Part 13 (1/2)
I laugh. ”No, I have a room at Appleby Manor.” ”Can you not see your own reflection?”
”Do you think my hair would look this good if I couldn't?”
”What about crosses? Do they burn you like fire?”
”Totally. And I'm really grossed out by garlic. But I never liked that before my conversion either, so no big loss.”
”Do you die if someone stakes you through the heart?”
I groan. ”Jeez, guys, give it a rest. I'm a vampire, not a freak show. And besides, you guys are werewolves. Do silver bullets work? Do you howl at the moon? Is the American Werewolf in London based on any of your kin?”
They laugh and slap me on the back. ”Touche, vampire la.s.s,” one says. ”Touche.”
”So one more question,” says Lupine. ”Why is a Yank vampire like you looking for Lycans in our humble bar?”
”Well, I'm glad you asked,” I say. ”Do you remember a group of American girls coming this way last summer? They would have been here for some cheerleading compet.i.tion.”
The men groan in sync. ”Can't forget them,” says one. ”Me ears were ringin' from the blasted noise they made for near three weeks after they left.”
I laugh. ”Yup, that would be them,” I say. ”Well, they're now back in Ma.s.sachusetts, of course, but they've. . . changed.”
”What do you mean?”
”Um, simply put, I think they're werewolves.”
The men erupt in concerned murmurs. I wait patiently, lighting another cigarette.
Finally Lupine speaks. ”That's impossible,” he says.
I shrug. ”Impossible or not, I'm telling you the truth. And this is the one place where they could have become infected.”
”But we haven't turned a wolf in more than five hundred years,” Lupine says. ”Bringing in new mouths to feed would be counterproductive. It would destroy the pack. The only way you can enter the Order of the Gray Wolf is to be born into it.”
I scratch my head. That doesn't make any sense. If they don't turn people into werewolves, how was the squad infected?
”Is there any way there could be someone outside your pack who could have done an unauthorized bite or something?”
The men talk amongst themselves again. ”What about the Lone Wolf?” I hear one ask.
”The what?”
”There was a boy who challenged Lupine, our alpha,” the man explains. ”He had delusions of grandeur. Decided he wanted to take over the pack. Of course he was defeated.” The men all look gratefully at Lupine, who I imagine was the one who kicked this guy's a.s.s. ”And sent away, tail between his legs.”
”But as he left, he vowed revenge. Said he would start his own pack and eventually destroy us.”
”Perhaps he found your girls and decided to make them his mates.”
Lupine squeezes his hands into fists. ”I knew I should not have let him leave alive.”
I'm beginning to get a sick, excited feeling in my stomach. ”That's got to be it. He must have somehow bitten all the cheerleaders while they were here for their tournament.”
”Kiss 'em is all he'd have to do,” explains a bearded guy in the front. ”Lycanthropy is spread through saliva.”
I remember Shantel talking about the party they all went to. How they got so drunk they didn't remember how they got home.
”But why wouldn't he keep them here in England? Why let them go back to America?”
”He's weak. Not born to be an alpha. He may have not been able to stop them. But you can be sure he's sending them telepathic messages. And once he gains more strength, he will call to them. And they will come.”
”The situation is grave indeed,” says Lupine, his yellowish eyes squinting in worry. ”Untrained wolves running around. They could cause serious problems when the moon is full.”
”Yeah, they already are. That's why I'm here. We have to figure out a way to cure them. Is there one?” I cross my fingers, praying for an affirmative answer.
Luckily Lupine nods. ”There is an antidote,” he says. ”When our cubs reach maturity we give them the choice. Stay with the pack or live the rest of their days as a human. Those who choose humanity are doused with antidote and sent out into the world, never to return.”
Hope sparks inside me. ”Great! I was hoping you'd say that!” I exclaim. ”Do you have any to spare that I can take back to America?”
”We can make some up for you, not a problem. Just takes a little of the old secret ingredient,” Lupine says. The men all chuckle and I wonder what joke I'm missing out on.
”Secret ingredient?”
”Alpha wolf p.i.s.s,” explains Lupine.
I stare at him. ”Urn, ew?”
The men laugh.
”Don't worry, luv,” says Lupine. ”We distill it and by the time it's in antidote form it's only one part of a million. You won't even be able to smell it.”
”Oh-kay. I trust you,” I say. Actually it's a bit amusing to imagine feeding the cheerleaders wolf p.i.s.s. ”So how's it ad- ministered?”
”Topically. Just let it seep through the skin.”
”That sounds easy enough.”
”Not really. You see, it can only be applied when they're in wolf form.”
”Oh.” Yes, I can see where that would be a bit more challenging. What am I supposed to do? Wait 'til homecoming and then try to trap them all in the same room? Get out the old Super Soaker and blast them all with it once they start growing claws and teeth? If it doesn't work right away I'll have some pretty angry, deadly wolves on my a.s.s.
I shake my head. I'll think of something. The important thing now is to get the antidote.
”So when can you have it made?” I ask, ”Give us 'til tomorrow morning,” says Lupine. ”We'll have it for you by then.”