I glanced at the window to discover dawn had just broken.
"Duh," I muttered.
Will continued to study my face. "There's someone you should meet. Her name's Cora Kopway. She's very old. Very wise. A member of the Midewiwin."
At my blank expression, he elaborated. "Grand Medicine Society. Once, it was a secret religious fellowship devoted to healing through knowledge of the other world. Cora has spent her life studying ancient texts and conversing with the spirits in her visions."
For most people, meeting with a woman who received information from the dead would seem strange.
But once you turned furry every full moon, strange takes on a whole new meaning.
"If anyone can tell us about the totem," Will continued, "Cora can."
The sound of a car on the street below drew Will to the door. "Jessie's back."
I glanced at my watch with a frown. She hadn't been gone all that long.
"Edward?" I asked.
"Not with her. Neither is Nic."
Even though I hadn't expected him to be, disappointment sparked.
"Let's tell her what you told me."
I followed Will down the stairs and across the alley. As soon as we entered the cabin, Jessie announced,
"Mission accomplished."
I hadn't seen Nic for seven years, a few days in his company shouldn't make me bereft upon losing him.
Shouldn't, but did.
"Where's Mandenauer?" I asked.
Jessie looked confused. "I thought he was with you."
"He said he was going to help you."
"I never saw him."
An uneasy sensation tickled the base of my skull. "That's not good."
"Doesn't mean jack. Except I'm in deep shit because I didn't smell a tail."
"Where would he go?"
"Who knows with him? Either he'll show up, or he'll call. He always does."
My unease lessened, though it wouldn't go away completely until Edward walked through the door holding my research. There was always someone, or something, after him. That he'd survived this long was a miracle, or supreme luck. Sooner or later his luck would run out.
"Show her the totem," Will ordered.
Jessie stilled. "Another one?"
I dug the plastic out of my pocket and handed it over. She held the thing gingerly, her gaze shifting from the icon, to me, and then back again.
"Yours?"
"Not really."
Will filled her in on everything we knew and all that had happened.
Jessie closed her fingers around the plastic wolf. "I don't feel anything."
"Should you?"
"The last one was... creepy. Thing moved, slithered even."
Jessie referred to the black totem I'd been studying in Montana, which should be ashes but probably wasn't. The icon had borne the markings of the matchi-auwishuk manitou.
Technically, manitou means "mystery, godlike, essence." There are many such creatures sprinkled through Ojibwe lore. All are helpful but two - the weendigos, or Great Cannibals, and the matchi-auwishuk, also known as the Evil Ones.
One of Mengele's werewolves had used the matchi-auwishuk totem to become a wolf god, and had planned to rule the world.
What is it with ruling the world? Every nutcase wants to.
"This one moves for me," I murmured, and retrieved the wolf from Jessie's hand. "Growls and mumbles, too."
"Maybe I should hold on to that," Will said.
I shoved the tiny wolf back into my pocket. "The totem stays with me."
Jessie and Will exchanged glances.
"What?" I asked.
"The icon is making you stronger, better," Jessie said.
"That's a bad thing?"
"I'm not sure," Will admitted.
"How can stronger and better be bad?"
"You want a list?" Jessie muttered.
"If I hadn't been able to do a quick change when Billy attacked, both Nic and I would be dead."
Will and Jessie considered me for a moment, then Jessie shrugged. "Let her keep it. If I have to shoot anyone, better her than you."
She winked. I wasn't sure what to make of that.
Weariness washed over me. I had to get some sleep, even if it was six o'clock in the morning.
"Which room's mine?" I asked.
Jessie blinked. "You're staying here?"
"Of course she's staying here. Where else?" Will patted my shoulder and gave me a little shove toward the rear of the house. "Third one on the left."
"Thanks."
"Jess, give her something to sleep in, would you?"
I glanced at Jessie in time to see her scowl. When she caught me looking, she wrinkled her nose. "Come on."
She led me down the hall, stopping at the first door on the right. Inside was a king-sized bed, unmade, along with two suitcases, open and sitting on the floor. Jessie started rooting through a tangle of clothes.
"Did Nic - "
I broke off, mortified that I'd been about to ask her if he'd said anything about me. If I wasn't careful, I'd be begging her to pass him a note in study hall.
"Did he what?" She withdrew a wrinkled, double-X T-shirt and tossed it across the space between us.
"Never mind." I headed for the door.
"He said to tell you, he'd see you again."