Hidden Moon (Nightcreature 7)

"A rune. " At his confused expression I elaborated. "A talisman. Icelandic in origin, as is the swastika. Before the Nazis got hold of it, the symbol was used for protection and rebirth. "

"It might have been used for that after they got ahold of it, too," Grace muttered. At my quizzical expression she continued, "If Hitler ordered a werewolf army and Mengele gave him one, perhaps the swastika has something to do with it. "

"I'm not following. "

"Talismans are kept now for luck, but they were once considered magic. "

"Still not getting it. "

"Knowing Hitler, he didn't plan to stop at one army. "

"Right," Doc agreed. "Once Mengele found the formula, or whatever the hell he was up to, they could have turned the entire Nazi army, as well as every other army they conquered, into something that was very hard to kill. "

I got a chill, even though Hitler and his pal Mengele had been dead a long, long time.

"So maybe the swastika wasn't just a symbol they appropriated because they liked the way it looked on their flag," Grace said. "Maybe it had something to do with the changing of the man into the beast. Rebirth, then protection from all enemies. " Grace glanced at me and shrugged. "It could happen. "

Now I rubbed my eyes. "You two are giving me a major headache. "

"I've done a bit of research into magic and shape-shifting myself," Grace said.

I dropped my hand and stared at her. Sure, her great-grandmother had been a medicine woman, but I'd figured they were discussing herbs and roots, and maybe they had been, along with other things.

"Every culture has a shape-shifter legend," Grace repeated. "Most of the Native American tribes believe they were descended from some sort of animal. "

"Believing and being are two different things. "

"I'm just saying the shape-shifter legends aren't new. They've been in place since long before the Nazis showed up, so maybe they just appropriated one. "

"You're saying we've got a Nazi werewolf running around?" And wouldn't that just be special?

"I have no idea. " Grace turned to the doctor. "How do we recognize a werewolf?"

"If you shoot them with silver, they'll explode, in both forms. "

"Anything marginally less violent?" I asked.

"In wolf form, a werewolf retains its human eyes. "

I started, remembering. "I saw that. "

"What?" Grace turned to me. "Where?"

"In. . . a - well, a crystal ball. "

"You saw a wolf with human eyes in a crystal ball?"

"I was getting my fortune told. A wolf appeared in the center of the crystal with a bunch of shadows and mist all around. Then Edana, the fortune-teller, said, 'Beware the devil who is a shape-shifter. '"

"Always good advice," Grace muttered. "Did the eyes of that wolf match the eyes of our missing tourist, or anyone else you might know?"

"Too small. " I made the shape of the crystal ball with my hands. "I could see the whites but not a color. Not really. "

"You saw a werewolf," Doc said. "Wolves, normal ones, don't have whites around their irises. Only people do. "

We went silent for several moments, pondering that.

"Let's take stock," Grace said. "The rune was found where the tourist was attacked. He became the beneficiary of miraculous healing and disappeared into the mountains. In theory, he was reborn a werewolf, and now we need to kill him. With silver. "