Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

I stare out the window, unseeing, as we drive out of the town. The forest closes behind us, hiding the path as if it never existed. It would impress me if my brain wasn't flooded with thoughts and theories.

"How the hell did we ever find it?" Body twisted; Bo keeps his eyes fixed on the rear window.

"Magic. And not entirely white." Kirk's voice is rough and laced with exhaustion from the passenger seat.

"You sound sure about that." Fell peers at him over the center console.

"Because I am. Aren't you?" Kirk runs a hand down his face.

"Yeah." Fell leans back into his seat and runs his palms over his jeans. "It felt prickly."

"Like a cactus?" I frown. "Sounds painful."

"No. Not pokey, more like static build-up. The kind you create by running a balloon over your head."

I snicker at Fell's geeky explanation.

"You laugh, but you know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?" he asks smugly.

Smiling, I giggle. "Yes. Professor, I do."

Fell rubs the pads of his fingers together. "It's still lingering. I don't know what Milo is, or the spells they've cast, but they're incredibly strong."

"Family or not. I don't trust them." Cadoc looks at me in the rearview mirror.

"Noted."

"It's not personal." His voice is gentle.

I roll my eyes. "I'm not so na?ve that I'd risk our safety because I was lonely growing up."

"Just clarifying where we stand." Cadoc ignores my sharp tone.

"What did the enforcer mean back there?"

"He said a lot, brat. Do you want to be more specific?" Cadoc's laughter is humorless and flat. I hear the exasperation in it.

"About you, Kirk."

"I saw a lot in my old position. Not all of it good."

The vague response will not fly this time. "It felt like more than that. And Mrs. H?"

"A grieving mother I tried to dissuade from having her daughter tested." Words terse, he remains walled off.

"I saw her during my trial. She said the alpha made her sick. That he gave her injections." I gasp as the fuzzy memory becomes clear. "Were you the one administering them?"

"I left before that happened. You know that."

I lean forward in my seat. "Did you help create the poison they pumped in her?"

Return.

The command detonates in my head. I cover my ringing ears. Cadoc swerves. Sharp mental hooks dig into my brain. I clutch my cramping stomach and fight back nausea.

All will return home to the pack.

The Alpha is flexing his muscles.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Cadoc makes a U-turn. He stomps on the brake. Tires squeal on the blacktop. I jerk. The seatbelt snaps into place, digging into my flesh.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bo slams his hand into the headrest. I cringe.

"I can't hold out much longer." The veins bulge in the side of Cadoc's neck. Outside of the magic barrier, we're vulnerable. I place my hand over the broach, willing it to give me strength. I can feel the presence of the ancestors who came before us acting as a buffer between me and the desire to obey the Alpha's command.

Fell swears.

All Thostenson pack must return.

I close my eyes against the invisible ice pick driving between my eyes.

"He's targeting us," Fell's words slur.

"What can we do?" I cry, desperate for the pressure in my skull to end. The mark on my arm burns. "Ow."

"Fuck, my arm's burning." Bo waves it around.

Mutual sounds of pain fill the cab. Energy spills from Fenrir's marks on our skin. The tattoo given to us by the powerful deity had gotten us out of more than one bind since they appeared. A soothing blanket covers my mind. The torture stops. I slump to the side, resting against Fell.

"Everyone okay?" Kirk's husky voice ends the quiet.

"I think so." I flip my wrist over and find the mark glowing blue.

"Fenrir's blocking him." Fell's tone is resolute.

"And where are you getting this information?" Cadoc pulls off the road.

"I don't know."

Bo snorts. "It's the blind leading the fucking blind."

"Who else would have the power or inclination to get between us and the Alpha?" Kirk reasons.

I rub the tips of my tingling ears. Strange electrical pulses run through me. My skin itches. I rub my back against the seat.

"Ylva?" Fell touches my arm and pulls away.

"You're a live wire." He shakes out his hand.

"Huh?" I look at him, befuddled as I recover from the attack.

"She's been different since she got that damn broach." Bo reaches over. "I'm going to remove it."

"No." My voice rattles the windows. Gums itching, I run my tongue over my teeth. Is this some kind of delayed reaction?

"Her eyes."

"They're doing it again?" Kirk crams his shoulders through the opening in the front seats. He grips my chin. I blink at him.

"Let her see," Cadoc commands.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Bo sounds scared.

I pull my face away from Kirk's hold and peer into the mirror.

My pupils have bled, shrinking my retina to a thin glowing ring of grayish blue. "What the hell is this?"

"We don't know." Kirk presses his fingers to the pulse point in my wrist. I turn my head, studying the face I no longer recognize. There's a new quality to my skin and facial shape I can't quite place.

"You're still changing." Bo's breath caresses my cheek.

"Into what?" There's something foreign swimming beneath my skin, eager to break the surface.

"We'll figure that out in time." Kirk's voice holds a bit of doubt. It's a tough pill to swallow.

"Her truest self." Sexless and monotone, Fell's voice is no longer human.

I grab his hand. "Please tell me."

Fell blinks slowly. "The growth is in the journey."

"Not if we're dead." I grip his hand tighter.

"Remember what Forsetti's trials revealed to you."

I was protected all this time by my ancestors. They held back my abilities to keep me from being noticed. Maybe this is nature correcting that?

"What does he have to do with anything?" My voice cracks.

"You faced your fears, and the truths you didn't want to see."

I drop his hand and cover my face. It's hard to think with my brain jam-packed. I play the strange trip in my mind like a movie. What am I missing? "My mother knew." I lower my hands.

Bo eyes me cautiously as if I'm a wild animal. "Knew what?"

"That I- no. We were different. I thought she meant Fenrir's line. But this feels different."

"So, we probably shouldn't worry too much then. Right, Doc?" Bo's voice is full of hope.

"We'll monitor and gather what information we can. Your pulse was slightly elevated, but given the circumstances, it's not concerning."

"Do you see this?" I wave two fingers at my face.

"It's not like you're breathing fire or shooting laser beams out of your peepers. That's a plus." Bo runs a hand down my arm, and I narrow my eyes. "Or not." He removes his hand and holds both of them up in surrender.

"I think I forget things." I close my eyes. "Reveal spell."

"What spell?" Cadoc looks at me from the driver's seat.

"My father. He said there's a reveal spell we should use."

"On what?" Bo's brow wrinkles.

"I—" I try to bring the memory into focus. I grasp at the slippery memory. "My uncle. Something's wrong with my uncle. He wasn't always like this."

"Maybe we should try the spell on him too," Fell suggests.

"Can't hurt." I unbuckle myself and scramble over the backseat. Removing the book from the satchel, I place it in my lap. "The journal."

I place my hand on the cover and the spell returns easily.

Blood will tell, blood will hide,

Show me what's protected on the other side

The book vibrates under my tingling hand. I lift it and the pages fly open to blank pages.

"It didn't work." My spirit plummets.

"Wait." Fell nods toward the book.

Black writing appears, darkening until it can be read.

"‘Mary took ill in the summer just a few months after Erik Thostenson succeeded his father.'" I frown. "What am I seeing?"

"Do you know what you have? It's tangible proof. A record of the potential patient zero. I need to read this." Kirk holds out his hand and I relinquish the text, grateful to have it off my hands.

"Maybe your family's genuine history is in there, too?" Cadoc says.

"Regardless. We'll find out." Sooner rather than later judging by the too-tight feeling of my skin. This is more than extra power from a magical item. I've woken something that would've been better locked away. I slip my hands under my thighs to hide the trembling.

"You sure you're okay, princess?"

"Oh, I'm great. I just found out my entire life was built on lies, and there are more secrets to uncover."

"There are worse things than secrets."

"Easy for Mr. Perfect to say."

"Perfect? People who work the hardest to look good tend to have the most to hide. Cadoc wasn't wrong when he said they were rotten." Bo looks out the window. "Where did you think I got it from?"

"Bo?" I ask shakily. His face has gone blank.

"I always thought your scars were a badge of honor. People could look at you and see you were a survivor. Do you know how hard it is to scar us?" Bo's monotone speaking voice sends shivers down my spine. His dark eyes have a flat expression.

"I do." He continues to stare out the window. "So yes. There are worse things than lies meant to keep us safe. Don't let it taint the view of your parents too much. You actually had good ones."

"Okay." In the face of his honesty, I'm unsure what to say. I've never really seen him as a fully fleshed-out person until this second.

"You had to relive your worst moments and let us see inside your head. This seemed like an appropriate way to even the playing field. I don't do debts."

His rationalization is telling.

"Ever?"

"Nope." He pops his "p."

I lick my lips, chasing away the dryness.

"No," Kirk's whispers brokenly.

I lean toward him in the backseat. "What's wrong?"

"I know where we're being led." Kirk's voice holds a world of pain.

"Where?" I ask.

"My nightmare. A place stained by my sins." He rests his head back against the seat. "I was a fool to think I could escape my past."

"Kirk?" I whisper.

"You're going to hate me, and I can't change a damn thing. This is what I deserve."

"What's going on, Kirk?" Cadoc's voice is full of worry.

"You'll all see soon who I truly am." Kirk's defeated tone disturbs me. What are we walking into?