CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE || DANIEL
I’m not sure how long I lay there. The moments became strange, passing both too fast and, somehow, with agonizing slowness. I might’ve been there for hours. I wasn’t sure.
It didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered, except the wooden and blank expression on Hunter’s face, as if he didn’t recognize me any longer. Or the regretful and closed-off way Lee had told me to give him time before leaving too.
Well, there was no time.
Not anymore.
Would they even want to see me before I left?
Or would they get cold again, shutting me out, the way they had before?
“Daniel,” Lacey’s voice interrupted my spiral. It was sharp and insistent on the other side of the cabin door, stripped bare of her usual patience with me. “I’ve given you more than enough time to mope. Stop being an asshole and drop the barrier!”
I considered telling her to go away again, that I still wanted to be alone.
But that seemed wrong, suddenly. After all, how much longer would I have with her?
The quality of light through the windows told me twilight was fast approaching.
And then my family would force me to leave the commune and the pack.
I wasn’t sure what they’d do if I refused, but I was certain it was nothing good.
After only a moment longer spent hesitating, I waved my hand in the direction of the door and let the barrier fall.
Lacey barged in a moment later, her expression going from angry to concerned in a heartbeat as she crossed the cabin, bolted up the ladder, and took in the sight of me in bed.
To be fair to her, I probably looked just as awful as I felt—my eyes red-rimmed and swollen, my hair disheveled from lying too long in one place, my body curled into a fetal position.
“Holy shit, you’re a mess.” She finished climbing the ladder and raised her eyebrows, giving me a pointed look. “I’m joining you.”
I scooted over to give her room on the bed. She collapsed onto the mattress next to me.
“So, I’m pretty sure I’m going to murder your brother,” she said in a matter-of-fact way. “Right after I finish off the wonder twins. Just so you know.”
I halfway wanted to smile, but I couldn’t make myself do it. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
“I might let Lee live,” she amended, rolling on her side to face me. “He, at least, gives a shit about what happens to you.”
“They both do.” I paused and the enormity of it hit me all over again, causing a fresh bout of tears to burn and prickle in my eyes. I looked away sharply, locking my eyes onto the wooden ceiling above me. “Or they did.”
“C’mon, Daniel. Are you really going to let your family drag you back there?”
“I don’t know.”
It was a lie, of course. But admitting the truth was even worse. I couldn’t let them do the awful things they were capable of doing to the pack. I’d sworn an oath to protect my people, and this was the only way I could do that. Because I wasn’t strong enough to fight them all.
Individually, they’d always been more powerful than me.
Collectively, it wasn’t even close.
“Daniel, look at me.”
I shook my head, swallowing down the searing lump in my throat. I was afraid that if I did, I’d lose it.
“C’mon, Daniel. I’m your friend. I always have been. You can trust me. You know that.”
“Why?” I demanded, before I could censor myself. “It’s like you took one look and decided to adopt me. Before you knew the first thing about me. Did you feel sorry for me?”
“Yeah, I did,” Lacey said. “And I would’ve done the same thing, even if you weren’t you. When you first came here, you were a wounded bird with a broken wing. And yeah, I felt bad for you.”
“Gee, thanks for being honest.”
“But that’s not why I’m here now! It’s not why I still give a shit!”
“You’re only here now because Lee asked you to keep an eye on me.”
The moment those words left my lips, I wanted to take them back. Because they felt just as awful as they sounded. And I knew they weren’t true.
“Daniel.”
The way she said my name, entirely without anger, wasn’t at all what I would’ve expected from her. I did turn and look at her then.
She was watching me steadily and there wasn’t even a trace of hostility on her face. Instead, the obvious concern in her eyes—the naked understanding and care I saw there—sent me over the edge.
The tears finally came, hot and sudden.
I wanted to hold them back, to stop the humiliating sobs wracking through my body, tearing out of me in gasps. But I couldn’t.
Lacey’s expression crumpled. And then she slipped her arm around my body, pulling me close to her until my emotions were fully spent and I felt both useless and scraped raw, even more of a hot mess than I’d been before.
“They’re never going to forgive me.” I pulled back, my stomach lurching at having said the words aloud. “Lacey, I’m going to lose everything.”
“I’m not sure I understand what you see in them.
” Lacey studied me intently, her expression still and serious.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever understand it. You’re better than both of them put together.
” She sighed, rolling her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but they both love you, Daniel.
I’m pretty sure that hasn’t changed. They’ll forgive you. ”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do, though. Hunter could’ve hurt you. He could’ve said awful things. Lee could’ve, too. But they didn’t. Even after what your brother told them, they still didn’t do that to you.”
“But—”
“Daniel, you belong here. With us. With your pack.” She pursed her lips. “And with them, too. None of that has changed just because some piece of shit you happen to share DNA with decided to try to fuck with you.”
“Well, it worked. I’m officially fucked with.”
“Do you know why I became your friend?”
“We already established it’s because you felt sorry for me.”
“No.” She snorted. “That got you my protection—until you could’ve stood on your own two feet.
So, basically, for that first week or two after you first got here.
” Lacey’s eyes fixed on mine, holding them in place.
“It’s because I respect you, Daniel. You’re patient, even when you shouldn’t be.
And you try. You try so damn hard, all the time.
No one else in this whole pack tries harder than you do. ”
“Lacey—”
“No! I’m not going to sit here and listen to you beat up on yourself.” Lacey shook her head, something hardening and turning furious in her expression. “Daniel Henbane, you’re going to listen to me! I’m pretty sure I’ve earned that from you.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, staring at her. “Deeply frightening, but I guess that’s totally fair.”
“You’re damn right it is! You bust your ass for us.
It’s not just because you think you have to, either—I can tell you’re not faking it.
I’ve always been able to tell. It’s because you genuinely want to help other people.
” The intensity of her expression broke and her lips curved into a tender smile, even if her eyes were still fierce.
“You do the right thing, effortlessly, without even thinking about it. And that’s because you care.
And even when you don’t know if you can even do something, you still always find a way to make it happen.
You’re a fighter and you always have been.
That’s why I’m your friend. It’s why I love you. You’re extraordinary, Daniel.”
“I’m going to bawl again and it’s going to be all your fault.”
“No. You’re going to tell me the truth. Do you want to go back to your family?”
“I don’t,” I said immediately.
“And what are you going to do about it?”
I dragged in a breath, pushing myself upright. “I need to tell them no. I—I need to fight.”
Lacey smiled at me, her eyes glittering. “There he is. Yeah, you do. And you’re not going to need to do it alone. We’ll back you up. All of us. The whole pack. We’re still here for you, Daniel.”
“You’re right. You are going to need to fight,” a woman’s voice said from below. “But there’s no time. You’re going to need to do it now.”
I bolted up in bed, alarm coursing through me.
It was Rowan. My sister was here. Which meant I was out of time.
How the hell had she gotten into the cabin without us hearing her?
Lacey let out a low growl and, moving before I could react, tore out of bed and down the ladder.
“Get out!” Lacey snarled at her.
I scrambled down the ladder as well, feeling shaken and afraid. And suddenly needing to stop my best friend from killing my sister.
“I won’t go,” I said, stepping onto the ground and turning to face Rowan. “I don’t want to.”
“I know that!” Rowan was breathing hard, her hand on her chest, as though winded. There was a sheen of sweat on her brow. Had she run here? Why? “That’s not why I came!”
Lacey’s steely expression never faltered. “Then what are you doing here?”
“They’ve got Hunter Lee,” Rowan replied, her voice tight with urgency. “Or whatever you’re calling them now.”
“Hunter and Lee,” Lacey corrected, her eyes widening with alarm. “And what do you mean?”
Rowan ignored her, locking eyes with me. “Our family has him—them. Micah still has your journal. They’re going to—”
“No.” My hand flew to my lips and ice swept through my veins as I realized what she was saying. “No way. They wouldn’t. They wouldn’t do that.”
No matter how much nastiness Micah might display toward me—or how cold and disapproving both of my parents were—they wouldn’t do that. They didn’t hate me that much.
Did they?
“Daniel, they think they’re fixing your mistake!
That they’re doing what you’re not willing to do,” Rowan said.
But her expression didn’t match her tone.
Her eyes, so much like mine, were filled with concern and urgency.
“They’re waiting for the moon to rise, to help power the spell.
After that, it’ll be too late. They’re planning to take him home, too. ”
A mix of understanding and horror filled Lacey’s expression, which meant that Rowan’s words had registered for her, too. “We can’t let that happen.”
Rowan nodded. “If you want to stop them, you have to come with me. We’re going to need to run.”