“Where do you want it?” he asked, lifting it like it weighed nothing.
Night humans. To him, it probably did weigh nothing.
“I was going to use your bed to spread it all out and see what’s in there,” Cassie answered.
“Sounds good,” Jared replied as he moved the bag for her. Cassie followed him to his bed. “If you need anything else, I can go get it. Jack is always well set with everything, and he lives just down the hill.”
Cassie hoped Nate heard that. It, at least, gave them a better sense as to where they were. They still couldn’t leave as they had nothing to go back to, but it was good to know.
The bag was filled, and Cassie began to take out box after box. It wasn’t hard to find what she needed with the nicely labeled boxes.
“This is a nice stash,” Cassie commented, putting back the plants she didn’t need.
Jared shrugged.
‘Staying upstairs?’ Cassie asked Nate, expecting to see him behind Jared.
‘For now. I was tired before I was fed. Now I’m just exhausted. Don’t leave the room without me, and if anything seems even a little off, scream at me through the bond. I’ll be there in the blink of an eye.’
Cassie watched Jared, who was picking the full bag back up to move it next to the door. She could feel she was safe with him, but it was nice Nate felt that way also. She remembered Jared even if Nate didn’t. He had been their friend once.
The boxes were all set out nicely, and Jared even handed Cassie a bowl to start prepping the potion to use to keep the room safe. Cassie began picking the plants and adding them in the right order.
“You remember everything now?” Jared asked cautiously as he watched her make her potion.
“I remember you,” Cassie replied, not exactly knowing what everything he was talking about. “But it’s weird. It’s like I have two sets of every memory now. The ones with you and Ryder, and then the ones with Owen. I know the Owen ones aren’t real, and they feel more dreamlike now, but it’s still strange.”
She continued to work. It was a quick potion to make, but she wanted to be sure it was perfect. She understood better now. Her life pretty much depended on it. Ryder said she smelled tasty, but that seemed to be an understatement. And Jared’s comment about how he didn’t feed on humans like everyone else had Cassie a bit on edge.
“I’m sorry about that. I always wondered why you never came looking for me. I was angry at you for quite some time. We were best friends.” Jared sounded hurt, and Cassie could even slightly feel it across the new bond she had with him. It wasn’t as strong as her full bond with Nate, but it was still there.
Cassie nodded as she finished adding the last ingredient. When Jared held out his hand to take it from her to crush, Cassie chuckled. She could remember pretending to do spells as a kid and Jared doing the exact same thing. It was like he knew what she was thinking. Cassie handed it over, and Jared began to pulverize the herbs much easier than it would be for her.
“It’s strange to discover that every memory of my childhood was a fake.”
After continuing to mush it for a few minutes, he was done and handed it back to Cassie. Taking the bottle of water sitting on his desk, she added it to the paste, then reached down and swiped a little bit onto her pinkie. She tasted it and couldn’t help but scrunch up her face. Protection spells were always bitter.
Cassie walked over to the doorway and began to anoint it with the spell. Sitting on the futon, Jared watched her silently as she worked. When she was satisfied the room was safe, she put the leftovers on his desk and sat down beside him.
Jared was still the boy she remembered, and she could very much see it in him. The dimple that she always loved was still there. His hair, while longer than she had ever seen it growing up, was still the same chestnut brown. His eyes were still the same honey brown that matched hers. He was still the same guy, but it had been almost eight years. Eight years was a long time, and things had changed. Cassie had changed. She wasn’t the same happy-go-lucky child she was back then. It had been hard being an outcast and never knowing why.
Cassie tucked her legs up beneath her to keep warm, and Jared immediately jumped up to grab her a blanket.
“How do you know me that well? When I look at you, it’s like we’re a lifetime apart.”
Jared sat back down, but this time closer.
“I’ve never stopped thinking of you and sneaking into town on occasion to watch you,” Jared admitted, his face turning a little red. “I made sure no one ever caught me, wendigo or skinwalker, but I had to see you from time to time.”
“What happened to you when they took away my memories?” Cassie asked, changing the subject as it didn’t just embarrass Jared, but made her stomach flutter a bit in a way she didn’t want it to. It was bad enough she had feelings for Nate when she didn’t want them, Jared too was too much.
“Do you remember our last day together, the three of us at the harvest celebration?” Jared asked.
Cassie remembered that day well now. She’d been led to believe she was always an outcast from the town, but it turned out that was just the last eight years. The first eight years, Cassie was being raised by John and Maria with the support of the town. She was accepted, and no one feared her.
“The three musketeers,” Cassie laughed. John would call them that often—Cassie, Jared, and Nate were inseparable.
“We were excited we were finally old enough to go to the celebration,” Jared added. “We played all the games and went to all the booths. It was so much fun.”
Remembering it, Cassie smiled. It had been a cool fall night. The lanterns were lit around town and each store had a booth outside. There were games and prizes. Nate won the pie eating contest while Jared won the blindfolded race. She could remember cheering for each of them as they competed.
The last booth they stopped at was someone dressed as an old lady. They laughed as she said she would tell them their future. It was supposed to be a silly booth. None of the kids knew it was real. None of them knew everything was going to change by touching the lady. Cassie looked up at Jared. The memories came back fast. She remembered running home and writing the note. Something had happened even if she didn’t know how or when.
“You brought me the note, and I never saw you again,” Jared stated. He still had the letter she wrote.
Cassie shivered, this time not because she was cold.
Jared moved closer and took Cassie’s hands in his own. “What did you see?”
Cassie couldn’t say it out loud. That would make it real even if there was no chance of it happening now.
“It was just a silly game that we should never have played,” Cassie added. The old lady had set up a table, and they were asked to pull something that called to them from the pile of stuff. When Cassie picked Jared’s piece, she had a glimpse of the future, or a future. Even now she couldn’t be sure how she did it. Cassie was used to seeing the past or people’s feelings, but since that day, or even before that day, Cassie had never seen the future.
“Cas, what did you see?”
Cassie shook her head as a tear dribbled down her cheek. She wasn’t going to say the words out loud. It was never going to come true. She finally had her friend back, not matter what he was. Jared wasn’t going to die.
Reaching up, Jared brushed the tear from her cheek. Then he moved close enough that he was just inches from her face.
“I know you saw something bad, but that’s in the past. This is different now. Everything has changed,” he tried to reassure her, even though he didn’t know what was wrong.
It was very “Jared” of him. One of her main childhood memories was that Jared always tried to protect her heart. He wasn’t as strong as Nate, but he was better at the nice stuff. She never once thought of them in competition. It would be like comparing apples with oranges. While Nate was great at some things and Jared not, Jared was good at others while Nate was not. They complemented each other.
As a
little girl growing up, everyone teased her that she had both Jared and Nate as best friends. They always told her that when she was a teenager, it was going to stink because she was going to have to choose. She could only have one of them as her mate. Now she had both. But that didn’t mean she was going to keep them both. She had to hope everything was different. It sure wasn’t what she had seen, but her gut told her otherwise. Jared and Nate were always set up to be sworn enemies. The truce they had now was only to protect her. That would change as soon as she was safe. She had a feeling neither one was going to accept her not choosing anyone. She was still stuck.
CHAPTER 6
Jared stood to answer the door when someone knocked, but couldn’t get the door to open at first. Cassie smiled. The spell was working great. Jared chuckled as the spell released, and he finally managed to open the door.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Ryder complained, stepping forward but running into the ward that kept the room safe.
“Guess you’re a threat to someone in the room. Spell’s working perfect,” Jared turned and gave Cassie a thumbs-up. He was enjoying his brother being locked out by the magic.
Cassie smiled back at Ryder and Jared.
“Hey, I’m not a threat,” he complained, rubbing his face. “I really thought you were safe. I would have never left you out there alone if I thought someone was stupid enough to attack you.”
Cassie knew he was telling the truth. She remembered Ryder as well as Jared, even if he hung out with different people. The Ryder she remembered wasn’t a bad person, but she wasn’t sure he was the same even if Jared claimed they were still as they once were. Cassie had seen a much darker side to Ryder, one that said he needed to stay on the opposite side of the barrier.
“What’s going on?” Jared asked, trying to hurry his brother along.
“Jack lost Nate. Dad’s calling, and I have to go report. What should I tell him?” Ryder seemed a bit worried.
Cassie could vaguely remember their father and wondered why Ryder was worried.
“I have Nate here. He’s fine and won’t be going anywhere without Cassie. Since Cassie is now my mate, I don’t think we have any problems,” Jared replied.
Cassie held up her hand for Ryder to see the invisible mark. She didn’t want Jared as a mate, but it was keeping Nate safe as he recovered.
“Oh,” Ryder replied as he stared at Cassie in shock. “Guess there isn’t anything else to talk about.”
Jared nodded and shut the door. Returning to the futon, he sat next to Cassie.
“What happened to you guys?” she asked, hoping Jared would stay off the subject of their last day together as kids.
Jared averted his gaze. Now it was a memory he didn’t want to share.
“They wanted to kick us out, but didn’t know how. My dad was always loyal to the clan, and my mother was part of the coven. They decided to send her off on a peace mission that wasn’t exactly peaceful.”
Cassie could remember his mother. She looked a lot like Jared with dark hair and dark eyes. She was always baking cookies. Cassie could almost remember the smell of their house better than what it looked like. She was a great cook.
“Where is she? I’d love to see her again,” Cassie commented.
Jared glanced down at the floor before taking a breath and looking back at Cassie.
“The coven set her up to be killed. She never returned from the mission. All we got back were her bloodied clothing and her wedding ring.”
Jared’s words sparked a hidden memory. Cassie could remember his mother going missing. It was heartbreaking for everyone, but it was different for Jared. He was such a stoic child. Cassie wondered if by always protecting her heart that he left his vulnerable.
“It tore my dad apart. He was inconsolable,” Jared continued. “He felt her across the bond on the mission. She was scared and worried. She was sad and in pain, and then it broke. The bond ended when she died, and it broke my father. He was never the same, and knew that the coven had sent her away to die. He swore he’d never support the coven ever again and turned to the wendigo. He volunteered to join them and had his animal stripped from him.”
Cassie didn’t know how to respond. No one’s ever said anything about Jared or his family since, and no one had said a witch had died. She would have remembered that. Again, something was altered in her mind, or maybe in the minds of everyone.
“And you? How did you join them?” Cassie asked. Jared was a skinwalker. It was something that was as part of him as she was a witch. It wasn’t something you just gave up.
“Has Nate told you about blood connections yet?” Jared asked, changing the subject.
“Like the bond stuff Whitney explained?” Cassie had to tread lightly. She wasn’t sure what Jared suspected.
“No, not bonding. It’s a way to talk and share images with someone without the bond,” Jared explained.
Cassie appeared doubtful at him.
“If I cut my hand and you cut yours, we can press the wounds together and the blood that touches can allow us to communicate while we are touching for that moment,” Jared explained further.
“Wouldn’t that bond you together? Don’t you just have to exchange blood to be bonded?” Cassie asked suspiciously.
Jared laughed. “I can’t imagine what all of this is like for you. When we were kids, you were being raised just like us. You understood all of this. It feels like you are still the Cassie I left behind eight years ago, like nothing changed, but at the same time, nothing was taught to you over those eight years.”
“Nothing was taught to me,” Cassie replied. “Okay, maybe not nothing. I learned all about magic and spells, but nothing about this world.” Cassie flapped her hands around, indicating the room and everything else around her that was this world.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh. I’m willing to teach you anything you want to know about this world.” Jared mimicked her and flapped his arms.
Cassie smiled at him doing it.
“This blood connection doesn’t bind you to someone?” Cassie asked, getting back on the subject.
“No. That has to do with ingesting blood, not just touching. Touching can create a connection to temporarily share.”
Cassie stared at Jared, trying to weigh what he was saying. Since she was bonded to Nate, she theoretically couldn’t bind to someone else. But then again, she should have been only able to have one mate, and that didn’t seem to be the case now.
“Cas, I want more than anything to be bonded to you, but I would never trick you into something like unnamed people did to you.” Jared looked straight into her eyes. He was being completely honest and open with her. “I want you to bond to me. That’s what I want. No tricks. I promise.”
“If I cut myself, Nate’s going to know and come right down here,” Cassie added as Jared reached for a knife from inside his desk drawer next to the pencils.
“He won’t even know,” Jared replied. “He hasn’t been fed for long enough; I doubt he will wake unless you’re in a dire panic. Let’s say it’s a bit like Thanksgiving for him. Four pints of blood is enough to knock out young night humans at least for a few hours.”
Cassie gave him her best stare that said are you pulling my leg? Jared laughed again.
“You didn’t drug him, did you?”
“Cas, he is safe; you are safe. I promise everything’s fine right now. You wanted to know what happened, and there’s no way I can put it into words. If you want to see, then let me show you. As long as you promise to show me about that day you gave me the good-bye letter.”
Cassie sucked in her breath. She thought they had moved on from that subject. Obviously, Jared had not. Cassie weighed her options. She really wanted to know what happened and how he became one of the wendigo, and it seemed he wanted to know why she wrote the letter. Things were different. They couldn’t end the same. Too much had changed. Maybe there was no harm in showing him as long as she didn’t say the words. Then it wouldn’t come true
. At least, she hoped. She still didn’t understand her powers or what they meant.
“But I get to cut my own hand,” she said, taking the knife from him.
Jared shook his head. “Always in charge, just like old times. You do realize Nate and I never did anything that you didn’t say was okay, right?”
“Sure you did. There was tons of stuff you guys did that I said would get you in trouble, and it did every time.” Cassie held the blade over her finger. What’s one more cut?
“Sure, we got into trouble. What kid doesn’t? But we never did something if you told us not to.”
Cassie poked the tip of her finger.
“Is that enough?” she asked.
Jared took the blade from her. After slicing the palm of his hand, he grasped her bleeding finger in his hand.
“And what do we do now? Some sort of chant or something?” Cassie asked as nothing seemed to happen.
‘Nope. No chanting needed. Just thoughts,’ Jared replied.
Cassie smiled. ‘You first.’
She still didn’t know about sharing everything with him, but if he was honest with her, then she would be with him. He deserved the truth. He and Nate had been her best friends. She would have never written the letter if she had known that they were going to take him anyway. Okay, maybe she would have. What she saw was heartbreaking, but also the happiest moment in her life. She just didn’t want the sad part and was willing to give up the happy for the sad to not happen. She wrote the letter to tell Jared he had to move on without her, and they could never be more than friends.
‘Fine, but you promise to show me what you saw all those years ago. And I promise this isn’t a good memory to see. I’ve never talked about this with anyone and probably will never out loud. This is the best I can do, and I’m only doing it because it’s you.’ Jared looked at her, waiting for her to nod in agreement.
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