The Hollowing (COYWOLF Series Book 2)

by Abby Tyson

  "Next crocodile swam past coyote in the water, pausing to stare. Coyote worried that crocodile saw through her disguise, but when he opened his giant mouth it was to say, 'Goddess, who is more beautiful than sunlight on the water, please may I be as brave as man, so I may keep my flesh and skins?'

  "Coyote so enjoyed crocodile's flattery, and was so eager for crocodile to be gone, that she plucked a bone from Anwi's necklace. 'Eat this, and you will be braver even than man.' And crocodile did eat it, and he became braver than man."

  Lila, who was standing behind Marley, started speaking. He closed his eyes, fighting the urge to turn around. As he listened to her voice, the memory of her hand on him was too vivid, and he opened his eyes to stare at the old man instead.

  "Soon snake and owl had come to drink from the river, and both, seeing the goddess's robe and necklace, had mistaken coyote for Anwi herself. Coyote gave them each bones from Anwi's necklace, granting their wishes to be stealthier, and wiser, than man. But as owl took to the sky, wolf jumped out of the forest shadows.

  "'Anwi!' wolf shouted. 'Anwi, give me the gift of speed! I wish to kill my prey so quickly that they will die without ever seeing me. Please, grant my wish!'

  "Bear, crocodile, vulture, snake, and owl had all been respectful, heaping coyote with praise in a whisper as low as their reverent eyes. Wolf was loud in her demands, and coyote hastily threw her a bone to stop her cries."

  Marley was grateful when a boy who looked barely older than Nissa took over.

  "But Anwi had heard, and upon discovering coyote, Anwi stripped off her garb. As the goddess slipped the necklace from coyote's neck, coyote snatched one of the bones in her teeth. They each pulled until the bone broke in two. Coyote swallowed the jagged bone, and became a woman as tall and beautiful as Anwi herself.

  "'You cannot keep this form, coyote,' Anwi told her. 'You swallowed only half the bone, and as punishment for your mischief I will not give you the other half.'"

  The old man standing opposite Lila recovered the tale, taking small, shuffling steps toward the brothers. "Coyote, who was now a woman, stumbled away on her new legs. At sunset, her four legs returned, and she sought her coyote sisters and brothers. When she found them, they shunned her, for the reek of humanity still clothed her. She spent the night searching for a new pack to accept her, but none would. In the morning, when Zun, the sun god, awoke, his yellow fingers tickled away her fur to reveal the smooth skin of her new form. She again sought family, this time among the humans, but her manners were strange, and she was cast from the villages, destined to live alone."

  The space between them now closed, the old man lay his hands on Ren and Marley's shoulders. "We are her family," he said. "We are family."

  As Marley stared into the deep eyes of the old man, he forgot why he had come. His anger, his responsibilities, his dreams, all vanished from his memory. A peace unlike any he'd ever known was born within him, growing and spreading, filling him with a single profound, consuming thought: I'm home.

  The old man's voice sang to him, lulling him like his own father never had. "Welcome, brothers, children of coyote. I am Kofi."

  Sniffing and licking with interest, the female urged it to follow with a nip on the ear, then chased after the others. The instinct to run with the pack sang in the coywolf's bones, pushing it onward, with only a quick thought for its brother trotting anxiously behind.

  She led them through a narrow path that tunneled between and under the thorny bushes. The scent of the clearing was still close when the coywolf barreled into the female, who had stopped unexpectedly. She huffed at him, but remained stationary. Another of the pack was in front of her, also standing motionless. A moment later the pack members darted forward a few strides, then stopped again.

  The coywolf could hear the cars ahead, but didn't understand what was happening until they made it past a curve in the path. The female was crouched low to the ground, the road just on the other side of the guard rail. The coywolf and its brother touched their bellies to the ground as well, until she gave a soft yip and raced across the gray pavement. The coywolf was right behind her, not realizing its brother wasn't with them until they reached the railroad tracks.

  Though its kindred continued west, deeper into the woods, the coywolf fought their pull and waited for its brother, trapped alone on the other side of the deadly road. The female whined and trotted a few steps toward the pack, but then returned, butting her head against his. Her scent was intoxicating. The coywolf's mind went fuzzy, and he was starting to question why he was still staring at the long line of headlights through the trees when his brother burst through.

  Rubbing muzzles across each other's shoulders in greeting, the brothers greeted each other, eager to begin their night together. But when the coywolf turned west, following the female who was already running to catch up with the pack, its brother turned east.

  The coywolf barked, halting its brother and the female. The smell of civilization in the east was strong, and though that would make for a more familiar hunt, the coywolf felt drawn to the pack behind him. His own kind. A need he had never known existed now demanded he run with them, hunt with them. He couldn't leave them.

  His brother huffed in response, but stood its ground. The coywolf barked again, jumping in a circle, and ending facing west. When its brother still didn't move, the coywolf whined, bobbed its head, and gave into its instincts, racing after the female. She matched his pace, each pushing each until they were flying down the tracks. The smell of the pack became stronger, and soon the coywolf was surrounded, warmed from all sides by his own kind. The others leapt on him playfully, butting heads, learning his smell and sharing theirs.

  With a silent grace, the alpha proudly walked through the pack. Though old, with small patches of gray fur missing, it demanded respect, and the others skittered out of its way to make a path. The mood shifted from playful to serious as the alpha sniffed the lowered head of the hopeful new addition.

  For something told the coywolf he wasn't truly a member of the pack yet. He was still an outsider, still at risk of losing the family he had discovered. Nearby the female whined, but the coywolf kept his nose to the stony ground, the breath of the alpha on his forehead, his ears, his neck. If the alpha decided to cast the coywolf out, the pack would have no choice but to accept. Though he knew he could survive without them, the coywolf also knew that he didn't want to.

  The alpha ceased its inspection. The coywolf and the pack held perfectly still in anticipation, awaiting the verdict.

  When a victorious, jubilant howl cut through the night air, the coywolf held his head low, almost unbelieving. Back home, he and his brother rarely howled, stealth and silence their most powerful weapons. But soon the rest of the pack joined in, and the chorus was too enchanting to ignore. The coywolf raised his voice to the sky. The sound of his own melody harmonizing with his new brothers and sisters filled him with a joy and a power he'd never imagined.

  The alpha took off into the forest, followed first by the coywolf, with the female close by his side. With the air sharp on his face, he breathed in the hot scent of the pack, listened to the sounds of them racing around him.

  The woods had always been little more than a route for him, something to pass through while he thought of more important things like dinner and humans and cars. But now, with the pack -- his pack -- moving as one but with the strength of many through the wild forest, the coywolf had only one simple thought:

  I'm home.

  Chapter Twenty

  After cruising the deserted parking lot in search of Marley and Ren, Savi parked at the edge of the lot, facing the road that led to where she'd left the brothers the night before. Glenn and Nissa sat far in the back. From the soft, wordless noises Nissa was making, Savi guessed they were having some sort of telepathic conversation. Nissa hadn't spoken a civil word to Savi since the Refuge, but she had been less harsh to Glenn, even insisting on serving his dinner last night. Now Savi could see in the mirror Nissa's
hand resting on his back. Savi still didn't know where Glenn had been during her encounter with Amber and Pearl, but something had definitely shifted between the two of them since then.

  Savi pushed back against the mild pressure in her forehead. It was barely half an hour after sunrise, and though it had only been three mornings since they left Massachusetts, she was already beyond sick of these early starts -- not to mention the miserable nights.

  At least last night had been better, she thought, though with an irksome pang of guilt. Once again Nissa had forced them to sleep with the lights off, so Savi had brought her backpack into the bathroom and drank three of the six tiny bottles of whiskey she had stashed.

  I thought you gave all that up? a small voice said. I thought you didn't need it anymore.

  It's only for sleeping, Savi countered. I'm escaping stupid nightmares, not reality.

  Her shame wouldn't let it go. I knew you wouldn't be able to do it, and so did you.

  Savi argued silently with herself until a knock on the window startled her back into a world unconcerned with her guilt and justifications. Ren stood outside the van, in the same clothes he had been wearing the day before.

  "Where's Marley?" Savi asked as she rolled down the window.

  "He hasn't shown up yet," he said, scratching his back. "The coywolves want to talk to Nissa."

  "I'll stay here," Savi said as Nissa got out.

  Ren nodded. "That's what I was thinking too."

  He and Nissa paused on the sidewalk that ran along the main road, talking about something that Savi couldn't hear. To Savi's surprise, Nissa put her arms up, and Ren lifted her, clutching her against his chest as he jogged across.

  Glenn came up and sat in the front with her. "So you and Nissa are hitting it off, huh?" asked Savi.

  He gave a soft whine and what might have been a wolf's version of a shrug.

  "Well I'm glad," she said. "She needs a friend." Laying her seat back, she added, "And I need sleep."

  It was too early to call her mom -- or Warren, whom she'd forgotten to call the night before -- so she closed her eyes, annoyed at how tired she was. Even though she didn't remember having any nightmares, she still didn't feel well rested.

  She was starting to drift off when the passenger's side door opened. Savi jerked awake, bumping her knee on the steering wheel.

  Ren stood outside, looking at Glenn. "Can I sit here?"

  Glenn hopped down, making himself comfortable on the middle seat. Savi winced at the loud clap as Ren shut the door.

  "Marley hasn't shown up yet," he said, scratching his back, "and I know he wouldn't want you to be alone." He looked over his shoulder at Glenn and added, "No offense."

  The wolf waved his paw at them, as if to say, None taken.

  Savi would rather have been left alone, but was too weary to say so. She took off her shoes and lay back down, tucking her feet up on the seat.

  "I also wanted to finish talking to you," he said.

  Keeping her eyes closed, and not bothering to hide her irritation, Savi asked, "Finish talking about what?"

  "About what you said to the origins, about not helping them."

  Her eyes popped open. Ren was sitting sideways in the seat, staring at her with those intense, forest green eyes.

  "I don't have anything else to say to you about that," she snapped. "It's my choice, not yours, or Marley's, or --"

  Ren held up his hands in defense, his hard face softening. "What I was trying to say yesterday," he said, speaking over her, "was that I was really surprised when you said you wouldn't help them. At first I thought you were being selfish. Even when I woke up yesterday, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was so angry at you -- I mean, really mad."

  Savi had heard enough. "Your brother already tried to convince me that I'm wrong," she said, sitting up and reaching for her shoes. "I don't need to hear it from you too."

  "No, wait," Ren protested. Savi continued slipping her shoes on. "What I'm trying to say is that, I was way more mad than I should have been. I didn't understand why I was so angry."

  Then he made a sound that Savi thought at first was a cough, but when she glanced at him, she was shocked to see him smiling. She didn't remember ever seeing him smile before, and the sight of it held her in her seat. He was always so moody, acting more like a father to Marley than a brother. His smile reminded her that no one knew which was born first, and Ren could actually be the younger of the two.

  He made the sound again -- a guttural breath of laughter. "I don't really care if the world changes," he said, "as long as I have my corner of the forest, the rest of the world can burn to the ground for all I care."

  "That's comforting," she said.

  Even though he had been the one to laugh first, he seemed surprised by her levity, even if it was sarcastic. He rubbed his thin beard.

  "Marley's the wordsmith in the family," he said through his hands. Once again he gave that deep, grating chuckle, making Savi smile.

  "Marley can be a little overdramatic," she said. "Sometimes I can't tell if he's saying what he actually thinks, or if it's what he thinks I want to hear."

  Ren shook his head. "He's crazy about you," he said, staring blankly at the dashboard and scratching his back again. "Too crazy."

  "Is your back okay?" Savi asked. "You've been rubbing it all morning."

  Bringing his hands into his lap, he shrugged it off. "It's probably a bug bite or something."

  He turned back to her, solemnly searching her face for something, but seconds later he broke into a smile again and hung his head. "Where was I?" he asked.

  "I believe you were saying the world could go to hell in a hand basket and you wouldn't mind as long as everyone left you alone."

  "Right," he said, taking a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say, is that I was too angry at you, and it took me all morning to figure out why." His sober demeanor had returned, all traces of his laughter gone.

  "And?" she prodded, when he didn't continue.

  "I wasn't mad at you," he said, watching a few cars pass by on the main road. "I was mad at me."

  A black van pulled up beside them, and a woman with short, spiky white hair hopped out and knocked on Ren's window.

  "I know her," said Savi, "but how...?" The sight of Ren scratching his back again as he rolled down the window flooded her with dread.

  "No!" she cried. In the same instant that Ren's head turned towards Savi, the woman took aim at him with a dart gun.

  He must have seen it out of the corner of his eye, because Ren jerked the door open, knocking the woman back as she fired. The dart missed, whizzing hardly an inch past Savi's face and cracking into her window.

  "Go!" Ren shouted, slamming the door shut again and rolling up the window.

  Savi was already reaching for the keys on the dashboard, but before she could get them into the ignition, her door opened, and a man in black tried to yank her out. Glenn leapt into the front and jumped onto Savi's lap, a snarling, writhing black mass attacking her assailant.

  As she tried to keep her seat, Savi heard the back door slide open as more men in black burst in. Ren opened his door again and jumped out of his seat, circling back to grab one of the men from behind and drag him out, tossing him unceremoniously onto the sidewalk.

  Glenn let out a yelp, and Savi saw a dart sticking out of his back. The man who had fired aimed his gun at her, but suddenly jerked backwards. Ren wrenched him out of the van and threw him on top of the other, who was just starting to stand up.

  A fierce, stinging pain erupted in Savi's neck, and the man by her door, his face bloodied from Glenn's claws, grabbed her arm once again.

  "Ren!" she called, clinging to the steering wheel with one hand. Glenn's limp body slid to the floor.

  Ren leapt straight up, landing so hard on the roof of the van that he made a dent. A heartbeat later he was outside her window, tearing the man away from her and hurling him at the other two. He plucked the dart from her neck, but as he started to sco
op her up, his body gave two quick, short spasms as a dart landed in his neck, and another in his shoulder.

  "So that's why you were so interested in coywolves," the woman with white hair said, her tranquilizer gun still leveled at Ren from behind.

  Ren ripped the darts from his body and grabbed for Savi, but more rained down on him, fired by the men in black.

  "Go!" cried Savi, her body already going numb. He reached for her once more, but instead of picking her up, he toppled forward, almost on top of her.

  One of the men in black pulled him back outside, but even though he was clearly having difficulty keeping himself upright, Ren managed to land a few well-placed punches before collapsing onto the pavement. Without thinking, Savi climbed out of the van, but found that she couldn't stand either, and fell to her knees beside Ren.

  "Who are you?" the woman asked, her voice distant and muted.

  Savi rolled onto her back, struggling to keep her eyes open. A figure loomed over her against a blackened sky, but it wasn't the woman staring down at her. Savi knew that face and tried to scream, but no sound would come. Jameson, his cruel laughter filling her ears, whispered, I found you.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  "Stop! Please!"

  Her mom is screaming in pain, but a hand is clamped over Savi's mouth and she cannot call out.

  "You did this," a voice hisses in her ear. "You did this to her."

  Savi needs to break free, to find her mom, but something cold and sharp locks her hands by her sides. In the pitch black, she can't see what it is.

  "You killed them all," says the voice, hot on her ear.

  Then Marley's voice rises above their cries, chanting her name. "Savi! Savi! Savi!"

  "Savi!"

  Her consciousness began to creep in, although her eyes, sticky with sleep and sweat, remained closed. She tried to wipe her damp hair from her face, but her hand wouldn't cooperate. Prying her eyes open, Savi discovered she was strapped to a hospital bed.