December's Moon

16| DECEMBER

| DECEMBER |

December tightened his grip on Aurora's hand. "You have to promise not to tell anyone else what I'm about to tell you."

The sounds of the other students partying and the crackle of the campfire faded to ghostly echoes as they walked further into the woods.

"Of course," Aurora replied. Her voice was a hushed whisper. "I won't tell anyone."

December sighed, biting his tongue. He knew that woman—or whatever she was—had threatened there would be consequences if he told anyone about her, but there already had been consequences. She'd done something to Malcom. What if she did something to someone else tonight? The situation was beyond what he could handle on his own. He needed to tell someone.

"The night of that party, after I went back to my dorm to sleep, a woman came to my room," he finally began. "When I opened the door, she injected me with something. It felt like a little needle." He paused, remembering the cool breath on his neck, the prick of something, and then pain shooting up his nervous system. "Or, maybe a bite. It felt like fire rushing through my veins, and then I couldn't shift anymore. It was like my nervous system was paralyzed. I couldn't send any signals through."

Aurora squeezed his hand. "Oh my God," she said. "That sounds terrifying, December. Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

December shook his head. "She told me I couldn't tell—that if I did, there would be consequences." He stopped walking, and Aurora stopped next to him. The sounds of the party had completely faded away, leaving only the rush of the wind through the trees to keep them company. They were far enough into the woods now that no one would hear them.

"I have no idea who she was, or what she looked like," December finally continued. "I couldn't shift, so I couldn't see her."

December hadn't realized how much he'd needed to talk to someone about what had happened until he was already halfway through his story. He told Aurora everything that happened, from the woman threatening him, all the way up to the meeting in the woods where he'd heard Luca and his father talking. He paused when he got to that part, unsure how to explain what had happened next and everything he'd overheard.

"What were they doing in the woods?" Aurora filled in the silence, keeping her voice low, almost a whisper. An icy gust of wind rushed through the forest, and the trees moaned. Aurora pushed in to him an inch closer. "How did that woman—or whatever she was—know they were going to be there?"

"I don't know," December said. "That's where it gets even more confusing. I heard Luca and his father saying they were meeting some woman in the woods, too. They said they'd gone to meet her for some sort of exchange. Something didn't seem right about it. I didn't follow everything they were saying, but I got the feeling it was connected to what happened to me. What if the woman they were meeting was the same woman I met, like she set us up?" He paused for a second as another possibility occurred to him. "Or, what if there is a group of them?"

"Like a coven or something?" Aurora suggested.

"A coven?" The word left a foul taste in his mouth. Werewolves had packs, but there were other supernatural creatures who lived in covens—smaller, more secretive groups. "Like vampires?"

"It's possible." Aurora said, the wind stealing her voice and making it sound distant. December felt his hair blowing in front of his face, but he didn't bother to push it back.

"There was a lot about vampires in the book I found in the library." Aurora continued. "Maybe . . ."

Her voice trailed off, but December got the feeling she knew something else. "Before, you said you found something in that book," he began, "about enemies that could take away the ability to shift. Aurora, what was it? I told you what I know. You have to help me. What did you find out?"