by Holly Hook
"I mean it, Callie. Lawrence did the right thing, separating themselves from the Order. It's done nothing but bring pain to our family." Darkness covers Alex's face. Night has already fallen for him. "You know what happens if you get bitten."
"I won't get bitten."
"Then stand back," Alex orders.
"Trust me," I say, struggling to breathe in the thick air. "Bites don't feel good. Got one before my Aunt May ripped my silver pendant off. Do not recommend." I do nothing to dispel the tension, so I sniff again to distract myself. "I smell Savages."
We all stop right there on the trail. Birds chirp around us, which tells me they're not close. Remo and Everly also stop far behind us. Since I was still walking backwards, I see their outlines, far off, but I don't dare pause on them.
"How far off?" Alex demands.
Callie busies herself preparing her crossbow, loading bolts. She's trained. Deadly. Ready. I relate to her.
"I don't know. It was just a whiff. The wind's blowing from the west and it's not much of a breeze. I do...I do smell the cult as well. They're all like burning hay and poison."
"I don't care how they smell. Just that you smell them."
"She's helping us, Uncle Alex," Callie says.
"Yes. I'm helping you," I say. This guy's used to being in charge. I guess every group has dudes who like to beat their chests.
Silence drags out. I sniff again.
"It's gone now," I say. "Come on. I'll hold up a hand if I sense them again. And then I'll make gestures. The Savages can hear almost as good as I do, so we'd better stay quiet."
Leading the way, I continue through the trees. While I can keep my steps quiet, the Hunters are another story. They're still human, without the grace the pack uses. But the Savages won't expect them, and while they're not my main worry—the cult is—working together will boost morale.
The stench of rot and fungus-filled wood meets my nose, but with a stale overtone. The border. I stand near the split tree trunk where I hid months before, back before Brett decided the Savages had the best idea after all. "We're at the border," I whisper.
Crows caw, adding to the atmosphere. For the first time in a while, faint shadows dance at the edges of the world. The dark spirits lurk around here, too. I'd forgotten about that. Brett and Karina summoned them before, and they've probably done it again and again to make sure I don't come back.
"I don't like this place," Callie says, aiming her crossbow and drawing a line down the trees.
"It's too open." Alex creeps forward, weapon ready.
"The rest is woods," I hiss. "There's an old mansion almost straight ahead, and by the way, the Savages aren't close. But that bad feeling is something else. The cult's been doing a lot of magic around here."
Callie's lips pale as she faces me. "Whatever they've done makes me want to run."
"Never run," Alex says. "It makes a predator chase you. Do not act like prey. Never let yourself be prey."
"Got it." Callie creeps after Alex as both cut in front of me. At least they can sense something's wrong.
I follow this time, and black pulses race under my skin. I swallow a bad taste in my mouth. Evil and hatred live here. "Dark spirits are different."
Alex snaps his gaze to me. "Can you see them?"
"No. They just make everything feel, well, bad. This place didn't have this many before." I've forgotten about Brett still working magic. Or maybe this is Karina's doing. She's the talented witch.
"I sure feel it," Callie says.
"We shouldn't go any farther yet," I say. "These things have helped cause avalanches. And my friend with the cast? Guilty party."
Alex eyes me like I've been caught in a lie. "Do not act like prey."
Shudders face up and down my spine. Not only don't I want to get Callie or Alex hurt, especially since they're risking their necks to help us, but I still don't want to fight humans. That's guaranteed to bring Romulus to the surface. Maybe all these dark manufactured spirits can help him by themselves. Callie and Alex are in more danger than I thought.
Already, faint pressure settles over my chest. I hope it's just all the dark spirits.
"You don't know what these things can do," I say. "Maybe we should go back and get the Russell Coven. They can help keep them off us." Looking up, I search for the light, protective spirits they've created. Only a faint glimmer of hope fills me. Duh. The Russells mainly wanted to protect Cayden. I wanted to protect Cayden. Most of their energy will go to him, and the protection won't help me much unless he's with me.
"The Coven is good for ritual magic, but not fights," Alex says. "They're talented, but they're not meant for combat, no matter what a few of them will tell you. Some members of that family will—"
"I get it," I say, thinking of Leonora.
Translation: Alex is going ahead with this and still needs my help.
Callie eyes me and bites her lip. This could get bad. Real bad.
I shake my head, casting the thought away. "Come on. I'll take you to the mansion, and we'll see where the cult is. I smell them again. All of them are meeting somewhere in that direction."
Chapter Twelve
Now I lead the others through a sea of darkness.
All traces of light remain behind, in the neutral grounds between the Noble territory and the Savage. Even though the sun stays out, its rays don't touch my skin. The black pulses form a shell around me instead. My stomach turns as my palms sweat. Every time I blink, inky darkness stares back at me, just waiting to leap on, seize, and consume me.
How much magic has the cult done since I was here last?
But maybe I can steal his spellbook—Leonora would call it his book of shadows—while I'm here and the Hunters are distracting the others. We can get rid of the curse for good. The thought brings a spark of light back inside me and the air thins, making breathing easier.
"I hate this place," Callie says. "How can the Savages even stand this?"
I don't smell them right now, or maybe the dark spirits are clogging my senses. They're famous for making me not notice things I should. "Don't let anything distract you. The spirits will try, and then cult members or Savages can sneak up on us."
A deer runs off into the underbrush, spooked, and Alex turns his bow to it for a split second before shaking his head and returning it to the trail ahead. "Got it."
"That's a classic example right there," I say.
I find the gravel trail a minute later, crunching loose stones that are no longer frozen over with ice. I lighten my step, silencing myself. The wind blows from behind me for a second. Everly and Remo are now a quarter mile back, at the border, and just entering this territory.
I won't think of the dark spirits. I won't feed them. But they're everywhere. Suffocating again...
A mountain presses on my chest.
Breathe, Brie.
"Are you okay?" Callie asks.
"Yes. Fine," I say.
Alex catches up with me. His beard wiggles as he asks, "Are you certain?"
"This place is very relaxing, you know," I say. My sarcasm makes a ripple through the dark, making the dark spirits back off for a second. But they close in again. But at least this time, the pressure stays back.
Alex continues. Now that we have a trail I no longer have to lead the way. All I have to do is watch out. A flock of crows explodes into the sky. Distractions. Pulling my gaze away, I listen as the crack of a breaking branch sounds from above.
I ram into Callie, pushing her into Alex. I shove the three of us off the trail as a branch as thick as an anaconda lands on the gravel—where we stood—and rolls into the trees. Callie's mouth falls open and Alex just nods.
"That's mild," I say, hoping Everly and Remo can get through this okay. They've just heard the crack for sure. But going back now to warn them isn't an option.
"I believe you," Callie says. Her lower lip quivers. She's holding back terror.
We reach the hidden road. I freeze. This time, it has spray-painted graffiti all over it.
Runes. Stars. Snakelike shapes within other snakelike shapes, and symbols that look to be from an alien planet. Leonora explained to me that they're sigils, drawings used to symbolize what a magic user wants. I eye one that looks like a blob monster with intestines for a mouth. A chill fills me. It could be something used to make a very dark spirit. I feel sick just looking at it.
"Yikes," Callie says. "This is some Lovecraftian stuff here."
Scanning the road, I try to find one that represents Romulus, but they all look like something from a Lovecraftian story.
"Keep going," I say, crossing the road. "They've done a lot of magic since I was here last."
We continue in silence, passing a couple of overturned barrels and the small clearing where Karina and Brett did a rite to distract Matthew and the Savage pack. I hurry past since a few black candles still circle it, burned down to the nubs. The mansion comes into view as snow continues to melt off the trees. This place smells like the cult for sure. Their scent is even stronger than the Savages'.
A single, large icicle falls off a tree above us. Before it can strike Alex on the head, I shove him out of the way. He nods his thanks. Now's not the time to speak.
I smell the cult, and they're somewhere well behind the mansion. Straining my ears, I listen, but they're not speaking. In fact, they aren't moving either. That means Karina hasn't been spying on me while we walked through the border of their territory. If she had, someone would have come after us already.
I wave Callie and Alex forward, worried someone will hear my racing heart. But as I draw closer to the vine-choked mansion, the darkness retreats. I feel as if I've stepped into a bubble of fresh air. The evil still lingers in the cracks of the world, waiting to pounce, but it's not following me past this point.
Of course the dark spirits don't come to the mansion. The cult doesn't like to feel like crap all the time. They might be dark witches and warlocks, but they're still human. Even they need a safe zone.
A quick listen tells me the mansion's empty. A bit of alternative plays in Karina's room upstairs, but she's not there. The music is a ruse. And the burning straw smell comes from another trail behind the house, a tiny one crushed down by dozens of feet since forever. The cult is down that way, in an area I've never visited.
I eye the sky for a second. A lazy cloud drifts over the sun. No sense of the protective spirits have followed me through the darkness. It's as if all the evil guardians held them back. Great.
I could go in the house right now. It's an excuse I can make to not hurt any humans. "We should split up," I whisper. "The cult is behind the house, and they can't be more than a hundred yards away. I need to go inside the house and look for something that can fix my mate's curse."
Alex glares, silently asking, are you a coward?
This is not the way a Noble Royal should act. But what do I do? Blow my cover and let Alex know he should kill me?
"This might be the only opportunity," I add. Better to be a coward than dead, right?
"Splitting up can be death," Alex says.
Callie comes to the rescue. "What can she do against the cult? They have wolf-repelling herbs that not even the Royals can cope with. She told me."
"Exactly," I say. Two against one. It's the fight before the fight.
Alex stands as if in indecision. He shakes his head. "Women."
"Cayden would agree," I say. I'm not sending Alex to the cult alone, but I can't tell him that. Remo and Everly stand in the trees a good hundred and fifty feet back, but close enough to jump in and help if they need to.
"I'll stand guard out here," Alex says at last. "You two go inside and look for this thing you need to find. Then we join together again and spy on this cult."
I don't hesitate. Another sniff confirms the mansion is empty, so I pull open the door, breaking the lock, and step inside. The place is dark and musty as it's always been, though it looks like Karina's made an effort to hang garlands of dried flowers along the edge of the ceiling. The scent's almost comforting. I've forgotten she's a girl about my age who got caught up in the worst kind of magic, just as Brett had.
"What are we looking for?" Callie asks.
"Brett's Book of Shadows. Or Mr. Hayde's, so we can fight Cayden's curse. Leonora says every good witch uses one."
"The curse?" Callie asks.
"No. The book." I march upstairs to the bedrooms and open a random door. Karina's room is decorated in blue, with a canopy bed and bright blue curtains. This doesn't look like it belongs to a dark witch capable of spying on me with a single hair.
Brett's room fits the mold better. Black sheets, a messy camouflage curtain, worn carpet. A bookshelf contains survival guides, old gaming magazines, and painted figures he probably used for tabletop RPG's before his father sucked him into this. Brett was a normal geek at once point. Not a cult member. I changed all that when I killed—
Despite being in this bubble, the pressure hits me so hard I grab my chest and sink to my knees.
You are still weak. Nobles are weak. They need humans to help them.
"Shut up!" I shout at the walls.
Callie kneels beside me. "Get out of this room," she demands, grabbing my arm and pulling. "It might be cursed."
Her fingernails digging into my skin snaps me out of it. I shake my head and cast the pressure of Romulus away. "I was doing it again," I say. "Feeling bad about doing horrible things to rotten people. Doesn't that sound like a really long song title?"
Callie forces a smile. "Keep it up, Brie. You need to keep the darkness out."
I'm shocked she's not mad about the problem I'm having. Maybe this Book of Shadows will have a way to disconnect the Savage King from me, too. Without another breath, I dive and look under Brett's bed.
"That's where he's going to keep his, uh, magazines," Callie says.
"Those are probably under the mattress," I say, finding nothing but a few old hunting knives. Brett's not stupid. After spending time around the Savage Wolves, I can't blame him for collecting weapons. "Wait. You're right. Under the mattress." I stand and flip it up.
A single leather-bound book rests on top of Brett's, um, magazines. I snatch it, letting the mattress flip back down. It's not a big book, and after my dumb mistake at the hospital, I open it to make sure I've got the right thing.
Brett's book looks like it was bought at a normal store because it has a barcode on the back cover, but the rest is filled with handwriting, diagrams, and those things Leonora calls sigils. My heart rises into my throat. We've hit the jackpot. Some of the ink still gives off a gummy scent. It's new. Brett must have copied some of the cult's rituals into this book, and with luck, the curse his father put on Cayden. And with more luck, the way to remove it.
I stuff the book into the waist of my jeans. "Come on," I say.
Callie shakes her head. "We can't have you attacking the cult. With this Romulus thing you have, Alex will kill you. Or you'll kill us."
I shudder. I shouldn't be standing there with untainted people. "This is a scout mission, right? We're not doing any fighting today."
"Right," Callie says. "But we don't know how you'll react."
"We'll need the whole pack for attacking the cult," I say. "No way we're doing it with just three of us. I know you two are super skilled, but no."
"We've seen what we've needed to see," Callie says. "And you got what you've wanted for months. And you can smell where the cult meets, so we have enough information to figure out our plan of attack. I'll convince Uncle Alex we need to go."
We head down the stairs again when I freeze.
Footsteps approach the mansion. I hold up a hand to Callie.
"Who's coming?" she asks, tightening her grasp on her crossbow.
I listen. A dozen—maybe thirteen—sets of human footsteps approach the mansion. The cult's returning, and we left Alex outside to deal with them alone. Alex, and Cayden's siblings.
Chapter Thirteen
Even as I stand there, I can hear their faint conversat
ion from three hundred feet away.
An old man: "Someone came through the border."
Brett: "I don't see anybody."
A woman: "You have a lot to learn. Your father was right. Meditate more and you'll start getting visions, too. Stop playing on your phone during sessions."
The dark spirits have alerted the cult to our presence.
And Brett's still a stubborn jerk.
But they're all coming, and I hear a lighter flick. I should've known this was going to be too easy.
"Who is it?" Callie asks. Her eyes widen as her jaw drops.
"The cult. No Wolves. Yet." It's my turn to pull her down the stairs.
We find Alex waiting beside the front door, tucked between a shrub and some hanging vines. I slap him on the arm, not caring that he has a weapon. The air reeks of burning hay and acrid poison.
Alex responds by raising his crossbow.
"There are thirteen of them," I hiss.
"Wolf or human?"
"Human."
Alex frowns. He doesn't want to shoot people. This is a man used to shooting savage animals. Who hates the Savage Wolves. And I sense the pressure going on me with that frown.
"We need to leave," I whisper. The trail leading to the cult might be on the other side of the house, but they'll get here soon enough. "They're only a couple hundred feet away."
Twigs crunch on our side of the house. Everly and Remo sense them too. A Wolf gives off a low growl only I can hear. They've already shifted and crept closer, ready to burst into action.
"It's too late to run," Alex says.
"Bull. Come on." What is his problem?
My skin itches. The animal within wants to take over. It claws at the inside of my skin, begging to come out. I can run faster as a Wolf. But the animal doesn't understand the danger the cult poses. With the thought of burning poison, I subdue it.
Alex steps away from the house. He points his crossbow in the direction of the other trail. Through the trees, I spot robed figures approaching, all draped in black with red trim. So they meditate in their costumes. The funny thought at least keeps Romulus away.