Waken (The Woods of Everod Book 1) (30 page)

“What is all of this supposed to mean?”

He rose from his seat and came towards me, placing his hand on my shoulder. He paused and glanced down at me. “It was a warning. A warning for me to protect you. For you to fight.”

“How? Elin is a Lycan. There’s no way I can fight her.”

“It’s in you, Janie. You just have to find it.”

“You mean I’m infected? Wouldn’t I have already shown symptoms if I was going to be a shifter?”

“It’s more complicated than that. Elin fights for every ounce of power she can get but she fears you more than anything, more than anyone.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, Janie. I’ve searched my memory for anything she may have said before I left, but nothing made sense back then.” The way he turned his eyes from me made me wonder if maybe he did know but was afraid to tell me. “I left you with Elin, knowing what she could do. I can’t risk your life again.”

He left then, trudging up the stairs. I wasn’t sure why he had told me about my grandparents, or his vision. Perhaps he was just trying to make a connection, but part of me questioned such an innocent motive from this man. He had turned his back on me and that alone made me wonder if his vision and warning were more veiled than they should have been.

He couldn’t risk my life
. How many times had Elin come close to killing me while he was here, helping to raise his other children? Words wouldn’t change everything I’d gone through.

“Nothing will ever fix it.” A voice behind me answered the words I’d unknowingly spoken aloud.

I turned around to see Ericka standing in the frame of the kitchen door. She smiled crookedly and moved into the room, perching herself on the edge of the recliner Lukas had been seated in.

“There is so much Lukas doesn’t understand or know about Helena. She was always manipulative, twisting people around her finger, making them willing to do anything for her. I’m surprised she let him leave.” Her gnarled hands fidgeted in her lap, almost disguising the slight tremble. “I knew one day you would come, that you would change everything for us. Many in town are scared, more afraid of what you could possibly do once you change than what Helena and Kas will do when I’m gone.”

She shifted to the side until she slid onto the cushion of the recliner, resting on the edge. I didn’t say anything, mainly because I doubted her as much as I doubted Lukas. Maybe she hadn’t known about me or left me with Elin, but she wasn’t exactly jumping at the opportunity to protect me now that she did know about me.

Her eyebrows arched as she waited for me to say something, until finally she sighed with resignation. “Helena is my daughter, a part of me. I love her and there is nothing she could do that would stop me from loving her.” Her eyes flittered to the side before focusing back on me. “I will do what I can to protect you, but I don’t know if I have the strength to stop her. Lukas is right; you will have to fight her.”

“And Kas? Will you let him get away with what he did to Kyle?” Anger burned in my heart. Did she love Elin so much that she would let a murderer go free?

“No, Kas will get what he deserves, but for now the best way to keep you safe is to let him live.” She scooted back in the seat. “Helena needs to think she’s succeeding if we want to draw her out. You, my dear, are the bait.”

Chapter 28

“No.”

“What do you mean no?” Tristan sputtered.

“Exactly that. No.” I resisted the urge to stomp my foot. “I’m not going to stay locked up anymore.”

“Janie, be reasonable.” Tristan turned his eyes on me with full puppy dog power. “It’s too hard to see everything out there. It’s safer for you inside.”

“If I’d known you were using this trip as an excuse to lock me up I’d never have come.” I pushed away from the table and reached for my hat. “I’m going out. It’s finally stopped raining. I want to be warm and sunburned. I want to be outside.”

He took a step towards me, while Justin and Seth watched the altercation in fascinated humor. I raised my hand, a meaningless gesture considering his strength and speed. “Don’t. I know you can stop me but please don’t.” A touch of desperation clung to my voice and I hated it.

Lukas’s words from the day before were tumbling together with the anxiety of Elin’s impending arrival, causing nausea to burn in my throat. I need the air, and the freedom to not be that fearful old Janie.

He sighed and took my hat from my hands, and instead of hanging it up, he resignedly settled it on my head. “But Seth and I come, too.”

“All right.” Not the perfect scenario, but I was willing to compromise.

We loaded into the truck and drove the short trip to the base of the trail.

The fresh mountain air was liberating. Being stuck in the cabin under the watchful eyes of Katrina and Lisa was bad enough; the fact that Lukas had been hovering made it even worse.

His words echoed through my mind
, the healer you were meant to be. The warrior I should have been
. I could be the cure. I could heal them.

“We’ll head back on Monday.” His words were jarring; going home hadn’t even crossed my mind. I wasn’t ready yet. “Tim wants you back in time for your birthday.”

“Crap. I forgot about that. Lisa and I were supposed to go shopping on Fri…” My words drifted off as I saw Kyle lying in the dirt bleeding.

Tristan ignored my hesitation and pressed on, determined to stop my morbid thoughts. “We can go shopping on Monday.”

“We can’t go together! I still haven’t bought your gift.” Somehow, he’d managed not to tell me his birthday was a week after mine. I’d only found out because of Seth’s big mouth.

“So? I haven’t bought yours yet either, this way you can just get what you want.”

Incredulous, I stared at him. A small smirk cracked under the pressure of my gaze and I realized he was joking. “We’ll all go down to Montrose together. You and Lisa can go shopping. While Seth and I do guard duty. I promise not to peek when you get my gift.”

“Do you think it’ll be safe? I mean, Elin could...”

“She wouldn’t do that. She knows that if she exposes us now, Ericka would have no choice but to step in. Maybe keeping you out of town is the best idea.”

If I was safe then the others would be, too. But being safe wasn’t going to make Elin go away. It would only prolong the inevitable.

“I can’t be bait if I’m not around. Besides, Seth’s been holing up in the tree in front of the house. I think he likes taking the night shift.”

While Seth had taken up night guard, Lisa had become my new best friend. The moment Seth left in the morning, she was at the door, waiting until Tristan arrived. They’d moved like clockwork protecting me inside, while Kyle had guarded me from outside.

I swallowed a thick lump that formed at the memory of him.

“I love you.” Tristan pressed his lips against the top of my head.

“I love you, too.” I said back. The first time saying those words had been so difficult, but now they flowed so naturally, as if I’d used them my entire life.

We curled into each other in the shade of the tall fir trees. Glimmers of sunlight peeked through the branches, scattering spotlights along the path. For those peaceful moments, everything was right in my world. Lycan fell back into myth and I was just a normal girl in love with a normal boy. I reached up and pulled his head down to mine, wanting the feel and taste of him to fill my senses.

“Tristan?” Seth’s voice came from up the path. Pulled out of the moment, I unwrapped myself from Tristan to look at Seth. He’d stopped at the end of the trail, anxiety marring his boyish face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Something’s not right.”

“What do you mean?” Tristan straightened abruptly.

Seth shook his head and held up a hand. “I don’t know, but listen.”

We held our breath and then there it was – the absence of sound. My heart took over then, blood pumping through me so ferociously until the only thing I could hear was the pulsing of my own fear.

“Let’s go. Back to the cabin.” Tristan grabbed my hand, pulling me close to his side. He turned back towards the cabin and began running, Seth followed close behind, guarding Tristan’s back. We moved quickly, but time seemed to slow as every step took too long.

I should have listened to Tristan and the others. As frustrating as it had been to wait for Elin to strike, it had been even more foolish to come into her territory.

I turned my head to the side, staring through the trees, searching. There. A flash of white; another just behind it. The next flash was closer. No longer two distinct shapes, they were joining together, almost becoming one as they gained on us.

“They’re behind us!” Seth yelled.

Tristan’s body tensed and he pushed us harder. They drew closer and Tristan veered to the left, leaving the worn footpath and into the trees. I was slowing him down. The white flashes took shape, two white wolves, Elin and Kas. Blood rushed to my head. Dizziness melded with fear, bile crept up my throat.

Seth ran between them and me, blocking my view. “I’m going for help,” he shouted.

Tristan didn’t respond, just kept moving. Seth glanced at me and our eyes meet briefly, then he was shifting. It took only seconds and he was racing through the woods ahead of us.

We had hope. Seth could run much faster than I could. He’d reach the cabin and get the others. Now I just had to keep up with Tristan. Keep ahead of Elin and Kas. My lungs burned and my legs ached to slow and rest. Still I pressed on, refusing to give up.

Seth’s brown fur made him difficult to see as he became a distant spot between the trees. Then I saw it, at the same time as Tristan who swore under his breath. Another wolf had appeared, moving in on Seth from the side. It was larger than I’d seen before and moved with an intent that was unmistakable. It lunged at Seth, and they collapsed to the ground. There was a brief moment when they danced around each other, before they were rolling.

Tristan shifted direction away from Seth and we darted through the dense forest. Branches snagged my hair, ripping out strands. I covered my face with my arm, knocking my hat off. I peeked back a few times to watch their advance. They were only feet behind us, and unlike me were completely unwinded. There was no way we would out run them.

“Tristan, I can’t…Go! Leave me! Get Seth…”

“I’m not going to leave you.”

“I can’t keep going,” I gasped, stumbling over an exposed tree root.

When we reached a small clearing, Tristan stopped suddenly. Turning to face them, he tucked me into his side. Legs trembling from fear and exhaustion, I clung to him.

They didn’t follow us into the clearing, pacing the edge, close enough for us to hear them, but still hidden within the brush.

“They herded us,” I said, seeing the clearing through Elin’s eyes. It was the perfect place to corner someone, nowhere to hide or run to.

Elin stepped out first followed by Kas. Both were in their human forms and wearing the white clothing my mother loved. We had ended up right where they had planned. What else were they hiding in the trees around us? Another ally, maybe weapons?

Her face was the same as I remembered from my nightmares. Beautiful. Flawless. Blond curls hung down her back, creating an angelic appearance that hid her true nature.

Tristan stepped in front of me. Just as in my dreams.

“What do you want?”

“You know what I want. I want Janie.” Her voice was sickly sweet, belying the acid tongue I knew she possessed.

“Why?”

“Tristan, really. She’s my daughter. I just want to speak with her. We have so much to catch up on.” I peered around Tristan to see her smiling.

“I’m not as gullible as Lukas.” Anger surged through his words. “Why do you want her?”

It triggered Elin’s own anger and her smooth skin creased as her eyes narrowed. “I always knew you would be strong. When I first saw you, I knew it would be you. I knew you would bring her to me.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Jealousy in Lukas’s little broad runs deep. Rachel was kind enough to share her knowledge with me, knowing I planned to take out her competition.”

I wanted to puke at the depth of Rachel’s betrayal. It didn’t matter if we were friends or not; we were sisters.

Elin’s gaze settled on me. “When you were a baby, I considered killing you. So many times, I could have snapped your neck. It would have been easy. After Lukas left I was so tempted.” Her twisted smile grew and I began to realize just how close I had come to dying. “You were pathetic, weak, like your father.”

I didn’t think it possible, but my heart squeezed painfully as my mother spoke of wanting to kill me. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it still hurt. So deep inside I hadn’t even known it was there, had been a glimmer of hope that she loved me, that she was sorry. Now that glimmer was a shriveled mass sitting in the pit of my stomach.

Elin reached her arm back, linking her fingers with her companion’s. “Kas and our friends have been so helpful, keeping me informed.”

Tristan’s breath hissed out. “It’s no secret that Kas is a traitor.”