Coyote's Howl (Cape High Series Book 17), page 14
A long moment of silence greets me before I see the doorknob turning slowly. The door opens and Sandra peers out at me, wearing her illusion again. “Thanks,” she says gruffly, reaching for the tray.
“I was going to eat with you,” I say, not letting her take it. She glares at me, but it’s half-heartedly, and opens the door wider so I can come in. I close the door behind me and lower my voice. “I want to go out again, and try to save my grandfather.”
“What?” she asks. “Why?”
“Because I think that Badmoon has kidnapped him, I need your help—I wasn’t tough enough to go up against him before I lost my forms, so I’m definitely not tough enough now, but you are. I don’t want to tell the adults about it, either, because of… reasons. So will you help me?”
She’s silent for a moment and I suddenly worry that she’s going to say no—or worse, tell someone what I’m planning. “We can’t get there on foot,” she says, “not without getting noticed.”
“We need a teleportation watch,” I agree. “But I’m almost positive that Aubrey is still wearing one.”
“So… you want to bring Aubrey along? She’ll probably tell the adults as soon as we ask her.”
“No, I want to steal it,” I say. “I’m betting that we’ll find him near the field—you know, the one where we found Mom.”
“How are we going to steal it, though?” she asks.
“I’ll change into a—” I stop, groaning. “I… have no idea.” I start eating, hoping that food will make my brain kick into gear.
We both look up as someone knocks on the door. “Hey!” Jack says, sticking his head in before Sandra can say anything. “I brought your gingerbread man!” We stare at him, and then look at each other.
“I want to toss him out,” Sandra says bluntly, completely ignoring how Jack is standing right there.
“I know, but he’s dating her,” I say. “Maybe he could distract her?”
“What are you planning?” he asks, coming into the room with a foil wrapped package. “I’ll distract Aubrey if you tell me what’s going on,” he says, looking around. “This room is crap, by the way.”
“You promise?” Sandra asks, ignoring his comment about her room.
“I promise… this room is crap.”
“Not that, to distract her.”
“Yeah, sure, I do it all the time,” he says, sitting down next to me and reaching for my plate. I move it out of his reach. “What’s going on?”
“We’re going to save my grandfather,” I say, eating faster because I know he’ll steal it if I wait too long.
“I’m in,” he says, to my surprise, “if I can come with you.”
I look at him for a long moment, stunned. “Why?”
“Because I don’t crack,” he says. “I’m going to get a bit of revenge.” The look on his face makes me almost feel worried for Badmoon.
“For what?” Sandra asks. “I’m the one he punched, but I held my own, you know. I might be ugly, but I’m tough!”
“You aren’t ugly,” I say, a bit unnerved as I hear Jack echo me. “You really need to get past that, you know,” Jack adds. “This whole ‘woe is me’ thing doesn’t work well when you can send a Superior girl flying.”
“She didn’t go flying, exactly,” Sandra says.
“Close enough,” he says. “Of all the kids in the school, she’s the one that would take me down the easiest, so I enjoyed watching that.”
“So you’ll steal the watch from your girlfriend if we let you come with us?” I say, going back to the main point.
“Drop of a hat,” he agrees.
“Then you’re in,” I say, holding out my hand. “But you can’t turn my grandfather over to the Hall after it’s over. I… I want to talk to him, first.”
“Deal,” he says, getting to his feet. “Hey… your mom is still over at Pan’s place, you know?”
“She is?”
“Yeah.”
“I wonder if they’ve found anything out,” I say. He shrugs and heads out the door, leaving Sandra and me to finish our meals. “Do you trust him?” I ask her.
“Of course I don’t,” she says. “I don’t trust anyone.” But her tone isn’t very vehement. “Well… I doubt he was lying, though.”
“Why’s that?” I ask.
“He seems too stupid to be a good liar.”
It startles a laugh out of me. “That was terrible,” I have to say. “He’s just really straight-forward.”
“Got the watch,” Jack says, opening the door and letting the watch in question dangle in front of us. “But we can’t use it in here, so Sandra, you’re comin’ over to visit the family again,” he says, slipping the watch into his pocket with a smug little smile.
“How did you get it so quickly?” I demand.
“She’s easy to distract,” he says. “Now let’s go.”
We get to our feet and follow him out of the dorms. Nobody says a word, they just wave as we pass them. I wonder what he said to Aubrey. Something tells me I’ll find out after this is all over.
***
“All of the tests show that it would work,” Pan says, looking at the woman that has finally shifted into her human form. She’s wearing some of his wife’s clothing, which hangs off of her frame since she’s so thin. She looks malnourished, and smells the same, he thinks. He doesn’t mention that fact, though, it would be rude. “Now, we merely need to find your son—”
“I won’t let you experiment on him.”
“I realize that,” Pan says. “Am I right in believing that you once had all of the abilities of the Coyote?”
She goes quiet, looking at the needle in his hand, a mix of fear and longing showing on her face. “You—you think it would work on me?” she asks.
“I do,” he says. “I’ve been studying shifter genetics since I was twenty. That’s almost twenty years in the past. What this will do, hopefully, is merely reactivate the genes that were turned off. That’s simplifying it greatly, of course, but it’s all you need to know. This would not turn a random stranger into the Coyote, of course. This will only work on you and Lance.”
“And Badmoon,” she says, still staring. “Fine, I’ll… I’ll try it,” she says, thrusting an arm out.
“Is this smart?” Taurus asks. “You can barely maintain human form, what will happen when you’ve got so many others?”
She looks at him. “I thought my son was dead. I had no reason to be human—it hurt too much. But now, it’s different, my son is alive.”
Pan and Taurus look at each other, and Taurus shrugs. “If we’re going to do some mad scientist experiments, do we need to fill out some forms?” he asks.
“Ah, yes, of course—and you’ll want to deny being here, as well,” Pan says, heading to his computer wall and bringing up the file with a wave of his hand. “I have the file here, let me just print it. Tell me, Kimi, do you have your social security number memorized?”
“No?” she says. “I’m not sure I even have one.”
“Let me see if you’re in the super database—you should be registered, at least,” Pan says, tapping on the wall quickly.
“Nico comes here often, doesn’t he?” Taurus says dryly.
“Once a week, at least.”
“Honey, has Adanna called?” Amara asks from the stairway.
“Not that I know of, dear,” Pan says, still focusing on the work in front of him.
“Hmm… I wonder what she’s doing,” Amara says. “I’ll call Nico if she doesn’t check in soon.”
“That’s good, dear,” Pan says, grabbing a pile of papers that shoot out of the wall. “And we have the form SE125, explaining that you are a willing participant in scientific experimentation, and waiving your right to sue me. I have a pen here somewhere…” he starts searching the tables for the pen. “It’s amazing how often I lose the things.”
“It’s behind your ear,” Taurus says.
“Ah, yes.” Pan pulls the pen out from behind his ear and offers it and the papers to her. “Feel free to read through. I have no desire to be known as a legitimate mad scientist on top of my usual work. I have enough work on my plate as it is, but Lance is one of my daughter’s friends, and I cannot allow Star Born to do this. That’s why I did triple the necessary tests—it is very unlikely that this will backfire.”
“It’s part of the mad scientist schtick to make sure it does, just a bit,” Taurus says as Kimi takes the pile with a slightly overwhelmed look.
“What does SE stand for?” she asks.
“Super experimentation,” Pan says. “Ah, I will also inform Mastermental. I would have, earlier, but both he and Nico were out of reach. I’m not accustomed to that,” he admits with a frown.
“Nico isn’t available?” Taurus says, looking surprised. “He’s a walking communication center.”
“Yes, which is why it was so shocking. I would have worried about it more, but, as you can see, I was rather busy, myself.”
“Yeah, but Nico not being reachable means that he’s up to something,” Taurus says, only to get a pointed look from both Pan and Kimi. “Well, we know what WE’RE up to. It’s what Nico’s up to that worries me!”
“We really need to arrange more battles between the two of us,” Pan says. “I get the feeling it would be quite amusing.”
“I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended by that statement,” Taurus says. “But I’ll admit, I’d rather work with you than Mega, any day.”
“I agree,” Pan agrees, holding out a hand. The two shake, smiling.
“I just need to sign here, right?” Kimi asks, pointing at the last page.
“And add your initials here, here, and…” Pan takes the papers, flipping through them, “here,” he finishes, handing it back to her. She gets to work, signing everything. “My daughter is quite fond of you, as a tutor,” he compliments Taurus.
“She doesn’t show it very often,” Taurus says. “She spent the last few practices pouncing on me from high places.”
Pan laughs. “That is a sure sign she’s fond of you!”
“She does chew on Sunny quite often,” Taurus admits thoughtfully.
“There,” Kimi says, interrupting their chat. “I think I’ve signed everything.” She thrusts out the papers to Pan, looking a little pale. “Are we ready?”
“We’re ready,” Pan says, pulling on some latex gloves and plunging the needle into the serum’s bottle. They watch him work silently. “You might want to be sitting for this.”
“Yes, right, I think I’d prefer that,” Kimi says, sitting down on the nearest chair. Pan takes her arm in a surprisingly gentle hold and sinks the needle into her flesh.
***
“He just stole your watch, you noticed that, right?” Vinny says casually as he drops down on the couch next to Aubrey and grabs the remote.
“Oh, I know,” she says, touching the lips Jack had just kissed. “But he was so proud of how sneaky he was being that I couldn’t call him out on it.” Besides, she thinks, she feels much better about Lance running off to play hero with her boyfriend and Sandra acting as his bodyguards. Badmoon has no chance if he’s going to go up against one Liberty, and one prospective Liberty. “I’m just so glad to see Sandra going somewhere willingly, illusion watch or not.”
“Should we tell Nico?” Carla asks. “They might need his help.”
“Yeah, we probably should,” Vinny says. “But they might get mad at us, so someone try and make it sound like it slipped, would you?” The entire group turns and looks at him quite pointedly. He stares back for a long moment before sighing loudly. “That’s my job, huh? Fine, I’ll do it.” He gets to his feet and saunters for the door. “But y’all OWE me.”
“Y’all?” Carla repeats.
“I think he’s practicing for when he moves south,” Freddy offers. They all look up as Adanna races through the rec room with Skye chasing after her.
“I just want to pet you!” Skye says, sounding quite put-out.
“Aunt Skye—I’m not sure that she’s—well, she’s not a pet!” Aubrey exclaims, getting to her feet to chase after Skye.
“Aubrey! Tell her to shift, would you? I’ve never gotten to see her kitty form!”
“I saw that cat toy you’re hiding!” Adanna shouts over her shoulder. “You’re as bad as Emily!”
“Adanna! Skye! Do you want to play a board game?” Carla calls out. Both Adanna and Skye pull to a stop, looking at each other for a second.
“Yes!” Skye says.
“I—I don’t mind,” Adanna says, blushing slightly. “I should have brought some cookies.”
***
We appear in the middle of the field, and Jack looks around with a slight frown. He seems a bit bothered. “What’s wrong?” I ask him.
“No metal,” he says. “That could be a problem for me.”
“I told you we were going to a field,” I have to point out. “I thought that’s why you grabbed your surfboard before we came.”
“Well, yeah,” he says, tossing the surfboard in question into the air, where it starts to float, “but I still have a bit of a disadvantage out here. Oh well, I can deal with it. So… where is he?”
We look around. There’s no sound, even the birds are quiet. “Um… well, see, the last few times we came out here we had a finder type cape with us,” I admit, feeling stupid. “But they should be nearby somewhere, right? Neither of them are long distance capes—well, I mean, they could get a decent distant, but still within running distance. This is where he stripped my grandfather—” I stop, sniffing the air as a faint, overly sweet smell of tobacco drifts by on the air. “I smell him,” I say, shifting.
I sniff the air again, and the scent is much stronger. I turn, running for the source. Behind me, Jack jumps onto his board and grabs Sandra, swinging her up in front of him. I speed up, knowing that they can keep up with me. I’m certain I can find him—
“Hello, boy,” Badmoon says, jerking me to a stop. He’s leaning against a tree, smoking Coyote’s pipe. “I knew you would come. You Hall capes are all the same, aren’t you? Always sticking your nose in everything. I knew you would want to save the old man.”
‘Not really,’ I say, taking my attack stance and growling, ‘but I’m not going to let you get away with it.’
“A coyote,” he says, spitting out the words. “You just had to be a coyote, didn’t you.” He throws the ornately carved pipe away before shifting into a partial form and launching himself at me. I meet him in the air, targeting his throat. His hands catch my shoulders and he digs his claws into my skin before throwing me at the nearest tree. I slam through it, and through the one behind it, as well. I fall to the ground, landing on my feet and jumping over the fallen trees to attack him again. My teeth catch his arm this time, clamping down on his flesh, and he curses as he tries to throw me off. I have him!
I hear a whistling sound and then Badmoon grunts as something hits him. He reaches up, tugging at a piece of metal sticking in his neck. “So what do you think,” I hear Jack say, “does silver really kill a werewolf?”
“Quit screwing around,” Sandra says before racing towards us. Before she gets far, though, Badmoon pulls out a very familiar looking gun. The flash of light hits her straight on, and she screams, falling on her face.
“Sandy!” Jack shouts, racing towards her and jumping off of his board. The board comes up like a wall between them and Badmoon blocking the gun as he falls to his knees next to her. “Sandy—” he says. I feel the light hit me and my shifted form fails, leaving me hanging from Badmoon’s arm by my teeth. I fall to the ground, cursing myself for not thinking about the gun. “Nico,” Jack says. “You put that special E.P.B. in my com-bracelet, right?”
“Turning E.P.B. on now,” a robotic voice comes from all of our com-bracelets.
“Thanks,” Jack says. “Sandy, stay right here, okay, kiddo?” he says gently, and I look over, seeing him push her hair out of her face before he stands. The metal board stays right where it is, and he steps around it, slamming one hand into his other fist. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he says to Badmoon.
Badmoon aims and shoots, but nothing happens. Jack just starts running. It seems slow, and I know it is, but it grows faster and faster with each step, like a mountain building up momentum. “Why isn’t this thing working?” Badmoon growls as he shoots Jack one more time. When it doesn’t work, he lets a curse and shoves the gun into his pocket. He throws himself at the attacking Jack.
Badmoon catches Jack’s hands and they try to push each other back, like sumo wrestlers. I can see Badmoon’s feet dig into the ground below—and then get shoved deeper and deeper as Jack steadily overpowers him. I see Badmoon’s teeth grit and a vein pop in his arm as he tries to get his ground back. “You NEVER shoot my little sister,” Jack snarls before slamming a heavy, metal-plated knee into Badmoon’s gut and tightening his hold on his hands to keep him from going flying. He repeats the move, kneeing the man in the face, now that he’s bent over enough. I smell blood.
“If you kill me,” Badmoon gasps out, “you’ll never find Coyote!”
“Jack, stop!” I say, getting to my feet. My powers are coming back, I can tell. “We need to know what he did with Coyote!”
Jack looks at me, and I can almost see him get his self-control back. He literally shakes off the rage that’s controlling him. Badmoon falls to his knees and looks up, spitting out a bit of blood before smirking. “I thought that would be your answer,” he says. He shifts, twisting his body and racing away before Jack can grab him. I hear Jack’s board fly through the air, but I ignore him as he gives chase, and stagger to my feet, heading for Sandra.
