And now it was too late.…

What would happen if I waited too long to forgive everyone else?

NIGHTMARE

I must have fallen asleep eventually in the stack of books and papers on my bed, because one moment I was reading, and the next I found myself standing in the alley where Pete had attacked me the night of the Christmas dance. I wore my white dress with the violet sash, and I could feel the cold night air on my skin, even though I knew I was just dreaming.

It wasn’t one of my pleasant dreams of Daniel. It was a nightmare, I realized, when I saw that I wasn’t alone in the alley. Pete was there, just as angry and dangerous as he’d been that terrible night. The fear and desperation to get away from him felt just as real, too. The dream progressed, and I relived more of that horrific night. Don Mooney stabbing Pete, then almost suffocating me in an effort to quiet my screams. Daniel coming to my rescue, and then the two of us trying to hunt down Jude and lead him away from the school dance before he was overtaken by the werewolf curse. In my nightmare, I was forced to reexperience the moment when Jude found us on the roof of the parish, and I watched again as he pitched Daniel’s moonstone off the roof. I remembered the way Daniel had arched his head back and howled a scream.…

EARLY TUESDAY MORNING

I shot bolt upright in my bed, my legs and arms tangled in my sheets. The sky outside my window was a purply early-morning gray. I thought it was the noise of Daniel’s scream that had awoken me from my terrible dream, but then the noise sounded again, and I realized it was the ring of my cell phone next to my bed.

I had no idea who would call so early in the morning, but I was grateful for the reprieve from my nightmare. Part of me wondered if being forced to relive that horrific night was God’s way of punishing me for neglecting Him for so long. I grabbed my phone and flipped it open without checking the caller ID.

“Hello,” I said groggily.

“Grace,” came April’s voice. It sounded even shakier than usual. “Have you seen the news yet this morning?”

“No, it’s”—I checked the clock—“barely six a.m.”

“I got up early to make some breakfast for Jude. He was really upset last night, and I thought if I brought him something homemade, it might help him feel better. But I turned on my mom’s radio in the kitchen … and I heard a report about something that happened at City Hospital…” She sounded too upset to finish her sentence.

“What?” Something about my dad? Please don’t let it be something about my dad!

“A woman was found dead in the parking lot of the hospital. Near that grove of trees on the west side. An ICU nurse.”

“What?” I felt a rush of relief that it wasn’t news about my dad, and sudden panic at what this might mean. “Do they know what happened?”

“They’re saying it was a wild-animal attack.”

This was bad. Very. Very. Bad. I’d heard what Deputy Marsh had said about one more attack being all the justification he needed to get a hunting party together. Even if the attack had been all the way in the city, with two people dead now, I didn’t see that stopping those hunters from going after Daniel.

Suddenly, I remembered seeing the white wolf watching me from that same grove of trees last night when I left the hospital. But no, it couldn’t be.… He wouldn’t. … Whatever Daniel was now, I didn’t sense any malevolence in him.

“What time did they say it happened?”

“Just after midnight.”

“Thank goodness.” Daniel had been back in Rose Crest by then. We’d heard him howling just before ten p.m. Gabriel said he’d stay with him through the night. I could prove it wasn’t him if I had to.

And then another thought hit me. What if someone was trying to make it look like Daniel had done it … like the way my brother had staged those attacks last year to frame Daniel…

I shook my head. Dreaming of Jude’s misdeeds all night long must have made me paranoid this morning. Jude was locked up, after all. He would have been at the parish all last night, with Zach and Ryan guarding him and everything.

“I need … I need to tell you something, Grace.” “What is it?”

“I let Jude out last night.”

“You did what?”

“He was so upset about your dad. He begged me to let him go see him. I just couldn’t say no. I sent Zach and Ryan away, and then I let Jude out. He promised he’d come back. He said he wouldn’t be gone longer than two hours. He swore to me he’d just check in on your dad and come right back.”

“Did you stay there to make sure he did?”

“No. My mom called and got real mad because I was out past my ten thirty curfew. I left, and I have no idea if he…” She took in a gulp of air. “Gracie, do you think Jude could have done this?”

A nurse at my father’s hospital had been killed, and my brother had been loose at the same time. He was probably still loose now—doing heaven only knows what. Every fear I’d had about Jude since the moment he claimed he wanted to come home came crashing in on me.

“Yes.” I snapped my phone shut and sprinted from my house, headed toward the parish.

I had to see the evidence for myself.

Chapter Thirteen

DEBTS UNPAID

A FEW SHORT MINUTES LATER

My ankle had healed considerably with almost a full night’s sleep, but I still couldn’t run at my top speed because too much of Rose Crest was already out and about this morning. It felt like torture slowing my pace down enough just to look like someone out for a morning jog—which I realize now probably would have been more convincing if I’d bothered to put on shoes before bolting from the house. And I was still wearing the pair of pale green scrubs I’d changed into at the hospital.

I ran past Mr. Day, who was setting up a display outside his shop, and then rounded onto Crescent Street. When I was sure no one else was around, I kicked up my speed and flew across the parish’s parking lot and into the building. I pounded down the stairs into the darkened basement without stopping to turn on any lights.

What am I going to do if Jude isn’t here?

What am I going to do if he is?

I ran right up to the storage cage and grabbed the iron bars of the gate with both hands. The gate was closed and bolted by a thick padlock, but the two “watchmen” chairs outside the cage sat empty.