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Steeling my nerves, I curled my fingers around the wood. The hinges caught, clicked in place and held the lid upright.
There quivering at the far end of the chest was a teenage boy. He was human, his face a ghastly reflection of Cho’s final pallor. His ears were pierced. He’d gathered himself into a ball, beneath which pooled a slick, smelly liquid. I followed the river of color along his jeans until his hugged knees blocked my view.
I lifted the gun in the air so he could see my finger off the trigger. “We’re here to help.”
Caelan hung his head over my shoulder, wrinkled his lip and turned away.
“That’s Sheriff Harlowe. I'm his deputy, Marcy. Who are you?”
“Are they gone?”
Without taking my eyes off the boy (he appeared human and wounded, but better safe than sorry) I trusted my lupine partner to monitor the otherwise abandoned poolside. “We’ll be safer in the sheriff’s truck. Can you describe your injuries so we can work on a plan to get you there?”
He pushed sweaty bangs off his face. “Give me a minute?”
“Can I ask you some questions while we wait?”
With the barest nod, “Yeah.”
“What happened?”
“A pack of werewolves attacked us, but their alpha was the devil.”
“The devil?”
“Yeah. He walked on goat legs . . .” The kid’s voice dropped. “Had this black wild mane and wore a crown of feathers and bone. Reeked of smoke, or that was the one of the wrecks." The pulse in kid’s neck fluttered. “I crashed into Mr. Kulkarni’s mailbox, did you see?”
Swallowing hard, I glanced at Caelan. The wolf was looking north. What were the odds this kid would crash into the mailbox of the man we’d come to interview? “Why’d you crash?”
“I was driving home from dropping Mila off at a sleepover.”
The kid’s blue eyes widened as if awakening from a dream. He refused to say anything else until I assured him the sheriff would retrieve her on our way to the hospital.
“A werewolf jumped in front of my car. I swerved into the mailbox. Mr. Kulkarni dragged me from the passenger’s side and told me we were under attack. They’d already got his wife. We ran for a while, but they caught us. I escaped because the werewolves left. Like, one minute there’s claws cradling my intestines, and in the next he’s walking on the sidewalk with the rest of ‘em sucking my guts off his paw. I knew I couldn’t stay where I was, so I dunno, I went home. I wanted my parents. I think they’re dead. I think everyone’s dead.
“But I’m hurt real bad, and my phone’s crapped out, so I decide to rest and hide in case they come back. The shed where maintenance keeps the mowers was open. Seemed a good place to hide until I heard this woman screaming inside, but not how we were all screaming.”
The whispers in my head came with an almost physical caress. I had an idea of where his story was headed, but asked anyway.
Sporting colorless cheeks, he averted his eyes. “She was having a good time, you know? Like maybe she hadn’t heard what’s happening. On my way past I peeked in a window. It was dim because the sun had already dropped below the Howling Hill, but I could still see Mrs. Sorensen lying on fertilizer with her dress pushed past her waist and the devil on top of her, grabbing her breasts and stuff. But it, like, it wasn’t right. I don’t know how to describe it.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was acting like he was kissing her privates, but I heard the crack of her pelvis being chewed. And he’s squeezing and crunching and she’s writhing with her fingers in his mane begging for more.”
He sobbed.
Caelan remained an impassive spectre, stony expression fixed on the horizon. I wondered how many kids, how many stories, he’d encountered to master the grim, cold outlook of a reaper. Surely the emotionless façade was easier as a wolf, but would he act as stern a man?
Trusting the reaper’s diligent watch, I climbed into the chest beside the boy. I wanted to offer him a reassuring smile, but couldn't work the muscles. “You’re safe now.”
“It’s not over,” he mumbled, wiping tears with a bloody hand. “He knew I was hiding. I saw his hooves on the concrete and heard another man arguing with him. This other guy was saying I was taking too long. The devil told him I was meant to serve a higher purpose.”
I raised my voice. “We need to go, Caelan.”
The werewolf had his nose to the wind. One ear flicked back toward me in acknowledgment.
From my vantage point, the barest hint of horror stained the kid’s shirt. “We can’t wait. I need to see what’s hurting. Can you show me?”
