Snakeroot (18 page)

Ethan whispered, “Is that a house? Really?”

“Not terribly cozy looking,” Connor replied, “is it?”

Though enormous and undoubtedly appointed with every amenity a person could want, the harsh angles of the glass-and-steel structure seemed cold and uninviting.

“Our job should be pretty easy.” Ethan pulled out a pair of binoculars. “Most of the exterior walls are just giant windows.”

“I’m okay with easy,” Connor said, grabbing his binoculars. “What exactly are we supposed to be looking for?”

“Suspicious activity.”

“And what constitutes suspicious?” Connor asked. “I mean, besides if we see them standing in robes, chanting. Is a goat randomly wandering around suspiciously?”

“Do you see a goat?” Ethan stood up. “Where?”

“I meant in theory.”

“I don’t think we need to mess with goat theories.” Ethan lifted his binoculars again. “Okay, got someone. Female. I’m guessing she’s about twenty.”

“I see her.” Connor tracked the girl as she walked through her living room. She settled onto a sofa and began to read a magazine. “Can you see what she’s reading? Is it suspicious?”

“Shut up.”

“Hey.” Connor elbowed Ethan as another person enter the room. “She has a friend.”

“Male,” Ethan said. “Same age, I think.”

“Are you saying this stuff because you want me to write it down?” Connor watched the boy pour himself a drink. “Well, now I’m thirsty.”

The boy sat down and began a conversation with the girl.

“Are we supposed to have fiber optics so we can listen to this?” Connor asked.

“This mission is all about keeping Holt in check by addressing his complaint, while not really giving in to his demands.” Ethan put his binoculars down. “We aren’t spies, Connor. We’re warriors. And the war is over.” He waved toward the house. “Look at them. Without magic they’re just spoiled kids with big bank accounts. They’re nothing to do with us.”

Connor didn’t answer. He was staring through the binoculars at the third person who had entered the living room.

“Connor, are you listening to me?”

“Ethan, look.”

“What’s wrong?” Ethan crouched beside Connor.

“Just look.”

Logan settled on the sofa beside the girl. The three young Keepers seemed to share an easy rapport.

“Tell me that’s not Logan Bane.” All the humor had left Connor’s voice.

“Shit.”

“Exactly.” Connor put away his binoculars. “All right, let’s go.”

“Go where?” Ethan frowned at him.

“Grab him,” Connor answered. “Logan isn’t just a kid with a big bank account.”

Ethan shook his head. “We can’t grab him. Not without Anika’s say-so.”

“You think Anika wants Logan roaming free?” Connor objected.

“Of course not,” Ethan said. “But there’s a precedent here. Anika specifically stated no engagement on this mission. We did our recon. We know Logan is here. We have to report that. Then Anika will send us right back here to pick him up.”

“What if he’s gone?” Connor asked.

“He won’t be.” Ethan nodded toward the house. “He looks comfy, don’t you think? He’s here for the long haul. He’ll never see us coming.”

“But—”

“If we take Logan without securing an order from Anika first, Holt will have a free pass to flout her authority,” Ethan said. “We can’t risk that.”

“All right. I’m on board.” Connor threw a regretful glance at the house. “Let’s go find Tess.”

ADNE FOUND SABINE
waiting for her at the top of the grand staircase with a welcoming smile that made Adne sigh with relief. After the freak show that had taken place in the training room, and after she’d been forced to slink back to that site of her shame once the others had gone to retrieve her discarded skeins, Adne hadn’t known where to go other than Rowan Estate. Sabine would be there, and since she’d been leading tours all day, she didn’t know what had happened at the Academy. Thus, Adne decided that volunteering to drone on about history and architecture was much better than facing her friends. She wasn’t ready for that. She didn’t know if she ever would be.

“Nice job,” Sabine said. “You only made up the answers to five questions.”

“Sorry about that,” Adne replied. “But can you really blame me for that last one? Who asks where baby gargoyles come from?”

“I was being serious.” Sabine laughed. “I think five is the new lowest number of BS answers for a first-timer guiding a tour.”

“In that case, thanks . . . I guess,” Adne said.

Sabine slung her arm over Adne’s shoulders. “All right, my dear, you’re off the clock now and our boys are preparing for that mission—so we have to take this opportunity for a girls’ night out very seriously. What sounds fun?”

“How about a hike?” Adne blurted, and felt her heart clench as she waited for Sabine’s reply.

“A hike?” Sabine cast a wary glance at Adne. “You do know it’s the end of the day? There’s maybe an hour of daylight left.”

Adne looked down at her feet. “They’ll be out at night.”

“Oh, Adne.” Sabine let out a sigh. “Don’t ask me to do this.”

“Why not?” Adne straightened, locking Sabine in her gaze. “I know I’m on lockdown because of what happened here, except that no one really knows what happened, not even me. Sabine, crazy things are happening and they’re happening to me, and I am not okay. I need to know what the hell is going on.”

Sabine didn’t flinch from Adne’s outburst, but Adne was horrified by it.

“I’m sorry,” Adne whispered. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Don’t be,” Sabine replied. “I wish you would say more.”

Adne wanted to tell Sabine how afraid she was. How she dreaded sleep because of the nightmares that inevitably came with it. How she worried that she might be losing her grip on reality, but that if she wasn’t in fact going crazy, then the truth of what was happening might be much, much worse. She wanted to say all of this and more, but she couldn’t let go of the secrets that she’d been holding on to so tightly.

Instead, Adne said, “Don’t you want to see for yourself?”

“I’m not following.” Sabine’s brow furrowed. “See what?”

“Shay,” Adne said. “Sarah told us that she saw Shay dragging me through the garden and back to the mansion.”

Frowning, Sabine replied, “I’ve seen Shay. He’s a wolf. Nothing has changed.”

“What if something has changed?” Adne countered. “I think we need to go up to Haldis.”

“Adne, even I try to make my trips as infrequent as I can manage,” Sabine said with reluctance. “If a wolf pack thinks its den is compromised because they scent too many humans, then they’ll abandon it. They’d leave and I don’t know if we’d see them again.”

“One trip,” Adne pressed. “That’s all I’m asking.”

Sabine gave Adne a long look, then said, “I guess we’re going to need warmer clothes.”

• • •

The air on the slope near Haldis had a bite to it, as if it resented Adne and Sabine’s presence. As they climbed the snowy mountainside, doubts began to plague Adne.

What am I even doing up here? And why did I drag Sabine into this?

Mired in her own thoughts, Adne yelped in surprise when Sabine grabbed her arm.

“Shhhh.” Sabine pulled Adne into a crouch beneath a huge pine. “I think it would be best if I scouted ahead. I’ll come back for you if the pack seems docile enough.”

Already indebted to Sabine for joining her on this madcap expedition, Adne just nodded. Sabine crept into the thick of the trees and vanished from sight. Alone, Adne watched her breath curl like smoke toward the treetops.

“Adne.”

Putting her back to the tree trunk, Adne glanced around what appeared to be a silent forest. The whisper of her name had come from right behind her, but now that she was looking, she saw no one.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Adne whirled around, following the sound of the voice, but again there was no one.

“It’s not safe here.”

Adne turned again. “Who’s there?”

No answer.

Pressing her cheek against the rough tree bark, Adne closed her eyes.

There is nothing. There is no one there. You can’t trust your mind anymore.

When another low sound rumbled at Adne’s back, she ignored it. But it came again, this time more distinct, and there was no mistaking it for an imagined voice. The snarl was slow and menacing and very, very close.

Taking care to move ever so slowly, Adne turned around.

Calla’s golden eyes were locked on Adne, her pristine white coat only marred by the crimson splashed across her muzzle. The blood was so fresh, Adne saw drops of it fall from Calla’s jaws onto the snow-covered ground.

“We should get out of here,” Sabine said as she emerged from the woods at Adne’s back. “The pack has a fresh kill and that means they’ll be territorial. And I don’t know . . .”

When she reached Adne’s side, Sabine froze.

“Where Calla is?” Adne finished for her.

“Damn.” Sabine took Adne’s hand. “Let’s try to back off. She might not see us as a threat if we get far enough away from the kill.”

“How far is far enough?” Adne asked.

Sabine didn’t take her eyes off the snarling she-wolf. “It depends on how pissed off Calla is.”

“She seems pretty pissed off.” Adne mimicked Sabine’s measured steps away from Calla.

“She does, doesn’t she?”

Calla stalked after them, keeping her head low and her fangs bared.

“Do you still speak wolf?” Adne asked, heart climbing up her throat. She’d seen Calla’s muzzle bloodied before, but never as the target of the wolf’s menace herself.

“Do I still speak wolf?” Sabine snapped at her. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Just throwing ideas out there,” Adne said in a tight voice. “I thought that was better than ‘you got a bloody steak in your pocket?’”

“Connor has been a very bad influence on you.”

“Noted.”

They were still backing away, but Calla’s snarls were only growing louder. Hackles raised, Calla hunched down, her limbs tightening, ready to propel herself at the intruders.

She’s going to kill us.

A blur of movement split the shadows and Calla gave a yelp of surprise. Snow filled the air in a sparkling cloud as Shay skidded to a stop directly between Calla and the two girls.

Shay barked at Calla, a sound that was sharp but not harsh. Calla replied with a dismissive snarl. Shay barked again and then trotted to the alpha female. Ears up and demeanor friendly, Shay licked some of the blood from Calla’s muzzle. Calla shook her head and snapped at Shay, obviously confused by her mate’s behavior. Shay barked once more, put his head to Calla’s chest, and pushed her back.

Startled, Calla jumped away from him and gave a sharp growl that to Adne sounded almost like a question. Shay replied with a bark and wagged his tail. Casting a final, resentful look at Adne and Sabine, Calla pivoted around and disappeared into the brush.

“I don’t know what the hell just happened, but I’ll take it,” Sabine murmured.

Shay peered into the forest where Calla had fled, as if making sure she wasn’t doubling back for another strike. He glanced over his shoulder at Adne and Sabine, watching them with intelligent green eyes.

“What do we do now?” Adne whispered.

“Why are you asking me?” Sabine replied. “I thought I made it clear that there is no wolf-whispering potential on my part.”

Shay looked back at the forest, and that was when Adne saw him. Barely distinguishable from the shadows, Ren was nonetheless there, watching them. Shay tilted his head, ears flicking while he gazed at Renier.

“Sabine,” Adne said in a strained voice. “Look.”

“Look at what?” Sabine was still watching Shay.

“Where Shay’s looking,” Adne answered, “in the woods.”

“I don’t see anything,” Sabine said. “He probably just heard something in the underbrush. He has much better hearing than we do.”

Adne’s pulse stuttered. “Are you sure you don’t see anything?”

Ren was looking right down at her. His eyes glittered in the moonlight.

“Do you see something?” Sabine asked. Her tone told Adne that, without a doubt, Sabine didn’t see Ren. But Adne could, and she strongly suspected that Shay could as well.

“No,” Adne said quickly. “I just thought because he’s looking at the woods so intently.”

“Wolves do that,” Sabine said. “Can we get out of here now? I don’t want to press our luck. Shay might think we’re okay, but Calla could decide to come back with reinforcements.”

“Okay.”

Sabine was already trudging away. “I guess we answered that question. Sort of.”

“Sorry?” Adne asked.

“Something is different about Shay,” Sabine answered. “He’s not acting like a wolf would—that’s what Calla did. But he
is
still a wolf, not a Guardian. I don’t understand why he’d be compelled to protect us.”

As they retreated down the slope, Adne threw one last look behind her. Shay had turned to face them again. The golden brown wolf was sitting on his haunches, watching them leave. In the woods behind Shay, the other wolf was gone, and instead a boy stood there.

Adne felt her throat close as Ren raised his hand and waved good-bye. She didn’t know how it was possible or what it meant, but Adne was certain that her brother had just saved her life.