The Culling (Book 2): The Hollow:

by Bell, A. C.

  He finally spoke up. “How long has this been going on, exactly?”

  “Nothing's happened, yet,” Raiden reassured him.

  Yet. That little word caught my breath and butterflies tickled my stomach. His green eyes held mine and I tried not to turn red. Not that anyone can actually control their blush. The corners of his mouth quirked up subtly for me, so I must have failed. Slade fell silent again and I shifted uncomfortably.

  He pulled around the fountain outside Renenet's estate when we finally arrived and he was careful not to stop too drastically so Raiden wouldn't be jostled around. Peter hadn’t arrived yet. At least he was being careful with my car.

  “I'll get your door,” Slade offered as he swung his legs out his door.

  “Actually, can Adeline and I have a minute?” Raiden looked almost sheepishly at his friend around the headrest. Slade's eyes squinted slightly as he and Raiden locked glances. After a few long heartbeats, he looked away and nodded tersely before climbing from the car.

  “Is this the best time? We should get you inside.”

  “Let me take you to dinner,” Raiden said bluntly. I couldn't help laughing. He fixed me with those green eyes and smiled. “Probably not tonight because, well,” he clarified, pointing to his back with his thumb.

  “How's Saturday?”

  “Perfect.”

  “Can I help you inside, now?”

  “Yes, please.”

  I chuckled and shook my head as I scampered around the car to help him out. He could walk a bit better now but leaned against me for support. As we carefully ascended the steps winter had so rudely sneezed all over, Renenet opened the door for Slade. She narrowed in on Raiden quickly and took on the demeanor of a parent who’s been called to the school because their kid has gotten into a fight again.

  “Again? Perhaps we should just set aside your own room in the infirmary. How did you manage to get hurt at court?”

  Slade’s blue-grey eyes moved to me. “Don’t be too hard on him. His heart was in the right place.” He looked over my head and his lips pulled down. Behind me, Peter was pulling up and Nikki sat catatonic in the passenger seat. The worry in Peter’s expression stopped my heart for a moment.

  “Go. She needs you,” Raiden said. Slade had met us on the steps, ready to take my place helping Raiden.

  “Thank you,” I muttered.

  Raiden gave my arm a squeeze before slinging his over Slade’s shoulders. “It’ll be okay,” he promised.

  I nodded and tried to smile. “Go get fixed up.” I slowly meandered back down the icy steps as he and Slade disappeared inside.

  “I’ll leave the door unlocked,” Renenet offered.

  “Thanks,” I said over my shoulder. Lorraine was climbing out of the back seat. She looked completely exhausted like she had after fighting the Change. Had it tried in the car? “Are you okay?” I asked.

  She nodded noncommittally. “Yeah, I just need some sleep.”

  “Okay. Thanks for coming.” We hugged and she shuffled toward the Manor. Peter’s brown eyes were locked on Nikki as he moved around the front of the car, which he’d left on so Nikki would be warm.

  “She hasn’t said a word.”

  My throat tightened. “I was afraid she would react this way.” I pulled out my phone to call the only person who could help. After two rings, Marcus’s deep voice answered.

  “Hello?”

  “You need to come to Renenet’s Estate. Something’s happened.”

  “Is Nicole okay?” He sounded legitimately worried.

  I looked at Nikki’s blank expression and matched Peter’s concerned frown. “Please, just come. Do you know where it is?”

  “Yes. I’ll drop this meeting and come over. It’ll take a little over an hour to get there, though…”

  If he planned to get here that quickly from any kind of civilization, he would definitely be speeding. I had a good feeling about his priorities at least. “That’s fine. We’ll be out front.”

  “See you then.” He hung up.

  I stepped closer to Nikki’s door and lightly tugged it open. “Nikki?”

  “Did you call him?” She asked. All I could do was nod. “Alright, then.” She practically jumped out of the car and headed for the manor. I quickly reached through her vacated seat to turn off the car and pluck my keys out. Nikki went halfway up the wide, elegant steps and brushed snow from one to clear a spot and plunked right down to wait. She propped her arms on her knees and stared down at the ground in thought. Peter and I looked at each other.

  “I’ll get umbrellas,” Peter offered, scampering up the steps. I stared uncertainty at Nikki, unsure if I was welcome. She knew who I’d called. Knew I’d known she was a sorceress before her and hadn’t told her.

  “I’m not mad.” Her voice barely drifted down the steps. I took a deep breath and was careful not to slip on the steps. I cleared a spot beside her and sat. “How long?” she asked quietly, watching the snow twirl around in little whirlwinds.

  “Not very. He was at Worg’s a few weeks ago. He was supposed to tell you, but I think he’s been too afraid.”

  She nodded but didn’t say anything else. Peter returned shortly and handed me a paisley umbrella. He’d found a yellow and black one for himself; Must have felt in the school spirit since those were our school’s colors. The three of us huddled beneath the two little shelters in silence. At least, until Peter started quietly singing “Cat’s in The Cradle”. Nikki smacked his coated arm with a fwop and we all laughed.

  When her father’s midnight blue Jaguar F-Pace SUV appeared down the long drive, she straightened like a pole and smoothed the wrinkles from her peach skirt. He rolled up behind Farrah. He was pale when he climbed from the car, having apparently guessed why he was here. Slowly but determinedly, he trudged around the front bumper to face his daughter.

  Nikki stood and I shoved my umbrella into her hand. When she carefully stepped down to the next step, Marcus flicked his hands apart and the snow and ice blew off the steps all around us until they were clear and safe. Nikki looked at the snow flurrying away in wonderment. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking and judging by the way his hands shook a bit when he dropped them back to his sides, neither could he. She met him at the bottom.

  “Hi.” She murmured. Her big brown eyes couldn’t seem to look away, truly seeing him for the first time.

  “I just heard what happened at the courthouse. Your friend was there, right? So, I assume you were, too?”

  She nodded. “They were using shields and I just…” Her right hand twitched at her side.

  “You cast it just by seeing the spell.” Marcus somehow managed to sound both astonished and not surprised at all; Proud even. But Nikki’s brows scrunched in apprehension for what this meant for her and his lips pulled down guiltily.

  Peter scooted over so we could share the other umbrella and leaned over to whisper, “He looks like—”

  “He is.”

  “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

  I rolled my eyes. “He’s the Paragon. Now shush.”

  “I loved your mother,” Marcus was saying. “More than she will ever know. But when she learned what I was, she…” He trailed off and took a deep breath to calm his sadness. “I know that’s no excuse. I’ve always told myself you were better off without me, but I’m really just a coward. I couldn’t face her, or you; To have either of you look at me the way she did. I—”

  Nikki stepped forward and did something none of us expected. She dropped the umbrella and hugged him. Marcus was stunned but regained enough sense to put his arms around her. “I understand,” she said.

  “Wh-what?”

  “Of course I do. She did it to me, too.” She hugged him tighter.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered into her hair.

  They stood like that in the snow for a few minutes. I welled up and subtly wiped away a tear so Peter wouldn’t notice, only to spy him doing the same in my periphery. Neither of us dared
to speak and ruin their moment. When they pulled apart, Marcus started making swirling motions with his hand and the snow around them flurried into a whirlwind. Nikki looked around in amazement, unblinking as if in doing so she would miss something.

  “When sorcerers teach magic, they give you a spell book with specific instructions on how to cast certain spells. I'm not going to do that with you. Magic has no restrictive state or set functionality because before they get that book, everyone has their own idea about how it works and what it can do. Imagination is your only limitation.

  “I was 28 when I learned I was a paragon, after years of study. So, it was difficult to unlearn everything I thought I knew about sorcery. I wasn't able to cast without an incantation until I realized that all an incantation does is give the user's idea the bridge it needs to reach reality. But language is limited and time-consuming. With greater will, those like you and I can bypass that step and learn to create freely.”

  The snow began to gather and take form beside them until it was an intricate ice sculpture of Nikki. She faced it like a mirror. Her hand twitched with an urge to try using magic and she glanced at Marcus, full of uncertainty. He nodded encouragingly. Nikki took a deep shaking breath and flexed her fingers a few times to ease her tension, then focused on the replica.

  She closed her eyes and didn’t move for a little while, just breathed steadily. I got the sense she was trying to feel the magic within her. Finally, she opened her eyes and began to slowly lift her trembling hand. Nothing happened at first, but then the sculpture’s arm unfroze but held its shape and the water lifted to mimic her motion, then resolidified. Peter and I gaped at each other. A teary laugh escaped her as tears slid down her cheeks and Nikki touched her palm to the sculpture’s. She could finally see the beauty in this power that had caused her so much fear and heartache throughout her childhood.

  ***

  We decided to let Nikki and Marcus talk alone. Unsure where else to go, I ventured toward the library and Peter followed quietly. “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah. A lot has happened today, is all.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and watched the floor in front of him as he walked.

  “No kidding.”

  “I never would have guessed she was a sorceress.”

  “Looking back, I can’t believe I never saw it. That night when her mom was freaking out because she thought Nikki was changing the channel on the tv, her nerves were setting her magic off,” I said. He was quiet, pensive, eyes downcast as we meandered. “Hey.” I caught his elbow so he would stop and hugged him. “Congratulations about today. I didn’t get the chance to say that at the courthouse.”

  His arms wrapped around me tightly. “Thank you,” he whispered.

  I couldn’t help thinking about how he’d hurt himself after he was caught. My heart ached just thinking about it. I still couldn’t fathom the concept of this light-hearted guy being in so much pain that he would try to… I tightened my grip. “Are you really okay?” I asked against his shoulder.

  He drew a shaky breath. “I’m working on it.”

  I pictured the glass of water Raiden had imbued with healing magic and tried to embody it to share whatever healing I could muster with Peter, even though I couldn’t actually heal him. After a while, he pulled back and cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “So, where are we going?”

  “The library.”

  “Lead on.”

  Normally several tenants mulled about the library, but today we found only one. Open books covered all four tables about the room. Kendra was bent over one such tome with her fingers shoved frustratedly into her hair while she read. Her glance flicked to us only briefly before leering back down at the page.

  “Sorry, we’ll just—”

  “It’s not my library,” she interrupted curtly. “Come on in.”

  I was tempted to leave anyway, but my curiosity wouldn’t let me. I meandered to the table closest to me and peeked at a few of the covers. Purgatory: The Unknown Realm, Beyond the Veil, A Brief History of Demonology, An Extended History of Demonology, An Examination of This World’s Most Dangerous Creatures. The last one caught my attention, naturally. I flipped it open and skimmed through it until a drawing of a monstrous creature entitled The Wulver caught my eye. It looked like a large, mutated werewolf. Elias had called Gabriel a wulver. I read the page beside it.

  The wulver is an abomination created when a canisapian is infected with the lamian virus. It can also occur when a cynocephalus infects either a lamia or a canisapian. In most circumstances, the victim will not survive the infection and due to the hostile nature of the cynocephali virus, lamia infected are even less likely to survive as their bodies are not accustomed to undergoing transformations.

  “If the virus takes hold without killing the host, a canisapian will be able to control the mutation since their DNA already possesses transformable functionality. A lamia, however, takes on the form of a large beast and is unable to return to their original form. Their mentality is also shifted, as the lamia no longer remembers who they are. No cure has been found to reverse the process of those who are turned into a wulver. It went on to talk about anatomy and which features come from which species.

  So that was why Raiden had been worried about Gabriel biting me. I glanced at Peter beside me to ask about it but frowned. Grief was written all over his face, so I quickly shut the book. He tried to blink away what he was feeling and rubbed the back of his neck. To change the subject, he moved on to the other books.

  “What are you looking for?” He questioned.

  Kendra groaned frustratedly. “Any information on the things that attacked Adeline, Raiden, and me.”

  He slowly turned to me. “The what?” His brown eyes leveled me with disapproval and I looked away, gnawing on the inside of my cheek awkwardly.

  “You had enough going on without worrying about this, too,” I muttered. I could feel his irritation when he crossed his arms and leaned on the desk, waiting for me to explain. I let my shoulders slump and exhaled a sigh. “Alright, fine. I’ve been going up to Dad’s cabin ever since you disappeared.”

  He looked taken aback. “Why?”

  “In case you came back.” Why else?

  His irritation fizzled out and he dipped his head down.

  “But last week when Raiden came by to find me something attacked us. Even Worg doesn’t know what they are.”

  “Our only lead is Purgatory.”

  Peter snorted. “Oh please. No one can even prove Purgatory exists.”

  I met Kendra’s eye. “Really?”

  “Yep.” Was it just me or was there a mischievous coil to Kendra’s usually scowling mouth?

  Peter looked between us and his chocolate eyes narrowed at me. “No, no, no.”

  I shrugged. “What?”

  “I know that look, Adeline Parker, that ‘challenge accepted’ spark. People have been looking for proof that Purgatory exists for centuries. The only thing people can seem to agree on is that it would be dangerous.”

  “I’ve never seen a lead until now,” Kendra argued. “Nothing has ever come through before as far as I can find. But if these things came through, they can go back.”

  “Have you ever actually tried putting a cat in a bag?” He quipped.

  I smirked but looked to Kendra. “Have you found anything promising?”

  “No.” Kendra’s mouth scrunched in frustration and she shoved the book she was reading away. She marched around the table in a huff. “I need to hit something.”

  I moved around to her spot to look at the book she had been reading, but it was in German. Ein Reich der Schatten, the title read. A ‘something’ of ‘something’. Yes, very helpful, sparse knowledge of German. I could only recognize a few words on the page it was flipped to, not enough for anything coherent. Alexandra had this book, too. Maybe I would borrow it from her to work on my German.

  Only when Kendra pulled the door loudly shut behind her did Peter
speak. “Who is that?”

  “Wyatt’s half-sister, Kendra.”

  Peter inhaled deeply and put his hands on his hips. After holding his breath a few moments, he let it go. “That’s your aunt? Not exactly warm and cuddly, is she?”

  I shrugged. “Does she need to be?”

  “I suppose not,” he admitted.

  “Speaking of Wyatt,” I said, pulling out my phone with a pang of guilt. In all the chaos, I had completely forgotten about his arrest. But where would they have taken him and how long would he be there? Maybe Morrison would know.

  ***

  Wyatt’s blue eyes widened in surprise when he found me waiting outside the county jailhouse. His suit was wrinkled from sitting in a cell and his features seemed stiff from having sat doing nothing for hours. “Hi,” he greeted awkwardly. He extended his hand for me to shake. I moved to shake it, but this man was my family. So, throwing caution to the wind, I took a play from Nikki's book and hugged him instead. It was an awkward embrace, but one that he reciprocated.

  "Thank you," I said as I pulled back.

  Wyatt rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "It was the least I could do.”

  “I called Agent Morrison and he said they were already working on releasing you.”

  He glanced away and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Apparently Chr—I mean Raiden,” he corrected himself, “called in a favor with someone at the Capital. Must have been some favor.”

  I smirked. Raiden’s sister worked in the U.S. supernatural capital over in Salem. Not that I would spoil the secret. “I was hoping we could talk.” I gripped the handle of my shoulder bag, feeling like the folder inside would burn a hole straight through to my leg. Curiosity sparked in Wyatt’s expressive pale eyes.