Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

By Wednesday, I had fallen into a groove. My head was completely healed and the plants I had rescued from my car were thriving in the window of my room. The clear pots I grew them in looked great against the sun shining through my window. I could see all the white roots weaving through the dirt, and it was easy to tell when they needed to be watered. I had even pressed the red-mulberry leaf into my journal, jotting down what I had recalled from the woods that day.

Each day, I’d get up early to go for a run, exploring new trails and paths that had been laid out on the map Robinson had given us. After my run, I’d gather my research supplies in my backpack and set off into the forest, careful to stay within a five-mile radius of the cabin. Eventually I would have to go beyond those boundaries, but I felt more comfortable staying within them for now.

The forest was just as peaceful as I’d thought it would be. The large trees created a canopy over the trails. I felt like I was in a warm green bubble, complete with birdsong and a gentle breeze. This was my happy place. I scavenged for different plants to add to my stash and made notes about the different species that grew here. My notebook was growing thicker with the fresh leaves and stems I had pressed on its pages.

Today I went a little farther down the trail where I had first met Wilder. I’d had had no other wolf sightings this week, and I was beginning to wonder if last weekend had been a hallucination.

I wasn’t jogging this time, so I could climb the rocks at a slower pace. After climbing over them for a time, the pile of rocks abruptly ended. It was like there had been a single avalanche of rocks over the trail. It seemed unnatural and purposeful. The gravel trail continued as usual after the pile of rocks ended. I brushed off my hands, removing the dirt and dust that had accumulated while I climbed the rocks.

Continuing down the trail, I noticed discrepancies in the forest floor. Some areas were lush and green, while others had turned a purple-brown color. Looking down the trail, this pattern continued as far as I could see.

Crouching down next to one patch of brown, I unpacked some containers from my backpack along with a pair of gloves. It seemed like the plant was decomposing, but it didn’t look like any decomposition that I had ever seen before. The plants in the brown area had withered, devoid of moisture.

I reached with a gloved hand to gather a sample to bring back with me. The stem I grabbed shattered under my fingers, turning to dust. The crinkled leaves on the next plant did the same thing. I had trouble grabbing any of the brown plants before they disintegrated between my fingers. Using both hands, I grabbed a plant between my palms and carried it over to one of my glass containers I used to store specimens.

Carefully, I pulled my hands apart, letting the plant dust fall into the container. I covered the sample with a lid and looked through the glass. How could a plant disintegrate into dust? I couldn’t remember reading anything like this from my textbooks or in my previous research. What made it so odd was that there were perfectly healthy plants growing green next to all the brown ones. Taking out another container, I gathered some of the soil the brown plant had grown in. I wrote some notes in my notebook, then headed back to the cabin.

Professor Robinson would be back to check on us tomorrow. After I labeled the sample containers, I planned to send them back with him to the lab so they could run some tests to tell me what I was looking at.

For a moment I sat there, taking in the stillness around me. It was peaceful but, for the first time, also a little lonely. I missed Kleio and even Gavrill. They had been my pseudo research assistants, helping me navigate the woods. Kleio had been so enthusiastic about the whole experience. Had she told Everett more about our day exploring? Part of me hoped that she had. He’d seemed annoyed with me for going out scavenging, so hopefully she’d explained the innocence of the day.

Why did I care what he thought? I would never see him again. But the way he had flared his nostrils at me, almost like he was smelling me? That had been weird, right? Or had I just imagined that? Everything last weekend seemed more like a foggy dream, fading from my memory every day.

I spent Thursday working on the landscaping around the cabin. A plant with purple flowers covered the entire perimeter of the cabin. The flowers were pretty enough, but I didn’t think the plant was native to the area.

Remembering all the books inside the cabin, I headed inside to see what I could find about it. I didn’t want to get in trouble for pulling out the wrong thing. My fingers brushed along the line of book spines until I found one titled Native Plants of the North .

I thumbed through the pages until I saw a picture of a flower that looked like the ones outside. Aconitum—also known as aconite, monkshood, or wolfsbane—is indigenous to the North. I read from the page. They were native but extremely overgrown around the cabin. My eyes caught on the name wolfsbane , and I wondered if it was a coincidence.

I closed the book and headed back outside to pull the overgrowth. The plant was easy enough to remove from the ground, and in a couple of hours, I had cleared most of the wolfsbane. I carried the piles I’d made of it over to the edge of the forest, where the vegetation became thicker and tossed them into the forest.

Leo came up the trail, having completed his work for the day. He had waders on that were still dripping with pond water. “Can I help with that?”

I nodded, motioning to the pile of wolfsbane still needing to be brought to the woods.

He grabbed a pile of the plants and helped me carry the rest. “Thanks for cleaning up. I’ve been so busy with my research.”

“It’s not a problem. How’s everything going?” I asked.

“Good—everything’s good. I met one of the landowners. He has some good insights. There’s a lot going on in these woods.”

I couldn’t agree more. Had he found rot in the land too? I was about to ask, when Robinson’s car pulled up our driveway.

The professor entered the cabin, his white scrub-brush mustache leading the way. He never looked particularly happy, but today he had an air of annoyance about him. He set his bag on the table as we all pulled out the chairs and sat.

“I see you made some progress with the outside of the cabin,” Robinson said. “It looks nice.” He puckered his face like the last phrase was hard for him to say. The outside of the cabin did look a lot cleaner and more groomed. I was proud of the work I’d done out there.

“I hate to bring this up”—Robinson’s slight upturn of his lips suggested the opposite—“but you all missed your check-in calls with your professors last week.”

I froze in my seat. Shit. I had forgotten to update my professor. Friday was my scheduled check-in day, but I’d been with the shifters on Friday. I looked over at Leo and Jenny, who looked equally as stunned.

“I’m sorry Professor Robinson. It won’t happen again,” I said. Leo and Jenny mumbled apologies.

“Now, I understand the sat phone isn’t working,” Robinson said. A smirk grew on his lips, his eyes bouncing between each of our faces. He enjoyed making us panic. I exhaled, the tension releasing from my body. Right, the phone wasn’t working. It wasn’t our fault. “I’m still waiting on the new phone to get delivered. Hopefully by next week we can get it up and running.” Jenny and Leo also looked relieved. “Next week, I expect a check-in calls from you all.” I nodded. “I know it doesn’t seem important, but your professors need weekly updates to track your progress and know that you’re doing what you came here to do—what the university is paying you to do.” He pointed that last sentence at me. My scholarships.

Robinson finished talking and gathered his belongings. He took my samples, promising a one-week turnaround time for the results. To my relief, Robinson had brought no letters from my mother. I hoped next week I wouldn’t get a backlog of letters she had sent.

Jenny, Leo, and I sat on the couch after he left. This was the first time all week we had hung out together. I was sure Jenny and Leo had made time for each other during the evening hours, but we all had been busy getting set up and getting our research going.

“That was rough,” I said to them both.

“No Bars has drink specials on Thursdays.” Leo wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“We met Wilder there last week. Maybe Elise wants another wild weekend.”

I rolled my eyes at Jenny’s comment. “I won’t be having another wild weekend. Wilder was a one-weekend stand. That’s it,” I said.

She eyed me suspiciously, making it obvious she didn’t believe me. Getting away from the cabin and having a drink did sound wonderful. I had been out on the trails or locked in my room, typing on my computer for the last four days. A change of scenery would be nice. There had to be other bars around that Wilder and the wolves regularly haunted. The chances of running into them again were probably low.

“I’ll go for a drink.” Leo clapped his hands together at my answer and said he would drive us in twenty minutes after he took a shower.

“One drink,” I insisted. “Just to help me relax. I need to get back to it tomorrow.”

Jenny grabbed my hand and dragged me to her room. “You have to let me dress you, Elise! You’ve been wearing nothing but hiking gear all week. It’ll feel good to dress in something nice.”

The “hiking gear” she was referring to was my regular everyday clothing. Athletic clothing that I could easily move around in and didn’t break the bank. Her fancy athleisure wasn’t in my price range. She seemed so excited to play dress-up that I went along with her and sat on her bed while she looked through her closet.

“Here! This will be perfect.” Jenny pulled out a pink spandex jumpsuit with thin straps. It had shorts that went well above the “finger test” from high school. “Put it on!”

She turned around and continued rummaging through her closet to find something for herself. The jumpsuit was not what I would have picked, but what did I care? I was going to a bar in the middle of nowhere, trying to impress no one. If it made Jenny happy, then what did it matter?

I took off my leggings and tank top. The sports bra I was wearing wouldn’t work with the suit, so I took that off too. I slipped into the suit and pulled it up my body, slipping the thin straps over my shoulders. I could tell without looking in the mirror that the jumpsuit was shorter on me than it would be on Jenny. My legs were longer than hers, and her clothes just fit me differently.

Jenny turned around with a matching pink tennis skirt and tank top in her hands. “You little harlot! You look fantastic. Everyone is going to eat you up!”

She didn’t know, but that was exactly what I was afraid of.