Page 94 of The Lone Wolf Café
“I mean, if you use your powers for selfish reasons, yes. Witches theorize that’s why so few empaths exist. They’ve always been the ones most frequently persecuted by humans,” Rowena sighed. Her fingers had warmed from the heat of my ever-burning palms and were no longer cold. “Scholars and authors of witch literature don’t write much about them because of it.”
The loud, metallic thud of a bell, ringing repeatedly in a singsong pattern, interrupted us before I could respond.
“Crap,” Rowena cursed under her breath. She abruptly left the couch and hurried over to the window, pulling back the tiniest sliver of the heavy curtain. She hovered there for a few moments, dark brown eyes scanning the scenery beyond the window, until she finally relaxed and pulled the curtain back into place.
“What was that bell?” I asked.
Rowena sighed, her face twisting into a frustrated scowl. “Emergency town hall meeting.”
“About the werewolves?”
“They may have left. Broad daylight isn’t exactly conducive to their hunting strategy,” Rowena replied. “But they’ll be back. I’m sure of it.”
I nodded, still not understanding why the werewolves had chosen to attack during the day at all. It seemed futile. And desperate.
I wasn’t their kin. They couldn’t possibly be that eager to get their claws on me. But they were, and it was terrifying. It made my skin crawl with unknowns and what-ifs, and my father’s face and voice kept flashing through my head. I couldn’t begin to imagine how angry he’d be once I was tossed at his feet back in Hollenboro.
“And on top of that…” Rowena paused. I noticed she had moved, and was standing in front of what looked like a poster. “We have another problem.”
“What is it?”
Rowena turned to the side, and I realized the artwork on the wall wasn’t a poster. It was a calendar.
She pointed to the last Monday of the month. “Tonight is Halloween.”
“Tonight!?”
Gods help us.I had been so caught up in everything going on, so lost in my newfound relationship with Rowena, I’d lost track of what day it was.
“And tonight…” I gulped. “It’s also the full moon, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“So… we’re screwed. Completely and utterly screwed.”
Not only would the werewolves be back that night, but they’d be frenzied — full of feral rage with their humanity lost under the blinding moonglow in their eyes.
If they came looking for me tonight? It would be a bloodbath. The worst werewolf attack that Wisteria Grove had ever seen.
And it would all be my fault.
“Rowena,” I choked out her name. She turned toward me, and my throat suddenly felt choked and dry, like it was full of wood chips.
“We need to face the truth,” I declared.
“Nettie…”
“I have to leave. Now.”
“No,” Rowena declared, a mix of anger and fear boiling in her voice. “We’re not out of time. We have options. We can figure out a plan, and–”
“Rowena. Please. I have to go,” I swallowed hard, forcing my emotions down. “Wisteria Grove is in danger because of me. The longer I stay here, the more likely someone gets hurt.”
“But Nettie–”
“I won’t be able to live with myself if someone gets hurt. Or bitten. Or worse. Please, I have to go while I still ca–”
“No!” Rowena exclaimed, her shout shattering the tension in the air like an earthquake. She let out deep, choking breaths, her chest visibly shaking as twin tears slipped down her cheeks and onto the hardwood.
