Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
I will not get sick again. I'm sick of feeling sick. I'm tired of feeling tired. I will not cower in a corner hiding behind three brothers wishing the nightmare away. Samara pressed her knuckles to her mouth to smother her cry of outrage.
Kellen of course was right by her side in an instant, but she brushed him away with a forceful swing of her elbow in his general direction. She missed his nose by a fraction.
Finding out she was not only an alpha, but the alpha of all other alphas nailed the coffin of their relationship closed.
She gripped her coffee mug, wanting to swallow her sorrows in the drink, but after staring at the dark brew, she put it down again.
She already shook like a leaf in a blizzard clinging to its branch.
The last thing she needed was more caffeine.
She'd lost Kellen before she ever had him.
Did her grandfather know what he'd condemned her to before he cast the spell? Had he known what Josiah intended to do all along? Her grandfather had a powerful judgmental streak when it came to people. He could look a person over and know exactly what they were planning.
Kind of like what Kellen did when you walked into his restaurant with blue lips and fingertips
Regardless, looking at Kellen or his mother was out of the question. She pulled her knuckles away from her teeth instead, and looked at Stephen, then Leo, and back again.
"How is this possible?" she asked, desperate to talk quietly, so they wouldn’t hear her scream. "From what I've been told..." Don't you dare look at Kellen. "...wolf shadows are a part of a person, like their DNA, and not a separate entity like a spirit."
Stephen put his pen down. "That's why your grandfather died.
Josiah might not have killed him immediately because he loves to torture people.
Your grandfather might have had enough control to withstand the immobilization spell long enough to cast the extraction spell and the ingestion spell simultaneously.
When his wolf shadow escaped, his body died without it. "
Something still didn't sound right. "My grandfather looked old, though. He had wrinkles and gray hair. You guys still look like you're thirty, rather than one hundred and eighty."
"Age can be faked—" Leo started to say.
"—with makeup, hair dye, and prosthetics." Stephen finished for him.
Grace shook her head. "I think the answer is simpler. The problem we're overlooking is that Josiah never knew how to cast spells. No matter what spell he tried, it never worked, which would send him into a rage for days."
"Wolf shifters don't practice magic." Kellen's smooth baritone soothed her, even though she still refused to look at him.
"We're magical creatures, but we leave manipulating the environment through spell casting to wizards, witches, sorcerers and the like.
Your grandfather must have learned how to cast spells long before that tradition was accepted.
That doesn't mean he'd live forever, just longer than any other wolf shifter. "
She heard Kellen pick up the tintype photos again.
"If he was over a thousand years old,” he continued, “it would seem to me that his age caught up with him in the later part of the 19th century and continued to slowly decline from there."
"So, why now?,” she asked. “If Josiah knew he couldn't cast a spell, why did he attack my grandfather knowing he couldn't and my grandfather could?"
Grace grunted in disgust. "Impatience. Josiah lost track of your grandfather at some point. When he found him in Helena, his impatience got the better of him. That's his biggest weakness and why he has fits of destruction even if it sets him back."
"Or he hired someone who could cast spells," Leo suggested. "Most magic wielders learn quickly that magic will backfire if they use it for evil, so they're careful—”
"—about who they'll work for using their magic unless—" Stephen continued.
"—they're a rogue," Kellen finished. "Like wolf shifter packs, we trust that humans who practice magic will police themselves, but if there is someone out there who doesn't care about the rules—"
"There is," Grace said, licking her lips, for the first time sounding unsure of herself. "I don't know his name, and I don't know why he showed up at the Riverstone compound. He was just there, waiting for us when we returned from burning..." Her voice hitched, "...the dead."
"Grace..." Kellen moved quickly, sitting beside her, wrapping his arms around her.
She looked at her son. "The sorcerer and Josiah had a huge fight, but I couldn't hear most of it because of the remaining wolves partying over their victory.
I managed to sneak out of the house with you, hoping to make a run for it, but before we could, the sorcerer intercepted.
I begged him to take us with him, but he just placed a hand on your head and stared at you.
He'd seen your future and said you were destined for great things. That you were what the magical world would need one day.”
All three brothers looked at each other.
“We’ve all accomplished great things,” Stephen said.
Grace went on as if she hadn’t heard. "He wouldn't tell me anything beyond that, and I got angry.
I demanded to know how you could possibly grow up to be this great wolf shifter living with a violent creature like Josiah.
My words got through to him, though, because he said he would help, but I needed to go back inside and do whatever Josiah told me to do. "
"Oh, Grace...." Kellen held her tighter.
Her tears started to flow. "I didn't have a choice at that point.
I did my best to make us invisible, hiding in dark corners and keeping myself between you and the omegas.
When you became tired and started to cry, Josiah hit me a couple of times then dragged us upstairs.
There was a small servant's bedroom near the attic. Once inside, he slammed the door closed and threatened to murder you if I tried to escape.”
A stronger twinge of sympathy for the woman resonated through Samara.
Clearing her throat, Grace continued. "What he didn't notice was a small basket and letter lying on the floor next to the bed.
It was from the sorcerer. He gave us the ingredients needed for a protection spell.
After I got you tucked away, I followed the sorcerer's instructions.
Once cast, I sensed a slight ripple in the air, but nothing else. "
"Is that why I don't remember what happened that night?"
Grace nodded. "From that moment forward, Josiah couldn’t focus on us.
He would rant at us and order us about, but he never hit me again.
Every time he looked at me, he was immediately distracted by something else.
Even after he ordered you to train to become an assassin, the other wolves never tortured you or me.
The spell kept us physically safe and somewhat emotionally safe. "
If he can forgive his mother for staying behind, then I can forgive, if not forget, the woman's refusal to help.
"He's not going to stop at a thousand years," Samara pointed out after a few minutes. "He must want immortality and will continue to do whatever it takes to make it happen."
“I agree,” Kellen said, his arms still tight around Grace. “And each of the packs in this territory, possibly others, has something that he wants.”
Stephen rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “Which means he got what he wanted from the Shadowstalkers early, then killed them all so they couldn’t give it to others. I’m guessing they had the magic spells he needed. Just because our culture doesn’t practice spells, doesn’t mean we can’t.”
“Damn it!” Leo stood up, his easy-going personality gone. The anger on his face clear.
“Do you feel that the thing you didn’t want to talk about back in my office is now relevant?” Kellen asked, while rocking Grace, soothing her.
Leo started to pace. “There is a reason why Firebrand doesn’t talk about this with outsiders.
We never even told the Moonclaw pack when they took shelter with us.
I’m so sorry my brothers, but I couldn’t break that promise until now.
It’s not that I don’t trust you with my secrets, it’s just that telling outsiders about the Limestone Pool just isn’t something Firebrand does, ever. ”
“What does the Limestone Pool do?” Samara asked even as her own heart broke. Leo’s turmoil etched his inner anguish across his face, making his skin tighten until it was painful to look at him. Or that’s his wolf shadow peeking through.
Regardless, Leo talked faster as if trying to speed past his betrayal.
“There’s a limestone cave about a klick from the center of Firebrand territory.
Walking a half a klick inside, the cave’s floor drops suddenly, easy to miss and fall to your death.
Firebrand set posts into the limestone with ropes secured around them and tossed the ends over the drop-off.
At the bottom, the temperature warms dramatically so there’s some steam rising from the pool. ”
Fascinated, Samara leaned toward Leo.
Grace, however, beat her to her next question. “Do you drink the water?”
Leo started to shake his head but then reconsidered. “I mean, you can, but it doesn’t do anything. You have to immerse yourself in the pool, swim around if you like, but most of us just float on our backs.”
“A position of surrender,” Stephen mused. “It takes a hell of a lot of courage for a wolf shifter to voluntarily assume that position.”
“Yes, it does,” Leo said, his gaze darting around the room looking at anything that wasn’t his brothers.
“How does it bring Josiah closer to what he wants—immortality?” Samara asked.
“Regardless of whether you swim or float,” Leo sighed, “there’s a sensation of absolute peace.
You still feel whatever it is that’s bothering you, but there’s a clarity that you just can’t find outside of the pool.
There’s nothing to disrupt you, or distract you, no disconnect between your emotions and your actions.
You can express whatever you feel out loud with the confidence that no one else will ever hear it, because there’s no one else there.
You don’t leave until you’re ready, even if it takes days.
” He hesitated. “Though, that’s not recommended.
There’s folklore that says if you stay in the Limestone Pool too long, you’ll never leave. ”
“I can’t see Josiah having any interest in a submerged therapy session.” Samara wrinkled her nose at the image of Josiah naked and floating around in peace. Gross.
“I agree,” Kellen said, his eyes half closed in thought. “The only reason why Josiah would want to control the Limestone Pool would be to extend his life or make him immortal.”
Leo returned to the place where he’d been sitting before.
“The metaphysical properties of limestone are centered on health and well-being. That could fuel the pool’s power.
We also know that the average wolf shifter life span is approximately five hundred years, but in Firebrand it’s closer to six hundred fifty. ”
“Which means the oldest of the pack could live to see eight or nine hundred,” Stephen said. “Closer to the Primum Genus Suum , but not permanent immortality.”
“I don’t know shit about psychology, but I would think the metaphysics of keeping a wolf shifter happier would also grant them a longer life,” Leo said.
“The inverse could also be true.” Grace started to gather her receipts from where she’d spread them out.
“The bitter ones, the angry ones, can feed off their hate for generations. I wonder if the Limestone Pool only works on those who want to feel better but need some assistance with their mental and emotional health. Someone like Josiah could overpower that part with his ego and hate and just receive the physical boost to live longer.”
“That would make sense. Whatever drives Josiah’s lust for immortality might be stronger than limestone metaphysics.” Kellen sat up straighter, pulling himself farther away from Samara. “Let’s get away from the Limestone Pool for a moment and focus on what he wants from Moonclaw—"
“Sapphires,” Stephen answered. “That’s the only thing Moonclaw has that’s out of the ordinary. The alpha opened the Yogo Gulch mine back in the 1890s.”
Grace tilted her head to the side. “I vaguely remember Josiah saying something about sealing the deal to close all of the other Yogo mines.”
“He wants to keep your mine open. If he could control Moonclaw he wouldn’t have to start a mining operation —”
“From scratch.” Kellen rested his elbows on his knees while supporting his head on folded fingers. “What are the metaphysical properties of—.”
“It’s a stone of wisdom and learning,” Stephen said, closing his eyes in concertation. “It enhances concentration and creativity, and promotes purity of thought, as well as—"
“Nope.” Leo shook his head. “Those are not qualities Josiah wants for himself or anyone—"
“Then it has to be wealth.” Stephen opened his ice blue eyes looking at each of them in turn. “Moonclaw has always had a strong connection with humans. They maintain an exclusive list of buyers from all over the world.”
“Wealth invites more creature comforts,” Grace interrupted. “I can tell you from personal experience that keeping a pack of boot-lickers compliant takes a lot of money.”
Silence fell over the group. Samara couldn’t process everything they had talked about. None of them could even guarantee that their assumptions about Josiah and his motivations were correct.
"And on that note," Leo broke the silence and started to stuff all the notebooks and spells into the canvas bag. "I think it would be a good idea if Stephen, Grace, and I brought this stuff down to a conference room. It'll be less cramped and easier for us to read what we haven't even touched yet."
Samara didn't like the tone of Leo's voice. "Why can't Kellen and I join you?"
"Because whatever the problem is that you two are having needs to be resolved before we continue our journey."
Stephen joined Leo in gathering up documents, motioning for Grace to join them.
"And if there's anything worse than a depressed wolf shifter, it's a lovesick one." Leo gave a not-so-subtle nod in Kellen's direction.
Before even she or Kellen could respond, the others loaded up the dolly and left, leaving her alone with Kellen, sitting on the couch, separated and not looking at each other.
Now what do I do?