A Spell of Time (A Shade of Vampire #10)(24)

I wondered what kind of life Micah had lived back in the supernatural realm. Clearly they’d learned to be resourceful. They didn’t seem to take anything for granted and my mother had commented how happy and grateful they seemed just to have roofs over their heads.

Griff and I watched as Micah went about cleaning the fish in the sea and, after removing a dagger from his belt, began preparing them.

I cleared my throat. “I take it you’re used to eating fish.”

He looked up at me and nodded with a smile.

It wasn’t long before Micah was handing both Griff and I platters of roasted fish. No salt. No seasoning. Micah sat down with a platter of his own opposite us and began to dig in.

Since Griff wasn’t making much conversation, I asked another question.

“So, uh, how do you become a werewolf? How does it work? Is it like with vampires where you get infected? Are there Elder werewolves?”

Micah swallowed a mouthful before replying.

“We have no Elders, unlike vampires. We are a species in our own right. And despite the folklore, it’s not true that humans can turn into werewolves. We’re not like vampires where we can infect others with our nature. You’re either born a werewolf, or you’re not. We have humanoid features, but even in our daytime forms, we are not truly humans.”

“Do you have your own realm in the world of supernaturals? Like The Sanctuary? Or Cruor?”

He nodded again, biting into another large fish.

“What’s it like?”

“Mountains, forests, open fields… And plenty of wild animals.”

“Do you eat just animals?”

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“We don’t have a chance normally to eat much else. I’ve never tried human flesh before. Can’t say I’m not curious to try it. Though I’ve heard that it ruins the taste of animal meat forever. Humans are rare in our realm. The witches tend to hog them all. Either the witches, or the ogres who have a way of getting large supplies of them… More?” he said, eyeing Griff’s and my empty hands.

“No, thanks.” I looked at Griff.

“No, thanks,” he said.

“I hope it was to your liking,” Micah said, more to me than to Griff as he glanced at me sideways. He went about preparing seven more large fish for himself before continuing. “So anyway, you don’t have to worry about that with us. As much as it’s tempting, we’re well practiced at surviving on animals. I believe there’s only one werewolf in the whole pack who’s tasted human flesh before.”

“And who’s that?” I asked.

“His name is Ianto. Big, burly fellow. Probably the largest of all of us. Hard to miss.”

“I’ll be staying clear of him then.”

“But like I said, even he is used to animal flesh. I wouldn’t be afraid of us. What you need to worry about is what will happen once more witches join forces with Annora. We don’t know if Mona will be strong enough to hold up this protection…”

Thanks for reminding me. I’d been trying to push this thought from my mind since there was nothing we could do about it.

Griff stood up and walked over to the waves to wash his hands and mouth.

“Griff?”

“I’d better get going,” he said quietly. “I told my mom I’d be back by now. There’s something around the house she wanted me to help with.”

He was avoiding my eyes as he spoke. Something wasn’t right. I hoped it didn’t have anything to do with the attention Micah was paying me.

“Okay, well, stop by tomorrow, will you?” I closed the distance between us and held his hands, forcing him to look at me.

“Sure,” he said, giving me a forced smile before turning on his heel and striding away.

“Bye, Griffin,” Micah called.

“Bye,” Griff muttered.

I watched him leave, then turned back to face Micah, an uncomfortable silence now falling between us.

He walked to the water and washed his hands in the waves.

Although I was disturbed by Griff’s behavior, I couldn’t deny that I was glad to have more time with Micah. I was curious to know more about werewolves and discover what other myths about them were untrue.

“What’s it like to turn every time the sun goes down? Does it hurt?”

He took a seat back down on the sand, removing his wet shirt and spreading it out on Griff’s empty slab before replying. “No. I’m so used to it, I don’t even think about it.”

“I see,” I said, drawing my eyes away from his tan chest. “I’ve never seen a werewolf turn before.”

“You should watch me tonight,” he said.

“I’d like that.”

He stood up and reached his hand down to help me up. I took it and he pulled me to my feet. He flashed me a smile, revealing a set of perfect teeth—a little too sharp for a human’s. “I’ll come to fetch you just before sundown, if you like. But be ready, because once it happens I have no control over it.”

“Okay,” I said, returning his smile. “It’s a date.”

Chapter 19: Abby

I wasn’t sure what we had, Ben and I.

For the past few days, he’d shown up at my doorstep each afternoon to accompany me in taking Shadow for a walk. We strolled around the island, mostly sticking to the beaches because that was where Shadow liked it most.