Hidden Moon (Nightcreature 7)

"Dying is a long time from now. "

"Dying is often closer than you think. "

I remembered Edana's prediction - I might die, or not, soon - and shivered.

"This isn't love," he murmured. "It's only been a week. "

He was right. The new and exciting emotions I'd experienced had merely been leftover satisfaction from a terrific night of sex. Malachi knew better.

His good-bye seemed rehearsed. How many times in the past two-plus centuries had a woman fallen in love with him because he'd made her come?

More than I wanted to know about.

Chapter 34

Grace waited in the car. She glanced at my face and started to drive.

"Tonight's the bonfire," she said.

I nodded. Grace knew as well as I did the schedule for the festival. It hadn't changed in the last forty years; I doubted it would change in the next forty. Unless Lake Bluff grew too poor to have the festival.

"I made some calls," Grace continued. "Logan's campaign manager agreed to keep the specifics of Logan's death under wraps for the time being. "

"How'd you get him to agree to that?"

"Threatened to feed the media the truth about his golden boy. Works every time. "

Interesting. Even though he was dead, they didn't want it touted on the national news that Josh Logan had been a rapist.

"We can still go public once this is over," Grace said. "But right now I'd like to keep the media frenzy out of town - even though the idea of feeding a few journalists to the werewolf does have its appeal. No offense. "

"None taken," I said. A lot of people held the same opinion, including me, about certain reporters. "I'd rather let this drop. Josh can't hurt anyone anymore. I want to forget. "

Grace glanced at me searchingly, her brow creased with worry. "You don't have to decide now. "

"I have decided. That part of my life is as dead as Josh. " I hoped.

While I should be happy that I didn't have to tell the world my private horror, right now I couldn't manage to feel happy about anything.

"I also talked to Doc Bill," Grace continued. "The fur found on Josh's body tested positive for wolf. "

"We figured that. "

"It's always good to have data to back up a theory. " Grace bit her lip. "I'm not sure what to do about Balthazar. "

"What is there to do?" I asked. "Sweep up what's left of him and put it in an urn?"

"That might be a little hard to explain. "

"What isn't lately?"

"He's listed as a missing person; it might be best to allow everyone to continue to think that. I'm not sure how to account for the explosion, let alone the tail. I've got the same issue with Freestone, even though no one's actually seen him get furry. "

"Freestone may be long gone. "

"And if he's a werewolf - "

"We know he is. "