Second Skin (Skinned)

by Graves, Judith

  “What I’ve done?” Paige said. “Why is all about me?”

  “I don’t know, Paige,” I said. “Why don’t you tell us? Why has

  Wade been in contact with you? Do you know where he is?”

  Paige looked at me, considering. “He told me not to tell you. That you’d do something stupid.”

  I grabbed my cousin by the coat collar and backed her against the café’s brick wall, lifting her up to the tips of her toes. Because I was working against the urge to give in and let my mouth fill with fangs, my words came out guttural and broken. “Where is he? Tell me now, or I’ll beat it out of you.” The backs of my hands began to tingle. Dark hairs sprouted and crept along my fingers, my nails lengthened.

  “Okay, okay.” Paige held up her hands as if I’d pulled a gun on her. But I’d done worse, I’d let her see a bit of the wolf in me. “He asked about you at first. What you guys were up to. If you had a plan to fight the night mare.”

  I shoved Paige away and sucked in the cool air, fighting for control, quick to tuck my hands inside my coat pocket until they returned to normal.

  “He knows about that?” Brit said.

  “I told him some things, and others he seemed to already know. But today he sent me a text, saying he needed me to get him. That he’d changed his mind and wanted out. He said some witch had him under lock and key.”

  The mint I’d scented in the café.

  The pull to descend the basement stairs. Kate’d had Wade all this time?

  She was dead meat.

  A Good Little Scream Queen

  I’d trusted a witch.

  When did I get so stupid?

  I bolted for the café’s back door, pounding on the solid wood. I let my wolf surface once more, carving into the wood with the two-inch-long claws that sprouted from my fingers.

  Kate had known where Wade was this whole time. She’d trapped him in her basement. Why? She’d always been a bit of a Wade supporter, had never outright accused him of being evil the way the Delacroix had. I’d assumed Wade’s mother being a witch had earned him some sympathy with her.

  He changed his mind? What did that mean? That he’d asked

  Kate to truss him up and keep him out of commission? For a guy with a master plan to destroy his father, he’d sure made some foolish decisions.

  “Kate, open up right now or I swear by all that’s unholy, I’ll rip this place to pieces.”

  “I’ll huff and I’ll puff,” Paige sing-songed.

  My gaze pinned her to the wall. “Don’t. I don’t want to hear your voice. I don’t even want to hear you breathing.” I glared at her for a long moment. A rush of power had me clenching my fists, my arms shaking with the effort to tamp down my wolf. It would be so easy. One more word, a second more of her direct stare, and I’d charge.

  Paige bowed her head and looked away. The correct response, whether she knew the sign of submission in the wolven world or not. My wolf retreated, leaving me to deal with a different kind of rush, one that had little to do with power and everything to do with human emotions. Mainly the overwhelming sting of Wade’s betrayal. He had sent me a few mental messages, had woken me from my dream when my wolf threatened to attack Marie, and yet our communication had hardly been a two-way street. He hadn’t let me in. He’d shut me out.

  But not Paige.

  If he’d wanted details about our plans, why go through her? Why not just directly mind-link with me and snag the info he needed? He’d told Paige he needed her. To feed upon? After he’d sworn he’d never use her like that again? He knew how susceptible Paige was to his thrall. Likely the reason he’d been able to get through to her despite Kate’s spell.

  Brit got on her cell, gathering the troops, calling Matt and Alec in to take care of the big bad wolf camped out on Kate’s doorstep. Then I thought of how evasive the entire crew had been about Wade’s disappearance.

  The only one with the power to do that was Kate. We’d asked her to do the spell on Paige, but what was to stop them from asking her to do the same about Wade? No one brought up his name. Not the crew, not the teachers, not the students. It was as if Wade, the golden boy of Redgrave High, had been wiped from their minds.

  Paige and I were the only ones who’d worried about him when he’d vanished after Logan’s attack. We were the only ones who believed he was on our side.

  What if the crew had made this call without me?

  Brit glanced up, her eyes narrowing on the sudden cloud cover.

  “Eryn,” she warned.

  I pivoted on one foot. At the end of the alley, wind collected a fine mist of glittering snow, swirling it into the air like a six-foot high snow cone. The momentary blurring I experienced as my wolven vision kicked in took me off guard. I blinked to focus, ignoring the intense color saturation and sharp edges of the world that I usually paused to admire. My wolf didn’t see limited colors as with most canines. When engaged this way, my vision was an explosion of color, enhanced lines, and clarity—looking at life through the pages of a graphic novel.

  Wolfy vision enabled me to see beyond the limits of human sight. Though Brit was squinting at the swirling snow with distrust, I could see what was coming at us. A shiver rushed up my spine, setting me on edge like a cat with its fur rubbed the wrong way.

  Something moved within the mist. It came closer, gliding with purpose. Determined. Its true shape shielded by the whipping wind. I zoomed in on the vague outline of broad shoulders, dark hair, and long black leather coat dusting the ground.

  Wade?

  I sucked in a breath. No, not Wade.

  My pulse pounded in my chest. The snow began to settle, leaving only the imposing form of Logan Gervais, Redgrave’s chief of police and master vampire. What was he coming after us for? We had a deal. He’d leave us alone as long as I was tracking down my father’s work.

  But I wasn’t, was I? The thought stabbed at me. If I’d put everyone at risk because I feared digging at my parents’ trail in case I found something I didn’t want to face…

  The smell of rotten eggs filled my nostrils. Not Logan’s usual toxic blend of deathmint. Ugh…a master vampire by any other conjuring didn’t smell sweet. Period. I let out a relieved breath. This was another of the night mare’s tricks. Deadly, yes, but without all the nasty ramifications had this really been Logan out for our blood.

  Paige slid along the brick wall, preparing to flee the way we had come, to the main street via the path between buildings. I shot her a glare.

  “Stay with us and you might make it out of this alive,” I said. Behind Paige, the door to Conundrum opened. Though it seemed to occur in slow mo, I did nothing to stop what happened. I could only stare, stunned at the hand and forearm that reached out and grabbed Paige’s coat. The flesh transformed the instant it left the darkness of the Conundrum interior. Smooth white skin blackened and puckered, the appearance of muscle and sinew drained away, shriveling to a dried husk over bone, until the hand that yanked Paige back into the café was that of a thousand-year-old mummy.

  Brit bolted after Paige.

  Logan’s mocking voice filled the alley. “Just you and me, kid? That’s the way I like it.”

  I spun to face him, reaching for the hilt of my athame, but before I could brandish it, I was sucked into the café along with a small cloud of snow.

  The solid door slammed on Logan’s fang-filled smile.

  Brit, Paige, and I stood in the dim entry waiting for the wood to shatter on its hinges. Our chests rose and fell with the force of our panicked breaths. The door rattled and groaned. Then went still.

  We froze as well.

  Half a minute elapsed, and a whole lot of nothing happened. We pressed our ears against the surface, straining to hear what was happening on the other side, though my enhanced hearing had already told me the night mare version of Logan, the snow, and wind were no longer a threat.

  I straightened first. The others gave a collective sigh and followed suit.

  “Poor baby,” Br
it said and grabbed her doll from Paige’s limp grasp. “First I drop you, and then you have to rely on Forgetfullocks for survival. I swear I’ll never abandon you again.”

  “I don’t know which is creepier, the night mare, or you with that thing,” I said. I glanced beyond Paige. “Who brought you in here? Cleopatra?” At her blank look, I frowned. “You didn’t see anything when you got inside?”

  “Nothing. Something pulled me in, and then I was on my own until you guys came in.”

  I swung to Brit. “You saw it, right? The hand, the arm…all normal, and then black and rotten?”

  She grimaced. “Yeah, but not in front of the baby. Please.” Unsheathing my athame, I stepped around Brit to stand at the top of the basement stairs. If the entrance and hall to the café were dark and gloomy, the basement was downright uninviting. The sigils carved on the handrail cast a thready green glow along the wall, before fading into pitch black at the base of the stairs. I inhaled deeply, scenting a whiff of mint so faint I might be imagining it.

  Wade, are you down there? Damn it, answer me!

  My foot hovered over the first step.

  “Kate, where are you?” Brit called out. A low moan from the main seating area of the caféhad Brit and Paige bolting down the hallway, their footsteps thunderous in the quiet.

  “Guys? Wait a sec. That might not be a good idea.” Not that my plan was any brainier. I wanted to follow the others, to make sure Brit and Paige were safe, to see if Kate was okay so I could kill her myself. But I wanted to find out if Wade was imprisoned in the basement of Conundrum café a hell of a lot more.

  Athame clutched in hand, I descended the stairs.

  Lovely. I was trapped in the role of expendable redshirt in a slasher flick. I could almost hear the movie audience yelling at me to turn back, feel the popcorn striking the screen, and see the self- professed thrillseekers watching through splayed fingers.

  But like a good little scream queen, I crept downward.

  If I had to face a monster alone in a cold, dank basement, I’d take my chances with Wade any day. Like my father used to say, better the devil you know. Besides, I’d stopped thinking of Wade as a monster the moment I saw his face after he’d killed his mother. A true monster wouldn’t feel that kind of anguish and guilt. Or maybe that was part of the shtick, the secret sauce to perfecting that tortured-soul vampire gig. Or maybe I held a smidge of hope that me and Wade, and other monsters like us, could rise above temptation when the chips were down.

  At the base of the stairs, I faced a solid wall and pressed my palm against it in the darkness while my vision adjusted, pupils dilating to allow me to pierce the darkness. To the right, a closed door. And another to my left. That one, however, was etched with more protective sigils. The scent of mint pulled me closer. Able to navigate now, I pushed from the wall and chewing on my bottom lip, approached the warded door. I sucked in a breath, closed my eyes for a moment, and grasped the doorknob.

  It twisted easily. I swung the door open wide and entered. Immediately my skin sandpapered in goose bumps. The desire to run overwhelmed me. I had to leave. Now. The only thing missing was a voice growling, Leave this place or die! I whirled, only to witness the door slamming shut, entombing me inside.

  Bolting forward I grasped the handle.Twisted. Pulled. Kicked. The door was sealed shut. I swore, leaning my forehead against the cool wood. Think, Eryn. There had to be another way out.

  I gasped when a hand settled on my shoulder. I spun again and faced Wade’s mother. I rocked on my feet as the dust-covered wood plank floor rose to meet me. I staggered, but managed to remain upright. The witch’s hollow face wavered before my eyes. Déjà vu with a nausea chaser.

  “We have to hurry, child,” she said. “They’re coming.”

  No, not again.

  Though I was prepared and already taking shallow breaths, I coughed as I inhaled some of the fine grit.

  Like before, she thrust a wet rag into my hand. “Breathe through this. It will keep the sand out.”

  I pressed the rag to cover my mouth and nose.

  “I think you have the wrong girl,” I said through the cloth. “I can’t help Wade, I don’t even know how to try. He’s been missing for weeks.” I lowered the cloth. “Do you know where he is?” I walked further in to the house. “Is that why you brought me here again?”

  “This is not of my doing.” Wade’s mother gave the sad smile I’d never forgotten. It lightened her gray eyes, brought beauty to the sorrow in her expression.

  “Then who?” Suspicion ran through me. “Kate?”

  Wade’s mother laughed. “No, Katrina would never seek out my timeline. To do so would be futile. She can only manipulate her own. That is our gift, and our curse.”

  Katrina? They’d known each other? How was that possible?

  “I never asked your name,” I said choking back tears, knowing what was to come.

  Another sad smile. “Elizabeth. And you are Eryn McCain, daughter of Liam McCain, and my son’s key to redemption. You have brought yourself through time because you failed to accept the truth.” Her eyes darkened as she said the words I knew by heart. “What you see has already come to pass.” She gripped my arms, her fingers strong. “You are my witness. The only hope for my boy. Don’t fail me.”

  A tall, dark form filled the doorway. The wind carried the smell of decay and rotting flesh, and though I filtered for it, no stench of rotten eggs.

  “I know you’re in there, witch,” a deep voice roared. “Come see what I’ve got for you.” The man reached an arm out into the dust and then shoved Wade into the room.

  The scene played out around me, Wade scenting easy prey. His hunger. How he charged for the witch, his incisors extending into fangs.

  But this time I didn’t try to stop him, didn’t slice at his back only to discover my hands slipping through his body as if I were made of air. I did none of that, because this time I noticed another figure lingering beyond Logan’s self-satisfied form in the doorway. A tall, muscular man with achingly familiar features.

  I stepped closer, cupping a hand over my mouth. My breath caught on a sob.

  Impossible. This was the night mare stringing me out on the rack and watching me squirm. It had to be.

  “Daddy?”

  I stared out into the swirling dust. My father held an object in his hand, glittering, silver, and about the size of a pocket watch, but with multiple dials on the face where the hours would be. He consulted it for a few seconds, and then observed Wade’s vile deed with impassive eyes. He was analyzing how Wade performed.

  “What is this?” I whirled to face Elizabeth. Stalked to her as Wade drained her life and the magic from her veins. “Some kind of night mare version of water torture? Make it stop!”

  Elizabeth’s eyes fluttered open, met and held mine. “You see how he cursed my boy? Do you see what he did?”

  “No.” I stumbled. My hand slipped through the curio cabinet as I tried to lean on it for support. Unbalanced, I fell to my knees. When Elizabeth had said those words before, I’d thought she’d referred to Logan.

  Had she meant my father all along?

  Wade stood and stared beyond me to face the men in the doorway, guilt marring his too-perfect face. Blood dripped down his chin. His mother, dead at his feet.

  My father had done this. Turned a boy into a monster, the same way he’d turned his little girl into a beast.

  Put Your Weapons Down

  “Eryn, wake up.”

  I coiled tighter into myself. I lay on a hard surface, curled up in fetal position, my arms wrapped around knees, eyes squeezed shut. I was used to shutting out the world. I’d been doing so for most of my life. Keeping humans at a distance, for their safety and my own, hiding my true feelings from my parents, the cravings and the bloodlust. But now I was floundering. Overwhelmed with emotions I had no idea how to contain. I’d endured years of bottled-up madness. The cutting, the desire to give into my inner beast just to see what it could do. All that y
earning, soul searching…for what?

  Only to discover that my father had not only believed I’d become a monster, he might have deliberately set about my creation knowing I’d turn. Why? And not just me, he’d been a participant during Wade’s turning as well. He’d stood in that doorway with Logan and watched. Had been there, doing nothing as Wade was sent along the darkest path imaginable. For all I knew, my father might have even handpicked Wade. How many others like us were there? How many had he betrayed?

  What was my father doing in Wade’s time? He was human, just like his brother Marcus. Right? Questions sliced through my mind and festered in my gut. Had my mother known? Was my whole life a lie?

  “Eryn!” Alec’s voice sharpened. His sweet spice scent was tinged with worry.

  “Leave me alone.”

  “I can’t. Talk to me, Eryn. What happened? What’s going on?” Gentle fingers trailed along my cheek. I relaxed enough to unfold one arm and brush them aside though I wanted nothing more than to grab on to Alec and never let go. His touch had always calmed me. His scent mingled with a ribbon of mint. Immediately I thought of Wade. Elizabeth. Logan. My father.

  “Hurts,” I moaned.

  “What hurts? Your head?” Alec’s fingers slid into my hair, cradling the back of my head. “Matt, check her out for injuries. Kate, sit down before you fall.”

  More hands pressing, searching for wounds they’d never find. Pain had settled in my soul, not my bones.

  “Is Wade here?” I voiced the fear I’d dreaded since Wade had stopped sending me mental messages. “Oh God, is he dead?”

  “Is he—?” A muffled curse. “Your leather-clad wonder isn’t here, Eryn. Since absence seems to make your heart fonder, how about if I just disappear for a while?” The spice scent faded as Alec stormed from the room.

  I closed my eyes for a second and sucked in a shaky breath, about to call him back, but I couldn’t force out the words. One mention of Wade, and he’d bailed. So much for not being able to leave my side.