Ties To The Blood Moon

by Robin P. Waldrop

  Chapter 32

  When I came to, everything was extremely fuzzy at first. It was like my memory was wrapped in fog that was slowly lifting. It was still dark, but I could tell by the twisted growing pattern of the trees around us we were headed back through Devils Pass.

  Suddenly, the panic of what had happened surged through my veins, and when my heart started pounding I felt this really intense pain in my head.

  “Put me down,” I yelled after looking at the face of the man carrying me. I mean he wasn’t ugly by any means, but I was sure he was the one who had tried to kill us.

  “As you wish,” he said, speaking in a low even tone with a hint of a foreign accent. He promptly slammed me onto the ground, knocking the wind out of me. I looked up at his face. The moonlight illuminated most of his features. He appeared to be quite young. His features seemed smooth yet firm. He had jet-black hair, a chiseled jaw line and a short pointed beard. He stood over me with an ominous look on his face.

  “Did you obtain the crest, Genevieve?” He moved extremely close to me, and stared down.

  “What crest?” I tried to play dumb, but I think my face told the truth.

  “Don’t think I am stupid. It would prove to be a grave mistake on your part.” His brow furrowed. “I know why you came here…to find the tomb of the Adlet woman.”

  I thought about everything that had happened in the cave once I touched the crest. Maybe he’d never seen me before I found it, so he wouldn’t notice the changes I’d gone through after removing the crest from the tomb’s lid.

  I furrowed my brow, trying to hide my fear. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now where are my friends?” I asked while getting up.

  “Dead, probably.” He said in a tone that sounded like he was pleased with himself for whatever reason. If they were dead, I doubt seriously he had lifted a finger to do the actual killing. He definitely struck me as someone who used others to do his bidding.

  I narrowed my eyes. “If you’ve hurt them in any way, I’ll kill you myself.”

  “Ha! I seriously doubt that young lady.”

  I moved dangerously close to him. “Why not?” I moved even closer, tilting my head back as I came within inches from him. He was a good bit taller than me, and even though he did frighten me, I wasn’t about to let it show. “What’s to keep me from transforming and killing you right now?” I asked sarcastically.

  He tilted his head, glowering at me for a long moment, an evil smile stretched across his face. He leaned forward until his nose almost touched mine. “Because, your mother will die,” he whispered, paused for effect, then let out an eerie laugh. His voice echoed off the mountains around us.

  “Is that so? My mom is dead so I highly doubt you can do anything at this point.”

  “But you are wrong, Genevieve. Camilla did not die in the fire. She is very much alive,” he said in a low growl.

  I spun around and saw the serious look on his face. How did he know about the fire? What if he was telling the truth and my mom wasn’t dead? My heart immediately started aching, and I had to fight to keep from crying.

  “Let’s go!” He spun me around and pressed his hand on my back, shoving me forward.

  I took a few steps further down the path before stopping and turning to face him. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

  He smiled thinly while reaching into his pocket. When he pulled out his hand a thin gold necklace dangled in his grip. He tossed it to me. “Keep walking!”

  When I opened my hand and picked it up by the chain, I saw the tiny heart shaped locket. I knew instantly it was my mom’s. She wore it every single day, never taking it off. I remembered asking her about it when I was little. She told me my father had given it to her right after I was born. He told her the heart represented his love for us.

  My eyes burned with fresh tears. I didn’t have to open the locket. I knew there would be two pictures inside. One picture was of me as a baby, and the other picture was the two of them taken on their wedding day. I slowly lowered the chain into the palm of my hand, then made a tight fist around it.

  A surge of electricity shot through my body, forcing me to my knees. I was blinded by a white light, and as it faded, I saw her. My heart beat so frantically my chest ached. My mom was inside a dark room. It smelled of must and lavender. She was sitting against a cold dirt wall and she was calling out to me. She kept trying to show me something, but I couldn’t make out some of it. Flashes of mountains, snow, and pathways dotted my mind, then vanished.

  My eyes shot open when I heard a loud thud. I sensed him before I saw him. My heart fluttered unabashedly, and I promptly turned around and saw Zane lying in a crumpled mass on the ground, a darkened silhouette stood over him.

  “Oh my God!” I jumped to my feet, braking out into a gigantic smile. I leaped, throwing my arms around his neck, and wrapping my legs around his waist. “William!” I squealed, squeezing him tightly, not wanting to ever let him go.

  He swung me around a few times, squeezing his arms even more tightly around my waist. “Genevieve…thank God you’re all right,” he whispered softly in my ear. “I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you.”

  We held each other a few more moments before he loosened his hold, letting me slide down the front of him to my feet. He still had his hands around my waist as we gazed into each other’s eyes.

  I quickly noticed he had a puzzled look on his face, and his eyes kept searching all over my face.

  “What are you looking at?” I had almost forgotten about the sudden change that happened in the cave.

  “You’re different somehow,” he said, his fingers gently pushing loose hairs away from my face.

  My skin flushed warm, and I grinned. “It’s a long story,” I answered, then as I thought about something, my grin slowly faded. “How did you find me?” I asked, gazing into his eyes, still unwilling to let go of him.

  Before he could answer, some loose rocks slid down the mountain. William’s gaze flew upward.

  I sensed his uneasiness, then I suddenly remembered Zane was unconscious only feet from where we stood.

  “We have to go!” His voice sounded urgent. He grabbed my hand and we ran. I felt like a clumsy puppy, tripping and stumbling while we ran. William just held on to my hand and pulled me along, keeping me from falling. We didn’t slow down until we were away from Devils Pass.

  “Wait! I have to find Luna and the boys.” I shouted, yanking back on his hand. “I need to make sure their okay.” I didn’t know what William’s plan of escape was, but I couldn’t leave without at least knowing they were all right.

  “Where are they?” He asked earnestly.

  “They were still fighting the lycan at the Ice Cave.” It promptly hit me that so much had happened since I’d last seen William. I couldn’t help but wonder what he would say when he found out I was a werewolf, and not just any werewolf either. I was an Adlet Princess.

  I needed to tell him before he found out on his own, so I could explain that none of it would ever change my feelings for him.

  “I went to that cave looking for you, but the only thing I saw was a lot of blood and dead coyotes.”

  I thought about what Zane had said, and hoped he was wrong. “Maybe they’re back at our camp….follow me.” I held out my hand and he took it, giving it a gentle squeeze.

  William and I ran until we were inside the tree line not far from the camp. He pulled on my arm so I would stop. I opened my mouth to speak, and he gently place his finger to my lips.

  “Shh,” I hear something,” he whispered, then turned his ear to the side like he was trying hard to hear something.

  I did the same thing and then I heard Luna’s voice. She was crying. My heart sank as I thought about something bad happening to one of her brothers. Oh my God…Joseph!