In the Mouth of the Wolf

by Nicole Maggi

  Outside, the wintry air was cold and biting. I stood under the shelter of an overhang and lit a cigarette. The smoke burned my throat with a delicious heat. You owe it to Jonah. Fuck her. I blew a ring of smoke and watched the wind tear it apart. She really knew which button to push. I had to give her credit for that at least. She wasn’t a total idiot. Not about that, anyway. Funny how she could be so blind about Jonah, but she had me pegged.

  I dropped the cigarette, ground it out with my heel, and started walking. I circled the school, around the back to where the track was. And there, under the bleachers, hunched over like a gargoyle, was my brother. I stopped and watched him turn the pages of his book. A hard wind cut across the field; at the same exact time, Jonah and I tugged our coats closer to our throats.

  Alessia Jacobs had no freaking idea what it was like to have a twin. It was as though I were standing here in my own skin yet looking across the track field at the other half of myself. How dare she ask me to turn against myself? How could she possibly think that by betraying Jonah, I would be saving him?

  “No way in hell,” I whispered. That was my answer to Alessia. She could choke on it for all I cared.

  Chapter Seven

  The Magic from Angel Falls

  Alessia

  Bree skipped government class, and I didn’t see her for the rest of the day. I toyed with the strap on my backpack as Jenny and I walked home. Bree was probably going to tell me to screw off, and I really couldn’t blame her. It had been a long shot to ask her anyway.

  “Lessi. Earth to Lessi!” Jenny shook my arm. “God, you haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?”

  I sighed. “No. I’m sorry.”

  Jenny rolled her eyes at me. “You know, it’s getting old, you being spaced-out all the time.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that—”

  “Save it. You’re lucky I’m so patient, or I would have given up on you weeks ago. Melissa and Carly are just about ready to kiss you off.”

  I stopped in my tracks. “Are you kidding me?” I kicked at the road and started walking so fast that Jenny had to trot to keep up with me. “After all the crap I’ve put up with over the years, they’re ready to throw me over because I’ve been distant for a few weeks?” Jenny reached for my arm, but I danced out of her way. “That’s bullshit. Seriously.”

  “Come on, Lessi, give them a break. They’re worried about you.”

  “Oh, really?” I hunched my shoulders. “If they were so worried about me, they’d be asking me what’s wrong instead of threatening to end our friendship.”

  “They’re not—” Jenny threw her hands up. “Look, don’t get all riled up, okay? We’re all just worried about you, and it’s frustrating, because you’re not talking to us.”

  I rubbed a hand over my face. “I’ve had a lot going on, and I don’t really want to talk about it.” Actually, I’m not allowed to talk about it, but I couldn’t say that. “Can’t you guys just—I don’t know—be supportive of me? Silently?”

  Jenny linked her arm through mine. “You know we’re not very good being silent about anything.”

  I snorted. “Well, try.”

  When I left Jenny at the turn-off to her house, I watched her walk down the road for a minute before I continued toward the farm. Despite all the other people who had come into my life over the last few months, I needed my friends. I needed the old familiarity of their company and the way they knew everything about me.

  My gut twisted. Well, not everything. And that was the problem.

  The house was blissfully empty when I opened the door. A note from Lidia on the kitchen table said she’d be at Mr. Salter’s until late, helping him with inventory at the store. I held the note for a moment, a little twist in my gut. The kitchen felt cold and empty without Lidia bustling from stove to counter to sink as she cooked dinner. I knew Mr. Salter needed help, but I still felt abandoned.

  However, Lidia’s absence did open up a world of possibilities. I wasn’t on patrol, so I had the whole evening deliciously in front of me. I could catch up on homework that I had fallen woefully behind on, turn on my instant messenger and chat with Carly and Melissa, and be asleep by nine.

  But my body had other ideas. As soon as I had settled on my bed with my books spread out in front of me, the pillows beckoned. I’ll just rest my eyes for a moment, I thought and lay back against the headboard.

  An unearthly scream broke the stillness of my bedroom. I jerked awake. Daylight was gone, and the only light in the room was the soft blue glow of my clock. It was nearly ten. I sat up and pressed a hand to my pounding heart. What had I been dreaming about? The scream seemed to come from inside my head . . .

  I heard it again, a piercing, animalistic shriek, coming from inside my brain. I clapped my hands over my ears, but at the same time, my chest tightened. My heart churned as it tore me away from my body. I scrambled off the bed and flung open the window an instant before I transformed.

  Outside, the night was clear and cold. I hung in the air for a moment, listening. But no other voices invaded my mind. Why had I been Called? On instinct, I turned toward the Waterfall, but before I could open a link to the Benandanti on patrol there, the scream rang through my head again.

  This time, a picture accompanied the horrible sound. A huge expanse of green, crisscrossed with red-and-white stripes. I spun around and mounted the wind. It felt incredibly wrong to fly away from the Waterfall, but something—or someone—was Calling for me, and I knew where to find them.

  Main Street of Twin Willows lay quiet and sleepy. Soft light seeped into the street from Mr. Salter’s hardware store, and one of the waitresses was just locking up at Joe’s Coffee Shop as I flew over. I swerved toward the school and skimmed over the rooftop. Unnatural light flickered from beyond the building. For an instant, it looked like the clear, celestial blue of a Benandante’s aura, but then something red distorted it.

  Another scream echoed through my brain, and the light crackled. I dove over the side of the school toward the football field. The white stripes gleamed on the dark grass, but something blocked the bright insignia in the center of the field. The light flashed again, and in that moment of illumination, I saw who had Called me.

  The Lynx lay on the ground, writhing in the shadow of a huge figure. Bloodred bands wrapped around his aura, twisting it this way and that. With every twist, the Lynx yelped. The figure raised its arms—God, it was a human—and the bands obeyed the gesture, tightening around the Lynx. His aura ebbed, and the bands grew brighter. The Lynx moaned, an eerie, inhuman sound. I wanted to shut my ears to it. The figure threw his arms above his head, and the bands doubled in size. The Lynx fell silent. That was far more ominous than any moan or scream.

  I shrieked, and the dark figure turned.

  Watch—out, the Lynx warned me, his voice raspy.

  I shot up but not fast enough.

  A scarlet band whipped through the air and dragged me down. A sickening sensation swept through me, as if someone were trying to pull my heart out through my mouth. I fell toward the earth, completely weak and helpless under the power of the fiery red band. My aura dimmed. I felt my soul shudder and weaken. I beat my wings in a vain attempt to stay aloft, but I could barely move them an inch.

  I hit the earth with a hard thud and lay there, stunned. The figure raised his arms over my head. Another band slithered around me. Pain sliced through me; I was being torn in two by something worse than a knife. My aura sputtered, and the band glistened. That evil man was drawing power from my aura, stealing the life out of me . . .

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Lynx struggle upright. He dragged himself toward the figure whose focus was on me now. I could hear the Lynx’s panting in my mind, feel the effort it took him to move. With a painful push of energy, the Lynx swiped the hooded man with one of his enormous paws.

  The figure fell backward with a cry, and the bands around me disappeared. My aura flickered once and roared back to life. I twitched my
wings and flew low to where the hooded man lay. The Lynx took another swipe at the man and hobbled backward.

  I rushed at our attacker, but he was fast. He sprang to his feet and dodged me as I dove for him. I tried to snag his hood—I had to know who was under there—but he feinted to the side. He held up his hands, light slithering between his fingers. Time seemed to stop for an instant; I blinked, and the hooded man was gone.

  What the—where the hell did he go? I wheeled over and over, trying to see where the man had gone. I skimmed through the bleachers, but they were empty, save for the icicles that gleamed in the moonlight. How did he do that?

  Magic.

  The broken tone of the Lynx’s voice made me halt.

  He used—magic.

  I swept down to the field where the Lynx lay. His side heaved with the effort to breathe. The glow of his aura was fractured, tiny cracks splintering the blue-white light. What did he do to you?

  The magic . . . from the . . . Angel Falls site, the Lynx panted. It has . . . the power to . . . suck out . . . your life force.

  Your aura, I breathed. The cracks were multiplying before my eyes, the light leaking away from him. This was magic way beyond my understanding. My wings fluttered, lifting me a few inches off the ground. I’m going for help.

  The Lynx lifted his head off the ground. No. Please . . . stay. I don’t want . . . to die alone. He rested his head back down and closed his eyes.

  My heart felt squeezed in a too-tight fist. I landed softly next to the Lynx’s head. Don’t say that. You’re going to be fine—if you let me go for help. The Griffin—she’ll know what to do.”

  By the time . . . you Call her . . . I’ll be gone. His voice in my mind was graceful and quiet, like he was trying to comfort me.

  No! I closed my eyes and opened them again, unable to deny what was right in front of me. The Lynx’s aura was bleeding out from him, disappearing with every passing second. I thought of the Lynx’s human form, asleep on his bed or couch or favorite comfy chair in his house, never to wake up. No way was that happening on my watch. I opened my mind to Call Nerina and Heath, but I had never Called anyone before. I didn’t know how.

  It’s okay, the Lynx said, hearing my confusion in his own head. I knew . . . a long time ago . . . that I would . . . lay down my life . . . for the Benandanti.

  I landed and pressed in close to the Lynx, my head buried in his fur. I knew that falcons couldn’t cry, but inside I was swimming in an ocean of tears. It’s not fair.

  I knew . . . what I was getting into . . . when I was Called. The Lynx’s breath rattled. Before I go . . . I want to know—who are you?

  There was never a better time to break a rule I thought was dumb anyway. Alessia Jacobs.

  There was a catch in my mind as the Lynx gasped. So young. Too young.

  Apparently not. The Lynx’s breathing slowed more and more. I stayed pressed against him even though I knew I could do nothing. And you—who are you?

  Sam. Sam Foster. I jerked my head up. He was a teaching assistant at the school, a grad student who was Heath’s age. I wasn’t in his class, but I knew him by sight. All this time, passing him in the halls, and never knowing what we shared.

  Will you do something for me? His thoughts seemed fainter in my mind, as though he were speaking to me from very far away.

  Yes—anything.

  He opened his eyes. They were glassy and unfocused. Tell the Clan . . . I don’t regret . . . anything. And promise me— His breath came in snatches, with the space of many heartbeats in between. Promise me . . . you won’t let them win.

  I will. I promise. I hopped back a little so he could see me; it suddenly seemed important that the last thing he saw in this life was a friend, a comrade, the shining blue light of a fellow Benandante.

  Thank you. His voice in my mind was fading, just like his aura. In bocca al lupo, Alessia. His aura flickered once more, like a candle being blown out, and went dark.

  Chapter Eight

  The Ascension

  Alessia

  I let out a keen that echoed across the field. I still wasn’t sure how to Call the others, so I simply opened my mind to the vast, cavernous void of the universe and flooded it with my grief.

  Within moments, the voices of the other Benandanti tumbled into my brain, crying and questioning. Too many thoughts overlapped for me to pull apart and make sense of. I silenced them all with one answer. The Lynx is dead.

  I closed my mind off to their grief and listened to the wind. Beside me, the Lynx’s body was still warm, and if I didn’t think too hard, I could imagine that he was sleeping. I had a horrible brief memory of my father, lying in his casket in the funeral home . . .

  A voice broke into my mind’s cave. Where are you?

  It was Heath.

  At the school. The football field.

  Nerina and I are coming. The other two must stay at the Waterfall. Heath’s voice dropped, low and soft. Just stay strong, Alessia.

  I didn’t know how to do that when my feathers felt so heavy I thought I might collapse under their weight. All I wanted was to lie down beside the Lynx and make this all go away. In my mind’s eye, I kept seeing the Lynx on the collapsed bridge, the first night I had ever seen any of the Benandanti. He was so graceful, so much power in his sleek body. How could he suddenly be gone?

  Bright light pierced the darkness. I jerked upward, spreading my wings wide over the Lynx. But the light was blue and white, the friendly auras of Heath and Nerina. She descended from the air over the field as he raced through the open space in the bleachers. I fluttered down to the ground and folded my wings in tight. But not even my own warmth could banish the cold that snaked through me.

  Heath slowed. His footsteps heavy, he padded around the Lynx. A small, sad whine escaped his throat. He lay on his belly and pressed his nose to the Lynx’s, as if he were trying to breathe life back into a place that couldn’t hold it anymore.

  Nerina landed nearby and walked to us, her long wings dragging in the stubby grass. Her graceful neck arched over the Lynx as she surveyed his body, then turned to me. What happened? she asked, her voice gentle.

  He Called me, I said. I don’t know why he Called just me—

  He didn’t, Heath said. He tried to reach the rest of us, but he was too weak. You were the closest in proximity.

  I heard again the scream that had woken me up, that had dragged me out of bed. When I got here, I continued, there was someone else—a man—

  Nerina cocked her head, her fierce eyes fixed on me. What did he look like?

  I—I don’t know. I tried to remember every detail of the hooded figure’s appearance, but all I could see were his hands, raised, twisting bloody bands of magic around the Lynx.

  Ah, Nerina breathed. She stepped back and paced in a long arc around the Lynx’s body. I blinked, and she looked at me. No, she said, keep the picture of him in your mind. She was reading the image, looking for details in my memory.

  After a long moment, I asked, Do you know who he is?

  No, but I know what he is. At the exact spot where the man had disappeared, she sniffed the air. I can sense the remnants of magic. Angel Falls, is that right?

  Yes. My feathers rustled as a shiver ran through me. That’s what the Lynx said. Before he—

  Heath snapped his jaw. So it’s true. They’re using mages, just as you suspected.

  Yes. Nerina looked at the Lynx’s lifeless form. And now I have proof.

  I looked between them. Excuse me, but what are mages?

  People who are skilled in magic, Heath said. They aren’t Malandanti in that they can’t transform—

  But they aid the Malandanti by using the magic culled from the sites, Nerina continued for him. It is an ancient tradition amongst the Clans—and once upon a time the Benandanti used mages, too.

  Why don’t we? I unfolded my wings. If the Malandanti are using them, we should be too! We could have prevented this. I pushed off the ground, letting the tips of my wings brush
the Lynx’s silver fur as I rose.

  Nerina watched me as I flew in a circle above her head. My dear, you are—as they say—preaching to the choir. Her eyes gleamed like two dark halos. I have long argued that we needed to bring back the mages, but I was outvoted.

  I beat my wings hard against the cold and soared away from the center of the field. Now I understood what Nerina had meant when she said the Concilio had disagreed on strategy. And their unwillingness to “lower” themselves to the Malandanti’s level had gotten the Lynx killed. I swept over the top of the bleachers and turned toward the school.

  Alessia. Heath’s voice slowed my flight. We need you here.

  I just want to go home. I wanted to be back in my safe skin, away from this place. I didn’t want to look at Lynx’s body anymore, the empty shell where his soul should be—

  Wait a minute. The Lynx’s body was Sam Foster’s soul. How had it not just disappeared when he died? I turned slowly back to the field. Heath? How—?

  Exactly. That’s why we need you back here. We need at least three Benandanti to perform the ritual.

  I glided down to where Heath stood, next to the Lynx. Nerina trotted in a circle around the three of us. Particles of light fell from her wingtips as they trailed along the ground, illuminating the earth. When the glowing circle was complete, she stepped inside. You go there, she said, directing me to the Lynx’s right. I hovered just above the ground, my wings jittery—exactly what was this “ritual”?

  Heath took position at the left and Nerina at the Lynx’s head. The moment we were all in place, the light multiplied, stretching out to form a protective bubble around us.

  Nerina bent her head to the Lynx, her beak brushing his throat. All at once, his aura flared to life again. I jerked, my heart in my throat, and thought for one crazy-happy instant that Nerina had the power to resurrect the dead.