Shadow of the Moon (Nightcreature 12)

"Who?" I asked.

Zachau snorted, and I didn't bother to ask again. If he knew the name of the traitor, he wasn't going to share it with me now. Or ever.

From the curve of his lips, he'd found a likely vein. He prepared to plunge the needle into Will's arm, but he at last had too many balls in the air, or too many items in his hands. In the instant that he hesitated, trying to figure out how to aim the gun, steady Will's arm and depress the syringe, Will said my name.

He didn't shout, he didn't whisper just spoke that single word in a casual tone of voice. I hit the dirt; he grabbed the gun.

The weapon went off. A bullet whizzed past my temple, leaving a scorching path of pain in its wake before plowing into the wall, sending bits of cement raining down.

Will yanked the gun from Zachau's grip and tossed it in my direction, even as he plucked the syringe from the doctor's suddenly limp fingers. Will had always been quicker than the average human--another reason Mandenauer had tried to kill him. However there was nothing supernatural about his ability, just the result of hours practicing tai chi.

Before Zachau could run, Will yanked him close. "You psychotic prick," Will snapped, and the fury in his voice shocked me. Will Cadotte was the calmest man I knew. He had to be to live with me.

My shock paralyzed both my body and my brain. I didn't see Will's next action coming until it was too late.

He plunged the needle into the doctor's arm. Zachau backed away, staring at the syringe.

Will ran to me, falling to his knees, helping me sit up. "You're hurt. This looks bad. "

"What?" I pushed him away, moving toward the front of the cage as the doctor twitched, shuddered and mumbled.

"Jess, you're bleeding. "

Absently I put my hand to my head. My fingers came away slick with blood. "Oh. " In all the excitement, I'd forgotten the sharp pain. "Just a scratch. You know head wounds always look more serious than they are. "

His lips tightened. "I thought he'd killed you. "

"Well, he didn't, so get over it. "

Together we stared at the doctor. "You think he's going to become a wolf?" I asked.

"Might," Will answered. I picked up my gun. "He said that wouldn't work on a boxenwolf. "

"Let's find out. "

However Zachau did not shift; he only gibbered nonsense. For hours and hours. He came close enough once for Will to grab him, then I removed the key to our cage from his pocket. We called Edward; the Jager-Suchers arrived shortly thereafter for a clean up.

Zachau now resides in his own personal cage at Jager-Sucher headquarters. His patients are there too, along with all of his notes and potions. Elise hopes that someday she'll be able to decipher what he did to those people and himself. With luck she'll even be able to cure it.

As for Will and I, there was always another werewolf around the corner. At least we have job security.

And each other.