CHAPTER SIX || HARRIS #2
“Everyone stays in the cabins, mostly,” Daniel went on, as if oblivious to what had just happened.
“And there’s a fire pit, where we all gather when we have to talk as a group.
If the weather allows it.” He paused, as if thinking about it.
“And… um… we sometimes eat together or hold meetings in the mess hall.” Then he pointed at the largest structure, right in the center of the line of cabins, also made of logs, its roof covered in moss.
“We do pack breakfasts every week. But mostly, everyone eats in their own cabins.”
“Is there running water?” I hadn’t checked, though I ought to have. “You guys clearly have electricity.”
“Yeah, we’ve got running water here.” He cracked a smile. “We’re not total heathens.”
“Just animals.” I smiled to let him know I meant it as a joke. “But only sometimes.”
“Not all of us.”
That caught me off guard. “You’re not a wolf?”
“I do other stuff for the pack.” He hesitated. “I cast spells, mostly. And I sometimes help Emma and Sarah with the research.”
“You cast spells? So… you’re a witch?” The only witch I had ever seen in action was Poppy, the redheaded witch who had helped foil Magnus, an ancient and very nasty vampire, when he had attempted to destroy Cole and Thierry, his progeny.
She had been… formidable. Capable of turning bloodthirsty vampires into stone statues with a few spoken words.
The crackle of power I’d seen around Daniel’s hand made sense, then. Strange how I hadn’t seen it around Poppy when we first met.
“Are you a really powerful witch?” I blurted out, without thinking.
“Not really.” He looked uncomfortable. “Male witches are usually called warlocks, by the way. But it’s pretty much the same thing.” Then he paused, flushing red. “And I’m not as strong as some, but I guess I do okay most of the time.”
“Do all werewolf packs have witches and warlocks as members?”
Daniel gave me a curious look. “You ask a lot of questions for a human. I would’ve figured you’d be more freaked out.”
“You guys aren’t my first experience with supernatural creatures.”
“That’s probably a good thing, I guess,” Daniel said slowly.
“And to answer your question, I wouldn’t know.
This is the first pack I’ve ever seen firsthand.
And I’m not even technically a member,” he added.
“No one has ever initiated me or anything.” Then he paused, biting his lip, avoiding my gaze.
“I’m sort of a consultant, I guess. It’s not that big of a deal. ”
I got the strong impression, based on the lingering redness in his cheeks, the way he didn’t meet my eyes, and the obvious discomfort in his voice, that Daniel sometimes felt unwelcome here.
And he wanted me to stop asking questions about him immediately.
I would have bet any amount of money he didn’t like talking about himself.
“So,” I said, gesturing to the woods. “Monsters, huh?”
“This place is a nexus point between worlds,” Daniel said immediately, letting out a breath. His expression relaxed. He met my eyes again, perhaps relieved I had changed the subject. “It’s a thin place. Think of it as a kind of fault line. Sometimes earthquakes happen.”
“And by earthquakes, you mean…?”
“Interplanar fissures,” Daniel explained. “That’s the technical term, anyway. The wolves just call them ‘bleeds.’ It’s when a tear between worlds happens and things can cross back and forth.”
“Things like monsters.”
“Other things, too. The Otherworld isn’t just a place of monsters. Faeries, certain kinds of magic, non-monstrous mythical creatures, the Old Powers… pretty much everything from mythology or folklore that you told yourself couldn’t exist in the real world has its origins in the Otherworld.”
“Wait—” I said, picturing tiny glowing pixies with wings. “Like… Tinker Bell?”
“No,” Daniel said. “Trust me, faeries aren’t like Tinker Bell. They’re more dangerous than that. A lot of them are decent, like people, but some of them really aren’t.”
A chill danced up my spine. “The forest is dangerous, then?”
A mirthless smile curved across his lips. “Oh, yeah. Let’s put it this way: I have magic at my disposal, and I don’t go into those woods without at least one other person to watch my back. Not unless I have no choice.”
“And Reed…?”
“Is an alpha. He can handle himself.”
“What does being an alpha actually mean? I keep hearing this word thrown around, but isn’t a werewolf just a werewolf?”
“Alphas are the strongest wolves, Harris. You don’t need to worry about him.
” He paused, watching me intently, his eyes seeming to miss nothing about the way I had tensed up at the idea of Reed going into those woods alone.
“They have the most control over their form. They can shift the fastest. They can control the other wolves, if they have to. And their senses—their ability to see magic, to sense the flow of energies in a place—are the sharpest. Mostly, it’s subtle things.
But they’re the leaders for a reason. And if Reed finds the monster that’s out there, he’ll kill it.
That’s what the pack does—they protect this place from the things that slip through the bleeds. ”
“Right,” I said, unsettled. I cast a nervous look toward the tree line just beyond the commune. The forest seemed suddenly more menacing. It was rapidly growing dark. The sun was nearly down. Reed had been gone for hours. And I suspected he probably wasn’t coming back.
Why would he? He wanted me gone. He would probably drive home the point that I couldn’t rely on him, that I was nothing to him. Just a silly human for him to protect.
“You’re his mate,” Daniel said quietly, still watching me. “That’s what this is, isn’t it? That’s why Reed is allowing you to stay here.”
I hesitated, not sure exactly what to say.
“You should head back to the cabin,” Daniel said, a tense note entering his words. He shot the forest a nervous look. “If anything happened to you…”
“Okay,” I said immediately, maybe a little too quickly. “Sounds good. I’ll just go back and wait for Reed. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”
“Right,” Daniel said, forcing a smile that couldn’t have been more fake. “Yeah, totally.”
Well, that confirmed things, didn’t it? Reed probably had no intention of coming back anytime soon. He was going to head off into the woods by himself. And I was supposed to wait in the cabin like his house husband. Hardly.
“Well, it was nice to meet you,” I said to Daniel, giving him a sharp nod. “I should probably get back inside. More dangerous when it gets dark, right?”
“Yeah,” Daniel said, frowning at me, as though my sudden about-face had unsettled him. “Um, I should probably do a boundary spell, so nothing can get into your cabin.”
I didn’t know what a boundary spell was, but I was guessing it was also so I couldn’t get out, either.
Daniel had no idea that, at Cole’s insistence, I had packed the amulet Magnus had been wearing, which was enchanted to prevent any sort of magic from having an effect on its wearer.
I was reasonably certain it would allow me to pass through a boundary spell.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” I said, giving him a nod. “We wouldn’t want Reed’s mate to get eaten by a monster, would we?”
“Right,” Daniel replied. He was staring at me now, confused. “Um, you’re okay with that? It’ll seal you inside, too. Until sunrise.”
Was I okay with being locked in a cabin while Reed went off and tried his damndest to get himself killed? Sure, pal. I’m hunky-dory.
“Oh, yeah,” I said, doing my level best to keep a neutral expression. “That’s totally fine. Do what you’ve got to do.”
With that, I turned and made my way back into the cabin, leaving Daniel staring after me.
* * *
Three hours had gone by and I was practically pacing a track into the floor of the cabin.
Daniel had done the boundary spell—he had walked the entire perimeter, muttering an incantation under his breath.
Even without any magic of my own, I had felt it snap into place like a wave of static electricity rolling over me—and it was full dark now.
Reed hadn’t come back.
But if I focused on it, I could feel his presence, like I had an internal compass and he was true north. The idiot wolf was somewhere nearby. Maybe a mile or two away. And moving quickly. I would have bet the farm that he was headed into the woods.
Alone, most likely.
I knew I should wait for him. That was the smart thing to do. It was a dumb move to head into the forest without backup, especially after I’d been warned not to do exactly that.
But the idea of Reed alone in the dark with monsters made up my mind.
I crossed the room to the kitchen table where I had set my duffel. I unzipped the side pocket and pulled out the amulet.
It was gaudy, with a large blood-red stone set in gold.
There were markings etched into the gold around the stone, a bunch of witchy symbols I didn’t recognize.
It felt heavy in my hand. The stone should have caught the overhead light, but it didn’t gleam or sparkle.
Instead, the amulet seemed to drink the light in.
Charming.
I slipped the amulet over my head for the first time, expecting… something. Fireworks. Sparks of light. A poof of smoke. Swirls of magic.
Nothing happened.
Except the amulet felt heavy and restrictive against my chest. Kind of the way Kevlar feels.
I donned my jacket, which I had slung over the back of the wooden chair. It hid my holster nicely. My service weapon was loaded with silver bullets.
I had first acquired the bullets when Cole and Thierry’s maker had been threatening to destroy them.
Cole had tried to hide his mate, Eli, away in a luxury hotel in downtown Los Angeles, and I’d been there to help protect him.
When Magnus had broken into the hotel room, attempting to kill Eli and his sister, I had fired at him multiple times.
While I hadn’t hit him, I had made him pause long enough that Sadie, a vampire from Seattle assigned to protect us, had gotten him on the defensive momentarily.
Given that Magnus had been an ancient vampire, I still felt pretty good about that.
Now, my gun was always loaded with silver bullets.
And why not? They made vampires essentially powerless, and they worked on humans, too. According to Cole, who had ensured I had a large stock of them before he left town, silver worked on most supernatural creatures to some degree. Something about it being an inherently magical metal.
If there was a monster out there, I liked my chances of being able to tag it before it could get me. Or Reed.
I didn’t want to examine where that last thought came from. But already, the idea of anything happening to Reed was repellent.
Tapping into the connection between us, I let it guide my steps to the door. The door swung outward when I opened it.
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered. Maybe the amulet wouldn’t work on boundary spells?
I stepped over the threshold easily, feeling only a slight resistance. Like stepping through an invisible membrane.
Huh. Weird.
The commune was dark and quiet. Two cabins had lights on. The first belonged to Daniel, who wasn’t outside keeping watch—probably confident I wouldn’t have a way around his spells. I wasn’t sure who the other cabin belonged to, but it probably wasn’t Reed’s.
Letting the connection pull me forward, I walked through the commune, cloaked in darkness.
The pull led me to the tree line at the top of the ridge, just beyond the last of the cabins. Glancing behind me and finding no one there, I took a deep breath and stepped into the forest.
The woods were dark.
I’d only gotten a few steps in and already, it was damn near impossible to see anything.
I pulled out my keychain and took hold of the little portable flashlight I’d purchased years ago.
It sat on my key ring, along with my multitool.
I never left the house without being prepared.
Especially now that I knew the world was a lot more dangerous than I had imagined.
I flipped the beam on. The flashlight wasn’t as strong as a department-issue light would’ve been, but it was enough to guide me over the fallen trees and through the underbrush.
Idly, I wondered if I was going to encounter any wild animals. Did Washington State have venomous snakes? Or mountain lions? Didn’t those hunt at night?
After all, the woods definitely had werewolves. And monsters, apparently. Why not other dangerous creatures?
At that thought, I drew my gun as well. Then, squaring my shoulders, I made my way deeper into the dark forest, letting the sensation of Reed’s presence pull me forward.