by Holly Hook
He's not even trying to hide from me, or anyone, anymore. I look away as his shape changes, as flesh ripples and bones shift in agony, and Tyler lets out a single grunt of pain before the storm dies down. Then I find him crouching there, beautiful and bare, reflecting the string lights off his skin and hair. He takes a long, gasping breath.
"They ran." He's shaking.
"Yes. You had to chase them off," I say, extending my hand. I've never seen Tyler completely bare this close before, and he's as perfect as I imagined. His abs, his perfect hips, his faint V...heat floods my body as I take him in, and he doesn't seem to mind me looking at him as he slowly reaches for his jeans.
No, Beckah. This is not the time. I shake my head and get my bearings.
"They might try to hurt you, Beckah," Tyler says. "We have their worst secrets." He slowly pulls up his jeans, not caring that the rest of the Rose Pack is staring at us and staring at me staring at...
Stop it.
"Hurt me?" I ask, shaking my head and drawing myself back into reality. Tyler has just been beyond hurt. I need to be here for him and not his body. The pain lives in his eyes, screaming. “Tyler. I'm so sorry.” I embrace him, drawing his bare chest against me.
He sighs. “I shouldn't have done that but I didn't know what else to do.”
“You were justified. Don't beat yourself up,” I tell him.
Tyler releases me and takes my arms. “My parents have resources. It's how they've kept their secrets from the world for this long,” he babbles before reaching for his shirt. There's no trace of the wolf now, just a guy who's been stomped on by the harsh truth of his family. Then we look into each other's eyes. “I will do everything I can to keep them away from you. They can't know that you're with me, or they might use you to get to me.”
“Your own parents?” My father can be hard and manipulative, but what Tyler is implying is so much worse. Could the Roses be dangerous? Could they try to hurt us? Tyler is the only heir. But if they think he's gone and never coming back—
“I don't know what they'll do. Most likely, they'll go after my pack,” Tyler says. “They will increase security, and we may need to move away from the vacation house.”
I gulp. Of course the Roses will know about that place, seeing as they own it and have used it as a reserve for their cursed son for years.
“Then where are you going to go?” I ask. Tears brim in my eyes at this incredible cruelty. Tyler is fearing for his life. The terror's there, deep in his eyes, dancing with the pain and rejection.
“We don't know yet. Beckah, as wolves we can survive the woods. I may take us to the spot where we had our picnic as no one can get out there. Hunters have never gone up to that place and it's very rare that hikers ever reach that place either.”
“But it's cold. No shelter. And you deserve better,” I say.
Tyler looks to Valerie. “We have to make sure we're all safe or we'll never fix this.”
Valerie nods in agreement. She's not one to dismiss the horrors of reality.
Tyler's own parents...
They'll hurt him...
All they want to do is protect their own interests...
“But the curse,” I say, holding his sides, as if to hold him there in human form. “If you spend more time as wolves, it might progress faster than it would have otherwise. You might lose touch with your human side, and you won't be able to help us.” I tighten my grasp as if to hold him there.
“She's right,” Cammie says, voice quiet and shy. “I don't think fleeing will be good for us.”
I'm shocked that Cammie has even spoken. She rarely says a word, and I wonder how badly scarred she is from her former human life of abuse and horrors.
“It might not be,” Chaz says. “If the Roses call in help to try to drive us out of town, then we can watch for them. I say we stay put until we sense we can't stay at the vacation home. We have the advantage of our senses, and we can't dare leave the rose bush.”
“Can someone let me out?” Marion asks from her cabinet.
“Shit.” I've forgotten about her, and I let her out to watch her fall to the floor. Maybe she can help us think. I eye the clock, knowing we're due in the cafeteria in just a few minutes. Marion picks herself up and brushes a few shredded papers off her elf costume.
“I was trying to listen,” Marion says. “The rose bush is a problem. You might have to stay and guard it. If it's destroyed, then Tyler's parents will lose all desire to save him.” She can't look right at him, but looks to Valerie instead.
“That's why we should fight,” Chaz says, hands in his pockets.
“You think they still care?” Tyler asks. He desperately wants me to say yes. That maybe there is hope that his parents have some good in them. That they'll want that boy in the photos back, dressed in his hockey gear. That they'll want the boy who competed in spelling bees back, and will hold out hope that things can go back to normal.
Tyler is slamming those doors shut because of me. He broke into their house because he was trying to save me—
No. Stop it, Beckah. None of this is anyone's fault but his parents'. Tyler watches me, forcing his expression to neutral as if he can sense my pain.
“It's possible,” I say, knowing it's the right thing to say. “They're just scared. Drive them out of town, and just maybe, one day, things can go back to normal.”
“I'm never going to have a good relationship with them again,” Tyler says. “It doesn't matter what happens now. They know I accessed their dirt. And they always tried to hide that from me growing up. Or they'd say things about how poor people just need to work harder.” He whirls and faces the far wall of the library's small computer lab, and the closed door that leads to the library itself.
Something completely broke tonight, and we all can't deny it anymore. “Now what?” I ask.
Tyler sighs. “Beckah, I'll watch out for you when that reporter gets in. I'll talk to him. I'll make it look like I'm leading him around town. He'll want to speak to me more than anybody.”
True. “You have to stay safe.”
He eyes the clock, then looks to me and Marion. “And so do you. Get back to the cafeteria. If you're gone and the Roses check back there, they'll know you came out here to warn me. Tonight, you two have to look completely normal.”
* * * * *
Tyler has a point. Marion and I have to swallow our worry as we go back and play the part of happy elves leading kids to Santa. We have to swallow our anger when a few of them ask for new shoes instead of a new gaming system, and more than a couple ask for new coats. Mr. Bright isn't so bright by the end of the first Christmas Walk night, but his deep frown and gray eyes perk up as soon as we've packed up, as if he's glad that he's away from the dark undertones of Tower.
Do those kids just need to work harder?
I'm determined to do everything I can to stop this whole scam and free Tyler from this hell.
The rest of the weekend is spent cleaning up the cafeteria from the Christmas Walk, since we have school for the next one and a half weeks, and I'm sore when I wake the next morning. But I help Gia with breakfast and talk about how Will is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and how Tyler will give him a tour around town. Being an outsider, Will won't be affected by the curse and won't fear Tyler.
Monday comes, and I go to school like usual, taking a ride from Gavin. Us keeping our ruse is even more important now. What if the Roses have put spies around the school? Offered to pay them? There are a lot of desperate people in Tower who would jump on the opportunity to make a bit more cash. To work harder. To try to get out of their situation. Gavin and I hold hands and I don't speak to Tyler at all during the day. I watch the people around me, the cheerleaders and the football players, and even the other Art Club kids. Any one of them could be ready to report to the Roses the moment someone talked to Tyler.
And it's known that I don't fear him or the Rose Gang.
My heart's pounding when it's time to leave school. Will is supposed to arr
ive at four at Gia's cabin and I've got to get there. Glad I don't have an Art Club meeting, as Mr. Bright wants us to take breaks during the weeks now, I jump in Gavin's truck and we go to Gia's cabin in the harsh cold. Marion comes with us, eager to help. At least me going home with Gavin is normal and I don't see anyone following us as we drive through Tower.
Gia makes us all tea and gets one ready for Will, and this time, the Uber drives right up the driveway as she's undone the chain. Will gets out a moment later, a laptop under his arm and a leather bag hanging off his shoulder and bouncing against his back.
We receive him with handshakes and he even gives me a hug, which surprises me. He's a young man fresh out of college, with hair that makes me think of red sand and thin glasses. Will seems like a gentle guy, and I fear he's too gentle for this job until he sits down at the table and cracks open his laptop.
“Thanks for having me. What's happening in this town? It seems like a charming place that's fallen on bad times.”
And we tell him.
Marion's got all the papers from the city hall and I hand Will the thumb drive with all the incriminating information. His eyes widen as he clicks through the files and maintains a conversation with us. The evening seems to drag on and Tyler is taking forever to show up, and just when I start to fear that something might have happened to him, he knocks on the back door.
Will jumps and stiffens, tensed up from the nightmare we're showing him.
I let Tyler in, praying that his curse doesn't try to protect itself by going after Will. But Tyler appears fine as he steps into the kitchen. He leans close to me and whispers in my ear.
“Had to hunt. Wasn't feeling well. Better now.”
He pulls away, and I look down at my wrist, but my skin is clear with no other signs of the curse trying to jump to me. Maybe it's gone. Maybe the wound wasn't deep enough for it to take hold. I eye the calendar up on Gia's cabinet. The next full moon, and the next chance for it to try to claim me, is January 8.
“It's fine. We know it's hard for you to get away,” I say, facing everyone at the kitchen table. “This is Tyler, Will. He got the information you found here, and trust us, he wants to stop what his parents are doing.”
Will nods, but there's a knowing look on his face, and I fear he's caught wind of what Tyler just said. But he just smiles, dispelling that fear. “There are always ways to get what you want, and I appreciate the information you've given me. I really think a criminal investigation should be initiated here.”
“The problem is that the Roses can pay off judges,” Marion says.
“Media attention will help any judge decide to do the right thing,” Tyler says, yanking out a chair. Despite the fact that he's just hunted, there's a faint redness in his eyes. The curse is still active. Will might not be safe around Tyler, so anywhere they go, I'll need to go with him. If I'm half cursed, I've got the only shot at calming him down.
The curse is still worsening.
And Tyler's last interaction with his parents hasn't helped.
After some talk and catching up, Marion, Gavin, and I pile into the rental car with Will and go on tour around town. The faint redness remains in Tyler's eyes, and I keep my hand linked with his, stopping it from getting worse. He doesn't tell me that he didn't want me to come. My contact seems to help, seems to keep the animal within tamed for the time being. We stop and talk to Marion's grandmother. Then we visit Gavin's parents, who speak to Will alone in the Tower Eatery while Gavin, Marion, and I sit at a booth and wait.
“Please don't let go,” Tyler says, tightening his grip on my hand as he sips water. “I'm not well today.”
“I won't.”
“I wanted to be able to do this alone.”
“It's not your fault.” I swallow, knowing this is dangerous for Gavin. Gavin sits on the other side of me, and I lean against him, knowing his parents can see us from the kitchen and that there aren't any other people in the Tower Eatery this late at night. In fact, the place is closed, and we got in five minutes before the sign clicked off.
“I won't,” I whisper as Marion bits her lower lip.
Will gets his information and comes out of the kitchen twenty minutes later. He powers down his laptop and we get up to head for the door. I release Tyler, and he seethes as if he can feel the transformation coming over him, and I turn so that my Tyler hand is on the opposite side of me as the kitchen.
“Thank you,” Gavin's father shouts from the kitchen. He's over a grease fryer, ready to slide the metal cover over it for the night. Gavin's mother is also right there, wiping down a counter.
We get out as quick as we can, and I'm relieved when Will announces that he's heading for the hotel for the night, and will look over his notes there. He'll come back tomorrow and tour the town on his own to get another angle.
Once he drives us back to Gia's, Tyler hops out with me and keeps his hand tight in mine. Marion and Gavin wave goodbye to Will, and he smiles and thanks us for helping him today.
“I'll try to contact the Roses tomorrow,” he says.
My throat tightens. “You won't tell them we showed you around?”
“What kind of person do you think I am?” Will asks with a smile.
I like Will. I don't think he'll accept whatever bribe the Roses throw at him. He was too disgusted by what he saw. It's evident in the facial expressions and tone of voice he's carried since getting here.
“Good luck,” Tyler mutters, but his grasp cuts off the circulation in my arm.
Will must not hear the growl in his voice, and if he does, he must just dismiss it as rightful anger. He pulls out of the driveway by the time his headlights vanish and the crunch of gravel stops, Tyler is shaking.
“You two have to go,” I whisper to Marion and Gavin. “Now.”
Tyler lets out a long breath as if he's figuring out what to say. “Don't run. You'll activate my prey drive. My hunt earlier...it wasn't successful.”
Marion slowly backs to the truck, and I stick close to Tyler, sensing that his aggression is not towards me. The curse—we have to see—
“Beckah,” Gavin says.
“I'm okay. For some reason, I calm Tyler down now,” I say.
Gavin eyes the truck cabin, where his crossbow and silver arrows are stashed. He does not want to leave me here.
“Gavin. It's okay,” I insist.
“We don't have time for this back and forth.” Tyler scoops me up in his arms.
“Beckah!” Marion shouts.
“I'm fine,” I say, knowing that Gavin and Marion can't know that. “Tell Gia I'm fine, too.”
I haven't told them I could be cursed in a month or two.
Or that I'm at least marked for the curse.
Hating myself for leaving them without an explanation, I can do nothing as Tyler, still holding me against his chest, bolts through the woods.
“Where are we going?” I ask, though I already know the answer.
The dark woods fly past. Icy wind drives daggers into my body, even the side against Tyler's chest. He says nothing, and I don't like that. The deadly winter woods seem to close in on all sides as he runs, and before I know it, we're standing in front of the vacation home.
Tyler slowly places me down and takes a breath.
“The run helped a bit,” he says, not even slightly out of breath. Now that he's only around me, the growl is gone. I can't see his eyes in the dark, but I can see the outline of his form against the house itself. A single lantern is on inside, probably on the kitchen table, and it's blurry behind the kitchen curtains.
“That's good,” I say, unable to push aside why we're here and why we left. “Gavin and Marion will worry.”
“I see the rose bush. It's still covered,” Tyler says, crunching snow as he advances away from me. “That whole time, I wanted to attack Will. The curse is trying to protect itself. And then I almost turned my aggression on Gavin and Marion. That's the last thing I want to do.”
“Sarah made the curse protect itsel
f? Does she want Tower to go under?” I ask, more to calm myself than anything.
“I'm not sure. Maybe she didn't know how it would work. Marion says magic sometimes works in ways the user never suspects.” Tyler messes with the blue tarp which comes into view under the waning moon. And then he pulls it off, revealing the misshapen form that holds his humanity.
And that soon might have to hold mine.
“It's getting worse.”
His words fall like a hammer, and I squint, but in the darkness I can't see what he means. “Let me go get the lantern.”
“No one's inside. The rest of the pack must have left to hunt,” he says, voice dripping with meaning.
I grab the key from under the flower pot, having memorized its place from all the times I came here to do homework with Tyler. The oil lamp on the table is bright, making me squint, and playing cards rest on the table as if the rest of the Rose Pack was just trying to pass time. The chairs are pushed out, and I know the suddenness of the curse struck the others, forcing them to obey in a matter of seconds. Tyler only held on because I was there.
Seizing the lantern, I run back outside, fearing that Tyler has gone in the time that I was in the house. But he's there, leaning down, clearly able to see what's going on with the rose bush. But I can't with my human vision.
I shine the lantern on it, and I gasp.
The rose bush has, despite all the plant food still around its base, taken a turn for the worse. Mottled areas have spread across the green leaves, sucking the life from them, and only five blossoms out of a dozen are holding on, still vibrant with crackling life. The stem is still green, but most of the leaves are curling and brown in places.
"What the heck?" I ask.
"Alan has been taking care of this," Tyler says. "So have all of us. We're doing our best, and the stem has healed from his bite, but it's still dying." He faces me. "I think the curse is just getting close to the end of its course. Sarah always meant for there to be a deadline."
"It's going to die no matter what," I breathe, hating that Tyler can hear me.