Chapter 100 Maddy #2
Sinthy shook her head. “Not necessarily. It’s close to the same thing, but not quite. Her wolf has been banished to the deepest recesses of her mind. Your wolf was suppressed for all those years, but that didn’t mean you weren’t a shifter.”
“What?” I looked at her dumbly. “I was human and became a shifter later.”
Sinthy shook her head patiently. “No. You are what you are. You were born the way you are. The first breath of air you took in this world was breathed into the lungs of a shifter. Just because your wolf was held at bay with drugs didn’t mean you were human.
I’ve been in my room thinking about it. I think what’s happened to Gabriella is similar to what happened to you.
Her wolf has been suppressed by the drug they used.
The difference is that when it receded, it latched onto your mother’s mind, dragging it away into the darkness.
It’s left a shell behind. You were half of what you were supposed to be; your mother is even less right now. ”
A sudden surge of hope burst into my chest. “You mean this is reversible? Like we did with my wolf?”
Sinthy winced and looked at the ground. “Maybe. I was looking through my spell book, and I may have found something.”
I leaped to my feet and put my hands on her shoulders. “What is it? How soon can we start?”
Sinthy sighed. “It’s not a sure thing. And the spell is complicated. It’ll…” She finally met my eyes. “It will require something from you, Maddy.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Nico must not have either. He stood and held up a warning hand. “Hang on. What are we talking about here? I think Maddy’s been through enough for right now.”
“No, Nico. If it can help my mother, then I want to do it.” I turned back to Sinthy. “Tell me.”
“Okay, hang on. Let me go and get my book. I’ll meet you all in the kitchen.”
She pulled herself from my grasp and went back into the house.
With a glance at Nico and Tiago, I headed straight for the kitchen.
The other two followed me a moment later.
Nico pulled up beside me and put a hand on my lower back.
“Are you sure about this? I don’t… I don’t want you to do something that’s dangerous. ”
I leaned on the kitchen counter. “I trust Sinthy. She’ll tell me if it’s going to be harmful. Once I know, then I’ll make a decision.”
Nico chewed at the inside of his cheek and gave me a searching look. “Right, but can you make a decision if you’re so worried about Gabriella? You are selfless, and that is a fantastic quality… until it isn’t.’
Before I could retort, Sinthy glided down the stairs. “Okay,” she said. “Ready to hear it?”
She placed the book on the counter and opened to a page toward the back of the tome.
Again, I looked at the pages and couldn’t make sense of what was written there in some language I had no experience with.
Most of the letters looked like a weird combination of old Norse runes and the chunky sweeping letters of Sanskrit.
I pointed at the book. “You can read that?”
Sinthy nodded. “It’s pretty easy for witches.
I think it would be very hard for anyone else to figure it out.
This” —she pointed at the lines— “is the oldest written language on earth. Several other civilizations stole symbols and pieces, but none conjured the power of these words, no matter how hard they tried.”
As she said that, I glanced at the book again, and to my surprise, the lines had changed and morphed. It was almost like the letters and symbols changed by the minute. She was right. This would be impossible to learn if it kept changing.
“You said you needed something from Maddy,” Nico said. “What did you mean?”
Sinthy tilted her head in agreement. “I think we can get Gabriella and her wolf back, but it will need to be guided back. The only way to guide it back is for it to follow a road already built. Does that make sense?”
We all stared at her like she was speaking the same language written in the book. I shook my head. “No. Not even a little.”
“Ugh.” Sinthy sighed. “This is harder to explain than I thought. Sorry. Basically, what I’m saying is that you already laid the groundwork when your wolf emerged. You did all the heavy lifting, and that framework, the… map… if you will, is now written in your genes. In your blood.”
Nico’s face went pale. “No. I don’t like the sound of that. We’ve spent months trying to keep the royals from stealing Maddy’s blood, and now that’s exactly what you’re proposing here. Absolutely not.”
I put a hand on his chest to steady him. “Nico, I don’t think Sinthy is going to try and bleed me dry.” I turned to her and raised my eyebrows. “You aren’t, right?”
She shook her head. “No. We need a drop. Nothing more. You are her only blood relative. I think this is the only way it would work. Your DNA will match hers, and once the spell is cast, I think we can use it to create a way to guide her back. A single drop. That’s all I’m asking.”
Nico still looked uncomfortable, but when I looked at him, he gave me a hesitant nod. “Okay. If it’s only a drop, it should be okay.”
“All right,” I said. “I’ll do it. If it’ll help.”
Sinthy’s face brightened. “Okay, great. We can—”
Before she could finish her thought, the front door burst in, almost coming off its hinges. We all spun, surprised to find Sebastian rushing into the living room. The look of wild fear in his eyes made my blood run cold.
“Nico? It’s happening. Jesus Christ, it’s going down.”
“Sebastian?” Nico stepped toward him. “What the hell is going on?”
Sebastian turned to us, and his eyes were red with panic. “They’ve done it. Martial law. They called for a state of emergency. They’re coming for us, man. It’s finally happening.”