Her face held no wrinkles, but her hair was turning gray. It was uncanny, almost like looking into a mirror. Only her face was what I would look like in a few hundred years. Her eyes met mine, and she froze. The boy disappeared up the stairs, but she walked closer and raised her hand to cup my face. “How?”
“Places hold memories.” Her voice wavered. “You are stunning, my girl. I’m sorry I won’t be able to meet you in person, but I want you to know I love you with everything I am.”
“You know who I am?”
“You think I wouldn’t recognize my babe? Children of my line have my spark, and like recognizes like.” She leaned in. “You have had a hard road so far, but everything can be remade stronger. Roots can grow deeper. Paths change and grow.”
“Your home is…” I stumbled over my words as I looked around the homey cabin. The warmth that surrounded us flickered, and the burnt husk long blown out sat at our feet. I looked back at my grandmother as she looked around her home.
“Gone but not gone. What you see now is just a memory burned into the very ground I worked with my blood and tears. The ruins, the husk, are what is truly left. A sad testament to the love that burned here.” Her words were filled with sorrow, until a small giggle sounded from above us, and the cabin flickered back around us. Warmth once again slipping into place.
“What happened to it? How am I on a cliff by the sea, hundreds of miles away from the pack house?”
“I was never a pack animal, preferring my solitude. But magic can fold the very fabric of space, connecting one spot to another. I was able to have my solitude, but also my family.” She turned away and trailed her hands along the furniture and it all flickered, turning to ash in her wake. She twirled, kicking up a cloud so high I had to cover my mouth to breathe. “As to what happened here? It was the night of the attack. I felt wolves breached our borders, and I ran to save them. I fought to keep this space closed off, but as I fell, so did my defenses and someone found my tunnel.” She walked over and sat at the fireplace. The cabin flickered back into life, fire roaring and laughter coming from the stairs. “I watched as the person ransacked my home, and while your father was taking care of the pack, my house was burned.”
I watched a tear fall. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be darling girl. They didn’t find what they were looking for. What you are looking for. Now come, time is short and you have too much to learn.” She waved me over and patted a stone. I placed my hand on it and there was a flash. The stone was gone, and under it was a book. “Hurry, someone is hunting you and I can’t block him for long. You need to protect yourself.” Then, once again, I was alone, and the cabin, that was once so full of love, was just a crumbling ruin.
Chapter Twenty-Four
A
s I navigated back down the stairs and into the cave I was cautious. The stones slipped under my feet and the book was heavier than I expected. I had to maneuver myself and the ancient text in such a way to squeezed back through the entrance of the cave, and back into the tunnel. Once through, I had to take a second. My arms were screaming at me from the weight of the tome in my arms. As I started to run, a new foreboding grew, a random feeling like something was chasing me bubbled in my gut. But as I hit the bottom step of the stairs heading up, a howl ripped through the air, but it was unlike a howl I had ever heard before. Deeper, darker and somehow two toned. It made even Nix perk up and Megan hide.
“What the fuck is that?” I whipped around to face the way we had just come, but my flashlight showed nothing. “It sounded like it was right behind me.”
It came from far off.Nix paced the edge of her home, brushing her fur against my side, calming me and herself with the contact.
“How did it reach me down here?” I whipped back and stumbled up the stairs.
It was that loud.Nix’s voice sounded a little breathless.
“Are you okay?” I paused with my hand on the door, and waited for Nix to answer. Another howl ripped down the tunnel, somehow louder. And Nix started to pant. “Nix? What’s going on here?”
I don’t know. But I can’t stop my reaction to the call. Move. Now. Before I cannot stop myself from keeping you here and waiting for the male that is calling for us.Nix huffed and slunk back into the depths, forcing herself with every step.Go now. He’s coming.
I pushed the hatch and slammed it behind me, running to the panel and pulling it back. I made sure everything was closed up before running straight back to the pack house. “Amy!” I looked over my shoulder as I burst through the back door and ran straight into Cass.
“Cass!” I pulled her back from falling on her butt and looked behind me again.
“Woah. Are you okay?” Cass gripped my arm and I snapped back to her.
“Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine. Why do you ask?” I let her go and went back to the back door.
“Well, you are acting like, well, this.” She waved her hands up and down my body and then laughed. “Are you looking for something? Or someone?”
I peeked through the curtain. And then turned back. “No. No. Of course not.” I laughed and shook myself. “I’m fine.” I took a breath and turned to face Cass. “Were you looking for me?”
“Yeah. For like six hours.” Cass looked concerned and got closer to me. “Are you sure you’re okay? And why are you holding a stone?”
“What?” I looked down at the book in my hands and back to Cass, who was also looking at the book in my hand. “This?” I waved it around, and she nodded.
“Yes…the black stone in your hand.” Cass pointed at the book and, even though I was confused, I stammered out an answer.
“I liked the way it looked and wanted to bring it home.” I smiled and put it behind my back.
“When did you collect rocks?” Cass laughed and pulled me through the kitchen. “And where have you been? It’s so late.”
