Phantoms of the Otherworld (In Spiritu Et Veritate)

by Reed, Zoe

“Did she?” Lahni’s smile grew fond at the mention of Abby’s name. “Well, I’m glad to hear she’s been doing her job.” I held back a scoff. Sure Abby was doing her job, if taking Kyla out to The Orchid was protecting the werewolves. Then I self-consciously took a gander around, wondering if Abby was around where she could have heard the thought. I didn’t feel even a little comfortable with her being around where she could hear thoughts I didn’t want her to, I couldn’t imagine how Kyla put up with it.

  “What was so interesting before?” Kyla asked, making a deliberate glance down at her hand.

  “Oh.” Lahni stuck her index finger in the air out of recollection, and instantly reached out to grab one of my hands and one of Kyla’s. The woman pressed the palm of my hand to Kyla’s, and the unexpectedness of it made my heart skip and my breathing stop. “Can you feel it?” Yeah, I could feel it all right. I could feel all the blood rushing to my cheeks, and I was too afraid to look over and see Kyla’s reaction. “The heat, the energy, the connection. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” She pointed to me, and then to Kyla. “You are the essence of her. The life force is one.” As rapidly as Lahni had grabbed our hands she dropped them, moving off the topic as if we’d brought up the weather. “Miss Zade, do you believe in destiny?”

  I cleared my throat, desperately trying to get the blood to fade from my cheeks so I wouldn’t appear flustered, and Lahni seemed to smile knowingly at my efforts. “I think you make your own.”

  The psychic rested her chin in her hand, and the intensity of her gaze made me want to fidget uncomfortably. “Can you fly?”

  “What?” I held back a laugh at the absurdity of the question, but the woman just sat there, waiting for an answer. “No.”

  “So you can’t defy gravity?” Lahni asked, to which I shook my head. “Destiny is like gravity, Miss Zade.”

  I didn’t understand. If this was a metaphor, it was terribly confusing. “I need a pair of wings?”

  A smirk turned up Lahni’s lips as she passed the briefest glances to Kyla, it was so concise that if I blinked I would have missed it, and then she winked at me. “You’ve already got them.” Just like our previous conversation, the topic ended there, and Lahni stood. “That’s going to be three tickets each.”

  “Um,” I stammered, still thrown off, and awkwardly dug through my pocket for our last tickets. “Here, thanks.”

  “What was that all about?” Kyla whispered as we walked away, that way the woman wouldn’t hear.

  I raised an eyebrow sarcastically. “Destiny is gravity, Kyla. Haven’t you heard?”

  She giggled and playfully pushed my shoulder. “No, I mean about the palm-connection thing. Do you know what she was talking about?”

  My heart skipped at the residual warmth of Kyla’s hand against my shoulder. Anytime she touched me I came undone. Then I grew nervous at her question. I knew exactly what that was about. Apparently the fact that I was the one who’d bitten Kyla was clear to everyone but Kyla. If she couldn’t figure it out on her own, what was the point in telling her?

  Aware that the silence between us was growing in length, I shrugged. “I haven’t got a clue.”

  Kyla muttered something like ‘oh’ under her breath, and we walked the rest of the way back to her dorm in silence. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was even slightly suspicious. No one had ever flat out told her that Luna was the one who’d done it, she’d always just assumed. Was she catching on that she shouldn’t always assume? Not only were we all vague about the topic, but Luna was also significantly smaller than me. The bite marks on Kyla’s hand were more wide-set than what Luna’s jaw would have done. What would I say if Kyla did figure it out? What would my excuse be for not correcting her in the first place?

  “Are you okay?” she asked, stopping in front of her door and turning to me. I simply nodded. “Okay. I’m going to take a nap since you woke me up super early. You’ll come get me for training?”

  My phone started buzzing in my pocket, and as I nodded again I pulled it out to look at who was calling. “Of course I’ll come get you. Have a good nap.” I waved goodbye and started back toward the elevator as I put the phone up to my ear. “Hey, Lacey.”

  “Hey, you’re going home today, right?”

  “Yeah, in a couple hours. Why?” I stepped onto the elevator and pushed the number for one floor below Kyla’s. A guy stepped on after me and looked me up and down, grinning at me sheepishly, and I was glad I was on the phone so he wouldn’t talk to me.

  Lacey sighed with relief. “Thank God. I’ve been stuck here at school and I desperately need a run. Since this whole ‘slaying the beast’ thing my dad doesn’t even want me driving home alone. I have to catch a ride with you guys.”

  I was standing in the middle of the elevator, and I could feel the boy leaning against the wall behind me, staring. With an annoyed sigh and an exaggerated roll of my eyes, I turned and rested against the sidewall so he couldn’t study my backside. If only Kyla gave me the same treatment. “Yeah, okay. I’m not doing anything for a little bit if you want to come over and keep me company. Kyla’s taking a nap.” Luckily the elevator arrived at my floor, and I got off and walked to my room right near the doors.

  “That sounds good. I’ll see you in a few.” After that Lacey hung up.

  While I sat on my bed waiting for the younger girl to arrive I started regretting asking her over. Not because I didn’t want to spend time with her, but as I rested there in the silent room I began to get tired. A nap would have been fantastic right about now, and a nap with Kyla would have been even better.

  A couple hours later we were all sitting in the jeep, driving to Eli’s for training. Kyla had been unusually silent ever since we picked her up from her room, and the fretfulness of her mood had caused Lacey and I to remain quiet as well. We’d been in the car for ten minutes before she finally spoke.

  “I figured it out,” she mumbled, so softly I almost didn’t hear.

  Even though it was soft, the unexpected sound startled me in the silence of the jeep. “Figured what out?”

  She hadn’t looked at me the first time she spoke. She didn’t look at me now either. “It was you.”

  “What was me?” I asked as I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, but it didn’t help. She’d been studying the scars on her hand since we left the dorms. I knew what she was talking about.

  She shoved her bitten hand within inches of my face, forcing me to look at the tooth marks. “This was you. You did this.”

  I flinched, not only at her sudden movements, but also the anger dripping from her voice. “Kyla, I’m sorry,” I apologized, hoping that was all she wanted to hear, praying I hadn’t severely messed up by not telling her.

  “Sorry for what? Sorry you bit me? You bit me!” she shouted the last part, adding nearly far to much emphasis on ‘you’.

  “You’re in trouble now,” Lacey scoffed from the back seat.

  “Shut up, Lacey,” both Kyla and I growled in unison. I felt bad for yelling at the girl, but this wasn’t funny. Kyla was clearly upset.

  “You bit me and all this time you let me believe it was Luna.” I couldn’t bring myself to look her in the eyes. I didn’t have to in order to know that she was glaring at me, yelling through clenched teeth.

  “I didn’t think it was important,” I said quietly, a whispered lie that was nearly inaudible through the furious rasp of Kyla’s breathing.

  Even from separate seats I could practically feel the heat rush to her head as her anger peaked. “Oh really, Camille, really? It’s not important, but you’ll lie to me about it? I’m not stupid, Camille. Even the psychic knew it! She said something about it, but when I ask you, do you tell me the truth? No, Camille, you lied to me! It’s bad enough you just let me believe something different, but then you lie. You flat out fucking lie.” Kyla’s voice broke at the end as she held back tears, of fury or of hurt I couldn’t be sure, but the way she repeatedly said my name made me weak with guilt.

 
I didn’t know what to say. I was frozen solid, my stomach cold and queasy, lungs incapable of forcing out any air to speak.

  “Why?” Kyla whispered, sniffling as she tried to blink the water away.

  Because I need you, every second of every day, and I don’t want you to know it. “What difference would it have made?” I asked sadly. “It doesn’t matter.” It wouldn’t have helped her adjust. It wouldn’t have brought her back to me.

  This time, when Kyla sniffled, she had to wipe off a tear. “It matters to me,” she said, wiping her cheek once more, green eyes filled with misery rather than anger.

  “I didn’t want you to hate me,” I told her honestly, hoping that if she knew it was because of my own fears it would make her feel better.

  She was silent for a few moments, watching me until I found the courage to make eye contact with her again. “You’re stupid.”

  In such a serious moment, the insult was so immature that I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m stupid?” Kyla nodded, letting a tiny smirk defile her teary scowl. “What are you, five?”

  She laughed, but it was broken halfway through as she finally let out a sob, and then she shrugged. “You’re not off the hook. I’m still pissed.”

  “Wow,” Lacey scoffed bitterly, and crossed her arms over her chest to show she was still upset she’d been yelled at. “You guys are the epitome of bipolar drama queens.”

  “Sorry, Lacey,” I apologized, and turned up the house’s driveway.

  Kyla nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, me too.”

  “Good,” she said with a playful glare. “Apology accepted.”

  As we got out of the car I realized the house’s small lot was nearly empty, one of the missing cars being Wesley’s. It made me wonder what we’d be doing if he really wasn’t home. The three of us marched into the quiet house, light footsteps almost echoing in the emptiness, and glancing around curiously when Will peered over the balcony.

  “Hey, everyone’s out,” he told us. “Wes said just to go for a run or something.”

  “Where is everybody?” Lacey asked, and waved for him to come down.

  “Most of them went to meet with The Supernatural Council. I think they’re trying to convince the director to let us in on information without owing anything in return.” He finally made his way down the stairs, casually shoving his hands into his pockets when he reached us.

  We all stood there nodding in understanding for a minute until Lacey piped up excitedly. “Let’s go for a run already! Will, do you want to come?”

  He shrugged, indecisive until we started making our way to the back of the house, at which point he caught up. Once we got outside a draft seeped through my jacket, causing me to shiver and pull it tighter around my shoulders. Tonight had to be the coldest night since Kyla and I had arrived, and when we reached the watertight box I was reluctant to remove my warm layers. Being so eager to Change, Lacey was the first to shrug out of her clothing, and soon Will and then Kyla mustered the courage. With a hesitant sigh I finally gave in and Phased with the rest of them.

  I gave a deliberate puff to watch my breath fog the freezing air. At least my fur kept me warmer than my clothes did, and I stretched my front limbs to circulate the heat of my blood. Will was lying down, patiently waiting for us to be ready to run, Kyla was playfully crunching the hard-packed snow beneath her paws, and Lacey was prancing around in circles, bowing, and then prancing some more in impatient excitement. I dug my paws into the ground, visibly preparing to take off while Lacey stopped and tensed, ready to give chase. Both Kyla and Will’s heads turned toward me, watching carefully for the moment when I’d let loose, which I wasted no time in doing. In a split second I released the energy building in my limbs and flew past Lacey, who immediately began chasing after me.

  The one thing I’d forgotten about Lacey was that, while she was the smallest of us, she was fast, and she easily caught up and passed me. I followed her through the trees, which were thick enough to slow us down, two pairs of thudding paws close behind me. One of them was getting closer, and I promptly learned it was Will, his long limbs carrying him so far with each stride that soon he passed even Lacey. I let out a wolfish chuckle as I realized that for the past minute Kyla had been nipping at my heels, trying to slow me down. I playfully kicked out my back legs, feeling one of them graze her teeth as she tried to grab it and pull me down. She missed, but so as not to discourage her I slowed enough to run at her side.

  Every icy breath I took in through my mouth burned down my throat, filling my lungs with a penetrating energy I only ever felt while in wolf form. It was powerful and exhilarating, and I found myself wanting to go faster. Not far off in the distance I could hear the soft sound of slow-running water. I nudged Kyla and nodded in the direction of the stream, speeding up in attempt to get her to race. There was a flash of mischief in her eyes as she got ahead of me with an unexpected burst of speed, and I grinned and sped up to pass her. I was almost there, and could have outdistanced her before we reached the water, but in the twinkling of an eye everything disappeared from sight.

  I hit the ground hard and let out a startled yelp. Was I in a hole? It was about a foot deeper than I was tall while on my back legs, and was only wide enough for me to curl up in a ball, definitely not wide enough for me to crouch low and get adequate strength to jump out. As I stood there was a sharp pain in my flank. I’d fallen hard, but not hard enough to give a pricking sensation, and now that I was standing my leg started to throb where I’d felt the pain.

  I pressed myself against the wall of the hole and twisted my head at an uncomfortable angle to search the center of the ground. I stared hard until a slight glimmer caught my eye. Something sharp and shiny. A needle, and not a very small one, stuck out of the dirt straight up. That must have been what I’d fallen on. And the throbbing in my leg? My heart dropped. Poison. Why else would there be a carefully dug hole in the middle of the forest?

  Kyla’s head appeared over the top, and she worriedly whined down at me. I stood on my back legs, put my paws against the dirt, and stretched as far as I could. She was able to bend over enough for us to touch noses, but if they were going to help me out I’d need to jump as high as I could. The pulsating in my leg was spreading fast, it had already reached my torso, and my limb was starting to lose feeling.

  My heartbeat sped, a sudden fear making it feel as though it would pump right out of my chest. Still standing on just my back legs, I bent them low to the ground and hopped, to my embarrassment much like a kangaroo. I nearly lost my footing as I discovered the hard way that I no longer had control over the muscles in my leg. Not only that, my head was starting to get woozy.

  I bent low again, knowing this had to be successful or I wouldn’t have the strength to try again. With all the power I could get out of one leg, I jumped. This time it was high enough, and I felt Kyla’s jaws clamp down on the ruff of my neck. I scratched against the dirt to try and help her pull me out, Will and Lacey were nudging at my sides to help too, and a moment later half my body was recovered. But now both my back legs had lost all feeling, and they dragged against the side of the hole, catching against the uneven dirt and a couple out-hanging roots.

  Kyla’s grip on my neck tightened, and I tried to let out a pained yelp as one of her teeth broke skin, but my voice was gone. If I didn’t feel so paralyzed I’d be panicking. With a last, hard heave Kyla dragged me out of the hole. I tried to stand, but every one of my limbs gave out beneath me, and I fell helplessly to the snow. I could hardly think anymore, my mind was slowed and my vision was going. I couldn’t even feel it when Kyla prodded at me concernedly. Was I going to die?

  I desperately wanted to nudge her in return, tell the girl I loved her, but I couldn’t even move. She bumped me again with her nose, harder this time. When I continued to just lie there, eyes open but unresponsive, she let out a scared bark, a harsh, awkward sound for a wolf. Or maybe that was just because I could barely hear. I shut my eyes hard, the only motion I could p
erform, and tried to blink away the dark tunnels that were closing in on me. This was it. I took a last, deep breath of that beautiful, intoxicating scent that was Kyla’s, and then gave in to the darkness.

  “Will, hurry! Help me get her inside where it’s warm.” I tugged my shirt on as speedily as I could, paying no regard to my shoes or a jacket.

  Will dressed just as incompletely in the rush, and grabbed the back half of the dark brown wolf while I took a hold of the front. I never realized before now just how big and heavy we were while in wolf form. We carried Camille into the glass room and set her gently on the floor. I looked up, and was about to bark at Lacey to call her dad when I saw that she’d already pulled out her cell phone.

  “Goddammit,” she growled when it rang to voicemail. “Dad, it’s an emergency. Call me back ASAP.” She dialed again, and I held my breath while it rang. “Dad! Thank God. Something’s wrong with Camille. There was a hole in the woods and she fell in. I don’t know what happened, she just passed out.”

  I collapsed onto the floor beside the large wolf, running my hand repeatedly through its fur. Its ribs rose and fell consistently, its mouth hanging open while a rasping noise escaped with each slow, labored breath. I lowered my head to the wolf’s side and closed my eyes, listening intently to the sluggishly rhythmic heartbeat. It was almost like Camille was sleeping.

  “Yes, she’s breathing.” Lacey paused while her dad spoke. “Kyla, is her pulse fading?” I listened for half a minute and then shook my head. “No, it’s not.” Another pause. “Okay, bye.” Lacey threw her hands to her head, taking in deep breaths while she tried to calm herself. “He said it sounds like she was poisoned, but if her heartbeat isn’t slowing and she’s still breathing then hopefully she’s just knocked out. He’s coming home right now.”

  I nodded and continued stroking the wolf’s fur for lack of any better outlet for my worry. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, hearing nothing but the sound of Camille’s breathing.