and I saw that Cat was crouched in the middle of the bed, his tail bristled out like a bottle brush, his attention riveted on a shadow at the far end of the room. I realized the shadow was a man, and my heart stopped for a moment.
It was Wulf. He was standing statue-still, silently watching me.
“How long have you been here?” I asked him, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Not long.”
“What do you want?”
“Compliance. I want you to stop helping my foolish cousin. Without you, he would be forced to give up and move on.”
“I can’t see him doing that.”
“He would have no choice. He would be ineffective.”
“Why do you want him to give up?”
“I have my reasons. And some of the answer is obvious. I need to secure the Luxuria Stone, and he’s making it more difficult than it should be.”
“I’ll think about it,” I told him.
Truth is I’d tell him anything if I thought it would get him out of my bedroom.
“You have no idea how dangerous this hunt is,” Wulf said. “This isn’t a game. There will be terrible consequences if you continue.”
There was a flash of light, Cat growled low in his throat, and when the smoke cleared, Wulf was gone. I didn’t hear him leave. No footsteps on my stairs. I didn’t hear a door open or close. Only the rumble of an expensive car engine catching on the street below my window.
“Jeez Louise,” I said to Cat.
I switched my bedside light on and debated calling Diesel. It would be comforting, but it wouldn’t really serve apurpose. Wulf was gone. At least for now. I got up and turned every light in the house on, and checked to make sure all the doors were locked. I grabbed some cloves of garlic and my big chef knife, and I went back to bed. Okay, I know garlic is for vampires, and I don’t think I believe in vampires. At least I don’t want to believe in vampires. And Wulf probably isn’t a vampire. Still, it can’t hurt to carry some garlic with me just in case, right?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Clara watched me pipe frosting onto a batch of spice cupcakes. “You look like you’re asleep on your feet,” she said. “You just frosted a cupcake with your eyes closed.”
“I had a bad night. Wulf popped into my bedroom at two in the morning, and I couldn’t get back to sleep after he left.”
“He popped in?”
“I woke up and there he was … watching me.”
“That’s creepy. What did he want? Did he attack you?”
“No. He wanted to talk. The conversation ran somewhere between a threat and a warning. He wanted me to stop helping Diesel.”
“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea,” Clara said.
Glo had been listening from the doorway. “She can’t stop helping Diesel. She has to save the world or we’ll all go to hell.”
“Hell would be a bummer,” Clara said.
Personally, I thought we were in big trouble if I was the one standing between the world’s population and hell.
“I need coffee,” I said to Clara. “I need a nap.”
I left work early, drove home, and crashed into bed. When I woke up, Diesel was standing, hands on hips, looking down at me.
“Could you ring a doorbell?” I said to him. “I’m tired of men barging into my house. Whatever happened to privacy?”
“Is someone barging in besides me?”
“Wulf. He dropped in last night to tell me I should stop helping you or else.”
“Or else what?”
“He didn’t say, but I don’t think it was good. Big trouble. Lots of danger. That sort of thing. He said if I stopped helping you, you’d go away.”
“I wouldn’t go away,” Diesel said, “but I’d be severely limited. He’d have a huge advantage.”
I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Did you read Goodfellow’s diary?”
“Yeah, and it wasn’t easy. Almost a hundred pages written in cramped script, detailing everything from thepurchase of chickens to indigestion. And he had indigestion a lot .”
“What did he say about Lovey?”
“Lovey told Goodfellow he was in
It was Wulf. He was standing statue-still, silently watching me.
“How long have you been here?” I asked him, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Not long.”
“What do you want?”
“Compliance. I want you to stop helping my foolish cousin. Without you, he would be forced to give up and move on.”
“I can’t see him doing that.”
“He would have no choice. He would be ineffective.”
“Why do you want him to give up?”
“I have my reasons. And some of the answer is obvious. I need to secure the Luxuria Stone, and he’s making it more difficult than it should be.”
“I’ll think about it,” I told him.
Truth is I’d tell him anything if I thought it would get him out of my bedroom.
“You have no idea how dangerous this hunt is,” Wulf said. “This isn’t a game. There will be terrible consequences if you continue.”
There was a flash of light, Cat growled low in his throat, and when the smoke cleared, Wulf was gone. I didn’t hear him leave. No footsteps on my stairs. I didn’t hear a door open or close. Only the rumble of an expensive car engine catching on the street below my window.
“Jeez Louise,” I said to Cat.
I switched my bedside light on and debated calling Diesel. It would be comforting, but it wouldn’t really serve apurpose. Wulf was gone. At least for now. I got up and turned every light in the house on, and checked to make sure all the doors were locked. I grabbed some cloves of garlic and my big chef knife, and I went back to bed. Okay, I know garlic is for vampires, and I don’t think I believe in vampires. At least I don’t want to believe in vampires. And Wulf probably isn’t a vampire. Still, it can’t hurt to carry some garlic with me just in case, right?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Clara watched me pipe frosting onto a batch of spice cupcakes. “You look like you’re asleep on your feet,” she said. “You just frosted a cupcake with your eyes closed.”
“I had a bad night. Wulf popped into my bedroom at two in the morning, and I couldn’t get back to sleep after he left.”
“He popped in?”
“I woke up and there he was … watching me.”
“That’s creepy. What did he want? Did he attack you?”
“No. He wanted to talk. The conversation ran somewhere between a threat and a warning. He wanted me to stop helping Diesel.”
“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea,” Clara said.
Glo had been listening from the doorway. “She can’t stop helping Diesel. She has to save the world or we’ll all go to hell.”
“Hell would be a bummer,” Clara said.
Personally, I thought we were in big trouble if I was the one standing between the world’s population and hell.
“I need coffee,” I said to Clara. “I need a nap.”
I left work early, drove home, and crashed into bed. When I woke up, Diesel was standing, hands on hips, looking down at me.
“Could you ring a doorbell?” I said to him. “I’m tired of men barging into my house. Whatever happened to privacy?”
“Is someone barging in besides me?”
“Wulf. He dropped in last night to tell me I should stop helping you or else.”
“Or else what?”
“He didn’t say, but I don’t think it was good. Big trouble. Lots of danger. That sort of thing. He said if I stopped helping you, you’d go away.”
“I wouldn’t go away,” Diesel said, “but I’d be severely limited. He’d have a huge advantage.”
I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Did you read Goodfellow’s diary?”
“Yeah, and it wasn’t easy. Almost a hundred pages written in cramped script, detailing everything from thepurchase of chickens to indigestion. And he had indigestion a lot .”
“What did he say about Lovey?”
“Lovey told Goodfellow he was in
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