by KT Strange
"What time is load-in?" I glanced at Finn. He shrugged and elbowed Cash, who fished out his phone.
"I got it." Darcy was already at her phone, flicking through the screens. "Crew should be out to pick up the gear in two hours, and we have actual catering tonight."
"Catering?" Catering was for big bands, with riders that included things other than 'band needs a sound check, and a stage to perform on', like deli meat and fancy cheeses.
"Yeah. I think Chelsea is throwing her weight around with Troy, or something, because I got a whole load of new tour information today when I woke up." Darcy kept scrolling through her phone and I exchanged meaningful looks with Cash and Finn. The pack needed to talk. Apparently our little discussion last night with Chelsea and the Glory Rev guys hadn't gone into enough detail and things were changing quickly.
A giggle in the hallway told us Max was up, and she poked her head in, her red hair tousled. The faint scent of wolf on her was almost gone, but it reminded me of something, like a forgotten, buried memory. I wrinkled my nose.
"Morning rockstars," Max said, shoving in beside Cash and pulling her knees up to her chest like Darcy had done, although there was a lot more of Max to fold up. She was almost as tall as Charlie, not snack-sized like our Darcy. Cash moved aside for her, giving her room, and he poked at Finn until Finn budged up too.
"What's on your neck?" Darcy stared at Max, where the flip of her hair shadowed over a flash of gauze and medical tape.
"Um, I think I got pretty crazy last night or something." Max's expression went guilty and she shot us an apologetic smile. "I don't know who tucked me in, but I am really, really sorry for how drunk I must have been."
"Guys," I said, my tone bordering on sharp. "We should go check the gear." I tried not to glare at Finn and Cash both, because whatever Chelsea had done, putting them to sleep or whatever? It had fucked with their memories, clearly, because Max nearly had her shoulders separated from her head the night before and she was way too calm about it.
"Right," Cash said, standing up and grabbing Finn by the shoulder, fisting his fingers in Finn's shirt. "C'mon Finny, my boy,"
"Don't call me that." Finn brushed his fingers over the back of Darcy's hand, giving her a warm smile before glancing at Max. "You hungry? We'll bring you back something when we're done."
"No, I'm good," Max said, her eyes already glued to the TV. She was slowly sprawling out, expanding to fill the space left behind. "God, I love this movie. Prime early 2000's film classic." At that, I ducked through the curtain and walked to the front of the bus, Cash and Finn right behind me.
Elias was counting merch shirts, Charlie next to him and sorting through paperwork outside of our smaller tour van.
"I can't do this," I said as Finn and Charlie followed me right up to the alpha of our pack.
"What?" Elias squinted up at me. The sun was in his eyes. I didn't care. I gestured at the bus behind me.
"They don't remember. Last night, none of it. It's like it's wiped from their minds. That's not okay. This isn't, we can't just rob them of—”
"Hang on," Charlie said, his voice gentle and even. "I talked to Chelsea, she said it's temporary. It's like a glamour or something, fogging up their memories so they don't flip out. Max is a mundane, she's got no experience with what happened last night, and we don't know how she's going to react."
A plastic lid clicked into place as Elias put away the merch he was counting, and then sat down on top of the container. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. His brow was furrowed, but he didn't look mad for once, more like he was frustrated.
"We need to talk to Darcy, once Max has gone home," he said.
"Is that even safe for her?" I asked, shooting a look at Finn and Cash. Cash shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Is anything even safe?" he countered. My eyes narrowed. He huffed out an annoyed breath. "Look, the girl is mixed up in some shit, her boyfriend is a hunter and she has no idea. She smells like a werewolf but she isn't one, and I know that all four of you have noticed that sparkly horses think there's something up with her." Cash dragged his foot on the ground. "Something's going on. All I have are questions and I'm getting a little fucking sick of it."
"So you think she's something. . ." I trailed off and Cash shrugged.
"No idea."
"I could talk to Aaron, alpha to alpha," Elias said. Finn snickered.
"You mean alpha to stallion. They have different words for it, I'm pretty sure." Finn dodged his twin's outstretched arm when Eli tried to swipe at him.
"Besides, Chelsea's the head of that herd, or haven't you noticed how they all defer to her?" Charlie asked.
"Is that so different from us? Darcy tells us what's up, and we follow her every word," Cash said. The whole pack went silent.
"That's what happens when you take a mate," Eli said, his voice rough. "They change you. They get under your skin. You can't shift without thinking about them, you can't sleep without dreaming about them."
"Is that why you're fighting it so hard?" Cash asked. Eli stared at him for a moment then got up.
"I'll talk to Chelsea."
"You don't have to," Chelsea's voice rang out. We turned, almost as one. She was walking across the parking lot to us, a frown on her face. "I have to admit, it's been awhile since I did anything like I did last night."
"Uh huh." Eli pushed past Finn, meeting Chelsea first. "I'm not going to lecture you that you should've asked us first, ‘cause I think you did what you had to do last night. But today's a different story. How do you undo whatever it was you did to their memories?"
"I have to talk to them, that's all, just mention it, and it'll all come right back to them." Chelsea met Eli's gaze with a steady expression, her shoulders square. She didn't look the least bit intimidated by his bulk, but then she wouldn't be. I remember my mom telling me all about unicorns, maybe some of it was true, maybe it wasn't. Unicorns were old, older than almost any of the mythic creatures, older than werewolves at any rate. We owed them our obedience, or at least, respect.
"So you want to talk to Darcy," Eli sounded patient, as if he was waiting for Chelsea to explain what was going through her mind. I sighed, and Eli's shoulders twitched, like he wanted to reprimand me for interrupting while the 'adults' were speaking. I wanted Darcy back to normal now, with her memories, even if they were hard or scary. She was strong, stronger than any of the pack gave her credit for.
Funny how it takes an underestimated person to recognize that in someone else.
"I don't want to, I'm going to. But not in front of Max. What happened last night? Max needs that broken to her gently, and once Darcy knows, not before—” Chelsea went quiet as she saw us all stiffen. Darcy had descended off the bus behind her, far enough away not to hear, but close enough that the conversation needed to stop, and now. Darcy waved, and I had to fight the urge to trot right over to her and swing her up into my arms. Finn, a step in front of me, shifted on his feet and I could tell he was doing his best not to act like an overbearing wolf. Last night had been tough on all of us, Finn and me probably the worst, although, I wasn't as much of a mother hen as he was. I knew Darcy could hold her own. Finn hadn't learnt to trust her yet to protect herself.
"Hey," she said as she shuffled up to us, her flip flops slapping on the ground. She reached out to Finn, sliding into his arm easily and leaning against his chest. She tilted her head up for a kiss and he obliged her. A low, soft rumble, barely audible, off to my side, made me look at Cash. His brow furrowed, and an expression of irritation was on his face.
When he saw me looking at him, his eyes narrowed and he schooled his face into something a little more neutral and calm. What was he getting all grumpy about? It wasn't the first time Darcy had gotten cuddly with Finn. It was our sort of unspoken agreement that in public, she'd be with him. It had just kind of ended up that way, somehow.
"Darcy," Chelsea said, her tone nervous. She brushed a thin braid of white-blond hair behind her ear, and attempted a
brief smile. "We really need to talk. About stuff."
"Oh, uh tour stuff?" Darcy pulled away from Finn, all business right away.
"No. Other stuff. Can we go into your guys' van?" she asked, then glanced at Eli. "Maybe you come too?"
"I got this," Finn interjected, wrapping his fingers around Darcy's hand. Eli gazed at his brother then nodded. My mouth opened to protest, to ask to go with her because, well, reasons. Stupid reasons. My protective side was acting up. Eli spoke before I could, though.
"We have merch to count," he said and motioned to the van. "Have at it, Chels."
Seven
Cash
November 1944
Hürtgen Forest, Germany
The base was quiet as we stared at the sight in front of us. It was a damn good thing those Germans were dead, because I swear I would have gone to find them to rip their hearts out all over again. I never in my life saw something that made me as furious. Finn's curse told me that his feelings were an echo of mine. In the shadows of that room, where the Nazis had made a killing-field of our men days before, was a small child tied to a ring on the wall.
"Jesus, Mary, an—" Finn cut himself off. None of us were religious on account of being werewolves and ascribing to a different understanding in regards to the circle of life, but that didn't mean we hadn't picked up on bad habits bedding down with mundane troops.
The child turned her little head—at least I thought it was a girl—before I took a deep breath. She was a grubby, tiny thing, probably wouldn't come up to no more than my belly button if she was standing and not huddled on the ground as she was. They'd dressed her in some mockery of clothes, no defense against the cold weather that iced the floors with frost and made snow come down in thick, silent sheets. She was in a jacket that the Kraut women wore, although it had been crudely sewn down the front to keep it shut over her thin frame. A cord looped around her wrists, tied to a crude metal ring that had been pounded into the wall above her head. The ring was too far above for her to reach it, even if her wrists could move to untie herself.
Elias pushed past me, sweeping the room with a quick glance, then walked over to the little girl. Finn hurried after him, his booted feet echoing in the near-empty room.
The girl stared at us, her eyes a flat, emotionless brown. I could smell the fire from outside on her skin, smoke clinging in the air.
“Hey there, little darling.” Elias crouched down, kneeling near her. There were shards of glistening pottery, rounded, like someone had been throwing bowls around. He shifted them aside with one foot, as the little girl surveyed him, silent. Her tongue darted out between parted lips to lick at them, and even though the cold bit at every part of me, she didn’t seem to notice it. She looked to be as little as the pups had been when we’d left home, five years of age and stupider than hell.
She didn’t make a noise like them, though, and even went so far as to close her eyes when Elias pulled a knife out of his belt and slashed through the ratty cord holding her captive. Finn looked over his shoulder at me, his eyes like blue ice chips of fury in his face.
“The fuck the Krauts think they’re playing at? Damn Nazis.” He shrugged out of his jacket, pulling off the soft flannel shirt he wore underneath it.
“You speak English?” Elias was asking the girl. “Cash, she doesn’t speak English.”
The girl was looking up at Elias, unblinking, and sighed, her eyes closing. She buried herself against his chest, cuddling right up into him.
“Well, she speaks something alright,” I said, following Finn’s lead. We’d get the girl bundled up, because she couldn’t stay undressed as she was, with filthy bare legs. Especially not if we were going to take her back to our side, through the forest and the snow. Our reinforcements would take a few hours to get to us, at least, cautious of the possible fact we might be dead and the base still overrun with Krauts. They’d have a surprise when they got to us. A few bodies and an empty base.
“She’s small,” Finn said, fishing out a wax packet of chocolates from his belt pouch. He’d been keeping them; bartering sweets was a way to get extra things you wanted like blankets or clean socks. When the packet crinkled, the small girl lifted her head, nostrils flaring, like she could almost smell the sugar on the frozen, still air. Elias grabbed Finn’s flannel shirt, and then mine, bundling her up in it and tucking her legs into each sleeve so she wasn’t so exposed to the air. She didn’t even pay him attention, too focused on the sweets that Finn was pouring into his hand.
“You want one, sweet thing?” Finn said, holding out a candy-coated chocolate to her. She reached out a grubby hand and snatched the candy, popping it between her lips.
“She doesn’t weigh a thing,” Elias said, holding her easily with one arm, using his other to rub her limbs to warm them through the fabric she was swathed in.
“What the fuck was she doing here?” Finn wrinkled his nose up and then shook his head, feeding her another candy. “Nevermind. Are we gonna light a fire or something?”
“I say we head up top, see if we can hear anything. If there’s some Nazis hanging out in the woods, we’ll hear them.”
Elias sighed and tucked the girl in tighter.
“I say we head back to camp.” He looked down at the child. “She’s not gonna last in this weather, even if we get a fire going.”
I gazed around the room, wondering what kind of monster could have tied up a little thing like her and left her to a guaranteed cold and lonely death.
“We go back, we risk the fact we’re breaking orders,” Finn said.
Eli’s eyes darkened and I sighed.
There was no arguing with him when he was like that.
“Let’s go,” I said. Finn nodded after a moment.
“This place is eerie as fuck, and that’s coming from me.” Finn fed the girl another candy and we filed out of the room, Elias in the middle with the precious cargo. Something about the whole thing was making the hair stand up on the back of my neck, and the sooner we got out of there? The better.
Eight
Darcy
Present Day
"I know you're a witch."
Those words were not the ones I had expected to come out of Chelsea Sawyer's mouth. My lips parted and I stared at her, a blank, numb feeling spreading through my chest.
"Uh."
Chelsea nodded to Finn, beside me, whose strong arm was the only thing keeping me upright.
"I know he's a werewolf."
My eyes felt dry around the edges. I blinked. Finn's palm was warm on my shoulder.
"I—" Words failed me, my tongue stiff. I swallowed hard.
"And now you need to know, Darcy of the Llewellyn house—" She said my name like it meant something to her, because it did mean something to some people, witches, my family. My name had weight in her mouth, and I felt it pressing me down. Finn squeezed my shoulder and I realized I'd made a soft, gasping noise. "You need to know that I'm not what you think I am, I'm—" She paused and it occurred to me, back in the shadows of my mind beyond the white noise that was whistling in my ears. Why was Finn so calm?
I looked up at him as she said it.
Because he knew.
"I'm a shifter, like the boys. I'm a unicorn."
My stomach dropped and a laugh burst out of my mouth.
"What?" My head whipped back to look at her. "No." I clapped a hand over my lips to stop another burst of laughter from coming out of me. What? She wasn't. . . serious?
Finn was still against my side, his breath held as he waited for me to come to the realization that Chelsea was serious. Her eyes were calm, her expression only slightly hesitant. She looked nervous.
She was a unicorn, but—
My brain pinwheeled back through everything I knew about magical creatures.
"How did I not know?" I asked, and Finn's fingers laced through mine, squeezing gently.
"Humans can't read—tell, if a more powerful shifter, like a unicorn, is in their presence unless they reveal the
mselves," he said, his voice a low, comforting burr in his chest. I took a breath, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened, but my world was turning sideways.
"You're a unicorn." I pointed at her. "You."
"Me," she confirmed with a nod.
"And you hid yourself. Of course you hid yourself, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" I stopped talking. I needed to stop talking. The words were just pouring out of me, and I couldn't control them. Finn's steady warmth kept me grounded, sorta.
"It's not just me," she said, glancing out the window of the van, at her tour bus.
"No shit," I breathed. Well of course. I mean, a unicorn, shacking up with a group of humans? It was as ridiculous as. . . as ridiculous as a witch with a pack of werewolves. I shied away from that thought and glanced up at Finn. His lips were pressed into a thin line.
"I wanted to tell you," he said.
"It's okay," I lied, and he seemed to know it wasn't, because his shoulders drooped. He sighed but didn't pull away from me. I was grateful. If he had moved away, I was sure I would have fallen over for serious-reals. It wasn't okay, but we'd talk later. Have one of those talks. About keeping secrets.
And what about your secrets, Darcy? My conscious was apparently working on over time. I ignored it.
"It's not the unicorn thing—"
"The unicorn thing?" I interrupted Chelsea with a snort and stopped when I saw a flicker of hurt in her eyes. I didn't want to hurt her. "I'm sorry." Because I was. Chelsea's fingers twisted together in her lap. She was nervous, off-kilter.
I wasn't glad, even if I was feeling the same way. This was too intense for feelings of revenge.
"Last night during the show, something happened, and I—I glamoured you." Her words came out in a rushing stream, like she couldn't stop it now that it had started. "You and Max, and I only did it because I didn't know what else to do, and I was afraid that something would happen until I could get your pack together, and—"