I awoke to a darkness so complete I was disoriented. The throbbing agony in my head didn't help. I lay on a cool, smooth surface. Not the ground. Not home. Where had I been? Where was I now? Who in hell had hit me?
I remained still; the pain wouldn't permit anything else. I must have slipped back into unconsciousness, because I awoke again - minutes, hours, days later, I had no idea. But I could sit up without wanting to shriek. I still couldn't see my hand in front of my face, even though I sensed the movement.
Crawling across the floor, I swept one arm out and struck something thin, metal, with a space between it and another just the same. Bars.
I shoved my arm through all the way to the shoulder and swung it around. Nothing but air.
I began to get nervous that I was not in a cage but outside of it, which would mean I was sticking my arm inside - to be torn off by Lord knew what - and I skittered back, smacking hard against a solid wall about six feet away.
Running my palms over the surface, I reached a corner and slid down another solid wall. I was inside a menagerie wagon from the feel of it, which meant there should be a door on the far side.
I managed to get to my feet, then shuffle across, arms still waving in front of me. The idea of running smack into Hogarth - in either form - almost made me go back to the corner and cringe. But I was done cringing. It felt so much better not to.
I stumbled into something and waited for the inhuman roar. Nothing happened.
Lowering myself to my knees, I reached out, then snatched my hands back.
That had felt like a body. But the skin had been warm.
Not dead then, or not dead for long.
I needed to know who it was. Biting my lip, I reached out again.
Long, silky hair, strong blade of a nose, full lips. I knew the truth even before my fingertip brushed his earring.
"Mal?" I patted his cheeks. No response.
"Mal!" I put my hand on his chest. He was breathing.
Unconscious, but how? Clocked in the head like me? He was immortal - although we hadn't really gone into details on that. Technically, "immortal" meant unkillable. It might not preclude getting knocked out.
But why had someone knocked us out and locked us in a cage? Where could we be that was large enough to house a menagerie wagon yet small enough to close off completely from any source of light?
Malachi moaned and began to move. I reached out to help, then inched back. I'd come looking for him because I'd discovered his people called him werewolf and we had a werewolf stalking our town. Now I was locked in a cage with him and the full moon was. . .
Well, depending on how long we'd been here, it could be full and rising any minute now.
I skittered to the far wall and listened. Groan, shuffle, curse. Still, silent, then -
"Claire?"
I didn't answer, couldn't move, tried not to breathe, but it was useless.
"I know you're here," he said quietly. "I can see pretty well in the dark. "
"S-stay where y-you are. " I sounded terrified, and that wasn't good. Animals sensed fear.
"How did you find out?" he asked.
"Find out what?"
"That I'm a werewolf. "
I hadn't expected him to admit it. But then, he'd never behaved as I'd expected.
"Ruvanush," I said.
"Who translated for you?" ,