by Aileen Erin
His blue eyes widened. “Shit.”
“I know.”
He rested his hands on his head as he said some choice expletives. I tried to keep my emotions in control as he let his go. Meredith had been his friend for way longer than I had. I’d already had my freak out time, so I let him have his.
He paced in a circle a few times before stopping in front of me. “What do we do?”
“We ask my cousins for help. If they can’t break the curse and I can’t convince whoever cast it to break it, then I’m not sure what’ll be next, but we’ll cross that bridge later. Or hopefully not at all.” I crossed my fingers. “You wouldn’t happen to know where the coven is, would you?”
“No.”
Shit.
“No one except Mr. Dawson—and maybe Dastien—knows were they live. Did you ask Dastien?”
I cringed. “That’s a no go.”
“I can get us in the general area, but it won’t be exactly where they live.”
I grabbed my car keys out of my purse. That I could work with. “Get us close, and I’ll use my visions to find the rest of the way there.”
Chris swallowed. “Can I see her before we go?”
I wanted to say yes, but we didn’t have time and I didn’t want us to get caught. “She’s in the infirmary, but she’s knocked out. She’ll be there when we get back.”
“Okay. Let’s go,” he said.
My fast walk quickly turned into a jog.
God, I hoped we had enough time.
Chapter Four
Chris directed me down the most pothole-ridden road I’d ever seen. My Tiguan SUV bottomed-out and I cringed. This puppy was only weeks old, but I had to push her hard, driving as fast as I could.
We came around a bend, and I slowed as an unmarked fork appeared ahead. “Which way?”
“I don’t know,” Chris said. “Maybe right? Probably right.”
“Maybe or probably?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been this close. Wolves aren’t usually allowed on their land, but I’m pretty sure it’s up here somewhere.”
I pulled over, and tapped my fingers on the steering wheel. “No worries. I’ll figure this out.” I undid my seatbelt and hopped down from the car.
“Where are you going?” Chris asked, leaning halfway out his door.
“Just wait.” I closed my eyes and let down my mental barriers. Visions used to bombard me all the time, but now I had to lower the imaginary wall around my mind to see anything. I pressed my hands against the dirt road, hoping for something, but all I got were flashes of cars driving by. I walked a little farther down. A rabbit met its maker here. Not helpful. I touched the trees and a bush, and got a whole bunch of nothing useful.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. I’d spent my whole life wishing for the visions to go away, but now, when I actually needed one, they were failing me.
I went down one of the forks in the road, bending to touch the ground, searching for any sign that I was headed in the right direction.
After a bit, I turned around and started down the other fork.
“You see anything?” Chris asked from beside the car.
“Nothing useful, but I’m not giving up yet.” Touching the trees showed me the days passing. Sunlight. Rain. Animals climbing up their bark.
I saw visions of cars going both directions, but there was no way to tell which fork was the way to La Aquelarre.
“Screw it.” I yelled back at Chris. “Let’s pick one. There’s a fifty-fifty chance we’ll get lucky. And if we don’t, then we turn around and try the other way.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Chris said.
On my walk back to the car I spotted a clue. It was barely visible, but the speck of white hit the sun just enough to catch my eye.
I stepped to the other side of the street, and kicked away the dirt.
A Whataburger cup. I tried not to get my hopes up as I wiped my hands on my jeans. I said a prayer and grabbed it.
“Don’t mess with that shit, dude,” said a guy with spiky blond hair and a thick Texas accent. He swirled the straw in his milkshake before taking a big drink. “You don’t want to fuck with the wolves. You’re gonna get us all in trouble.”
Music played in the car. I recognized the distinctive style of Calle 13’s reggaeton. Fast food wrappers were piled on the floorboard of the backseat.
“We used to hang out with them.” The guy driving had black hair and dark brown eyes. “Dastien was always cool to me. Intruding during their proceedings is messed up. My mom’s gonna get us into trouble.”
Holy shit. They were talking about Dastien and the Tribunal. It was good to know not all of them were against us.
“All I’m saying is that your mother has an extreme hatred for wolves. Going against her is a huge risk, especially now that Teresa’s turned and we have no back-up leader.”
They took the fork on the right.
The guy with the shake swirled the cup around before taking a long slurp.
The other guy snorted. “Mom’s lost her mind. I don’t trust whatever she’s seeing in those visions of hers. I think she started this whole thing to begin with.” His fingers tapped the steering wheel to the beat of the music. “They’ve been nothing but nice to us. Yeah, what happened to Teresa sucked, but it can’t be undone. Going to war isn’t going to solve anything. What we need is a replacement. It’s dumb as all hell not to have a back-up…”
Ugh. I hated being called Teresa. But I agreed with the guy. Why didn’t they have a back-up? I didn’t like feeling responsible for them being left without a leader. For the first time, I felt bad about having been bitten for a reason that wasn’t focused on my problems.
The blond guy took another sip of his shake. The loud slurping signaled that he’d finished. “Just be careful with that shit. She might be your mother, but she’s not right in the head. We don’t have anyone who can stand against her. Not anymore.” He threw the cup out of the window.
Even her own son thought she was dangerous. This was definitely not a good sign.
“Get in the car,” I said as I ran back. “You were right about the fork.”
He laughed. “See, babe. You should never question my genius.”
I snorted. “Some ego you got there, Mr. Matthews.”
As soon as we were buckled in, I floored it down the road. We took a sharp corner too quickly and I had to swerve so I didn’t run off the road. “Crap. Sorry.”
Chris had his hand on the ‘oh shit’ bar. “Maybe you should slow it down, Speedy Gonzales?”
“I should but we’re in a hurry.” A metal farm gate blocked the road, and I slammed the brakes. “Can you get that for me?”
“I have a bad feeling about this. You sure we’re in the right place?”
“As sure as I can be when I have no idea where the hell I’m going. There haven’t been any more forks and we’re out of road. Unless the guys from my vision were heading somewhere else, this should be it.”
Chris grunted and hopped down from the car. The gate squeaked as he opened it. It seemed silly for it to be there and not have a lock. Who was it really keeping out?
I eased through the gate. The tires rattled over the spaced out metal rails of the cattle guard that lined the entrance. Goosebumps rose along my skin as an icky sensation slipped off me. It was as if bad juju was warning me away from going through it.
When Chris got back in the car, his eyes were glowing blue—a sign that his wolf was close to the surface—but he didn’t say a word.
Something felt off. It was too quiet in my head. I took inventory, trying to figure out what was wrong.
Oh my God. I couldn’t feel Dastien anymore.
“Can you feel the pack?” I asked Chris.
“No. My pack bond dulled when we got on their land. It’s making me edgy.”
“Weird.”
“Very.”
I brushed it off, and focused on what we were there to do. We needed to get in, find my cousin
s, and leave before we could get into any trouble.
No big deal.
My Tiguan rounded another corner and the road smoothed out. The dense treeline thinned to reveal little two-story cottages lining the dirt road. Cars and SUVs were parked haphazardly on the roadside. If the cars hadn’t been there, it would’ve looked like an Old West town.
“It’s kind of creepy that they have a mini-suburb out here, right?” I asked.
“Supernaturals like to stick together. It makes life easier when you don’t have to constantly pretend to be normal.”
That made sense. I was terrible at the whole pretending stuff with the visions. Being a pariah among norms was all too familiar.
“I’m not gonna lie, my wolf isn’t liking it. I’m getting itchy.” Chris’ eyes were still glowing. That didn’t bode well for us either.
I handed him a pair of sunglasses that Dastien had stashed in my car. “Dude. If you can’t calm it down, how am I going to stay in control?”
“I don’t know.” He slid them on. “I think we should turn around.”
Yeah, that wasn’t an option. I stopped the car in the middle of the road. “You can wait for me outside the gate if you want.”
“No. I can’t. Dastien would kill me if I left you alone to face the witches. I’m surprised he let you come at all.”
I bit my lip. “Well…”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Chris slammed his hand on the dash. “He didn’t let you come?”
I resented that. “No one bosses me around. We’re here to help Meredith. And I shouldn’t need his permission anyhow.”
Someone knocked on my window and I jumped.
Smooth move, Tessa. I should’ve been paying better attention.
The guy from my vision—Luciana’s son—motioned for me to roll down my window. “And you are?” He asked.
“I’m here to see Claudia and Raphael,” I said. “I’m their cousin.”
“Teresa?” He wasn’t giving anything away with his stoic face.
When I nodded, he stepped back. “Park there.” He pointed to the side of the road.
I did so quickly, then grabbed my bag and hopped down.
The guy was waiting for me in the center of the road. “I’m Daniel,” he said. His face was too empty—a perfect emotionless mask. I’d gotten used to everyone towering over my five feet and change, but Daniel was only a few inches taller than me. Even if he was a bit on the short side, he stood the way someone does when they have a lot of power. Tall, shoulders back, head held high. He looked me in the eye, and I had to fight the urge to enter into a staring contest.
My wolf started to rise. She didn’t want anyone challenging her. The itch to change and lash out at him rose in me. I fought it down, but pain ran through my limbs.
I couldn’t let this happen.
Chris growled as he stepped in front of me, cutting off Daniel’s line of sight.
Daniel grinned as he peered around Chris. His mask slid away, making him seem a little more approachable. “It’s good to finally meet you, although I wish it’d been before…”
Right. Before I’d been bitten.
He held out his hand, and I hesitated. If I was being honest with myself, I wanted to see something from him. Especially after my earlier vision. But it was an invasion of privacy.
My mental debate didn’t last long. Turned out, I wanted information more than I cared about Daniel’s privacy.
I took his hand, letting myself open to my bruja side. It took a fraction of a second for me to relax just a little more, and—
“The wolves have taken her for their own,” said a woman. She was about my mother’s age and wore a skirt that skimmed the floor. Her frizzy brown hair was braided and pinned on top of her head in a halo. “You have to bring her back.”
Great. She was talking about me.
“And how am I supposed to do that, Mom?” Daniel asked. “What’s done is done.”
“No. We can get rid of her wolf.”
Daniel was pissed. And sad. I’d made him sad when I turned. That wasn’t something I ever expected.
“You do that and the wolves will come for us. You’re starting—”
“They started it by taking our next leader. She’s a strong bruja. And now she’s one of them—”
Daniel pulled away, and I was back in the present.
This confirmed what Dastien and my mother said, but I wasn’t sure that I could fix the coven. Or if I even wanted to. It wasn’t like I could be a pack alpha and rule a coven, too. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted either.
I cleared my throat, trying to buy myself time to shake the vision. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Daniel said. “What did you see?”
“Nothing much.” I lied.
“It’s been a while, Chris,” Daniel said, acknowledging Chris for the first time.
“Three years.” Chris had a natural dry rasp in his voice, but his tone of voice was a little rougher than usual. He wouldn’t be able to take those glasses off anytime soon.
Daniel stared him in the eyes. It didn’t matter that there was a pair of sunglasses blocking the gaze from Chris. From the way Chris was standing, completely rigid, every muscle tense, I knew we were seconds away from a code red.
Daniel started to smell like campfire with a hint of sulfur. I’d come to recognize the scent as extreme anger. I took that as my cue to intervene. “My cousin’s house would be?”
“Fourth on the right.” He motioned with a nod.
I started down the road, dragging Chris beside me.
“Teresa,” Daniel said.
I ground my teeth. I loathed it when people called me that. Not even my parents used my full name, except when they were extremely pissed. “Yeah?” I glanced at him.
“It would be good if you came back sometime.”
If I hadn’t seen those visions, I wouldn’t have noticed the plea behind his words. My wolf settled down. He wasn’t a threat. Not right now. But coming back? That wasn’t happening. It was enough of a risk to come when Meredith was so sick. I wasn’t about to pop over for social calls. “Probably not a good idea. I’m not totally under control.”
“We can help with that.”
Chris growled.
Yeah, that had worked out real well for Meredith… The bad thing was that if he’d asked me when I first woke up as a werewolf, I might have taken him up on it. But not anymore. “Not interested. Thanks for the offer, though.”
His shoulders slumped for a fraction of a second before he stood tall again and nodded. “The door is open if you ever change your mind.”
“Sure. Thanks.” But I was never going to take him up on it in this lifetime.
“They want you back?” Chris asked so softly, I could barely hear the words.
“They’re all mad that I’m a wolf,” I said back, my voice equally soft. “They want me here so badly that they’re planning on speaking against Dastien at the Tribunal.”
“Shit.”
“Yep.” Even if I was supposed to be their leader, I couldn’t imagine why they’d be so desperate to have me join. There had to be someone else in my generation with the gift of sight that could take it over. If I could find someone, then maybe they’d drop this whole vendetta against the pack.
Unless there was a bigger agenda. I thought back to the vision and the mention of a war.
Christ. There was no way I had time to worry about that right then. I shoved it to the back of my mind for another day.
In the short time it took to get to the fourth house, people of all ages—some in hippy gear, some in normal clothes—started to congregate on porches. Daniel stood in the middle of the road talking to a few others. They were all eyeballing us. Most stared at Chris like he was the enemy. Some looked at me like I was, too. Most seemed simply curious. Their eyes lingered on me a little longer.
Good thing I was used to being stared at. You didn’t get through seventeen years of visions by letting weird look
s bother you.
I shoved everything out of my mind except finding answers about Meredith. I was here for a purpose, and losing sight of that wouldn’t be good for anyone.
The wooden stairs to my cousins’ doorstep creaked as I walked up.
“Let’s get in and out,” Chris said.
“My thoughts exactly.” I knocked once and before I could knock a second time, Claudia answered.
Her thick, pin-straight, black hair was split into two braids. She wore a pair of jean cut-offs and a T-shirt. “Prima. What’re you doing here?” Her eyes were wide.
“I need your help.”
She looked beyond Chris and me, taking in all the people gathered around. She pressed her lips together. “Let’s go inside,” she said after a second.
“Thanks. I think that’s best.”
Every inch of the living room was filled with tchotchkes. The place was a dust mite’s haven, but not a speck of dust tainted the decor. The walls were lined with shelves filled to the brim with figurines, and covered with cutesy plaques with proverbs and sayings. Little dishes of potpourri sat on almost every flat surface. The scent of rose, cinnamon, orange, clove, and at least a dozen other things filled the air. The effect was only slightly nauseating.
The back wall held an altar with lit candles in skinny, tall glass jars with images of the saints on them. A framed portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe hung above the candles.
Claudia motioned us to the cushy floral printed couch. “Can I get you something to drink?”
I sat down. “No. I’m fine.”
Chris shook his head and sat next to me. He took his sunglasses off, hanging them off the neck of his T-shirt. His eyes were finally back to their normal, non-glowing blue. I was glad his wolf was wrapped up, because mine wasn’t. Daniel’s comments plus missing the connection to Dastien was making my wolf uneasy. Not enough to make me shift, but it was more than enough to put me on edge.
Claudia settled on a blue velvet chair. She tugged on one of her braids before flipping it over her shoulder. “I’m glad you came. It’s been tense here.”
“I’m getting that. Loudly. I spoke with Daniel for a minute… I hope you all know that I’m not leaving my pack. I’m happy where I am.” Chris started to move, but I put my hand on his knee, stilling him.