Wynter's End

by K. R. Thompson

  She took a deep breath, and when she spoke, her voice took me to a different time and a different place as a vision took over. “Once upon a time, such a long time ago, I was known by my human name. And that name…was Grace.”

  Her voice faded away.

  I stared into the face of a tiny baby. His skin was turning gray. This one wasn’t going to make it. That much I knew. Still, it wasn’t going to stop her from trying to save him.

  “Grace, hand me that, please,” my mother instructed.

  I did as I was told and handed her the blanket, then watched as she wrapped the baby in an attempt to soothe him. Unlike most babies, his cries were weak, barely audible. I frowned. Newborn kittens made more noise than he was making now. He was a changeling baby, one of the sick children from the village whose parents had left him up in the mountains in hopes the mountain fey would take him.

  We’d all been changeling children, the five of us. My gaze left the baby and found my sisters nearby, the three of them watching our mother as she fought to keep the little one alive.

  Each of us had been discarded once—left in the mountains to die—and each of us, she’d saved.

  This time she wouldn’t be so lucky. I knew I was watching this little boy die.

  The door to our little cabin swung open, and my brother appeared. He’d been the one to find the baby this morning.

  Part of me wondered how he’d managed to find him. When he brought him in, his little body was blue and cold, and he wasn’t making a sound. It had been a miracle in itself the blue had left, if only for him to turn gray now.

  Paul’s eyes flicked to the baby and then to our mother’s face. While my sisters’ faces held emotion at watching our mother, his held none.

  More than once, I’d often wondered if he wasn’t truly one of the mountain fey—a changeling child, just as the villagers had feared.

  The baby shuddered and gasped.

  “You should let me take him back. I should never have brought him here,” Paul said, reaching for the still form. “The butcher’s wife saw me take him. I didn’t see her until I was almost home. If they come here and find him…” He trailed off. All of us knew that everyone in the village thought our mother to be a witch. The only thing keeping them from coming after her thus far was an equal amount of respect and fear for what they thought she could do to and for them. More than once she’d been called to help when the town doctor could not.

  But if they knew she had the butcher’s son—that she’d stolen a changeling child from his place up in the cold, wintery mountains—they wouldn’t fear her any longer. They’d be angry. They’d be out for revenge.

  Paul’s gaze darted to the door as if he was thinking the same thing. “Please let me take him back,” he repeated. “He’s gone already.”

  “No, he isn’t.” Our mother stared at the little bundle still held tightly in her arms. As if she’d heard something outside, her eyes narrowed, and she stared out the window. “We need milk. Take the girls over to the Millers’ farm and fetch some.”

  “But—”

  A hard look from her stopped Paul from objecting.

  And so, we all left her and the baby and made our way to the nearest farm, bought the milk and then headed back home.

  I didn’t get more than a few seconds to think about why our mother had sent all of us on such a simple task as fetching milk when a storm hit. Snow swirled around my ankles, and the cold bit into my skin.

  Then I spotted the smoke billowing above the trees.

  “No!” I screamed, and I ran toward home. As the cabin came into sight, my brother ran in front of me, blocking me from going any farther. But he hadn’t managed to stop me from seeing the nightmare that would surely follow me for many years to come. The cabin’s door was open, and just inside was my mother’s body and a small blanketed baby lying on the ground, flames licking along them both as the fire consumed them.

  “I tried to warn her.” Paul’s voice was hoarse when it hissed into my ear. “They came for her. And now, they’ll come for us. We have to leave. Now.”

  So we left our home—five newly orphaned children, escaping into the mountains.

  The vision cleared, and I found myself staring into Wynter’s blue eyes.

  “He truly was a changeling child. He led us deep into the mountains to the fey who saved us.” She grimaced, and I caught a glimpse of her razor-sharp teeth. “Though saving us is such a matter of perspective. What they did was give us magic that kept us alive.” She paused, then continued. “And now, I’m ready for you to take it away. I have been a Spriteblood for many years—many more than I would ever care to count. I’ve seen many things, and many people have come and gone during my lifetime. As far as I know, my life will never end, yet the lives of those I love end while I am cursed to stay alive. I remember what it is to be human, and I’m ready to be human once again.”

  I couldn’t argue with her. I found myself wondering what it would be like to watch everyone you love die, one by one until there was only you left. I remembered Ed telling me she’d tried to make her husband a Spriteblood, but he’d died for the effort, leaving her sad and alone.

  That would totally suck, I decided. I made up my mind right then I’d help her however I could. “Okay. If you’re certain you want to do this.” One look at her face told me she was.

  I’d been holding my breath and hadn’t even noticed it. I let it out in one big whoosh as I unclasped the back of my necklace and took the tiny book out. Its magic flared to life the instant it touched my palm, and it flipped open on its own accord like it knew exactly what we were getting ready to do.

  “All right. Place your hand in the center of the page,” I instructed.

  She did, and the air around swirled and flashed in a multitude of colors, as if we had been hugged by a rainbow. Then the atmosphere shifted, like something had broken. Shattered. Disappeared forever. It was strong enough that I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness, and tears filled my eyes. Then, just as quickly as it had happened, it stopped. The magic and colors sucked into the page of the book, and I stood staring into the human face of Mrs. Graham.

  She blinked, then her eyes focused on my face, her expression unsure. “Miss Harmon…” she said, uncertain.

  I smiled as she rubbed her palm, soothing away an itch. Then she turned around, clearly wondering where she was. When her back was turned, I closed the book, keeping my eyes on her as I shrank it to its tiny size and placed it back into its safe place in my necklace.

  “That’s most…unusual…” She muttered softly as she turned to face me again. She looked at me and gave me a small, apologetic smile. “I seem to have forgotten why I’m here. Would you mind very much to remind me? I must be getting old.”

  My mind raced to come up with an explanation, and the first one that came to me slipped out of my mouth easily. “You were kind enough to drop off some books I was needing for a project. I’d forgotten to get them at school, and you brought them to me.” I gestured to the stack on the end table—the books I’d gotten from the library before the weekend began.

  “Oh… oh… I see.” Her words said she believed my lie, but her tone said otherwise. She chewed on her bottom lip, then stood.

  “Are you okay?” I had quite a few questions, but I wasn’t sure exactly how to ask them, and that seemed like the only good one to turn loose at the moment. In taking her magic, my gut was telling me I’d also taken part of her identity.

  “Yes, I believe so.” She turned and looked at the door. “Well, I believe I must go now.”

  She took an uncertain step forward, and immediately I began scrambling for my car keys and shoes. “I’ll give you a ride home. It’s the least I can do for you bringing me those books.” I had absolutely no clue the extent of the damage I’d done to her, but I did know one thing. Wynter hadn’t driven herself here. She’d walked…or did whatever Spriteblood did to travel. Now, without her magic, I wasn’t so sure she’d make it back home, and I was the one r
esponsible for that.

  The only problem was I wasn’t exactly sure where “home” was for her.

  She had a question of her own now though. She lifted an eyebrow—a gesture that reminded me of Wynter and the magic I’d taken—as she gave a pointed look at my pajamas and then back up at me. Clearly, I wasn’t to leave the house dressed this way.

  “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back,” I ordered, then scrambled up the stairs.

  I threw my clothes on in record time. When I came back down, I was more than relieved she was still standing where I’d left her.

  As we left and got into my Jeep, I knew I was going to have to ask more questions and find out the extent of exactly what I’d done. “Could you give me some directions on where I need to go?”

  A look of sheer panic crossed her face, and I immediately regretted my words.

  “Oh! That was silly of me. Never mind, I know where we’re going.” I didn’t, but at that second, it didn’t matter. In taking her magic, I knew then I’d taken her memory of who’d she had once been. I wasn’t sure what was left, but I knew I didn’t want to scare her any worse than I already had. For a creature who once had pointed, sharp teeth and the ability to kill at a second’s notice, she was completely the opposite now. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye when I started the Jeep.

  She still looked like Mrs. Graham but different. Gone were the tight, stretched lines that had painted her face. Her skin looked younger, her hair softer. A few strands curled around her ear and fell to her shoulder.

  Maybe this is what she would have looked like had she been able to stay human all those years ago, I thought. Maybe that’s where I need to start.

  “Mrs. Graham, can I ask you a question?”

  “Certainly.” I saw tension in her face, and a small wrinkle formed at the corner of her eye.

  “What is your first name?”

  The tiny wrinkle disappeared as relief flooded her face. I’d finally asked a question she knew the answer to. “My name is Grace.”

  From there, I asked a few more questions, carefully edging my way around things I thought she might know. From the answers I received, she remembered everything to do with the school and the library. It was her own existence that was a bit of a blank.

  “I am sorry,” she said, giving me another small smile. “I seem to be having a hard time remembering things today, and I have the beginnings of a terrible headache.”

  No doubt, I thought, ceasing my interrogation.

  “Frank will be worried about me. I don’t remember telling him I was leaving.”

  Uh-oh… I froze, my foot sliding off the accelerator for the barest of seconds. Who’s Frank?

  Then it hit me. Mr. Perkins! Now at least I knew where I was headed. Until then, I’d been hoping for some sort of inspiration to hit as to where I needed to take her. Common sense never told me I needed to drive her to Mr. Perkins’s house. I’d been too worried about asking questions.

  Thankfully, I was on the road leading exactly where we needed to go. Silence enveloped us for those last few moments while I drove us to Forest Lane. Mr. Perkins lived in the little yellow house at the edge of the woods, not far at all from the Res. Mrs. Graham seemed lost in thought, so I left my unanswered questions to stay as they were. There would be time to figure out everything at some point, I decided, and I didn’t want to overwhelm her.

  Besides, it would help having someone else’s help. I smiled when I pulled into the driveway, and Mr. Perkins opened the front door. He didn’t seem surprised to see us, and I wondered exactly how much she had said to him. Did he know she had planned to get rid of her magic to be with him?

  From the worried look on his face, he did.

  Once I parked, he rushed toward us and opened the door to let her out. “Are you all right?” he asked without preamble.

  She lifted a hand and touched his cheek lightly. “Of course, my dear. Just a bit of a headache. I’m certain it will leave in a little while.” And with that, she went into the house, leaving him outside with me.

  “It’s gone, isn’t it.” It was not a question, just a fact, and from the sadness in his voice, I realized he knew.

  “Yes,” I said quietly. “She doesn’t remember anything about her time as a Spriteblood. I didn’t know it would cause her to forget so much of her life.”

  Mr. Perkins shook his head. “I begged her not to do it, but she wouldn’t listen. She said she had had enough of living forever. She wanted to grow old. She wanted to be human.” His eyes filled with tears. “I’m the cause of it.”

  “She did it because she loves you.”

  He brushed his hand over his eyes. “I love her too. I just wish there was another way. You should never have to give up who you are for the one you love. It isn’t fair.” He started toward the door, then stopped. “Thank you for bringing her home, Nikki.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  And with that, he left, closing the door behind him.

  When I got into my Jeep and drove away, part of me wondered how long it would take for Wynter to remember who she had been. Certainly a magic that strong would never truly be forgotten forever. Love had found a way for her to have true happiness, even if it had come with a cost.

  And while I was happy for her, something in the back of my mind kept telling me something was broken now. I’d changed something forever, and it would never be the same.

  Chapter Five

  By the time I made it to Ronnie’s house, it was just before noon, and I could tell she was getting antsy. She was already sitting on her front steps waiting for me.

  As soon as she buckled in, I began pelting her with everything that had happened in the short time since I had been awake.

  “No way,” she said in awe, once I finally stopped for a breath. “Mrs. Graham is truly just Mrs. Graham now. I can’t believe she gave away her magic. But then, I can understand.”

  I knew she did. After all, Ronnie had asked me to do the exact same thing for her, and it hadn’t been all that long ago. Love had a way of changing your perspective. It showed you what truly mattered.

  That made my thoughts turn from Wynter…to Adam. When I stopped at a traffic light, I let down the mental walls keeping me from hearing the Pack members’ thoughts. Immediately I caught glimpses of the forest as they ran, and I knew they were having a great time showing Logan and Claire some of the sights. From bits of the trail I saw, I knew they were taking them to the overlook near Burke’s Garden. It was the perfect place to see a great deal of the county. And if the fog hadn’t risen from the valley yet, they would truly see something magnificent.

  I wanted more than anything to turn around and join them. Instead, I merged onto the interstate and listened as Ronnie chattered about the spring dance and what she hoped we’d find during our shopping trip.

  The drive took forever, it seemed, but we finally made it, and we lucked out in the first shop we went in. Ronnie found a pretty pink dress that brought out the blush in her cheeks, and I found a purple one I thought Adam would like as much as I did.

  We put our stuff into the back of the Jeep, and I had just put the key in the ignition when I knew something had happened.

  Something so terribly, terribly wrong. With a sense of dread I’d never felt before, I completely dropped what was left of my walls and felt their fear.

  Attempting to quell my own, I concentrated on each of their voices. First, I heard the cousins, then Ed and then I heard Erik yell.

  Then, I saw Adam.

  “Nikki? Nikki, what is it?” Ronnie’s voice brought me back just enough for me to answer. Even then, my eyes stayed locked on his body. Broken. Still.

  “It’s Adam. Something has happened to Adam.” I couldn’t bring myself to say anything more.

  There had been only one other time I hadn’t been able to feel his presence. Only one other time had this happened…when I had held his broken body in my arms.

  This time would be no different. I knew he was gone.r />
  I didn’t remember the ride back to Bland, but I knew Ronnie drove. And that was only because she gave me the keys after she parked us in front of the emergency room. Part of me didn’t want to go inside—didn’t want to hear what I already felt was true.

  Erik and the others didn’t let me stay outside. Somehow, they knew the instant the Jeep’s engine cut off. Erik’s eyes were red and puffy when he opened the door for me to get out.

  “It’s bad, Nikki. Really, really bad. Doc can’t figure out why he isn’t healing.”

  It took a few seconds for his words to sink in and for me to realize they weren’t at all what I’d been expecting him to say.

  “What?” I grabbed a handful of his shirt, a gesture that was to both steady me as I got out and demand more information at the same time.

  A flurry of words came from all of them at the same time as Ed, Tommy, and Michael pressed forward, all talking at once.

  I concentrated on taking it all in. Normally I would have told them to slow down and take it one at a time, but I needed to know everything as quickly as I could.

  From the bits and pieces I understood, there had been a couple at the railing of the overlook when it gave way. Adam had managed to knock them out of the way, but then it broke, and he had gone over with it.

  According to Ed, when he had jumped to save them, he’d been human, but when he’d gone over, he’d been his wolf.

  When they made it to him at the bottom of the mountain, there wasn’t a trace of his magic. He was human again.

  “Somewhere between falling and landing, something happened to his wolf.” Ed held the Wolf Stone in his hand, the rock that had originally given the Keepers their power. It had been known to help restore it on more than one occasion. He saw the hope on my face but shook his head sadly. “It hasn’t helped him.”

  I felt tears prick my eyes. He saw them and said quickly, “But I’m going to go to his grandpa’s house and look through some of the old books there. I might find something that will help.”