The Hollowing (COYWOLF Series Book 2)

by Abby Tyson

  "Hey you, play dead. Good puppy."

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Savi spent the afternoon with her mom, hearing all about the medic center where she volunteered, the miserable heat, and Dave's work. When Savi had gone missing, Chloe had been such a wreck that she'd not only gone to Berto for help, but she'd broken down and told Dave why she was really there. She'd begged him not to confront Berto, for fear of the repercussions, but Dave had done so anyway. Of course Berto had given Dave the same spiel he'd given Savi, about how Chloe must have misunderstood, and they were all free to move about the country as they pleased, then made barely veiled threats to Dave's license to practice, as well as Chloe and Savi's safety.

  Chloe had even told Dave about Savi's introduction to werewolves and the Alters. Apparently he had believed her, but Savi was willing to bet he'd merely said something psychologisty, like he believed that Chloe believed Savi. He was probably counting the seconds until he could analyze Savi's mental state.

  The whole time her mom had been talking, Savi tried to come up with an explanation of how she'd gotten kidnapped by the Zuun without giving away Marley and Ren's special natures, but she couldn't think of anything that sounded even remotely credible. So when it was time to reciprocate and tell her mom about their trip down the East Coast, she pushed her fears -- and Ren's warning -- aside and told her mom all about coywolves, starting with their werewolf-coyote origins, and ending with how the Zuun had tagged Ren when he was an animal to find him the next day as a human.

  She did not, however, tell her mom about Nissa and the origins, or about Amber and Pearl. Now that those two were no longer a threat, there was no need to alarm her.

  Her mom took the revelation about coywolves as well as she had taken the news about werewolves, although she seemed more concerned that Savi's boyfriend, specifically, wasn't human than that coywolves existed at all. She asked Savi question after question about how having a half-animal boyfriend made her feel, and if she could imagine a future with him. Savi told her honestly, in as many different ways she could think of, that she didn't know. Finally she ended the conversation by telling her mom she was too tired to talk anymore and escaping into her room to take a nap.

  Savi woke up to the sounds of her mom and Dave's low voices in the kitchen. She really did not want to see Dave, certain that he would start pummeling her with questions about how she felt about all of this. She lay in her bed for as long as she could, until the smell of food lured her out.

  Her mom immediately came over and gave her a big hug. "How are you feeling?"

  "Fine, thanks."

  "Perfect timing," Dave said from the kitchen as he served up three steaming plates of veggie stir-fry. "We were about to come get you."

  "Thanks for making dinner," said Savi as she poured herself some water and brought her plate to the table.

  "Did you pour yourself a drink, hon?" asked Chloe from the fridge.

  Both Savi and Dave answered, "Yes," at the same time. They looked at each other in awkward silence.

  "Sorry, sweetie," Chloe said with a chuckle, "I was talking to Dave."

  "Have you heard from Hettie lately?" Dave asked Savi as they began eating.

  "Not since Saturday night. She said she's really enjoying her classes and meeting new people." Savi gestured to her food. "This is really good, thank you. I was starving."

  "You're welcome. Not too strong on the curry? Sometimes I get a little carried away." He gave Chloe a pointed look, and she started laughing.

  "A little? The first night I was here he must have put in the whole jar, I swear. I took one bite and couldn't even swallow!"

  "You should have seen her face," said Dave, chuckling. "She wasn't just red, she was purple. I felt awful, but afterward we couldn't stop laughing about it." With a shrug, he added, "It was funnier than it sounds."

  Her mom was hysterical now, and Savi couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her trying to get words out through the silent laughter. "And the best part... was that he... he didn't even taste it!"

  "I tasted it," he teased. "I just didn't realize it was that strong. I guess that's what happens when you grow up eating food made by grandmothers whose taste buds are all but gone."

  Dave spent most of the dinner talking about his childhood in India, and Savi actually found herself laughing along at his stories of blaming goats for his mischief, and the time he broke his toe trying to do a magic trick. Whether they did it intentionally or as an unspoken rule, neither her mom nor Dave spoke of their peculiar circumstances, or anything related to the craziness that had entered their lives over the past few weeks, and Savi appreciated it.

  As she watched Dave and Chloe clean up in the kitchen, she was struck by how smoothly they moved together in the tiny space -- never getting in each other's way, putting a light hand on a shoulder or back to let the other know they were there. There was no discussion over who would wash the dishes or the counters, they simply picked up a sponge and did what was needed. They acted more like a couple on their honeymoon than people being held against their wills.

  Once again, Savi argued with herself about whether the knowledge of Monty's true nature and untimely death would be welcome closure or a burden to her mom. Her thoughts mingled with the scene before her, and she wondered if this was how it would have been if Monty had stayed. She pictured him standing beside her mom instead of Dave, drying dishes, pecking her on the cheek. Dave's copper-colored skin darkened into Monty's coffee tones, Monty's lean and wiry body overtook Dave's broad shoulders and square build, and -- most importantly -- Dave's feathery black hair tightened and curled, matching Savi's own. But even as she indulged herself in this childhood fantasy, reality wouldn't let her enjoy it.

  Monty left, Savi reminded herself, shaking the vision from her thoughts. Dave's here. He makes my mom happy. She deserves to be happy.

  When they were done in the kitchen, a silent message passed between her mom and Dave. They both glanced at Savi, sitting in the recliner in the living room outside her bedroom door, and she hastily looked back down at the newspaper in her lap.

  "So, honey," said Chloe, sitting on the love seat. Dave sat beside her, his eyes on Savi.

  "Yeah?" Savi asked, fighting the panic rising in her throat. Now is when the psychiatric analysis starts.

  "We have something we want to tell you."

  "I'm actually feeling pretty wiped," said Savi, starting to get up.

  "Oh, well --"

  "This won't take long," said Dave, raising his hand to stop Savi from leaving. She sat back down, staring at the coffee table.

  "Okay," her mom began, "well, yesterday, when I told Dave what was going on and why I'm really here, we both came to the same conclusion."

  The same conclusion. Savi's palms began to sweat as understanding dawned upon her. They don't believe me after all.

  "I don't want you to think we made this decision without even considering your feelings," continued Chloe, putting her hand on Savi's knee, "but I hope you can understand our reasoning."

  Savi focused on her breathing, trying to ignore the dinner that was threatening to come back up. If her own mother didn't believe her, who would? Had Dave already made arrangements to have her locked up? Was there an ambulance waiting outside? If she ran now, where would she go? She didn't know where Ren was, but maybe she could call her phone again and Marley would tell her.

  That won't work -- it's nighttime. This unavailability after sunset thing was really becoming irksome.

  "Are you okay, hon?" asked her mom.

  Through the tears that were about to spill over, she said, "I'm not feeling very well."

  Maybe I could slip out through my bedroom window.

  "Oh, sweetheart," said Chloe. She turned to Dave. "I told you that tomato was questionable."

  "I don't think it's that, my love," he said, watching Savi with a knowing sympathy.

  Love? She'd never heard them say that word to each other.

  "Why don't you cut to the cha
se?" said Dave.

  "It's okay," said Savi, standing up. "You can tell me tomorrow. I'm really tired." She wondered if there was a plastic bag or something in her room that she could use to pack a few clothes in.

  "No," Dave said, standing as well. He smiled down at Chloe. "Tell her."

  "No," said Savi. "I don't want you to tell me, really. I'm just going to go to bed."

  "Maybe we should wait," said Chloe.

  Savi opened her bedroom door as Dave's voice rose above Chloe's.

  "We're getting married."

  Savi stood in the doorway, trying to determine if she'd misheard him. "What?" she asked, still facing her bedroom.

  "We're engaged."

  Her mom's voice, a mixture of delight and concern, made Savi turn around. Dave and Chloe were standing beside each other, his hand on her back. Her mom looked like she couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry, while Dave's face was firm, as if expecting a fight.

  "That's not what I -- I mean, I thought you didn't --" Savi's brain refused to function. All the words she knew she should be saying stuck in her throat.

  "We thought, life is too short to wait until we think we're ready," said Chloe, stepping forward and brushing her hand over Savi's forehead. "We love each other, we respect each other, and he wants to be part of our family."

  Savi looked into her mom's tearful eyes.

  "Nothing will ever change you and me," her mom said. "You are my true love, and you will always come first, no matter what."

  Giving into her tears, Savi collapsed into her mother's arms.

  "I'm not crying because you're getting married," she said through her sniffles. "I thought..." She couldn't finish; it was too embarrassing.

  "What?" asked Chloe, petting Savi's hair.

  Savi laughed and pulled away. "I thought you didn't believe me after all, about the werewolf and coywolf stuff." She looked at Dave, who was watching them with tight lipped concern. "I thought you were going to have me institutionalized."

  Dave arched an eyebrow and let out a breath of laughter. "No," he said, shaking his head, "your mother was very convincing about all of that..." He nodded his head, as if confirming to himself that he was really going to say it. "... werewolf stuff. But what's this about coywolves?"

  "Let's not talk about that now," said Savi, wiping her eyes again. "Let's talk about even crazier stuff, like precisely how he popped the question." Savi sat back down in the recliner and seized her mom's left hand as she walked by. "And where's your rock?"

  Even though Savi really didn't want to talk about her mother getting married, she wanted to talk about Marley even less. So as they recounted the details of Dave's less than romantic proposal, Savi pushed her own feelings about their engagement aside and focused on the fact that anything that made her mom's eyes sparkle like that made Savi happy.

  She kept smiling as they told her that they'd already broken the news to his mother, and that she insisted on a traditional wedding in India where most of Dave's family still lived. His mother had also immediately set aside an heirloom engagement ring, to be hand delivered by a cousin who was flying to America next month for a job interview. But when talk turned to the differences between weddings in America and India, Savi yawned, giving her mom the subliminal cue to end the conversation.

  "Ten-thirty!" her mom said, cutting off Dave's description of the traditional Indian wedding game of hiding the groom's shoes. "Hon, you've got to get to bed." She tapped Savi on the knee. "You and I are spending all day together tomorrow, and I want you to be fresh and well rested."

  Savi laughed. "What are we doing?"

  "Girls' day out, of course! We need celebratory pedicures, manicures, massages, new clothes, ice cream sundaes -- whatever we want. We may not have come here by choice, but we are in Florida -- we might as well enjoy what we can of it before we leave."

  Her mom gave her a big hug. Thankfully Dave stayed out of arm's reach, not forcing Savi to hug him if she didn't want to. She went in the bathroom and got ready for bed, humming Take Me Home, Country Roads the whole time. Leaving the light on, she crawled into bed and put herself to sleep by thinking over and over, I'm happy for them, I'm happy for them, I'm happy for them...

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Marley sat by the front door of his motel room. With a glance out the window to confirm that the car pulling into the parking lot wasn't Savi and her mom, he looked back down at his notebook, rereading his unfinished poem.

  Savannah,

  the open plain,

  all faults exposed,

  more stars than dreams.

  Nowhere to hide

  but in your hair.

  Reworking it needed more focus than he was able to give at present, but seeing her name calmed his racing heart. He went to the bathroom and once again checked his hair, his teeth, his clothes.

  The back sliding door opened, and he smirked. He had been listening to Lila and Nissa argue next door for at least ten minutes, and had been expecting their spat to spill over into his room.

  "Can you guys please trap Little Miss Wet Blanket in here with you?" asked Lila's irritated voice. Marley stepped out of the bathroom, and nearly stumbled when he saw her.

  Lila was leaning against the back door frame in nothing but a bright green bikini. The sight of so much of her curved, muscular body and her smooth skin revived what Marley had convinced himself during the drive down was simply a fleeting, trivial, physical attraction. Her black, velvet braids hung loose on her shoulders, and his fingers itched to confirm whether they were as soft as they appeared.

  "Where's Ren?" she asked.

  "He went for a walk," he said. Skirting past her to the front door, he peeked through the curtains and prayed for Savi to arrive.

  "Well I thought it was understood that we were taking it easy tonight and not talking any more shop until tomorrow," she said. "I want to enjoy what little sun is left of the day, but this bottle of whine won't shut up."

  "I did not just spend a week in a van with little sleep, bad food, and worse company to lounge around in a motel room or work on my tan," came Nissa's squeaky yet demanding reply as she squeezed past Lila into the room. "The only reason we're here is to rescue my soulmate."

  "Yeah, and thanks to Ren, I'm the only one who can go scope out the Den and try to find your girlfriend without being recognized," snapped Lila. "So you might want to think twice before pissing me off, don't you think?"

  Lila slammed the door closed, a small crack appearing in the glass.

  "She's not my girlfriend!" Nissa shouted after her. Mumbling something about immature juveniles, she turned to Marley. "Are we really going to laze about here when we're so close?" she demanded.

  "We did talk about this," said Marley. "There's nothing we can do right now. It's too close to sunset, and we don't even know where Karis is."

  "When we were connected," she said, her eyes eager, "I remember seeing a metal room with no windows."

  "How is that supposed to help us?" he said harshly, watching the parking lot.

  At the sound of Nissa struggling with the slider door, Marley's throat tightened with shame. Nissa may act like an adult, but she was just a kid, no matter what her age. He tried to imagine what it would be like to lose his strength, his heightened senses, to be only human every night. While he'd love to be able to watch the stars with Savi, he knew it wouldn't feel right. During Anwi's Eye, he always felt... not half of himself, but certainly lessened, diminished; living like that would be torture.

  Crossing the room, he knelt beside Nissa. The sight of her wet, plump face, red from heaving on the heavy door, made him want to cradle her in his arms.

  "I'm sorry, Nissa. Being apart from Savi for so long is really --"

  "Quit babbling and open this!" Nissa screamed.

  A knock on the front door urged Marley into action. Shuffling Nissa out the back, he ran across the room. With his hand on the doorknob, he was grinning before he even opened the door.

  But his prepared g
reeting froze on his lips. The person standing in front of him couldn't possibly be the girl he'd been waiting three days to see.

  Her hair was gone. The luxuriant black waves that he loved had disappeared, with only their short, spiky roots remaining.

  "Savi?" he asked, hardly believing it.

  "What do you think?" she said.

  Marley could only stare. She looked completely different. Without her long tresses to soften them, her high cheekbones and round eyes were more noticeable, making her seem older. Her smell was all wrong too, buried underneath the hairdresser's products and new clothes. It wasn't until she smiled -- her perfectly Savi smile that was at the same time nervous and defiant -- only then did he see the girl he knew.

  "I told you I always wanted to go pixie," she added, her racing heart belying her calm appearance.

  He laughed. "You look amazing." He started to reach for her, but the presence of another woman -- tall, blonde, and as intimidating as he remembered -- stilled his hands.

  "Marley," started Savi, "this is my mom, Chloe Claudie."

  "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Claudie," said Marley.

  "And you," she said, shaking his hand with a guarded smile that he'd seen on Savi's lips many times.

  "Come on in." He stepped aside as they accepted his invitation. Gesturing them toward the two chairs at the small table by the door -- the only true seating -- he sat on the edge of the closest bed.

  "Where's Ren?" asked Savi. "Taking a walk?"

  Marley was startled by both her question and her accurate guess. "Yeah, he --"

  "Estlin!" Savi cried, her face alight with triumph. "Ren's named after E. E. Cummings: Edward Estlin Cummings!" She gave Marley an apologetic look. "Sorry, it's been bugging me for days. I knew I recognized that name."

  "How do you know Ren's middle name?" he asked, almost too shocked to notice the twisting in his gut. "He doesn't tell anyone."