Marked by Destiny (3 page)

Caleb
harrumphed, obviously annoyed at their female gibberish. “There are
only a few days before you leave. I wanted to ask,” he paused,
searching for the words or maybe trying to find a way to a make his
request sound polite, “I need the Grollic… I was wondering if you
would let me borrow the Grollic Book to do some testing on the
pages? I don’t believe it’s possible, but I’d like to see if we are
able determine the age of the journal. Maybe test if there are any
epithelial tissue we might be able to use to trace some DNA. I
promise to have the book returned to you before you leave—”

“Okay.”

“—As Michael
also said that you plan to finally begin studying it again.”

Michael using
those exact words were highly unlikely. He had not pushed me in any
way to pick the wolf book up. I knew Caleb had wanted me to start
studying the book right after the incident in January but I hadn’t
been able to look at it. Just thinking about it brought bile into
the back of my throat. I could feel my heart rate quicken with the
anxiety pressing against my chest. I swallowed and took a deep
breath, trying to calm the panic I felt whenever I thought about
the book. “Caleb, do what you want with it.”

“I’ll be
extremely careful with it and will have it back to you before you
leave. I’m anxious to know if there is more you can read.” He began
to pace. “How you haven’t been curious or tempted to read it is
beyond me.” He held his hand up to Grace as she opened her mouth to
stop him. “No need, Grace. Michael has warned me every day to leave
Rouge alone, which I have. However, if she’s lost the ability to
control the Grollics because of this, it will be a most definite
loss.” He pressed his lips and shook his head.

He did have a
point. I guess I wouldn’t know until I came across another
werewolf. The thought didn’t stop me from being annoyed at Caleb’s
badgering. “I’m sorry I haven’t touched it in months… I just didn’t
have the interest to look at it. Those wolves—sorry, beasts don’t
deserve a minute of my time.” I had no intentioned of admitting to
anyone I was absolutely terrified of the book. That book might show
something that was a part of me, which I didn’t want to learn. Now,
however, it was my idea to find out who my biological parents were
so it was time to start dealing with the Wolf Book.

“That’s where
you’re mistaken. You may have the ability to defeat them. You
should have been on top of this.” He sighed. “I’ll ask Michael to
go and get it while you are at rehearsal. He would not touch it
without your permission.”

I had the gut
feeling Caleb had planned to take it, and Michael being Michael,
had refused to get the book without asking me. He knew I was having
a difficult time and refused to push me in any way.

“Whatever.
Should I call him and let him know it’s alright?” I was pretty sure
that Michael would not bring it in unless he knew for sure that I
personally said yes to Caleb.

“Very good
idea.”

Grace had been
quiet for the past few moments now spoke. “Fine, it’s all settled.
Red will phone Michael on our way out. If that’s all…” She looked
expectantly at Caleb.

“Where’s
Michael?” I asked. Grace grabbed my hand to pull me back out of the
office. “I thought he said he needed to see you.” I spread my feet
and refused to budge. “If he’s here, I can just tell him in
person.”

Caleb looked up
sharply. “He’s not. You will have to call him.”

Why did I have
the feeling he was hiding something? I watched Caleb, trying to
read his impenetrable express.

Grace finally
dragged me out of the room, past Margarette and straight to the
elevator. She didn’t say a word until we were almost on the ground
floor. “He can be such a pain sometimes! Bloody calling us to the
office so he can borrow your book! Damn science labs! We could be
shopping right now!”

Whoa! Freeze
frame a moment. “Science labs?”

Grace waved her
hand absently. “There are labs below ground at the office here.
Very high tech labs – all that equipment and testing stuff. I don’t
get how Michael likes it. He used to be obsessed with it. It’s all
so
boring! They test and experiment everything here
–figuring out ways to kill Grollics, like equipment to catch them
or tools to take them down, and now – but obviously not new – ways
to figure out the age of mysterious journals.”

“How do they
test the werewolf stuff?” I was suddenly more curious to go into
the basement than head to school for grad practice.

She raised a
single eyebrow at me and gave me a look. “Catch a
werewolf
and use the Grollic as a guinea pig. You know, catch with newly
made bullets or poisons. Bring him in here and take the poison or
bullets out to see which ones were most effective.”

“What do you do
with the stuff once you take it out?”

“If the Grollic
is not dead yet, we put them back in. And other science-y stuff
like that.”

I stared at her
in disbelief. They used werewolves like lab rats? Or science
projects… It seemed so inhumane. I couldn’t imagine Michael to be a
part of the dissection process. I couldn’t picture it. Yet Grace
had just said he used to be obsessed with it.

“Don’t look so
surprised, Rouge. Those mongrels do the same to us. Those idiots
just don’t know how to keep us alive long enough to do anything
productive, to learn anything.”

“I just never
thought…” I didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

“This is an
ugly war that you have barely had a chance to scratch the surface
of. You have no clue how deep this hatred goes. Caleb believes that
whoever wrote that journal of yours hated Grollics. He’s extremely
interested in what you might learn from it, or if your gift will be
of any service to us.”

Shaken, I
stared at Grace, oblivious to the elevator door opening and then
closing again. Grace held her finger over the button with the two
arrows to reopen the door but didn’t press it. I was shocked – not
because Caleb had plans to use me, but because Grace knew so much.
Only once had we talked about how Grollics and her kind had
originated. She had never talked about the war between them and the
werewolves; she spent her days worrying about clothes or typical
high school things, oblivious to her secret life. Or so it seemed.
She hadn’t missed anything; she just didn’t discuss the darker side
of her existence, and that realization shook me. I wasn’t sure how
to respond to her at first. I stood there, mouth gaping like a
fish, trying to find words to use to respond. In the end, I opted
for the most neutral response I could muster.

“I hardly know
anything about the war, or your past, or Grollics. I plan on
learning as much as I can on this trip out east.”

She opened the
elevator door and we left the building in silence. We reached her
car and Grace unlocked the doors. Once inside, she turned back to
her Tinkerbelle-self, chatting about what we had to do at
graduation and the party afterwards. It was always an effort,
trying to keep up with her chatter. As a supernatural she could
move at the speed of light, and her mouth had no problem keeping up
with that speed as well.

I pulled my
phone out of my bag and pressed Michael’s number.

As it continued
to ring, longer than normal, I imagined him standing in a suit over
some half dead Grollic, picking up his phone while aiming some kind
of scientific gun right between the Grollic’s eyes. My tall,
blonde, tanned boyfriend all in crazy superhero costume, his bright
blue eyes flashing with anger and righteousness.

“Rouge!” His
masculine voice softened as he spoke my name. “Sorry it took me so
long to answer. I’m at the bank and the teller wouldn’t let me
answer the phone.” He chuckled. “She was all no-no-no and pointed
to the sign below the counter that has a line across a cell
phone.”

The
double-oh-seven image disappeared from my head. “Grace and I were
just at Caleb’s office.”

A loud breath
pushed through the phone. “Caleb make you come?”

“No.” I wasn’t
about to get tattle on anyone. “It’s all fine. Caleb can have the
wolf book.” Grace’s eye shot over to me as she drove. “I mean the
Grollic journal.”

“Are you sure?
If you don’t feel comfortable with letting him handle it, I can
tell him.” His voice sounded wonderful. I could feel his concern
for me – both from the phone and from the feelings emitted from his
Sioghra
pendant around my neck. “That journal belongs to
you.”

I didn’t
understand why all of them put emphasis on the journal being mine.
I hadn’t written the darn thing. “I don’t mind. He said he’ll have
it back to us before we leave.” I said the words and pretended to
think I was indifferent but deep down I coveted the journal like a
secret diary no deserved to see but me. Strange how I didn’t want
to admit that to anyone, even myself.

“I’ll make sure
of it, and also make sure nothing happens to it.”

Chapter
3

“Caleb’ll be
careful.” I knew that without a doubt. He revered the journal as
some kind of Pandora’s Box that would reveal all the werewolves
hidden secrets. The clue to destroying them once and for all.

“As long as
you’re okay with it…” Michael still wanted the decision to be fully
mine.

I smiled,
loving him for wanting to protect me even when he didn’t need to.
“It’s good. I won’t even miss it. There’s probably more dust than
secrets on it now. It’s still in the right lower desk drawer.” I’d
take the book out to hold it and touch the worn leather, only to
quickly shove it back into the drawer when the urge to open it
filtered through and terrified me.

“I’ll go now
and grab it. You going to be home?”

“Grad rehearsal
first. You can come grab me if you need me.” I cleared my throat
when Grace pulled the car close again the curb and slammed on the
breaks. “I mean, need my help.”

Michael
chuckled. “Do the grad thing, I’ll try and stop by the school
before it’s over. I should be able to finish up here about the same
time.”

“See you later
then.”

“Alright.”
Michael’s tone shifted slightly. The briskness probably meant that
he was with someone else… or a Grollic had attacked him. Not like
that was likely to happen in broad daylight, but it still didn’t
stop my mind from picturing it. I didn’t know what was up with me
these days.

“I’ll be right
back.” Grace opened the car door and jumped out.

I blinked and
focussed on the present. “Where are we?”

“Just a little
shop I like to come to.”

I checked my
watch. “Grace, we don’t have time.”

“I only need
three minutes. I had two things set aside just in case something
like this was going to happen.” She slammed her door and raced
around the car and across the sidewalk to the little shop.

Chic
Boutique.

Pretty little
shop with a big front window, which Grace stood in front of holding
two dresses.

The blue one
she pointed at and then herself. I gave her a thumbs up from the
car. She other she pointed at and then to me. She had picked out
the black dress for me to wear. It was very feminine and slightly
sporty at the same time.

I shook my head
unsure whether or not it would suit me. The dress had no sleeves
and from the front, the back looked swooping and open. I had no
intention of letting the mark on my back be seen, especially by
Michael. I’d managed to hide it the past few months, and didn’t
want to blow it now.

She tapped on
the window glass again and turned it around to show me the back. It
had a high back that had plenty of material to hide my back and
just show off my arms. I should have known she would find the
perfect dress. I knew I wouldn’t need to try it on, she would also
find the exact size, material and style I would need.

A moment later
she came running back to the car with two shopping bags. She tossed
them onto the back seat of the Volkswagen. She started the car and
quickly pulled back onto the road. “Wow! That dress was made for
you Red! You’re going to look very sexy in it!” She let out a
whistle.

I laughed off
her comment, not believing a word. However, I thought that the
dress did look nice. “I could have worn something I already had.”
There was a closed full of clothes Grace had bought me, most with
their tags still one. “Thank-you for spoiling me.”

She beamed, her
smile spreading nearly ear to ear. “I knew it would be perfect for
you! I can’t wait to see what it looks like on!”

“You’ve outdone
yourself! This moment is supposed to be monumental to
me
.” I
smiled, feeling her excitement. “I deserve to be dressed up a
bit.”

“It won’t hurt
for Michael to see you looking like a sexy lady either.” She added
with a sly grin. “Speaking of sexy and becoming a lady… have you
and Michael –:”

“No!” I felt
like I had shouted that as I cut her off, so I tried again in a
quieter voice “Not yet. Though we are having fun working things
out. We are just not in a rush to seal the deal.” I felt silly
talking in cryptic words but I found it more embarrassing trying to
talk about sex with Michael’s twin sister. There were moments where
she was my best friend but moments like this reminded me that she
was his twin.

“It’s Michael
isn’t it?” She rolled her eyes. “He’s so old fashioned. He was
furious with me the first time he found out I been with a human.
Thank goodness I never told him what had happened to the first few
guys I had tried anything with!”

“Michael
doesn’t know that you –?”

“Goodness no!
If his heart worked normal, he would have a heart attack! Don’t you
dare tell him now, or I will never be left on my own again!” She
tried to look threatening as she said it.