“Good,” Sadie says, dismissing the bugs with a brief wave of her hand. “It will take several days for you to come to grips with it. I need you to understand, Hyacinth, this is a very delicate situation we have here.”
“No kidding,” I say. “Apparently, people’s lives are in danger, and it’s all on me.”
“Well, not entirely that,” Sadie says, looking uncomfortable. “You’re going to be part of our world for a while—too long to simply wipe your memory. If we have to break the bond between you and Shane, it will be almost impossible to return to your old life.”
A new fear bubbles in my stomach, threatening to rise up and consume me. “What do you mean?” I ask, my voice trembling.
“She means you’ll be sworn to secrecy—maybe even spelled,” Shane says, coming over to grab my arm. “You’ll have to stay quiet about everything you know, or…”
“Or what?” I snap, looking up at him in disbelief. I want to shake his hand off my arm, but something about his proximity feels good, and that scares me more than the topic of our conversation.
“Don’t worry,” Sadie says. “Shane, stop scaring her. It’s unnecessary.”
“I was just—”
“I know. But that’s enough.”
Shane turns and glares at her, and Sadie meets his eyes evenly. I can sense the turmoil in Shane, that he really doesn’t trust her. And maybe doesn’t even like her.
A lot to unpack there.
“We should wrap this up,” Trina says. “None of us can think clearly under these conditions. We should tackle it in the morning.”
“Agreed,” Sadie sighs. “I need to talk to Rhys, anyway.”
Shane’s hand tightens on my arm a little, and a cold light shimmers in his eyes. I thought all the guys were best friends, but something about Shane’s reaction tells me something has gone wrong between them.
I don’t care. Just get me out of here.
“Okay,” I say, moving back in an attempt to extract myself from Shane. “If one of you could just give me a ride home, or back to my car—”
“No,” Trina and Sadie reply, almost in perfect unison.
“What?” I ask, feeling a cold hand of fear grab me by the throat.
“You have to stay with Shane,” Trina says. “At least for now. We can talk to the council tomorrow, maybe do some research. The thing is, the only way to figure out if you’re right for this is for the two of you to stay near each other.”
“Yes,” Sadie agrees. “I’m sorry, Hyacinth, but it’s true. We won’t find out anything if the two of you are miles apart.”
I look around at the three of them, waiting for one of them to tell me they’re joking, but nobody even blinks.
“Come on,” Shane says, taking my hand. “Let’s get going.”
“Trina!” I cry, trying to pull my hand out of Shane’s. “You can’t be serious!”
“I’ll be there first thing in the morning,” Trina says. “You’ll be safe—I promise you. Try to get some rest.”
“Rest!” I exclaim, fear turning swiftly to anger. I want to argue, but Shane pushes ahead, holding on to my hand and forcing me to follow him.
We push through the woods, neither one of us talking. I feel trapped and helpless, and it’s far worse than being taken prisoner because I know I can’t run away.
If they chained me up, that would make sense, and I could just be angry. Now that I’ve decided to stay, the only one I can be angry with is myself!
When we reach Shane’s car, he opens the door for me. I hesitate just for a second. When he frowns, I roll my eyes and get in, folding my arms and staring straight ahead. When he gets in the driver’s seat, I expect him to say something, but he doesn’t. He just puts the car in gear and pulls away from the curb, not even looking at me.
At first, the silence is tense, but eventually it begins to soothe me. Combined with the movement of the car and the flicker of streetlights above us, I actually start to relax.
These people who are sick, I wonder who they are. Will I meet them soon? What the hell goes on in a wolf pack, anyway?
