Chapter Twenty-Two
Ihid my book under my blankets before I made my way to the door. I reached for the doorknob as another knock sounded at my door. I opened it to find myself face to face with Shannon. She looked…thinner. “Shannon?”
“Amy!” She smiled wide, and she pushed my door wider, exposing my mother and Toya. “I haven’t seen you in forever.” She stepped in and instantly my back was up.
Toya scoffed. “Who the fuck is that?” She whisper-yelled and leaned closer to my mother. “That isn’t the same Shannon I met.”
I watched Shannon’s eye twitch before she smiled wider. She leaned around me. “I know I was a bit of a bitch at school.”
“A bit?” Toya interrupted, but Shannon pushed on.
“Okay, a lot,” she raised her hands. “But I can say that I was stupid. I went from being important to being at the bottom of the totem pole. It’s a hard change to take in, and our first year was a rough one for me. But,” she looked at my face. “I grew from it. I came here to apologize to you.”
I watched her skeptically. She was trying to do something, and she thought I was too stupid to realize it. “Apologize?”
She nodded. “I have always treated you like trash. Regardless of rank, and I know you outrank all of us, but as a person I treated you horribly.” She looked at my mother.
“You have always treated me kindly, like a daughter, and you used to treat me like your sister.” She looked down at the ground and sighed.
“I was stupid. I thought I needed to compete with you because you were always…better.”
“Shannon.” My mother chastised her, and I looked back at her.
She caught my eye and when Shannon was still staring at the ground, she shook her head quickly.
She was telling me not to believe her. It was too convenient, too practised.
“You should know you don’t have to compete with anyone.
Your father and I love you for you.” Her words were soft.
She stood and made her way to the door. Toya laid across the bed, positioning herself right on top of my book.
Even now, she wasn’t leaving anything up to chance.
I caught her eye and smiled. She winked back at me.
Shannon sighed and looked back up. I turned back to her to see an unknown emotion flash in her eyes.
“I know that now, but Amy…you have always been so perfect. Strong, fierce, and perfect.” Shannon wiped a tear that magically fell.
“I was jealous, and I allowed it to take over and ruin our relationship.”
I nodded as if I agreed. But I knew she was just trying to get close. The question was why. “It’s okay.” I heard myself answer before I even thought about it. But then I turned back to the room, and my mom stepped in close. She hugged Shannon.
“It’s okay.” She whispered as she rubbed the tear from Shannon’s cheek.
“No, it’s not okay.” She pulled back and smiled softly. “I really miss you.” She leaned her head against my mother’s shoulder.
My mom closed her eyes. This probably hurt more than she was willing to say.
My mom always wanted a big family, and when she first got here, Shannon was a substitute daughter.
Even when she was treating her like trash, my mother still loved her in her way.
It was almost as if Shannon took over the spot of the pup she lost when my father pretended to cheat.
I watched my mother’s face cycle through so many emotions.
I could see a flash of longing. She wished that this feeling was real.
There was anger and pain in there, too. Her face settled on something close to acceptance, but her eyes, her eyes, were empty.
“I missed you too, baby girl.” She kissed her forehead and met my gaze.
She allowed me to see the truth. Her eyes were full of fresh anger, then flashed to her wolfs eyes, but then they emptied again as Shannon pulled away.
Shannon smiled at my mom and turned to face me. “I know you probably don’t believe me, but I am hoping you will give me a chance to prove to you that what I am saying is the truth.”
I smiled at her. “I mean, it is hard to believe.” I sighed as I rubbed my face.
“Amy.” My mother admonished me and I had to fight to keep the smile from my face.
“Fine.” I shook my head. “If only for my mom’s peace. I will be willing to work on our relationship.”
Shannon smiled through her tears. “Thank you.” She turned to my mom and kissed her cheek. “Dad wanted me to-”
Before she could go any further, my mom cut in.
“Shan, please.” My mom turned to face her.
“Your fathers and my relationship isn’t something for you to fix.
” She kissed her forehead. “Let’s head down.
I’ll make lunch for everyone and Amy can unpack the rest of her stuff.
” Shannon flicked her eyes to me, nodded and then they both left.
I shut the door after them, and the room resealed. Toya waited for a second before she burst out laughing. “Is she for real?”
I walked back to my bed and pulled out the book, then sat down. “I don’t honestly know. She thinks she is smarter than everyone in the room, and I will say, last time she had me fooled.” I sighed.
“How?” Toya rolled to face me, sinking further into the bed.
“I want to say I was stupid, but in reality…I just never fought back.”
Toya looked surprised. “What do you mean?”
I thought back to my first life. “I was an Alpha that couldn’t shift. I wasn’t embarrassed, per se, more that I wanted to stay under the radar. I didn’t want Brandon to decide I wasn’t worthy to be the Luna of the pack.”
Toya shook her head and then settled her temple on her fist, resting on her elbow.
“I want to say he wouldn’t, but I know what he did to you.
And I’ve met the man.” I scoffed at that.
“He’s head over heels for you now, but he would turn on you so fast if it gave him a better chance at something.
” Toya rolled her eyes. “The man has the conviction of a snake.”
I laughed. “What does that even mean?”
She leveled her eyes at me. “You know humans keep pet snakes. And for a while, the snake might be nice, allow them to hold it, and be gentle. But the entire time, they are looking for a way out. They can turn on you in an instant. They will attack if they want, and depending on the snake, it might just kill you. That’s Brandon.
He will pretend to like you. He might even love you in his way.
But if there is ever someone or something that comes along that he could use to become stronger, or richer, he’ll toss you aside. ”
I nodded. “That’s exactly who he is.” I opened the book in my hands. “I want to say Vince taught him well, but in truth, Vince makes his own opportunities. He doesn’t wait for them to come to him. Brandon is…”
“A parasite.” Toya finished.
“Exactly.” She laughed. “What? Why are you laughing?”
She pointed to my door. “Looks like you now have two parasites.”
I felt my face settle, and I allowed the hurt and anger to show through my eyes. “I always had two parasites. But by the time I’m finished, they will either be dead or too broken to make much of a difference.”
Toya watched me for a minute and then she nodded. “Good.” She rolled back onto her back. “We will avenge your pup, then we will fix the rot in our kingdom.” I nodded, then turned back to the book.
I needed to find what Carl was talking about.
I flipped through the book, page after page, looking for anything that would do what he said. I groaned as I finished the book again. “I can’t find it.” Toya grabbed for the letter. “It’s not in there.”
“Just give me a second.” She opened the letter and read out loud.
“Amy. I know you are confused about this room, but I made it specifically for you. You have a spell you can use in that rock of yours. You just have to modify it, shift it and repurpose it.” Toya paused.
She put down the letter and looked at me. “There is nothing?”
I shook my head. “Nothing that I could think of.” I handed her the book, and she gasped. “What?”
She looked up. “It’s always so surprising to watch it shift from a rock to a book.” She smirked as she flipped through the pages. “He said it’s a spell that you would have to change, so it’s obviously for something else.” She kept flipping through the book.
I chewed on my lip. “A spell that what?”
Toya scrunched her face up. “I don’t know. It’s to help us get there, right?”
I closed my eyes and laid back on the bed. “A spell to help us connect to the cabin?”
Nix paced inside of my mind. We need more information.
Megan trotted over and sat. I don’t think we do. Your grandmother was a good witch, but she obviously left certain things out just in case someone stole her book.
I pursed my lips. So you think it’s a spell my grandmother knew?
Megan scoffed. Are you forgetting the underground passage from the gazebo to the cabin? A hallway that stretched a few hundred feet, but actually stretched across the country.
Her words bounced around in my mind. The passage from the gazebo on pack lands to the cave under the cabin. A connection. A bridge. I shot up. “Holy shit.”
Toya jolted. “You thought of something.” I nodded. “Did you figure it out?”
I held up my hand and closed my eyes again. “I don’t know.” I pictured what I would need to make this work. I felt a soft push, and the book was back into my hands, opened to a page. I looked down and froze. “What’s this?”
“Your book?” Toya sounded confused.
“No, the page.” I pointed to it, but Toya shrugged.
“That’s the page I was on when you jumped up.” She looked down at the book and laughed. “It’s a rock again, so I can’t see the page I was on.”
“It’s on a spell.” I whispered, staring at it.
Toya groaned and hit my shoulder. “Every page is a spell, Aim.” She shook her head. “What spell?”
“A simple recall spell.” I looked up at her, then back down to the page.
Toya nodded. “I’m nodding like I know what that means.” She looked back at me. “What does that do?”
“It brings a small item to you. Say you forgot your phone, you can recall it to you. Voila, you have your phone.”
“How the heck is that supposed to help us?” Toya shuffled closer and grabbed the edge of the book. I looked at her.
“Does that work?”
She nodded. “Yeah, as long as I have one hand on the book, it’s a book.” She looked over the page. “I still don’t understand how it can help us.”
“See here.” I pointed out a note, written in small handwriting in the margin. “It states that this spell opens a pathway. A pathway big enough to reach the object you are looking to recall.”
“So like a wormhole?” Toya looked back at me with a raised eyebrow.
“I never should have shown you that sci-fi show.” I shook my head. “But yes, like a wormhole.” I stared down at the page and willed it to tell me how to do it. I chewed on my lip.
“Can you make it bigger?” Toya looked at the page.
“I don’t know.” I stared at what I would need. The runes I would have to carve. And I decided. “I need to talk to my mom and Wendy.”
“Wendy?”
I nodded. “I need these runes carved into the door frame.” I pointed at the four runes. “One on each side. Here and there.” I pointed to the door in my closet.
“Do you think this will work?”
“I don’t actually know.” I stood. “But there is only one thing to do.”
Toya looked at me with a serious look. “This isn’t something you wing, Amy.”
I shrugged. “Most of the magic I do is me winging it.” I tucked the book under the covers and headed for the door. “Come on. Let’s check to see if lunch is done, and if my mom has everything we need to even attempt this spell.”
Toya got up from the bed and followed me down the stairs.
Shannon was sitting at the table with a calculating look on her face as Morgan read a report.
My mother was banging around in the kitchen and there was a thin woman sitting with her back to me as I came in.
I stopped dead as her scent hit me. Toya bumped into my back.
“Amy?” Her confused words hit my ears, but my wolves were howling in pain. I could barely hear her over them.
A snarl worked its way out of my throat before I could stop it.
Morgan and Shannon paled as the thin woman shook.
I stomped the rest of the way into the room, a savage growl ripping the room as the fragile woman faced me.
“What the fuck is going on here?” My words boomed.
Morgan shook once before steading his hands.
“Amy?” My mother came around the corner and she saw my face. Her face snapped to the bone thin woman, and I watched as something akin to hope flashed on her face. “Oh.”
“I asked a fucking question. What the fuck is going on here?” In a flash, I was next to the woman, and the saltiness of her tears hit me first. I spun her around and my mouth dropped open.
Her face was hollow, eyes sunken in, cheeks concaved, and her once full mouth was chapped and thin.
I grabbed her as gently as I could. “Why?”
“She…we all were commanded to keep silent about it. She has been commanded not to speak at all.” My mother walked closer to me. “Amy-”
Another growl ripped through the room and everyone was silent except for my ragged breathing.
“Who did this?” My eyes snapped to Morgan, and he refused to meet my eyes.
Nix pushed past me and fur rippled down my arms. “Beta Morgan. I asked you a fucking question. Who did this?” My command ripped through him and he screamed.
“Amy!” Shannon cried, but I held up my hand.
“I’m waiting.” I snarled.
He really tried to fight the command, but I was too strong. He bit through his lip, trying to stop the answer, but his wolf folded. His ragged voice finally ripped through the room. “Alpha Vince…and Beta Derek.”
I turned back to the woman in my arms. “I’ll fix this Lynn.” Then I ran out of the house.