Birthrite (Legacy Series Book 2)

by Max Ellendale

  It was another blisteringly hot day and I was overdressed. Xany felt I was overdressed, too. "How can you stand walking around in all those clothes in heat like this?" She fanned herself.

  "How can you stand to wear shorts that ride up your butt all year round?" I shot back.

  "I'm used to it," she said merrily and pranced a few paces ahead of me.

  I shook my head at her. "You remind me of Vanessa in a way. I imagine she'd be naked all the time if it were socially acceptable."

  "I know. She wears nothing under that green dress of hers. I bet you love it though."

  I shoved her gently, which made her laugh. "Sometimes I think your goal in life is to make me feel uncomfortable," I said as we arrived at the big rock by the lake.

  Xany took out the towels and blanket from the bag and spread them on the ground. I sat down on the blanket and leaned against the rock to look out over the lake.

  "Of course it is! It helps build character," she said with a giggle. "I brought you a swimsuit." She stripped down to nothing and bounced off toward the lake.

  I watched her with a smirk as she submerged herself in the water and tipped her head back to wet her hair. Part of me wanted to join her, but part of me was very content to sit and enjoy the quiet day. I couldn't sense Mal or Caden, which meant that they were probably a significant distance away from us. I reached into the bag to pull out a bottle of water and as I yanked it out, something tumbled from the bag and landed with a thud on my shin. I winced and cursed under my breath. When I picked it up, I recognized the leather bindings immediately. It was the dagger that Kurt had given me. I frowned in Xany's direction. I didn't want her to touch this dagger. I didn't want anyone touching it. It nearly killed... I could hardly bring myself to finish the sentence. I couldn't imagine my life without Vanessa, and I hated the reminder of how close I came to experiencing just that.

  I sighed and carefully opened the leather bindings to find that Caden had placed the dagger in a thin sheath that had two bands. I turned it over and it finally struck me as to what the bands were for. I glared at Xany in the water. I didn't want her to have this dagger. What if the same thing happened to her and I had to pull it out of her abdomen? I frowned at the thought. It's bad enough that both Vanessa and Caden got injured by pointy objects. I didn't want Xany to be the next victim. I looked down at the shiny blade and remembered what it looked like covered in Vanessa's blood. No more hurt. Instead of putting the dagger back, I put a fat twig inside the leather and wrapped it up then snuck it back into Xany's bag. I took off my boot and slid the bands around my ankle and calf. Caden had put the dagger into an ankle holster. I put my shoe back on as quickly as possible and tugged my pant leg down to conceal it. There. No more dagger for Xany. She shouldn't be touching it anyway. At least if I had it, no one else could get their hands on it until Caden got back. At ease with my decision, I leaned back against the rock and watched Xany float on her back in the water.

  As the hour passed, I watched Xany entertain herself in the lake. At times, I would sense Mal or Caden as they moved through the area in search of whatever lead they uncovered. Their essences moved through me like feathers on a breeze. I wondered how the recital was going and when Vanessa would be back.

  Thoughts of the little leather doll that was laying on my bed rolled through my mind and I wondered where the doll of my childhood ended up. I'd check my trunk when we got back. It's funny how being outside in the quiet natural environment of Utah helped my thoughts order themselves. The powwow that Hank planned for the end of the summer crossed my mind and the cold winter that would inevitably come after it. It's amazing to me, the way time passed without my noticing. My gift for healing seemed to have evolved, and I wondered what it would be like to work again and how it would affect my ability. After Caden's crossbow injury, I touched his arm and my gift seemed to activate itself. I didn't even think about using it. Despite the fact that I was grateful for the effortless heal, I knew it would be very bad if that happened at the hospital, especially if it happened in front of humans or undesirables. That would be a messy cover up.

  My thoughts were interrupted when water dripped on my knee. Xany emerged from the lake and was standing beside me, drying off.

  "Whatcha thinking about, Nee?” she asked as she stood there, silhouetted in the sunlight. I shielded my eyes to look up at her.

  "Just a little of everything."

  In the distance, several huge birds circled around. I sat up to get a better look. Xany glanced over her shoulder. "What is it?" she asked.

  "Check out those birds." I pointed to the sky.

  Across the lake, just where the tree line met the steps of the mountain, fat buzzards circled and made their way downward.

  "They're just buzzards." Xany turned to watch.

  "Yeah, but a lot of them, there must be something very big and very dead in that area," I said.

  "Let's go check it out. It can't be that far away." Xany tugged on her clothes.

  "It's farther than it looks. Those birds are pretty huge up close." I pushed myself up to standing and shielded my eyes from the sun.

  "Aw c'mon, Nee. The guys get their adventure, why can't we? It's probably just a dead elk or something," she said and slipped on her flip-flops.

  "The last time we had an adventure we were running from a leech that nearly had you for dinner. And then after that, we were nearly eaten by unruly cubs having their Firsting, then after that we were pulling daggers from the stomachs of loved ones." I recounted just a few of the experiences Xany and I had shared. All of which, of course, made her giggle.

  "C'mon, Nee, don't be silly. We can still see the cabin from here and Mal and Caden keep circling around the territory with at least two other wolves. They'll know we're there," she urged.

  "What would Caden say?"

  "Caden would say 'whatever you want to do, precious.'" She dropped her voice an octave or two.

  "He would not say that, Xany." I frowned, which made her giggle even more radiant.

  "Fine then, I'm going to see the big birds and the dead stuff by myself," she said and picked up her bag before stomping away from me. I watched her walk off for a moment then hurried after. I walked behind her quietly, sour at myself for giving in.

  "Oh!" she said. "You changed your mind!" She covered her mouth and raised her brows in mock surprise. I gave her arm a shove.

  "I'm probably going to regret letting you bully me."

  "I didn't bully you, NeeNee. I merely manipulated you." She grinned as I fell in step with her.

  "Like that's any better!" I said, but couldn't help myself from laughing as we walked around the wide end of the lake.

  Even though I couldn't sense Mal or Caden when we left the rock, if it were possible, I sensed them even less as we moved toward the mountains. Xany hummed while she skipped along and swung the backpack around. I watched her, mildly entertained by her juvenile demeanor. Despite the fact that Xany was in her mid-twenties, she had a carefree way about her that emanated in almost everything she did, with a passion to match.

  "Mal and Caden are in the other direction," I said.

  "What, do you have radar?" she asked.

  "No, but I can tell. I could feel them before but not now." I clenched my teeth out of frustration. She was the Alpha-Breeder and should have a better sense of the position of her pack.

  "Me too, but they'll still hear us if we call." She shrugged.

  "Have you ever called Caden's wolf?" I asked.

  Calling the wolf was something only mates could do. It was sort of a summons that forced the wolf to respond if their Breeder counterpart was in danger. I knew early on that I was able to call Mal's wolf, which took everyone by surprise.

  "I haven't really tried. He's usually not far enough from me where I need to. I've felt you call to me though, but it's not the same as calling a wolf," she said.

  "What's it like when you can sense me?" I asked. Xany was an empath and for some reason she was particularly attuned t
o me.

  "Like all of a sudden out of nowhere, I'll feel scared or anxious, or like the world is going to end. It usually hits me in the chest and I get a sick stomach. That's how I can tell it's you," she said and glanced over at me.

  "I'm sorry I make you sick. What's it like when you sense other people?"

  "It's like..." She trailed off to think. "Something in the back of my mind, or like a tug at my chest or at my heart, like I should follow them or move closer. If I get close enough, the tugging feels like whatever emotion they're having. I can tell it's not my feeling. I'm not sure how that part works," she said.

  "Why is mine so much stronger?" I asked. I didn't like that my intense emotions made her feel sick.

  "Maybe because yours have been bottled up so long or because they're so intense that sometimes they take you over, in a way, they can take me over, too," she said and hopped merrily over a fallen log that I nearly tripped over.

  "You need to be careful with your gift, Xany. If my emotions can overcome you, I'm sure there are others who can too."

  "I know. But living with you is good practice." She giggled.

  I smiled as a surge of affection for her took me by surprise. Half the time I spent annoyed with her; the other half I spent completely amused by, comforted by, or happy with her.

  After a good twenty-minute walk, we found ourselves deep within the thickness of the woods on the other side of the lake. We couldn't see the buzzards so we kept on toward the side of the mountain. Eventually, the trees thinned and we were able to see the birds above us.

  "There must be a clearing somewhere west," I said and noted that the birds were not flying as close to the mountains as I had thought. Xany shrugged at me and followed my guidance.

  "Do you know how to get back to the cabin?" she asked.

  "Of course...." I paused. "Don't you?"

  "No, I get distracted easily." She snickered.

  "Xany! You know you shouldn't be wandering out this far if you don't know where you're going."

  "So what! You know where you're going, that's good enough."

  "What if I fell and got hurt and you needed to go for help? Then what would you do?" I frowned as we turned back to the woods in the direction of the birds.

  "I would scream for help until Caden heard me. I've got good lungs, just ask Mal."

  "I bet you do."

  Sometimes I think Xany's humor is all part of her package and that she knows more than she lets on, just like me. "Up there, look." She pointed to a break in the trees ahead of us. I nodded and we hurried in that direction. The clearing was small, and there was some sort of grassy mass in the center of it. Xany attempted to rush toward it but I grabbed her and pointed up at the birds.

  "Go slow," I said, just as a buzzard landed a few yards to the right of us. Xany gasped at the size of it.

  "Holy shit that's a big bird." She cringed as it waddled toward the mass and plucked something off it.

  "Told you. Walk slowly," I said and held her hand so that she walked in line with me. The buzzards made noises and stepped away from us as we moved in to take a look at whatever they were calling dinner.

  "It stinks." Xany scrunched up her nose.

  "Dead things usually stink." As we got closer, I recognized the blue and white fabric that covered the mass. I jerked Xany to a halt.

  "What?"

  "We have to go back and get Caden. This is a corpse." I took a deep breath and held Xany in place in effort to save her from the view. She tugged at me a bit.

  "Of course it's a corpse," she said and looked at me oddly.

  "No, Xee, I mean a human corpse."

  "What? How can you tell?" Xany's eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

  "She's wearing scrubs..."

  She turned back toward the body with her mouth hanging open and tugged me to move closer.

  "We need to call Caden, Xee. There was a nurse that disappeared," I said as I stepped closer with her. The overwhelming odor of decay wafted toward us on a breeze and Xany gagged.

  "Breathe through your mouth only," I instructed.

  It was clear that I was not going to be able to stop Xany from moving closer to it. My curiosity and instinct got the better of me and I moved with her. As we stopped by the mass of scavenged flesh, my assumption was confirmed. I could tell it was the body of the missing nurse. Xany pinched her nose when the smell became too overpowering. I moved closer and shooed one of the buzzards away.

  "Oh God, Nee, she's all swollen up and discolored." Xany's voice was nasally due to her pinched nose.

  "She hasn't been dead long, maybe about a week," I said and fought the urge to pick up a stick to further examine the corpse. Xany looked at me with a horrified expression when I crouched beside the body. I stood up and moved back beside her.

  "We can't disturb it, the cops need to see this," I said.

  "A week? How come the guys didn't find it?" she asked and took a few steps back. Her eyes looked glassy. I thought about what Vanessa had said about the magics.

  "I think what Vanessa was saying is true, about the magics being involved. I bet you the magic wore off, which was why the buzzards were able to find it, and since Mal and Caden are in the opposite direction, they wouldn't have encountered it," I said and leaned down again, unable to resist getting a closer look.

  Through the torn clothes, viscera and fluids oozed through an X-shaped wound across her abdomen. I frowned and examined other exposed areas of remaining flesh.

  "How did she die?" Xany asked. I stood and walked around the body, careful not to disturb the area around it.

  "She's missing an arm, and her throat has been slashed." Something suddenly struck my memory and I stood up quickly. "We need to get out of here right now." I rushed over to Xany and grabbed her arm.

  "We can't just leave her here alone, Nee." Xany let go of her nose as we moved farther away.

  "No, Xee, you don't understand. I think I was right about Those Who Collect."

  "What do you mean? How can you tell?"

  "The carving on her stomach, the X means she was infertile," I said as my heart began to race. "We need to go now."

  Xany took my hand and we began to run back toward the cabin. After only a few paces, she jerked me to a halt.

  "Someone is here," she whispered.

  "Where?" I mouthed and scanned the area around us to no avail.

  "I don't know. I can feel it. I can feel anger."

  "Run, we need to run," I said, and tugged her to run with me.

  Xany had a hard time keeping up as I leapt over the log I nearly tripped over before. I turned back to look at her and at the same time, I slammed head-on into what felt like a brick wall. I flew back and landed on my ass with a thud. Xany squealed as she experienced the same effect and flopped to the ground beside me. We scrambled to our feet and looked around to see what had stopped us. Xany caught my gaze. "Anger, on top of us," she said breathlessly, but her whispers were interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

  "There's no sense in running," said a female voice from nowhere.

  Xany and I stood back to back. I sucked in my breath and called for Mal, I even tried calling for Caden. I couldn't sense them. I couldn't even sense Xany and I could feel her back pressed against mine, and then suddenly, out of nowhere, a woman stepped from the woods. I recognized her immediately as the gypsy wolf named Eva who had been traveling through the area a few weeks ago.

  "You," I said. Xany spun around to face Eva.

  "Yes, me." She closed her eyes and lifted her chin to the sky. A moment later, a reddish wolf appeared at her side. She had called for her mate, Sander. He transformed immediately into his human form and stood beside Eva.

  "These two? Great, this won't be any trouble." He rolled his eyes at Eva.

  "It's not my fault! My magic can't keep up with your ridiculous demands, you idiot," she shot back.

  "Excuse me!" Xany interrupted the bickering couple. Both Sander and Eva looked to her. "Just what the hell do you two thin
k you're doing here? You were supposed to move on," Xany said. "Now get off my land."

  Eva laughed. "Oh honey, we can't do that now. You've found us out, it's not going to be that simple," she said.

  "You're the hoarders," I accused and narrowed my eyes at them.

  "Oh sigh, you've discovered us," Eva said in mock defeat then growled. "Now shut up and move." She turned and led us toward the mountains. Sander snarled and walked up behind Xany and me, thrusting us forward to follow Eva. Xany jerked away from him.

  "Don't touch me, asshole." She took a swing at Sander, who ducked and laughed. I took a deep breath and continued to try and draw Mal or Caden toward us.

  Eva led us up the southern rocky trail of the mountain. We must have hiked for nearly an hour before she stopped beside a huge boulder. It must've settled after a slide down the mountain. Stepping aside, she nodded to Sander, who shifted immediately to his beast form and lifted the rock above his head like it weighed nothing more than a pebble. Eva grabbed both of us by the hair and shoved us into the mouth of the cave. Xany shouted as we tumbled down what felt like a rocky slide until we landed at the bottom in a heap. My elbow clipped something sharp and a shriek escaped my lips. I looked back up the slide and heard the distinct crash of the rock being dropped down to cover the entrance again. In the cave lit by oil lanterns lining the dirt pathway, I looked to Xany. She brushed off her legs and stood up.

  "I am never listening to you again." I sighed deeply as I gazed into the abyss.

  Chapter Eighteen

  "This is so not my fault! You can't blame me for this!" Xany shouted, her voice echoing off the cave walls.

  "Caden is going to kill us. That is if we don't die in here first." I leaned against the wall, rubbing my battered elbow, and then slid down to put my head on my knees.

  "I tried to call him to us," she said, and took position beside me.

  "I tried to call them both; clearly it didn't work." I shook my head and tried to get my brain to think of an escape plan.

  "How did they put up an invisible wall like that?" Xany rubbed her head. I could tell she felt bad about our current situation for which, of course, she was partially at fault. I could have resisted, so in a way, I was equally responsible.