Master of Smoke

werewolf attack. The one that changed me.”
    He rested his head on the top of hers. “It must have been horrific.”
    “Yeah.” She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled so close, she was practically lying on top of him. “The thing is, if I hadn’t been such an idiot, it wouldn’t have happened at all.” She brooded for a moment. “The problem is, I’m tall—tall enough to look most men in the eye. I never really thought of myself as vulnerable. Not that way.”
    David abruptly realized he really didn’t want to hear this story. Which was just too bad, since she obviously needed to tell it. “What happened?”
    Eva took a deep breath and blew it out. “I used to go running every evening that I didn’t have to close up the store. There’s this park in town, and it was spring like it is now, so everything was in full bloom. The path loops between water features and flowering bushes, and it’s really pretty and peaceful, especially at sunset. Usually there are a lot of people walking through the park, but the sun had set and the usual crowd had gone home. I was finishing up my run when I saw this guy walking toward me in the illumination of a trail light.”
    David’s heart thudded with uncomfortable speed in his chest. A kind of sick anger rose. He definitely didn’t want to hear this. “He was the one?”
    “Yeah. Thing is, he didn’t look like Mr. Stranger Danger. I remember thinking he was good-looking, big and blond, the kind of guy I’d normally flirt with. I nodded at him, gave him a smile, and he grinned back. That’s when I knew he was off.”
    “Because of his smile?”
    “No. It was his eyes. There wasn’t anything human in there, you know? It was like looking into a shark’s eyes. Just as I was thinking that, he turned into something out of a horror movie.”
    David swallowed, glad she couldn’t see his face. She’s probably never told anybody about this before. She needs to talk it out. “You must have been terrified.”
    “I completely froze. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I kept thinking he couldn’t be real. I figured I must have fallen and hit my head, or maybe somebody had slipped LSD into my Diet Coke. And then he grinned at me with all those god-awful teeth, and he said, ‘Run.’ So I did.”
    “He wanted to chase you.” David realized his fingers were digging into her shoulders. He carefully relaxed his grip.
    Eva was too lost in her nightmare to notice. “I ran. I ran until I had a stitch in my side, until every muscle I had screamed, until I couldn’t breathe. And then I kept running, because he was right behind me. He could have grabbed me anytime he wanted. That finally pissed me off. I knew he was going to catch me and I was going to die, and the bastard was playing with me. So I whirled around and aimed my fist for his balls.”
    David’s chest ached. “Good for you.”
    “Yeah, except it pissed him off. He caught my fist, and backhanded me so hard I saw stars. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground, and he was on top of me. It was like being crushed by a boulder. He snarled, ‘Bitch, you’re gonna pay for that.’ Then he just dove for my belly and started ... ripping. I screamed with everything I had because it was the only thing I could do. That seemed to annoy him, but I refused to quit. So he got up and dragged me into the woods.” Eva broke off. She was pale, and her expression was lost. He could smell her terror.
    I will find that thing and kill him.
    “I don’t know how long it took, but somebody must have heard me screaming, because some eternity later I heard sirens. He jerked up and looked off toward the sound, cursed, and then he was just ... gone.”
    “They found you?”
    “No. By then I wasn’t capable of screaming anymore. I kept floating in and out of consciousness as I lay there under the trees. I heard people, I guess cops, calling and walking around, but the only sound I could make was this kind of gasping whimper. I kept hoping they’d find me, but they never did. So then I started hoping I’d die, but that didn’t happen either.”
    David’s eyes stung, and he blinked savagely. He wanted to hit something.
    “I really should have died from what he did. I guess I didn’t because he infected me. After a long time lying there in a bloody heap, I shifted, no waiting for the full moon. God, it hurt. When you change, it feels like you’re being ripped apart and burned alive. But after it was finally over, all