As Mist stepped up to the podium at City Hall, and the crowd began to cheer and wave their picket signs (
All Hail Empress Mist!), as Grace and Jason joined the throng and exchanged secret looks, someone very . . .
changed returned to Bridgeport.
Marisa Whitefang was waiting. A little voice in the back of her head told her
she was coming.
And sure enough, the door opened, and in walked a young woman with golden skin. "Marisa Whitefang."
"Can that be . . . Treasure Moonstone?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she whispered something under her breath. "
Treasure. Treasure. Treasure." Raising her voice, she continued, "Yes. And I have a proposition for you."
Interested, Marisa stood and, even as Treasure began to outline her plan, she couldn't help but look around the room. Everything was scrubbed white, clean and bare. It would take anyone some time to realize there was no refrigerator.
Her attention refocused only when Marisa interrupted her. "Look, Treasure, I admire your ambition. However, I already have a good deal as it is--here, come see my human pen."
They went outside, where the werewolf showed Treasure a windowed room filled with people.
"Technically I'm not allowed to hunt in Bridgeport," Marisa explained. "But with Mist's new rules, I can hunt between the hours of midnight and three in the morning. I feed, then capture prey to bring back here for when I get hungry during the day. I choose most of my prey, but--see that one there, the neon girl? She'll be impossible to swallow, but she refused to pay tribute, so . . ." She shrugged, teeth flashing.
"What's that one doing in the pen?" Treasure asked.
"That's my next meal. I move them into the little pen an hour or two before breakfast--makes them much tastier. All of those terrified juices flowing . . ."
Apparently the mere thought, combined with her hunger, was enough to trigger the transformation. Breakfast, standing petrified in the pen, nearly fainted.
"This is quite the operation you have here," Treasure said companionably. "But it's nothing compared to the benefits that will be due if I become heir and the plan is put into effect. You'll have your pick of prey--all day, all night. There will be food at the snap of your fingers! And, if you want, I'll have a big field set up so you can chase them down. Whatever you want."
The werewolf tilted her head to the side. "What's this plan?"
Treasure just smiled, innocently. But behind her eyes lingered a glint of madness. "Control, Whitefang. Control of everything."
"Count me in--
if you become heir."
A small black shadow detached itself from the roof of the little house and soared overhead, through the twilight, to report to its master.
Mist waited by the pool, hearing the sound of footsteps on the road. A moment later, Treasure appeared. She was dressed differently, Mist noted. Very differently. She had little time to digest this, as Treasure caught her in a hug.
"I missed you so much, Mom!"
Mist smiled eerily, silhouetted against the sky. "Missed you too, Treasure."
