SPENCER
Mom and I moved through the dark woods for about four to five minutes before the first house emerged behind the trees.
Mom cast a cloaking spell around us, and we carefully walked into the front yard. We stepped into the light coming from the porch and I pulled out the map to make sure that we were at the right place. Alister brought us as close to this house as he could, and on the map, he marked it with a cross. Aaron’s house was marked with the letter A and our first task was to get there as fast as possible.
I looked at the map. The houses were surrounded by trees, and the roofs looked like mushroom caps sticking out from between the dense green foliage.
When I looked around, I didn’t see a straight street but an unpaved road ahead of us. According to the map, it was going to split, and we had to take the exit to the right.
I led Mom out of the yard, and about fifty feet later, we took the turn. Shortly, we reached another house that had a couple having dinner in the backyard. Then we took another turn that led us to the side of a cabin.
I knew no one could see us, but my heart missed a beat at every noise or the sound of voices coming from the windows.
After another few minutes, we came out to an open space that looked like a roundabout with three exits.
I checked the map again. We had to take the left turn and keep moving down the road to get to Aaron’s house. It wasn’t far now.
“There’s someone home,” I said as a big two-story house came into the view.
We drew closer. There were two cars parked in the front yard, and the headlights of one were on.
“We should keep our distance, Spencer. It could be Eric.”
“Yeah. But I don’t think it’s him. I remember his car, and none of these two is his.”
“Let’s check the backyard.”
The map didn’t show other houses down this lane, and all I could see in the light coming from the back porch was woods. Keeping close to the trees, we rounded the house. The moment we turned the corner, I stopped dead. Two large wolves, one after another, came out from the open double doors.
I threw my arm in front of Mom, stopping her. Keeping the wolves in view, we took a few steps back. One of the wolves slowed down. Then he stopped in the middle of the yard, turned his head toward us, and sniffed the air.
Mom turned to me with a wide-eyed look, then she quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a small vial of oil. She unstoppered it, then grabbed my hand and poured the oil into my palm. The smell of pine needles hit my nose as I rubbed it first between my hands, then up to my arms and neck. Mom did the same.
The wolf stood still for another moment, then turned away and followed the other one into the woods.
The two of us breathed a sigh of relief.
“Come on,” I whispered, moving forward.
The evening was warm, and the windows were open. One on the first floor, and two on the second. I could hear voices. They were male, but they weren’t coming from the windows.
They were muffled, and I couldn’t tell which room they were in or how many of them were in there.
We drew closer to the open doors, and I peered inside. It was a living room, weakly illuminated by a couple of lamps. There was no one in there, I was sure of it, so I beckoned Mom to follow me as I carefully entered the house.
I knew how dangerous this was. These people were werewolves, which meant their hearing was heightened just like mine. A single deep breath or loud heartbeat could give us away if we got too close to them. But we couldn’t wait for a perfect moment, we didn’t have the luxury of time. I was afraid to think about what was going on with the others, and I wished I could link to Finn’s mind, but since they were a few miles away, it wouldn’t work.
We had to act now, and we had to succeed. But from where we were, it seemed impossible.
We crossed the living room, and as we reached the doorway, I stopped. I could hear them now. Signing for Mom to stay put, I peeked out into the hallway. The door to the room the voices were coming from was closed.
I heard a phone buzz, and a male voice said, “Eric? What is it, son?”
It’s Aaron.
Of course it was Aaron. It was his house.But it still sort of frightened me, making my heartbeat rise, which wasn’t good.
Mom and I exchanged an alarmed look.
But then, I remembered it was a good thing Aaron was home. We could use magic on him, make him talk. If my father couldn’t fight the compulsion, neither could Aaron. That would be the easiest way to get the information we needed.
After a few seconds’ pause, Aaron said. “Don’t worry, we're watching this side as well. I just sent another two men to take a run along the border. How far are you?” After another short pause, he said, “Good timing. I’m heading to the bar now. That’s the best place to stay connected to the pack. From there, I can link to them, and they to me from both ends of our land.”
He’s leaving?No easy way for us then. Dammit.
I could still stop him if he was alone, but when Aaron opened the door, three shifters showed up behind him and followed their alpha outside. As Aaron reached the front door, he stopped. He glanced back into the living room through the doorway next to where Mom and I stood.
I froze to the spot.
“Gary, shut the backyard doors,” he threw the words over his shoulder to the man behind him and walked out of the house.
Moving backward, Mom and I stepped as far from his way as we could. And as I kept staring at the man, I forgot there was furniture in the room, and I had to watch out. I hit the couch. To stop the curse from flying out of my mouth, I bit my lip. Thankfully, Gary didn’t give a damn. He marched by me, loudly shut the backyard doors, then returned to the hallway and stormed out of the house.
“That was close,” I breathed out as he slammed the front door behind him. “And it’s good to know your oil is working.”
A moment later, I heard the engine, and the car drove away.
“Weren’t there two cars in the front yard?” whispered Mom. “We need to make sure they’re all gone.”
I closed my eyes and listened. The house was dead quiet. “There’s no one here. The second car probably belongs to those wolves we just saw run into the woods.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It’s just us.”
Mom removed the cloaking spell. “Come on,” she said, leading the way. We moved toward the open door down the hallway.
“This must be his study,” she said as we stepped into the room Aaron and his wolves just vacated.
“Yep,” I nodded.
I ran my eyes over the dark wood desk, the tall leather chair behind it, the framed map of Tennessee on the wall, the fireplace across the room with two armchairs, and an old clock on its mantel.
Behind the desk was a window that looked out at the front yard. To the left of the desk, there was a narrow cabinet installed into the wall with bookshelves on both sides.
Mom eyed the room. “It must be here somewhere.”
“It is. I can feel the tug.”
Mom approached the cabinet and pulled the doors open. I stepped closer and glanced inside over her shoulder. It had three shelves.
The top one was the biggest. It contained a few swords and daggers attached to the wall in a special order, and on the bottom was a black case.
The second shelf was filled with old books and journals.
And the last one was a drawer full of long, rolled parchments. Mom picked up one and unrolled it. It was a map of Georgia. I picked another one, and it was a map of Tallahassee. It had a red line marking territory in the woods that I knew was my father’s pack lands.
We dropped the maps back into the drawer. Mom stopped her eyes on the black case, then tried to open it. It was locked.
“Mom, that's not it. The boxes we saw wouldn’t fit in it.”
“I know. I’m just curious what’s inside.”
“I know what’s inside. Guns. Two guns, to be precise. I’ve seen those kinds of cases in movies.”
Mom lifted the case and slightly shifted it in her hands like she was weighing it.
“Yeah, I think you’re right.” She put the case back in its place and ran her eyes up and down the shelves again. “If it’s not here,” she glanced around, “then where else could it be?”
I rounded the desk and sat on the tall chair. The desk had two small and one big drawer on each side. None of the drawers were locked, and I knew that Aaron wouldn’t keep such important items like the scroll and compass lying around unprotected, but I checked them all the same.
Mom was now searching the bookshelves for some secret hiding place. I got up and peeked behind the frame with the Tennessee map. Nothing.
There was a portrait of a middle-aged man hanging above the fireplace. I headed toward it to take a look. Walking around the armchair, I stumbled on the rug. In frustration, I slammed my foot down against the ridge that stuck out.
I passed the armchair and was about to reach for the portrait when I felt it, the same warm wave going through me awakening my magical energy, just like it did in Marcus’s study when I got close to the relics.
The heat came from under my feet.
“It’s here.”
Mom spun around. “Where?”
I looked back at the floor. The corner of the rug was under the armchair. I grabbed it by its leather armrest and dragged it to the fireplace. With both hands, Mom seized the edge of the carpet and threw it aside.
“There,” I muttered, as we both gaped at the square piece of floor with a metal ring in its middle.
I got down on one knee and grabbed the ring. Praying that whatever was down there would open with some hidden button just like Finn suggested, I opened the hatch.
My shoulders slumped as I looked at the metal door of the safe.
“We’re screwed.” I drew myself up and leaned against the desk, clutching its edge.
Mom nervously ran her hands up her forehead. “There’s nothing we can do. We need to leave.” She closed the hatch and pulled the rug back.
“We can’t just leave,” I snapped. “We wouldn’t have another chance. I’m not letting them risk their lives over and over for me to fail every time.”
“This isn’t your fault. We’ll come up with something. We’ll find a way to open this damn thing and then come up with a new plan.”
“A new plan?” I glared at her. “Maybe we should first find out if they’re still alive before planning a new way to get them all killed.”
“Spencer, they’ll be—” Her look darted past me.
I spun around and looked out the window behind me. The two wolves that we saw earlier in the backyard showed up next to the second car. Wolves could move quietly, and I was glad that the Gary guy closed the backyard door, and those two didn’t waltz in here and scare the crap out of us.
Mom put her arms before her and muttered the incantation to cloak us.
“Spencer, come on.”
“Wait,” I said, watching the wolves shift to their human form. One of them opened the car door and pulled out his clothes.
“Seriously?” Mom hissed. “This isn’t a good time to stare at naked men. We have to go.”
The guy who put his pants on first pulled out his phone and made a call. I pointed my index finger at Mom, shushing her.
“Aaron, we’re back,” said the guy. “This side is clear.”
I smirked. I’m glad you think so.
“Okay, we’ll drive there right away.” Said the guy and pushed the phone back into his pocket. “There’s no need to put the shirt on,” he addressed the second guy, who just pulled his shirt out of the car. “He wants us to join the fight on the other side.”
“I thought they would be done by now,” scoffed the guy. “How hard can it be to beat the shit out of three wolves?”
“It’s four of them. One is badly injured. They’re trying to get away, but there’s nowhere to go. Eric and Max are going to make sure of that.”
I gaped at Mom, who looked back with fear in her eyes, her hand pressed to her mouth.
The car took off, and Mom and I rushed to the backyard. The moment we came out the doors, I pulled out the map to find the shortest way to get to Finn.
“Mom, I have to go.” I handed her the map.
“What? Where? What do you mean—”
“Look,” I pointed at the map. “Those two are driving, and they’ll have to follow this road. I don't have to follow the road, and if I take this shortcut, I can get there faster than these guys. I’ll run through the woods, and if I shift, no one will know who I am.” I unzipped my pants.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“I’ll keep close to the trees, and I promise no one will see me. Even if they do, they’ll think it’s one of their guards checking the perimeter.”
“No, they wouldn’t. The color of your fur is unique and—”
“It’s dark. No one is going to see the color.”
“They’re werewolves, of course, they will.”
“I gotta go, Mom. I have to help them.” I pulled off my jeans and shoved them into her hands. “I’m sure they could get away if they knew we were done here. They’re stalling, trying to buy us more time, and it will get them killed.” I threw her my shirt. “Make sure you have every bit of my clothes. Move toward the bridge and stay cloaked. We’ll call you.”
I shifted and darted into the woods.