“Poor little magic growler,” Lukah says as he watches Chrissa yip to Harper. “The black widow always sucks the fun out of things.”
“Black widow?” Jaxen mutters from beside me.
“Lukah,” Evangeline warns with a low growl.
“Oh, come on,” he says, brushing off her glare. “You know you do.” He turns to Damien, who has remained stoically still, absorbing everything like a sponge. “I’ll bet you cleaning duties that I’ll be the first to sniff out our prey.”
Damien doesn’t say a word. He just slightly nods, and then they shift right in front of us and take off, howling up at the sun.
“I’ll see you on the hunt,” Ava says as she and Arianna take off after Damien and Lukah.
A second passes before anyone speaks. The birds chatter above us. The leaves sway with the shifting breeze. Evangeline stops in front of us. “I need you to keep up. Faye, you say that you can link yourself to whomever you choose?”
“Yes.”
“Try linking all four of you to me. I’ll aid you in this with a little bit of magic.”
My cheeks are warm. “I’m—I’m not sure I know how. It’s my understanding that feelings are the culprit behind my linking. Sharing a deep, emotional connection with someone.”
Weldon jerks his head to the side. Looks at me like I’ve just dropped from the sky with a large, oblong head, and huge, beady, black eyes. “Hold up. You’re telling me that you share a deep connection with Jezi the brat, and not with me? I don’t think I’ve ever been so offended.” He’s holding his chest as if he’s been shot. At this moment, I wish I had shot him.
Jezi snorts under her breath.
“I don’t think it’s based on emotions, Faye,” Evangeline says, smiling kindly at me. “I think it’s opening yourself up. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable with someone, and wanting to give them a piece of yourself that allows this to happen.”
“Again. Offended,” Weldon says, refusing to look at me.
I give him the ‘shut up’ eyes. Ignore Jaxen when he chuckles.
“Let me try to connect to him first,” I say to Evangeline. I turn to face Weldon, who’s wearing a shit-eating grin. He jiggles his arms out by his side like he’s loosening up for a fight. I exhale, shaking my head. Close my eyes. Imagine my power flowing out toward him.
A second dissipates between us.
“Holy shit!” he cries out.
My eyes flick open.
“Can you hear me?” I ask him, staring at him intently.
His eyes are the size of saucers. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve felt this? Felt the soft caress of a woman’s voice in my head?”
I’m sure my cheeks are on fire. So much so, that I have to reach up and touch them just to be sure.
“Well?” Evangeline asks.
“It worked,” I say quickly, closing off my connection to Weldon.
“Good,” she says with a satisfied smile. “Then I will weave a spell to help open my mind so you can link with me. Once we’re all linked, then you’ll be able to see how my pack communicates with me.”
“Okay,” I say, preparing myself.
“Now that I can speak freely and privately, there’s something I need to get off my chest,” Weldon says in my mind. He pauses, waiting for me to ask him what.
I don’t say anything, focusing on linking myself with Jaxen’s mother. I don’t want to let her down. I don’t want to start off with not being able to do a simple request.
“Ignore me all you want, but I know you can hear me. I’ll just come out and say it. Ready? Jaxen’s mom is hot. Don’t you think?”
“Shut up and get out of my head,” I say, smiling at Evangeline.
“Any time now,” she says gently.
I close my eyes and do the same with her, pushing my magic toward her.
“Would it be wrong to hit on her?” Weldon asks.
I almost choke on my own spit.
“Are you okay?” Evangeline asks.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jaxen says to us both. “You do realize that I’m still connected?”
“Me too,” Jezi says heatedly.
I feel like I’m being suffocated by voices.
“Faye?” Evangeline asks again.
“I’m fine. Just an annoying fly buzzing in my ear,” I say, glaring at Weldon.
I want to smack the grin off his face.
But instead, I close my eyes and push harder, trying to get this over with as soon as possible.
“I feel it,” Evangeline says a moment later, and I sigh in relief.
“Good. We’re all linked now,” I say with heavy emphasis, looking directly at Weldon.
Without warning, Evangeline shifts right in front of us, dropping on all fours as snowy-white fur covers her entire body. When she’s more wolf than human, she looks up at us with eyes that resemble her own.
“Follow me,” she says to us, and then she takes off running through the cool, damp forest.
It takes me about half a mile to fall into an easy stride behind her, with Weldon, Jaxen, and Jezi on my feet. We’re leaping over tree branches and pushing through dense shrubbery, heading north into the unknown. There’s a coolness in the air I haven’t noticed before. A crispness that heightens every one of my senses. Through Evangeline, I sense the movements of every living thing around me. The way the leaves bend under the small beams of sunlight peeking through the canopied treetop. The way the forest slowly wakens, almost as if it were opening up like a flower for the sun. I smell the musky scent of animals left behind. Feel the way our steps move with the wildwood, the way it was always meant to be.
I’m so lost in sensations that when the wolves in her pack begin to speak, I misstep and almost trip over a large root. Weldon catches me by the wrist as my eyes try to connect with my brain, telling me the images they’re showing is not what’s really in front of me.
A brick building. A vamp posted up against it, watching a couple of teenage girls sitting outside of a restaurant drinking milkshakes. Anger. Resentment. Fear for the girls. This all comes through as if it were my own emotions. As if it was seen by my own eyes.
“They found a target,” Evangeline says to us, pulling me back to the forest we’re running through.
“Wait… so you hunt what we hunt then?” Weldon asks.
“She already explained this, noodle head,” Jezi cuts in.
Jaxen chuckles.
“What else is there to hunt?” Evangeline prompts.
“I don’t know. I guess I pictured you chasing down bears or something,” he says, laughter on the edges of his words.
“That’s for meals. We hunt the paranormal to pass the time, but only when a Watchmen needs help or isn’t anywhere around. Eyes and senses can only reach so far for Watchmen. But we can smell it for miles. It’s in our blood. Fear. Pain. It’s unmistakable, and it drives us forward. We’ve learned to channel that hunger into destroying those who impose those emotions,” she says. She’s exactly ten strides ahead of me, and I can’t help but focus on the way her muscles flex so lithely with every movement. Her footsteps are almost soundless. She looks like a predator.
“So is that what we’re doing today?” Jaxen asks. “I thought we were going to train.”
Light and warmth spread around us, growing thicker and thicker with every inch we cover. We’re nearing the edge of the forest, closing in on a small town. The town where the paranormal lurks.
Evangeline stops just at the edge, moving between the rest of her pack who are standing guard, waiting for their next command. Ava, the dark half-wolf, turns when we approach. Sends the image of the vamp she saw to Evangeline. Evangeline turns to us. Looks at us pointedly.
“You don’t have to continue on with us, but I’m encouraging it. This is who we are. This is what we do, and if you can see it… if you can understand that we are good and dedicated, then maybe you can sway the rest of the group. I know in order for your mission to succeed, you’re going to need mo
re manpower. The only way we can sway the Watchmen away from the life they’ve known… the life they’ve dedicated themselves entirely to, is to show them the truth. And what’s truer than all of us working together to bring down the real threat? We are the broken. The self-repaired. Let’s show them what the Coven doesn’t want them to see. Are you with me?”
I look to Weldon, Jaxen, and Jezi, who are looking at me and, in their gaze, I know that we’re all on the same page. All in sync with our decision. Together, we turn and face Evangeline. And together, we say, “Let’s do this.”
I FEEL LIKE I’VE BLINKED and two weeks have passed us by.
Day after day is spent out back as we throw ourselves into the most important training I think any of us will ever go through in our expendable lifetime. Night after night is spent piled up around a bonfire, talking strategy, news, and the current information Mack learned from the microchip. It’s like time has become this speeding train we’re on, and everything is whizzing by us in an uncontrollable blur.
Our strength builds as our muscles are pushed to their limit, and our skills are tested by the wits of Sterling and the graces of Evangeline. Confidence spreads as it soaks in that we’re on the cusps of something great. Something we might actually succeed at. Something we’ve all needed for a very long time.
A sense of belonging.
Seamus left after the first week of training, following a trail of information that could give us the answers on how to destroy the Exanimator. Gavin and a few others offered to go with him, but the council agreed this was something Seamus needed to do alone. We need to preserve the fighters we have, and Seamus vouched that he’d be quicker and safer alone.
I just hope he pulls through.
Jonathon has been consistently busy with the carriers coming in and out of the manor hour after hour. Between Weldon, Mack, and a couple of the Witches, they were able to fashion more carriers than any of us could count. Watching the small, mechanical birds flutter in and out through every window in the house is a sight to behold. The sound of the metal clinking and clunking is the music we’ve accustomed ourselves to. A sound we now look for throughout the day, because it means Jonathon’s reach is growing. A nation of Watchmen are offering their allegiance to us, waiting in the shadows for when our plan comes together.
When we strike, Clara won’t see it coming.
Mack spends his days with the microchip, recording as much information from it as he can. As of last night’s meeting, he says they’ve finally finished with it, and are now compiling the evidence they’ll use against Clara when we broadcast to our Coven just who Clara really is. Each council member has held true to their jobs, ensuring this Rebellion will succeed, which has left the rest of us with nothing to do but train.
Through working with Evangeline and Ava, I’ve learned that wolves move on pure instinct. They sense others’ emotions, which gives them a slight advantage in guessing how their opponent will attack. I’ve also learned that the members Jonathon and Mack have recruited are a lot stronger than I had initially thought. They have raw instincts, bred from years and years of abandonment and free thinking.
It seems, once you let go of the preconceived notions embedded into you at birth, the possibilities for a future become endless.
Evangeline takes her time each day to work with every member of the Rebellion individually, teaching them about opening up their senses, and showing them how to predict an opponent’s moves by watching the telltale ticks their body movements make.
Sterling, on the other hand, has worked with the wolves, though not as a teacher, but as a pupil. The day after our training began, Toby, Bianca’s Hunter, was accidentally knocked in the mouth by Garret’s wooden flux when we were exercising new moves taught to us by Lukah. Sterling was standing watch and, the moment he smelled blood, he had Toby pinned to the ground, fangs bared. Toby wasn’t bit since there were enough of us around to get Sterling off, but after that day, Sterling stayed away.
Weldon explained to everyone about Sterling refusing to eat fresh blood, which inevitably pushed his urges onto a level not even Weldon would have been able to ignore. Thankfully, Lukah and Arianna backed up Weldon’s explanation by sharing stories of their first time having to hunt, and how it took them reaching that edge of hunger to be able to accept that feeding was a necessity and, when done right, didn’t have to be so scary. It was enough to calm the Rebellion members down and keep them from pitchforking against the wolves and Sterling.
Since then, Sterling has remained with Ava and Damien, allowing them to teach him how to control his urges and how to hunt and feed on food that will satisfy his need for human blood.
I couldn’t be more grateful that they’re here for him.
Now, I’m lying here on the grass with Katie on one side and Jaxen on the other, staring up at the clouds as we wait for the morning to begin. I’ve scoured through every moment of every day within the past two weeks, looking for some sort of sign that I missed. Something that would tell me this is definitely too good to be true, and not to get too comfortable, but I can’t find anything. Things really are looking up.
And that scares me more than any monster could.
Everyone is beginning to return from their morning jogs through the woods with the wolves, each taking a seat on the grass near the three of us. Jezi’s over by the shed with Cassie and Joanna, gossiping about men, I’m sure.
I roll to face Jaxen when someone taps my foot.
“Stop being lazy,” Weldon says, standing above me. I use my forearm as a shield from the sun that’s beating behind him.
“Good morning to you too,” I say as Katie and I sit up. “I didn’t see you on the run this morning.”
“You know running isn’t my thing. Me and sweat don’t mix well,” Weldon says.
I roll my eyes.
“What’s up, man?” Jaxen says, sitting up.
Weldon smiles, and it’s the kind that spells trouble.
“Uh-oh. I know that look,” Jaxen says, already shaking his head. “Whatever it is, absolutely not.”
“Oh, come on!” Weldon says like a pouty child. “I have a great idea!”
“What is it?” Katie asks.
He looks down at her. “Thank you, Coccia. I’m glad someone here has a sense of adventure.”
“Spit it out, Weldon,” I say, smiling despite my effort not to.
A couple of the others are already standing around us, probably waiting for someone to dish out orders for how we’ll train today.
“Grab those sticks,” Weldon says, pointing to the wooden stakes stacked near the shed.
Lukah, Chett, and Toby jog over to the shed, grab them, and drop them at Weldon’s feet.
“Here we go,” Jaxen says with a sigh, offering a hand to Katie and me to help us up.
Weldon pulls out a wad of neon-yellow yarn from his sweatpants pocket, dishing out orders to build a closed-in box using the stakes as the markers. Once the guys have stuck every stake in the ground, Weldon wraps the yarn around each one, walking around the entire square, and then stands back with an accomplished smile.
“What is it?” Joanna asks, scratching her head as she, Jezi, and Cassie stop near us.
“A ring,” Weldon says as if we should have guessed.
“A ring?” Garret repeats.
“Yes. A boxing ring,” Weldon says, his face furrowing. “I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of training. I want to have some fun, and what better way to do that than to let everyone beat it out, caveman style.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Jezi says from beside him, arms crossed.
He looks over at her. “Is this the face of someone who kids?”
She shakes her head and looks over at Joanna, who’s laughing with her. They’ve become pretty close, both having a stern personality in common.
“So,” Weldon says, clapping his hands together. “Who wants to go first?”
“I’m down,” Lukah says, already hopping over the string. It seems
he isn’t afraid of anything. A natural adrenaline junkie.
“All right!” Weldon says, looking partly relieved and mostly excited. He eyes the gathering crowd. “And who wants to match up with him?”
Chett raises his hand.
Katie freezes next to me, eyes widening. I loop my arm around hers, offering strength, and smile warmly at her when she looks over. Catcalls and cackles resonate around the ring as general excitement picks up. Skilled fighting is what we live for. This was a match in the making, and I must admit, even I’m kind of excited to see what happens.
Harper makes her way over to Katie with Chrissa right behind her. They exchange worried glances as Jaxen waves Chrissa over and throws his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close. She only reaches up to his shoulders, her hair clipped back in its usual untamed mess.
Weldon hops over the string. Stands in the middle of the ring, cupping his hands around his mouth for added pitch. “Okay, boys, this needs to be a clean fight.” He turns to Lukah, wiggling his eyebrows. “No shifting.” He reverses to Chett. “And no volation.”
Mixed opinions buzz around the ring.
“Oh, come on,” Chrissa calls out with a wide smile on her face, fitting right in with the rest of the guys. “Where’s the fun in that?”
Gavin and Jaxen let out a chuckle as Weldon spins around and looks at her. They share a silly grin that makes my heart melt. Makes me feel like I might burst from the inside out. I haven’t felt this much joy since my parents were around, and I can’t help but wish that I could bottle it up and keep it with all my favorite things. Safe and protected. Away from any evil that would dare try and take it away from me.
“You heard the little wolf,” Weldon says, extending a hand toward her as he turns in a circle, working everyone up. I can almost see his head growing bigger and bigger with every cheer. “What do you think, boys? Are you up for it?”
Whistles and hollers kick up from every corner of the ring as we all cheer in agreement with Chrissa, who’s now beaming from ear to ear.
“I’m not afraid,” Chett says, staring openly at Lukah. He takes his white T-shirt off and throws it on the ground. Flexes hard in a playful manner.
Everlost (The Night Watchmen Series Book 3) Page 26