Chapter 17
Effie Harlow
“Hey, seriously, the weather could be a lot worse,” I assured Tore, his jaw clenched with tension as our car sped down the highway towards the city.
I knew his thoughts were solely focused on the last time we’d driven in the snow like this, so there wasn’t much I could do besides curl up against him and continue to reassure him.
Besides, the weather wasn’t nearly as bad this time around, and my magic was pleased with how snowy it was, making me realize how much we’d had missed it while in the shadowlands.
Knowing now that I was essentially both lykos and kitsune, it made me wonder why my magic loved snow so much since she really wasn’t an arctic wolf species…
but we’d thought of ourselves like that for so long, and it was the only form of identity she was able to assume for years, so I couldn’t fully blame her for continuing to feel that way.
The others were nearly silent as we drove onward, and I knew they were probably either stressed themselves or trying to not compound the issue and upset Tore even more.
As a result, though, the car felt tense, and it was making me a bit anxious.
So instead of focusing on trying to reassure all my mates that everything would be fine, something that probably wouldn’t be achieved until we reached our destination anyway, I let my gaze wander out the front windshield to the SUV two cars ahead of us.
Luckily there weren’t many other cars on the road, so we were able to keep pace with Ruby and her mates who were driving a hair faster than ourselves.
I was glad Mona had given me such a direct location though, because trying to coordinate and communicate in separate cars on the highway in the snow probably wouldn’t have been very fun.
When we’d realized just how quickly we’d need to leave Milwaukee, we began to talk about just how far Ruby and her men were going to come with us since opening the gate with them nearby was potentially dangerous.
Actually, I suspected it was far more than potentially, and so did most of the group.
Aanya’s mates had convinced her it was better to stay in Milwaukee in case something bad happened and we needed backup.
Which of course had me worrying about Ruby coming in the first place…
Luckily though, after some conversation, they agreed that they’d only go so far as the entrance to the forest we needed to travel through, letting us take the last leg of the journey on our own.
It was the best move because if opening the gate followed the same destructive pattern as the rest of the things that had happened so far, I predicted it would be rather explosive.
“We’re maybe thirty minutes outside of the city.” Julian turned around in his seat. “Once we’re off this damn highway, all of us will feel a hell of a lot better.”
“Agreed.” Dakota exhaled. “I used to think I was partial to the city, that I would prefer it compared to where I grew up… I’m not so sure anymore.”
Nibbling my lip, I considered how I felt about it. “I didn’t mind London—at least where your house was, Ryder. It seemed a lot more spaced out than normal for such a big city.”
“Talking about London…” Ryder turned from the row in front of me and examined my expression, trying to disguise the hope and excitement that arose any time the topic came up.
“I want to redecorate the property if we’re planning to live there.
I want you—hell, all of us—to have input on where we’re going to spend every day. Would you be okay with that?”
“Okay with redecorating?” My brows shot up. “Of course I am, but I have no idea where we would even start with that. All of your furniture and decor is beautiful…I mean, I didn’t even know how to decorate my dorm, Ryder.”
Seriously, the idea of decorating such a huge property felt intimidating to say the least.
“There are a few people we can hire to help,” he promised. “I’d just need you to sit down with them and tell them what you like.”
Looking at all my mates, locking eyes even with Caedmon in the rearview mirror, I nodded before adding the stipulation, “As long as all of you are part of the process as well.”
“Whatever you want, Effie—you know that.” Tore said, my head tilting back so he could brush a kiss over my lips.
“I’m excited to go back. I really loved London,” I said lightly, my gaze moving out to the Chicago skyline, the gray skies highlighting how differently I felt about this place.
I think Chicago would always hold an important piece of me—after all, it had impacted me a lot, and not always in the best of ways—but if I stayed here, I’d always feel like there was a whisper of my past following me around. A whisper of when I felt ‘less than.’
After our conversation the tension eased slightly, the car ride noticeably lighter as we finally pulled off the highway and onto a city street.
Tore shifted next to me and rolled his shoulders as if releasing the tension he was holding.
I had to imagine that hadn’t felt good for the hour plus we’d been in the car.
“It’s going to be weird going back to where all of this began,” I murmured as we turned several more blocks, finally arriving at the large, empty parking lot of the forest preserve.
The skies were darkening further with clouds as if it was going to storm, and I felt a nervous energy invade my chest, wondering where exactly I’d been dropped off in the middle of this.
I mean, if I was to believe Mona and the dark god, I’d essentially fallen from the sky.
And why had Julian been in the forest in the middle of the night when he was so young?
Questions began to tug at the back of my mind, but I forced them away for now as I slid from the vehicle. Ruby and her mates had already taken their positions in the parking lot to wait for us, the guys leaning against their vehicle with the doors open and music on.
“This isn’t where I came out of the forest,” I told Julian. “I remember I had a much clearer view of the city when you came towards me.”
“It may be on the opposite side,” Ryder said. “From what I can tell on the maps app, it’s a pretty large preserve—bigger than any other near the city.”
I could also tell it was near the lake. I couldn’t see the body of water, but I could smell it in the air, along with the upcoming snowstorm.
“Hey.” Ruby appeared in front of me as I pulled on a backpack. “Be safe, and remember that if you need anything at all, we’re right here.”
In response, I simply hugged her tightly.
I would never call for help, would never bring her into danger, especially an active threat—unless I felt like it was absolutely necessary.
Squeezing her again, I stepped back and offered a small smile before turning towards the edge of the forest. Julian’s hand intertwined with mine as we walked forward, the others following, our group growing quiet and our bond simmering with apprehension about what we were about to face.
“I want you to know something,” Julian said softly. “No matter what happens and no matter what we find in here, remember that everything leading up until this point was worth it.”
I stared up into his gold eyes and found myself nodding, though his words made me slightly nervous.
The world went silent around us as we stepped onto the preserve, the path we traveled along well maintained with signs that you would normally expect for hiking…but there was something else to it. Something I began to sense about twenty minutes into our walk.
“Does anyone else feel that?” I asked.
“Yes,” Tore rumbled.
“It feels like magic,” Caedmon said, “and a lot of it.”
“The gate,” Dakota suggested. “It’s possible it’s from the gate.”
“Although it would surprise me if it were this close to the entrance,” Ryder pointed out.
Julian stopped hard and stared off into the distance, his eyes going wide. I followed his gaze, my head tilting slightly in confusion.
“A house?” I asked. “Is it a guide house or something? It looks larger than that.”
Julian didn’t hesitate, veering right off the path in his rush to reach the building, climbing over fallen trees.
Tore picked me up, not giving me a chance to follow on my own as he easily kept pace with Julian.
Instantly, my theory on it being a guide house fell flat because this was a house with a fence and garden.
“I didn’t realize houses were allowed in a preserve…” Dakota murmured, staring at Julian’s expression, which was filled with confusion and something much more intense.
“It’s warded; it can’t be seen unless you have magic,” Ryder explained. “I still don’t think it’s the gate, though.”
“It’s not.” Julian’s voice was almost soft, much more serious than normal.
I squirmed out of Tore’s arms to go stand by his side as he reached the door.
My bitten mate lifted his hand, and instead of knocking, turned the knob.
The door creaked open, the wind pushing it to give way faster and revealing… a home.
The exterior had been slightly run-down, but the interior looked like it’d been preserved in time.
“Wow,” I whispered, stepping across the threshold.
Everything from the carpet to the candles on the table—extinguished but clearly having been used before—were set up as if someone had lived here recently.
But the dust told a different story. The main room consisted of a small cottage kitchen and a sitting space with an empty fireplace, three doors along the back of the room closed to hide their contents.
“It’s abandoned.” Tore started towards the kitchen, looking around. “Although I’m not sure for how long.”
“Long enough,” Ryder said.
I followed Julian’s now slow steps to the far-left door, which he opened slowly, tension rolling up his frame as he grabbed the doorframe hard.
I came up behind him and gently ran a hand up his back before ducking under his arm and coming face to face with a child’s bedroom.
One with posters and drawings, small carved wooden wolves, and a twin-size bed with dark blue sheets.
It was simple but felt like a well-loved space.
“This…” Julian exhaled long and hard. “This is where I grew up.”
My shock was echoed by our bond suddenly lighting up with magic as memories surged into me hard, fast, and unyielding.
I gripped onto my mate as Julian’s memory echoed his words, showing me that he’d not only grown up here but that he hadn’t been alone.
A woman in her mid-sixties was in all of them, either in the background or with him directly, her dark brown and silver hair creating a halo around her golden face.
She was radiant, and while the memories flashed by quickly, her love for Julian was clear as day.
Guilt began to build heavily in my chest, and the only thing that distracted me was one of the last memories right before they cut off.
One of her writing a note in a similar sized but different bedroom.
“Effie,” Julian murmured. I blinked, snapping out of the haze of memories and turning towards the other door, striding over and throwing it open. On the far wall was the desk from the memory, a neatly folded note covered in dust and pinned down by a stone paperweight the only thing resting on top.
I picked it up with shaky hands and turned to find Julian in my space, his gold gaze cautious as he took the paper from me, keeping it between us.
Julian,
I don’t know if you will ever read this. I hope that if you do it’s because the gods have brought you back here—that they led you home for a reason. My only regret is that I’m not here to welcome you back.
I knew from the time you were born that you were destined for something great—that you were meant to be a protector. I can’t imagine the man you have grown into today, but I know I would be proud of you no matter what.
When you went missing all those years ago, I was devastated.
I asked around; I searched. I even contacted human authorities.
But it wasn’t until I was blessed with a vision by the gods themselves that I realized you were where you needed to be—that you were on the path to protecting someone important.
That eventually you would come home, and it would be because of your journey.
I hope that they were right.
Just know that I’ve thought about you every single day.
I love you forever.
Grandma.
Tears welled in my eyes as I looked up at Julian, his jaw clenched tight.
The emotion surging through our bond told me that the others had caught on as well, their surprise evident.
I pressed into Julian, trying to comfort him as he whispered a soft curse and dropped the note, wrapping his arms around me so thoroughly that it felt like he was trying to meld us into one.
I couldn’t tell you how long we stood like that, but eventually I found some words, even though they weren’t very good ones.
“I don’t even know what to say,” I whispered, my voice shaky.
Julian caught my jaw between his rough hands and brushed my nose against his, bending down so we were so close I could easily kiss him.
“I’m not sure there’s anything to say, preciosa, but this confirms for me that everything happens for a reason.
I may not remember a lot about my grandma, but even she knew I was meant to be here for you—to find and protect you. That’s all that matters to me.”
The conviction in his voice had me tearing up even more as I kissed him gently. “I love you, Julian.”
“I love you,” Julian replied. “So damn much, Effie.”
A quiet knock on the door moments later had both of us turning to look at Tore, who looked at Julian in concern before glancing at the note on the ground. “I can’t imagine how you’re feeling, man. If we need to stay here for a bit longer, we can. The gate is important, but this…”
“Nah,” Julian said, picking up the note and tucking it into the pocket of his jeans.
“On the way back I would love to stop here again, but I’m good for now.
This is a lot and sort of insane. I don’t even understand why we were living here…
but I was brought into Effie’s life for a reason, and that’s all that matters to me. ”
Smiling up at him, I kept my hand intertwined with his.
As we left the room, I realized that Julian’s emotions were far more solidified and settled than ever before.
I think in a weird way that this moment had even given him some closure, a sense of contentment.
As if he was no longer searching for answers, even in the back of his mind.
I just hoped I could find the same closure when we finally found the gate.