Wyn shook his head in disbelief.
‘Emily, that’s …’
‘Tragic?’ I suggested. ‘Full-on pathetic?’
‘Impossible,’ he finished. ‘As if anything or anyone could define you.’
My legs tightened around his waist and he pulled me closer, foolish flesh and bones the only thing separating my heart from his.
‘It kills me to know you don’t realize how extraordinary you are,’ he said, his nose nudging mine. ‘I’m not talking about your magic, I mean you. All the things you’ve been through and you came out standing on your own two feet, brave and bold and fearless.’
I laughed softly. ‘You can’t be talking about me. I didn’t come through anything yet, I’m still in it.’
‘Then I’m right there with you. College applications, drive-in movies, defeating the forces of evil, Savannah Banana games—’
‘Sorry,’ I cut in. ‘What exactly was that last one?’
‘Coolest baseball team ever, I’ve got the tickets already so there’s no backing out. It’s about time you invested in America’s pastime and it’s my civic duty to teach you,’ he said, planting a kiss on my nose. ‘Your skin is turning pink. Let me get the sunscreen.’
Wyn slid out of my arms, swimming over to the deep end. Treading water, I watched him go. Lydia might never objectify a person but … if not Wyn, who? And if not now, when? His stroke was smooth and even, muscles working effortlessly under his deeply tanned skin, strong arms, powerful legs. It only took one second for me to forget where I was, lose my footing and dip under the water.
Wyn couldn’t see her, I was sure of it. A pale young woman, her blue dress swirling around her and dark hair that floated in front of her face, obscuring the grief-stricken expression and wide-open eyes.
‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘You won’t be alone much longer.’
And then it all went dark.
There were so many wolves gathered together, I could barely see the ground.
When I came to it was late, sometime in the evening, and according to the massive assembly of Weres surrounding me, a full moon. I was shaking, still in my swimsuit and horribly exposed, but the Weres couldn’t see me, it wasn’t possible they’d allow a witch to wander freely into their gathering. Just like in the Pirates’ House, I’d slipped backwards in time. The wolves stood in a clearing, in a forest that would one day be cut down to make way for expensive homes for rich people and they would have to move on. Some of them, including one large grey wolf who stood beside me, to the mountains outside of Asheville. Without seeing him out of phase, I knew it was Wyn’s grandfather and I didn’t know whether to move closer or run as fast as I could.
‘Please,’ I heard a woman yell at the head of the crowd. ‘Please, listen to me, I didn’t do it.’
‘We’ve listened to as much as we need to hear. Hold still before I rip your throat out,’ replied another female voice, one that seemed too high-pitched and sweet to deliver such a grim sentence.
‘But I didn’t kill the wolf,’ the first woman screamed. ‘Why would I?’
I pushed through the crowd, hands sinking into the plush fur of the wolves even though they couldn’t feel my touch. As soon as I reached the front, I knew the answer to the condemned woman’s question. Hands bound behind her back, red hair, green eyes that stared straight into mine.
‘I didn’t do it,’ my ancestor called to me, screaming until her voice was hoarse. ‘There was someone else there, he was trying to kill me, the wolf saved my life.’
‘And that’s how we know you’re lying,’ the female Were said, slapping the witch with an open palm. ‘Why would a wolf help you?’
‘Because he was trying to kill us both!’
‘If that were true, he would be standing here today, not you. There isn’t a human alive who could kill a Were, and no Were would surrender their life for a witch.’
‘My name is Cathy Bell,’ the witch went on, ignoring the Weres now, speaking only to me. ‘The year is 1814 and I swear it, I swear it on our line, there was a man and he attacked us both, last full moon. I didn’t see his face, he was wearing a hood, but he had a sword, a silver sword with a gold hilt, shaped so strangely and—’
The clearing rumbled with the howling of the wolves. They threw back their heads, some crouching down, others rearing up on their hind legs, all of them drowning out the witch’s words. I watched, helpless. It was all I could do. Witness her suffering, hear her, believe her.
‘You’re here,’ she said to me as the last remaining female Were slipped back into the crowd and welcomed her phase. ‘That means she’s safe.’
I nodded, knowing she couldn’t say more, wouldn’t put her daughter at risk. These were not the reasonable peacekeeperWeres I’d imagined when Catherine first told me about them. These creatures were vengeful and cruel. Their bloodlust filled the air thicker than the smell of smoke from a nearby bonfire and if there had been any doubt in my mind about Wyn’s explanation of what would happen if the lone wolf found me and took me to his pack, it was gone now. This was their idea of a trial: a helpless witch, bound at the ankles and wrists, no Weres left unphased to listen, only furious, ravenous wolves with no interest in the truth. And she was telling the truth, I felt it in my bones.
She forced herself up to her feet, eyes open. Her magic was still close but she was a conduit, she had no violence in her. The blessing gave her the ability to speak to the dead and meet people in their dreams. She had only ever used it to help people but it couldn’t help her now.
‘I’m not afraid,’ she said as the growling wolves nipped at her arms and legs as if to test the statement, not knowing she wasn’t talking to them. ‘If you’re here, I’m not afraid.’
