by Holly Hook
“It looked like a bad werewolf, all right,” I say to Olivia.
“Well, there aren't any good ones, are there?” Ellie asks. “They're always tearing out throats in all those horror movies. And it‘s not like they‘re real.”
Olivia turns a corner. We drive through the suburb. I sniff, but all is quiet.
I can't tell her the real truth. “I don't know what's happening, but we have to ditch Jansen right here and right now.”
“With that thing out there?” he explodes.
“Yes. With that thing out there.”
Olivia faces me like she's unsure. “We can drop him off far away from that wolf,” she says.
“I bet that monster could cross town in just a few minutes. Maybe he smells fear,” Jansen says. “Please don't drop me off. And if you do, drop me off at the bus station so I can get the hell out of this town.”
“No,” Ellie says. “Please don't. We...we need you in the play.”
The longing in Ellie's voice brings another horrible truth to my world.
Are Jansen and Ellie dating?
“We can drop you off at the bus station,” I say, knowing this will hurt Ellie. She won't just up and tell me the truth, not after I've harked on Jansen so much.
“I might want to get on a bus, too,” Olivia says.
Brie, I'm almost home! Cayden thinks.
I have to get to the station for another reason. While Ellie and Jansen will rip apart, Cayden and I will come back together.
And before we know it, we'll rip apart again.
Forever.
It seems fitting we're both going to have our relationships destroyed tonight. Ellie's will be for the better, and mine will threaten everyone not on the side of the Savages. I want to pound on the dashboard. Olivia drives through downtown, slows, and pulls into the lit bus station. I run the timing in my head. Cayden must have flown most of the way back, then boarded a bus to Breckenridge. With the skiing season still in full swing, they run often during the winter. And I both love and hate that fact.
The station is still lit, even at ten-thirty. Olivia pulls into a space and Jansen gets out of the car, slamming the door. “I'm out of this town,” he says. “If this is how rehearsal goes, I can't take it. I'm sorry.” He's speaking to Ellie, not me.
“Jansen!” she gets out of the car and levels a very rare glare at me.
I'm doing this to her. And I feel terrible.
“Uh, oh,” Olivia says.
“Wait,” I say, getting out. “I'm sorry. We're all just stressed about being chased by cultists and nasty wolves.”
“I have the added stress of being accused of stuff I don't even understand,” Jansen says. He reeks of metallic adrenaline. We all do. Then he opens the door to the station. “You should be happy I'm leaving. I don't care what my parents say. I'm ditching the job my cousin has for me. It's not worth my life.”
“Jansen!” Ellie runs up to him and tugs on his sleeve.
“I'm sorry. Come with me if you want.”
I can't let Ellie go with him. For all I know, he's going right to the Savage King. And he'll want to take someone I care about.
“I can't just leave,” Ellie says. “What do I tell my parents?” Her eyes water as I watch.
Meanwhile, Olivia waits in the car.
I wish Noah were here. He would smooth out this situation in no time. If Jansen were hired to spy on us, he wouldn't leave, would he? Maybe this is a ruse, and he's just trying to convince me he's not what I think he is—that he is just some new kid who landed in a crazy situation.
What if, by some narrow chance, Jansen isn't working with the Savage King? He shakes as he grips the door handle to the bus station. He smells of fear just like the rest of us. But then I think of Brett and how he's terrified of Romulus. Perhaps every human who works around him fears the monstrous creature. Failure could mean Jansen loses his life. Indecision paralyzes me as we all stare at each other.
No matter what I do, I'll feel terrible about it.
But I have to do what's best for everyone else, even if it's not good for me.
“Jansen, maybe you're not what I think you are. It's possible you landed in the middle of a mess,” I say. “And if you did, it's not safe for you to be here in this town. Maybe you should get out of here so you don't land in any more trouble.”
His glare softens the tiniest bit. “For once, you're right.” he says. “I landed in a mess and I need to get out. But I don't want Ellie to stay here, either.”
“She shouldn't go with you. I'll protect her.”
“Brie!” She looks at me like I'm crazy.
“I don't know where he wants to take you,” I say.
“To his house? Where there won't be giant wolves that want to kill us?”
“I don't know if he's working with those people,” I say. “Look, I'm not trying to be mean. I want no one else getting hurt. Look at what happened with Noah.”
“But that was a freak accident,” Ellie says. “And Jansen didn't even have to do with it. He--“
I hold up a hand, stopping her. The rumble of a bus engine follows, and I know what--and who's--coming. Cayden is on that bus. Already, I smell the wilds mixing with exhaust. I step away from Ellie and walk towards the road. The pull returns and an urge to shift and run around the parking lot in celebration sweeps over me. Cayden and I have been apart for too long. But I hold back. I won't in front of Ellie. And I won't when the Savage King is anywhere within miles. I berate myself for not sensing him sooner. The coven of evil warlocks is masking him for certain.
The bus appears, complete with painted skiers on the side. It pulls into the lot and the door opens. Cayden carries his wild, godly smell, mixed with airport food and coffee. And Leonora follows. She's come back with him.
People pour out of the bus.
A few young men, which is usual, and two athletic-looking young women, too. Once they clear and enter the bus station, making Jansen step to the side, a new group of people gets off: an older couple with graying hair, a middle-aged woman, two younger adults in spectacles, and a tall, wiry man in a faded leather coat. Their scents reach me, and they're a mix of exotic spices and regular human scents. They don't match the usual crowd of skiers and tourist families that arrive in the winter. They smell almost magical—like the Russells.
The older couple share Leonora's round nose.
Did she find the rest of the coven?
Then Cayden gets off the bus, and his scent washes over me, pulling at my chest. Emotion wells. Our gazes meet. His hazel eyes widen with regret and pure love.
"Brie, I'm sorry," he says when everyone else scatters and leaves him alone on the pavement. "I never should have done this. I accept your challenge. Tonight. It's the only way we can stay together and survive."
I run towards him, jumping into his arms.
Tonight, Cayden and I must fight one another to save the Nobles.
Chapter Fourteen
Jansen vanishes into the bus station. Ellie, not being the bravest girl in the world, retreats to Olivia's car and gets in. I sniff the air one more time when Cayden and I finish our kiss.
“Well, this is a stereotypical scene from a romance, isn't it?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood.
“Is that the guy you were talking about?” Cayden asks, looking at Jansen. “Leonora mentioned a suspicious character that Remo told her about.”
Jansen stands inside the bus station as if debating whether to leave. Several people walk around him to use the bathrooms. He stares at the electric display for fares and reaches into his pockets.
“Yes.”
Cayden releases me. He storms towards the building, but I grab his coat sleeve, stopping him.
“Do not attack him.”
“Let me go,” he says. “This guy threatened you.”
“Do not protect me. The instinct is just as bad as it was before you left,” I say. “The pain, remember?”
His eyes soften. “No one believes you about this guy
.”
“If he's leaving, he's leaving,” I say. “We should watch him go.”
Jansen walks up to the counter and talks to the woman inside, a middle-aged woman drinking a mug of coffee. I listen. “There's a bus going out first thing tomorrow morning, right?” Jansen asks.
“Yes. This is the last one of the night. I'm sorry. If you want to board, you'll only be sitting to the parking lot in the back.”
“Great. I don't want to spend one more night in this town.”
“I'm sorry you've had a bad experience here.”
“When's the first bus in the morning?”
In Olivia's car, Ellie sobs.
“I'm sorry," Olivia says.
“What's happening?” Ellie asks. “Why are people chasing us? What if they're chasing Jansen?”
Cayden grimaces. “The challenge. We have to do it now. I can't resist trying to protect you. I would have died right there.”
“Don't die,” I beg, pulling him in for a kiss. We mold together as Leonora and the coven speak in low voices, but they‘re a million miles away. _
We come up for air.
“Even if you take my position, I'll still want to protect you,” Cayden says.
“But the instinct will be possible to resist.”
“Brie, if you become alpha, we're still mates. And you'll want to protect me. The Savage King will use that against you. The instinct is stronger than you know. It's almost as painful for me to resist as it is for me to give in.”
“Romulus wants you dead. So long as you live, the Nobles have hope. We can go to the cabin. We need to move before he finds us. The Savage King was at the school.”
Cayden slips his hands to my arms and seizes them as if Romulus will appear and pull me away. “He was at the school?”
“He, and his warlocks. Brett was with them. He will not help us. But maybe Leonora's family will?”
Cayden grins. “Yeah. She went right to work finding the other members of the old coven when her parents couldn't. Turns out Leonora's getting used to modern technology. She's now glued to her phone more than most people are. They‘d talk to her. The head of the family still shuns her parents.”
Leonora wrangles her relatives at the bus stop, who turn out to be several aunts and uncles and a few cousins. She tells me she found several of the other Russells living around the Chicago area and found her great aunt and uncle first.
“And from them, I could find the others,” she says. “My great uncle Edwin used to live in Breck. He was the head of the coven and made the decisions. He left when everyone started pretending the Noble Royals no longer existed.”
I shake hands with the older man, the wiry guy, then shake hands with numerous cousins I won't remember the names of. I count seven of Leonora's relatives. Eleven of the Russells in total.
As if sensing I'm counting, Leonora speaks again. “We need one more member to be a full coven, but eleven sure beats three.”
“I'm glad you found them,” I say. “How are you going to house everyone?” I try to keep the tone light.
“Easy. Uncle Edwin knows town pretty well.”
“It has changed little,” he admits. “The hotels are still here. I've covered everyone's rooms. Now, the cabin. I'm sorry your parents made you live at the old meeting place.”
“The old meeting place?” Leonora asks.
“You thought we all lived in the woods just because we practice magic?” Edwin asks her. “We only used the cabin to meet several times a year.”
“Are you serious?”
Cayden and I leave Leonora to catch up with her relatives. We walk side by side down the street.
“I saw the Savage King tonight. He chased us in Olivia's car.”
“Then he's not waiting for me to die before he comes after you,” Cayden says. “We thought he was.“ He tightens his grip on my hand.
I don‘t want to let go. “Or is he? He could know of our bond and be putting me in danger to get you back. But he had his warlocks there in the school parking lot. And I didn't smell them coming. With their magic cloaking them or whatever, I was just like a regular human. I couldn't even fight.”
“I know you could have.”
We walk along the perimeter of the parking lot, but Cayden is already in his protective mode. His nostrils flare as he sniffs the area. I do the same, but smell nothing.
“I'm coming to school with you tomorrow. And I'm not leaving your side. We have the coven here and they'll help us. Leonora was key to getting them all back together again.”
“But what if Romulus shows up right now?” I ask.
“Then I don't know.”
“He's within miles of us. Somehow, he‘s tracking us. He even knew we‘d get out later than usual. Jansen doesn‘t have his phone, but we still need to leave.”
Jansen still sits in the station, waiting for the first ride out. He stretches out on the seats and lies on his back. Looks like he's planning to stay there all night.
Or he's not planning to leave at all. It could be a ruse.
And Olivia and Ellie still sit in the car. Ellie looks back at me and I can see barely hidden jealousy on her face.
“I want to kill him," Cayden says. “He must have somehow told Romulus you had a late rehearsal.”
Then he wrenches his arm from my grasp.
And turns towards the bus station.
“Cayden!” I leap on him, wrapping my arms around his torso. My weight slows him and I drag my feet into the concrete.
“Brie!” he shouts. “If you don't get me out of here, I won't be able to hold back. That guy sold you out.”
Leonora runs towards us, frowning as she reaches into her pocket. I smell something soaked in herbs. “Laurel,” she says, pressing the cloth against Cayden's nose.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
But Cayden's struggles weaken and he takes a deep breath. As if knowing something toxic can save him.
And he slumps in my arms.
Leonora removes the cloth and nods as Edwin walks over. “Cayden and I made a deal,” she says. “I would make him pass out if he tried anything.”
She's more prepared than I thought. “We need to get him out of here,” I say. “We need to get away from Jansen before he calls Romulus back. Let me tell Olivia and Ellie to get out of here first.”
Leonora and Edwin set Cayden down in the snow while I motion for Olivia to leave.
Leonora spreads Cayden‘s arms out like he's just lounging and relaxing. He breathes and I don't sense the wave of despair coming for me. The fumes aren't threatening his life. I'm glad for that sense and glad Leonora came prepared for this.
Jansen appears to be sleeping in the bus station. The receptionist inside flips the page to a magazine.
If he leaves, none of us will ever have to confront him again. I wait for Olivia and Ellie to pull out of the parking lot and vanish down the road. Traces of Ellie's salty tears hang in the air, or maybe it's my imagination. But the scent leaves me with an awful feeling inside.
She's better off without him.
Even if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore.
“Come on,” I tell everyone. “Let's get Cayden up to the cabin. We need to figure out how to keep him from dying.”
Chapter Fifteen
Getting Cayden back to the cabin in the dark is easy with a group of people. I could do it on my own, but having others to talk to helps the time pass. I text the rest of the pack during the trip, while Edwin, Leonora, and a cousin named Talia help to carry Cayden's unconscious form. Being a Wolf, he recovers from the laurel-soaked fumes quickly, so Leonora has to renew the dose every few minutes. Bags form under her eyes.
“Where did you get this?” I ask.
“From a garden in Chicago,” she says. “There are so many herbs used in magical workings that people grow because they look nice. Laurel clippings give off fumes that can make you pass out or even die, but I'm giving Cayden a low dose. We tested it before we came back to make sure it
would all work. I keep having to soak this cloth with my water bottle, but by the time all the sleepy stuff wears out of it, we'll be far away from the bus stop.”
“I bet Cayden hates this.” Cayden used to inhabit a different type of cage, one Everly and his family made, and now he's going to another. He won't be happy.
Everly and Remo meet us on the trail, halfway up to the cabin. I take Cayden‘s shoulders. Leonora introduces her relatives while Everly (unsurprisingly) takes over the duty of keeping Cayden sedated. I still can't remember the names of all the Russells, but talk turns to magic. As I balance Cayden and walk backwards up the narrow road, I listen.
“...powerful evil spirits. That Brett must have a lot of negative energy in his life.” It's a cousin.
“What are these spirits?” Remo asks.
“They're usually made from the energy of the magician, with much focus,” Edwin explains. “The more the magician focuses on them, the more powerful they get. Spirits can be good or evil. The ones tormenting Cayden were made by Brett's father, according to Leonora. Now Brett is giving them attention and keeping them alive. His hatred is keeping them going.”
I have to speak. “That's...that's my fault.” If Brett never found out his father died, a father I didn't realize he cared about on some level, he never would have fed the curse. I don't detect the spirits now, but they must lurk in the background. “So, the solution is to kill these dark spirits by taking the attention off them?”
“Some spirits take a long time to fade,” Edwin explains as Leonora listens. “These must be very strong. It may take years for them to fade on their own, and that's only if Brett and everyone else stop feeding them. The best solution is to create powerful spirits to protect Cayden and by extension, the pack. The coven did it in the past, with varying success.” Edwin frowns. “Those spirits may have faded by now, but it may be worth checking if we can summon them again.”
“You should have never left town,” I say. “You left me and Aunt May not knowing anything or how to protect ourselves.”
“It worked for years,” Edwin says, defensive. “Your silver pendants kept you hidden right under the Savage King's nose.”