20. Emma

TWENTY

Emma

I spat out the gum. It hit the ground with a small, insignificant splat so underwhelming after the chaos it had caused. My body followed, no grace to my descent, just gravity doing its job. I hit the dirt hard, the breath whooshing out of me as if I'd been sucker-punched by life itself.

"Emma!" That was Daniel, worried about me.

"Down here." I wheezed, trying to gather myself, to find air for my lungs.

One by one, they came tumbling after me. Beth landed nearby with an oof, rolling to soften the impact. Daniel, last to let go, managed to keep his feet under him, but just barely.

"Everyone okay?" I asked, still gasping for air.

"Been better." Beth groaned, pushing herself up. "But I'll live."

"Let's move," Daniel said, already on his feet, scanning the area.

"Right behind you," Wade added, offering Beth a hand.

We turned in the direction of the hooded figure and saw as he suddenly stepped free from the shadows into our little clearing. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I knew he was shocked not to find us in his trap. He’d expected to find easy prey. Unfortunately for him, we had a clever witch in our group.

As soon as my lungs refilled, I shouted. "There!"

"Come on!" Daniel was already moving, his voice a rough command.

We bolted after the fleeting shape of our quarry, branches slapping against us, leaves crunching underfoot. Ahead, a glimpse of movement taunted us – there he was, then gone again. Faster than any human I could imagine. He was truly like a shadow rather than a person, and it was unsettling.

"This way," Daniel barked.

"Trying." Beth panted beside me.

"Left!" I shouted, spotting a flash of dark color veering off. My legs protested every jarring step, but I clenched my teeth and ran harder.

We burst through the last line of trees, heartbeats in our throats and the ground vanished again . I skidded to a halt, dirt and pebbles cascading over the edge. A sheer drop.

"Stop!" I screamed, voice raw.

Beth's momentum carried her too close, her feet teetering on the brink. Wade surged forward, snagging her arm, yanking her back hard against his chest. She gasped, a sound lost in the wind.

"Careful," he said, breathless.

"Thank you," she replied, her voice shaking. Then, without thinking, she turned and planted a kiss on his lips. It was meant to be quick, thankful, but something changed. The world slowed, their bodies pressed together, and the kiss deepened.

I looked away, shuffling my feet, peering over the edge where death was a mere misstep away. The adrenaline surge from the near disaster hadn't faded as Beth's lips continued to meet Wade's. It was like watching an unexpected flame spark to life in the middle of a hurricane.

"This would be nice if we weren't actually chasing someone," I muttered under my breath, half to myself, half hoping they'd snap out of it.

Daniel cleared his throat, a low, rumbling sound that seemed to echo off the cliffside. "Hello," he said bluntly, his green eyes darting from the couple to the wilderness around us.

Beth and Wade jumped apart, like two magnets suddenly repelling each other. "Sorry," Beth mumbled, cheeks flushed.

Wade ran a hand through his hair, looking anywhere but at us.

"Daniel, where now?" I asked. The fall had jolted us all, and my whole body throbbed in complaint.

"Stay close," he commanded, his eyes scanning the treacherous terrain.

We edged along the cliffside, Daniel's large frame leading the way. Each step was cautious, deliberate. His hand occasionally swept back to ensure we were still in line—his protective nature on full display despite the urgency of our pursuit.

"Here," he finally said, pointing toward a narrow path that cut away from the sheer drop. It looked like it might be our ticket out of this mess.

"Looks good," I acknowledged, eager to put distance between us and the jagged rocks hugging our every step.

We headed down the trail, away from the rocky edge. The trees crowded in around us, and the moonlight peeked in and out from behind the clouds up ahead, giving an eerie feeling to the woods around us.

"Shh!" Beth hissed suddenly, freezing mid-step.

A low growl rolled through the underbrush, stopping us cold. We weren't alone. The trees rustled, and then he was there—a werewolf, its fur bristling, its eyes a pair of glowing coals fixed on us.

I’d never seen a werewolf before, but I never imagined anything like this. It was bigger than a human on all fours, bigger and made of pure muscle. Stringy, unhealthy-looking hair spilled off of it, and its head seemed abnormally big compared to the rest of its body, with tall ears, big eyes, and huge teeth. Everything about it was unnatural, wrong, not like the supernatural creatures I’d met before this.

I was terrified to move. Terrified to breathe. The thought of one bite from that thing changing one of us into a werewolf forever was like a nightmare brought to life.

"Damn it," Wade whispered. "We can’t catch a break."

"Back off slowly," Daniel instructed, his voice a calm contrast to the spike of fear that shot through me.

The werewolf stepped forward, muscles tensing, lips pulling back further to reveal lethal canines. It was all teeth and anger, a snarling warning that we were in its territory now.

"There’s no way any of us can take that thing,” I whispered.

"Not true,” Daniel said softly in front of me.

"Daniel!" I shouted. But my voice was drowned out by the sound of bones cracking, flesh reshaping. Daniel's body contorted, expanding in a flurry of reddish-brown fur as he shifted into a bear.

His roar filled the air, a deep, rumbling challenge to the werewolf's snarl. The two beasts stood there, growling, sizing each other up. My heart hammered against my ribs; fear gripped me like icy claws. Daniel might have been bigger, but this thing was built for pain, and its bite held a curse none of us wanted.

"Daniel, what if it bites you?" I managed to gasp out, struggling to keep my voice steady. Images of Daniel hurt, possibly infected, flashed through my mind.

He couldn't answer, his lips now too busy baring teeth as a bear than forming words as a man. His green eyes, once crinkling with laughter, were now wild, focused solely on the threat before us.

"Will he be okay?" I asked.

Wade's dark blue eyes met mine, his face grim. "If it bites him, Daniel gets infected. Werewolf bites are nasty, even for a shifter."

"Infected? But he's already—" My words faltered as the reality of the situation sank in. We didn't have time to ponder the what-ifs; we needed action.

Maybe Beth had a spell or a potion she could use. Or, mermaids have powers, don’t they? And I… I’m Karma. Except, I can’t… or can I?

"Wait," I said, stepping forward. The werewolf was still human somewhere deep inside, and that meant I could reach him. My powers, they had to work.

"Wait—" Wade warned, but I was already focusing on the task at hand.

"Hey!" I yelled, drawing the werewolf's attention. Its head snapped towards me, its gaze feral. The power within me stirred, reaching out to the creature’s human core.

My magic struck, and I felt it, electric and powerful. A force of nature, unlike the unnatural beast before me. The strength of Karma vibrated through the air, like lightning sizzling around us, and I knew my powers would do what they needed to do.

I just hoped they helped in time.

The werewolf lunged, claws extended and eyes wild. I braced for impact, but the ground betrayed it. With a thunderous crack, the earth opened up, swallowing the beast whole. It vanished with a snarl cut short by a thud from the pit where another victim of this cursed place lay—a dead unicorn, its once majestic form now lifeless and discarded.

It was gone. We were safe. We were going to be alright.

"Are you okay?" Daniel was close, his hand on my shoulder. He’d already shifted back.

I nodded, unable to tear my gaze from the pit. "It fell."

"Good riddance," Beth muttered, her breaths heavy from the chase.

"Wait," I said, stepping closer to the edge, peering down into the darkness. The werewolf moaned, a pained sound that echoed up to us. It had hurt itself in the fall. My heart clenched. Despite everything, it was still human at its core.

"Don’t even think about it," Daniel warned, reading my expression.

"Listen," I called down to the creature. "You won't be let out until you shift back. Understand? You need to remember who you are."

It growled in response, but beneath the aggression, there was fear. Fear of being trapped, fear of what it had become. I held onto that fear, hoping it would be enough to reach the person inside.

"Shift back," I repeated, my voice firm. "We can help you, but not like this. Not as a monster."

The werewolf tried to stand, its hind legs collapsing beneath it with a pained yelp. It snarled, snapping at the empty air, a desperate attempt to frighten us. But it didn’t work. He was trapped and injured, and we were safely together away from its reach.

"Look at it," I said quietly, my eyes never leaving the creature. "It can't walk."

Beth crossed her arms, her brows knitted in concern. "We can't just leave it there."

"Well, we very well can’t help it either," Wade said, his gaze flicking between the pit and Daniel. "It's dangerous."

"Help me out here, guys. What are we supposed to do?" I looked around at them, hoping for an answer.

"Can't you do your karma thing?" Beth suggested, glancing at me.

"Karma doesn't fix broken bones," I pointed out. "And it's not going to make him shift back any faster."

"Then we wait," Daniel said.

"Wait? For how long?" Wade scratched his head and looked down at the werewolf.

"Until it decides to be human again," I replied, locking eyes with the werewolf.

"Or until we figure out plan B," Beth added, though no one had a clue what that would entail.

"Right. Plan B," I echoed, still staring down at the creature that was now whimpering softly, its viciousness waning with each failed step.

"Who do you think it is?” Daniel asked.

"Well, we’ve got two choices,” Wade said. "Andrew or Broth, although I have no idea how either of them tie into this.”

They were right. We’d missed something with our investigation. One of the two men had lied to us. One of them was sitting in this pit right now, but I had no idea which one of them it could be.

"I believed both of them,” I said.

Beth frowned. "I did too. I also don’t see either of their motivation to do this, especially if they weren’t using the horns to save themselves.”

"Maybe it was just greed.” Wade shook his head. "Either man could have done this to make money off of the cure.”

I leaned further over the pit. "Broth? Andrew?”

The beast gave a pitiful growl.

"Please just switch back so we can talk about this calmly.”

The werewolf tried to stand again but collapsed.

I sighed, straightening my stance. The forest was dark and cold. It was getting later by the hour. But as much as I wanted to throw up my hands and leave the creature in here until morning, to see if a cold night in a hole might make him more agreeable, I wasn’t going to do that.

"Broth was rough around the edges,” Beth began slowly. "He was probably already involved in illegal activity. Maybe he did this to get his girlfriend back in some strange way. Maybe he thought the money would bring her back to him.”

I decided to play along. "And maybe Andrew wasn’t as civilized and happy as he pretended to be. Maybe he got a thrill from hunting the unicorns. Or maybe he and his partner wanted a bigger house, or more trips, and more money could give them what they wanted.”

"Maybe revenge played a role in this,” Daniel suggested. "I’ve worked a lot of cases, and personal reasons tend to fuel crimes a lot of the time.”

"Was someone trying to hurt the committee members then, both by attacking them, and by being the only ones with the cure? Was this about control?” I asked.

The werewolf seemed to be listening to all of this. My hope was that something we said would be enough to get him to react. That he might shift and confess, or even correct us. Something . But the werewolf stayed silent.

"Darn it,” I muttered.

Beth sighed. "I guess we’ll just have to wait him out.”