This couldn’t be good.
“Hello, Mina. It’s nice of you to stop by,” Mrs. Marshall said as I stepped farther into the room. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough for helping to bring my little girl home.”
“You’re welcome,” I said with a small smile as I moved my attention from Violet to Mrs. Marshall. The woman didn’t look as though she’d slept in days. One would think she’d be sleeping better now that her daughter was home safe and sound; however, that didn’t seem to be the case. “I’m glad I was able to help.”
“I know this is a difficult time, and were this situation any less grave or severe I would give it more time before asking Violet questions, but unfortunately we don’t have that luxury,” Eli said in a soft, soothing voice.
Even though there was a part of me that didn’t appreciate the way he cut straight to it, I knew it was probably for the best. We needed information, and we needed it fast if we were going find Glenn or figure out who was behind all of this. I hoped Violet had heard a name during her time with Drew. Preferably of the one running the show.
“I know.” Mrs. Marshall nodded.
Eli shifted his attention to Violet. “Is there anything you can tell me about your time spent with the guy who abducted you?”
Violet sipped her tea. Her glassy eyes stared at the thin blanket spread across the upper portion of her legs. What had Gran given her? A sedative for anxiety? I knew she’d spoken since waking. Gracie said when she finally woke she’d babbled about all sorts of stuff. None of it had made sense, but at least we knew she could speak still.
“Anything at all. It doesn’t matter if it’s small or seemingly insignificant. Any information you can give would be better than nothing,” Eli pressed.
Violet remained unresponsive.
My skin tingled as the silence dragged on. Something was wrong with her. Shock? Or something worse? Had whatever Drew did to her broken her in some way? Or was this because of the drug he’d given her?
I stepped to where Eli stood and placed a hand on his shoulder, wanting him to step back and let me have a shot. He gave me some space, and I positioned myself on the edge of her bed. My hand reached out to cover hers. She was cold to the touch.
“I know what you went through was traumatic, but I want you to know the guy who did this can’t hurt you anymore. Eli and I made sure of that the night we rescued you.” My voice was soft as I leaned forward. I knew she needed to hear my words. Hell, her mom probably needed to hear them too. I hoped my words assuaged her fear. “You’re safe. He can’t hurt you anymore.” I repeated it because it felt necessary.
Violet blinked and her fingers twitched, clinking a couple rings against her mug. I assumed she was going to take another sip of tea, but instead, she shifted to look me in the eye. Her wide eyes glistened with unshed tears as her lips quivered.
My heart broke for her.
“It’s okay,” I whispered as I held her stare. “You’re home now. With your family. With your pack.”
“Mina is right. This is a safe place,” Eli insisted as he crouched down beside me. His hand gripped the edge of her bed, and my body became acutely aware of the mere inches separating my knee from the tips of his fingers. “Is there anything you can remember from that night we might be able to use to figure out who the person in charge was?”
Whispered words flowed past Violet’s lips. I could barely make out what she’d said, but when I focused hard enough, her words made my heart stop.
“He wanted you,” Violet repeated. “Not me. It wasn’t supposed to be me. It was supposed to be you.”
I knew this, but it still didn’t lessen the blow that came with hearing her words out loud. Of course Drew had wanted me. That was why Shane had been so smug that night. He thought it would be the last time he ever had to lay eyes on me.
“I saw him watching you. Pure evil in his eyes. He hates what we are. He hates us. I didn’t have to hear him say the words to know. I could feel it in the air around him. Hatred is a strong emotion when it’s deeply rooted inside a person,” Violet muttered as she placed the teacup to her lips. She took a small sip as the rest of us waited for her to continue. Her gaze drifted to me before she spoke again. “I should’ve listened to you. When I saw you in the woods I should have headed home, but I didn’t.”
“You were there?” Mrs. Marshall demanded. She’d remained silent until now, but I didn’t blame her for speaking up. “You saw her in the woods, running alone and shifted? You told her to go home? Why didn’t you say anything to me or my husband? To Callie?”
I didn’t know what to say. Awful didn’t do justice to describe how I felt.
“She was told not to,” Eli said. His words were firm but not harsh. I shifted to glance at him, wanting to thank him for sticking up for me, but his gaze was locked on Violet. “Do you know why you were taken instead of Mina? Did he say?”
“I was weaker,” she said matter-of-factly. I was surprised by how easily the words rolled off her tongue. “Mina is strong. She’s a fighter. The guy who abducted me knew this. He brought two tranquilizers for her. He only had to use one on me…”
I wanted to tell her she wasn’t weak, that the other tranquilizer had been used on Tate, but Eli flashed me a look that told me I should be quiet.
“Did he tell you what he intended to do with you?” Eli asked. I knew he was only asking to keep her talking, but I hated the way he’d worded the question.
When Violet’s eyes lifted to find mine again, anger flared within their color. The air seemed to grow thick as it became charged with her rage.
“He was going to sell me,” Violet insisted, her eyes never wavering from mine. “But he was going to do much worse to you. He watched you pretend to be normal, human, with his brother’s friend, and he didn’t like it.”
Eli tensed beside me as a shiver slipped up my spine. I hadn’t realized Drew held such hatred for me. Was that how Shane felt too?
Deep down, I knew the answer.
I forced my thoughts away. Drew was dead, and Shane didn’t matter right now. Violet did. We needed to figure out who was behind all of this. They needed to be stopped.
“Do you know who he planned to sell you to?” Eli asked, keeping us on track with gaining new information. “Did you hear anything pertaining to the person in charge?”
Violet took a sip from her tea. Her eyes glassed over again, and for a second time I wondered what herbs Gran had used in her drink. Whatever it was it must have been something good, because each time she took a sip, she looked as though she were high on something.
“No. I don’t know who he wanted to sell me to,” Violet insisted. “But I think there was more than one person involved.”
“What do you mean? Was he talking to more than one person on the phone? Or did more than one person stop by his house while you were being held there?” Eli asked.
Violet shook her head. “No. It was something he said. It sounded like he was double-crossing someone. He mentioned being afraid to have me at his place for long because they might find out. I can’t remember much. The tranquilizer he gave me was strong, but I know he said something along those lines when he left a message with someone on the phone.”
“There had to be a middleman to the whole operation then,” I said. “That must be who Drew was talking to.”
My mind raced with how big this situation might be. Eli and I might have bitten off more than we could chew.
“I never heard him say any names or places, though.” Violet shifted around on her bed. She winced from the movement, and I was reminded again that she wasn’t healing properly.
After I left here I planned to head home and talk with Gran. I wanted to know more about how Violet was doing health wise.
“I’m sorry but I don’t know anything more,” Violet insisted.
“Okay. If you think of anything, please let us know,” Eli said as he stood.
It didn’t go unnoticed the way he’d said us instead of
me. We were in this together. I was glad he’d realized not including me was a deal breaker. I needed to see this all play out. I needed to know who was running it. I needed to help find Glenn.
“I will,” Violet insisted before she took another sip of tea.
“I’ll see you out,” Mrs. Marshall said as she motioned us toward the door. We stepped into the hallway, and she closed the door behind us. When she spun around to face us, a look of worry pinched her features. “Is the person who did this to my little girl really no longer a threat?” she whispered.
I should’ve known the question would come. It was one any mother would think to ask, but still I hadn’t been prepared for it. My tongue was like sandpaper against the roof of my mouth as I thought of how to answer.
“Yes, he truly is no longer a threat,” Eli answered for me.
Mrs. Marshall’s eyes zeroed in on him. A wild look flared within them that made unease prickle along my skin. “Did that dead Hopkins boy they found have anything to do with this?”
I couldn’t breathe. I should’ve known people in the pack would piece it together on their own. Drew’s death had been ruled an accident, which was exactly what we’d staged, but that didn’t mean everyone would believe it. Especially not when one of our own had been rescued days before someone in town turned up dead.
“I’m not at liberty to say,” Eli insisted. “Pack business. I’m sorry.”
Mrs. Marshall soaked in Eli’s reply. Her face shifted through a handful of emotions before settling on one—displeasure. Eli’s answer hadn’t been satisfying enough for her. She wanted a person to blame. A face and name. I understood, but I also felt it was better she didn’t know. Knowing the one responsible had been taken care of, that he was no longer a threat, should be enough to satisfy her.
For anyone normal it would have been, but Mrs. Marshall was different. She was a werewolf, and just like the others in the trailer park, when one of our own had been hurt, we wanted to hunt down the person responsible and take justice into our own hands.
Eli started down the hall and I followed.
Gracie was on the couch beside Callie when we stepped into the living room of their single wide trailer. Her eyes flicked to me. I could see questions for me building in them. She wanted to know if I knew what was wrong with Violet. She wanted to know if she was right in thinking something was wrong. I chewed my bottom lip and held her stare. Maybe it would be enough to get my answer across to her without using words.
Something was definitely wrong with Violet. She wasn’t healing like she should, and I wasn’t one hundred percent sure the glassy look in her eyes was all Gran’s tea either.
Violet looked lost. Broken.
I needed to speak with Gran. I needed to know what her thoughts were on this. Mainly because a part of me still felt responsible for what happened to Violet. Maybe a part of me always would.
3
“I’m going to check in with my dad,” Eli said as we left Violet’s. “Update him.”
Gracie had opted to stay behind so she could spend more time with Callie before coming home for the night. She’d asked if I would check on Winston again for her.
I’d agreed to, of course. The little guy was growing on me.
“Update him on what?” I asked.
“Everything. He’s been away handling another pack-related issue.” He paused and scratched his head. “I haven’t been able to fill him in on anything.”
Our alpha was always dealing with something besides this situation. I knew he’d placed Eli on this, but I still couldn’t help but wonder what he could be handling that was more important. “Does he know we rescued Violet?”
“He knows she was found and that she’s alive. He doesn’t know any details, though.”
“That’s going to be a long conversation.”
A smirk twisted at the corners of Eli’s mouth. “Yeah, you can say that again.”
I crammed my hands into the back pockets of my shorts as we paused in the space that separated my Gran’s trailer from his parents. A long breath expelled from my lungs. “Well, good luck.”
“Thanks,” Eli said. “I’m hoping he has some advice for us.”
“That would be nice.”
We were back to square one. Violet hadn’t known anything that would help move this along. Which meant the only thing we had left in our tool belt was Peter, Shane’s oldest brother. We hadn’t searched his place yet.
“I’ll catch up with you later,” Eli insisted. His voice sounded odd.
Was he worried about what his dad might say once he learned how far Eli had gone to rescue Violet?
“You better. I want to know how it goes with your dad.” I hoped he wasn’t too hard on him. Killing someone—human or other—wasn’t something to ever be taken lightly, regardless of the situation. “I guess I’ll head inside and talk with Gran about Violet. Find out what’s going on with her. Didn’t you think there was something wrong with her? I mean she should be healed by now, shouldn’t she?” My brows furrowed as I thought about the bruises and scratches on her still.
“Her ankle, no. That’ll probably take time. Heck, you know as well as I do that when someone suffers a severe injury while in their human form nine times out of ten their wolf healing doesn’t kick in to heal them.”
“I know,” I said, knowing he was referencing my father’s accident. “I’m talking about the cuts and bruises. Those should have been healed days ago.”
Eli scratched his brow. “Yeah, I figured they would have been gone before we found her.”
“I don’t understand it, but…” I nodded toward Gran’s trailer. “I’m about to find out what’s going on.”
“If you learn anything, let me know, will you?”
“Sure,” I said as I stepped toward the stairs that led to my front door. “Keep me posted on the conversation with your dad, okay?”
“Maybe you should come over later tonight so you can fill me in and vice versa,” he said as his gaze locked with mine. “You can take a couple more sips from a volcano’s ass with me.” He winked as he started walking backward toward his parents’ trailer.
I didn’t say a word. Instead, I pretended to be thinking long and hard about his offer as I watched him walk away. A smile stretched across my face before he disappeared around the front of his parents’ trailer.
Nervous butterflies fluttered through my stomach. Not for the conversation I was about to have with Gran, but for Eli’s conversation with his dad. I couldn’t imagine how he must be feeling. He was about to tell his dad he’d killed someone. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. I was sure Eli’s dad had taken care of a few people in his position as alpha for the safety of the pack.
Even so, it still didn’t seem to justify a life being taken.
I stepped inside Gran’s place. A familiar scent made its way to my nose. I closed the door behind me. Gran was in the kitchen, concocting something made of herbs at the stove. I knew whatever she was making was for Violet.
“Are you done interrogating Violet for today?” she asked without glancing at me. Her tone was sharp. Even if I hadn’t noticed it, I would have known she was upset with me. I could sense her anger. It rolled off her in waves and lingered in the air alongside the heavy scent of herbs.
“We weren’t interrogating her,” I said as nicely as I could manage.
Gran shifted to face me, one of her brows arched high. “If you honestly don’t think what you were doing was interrogating the poor girl, then what do you call it?”
“Gathering information,” I said with a shrug.
“Exactly, interrogation.” Gran pursed her lips together as a look of heated irritation flashed through her eyes. Her anger didn’t last long. It dissipated quicker than I would have thought possible. “I know you’re working with Eli on this—whatever it is—and while I’m grateful you’re finally spending time with him, I wish you would’ve let Violet rest another day or two before you decided to bombard her with questions. The girl’s not
well, Mina.”
My throat grew thick. “What’s wrong with her? I know something’s off, but I can’t put my finger on what.” I crossed into the kitchen and propped my hip against the counter. “She should be healed, but she’s not.”
“Well, her ankle was pretty bad. It will take time,” Gran said as she continued stirring whatever she was heating on the stove. From where I stood, I could see a thick, brown substance in the pot. One that reminded me of dark molasses. “But it’s her bruises and cuts still being present that concerns me.”
“Do you think whatever drug she was given did something to her healing abilities?”
Gran shook her head. “No. I don’t think that has anything to do with it. I think it has more to do with how long she was left without silver touching her skin.”
Silver. I’d forgotten she hadn’t been wearing any when we found her. The bars of the cage she’d been locked in had been made of iron.
Had Drew known what silver did to us and how much we needed it? Could he have been that smart?
“I think Violet is having issues healing because being without silver for so long severed her from her wolf,” Gran said.
My heart hammered against my ribs. I’d never known anyone to become severed from her wolf before, but always knew it was possible.
Poor Violet. An image of her on her bed looking utterly broken flashed through my mind. Her potentially being severed from her wolf made the sight of all her silver jewelry make sense.
“How do we fix it? Fix her?” Panic settled inside me. Was there a way to fix this?
“Honestly, Mina, I’m not sure. I’ve never dealt with this before. All I can think to do is place as much silver around her as possible, keep giving her tea to calm her nerves, and pray to the moon goddess whatever has happened to her reverses itself in time.” Gran turned off the stove and poured the thick syrup she’d been stirring into a glass brown bottle. “You know as well as I do silver tethers the wolf to our human form. It keeps us connected. A way to keep our wolf close if we should need it. Take that away, and the connection, the bond, the tether fades until it disappears altogether.”
Moon Severed (Mirror Lake Wolves Book 3) Page 2