Compelled (21 page)

Oksana promptly returned to the kitchen and put the brackish fluid into a large mason jar. “This will be some good stuff,” she declared. “We’ll keep this to use on you later.”

I wanted to ask her if she had a bottle of aspirin, but I wasn’t in that much pain yet.

“So where did you learn all this?” I asked her to keep my mind off what was on my leg, what was flowing into my leg. Any distractions would work at this point.

“Old country healing from my dam and my sire. They took in any werewolf who needed help along the countryside. During that time, our packs used herbs after the hunt for fertility.” Oksana giggled.

“We’ve heard tales for days about the olden ways,” Zoya said dryly.

“It’s rather fascinating,” I had to admit.

Her enthusiasm was rather overpowering, so I tried to smile. I’d frowned enough for a while now.

“Oh, while I’m at the stove, I might as well cook that chicken for our guests. Zoya, how about you offer a hand instead of Luda for once.”

Zoya rolled her eyes and joined her cousin.

The sounds of cooking kept coming from the kitchen while I rested.

An hour or so later, they checked on me again to replace the bloody gauze.

“How’s the healing coming?” Oksana asked after she exposed my wounds. Luda acted as her assistant again.

It was weird sitting on the couch while they checked over me. I felt the strong urge to blink every time Oksana did. It was rather hard not to mimic her actions with the way her glasses magnified her eyes.

“There’s something else,” Oksana leaned in to sniff me.

“Oh, I bet she can smell
them
,” Tyler said.

“The werewolf spellcasters?” Luda asked.

Luda explained what I told them in the car. That I’d taken a group of old magic spellcasters into my body and that I wanted to take them to Stolobny Island to help the wizards. She added I wanted them out as soon as I got some rest.

Oksana’s mouth formed an “o” as Luda finished explaining.

“However did you do that?” the herbalist asked.
 

“Old magic,” I said.

“That’s very powerful magic, indeed. But that doesn’t explain why you smell like clover, cinnamon, and bay leaves.”

Interesting. “So that’s what I smell like?”

“Your stomach does.” She took my hand and smelled it up to my fingertips. “There’s something else, too. It’s everywhere though and it’s sweet. It’s an herbal scent I can’t place since it’s so faint.”

“A necromancer said to me not too long ago that he smelled the same thing,” I admitted. “Could it be a curse?”

“I don’t think so, but I’m not sure. What plants have you come into contact with as of late? Are you carrying any herbs?”

That was an open question. “Since when?” I squeaked.

“Hmm, how about the past few months?”

Wow.
It could be anything.

“My aunt Olga has an aloe vera plant.” I shrugged. “There’s a dead set of orchids at my mom’s house she has yet to throw away. My husband Thorn wanted to buy me daisies but they were so expensive and out of season—”

“Yeah, that doesn’t help,” Oksana interjected.

She smelled my wrist. “So peculiar. But you’re not
dead
or anything, so whatever it is, it isn’t hurting you.”

With that, she left me speechless.

A bit later, Zoya finished cooking dinner and brought me a plate. She had prepared crunchy chicken and hard peas, and I ate every bite of it to regain my strength.

Tyler ate at the dinner table with the twins. He shoveled in Zoya’s food with gusto. He didn’t say anything or look at her, but he appeared pleased with the hot food, scraping his plate to get every morsel into his mouth. “Is there any left?” he asked.

“Let me get you some more,” Zoya said sweetly.

Nobody else asked for seconds.

Something had to be developing between those two.

While the others helped with the dishes, I checked the messages on my phone. I had a few from my relatives, most of them checking on me and berating me for not contacting them.

A message from Grandma touched my heart:
I’m so worried about you. Please come home.

There were a few from Dad, Alex and even Mom. I replied to all of them and let them know that I was alive in Russia with Tyler, and that Thorn was in Finland.

Speaking of Thorn, I didn’t have a single message from him. That pained me the most. I tried to call his cellphone, but the line quickly went to voicemail. I tried to think positive. Maybe in a village like Nuijamaa there wasn’t a way for him to charge his phone?

I called again and left a message this time.

“Thorn, it’s me, Nat. I’m so worried about you. Can you call me please? If I don’t pick up, just leave me a text message.” I sighed and tried to keep my voice steady. He had to be fine. “You’re gonna piss me off if you don’t send me something so I know you’re okay. I don’t care if it’s by Pony Express, smoke signals, or anything.” As much as I tried to sound stern, my voice began to break and my insides tightened. “You’ve always told me that you’re always close by. Well, I know you can’t manage too much in that department, but at least you can find the pack alpha and send me a message.”

I sensed eyes on me, but I ignored them. I couldn’t avoid
 
them hearing me in this private moment.

“I need to hear you, okay—”

The phone beeped. I had used up my allotted time. I frowned, thinking that the last thing I said was “okay,” instead of something beautiful like “I’m thinking of you” or “You’re my everything.” “Okay” was so simple and didn’t express the depths of my longing for him.

Later Tyler offered to carry me to the bed, but I ended up sleeping on the couch. It was impossible to get comfortable though. As the night bled away, I noticed my stomach had hardened further. I couldn’t even turn over to sleep on it. It was next to impossible with this full feeling that never went away.

As we were eating breakfast, I told Tyler what needed to be done. “You need to take me to Ostahkov today.” Ostahkov was the nearest town to Stolobny Island.

Frustration lined his handsome features. “I said you needed to rest, Nat.”

“I don’t have time for that anymore.” Casting modesty aside, I raised my shirt to reveal a new development. The pale skin on my stomach had changed, going from milky to less opaque. You could see my veins and arteries along with the hint of my internal organs.

“What is happening to you?” He sucked in a gasp.

I shrugged. I’d about shit myself that morning when I caught it. “I have a feeling it’s an effect from the magic I’m using to keep them inside me.”

“How do you feel right now?” he asked.

“Exhausted,” I admitted. Beyond exhausted was a better term. I practically held my shirt up until Tyler gently pushed my hands down.

“Your eyes are bloodshot and your face is pale,” he said.

“I can’t stay here, Tyler. I need to release them.”

He sighed. “Why can’t we just release them right now, perhaps in the backyard?”

I held in a laugh. “I don’t have enough strength to think straight.”

“Then why should I take you right now?”

Ideas took a while to brew in my head, but eventually I thought of something, not the greatest idea, but I was willing to undertake it. “Talk to Oksana. Ask her to come up with a concoction to put me to sleep. When we reach Ostahkov, I should be rested enough to release the spellcasters.”

His right eyebrow rose with doubt.

“You got a better idea?” I asked him.

“Not really.” He patted my good shoulder. “Close your eyes for a bit while I talk to Oksana and the others.”

The girls must’ve agreed to my plan, since Oksana showed up ten minutes later with a coffee cup in her hand.

“You asked for it.” She pushed the hot drink into my hand.

“What is it?” With one whiff, I wanted to quash my bright idea. A green film sat on top of who knows what. The drink even smelled like a swamp.

“Well, since you asked, it’s got—”

“I’m good. Denial is a beautiful place. You’re gonna make me ill if I really know what’s in it.”

“But this is one of my best drinks! There’s peppermint to soothe your stomach. Jerusalem oak for worms—”

“My leg is broken. That’s it. I do not have worms.”

“Werewolves can get it too, so hush. I even added…”
 

She went on and on, but I tuned her out as I gulped and gulped. It tasted so awful even with the peppermint, and it left a strange coating on my tongue. The heated drink warmed my throat all the way down to my stomach. From there the sensation swam around my midsection before it slammed into my head.

“What did you give me to make me tired?” My voice was already slurred.

Oksana’s mouth moved, but I missed it. Her form blurred. I finally heard her say, “And that’s about it. You wiped me clean for a few things, but that just gives me an excuse to plant more!”

As I drifted off to sleep, I wished I could’ve shared her enthusiasm.

Something pricked me again and again. From one moment to the next, I wondered when I’d wake up if what I was hearing or experiencing was a dream. I kept hearing Tyler, Luda, and Zoya. Yet they sounded far away, like they were on the other side of a huge room full of people and I was at a table all alone. The crowd contained my family and the whole South Toms River pack.

I was outside at a park somewhere.

I stood and everyone turned at the same time to look at me. They looked at me as if I should have something to say.

I searched my mind for why I was here and what I was supposed to do. But I couldn’t think of anything. When I blinked again, I noticed I sat at a picnic table. Everyone else was at picnic tables, too. The sun shone outside and heated my shoulders. In the distance, families also sat underneath the protective cover of the shelter. I spotted my parents in their honorable spot near the pack leader Farley.

But Farley wasn’t the pack leader anymore. Thorn was.

What kind of dream was this?

A hand touched my shoulder. It was my father. “It’s time, Nat.”

“Time for what?” My mouth moved on its own.

“It’s time for you to accept your new life and cast your fears aside.”

His grip was strong as he led me to where the high-ranking families ate. The barbecue from their meals made my mouth water.

I spotted Grandma and wanted to call out to her, but I didn’t.

Then I turned my head and saw the unexpected. It was Rex, standing in front of Farley.

No. Not again.

I tried to dig in my heels. To keep from replaying this nightmare. I didn’t want to see the next sequence of events. To feel my heartbeat pick up. To feel my lungs close off as Farley and my father pushed me on Rex again. To relive the shame my family would experience when I lost my marbles in front of everyone.

“Are you ready to take Rex as your mate, Nat?” Farley looked like he always did. An older, paler version of Thorn with hard hazel eyes.

My dad continued to hold my arm, everyone looking at me expectantly. I waited for the panic to come like it always did in my nightmares, for the unease to overwhelm me.

When nothing happened, I yanked my arm away from Dad. I turned to Farley and said something I’d been waiting five years to do.

“That piece of shit bastard can rot in hell.”

Farley stared at me. Rex, who had been smiling at me, went agape.

“I’m the South Toms River alpha female,” I spat. “You’re a royal asshole and you’re not the leader anymore.” My attention went to Rex. “And you don’t intimidate me anymore.” I closed in on him with a sharp growl. “You’re most likely a shriveled up dickhead who needs to belittle others to compensate for your self-doubt.” I couldn’t stop myself from stabbing at him with my index finger. “As much as you enjoy trying to drive me into the mud and smear my nose in it, I’m a pack member. I deserve dignity and respect. And when I get back to the U.S., I’m gonna kick your ass up and down the Garden State Parkway until I run through five pairs of heels. Got it, pal?”

The only sound around me was my quickened breaths from speaking for so long, until my father placed his hand on my back and chuckled. “That’s my Nat.”

“Nat?”
Someone called my name. The picnic tables around me faded as if my vision had been smeared with grease. Then they faded to black.

“Nat!” A hand cupped my face, tapping it a bit.

When I blinked and opened my eyes, I found Luda next to me, a look of concern on her face. When I glanced behind her, I gasped.

We’d reached the small town of Ostahkov.

Soon enough I’d see Stolobny Island.

Chapter 21

The late night view of Lake Seliger beyond the car window reflected my mood. It was clear and refreshing. Even with the chill in the air, Luda rolled down the window a bit and I reveled in the fresh air.

The lake was quite large, extending into the distance to the north. Just a few miles north of here was the island. We drove west along the main road, heading deeper into the touristy town.

“How are you feeling?” Tyler asked from the front seat.

“Much better, thank you.”

“We were afraid you wouldn’t wake up after Oksana dosed you,” Luda chirped.

“Yeah, Tyler took a sip after you downed the stuff and he was high for about a half hour,” Zoya said.

Tyler flashed Zoya a dark looked but his expression didn’t last long before he grinned. “It wasn’t that long. Dwarves can handle drinks just fine.”

“There wasn’t a drop of liquor in that stuff. What she put in there could take out a herd of horses. Or one of them, anyway.”

After sleeping for so long, my mind was clear. Just looking out the window and seeing the town made me feel normal for once.

The spellcasters still stirred inside of me, but after so many days of pain and stress, I was ready to face what I had to do.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Tyler said, “Zoya’s been checking out the area on the maps and there’s a forest to the west of here that’s used for camping and such. It would be a great place to release your friends.”

I nodded.

“Are you ready to free them?” Luda asked me softly. She handed me an apple, as large as the one I’d eaten before and something came to mind I’d completely forgotten. Did I even remember the chant to release them that Blazh had worked so hard over the years to memorize? He’d been at my side, the one to take the lead.