by LeAnn Mason
The fountain now impeded my view of the standoff as did a few large, green, elephant ear leaves. I couldn’t see Lorraine where she stood stiffly behind me but heard the crunching of plants. Someone else was there.
“Get it done,” the queen ordered harshly.
“I need to see her eyes,” a new voice answered, barely discernible over the songs still blasting from the phone gripped tightly in my hand.
The phone!
Could I get to the messaging app, press the right letters, and send an S.O.S. without giving away my actions to whoever planned to do whatever to me. Probably not, but maybe I could record whatever was about to go down. Would they notice the loss of the music? Would they put it together?
I had to try.
I turned the phone so I could see the screen and cut the music, tapping on the camera icon and sliding to the video function, I pressed the big, red button indicating record. Maybe it would see my last moments and the cause. Allya would want to know so she could enact her vengeance. I couldn’t deny her that. It might even give me some satisfaction. Who knew, maybe I'd stick around and haunt the place.
The claws left my body for only a moment, time enough to spin me to face the women keeping me from everyone else. Rory’s ruthless parental I’d known. The second voice belonged to a young woman with lovely strawberry blonde waves and large luminous green eyes framed with darkened lashes. “Look at me, Mae,” the girl soothed, her voice light and melodic, pulling my attention to rivet on those amazing irises.
“Your family—”
“Sister,” Lorraine interjected, I noted absently, my attention fully ensnared in the emerald pools, unable to pull away.
“Your sister, she’s hurt. She’s dying. You need to go to her. Leave this place now and get to her. You need to save her.” It was said so calmly, soothing almost, that I didn’t question the validity of the statements.
Every muscle in my body clenched, and my mouth opened. The phone dropped to the dirt face down.
“You need to make her leave quietly or the deal’s off.”
“Mae, you can’t make a scene. You need to leave quietly. Right now. Don’t tell anyone where you are going. Head into the woods and leave Grimm Hollow. Go home. Save your sister.”
“I need to save my sister. She’s dying.” I repeated dutifully, without inflection. That didn’t sound right, but it had to be true. I knew it was true. Pushing aside the oversized leaves, I made my way to the back of the garden, to where I knew I could get out. I needed to get to the woods, to get back to Winchester. Was she still there? Which sister was it? Why didn’t I have any shoes on?
CHAPTER 30
The streets were barren, void of most life at this hour, especially with a big event stealing most of the town’s Shifter population to the estate I was fast fleeing. I didn’t want to, knew on a basic level that it was wrong, but my sister was dying!
I need to get home! I need to save her!
From whom? What had happened? How had she gotten a hold of me? How did I know she was hurt?
Was it Jess or Tanya? How? Why?
My feet hurt. I looked down to see that I was only wearing socks. I’d gotten to the garden via pony fueled skates and had taken the wheeled shoes off once I’d reached my destination. An illogical choice for footwear that I regretted as I continued out of the town I’d come to love and loathe. The ground changed from cold concrete to rock-riddled dead grass, making every step impale the soft flesh with some form of natural impediment.
The further I stepped into the trees, the worse the pinpricks became, and I stumbled more often than made forward progress, but I couldn’t give up.
I couldn’t stop. I needed to get to my sister. She was hurt, dying.
I’d been warm in the garden. Now I was warm because I was running… ish. My heart rate and circulation pumped plenty of blood through my body to keep me flushed and full of heat. When I slowed, which I would surely need to do soon, I knew that hypothermia or exposure would be a real possibility. I’d just have to soldier on. Keep putting one bloodied foot in front of the other.
I couldn't see anything the further I pushed away from Grimm Hollow. The lights of the town were far behind me, the trees too thick to allow much light to penetrate to the ground. Not that there was much moonlight anyway. It looked like we were in a new moon phase, and the giant ball of Swiss cheese would not be my guiding light tonight.
Where had I left my phone? That implement would have been mighty handy. I’d be able to use the flashlight feature to give me some light so I might be able to avoid at least one of the trees in my direct path. It would also be helpful to find out exactly what was going on. It made much more sense to call Jess, or Tanya, to discover exactly what was wrong and why I was running headlong into some unknown woods at night… voluntarily.
That didn’t make sense. It didn’t sound like me. I wouldn’t just run out of town and into the wilderness. I had zero idea where “home” was in relation to the town, let alone my current flailing position. I was smarter than that. I could have borrowed Elsie’s car and GPSed how to get back. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have my phone… but then, I didn’t have any shoes, either.
“This is insane,” I muttered, pushing a nearly invisible branch away from my sightline in hopes I might continue unscathed. It slipped through my fingers and whipped me in the cheek like the switch it was. My eyes welled with tears from the sting and the cold. “Why don’t you turn back, Mae? Well, that would be equally as stupid. I don’t have any way to orient myself back toward town. There are no lights here, so I can’t tell anything about my surroundings.” Great. I was going to have a full-blown conversation with myself in the pitch black, autumn woods.
“At least, maybe if I am talking, the wild animals won’t try to eat me. Or… they will come upon me faster because I’m just sending out a verbal beacon. Nice job, Mae, well done.” The more I thought about it, the less sure I was of my resolve. I needed to leave Grimm Hollow. I needed to get home to my sister. She was home. She was hurt.
She is dying… Isn’t she?
Where was I? How would I make it to where I needed to go? Why would I ever leave without telling anyone?
Without shoes. Without a phone. Without direction.
On foot. In the dark. In autumn.
It wasn’t right.
Rory.
Rory. Allya. The appointment to Regent. His betrothal to the wretched Risa. But he had rejected her as a mate. Told his mother he wouldn’t accept her. Risa tried to attack me. Then I was hauled away… and now I ran blindly through the woods in the dark of a cold night with only the thought that my sister was dying and I needed to get home to her.
Lorraine. She’d pushed the idea into my head.
I knew it, but could I overcome the compulsion so obviously forced on my mind? My feet still moved achingly, and most likely bloodied, in some blind attempt to complete the compulsory directive. “Stop,” I commanded the rogue appendages to cease their efforts. I needed to stop moving, assess my options, and figure out the best way to survive the night. Moving, in any direction, in the cooling night would only serve to turn me around further. I’d expend too much energy and time to go nowhere.
Instead, I decided to hunker down under a group of still-green, scrubby bushes, digging into the soft earth until it no longer lifted with swiping hands. The resulting divot was a few inches deep and big enough for me to curl into the fetal position to fit. To help keep myself as warm as possible, I piled the displaced leaf and pine needle debris back on top of my body, hoping it would be enough to radiate my body heat and keep my core temperature from dropping too low.
I had complete faith that one of my Shifters would find me, and they’d have an easier time of that if I didn’t move. Crawling into the divot I prayed wouldn’t turn into a shallow grave, I tucked my knees to my chest and folded my hands to rest beneath my chin.
I didn’t shiver too badly, and my mind kept me awake with its infinite thought loops. How lon
g had I been gone? Had anyone noticed yet? Were they looking for me? How far had I gotten in my addled state?
I wished I knew, in practice, how to start a friction fire. That would have been so much easier. It would accomplish many goals. Heat, light, and predator deterrent. I really hoped that the predatory wild animals in this area were Shifters and therefore wouldn’t scent me and decide I’d make a fantastic, and easy, meal.
With me no longer making an exorbitant amount of noise, the forest sounds began to filter into my consciousness. The hoot of an owl. The constant scurrying that I decided not to analyze too closely because I didn’t want to know what insects and critters were crawling around me in my dirt and leaf bed. I was certain I shared my hole and blanket with more than a few insects that would make me squeal at the least.
“Just don’t think about all the creepy crawlies, Mae. Nope, think about how keen the senses are of your friends. Yeah. Like if you’re going to get lost in the woods… Grimm Hollow is totally a great place to do that. The place is full of wolfmen. An animal can scent me from a long way off. Let’s just hope the ones I want to find me actually do,” I amended. What would I do if Lorraine or, God forbid, Risa found me first?
My only weapon was the small fold-out pocketknife Allya had insisted I carry once we’d had our knife-fight girls’ night. To appease her, I’d taken to putting it into my pocket every day. If I needed to use it though, my assailant had better be human or my strike would need to be very well-timed and placed for it to do more than simply annoy the animal.
As I ruminated on my predicament, it got worse. A light rain began to fall with a soft patter, not unlike the sounds I'd tried the first day of music with Rory, the drops making their way to the forest floor much easier than if the trees were still leafed. The temperature wasn't too cold this early in fall, but with the rain, hypothermia was a much higher concern. Hopefully, the rain would stay light, maybe not even penetrating my makeshift blanket and giving me a better chance.
A deep, resonant roar broke through the night, causing every animal hearing the sound to either flee immediately or burrow deep. At least the earthworms would be fat and happy with this rain. I didn't have to worry about coming across all the shriveled, petrified carcasses of the poor things that had been washed out of their dirt and left to die a slow, dehydrating death. Here, it didn't matter where they washed. They could burrow back throughout the moist dirt and continue blithely eating decaying leaves and pooping a more nutrient-rich soil.
“He's coming,” I told the forest. Rory was looking for me. His call, though alarming to the wildlife, soothed my jagged nerves. He would find me. I would be safe.
But the sound was far off. I had no true idea how far, and my eyelids were getting heavy, my tucked limbs shaking with wracking shivers in an attempt to stay warm. I didn’t know how long I could stay awake. My body was trying to conserve what little energy I had left and was shutting down all non-vital functions. Even my heart rate would slow.
Please, God, don’t let me die tonight.
That thought reminded me of my parents. Were they here with me or somewhere else? Had they moved to watch over my sisters? Found peace and moved on? The idea that my parents were still with me, that they watched over me this dire night brought a wan smile to my reluctant cheeks. I wouldn’t die alone on the ground in the woods with only the worms for company.
I would make good compost, I thought morbidly, my mind flickering back to the worms. I could feel the rain beginning to make its way through the leaves and pine needles to cool my skin further. If my clothes took up too much moisture, I’d be in big trouble. I began a silent count to occupy myself and hopefully keep my brain function up. I had about twenty minutes before hypothermia could very feasibly begin shutting down my body.
CHAPTER 31
“S-ix bottles of b-beer on the wa-ll, six b-bottles of beer,” I stuttered through the song. Whether from my teeth chattering or from tiredness didn’t matter, I was losing functions, both mental and physical. I’d lost track of how many choruses I’d sung to help keep myself lucid while also giving some sort of time marker, thus defeating half the purpose of the exercise.
The rain hadn’t relented, which I should have guessed. It had been an exceptionally wet year though maybe not in Grimm Hollow. Rain would make following a scent trail much more difficult. Not only would the water “wash away” the lingering trail, but it would heighten other smells, which could interfere.
I thought about how I used to love the smell of rain around my modest home in Winchester. The grass smelled sweeter, and the air grew heavier. I even liked how the minerals making up the rocks would leech into the heady air. I’d swear rainbows had the scent of sunshine, and I frowned thinking about how this rain wouldn’t produce any. Not if it stopped before dawn.
But as the sun rose on the horizon? I could imagine the most magnificent rainbow would glimmer amongst the bold ribboning colors bleeding life into the sky above. If you could find it.
A wolf’s howl in the near distance tried to snag my attention, but I couldn’t focus on the thought for more than a moment. A second howl rent the air from another, further location, responding to the first. I should be scared. After all, wolves were predators of the woods. Wolfmen had used me as bait just a few short weeks ago, right?
But when a low roar reached my deadening ears through the rain, I connected the sound. “Rory,” I breathed through teeth clenched so tightly I worried I’d break them. I absently noticed that my shivering had reduced, but my muscles ached from the constant tension they’d held for… I didn’t know how long.
My eyes drifted closed again, refusing to open despite my will. Deep down, I knew that my rapid, shallow breaths and fuzzy head meant I was, in fact, becoming, or had become, hypothermic. The temperatures weren’t too cold, so hopefully, I could be revived to full function if found soon. I couldn’t focus my senses, so I didn’t hear the animals approach, barely felt as a muzzle pushed its way through the wet pile of dying earth that hadn’t given the protection I’d hoped. Hardly felt the hot air it pushed at my cold skin or the tongue that licked at me with quick, short flicks.
The whine I heard. The pawing I felt. But my limbs, my mouth wouldn't react. Not a good sign.
“I'm here, Mae. I've got you.” I vaguely registered someone scooping me into strong arms, cradled against a warm chest, and the dizzying sensation of movement that sent my heart stuttering. A feminine interjection was interrupted by a deep timbre that rumbled beneath my heat deprived body. “No, I'll take her. She needs the body heat. We need to get her back and out of these wet clothes ASAP. Geez, she's not even wearing shoes.” The words sounded distorted like I was underwater. I struggled to understand their meaning when suddenly I was flying or, at least, what felt like flying to my feeble mind.
The tingling in my fingers forced me to flex the digits in an effort to alleviate the sensation, and I sighed as my body obeyed my command, opening and closing at will. Next, I tried my toes because they felt like they'd fallen asleep a long time ago, and I knew movement would be painful. "Ow," I groaned, moving my body slowly, testing each segment for mobility and pain.
Where was I? Who had come to my rescue? I felt pretty sure that Allya-Ebony was there. I was almost certain I'd been licked. Then the male, human, not animal, had picked me up and… run? As if I were nothing more than a baton to be handed off in a relay race. I didn't know who it had been for sure, but my mind and body, wanted to believe it had been Rory who'd saved me.
I must have pulled out of my hypothermic state because I didn't notice anything missing or inoperable. A wriggle, the beginnings of a full-body stretch, froze me in place. I felt like a deer in headlights as I realized two things.
One, I wasn't alone. There was a very warm, very masculine, very tan body curled around my back. A quick peek at the ornate ring adorning the heavy limb draped over my middle told me it was, in fact, Rory Leone. The Prince Regent of the Shifters of Grimm Hollow. The male I'd dreamed about and
lusted over. The male totally out of my league who I'd been expressly forbidden to see…
And two, I wasn't wearing anything besides my bra and a semi-flattering pair of underwear.
My heart began to gallop as I fully soaked in the situation. Clearly, he'd been helping to revive my body from its sub-par state. There was a very valid reason for our position, but I couldn't help the burning of my cheeks, the embarrassment I felt at… everything.
“Come on, Beauty. Lay back down,” Rory coaxed. His voice, gravelly with sleep, vibrated my back where we pressed soundly together.
“I… I'm better now, thank you,” I stammered, trying unsuccessfully to wriggle away from the object of my desire. I couldn't think while snuggled against his smooth muscles. Inhaling deeply only pulled his scent of lemongrass and peppermint into my body, making a shiver wrack through me at the pleasant scent that was purely Rory.
“Are you still cold? Maybe a hot shower will help,” he said, noticing the shiver and mistaking its cause. Still, I must have been disgusting. A look confirmed my fear. My skin was far duskier than natural, the mud and sweat still clinging to my body like a second skin. “I'd be happy to join you,” he added.
My attention flew back to his eyes, away from the body roving they'd been doing. His smile was lazy, mischievous even. Positively gorgeous. My mouth went dry all of a sudden. I was sure to be dehydrated after all that running and shivering… and now salivating.
Wait… “Are you naked?”
“Does that bother you?” he returned, moving to flip back the blanket concealing his body from his stomach down.
Completely out of my element and shocked at his brazenness, I pulled away, lurching from the lush bed like a puppet with tangled strings. “No, no, no. Stay there,” I babbled, thrusting my hands before me and shaking them around in what I hoped would be perceived as a 'stop' motion.
