The Rift (33 page)

I raised my eyebrows at Hugh in a question
and he smiled. “He can’t exactly leap on an opponent and rip his
throat out if he’s glued to you.”

My stomach flipped as that image lodged
itself in my brain, but I kept my shudder inside, because I didn’t
want to upset Jed.

He seemed to sense my discomfort anyway. He
stared at me for a long moment before he stripped, bent double, and
roared in pain. I leapt away from him, startled by the sounds he
made and by the contortions of his body, but he looked at me with
such pain in his eyes that I forced myself to swallow down my fear.
I laid a hand on his shoulder and he seemed to calm a bit. I forgot
all about myself and tried to think of some way to help him with
the pain. I knelt next to him and whispered encouragement. I
stroked his back, even as it cracked and broke and sprouted hair. I
stayed by him until he was a wolf.

“Good,” Hugh said. “But Kelsey, you should
have been looking out for attackers. Jed is particularly vulnerable
when he shifts and he needs you to—”

Jed growled and leapt on Hugh, knocking him
to the ground. Hugh gasped for a few moments before he chuckled. “I
can see the ambivalence on your face, Jed. You want to punish me
for criticizing your girl, but you also want to be next to her.
Which will you choose?” Thad seemed relaxed, leaning against a
tree, and that helped me not to freak out. When Jed didn’t move I
went over and pressed a hand into his thick, warm fur, marveling at
how beautiful and fierce he looked in his wolf form. “Relax Jed.
I’m trying to help you both stay alive, okay?” Jed growled, but he
got off Hugh and backed up until he was a few feet away, his head
down.

Hugh stood and dusted himself off. “As I was
saying, Kelsey, I understand your desire to coax Jed through a
painful transition, but if you’re in enemy territory, you’ll need
to be on hyper alert at all times.”

“I’ll try.”

Hugh nodded. “Okay, Jed, shift back to human
and let’s try it again.”

Jed whined and I gasped, but Hugh shook his
head. “He needs to do this to ensure we’re all going to survive
when the fight is real.”

So Jed shifted and shifted and shifted again,
until he was so exhausted he couldn’t lift his head from the dirt.
Hugh nodded with satisfaction. “That’s enough for today.”

It was full dark out by then, and we picked
our way carefully back down the path with only the light from the
half-moon above.

When we got close to the house I smelled
burgers and my mouth watered even though I wouldn’t be eating the
meat. “Do you think the others are back?” I asked.

“Someone would have found us if they were,”
Thad said.

His words made sense, but I couldn’t help the
squirm of misgiving that twisted my stomach. My head started to
pound and the last few steps to the house seemed like miles. Jed
had an arm around my shoulder and was leaning more of his weight on
me than was comfortable, but I didn’t say anything. He had more
reason to be tired than I did. We walked into the house, past a few
wolves playing video games in the living room and into an empty
kitchen. There was no sign of food anywhere.

I wanted to deposit Jed in a chair and go
search out some food, but he pulled me down onto his lap. He
wrapped his arms around my waist and sighed against my neck like I
was all he needed to relax and rest. I looked up at Thad. “Food?” I
asked, and noticed in the light of the kitchen that Thad looked
worried, too.

“I’m on it,” he said. He walked back to the
doorway between the kitchen and the living room. “Hey, couch
potatoes,” he yelled at Henry and the two wolves on the couch.
“Where the fuck is the food?”

The three groaned and mumbled, but joined us
in the kitchen. Hugh sat down at the table with a sigh and, in
moments, there was a plate full of burgers, a veggie salad, a pasta
salad, and a smaller plate of black bean burgers on the table. I
slid into a chair next to Jed, maintaining contact, and we all dug
in.

After I’d finished eating, the hairs on the
back of my neck prickled, and I turned to see one of Wraith’s
wolves, a woman with a thick mane of black hair and alabaster skin
named Slade, staring at me from the doorway to the kitchen. She
smiled when I met her gaze and motioned me toward her. I stood,
pulling Jed up with me, and followed her into the living room. I
sat down on the couch with her, and she laid a hand on my knee.

“It feels so good to be able to touch you, to
be able to feel again,” she said. I should have been startled by
her words, but I understood that Slade had been reaped, and her
sentiments weren’t unusual for a reaper who had just gotten a body.
“I cannot believe I feared being alive again. Every moment is
amazing, and beautiful, and worth any pain that might follow.”

“Do I know you?”

Slade laughed and laughed, a deep, hearty
bellow. “I am Alice, Kelsey. Can you believe after all these years
I finally have the body of a woman?” She looked down at herself and
ran her hands over her slim, curvy form. There was nothing sexual
about her movements, and her wonder and joy were contagious.

“Why did you do it?” I asked.

She smiled, her eyes twinkling. “I had been
hiding for so long, when I met you. You taught me what it is like
to have a friend, to laugh, and I never wanted to leave you. You
showed me that life is not always pain. Then you showed me that I
could be brave, I could come to you when you needed me, I could
watch over you. When I killed those reapers for you at Christmas
time, I learned how strong I was. But when you really needed me,
when you were killing yourself to save Jed, I couldn’t protect you.
I had been deciding to live again for several weeks, but that
moment gave me the strength to finally do it.”

“So you reaped one of Wraith’s wolves so you
could keep me safe?”

She smiled. “That is why I did it. I love you
like family and I owe you so much. I cannot stand by and watch you
killed and, now, I will never have to.”

“But as a wolf…if anything happens to
you…”

“I understand the risks. I have lived a long
time, and I am willing to take the chance. Besides,” she grinned.
“I find I like being alive and being a woman very, very much.”

I awoke later that night, to snarls of pain
and soft cries. Jed was wrapped around me, our legs tangled, his
breathing deep and rhythmic. I lay still in the dark, trying not to
wake him. A guttural scream ripped the night and Jed woke with a
start, his grip on me tightening so that I found it hard to
breathe.

“Kelsey?”

“I’m here, but something’s wrong.”

He nodded and, without another word, we
pulled on enough clothes to be presentable and went out to the
living room together.

The scene before us was like something out of
a horror movie. Wraith was on the couch, writhing in pain, his
stomach laid open and bloody, while Lila, a rogue werewolf, leaned
over him and tried to put him back together, a needle with string
hanging out of her mouth. Pyre sat on the floor near Wraith, his
whole body shaking, his eyes glassy. “They killed him, they killed
him,” he said over and over.

Doctor Veronica was suddenly there and pushed
past us. She looked down at Wraith and shook her head. “You have to
get Wraith to shift or he’ll die.”

“He will not shift,” Slade said, walking in
from the kitchen with a bowl and towels. “He is in some sort of
shock. He is—”

“Under a spell.” Angelica appeared from a
dark corner of the room. “I’ve heard about this before.”

“Can you do something?” Lila asked.

“It’s a simple fix. There’s a blocking spell
on him that prevents him from shifting or even talking about what
happened. We just need to remove the block and to do that—”

“Just do it,” Lila said through gritted
teeth. Thad and Henry appeared from the back of the house, and
Henry started helping Lila and Slade with Wraith.

Angelica swallowed hard and nodded. “I’ll
need a knife. A big one.”

Doctor Veronica ran into the kitchen and
returned moments later with a butcher knife. Angelica took it from
her without a hint of hesitation, but my mouth went dry as I
watched her put the knife to her palm and slice down. Blood gushed
from her hand, and she let it drip onto Wraith’s face and into his
eyes while she chanted nonsensical words. Wraith seemed to come
back to life with a roar and everyone near him jumped, except
Angelica, who just kept chanting and letting her blood drip onto
his face. With another roar, Wraith began to shift. I watched,
unable to take my eyes off the horrific scene before me. Wraith’s
twisting body spread his wound wide open, until I was sure internal
organs would start falling out, instead his body began to knit back
together as he transformed into a more compact shape.

As a wolf, he was still bloody, but the hole
in his stomach was smaller. Lila moved forward to check his wound
and Wraith lunged for her, his mouth open wide and ready to bite.
She backed up and began to speak, but Angelica beat her to it,
chanting again in a loud forceful tone. Wraith dropped to the floor
with a crash and started snoring. Everyone turned to stare at her
with emotions ranging from amazement to fear, but she just
shrugged.

“What?” she said. “It was just a simple sleep
spell.”

“And that’s why I hate witches,” Jeremiah
muttered behind me.

Angelica looked around until she found me and
jerked her head back toward the stairs and her room. Her eyes were
glassy with exhaustion, but she didn’t flinch when Doctor Veronica
wrapped a bandage around her hand. When she headed away, I followed
her, Jed with me. Lila was working on Wraith and Doctor Veronica
had moved on to Pyre, who appeared to be in shock. Jed’s cell phone
rang and he stopped to answer it. Angelica sneered, when I didn’t
leave him, but I ignored her.

“Now’s not a good time, Mother,” Jed said. He
listened for a few moments, his eyes on me, his expression
alternately hopeful and mocking. He hung up without a word, gave me
a reassuring smile, and followed me up the stairs, his arms tight
around my shoulders.

Angelica sighed when we walked into her room.
“I’d hoped to talk to you Kelsey alone,” she said. “You two are
still playing this need to touch game?”

“Yeah, we are.” I was too shocked by what I’d
just witnessed downstairs to be more than irritated with her. “What
do you want?”

“I want my boyfriend back,” she said. “Think
you can help me out with that?”

“You want me to help you talk to him?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re brilliant. I
totally get why everyone keeps risking their lives for you.”

She’s been through a lot and she’s
upset
, I repeated to myself until I could speak without
suggesting I throttle her so she could talk to Bruce herself. “I’d
be happy to help you, Angelica, but we’ll have to go somewhere that
isn’t warded.”

“Bruce is here. He’s gotten through the wards
just like Tucker does. I can feel him.”

Jed gave my arm a squeeze, a message to tread
lightly, as if I couldn’t figure that out myself. I looked around
the room as though I was considering her statement, even though I
already knew Bruce wasn’t there. “I’m sure he was here,” I lied.
“But he isn’t here now. I think we should go to the porch or the
kitchen.”

“With all of the commotion down there?” she
asked. “No, I have to speak to him here, alone, before I
leave.”

“You’re leaving?” I asked.

She nodded. “I’ve been called back to Varius.
I’m leaving in the morning with the doc.”

She didn’t have any choice but to go when
Varius called, but I didn’t like it. I didn’t trust Yvonne not to
punish her for having once been my friend. “I’m sorry. I really
want to help you, but we need to go somewhere that isn’t
warded.”

She glared at me and Jed in turn, before
stomping out of the room. “Fine, we’ll go to the kitchen,” she
said. “But I want Jed to keep everyone out.”

We followed her downstairs. Wraith was curled
up on the floor next to the couch in his wolf form, and Doctor
Veronica was talking to Pyre in a soft voice. Thad watched over the
scene, and Henry and Jeremiah seemed to have gone to bed.

“He’s here,” I said when we walked into the
kitchen. Bruce leaned against the fridge and Abigail stood next to
him. They both glared at me.

Angelica froze and whipped her head around
like she expected to see him. “I don’t feel him.”

Bruce was suddenly next to her. He put a hand
on top of hers and smiled at her. Abigail didn’t move, but she
watched him and scowled.

“His hand is over yours.” I pushed Jed into a
chair at the table and sat on his lap, glad for an excuse to keep
him close. “The one nearest the wall.”

She looked at her hand and tears fell from
her eyes. “I can’t feel him. I was so sure I could, but…”

“Please tell her not to cry,” Bruce said,
without taking his eyes off her face. “I’ll do everything I can to
be with her, whether she can feel me or not.”

I relayed the message, and Angelica swallowed
and wiped the tears from her face with her free hand. “I love you,”
she said. Bruce’s face softened as he returned her look of love
with one of his own. My heart ached for them, and I wished I could
give my ability to Angelica, even for just a few moments. “I’m
leaving in the morning,” she said. “I have to go back to
Varius.”

Bruce nodded. “I’ll follow you. Since I
reaped Jeremiah, I’ve felt so angry. I need time to feel like
myself again.”

I told Angelica what he’d said, and she
showed no surprise. “I want you to be with me, but I think you’d be
safer here. Kelsey can see and talk to you, and she can protect
you. I won’t even know you’re there and most of the places I go are
warded.”

The weight of what she was asking of me
settled on my shoulders and almost physically bowed me. I’d failed
Bruce before, and I didn’t want to do it again. Even so, I couldn’t
deny her what she was asking. “But I want to be with you,” he said.
“I need to know you’re safe.”