Hot Blooded

his head. "You tell anyone about this, I'll reveal Samuel La Roque
for what he really is."
    "Then you won't end up in prison after all." She smiled softly. "It'll be a
mental institution instead."
    She handed Mamma Louisa the ropes. The other woman tied him up while Jenny
held the gun. Then the two women led him out of the circle of salt and set him
on the ground beside a tree. Mamma Louisa returned to the fire in the center of
the circle, and using her shawl as a pot holder, took the iron kettle from the
tripod. She carried it a few yards away and poured its smelly contents on to the
ground. She left the kettle there.
    When she returned to the circle, she dug into her bag and tossed handfuls of
herbs from various jars onto the glowing fire. The smoke they emitted was
fragrant and good.
    She turned then, her eyes falling upon the wolf that lay near the circle's
edge.
    It rose, as if it knew what to do, and paced slowly to her.
    Nodding her approval, Mamma Louisa looked to Jenny. "Go, watch over
Hinkle-man and let me do my work."
    Jenny nodded. "Samuel never got the chance to deliver that apology he owed
you," she said.
    "He saved me from that one's bullet. I say that's as good as an apology. We
be even now. Go."
    Jenny left the circle of firelight and stood near Hinkle, the gun still in
her hand just in case. Mamma Louisa sprinkled fresh salt in the area where she
had brushed it away, completing the ring again. Then she moved to kneel in front
of the wolf, her hands pressing to either side of its head as she stared into
its eyes and spoke to it earnestly.
    The wolf whined as it stared intently back at her, and finally, it lay down
at her feet. It didn't fight when she spread her shawl over it, and it lay still
there while she moved around it, gesturing and chanting, shaking her rattles,
sprinkling it with herbs and salt and lifting her hands skyward to call on her
gods. She moved faster, and her voice grew louder and her rattles shook faster,
until the noise reached a pitch Jenny was sure could be heard all the way back
at the plantation. And then and suddenly, with a loud whoop, Mamma Louisa yanked
the shawl from over the wolf.
    Samuel lay there, naked, shivering, maybe a little disoriented. He blinked up
at Louisa as she nodded in approval. Then she swept an opening in the circle
with her feather fan, and waved Jenny closer. Jenny hurried to Samuel. As she
sank to her knees beside him, he said, "It's still in me. I can still feel the
wolf in me."
    "Yes," Mamma Louisa told him, handing him the shawl so he could cover
himself. He sat up, knotting it around his hips. "The wolf still lives in you.
But now, Samuel La Roque, you are in control. You can become the wolf, but only
when you want to—or when you lose control of your emotions. It will be difficult
at first, as the wolf seeks to take you, especially when the moon is full. But
it will grow easier in time, as you make your will stronger and stronger. It is
the best I can do for you."
    He closed his eyes, drew a deep breath. "Thank you, Mamma Louisa." Then he
opened his eyes and gazed steadily at her. "I'm sorry. For what my
great-grandfather did to Alana."
    "I'm sorry for what my great-grandmother did to avenge her." She gave him a
nod, then took the gun from Jenny's hand. "I take the Hinkle-man from here,
chère
."
    "Alone? But…"
    Mamma Louisa gave her a smile, and nodded at something beyond her where
Hinkle sat near the tree. Jenny turned, and saw the entire group of Voudons
gathered in the woods nearby, awaiting their priestess's word. "My people, they
know when I need them. Don't you worry." She nodded, and two strong men rushed
forward, gripping Hinkle's arms and hauling him to his feet and back through the
woods.
    Mamma Louisa followed and the entire group vanished into the woods.
    Samuel got to his feet. He looked like some kind of woodland god, with the
white cotton knotted around his hip and his magnificent chest bare. He reached
for her.
    Jenny went into his arms, relishing the feel of his skin against her body,
against her face as she laid her cheek on his shoulder.
    He held her for a long time, then he said, "Did you mean what you said
before? That you love me?"
    She shivered all over. "Yes. I don't know how it happened so fast, Samuel,
but it did. I love you."
    "Even though I—I might occasionally run with Mojo, and howl at the moon?"
    She trailed a hand over his face. "Mojo might