Night's Master (Children of The Night 3)

Rafe knelt before Susie. Gently, he wiped the tears from her cheeks. Removing his shirt, he draped it over her shoulders. “There now,” he said. “You'll be all right.”

She shook her head. “No, I'll never be all right again. My baby, oh, my poor baby.”

“Susie, what happened?” I asked, coming up behind Rafe.

“Not now,” he said, and lifting Susie into his arms, he turned and headed back the way we'd come.

I hurried after him, a thousand questions screaming in my head.

When we reached the car, Rafe opened the rear door and settled Susie in the backseat. I crawled in beside her. She was shivering convulsively now. I put my arms around her, hoping to help warm her.

Raphael started the car and turned the heater on full blast.

“You'll be home soon,” he said, speaking to Susie over his shoulder.

“No! No, I don't want to go home. I can't go home! Please!”

Seeing that she was on the verge of hysteria, I said, “We won't take you home, I promise. You can stay at my place, all right?”

Still shivering, she huddled against me, silent tears tracking her cheeks. Feeling helpless, I patted her shoulder, murmuring that everything would be all right.

When we reached my house, Raphael carried Susie inside. I marveled at how gentle he was with her, how the very sound of his voice seemed to soothe her.

I followed him inside, taking a quick moment to admire his bare back before I closed and locked the door behind us.

“Rafe,” I said, “bring her into the bathroom.” Leading the way, I turned on the taps and added some scented bubble bath, hoping it would relax her.

Rafe held Susie until the tub was full, then slipped his shirt off her shoulders and lowered her into the water.

“Anything else I can do?” he asked, looking at me.

I shook my head.

“I'll be in the other room,” he said. “Call me if you need me.”

With a nod, I closed the door. Susie lay in the bathtub with bubbles up to her chin. She stared blankly at the ceiling.

“Can I get you anything?” I asked.

She shook her head, then whispered, “I wish he'd killed me.”

“Who?” I asked. “Who did this to you?”

“I don't know. I was coming home from a meeting with Mrs. Blythe. It seems Jody has been causing some trouble in class.” She smiled wistfully. “He's a good boy, you know.”

I nodded. Jody was her youngest son. “Go on.”

“I stopped at the light on the corner of First and Elm, and a man got into the car. He made me drive out to the woods and then…” She shuddered. “He dragged me out of the car. I thought he was going to rape me. I told myself I could live with that, if he'd just leave me alive. But he didn't rape me. He…he turned into a wolf. A wolf.” She shuddered again. “He bit me….”

She pushed her hair aside, and I saw an ugly red wound smeared with dried blood. I thought it odd that her other scrapes and scratches had disappeared, but the bite mark remained.

“I don't remember anything after that except…I had a horrible nightmare. I dreamed I was a wolf.” A single tear ran down Susie's cheek. “When I woke in the morning, I couldn't find my clothes and I…I panicked and started running, but I got lost in the woods.”

She laughed, a dull, humorless sound. “I remembered reading somewhere that if you got lost, you should sit down and wait for someone to find you, so that's what I did. I told myself that Rick would find me, that everything would be okay, that nothing worse could happen to me.”

She looked at me, her expression bleak. “Just proves how wrong you can be. Hours passed and no one came.” She folded her arms over her br**sts. “I was about to start walking again when the same man suddenly appeared. I told him to go away and leave me alone, but he just laughed. He said he'd come to help me.”

“Help you? Help you how?”

“I didn't know at the time. I thought he was some kind of lunatic, because he wouldn't let me go, but he gave me food and water. I slept the rest of the day. When I woke, he told me the moon was full and that I was going to change. Before I could ask what he meant…” She closed her eyes. “It happened.”

“What happened?” I had to ask, even though I was afraid I already knew the answer.

“I turned into a wolf. It was horrible, painful, frightening.” She placed her hand over her abdomen. “I miscarried in the middle of it.”

“Oh, Susie, I'm so sorry.” And even as I spoke the words, I was overcome with relief. Thank goodness the moon wasn't full tonight. And then I frowned. “You need to see a doctor.”

“No!”

“But…”

“I'm all right. Don't you know? Werewolves heal quickly.”

I stood there, feeling totally helpless as I tried to think of something to say.

“It's probably for the best,” she said in that same lifeless tone. “No baby should have a Werewolf for a mother.” She opened her eyes and looked at me. “How can I ever trust myself to be alone with my children? What will Rick say? What will my parents say? The ladies at church?”

Moaning softly, she clutched her stomach. “My baby, I want my baby.”

Never in all my life had I seen such anguish reflected in anyone's eyes. I yearned to comfort her, to tell her everything would be all right, but the lie tasted like ashes in my mouth.

“Why?” she asked in a hoarse whisper. “Why didn't he just kill me?”

Later, after I bathed Susie and helped her into one of my nightgowns, I put her to bed in the guest room and tucked her in. I stood there a moment, my heart aching for her. I couldn't begin to imagine the horrors she had experienced as she felt her body transform, nor could I truly understand her pain at losing a child. I had been tempted to tell her she could have other children, but I had quickly realized she wouldn't find any comfort in that. Having another child, or ten, would never make up for the one she had lost.

Blinking back my tears, I tiptoed into the hallway and closed the door behind me.

Rafe was waiting for me in the living room. “Is she all right?”

“She's asleep.” I sat beside him on the sofa. “Why would anyone do such a thing to Susie?”

Rafe didn't answer, but then, I hadn't expected him to. There was no answer, at least none that made sense. None that would heal Susie's wounded heart. Only time could do that. Still, I wanted an explanation.

“It isn't fair,” I said bitterly. “She's not involved in your war.”