“Vincent is nearby,” Rider said.
“We need to get him and get out of here.” There was an edge of desperation in my voice that made Rider move faster.
Movement in front of him grabbed my attention, but once again, I was too late. “Damnit! This thing-”
It crashed into my side, knocking me down. Wrapping the Path around the creature as I fell wasn’t something I intended to do, but the trick worked and I managed to shove it away. Too late, I realized that it had my arm in its jaw.
I hit the ground before the wolf smashed into the tree. It cried out. My own pain hadn’t registered, but I knew it was coming. The animal turned to me and growled after it hit the ground. The noise was dark and thick, not only heard, but also felt inside. The sun dimmed and shadows stretched out, appearing darker.
The only thing that kept me from running in fear was the fact that I had heard that sound before. Weeks ago, Rider had made the same noise, bringing terror with only his voice.
The wolf turned and I saw its Path begin to fade.
“Cass!”
I heard my name, but didn’t look away.
Not this time.
I grabbed the Path and gave it substance. Using one arm, I scrambled to my feet and followed the fading Path. The trees flickered around me, then the forest began to transform. New growth overrode the old. It exploded upwards and died away before being replaced once again.
Awareness of my pain began to grow and I saw blood running down my arm. I clasped my hand tightly over the wound, and tried to ignore the feeling of blood on my skin and the agony that began to spread.
With me holding its Path, I had forced the animal to slow. Urging more power forward, I made the wolf stop. It growled again, but it didn’t have the effect it did before. The woods around us had died away, but the passage of time stopped when the animal did.
It sat down and looked at me warily. Moving slowly wasn’t my choice, but at this point, I felt lucky to be standing. When I got near, I fell to my knees and looked directly into the eyes of the wolf.
It couldn’t be a werewolf. Rider would have known if it had been, wouldn’t he? Those vivid blue eyes held intelligence, though.
“What are you?” I asked.
It cocked its head and watched me.
“What do I do with you?” I asked. “You walk the Path, but you came out and hurt someone. I don’t understand why.”
“Cassie?”
I looked around and saw Rider. He approached slowly and squatted down next to me.
“Do you see him?” I asked.
Rider shook his head.
I sighed and closed my eyes, which was a mistake. Vertigo gripped me, and it remained even after I opened my eyes.
“You have gone too far. I am bringing you back,” Rider said.
“I don’t know what to do with him,” I said. Bright white lights began to twinkle before bursting. I closed my eyes to shield them, but that was a mistake. It was difficult to open them again.
“We will figure that out at another time. Are you ready?” Rider asked.
A free feeling started to fill me, and I nodded, dazed.
I looked at the wolf. “You, stay.”
Rider’s arms folded around me. I heard the creature bark, and then I closed my eyes.
It felt like my body slammed into a brick wall before being ripped back and slammed into another. The Path fell away and my stomach heaved. I pushed away from Rider before losing my stomach contents.
Voices and noise came from what seemed a long way off. I felt disconnected from the sound. The ground felt soft under me, so I rolled away from my own mess and stared up, watching the sunlight flash through the leaves on the tree.
Someone pushed down on my arm, but the pain wasn’t as bad as it had been before. Turning, I saw Vincent. Although he tried to hold his mask of indifference, I saw through it and discovered the severe look he wore underneath.
He was talking, but I couldn’t make it out. Somehow, I thought I should be able to understand, but it didn’t seem important. My good arm wobbled when I reached up, and with a finger, I traced the small scar that slashed Vincent’s temple. I smiled at him before letting my arm fall.
I never did ask him how he got that scar.
Feeling more tired than I think I had ever felt before, I closed my eyes. Something stung my face. My eyes popped open and I glared at Vincent.
His eyes were flat black, but he put his hand lightly against the cheek that stung.
Something had gone wrong when I came back. The world had sounded distant, but now silence was settling in. Vincent was still talking, and I looked around to see who he was speaking to. A short, naked, hairy man stood on my other side. Behind him, I saw Rider, eyes closed, leaning against a tree.
A whining noise broke the silence. Turning my head to look behind Vincent, I saw the wolf. Its head was cocked and it watched me as though trying to figure out what I was.
“I thought I told you to stay.” I’m not sure if I said it out loud or in my head. Looking around, I couldn’t tell if anyone else saw the animal.
I took a deep breath and felt like I was floating. I stared at the sky again, seeing if I was getting any closer to the treetops. Vincent’s face once again blocked my view, but I saw that his eyes were back to normal and I could pick out the golden flecks that gleamed out of the green. He looked sad, but calmer as well, which was good.
My eyelids were growing heavy and the need for sleep couldn’t be denied any longer. With my good hand, I sought out Vincent’s and gripped it before I closed my eyes.
Maybe if I held on he wouldn’t be as worried.
Chapter 9
“You went about things all wrong today, you know.”
Opening my eyes, I saw that I was still in the forest. It was dark, but there was a fire nearby. Vincent sat beside me, still holding my good hand. Seeking out the voice, I saw an old man seated on a nearby rock smoking a pipe. The wolf sat by his side while the old man scratched its ears.
“You’re that old coot I saw in the woods weeks ago.” My muscles felt like water, but feeling prone on the ground, I reluctantly extracted my hand from Vincent’s and pushed myself up to a sitting position. No one else in the camp moved.
“Is that what you call me or your grandmother?”
I frowned. “Both. I told you that before.”
The old man grumbled under his breath and smoked his pipe. Vincent didn’t acknowledge our discussion, which told me I must have been dreaming. Gran said entering dreams was a trick this man knew well.
“Is that wolf yours?” I asked. “It nearly killed people, one of them being me.”
The old man patted the creature’s head. “Good wolf.”
“Good wolf? Did you send it out here?”
The old man cackled until he started coughing. I crossed my arms and waited until he got control of himself again.
“You cannot own a person,” he said. “Many have tried in the past, but the spirit is hard to break.”
“The wolf attacked us on its own, then?” I asked.
“No, no, no. You jump and run around, but you do not think. I’m not convinced that you are the you we need.”
“I’m the only me there is. If you’re going to be rude, you can go away. I’ve had a long day and I need to sleep.”
“Okay. Yes, yes. You are you.” The old man muttered and bobbed his head as though talking to someone else.
“I’m going back to sleep.” I adjusted my sleeping bag, stalling to see if he would say anything else.
“You are like your grandmother.” It almost sounded like a begrudging compliment.
“She talked about you a little when I told her you said hello,” I said.
He sat up a bit straighter. “What did she say?”
“Nope. I’m not saying anything until you tell me what’s going on,” I said.
“What’s going on? What’s going on?” He slid off his rock and started to pace. “Everywhere there are thi
ngs going on.”
I crossed my arms again. “Fine, what’s going on out here? Why did it,” I pointed at the wolf, which hadn’t moved, “attack Harry? And me?”
“That? That’s what you want to know? Out of everything, everywhere, that’s what you want to find out?” He seemed confused and disappointed.
“Right now, yes. I nearly died because of it.”
“That was your own recklessness. You cannot blame the wolf for that.”
I sighed. “Either give me answers or go away.”
“You see this wolf standing here?”
“Of course I can,” I said.
“Your friends did not see him. They did not even believe he existed until it was too late.”
“They believed me,” I said, not feeling confident in the statement, “and Rider saw him when he attacked.”
He shrugged, which was an odd movement for the man. His back seemed to puff out and move independently under his clothes.
I shifted uncomfortably, wondering why I was still talking with this madman.
“How lonely is a life when it is lived alone?” he asked. “No one sees you, hears you, or talks to you. There is no one to look in your direction, even if you follow them around. What would a person like that do when it met someone who acknowledged their existence?”
I looked at the wolf. To live surrounded by people and never be seen? Lonely seemed too weak of a word.
“That person,” he continued, “the one person who sees you, would you believe what that person says? Would you do what that person asked?”
“Peter saw him,” I said.
“The man used the wolf as a hunting dog.”
“That’s awful.” I looked at the wolf, unsure of which side the creature might be on. “Is he…still friends with Peter?”
“He is not.”
“Oh,” I responded, unsure of what else to say.
“I gave you your answers and now you give me mine.” He was practically bouncing in his eagerness.
“About Gran? She said you two used to see each other.” It sounded lame after what the man had told me, so I wracked my brain for something nice. “I asked her if she wanted to see you again. I offered to take her to the woods where I met you.”
“And?”
“And…she didn’t say no. She told me she would let me know.”
The man appeared to turn his mind inward, and I thought I could see a smile under the beard, but it was hard to tell.
I watched the wolf, giving the man a moment. It cocked its head again, so I held out my good hand to let him sniff me if he wanted.
“Do you have a name?” I asked.
“He has had many names,” the old man said.
“But what does he like to be called?”
“He would answer to Fenrir, despite what I told him about what humans think of the name. He is looking for his family or their descendants.”
“Hello, Fenrir,” I said.
The wolf barked a high-pitched yap, which sounded neither upset nor happy.
He only stared at my hand, so I dropped it and turned my attention back to the old man.
“Why are you and your friend so interested in me?” I asked.
“Fenrir?” he asked.
“The other old man. He…I don’t know, stopped time or something.”
The muttering started again. I heard the words ‘show off,’ and grinned.
“Well?” I asked.
“Ask him, if you are so friendly with him.”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, waiting for a response.
“I am not yet convinced that you are the you we are looking for,” he said.
“That’s getting old.” I looked back at the wolf, who was watching us both. “Are you friends with that old coot?” I asked the wolf.
“Fenrir is being much more cautious with choosing his friends,” the man said.
“Good for you,” I said. “As you long as you don’t try to kill us, stop by and visit if you want. Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I’m exhausted.”
“You are no use to anyone if you kill yourself,” the old man said as I laid down.
I swept my hand at him in a go-away fashion, got comfortable, and then I looked around the camp. It must be Vincent’s turn on watch. He was the only one around the fire. Carefully, I slipped my hand back into his and closed my eyes. Before I drifted off to sleep, or maybe I was waking up, I gently squeezed his hand.
“Cass?” Vincent murmured.
If it had been anyone else, I probably would have kept my eyes shut. However, I remembered the look on his face when Rider brought me back.
“I’m up.” My muscles felt even more useless than they had before.
He didn’t say anything, but his hand twitched in mine. Afraid he was going to pull it away, I held on tighter. Awareness started to steal over me.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked.
Vincent shook his head and my heartbeat ramped up a few notches.
“Rider?” I asked. I let go of Vincent and tried to push myself up to a sitting position. Pain convulsed through me and my bad arm collapsed. “Harry? Was Harry okay? Where’s Ethan?”
“Lay down before you hurt yourself,” Vincent said. “They’re fine. Mostly, anyway.”
I tried to use only my good arm to push myself up.
“Don’t,” Vincent said. “They're all right.”
“You said-”
“It’s okay,” he said. “Ethan’s asleep. Harry’s injured, but he’ll recover. Once Harry determined you would be fine, Rider left.”
“Left? What do you mean left?” I asked.
“I mean, he walked into the woods and no one has seen him for hours,” Vincent said.
“We should go after him.” Thinking about how lonely the wolf was, I thought I might tear up. “He shouldn’t be alone out there.”
“I think he needs some time to himself,” Vincent said.
That hurt, but I knew Vincent was right. Rider was okay, and that was the important thing.
“Were you hurt?” I asked.
The only response I received was silence.
“Vincent?”
“No injuries.”
“That doesn’t sound convincing.”
“It was a long day,” Vincent said.
“Too long,” I agreed.
“You disappeared.”
My mind didn’t follow the shift in conversation, so I hazarded a guess. “When I followed after Rider?”
“No, when I met the two of you in the woods.”
I tried to replay the scene in my head, but some things were still jumbled together. “I don’t think I saw you.”
“You were bleeding. You walked into the woods and then you were gone.”
I tried to think back, but gave up.
“Rider said this wasn’t the first time you disappeared,” Vincent said.
“It wasn’t. At least, that’s the way Logan described it.” The fact that everyone was okay started to sink in. That small stress had taken too much effort and with its release, I felt drained.
“No one told me,” Vincent said.
It was true. It happened after Vincent had left without a word, and things had been busy since he returned, but this definitely wasn’t the time to bring that up.
“Sorry,” I said.
“You’re here now, though.”
“You don’t sound too thrilled about that,” I said.
“You may have some trouble with Ethan,” Vincent said.
“What? Why?”
“It…He didn’t take it well when I left him behind with Peter.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’ll be-”
“He also didn’t respond well when Rider told him why I knew something was wrong. He didn’t know that I was the one that took-”
“It’s fine,” I said. Vincent taking my soul seemed like it had happened a lifetime ago.
Vincent shook his head.
“It’s fine,” I said again. “I’ll
talk with Ethan. If I’m not upset about it, he shouldn’t be.”
“He’s probably more concerned than anything,” Vincent said.
“He already knew about my soul.”
“Concerned about you and me.”
“Oh.” I sighed. That wasn’t going to be a fun conversation. “Once I explain, I’m sure he’ll drop it.”
“Maybe he shouldn’t,” Vincent said.
“Why not?”
The crackling fire was my only response.
“Vincent?” I asked.
“Sorry,” he said. “It’s been a long day.”
“I’ll talk to him,” I said again. “I’m sure he won’t mind being woken up.”
Vincent nodded. “I know he won’t. You should get some rest first.”
Even our short conversation had worn me out, so I didn’t argue and settled back down in my sleeping bag.
“If you see the wolf, don’t hurt it,” I said.
Vincent didn’t say anything.
“I mean it.” It would have sounded better if I hadn’t yawned immediately after saying the words. “Let the others know too.”
“Why should we do that?” Vincent asked.
“It’s…” I tried to put words to what my heart was feeling. “It was used. Tricked by Peter.” I yawned again.
“Get some rest.”
“Promise me?”
Vincent sighed. “You’ll fill me in later?”
Even through the pain and exhaustion, I felt relief. “Of course.”
When I woke up next, I stared up at the stars and Ethan was next to me. Reaching out, I took his hand and he nearly jumped.
“Hey,” I said through bleary eyes.
“Morning,” he said.
“Is it morning already?”
“Not morning enough for light, but morning all the same.”
“The stars are out.”
“This isn’t really how I pictured us watching them,” Ethan said. He sounded tired, but I could tell he was uncomfortable talking to me as well.
Since I had no idea how to drag out what Ethan was thinking, I laid there and let him come around to it in his own time.
“How are you feeling?” Ethan asked.
“Exhausted, but my arm doesn’t hurt as bad,” I said.
AIR Series Box Set Page 94
