Bloodrose

by Andrea Cremer

  Ethan nodded. “Those are just bodies.”

  I peered past the Searchers. The shambling horrors that I’d come to know as the Fallen were strewn across the floor. They were now corpses in varying states of decay. Some looked as if they’d been dead only weeks, while all that remained of others were skeletons.

  Our enemies had vanished. Did that mean we’d won? Was the war over?

  I looked at the fireplace. All signs of the Rift were gone. No putrid green glow filled its depths. The gaping maw was empty and silent.

  Shay had done it. I expected to see him striding toward us, a wide smile lighting his face. But he wasn’t there. My eyes swept around the fireplace, searching for any sign of him and finding none.

  Where was he? My heart skipped a beat.

  “Shay!” I ran toward the austere stone frame.

  A frenzy of terrible questions hammered against my skull.

  What if the Rift had pulled him in too? What if the power of the Cross was too great, consuming Shay even as it destroyed Bosque?

  “I’m here.” Shay stepped out from behind the other side of the remaining structure. The storm created by the Elemental Cross had vanished. The swords were sheathed at his back. The power that had changed his voice was gone. Shay was wholly himself again.

  But he wasn’t alone.

  A tall man with golden brown hair was resting his hand on Shay’s shoulder. A woman with dark hair and pale green eyes had one of Shay’s hands clasped in both of hers.

  “Calla.” Shay smiled at me. “I’d like you to meet my parents: Tristan and Sarah Doran.”

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  THE LIBRARY WAS IN SHAMBLES. Snow was already drifting from outside. And that wasn’t all.

  Wolves had gathered outside the building, gazing at the rubble and the ruins of the library.

  “Nev!” Sabine shouted, waving at two wolves who bounded past the others.

  Nev and Mason skidded to a stop near our huddled group. The appearance of Shay’s long-lost parents had thrown us into a stunned silence. No one had worked up the courage yet to ask how Tristan and Sarah had gotten out of the portrait to stand among us.

  I didn’t know if we were afraid of offending them or too shocked to muster any questions. Only Shay seemed unruffled, his smile childlike in its exuberance.

  Mason shrugged off his wolf form, shaking a fist at Connor. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  “Huh?” Connor frowned at him.

  “You had a bomb and you didn’t tell us?” Mason shouted. “We had no warning. Do you have any idea how far that blast went? Part of the wall crushed the Bane I was fighting. It almost killed me!”

  “It wasn’t a bomb, Mason,” I said.

  “Then what the hell was it?” he asked, still glaring at Connor.

  “And why am I getting blamed for a bomb?” Connor began to laugh. “What the hell would I know about bombs?”

  Nev shrugged. “We discussed it and decided that if anyone had snuck in a bomb, it would have been you.”

  Connor look at Adne. “What do you think? Is that the sort of thing I should say ‘thank you’ for or do I just slug them?”

  “Shut up, Connor,” I said. “Mason, the wall blew out when Shay closed the Rift.”

  “Dude.” Nev turned his gaze to Shay and grinned. “Nice.”

  Mason was still frowning. “So the Elemental Cross was actually a bomb?”

  “Mason!” I snarled. “There was no bomb!”

  “Just magic.” Adne smiled at him.

  “A magic bomb,” Mason grumbled, and ducked when I swung at him. “Hey! You didn’t almost get pancaked by half a house falling on you.”

  “Believe me,” Ethan said. “We had more than our share of trouble in here.”

  “But you did it.” Nev was still looking at Shay. “This means we won, right?”

  “I guess.” Shay’s smile faded. “I don’t know what happens now.”

  “Speaking of winning, what about the Banes?” I asked. “I mean, the ones that didn’t come to our side.”

  “When the house blew up . . .” Nev threw me an apologetic glance as Mason mouthed “bomb” again. “They panicked. I guess seeing the Keeper fortress crumbling made them panic.”

  “We were winning anyway.” Mason grinned.

  Nev shrugged. “Yeah. We probably were.”

  He frowned, looking around our group. His eyes rested on Shay’s parents for a moment, but then returned to me. He drew a long breath.

  “Where’s Ren?”

  I looked away. Bryn slipped her arm around my waist. I hadn’t forgotten Ren. But I’d had to push his death out of my mind to make it through the fight. Now a pit of emptiness gnawed at my belly as the truth crashed over me. I swayed on my feet. Bryn leaned her head on my shoulder.

  My father answered, “He fell in battle.”

  Nev’s fists balled up. “How?”

  “Emile killed him,” my father said.

  Mason snarled. “Is Emile dead?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “We saw Dax and Fey’s bodies outside,” Nev said quietly. “Did you?”

  “We had to fight them to get in the house,” I said, nodding.

  We fell silent, the weight of so many deaths settling on us.

  I shivered, glancing at my packmates. “Follow me.”

  Shifting into wolf form, I led my packmates to the place where Ren’s body lay. To my relief he hadn’t been buried in rubble. Debris encircled him in a ring of destruction without encroaching on him, as if the wild fury of the Elemental Cross had shielded his body from its chaos.

  We spread out around him, forming a circle. I paused, letting myself gaze at the wolf I’d known from childhood, who I always had expected to be at my side leading our pack.

  My father was standing beside me. I looked at him, waiting.

  No, Calla. His quiet words entered my mind. This is your pack.

  I turned back to Ren, dropping my head low to honor the fallen alpha. The circled wolves did the same. I lifted my muzzle first, my howl singing out the pain of Ren’s death, mourning him. One by one my packmates joined the song. Our howls filled the library, spilling out into the winter night. The death song grew as the wolves still outside raised their voices to honor the lost young warrior. The chorus of wolf cries, full of heartache, swelled in the night, carrying Ren’s memory to the very stars.

  I shifted back into human form. Listening as the song continued, even as the howls began to quiet, the chorus echoed on the wind.

  A hand encircled my wrist. Adne gazed at me. “Can I?” She gestured to Ren.

  I nodded. She slid to her knees beside him, stretching the length of her body against the huge gray wolf. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his fur.

  She hid her grief from us, but I watched her shoulders trembling, wishing I could give her back the brother with whom she’d been granted so little time.

  Shay was standing apart from us. Tristan had an arm around his son’s shoulders, while Sarah was still clasping Shay’s hand. I met Shay’s gaze, finding his own sorrow there. And a question.

  It was a question flickering in my own heart as well.

  Had Ren’s death changed what I felt for Shay?

  Meeting his moss green eyes, I had my answer.

  Love wasn’t forged by circumstance or changed by sorrow. It simply was. Fierce and free as the wolf within me.

  My love for Ren had been real. We shared a bond, a history. Losing him would leave scars on my heart forever. But I was a warrior, and love’s scars weren’t so different from battle scars.

  At so many junctures I’d been given a choice: to follow my heart or leave Shay behind, forsaking my passion for the life I thought I was destined for. Every decision had drawn me closer to him and pulled me away from the world I’d known.

  Those choices had led us here. I stood in the rubble of my well-ordered life, gazing at the boy who had changed everything.

  And knew that I loved him s
till.

  As Adne knelt beside my packmates near Ren’s body, I went to Shay. He held out his arms to me and I stepped into them, lifting my hands to touch his face.

  “You didn’t die.” I forced a smile. “I told you so.”

  “I know,” he said. “What happens now?”

  “We live.” I pulled his face to mine, letting my lips touch his gently.

  His fingers traced the tear tracks on my cheeks. “I love you, Calla.”

  “Sarah!”

  I looked up to see Anika running toward us, or rather toward Shay’s mother. The Arrow threw her arms around Sarah Doran. The two women clung to each other, laughing and crying. When they finally parted, Tristan grinned at Anika—he had the same mischievous, curving grin as Shay.

  “I missed you too, Anika,” he said. She hugged him, and when he stepped back, he glanced at the iron compass rose hanging from her neck. “I see you’ve been promoted.”

  Anika laughed, turning to Shay. “How did you reach them?”

  “I don’t know,” Shay said. “When I pushed Bosque into the Rift, he was gone and I was standing in front of my parents.”

  “Standing where?” I asked.

  Shay glanced at his parents. “To me it just looked like a dark, empty room.”

  “You stepped into the oblivion. Betwixt and between,” Sarah said. “You broke open our prison.”

  Anika nodded, her face solemn as she spoke to Shay. “You crossed over.”

  He frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “Bosque imprisoned us in the emptiness between the earth and the Nether,” Tristan said. “We were the gate between the worlds. When you banished him, you were able to reach us and lead us out.”

  Shay went very still. I took his hand, twining my fingers with his.

  “Are you in pain?” Anika asked, her eyes moving over Tristan and Sarah.

  “No,” Sarah said. “Our torment wasn’t physical. It was separation from the people we loved. Seeing them and knowing we couldn’t do anything to protect them. Especially our son.”

  “You could see me?” Shay asked. “Was the painting like a two-sided mirror?”

  “No.” Sarah smiled at him sadly. “More like a waking dream.”

  “The passing of time wasn’t clear,” Tristan said. “And we couldn’t know if what we saw was the truth or a form of torture Bosque had devised for us.”

  “Calla! Bryn!” Ansel was running toward us, waving. Bryn shrieked her joy, opening her arms. But a huge brown and silver wolf was streaking toward him from the side. My father shifted forms, lifting Ansel off his feet as he ran and clutching my brother against his chest.

  “Dad!” Ansel threw his arms around our father.

  Bryn and I ran to meet them. My father pulled us into their hug. The four of us stood together, holding on to each other as we shook with tears and laughter.

  Ansel broke free when Shay approached us. “Hey! You did it!”

  But Shay was frowning.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  His shoulders tightened. “Anika says it’s not over yet.”

  TWENTY-NINE

  AS NEWS OF THE BATTLE’S END spread, Searchers began gathering around us. Some stood in groups, speaking quietly and gazing around the destroyed library in awe. Others moved quickly into the practical work of recovery, gathering up the piles of books that were strewn across the floor and carting them away. Still others had assigned themselves to burial duty, solemnly carrying out the remains of the Fallen, now returned to their natural state.

  “What do you mean it’s not over?” My skin prickled.

  Anika strode past us. “Come with me.”

  We followed her to all that remained of the library wall. The stone fireplace, solitary and austere, appeared untouched by the force that had destroyed so much of the estate.

  I leaned over to Bryn and whispered, “Get the others.” Growing anxiety snaked through my veins.

  “I don’t understand,” Shay said. “Bosque is gone. He’s banished. So are his monsters.” He gestured at the quiet darkness of the empty fireplace. “The Rift is gone.”

  “Not gone,” Anika said. “Closed.”

  “As in, it could be opened again?” I asked.

  She nodded at me but spoke to Shay. “That’s why you have to seal it.”

  His eyes narrowed. “How?”

  “The Rift can’t be destroyed, but the Elemental Cross serves as a lock, sealing it off from our world.”

  I relaxed a little when Bryn rejoined us, bringing my packmates as well as Connor, Adne, and Ethan with her. Anika glanced at the Guardians and then turned a sharp look on the Searchers. Ethan dropped his gaze, fidgeting, and Connor raked a nervous hand through his hair.

  What was going on?

  Adne met my questioning gaze without flinching, but there was a sadness in her eyes—a new sadness that had nothing to do with her brother’s death—that raised my hackles.

  “What if someone opens it?” Shay asked.

  “You’re the only one who can retrieve the swords.” Anika traced the crossed swords emblazoned on her necklace. “No one else will be able to open it.”

  “So don’t go to the dark side,” Connor said. “ ’Kay?”

  Adne dug her elbow into his ribs. He shot her a warning look. Now I had no doubt they were hiding something.

  I leveled my gaze on Anika, putting strength into my voice. “And that’s all?”

  She could only match my steadiness for a moment before she pulled her eyes away.

  Shay caught it too. “What?”

  Tension rippled through the room. My packmates threw nervous glances at me. My nails dug into my palms. Beside me my father growled.

  “Is this a betrayal?” He glared at Anika.

  “No!” She drew herself up, assuming an authoritative air. “It is simply what must be.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Shay took a step toward her.

  Anika’s lips thinned. Connor moved between the Scion and the Arrow.

  “We have to tell them, Anika,” he said. “We owe them that. We owe them a lot more than that.”

  Ethan paled, the veins in his neck throbbing. Sabine’s face was turned up toward his, puzzled. He couldn’t seem to look at her.

  Anika turned to face the empty fireplace, but she raised her voice so we could all hear her. “When you banished the Harbinger, you sent him into the Nether along with his minions. But his corruption lingers here, living on through the ways the Keepers have manipulated the earth.”

  My heart hardened like a stone. I remembered Silas eyeing me like a specimen, calling me and my kind an abomination.

  I flashed fangs at Anika’s back. “You’re talking about us.”

  “Partly,” she said without turning around. “Guardians are one of many alterations the Keepers created in the centuries they’ve walked the earth. Their own lengthened lives are another.”

  “Anika,” Shay said. “What will sealing the Rift do to the Guardians?”

  She turned slowly. “When the Elemental Cross locks the Rift, it will restore the balance of nature, returning all creatures to their true essence.”

  Shay frowned. “What does that mean?”

  I stared at Anika, stunned as the truth settled into my bones. “It means we’ll be wolves.”

  She nodded, folding her arms over her chest.

  Shay’s brow furrowed. “But you’re wolves now.”

  “No,” I said slowly. “We will only be wolves. Not human.”

  I glanced at Anika. “Am I right?”

  “Yes,” Anika said. “Guardians were made from the beasts that rule their souls, forced to share a human body so they would be servants to the Keepers.”

  “We won’t be able to shift anymore?” Mason asked.

  “You will be returned to your true selves,” Anika said.

  Sabine glared at Ethan. “Did you know about this?”

  The muscles in his jaw worked as he forced himself to mee
t her furious eyes. “Yes.”

  She shoved him backward. “You didn’t say anything!”

  He grabbed her arms, holding her tight. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why?” She was shaking, still glaring at him in fury.

  “I didn’t think we’d live to see this happen.” He smiled sadly as he pulled her into his chest. “I hate this too, Sabine. I don’t want to let go of you.”

  A deep ache was building inside me, but Sabine and Ethan weren’t the only lovers I was worried about. I searched for Ansel, finding him shaking and pale. Bryn stood beside him, eyes wide with disbelief.

  Shay followed my gaze. He pivoted around, shaking his fist at Anika.

  “No,” he said. “There is no way in hell.”

  “You must.”

  “You can’t do this to them!”

  Shay’s shouts drew the attention of the Searchers in the library. They moved slowly. Some of the warriors encircled us, while others gathered to flank Anika, their hands casually resting near their weapons.

  “Shit.” Connor rubbed his temples. “Anika, we can’t fight these Guardians. They’re our friends. They risked their lives for us.”

  “We don’t have a choice.” Anika’s eyes were flinty. “The Rift must be sealed.”

  “No!” Ansel pushed past Bryn. Only Tess grabbed him, stopping him from reaching Anika. “This is my family! I’ll be alone.”

  Tess leaned down. “You’ll stay with us, Ansel. We’ll take care of you.”

  Ansel began to weep. My father pulled him out of Tess’s arms.

  “Ansel,” he murmured. “Find your strength. You can endure this.”

  I stared at my father, not believing what I was hearing. “You want this to happen?”

  “It’s not a matter of wanting, Calla,” he said slowly. “Only necessity. The evil the Keepers brought to this world cannot be allowed to return.”

  Mason’s voice startled me. “He’s right, Calla.”

  Beside him Nev was nodding. “We are wolves. That’s what we’ve always been.”

  Ansel wiped his face, looking at Mason, who came to his side and pulled him into a fierce hug. “I’m sorry, man.”

  “Don’t be,” Ansel said, smiling weakly. “My father is right. I’ll survive and this has to happen.”