“Do you think I can erect a wall against him?” I ask Anassa with urgency.
“Try it.Quickly.”
Closing my eyes, I seek out the ocean of communication in my mind. His foul energy is in there, too, like a dark cloud hanging over all the streams that branch out to the packs. I take a deep breath and then…
Ipush.
The wall I erect is stronger than anything Anassa and I ever threw against each other. It’s iron, and it stretches and stretches and stretches, reaching out, protecting all the Bonded from his influence. She throws her power against it, too.
Instantly, I’m sweating, and my head starts to pound. It’s as if something was roughly squeezing my brain, juicing it like a fruit. But I ignore the ache.
I’d endure any pain to keephimout. And it’s working—his twisted influence is leeching away.
“Meryn!” Saela’s fingers are on my wrist, pulling at me, but I keep my eyes clamped tight.
“More,” Anassa says.“It’s almost enough.”
A scream tears from my chest as I continue to mentally push the wall up against him. Finally, something slips into place. He’s out; he’s totally removed from the pack communication channels. I can sense it.
“Will it stay? Do you think it will keep him out for good?”
There’s a pause before Anassa answers.“We may have to keep reinforcing it. But… it seems as if it is working for now.”
My eyes flutter open, and Saela is gaping at me in concern. I’d be almost pleased thatsomething’sgotten through to her if I wasn’t about to double over from my searing headache.
Terror ricochets in my chest. I grab her shoulders, and she sputters. “W-what—?”
“Do you hear him?” I demand.
She wriggles away from my grasp, moving across the bed and closer to the wall. “Mer, what are you talking about? Are you okay?”
“Killian,” I press. “Can you hear him? Are you hearing him right now?”
Her eyes are wide. Fearful. She shakes her head. “I—no. No, I told you. No one is reaching me or anything.”
She looks so earnest. Can I believe her? Can I trust my own sister?
I have to. Because if I don’t give her my trust, who will?
Opening my arms, I beckon her into a hug. She comes, her small body pressing against my own, and I wrap her up tightly.
“You scared me,” she mumbles.
I lean my head against her hair and breathe in deeply.
She scares me, too.
Will anyone in Nocturna have faith in me if they discover I’m harboring a Siphon?
12
STARK
Riding hard on my direwolf is the only place I find peace. Cratos sprints almost as fast as a blizzard, and I’m able to clear my mind. All that exist are the giant black wolf underneath me and the movement of our bodies together, the wind rushing against our skin and fur.
It’s a reprieve from everything. The responsibility of my station. The spike of worry I felt earlier this afternoon when Killian reached out to the packs.
And thoughts of…her.
