Chapter 20 #2
I take an unconscious step towards it, but that one turns into two and then three, and before long, I’m running, slamming into the department store, ignoring the bats that hiss with long tongues and take off into the sky.
I move as if I’m moving through water, reaching out, terrified it’s going to disappear.
The material is still soft, my clumsy stitches are all there. It looks worse and so much better than I remembered. I pull it to my chest, burying my nose in it, smelling the peach scent, just the thinnest trace of my mother on the material.
All at once, horror slams into me. She was here. My mother was in the Culling Grounds. She probably died here. No! It’s hard to breathe. My fingers tighten painfully on the scarf.
“Keres?”
I whirl and bump the hat stand that had the scarf on it.
It bounces off the window and bangs against the counter, right near a book that looks so familiar, I stop moving.
I reach out, smoothing the dust off the front cover; my tiny gasp is as loud as thunder.
It’s the same set of fairy tales she always used to read to me.
The same. How did she find another copy?
The other was moldy and ruined when I went back home and found it empty.
I pull it into my arms, holding it to my chest.
I sink to my knees, trying to breathe. My head is spinning, and if the Beta’s Path showed up, I’m not sure I could even run.
“What’s wrong?” Sophie asks.
“My mother was here.” I was hoping she wasn’t, but this is almost enough proof to assume that she’s dead. The hope I had has dwindled down to almost nothing.
I flick through the book and find a loose page. She would always leave messages for me in the book. It was our code. One of many she drummed into me the minute I could walk. I left one for her the last night I was home, before I handed myself in.
I pull the fragile paper out and look at it. At first, I don’t see anything; my eyes are locked on the past, all my regrets and pain. Cadel touches my shoulder, just the lightest touch, but it grounds me faster than anything else.
Daughter of the Moon,
I stop and smile wide. “She always called me that. Daughter of the moon, she said I was a night owl, but my hair was so pale it’s the only place I could have come from.”
Cadel runs a hand down my hair.
I clear my throat and look down at her spidery writing.
I know you don’t understand any of this, but the time for the veils to be removed is coming. Yes, I know I’m being cryptic again, but it will all make sense in time.
By now, you should have them with you. Your protectors.
The Resistance will be behind you, too; I’ve been spreading the rumours of you far and wide.
Everyone knows your name now, Kaida. You are a legend, the omega who walked into the Beta’s lair and escaped again.
Mythic, untouchable. I know this is going to annoy you, but people need to know how special you are.
I’m sorry to tell you, but that little desire you have to avoid it all is going to have to go away. You are at the center of all of this. It can only end one way.
Embrace anarchy.
When you say goodbye to the night, remember that nothing is as it seems. Do not give up.
And my daughter…I am so sorry. For not being here to meet you, for not being able to hug you and tell you how brave you were, how proud I am of you. I wish so much that I could be there, but I’m with you in spirit. Always.
PS- When everything is lost and you don’t know who you are anymore, go to your home.
Love forever,
Mum.
“You are everything she says,” Cadel murmurs.
I shiver under his gaze and reach for him, but he steps back and moves into the darkness, searching. He disappears and returns a few minutes later with something in his arms.
“What is it?” I ask curiously.
Cadel frowns. “I’m not sure, but I can smell the scent that is on that scarf on this object.”
I move closer as he sets it down. It’s a wolf, a huge black wolf carved out of wood.
I reach out and run my fingers over it and find a hidden section. I find the trigger and depress it.
“Mum liked things like this,” I say absently, biting my bottom lip.
Another piece of paper falls out. Her writing is clear. I turn it over and unfold it.
“Unleash the wolf.”
Cadel flinches and turns back, staring at me. “What?”
His reaction startles me. “Does that mean something to you?”
He licks his lips. “I, no.” He shakes his head. “No, it means nothing.”
I hand the note over, and he looks at it, his eyes getting darker and darker. He passes it back.
“You keep it.”
Alex sticks his head in. “We have to go now.”
The urgency is clear in his tone.
I shove the wolf and the scarf onto the floor, hiding it, and we rush out onto the street.
“Hey!”
I whip my head around and stare at the joyful expression on the pledge’s face. He shouts louder, drawing the eyes of his friends. It’s a small group of them, but enough that they could cause a lot of trouble.
“Run!” Alex shouts needlessly.
We bolt. Cadel stays close to me, guiding me and keeping me in the shadows. It takes me too long to realise his game. He’s using his massive body to protect mine, and I’m both frustrated and grateful.
And then he’s not there.
I skid to a stop.
“Get her out of here!” Kendric shouts.
I’m lifted up, my arms locked to my sides as Willow grabs me and runs, leaving Cadel back there, alone. Sophie tries to stay close, but, within minutes, another black-robed group cuts us off again. We have to head deeper into the city while she doubles back. Kendric is just gone.
“Let me go,” I snarl.
I struggle and finally get a decent kick in, breaking his hold on me.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he shouts and backhands me.
My head whips to the side. It hurts, not badly, but it shocks me.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. You just…you just have to understand it’s a situation, and I’m panicked. I don’t want to die of torture; is that so wrong?”
I don’t say anything, just reach up and cup my aching cheek.
“You judgmental bitch. It’s so easy for you.”
The switch in his mood is alarming. I don’t want to stay close to this alpha; he’s too dangerous. He lifts his hand to grab me, but I step into him, bringing my knee up sharply. He doubles over, moaning in pain. I take off running. I don’t keep note of where I run; I just do it.
I can hear the Beta’s Path around us. Shouting in the streets, calling and using their hideous horns.
But then I get to a road, and just as I step out, I see him. It’s too late; he looks at me.
We’re frozen, and I can’t do anything but take in the monstrous size of him.
He’s massive, much taller than me, with huge red eyes.
His teeth are sharp and too numerous to count, and drool drips from his mouth.
He’s got patchy, black, matted fur, but where it’s exposed, there are black scales.
Five-inch spikes stick out of his spine and run in a sick row to the tip of his tail.
He’s taller than a person and much longer.
Everything about him is wrong.
My mind wants to scream and stop working. To stop seeing it. Close my eyes and will it away.
He takes a step towards me.
He’s going to kill me.
I’m going to have to run and only hope I have the skills to escape him. I whirl and slam through a door, heaving myself into the building and its dangers. He’s a moment behind me, scrabbling and stretching a massive paw inside, trying to reach me.
The frame buckles, and bricks shift. I whirl, spot a small window just up ahead of me. I lunge for it and shimmy through just in time. He smashes into the room and lets out another one of those terrifying roars.
I don’t sit around and wait; I take off running.
Is that the wolf my mother was talking about?
I run until I slam into a body. Arms grab me, and I almost scream, but then Jarek’s scent hits me, and I wrap my arms around him, holding him close, sobbing for air.
“He’s coming!” I pant.
“Who?”
“The Ravage Wolf.”
Jarek whistles sharply and Legion, Mordecai, and Ava appear.
“Where is everyone else?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
The low growl has us all turning slowly to face the wolf that is approaching through the mist.
“Go!” Mordecai hisses.
We run.