“Yes, but you have seen what that power can do.”
“I guess so.” I wondered where he was going with this conversation. “But what’s your point?”
“My point?” He released one of my hands and moved his hand to my hip. “My point is maybe it is time I stop trying to explain it to you and I show you instead.”
“What do you—” I didn’t finish as his lips met mine. He tugged on my hip pulling me into him. His lips were strong, cool, and bruising. Nothing I thought I wanted, but perfect. His hand moved up and down my back as he pushed his way into my mouth. I was lost in him, and at least for a moment, I never wanted to be found.
Creighton
She tasted like sugar and rain. Fresh and warm. Like a spring day. Not that I had experienced all that many of those. I had to leave my icy homeland to feel the true warmth of the sun or to see grass. So anything spring-like had been only part of a visit to a place I did not belong. Until now. I did belong with Lacey. She was home. And that thought was absolutely terrifying. Yet instead of bolting, I kissed her again. Needing the jolt of electricity moving between us.
Her lips were so soft, so yielding, yet she made her desires known. I was positive she knew what was on my mind. It was impossible to hide with her body pressed against mine. The more we kissed, the more I wanted. I should have known the trouble one kiss would start. But I had known, and that was one of the reasons I had done it in the first place.
“Wow.” She stared at me through heavy lidded eyes.
“Wow is right.” Every inch of me was still ablaze. “I guess I was right. You needed to experience it before you believed it.”
“That doesn’t change anything.”
“Oh?” I would not let myself laugh because it would annoy her, but was she even going to pretend? What was the point? “It changes nothing?”
“Yes.” She shook her head. “Nothing is changed at all.” She looked away. “It was just a kiss. Well, two kisses.”
“Just a kiss?” There was nothing just about anything involving the two of us. “Yeah, right. You need to stop lying to yourself.”
“I’m doing no such thing.”
“Yes, you are. You felt it. You absolutely felt it.” I put my hands on her hips. “And you still feel it.”
She shivered, and I hoped it was in a good way. “We need to talk about something else. Or better yet. Go back to the others.”
“You are scared.” No matter what was causing the shivers, she was afraid.
“Scared?” She finally looked at me. “I’m not scared. Well, I’m not scared of this. I am scared of getting distracted and letting something happen to my people.”
“You are allowed to worry about yourself, you know.”
“I come second to my people.”
“Yeah. I get that.” I did. She was the rare sort of leader who had their priorities straight.
“Why does that bother you?”
“It does not bother me. You are a good leader. But that does not mean you cannot focus on yourself once in a while.” I wanted to focus on her. On all of her.
“I think I’ve focused on myself already.” She touched her bottom lip. It was slightly swollen from my teeth, but she had seemed to enjoy my biting. “Let’s find everyone else.” She stepped around me.
I caught her for one more kiss. I kept it short and resisted the urge to deepen it, but any tiny taste set me on fire.
“We have to stop that.” She pushed me away.
“We do?”
“Yes. We’ve been over this. We need to save the worlds first.”
“The worlds, eh?” I smoothed out a few locks of her hair.
“Is there a better way to describe it?”
“Creighton!” Mom’s shrill cry had us jumping apart.
We said nothing as we hurried away and down the hall.
Everyone was crowded together beside the front door.
I made my way over. “What is going on?”
The tight group of bodies parted revealing my mother clutching a young child and a young woman, or maybe even an older child, lying on the floor with her head resting on Wren’s legs. The girl’s hair was knotted and matted in a way suggesting she had been out in the elements a long time. Her clothes were dirty, but made of heavy materials that suggested she came from some resources.
“Is she okay?” Lacey immediately fell down to her knees beside the girl.
“She is alive, but I can’t say much more than that.” Mom’s face was marred with worry.
The young child let out a small noise. It was nothing intelligible, more like mumbled sounds.
“The child appears to be well.” Mom rocked the child. “Thank all that is.”
“Who are they?” Lacey studied the woman’s face. “How did they get here?”
“Ajax dropped them off.” Mom nodded toward the door. “He barely stayed a minute saying there was a commotion to deal with.”
“Ajax?” I was surprised to hear the name of an old friend. He had been off on an expedition for months now. “I need to find him.”
“I do not recognize either of them.” Mom looked at the baby. “Do you Creighton?”
I looked from the child to the girl. “No. I have never seen either from what I can tell. We do not get too many children around here…”
“No,” Mom agreed. “We do not. Which is why I am sure they are not from around here.”
Lacey continued to stare into the young woman’s face. “It’s like my mother.”
“What do you mean?” I knelt down beside her.
“My mom has been in a sleep like this.”
“I’m sorry.” There was so much about Lacey and her life I did not know, but I wanted to do anything in my power to help her.
“Creighton, you need to go find out where these two came from.”
“I will. But how about we move her first?” I knew Wren could not stay in that position forever.
“Yes. We should do it now.” Mom gestured for me to lift her.
I carefully lifted the woman and carried her down the hall to one of the spare rooms. I laid her down on the bed.
“I will come too.” James waited in the doorway. “To see what we can find.”
“What is this?” Matilda gasped. “Only men can get involved?”
“This has nothing to do with gender,” I quickly jumped in once I saw the frown setting into Lacey’s face. “You are not from Energo. There is clearly something strange afoot. My family is welcoming, but that does not mean all will keep their suspicions at bay.”
“Oh.” Matilda took a step back.
“He is right.” Mom sat on the edge of the bed. “I would go myself, but I need to tend to these two.”
“We will be back soon.” I would make sure of it.
“That’s what the others said.” Wren turned to look at the young woman. “What if the same thing happened to them?”
“No way this would happen to Elron.” James shook his head. “No need to worry.”
Wren sighed. “That does not sound reassuring at all.”
“I do not know what else to offer you. But things will work out.” I did wish there was more I could do to reassure them, but in truth I was worried myself. “Is there anything more I can do here before I leave?”
“No. Go. Find out more.” Mom rose and hugged me. “Ajax only said he found them outside in the storm.”
After Mom released me from the hug, I walked across the room to Lacey and kissed the top of her head. I felt so connected to her now, and I hoped she knew how little I wanted to leave, but I saw no real choice.
She looked up at me and opened her mouth as if ready to speak. But then she closed it without a word.
I headed toward the door.
“Be careful.” The words were light and directed at both James and me, but Lacey’s eyes locked on mine.
“We will be.” I had even more of a reason to be careful now. I had to get back to her.
I closed the door firmly behin
d me.
“What happened there?” James raised an eyebrow. “I know I’m missing something.”
“What do you mean?”
“With Lacey. I saw the look that passed between the two of you.” He grinned. “Something changed.”
“I do not kiss and tell.”
“So you did kiss.” He laughed.
“What do you care, Mendel?”
“Just did not take you long.”
“Should it have?” I was annoyed enough about having to leave Lacey. I had no interest in having to defend myself.
“I hope you realize her position. What’s on the line…”
“I have a connection with her. She is the one. Surely a Guardian would understand that.” I knew very well that Guardians had special connections to their mates too.
“What are the chances…”
“You know there was nothing chance about them ending up here. If she were meant to be mine…” Things happened for a reason even if it took a long time to figure out what that reason was.
The storm had picked up, and it was hard to battle through the wind in my human form. I thought of that girl and the child out here before Ajax found them. They were lucky to be alive.
“You can shift if you want.” James walked with his head down. “I will keep up.”
“I am going to wait.”
“But you might find him faster.”
It was true I could sense more in my wolf form, but I would lose the ability to communicate with James. “Not just yet. I will if we make it as far as the north woods.”
We continued across the ice. Through the wind and large pelts of hail.
James was silent, which made it easier. There was nothing else I could say about Lacey and me. Everything else would have to stay between the two of us for now.
I heard something. It was faint, but it was something. A scratching maybe. We were not far off from the edge of the woods, even though there would have been no way to know that just from looking. It was nothing but white. But I know this terrain, and I knew that sound was off. Even for a storm.
“I need to shift.”
James nodded.
I reached out for my wolf, letting it take over as my vision tunneled and a surge of power flowed through me.
I followed the sound of scratching. It was so much louder now that I was in my wolf form. I assumed James was following, but I would meet back up with him eventually. I had to figure out what this was.
And there I found it. Puddles of what appeared to be blood all around the base of a tree, with more of it seemingly dripping from the tree itself.
“Is there something inside that tree?” James stood beside me.
I could not answer him in my wolf form, and James knew it.
He punched the ice on the front, and it broke away. Tree bark split. And we were blinded by a bright light.
Lacey
“I’m starting to wish we’d never left home.” Wren paced the long, narrow bedroom.
“Starting to?” I turned away from the bed. I was watching the young woman even though I knew nothing would change. “I’d have thought you’d have come to that realization a long time ago.”
“Yeah, well…” Wren continued her pacing.
“Do you think this child is really hers?” Matilda had her back pressed against the bed so she was facing the doorway. “She looks awfully young.”
“Impossible to know. The child isn’t speaking and the girl? Well, she’s not speaking either.” Things would have been far easier if one of them had been able to tell us anything.
“There must be a cure. As there must be for your mother.” Matilda looked at me with a worried expression, as if concerned she would upset me.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.” I was such a mix of emotions. I was scared and angry, but I also couldn’t shake the remnants of euphoria from my time with Creighton. Yet, those memories came with some amount of guilt and shame. I barely knew the guy, and there were far more important things to focus on.
“How long has your mother been in this state?” Gytha broke her silence.
I’d forgotten she was even there. She was standing so still and silently. “Months now. We tried everything. Elron was the first to make any impact… but she’s still not back.”
“It is magic.” Gytha crossed the room to stand beside me.
“I know it is something unnatural.”
“It is dark magic. That is if it matches what we have here.”
“It feels the same.” It felt thick. And dark. And endless.
“Feels?” Gytha’s voice lilted. “Can you feel it?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
“Of course?” Wren abruptly stopped pacing. “What are we feeling exactly?”
“That. The darkness.”
“Yeah… not feeling anything.” Wren’s brow wrinkled.
“Nor can I.” Matilda moved to her feet. “I wonder if you two are feeling the exact same thing.”
“Close your eyes,” Gytha commanded me.
“Now?” I wasn’t sure what to think of her essentially telling me what to do. I wasn’t used to taking orders from anyone, but the way she said it didn’t come across as offensive.
“Yes.” Closed them.
I listened. I wasn’t entirely sure why, but Wren and Matilda were there. I knew they’d be looking out for me. Not that I feared Gytha. At least I hoped there wasn’t anything to fear.
“Describe what you feel.” Her voice was just as demanding. “In detail.”
I listened because I wanted to. “It’s dark.”
“Put your hand on hers.”
I opened my eyes long enough to kneel down and place my hand over the young woman’s. The pain was sharp. Sudden. Unyielding.
“Close your eyes,” Gytha ordered. “Now what do you feel?”
“It hurts. Choking.” Every inch of me was on fire. The pain seared me. My chest ached. My limbs went numb, but numb in a painful way. My eyes burned. My head felt so heavy it was nearly impossible to keep it up. I held onto the pain as long as I could, trying to figure out what it all meant.
Everything got worse. I let go and opened my eyes. Tears streamed down my face. I gasped for breath and slipped down to the floor. Wren wrapped her arms around me. “Lacey? Are you okay?”
I nodded even though I wasn’t entirely sure if I was okay.
“Did you feel all that with your mom?” Wren asked quietly. “Because obviously you felt something right then.”
“No…” Not like that. It felt more empty. Darkness and thick. Not painful.
“Because it is only just being unleashed. Her ability.” Gytha joined us beside the bed.
“My ability is knowing what’s to come…” Just like my father. I’d gotten my first hint of it years ago.
“Or so you think.” Gytha put a hand on my arm. “And perhaps that is one of your gifts. Some end up with more than one.”
“Does that mean…” Wren’s eyes widened. “Creighton.”
“No!” I yelled it out. Everyone watched me. “Sorry. I just. No. I can’t handle any of this right now.” Every part of me still hurt from whatever had just happened. “Do you think she’s hurting that bad? And my mom?”
“I do not know for sure. Sometimes we feel more than what they feel. It is in our nature,” Gytha explained. Somehow I knew she knew. She understood in a way no one else could.
“I need air.” I got up and hurried down the hall toward the front. I knew it was freezing outside. But I needed the cold. I needed something to break me from the sensation I was feeling. The ache. The pain. The choking.
The cold air hit me, and the pain started to subside.
“You know he will have that effect too.” Gytha kept her distance in a good sort of way. I needed space, but I was grateful for her words.
“Who?”
“You know very well who I mean.” She smiled in a knowing way.
“Creighton?”
“Yes.” She leaned
back against the wall beside the door. “I know who he is to you. I knew it the moment you came inside.”
“But how? We are from different worlds.”
“Yet you met.” She held up her hands, palm up.
“But… we haven’t mated, so this can’t be my full power.”
“No… my guess is you may also be able to heal. These abilities go hand-in-hand.”
“Really?” Excitement seized me. I’d never thought about healing before, but the suggestion was enough to get my brain turning. It fit. I needed that gift.
“Yes.” She smiled. “I think it is likely.”
“Are you a healer?”
“I was…” A sadness crossed her face.
“But not anymore?” I hated to even ask. She looked so sullen, but I wanted to know.
“No. I lost that ability years ago.”
“How did you lose it?”
“It was a sacrifice I had to make. One I can never regret, but that changed everything.”
I needed to stop with the questions, but not yet. I couldn’t yet. “What kind of sacrifice?”
“That is a story for another day.”
I wanted to argue, but I saw the pain in her eyes. It was deepening by the second. I couldn’t hurt her. “Very well.”
“The cold helps because it offsets the fire in you.”
“There’s no fire in me. I’m spring. Not summer.”
“No one is purely one thing.” Her expression leveled out. “Your friend Wren should be an example enough of that.”
“In what way?” I wished I were half as perceptive as Gytha. She seemed to understand each of us so quickly.
“How do the chasms tie into her winter nature?”
“Oh.” That was true. Very true. “I guess… well, I didn’t think of it that way.”
“Not everything is going to fit into the boxes we build. I am not trying to say there is anything wrong with your courts or how they tie into your identity, but your court is not your identity. Do not lose sight of that. You are more than your role or your homeland.”
“It is not just a role. It’s a duty. It was what I was born into.”
“Yes. Which means it was not a choice.” She walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. “Even a better reason to make sure it is not the only thing to define you.”
Spring's Wolf (A Court of Shifters Chronicles #2) Page 4