“One is with Blake,” Michelle said in a quiet, deeply troubled tone.
“Who’s Blake?” I asked a moment before the memory resurfaced. Her stepfather’s business partner.
“He kept me prisoner for my premonitions. I thought he was a werewolf, too. But I’ve heard that word before. Urbat. One of his men was talking about Urbat ruling the world. We have to tell the others that another kind exists,” she said meeting my eyes. “The Elders have been trying to find Blake through their connection,” she said with worry in her eyes. “But can’t. After I met Emmitt, I had a vision of Blake with a tall, blind girl. She called him father. She seemed okay with him,” she shrugged and explained further. “He definitely didn’t strike me as a good person when he kept me locked up, but he seemed to treat her well. Kissed her head and everything.”
My stomach flipped in a sickening way. One ofthemhad one ofusand treated her well? A cramp started in my chest, and I struggled to keep my face straight as she continued.
“I’m sure she’s one of us. The visions I’ve had so far have all proved to be of us, people with abilities. I saw you in the mall talking to some other girls,” she said to me. “And you, sitting on the floor with Clay in wolf form by your side.”
Clay. So that was the Shaggy-man’s name, I thought absently as I continued to spiral into a dark, depressed place. With their numbers, if they already had one of us, was there any hope?
“You were both reading,” she told Gabby. “There’s only been five different girls in my visions. The other is a really angry redhead.”
That pulled me out of my thoughts for a moment for a harsh, pained laugh. “That would be Peace.” I recalled the dream of the little girl on the playground. Isabelle. But I kept that to myself. “We need her.” I felt the tug of a dream coming on and wanted to groan. I’d found them. We were together. Wasn’t that enough? “We need her,” I repeated. I needed her. Or Luke. If Luke would just let me Claim him, these dreams would stop.
“Are you okay?” Michelle asked.
“No. I’m not,” I snapped, sighed, and then apologized. “The dreams I have are less than pleasant, and they won’t let up.” I changed the subject back to the issues at hand. “Gabby, you pinpointed me enough to send Luke. We need you to do the same for the other two.”
She zoned out for a minute. “We can get to one, but not the other. The one in the north is surrounded by the other ones.”
If the redhead was Peace that meant...
“The one in the north, the tall blind one that Blake has, must be Courage.” If they didn’t know Peace’s location, we could still get to her. I tried not to dwell on the impossibility of getting Courage. That just left the threat at hand. “Have there been any attacks here since we arrived?” I asked, recalling my warning to Luke. Both women shook their heads. Why hadn’t they attacked? What were they waiting for?
“Are there any Urbat here?” I asked Gabby.
She shook her head at me. “But I’ve seen them before. A few of them attacked us. And then there’s Elder Joshua.”
An Elder. I looked up at the ceiling and tried to think. We needed to expose the traitors and remove them before we could even consider making a move toward Peace.
“He was the one I contacted.”
Luke’s voice surprised me. I’d forgotten he was there.
“Someone betrayed us on the way here,” I told them. “That’s why there were so many attacks.” But why not bigger groups of them? If the werewolves already had three, why would they risk me, the fourth, joining them? “There’s a lot more to discuss, but I’m about to pass out,” I admitted when the dreams nudged me again. My time was almost up.
“Gabby, keep an eye on the Urbat. If they start grouping and heading this way, we need to give everyone a warning.” I sighed and tried not to remember what the Urbat had done in the past. “The children should be evacuated, now.”
A sharp knock sounded at the door. A moment later it pushed open.
“Time’s up,” Clay said.
Gabby grinned at him and waved him in. Emmitt followed closely behind, elbowing Luke on his way past. The dream’s tug grew more insistent.
“Please keep quiet about all of this,” I said, standing. Then, to impress on them the seriousness of our situation, I repeated what I’d told Luke. “You have no idea what’s coming our way, but I do. I’ve been raped, beaten, cut,” I lifted my shirt to show them all the stitched gash, “starved, drowned, blinded, burned...you name it, I’ve lived it.We’velived it. You just don’t remember. Don’t trust anyone with your safety. When we do, we die. And I’ll be the one who has to remember.”
Turning, I left the silent room. Nana Wini stood just outside the door. Her expression told me she heard what I’d said.
Luke stole my opportunity to say anything to her by scooping me up into his arms. I shot him a disgruntled look still upset with his use of a pet name on another girl. But his angry, clenched jaw kept my mouth shut. I’d been too recently abused to have reminded him of all the other abuses I’d suffered. I rested my head against his shoulder and let him carry me.
“It was just a name,” he said after a moment.
I didn’t answer, keeping my head on his shoulder. But I felt better knowing he understood his mistake.
He gently set me on my feet just inside the tiny apartment’s door, and cupped my face in his hands. “There’s no room for anyone else in my heart,” he said softly. “Only you.”
“Then why?” I pleaded. If I was in his heart, then why did I have to wait to Claim him?
