also spreading up her arm, accompanied by an odd
sensation.

“
Logan?” Zelda rasped. Her
shoulder shook once. Twice. And then it wouldn’t stop. She spasmed
and fell back on the grass.

“
Zelda!” Logan pushed the
dead man aside and reached for her.

Chapter Eleven

Logan cradled Zelda’s trembling body to his
chest, grunting as he struggled to hold on to her and
simultaneously open the back door to the pub. He finally managed to
twist the doorknob and pushed his shoulder into the door, swinging
it open to smack the kitchen wall.

“
Violet!” he shouted as he
lay Zelda on the oak table she’d saved so many lives on. “Violet!”
he screamed again, ripping off his jacket and pressing it into
Zelda’s arm.

The sound of heavy footsteps came down the
stairs. Violet and Grant froze in the kitchen, their eyes going
wide at the sight of Zelda incapacitated.

“
Don’t just stand there,”
Logan snarled. “Get the trauma bag. Boil some water.”

Zelda’s hand shot out and squeezed his arm.
“My herbs,” she said weakly. “I need my herb box.”

“
On it,” Violet answered,
taking off up the stairs.

Grant ran around the kitchen counter and
filled a pot with water. He set it on the stove and fetched the
trauma bag. His hands shook as he passed it to Logan.

Zelda looked up, her eyes dilated and
glassy. “I’m sorry, Theo. I couldn’t let go. I just made it worse.
I make everything worse.” Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she
stopped shaking.

“
Zee?” Logan shook her
shoulders. “Zelda?”

Violet returned with the herb box. The lid
was already open, and she shuffled through the assortment of bags
inside.

“
Where is it?” she sobbed.
“I know it’s in here.”

Logan growled and paced around the table,
his hands pressed to his forehead helplessly. He couldn’t think
straight. He didn’t know enough humans, and he definitely didn’t
know enough witches to know how to care for a werewolf bite on
one.

Violet winced as she dropped an herb packet,
clenching her fingers into a fist with a gasp. “Found it.”

She bent over and carefully picked up the
herbs by one corner of the mesh pouch. “Scoop out a cup of that
boiling water, Grant.”

“
What is it?” Logan asked,
circling the table to look over her shoulder.

“
Wolfsbane tea, and it
burns like a mother. Don’t touch it.” She dropped the pouch down in
the steaming cup of water Grant brought, then pointed him toward
the coat closet. “There’s an old green trauma kit buried in the
back of the closet.”

Grant didn’t wait for an explanation,
returning a second later with the kit. Logan ripped it open, giving
Violet a scowl when she swatted his arm.

“
There are silver
dressings in there. Be careful,” she said.

Logan picked through the bag, finding the
silver dressings in sealed plastic. He tore a corner of the bag
open, then reeled back from the bitter odor that drifted out to
greet him.

He set the package aside and removed his
jacket from Zelda’s arm. The bite still oozed blood, but not as
freely as Kerri’s wound had. The greenish bruise concerned him more
than anything. He carefully wrapped the silver dressing around her
elbow, hissing when his fingers slipped and touched the shiny inner
lining.

Zelda would have to be propped up before
they could give her the tea, but the wedge pillow sat on the
kitchen counter, crusted with Kerri’s blood. Logan frowned and
turned back to Violet and Grant.

“
She needs to be moved to
a bed.”

Grant took off for the closet again. “I’ll
grab the stretcher—”

“
No,” Logan said. “I can
carry her. Just bring the tea up.”

He looked down at Zelda’s face, wondering if
he had ever seen her look so at peace before. Then he pulled her
carefully into his arms and carried her upstairs to her
apartment.

Logan wasn’t overly familiar with Zelda’s
place, but he managed to find his way to the bedroom and laid her
over the green and gray checkered comforter. Violet brought the tea
up on a tray with a small teapot and an extra packet of wolfsbane
tea.

“
This is all Doc had, but
I’ll call Orpheus House and see if Dr. Delph has any more on hand,”
she said before quietly slipping out of the room and leaving Logan
alone with Zelda.

He stacked her pillows and tried to drag her
up on the bed, propping her head up as high as he could before
attempting the tea. At first, it leaked from the corners of her
mouth, burning when he tried to mop it up with his fingers. He
fetched a box of tissues from the adjoining bathroom and tried
again. Zelda stirred, occasionally swallowing or lolling her head
to the side, causing the tea to drip down her neck and soak her
blouse and vest.

When the first cup was gone, Logan filled it
with hot water from the teapot and dropped the fresh herb pouch in
to steep while he extracted Zelda from her damp clothes.

Goosebumps sprouted over the exposed skin of
her neck and chest and along her thin arms. She shivered and her
eyes cracked open. Their usual caramel was covered in a milky
haze.