Chapter 22
“A Warden’s number one enemy is their ego. We aren’t heroes, and we aren’t invincible. Wardens have to respect the creatures we’re facing and know when a job is beyond our abilities.”
Journals of Warden Michael Keane
Dread settled heavily in Alexys’s stomach.
The past tense of Opal’s words was freaking her out, and the memory of her nightmare from earlier in the week reared its head once more.
“What do you mean?”
“That boy had no idea what he was dealin’ with. These mountains are crawling with monsters, and here comes this young man with no experience or knowledge of heritage. You might as well o’ killed him yourself.” Opal spat into a tin beside her chair and rose to shuffle into her kitchen.
“Sorry, what do you mean by that, Opal?”
She came back with a pitcher of dark liquid. Opal poured herself a cup of whatever it was and offered Alexys some, but she turned it down. Alexys was too sick to her stomach to drink anything.
Sinking back into the armchair, Opal gave a heavy sigh and said, “He heard whistling off in the field last night and decided to investigate. I tried telling him not to go, but he was having none of it. Ran right off into the woods like a hound after a hare.”
Alexys balked.
Elliot not only ran off on an unsanctioned investigation, but he went against the most fundamental rule of Warden training. Even Alexys, a proud HR desk jockey, knew the handbook told Wardens not to chase after strange noises in the woods practically on page one. It should’ve been common sense.
“Is the whistling common around here? Did … did Elliot get to the bottom of it?” She swallowed. Suddenly her mouth was incredibly dry. “A bird, possibly?”
The look Opal gave her told her exactly how stupid the question was, and Alexys bit her tongue to keep from saying something sharp. “Of course not. Nothing whistles in these parts at night ’cept the Holler Walker. Even the frogs are quiet.”
Alexys was going to be sick.
Why, why, why did she ditch Dyre at the hotel?!
His encyclopedic monster knowledge would have proven endlessly helpful in that moment as she tried to understand how frogs were at all relevant to the situation or Elliot’s disappearance. Not to mention the insight he had on the Hollow Walker Elliot was chasing.
“And, you’ve seen this … um … Hollow Walker?”
Opal waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t you be worrying your head about things like that.”
Alexys could feel a panic attack coming on. “I’m not asking for me. I need to know what Elliot went after.”
“Just write down in your fancy little book that he disappeared and go on home.”
“That’s not …” Alexys took a deep breath. “I don’t think you understand the situation.”
Opal raised a skeptical brow.
“I work for Entity, you know? Entity, the company that specializes in monsters.” Alexys leaned forward, propped her elbows on her knees, and tried to hold herself together.
She attempted to channel the jaded, professional air of a more experienced Entity employee.
“I can’t report back that Elliot simply ‘disappeared,’ as you put it.
They’ll need to know what’s happened, I …
I need to know what happened.” Opal remained silent.
“Look, I’ll go out there myself right now if that’s what it takes.
But I am not leaving here empty-handed.” Alexys surprised herself then, her voice sharper than she believed herself capable of, in a strange place, in a stranger’s house, with one of her Warden’s MIA.
Opal didn’t flinch. She was resolute as she sipped her tea and considered Alexys’s words. “You’re messin’ with things you can’t even begin t’understand. Old things best left alone,” she warned.
“I have to find him.”
Opal sighed. “The Holler Walker is ancient magic. Sounds funny enough to people that aren’t from around here, but magic got roots in these mountains long before us people did.”
Alexys couldn’t believe this woman. A young man was in mortal peril and here she was, spinning ghost stories. Her critical gaze swept Alexys from head to toe, dark eyes weighing and measuring every inch of her. “What do you know of the Marrow Witch?” Opal asked.
“I’ve never heard of it.” Alexys put her face in her hands.
“Her,” Opal corrected her sharply. “Some call her the first witch, others think she’s the reason people in the hollers can do the things we do. Warding off danger, healing people, and the like. All I know is she’s helped me in a pinch or two, and I’m grateful for it.”
Opal finished her drink and set the glass heavily on the table beside her chair. “She doesn’t take kindly to strangers in her mountains. She’s protective by nature, and she’s spent a long time ensuring her people’s safety.”
“But what does she have to do with Elliot, or the Hollow Walker?” Alexys cried.
“You’re more impatient than a child!” Opal snapped, and the boom of her voice rocked Alexys. “If you don’t want the story, I’ll take my old bones to bed, and you can let yourself out.”
“I just want to find Elliot,” Alexys pleaded. “If I can find him, I can take us both home.”
“You’d be a fool to go after him.”
“I can’t leave him out there. I need to know where he is.”
“It doesn’t matter where he went.” Opal’s tone was matter-of-fact, and that only frustrated Alexys more. As though they were discussing the possibility of rain rather than a man’s life. “He followed after that beast and didn’t make it back by sunrise. He’s lost, child. He’s gone.”
“I refuse to accept that. I have to look for him,” Alexys argued. “My entire career relies on it. A man’s life depends on it.”
Opal finally shrugged. “Suit yourself. More the fool for it, but the choice is yours.” The witch hobbled to the window and pointed a crooked finger out toward the edge of the forest. “Based on where the whistling was coming from, your fella ran off in that direction. I know better than to go looking, so I didn’t see him leave, but that’d be my best guess. ”
Across the yellowing field behind her cottage loomed a mountain surrounded by dense trees. The darkness that lurked under those branches should have been warning enough to anyone with sense that evil dwelt there. But to wander there in the middle of the night?
Foolish didn’t feel like a strong enough word.
“You aren’t planning on going out there by yourself, are you, child? Surely that big company of yours can send for some help?” Opal’s voice softened a little. The perfect combination of concern and condescension.
Once again, Alexys thought of Nic. Even without his boundless knowledge, it would’ve been nice to have a companion to go galivanting with off into the woods.
But as much as she wanted help, she couldn’t contact anyone at Entity.
It would be career suicide, and her father’s legacy would be completely ruined.
She’d just have to find Elliot and sort this whole mess out herself, come what may.
Sensing Alexys’s decision, Opal sighed.
“At least stay here for the night. Have some supper, get some sleep. It’ll be gettin’ dark soon, and I’d feel better about the whole thing if you went out at first light. These old bones can’t handle two young people wandering off into the darkness on my watch.”
Southern hospitality knew no bounds, but the offer did catch Alexys off guard. She wasn’t sure she liked Opal, but she knew she was right. She couldn’t go out into those woods now, already covered in shadow, sunlight fading. She’d have to wait it out.
But the thought of leaving Elliot another night on his own nagged at her.
“What’ll it be, darlin’?” Opal drawled.
Alexys knew she wasn’t going to be any good to Elliot dead on her feet and wandering in the dark. Plus, what the witch said made sense, and it would give Alexys time to try to find more information on the Hollow Walker and the Marrow Witch.
“I’ll stay, thank you.” She sighed.
“Smart girl,” Opal said. “But don’t you go chasing any whistling in the night, you hear?”
“I hear you.”
Opal sucked in a ragged breath, her eyes peering out toward the forest. “The nights are long, and these woods are full of monsters.”