by Lola Gabriel
Lacy began to sniff the air around her, startling Cassia. “What are you doing, Mom?”
“What is that smell?” she murmured. “Where is it coming from?”
“What smell, Mom?”
Suddenly, Lacy’s jaw went slack. “It’s you! What have you done?”
“What are you talking about?” Cassia demanded defensively. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Oh…” Lacy moaned. “History is always doomed to repeat itself. We are condemned to repeat the same mistakes as our forefathers…”
“Mom, I need you to talk to me about the Big Shift,” Cassia told her, determined not to let the opportunity go to waste. “You were talking about it when I was here before.”
“It’s already happening, Cassia, but I’ve known it was coming for a long, long time.”
“Mom, what can we do to stop it?” Cassia pleaded. “What else do you see?”
Lacy froze. “What did you do, Cassia? You cannot…” She gasped for breath and reached toward her daughter.
“What is it?” Cassia demanded.
“You know what it is and what you’ve done,” Lacy nearly wept. “Now you must run. Just like I did.”
“Run?”
“Cassia, you must save yourself…”
“Mom, I’m safe. It’s the Hollows that are in trouble.”
“Oh,” Lacy sighed, shaking her snow-white head in resignation. “You foolish, naïve girl. Don’t you understand?”
“Obviously not, Mom.” Cassia was becoming exasperated, the condescending mother she’d known throughout her childhood resurfacing. Lacy was no longer a feeble, demented woman, but a self-righteous mother scolding her child.
“The only way to save the Hollows is to kill you,” she said, “and the child you’re carrying.”
13
Wilder was confused by Cassia’s face when she returned to the car, but it was obvious that whatever Lacy Colter had said had affected her daughter insurmountably.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.” Cassia said the word shortly.
“Nothing?” Wilder demanded. “Obviously she said something. Was it about me? Is that why you’re upset?”
“Drive to the portal.”
“You’re coming back?” he asked, trying to understand her clipped phrases intimately.
“You’re going back. I’ve got some things to take care of.”
“Things like what?” Wilder demanded. “Cassia, what the hell is this?”
“Don’t question me right now, Wilder. I need to sort some things out. Just go home, and I’ll call you.”
Wilder veered the car toward the side of the interstate. “No!” he snapped. “Not until you tell me what’s going on. If this is about my past—”
“We didn’t talk about you or your past, Wilder,” Cassia replied dully. “I’m asking you to trust me on this. You need to go home and let me handle this.”
He wanted to argue with her, but he also knew it would be pointless. Instead, he let his temper get the best of him, and he unbuckled his seatbelt.
“I’ll fly back to the portal,” he growled. “I wouldn’t want to take time away from you figuring things out.” He exited the car before she could respond, though he wondered if she would have protested anyway. In seconds, he was airborne, releasing a primal cry of anger as his wings expanded, and he shot up into the night sky before he could be detected.
Logically, he knew he’d behaved badly, but as much as he loathed to admit it, even to himself, his feelings had been `hurt by her brush-off.
Yeah, right, Lacy didn’t tell her about me. Why else would she be unable to look me in the eye? It’s obvious what they talked about. He didn’t know why he was surprised. Wilder had been expecting such a reaction from her when she found out. Still, he had hoped for something better from her. He hadn’t imagined the bond between them. He just needed Cassia to understand that they were not the same dragons as they had been when they had taken over the Hollows.
Cassia was rational. She simply needed time to understand.
When Wilder arrived back at the palace, he had calmed down somewhat, though he was still upset with what had happened.
“Did you have a girl here last night?” Owen demanded. “Like a real, live woman?”
“Not now, Owen,” he snapped. “I’ve got—”
“Work to do, right. I knew you couldn’t really have had a woman here.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wilder growled. “You’re the only one allowed to have a woman?”
Owen smirked. “I would say that having a woman usually mellows us out. You’re still as uptight as always.”
“I did have a woman here last night,” Wilder bit back, unsure why he was engaging in his brother’s clear taunt. “And she’s amazing.” Owen’s eyes widened with interest.
“Wow,” he muttered. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you use the word ‘amazing’ for anything or anyone before.” Wilder flushed with embarrassment. “Will I meet her?”
“If you can find your manners,” Wilder barked.
“What’s her name?”
Wilder eyed Owen warily. He didn’t know if he wanted to tell him much more than he already had. Of all his brothers, Owen was the least antagonistic toward him, or at least that was how Wilder saw it. “Cassia St. John.”
Owen stared at him. “Uh… Is she a mortal?”
“Obviously I didn’t have a mortal in the Hollows, Owen!” Wilder snapped. “Any other questions?”
“Yes. What kind of last name is St. John for an immortal?”
“It’s a long story, Owen. She grew up on the Sunside.”
“You don’t think it’s odd, though?” Owen insisted when Wilder turned away. “St. John?”
“Owen, I’m losing my patience with this conversation.”
“All right,” Owen relented. “I’m just saying I’d be very careful around a woman with that name.”
Curiosity got the better of Wilder, and he turned to his brother. “Do explain.”
Owen shrugged. “St. John is the patron saint of firefighters. Given who we are…”
An inexplicable shiver coursed down Wilder’s spine.
“I’m going to bed.” He left Owen in the foyer and took the stairs two at a time toward his suite, but try as he might, he couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that there was a terrible secret hidden in Cassia.
Maybe it was time to get to the bottom of this once and for all.
Using the information that Atom had found him on Lacy Colter, Wilder looked into Cassia’s mother’s past as deeply as he could.
There were no warning flags, nothing that indicated why she had gone off the grid or used a different last name for her daughter, who had been birthed in a Newark hospital twenty-six years earlier.
As Atom had indicated, there was no father listed, and a search for the name “St. John” proved fruitless. It was far too common for Wilder to narrow down anyone.
There’s another way to find out what you want to know. Even as he thought it, he knew it was a terrible idea. There was not one thing he could think to say to himself that made it smart, but once it was in there, he couldn’t get it out. No, he told himself firmly. You’re not doing this. Sleep on it. Wait for Cassia to call you. Don’t do anything stupid.
He forced himself to step away from his laptop and lay on his bed, grinding his teeth. Wilder was terrible at sitting still. He was not a man to sit back and wait for things to happen, yet that was what he continued to do. He was waiting on Fritz. He was waiting on Cassia. He was waiting on the prophecy to take hold.
And that was the thing—the prophecy made no sense except to say it anticipated the Big Shift.
But there are no other dragons than the ones in our family, and no one was born years ago to cause the shift to start. He cursed at himself for putting any stock into the scriptures. Maybe the others are right, Wilder thought grimly. I’m losing my mind.
He sat back up and reached for his
cell.
“Mr. Parker!” Fritz answered nervously. “I was just thinking to call you.”
“And yet you didn’t.”
“I’m afraid the news isn’t good, Mr. Parker. In fact, it’s decidedly bad.”
“It’s only been a few days. How much more could the walls have moved?”
“Enough to notice,” the seismologist sighed. “You are looking at destruction in less than a month, Mr. Parker. I think it’s time that you make an announcement to the public.”
Wilder took a deep breath. I can’t tell the rest of the Hollows, not yet. It’s going to create a mass panic, and we’ll never be able to deal with it.
“Your advice is noted,” Wilder said coldly. “Instead of playing advisor, how about you think of a damned plan to get us out of this mess?”
“Mr. Parker, I’ve told you, sir, there is nothing we can do! I can’t control the way the earth moves—”
“You are absolutely useless!” Wilder roared. “What the hell good are you to me?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Parker.”
“So am I.” He ended the call, pursing his lips together. This was much worse than he had imagined. He needed to call everyone to order again so they could figure out what to do about it.
Wilder looked longingly at the phone, willing it to ring, for the caller to be Cassia, who might give him good news on how to stop the world from crashing in around them.
Screw this, I’m calling her. But as he suspected it would, the phone only rang until it went to voicemail. She’s leaving me no choice. I have to do it, whether I like it or not.
He looked at his watch and grimaced. It was too late now, but he would go first thing in the morning. It was his only hope.
Unless Cassia got back to him before that.
Wilder fell into a fitful sleep, waking every couple hours to check his phone for word on his lover. Cassia, however, had not texted or called. What was going on with her?
With each moment that passed, Wilder’s anxiety mounted, and before the morning hours broke, he had turned himself into a nervous ball of energy. At eight o’clock, he sprinted down the stairs and flew from the palace toward the portal, all the while willing his phone to ring.
Come on, Cassia, he begged, hoping that maybe he could reach her telepathically, even from the distance between them. The cell, though, remained eerily quiet. It was as if everyone had forsaken him that morning, not only Cassia.
The roads were all but deserted, and no one seemed to be moving about to deal with the morning bustle.
If Wilder had not been so distracted, his well-honed sixth sense would have warned him that something was amiss in the Hollows. But like a dog with a bone, he could only focus on what was in front of him.
He wouldn’t realize that yet another problem was brewing until much later, and by then, it would be too late to do anything about it.
14
This can’t be right.
Cassia stared at the third pregnancy test, which declared her, indeed, pregnant. It was impossible—she’d been diagnosed with endometriosis as a teen and been told that children were not in the cards. And yet…
No way. There’s no way.
But her mother’s words reverberated through her mind.
“The only way to save the Hollows is to kill you and the child you’re carrying.”
By that point, Cassia no longer asked how her mother could have known she was pregnant. If she’d learned anything the past week, it was that anything was possible, no matter how impossible it seemed. Like her pregnancy.
She slumped against the bathroom cabinet and stared at the plastic test in her hand. Her mother had completely shut down after making the bold statement, curling up in her bed and falling asleep instantly, to Cassia’s utter amazement. She tried to wake Lacy, but her mother did not move, no matter how much she begged.
Driving back with Wilder had been excruciating, more questions than answers filling her as they left the nursing home. She knew she’d have to tell Wilder about the baby, but not before she fully understood what was happening herself.
Did Mom leave the Hollows to save me somehow? Do they do something to babies in the Hollows? Cassia knew only what Wilder had told her, but what if there was more happening in the underworld? Something that he had kept hidden from her. Can I really trust Wilder? He has a dangerous, scary past he doesn’t want me to know about.
Cassia banged her head against the cupboard gently and groaned. “What have I gotten myself into? How did this happen?”
She forced herself onto her feet and hurried into her bedroom. She needed to get out of the house until she could be certain she was safe. As she packed a bag, she wracked her mind for places to go, gritting her teeth as she thought about how easy it would be for Wilder to find her.
She paused and ran back into the kitchen, where she’d left her cell. To her surprise, there were no missed calls from Wilder, and that fact made her even more uncomfortable. Why was he letting her go so easily?
Cassia knew she was being paranoid. Some might say hormonal, she thought. Scrolling through her contacts, she found the number she needed and sent a text out.
Where are you? I need to see you now.
Instantly, she saw the message bubbles appearing, indicating a response was being crafted. Home. Come over.
Cassia tossed the cell back in her purse and finished packing her overnight bag, her heart hammering so intently, she was sure she was going to faint.
Let this be the moment of truth, she prayed before grabbing her keys and locking the door to her house. She idly wondered if she would ever see it again.
The lights were on when Cassia pulled up to the house, including the porch, which she assumed had been left on for her, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to exit the car immediately.
Are you sure you want to do this, Cass? You may not like what you learn. But she knew it didn’t matter how much she liked or hated the truth, it wouldn’t change. You were in the dark for twenty-six years. It’s about time this all comes to light —for your sake and the baby’s.
“Hi,” Cassia said when the door opened. “Thanks for seeing me.”
“Well, if you demand to see me, that can’t be good, can it? Come on in.” Val held the screen open for her to enter, and Cassia slid in behind her.
“Are you home alone?”
“Perpetually,” Val chuckled. “No one will overhear our conversation except Buttons over there.” She gestured at a calico, who didn’t even bother to raise her head when Cassia entered. “Drink?”
“Can I stay with you for a few days?”
Val’s eyes widened in surprise.
“I thought you were a lone wolf like me,” she replied slowly. “Who are you trying to escape?” Cassia met her eyes, and Val nodded with understanding. “Ah. I can’t say I didn’t warn you, but maybe you should sit down and tell me what happened anyway. I’ll pour us a couple.”
“None for me,” Cassia said quickly. Val shrugged her shoulders.
“Suit yourself.” She gestured for Cassia to sit in the front room and moved toward the kitchen, raising her voice as she moved. “So…” she drawled. “The romance is dead already, is it?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about me?” Cassia called back. “I mean, you must have known.”
“Those Parkers are such bastards. Of course he had to tell you about your roots, didn’t he? It would have just killed him to keep his mouth shut.”
“I would rather know that be kept in the dark about it,” Cassia retorted.
“If you were meant to know who you were, Cassia, you would have known by now. You don’t need one of those dragon princes spilling your family secrets. That guy has some nerve.” Val appeared in the living room, a glass of merlot in her hand. “He only told you as a power trip,” she confided. “A way for him to look more god-like. They thrive off power, all of them, always have.”
“Tell me about them,” Cassia said, perching on the couch nervously. “What did
they do that was so bad?”
Val laughed, throwing her blonde head back as though Cassia had said the most hilarious thing. “I guess he left the part out about how they took the Hollows by force and murdered more beings that you can possibly count on their bloodthirsty quest to rule.”
“Oh…” The words sent her stomach into a flip. It was eons ago. It was war. I can’t really fault them for what happened then…
“And you might brush it off as ancient history, but Wilder is still the worst of them,” Val continued. “The Parkers run everything and everyone in the Hollows with an iron fist. He will banish anyone to purgatory if they look at him sideways. You’re better off without him, hon, trust me.”
“Yeah…”
Val eyed her through the side of her glass as she took another sip. “You don’t sound convinced, Cassia.”
The black-haired woman shook her head and averted her gaze away from Val’s too interested stare.
“You sure you don’t want a drink?” Val said, deliberately changing the subject. “I’ve got all the fixings for a piña colada, even if they are a pain in the ass to make. Heartbreak deserves the good stuff. I might even have little drink umbrellas somewhere.”
“No, thanks. Maybe just some water,” Cassia mumbled. Val’s eyebrows shot up.
“I know we don’t hang out a lot, Cass, but I gotta say, I’ve never known you to turn down a drink after a shitty day.” Cassia shrugged, unwilling to disclose any more to her. “Water it is!” Val called, sauntering back into the hall toward the kitchen. “So, you never did tell me, what happened? What was the end all and be all?”
“I’m not sure it’s over yet. It’s something my mom said to me, and it has been bothering me…”
“Oh, yeah?” Val called back. “What’s that?”
“Why do I have a target on my back?”
Val choked and gasped as Cassia appeared in the kitchen doorway. A spray of powder had fallen all over the counter next to an empty glass.