Wolfsbane

by Andrea Cremer

  “Fine.” Silas sighed. “The Scion is the descendant of the first Keeper, Eira, and the son of the traitor. That’s how the Searchers identified him. That and the mark.”

  “The traitor?” Shay looked even more confused. I was completely bewildered by the conversation. None of the Searchers appeared surprised; apparently this was old news to them.

  “Yes, yes.” Silas drummed his fingers on the table. “The portent of the Scion was that a Keeper, a powerful descendant of Eira herself, would abandon his kind, turn against them, and his heir would cause their downfall. The child of that Keeper is the Scion.”

  When Shay continued to frown at him, Silas flipped through the pages of his notebook, turning it to face Shay. “It’s right here.”

  “That’s in Latin,” Shay said.

  “Don’t you read Latin?” Silas asked, incredulous.

  “Not without a dictionary,” Shay snapped.

  “Silas, most of us don’t read Latin as ably as you can,” Monroe chided.

  “Can we move along?” Connor had put his head in his hands.

  “Wait,” I said, throwing him an apologetic smile. “I’m telling you, even if the Keepers are magic-laced humans or whatever, there wasn’t any of that on Shay. He didn’t have their scent. I know Keepers, but I never identified Shay as one of them.”

  “Yes,” Monroe said. “I know that. But that’s because Shay’s mother was human.”

  “His father betrayed the Keepers for love,” Adne said.

  “Why?” Shay still looked dumbfounded. “Why did he leave the Keepers?”

  “Oh, come on, Adne, that’s so cliché,” Silas said. Adne glared at him, and he just stared back at her.

  “It’s cliché because love matters, Silas,” Tess snapped, eyes misting over. “It’s one of the few things on earth that actually makes people take risks.”

  I met Shay’s eyes, feeling heat rise in my cheeks.

  “Right.” Silas sounded bored. “Anyway. He left because Keepers, loving their power as they do, have forbidden permanent unions between their kind and humans. Tristan eloped with Sarah and attempted to hide out with her. Birds and bees . . . baby.” He pointed at Shay.

  “So how did you find him?” I asked. “If he was hiding, then how did the Searchers even know that the traitor from the prophecy existed?”

  “We didn’t have to find him,” Monroe said. “He sought us out.”

  “He did?” Shay’s eyes widened.

  “Yes,” Monroe said. “He wanted protection for his wife and child. He knew who he was; he knew we would give it. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

  “The Keepers found them?” I asked.

  He nodded. “On the Aran Islands. We thought we’d isolated them, kept the location in absolute secrecy, but we failed. They took the family, killed Tristan and Sarah, and Bosque Mar kept Shay under his guard. Until now.”

  Shay stared blankly ahead; his hands were still trembling.

  “I don’t understand why he’s not a Keeper,” I said. “Doesn’t it matter who his father was?”

  “It matters for the prophecy,” Silas replied. “But in terms of his essence, his being, it’s the mother that matters. It’s always the mother that matters.”

  “Huh?” I frowned.

  Tess smiled. “Because the power of creation rests in women.”

  “Gloat all you want, Tess. At least I get to keep my figure.” Connor patted his flat stomach.

  “Battle of the sexes aside,” Silas said, “Tess is right. The mother’s essence always seems to dominate, determines the nature of the child. That’s why you only perceived him as human—in all respects he was. His father’s use of the Nether’s power didn’t pass on to him. The only sign of his mixed ancestry is the mark.”

  “What do you mean, the mother’s essence always dominates?” I asked. “Has this happened before?”

  “With the Keepers, no,” Silas replied. “None but Tristan ever dared repudiate the Keepers’ taboo on reproduction outside their own ranks. The reason we know about the pattern is because of the era of the Harrowing.”

  “But that was just a war,” I countered. What could it have to do with children?

  “Alliances form for many reasons,” Monroe said quietly. He turned his face away from the rest of us, his eyes suddenly distant.

  Silas nodded. “In the years leading up to the Guardians’ revolt, the ties between Searchers and the wolf soldiers grew very strong—in many respects. The records tell us that children from resulting partnerships always reflected the mother’s line. If the father was a Guardian, the child was a Searcher, if the father was a Searcher, the child remained a wolf.”

  My eyes widened. “Searchers and Guardians had children?”

  “A very long time ago,” Monroe replied; his jaw tightened and he continued to look away. “The Keepers did their best to wipe out all those offspring, to sever the ties forever.”

  My hands were trembling. “But Guardian females can’t just have children—”

  I stopped, feeling heat rushing up my neck into my cheeks. I hadn’t meant to say that. The words had just blurted out. So many secrets about my life had been spilled, but this was one I’d wanted to keep stashed away.

  When I spoke, it brought Shay out of his own far-off thoughts. “What?” He looked at me sharply.

  I stared at the table.

  No. No. I don’t want to talk about this. It was too private. And too horrible.

  Monroe cleared his throat. “Part of the Keepers’ attempts to exert more control over the Guardian packs was through the regulation of partnerships and births among their soldiers. Something they started doing after the Harrowing. They use their power to stop and start the reproductive cycles in Guardian females, so they only become pregnant when the designated mate and the right time are established by their masters.”

  “Oh my God,” Shay murmured.

  I was finding it hard to breathe. What will he think of me now?

  “It’s not your fault, honey.” Tess slid her arm around me. Her scent was all comfort—apple blossoms and honey. I let myself lean into her, grateful for her constant kindness. “They’re real bastards.”

  Silas spoke. “But the Harrowing was the advent of that practice; the Keepers hadn’t been so careful about such things before the revolt.”

  “Your mother was human, Shay,” Monroe said with a brief, sympathetic glance in my direction. “Your human essence was that with which you were born and the one that Calla perceived.”

  “So my father’s betrayal of the Keepers signaled that I was the Scion,” Shay said.

  I was relieved we seemed to be moving on in the conversation and decided to continue to push it forward.

  “And the mark. But he can’t see it.” I gestured to Shay. “When I told him about the cross tattoo, he had no idea it was there.”

  “There’s a ward on the symbol to keep it hidden,” Silas explained. “It’s not just a birthmark, not a tattoo. It’s a mystical emblem.”

  “So humans are blind to the tattoo?” I asked.

  Silas rolled his eyes, his hand flipping briefly before his face as though brushing away an irritating gnat. “It’s a subtler enchantment than that. They’re good at that, the Keepers: manipulation, subtlety. It’s their art, really. The tattoo only suggests to those who might take note of it that it should be ignored. We use a similar tactic to keep people from stumbling across the Academy. Humans will always look away, dismiss it. Just enough so that no one would walk up to Shay and ask who his tat artist was.”

  He glanced at Shay, eyes misty with a rather wry sort of reverence. “They’d think you didn’t scrub your neck well enough after a nasty rugby match or the like. You know: muddied up, that sort of thing.”

  “But I could see it,” I said.

  “You’re not human,” Silas said. “You’re—”

  I cut him off. “An abomination. Right. How could I forget.”

  He pushed his chair back as I bared my fangs.r />
  Shay grimaced and gingerly fingered the back of his neck. “Great. So I’m the Chosen One, but I have no skill at personal hygiene.”

  Silas’s face illuminated with a startling grin. “Exactly.”

  Adne chortled and laid a devastating gaze on Shay. “Help me, Obi-Wan, you’re my only hope . . . but could you manage a bath first?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “I’d wash your back for you anytime.”

  Shay’s pale face went crimson and I threw Adne a reproving glance. But she was looking at Connor, who simply added more whiskey to his coffee.

  Silas’s grin didn’t fade. He leaned back in his seat, studying Shay. “But now that your wolf girlfriend here turned you and all, you should be able to see it. Guardians wouldn’t be affected by the spell.”

  “I’m not his girlfriend,” I snapped, and then winced as Shay flushed even more deeply. The Searchers all stared at me, surprise written on their faces.

  “Well, I’m not,” I finished lamely, feeling cold and slippery as marble. I couldn’t look at Shay again. It was harsh, but I’d spoken the truth. I loved him, but I didn’t know what I was to Shay. Everything in our lives was constantly changing. I couldn’t find stable ground to stand on.

  Shay put his head in his hands. “I thought knowing the truth would make this easier. But it hasn’t. I can’t believe the only family I’ve known is some sort of Nether creature.”

  “Not just any Nether creature. He’s more powerful than any other enemy we’ve faced, and you’re the key to securing his reign,” Monroe said. “The Harbinger couldn’t trust your protection to his minions alone. As you can see, they failed in their duty. I’m sure some have suffered terribly because of your escape.”

  At the word “suffered,” I began shivering and found I couldn’t stop. What is happening to my pack? Shay put his hand on mine, glancing at Monroe.

  “It’s happened before, hasn’t it?” Shay asked. “We read about the last time Guardians tried to rebel.”

  “You mean the Harrowing?” Silas asked. “That was a momentous period in our history. The closest we came to victory. Though it ended rather badly.”

  “No.” I straightened, looking directly at Monroe because I knew he had the answers to the questions that were burning through me. “That wasn’t the most recent revolt.”

  Monroe drew back. “No.”

  “Drop it, Lily.” Adne had locked an accusing gaze on me. “That isn’t your business.”

  I flashed my fangs at her. “Could you not call me that?”

  “Not when it always gets that reaction from you. It’s nice to know you are somewhat human. That austere wolf thing creeps me out, you know.”

  I stared at her. I’ve known this girl for less than a day and she can read me like a book. How is that possible?

  “Adne’s right.” Connor leaned toward me. I could smell the whiskey on his breath. “Leave this alone.”

  “I will not,” I said. “What happened to the Banes? How did Corrine Laroche die?”

  “I said leave it.” Connor slammed his fist down on the table.

  “Back off,” Shay snarled at him.

  “Monroe?” Tess murmured, glancing anxiously at Connor.

  “It’s fine,” Monroe said quietly. “They should know.”

  Connor shook his head, emptying the rest of his flask into his coffee cup. “So much for no more sad stories.”

  ELEVEN

  MONROE LEANED BACK IN his chair. “I first came to Purgatory when I was twenty years old to serve as a Striker. I was a brash young man, all spitfire and ambition and no sense to speak of. I thought quite highly of myself.”

  He chuckled, running a hand through his dark hair. “I didn’t appreciate the rules set by our Guide at the time. He was a meticulous man named Davis. I was impatient with his insistence that young Strikers always patrol in pairs. That we spend as much time gathering information about the Keepers as planning and executing attacks.”

  He folded his arms over his chest, his face lost in memories. “One day, when I was supposed to be training, I headed off on my own. Trekked up near Haldis, convinced I could take out a Guardian or two solo. I was a fool. If circumstances had been anything other than what they were, I would have been dead.”

  “What were the circumstances?” Shay asked.

  “I encountered a lone Guardian. She was on me faster than I would have imagined possible; I didn’t even have time to draw a weapon. I had completely underestimated the skill of my adversaries. She knocked me down, and I thought she would kill me.” His voice tightened and he swallowed. “But then it wasn’t a wolf over me anymore. It was a young woman.” He glanced at me and smiled. “Barely older than you, Calla.”

  I nodded, my heart pounding. “Why did she shift into human form?”

  Monroe’s jaw clenched. “She asked me to kill her.”

  “What?” Shay gasped.

  I heard a muffled sob and glanced over to see that Tess had begun to cry again. Adne wrapped her arm around Tess’s shoulders.

  “I was stunned,” Monroe continued. “She could barely speak through her tears. She clung to me, sobbing.”

  Torrid emotion rippled through Monroe’s eyes, and I suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

  He shifted restlessly in his chair. “She was mated to a cruel man for whom she had no love, tormented by constant fear of a master even more wicked than her husband, terrified for the well-being of packmates for whom she did care deeply but whose lives were as unpredictable and devoid of free will as her own.” He paused and drew a slow breath before he spoke again. “But all these things, she said she’d been able to bear. Until that moment.”

  “What changed?” Shay whispered. He glanced at me and saw my contorted face. His fingers slipped between my own and I gripped his hand.

  “Her master had ordered her to bear a child.” Monroe closed his eyes. “And she couldn’t face the idea that she would bring another life into this world who would be forced to contend with the same pains that plunged her into despair every day.”

  “What did you do?” I asked in a whisper.

  “I offered to help her.” Monroe’s eyes opened; they roiled with violent emotion. “I told her about the Harrowing. The true history that undermined all the lies she’d been told from her birth. A time when Searchers and Guardians united to fight back against the Keepers. I was desperate to convince her that there was another way. Something besides death to give her hope. I had never encountered pain like that. I wanted nothing more than to save her.”

  Shay and I sat in silence, fascinated by his tale. Connor was staring into his cup, while Adne had begun to stroke Tess’s hair. Silas didn’t seem to be paying attention at all, his energy redirected to his notebook, occasionally pausing to peer at Shay.

  Monroe smiled sadly. “We began to meet in secret. I brought her as much information as I could about how the alliances of the past had formed.”

  I felt a caress on my hand. I glanced at Shay and he smiled gently at me. Monroe watched the exchange and his eyebrows rose. “Sounds familiar?”

  Shay nodded.

  Monroe’s smile became a grimace and he spoke again. “Davis had been furious with me for disobeying his directive, but he jumped at the chance to have Guardians on our side. It looked like our best chance to overturn control of Haldis. Corrine was able to gather support among several of her packmates. Our plan was to bring them out first, gather a significant force of several Searcher teams, and then make a combined assault against the Keepers in Vail.”

  “But something went wrong?” Shay frowned.

  Monroe nodded. He cleared his throat, but his voice remained thick. “Corrine became pregnant. She’d hoped to avoid it somehow”—he winced—“but such things can be difficult to control.”

  He was quiet for a moment; he folded his hands on the table. “She was afraid to run while she was pregnant, and she didn’t want to take extra risks with the newborn child, so she asked for the plan to be put on hold. To wa
it until the child had grown, until her son was a year old and wouldn’t be so vulnerable when we made our escape. I agreed.” He paused; I saw his hands trembling.

  I forced my question out, despite my growing fear. “What happened?”

  “In the intervening period, the plot was discovered.” Monroe’s knuckles whitened as his hands locked together fiercely. “Instead of the escape, the team of Searchers encountered an ambush at the Bane compound. We lost more than half our number.”

  “And Corrine? And her allies?” Shay’s voice was stern.

  Monroe replied in a flat tone. “They had already been handed over to wraiths. All dead before we even arrived.”

  I had to close my eyes as Monroe breathed life into the scenes from my nightmare. My organs felt brittle, ready to shatter.

  “But they let Ren live?” I whispered. “They didn’t kill her child.”

  “It’s been hard to put the pieces together, but from what I understand, Corrine’s mate was loyal to her master, never a conspirator against the Keepers. And the child remained in his care. After all, the young alpha for the new pack was still needed. And as you’ve already said, he knew nothing about how his mother truly died.”

  Shay squeezed my hand again and I realized that tears were coursing down my cheeks. I swiftly brushed them away. He looked at Monroe. “Do you have any idea how she was betrayed?”

  Monroe’s jaw set; he stared at his hands.

  “I think that’s all, folks,” Connor muttered. “Are you satisfied?”

  Shay’s head snapped around. “Would you just—”

  “No, Shay.” I put my hand on his arm. “Thank you, Monroe.”

  Monroe rose, giving us his back. “I’ll bid you good night.”

  “Me too,” Tess said. She followed Monroe back to the staircase.

  “Way to clear a room,” Connor mumbled, staring into his empty coffee cup.

  “Leave it, Connor,” Adne said, and stood up. “Let’s just find another way to pass the time.”

  He grinned at her. “I have a few ideas.”

  “Mine are better and in the realm of possibility.” Adne sat on the table, put her feet on the bench, and rested the guitar on her knees. She strummed the chords and tilted her head.