Hidden Moon (Nightcreature 7)

"I got a C in mythology. "

"Goddesses of the hunt, they command the moon and the night. Patrons of the wilderness and the werewolf. "

That made a little more sense.

"If I was a wolf, she thought she could control me, but - " He broke off.

"It's a little hard to control someone when you're dead. "

"In truth," Malachi continued, "though she was mi'zak, wicked, she had great power. It's understandable that she might think she could control the wolves; she did command the moon. "

A short bark of laughter escaped me. "She did not. "

"On the night she cursed me, Rhiannon lifted her arms, and the moon went red. "

"I don't understand. "

"You've never seen a hidden moon?"

I suddenly recalled the card Edana had shown me - the moon flaring red, a hidden moon.

"A total eclipse," Malachi continued. "They're very rare. "

I suddenly understood that Malachi hadn't just stumbled into town on a whim; he'd come here for a reason.

"What happens to you when there's a full eclipse?" I asked.

"The moon takes my soul, and I become an evil, murderous, uncontrollable beast. "

"The moon can't take your soul, Malachi, any more than Rhiannon caused that eclipse. You have learned something in two hundred-odd years, haven't you?"

"I learned that on the night Rhiannon hid the moon, astronomically speaking, there shouldn't have been an eclipse. "

Hmm. I didn't like the sound of that.

"The Rom believe that Alako, our god of the moon, takes our souls at death. "

"You're not dead. "

"I was. When she cursed me, when the moon went red as blood, life left my body, and I was reborn as a wolf. "

"You're saying you can only shape-shift during a total lunar eclipse?"

"Yes. "

"Then who - ?"

"I don't know!" His voice rose with frustration. "There is no wolf in my caravan. I was sentenced to be alone - the only wolf when wolves are pack creatures. Even though my people are cursed to remain with me, they're different animals, and they blame me for an

eternity of wandering. They respect me as their leader; they fear me as the ruvanush, but they hate me, too. "

"Where are they?" I asked. "You said they couldn't be away from you. "

"Not more than a mile or two, at most, five. As animals, they need to roam. "

"What happens if they get too far away?"

"They feel as if they're walking on hot coals. Their heads ring; their chests erupt in agony. No one's tried it more than once or twice. "