by Mary Duke
“Narah,” she said attempting to reason with me. “This isn’t something I want to do.”
“Oh really?” I questioned. “You really seemed to enjoy taking the life of that man earlier.”
“He is our enemy,” Kamara shot back. “That is different.”
“It is not.”
“How many of the others have you killed?” She questioned, pushing.
“There is a difference in killing to survive and killing for fun. I learned that. The lives I took merely because someone was sired by a different mother, those who had no part in this war, I see their faces. I feel their pain. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I. CLOSE. MY. EYES.”
Foley stood beside me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. “Come here,” she said gently leading me down the closest aisle. “Put your hand out. There is magic that flows through your veins now, focus on them. Feel their energy, their soul.”
I mimicked what she was doing, unsure of what to expect. After a moment, I could see their auras, their life force shining around them; it was weak.
“They are already dying, Narah. Even if we were to have the spell to undo everything, there is no getting that part of them back. This, what Kamara has suggested, it will end their suffering.”
I shook my head. I understood what Foley was getting at, the concept. However, she didn’t feel what I felt earlier when Kamara was taking that man’s life. The surge of power, of joy...it was sickening.
Kamara held her hand out, “Cat says the three of us should be able to destroy this place.”
I nodded, afraid of what words would escape my lips if I opened my mouth.
Kamara continued, “I remembered another place from the map. The others are going to head there, it should be safe.”
“Take care of him,” I said to Foley, as I watched Kyrell pick him up from the ground.
“I won’t let a thing happen to him, love. You have my word.”
Chapter Six
“What is this place?” Cat asked as she came through the gate.
“Our first home,” Kamara answered. “It’s where we raised our children when the Hollow line began.”
“You’ll want to see this,” Kyrell said, walking back out of a door across the room.
“What is it?”
Kyrell shook his head as she walked past him. “I think it’s best you just see,”
I turned to Foley, worried for a second it may be Damari.
Guessing my fear she shook her head and pointed to the door behind me. “We put him in there, so he could sleep. He is going to be fine; he’s just tired. You saved him.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You did. Kamara can only channel the magic that is already flowing through your veins. You may not know how to control it yet, but it was your magic that saved him.”
“If there is magic in my veins, shouldn’t there be magic in his? In all Hollow Wolves for that matter?”
“There is,” Cat answered my question. “There always has been, however, it’s been locked away by the curse Kamara’s family put on her.”
“What’s in there?” I asked as Kyrell pulled the door closed after Kamara walked through.
“Xander,” Foley answered. “And the remainder of her bones.”
“Are you serious?”
Foley nodded.
“Is he?”
“Dead,” she finished my sentence, “Yes.”
“Actually,” Storm said. “There is still one bone missing.”
Foley turned to him, “I thought you said that was the last of them.
“I should have said it’s the last of the bones that we didn’t know where they were.”
“Okay,” I questioned. “Where’s the last one?”
“If we’re right, Sonja, the Crescent Queen, is the one who has Kamara’s Skull.”
“Why would she have it? Better question, why would she want it?”
“Power,” Storm answered. “Not only can she channel some of Kamara’s power, it also proves that she won. That Xander chose her over Kamara, and that she is the rightful heir to all the werewolves.”
I followed Foley and Kyrell to the makeshift benches that lined the wall, sitting beside her.
“It’s okay though; when you absorb those bones, Kamara will have all the power needed to retrieve it and put an end to all of this once and for all”
My hands began to shake, at the thought of absorbing more of her bones, of her becoming stronger.
Foley grabbed ahold of my shaking hand. “It will be okay.”
I nodded, though I wanted to argue with her. A part of me just wanted to yell and demand that this was all a crock of shit, and I didn’t want to be a part of it anymore. However, the other half of me knew that there was no other way to save my people, and that same part of me knew what Damari said earlier was true. I could never live with myself if I walked away, if this didn’t work.
After about an hour Kamara emerged from the room. “Narah, I know how you feel about this, but I need you right now.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and swallowed my fears.
The door closed behind me, and I just stood there unable to move. “Are you sure he’s dead?”
“No,” Kamara answered honestly. “I believe he’s frozen, suspended, sort of like the wolves.”
“Don’t mention them,” I warned, my tone coming off a little too harsh. “Please.”
“I need you to take my bones. Then, we need to go through this,” she said, walking out the other side of the room by a small desk.
“Is that your grimoire?”
“Yes, and we need to know what pages are missing.”
I gathered the bones, and one by one let them sink in, not only feeling Kamara grow stronger with each one but seeing it as well.
Karama grabbed at the book, but her hands still slipped through the binding, “Damn it,” she cursed turning back towards me. “I’m sorry,” she muttered before slipping back into my body and taking control.
I didn’t have a chance to defend myself, to prepare, or to even agree. One second I was in control of my body, and the next I was a backseat driver: Kamara was in control.
I, she, picked up the book and glanced down at Xander, then walked from the room. “Cat, I could use your assistance.”
“Is everything okay?” she questioned walking towards me.
“Where’s Kamara?” Storm questioned peering inside the bedroom to see it empty.
“I’m Kamara,” my voice replied. “Now come on, all of you actually. I need to find out what’s missing...what new surprises we are in for.”
“Didn’t you secure it?” Cat asked. “I mean that would have kept the book sealed, there wouldn’t be anything missing.”
“Anyone with my blood could have opened it.”
“Okay...but your blood would only extend to you and your children.”
I could feel my face wrinkle in disgust. “If Xander’s memories are to be believed, it was family who unlocked this and tore a few pages from the bindings.” I locked hands with Cat and Storm, and together we focused our energy, lifting the book into the air and letting the spell flip through the pages.
“Well?” Cat said looking at me.
I could feel Kamara separate from my body, once again becoming her own. My legs began to shake as though she took all my energy with her.
“I’m sorry,” Kamara said. “That was one of my more powerful spells. I should have given you a warning.”
“It’s fine,” I lied, as I followed them to the benches.
“If only it were,” Kamara replied.
Cat repeated herself, “Well?”
“I had eleven children,” Kamara said as she began to pace. “I have eleven children,” she corrected herself. “Cassian, Luna, Maris, Mishal, Caelia, Adley, Nicklaus, Owen, Nera, Theo, and Alessio. I gave life to eleven immortal souls,” she paused. “And I’ve been betrayed by each of them.”
“What do you mean, ‘they’ve all betrayed you?’”
<
br /> “They teamed up with him. They were working together.”
Images of faces and memories flashed before my eyes. People’s voices I’ve never heard before screamed in my ears. I grabbed the sides of my head and willed them to stop, I begged for them to stop.
When the screaming and the flashing images ended, I was on the floor in Foley’s lap.
“What did you see?” Kamara asked, standing above me, her eyes studying mine.
“You’re wrong,” I said, now knowing what truly happened.
“How?”
“They didn’t betray you, not as you would believe. They...they saved you.”
“Impossible. With the pages missing, with the holes...”
I inhaled deeply, reigning in the voices which were now only a whisper. “I don’t know if I’m going to explain this the right way. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea what it is I’m about to talk about. I only know what they’ve told me.”
“What who’s told you? Who have you spoken to?”
“You children,” I answered. “Well, ten of them. Caelia isn’t here.”
“Isn’t where?” Kamara questioned looking frantically around the room.
“Here,” I said touching my head. “Cassian, your oldest, said to tell you the prettiest roses are grown from the blood of a warrior.”
Kamara’s hand covered her mouth, as she sat down beside me.
“Now that I have your attention,” I said. “You were betrayed, but it was on accident...sort of. You see, Sonja, put a spell on Xander, one that let her control his mind and take over his body. Xander then used the children to open your grimoire and take the pages from the book. At first, they didn’t know what it was they had done. Cassian says that Xander had always been interested in your grimoire and loved to listen to you speak about magic, so when he said he was curious about something, none of them gave it a second thought.”
Kamara nodded.
“However, when they noticed which pages were missing, they put together what Sonja was going to do. They also knew what you would be willing to do to stop it.”
“She was going to free them, wasn’t she?”
“Not only that,” I answered. “She was going to use you and all the Hollow Wolves to do so.”
“If she already had the pages, how did they stop her?”
“You are the center of all Hollow Wolves, of all our magic. Without you, it doesn’t exist. The key ingredient of the spells needed was you. In order to make sure that one, she never got ahold of you as a whole, and two, you didn’t destroy every other wolf in existence, they split you up. However, the energy required to preserve and safeguard your bones...”
“It would have taken every ounce of magic they had.”
“Yes,” I nodded.
“Are you saying that the magic that seals my bones, is my children?”
“Yes. Their bodies are in the basement, actually. Their souls bound to yours.”
“Why didn’t you say so; let’s go wake them. I want to hear this from him, myself,” she said starting to get up.
I reached for her hands, mine slipping through the veil of ghostly flesh. “We can’t. The spell to awaken them cannot be done till all the bones have been gathered.”
“What’s missing?”
“Your skull, which contains Alessio. Sonja, has it.”
“So,” Cat said. “What does that mean? What changes?”
“Nothing,” I answered. “We were on the right path. Now we just know more about what we are up against, and for some of us the odds just got more dire.”
“I think you mean for all,” Kamara said correcting me. “My kids and I appear to be a package deal. You have to bring us all back in order to save me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I know it’s all or nothing. But as a parent, I’m sure you feel the weight heavier than we do.”
Kamara nodded. “I need to go and see them... Can we stay here a little longer?”
“Of course,” I answered before anyone else could. “Damari is still asleep, and I think we could all use a night in to re-center.”
“Only if someone can find food.”
“The outside world still exists,” Cat said a smile spreading across her face. “All I need is a location; I have this one, so as long as we’re together coming back is a cinch.”
“Pizza on me!” Foley said standing up and reaching out to help me stand too.
“And Philly cheese steak!” I added.
“Like I would forget that,” she laughed.
“Kyrell, what is Damarai’s go to? We’ve pretty much been in the boonies with ma and pa shops and gas station food. All he orders is burgers and slim jims.”
“That right there is his favorite. Find him a loaded bbq burger and fries. Hell, throw in a strawberry milkshake, and he’ll love you forever.”
I turned to Foley, “Did you get that?”
“Noted,” she replied.
Chapter Seven
“How will you find us?” Foley asked as she stared at Kyrell from across the room.
“I don’t know,” Kyrell replied. “I’m sure we will think of something.”
“Don’t hate me for being obvious,” Storm said, looking to the both of them. “But don’t you guys have cell phones?”
“Cell phones won’t always work. In the places Kamara has sealed, there’s no telling what will and won’t get through.”
“Right,” Kyrell said. “Well, I’m sure everything will work out. Leave a voicemail or something with your next location.”
“Right,” Foley sighed. She wasn’t upset that he was going back; she understood that he really didn’t have a choice. However, the circumstances that were bringing him back, and the fact that he wouldn’t let anyone go with him, got under her skin.
“I shouldn’t be gone too long. A day or two tops.”
Damari chuckled, “Yeah. I’ve heard that one before.”
“WELL, I’M HERE,” KYRELL said as he walked through the gate in his apartment and into his bedroom where there was, of course, a welcoming committee.
“I see that,” the broad-shouldered, grey-haired man in the finest suit that money could buy said, uncrossing his arms.
“So, Jasper,” Kyrell said through gritted teeth. “What was so important that I had to come back? Why couldn’t you tell me whatever this was over the phone?”
“As it so happens, we are in need of your...expertise.”
“My expertise?”
“We’ve intercepted a few defectors, those who were once truly loyal to your brother.”
“I thought I said there would be no prisoners. Kill on contact. Anyone who betrayed my sister will pay with their life.”
“I assure you, no plans have changed. However, the value of information these two may have was worth sparing their lives for a few hours.”
“You can’t trust a word a traitor says. They’re only out to save their own skin.”
“Agreed,” Jasper replied, as he guided Kyrell to where they were being held. “However, we believed with your abilities, you’d be able to find some kind of useful information.”
Kyrell’s next words caught in his throat. His expertise, of course Jasper was referring to his ability to see one’s past.
“Though whether it is true or not,” Jasper said. “They swear on their lives that your sister is alive.”
“I guess we will see,” Kyrell snapped back.
Jasper grabbed ahold of his arm stopping him dead in his tracks. His steel blue eyes studying Kyrell’s lime green ones. “You may have other things on your mind. Another life waiting for you regardless of how this turns out. I, however, do not. Your sister is my life. I have devoted the better part of my immortal life to McKinnon and what she believes is meant to be.”
Kyrell jerked his arm free and grabbed ahold of Jaspers' neck, instantly pinning him against the wall. He and Jasper had never gotten along. He never saw what McKinnon saw in him. When she found him, he was nothing more than an aver
age demon, trying to make a name for himself as a reaper. She made him everything that he is, got him on the path which led to him becoming an immortal, and she never once said why. “I can assure you when it comes to my sister. My head is always in the right place, and she will ALWAYS come first.”
Kyrell fought back a gasp as he opened the door. “Malou” he questioned, not wanting to believe it was his friend in the chains. “I thought you were dead?”
“I wish I was,” Malou replied, his head falling in shame.
“There has to be some kind of mistake,” Kyrell said turning back to Jasper. “Who is the other defector?”
“Penny Tarik, a once-promising reaper, but no one you would know.”
Kyrell turned his attention back to Malou. “Why?”
He didn’t answer.
“After everything Kinny and I have done for you...Why?” Kyrell repeated, grabbing ahold of his friend’s hair and forcing him to look up. “Give me an answer.”
Tears welled in the Reaper’s eyes. He didn’t have a reason. For the life of him, he couldn’t tell what it was that put him on this path. Why he all of a sudden aligned himself with the enemy. This was something he never thought he would do, never in a million years did he see himself betraying his best friend.
“Tell me, before I take it from you. Tell me what I’m about to see.”
Malou just shook his head back and forth, no words able to escape his lips.
Kyrell pressed the palm of his free hand against his friend's forehead, not knowing what it was he was about to see.
Jerking his hand away, Kyrell scanned the room to see who else was in it. “I need the room.”
Jasper nodded to the others who stood guard, and they left without a word. Before Jasper could follow, Kyrell called to him. “You need to see this.”
Malou shook his head confused. He didn’t know what was going on. Every other time Kyrell had ever read his memories, they both saw what he saw. This time though, he saw nothing. It was just like his memory in general, there was nothing there. He couldn’t remember where he was last week, last month; hell, the last year was just gone.