The Tiny Curse (Werewolf High Book 2) (14 page)

I woke up back on my shelf, feeling crappy but pleased to not be dead. Someone had removed me from the glass jar — I assumed Astor because if Tennyson Wilde had been able to reach me, I wouldn't still be there in Astor's room. Tennyson was gone and so was Astor, so I set back to work on my braided paper rope. One thing had become clear to me as my life had been draining away in that mason jar, and that was that there were some people in this world who had nothing to redeem them at all, no tiny spark of goodness. Astor was one of those people. He would play with me until he got bored of it and then he would kill me, and it wouldn’t even mean anything to him. He didn’t see me as human, not as the same species as himself. For him to kill me would be the same as me throwing an empty candy wrapper in the trash. I had to get away from him, no matter what.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed while I was unconscious, but it was day, which meant that Astor was probably in class. I’d have a bit of time before he returned. Folding the long bits of paper together was time-consuming and physically awkward as I'd gotten even smaller, but at the same time kind of soothing. It put me into some kind of meditative state where I could see things objectively. From everything I’d read and been told, magic was really just a way for power to be channeled that had not been explored by science, but that didn’t mean it didn’t follow the same rules of physics that everything else had to. In the olden days, people had thought all sorts of things were magic, but it was only that they didn’t have the scientific knowledge to explain them. More than anything else, people hated not being able to explain stuff, I supposed, so if they didn’t have the answer, they’d just make one up. I didn’t see why this should be any different. Wow, if I could understand the principles of magic in a scientific way and explain them and prove them, I wonder if I’d be heralded as some sort of genius. If you won the Nobel, you got a cash prize, didn’t you? Definitely worth the effort then.

So, all I really needed to do was find the power that was making me small and divert it to a different outlet. I assumed that the spell was an ongoing thing, that my body was constantly trying to revert to its natural state, so it would be a constant drain on the power source. It was a massive assumption on my part, but I felt it to be true in my bones, that I was constantly trying to grow, and that was why I had less energy than usual. The smaller I got, the more tired I felt.

It also made sense to me that the power source would be close by. If the spell was ongoing, it would have to be close enough to me to not be interrupted. I tied my paper rope to the brackets of the shelf, then tied the other half around my waist. I don’t know why — if I fell, I was basically screwed — but people always seemed to do that when climbing so I figured I should. I was a bit dubious that the rope would hold as I climbed down over the shelf, gradually letting the rope go, running through my hands as I lowered myself down. If it did break and I splattered all over the floor, at least I’d be rid of Astor.

I kept on with my train of thought as I climbed. The power source had to be close. Astor wasn't an animal person and yet he'd stolen someone's beloved pet. Sure, maybe he did it just for kicks, because he loved being mean, but I'd bet that there was more to it. Bonkers was the key, I was sure of it.

Finally, I hit the floor. I crept over to where Bonkers was curled up in the corner under the bed, licking her paws. Poor little thing looked miserable and I couldn’t leave it there, even if it wasn't involved.

“Hey buddy,” I said. “You wanna get out of here? We could go get a burger and maybe some fries. What do you think?”

She blinked at me. Her eyes were dull and sad. I got close enough to it to pat her on the nose. Her teeth were awfully big but at least if she munched on me, she would get something nutritious to eat, the poor thing looked as if she had never had a square meal in its life and I bet she hadn't since Astor had stolen her.

I’d failed miserably at riding the rat, but maybe this would be different. I felt around in my pockets for a bit of cheese I’d been saving for emergencies and lured her out from under the bed. At first I thought she wouldn’t come, she just stared at me blankly, but then she started to crawl toward me.

“Good dog,” I told her. “You are super smart. Now, lets skedaddle before that bozo gets back.”

I gave her the cheese and climbed up onto her back, careful not to pull her fur. I rubbed her on the top of the head and then directed her forward, clinging hold of her collar. We got to the door and I held on tight as it jumped up, scratching at the door. The next time it jumped, I reached out as far as I could to press the button to open the door. The door swung open and we ambled out, finally free.

Nobody was around except for one or two people skiving off in the common room, but they didn’t pay us any attention. We opened the front door in the same way and finally we were free! I gave Bonkers directions to the Golden House, but I don’t think she had been allowed to run around outside while with Astor, so she wasn’t listening to me at all. I nearly lost my balance as she squatted to do her business, then went tearing off toward the forest in searching of smells.

“Sam!” I yelled, banking on the super senses to come in handy at least one time. “Tennyson Wilde! Nikolai! Come and find me, I’m in the forest with a rampaging beagle!”

But even if they didn’t find me, I thought there were much worse things than a life in the forest with a happy puppy. We could live together out there, eating berries and frolicking about, that would be grand. Something under a log really caught Bonkers's attention. She snuffled around under it, burying her nose in the dirt, and then she began to dig furiously. I hoped it wasn't something dangerous. I'd had enough danger to last me forever.

Within minutes, though, they came. My rescue party.

Bonkers was startled when three people came crashing through the forest toward us, three people who surely smelled a bit irregular on account of not being human. Bonkers backed away with her tail between its legs, almost knocking me off its back as it tried to hide under a fallen branch. To my surprise, Tennyson Wilde knelt down in front of it, holding out his hand. He murmured something too quietly for me to hear and flashed his eyes and the dog leapt forward, licking Tennyson on the face and wagging its tail like it was the happiest dog on the planet.

Sam lifted me up and held me in his hand, smiling, and I kind of understood how the dog felt.

"Hey, you guys," said Nikolai, interrupting our happy reunion. Even Bonkers looked at him with disdain, but then we saw what he was pointing at.

From under the log, where Bonkers had been digging, came a faint blue glow.

"You have got to be kidding me," I said. "Bonkers, you stole the orb off Astor?"

Bonkers wagged her tail and licked Tennyson Wilde on the face.

Sam put me back on the ground and then dug out the orb and held it up in front of us. The blue energy swirled around inside it. "What do we do with it?" he asked.

"Smash it?" said Nikolai.

"No," said Tennyson Wilde. "Sit it down on the ground."

Sam placed down the orb next to where I was standing. It was about the same height as me, and up close I could see all the intricacies of it. I felt as though if I looked at it for long enough, it would reveal all the mysteries of the world to me.

"Swallow it," said Tennyson Wilde.

I looked up at him but didn't really see him. What he said made no sense and yet I understood, somehow.

I opened my mouth and inhaled, sucking the blue glow down into my lungs, drawing it out of the orb and into myself. The rest of the world ceased to exist, there was only that power and the need to consume it. It seemed an eternity.

When the power was gone from the orb, I blinked, feeling as though I'd just woken from a nightmare. I stumbled and Sam grabbed me by the elbow. Because he could. Because I was human-sized again. I exhaled a sigh of relief and it came out as a sparkly blue cloud. I watched as the cloud circled up into the air, high above our heads, above the forest, and then darted away.

"Woah," I said. "That dog saved my life!" I really could not go back on the burger promise then.

Being big took some getting used to. I felt super clumsy and my center of gravity was way off. I'd been human-sized all my life but somehow it felt as if it had been easier to adapt to being small. Sam helped me walk back to the Golden House as Bonkers frolicked around us and Tennyson Wilde called Llewellyn to give him the good news. Everyone was in celebration mode but I knew that our problems were far from over.

"What will we do with Astor?" I asked Sam, taking full advantage of the excuse to lean heavily against his side. He was strong and he smelled nice so I felt perfectly justified.

"Now that you're big again and Astor's blackmail material is gone, we'll hand him over to the proper authorities," Sam said.

"Magic police?"

Sam shrugged. "Sort of. A council kind of thing. Community leaders and whatnot."

Tennyson cleared his throat and looked at Sam pointedly, and I got it, I did. I wasn't really one of them and information was dangerous.

"Well, if you need to testify on my behalf, please tell them that he tortured me and he should suffer for his crimes. Also, he kicked Bonkers and I'm fairly sure he starved her too."

When we got back to the house, Althea was waiting for us. She was wrapped in a blanket and looked fragile, like an injured bird.

"I'm so glad to see you!" she said, trying to stand up when I came in.

I motioned for her to stay sitting, but moved over to hug her.

"You too!" I told her. "I"m so sorry."

She shook her head but I knew that I'd have to make it up to her somehow.

"I'll be fine," she said. "But what happened to your hair?"

Cakes were ordered, and bacon for Bonkers, and everyone swapped stories. For a moment, it was as if we all forgot the threat that was hanging over our heads. The magic user who had the power to attack us at any time. Llewellyn came to collect Bonkers and couldn't even speak to thank Tennyson Wilde, he was crying so much.

"You know, it was actually me," I said, though nobody paid me any attention. "I saved Bonkers from the evil clutches of Astor. I probably should get a reward."

The revelry begun to die down. Llewellyn and Bonkers left. Tennyson got a phone call and moved into the other room to take it. Nikolai and Sam got into some stupid argument about magical theory that seemed more based on World of Warcraft than any of the texts I'd read. Sam met my eyes and smiled across at me. I smiled back. Maybe things weren't broken between us after all.

Althea tugged on my sleeve to get my attention and I leaned in toward her.

"While I was away, I got our people to do some digging," she said quietly. "On those fake social media accounts in your name. I remembered you saying you didn't think it was a coincidence and I think you're right." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "All the information led back to one person."

She handed me the paper and I stared down at it in shock. It couldn't be right. I was misreading it or there was some sort of mistake. The name on that paper was the one name in the world that I did not expect to see.

Hannah Morgan.

Lucy’s story continues in Werewolf High #3: The Body Swap, available June 4 – click here to preorder

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Thank you to Kathryn for sharing your wealth of knowledge with me.

Thanks to Eliza Dee.

Deranged Doctor Designs, my cover is awesome.

Hannah, Liam and Morgan, thank you for letting me steal your names. I hope your fictional counterparts can live up to the real thing.

Sandy and Laurie, thank you for all your help, support and advice.

Anita likes dogs, naps, food, and Japanese idol group Arashi. Everything else can be improved when combined with these four things.

After several years in the warm, comforting cocoon of fandom, Anita has decided to see what’s up with this real world she’s heard about. Judgment is reserved until more information can be gathered.

Anita lives with a grumpy beagle who bosses her around terribly, and won’t even snuggle.

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Lucy wakes up in a strange body. Hijinx ensue.

Werewolf High #3: The Body Swap is out June 4 – click here to preorder