by K. C. Hamby
“Ouch,” I grumble and glare at Fal when she snickers.
She puts the phone on speaker and holds it between us.
“Hey, Ash. I’m here.”
“Cool, hey Nins,” he pauses and sighs loudly. “We know who the snake is.”
Fal’s eyes widen. “Wait, really? Who?”
“Guess.”
“It’s Raven, isn’t it?” I ask, even though I already know the answer. I think everyone in the world knows Raven is the snake.
“Yeah.”
“How the hell do you know?” Fal snaps. She’s furious and it shows hot and lethal in the glimmer of her eyes. The air around us thickens again.
“Well, Eddie kinda…roughed her up a little bit trying to get her to leave Olympia. Raven’s shirt sleeve came up and she has a snake tattoo coiling around her upper arm.”
“Wow. Yeah, okay. She’s definitely the snake,” I mutter. She made that way too easy. And honestly, who gets their codename tattooed on them? She’s a shitty spy.
But nothing is ever this simple and the ease of this discovery has my stomach turning.
“One problem,” Ash adds.
There we go.
“Eddie tried to quite literally cut the head off at the source, like with her machete, but Hida stopped her.”
“What the actual fuck,” Fal roars into the phone. Her and Hida have never been on the best of terms. “Why?”
“So Eddie wouldn’t be executed for killing a Lupi without a fair trial or proof.”
Hm. I mean, Hida was looking out for Eddie, but I know it’s got to be hard for Eddie to see it that way.
I turn to Fal just as she rolls her eyes. It’s like she doesn’t care if Eddie gets executed or not. She ducks her head when she notices my glare.
“Goddammit. Is Nina’s word as Hecate’s Prophetess not enough?” Fal growls, pulling back to her business self.
I bite my lip and stare at the phone.
“No, apparently not because Raven could argue that Nina made it up to get rid of her. And since she’s claiming to be the ‘real’ Prophetess, she can say she had a vision that goes against Nina’s.”
I scoff. “Does no one understand how bad I am at lying? Even if I weren’t, I wouldn’t make up a story just to get someone killed. That’s dumb. And Raven is always lying. It’s like I can smell it on her!” I grumble and cross my arms over my chest, blowing a breath from my mouth that sends my flyaway hairs in a panic. “How is Eddie handling it?”
“Not well, as you can imagine,” Ash admits, worry for his Mate evident in the saddened hint to his voice. “She’s been wrathful ever since. I think it’s because she’s made to exact revenge and she’s being held back from it. Fury and all that.”
“That’s gotta suck,” I agree and play with a strand of my hair tied back in my ponytail. To be made for revenge and not being able to get it on the one person that arguably caused Eddie the most hurt…I can’t imagine.
“Yeah, I’m taking her out to get her mind away from all the bullshit for a while.”
“That’s a good idea, Ash. You’re a good Mate,” I tell him.
“I’m trying, Nins. I just want this to be over.”
I tap my chin. I agree with him and by the nod of her head, so does Fal. “What are we supposed to do now?”
“Prepare for the War of all Wars,” Fal mumbles and rubs her temples with her free hand.
“I hate to agree with Fal Pal when she’s being a jerk, but that seems like the only option we have at this point,” Ash says, breaking up a little at the sound of wind rushing through the speaker.
“Hey, asshat, you haven’t seen me be a jerk yet,” Fal snaps.
I take the phone away from her hardening grip. “Okay, that’s enough. Both of you. We will be back home in two days, so we can help hopefully compile evidence against Raven before it’s too late.”
“Right, okay.” Ash pauses for a long time. Long enough for Fal’s irritation to grow in the tension of her jaw. “Can I run something by you guys?”
“Go for it,” I insist before Fal has a chance to tell him to shove it up his ass.
She raises a brow, seeing right through my ploy as per usual. I just shrug and listen to the nervous shift of Ash’s breaths in the speaker.
“Fal lost her humanity when she Burned, right? What if we went back to the Underworld to get it back for her?”
My mouth opens, but I snap it shut again.
Is it a good idea?
Is it possible?
“What, you want to go look in the ashes and see if you can find it?” Fal asks, growling. “It’s not like it just fell out of my pocket, Ash.”
“I know that, Fal. But maybe we can go see if Hades or someone knows how you can get it back. It can’t hurt to try. I’m already tired of you being an asshole and it’s only been going on a few days.”
“I mean, you said you were having trouble,” I quickly tell her before she has an opportunity to throw a fit. “Maybe Hades has some tips? I’m not wanting to see him any time soon, but if it could help you...”
“He’s never wanted to help me before,” she barks, not exactly at me, but I feel the bite of the words all the same.
“I get it,” I reply slowly so I don’t flame her temper. “But he’s scared of me. I can make him tell us if I need to.”
She watches me, eyes softening. Her lips turn up and she reaches out to grab my hand. “Okay, yeah. We can do that.”
“Great, see you guys when you get back,” Ash mutters and hangs up.
“Why were you so mean to him?” I ask Fal, handing her phone back for her to shove into her pocket.
She sighs and shrugs. “I don’t know. Anything that doesn’t have to deal with you brings out the Monster. I don’t want to be mean to him, but I only know that if I’m tethered to my humanity. And I’m only tethered to my humanity when I’m with you. Even then, it just gets the better of me sometimes and pushes out.” She clenches her jaw and shakes her head at herself. “Except…”
“Except what?”
She mulls over her thoughts for a second with a furrowed brow. “Tonight, I went after a guy who kidnapped a little girl. Long story short, he threw her off a cliff…”
“What? I feel like I’m missing a lot of details here.”
“Anyway, all I saw was Nathan and how I felt so powerless when he fell. I didn’t go after the guy like I was supposed to. Instead, I jumped off the cliff to go after the little girl.”
“Oh, Fal.”
“The Monster was screaming at me, pissed I would just let the guy go like that. But I didn’t listen. Instead, I saved the little girl, and I took her home. My humanity came out when you weren’t with me.” Her eyes are wide and hopeful, tears lacing the brims.
“Oh, I’m so proud of you.” My eyes sting with tears too. “You have the ability to beat the Monster, Faligator. You always have. You just have to believe you can.”
She doesn’t seem to believe anything good at the moment, though. The dark energy swells around her, eyes fixated on the ground. Shadows dance around her shoulders, grazing my skin as they float by.
“Nina, what if there isn’t enough of me left to believe in? What if the Monster is just growing stronger?” Tears roll down her cheeks.
I reach for her, pulling her close until our knees are touching and I’m staring right into her teary red eyes.
“Haven’t I dealt with enough? Haven’t I fallen far enough? I’m so tired of fighting the darkness in me. I just want to rest,” she sobs.
She sinks into my arms and hugs my waist tightly as if my shirt is meant to catch her tears and turn them into hope. Her shoulders jump with every sob, every deep breath she takes to push out more sorrow. She’s breaking in my arms and now I must hold her together like she has done so many times for me.
“Shh, you’re okay. I’m here. You’re safe.” I kiss the top of her head and pull her closer. “Listen. You have never lost yourself. I think, in fighting the Monster, you forgot she has always been a part
of you. She’s the part that handles all the things your humanity can’t. She does the dirty work. She is you. But your humanity is you, too.”
She sniffles and turns her head away from me but doesn’t disagree.
“Look up at the sky, Fal.”
She does and I follow suit. It is a beautiful night, with glimmering stars and the brightest full moon.
“When you see the darkness of the night, does it make you feel bad? Does it scare you?”
“No. It’s clear and full of stars,” she whispers. “If anything, it makes me feel…good.”
I nod, smiling at her beautiful face as it is tilted toward the heavens. “We wouldn’t be able to enjoy the beauty of the stars if the sky weren’t dark. They work together to make an amazing night sky. How will you appreciate the light in you without the darkness that helps you see it?”
“I was born into darkness,” she tells me, sniffing. “Every single part of me comes from the dark.”
“And yet, you have good in you.”
She gazes into my eyes and I get a glimpse of the small amount of hope there. She wants me to be right. I want to be right. More than anything, I want her to be free of these chains that have bound her for so long. And I think she will be. She just has to fight for it.
And if there is one thing Fal is good at, it’s fighting.
Her lips turn up a little and she squeezes my hands. “I love you, Nina. You make me feel loved. You see the darkness in me, and you don’t run from it.”
“I would never run from you,” I breathe the words and the wind picks up as if making sure they reach my Mate. “There is nothing to run from and everything to run to. You are my Mate in life and soul. I will never love anything more than I love all of you.” My thumb brushes the tears from her cheeks and trails over her small smile.
She sniffs a few more times and chuckles a little. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin your fighting lesson. It seems like you pretty much have the idea down, though. You learn pretty fast.”
“I try, you know.” I shrug and wink at her.
She bites her lip as she watches me, the air suddenly changing. “You know, I’m not fond of killing Poachers to get rid of the Frenzy. I’d rather you help me instead.” She growls, pulling away, and instead wraps me in her arms. She bites the lobe of my ear gently, but there is nothing gentle about the way it affects me.
“Don’t do this to me,” I groan and close my eyes, letting her pull me into her chest. “You’re going to start something we can’t finish.”
“You know, I could just Move us somewhere private for a little while,” she whispers and digs her nails into my sides.
My eyes nearly roll back in my head at the idea. “Okay. One condition.”
Her eyes are alight with hunger when she pulls back to stare at me. “Anything.”
“Teach me more about being a wolf. After my lesson, we can go anywhere you want. And I’ll do anything you want.” I wag my brows when she lets out a possessive growl.
And in an instant, she is in her wolf form.
“I guess that’s a yes,” I giggle as she nudges me with her wet nose.
What do you want to know?
“Show me some wolfy moves.”
She falls to the ground and rolls on her back with her tongue hanging from her mouth.
“That is not what I meant, and you know it.”
She snorts and stands back up, shaking the dirt from her fur. Okay, I can show you how to sneak up on prey or something. Kind of like being an assassin, just furrier.
“Yeah! Do that. What should I do?”
Sit there and be gorgeous.
I blush and bat my eyes at her before she yips and runs off to hide in the woods.
You want to be as quiet as possible because the slightest wrong move could alert your target to your presence. Tell me, can you hear me move?
I focus on the sounds around me. There are crickets, a few ravens, but nothing that says someone is coming. No, how do you do that?
Years of practice and pulling on the traits of my wolf. You need to go slow with light steps. Avoid anything noisy like dried leaves or twigs. Pick every step carefully.
I want to see.
Fal’s mind opens to me and I look through her eyes. She moves so slowly, looking where she steps before her black paws touch the ground. I see myself in the distance, sitting in the middle of the clearing. She’s almost out of the woods and I haven’t heard her once.
She takes a few more steps and is finally back in the clearing and out of the protection of the trees, yet I still don’t hear her. She creeps up, low to the ground, watching me the entire way.
And when you are close enough for a take down, run as fast as you can and go straight for the neck. It is the quietest way to take someone out in wolf form without them screaming and alerting others.
She continues to close in, and I watch myself sit still, just waiting to be eaten. She stops moving and lies on her belly, but I can tell her leg muscles are tensing beneath her body as she readies for the takedown.
It’s weird watching myself be hunted, I comment, but she doesn’t reply.
Instead, she takes off toward me and leaps in the air…
The crack of a gun throws me out of Fal’s mind. Panic seizes my nerves, and everything creeps forward in slow motion.
I twirl around and see Fal get hit in the side with a bullet in the middle of her jump. She tumbles to the ground and whines low.
Fal!
It’s in…my chest…she breathes through my thoughts.
I run to her, hands already warming to heal her before it’s too late.
“Nina! Get away from that wolf!”
I trip over my steps and fall on my knees. “Daddy?”
He runs closer, gun raised at Fal and ready for another shot. “Let me finish it. Stay there.”
“No!” I scream and run, using my immortal speed to get to Fal.
Nina don’t run…in front of…a loaded gun, she scolds.
I ignore her and I’m rewarded with another loud crack.
Nina! Fal screams in my head.
I throw my hand up and push my energy out. I can feel the bullet as it hits my shield as if it has hit my body and I choke on a scream, but I hold strong, and the bullet falls flat to the ground.
I slide on my knees beside Fal. Blood coats her side and pours out with each breath. The bullet went right through her ribs. A hand on her fur tells me her heart was hit with the bullet too. Right through the center.
I’ve got you, I tell her and force my energy into the wound. The bullet gently pulls out of her heart and clumps on the grass when it finally leaves her body. Her heart, muscles, and bones heal under my touch and her breathing returns to normal.
Thanks, babe, she sighs.
Yeah, but what do we do now?
I look up to a furious Charlie, hands unsure on his rifle now pointed to the ground. “Nina, get out of the way!”
“I won’t!” I argue. “You will not hurt her, or I will never speak to you again!”
Nina…
“Her? What do you mean, hurt her? How do you know that giant wolf is a her?” he asks, creeping closer and closer, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice.
Fal lifts her head and curls her body protectively around me, chin resting on my shoulder and watching my dad with blazing eyes.
He lowers his gun all the way down to his side and stares.
I can tell the wheels are turning in his brain as he is trying to understand what he sees. He must recognize Fal’s eyes.
“I know it’s a her because it’s Fal,” I whisper and lean into her.
“Charlie!” is yelled behind him and Selene runs into the clearing. “I heard a shot and…”
She stops dead when she sees me and Fal on the ground. She takes a moment to understand what must have happened and walks over to my dad.
“Charlie, what are you doing?”
“That wolf was hunting Nina like its next meal and I shot it…”
Selene gasps and looks to us, but I guess she realizes Fal isn’t dying, so she turns her attention back to him.
“Nina said the wolf is Fal.”
Selene’s ice eyes widen and look to me. I give a small nod to let her know he is telling the truth. I told him Fal is Lupi and I hope I didn’t just royally mess things up.
We will get through it, Nina. I’m with you, Fal whispers and pulls me close with her big head.
And then hands are around my waist, grabbing my hands and intertwining callused fingers with mine. Her lips kiss the top of my head…
And my dad slumps to the ground, just staring.
“Ya…I, uh…Nini…what have ya gotten yourself into?”
Chapter 62
Ash
“Damn, girl,” I whistle as Eddie struts out of the closet.
She does a little turn and teases me with swaying hips. One of the many things I love about Eddie is her sense of style. She wears whatever she wants, boyish or girlish, and it all looks so fucking fantastic on her.
Her blue jeans are super bell-bottomed and high-waisted, so they show off every muscular contour of her beautiful legs. The purple shirt she wears is cropped a little above the waist of her jeans and the deep V shows off the swells of her breasts. The sleeves are kinda like her pants in that they hug her upper arms and flare out at the bottom.
“Thanks for this, Ashy,” she tells me as she walks up. Her hands rest on my chest and she smiles up at me. “I could use some quality you time. What are we doin’ anyway?”
“Nope. I’m not telling you. It’s a surprise.” I shake my head furiously and Eddie’s brows furrow. “I can tell you it will be fun, and you’ll get to take some of your frustration out. And there is alcohol.”
“Hmm. A’rite. Let’s go then, mo chridhe. Show me a good time.”
When I move to walk past her and out the door, Eddie slaps my ass hard enough to make me yelp.
***
“What is this place?” Eddie asks as she stares up at the sign across the top of the door.
‘Kick Axe’ is written in big glowing letters on a brick backdrop.
“It’s an axe throwing bar,” I tell her, wagging my brows. “We literally drink and throw axes.”
