by Amy Boyles
Argus considered this. He bobbed his head from side to side as if weighing options. After a heavy silence, he finally spoke.
“And do you think that will stop him in the future?”
A worry line formed between my eyes. I flattened it with my index finger. “I don’t think he’ll pursue me in the future.”
“And what if he does?”
I hiked a shoulder to my ear. “I’ll deal with it then.”
Argus tsked. “It isn’t so simple, Pepper.”
He used a tone that sounded like it was more fit for children than grown-ups.
I bristled. “Why is that?”
“Because what if Axel follows you when you’re in the High Council? Makes waves? Causes a scene like this one.”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“I’m sure you would’ve said the same thing a week ago if I suggested the events of today might happen.”
I frowned. “I just know he wouldn’t go that far.”
Argus smiled sadly. “I’m sorry to say there are no guarantees, are there? If what happened today occurred in the council, not only would Axel be arrested and dealt with, but you would also be to blame.”
I jerked back. “Me? Why me?”
“Because”—Argus lowered his voice—“you had ample opportunity to stop the wolf, to make sure he wouldn’t act out again. But you would have failed. Wouldn’t you? If Axel attacked and possibly killed another council member, that would be on you, Pepper.”
The weight of Argus’s words hit me hard. The thought that Axel might do this again, that he would attack innocent people made a fire rage in my belly.
He would have to be stopped. “They’re looking for him right now. The townspeople—my grandmother, others. They’re searching for Axel so that he can be arrested and punished.”
Argus smirked. “Do you really think that’s enough?”
“Don’t you?”
The sorcerer smoothed his hair. The stone in his pinky ring winked in the light. “Do you really think that as long as you’re alive, as long as you are around, that Axel will stop fighting for you?”
“He’ll have to.”
“But you see, I don’t think our young wolf is that sort. I believe he will fight and work to claim you for his own, even if you go through with the wedding. Even if your souls are linked, this wolf won’t give up.”
An uncomfortable feeling fissured down my spine. “What exactly are you saying, Mr. Amulet?”
His eyes glittered. “I’m saying that it will take more than a gang of townspeople to stop the wolf.”
“What will it take?”
“You, Pepper. It will take you.”
Fear surged up my throat. Or was that heartburn? I hadn’t had anything to eat in hours, so it must’ve been fear.
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s quite simple, really,” Argus explained as if it was the easiest thing to understand. “You must go after him. Once found, you will use his weakness for you to stop him from ever doing anything like this again.”
Argus stared at me. I stared back.
He’d left a lot of wide-open space in that conversation. I needed to understand exactly what he was asking.
“And I’ll do that how?”
“By ending his life,” he said without missing a beat.
My heart twisted. “What?”
“You heard me. The wolf must die.”
The wolf must die. His words sank in, gutting me and making me feel like a stone sat in my stomach.
“But surely there’s another way,” I argued. “The police will arrest him. Axel will learn his lesson then, I’m sure of it.”
An amused laugh slipped from his mouth. “Do you really think so? Do you think it will be so simple for the werewolf? That he’ll just go to jail willingly while he knows that you’re out there, in the world, ripe for the plucking?”
“I’m sure.”
Argus’s smile soured. “Do you think he’ll stay away when you let him lay his hands on you?”
I shook my head. “What? Sorry?”
Argus raised his hand. An image appeared and I gasped. I stood in Familiar Place. So did Axel. He said something and then kissed me.
My eyes widened. I thought I had resisted Axel, but in reality I’d wound my fingers through his hair, had pulled him to me as he pulled me to him.
“Idie,” I whispered. She’d betrayed me.
“You can’t be angry with her,” Argus said. “Not at all. She showed me this for your safety, and I have to admit, the hairdresser did the right thing.”
Argus pointed to the frozen image of Axel and me, lips locked. “Tell me, Pepper. Do you really think the wolf is going to let you go when you kissed him like that? And practically on the eve of your wedding?”
“I…um…” But there was nothing to say. No excuse would save me from this. The image absolutely spoke for itself. I had allowed Axel to kiss me in broad daylight, and I’d kissed him back.
Argus was right. As long as I lived, Axel would try to disrupt my life. He would think that because in my old reality we were to be married, that somewhere deep inside me, I possessed feelings for him.
But he was wrong. In this life I had succumbed to the spell of the unity ceremony. The only love I held in my heart for a man belonged to Rufus; it was as simple as that.
All I had to do was convince Axel that I didn’t love him. Maybe it would be easy. If I went to him and told him that, he’d understand.
As if Argus could read my thoughts, he said, “You know he won’t listen to reason. You can try to tell him he’s not the man for you, but it won’t work. Not so long as he remembers the kiss you gave him whilst under the effect of the unity spell.”
My lower lip trembled. Argus was about to ask the unthinkable of me; I felt it all the way to my gut. The absolute unspeakable was what he needed me to do.
But I had to be sure. “What are you saying?”
Argus smacked his lips. “What I’m saying, my dear, is that in order to be rid of Axel, you will have to kill him.”
I fisted my hands. “It has to be me?”
He nodded. “You’re the only person he’ll allow to get close enough.”
Argus snapped his fingers, and a silver knife dropped from the ceiling and landed at my feet.
“It’s silver. The one thing that can kill a werewolf. Use it wisely, my dear.”
My fingers trembled as I reached for the weapon. I picked it up and stared at Argus. The choice was mine.
The silver was cold in my hands, sending a shiver snaking down my spine. I gripped it tighter, clutching the weapon to my chest.
“I’ll do as you wish. For my future.”
Chapter 22
“And just where do you think we’re going to find Axel? A werewolf that could be hiding anywhere?”
I’d changed out of my ceremonial dress and into regular clothes.
I turned to Ratchet, who stood on my bed, wrapping what looked like a weapon’s vest around his waist.
“What do you mean, we? I’m going to find Axel myself.”
“The heck you are.” Ratchet pulled the belt to make sure it was secure and then jumped off my bed. “I’m coming with you. There’s no telling what the werewolf will do when it sees you. He may try to harm you. He may attack. I don’t know, but I’m not letting you go alone.”
I took a deep breath and said quickly, “We can communicate in his wolf form. He won’t attack me.”
“It’s one thing to communicate; it’s another to—”
Ratchet stopped as he stared at the crumpled expression on my face. “Oh jeez,” he said. “You can really communicate with him, you mean. Y’all two are bonded. He won’t go all feral on you. That’s what you’re saying.”
I slowly nodded. Ratchet rubbed a hand down his face. “Oh wow. This is more complicated than I thought. Look, okay. So you’re saying if I come, I’ll only screw things up. Mess this whole scenario for you.”
I dropp
ed to my knees and pinned Ratchet by the shoulders. “I want you to come, I really do but I’m afraid of that.”
My gaze shifted to the dagger. “This is something I have to do on my own.”
Realization crossed his face. “Kill him? Kill a man you used to love?”
I said nothing. Ratchet sighed. He dropped his hands to his thighs. “I know you’re different from the Pepper I know. Better in a lot of ways, but even she, with all her faults, wouldn’t do this. She wouldn’t hurt Axel. Not even for the council.”
“But you don’t understand—”
“I understand exactly,” he said sadly. “You’re letting an old sorcerer tell you what’s right instead of following your heart. I would come with you to help capture him, but I won’t be a part of this. Not treachery like that.”
He shook his head. “And to be honest, I can’t believe you’d do it, too. After all he’s meant to you.”
“You don’t get it—”
Ratchet shook his head. “Yes, I do. And I hope you don’t come back. I hope the Pepper I know returns and that you do whatever it is you have to do and then you leave, because I couldn’t look you in the eye after this. It isn’t right and you know it.”
“But you were going to come with me,” I argued.
“To catch him, not to hurt him.” Ratchet’s shoulders fell. He crossed to the door and turned around slowly. “Goodbye, Pepper.”
A great longing filled me then. I rushed over to Ratchet and threw my arms around his small body. “I’m sorry. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
When we parted, he looked at me, his eyes full of sadness. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can.”
Without another word, Ratchet opened the door and left.
I raked my fingers through my hair. It was best not to think about this sort of thing too much. I had a job to do. There was no other way about it. That was the end of it.
But still…my fingers twitched as I stared at the door that led to downstairs. Betty was home. So was Amelia. I didn’t know about Cordelia.
Deciding it was best if I found another route out, I crossed to the window and threw up the sash.
Within seconds I was down the roof and out of the house. A little magic helped in that regard. It always did.
I brushed off my clothes and headed out into the night to find Axel.
I’d spent a lot of time trying to figure out where he might be hiding. Betty had said that no one had found hide nor hair of him.
But I was different. Axel would come for me if I was close enough and he caught a whiff of my scent.
The one and only place I knew Axel was most comfortable in his werewolf form was the Cobweb Forest.
I grabbed a rusty cast-iron skillet that I found outside a house and jumped on it.
The skillet itself was wobbly, not wanting to comply with my request to actually allow me to ride it.
That may or may not have been why the skillet was abandoned and had rusted, but I wasn’t going to let that deter me. Too much was at stake.
I finally reached the outskirts of the forest. “Okay,” I commanded, “let’s go down nice and steady.”
Nice and steady for the skillet obviously meant bumpy as heck. The thing bucked and jumped as if it wanted me gone.
I grasped the stem tightly, my knuckles whitening, but it wasn’t enough.
One more solid buck and I flew off, sailing straight toward a grove of magnolias. I threw out my hands and stopped falling.
I hovered spread-eagle above the forest as if suspended by a string. I inhaled a deep breath and waited for my heart to slow to its normal beat.
The skillet whizzed past me, and I barely stopped myself from hurling curse words and shooting it a nasty gesture.
You never knew, the thing might decide to take some sort of revenge. I didn’t have time for that.
I slowly dropped to the forest floor. The scent of pine leaves wafted up my nose. I moved lightly, but pine needles crunched under my feet. A breeze picked up and lifted the hair from my neck.
I shivered.
It felt like eyes were watching me. I kept on moving. The ground rumbled. I jumped in time to watch a tree lift its roots and shuffle out of my path.
I shuddered. Watching that always gave me the creeps. But still I pressed on until I could no longer deny the feeling that I was being watched.
The fine hairs on my neck soldiered to attention. I froze and stared into the darkness.
Trees glittered in the moonlight. There was no way to tell where Axel actually stood, but I remained still, allowing him to make the first move.
Limbs rustled and a moment later the hulking mass stepped out into a small clearing in front of me.
I swallowed a knot in my throat.
Why did you come?
“You need to stop this madness,” I said. “You hurt Rufus.”
Because he hurt you, Axel yelled. I was defending you.
I licked my lips. “I know that. I’m sorry. But the others don’t understand it.”
The werewolf padded forward. Do I mean nothing to you?
“You mean so much. Of course you do.”
You’re under a spell. You realize that, don’t you?
“It’s not a spell. It’s part of the ceremony.”
He watched me quietly as if waiting for all of it to sink in. Which it did. Of course it was a spell. There was ritual and blood, but ultimately I’d allowed myself to be spelled to fall in love with Rufus, which was what I thought the wishing stone wanted me to do. I’d only been doing what I thought was the right thing.
It can be broken.
I wasn’t sure what to say. Even though I knew it was a spell, I still loved Rufus—desperately. With everything I had.
Then my mind flashed to the dagger and why I’d come.
You and I, Axel said in my head, we’re the ones who are united. You’re here and I’m not feral. I’m not the monster they think I am.
“No, of course not.” I reached for him. “You’re not a monster. You’re far from it.”
But I can see in your eyes you think I am. Change me.
I leaned away, surprised by what he’d said. “Change you?”
Back. To my human form.
“But you can’t be. Not until morning.”
You can do it.
The knife in my belt felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. With Axel in his human form, I would have an easier time using the knife, that much was certain. But changing him myself? I wasn’t sure I could do it.
But heck, he believed in me, so why not try?
I threw my hands up. “Okay.” I focused my magic. Power bloomed in my gut, swelling, ready to flow out of me. When my magic reached its apex of power, I pinned it on Axel, on changing him from the beast back to himself.
At first I didn’t think it was going to work. Nothing happened. Magic curled around the wolf as he stood quietly in the forest. Then suddenly I heard the first pop and fizz of Axel’s bones as they shuffled and changed, shrank and compacted back to human form.
A surge of excitement shot through me. I was really doing it! I was really changing Axel, turning him back into himself from the wolf!
It was hard, though. Sweat sprinkled my brow, streaming down my temples. I wiped my arm across my face, smearing perspiration across my top lip.
As Axel took shape before me, I started slowing my magic, turning it off. The forest suddenly felt heavy and humid. I wiped my slick palms on my thighs and waited.
Axel rose from his crouched position. I licked my lips and stared at him. I didn’t know if it was the magic or simply seeing him bare in the forest, but my nerves suddenly went haywire.
You did it.
I blinked. “What? You said that in my head. What?”
I thought since we could speak while I was in a wolf, that we could communicate this way when I’m human, too.
“Oh, well. Turns out you’re right.”
I suddenly felt very, very chicke
n. I’d come here to do a task but was unsure if I could actually go through with it.
Who was I kidding? I couldn’t hurt Axel.
But then Argus’s words filled my head. How Axel would track and stalk me until he stole me again. How he would ruin any chance I had at happiness.
“What do you want with me?”
“To break the spell.” He said it evenly, boldly, as if he held the solution to this problem that wasn’t a problem.
“I don’t want you to,” I said.
He gave me a warm smile, one that I knew should illicit an emotional response in me. But it didn’t.
“You may not want me now, but that’s because of what you’ve been put under. When you first arrived, you wouldn’t have said no. You would have wanted me to kiss you. You’re not from here, remember?”
I fisted my hands in frustration. “And what if I leave and you get your Pepper back? What then? Don’t you think she’ll discard you like she did before?”
Axel stepped forward. “I don’t know, but I’m willing to find out.”
I swallowed a knot the size of Kansas that had lodged itself in my throat. “What if nothing happens when you kiss me?”
He smirked. “Then we’ll be done. That’s all I want. Just one kiss. If the spell doesn’t break, then it doesn’t break. You go on with your life. But if it does…”
I folded my arms. “What then?”
“Then we see,” he said slyly. “We see what happens.”
If he neared me, I could pull the dagger and do the job.
I winced. It would be the ultimate betrayal. The worst thing I could ever do in all the world. But I would be doing it for a purpose. For the greater good.
Right?
I studied Axel. He studied me with a relaxed expression. He knew I would take the bait, and he wasn’t worried. Because he would never consider that I hid a knife behind my back. Why would he?
Emotions of guilt and righteousness warred inside me until I finally set them both aside.
I threw my head back and inhaled deeply. My gaze met Axel’s. “Okay. You can kiss me.”
