by Sky Winters
“I know the story--”
Xander shook his head. “You know the story that's been written down, but that's not the whole story.
"The witch tricked Alais and Kato. Not only were they tied to Grey Mountain forever, they were also under her control.”
“You mean…”
“The witch had complete power over them,” Xander said in a hushed voice. “She could make them do whatever she wanted.”
Savannah stared at Xander without really seeing him, the words, what have I done? repeating in her mind. When she looked back up her eyes fell onto Abel. “So that means the potion you gave me…”
“It wasn’t a protection spell,” Abel said, calmer than the situation would seem to warrant. “It was a spell that allows me to control you and the rest of your pack.”
“How can it control the rest of the pack?” Savannah demanded scrambling to understand.
“Because a pack is connected by bond,” Abel said. “You are carrying the future alpha in your belly, which means that you are the source.”
“Oh God,” Savannah gasped feeling her knees buckle.
Abel opened his coat and drew out a blade gleaming with the promise of a thousand colors. It shone for a moment and then it turned a nearly colorless silver-white. “Oh, God,” Savannah said, “an imbibing blade.”
Abel’s smile went deeper. “You see how much she knows, Xander?” he asked sounding a little too familiar. “It's because she was taught. I was the one to teach her about imbibing blades." He turned to Savannah and said, "Now it's time to finish the lesson, Savannah, with a demonstration of its power.”
He reached into his coat and withdrew a small vial, much like the one he'd handed Savannah when he gave her the potion. He pulled the tiny stopper out with his teeth and raised the bottle in his hand for all to see.
“I didn’t teach you about potions, did I, Savannah?” Abel asked conversationally. “If I had taught you the art of potion-making then you would have known something was not right, and you would have known not to trust me. But then again, you weren't taught, were you?. Do you want to know what this potion does?”
“Yes,” Savannah said breathlessly.
“This potion will kill every elder in your precious pack while retaining their knowledge and their skill, so it may be used at a later date.”
Xander turned to Dominic with fury in his eyes. “You're a fool if you believe he's your ally,” Xander said angrily. “He has aligned himself with you now only because he can use you. Do you really think he won’t betray you once he has power?”
Dominic smirked at Xander. “He cannot control me or my pack--Savannah’s connection is to you and your pack alone."
“He has magic,” Malick spat as he came forward, “and he will use it against you.”
“I am no fool,” Dominic said calmly. “I have made sure my pack and I are protected in all this. The only fool here is my dear brother."
To Xander he said, "You refused to step down and give me my land and my rightful pack, and then you chose a weak and ignorant human who enslaved you all without even realizing it as your mate.”
Savannah heard Xander’s jaw grind together, and the burn in her stomach and the growing feeling of discomfort she sensed from Xander’s pack had her attention.
“What’s happening?” She shivered as she spoke. “Something's happening.”
Abel focused his brown-gold eyes on her. “What you're feeling, Savannah, is the potion spreading. It will infect every part of you, and once it travels to your womb it will infect your child. Once that happens, the whole pack will be under my control.”
Savannah felt the urge to rip the alien substance straight from her veins. She knew Abel had well and truly betrayed her and there was no way out of this.
“How could you do this?” Savannah exclaimed with sorrow. “I trusted you.”
“You were a fool to trust me,” Abel said without feeling.
“I should have listened,” Savannah said weakly. “I should have listened when everyone told me that witches were not to be trusted.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Abel said. “You should have been taught, but your partner and your pack isolated you. You were desperate and alone, and that makes for easy prey.”
Savannah felt Xander slip his hand into hers and squeeze it slowly a moment later. Savannah didn’t dare look at him because she knew that if she did she would break. She felt the poison spreading and she knew there was nothing she could do about it.
“Now,” Abel said enthusiastically, “I think that’s enough talk for one day—time to set things in motion.”
Abel tipped the contents of the vial onto the silver-white blade of the dagger which instantly turned a rich, fiery red that seemed to exude heat. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Abel said, looking at the imbibing blade with fondness. “Now, it’s time to take what I need.”
“Wait,” Dominic said, stepping forward. "Does it matter who uses the blade?"
Abel cocked his head to the side. “No.”
“Good,” Dominic said with a small smile. “Then I think there's someone here who needs to prove herself.” He slowly turned his gaze on Marissa.
“No,” Marissa said, shaking her head. She took a step back.
Dominic reached out, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her violently toward him. “You're the one that came to me.”
“You told me you would spare them,” Marissa said.
“If they joined me,” Dominic said. “If they bent to my will--which they did not.”
“No,” Marissa pleaded. “They're my family.”
“No, they’re not,” Dominic replied coldly. “If they truly were your family, you never would have betrayed them in the first place.”
“I only did it because–"
“You wanted to hurt Xander like he hurt you,” Dominic interrupted. “But you didn’t think things through, did you? You made a choice, and now it's time you stand by it.”
Dominic turned to Abel who stretched out his hand and passed the blade to Dominic. Marissa looked at her mother helplessly, as though she were silently begging for help.
It happened all at once. Savannah felt a flash of pain scream through her body. This was followed by Xander and his entire pack screaming in pain, their bodies bent over as though they were being electrocuted. Savannah looked around her helplessly, her eyes meeting Marissa’s for a moment.
“What’s happening?” Savannah gasped, dropping to her knees beside Xander.
“The poison in your body is spreading,” Abel said calmly. “Its hold is extending to the rest of the pack. That's what they're feeling now, the loss of their autonomy, the destruction of their free will.”
“No!” Savannah begged. “This has to stop.”
“There's no stopping this,” Dominic said calmly as the rest of his pack watched on, half horrified, and half amazed.
Dominic held the blade out to Marissa. She stared at it in disgust, shaking her head. “I will never use that on my pack.”
“The only pack you belong to anymore is the one standing behind you,” Dominic reminded her threateningly. “It's time you embraced that and put an end to the pack kneeling in front of you.”
Savannah looked around her in desperation. She could see the nightmare unfolding in front of her, felt Xander's body shivering uncontrollably beside here, and she was powerless to do anything about it. His pack was halfway gone and she was the only one left. Savannah glanced up and her eyes met Marissa’s once more.
There was fear in Marissa’s aura. Savannah sensed nothing there but fear, pain, and sorrow. She was looking for a way out, too, a way to reverse every action she'd made in the past week, as was Savannah.
“Take the damn blade!” Dominic said, his voice rising in anger.
He forced it into Marissa’s hand but she was shaking so hard she dropped it. The blade fell mere feet away from the glistening water of the lake, its bright red sheen disrupted by a bolt of silver-blue streaming
across it.
And then it hit Savannah. It was entirely possible that the legends about the lake were as true as the legends about Alais and Kato, which meant the waters were healing, just like Xander had told her. The waters had the ability to save lives and make magic, magic that was good and strong and enabling. Savannah knew the lake was their last hope.
“Pick it up.” Dominic’s voice echoed through the clearing. “Pick it up now, or be the first to die.”
Savannah didn’t know what was driving her instincts, but she knew they were all she had left. She pulled out her hearing aid and the world went instantly silent and still as the night. Though Savannah couldn't hear a sound, the world seemed to open up a little, as if by magic. She closed her eyes in the next breath and her world seemed to expand a little more.
She felt the rustle of movement next to her and knew, instinctively, that it was Xander. Savannah held up her hand and the movement ceased, seeming to edge further away from her. Blind and deaf, Savannah concentrated on Marissa’s bright and terrified aura echoing with fear, with which she was able to perfectly relate. She reached out, and a part of her could almost feel that delicate aura.
“Marissa,” Savannah sent her thoughts in waves, desperate to connect with the girl she'd thought would be her murderer. “Marissa, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I really, really need you to.”
There was a strange bristle from Marissa’s aura, as though Savannah’s thoughts had been transmitted and reached their target through sheer force of will.
“Pick up the dagger. Pick up the dagger and plunge it into the lake. The blade will absorb the lake’s water. Then, come toward me. Come toward me and…stab me in the chest.”
Savannah kept repeating the words, unsure if she was imagining the connection between Marissa and herself, or if she was just desperate and delusional. Unable to keep her eyes closed, Savannah opened them a fraction, just in time to see Marissa’s unsteady hand reach out and pick the imbibing blade up.
Savannah could see in Marissa’s eyes that she'd heard the message through her aura, and that she'd listened. Savannah straightened up and took a step toward Abel and Dominic, who were staring at Marissa in satisfaction.
“That’s right,” Savannah, read Dominic’s lips as it formed the words she could not hear. “Pick it up and walk over to your mother.”
Savannah moved closer to Principal Harris who was on her knees next to Malick, staring at her daughter in desperation, her eyes shrouded in misery and pain. Marissa held the blade uncertainly in her hand. She glanced at Savannah for a split second before looking toward Abel and Dominic.
“Do it,” Savannah read Abel’s lips. “Do it now or die.”
Marissa turned back to her mother but her eyes were on Savannah. She took a tentative step forward and then another, and then another.
“Yes, that’s right,” Dominic encouraged. “Do as you’re told.”
Marissa started walking faster and Savannah could see the resolve on her face. She was inches from her mother when Marissa veered suddenly right, and plunged the dagger into the clear waters of the lake, as if she were cracking through solid ice. There was an abnormal ripple. The dagger glowed hot. As fast as the red drained from its blade it was replaced with a warm, yet icy blue.
Marissa didn’t hesitate as she pulled the dagger from the water, turned around, took one leaping step forward, and plunged the dagger straight into Savannah’s chest.
The moment the blade made contact with Savannah’s skin she experienced a strange explosion of sorts, but it felt as if it were happening inside of her, and she was thrown back with a blast of light, the burn in her stomach was instantly extinguished, and she registered blue sky and silver clouds before her world went black.
Chapter Fourteen
The first thing Savannah became aware of was the shape and feel of Xander’s hand ensconced in her own. She opened her eyes slowly to see Xander’s face hanging over hers in concern. He looked the same, except for a long scar that snaked from just below his eye almost down to his chin.
“Savannah,” Xander said, but she was unable to hear the sound of his voice.
She sat up slowly, with Xander's help. A moment later he handed her the hearing aid she'd taken out in the clearing. She looked around and realized they were in a bedroom in Xander’s family's cabin.
“Savannah,” Xander said again, and this time was able to hear him.“The scar,” Savannah said. She reaching out to touch it.
“It’s only a surface wound,” Xander insisted, brushing aside his concern. “How are you feeling?”
“Tell me what happened,” Savannah insisted, ignoring his question. “What happened after Marissa stabbed me?”
“It broke whatever hold Abel had on us,” Xander said. “The pain, the loss of control we were all feeling--it just disappeared, and we were ourselves again.”
“Savannah…”
Savannah turned her head to the door at the sound of the soft voice. Marissa’s blue eyes were subtle and calm and she no longer looked angry or scared, and her aura was calmer and more controlled than Savannah had ever experienced. She edged into the room looking as though she would rather be anywhere else.
“Hello, Marissa,” Savannah said.
“Was it you?” Marissa asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Marissa claimed that she just…knew what to do,” Xander said, sounding baffled, as if he didn’t quite understand what had happened.
“I was completely lost,” Marissa said. “I had no idea what to do. Just as I thought it was all over, suddenly I knew what to do. It was like there was a voice in my head guiding me, but it wasn’t a voice so much as a feeling.”
“You didn’t hear me speak to you?” Savannah asked.
Marissa's face lit up with realization. “It was you.”
“It was,” Savannah said, nodding. “I've always been sensitive to other people’s auras, but this was the first time I ever tried communicating with anyone. I thought you might have heard me.”
“I did,” Marissa said, “but they weren’t words…more like…feelings."
“Feelings,” Savannah said, thinking that sounded about right.
“Yes.”
Marissa and Savannah stared at each other for an awkward moment. Marissa was the first one to break the gaze. “I wanted to say…thank you,” she said tentatively, “for saving me from…for saving all of us.”
Savannah had not been expecting an apology, and she was at a loss for words.
“I also want to say…I’m sorry,” Marissa continued. “For how I treated you and for what I did to get back at you.”
“I.. that’s okay,” Savannah managed.
Marissa nodded and then she left the room quickly, leaving Savannah and Xander alone.
Xander gave Savannah a smile.
“You still haven’t told me what happened after Marissa stabbed me,” Savannah reminded him.
“I told you: the spell…potion…whatever it was, broke,” Xander said. “And when it did, Abel and Dominic were caught by surprise. We were able to attack them, and they were completely outnumbered.”
“How?”
“More than half of Dominic’s pack abandoned him in the end,” Xander said with a small smile. “Some of them didn’t know he'd aligned himself with a witch. When they realized what he'd done, they took the first opportunity they could to leave. We cornered Dominic, but when it was clear that we had won--”
“What?” Savannah asked, though she sensed Dominic’s fate as a result of Xander’s aura.
“He killed himself,” Xander said. “To avoid being taken captive.”
Savannah and Xander were silent for a moment. “And Abel?” Savannah asked after she'd taken a moment to process Dominic’s death.
Xander’s face turned hard. “Abel was harder to corner--he is a witch after all. We were all in our wolf forms. Elvira and Malick had him cornered, and Elvira had him by the leg.”
“And then?”
Xander sighed. “He was badly wounded,” Xander said, “but then he used some sort of magic on Elvira, forcing her to let him go. By the time the smoke had cleared and we could see again, he was gone.”
“So he’s still out there somewhere?”
“Yes, but he’s not in Grey Mountain any longer,” Xander said, hastening to assure her.
“How can you be sure?”
“We scoured the forest in search of him. The cabin he used to occupy was completely empty, except for the body of an old woman.”
“His grandmother,” Savannah said quietly. “There was nothing else?”
“Nothing.” Xander shook his head. “The place was completely bare. There was no trace of magic remaining. I don’t think Abel will ever return to Grey Mountain.”
Savannah nodded. “Are the rest of the pack okay?” she asked, concerned.
“Everyone has minor injuries,” Xander replied, “but no serious damage has been done.”
“But there so easily could have been,” Savannah said. “Xander, I’m so, so sorry."
“Don’t,” Xander said. “You don’t have to apologize to me. It’s because of you we’re all still alive and in control of our own minds.”
“It’s because of me that we were even in that situation in the first place,” Savannah said. She grabbed Xander's arm. “I should never have gone to Abel.”
“Maybe not,” Xander conceded, “but you were forced to go to him because I wouldn’t listen to what you had to say or believe you. If you hadn’t felt so alone then you would never have turned to him. He was right about that--I should have taught you better. We all should have.”
“You had other things to worry about.”
“Nothing is more important than protecting your pack,” Xander said firmly. “We all forgot that shifter or not, you are now a part of our pack.”
Savannah’s hands went instinctively to her stomach. “Our baby is strong.”
“I know,” Xander said. He put his hand on top of Savannah’s, bent slowly down, and kissed her softly on the lips.