Purity (6 page)

“It’s a bit off,” a voice behind me said.

I dropped the ladder with a clatter that made me wince. I turned, saw who it was, and took an automatic step backward.

“Hey,” Amelia said somewhat sheepishly, and then it obviously dawned on her that there was fear on my expression, because she held up her hands. “I’m not going to… I wouldn’t hurt you or anything, Perdita. You know that, right?”

I shrugged. “Can’t be too careful these days.”

“I was afraid you’d be like this.” She looked crestfallen, and it annoyed me.

“Kind of hard to have a better reaction, considering the last time I saw you.”

Last time had been all fangs and claws. Not the best first wolfy impression. But I took a step toward her, unable to stop myself, unable to keep away for another second. Her family was the light I was desperate to touch, despite knowing it would eventually burn me to ash. They were the only people who knew what I had done and didn’t judge me for it. I couldn’t find peace elsewhere.

I stared at her, trying to swallow the emotions rushing around my body. “I like your hair.”

She rubbed the back of her shorn head. “I needed a change.” Although the back of her hair was cut tight, the front reached her chin and was dyed a teal blue.

“A lot’s changed.”

She inched forward as if unsure of herself. “I’ve wanted to come see you. To apologise. But I was kind of under house arrest until they were sure, well, until they were sure I wouldn’t hurt anyone.” She held up her chin, a strange mixture of pride and uncertainty fleeting across her face. “I can control it now. I’m so sorry, Perdita.”

I inched closer to her, remembering the fangs and single-minded determination to tear out my throat. I flexed my fingers. “It’s okay.”

“It was the shock. And the hunger. All of that time I was sick, it was really the wolf starving, so when the time came, I couldn’t get control. The wolf took over, and I saw what was happening, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I was trapped in there, watching myself…” She shook her head.

“Ryan helped me,” I said, remembering how Nathan hadn’t.

She nodded enthusiastically. “He’s helping me now, too.”

“He didn’t leave?”

Her face fell. “No, that was just Opa, Jeremy, and
Willow
.” She cleared her throat. “And Nathan.”

I shrugged. “He told me he was leaving.”

“Did he?” She looked away. “That’s good, I suppose.”

“If you say so.”

“He
hates
me now. That’s why he left. To get away from me.”

Frowning, I saw she really believed her words. “I doubt that, Amelia.”

“It’s true! He’s blaming me for everything. He couldn’t wait to get away from me. I didn’t know he would be like this.”

I knew it was me he was running from, but I didn’t think I could convince her of that. “Um, how’s Cú?” I held my breath. I had been afraid to ask about Nathan’s dog. Amelia had hurt him in her attempt to get to me, and I had basically lived in terror ever since in case he had died trying to protect me.

Her cheeks flushed. “He’s okay. His injuries weren’t as bad as they looked, but…”

“But what?”

She shook her head jerkily. “He’s missing you. Like, really bad. He had that bond with you, and well, he’s pining for you now.”

“I miss him, too,” I said wistfully, not altogether sure who I was talking about.

Amelia’s jean pocket thrummed loudly. She automatically reached for it and paused, her fingers hovering briefly.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Answer it.”

She grinned, and she was a new person. All of the time I had known her, I had thought of her as happy, but there was her real smile. Everything had changed.

“It’s probably just Connor,” she said before faltering. “I, um—”

“I’m not that bad,” I said. “I do actually want other people to be happy, you know.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “Of course you do. I don’t know what it feels like for you. Did everything just stop?”

I swallowed hard. “The curse stopped.” I watched as her eyes widened with realisation. “I thought you didn’t like Connor that much,” I added to interrupt her train of thought.

“I do.” Her face lit up. “I really do. We’ve been texting a lot. I lied and told him I was away because of a death in the family. The way I felt before was all Kali’s fault.”

“Kali?” I squinted. How much had I missed?

“Oh! I forgot you don’t know the full story yet. I have so much to tell you.”

I shoved my hands in my pockets. “I don’t really have time for that. Dad’s on his way home, and I’m kind of barred from, well, everything, but especially your family.”

“I understand that. But it’s important we talk soon.”

“I’m serious, Amelia. I can’t see you anymore. Dad’s not been himself. The only time I’m going to be allowed out of the house is when I start work experience next week.”

“Work experience? Where?”

I sighed. “At the library. But I still can’t see you. I promised.”

She hesitated, appearing a little disappointed, but I waved her on and went back inside. I was serious about making an effort to stick with Dad’s rules, especially since seeing Amelia had hurt more than not seeing her.

Dad and Erin arrived within the hour, distracting me from thoughts of Amelia. Gran and I hurried outside to greet them, but Dad’s expression was one great big thundercloud.
Erin
attempted to help him out of the car, but he brushed her away impatiently, struggling to exit the vehicle by himself. His eyebrows knit tightly together, and
Erin
’s lips pressed into a thin line. They had obviously been arguing again. It was as if he thought being sick was a good enough excuse to be awful to absolutely everyone around him.

“Can I help?” I asked, taking a step toward him, but his glare had me backing away.

“I can get out of the car and into the house myself,” he snapped, but for one agonising second, he appeared to fall until he managed to balance with his walking stick and pull himself upright.

He didn’t look at the banner. He didn’t look at me. He strode into the house slowly and carefully, keeping his head high. I knew his pride was wounded, but he was being ridiculous.

Gran darted around us nervously with offerings of tea, lunch, and anything else she could think of to appease him. He remained in a rotten mood, refusing everything. My own frustration grew along with the darkness of his disposition.

“I was thinking we could go out to dinner tomorrow,”
Erin
said pleasantly. “All of us.”

“No, thanks,” Dad said. “I don’t want the entire neighbourhood staring at me.”

“Dad,” I said, “they aren’t going to stare. People have been worried about you.”

His gaze fell on me for the first time. “Do you really think you should be drawing attention to yourself? After everything you’ve done?”

I rolled my eyes, but I didn’t say anything. He was right. I had let him down in ways he didn’t even know about, and I was sorry for it. The punishment seemed to be eternal, but nothing was worse than the one Nathan had doled out.

Nathan

Lyon

We had been driving for hours, but at least the snow had stopped falling. The sky was still a pure blue, and the biting cold wind had vanished a half-hour ago. We were back into nice, boring, thankfully warm sun. I was glad to get out of the mountains.

I opened the window all the way, relishing the warmer breeze against my skin. Jeremy was still ignoring me. He could sit in the back with
Willow
and act like a statue for all I cared. I grew more and more eager to go back to
Ireland
with every minute that passed.

We checked in at a hotel in the city, but we had barely taken a breather when we left on foot to follow another of
Willow
’s leads. She had given us all kinds of crap about moving further into Vin’s territories, but we had come up with nothing useful. I got the feeling she was scraping the bottom of the barrel.

We walked along cobblestone streets between tall, crowded buildings. A lot of different noises and scents distracted me, and my wolf grew antsy.

To my surprise,
Willow
led us to a crooked building that housed flats above a shop. We needed space to move. How could a werewolf survive in a tiny flat? Even walking up the dark stairwell made me feel as though I might suffocate. I heard a dog barking behind the first door we passed. Poor little yappy thing must have gone mental stuck in there alone.

Our destination was the lone flat on the top floor. The stench of rival werewolf choked the air. We were definitely in the right place. Jeremy nodded at me; the presence of a potential enemy overrode the tension between us.

A scrawny man in his thirties answered Jeremy’s brisk rap on the door. He glared at us until realisation hit. He backed away, avoiding eye contact.

“Malachai,”
Willow
said.

He looked at her sharply, confusion muddying his blue eyes. “You look… different,” he said slowly, probably biding his time.

“We’re here to talk,” Opa said. “We aren’t a threat to you right now. Can we come in?”

Malachai hesitated, then reluctantly invited us in to his flat. Lines were gouged into one white wall, as if he had clawed it in a rage, but I pretended not to notice.
Willow
and Malachai sat on a two-seater sofa, but the rest of us stood until Malachai grew so uncomfortable that he ended up getting to his feet, too.

“What do you want?” he asked, still avoiding our eyes and edging around the room in a way that made me want to pounce. “Did Vin send you? What’s going on now?”

Opa and Jeremy exchanged glances. He didn’t know us, didn’t know we weren’t part of his pack. That seemed impossible to me.

“Do you remember Ryan?”
Willow
said. “The Scot whose daughters you helped kidnap?”

His face paled, and he shook his head. “Not… kidnap. I was… Vin told me to… it’s not kidnapping to bring home the pack.”

“These are the Evans wolves,” she told him, pointing at us. “Do you understand yet?”

“No,
Willow
. No!” He stared at her in horror, putting as much distance between him and us as possible. “What are you doing? Are you crazy? Why would you bring them here?”

“We’re here to help you. All of you,” Opa explained, almost gently. “We can end Vin’s time as alpha. We can help you free yourself.”

Malachai trembled. His weakness provoked my wolf, and I struggled to stay calm. Too many scents, too many emotions in such a small space.

“Get out,” Malachai hissed when he found his voice. “Get out before you get me killed. He’s alpha. I’m his. That’s how it is. If he finds out you were here—”

“We can protect you,” Jeremy said, but his tone was dull, as if he had already given up hope. He probably thought Malachai wasn’t worth protecting.

“I have a pack. I don’t
need
your protection.”

“But you’re here alone,” I pointed out.

Malachai’s eyes fell on me with hatred in their midst. “Not for long,” he said, managing to colour his words with spite.

Jeremy took one step toward him, but the man flinched so violently that my cousin made a scornful sound. “Let’s get out of here. Leave the coward to his own devices.”

We left the building and walked back to the hotel in silence. Another failure. At least if Ryan was all we had, there was one decent wolf backing us up. I couldn’t call
Willow
a “good” wolf, but she seemed capable enough as long as someone told her what to do. I just wished we had more fighters on our side. Our pack had increased by one, but I couldn’t imagine my weepy, attention-seeking little sister would be much use in a fight.

“Have we done enough yet?” I asked. “Are we going home?”

Opa glanced at me. “We’re not going home until we have something to go home with. Willow, there are more, are there not?”