Branches broke behind me, and I spun around, ready to fight. Carlos looked at the bodies, then me.
“No hitting?” he said.
“None. I promised.”
“Good.”
He came toward me and hugged me gently, careful of the bruises covering my body.
“Are you empty?”
“Completely.”
“We need to hurry back, now.”
Without another word, he picked me up and ran back to the car.
JIM…
The silence in the car continued as we drove. The land stretched out flat in all directions around us. Sand, rock, and some occasional low-growing shrub like plants dotted the expanse. There wasn’t much to see on our way toward Green River, just distant hazy mountains blended in with the light horizon.
The closer we drew, the more the distant mountains clarified into views of multicolored plateaus. I could see beauty in it, though. While I drove, I kept the rest of the group appraised of our location. They did the same for me.
Before long, I started seeing signs for the park.
“It’s almost time,” Olivia said. “It’s not easy to have courage knowing what we face.”
I opened my mouth to assure her that I would keep her safe, but she continued.
“Yes, I know I won’t be alone. That still doesn’t make this easier.”
“The Lady?” I asked, understanding she wasn’t talking to me.
“Yes.”
“Does she have anything useful to say about us not dying?”
The scent of Olivia’s fear and guilt filled the car. I inhaled deeply and glanced at her, unsure why she’d feel guilt.
“Want to talk about it?”
“No.”
I hesitated. My gut said to keep quiet and wait it out. But, I thought back to Emmitt and Michelle’s crazy courtship. He hadn’t held back. He’d laid it all out for her and things had worked out fine. Yet, Michelle’s initial terror…I would never forget the look in her eyes when she realized I was like Emmitt. Sure, this was a little different. Olivia knew what I was, just like I knew what she was.
I decided to go for it.
“I think I’ve figured it out already,” I said. “My purpose.”
“Oh?” Her voice was faint.
“I’ve been asking myself, ‘why me,’ since the moment I saw you. Not because I regret our connection, but because the timing and the likelihood felt too set up. Mom’s a Judgement. Michelle’s a Judgement. What are the chances of me feeling the pull for the last one? And why after I became an Elder? You’ve said the Lady influences things. I think she influenced this. And why else pair a Judgement with an Elder of the werewolves but because I need to decide something on behalf of my people? The question that remains is what decision is it that she wants me to make?”
Her black gaze swept over my face.
“No, Jim. The question that remains is how much do you love your people?”
I didn’t answer, sensing it was rhetorical.
