Frost Moon

Frost Moon Part 8

Elisabeth whistled under her breath as she looked around the guest bedroom. The room she'd been given was of the same luxurious standard as the bathroom, and it had been kept well. She caught herself wondering about who the former residents had been, back in the days beforeeverything went belly up, and paperwork-based ownership ceased toexist.

So far so good, Elisabeth thought. The brothers were already happily lodged under her heel, but Eirin was a problem. Obviously, she couldn't just slit the redhead's throat or incinerate her or something equally quick and easy. Even though the brothers were letting their smaller heads do the thinking, they wouldn't be so addled that they'd fail to realize Elisabeth was the culprit. Fortunately, subtlety was her preferred way of doing things. Her glamour towards the same sex was likely a pale shadow of what it could be, had she practiced it more, but it should still be more than enough to seduce a simple farm girl. That in mind, she slipped back into her bathrobe, hoping she remembered what room Eirin was sleeping in

Finding Eirin's room didn't turn out to be a problem. It was the door covered with generous amounts of New Age bling and scribbles. Elisabeth almost laughed, looking at it. If the runes had been properly drawn, they would have protected Eirin against the War Witch's glamour. Alas, so close, and yet so far away. She shrugged, composed herself, and knocked gently on the door.

* * *

Eirin was tossing and turning. She'd performed the evening rite before going to bed,and couldn't remember if she'd done the pentagrams in the right order. She always messed it up at the end. Was it Water or Air that was the last one? Having Elisabeth constantly on her mind didn't make it any easier to concentrate either.

Eirin was no fool. She'd noticed the special status she got from being the only unattached female of desirable age for miles. Mostly, the menfolk were well-behaved, so she rather enjoyed the attention. Well, except for the incessant attention from Bjørn. Did the price of finding her inner wolf really have to be sleeping with that disgusting creature? The moon wasn't going away anytime soon, so she wasn't in that much of a rush, howling at it.

She shuddered at the thought of his flabby white skin. It wasn't just that he was ugly. It was obvious – even without wolf senses: his totem animal had to be the Rat. Besides, if he really was the revered teacher that he claimed to be, how come he'd managed to creep back here with his tail between his legs, without anyone hunting him? If he really had been the ceremony master of some stupid oasis, then no way they'd just let him leave. Even if the oasis had been bogus, he would've known who the members were. Information like that wouldn't be allowed to run free.

Still, that stuff didn't really matter. What really bothered her, was that Goth chick coming out of nowhere, challenging her position. And what a challenger! Eirin could almost forgive the brothers for falling for Elisabeth's wicked charms. She looked to be around Eirin's age –late teens – with a young and shapely body, curved in just theright places. Eirin compared it to her own slim, wiry and almost boyish body and unhappily accepted defeat. Add a perfectly oval face, with a mouth made for kissing, eyes to drown in, a petite nose and cheekbones distinct enough to give her face character. All of this framed by onyx black tresses. Even though Eirin didn't swing towards girls – as far as she knew – she might possibly make an exception in this case.

Just as she felt the first tendrils of sleep slither through the corners of her mind, there was a knock on her door. Furious, Eirin jumped out of bed, grabbing her robe on the way to the door.