Chapter 32

April 11, 2001 – 11:05

"Yes, definitely," said Coralis and looked at Emma, then at Jessica. "Once we figure out what we're dealing with exactly, we'll need to test you two out as well. I'm not sensing damage on your connection to your wolves, but he drew blood, so we'll make sure that you're not infected as well. Anyone else got into contact with them?"

Emma and Jessica shook their head.

"No. He arrived here last night and passed out as soon he passed the front door. He didn't wake up until this morning," said Jessica.

"I smelled Turmeric on both of them, think we're dealing with coven witches?" said Eva, sniffing the air toward Emma and Jessica. "I'm not smelling it on them."

"Think we're dealing with something worse. Coven witches might have a hand in this, but there is something else at play. Owil's connection to his wolf was cut off, it's like someone highjacked it and was trying to summon his wolf. We'll need to run some tests on his blood to determine what he's been injected with. Whatever this is, it is still cooking in Wilson's system, but it's already damaging his connection to his wolf."

"Before we entered Owil's room, you mentioned that you ran some blood tests when he first arrived, but couldn't find anything. Do you still have blood samples?" said Eva.

"I'll reopen this patient's wounds, where he's been bitten, I think it's the saliva that we need to test," said Coralis, peeling off bandages around his left shoulder. "Owil stayed mostly in human form, but his wolf was agitated and at the surface. Neither were in control."

Jessica handed Coralis a scalpel and a pair of gloves, while Eva searched the cabinets. Emma grabbed her keys and opened the locked cabinets and drawers. Coralis cut the stitches and opened the wound with her gloved fingers.

"Owil been drooling in there, there is a lot more saliva in here than anticipated, especially considering how fast he should be healing."

"I'll need to do a supply run to collect what we need. They don't have anything that would reveal turmeric, or make an antidote or elixir to reverse it," said Eva.

"Good thing we took a portal with us, just in case. Let's have a look at their wards first, I want to check for breaches and anything that shouldn't be around the property."

"Do you have something stronger, to make sure they both stay unconscious until I get back with supplies? Blue will stay around here just in case, but it might take me some time to gather what we need," said Eva, looking at Emma, while Jessica was patching Jeff Wilson back.

"Yes, I'll take care of that while you check our wards," said Emma.

Coralis and Eva walked outside through the back door.

"Now I see why you insisted on calling the CMMA, they're really good. They restrained Owil without even getting a scratch on them. Agent Blue Thunder doesn't smell like a wolf, is she a werepanther?" said Clarissa.

Emma and Jessica picked up Jeff Wilson, Emma holding his shoulder while Jessica had his feet, and carried him to an empty room. They laid him onto the bed and Emma tied and strapped him like she did for Luke Owil. Stephanie and Clarissa had followed them and stood by the door.

"I'm not sure what she is exactly, she has a very unique scent. I think she's some kind of witch," said Jessica. "I don't care about what she is, to be honest, agents Blue Thunder and Eva Suri are the most competent agents that the CMMA has ever sent us."

Stephanie wanted to know more about Frank's girlfriend and was wondering how she was going to be able to question her. As they walked back toward the reception area, Coralis got back in.

"We couldn't find anything relevant around the property, but the wards had been compromised. I redone them and added sensors to them. I'm going to grab lunch at The Barn and I'll show you how to activate the sensors when I get back. I'll also give you my pager number: I won't be gone long, 30 minutes top, but if there is anything or if you hear an alarm blaring, page me with a series of 9s, and I'll be on my way back here immediately."

"Mind if I go with you for lunch?" blurted Stephanie, then looked at Emma. "Hmm is it ok if I take my lunch now?"

Coralis nodded. She wasn't expecting Frank' sister to be working at Healing Moon. Stephanie did mention working part-time at a clinic in Mirabel, but Coralis thought it was for a human one.

"Sure, go ahead. Probably better for you to be out of here anyway, just in case Wilson or Owil wakes up sooner than they're supposed to," said Emma.

Coralis put on her eyeglasses and followed Stephanie outside. Coralis was debating whether to pull her stick, but decided against it when she saw Stephanie unlocking her car's door.

"I remember you mentioning portals to the other agent. I've got a thousand questions about that. I take that you didn't drove here?"

"Hmm that's correct… it would have taken us a lot longer to get here if we came by car… and uh, I don't have a driver's licence."

Coralis wasn't sure how much she could reveal about herself to Stephanie. She wasn't sure how much she knew about their world, but the werewolves trusted her with their secrets.

"So, you came here through a portal? How does that work? To be honest, I didn't even know that existed until you mentioned it," said Stephanie, as she pulled out of the clinic's parking lot.

"No, uh, I opened a semi-mobile portal for Eva to instantly go where she needed to. When she is ready to come back, she will let me know, so I can reopen it to allow her back when uh… no shady or unknowing eyes are watching."

Both of them stayed silent until Stephanie pulled into the parking lot of a small restaurant, about 5 minutes later. The establishment looked like an abandoned shack for anyone who drove by. The restaurant was owned and mostly frequented by local werewolves, but patrons included all types of supernatural. The parking lot was behind the building and warded to make it look empty, so the human population wouldn't think that the building was more than what it looked like.

"Hey Blue, haven't seen you in a while, how are you doing?" said the hostess as they walked in. "For two?"

"Yeah, for two. Mostly been busy out of town lately," said Coralis.

Stephanie's eyes went wide for a second and wondered how much her brother knew about all of it. Clearly, not only his girlfriend wasn't human, but was also well known in the werewolf community.

"I've got so, so, so many questions and I don't even know where to start," said Stephanie as they sat down at their table.

"I'm sure you do. What exactly do you know about this world? I mean… what humans refer to as the supernatural world."

"I know all about werewolves. Well, I thought I did until I saw your colleague shifting back with her clothes still on. I also know a little bit about other types of shifters, because I sometimes see werepanthers, weremooses or weresquirrels at work. Beyond that, I've heard of vampires and witches, but not that much. Are you a werepanther or something else? I saw you partially shifting, first time I saw that. Does my brother know?"

"I'm something else. Hmm no, he doesn't know yet, can you promise me that you won't tell him anything about what you found out about me? It's not that I don't want him to know, but uh, it's too soon, he can barely handle my work schedule, so… we'll see how things will go between us."

"I won't. As much as I want to, my werewolf friends swore me to secrecy 4 years ago, when I found out about them. I understand why people can't know about the supernatural world. My brother really likes you, as in, he never spoke about another girl the way he speaks about you. When you do tell him, please let me know, because I would love to actually be able to talk about my work, or my friends, with him."

"He will need to know, eventually, but not now."

The waiter came to take their order.

"So. What are you exactly?" said Stephanie, as soon as the waiter was out of earshot.