"What's gotten into her, Lou?" Demarco demanded.
Winter had finally released its grip on Moonwood Mill, and the sudden spring rains had melted most of the snow. Unfortunately, the newly rediscovered freedom to get out of the house had done little to ease tensions. Rory's declarations at the pack meeting, and the town meeting that had followed, had set the pot to boiling. Relations between the packs had been reduced to hard looks and snarling.
"What do you mean?" Lou asked mildly.
"What do you mean, what do I mean?!" Demarco burst out. "Look, I know I've only been here since fall, but I can see she's acting weird. When Rory brought me into the pack, the Wildfangs were all about supporting each other and improving ourselves. When did 'rule the town' become a thing?"
"You'd rather leave it to the elders and the old blood families?" Lou replied softly, but Demarco was startled by the low growl in his voice.
"What the hell, Lou?" Demarco said, her eyes searching his face. What's gotten into him, she wondered.
"Look, OK, maybe we should have more of a say in things," she continued. "I really don't know... but Rory's storming around like she's constantly on the edge of shifting and going on a rampage. You know that Kurt and old Mrs. McGee tried to talk to her about all this and she basically threatened them. They're normals, Lou! When did she start going around threatening normals?"
"... and what about Kiril?" she added. "I know she used to keep a tighter leash on Kiril... now she's letting him go around snarling at people and basically doing whatever he wants."
"Kiril's always been..." Lou started.
"The other day, he had Layla cornered back by the library bathrooms," Demarco interrupted. "When I challenged him about it, he laughed it off... like it was nothing. It's not nothing, Lou! I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't come along."
"I'll talk to Rory," Lou said. "You know, you should really come with us to Kiril's next gig down in the Harbor."
"What?" Demarco blinked at the sudden subject change. "Why would I do that? Apart from the fact that I have to listen to him torture a perfectly good guitar here all the time, have you not been listening to me? Kiril is out of control."
"Well, he's better when he's playing," Lou insisted.
"Out. Of. Control," Demarco said firmly.
"I'll talk to Rory," Lou repeated. "She'll reign him in."
"She will or I will," Demarco replied seriously. "This is going too far, Lou. Someone's going to get hurt."
-----------------------------
"I don't know what to do," Demarco ranted. "Other than keep an eye on Kiril. That, I definitely have to do."
Etta, Demarco thought, at least seemed to understand. Her entire pack might have bought in to this 'rule the town' nonsense, but Etta she could count on to be sensible.
"Yeah, not good," Etta agreed. "Hey, can I have a lock of your hair?"
OK, maybe not 'sensible'...
"What?" Demarco blinked. "Is this some weird witch-y pick-up line?"
"No... no," Etta laughed. "OK, actually it can be sometimes... but that's totally not what I meant. It's just... well, think of it as 'luck charm' thing."
"I thought you couldn't do magic anymore," Demarco said, puzzled and distracted.
"I can't," Etta said quickly. "Not real magic... but there are... other things. Herbalism, folk magic... little things I can still do."
"I guess a little good luck couldn't hurt," Demarco admitted. What did a few hairs matter, in the end?
"He made a play at me again," Etta added. "Kiril, I mean."
"He what?! What did he do? Are you OK?" Demarco couldn't hold back the snarl.
"I'm fine," Etta insisted. "He just pulled his 'hey baby, need a real man' thing... but Bianca shut him down pretty quickly."
"He went after you with Bianca around?" Demarco blinked. "He's usually not that daring. What did she do?"
"She called me a skinny, flat-chested bitch and said he'd never be interested in me... as if I was the one hitting on him," Etta snorted.
"Bitch," Demarco muttered. "I don't get those two at all... but I definitely need to keep an eye on him. I don't know, Etta... I can't shake the feeling that something really bad is about to happen."
-----------------------------
The strands of Demarco's hair felt heavy in Etta's pocket, as if their significance had physical substance. Almost as if she could still sense the magic.
Should she have told Demarco the truth? No, not yet. Demarco wouldn't understand... or, worse, she would understand perfectly.
Time. She just needed a little more time.
"Hello, Claudette," Father's deep voice filled the silence.
No comments:
Post a Comment