by Teresa Roman
I managed a weak smile. “Thanks for the advice.”
“Take care of yourself,” Riley said. He turned around and went back inside.
So that was it. Riley had been my last hope. I had no idea where to look next. I stumbled back to the car. Frustrated, I pounded my fist into the steering wheel. Instead of returning to the hotel, I drove around aimlessly, hoping for some genius idea to strike. “Willow,” I whispered her name under my breath. “Where are you?”
This situation felt impossible. She didn’t want me. Over the past few days, I’d come to accept that. But I’d never stop loving her, and that was why I couldn’t just walk away. I couldn’t return home with my brothers until I knew she was safe. That was all I wanted. If her brothers hadn’t decided to stand in the way of that, I’d probably be back in Sarabia already.
Eventually I returned to the hotel. Maria had somehow magicked her way into my room. She sat in the armchair in the corner of the room, drumming her fingers on the table beside her. She glared at me as I shut the door behind me.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.
Maria stood and put her hands on her hips. “You can’t be serious.”
“I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“You left without me,” she said. “And you’ve been gone for hours. I called you at least a dozen times, and you didn’t answer.”
“I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Where have you been?”
“I paid Riley a visit.” I sat down on the bed. “But it was a waste of time. Riley doesn’t know anything.”
“How sure are you?”
“I can tell when I’m being lied to.” I folded my hands in my lap. “I don’t know what to do. We’ve run out of places to look for Willow.”
Maria paced back and forth for a bit, stopped, then paced again.
“Could you stop doing that? I asked. “Your pacing is making me even more anxious than I already am.”
She stood in front of me and clasped her hands behind her back. “We’re left with no other choice but to let Willow’s brothers know that she’s in danger. I’m sure then they’ll tell us where she is.”
I’d had that same thought while I’d been driving around, even though I hadn’t wanted it to come to that, but perhaps Maria was right.
“That means we’ll have to drive back to Syracuse,” I said. “Finn knows where his sister is. I’m sure of it. But if we call, he won’t answer. We’ll have to talk to him in person.”
“I agree,” Maria said. “When do we leave?”
“Just give me a few minutes to pack my things.”
With a slight nod, Maria turned and walked away, leaving me alone in my room. I sat down on the edge of the bed with my chin in my hands. Finn knew where Willow was, but I wasn’t convinced that he’d give me the answers I wanted even after I told him that his sister could be in danger. What if he didn’t believe me? What if he thought I was making up some elaborate story to get him to tell me where his sister was? The idea of more hours on the road just to have the door slammed in my face again did not sit well with me.
I lay down and closed my eyes, trying to stop the pain. Willow, come back to me. I willed myself not to think of her, but it was useless. The harder I tried to get her out of my head, the more I saw her there. Then a thought dawned on me. Seeing her in my mind was better than not seeing her at all. I’d take the illusion over her complete absence.
“Willow,” I said picturing her in my mind. “Where are you? Please tell me.”
My question was met with silence, but her image became clearer, crisper.
If I could see her so clearly, then maybe I could also make myself hear her voice. It would make this illusion that much better. I almost laughed at myself for being so pathetic, but I didn’t even care anymore.
I needed to talk a little louder. She’d hear me then and would answer. “Willow, can you hear me?”
My vision of her shifted. She was lying down in bed. The room was dark, so I couldn’t see her as well as I wanted to.
“Willow.”
She didn’t reply, but she’d heard me, I was sure of it. Now all I had to do was get her talking. I missed her voice so much.
“Tell me if you can hear me?” I asked.
No answer.
I asked again, “Tell me if you can hear me?”
And then the last thing I expected to happen did.
Willow answered.
Chapter 18
Willow
Just after lunch Grace and I parted ways. We’d made plans to try for another night out later that evening.
Neither Delilah nor Lisa were home when I arrived, so with no one to talk to, and not much else to do, I decided to take a nap.
I lay down in bed and stared up at the ceiling. Despite my exhaustion I found it difficult to fall asleep. At first it was because I kept replaying the conversation I’d had with Grace earlier in my head. From there my mind wandered to where it always did. Nicolai. I wished there was a way to press fast-forward on my life to the point in time where Nicolai faded from my thoughts. Would that ever happen? Maybe magic could help. But how far into the future would I need to go? Perhaps Delilah was right. I’d have to learn to live with this pain. I couldn’t magic myself out of it.
Eventually I drifted off with images of Nicolai still dancing around in my head. They got all mixed up with Frederic’s words, then Delilah’s, and finally Grace’s. Everyone had an opinion about what I should do. It was downright frustrating.
I slipped in and out of sleep. Even though the dark curtains kept the sun out, it was hot in the attic. I got up and turned the ceiling fan on, then got back into bed. Almost as soon as I closed my eyes again, I heard his voice.
“Willow. Can you hear me?” Nicolai asked.
Another dream. Why did it have to be so real?
He said my name again, louder this time. His voice was so clear it was like he was in the room with me. But of course, that wasn’t possible. Or was it? I wanted it to be. I needed it to be. My eyelids, still heavy with sleep, flicked open, and I turned my head from side to side, praying that I’d see him standing a few feet away. He wasn’t. I was all alone. His voice had just been a dream. What had I been thinking?
I’d put so much effort into making sure he wouldn’t find me. If he did, everything I’d done would have been for nothing, and it couldn’t be for nothing. I would just have to get used to life without him. I closed my eyes, though I doubted I’d fall back asleep. Just as I did, I heard Nicolai’s voice again.
“Tell me if you can hear me,” he said.
I was too stunned to speak. How was I hearing him so clearly? It couldn’t be a dream if I wasn’t sleeping. Nicolai repeated the question.
I wasn’t sure why I answered, but in a shaky voice, I replied, “Yes.”
“I need to find you,” Nicolai said. “I won’t stop looking until I do, so please, please, tell me where you are.”
I pressed my hands to the sides of my head. What was happening? Was I losing my mind? If I wasn’t asleep and this wasn’t a dream, then how could I hear his voice so clearly?
“What’s happening to me?” I said, trying to stem the panic I felt building.
“Don’t be scared, Willow.”
It was too late for that. “Get out of my head.”
“Tell me where you are first.”
“Get out of my head,” I cried.
“I only want to talk.”
“What’s happening?” I pulled at my hair and cried out again, louder this time. “What’s happening to me?”
Just then, the door flew open, and my aunt rushed into the room. “Willow. Is everything all right?”
I looked up at her, then hugged my knees to my body and rocked myself back and forth. Delilah sat down on the edge of the bed.
“I’m scared.”
“I can tell. You’re white as a sheet,” Delilah said. “Tell me what happened. Did you have a bad dream?”
“Not a dream,” I mumbled. “I think I was hallucinating.”
Delilah frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“I heard him.”
“Who?”
“Nicolai. He was talking to me.”
“You had another dream?”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t a dream. I was awake. And I didn’t see him, I heard him. I don’t know how to explain it. His voice was so loud and clear that for a moment, I was convinced he was in the room with me.”
Delilah stroked my back, trying to soothe my frayed nerves.
“What do you think it means?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. I don’t think you’re losing your mind, though. There’s got to be some sort of explanation, probably a magical one, but there’s so much I never learned about magic that I’m not sure what to tell you.”
I hadn’t thought of magic as an explanation. Maybe Maria had cast some sort of spell. The queasy feeling in my gut eased a bit. Still, I couldn’t shake my panic entirely. What if it happened again? Getting over Nicolai was hard enough without hearing his voice. I took a deep breath. Maybe running away had been wrong. Maybe I should have found a way to muster the courage to break things off with Nicolai face-to-face.
“Are you all right?” Delilah asked.
I nodded and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. “I think so.”
“You didn’t sleep well last night. Or any night since you got here. Maybe I should make a potion to help you with that.”
It was what Maria had done for me after my father died. And it had helped.
“I’d like that.” A potion that would put me into such a deep sleep that neither dreams nor nightmares nor voices in my head stood a chance of penetrating was exactly what I needed.
Chapter 19
Nicolai
Something—no, someone—had broken our connection. I sat bolt upright. I hadn’t just imagined it. I’d seen Willow. I’d talked to her, and she’d heard me. I had no idea how, but maybe Maria would.
I dashed out of my room and then pounded on Maria’s door. As soon as she opened it, the words spilled out of my mouth. “What do you think it means? Don’t tell me it was just my imagination. There’s no way. It was all too real. I saw her. I heard her. I know I did.”
Maria stared at me openmouthed for a moment before finally saying, “I didn’t think that kind of magic could be possible between a witch and a werewolf.”
“What kind of magic?”
“Sometimes two people can have such a powerful connection that they can speak to each other telepathically, even from great distances. It’s similar to what you do with your packmates,” Maria said. “And it means one thing.”
“What?”
“That Willow still loves you deeply. Without a powerful connection, you would not have been able to communicate with her. Whatever Frederic told you she said was a lie. I don’t know why Willow left, but it wasn’t because she doesn’t love you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am quite certain.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”
“Like I said, I didn’t think it was possible for a witch and a werewolf to connect in that way,” Maria explained.
My heart quickened. Was it really possible that Willow still loved me? If so, then why had she done everything in her power to keep me from finding her?
“Did she tell you where she is?” Maria asked.
My excitement faded. Not only had Willow not told me where she was but I’d frightened her. The thought of her panic-filled eyes as I asked her to tell me where she was left me with a deep sense of shame. I shook my head. “No. She was too scared. And then someone ran into the room, and our connection broke.”
“Did you see who it was?”
“It was a woman. I didn’t see her; I just heard her voice.”
“Did you see anything else?” Maria asked. “Perhaps a clue that will help us figure out where Willow is.”
I tried remembering. “The room was dark. I really didn’t see much.” Aggravated, I clenched my hands into fists. “We’re no closer to finding Willow. The only thing I managed to do was frighten her.”
Maria put her hand on my shoulder. “Calm down, Nicolai. Perhaps something will come to you later when you’re not so worked up.”
I glared at Maria. “I am not worked up.” But I was. I could feel the frustration building. Soon I wouldn’t be able to control it. I needed to shift before that happened. We’d been searching for Willow for days and still had no idea where she was. I’d hit my limit.
“I have to go,” I mumbled under my breath. Before Maria could ask where I was headed, I ran out of the hotel room and down the stairs. When I got into my car, I peeled out of the parking lot, not really knowing where I was going, just knowing it had to be somewhere without people.
The area was rural enough that finding a wooded area to escape into didn’t take too much time. I shifted into my wolf form, let out a loud howl, then I took off running. As a wolf, I took no notice of time. It was only when I shifted back that I realized several hours had passed, which meant there was no time to waste. I quickly dressed, putting on the clothes I’d left stashed in my car earlier, and hurried back to the hotel. I knocked on the door to Maria’s room. She ushered me inside.
“I remembered something,” I said.
“What is it?”
“The room Willow was in was dark, but I did manage to see something—old books like the ones you gave Willow.”
“Spell books?”
“I can’t be one hundred percent certain, but I think so.”
“So she’s with a witch.” Maria turned her back to me. “But how?” she whispered to herself.
“A family member, perhaps?”
Maria turned back around, her eyes wide. “Of course. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner. She must be with her aunt, Delilah, the one who told her about being a witch in the first place. It makes perfect sense.”
Willow had told me about Delilah as well. She’d said they weren’t close, that she hadn’t seen her since she was a child. That was why I hadn’t considered that Willow would be with her, but Maria was right. It made perfect sense. Willow had turned to the only other witch she knew for help.
“That’s why I couldn’t find Willow when I scryed for her. Her aunt must’ve taught her how to block me.”
I sat down on the edge of Maria’s bed. “So, now that we know who she’s with, we just need to figure out where Delilah lives.”
“I can’t scry for her. I would need something that belonged to her for that to work.”
“Delilah used to live in Beaver Falls,” I said. “She grew up there, which means she must have friends that she still keeps in touch with. I’ll send my brothers into town to ask around.”
“Remind them that the sooner we find Willow, the sooner they can return home.”
I didn’t need Maria to tell me that. I dialed Alexander’s number. He promised to call as soon as he found something out. The waiting would drive me crazy, but I had no other choice.
“While we wait, try searching for Delilah and Beaver Falls, NY, on the internet and see what you find,” Maria suggested.
It was a long shot. Having a last name would’ve been helpful, but I’d never thought to ask Willow what her mother’s maiden name had been. I logged in to my computer, figuring that it was better than sitting around doing nothing. An hour later I gave up, frustrated. By midnight, Alexander hadn’t called back.
“Get some sleep,” Maria urged.
“I’m not sure I can. Not when we’re so close to figuring out where Willow is.”
“Your brothers are probably all fast asleep. We won’t have any answers until morning.”
I let out a deep breath and muttered, “Fine.”
“I’ll see you first thing in the morning. We’ll figure out what to do then.”
By the time Alexander finally called the next day, I had just about rea
ched the end of my patience.
“Please tell me you found something out,” I said as I pressed the phone to my ear.
“I’ve got the information you were looking for,” Alexander replied. “Willow’s aunt’s full name is Delilah Whitmore.”
“Yes.” Finally we were getting somewhere. I pounded the table with my fist. “Thank you, Alexander.”
“There’s more,” my brother said. “Delilah doesn’t actually live that far away. After she left Beaver Falls, she moved to Ithaca.”
“Ithaca?” That was about a four-hour drive away. I wasn’t looking forward to getting back in the car, but at least this time, Maria and I wouldn’t be driving aimlessly.
“Yes,” Alexander replied.
“Thanks, brother. I mean it. I owe you for this.”
“Just find her and get yourself back here already. Frederic is driving me crazy.”
I hung up and dashed out of the room to find Maria. She answered her door at my knock.
“She’s in Ithaca,” I said. “Her aunt’s full name is Delilah Whitmore.”
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get going.”
Maria and I had no time to waste. Willow knew I was looking for her. I needed to find her before she decided to run away from me again.
A few minutes later, Maria’s bags and mine were in my car. “That’s right, Willow,” I whispered to myself. “I’m coming for you.”
Chapter 20
Willow
I awoke sometime later to the sound of my aunt knocking on the door.
“Come in.” I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “What time is it?” I asked Delilah as she entered the room.
“Almost noon.”
“Noon?” How was that possible? The answer slowly dawned on me. I’d been asleep for almost twenty-four hours. Whatever Delilah had given me was strong. “I was supposed to go out with Grace last night.”
