Jeremy was still talking, his voice savage now."You won't miss the Night World. All their stupid restrictions-no killing humans, no hunting too often. Nobody tells me how to hunt. My uncle tried,but I took care of him-"
Suddenly the creature-it wasn't really a personanymore-broke off and turned sharply. Mary-Lynnette saw its lips go back again, saw its teeth parted and ready to bite. In the same instant she sawwhy-Ash was moving.
Sitting up, even though his throat was cut. Lookingaround dazedly. He saw Mary-Lynnette, and his eyes seemed to focus. Then he looked at the thing Jeremy had become.
"You-get away from herl" he shouted in a voiceMary-Lynnette had never heard before. A voice filledwith deadly fury. Mary-Lynnette could see himchange position in a swift, graceful motion, gathering his muscles under him to jump But the werewolf jumped first. Springing like ananimal-except that Jeremy still had arms, and onehand went for the yew club. The club smashed sideways into Ash's head and knocked him flat. And then it fell, bouncing away on the carpet of needles.
The werewolf didn't need it-it was baring itsteeth. It was going to tear Ash's throat out, like the horse, like the hiker ...
Mary-Lynnette was running.
Not toward Ash. She couldn't help him barehanded. She ran toward the car, into the clouds of choking smoke.
Oh, God, it's hot. Please let me just get there....
She could feel the heat on her cheeks, on her arms. She remembered something from an elementary school safety class and dropped to her knees, scrambling and crawling where the air was cooler.
And then she heard the sound behind her. The most eerie sound there is-a wolf howling.
It knows what I'm doing. It's seen that knife everytime I pry off my gas cap. It's going to stop me....
She threw herself blindly into the smoke and heat,and reached the car. Orange flames were shooting crazily from the engine, and the door handle burnedher hand when she touched it. She fumbled, wrenching at it.
Open,open...
The door swung out. Hot air blasted around her. If she'd been completely human she wouldn't havebeen able to stand it. But she'd exchanged blood withfour vampires in two days, and she wasn't completely human anymore. She wasn't Mary-Lynnette any more ...but was she capable of killing?
Flames were licking up beneath the dashboard. Shegroped over smoking vinyl and shoved a hand under the driver's seat.
Find it! Find it!
Her fingers touched metal-the knife. The silverfruit knife with the Victorian scrolling that she'd borrowed from Mrs. Burdock. It was very hot. Her handdosed on it, and she pulled it from under the seatand turned ... just as something came flying at her from behind.
The turning was instinctive-she had to face whatwas attacking her. But what she would always know afterward was that she could have turned withoutpointing theknife at what was attacking her. There was a moment in which she could have slanted it backward or toward the ground or toward herself. And if she'd been the Mary-Lynnette of the old days,she might have done that.
She didn't. The knife faced outward. Toward the shape jumping at her. And when the thing landed on top of her she felt impact in her wrist and all theway up her arm.
The distant part of her mind said, It went in cleanlybetween the ribs....
And then everything was very confused. Mary-Lynnette felt teeth in her hair, snapping for her neck. She felt claws scratching at her, leaving welts on her arms. The thing attacking her was hairy and heavy and it wasn't a person or even a half-person. It was a large, snarling wolf.
She was still holding the knife, but it was hard to keep her grip on it. It jerked around, twisting her wrist in an impossible direction. It was buried in the wolf's chest.
For just an instant, as the thing pulled away, she got a good look at it.
A beautiful animal. Sleek and handsome, but withcrazy eyes. It was trying to kill her with its last panting breath.
Oh, God, you hate me, don't you? I've chosen Ashover you; I've hurt you with silver. And now you're dying. You must feel so betrayed....
Mary-Lynnette began to shake violently. She couldn't do this anymore. She let go of the knife and pushed and kicked at the wolf with her arms andlegs. Half scrambling and half scooting on her back, she managed to get a few feet away. The wolf stood silhouetted against a background of fire. She couldsee it gather itself for one last spring at her There was a very soft, contained poof. The entirecar lurched like something in agony-and then the fireball was everywhere.
Mary-Lynnette cringed against the ground, halfblinded, but she had to watch.
So that's what it looks like. A car going up inflames. Not the kind of big explosion you hear in the movies. Justa poof. And then just the fire, going up and up.
The heat drove her away, still crawling, but she couldn't stop looking. Orange flames. That was allher station wagon was now. Orange flames shooting every which way out of a metal skeleton on tires.
The wolf didn't come out of the flames.
Mary-Lynnette sat up. Smoke was in her throat,and when she tried to yell "Jeremyl" it came out as a hoarse croak.
The wolf still didn't come out. And no wonder, with a silver knife in its chest and fire all around it.
Mary-Lynnette sat, arms wrapped around herself,and watched the car bum.
He would have killed me. Like any good hunter. I had to defend myself, I had to save Ash. And thegirls ... he would have killed all of them. And thenhe'd have killed more people like that hiker.... He was crazy and completelyevil, because he'd do anything to get what he wanted.
And she'd seen it from the beginning. Somethingunder that "nice guy" exterior-she'd seen it over and over, but she'd kept letting herself get convinced it wasn't there. She should have trusted her feelingsin the first place. When she'd realized that she'dsolved the mystery of Jeremy Lovett and that it wasn't a happy ending.