"You don't have to."
"Yeah, I do. In fact, I was set to fight him when I took off, turned wolf, and ran like hell."
"And you got stuck that way."
"Two long years." He scratched behind his ear. "Man, I think I still have a flea. Damn bloodsuckers. No offense."
"None taken." Quinn frowned. "I always thought turning into a werewolf had to do with the moon's cycle."
"Dude, I'm not a chick. I'm not on a monthly cycle.Weres normally can shift any time we want to, only it's true that during the full moon it becomes a little harder to resist. I don't know why I got stuck, but the moon didn't make any difference at all to me. Now, hopefully, I'm all back to my normal shifty self."
Quinn decided not to mention he used to hang out with a few guys who hunted werewolves. And they were very good at it.Weres could be an even bigger challenge than vamps. They ran faster, for one thing.
Also, they had a whole mouth of sharp teeth rather than just two fangs.
"When the fight's over," Barkley said, "and if I'm still breathing, I'm supposed to get hitched to the Alpha bitch."
Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Alpha bitch?"
"A real ball buster . Name's Rosalyn." Another shudder went through him. "Gorgeous, but a real piece of work."
"And you're going back to the pack because ?"
"There comes a time in every man's life when he has to face his destiny." Barkley let out a long breath.
"This is my time."
"Well, that's good to hear."
"Why's that?"
"Because we're here."
He could have sworn he heard a whimper.
It was a very small town named, perhaps not coincidentally,Wolfington . Surrounded by desert, with a few cactuses scattered here and there, it looked like a modern version of an Old West town. Quinn watched and waited for a tumbleweed to roll past the car and was a little disappointed when there was nothing.
Barkley cleared his throat. "Home sweet home. I guess you can drop me off up by that hardware store.
My father owned that."
"Was he Alpha, too?"
There was a long pause. "He tried. It didn't go too well."
Quinn cringed at that. "Why were you chosen to be next in line?"
"It was predicted. There are these old, hairy women whose job it is to predict things. I predicted it, too,
in a dream."
"The psychic thing." Quinn said blandly.
Barkley was convinced that he was a werewolf who possessed second sight. Quinn, while he'd seen many unusual things in his thirty years, did not fully believe in psychics. It wasn't tangible enough for him.
For something unusual, he had to see it with his own two eyes. And Barkley hadn't done anything yet to convince him otherwise.
"Yeah." Barkley turned to Quinn and frowned. "You know, I was never able to get a read on you.
Vampires are kind of like a psychic blank slate."
"Thanks."
"Trust me, it can come in handy."
"I'll remember that."
"You know, it's funny. I've been having this dream the past couple of days. I never even thought it might be precognitive."
"About me?"
"Not unless you're a gorgeous redhead in her early twenties who looks great in a black cocktail dress."
Quinn eyed him sideways. "No, that probably wouldn't be me."
"Didn't think so." He glanced out of the window. "Where are you off to now?"
Quinn shrugged and tried to appear at ease when he felt anything but. "I have an old friend around this area. I think I might look him up while I'm here."
It wasn'ttoo much of a lie. It was an old friend of his father's, currently deceased, and Quinn would follow the directions he'd written in the letter, because that's where the Eye allegedly could be found.
"Good luck to you." Barkley held out his hand, and Quinn shook it.
"You, too. You know, you don't have to fight. There are other options."
"Facing my destiny, man."
"I hope you find it."
Barkley got out of the car and grabbed his duffel bag from the back seat. Since he'd been stuck in werewolf form for so long, he didn't have many possessions. Some clothes he'd borrowed. A new toothbrush. A brand-new forged passport. But that was about it.
"Matthew Barkley? Is that really you?" a voice called from down the block.
Quinn nodded at Barkley and pulled away from the curb. He actually felt a lump in his throat, for some strange reason. They'd been traveling together for three days, and he had to admit that he actually enjoyed the guy's company. Somebody to talk to who was able to make him laugh, and who he was fairly assured wouldn't try to put a wooden stake through his chest at the earliest convenience.
No, Barkley belonged there. It was his home. His, as he'd said,destiny . Now Quinn had to go find his own.