by Kat Zaccard
Suddenly, a yellow blur streaked past me, and a girl tackled the bald upyr from behind. I couldn’t believe my eyes. A sheet of blonde hair whipped aside, and the girl bit down into the upyr, tearing out his throat. The upyr crumpled, and the girl stood back, blood dripping down her front. Shea scrambled back, and we stared at the blonde girl dripping blood. She was pale, dressed in rags. Her red-rimmed black eyes turned to look at me. I gasped. I recognized her from the Winter Palace.
A ripping sound tore our attention away from the new arrival. Shea screamed as the monster that was Diego reared back, holding either end of the dark-haired upyr. Diego, half-wolf, half-human, turned to the girl. The blonde girl also screamed and darted toward the tree-line, preternaturally fast, the movement odd and disjointed.
I shifted into my human form. “Wait!” I called to her, and was surprised to see both she and Diego stop.
The girl turned, and I saw her eyes, rimmed with that same flashing red, her long canines much sharper than mine. Her pale skin was splattered in upyr blood. The front of her shirt stained dark red.
“You … you helped us?” It was both a question and a statement.
“Yes,” she replied. She held herself very still, eyeing Diego frightfully. His muscular chest heaved, and his long, clawed fingers raked the ground. He growled menacingly.
I held my hand up. “Stay back, Diego.” He looked at me and stilled.
Shea was hyperventilating, but she seemed too shocked to move. I turned to the girl.
“Why?”
“You are the Princess Luna, yes?” I nodded. “You look like your mother,” she said softly. “Please, I have to go, before more werewolves come.”
“But I have to talk to you.” The girl looked skittish, afraid to run, yet afraid to stay.
“Meet me tomorrow night, beyond the stream, just before dawn,” she conceded.
“But they’ll be patrolling even more,” I warned her.
“I will risk it.” The girl looked into my eyes. “They are after you, Princess Luna. He sent them after you.”
“Who did?” But then we heard more patrols running through the woods. With a look of panic, the girl escaped into the shadows.
I turned back to my friends. Diego was human again, panting and looking nauseated. Shea was also human, trembling and cradling Adam’s head. Adam was still a wolf, which was likely better for him. His leg looked broken, but he could heal faster as a wolf.
Memories of those last few minutes slapped me across the face. I glanced around, disoriented as I took in the fallen wolves. I ran to Hayley and checked for a pulse. Feeling into her thick black-and-purple fur, I was relieved when the steady thrum of her heart danced under my fingers.
The upyr were bloody mangled messes of human flesh, covered in rags, their pale flesh seeming less threatening now that they were dismembered and still. Their faces looked more human, now that they were no longer contorted in murderous rage. There was another human figure in the grass and leaves. Her long, black hair pooled around her, along with her blood. The air felt tight and the sun far too bright. I stumbled toward her body. Could it be true?
I turned to Kulani. I ran to her, tripping and stumbling as I fell beside her body. She was human, and she was broken. I pressed my hands to her neck, trying to stop the bleeding, but I knew it was already too late. Her spirit wolf had left her body long before. I felt hot tears stream down my face as I uselessly tried to gather her up.
Diego came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Leave her, Alice. She’s gone. We’ll get her someplace safe.” I turned and cried into his chest, sobbing and hiccupping as I totally lost control. He held me, strong and still. The thrum of his heart slowly lulled me into the semblance of calm. As I quieted in his embrace, I felt him heave a heavy sigh and squeeze me tightly. After a moment, we let go, looking sadly into each other’s eyes. I turned away and went over to Shea and Adam. Leaving me with Adam, she stood and went over to check on Hayley and Sir Henry. Thankfully, they were both still breathing. Shea looked shocked and flinched as Diego approached her. He stopped and looked sad.
“Shea, it’s still Diego. It’s just something he can do.”
Shea looked at me like I was crazy. She opened her mouth, then closed it.
“Please, keep his secret like you keep mine?” Shea again looked surprised and angry, but she nodded, and that was all I was going to get at the moment. She turned away from me and ran back to Adam. Carefully, she felt his fur for a pulse again, then cried out in relief. She sat down and cradled his head in her lap once more, whispering sweet nothings while waiting for the medics.
Only a few moments had transpired, because suddenly we were surrounded by wolves and people as patrols shifted into human to assess the carnage around them. I looked nervously at Diego, but he seemed resigned to whatever may happen. He stayed close to me throughout the commotion, though he didn’t speak to me once. The biggest task was organizing the medics as they arrived to treat the wounded. I brushed a persistent medic off, finally convincing him to leave me be after accepting a robe and water. I sat by Kulani and held her hand, letting go only when Diego gently pried my fingers from hers to make way for the medical team who intended to load her onto a gurney and into a bag.
I didn’t want them to take her, not yet. I looked around helplessly. How could I stop this? Just then, a howl like I’d never heard before rent the air. I saw him at the edge of the trees: a deranged wolf. I stood up, a witness. I watched as he hurtled through the chaos, his golden eyes seeking her closed ones. In a moment, the wolf was gone and Jack’s body fell over Kulani’s. Diego held the medical team back as Jack gathered her into his arms. His body wracked by heavy sobs, he gently caressed her face.
“No, no, no, no,” he softly chanted. He opened her eyes and peered at them, watching her lids fall back closed. He kissed her lips and grabbed at her hand, pressing it to his face, willing it to caress him once more. It was painful to watch, but I couldn’t look away. Finally, he gave up and collapsed over her fallen form. He sobbed into her hair, holding her body close to his.
I took a step toward him, but Diego was there again. He held me back.
“Let him have this time with her,” he murmured softly, tears brimming in his own eyes. I clung to Diego and stared vacantly while tears trailed down my face. Jack continued to grieve, and no one intervened.
After some time, I saw Diego’s mom come out of the crowd. Luciana was a small woman, but her presence was strong. She approached Jack and placed a hand onto his shoulder. He shrugged her off and clung harder to Kulani. Luciana knelt down and spoke softly to Jack. I was closest to them but couldn’t hear what she said. After a long moment of low mutterings, Jack released his wife. He clung to Luciana while she brushed back his hair and muttered soothing words to him, ignoring the blood that stained her clothes.
The medics loaded Kulani’s body into the bag and onto the gurney. Other patrols had arrived to hold back the crowd and contain the area. My head felt underwater. I watched the scene in a daze of disbelief. After that, I barely registered what went on around me. All I saw was that black bag being wheeled away and my friend Jack crying in the dirt while Luciana kept everyone else at bay.
The tears hadn’t stopped, but the racking sobs had. They flowed down my cheeks, a steady stream I doubted would ever stop. I allowed myself to be steered back toward campus, oblivious to the sights and sounds around me as word spread and the school converged on the scene. I felt grateful to be shuffled past my classmates and off to the hospital ward. I was bathed, my wounds treated, and I was given a draught of something that tasted like earwax and varnish but promised blessed oblivion, at least for a little while.
Chapter 26
I woke up in the hospital wing. My head felt stuffy, my eyes swollen. I groaned as I turned my head, trying to make out the other shapes in the room and hissed as I felt the wound on my neck and shoulder. I knew from experience that the upyr cuts would take longer to heal than an average scratch,
though I was bandaged and presumably intact. I sat up slowly, adjusting my pillows, then fell back, exhausted. My whole body was sore. I had just woken up, but I felt so tired. Glancing at my blanket-covered body, I wiggled my fingers and toes. Okay, I was fine.
I looked around the room. Hayley was in the bed next to me. She was still in her wolf form. I didn’t know if that was good or bad. I looked across the room and saw Adam, asleep in a cot. He looked all right, human, with his left arm in a cast. I knew werewolf bones usually healed fast, so it must have been a pretty bad compound fracture to warrant a cast. Another wolf occupied the bed next to Adam. Sir Henry, by the look of it, I guessed.
“Alice!” I turned to the familiar voice, happy to see Shea coming through the swinging doors. “You’re awake.”
“Yeah,” I croaked, feeling groggy. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost seven at night. You slept through yesterday and most of today. Not that I blame you,” she added. She hurried to my bedside and gave me a gentle hug. Looking me over and seemingly satisfied with her assessment, she poured me a glass of water from the bedside table and helped me to drink. She placed her hand on my forehead, which I swatted away.
Satisfied that I was indeed alive, she went over to check on Adam. Then coming back to my side, she said, “He could sleep through anything.”
“Has he woken up at all?” I asked nervously.
“Yes, yesterday, when they set his arm. The shock of it shifted him back to human. The doctors say he’ll heal a little slower, but they’re happy to see he did shift back.” Then she looked over at Hayley’s wolf, brow wrinkled.
“Will Hayley be okay?”
“They think so,” Shea said softly. “They agree it’s better for her to be in her wolf while she heals. Tonight is the last night of the full moon, so they expect she’ll shift back on her own before tomorrow. They say Sir Henry might need a little longer, but since he’s a Sliver, they’re not too worried. Only—” Shea stopped and gulped. “Only Kulani died,” she finished quietly.
“Kulani…” my voice had come out strangled and foreign. How could my brilliant mentor be gone? I remembered the scene from yesterday, and all I could say was: “Oh, Jack . . .” The room was pregnant with grief.
After a moment, I asked, “What about Sara and Lola? What happened to them?”
Shea scowled a little. “Lola was so frightened by the attack that she took off. Sara followed her. She feels terrible for abandoning us to the upyr, but she was afraid Lola was running headlong into trouble. I told her you wouldn’t blame her, but…”
“I don’t blame either of them,” I sighed. At least they were safe.
Shea nodded and held my hand. She sat by my bed for a while. We didn’t know what to say. Finally, the boy she loved stirred and she went over to him. I pretended to sleep as they greeted each other. I heard Shea perform much the same tasks with Adam as she had with me, so I peeked at them through my lashes. She looked him over, assessing his durability, then hugged him fiercely. She let go when he gave a grunt of discomfort, but he grabbed her hand with his uninjured one, not wanting her to leave. She fluffed his pillows and poured him water, then she sat by him until I really did drift back to sleep.
The next morning I awoke to find Hayley a human again. She was sitting up in bed. I smiled at her. “Hey, lady, welcome back from the land of the furry.”
She grinned at my weak joke. Shifting in bed, she grimaced in pain. “Nice to see you, too.”
I turned serious. “Hayley, thank you. You saved my life.”
Hayley waved a hand at me, brushing off my gratitude. “That’s what friends are for.” She groaned. “But I think it might be a while before we’re sparring again.”
I looked across the way to see Sir Henry still a wolf and Adam still asleep. The nurse bustled in and started fussing over Hayley. She turned to me and said I had a visitor, before closing a curtain around Hayley’s bed and returning to change her bandages.
The door swung open, and Diego walked in. My heart lifted to see him. He was okay. He was here.
“Hi,” he said cautiously.
“Hi,” I replied with a smile. Everything hurt a little less when he smiled back at me.
He glanced over at Sir Henry, noting the rise and fall of his chest. I noticed his shoulders droop a little, but when he turned back to me, he’d put on a brave face. Smiling, he walked over and sat in the chair next to my bed.
“How are you?” he asked, concern etched across his forehead.
“I’m fine,” I lied, easily. “Fine” could encompass a wide range of emotions. His brow softened, and he quirked his mouth, unconvinced.
“Yeah,” he muttered back. He looked down at my hand like he wanted to reach for it. My fingers twitched. Slowly, he leaned forward and touched them gently, as if making sure I was indeed alive. I turned my hand over and clasped his fingers tightly.
He looked up at me. I felt my eyes brimming with tears. “Kulani,” I whispered. His face turned down.
With a heavy sigh, he said, “I know.” We sat in silence for a moment, each lost in our memories of Kulani. We’d both run patrols with her. Like a big sister, she had nurtured me, helped me discover my wolf, tested my limits. And then there was Jack. How would Jack get on without her?
I suddenly realized I still held Diego’s hand. Blushing fiercely, I loosened my grip. He squeezed my fingers once, then let go and ran his hand through his dark locks. The nurse bustled through, having finished changing Hayley’s bandages and pulling aside the curtains. I glanced at Hayley, who was giving me an odd look, one eye-brow raised. I turned back to Diego.
“I’m glad you’re all right,” he said. He started to rise, about to leave.
“Wait. Tell me what’s going on. Have they found … more?” My eyes searched his, begging him to answer the question I couldn’t ask about the blonde upyr, the girl from the palace. She had saved Shea. Had they found her?
“No,” he answered with a shake of his head. He looked into my eyes meaningfully. “The patrols have been running practically non-stop since yesterday afternoon. They haven’t found anything.”
“Good,” I breathed, tension easing from my chest. It was a mixed relief. On one hand, I was grateful no more upyr were roaming the woods. On the other, I knew at least one more upyr was still roaming the woods, so maybe it wasn’t as safe as it seemed. I needed answers. I had convinced the girl to meet with me, but I had missed our meeting time yesterday. It was too late now. With patrols scouring the area, it was a wonder she wasn’t caught already.
Diego tossed me a curious look. I shook my head. We couldn’t speak openly here. He gave me a slight nod, then looked over at Hayley.
“Glad to see you’re still in one piece,” he said to her with a grin.
Hayley smirked, and I could practically hear her think: Oh you noticed I was here, did you?
Before she had the chance to voice her thought aloud, Diego continued, “You were very brave out there, Hayley. You saved Alice’s life. We’re all very proud of you guys. The Slivers, I mean.”
Hayley’s dark brown cheeks flushed at the compliment. She smiled at him, but only for a moment. Happy thoughts had short half-lives when swinging back to the loss of Kulani. “It wasn’t enough,” she said mournfully.
Diego looked stern, a warrior. “It was. You saved Alice. By all accounts, the first upyr would have slashed her throat had you not thrown yourself in harm’s way. You gave us time to get there, to save the rest of you.” He was so sincere that I could tell Hayley was touched. She nodded, looking thoughtful.
“Thank you, Hayley,” I added. I felt the weight of my debt to her and frustrated that their training was to protect me first. “You and Kulani saved my life. I can’t—” the tears had started again. I brushed them away angrily. “Some princess,” I muttered. My friends had thrown themselves in harm’s way for me. Three of them were seriously injured and one of them was dead. How could I make up for that?
“It’s not you
r fault, Alice,” Diego said. “We’re here to protect you and all the students. Anyone could have been caught on that road yesterday.”
“He’s right, Alice,” Hayley added. “I’d do it again. You’re my friend.” I was so moved, I just stared at Hayley, dumbfounded. She smiled at me.
“And you’re our future queen.” Diego had said the last with such finality, face a mask. I look back at him, my feelings at war. I forced a sad smile.
“Then I will do my best to earn the title,” I replied solemnly.
Chapter 27
Over the next few days, the school was in an uproar as parents streamed in to pick up their distraught students. The funeral for Kulani Keali'i was to be held in the large hall of Mt. Henley’s main building. It soon became apparent that even the grand ballroom would exceed capacity, so the ceremony was moved to the arena. Nearly every seat was filled as the entire village of Dryden showed up along with visiting friends and family. I thought the arena was a more appropriate setting anyway, under the open sky and in a place where she’d spent much of her time training and teaching.
Shea and I met Sara’s family. Her four sisters looked so much like her. Little Nell was Sara’s mini-me with curly hair fashioned in two cute puffs on either side of her head. She sat on Sara’s lap and kept bopping her in the face with them every time she swiveled her head to look around. It was sweet and a distraction as the mourners gathered and found their seats. Hayley and Sir Henry were still in the hospital wing, but Adam was seated next to Shea, his arm still in a sling.
The worst moment was watching Jack enter the arena. Eight Slivers carried a white casket to the front, trailed by Jack. He followed along, alone. His head seemed to wobble on his shoulders as if not quite attached. My heart broke for him, and I wanted desperately to join him and hold him up as he made his way past friends, faculty, staff, and students. As he passed our aisle, his eyes seemed glazed over and unfocused. I realized the large wooden stage behind the podium was actually a funeral pyre. The Slivers lifted the casket onto the cherry wood platform decorated with flowers and herbs. Jack took a huge pink peony from a vase and placed it on top of the white casket. He stood there a moment, shoulders shaking. After a moment, he turned away. He reached his seat and crumpled into his chair.
