Chapter 13 #3
“The scent of the woman who wore those boots before you clings to this part of Blackwater. The sun rises here, which is why we were able to bring you all the way,” Maera said as we went for the last of the trees, closer and closer to the lake by the second.
“Why? You don’t like the dark?” I said absentmindedly.
“On the contrary. All our senses work better in the dark. It’s the vampires we don’t get along with.”
“Well, fuck, Maera. You didn’t have to bring me all the way here,” I said, feeling guilty now for having made them.
Feeling utterly shocked still that I’d actually made it all the way here, and at the same time I didn’t believe it. Not yet.
“We did, and it was an honor. There are no vampires in these parts, only the fae. Her magic is powerful,” she said, raising a hand up as if she were touching the air in front of her.
Meanwhile, I was stuck on that word she said— honor. It was the first time in my life that someone had ever used it when talking about me.
Then we slipped between the last row of trees, and the lake was right there for me to see.
Every doubt I had until that moment disappeared into thin air. It was the same lake, the same mountains beyond, the same trees and the same scent—though so much more intense. I had been here.
I had really been here with Rune just a few days ago.
“There,” said Maera, and she pointed ahead, far to our right, to the house that stood alone at the edge of the lake, surrounded by trees on all sides.
Raja’s house, exactly as I remembered it.
Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. I made it. I actually made it.
“That’s her house,” I whispered with barely any voice, and the wolves took us forward, the one who’d run ahead already there, waiting for us just by the house.
We walked slowly—or rather, the wolves did. I had all the time in the world to take in all the details, to confirm to myself that I wasn’t being tricked or lied to by my own eyes, that it was all real.
Then something moved at the side of the house.
Raja.
I recognized her, though we were still too far away to see her face clearly.
I recognized the black dress she wore that covered her body entirely.
I didn’t breathe as I watched her striding around her house, down the pathway that led to the deck, her head turned to us, I thought.
Because she felt us. She saw us. She knew we were here.
And she stopped just there, near her backyard, shadows slipping out of her but remaining around her hands like balls of all-consuming darkness.
The wolves stopped walking.
Maera suddenly jumped off hers and offered me her hand. I wasn’t entirely sure if my legs could hold me, but I was eager to start running already, get to Raja, beg her to call for Rune, to tell him I was here.
My knees shook and my legs wobbled when I stood up, but Maera was there to steady me. The three wolves were already stationed just a couple of feet ahead, eyes on Raja.
“There. You’re in Blackwater now, Nilah.”
“I-I-I honestly don’t know how to thank you.” My voice broke, but at least I wasn’t crying.
“You already have. I’d have possibly been dead by now if it wasn’t for your kindness. We were in our last hours.”
We, she said—meaning her and her wolf.
“I’m just really glad I happened to pass by that sorcerer’s house,” I said, and I meant it. Things could have gone very differently for the both of us if I hadn’t.
“But you didn’t simply happen to pass by. I believe the stars guided you there. They always know what they’re doing,” she said, raising her head to look up. Indeed, there were a million stars twinkling in the darkness, even though the sky had lit up just a tiny bit to announce the rising sun.
“In that case, thank the stars, ” I said, laughing a little just so I didn’t cry.
“You’re pure, Nilah. Wherever the stars take you next, I pray you don’t let them corrupt you. ”
I swallowed hard. “ Them ?”
A quick look to the side, toward Raja, and she nodded. “The fae. Most are heartless. They know no morals. Expect the worst from them every time.”
Shivers broke down my arms because I tasted the truth of those words, too.
Her hands were on my shoulders. “You will be okay. I feel it. Moon magic sings in you.” She leaned in and planted a soft kiss right on my forehead.
I felt that kiss like it was suddenly imprinted underneath my skin. And I had no idea what that even meant, but it was time to go now. Time to get to Raja, to call for Rune.
It was time for all of this madness to be over.
So, I said, “I’d really like to see the wolf again, if you don’t mind. Just to say thanks.”
The smile she gave me was as bright as the fucking sun. “Do visit me when you get the chance.”
“Oh, I will! If I’m ever in The Vale.”
“You will always have a place with the Thornevale pack,” she said, and before I could even blink, she took that white shirt off, and was completely naked in front of me again.
Her hair fell on her breasts, covering her, but I doubted she’d mind even if it hadn’t.
Then she stepped back and began to shift.
Keeping my eyes open and on her was difficult, but I really wanted to see this, to remember.
The sound of her bones rearranging and the fur piercing her skin as it came out was in my ears.
The rhythm of her heartbeat, the single beat it skipped in that moment just before she became a full wolf—it matched my own.
Then she was there, the wolf. She was right in front of me as if Maera had never been.
Tears pooled in my eyes again when I fell to my knees to look at her.
“Hey there, pretty girl,” I said, and maybe it would be silly to Maera who could definitely hear me, but it came naturally to me.
The wolf came closer, pink tongue hanging out.
She was so much smaller than those wolves who still stood guard between us and Raja, but she was fierce.
The look in her eyes— that’s what still set her apart.
“Thanks again, for…you know. Everything. This wound, too.” I pulled up my sleeve and gasped to find that the four scratches were almost completely gone. My skin was a little red—that’s it. Not broken, not open, just a little red.
“Holy shit, it’s gone,” I whispered, and the wolf came closer and licked my skin just like she had done before. I felt the calm that came with it, like it was a fucking medicine or something.
“Until next time, pretty girl,” I said and touched the sides of her neck, scratched her, still half convinced that she was a dog.
And then she licked my cheek, too. I laughed—it was so unexpected. It felt exactly like that kiss on the forehead from Maera.
When I stood up, my heart was full even if it made no sense. My legs shook and the exhaustion was still there—we’d walked for a long time—and I was hungry and my limbs were weak. but I could make it to Raja. She was just there. I could make it to her house.
The wolves moved aside to let us through. Maera’s wolf walked by my side for a little while, then stopped, whined a little, as if to say bye. I blew her a kiss and waved, at her and the other wolves who watched me with those wide attentive eyes.
I continued on my own like a drunk, but I was moving, getting closer to Raja, able to see her face with clarity now. And when I was just a few feet away from her, the wolves howled.
The sound was haunting, breathtaking, something a part of me understood even if I didn’t know how to put it in words.
They howled, all four of them, sitting on their back legs, muzzles to the sky, and they didn’t stop until I did.
Until I locked eyes with Raja. Until her face brought back memories of the last time I was here, how safe I’d felt with Rune.
My knees shook.
“By Reme, what have you done?”
Raja’s voice was barely a whisper as she looked down at my body.
“N-Nothing,” I whispered. “I didn’t do anything. Raja, I need to talk to Rune. Please, can you tell him I’m here? With…with your shadows.” I looked at her hands, but the shadows were no longer there. Instead, she looked at me like I was a damn ghost.
“You have moon magic in you, girl. What have you done?!”
This time, she sounded terrified.
I’d seen what this woman could do with my own eyes, had felt her magic. And for her to be terrified of something—that was no small thing.
“I don’t…” I turned to look at the wolves, still there, still watching, all standing, though they’d stopped howling now. “I don’t know, I…”
Hands on my wrist.
Raja pulled my arm and turned it, looked down at what was left of the wound on my skin, so I looked, too. And I saw.
I saw the way my skin glowed from within.
It was faint, but the night was dark and the moon was still in the sky—I felt it behind me—and my skin had this glow to it. A silvery white glow.
Which couldn’t possibly be because people didn’t glow. They just didn’t, so I must have been seeing things. Perfectly possible, considering I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been asleep or passed out.
“Raja,” I said, and my tongue felt so, so thick . “Raja, I need to…Rune, I need…” Rune .
My body let go of me all at once, my mind shutting down even when my instincts insisted that I needed to stay awake now more than ever. There simply was no more energy left in me.
Everything went dark.