Engines and werewolves

Chapter 9

"The part of the mirror that 'One Needs to see,'" he told her. He turned to her with a smile and held out the mirror. "This should only take a moment."

"But what-" He pushed the mirror into her arms and turned to the French doors.

"It's best you don't know," he replied.

Lukeman strode to the doors and opened them to step out onto the balcony. The sun was nearly set as he lay his hands on the thick stone railing. Victoria hurried to the doors, but froze in the doorway. Her eyes widened as she beheld him transform into the beast. His clothes burst at the seems and his face elongated into a snout. The hands that grasped the railing stretched into long, thin clawed fingers.

A strong smell flowed over Victoria. It was the scent of an alpha male. Her heart quickened as a delicious heat pulsed inside her body. She grasped the doorway and panted as she clutched the cool mirror to her heaving chest.

Victoria couldn't deny the emotions that raced through her. She wanted him. She wa

nted him to take her and never let her go.

Lukeman tilted back his head and let loose a long, echoing howl that reverberated through the trees. The chamber door swung open and Victoria whirled around in time to see Albert rush into the room. "Master, what's-" His eyes fell on the werewolf on the balcony. He strode over to the doorway and Victoria stepped side. "Master, what is the matter?"

"This," Victoria spoke up. She held the mirror so the glass faced the manservant.

Albert studied the creeping figure and pursed his lips. "So it has begun."

Victoria frowned as she lowered the mirror. "What's begun?"

Their conversation was put on hold when Lukeman climbed onto the railing and leapt off. Victoria and Albert rushed to the railing and leaned over. Lukeman sprinted across the lawn and over to the gate. He grasped the top and swung himself over to land neatly on the stone path outside the walls. The wolf paused and lifted his nose to the air before he rushed into the woods.

Victoria lost sight of him, but she had a sixth sense. She looked into the mirror. The glass showed her the thick, dark woods and the hulking shadow of her lover as he hunted in the trees.

Albert sidled up to her and frowned. "This is very reckless of him."

"Who's he chasing?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "It's hard to say. It could be a wizard, or another werewolf. Or both."

Victoria wrinkled her nose. "A wizard?"

Albert arched an eyebrow. "You doubt me when you hold a magic mirror in your hand?"

Victoria pursed her lips and returned her attention to the glass. Lukeman arrived at a small clearing in the woods somewhere in back of the house. The cloaked figure awaited him. The stranger raised their hand and a brilliant light illuminated the clearing. Victoria's eyes widened as she watched Lukeman howl in pain and drop to the ground. She whipped her head up as the noise echoed through the woods.

"Lukeman," she whispered.

She turned away from the railing and raced toward the French doors. Albert grabbed her arm. "He is protecting what is his. It would be dangerous to intervene."

She yanked her arm from his grasp and glared at him. "I can't stand by and do nothing!"

Victoria rushed through the chambers and downstairs. Albert remained on the balcony and turned to watch her sprint across the lawn and through the rusted gate. He sighed and reached into his coat to pull out an old-fashioned, single-shot revolver. "What must been done must be done."

Victoria stumbled through the dark woods as she followed the path forged by Lukeman. Behind her the sun spread its final rays before sunset. A deep, rumbling growl told her she was getting closer.

Victoria burst from the trees and into the clearing. The combatants faced off as they did in the mirror, but Lukeman was hunched on the ground. His back heaved up and down. The scent of alpha permeated off him in strong waves. She clutched her chest as the familiar lustful heat was lit inside her.

Lukeman whipped his head to her. She gasped. His face was flat and his snout longer than before. Hair covered his entire body, and she noticed his knees faced backward like those of a wolf. He turned to face her on all fours. His hunched back was covered in a mane of gray fur.

Lukeman lunged at her and grabbed her shoulders. The mirror dropped onto a pile of needles as he slammed her onto the ground. He leaned down and sniffed her cheek. His razor-sharp teeth brushed against her skin.

Victoria swallowed. "M-Mr. mac hensaw. It's me. Don't you remember me?" The wolf curled back its lips and growled at her. It eyes were devoid of light as it opened its wide jaws. Victoria's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No. Please no." The wolf raised its head for a finishing blow. Victoria struggled in his grasp, but his grip was too strong. "Lukeman!"

The wolf paused. Its yellow eyes blinked. The cold emptiness of the beast vanished and was replaced by the bright light of Lukeman's human self.

The figure on the opposite side of the short clearing chuckled. Lukeman leapt in front of me and spun around to face the trespasser. Its pale lips curled back in a long snarl.

The figure shook its head. "No need for a worthless show, wolf. You can't harm me, but what a stroke of luck." He paced halfway around the clearing and stopped twenty feet short of them. "Two wolves for the price of one. My client will be most pleased." The stranger removed their hood and revealed their face.

The person was a man of forty with gray eyes and a weather face. His thin brown hair was combed back over his thin skull and shimmered with grease. His skin was pale and his thin lips slipped up into a sly grin.

Over his dark eyes and centered on his forehead lay a single red eye. The eye was large and partially lidded. It blinked against the rhythm of the other two, and its attention lay solely on Victoria. She shrank from that staring abnormality.

"It's always nice to have my job made simpler," the man commented. He lifted his hand and held his palm out toward them. A bright red light sprang from his palm and formed itself into a ball. The hair on the back of Victoria's neck stood on end and there was a crackling of energy as the ball grew larger and larger until it was the size of a basketball.

The man drew his arm back. "Time for some separation." He threw the ball at the pair.

Lukeman lunged at the ball. A shot rang out. There was a flash of light as the red ball exploded into a thousand small, shimmering dust particles. Lukeman dropped onto his four feet short of the explosion and averted his eyes from the bright blast.

The force knocked Victoria off her feet. She shook her head and glanced down at the ground. The parts of the ball floated to the ground like feathers and vanished in a flash of black light as they hit the earth.

Albert stepped from the woods with his smoking g*n in hand and his eyes on the stranger. He shoved a large silver bullet into the single chamber and c****d the g*n. "I would rather you not try that again, sir. These bullets are rather expensive."

The man sneered. "How dare you interfere, human."

"I dare because my master dares. What I am doesn't matter," Albert countered.

The stranger drew back his hand. Another ball formed in his palm. "Then you can die with the others, and I will bury your soul in a tree."

Lukeman leapt forward. The man raised his glowing hand and the ball formed into a round, curved shield. Lukeman's head knocked into the shield and bounced off. He dropped back and shook his head.

The stranger chuckled. "Though my magic is weak against silver, a mere werewolf can't break this shield. It is made with the strongest of spells created and recited in the deepest forges of the dwarves."

Lukeman curled his lips back into a sly grin and a deep, echoing chuckle reverberated from his long mouth. When he spoke his voice was deep and gravely. "I thought merely to knock the spell from your hand, but now I'll severe your hand from your body."

Lukeman lunged at the stranger. The man raised the shield. Rather than head-ramming, Lukeman lifted his own clawed hand and took a swipe at the defense. Claw met red light and the red light shattered, but Lukeman's claws didn't stop there. His long fingers sliced through the man's wrist and cut off his hand.

The stranger's mouth opened in a wide, pain-filled scream. He dropped to his knees and clutched his bleeding stump. His wailing echoed in Victoria's ears. She clapped her hands over her ears and looked away.

The hand, and Lukeman, dropped behind him. Lukeman turned to Albert. "Don't let the stupid animal suffer any longer."

"But sir, shouldn't we-"

"Take what he sought from me, then, and let's be done with him," Lukeman snapped.

Albert closed his eyes and bowed. He stowed the g*n back in his coat and pulled out a small, transparent glass vial. Albert popped the cork and lifted the bottle above his head. A blue mist floated out of the mouth and over to the wounded man.

He looked up just as the mist wrapped around him. His eyes widened and he stumbled back, but the mist kept him in its circle. The man shook his head and raised his stumpy arm in front of him. "No! No, you can't! Don't-" The mist pressed into him, hiding him from view and cutting off his words. The column twisted and writhed for a few moments before it stretched and floated into the air.

The man's upraised body came back into view. His open eyes stared straight ahead, but there was no life in them. A small breeze swept over him and the eye in his forehead blew away like dust. He fell face-first into the ground and didn't move.

The blue mist was sucked back into the bottle. Albert reinserted the cork and tucked the bottle into his coat.

Lukeman stood on two legs and partially transformed back into his human self. His body was still covered in hair, but his face was mostly human. Lukeman turned to Victoria who cowered at the edge of the clearing.

Lukeman walked over and knelt in front of her. He offered her his hand. "There's nothing to fear now."

Victoria recoiled from his clawed fingers. "W-what happened? Who was that? What was that light?"

He sighed and shook his head. "You don't even believe in magic after you've seen it?"

She blinked at him. "That. . .that was magic?"

He nodded. "Yes, and a very potent kind." He glanced over at his manservant who stood a few feet away and smiled. "I'm fortunate Albert came to my aid."

Albert closed his eyes and bowed. "It was my duty, Master."

Lukeman chuckled. "Duty is very dangerous for you. But you-" he returned his attention to Victoria, "-you had a different form of duty, didn't you?"

She blinked at him. "What are you talking about?"

He chuckled. "Haven't you wondered why you rushed out here and came to my aid."

Victoria opened her mouth, but the explanation died in her throat. She looked away from him and shook her head. "I-I don't know."