Cursed (Howl, #6) (6 page)

“You’re right,” Samara murmured, wondering why she hadn’t rea
lized this on her own. 

A light bulb seemed to go off in Colby’s head, and he tugged at her arm excitedly. “I think I finally figured it out! It’s color-coded sort of like a traffic light—red means ‘stop’ and green means ‘go’. The names that are listed as green mean they’re good, and the names that are listed as red
means they can’t be trusted.”

Luke frowned. “That doesn’t make much sense, though. Finn M
cClellan was listed as green.”

“Actually, it makes perfect sense,” Samara said, glancing over at Luke. “My grandfather obviously trusted Finn McClellan, even if he
is
the one who killed him.” She didn’t want to say that she still wasn’t convinced that her grandfather was dead—not in front of Eddie, at least, who seemed confident that he wasn’t alive.

“Fin
negan McClellan?” Eddie asked.

Sam
ara nodded. “Yes. Did you know him?”

“Yeah, I knew Finn McClellan,” Eddie replied. “You think he might be the one who killed Joe? When Samara nodded, Eddie said, “That wouldn’t have surprised me at all. Th
at guy was one crazy bastard.”

Samara raised an eyebrow at him, beginning to wonder if he was telling them the truth about everything. “How is it that you knew Finn, but yo
u didn’t know my grandfather?”

“When I was first turned into a werewolf, I was a part of the Vyka youth pack,” Eddie explained. “The thing you have to understand, though, is I didn’t want to be a werewolf, so I avoided my pack as much as I possibly could. They didn’t bother with me for a while. If anything, I felt like I got a lot of sympathy from them.” He paused before adding, “Joe and Finn were obviously a part of the youth pack. While I was a part of the Vyka youth pack, we rarely saw the adult pack—and when we did, Joe never seemed to be around. He was always off fighting some pack or another, sometimes with a few select members of his pack and sometimes alone. There were also times when he was visiting his hometown in Alaska. At least,
that’s what I was told.”

Eddie poured him
self another glass of lemonade and explained, “So, we just never crossed paths, Joe and me. I didn’t cross paths with Finn McClellan for a while, either. Not until I was ready to move. I got the permission of my youth pack Alpha, a guy named Gerry Lotkins, to join another pack. The reason I wanted to move was simple: I didn’t want my parents to find out where I was. It was tough living in the woods all the time, and I refused to go home because I didn’t trust myself around them. What if I bit them, too? I didn’t want to put them in that sort of danger. I wanted to make a life for myself. You know, maybe to go to school one day, make human friends, get a job, and own a home. I planned to change my name. That’s how I became Ed Rickards.

“Well, as I was packing up my stuff to leave, Finn comes at me and tries to persuade me into staying a Vyka. I told him I couldn’t, and he got really aggressive with me.” Eddie shook his head in annoyance. “I hate to say it, but I was sort of happy the day Finn died. I worried he was going to come up here and find me—try to kill me, even—if I didn’t agree to go back to the Vyka. There was no way I would be going back.” Meeting Samara’s gaze, he said, “I’d never considered the theory before, that Finn might have been the one who killed Joe. But now that I think about it, I would put money on it, that it was him. He always seemed sort of jealous of Joe, every time
someone mentioned him. Almost like he wished he could be as powerful as Joe.”

Samara shifted on the leather sofa uncomfortably and took a small sip of lemonade. As the lemony liquid stung against her tongue, sh
e could only think one thing. 

If Eddie really was telling the truth, that her grandfather really
had
died, then maybe she had just imagined everything. Maybe she was crazy. Maybe she was hallucinating, even.

Or maybe Grandpa Joe really
had
come back in spirit form. If that was the case, though, the question was: did he come back to haunt Samara or to help her?

Chapter 7

“Well, that felt pointless,” Luke said once they were settled back in the car.

Samara glanced over at him. “How was it pointless? We got some of the answers we needed. Now we know that m
y grandfather really did die.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Colby said hesitantly from the backseat. “Just because Eddie
says
your grandfather died doesn’t mean he really did.”

Samara sighed. “Why would he lie about it, though? It doesn’t mak
e any sense. It’s not like he has anything to gain by lying about it.”

“Actually, it makes tons of sense,” Colby replied matter-of-factly. “We caught him off-guard, sure, but he’s not an idiot. He needs to keep up with the act he started years ago.

If Joe McKinley
is
alive—and I’m pretty sure he is—Eddie doesn’t want to break his trust. I mean, would you want to mess with the world’s most powerful werewolf? And that’s not to mention how the rest of the werewolf world would feel about Eddie if they knew he lied about really doing the autopsy.”

“Guys, Eddie wasn’t lying,” Emma spoke up, glancing up from her cell phone, which she had been text messaging on minutes before. “I can tell he wasn’t lying. I didn’t hear that screechy thing I always hear when someone lies. Even if Eddie’s wrong, he is telling what he believes to be the truth.” Pausing, she added, “I don’t know if your grandfather is dead or alive, Sam, but I do know one thing. I am
starving
. This werewolf girl really needs to eat. Do you think we can pull over somewhere and get some dinner?” 

Samara realized that her own stomach was beginning to rumble with hunger at just the mention of food. “Yes, let’s stop a
t the next restaurant we see.”

*

Ten miles and a twenty minute wait later, they all sat at two long tables that the staff pushed together for their large party of eleven. Once the waitress had taken their orders down, Samara and Luke shared everything that they’d learned from Eddie. 

“Ghosts, I tell ya, ghosts,” Steve said, slurpin
g Mountain Dew from his straw.

Samara smiled, happy that at least
someone
was thinking along the same lines as her.

Chris glanced over at her
as he shoved a French fry in his mouth. “Sam, when you saw your grandfather on the night of the wedding, did he look like the Trusted Ones? You know, all transparent and stuff?”

Dipping a piece of chicken into a cup of honey mustard, Samara shook her head. “No, he didn’t look like a ghost. At least, I don’t think he did.” She sighed, trying to remember how her grandfather had looked on the night of her wedding. “I don’t know. It was so shocking for me to see him there at all that I barely paid attention to whether or not
I could see through his skin.”

“You probably would have noticed,” Kyle chimed in. “The first time I saw Bennett, I wanted to shit a b
rick. It was seriously scary.”

Even Samara had to admit that it had been pretty scary the first time that Bennett, Nadia, and Dante—the Trusted Ones—had visited them. Of course, half of the reason she had been afraid was because she hadn’t known that ghosts really existed or that Ouija boards—even if they were the type of Ouija boards that were used to call werewolf spirits, rather than human spirits—actually worked.

Colby laughed. “It’s scary every time I see Bennett . . . especially when I’m in the shower. They’re not joking when they say to check behind the shower curtain for murderers before you take a shower. You should be looking for ghosts, though.”

Steve choked on the soda he was drinking and burst into laughter. “Bennett visits yo
u while you’re in the shower?”

“Yeah, well, sometimes,” Colby replied, running a hand over his blonde curly hair and glancing over at Emma nervously before turning back to Steve. “He likes to try to catch me in compromising positions, s
o he can use it as blackmail.”

Samara noticed Emma glare at him, and Colby said, “Ouch! Don’t kick me!”

Samara chuckled. Even though she knew that Colby and Emma had gotten really close to each other and even that they’d share a few kisses, she couldn’t believe that her best friend had been in
compromising positions
(apparently in the shower) with Colby and hadn’t even told her about it. Emma used to tell her everything. A small part of Samara wondered if Emma was keeping this a secret from everyone . . . or if she had told Declan about how close she and Colby were getting.

Closing her eyes, Samara made sure to block Luke from accessing her thought and asked:
Declan?

She waited for a few moments before realizing that Declan wasn’t going to answer her again. The bond that they had shared must have been broken when she’d said her vows to Luke. It was the only explanation that made any sense—
or that she wanted to believe.

E
ven though it was still hard to come to terms with, Samara was able to accept that her bond with Declan had been broken when she’d married Luke. But she didn’t even want to consider the possibility that Declan still may have been able to hear her, and that he was choosing not to answer her. 

When Samara opened her eyes again, the room seemed a lot dimmer than it had been before. It must have been because she had finally come to the realization that she no longer shared a bond with Declan. She would never share a bond with him again, and somehow, that made the world seem like a much lonelier, darke
r place than it once had been.

Is everything okay?
Luke’s voice filled her mind.
I can sense that you’re upset about something.

Samara felt her heart drop a little further. Luke was able to sense her emotions again, which was only more confirmation of what she already knew: her bond to Declan apparently
was
broken. Things were beginning to return to the way they had been before their two packs had united.

Sam?
Luke questioned again through mind-speak, reaching for her hand.

When his skin brushed against hers, the fiery ice feeling radiated through the top of her hand. It didn’t feel any stronger than it normally did, but then again, their bond had strengthened ever since they had formed the Tala pack. That was what had been so strange about being mated to Declan, too; she’d had really strong feelings for
both of them
.

Samara’s attraction to Luke was part of why she knew that she couldn’t bring up the photo that made her believe he had killed Brad. If she found out that he had, it was going to hurt—not just emotionally, but physically, too. It was going to hurt to know that Luke was capable of hurting her in that way, especially after she had chosen to marry him because it seemed like he was more loyal to he
r than Declan could have been.

Now that she had lost Declan, it seemed even harder for her to bring up the picture. What if she lost Luke, too?

I’m fine,
Samara replied, turning to Luke. 
I’m not upset. I just have a headache. Well, I’m sort of upset to find out that my grandfather really did die. It’s not exactly what I was hoping we would find out on this trip, you know?

I know what you mean. It made me feel hopeful to know that Joe McKinley still might have been alive, too,
Luke admitted to her. He pushed a piece of hair behind her ear before leaning in and giving her a small peck on the lips.

“Sam? Are you listening
to me?” Colby asked urgently.

Samara broke her kiss with Luke and turned to Colby. “No, what is it?” she asked, noticing the look of worry that filled his eyes.

“Look,” Colby whispered, pointing his chin at the door.

Samara followed his gaze and quickly realized what he was motioning to. The tall muscular figure and the dark hair were undeniably familiar. It was Darren . . . and he was ther
e in the restaurant with them.

“Shit, what are we gonna do?” Luke whispered quietly. In an even lower voice, he asked, “Do you think he knows we’re here?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Colby said quietly, holding a dessert menu in front of his face to shield it from Darren’s view. “He would have come over here already if he knew. He definitely can’t smell us, since we used wolfsbane not that long ago.”

Samara tried not to make it too obvious that she was staring at Darren, but she followed him with her eyes until he was out the back door of the restaurant. “Shit, he’s going to recognize our cars.”

“I doubt it,” Seth replied. “It’s not like there’s anything noteworthy about those cars. There are probably tons of Honda Civics and pickup trucks.”

“Not with Pennsylvania license plates,” Luke pointed out.

“But it’s dark out,” Penelope pointed out. “Maybe he won’t even notice.”

They all watched as a pair of headlights reflected against the windows before pulling out of the parking lot. Samara breathed a sigh of relief,

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Colby asked. “We should follow him.”

Samara slapped some cash on the table, knowing that their waitress would be very happy with the huge tip she would be getting. “Let’s go.” 

They all ran out of the restaurant and piled back into their cars. There was only one pair of headlights going down the street, but with the space between their cars, Samara was afraid that they would end up losing track of where Darren was going.

Luckily, they were able to follow him about five miles down the road before Darren turned onto a back road. Luke turned his headlights off and followed him onto the road. Seth and Chris followed suit.

Darren didn’t seem to notice that they were following him, or if he did, he didn’t make it known. He only kept moving forward until he reached his intended designation: a clearing nestled in between a barrier of trees on both sides.

As they all parked their cars about one hundred feet away so that no one would hear them, Samara noticed that there was a fire burning in the distance. Darren was holding what appeared to be a pack meeting by campfire light, and judging from the amount of people who were gathered around, it was easy to see that there was more than one pack there. Darren must have conquered another pack—or maybe even two—to get so many more members.

Luke glanced over at Samara and said, through mind-speak:
Should we go any closer to them? They might notice we’re here.

True, but we need to know what they’re saying,
Samara replied. It took her a few moments to come to a decision, but she knew right away what she needed to do.

She used her Alpha abilities to allow her other pack members to hear her.
Guys, I want all of you to stay here. I’m going to go listen to Darren’s conversation with his pack. Make sure you’re all covered by the trees and bushes, so none of their pack members spot you. Don’t, under any circumstances, change into your wolf forms, unless they’ve already seen you. I don’t want you to draw attention to our purple smoke.

But you can’t go listen to them!
Kyle protested urgently.
They might notice you.

I’ll be fine. I promise,
Samara replied. She glanced around at her pack members, and she couldn’t help but notice that they all had nervous looks on their faces. Silas looked like he was going to break down in tears, and Emma did not look happy. The only one who didn’t look too upset was Luke.

You can do this, Samara. I know you can
, Luke told her through mind-speak.
If something bad happens, we have your back.

I know, but that won’t help too much if they try to use black fighting against us
, Samara replied.
We can’t even try to conjure the Trusted Ones because we don’t even have any white candles with us.

Actually, Colby packed some,
Luke told her.
They’re in the car, so we’d have to go get them, but we can do that if we need to.

Samara breathed a slight sigh of relief. She only hoped that if it did come to that—that they really did need to conjure the Trusted Ones—someone would be able to act quickly. For some reason, she had a feeling that Darren Jackson made more sacrifices with the dark spirits than Jason ever had, which would mean that they were stronger when they worked for Darren—which scared her because the Trusted Ones had barely been able to defeat the spirits
when Jason had conjured them.

Exhaling before she sucked in a deep breath, Samara tiptoed to the edge of the field, following a line of pine trees. She was lucky that she was wearing dark clothing, unlike the bright colors that Emma had been sporting, because it helped her blend in wit
h the shadows better.

As she inched closer to the area where Darren was talking to the rest of his pack, she felt her heart thump rapidly within her chest. Her heart beat so loud that she was positive just the sound of it was what was going to give her away to Darren and his pack, but once she was close enough to hear what they were saying, none of them seemed to notice her. She continued to hold her breath, terrified that just breathing t
oo loudly would blow her spot.