by S Lawrence
“Has she called you to guard us?” It would have seemed crazy days ago, but now I look back at her, her hand has lowered back to her side, and I turn my head back to the fire that has burned low. “I would give my life for her.”
A huge white wolf steps from the darkness. It’s the yang to the black one’s yin. His mate. She draws near, her lips pulled back in a snarl, but she doesn’t attack. My hand is on the knife at my side, but somehow I know I won’t need it.
“Do you feel her magic? Feel her power?”
The female sits out of range but within striking distance. She is watching not me but the woman sleeping behind me. I don’t want to take my eyes from her but I do, once again looking around the edge of the clearing before tipping my gaze up to the massive wolf above us. His head is moving like my own, but he is watching the area around us, watching the forest.
“Protecting us,” I whisper and look around again. “Protecting her.”
The female whines as she lays down with her muzzle on her front legs, still staring at me. The others in the shadows shift; I only know because I can hear the slight rustle of the undergrowth.
The alpha growls and the hairs on my neck stand up. Danger. Something or someone is in the forest. I reach back and touch Reyna gently. She jerks, sitting up instantly, her hand gripping at my shirt.
“What is it?” She whispers; her voice is steady, and I’m proud of her.
“There are wolves surrounding us but…” I pause as her eyes widen more and they flick from side to side searching. “But they seem to be protecting us, or at least you. Slow movements though, just in case.”
“Protecting us?” She whispers, and her voice is filled with the emotions I’m feeling.
“I think so. I think your magic called them.”
“How?” The pitch of her voice has raised a few octaves.
I want to shrug and I’m tempted to ask ‘how should I know,’ but I don’t want to upset her or the wolves, just in case she did call them.
“I don’t know, love,” I answer, reaching back to pull her closer as she curls herself around my back. “But the alpha just got nervous.” I jerk my head up and I can feel her slowly tilt her face up to the sky.
“Holy shit. He’s almost as big as Liam.”
“Try to get them to do something,” I suggest.
Her head whips back down and her face is right next to mine, her eyes staring at me like I’m insane.
“How in the hell would I do that? I don’t know how I even got them here, if I did.” She sounds incredulous.
“Maybe you just think it,” I offer.
She opens her mouth then closes it as the female lunges to her feet and races away. From the sounds coming from the darkness, the others are following her. It only takes seconds before the sounds of the night are all I can hear.
“Did you do that?” I look at her as she shifts around me, squeezing out of the shelter and pushes up to her feet.
She paces away then stops. “I don’t think so but how would I know?”
“Maybe try calling them back. If you did it in your sleep, maybe you just need to think it,” I suggest.
“Okay. Okay,” she mumbles as she turns in a circle, eyes scanning the forest around us. “Okay. Think.”
Reyna moves her head from side to side while rolling her shoulders, and I fight a chuckle that is threatening to bubble up. Muscles loosened and brow furrowed, she finally stops and stares out into the night, saying nothing. I take my eyes off her to look out at the forest, also hoping to see some movement.
Nothing.
Minutes later, she spins to look at me. “What good is power if I don’t know how to use it?” Her anger makes her face flush a pale pink.
“You will figure it out. We have time.” I stand and cross to her, pulling her into my arms as I say the words. “The last time it worked, you were worried about Hagen. Maybe it is tied to your emotions.”
The theory sounds right to me, but she seems unconvinced. I press my face into her hair and breathe deeply, smelling us.
Us. I still can’t believe she chose me. Me. Out of all my brothers.
Chapter Nine
REYNA
I cling to him, squeezing him tight for a minute, letting him feel my emotions before I move back half a step. Looking up into his dark eyes, I see wonder and love.
“What?” He asks when I’ve stared at his face for at least a minute.
“You love me.” I make it a statement but I feel a fluttering as I wait for him to respond.
He swallows once, twice, then a third time. “I don’t know. You chose me.”
“Chose you?” I smile to soften the question.
“I was first. That means something, right?” I hate the doubt that has crept into his voice.
“Yes.” I think of how I should explain. “I don’t know if this is going to sound right.” I stop, unsure if I should even say anything more.
“Just say it,” he urges, but I can see the hint of fear shining at me from his eyes.
“The others want me and I want them. I even need them. I need all of you. But you need me back...” I trail off, pulling my lower lip between my teeth and chewing at it.
He reaches up and runs his thumb over that lip, freeing it from the torture of my teeth.
“I do and I don’t mind that’s the reason. I just want it to become more.”
I smile, letting my breath rush out. “Just give me a little time to love you like you should be loved and soon you won’t question why you were first. Can I tell you something?”
He nods, his thumb still sliding over my lower lip, his eyes focused on it now.
“Each of you mean or represent something different to me. I think, for me anyway, it is how it will all work. How we will be a family.”
His thumb stops and he looks back up into my eyes. “Family. Yes, we are your family.”
My heart breaks for my mother and father, but they are gone and I must survive this world I’ve been thrust into. I must protect these men when I hadn’t been able to protect my family and friends. Friends. I have been so focused on my family I had barely thought of the people I had grown up with—of Margo who had gone against the other girls to be my friend, of Charles who kissed me sweetly behind the pub when we were both twelve.
My home was in flames when Fallon pulled me away into the darkness. I don’t know who, if any, are left alive.
“Hey, where are you?” Lash’s voice is near my ear.
“Sorry, I was thinking of home. Do you think we could go there when this is all over?” I halfway want him to say no, for I’m afraid there will be no one left.
“Of course. But for now, I think we should try to get some sleep before we start at first light. I haven’t heard anything but the wolves, and as far as I can tell, they are trying to keep at least you safe.”
I let him lead me back to the shelter. I didn't expect to fall asleep, but it didn’t take long for his warmth to relax my muscles and sleep came soon after.
A twig snaps and my eyes fly open. I know the sound before I am even fully awake. His hand grips my hand and I look up at him. His finger is raised to his lips, a wicked blade resting against his cheek as he watches me to make sure I understand. I nod once and he rolls slowly, as if in sleep, but I know his eyes are searching just like my own. My face is at the curve of his neck, and I peer into the trees barely lit by the lightening of the sky. The fire had died, and only a wisp of smoke floating up hints that there had been one at all.
“I smelled the smoke,” a delicate voice calls out just before a petite woman with long ebony hair steps into the open.
“Where did you come from?” Lash replies as he sits the blade held loosely in his hand. Before she can answer, he pushes up with his other hand to stand.
She holds her hands out, palms up, before taking another step into the clearing.
“That’s close enough,” Lash sounds menacing, and for some reason, it surprises me.
I shift to my
knees and crawl completely ungracefully from the shelter. Standing, I put my hand on his forearm.
“These are dangerous times, so forgive us if we are a bit untrusting,” I offer with a small smile but I watch our guest closely. “We were just about to leave.”
“Very dangerous for some,” she says and Lash stiffens. “But the danger is not from me. I saw the ships. They saw your skiff.”
“Fuck.” Lash spins looking toward the coast.
“They saw it floating.” She grins. “They are searching along the shore.”
“You untied it.” She nods at my statement. “Why?”
She shrugs. “If I saw the smoke, they will too.” She points across from us. “That small peak there in the distance—walk toward it but keep it just on your left. If you do, you will find the northern coast.”
“What if we had planned to go south?” Lash’s eyes are narrow as he glares at her.
“Your friends went north. Follow the peak and you just might get in front of them, if you move quickly.” She turns and steps back into the trees. “Good luck.”
She disappears silently, which suggests that she let us hear her before.
“Let’s go.” I grab his hand and start to pull him the direction she had given us.
“We’re just going to trust her?” He asks incredulously.
“Last night, I asked him for help.” I don’t have to say who. “I think he may have been listening.”
* * *
She crosses into the other realm as soon as she walks into the trees, out of sight and time. Pausing, she looks back at them, wondering if she should tell any of the others. Nestor has nudged here and there, but she has always stayed out of it.
But this time, she felt the magic, had heard the prayer.
Old power is awakening.
Chapter Ten
LASH
I don’t trust the woman.
Although that in itself doesn’t mean much, since I trust no one other than my brothers and now Reyna. Reyna. I can’t really say I trust her; I don’t distrust her. I’m giving her my heart or at least, I’m trying to. I want to. I don’t trust her with my back though, not yet.
Maybe never.
Even with my brothers, only Wilder has my total trust. It’s stupid but that’s how trauma works, or so I’ve been told by Wilder, who devoured every book he could find in the city libraries about abuse of every kind. It’s his role in our family—he tries to fix us, to make us better. He is the one to be at our side when the nightmares come and our demons are punishing us once again.
Sometimes we hide it. I hide it more than the others, locking myself away and keeping separate from everyone. My crew takes over when I have my darkest days, or nights, as it most often is, and usually after a trip to the shore. I do my job, but it is always at a price.
My brothers have offered to let me stop, but it is what I’m good at. I can smile and flirt while dying on the inside. I can let them touch my body while locking myself away. I am the spy. I become someone else and I learn their secrets.
“Lash.” Reyna’s voice sounds far away as the darkness threatens to break free, I blink and throw another lock on the black door in my mind.
“Sorry. I don’t trust her.”
“Why would she lie? Does the King have women on his crews?” I shake my head at her question. “She came from the forest.”
She’s not wrong, but still, I look at the area where she faded away into the trees.
“I will follow you. I trust you.” Reyna locks eyes with me, and I feel something settle.
Trust is such a strange and powerful emotion.
I sigh, weighing our options—follow the path the women suggested and possibly catch up with the ships or go with my original plan and hope we catch them at the safe haven. She just stands, waiting for me to make my decision. Complete faith. Complete trust.
“Let’s head toward the peak.” I move to the stream and splash water onto the smoldering fire while Reyna breaks apart the shelter scattering the pieces. In minutes, there is barely a trace of us that remains. “I think they could miss this if they aren’t looking too closely.”
She nods and holds out her hand. I take it. We have nothing but the bag that is slung over my shoulder. In it is what little food we have left from our picnic. It’s not enough to get us to my brothers, unless we intercept them. I have one knife to protect us from the men searching for us on the shore.
I hope she’s right and whoever she prayed to is listening.
We walk in silence for an extremely long time. I keep glancing at her at my side. She is looking around at the forest, and I wonder if she is avoiding looking at me. But just as my anxiety pushed me to my breaking point, her fingers wrap around mine.
My nerves settle.
“You know I had very few friends growing up.” Reyna keeps looking at the trees. “I was different from everyone else in my village. Of course, my parents told me how I had been left for them. They told me how much they loved me, how I had been a gift, but it didn’t change the fact that I looked different. I acted different. It didn’t change that the other kids, and, hell, even some of the adults, were vicious to me.”
She looks at me, and I squeeze her hand.
“Don’t get me wrong, I had a good life and my parents loved me so much. There are a few times that, well, I don’t want to go into details. It was bad, that’s all you really need to know. Nothing like your childhood, but moments were bad.” She lets her voice trail off.
“Sometimes the kids are much worse than the adults,” I murmur.
“Most times. I wish it had been the same for you.” She stops walking and turns to me. “You don’t have to hide how you feel from me.”
“I shut people out. I hide myself away.” It’s the only explanation I can give.
“That’s okay. Hide away until you feel safe,” she whispers, a small, sad smile curving her lips. “I haven’t shown you all of myself. We all keep parts of ourselves hidden. We protect ourselves, and you and my other captains have more reasons than anyone, so protect yourself. I will be here when you need me. And some day, we will protect each other.”
She turns away, starting to walk away and just leaving me to stand there and watch her go. Could she be perfect?
I think about how she was with the others—funny, brave, studious, and unsure. Now with me, she is vulnerable. She is the perfect blend of all of us.
Created for us? Or were we created for her?
If I believe she is to become a queen or something even more to save the world, it isn’t so hard to believe we would all fit perfectly.
“Why did they let it all happen to us?” I don’t try to hide the anger.
She stops and looks back at me, where I’m still frozen.
“I don’t know. I read a book once that asked why the God that created the world let bad things happen.” I raise my eyebrows, waiting for her to tell me what she’d found. “Sorry, no real answers, but it was basically that there was a reason for everything.”
I huff. “Bullshit.”
“I know, but maybe they can only affect fate or destiny in certain ways. Maybe destiny is linked to our lives, each small event a guiding point on our trip to where we are meant to be.” She shrugs then holds out her hand.
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio.” I repeat the words from the story Wilder had read to me while we lived in the great library in our city.
“What’s that from? I like it.”
“Wilder read so many stories to us while we lived in the city. That was from Hamlet, by a man called Shakespeare,” I tell her. I don’t know why I even remember it.
“I hate that so much was lost—so many stories, so much history.” She pulls at my hand as soon as I grip her fingers. “Come on. You can tell me stories while we walk.”
“Stories about what?”
“I don’t care. About your brothers, about yourself, or just stories that Wilder read to you.” She looks at me with nothin
g short of puppy dog eyes. “It will pass the time,” she says after I don’t respond for a minute.
I think, letting my memories flow through my mind like leaves caught on a breeze. I imagine myself plucking one from the wind, praying it's a good one. I choose a story of the time when we first reached the city that time forgot.
We were still kids, starved and basically dying.
“We went wild when we found ourselves crawling into the empty city. We had seen ruins before, but this was just pristine. It was clean and perfect. We found pictures later that showed the city, just as it was. Actually, that isn’t true, it is cleaner, brighter.” I smile at the image in my head. “I found this little glass thing. It had a scene in it, and when you shook it, snow fell. I feel like New Orleans is the same, without the snow. Like an invisible glass dome protected it.”
“Maybe he has… Or they have. Maybe the city was or is important to them.” She looks up at me and I realize I hadn’t even noticed she had drifted back to my side. “It could be important to us. It already was to you and the others.”
“Yes, it was.”
Her pointing it out makes me think about fate or The Fates. Everything that I read, after Wilder taught us all to read, about them said they were known to be vindictive bitches.
The war was said to be between ancient gods, and it seems like maybe there was a war going on right now and we just didn’t know about it.
“Do you think this one guy, god, whatever, is the only one left?” I ask but I already have my own idea of the answer.
“I don’t know, because the letter said the others had withdrawn. The winners had left us to our fate,” she murmurs with a small frown on her face.
Interesting that she uses that word. Fate.
I don’t like it. I don’t like the idea of someone pulling my strings, our strings.
I want to talk to my brothers. I want to turn around and track the King and rip Cyder from his hands. Instead, I start toward her, following her once again since I had slowed in my anger.
