kicked in. “Gabriel, sit.”
He surprised me by sitting in the armchair, but he did not settle in.
“Look, it’s obvious you know what’s going on better than I do. Can we just chat like two normal people and forget you’re the butler for a little bit?”
“I can try.” He eyed me warily. I think he was surprised he had been so obedient.
“Okay, let’s back up. How did you know what was going on out there?”
“I heard you cry out.”
“I never cried out.”
Another shrug.
“I wasn’t supposed to see them, was I? And don’t you dare shrug.”
He sighed instead. “In time, you would have been introduced properly to them. But no, your grandfather wanted you to be sheltered at first.”
“So you drugged me?”
“It obviously didn’t work.”
“Obviously. Why did he want to shelter me?”
“He knew how your mind works. He felt that, after the fire, you may not be ready to see what your mind would classify as impossible.”
“But now he’s dead, and I’m in the middle of something I need to be able to understand.”
“You may be able to understand it better than anyone.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your research.”
“My research?” I felt the cold sweat at the back of my neck and closed my eyes. Glowing eyes in a black face. Fangs. I shook my head to clear the images of the last night at the lab. “What does my research have to do with all this?”
“CLS.” He rose from the chair. “Excuse me a moment. I have something for you.”
I sipped the tea, which may have been drugged, but at that point I didn’t care. Before I had been let go from Cabal Industries, I had been studying a pattern of breakouts of Chronic Lycanthropy Syndrome, a new psychological disorder of impulsivity. With the help of a historian, I had been tracing family trees and gathering family medical histories on the victims. The raw data was in the lab, and I had been running analyses that night to see if there were any patterns in the variables.
Gabriel returned with a box streaked with smoke but still intact. He set it on the coffee table by my tea.
“What are those?”
“Some of the records you were working with.”
“How did you get them?”
“A friend. I cannot say any more.”
I cradled my left wrist against my chest and leaned over to the box. It smelled of smoke.
“Did any of the others…” I couldn’t believe anything had made it through the fire. The image of the lab as it had been the day after, all my data smoldering ash, flashed through my mind. For some reason, whatever had been entered in the computer hadn’t been backed up yet, so I had lost all of it. Or at least I thought I had.
“This was the only one that survived.”
I could barely make out the filing code on the side of the box. It was the most recent batch of Arkansas and Tennessee files, copies of medical records from pediatricians’ offices.
“It was still on a hand truck in the hallway. My assistant hadn’t entered the data yet.”
“Do you feel like looking at it?”
I put my head in my hands to stop the wave of dizziness and the memories that rode it. “Not tonight. Do you have any painkillers in that magical box of pills?”
“I may. Something that will dull the pain but not upset your stomach?”
“Perfect.”
He returned with a little orange pharmacy bottle and spilled out a pill. “This should help.”
“Thanks.”
When I rolled over the next morning, I wasn’t so sure I should’ve accepted the second pill from Gabriel. The first one must have dulled my judgment. What was I thinking, accepting medication from a stranger, especially one who had drugged me against my will?
The clock said ten o’clock. Drat, I was going to miss Louise.
“Ready, sleepyhead?” Lonna poked her head around the door, which I’d left ajar. If it hadn’t been for the grass stains on my feet, I would’ve thought the whole talking-wolf thing had been a dream. Actually, I was hoping the butler thing
He surprised me by sitting in the armchair, but he did not settle in.
“Look, it’s obvious you know what’s going on better than I do. Can we just chat like two normal people and forget you’re the butler for a little bit?”
“I can try.” He eyed me warily. I think he was surprised he had been so obedient.
“Okay, let’s back up. How did you know what was going on out there?”
“I heard you cry out.”
“I never cried out.”
Another shrug.
“I wasn’t supposed to see them, was I? And don’t you dare shrug.”
He sighed instead. “In time, you would have been introduced properly to them. But no, your grandfather wanted you to be sheltered at first.”
“So you drugged me?”
“It obviously didn’t work.”
“Obviously. Why did he want to shelter me?”
“He knew how your mind works. He felt that, after the fire, you may not be ready to see what your mind would classify as impossible.”
“But now he’s dead, and I’m in the middle of something I need to be able to understand.”
“You may be able to understand it better than anyone.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your research.”
“My research?” I felt the cold sweat at the back of my neck and closed my eyes. Glowing eyes in a black face. Fangs. I shook my head to clear the images of the last night at the lab. “What does my research have to do with all this?”
“CLS.” He rose from the chair. “Excuse me a moment. I have something for you.”
I sipped the tea, which may have been drugged, but at that point I didn’t care. Before I had been let go from Cabal Industries, I had been studying a pattern of breakouts of Chronic Lycanthropy Syndrome, a new psychological disorder of impulsivity. With the help of a historian, I had been tracing family trees and gathering family medical histories on the victims. The raw data was in the lab, and I had been running analyses that night to see if there were any patterns in the variables.
Gabriel returned with a box streaked with smoke but still intact. He set it on the coffee table by my tea.
“What are those?”
“Some of the records you were working with.”
“How did you get them?”
“A friend. I cannot say any more.”
I cradled my left wrist against my chest and leaned over to the box. It smelled of smoke.
“Did any of the others…” I couldn’t believe anything had made it through the fire. The image of the lab as it had been the day after, all my data smoldering ash, flashed through my mind. For some reason, whatever had been entered in the computer hadn’t been backed up yet, so I had lost all of it. Or at least I thought I had.
“This was the only one that survived.”
I could barely make out the filing code on the side of the box. It was the most recent batch of Arkansas and Tennessee files, copies of medical records from pediatricians’ offices.
“It was still on a hand truck in the hallway. My assistant hadn’t entered the data yet.”
“Do you feel like looking at it?”
I put my head in my hands to stop the wave of dizziness and the memories that rode it. “Not tonight. Do you have any painkillers in that magical box of pills?”
“I may. Something that will dull the pain but not upset your stomach?”
“Perfect.”
He returned with a little orange pharmacy bottle and spilled out a pill. “This should help.”
“Thanks.”
When I rolled over the next morning, I wasn’t so sure I should’ve accepted the second pill from Gabriel. The first one must have dulled my judgment. What was I thinking, accepting medication from a stranger, especially one who had drugged me against my will?
The clock said ten o’clock. Drat, I was going to miss Louise.
“Ready, sleepyhead?” Lonna poked her head around the door, which I’d left ajar. If it hadn’t been for the grass stains on my feet, I would’ve thought the whole talking-wolf thing had been a dream. Actually, I was hoping the butler thing
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