“Sure. Is this a paved parking lot?”
“It is.” She wrapped her arm through mine, and we slowly walked to the entrance of a building. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t stop myself from enjoying the simple contact.
“You’re different from the rest of us,” Charlene said. “Not just your eyes. When I touch the other girls, things happen. Michelle sees a white room filled with images of the future. Bethi sleeps. Gabby sees her sparks better. And each time, it seems to drain me. But not with you. What happens when I touch you?”
I checked the swirls.
“Nothing. Well, you do make me feel more confident that I won’t trip or run into something.”
She chuckled.
“Why are you different?”
“Probably because my purpose is different,” I said honestly.
“What’s your purpose?” she asked.
“I’d rather wait until we’re all together to talk about it.”
“Fair enough. Michelle and Emmitt are getting room keys. Would you mind staying in a room with Winifred?”
Winifred. Their unspoken leader. I understood what they all were thinking. Keeping me close would ensure their safety if I turned out to be a threat.
“I wouldn’t mind at all,” I answered.
We approached the rest of the group who waited just outside the entrance door. Three people stood slightly apart from the majority. The largest of the three staying protectively close to a smaller person. Charlene steered us toward them.
The smaller person moved a lot. Just little bits of movement that the Others picked up with their swirling presences.
“I don’t know who I’m with if I don’t hear your voices,” I said when we stopped.
“It’s Winifred, Carlos, and Isabelle,” Isabelle said. “I have to say, you are a relief. You’re almost like Carlos. A pleasant void of emotion. Not even Winifred has managed to cap it off that well.”
I turned my head slightly toward Carlos, the larger person. Keeping everything hidden took years of practice and usually stemmed from some kind of desperate need.
“You must have had a very strong motivation for keeping what you feel hidden,” I said to him.
“Winifred told us about werewolves living with you,” he said, not acknowledging my comment. “Females taken when they were cubs. Did you know a Sophia?”
It surprised me to hear the name of the oldest female werewolf who had still lived at Blake’s complex, but I kept that surprise carefully bottled away.
“I did. I wasn’t allowed to see the werewolf women. But she was pregnant and felt better when she walked. I ran into her twice. She was very close to giving birth before all of this happened.”
“Pregnant.” Pain filled his voice with that one word.
Isabelle staggered slightly, as if hit, and gripped Carlos.
“I’m sorry,” he said immediately.
“What was that?” she asked. “What happened?”
“Just something from the past.”
“Who was she to you?” I asked Carlos.
The entrance door opened and two more joined the main group who listened to us. Everyone waited for his answer.
“She was my sister.”
