Girl in the Red Hood (31 page)

"He's not himself," Lora whispered, tears
gathering at the corners of her eyes again. "Keegan was going to
keep it a secret the way Uncle had told him to, but when he saw
Kurt, he just couldn't do it." She paused before unlocking the
door. "When he comes to, he's not going to be pleased to see you."
She shook her head. "He's going to be so angry with me!"

"Let me worry about that," Liesel tried to
make her smile confident. Gently, she laid a hand on the girl's
shoulder. "Thank you." With a quick nod, Lora was gone. Liesel
briefly mourned the fact that Lora would have been a wonderful
sister, had things ever gone as they were supposed to. But the time
for wishful thinking was over. Without even the slightest idea as
to what she was doing, Liesel gathered her skirts and opened the
door. It was so heavy that no sooner had she squeezed through than
it slammed shut behind her. The step down into the cavern was
deeper than she'd expected, and the misstep sent Liesel sprawling
onto the dirt floor of the small cavernous room.

The ferocity with which the wolf lunged at
her was shocking. Liesel shrieked and fell back into the wall. When
she finally realized she was still alive, Liesel dared to look up.
The wolf continued to try and rush at her, but as her eyes adjusted
to the dim light, provided by a single torch hung high on the wall,
Liesel saw that Kurt was chained around the neck. The chain had
been somehow mounted into the wall so that there was no way for it
to work loose, done with magic, Liesel could only guess. As her
eyes continued to adjust, Liesel's heart broke in two. Kurt's fur
was bloodied all over from where the chain dug into his body from
his savage lunges. His eyes were glazed over, and his teeth snapped
with a surprisingly loud click.

"Kurt?" The wolf paused for a second before
launching an even more vicious attack, snapping and snarling faster
and harder than before. Liesel tried to get her shaking legs to
stand, but when she finally did, it seemed to agitate him even
more. She knelt back down so that she was curled up with her knees
to her chest and her face on the same level as his. Terror gripped
her as she tried speaking again. Her mind felt as fuzzy as the
light around her, making it hard to focus. The dizzying magic she
felt every time she was especially close to him seemed to double in
the enclosed space.

"I'm sorry," she began, saying the first
thing that came to mind. "I'm sorry for treating you the way I have
lately, for being angry. I know it's not your fault," she swallowed
hard, knowing that if she stopped talking, she might not have the
courage to start again. "None of this is your fault. And it was
never you that I blamed. I just...I just wanted to be the one to
choose. I've been forced into this forest...this life time and time
again, and every time I tried to choose a new path for myself, I
lost everything." The wolf continued growling, but his attacks had
turned to pacing, and the fur on his back no longer bristled. For
the first time, Liesel dared to peer into the wolf's eyes. It was
so strange to see the golden-brown depths resting in the face of
bloodied silver fur.

"I suppose you never had a choice either.
You were assigned me in a way, assigned to lead these people." She
paused, as the truth of her ramblings sank in, filling her with an
even deeper understanding and gratefulness for what he'd done. "And
for some reason, you loved me. You were good to me without
reason...even when I wasn't good to you." Liesel felt her face burn
as she thought back to the many days of stony silence she's
inflicted upon him in her anger. The hurt had been there in his
eyes when she'd returned with Manny, and then when she'd ignored
his pleas for her attention. "But just so you know," her voice
shook, "I choose you now." She paused and then added in a whisper,
"and I'm not leaving until you're safe."

The wolf no longer paced, but had frozen in
center of the damp cave. The look he wore was very human, one of
pain. Before she could utter another word, the animal dissolved
into a cloud of silver dust, and in its place, knelt a man. He
groaned as he tried to get up, but Liesel hurried to his side just
in time to push him back down.

"Rest," she tried to soothe him as he moaned
again, the pain in his voice raw and vulnerable like a child's. As
she laid one hand on his head and another on his back, Liesel
realized that most of the sticky residue her hands lay in wasn't
sweat, but blood. Warily, her eyes traced the blood stains down his
limbs to see that the chains still chafed him around the arms and
legs. Even his neck was bound.

"You...," he gulped desperately, his voice
coming out like sand. "You have to go."

"I'm not leaving you again," she said with
resolution. He stopped struggling and stared into her eyes.
Trembling, he lifted a hand from the ground where he still knelt
and traced the contour of her face. She turned her face into his
shaking hand and he pulled it near. His breaths were labored and
came out in rasps, and the sweaty, raw sheen of his pale skin
showed through the shreds of what used to be his shirt. He said
nothing, but the look in his eyes was immeasurable. Their moment
was short-lived, however, as the door behind her opened with a loud
creak.

"Right on time," said a still, serene voice,
as if finding the young woman in a secret cave was the most natural
thing in the world.

"You don't have to do this!" Kurt shook his
head, gulping for air between his hoarse words.

"She's a good girl," Lothur said, continuing
to stare at her in the same quiet, unnerving way he'd looked at her
the first time they'd met. "She'll come." Kurt shook his head
vehemently.

"I told you! We found a way to break the
curse!"

"I heard you the first time. Unfortunately,
however, it seems that your way isn't as...expedient as mine."

"Keegan didn't seem to approve of it,"
Liesel frowned at him.

"If you don't mind, I would like to discuss
that at length with you. I think you'll want to hear what I have to
say." Lothur gestured at the door. "If I may have a word in
private?"

"No!" Kurt tried to yell, but his voice was
nearly gone. Liesel turned back to him and gently took his face in
her hands, pulling him so their foreheads touched and the usual
wave of dizziness flashed through her.

"You've done everything you can to free me,"
she whispered. "Now it's my turn." With that, she stood and did her
best to ignore his screams of protest as she followed his uncle out
the door. They didn't talk on their way back to the cabin. She
studied the lean man as they walked. He wore the usual long coat
she'd always seen him in, but the blood on one of his sleeves told
her he'd indeed gotten his hands dirty. She had no intention of
trusting him, but if he did have a way to break the curse, she
would simply have to tread carefully. There wasn't time for
anything else.

"Tea?" He held up an empty cup as she seated
herself on a stool at the table. Liesel shook her head. With a
shrug, he poured himself a cup and took a seat. As he did, Liesel
felt another wave of unease. Kurt still didn't have complete
control over the pack, which meant Garrit was indeed alive, as
Lothur had told them. But his illness must have been great if he
hadn't interfered with any of Lothur's plans.

"How is Garrit?"

"Unfortunately, your little adventure took
more of a toll on Kurt's father than I think Kurt expected. He
hasn't spoken since reading Kurt's letter." The brief shadow of
annoyance that passed over Lothur's face was the only sign that he
knew about the Schnartchen flower. He said nothing of it, however.
"And before you ask, Johan is fine. Skulking around somewhere, I'm
sure, licking his wounds." Liesel must have looked fierce, because
Lothur snorted and waved a hand at the window. "He's fine, only his
pride is wounded. My father gave him an unusual amount of freedom
after his daughter disappeared. He's not used to being told what to
do." Liesel considered that, comparing it to the silent, wild man
she'd grown fond of on their journey. She was a bit distracted,
however, by the intensity with which Lothur studied her as he
stirred his tea.

"Why is Kurt bound so tightly?" Liesel
finally asked, shifting uncomfortably under his scrutinizing
gaze.

"Just a precaution," he shrugged. "It's an
unfortunate part of this life, but for his own safety and the
safety of others, we couldn't let him run about the town in such a
state. That cave was a gift of our ancestor. He knew by nature we
would need it."

"But he will be let out soon?" Liesel
pressed, ready to use her cooperation as a bargaining tool if need
be. But his uncle just shrugged.

"Of course. As soon as he's calmed down, he
will be freed." He stopped stirring his tea and raised a brow.
"Does that not suit you?"

"I want to know why he was upset," Liesel
mustered her courage and sat as tall as she could, narrowing her
eyes at him. "And why you locked me up."

"For that, I must apologize. Kurt rather
took us by surprise. You don't know the territory the way we do,
but your little party had wandered back onto our land. As you know,
the month is almost up, and we feared you might run if you, or
rather, your companions might run if they caught wind of our
scent.

"As for Kurt's agitation, I have a bit of a
longer story to share. Garrit was more than disappointed when you
left, but I understood your desire completely." Liesel frowned at
him in surprise, and Lothur held up his hands. "Honest, I do. I
don't know if Kurt mentioned it, but I've been searching to break
the spell my entire life. So when you left and Garrit became
indisposed, I was free to do some of my own searching, something my
brother had never allowed." Lothur pulled his coat open to remove
the little green journal. "The people of Ward want this spell
lifted as much as we do, so it wasn't hard to persuade them to find
an enchantress, one who reads the ancient tongue written here." He
pushed the little book towards Liesel, who took it hesitantly. She
flipped it open again the way she'd done with Kurt. This time,
however, there were new notes scribbled into the margins. To
conceal her reaction, she kept her face down as she skimmed the
pages.

"Did you find it?"

"We did." Unable to help herself, Liesel
looked up. She'd never seen him grin, and even the slight one he
wore on his thin face was disconcerting.

"So why was Kurt angry?"

"Kurt loves you," Lothur fixed his dark eyes
on her and leaned forward, a new intensity in his low voice. "He
would do anything to keep you safe. Actually, he already had when
he sent you away this morning, despite the needs of his pack. But I
knew you would return," he continued, "because you love him as
well. And you have a good heart. You couldn't have the deaths of
these people on your conscience."

"What do you want?" Liesel quit fiddling
with the journal and leaned back. Another small smile formed on
Lothur's thin, pale lips.

"As I said, there's a way to break the
curse. Unfortunately, there is risk involved."

"To the Pure Blood."

"Precisely," he nodded. Liesel sighed and
closed her eyes. This was what Kurt had feared. He knew she
wouldn't be able to resist.

"And that is?" Lothur stood and began to
pace.

"When you left, the pack panicked. It took
us quite a while to calm everyone, which you can imagine, was no
easy task. To appease the people, I decided to make Keegan the
heir. We didn't know if you would all return, and there was only a
week left after the enchantress had come and revealed the first
wizard's error. We quickly marked a new Pure Blood for Keegan, and
their attempt to break the curse began."

"And failed," Liesel finished. Obviously, if
it had been broken, she wouldn't have just witnessed Kurt bloody
himself nearly to death. Lothur nodded once in assent.

"She wasn't strong enough. Fear can be
crippling, Liesel. If this is something you're willing to do, you
must face the possibility that you, too, will die trying." Liesel
swallowed. Of course Kurt would want to stop her from this.

"What must I do?" The small smile returned
as Lothur strode toward her in his quiet way. He took the green
journal and opened it to the drawing of the spiked, purple
flower.

"I know Kurt told you of the journal."
Liesel didn't respond to the bait. After measuring her for a
moment, Lothur continued, "I'm sure he's also told you of my
interest in it. For years, I've tried fruitlessly to understand its
secrets. Ever since I was a boy, I've longed to end this...fear,
this unpredictability. I despise chaos, and that's exactly what
this spell is. It makes one go mad. My ability to do that, however,
was nonexistent. But if you're strong enough to do this, we shall
both get what we want."

"And this flower has something to do with
that?" He still hadn't told her what she was supposed to do, and
that made her even more uneasy.

"The flower is usually poisonous, but when
mixed with the right herbs, as the enchantress explained to us, its
effects are incredible. It can not only draw poison, but magic as
well." He pulled a leather waterskin from his coat and took her
empty tea cup. After opening the skin, he poured a bright red
liquid into the cup, then handed it to Liesel. She sniffed it. It
was sweet, pleasant at first, but there was the most subtle hint of
sourness that lingered behind the sweet.

"If I drink this, it pulls the magic out of
the pack? But how?"

"It doesn't work immediately. When you marry
the pack leader, what happens to him happens to all. If you're able
to contain the magic it pulls from him, they'll all be free."

"How?"

"The drink will pull it from them, and in
its place, your humanity will be poured back into them. But it's a
risk. As I said, the last girl sickened and died." He left Liesel
staring into the depths of the cup to look out the window. "I told
them she was too frail," she heard him mutter under his breath.