Chapter 51
It was nearing midnight and I noticed the night sky was the darkest I’d seen so far. Luna said the nights would continue to grow longer and darker until winter, when there wouldn’t be any more daylight until spring. She told me even though she’d lived in Alaska her whole life, months of nothing but darkness still took getting used to each year.
We walked a few steps ahead of the guys after exiting the woods. They wanted us up front incase the lycan decided to attempt a sneak attack from behind. Something in the sky caught my attention, and when I glanced up I noticed the stunning green and red lights of the aurora borealis waving through the sky. It reminded me of the first night William and I were together at the bonfire, and busted out with a huge smile.
“This is really cool, you know,” Luna said, smiling.
“What is?” I asked earnestly. She couldn’t be talking about the northern lights because she wasn’t looking up.
“Up until an hour ago everybody was on edge, my brothers hated William’s guts, and I thought our friendship was over. Now, look at the guys,” she said, and we both looked over our shoulders.
All four guys talked about how, together, they had put a major hurt on the lycan. I was surprised when I heard James give Luna and myself credit for helping.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to take on more,” Joseph said, then briefly threw his arm around William’s shoulder. “Me and William kicked lycan ass!”
Of course, that started a major testosterone debate on which one had killed the most lycan. It was actually quite comical to watch until suddenly a terrifying vision shot through my mind.
“Hey you guys,” I uttered, after stopping in the middle of the road and grabbing both sides of my head. I fell to my knees when my vision blurred.
“Genevieve!” William rushed to my side and pulled me to my feet.
I was weak and unable to speak even though I could hear everything going on around me. “He’s hurting her! He’s hurting my mom!” I grabbed two fistfuls of William’s shirt, and screamed.
“Talk to me, baby.” William wrapped his arms tightly around me, trying to comfort me. I heard someone’s heart speed up and beat much louder than the other’s and I knew it was Joseph. Unfortunately, if I could hear it, William could, too. So I quickly got William to focus his attention on me.
“I’ve got to get to Tok,” I said, pulling free. “I’ve got to save my mom.” I bolted toward the house before anybody had time to speak. The rise in multiple heartbeats told me everybody chased after me.
When I reached the house, I ripped open the locked garage door. All I wanted to do was jump in my aunt’s truck and go find my mom.
“Wait, Genevieve! You can’t just run off and go down there,” William said, slamming me up against the wall.
As everything faded to white, I heard an unfamiliar growl. It sounded more ferocious than anything I had ever heard. When I could see again, I thought I was in some kind of weird nightmare. Everything around me was moving in slow motion again, then my vision quickly faded to black.
I woke up in the garage floor with my head in William’s lap. Everyone stood in a circle around me and William. And they had strange expressions on their faces as they stared down at us. “What happened?” I asked, trying to scramble to my feet. Luna gave me a hand up, and Joseph did the same for William.
“You screamed and then passed out,” William said, but I knew he wasn’t telling me everything.
“I need to go to Tok. My mom was screaming for me. Zane was hurting her,” I said frantically.
“You’re doing exactly what Zane wants you to do. It’s a trap,” William said, not unkindly. “James and Joshua are going to run down there and check it out. They know the town, they know where the cave is, and since they’re natives, they can move around freely when they get there without raising suspicion.
I knew he was right, but that realization didn’t make it hurt any less. I grabbed his upper arms, searching his eyes. “What if she dies and I didn’t try to save her?” I asked.
“She won’t,” Joseph said, not unkindly.
My head quickly snapped toward him. “How do you know that?” I asked, ominously.
“It wasn’t in my grandfather’s vision. If your mom was going to die before you reached her, he would have seen it.”
“What else did he see… and why didn’t he tell me this?” I bristled.
“That’s all he would tell me. I had to beg to get that much, but at least we know your mom won’t die by Zane’s hands. He knew I would tell you, that’s why he didn’t say more. He said no one can interfere with your destiny.
I dropped my shoulders, feeling defeated. I had to trust him. I needed to believe what he was saying was true. I didn’t think Joseph would ever lie to me.
I quickly told the twins everything I’d learned about the cave in Tok, and made them swear to call as soon as they learned anything.
James and Joshua jumped in their truck and sped out of the driveway. William made sure he told me how he felt that it was a waste of time, because he just knew Zane wouldn’t be there.
Luna followed me into the kitchen while William and Joseph stepped out onto the deck. Although I was happy to see they weren’t at each other’s throats, I wasn’t sure just how well I liked their new found friendship either.
I sat down at the kitchen table and scooted my chair next to Luna. She was staring into space and jerked slightly when I spoke. “Did you see what happened in the garage?” I asked pulling up my knees, and wrapping my arms around them.
Luna chewed at the inside of her lip when she peered at me, tilting her head. “Huh? When we got there you were on the floor. William said you just took a few steps and passed out.”
“Oh, okay. I was just wondering because I don’t remember.” The truth was I did remember most of it. When I heard the growling, I thought maybe it was Joseph thinking that William was hurting me. Something very weird was happening and I intended to get to the bottom of it.
Waiting on them to come in, and Luna off in a daze, gave me time to think. The realization of needing an actual plan had set in and was weighing heavily on my mind. A pit in the bottom of my stomach ached terribly at the thought of losing my family. Whatever we were going to do we needed to do it soon. Zane wasn’t going to sit idly by and just wait for me to show up. His patience would eventually wear thin, and he might just kill them both.
I sensed Luna was taking sidelong glances at me, which told me she wasn’t sure how she felt about the new me. Hell, I didn’t even know how I felt about the new me. One thing I did know was I couldn’t sit around and wait to hear about my mom’s fate. I stood and headed for the doorway.
“Where are you going?” Luna asked, and started to stand up.
“I’m going to grab a quick shower. William didn’t tell you to hold my hand in the shower too, did he? Because it would like, seriously make it hard for me to wash my hair one handed.” I laughed hollowly.
“Uh…,” Luna trailed off, embarrassed and blushing.
My heartbeat started to rise, which wasn’t good, so I sang the alphabet song in my head. William and I were in tune with each other because he was the one who turned me. I knew if I was going to be successful at sneaking away I had to focus on keeping it slow and steady. If not, he would realize I was up to something and be waiting to stop me before I got out of the driveway.
I turned on the shower water and quietly slipped back out of the bathroom. Another good quality I had obtained when I turned was the ability to walk without making a sound. Well, for the most part anyway. I was still working on mastering my new found vampire skills.
I stepped lightly across my bedroom floor to the window facing the street. I couldn’t go out the back window, which was the easiest way, because it sat right over the deck where William and Joseph were.
When I slid the window open and stuck my head out, I made the mistake of looking down and my heart jumped. “Damn it,” I mumbled
.
William would be up the stairs any minute if I didn’t calm down. I quickly shut my eyes and took some deep breaths to slow my heart rate, then tripped while climbing out onto the window ledge while singing the alphabet again. I fell head first out the window and promptly thought maybe jumping hadn’t been one of my smartest ideas.