“I require only what you should freely offer - loyalty to your fellow Shifters above all things.”
A tear rolled down my cheek as Jase sealed my fate with the words, “You have it.”
Chapter 25
“Things aren’t always how they appear.”
I rolled my eyes at Alex, who was sitting on the ground with Nicole in his lap as I wore a path in the strip of beach that was quickly becoming as constrictive as my cage. “Thanks for that bit of deep, inspired wisdom. I feel so much better now.”
“I’m just saying, you weren’t in that room. Sure, it sounded like Jase is making a deal to turn you over to the She-Devil in exchange for a place in the Alpha Pack, but that might not really be what is going down. You should have a little more faith in your brother.”
I wanted to have more faith in Jase. I really, truly did. But Jase is nothing if not opportunistic. He likes being on top, being one of the cool kids. Sarvarna was offering him admittance into the coolest of the cool kid clubs in all of Shifterdom. Would he being willing to turn his back on me to get in? Twenty-four ago I would’ve said no, but that conversation was hard to dispute, no matter what Alex said.
“What’s the trial going to be like?” I asked, watching as my feet moved across the dirt. Step, two, three, four. Pivot. Step, two, three, four. Pivot. Second verse, same as the first.
Alex shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean, I don’t know. It wasn’t like I ever got put on trial for anything. Unlike you, I was a good little Shifter.”
I stopped so he would get the full brunt of my evil eye. “Now you’re just being a brat.”
He leapt up in one of those graceful, only a Shifter can do it moves that always managed to give my heart a little jump. He really was beautiful. If nothing else, I was glad I continued to have these dreams just so I wouldn’t forget what he looked like.
“Sorry,” he said, coming to a stop in front of me as the puppy leapt around our feet eagerly. I shivered slightly as he pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “I was just trying to lighten things up a little bit. I don’t really know what to say or do here. This Spirit Guide gig doesn’t come with a manual or anything.”
“What? You didn’t get your Handbook for the Recently Deceased? I’m pretty sure those are standard issue.”
Alex showed his dimples. “Big, hardback thing with a cover straight out of 1955? Looked boring. Tossed it in the garbage.”
I stepped into his arms and rested my head on his shoulder. Things had changed since my big revelation about how this was all just another aspect of my newly minted mental illness. We still touched, but it was more out of comfort than hormones. Still, the feel of his body against mine was one of the most divine things in the world. If only I could stay there forever.
Wait…
“Alex, what happens when someone dies?” Muscles tightened beneath my cheek. “Will I get to come here and be with you?”
“You are not going to die.”
“Sorry, but the Magic 8 Ball says, ‘All signs point to yes.’” I was to an odd point of acceptance about the whole thing. Maybe it was the depression talking, but ridding myself of all the drama didn’t sound like the worst thing to ever happen. And if dying meant being with Alex, wherever he was now, I was okay with that.
Alex, however, was not okay with it. At all. Most of my sleeping hours in the cage were spent on the beach, and an overwhelming number of them involved Alex hatching stellar defenses and elaborate escape plans. I went back and forth between being annoyed by his single-mindedness and feeling relief that my subconscious was fighting so hard to keep me alive.
“It’s not going to happen, Scout. There is no way we came this far just to have you die now. You have so much more you have to do.”
For the love of Pete. “Is this a destiny thing? Because you know how I feel about that crap.”
Alex pulled back and locked his grey eyes onto mine. “Why must you be so stubborn?”
“I’m not stubborn, I’m realistic.”
“You’re special.”
“I’m a freak.”
His fingers played with a strand of my hair. “You’re wrong. You’re the exact opposite of freak. You’re like the anti-freak.”
“Is that the same thing as the Anti-Christ? Because I think that’s one of the things the Alphas are charging me with.”
“The Thaumaturgics aren’t the Anti-Christ. I think most popular belief has them as Satan’s minions on Earth.”
“Do I look like a minion to you? Or a witch for that matter.” I pulled back, freeing one of my hands so it could grab a clump of my hair. “This? Not black and bristly. I have no warts to speak of, and my nose is both dainty and straight. Seriously, what is wrong with these people?”
“Actually, you’re supposed to be able to tell a Thaumaturgic by her ethereal beauty.” He ran a finger down the length of my nose and then tapped the end. “That’s probably how they got so confused. They saw how gorgeous you are and assumed you had to be otherworldly.”
I rolled my eyes, hoping it distracted from the blush I could feel spreading across my cheeks. “You seem to know a lot about these Thaumaturgics,” I said. “You know, it might have been helpful for you to have mentioned them before. Like maybe when I was asking if witches were real you could have said, ‘Sure, but my people call them Thaumaturgics, because we’ve enjoyed way too many role playing games.’”
Alex let me pull away completely. I rested my hands on my hips; he folded his arms across his chest. All systems go for what my father would call a “deep discussion.”
“I didn’t tell you about them because I don’t believe they really exist. And what would you have done if you had known about them in the first place? At least this way you have the advantage of being honestly lacking in any knowledge of Thaumaturgy.”
“At least I would’ve known what I was dying for. The way it stands now, I’m going to get executed for doing something, but I don’t even know what it is.”
“You. Are. Not. Going. To. Die.”
I took a deep breath, reminding myself this was just a dream and nothing more. Sometimes that worked. I was able to let go of the emotion and drama and move on. But sometimes, like this one, I couldn’t convince myself it wasn’t real. I felt too much, was too worked up to let it go.
“Can we just agree to disagree on this point and move on?”
Alex was holding himself so rigidly I kinda thought he might break, but instead of arguing he said, “Move on to what?”
I made a conscious effort to appear less confrontational, dropping my arms to my side and shifting my weight to one foot. “You could tell me what you know about Thaumaturgics.”
“I really think—”
“Please?” I dipped into the Angel arsenal, attempting to make puppy dog eyes. “I just want to know what it is I’m being accused of, Alex. Please tell me.”
“I think using that face qualifies as cheating.”
I dropped to the ground, crossing my legs criss-cross-applesauce style as a big grin spread across my face. “Story time!” I declared, knowing I was going to get my way.
Alex scowled, but came to sit by me all the same. The pup climbed back into his lap, angling her head so he would scratch it.
“So, what do you know?”
I searched my brain for all pertinent bits I’d been able to pick up. “Thaumaturgics are women, the female half of Immortals. They are the enemies of Seers and Shifters. And although everyone seems to think there are Shifters and Seers who believe in them, no one who would ever tell me anything is among that number.”
Alex’s eyebrows quirked. “That’s not much.”
“I think I’ve said that. Repeatedly.”
“Well, you’re right about Immortals and Thaumaturgics.” He stretched his long, frayed-jeans covered legs. I noticed for the first time that he was barefoot. “According to the stories, they have the same sort of relat
ionship as Shifters and Seers, but it’s reversed. There are more Thaumaturgics than Immortals, and the Thaumaturgics are the ones with the active power.”
“Which is…?”
“They can change things, manipulate them.”
“Like turn a prince into a frog?”
“I think that’s on the Super-Thaumaturgic side of the spectrum, but yeah. They’re supposed to be like Seers and have a specific affinity. Like there are Thaumaturgics who can do stuff with water and others who can manipulate earth.”
“This is starting to remind me of Captain Planet.”
“Now you see why all of your nice, sane friends don’t believe in them?”
I kicked at his ankle, somewhat surprised to see that I was no longer wearing shoes either. “Keep talking, Narrator Man. I want details.”
Alex used his toe to fling dirt at me. “I don’t have details. Seriously, if Thaumaturgics and Immortals exist, there aren’t very many of them. I’ve never heard of a Shifter or Seer meeting one.”
“And until last Christmas I’d never known anyone who had met an actual werewolf. Just because they aren’t getting all buddy-buddy with their known enemies doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
“You know what? I think you are a Thaumaturgic,” Alex said. “You’ve got this weird ability to manipulate logic in a way to make it sound like you’re right.”
“That’s because I am always right,” I said, eyelashes batting. “So, is that all you’ve got? Because that’s not much more than I had to begin with.”
Of course it’s not, my inner-Scout whispered. This is all in your head. How could you know something you don’t already know?
“Okay, Smarty Pants. Did you know Thaumaturgy required a ritualistic sacrifice and Immortals stay young by eating babies?”
“Are you serious?”
Alex’s smile was unrepentant. “No, not at all. Really, ‘agents of the devil’ is the only thing they’ve got going against them as far as I know.”
“You’re useless,” I sighed. The pup made an adorable little barking noise, which was probably supposed to be filled with righteous anger. I reached over and scratched behind her ears. “Sorry. Let me amend that. You’re useless in terms of information gathering. Don’t ever seek out a career as a librarian. On the other hand, you’re a wonderful wolf sitter. Keep up the good work on that front.”
The pup laid her head back down, appeased. I started to pull my hand away, but at her whine it went right back to where it was.
“I told you, knowing more about Thaumaturgics isn’t going to change anything.”
“And I told you I wanted to know what it is they’re accusing me of.”
“Knowledge junkie.”
“Hallucination.”
He threw a hand dramatically over his heart and fell backwards. Nicole saw this as a grand opportunity to see how his face tasted. “Your lack of faith wounds me,” he said through giggles.
Even though it’d been daylight the entire time I was there, the sun started rising over the lake. Dawn was coming, and with it my last day on earth. Suddenly, I felt very, very tired. Not the boy I need to sleep variety, but the kind that settles into the very fiber of your being. The kind that leaves your heart heavy and soul weary.
I lay back, my head resting mere inches from Alex. Nicole nearly burst from the excitement of having a new face to torture with her sloppy puppy kisses. I echoed Alex’s giggles as her warm puppy tongue tickled my ear before bounding back over to her original prey. His eyes met mine as he batted playfully at his attacker. I tried to smile but couldn’t seem to get the corners of my lips to comply.
“Can you give us a minute?” Alex asked Nicole. She gave him a couple more kisses, then came to drop one on my cheek before disappearing into the forest.
“She’s very considerate,” I said when her absence and silence became a little awkward.
“She has her moments,” he agreed. His hand stretched out and found mine. His skin was warm and soft, though I could feel callouses on his fingers.
“I don’t want to wake up.”
“I know.”
“I’m scared.”
His hand tightened on mine. “I know.”
The tear darting down my temple felt like lava. I didn’t bother wiping it away, or any of the ones that followed. I didn’t say anything else, because there was nothing left to say. As the sun continued to rise in the sky, I just lay there, holding his hand, looking into familiar grey eyes I would never see in the living world again.
Almost made me glad I wouldn’t be in the living world much longer myself.
“You’re going to wake up soon,” he said as the sun breached the top of the trees.
My lips quirked as I repeated his refrain. “I know.”
He pulled himself up to his elbows without releasing my hand. “I need to tell you something before you go.”
“Okay.”
He sat up the rest of the way, pulling me with him. We were sitting face to face with my back to the morning sun once we got settled. The rays played over his hair and face. His jaw was set. His eyes blazed. To me, he looked like one of God’s avenging angels.
“Promise you’ll believe me.”
Another repeated line, another quirk of the lips. “I promise to try.”
Without warning, he grabbed my face and kissed me. It wasn’t the passionate, goes on forever kind of kiss I’d grown accustomed to, but it curled my toes all the same. When it was over he stayed close enough I could still feel his lips move against mine. “This is real, and I didn’t leave you alone. I have always loved you, and I will love you until the end of time. Now, wake up and live.”
Chapter 26
Even after I woke up I could still feel where Alex’s lips touched mine.
This is real, and I didn’t leave you alone.
I wanted to believe. As my fingers traced my still sensitive lips, the need to believe was a loud, hungry thing inside me. And where was the harm in giving in? This was the day of the trial. While I wasn’t sure exactly how the Shifter legal system worked, I knew these weren’t the kind of people to leave their guilty sitting on death row for years and years. I wasn’t being melodramatic when I told Alex I thought this was my last day on earth. Logic said I wasn’t going to be breathing when the sun rose tomorrow morning.
There was a knock on the door, the signal for me to stand in the middle of the cage, hands up in the universal criminal pose, while my breakfast was delivered. Mrs. Akay walked through the door in her usual fashion - head of graying dark hair down, steps small and quick. She never spoke, never looked at me. In a new and different move, Travis followed her into the basement while Rocco had the honors of keeping the handgun leveled on my head.
“Before you whine about the lack of nutrition, you should know Talley told us to feed you this crap,” Travis said with his slow drawl.
My normal breakfast tray included eggs, toast or biscuits, sausage or bacon, fruit, and milk. This morning the only staple item was the milk. Along with it was a box of Cap’n Crunch, a giant bowl, a spoon, and a can of Mello Yello.
“You should be so lucky as to have a friend like Talley Matthews.” My voice actually hitched a little as I said it. Excellent. It was going to be the kind of day where I got all teary eyed over cereal and soft drinks.
“She’s good people,” he agreed. “You know she’s coming to see you later today?”
“Please don’t be kidding me,” I whispered.
Travis smiled as Mrs. Akay brushed past him. “Nope. I’m not much of a joker, especially the mean kind.” He closed the door and engaged the lock. “Stefan reckons if you can be a good girl all day a couple of pre-trial visits won’t hurt anything. You are going to be a good girl today, aren’t ya?”
If it meant I got to see my friends one more time I would be anything they wanted me to be. “Saint-like.”
“Glad to hear it.” Instead of going out the door that led to the basement stairs, he leaned against it. “I’m
on Scout Duty this morning, and I’m not really feeling up to the drama of an attempted escape.”
I grabbed the cereal and poured half the box into the bowl. It wasn’t like calories and sugar were going to make much of a difference at this point. “Well, I would certainly hate to inconvenience you.”
His laughter was slow and deep and made me aware of the tiny little hairs on the back of the neck. “I hope you’re innocent,” he said. “You’re fun to have around.”
***
Scout Duty seemed to entail actually staying in the basement all day. Travis’s presence made the whole morning shower routine a bit blush-inducing since there was no way he couldn’t see through the flimsy curtain, but I wasn’t going into my trial unwashed. I settled by showering in my bra and panties, thinking it would be like wearing a bikini. It probably would’ve been if I hadn’t felt Travis’s eyes on me the whole time.
But other than the part where I felt like an unwitting porn star, having him around was nice and distracting. I was practically starved for conversation thanks to my solitary confinement, and Travis wasn’t hard to talk to. He lived up to pretty much every Texas stereotype with his love of football and country music, but we found mutual ground when it came to old slasher movies. We spent a good hour or more trying to decide if Freddy or Jason were more badass.
It was two hours after another parade of my favorite foods - corn dogs, Doritos, a Little Debbie brownie, and more Mello Yello - when there was a hesitant knock at the door. It was the day of the new moon, so my nose wasn’t working at full strength, but I still could smell a hint of baby shampoo and fresh baked bread.
This time it was Bob who stood on the other side of the door, but instead of pulling the gun, he simply ushered in Talley and then stood on the side opposite Travis.
“You’re in a jail!” my best friend exclaimed as she rushed towards the bars. I yelled, “No!” at the exact same moment Travis reached out and grabbed her arm. He managed to stop her before she actually touched the metal.
“That’s wired, sweetheart. Don’t want to see you fry like mosquito on a bug zapper, now do we?”
Time Mends Page 21
