Chapter 20 - Sara
When I see fear bloom in Shawn’s eyes, it gives me a moment of satisfaction. I know he’s hiding something huge from me, as well as toying with my feelings, and I couldn’t be more done with him and this entire situation.
Tell me the truth. Come on, give me something to fight for!
Shawn visibly struggles for words, and I can’t hold in a little scoff of disbelief.
“Come on, Shawn. You got me to drop my barriers and let you in—then you sided with my father, only to publicly humiliate him! I’m done with these games, and I need you to be honest with me right fucking now!”
Because if you aren’t true to me, then I’m going. I’m going for good, and I’ll never look back.
“Okay,” he says in an even tone. “I’m hearing you, and I’m ready to tell you everything.”
“Really?” I say cynically.
“I’m a secret agent,” he blurts out. “A black ops operative. Or, I used to be. I worked for an organization called Wolf’s Shadow.”
“Excuse me?” I sputter, trying to process his words. “What the fuck?”
“I’m ex-military, and so are my friends. About a year ago, we were sent here to investigate a threat to both our world and the human world. Wolf’s Shadow exists to keep the peace between the two.”
“What the actual fuck,” I whisper, feeling like Shawn has just started speaking a foreign language. I barely even understand what he’s talking about, because the only things I know about the military, I learned from Talon’s library.
“That’s not all,” he says grimly. “We were sent here to investigate an ancient power—and I’m pretty sure it’s the same power that forced your people up onto this peak and scared them enough to permanently isolate themselves.”
As I stare at Shawn, the air around me seems to come alive, as if the simmering tension in my blood is bleeding out to thicken the atmosphere. I try to stay calm, but my fear rips out of my mouth in a violent shriek.
“WHAT?”
My anger spikes as the word leaves my lips, and a faint electric charge flickers in my fingers. Somewhere nearby, there’s a loud crash as if something fell off a shelf.
“Sara,” Shawn says. “This is classified information. I couldn’t just tell you—”
“I’m your wife!”
“Yes, but the Clover pack are hardly friends to us. What if you told the others and started a panic? Or even worse, alerted someone to the power of the spirit, and they decided to go after it?”
“Spirit?” I repeat, feeling a horrible chill running down my spine. “Like a ghost? Ghosts are real?”
“Actually, ghosts are something else,” he says matter-of-factly.
“A ghost is an echo of someone, or something, that was once alive. A spirit is something that was never alive. Well, not the way we are, at least. They maintain a metabolism and an exchange with the physical realm that resembles life.”
“Whoa, whoa, wait,” I say, holding up my hand. “I understand maybe two words out of everything you just said.”
“Well, I’m not a science geek,” he says. “Besides, all of them left with the military occupation some time ago.”
“Military occupation?” I echo.
“Yeah. We had a full contingent here investigating the incursion site right after the snake woke up and almost blew us to hell.”
Shawn stops talking abruptly, and his eyes go wide as he realizes what he just said. The tension in the room increases, and it seems to get warmer. My heart beats so hard, I can feel it in my throat, and beads of sweat begin to trickle down my sides.
“What?” I whisper, forcing the words out. Somewhere behind me, a door slams so hard, it shakes the wall.
Great. Now the fucking house is falling apart.
“Okay,” Shawn says, waving his hands a little. “I know it sounds bad, but—”
“Let me get this straight,” I interrupt him. “The ancient evil that drove my people into isolation in the mountains woke up, almost exploded the surrounding area in the midst of a military occupation, and not only did we not know about it, you didn’t think it was worth telling me?”
“I always planned to,” Shawn says. “I just…well. It’s a lot.”
“It sure is,” I sigh, leaning back in my chair. “I thought I had problems before, but this really gives me a change of perspective.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“Wait,” I say. “Is this still going on right now? Are we in danger?”
“No,” Shawn says, shaking his head. “The stone is cold, and the snake hasn’t been seen for a long time now. Everything is quiet at the moment.”
“The snake and the stone,” I repeat. “Yes, I’ve heard that before. It was in the old rhyme.”
“Do you know anything about it?” he asks. “It would really help if your people had any information at all.”
I shake my head. “No. The only knowledge that has survived is the tale of a wall of fire so powerful, it melted the ground and an earthquake that rippled through the mountains, swallowing up whole sections of forest. I think our founders made it to this peak and watched the catastrophe, feeling as if they were beyond danger, and so they decided to settle there.”
Shawn nods. “Okay. Is there anything else about that you’d like to ask?”
“No,” I answer, shaking my head. My mind reels, trying to accept the information.
“Okay, well, I have a question,” he says.
“Oh?”
“I think your father knows about the snake.”
“What?” I ask, feeling my hands going numb with shock. “What do you mean? He’d only know what most of us know—that something dangerous is out there.”
“Look, it’s just a hint he gave me,” Shawn says. “But this is serious. Twice now, that thing has almost blown up, and it’s because some asshole wants to channel the power for himself.”
A whole new level of shock piles on top of the shock I’m already feeling. As my nerves increase, the tension in the air seems to crackle, and a mug rolls off the counter nearby and smashes on the floor.
“Excuse me?” I say. “I thought you were talking about some kind of natural force, and it was random when it exploded. Are you telling me it’s controlled by people?”
“Not the snake itself,” he says. “But it can be harnessed. Whenever someone tries, they fuck it up, and that’s what causes the explosion.”
All my anxiety drains away, replaced by cold fear.
“Father would try for it,” I choke out. “Of course he would, if he knew. Jesus Christ, this is fucking terrifying.”
“Yeah,” Shawn says. “I’m really glad we cleared the air between us.”
I stare at him for a moment in complete disbelief, then I burst out laughing.
“What is it?” he asks, looking worried.
“You’ve told me a whole bunch of crazy stuff, and it definitely fills in your background—but you haven’t explained yourself even slightly.”
“What do you mean? This is who I am.”
I get up from my seat and walk across to Shawn. He leans back in his chair, looking up at me as I approach, and I point at him, pressing my finger right against his heart.
“I want to know who you are, in here. As shocking as all this other shit is, it’s actually meaningless. I came here tonight for the truth about you, not your military secrets. Why are you here? Why did you marry me? Are you aligned with Father? What drives you, Shawn?”
Do you want me?
The unspoken question hovers over my lips, and I know if I speak it out loud, it will feel like a desperate plea, and I don’t want to put myself in that position. Still, I feel like he hears it.
“Sara,” he says, taking my hands. “I came here for duty. Our pack was devastated to have killed those wolves—even though it looked like they were attacking our children, we still prefer not to kill if we can help it. Once we discovered the circumstances, all of us were determined to make up for it, and the town so desperately needs help.”
He stands up and strokes my cheek gently, brushing back my hair.
“The first moment I saw you, my whole world changed. Something inside me just knew. It’s like part of me had been waiting for you my whole life.”
“No way,” I mutter.
He nods, bright green eyes shimmering. “Every moment with you has only strengthened that feeling. You’re smart, kind, compassionate, and brave. You’ve been trampled on and abused, but never lost your heart. You’re special, and all I want is to know you, care for you, and protect you.”
“Are you with Father?” I ask, blurting the words out in a breath of fear. “Tell me the truth. Are you a tyrant like him?”
“I’m the opposite,” he says. “I’m trying to get close to your father so I can prove he got Talon killed. I also need proof that he’s got a connection to the human world, and he’s rewarding those loyal to him to rule the rest.”
“It’s all been a plot?” I ask. “You’re planning against him?”
“Yes,” he says. “I couldn’t tell you, just in case you compromised the mission.”
“That’s why you said those things,” I reply. “And sucked up to him like he was your best friend. I have to say, the act fooled me.”
“It didn’t fool him,” Shawn says grimly. “He knows I don’t trust him, and I think he wants to get rid of me, too.”
I take Shawn’s hand gently, weaving my fingers into his. “I knew he was bad,” I say. “But I didn’t think he was this evil.”
“Look,” Shawn says, “I’m pretty certain he got Talon killed—I don’t know how he talked him into going, but he definitely set him up. I also think your father wanted to use Talon’s death to his advantage, like using it to lock down the town again.”
“Yes,” I whisper, seeing it all so clearly. “That is exactly what he would do. Fuck, it must have pissed him off to see all of you show up here.”
Shawn chuckles. “Yeah, I figured that. He must have been pretty short-sighted to think your warriors would attack, and the rival pack wouldn’t follow it up to assess the threat.”
I shrug, chuckling softly. “Father is blessed with tunnel vision—he can’t imagine anyone being that different from himself. Because he wouldn’t travel far to investigate an enemy, he assumes no one else would.”
“I hope we can use that to our advantage,” Shawn says.
“I do, too.”
He strokes my cheek again, and I feel like I’m drowning in his eyes. All the emotion is slowly draining out of me, leaving me painfully aware of how tired my body is.