The Waking (The Upturned Hourglass) (27 page)

Valie’s tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. Jack’s voice, during his tale—of
her
history, she now supposed—had been hypnotic. When he finished speaking and looked for her to respond, all she could think about was how much she hated the absence of his voice.

It was the smell of something delicious that broke through her reverie. Valie sniffed—then inhaled deeply. It smelled like bacon and something sweet, she couldn’t quite place. Up until that moment, Valie hadn’t realized how
starved
she was.

“Food is served,” Shane announced, and walked over to the dining room table, with two large platters in hand. Expertly, she arranged them and went back to the counter for more.

Valie looked at the plates, one filled with a huge mound of pancakes; the other, with bacon. The subsequent two Shane retrieved held eggs and sausage. Valie’s mouth watered as her own instincts took over.

“I’ve got to tell you, Shane’s an excellent cook,” Jack explained, as she set plates down in front of them all. Jack handed out silverware. “And she’s only burned the house down
twice.”

“Once,” Shane laughed, as she took her own seat. “And it wasn’t even my fault. No one told me the gas burner was still on.  The other time was Terrence’s fault.  He and Eliza were . . . busy . . . .
and forgot about all the lighted candles,” she muttered.

Valie shivered at the mention of those pack-mates. If she ever saw those two again, it would be too soon.

Shane dished almost a half-dozen pancakes onto her own plate.

Valie had to ask.
“Seriously, Shane. How on earth do you eat that much and stay so
thin
?”

Shane must have heard the bit of envy in Valie’s voice and this pleased her immensely. She looked up and smiled.

“Being a Lycan isn’t all bad. There are some benefits—like a wicked metabolism that can keep the weight off anyone’s bones.”

Valie nodded. “So, I’ve gathered you guys get stronger and leaner. And there’s a natural aversion to confined spaces, which I’m more than familiar with,” the teenager said dryly. “And you can change into a bigger-than-man-sized wolf.  Does that about cover it?”

Jack smiled at Valie’s oversimplification. “Well . . . a few more details are important to know. For instance, the more recently you have been changed, the more erratic the impulse to transform. As we age, we learn to control it until it’s no longer a compulsion. It’s like learning a motor skill. The only time it’s beyond our control is at the full moon—and even then, many of the Fated can suppress it. It’s a skill that we all have to practice to get good at it. But . . . well, for us, it’s worth it.” 

Out of habit, Valie looked at the ground rather than Jack’s eyes to think, only to notice dark pinkish scars on Shane’s exposed ankle.

“Is that . . . ?” Valie began her question, but Shane anticipated it.

“That’s where I was bitten.” Shane frowned at her plate. She toyed with her meal, while feeling the need to explain. “If you’re being chased by werewolves, I don’t suggest trying to climb a fence.  You’ll just get dragged back down.”

The image of Shane—herself as a young girl scurrying to the top of a chain-link fence only to be caught in the fangs of a huge, snarling wolf—was shocking enough to drive away all thoughts of hunger.

The four ate in silence for a minute or two, until the questions in Valie’s mind once again overflowed into her mouth. “What about Vampyres? How is one changed into a Vampyre? Is it similar to how werewolves are changed?”

“By a bite, yes. Though, the human’s heart has to stop beating first. Vampyres are technically dead.”

Unconsciously, Valie shivered and remembered the refrigerator.  No, she did
not
feel like meeting a Vampyre anytime soon. Werewolves were about all she could take at the moment. “Okay.  What else?”

Jack thought a minute. “We always know what time it is—just instinctively. Most maintain that it is a leftover skill from when we served the Vampyres; we would always know when they rose or slept.” He glanced out of the window, “Like right now it’s
four o’clock.”

“That’s useful, I guess.” Valie thought about her own counting of the seconds on the clock as a child.

“Not really,” Noah said. “At least, I don’t find it useful. Why not use a watch?” The boy checked his. “You’re off by five minutes, Jack.”

Jack laughed at the sandy-haired boy, and punched him lightly on the shoulder. “I was rounding.”

Valie noticed the brotherly way Jack acted toward his two pack-mates and wondered if she would ever think of him that way, like a brother. She didn’t think so. There was too much attraction there, no matter how one-sided. How did Shane stand it? Wasn’t she the least bit into him? 

Could Valie ever think of herself as his sister? The girl sighed.

No.

Then, Valie remembered the times she was not so sure of Jack: when he spoke in that detached tone that didn’t sound like his own, when his anger flared and she was forced to match him, when he got that funny look in his eye that made her think he
wasn’t all there, like he was receding into himself because too much of him had come to the surface. She didn’t understand when he recoiled like that and she wasn’t sure she’d ever get the chance to ask.

“Any more questions?”
Jack inquired. For a second Valie thought he’d read her mind and jumped at the invasion, but then she realized he was speaking generally. She avoided his eyes and tried to think of a question; there were so many to choose from.

“Well, you’ve told me some advantages to . . . what is it called again?”

“Lycanthropy,” Jack offered.

“Okay, then. You’ve told me some advantages to Lycanthropy, but what are some downsides? Other than changing at the full moon, the implications can’t otherwise
all
be beneficial.”

Valie glanced at Shane who rose to clear the table. Valie moved to help, but Shane waved her off. She sat down, the feeling of isolation creeping up on her once again.

“You’re right,” Jack replied, handing his plate to Shane. “There are major downsides. Transforming is the most obvious difficulty. It can be, well, uncomfortable, depending on the circumstances. Our bodies get used to it; but, especially when the body is unused to it—like the first few times—it sucks. Let’s face it, no human was built to transform into a wolf when the moon rises. But, other than the Change itself, physically we’re pretty invulnerable. Even if we’re injured, we heal ten times faster than a human being.”

Valie thought for a moment, listening to Shane start the faucet to wash the dishes. She tried to choose one of any number of questions that was spinning around in her mind, but the thought that dominated all the others was simple.

Luci would love this.

And she would. Luci had always imagined herself destined to be close to the otherworldly. Who knew? Maybe she had been right all along. Maybe Valie’s werewolf origins had contributed to her friendship with Luci, the moth, more than she wanted to admit.

“Do you have a phone?” Valie asked after a moment of silence. She looked soberly at Jack whose brow had furrowed while watching her.

He spoke warily. “Why?”

“I need to make a call.”

“To whom?”

“I need to let someone know that I’ll be gone for awhile, that’s all. They’ll worry if I don’t. I won’t give us away.”

“Who?”
Jack challenged. “Who will worry? Alden?” His voice was scathing in derision and Valie failed to understand that her grandfather was the target of his scorn. His stinging words made her cringe. She lashed out defensively in response.

“No, not Alden.
  If it’s any of your business, I was going to call Luci. You remember one of my only friends, the one friend that’s never turned her back on me, or used me, or deceived me, or betrayed me. The friend I’ve now abandoned with no explanation.
That
was the person I was going to call. Now
do
you, or do you
not
have a phone?” 

Jack’s voice was stern when he spoke. “You can’t call her, sweets.”

Valie glared at Jack. He was acting so proud and superior, like his miserable existence was already thrust upon her, like there was no going back. Did he really think this situation was acceptable to her?

“Like hell I can’t.  Give me a phone.” The determination in her voice surprised even herself. Jack, too, did not seem to expect such defiance from her. He rose to the occasion, however, with equal stubbornness. 

“No!” His harshness cut through Valie like a whip. “Isaac might be monitoring her by now. It will just put her in danger to give her any new information. Calling her would not be safe for you, or any of us. So just forget about it, Valentine.”

Tears rose into the girl’s eyes. The only life she’d ever known was now simply evaporating—yes, the crappy life she’d complained about for years—but her own place with humanity, nevertheless.

Valie jumped up from her chair before Jack could say anymore.  She whirled on Shane.

“Shower!”
  She spat the word out of her mouth. It was the only word she could get out through her grinding teeth. She would not break down again. Not then. Not there.

“Go to my room.
Down the hall, first door on the left.”

Valie was gone before she finished.

They all listened as Shane’s bedroom door slammed hard, echoing throughout the whole house. The piping in the walls
ping
ed and groaned to life as the shower turned on full blast.

“Nice work, Romeo,” Shane hissed at him.

Jack glared back. “Since when do you care?”

Shane ignored the question and returned his stony gaze. “Don’t you get how
hard
this is for her? She’s not like us, Jack!”

“I know that!” he growled in frustration. Of course he knew Valie wasn’t like them! She still had the majority of her humanity within her reach. It was Jack that was dragging her from it, now, becoming the monster he so hated.

“Honestly, I don’t think you do.” 

Jack clenched and unclenched his jaw in an attempt to control his temper.
              “Think about it,” Shane went on. “I know you realize she’s
not
a real werewolf. Even
with
her blood, there’s nothing barring her from the normal, human life she had—nothing, except
us.
”

“And Isaac,” he interjected.

“Yes. And Isaac, a man she has never met. How real can he be to her?”

Jack put his head in his hands and looked down at the table.  He really hated it when Shane was right.

“But it’s more than that, Jack. She has human friends. She has friends that could love and accept her despite what she is. That is what makes this situation with Valie different from our own experiences.  Jack, we really have to ask ourselves what is best for the girl? She can stay with us, but she can never be transformed. She can never be one of us. We can’t treat this like the usual case of cut and close. Cutting her off from her old life will not be easy unless she is willing to make the break herself.  ”

Jack took a steadying breath and looked back at Shane’s earnest ice blue eyes. “Do you regret it?”

Shane leaned away. “What do you mean?”

Jack knew she understood his meaning, but indulged her.
“Do you regret not telling your family, when you had the chance?”

Shane turned away and busied
herself about the kitchen. Jack could see the hint of moisture in her eyes, but didn’t pity her. He still believed she had made the right call. Yet, he knew that he had pushed her. It had been her decision, but he had made it perfectly clear what he thought was best.

“It’s one of those
‘what if’
scenarios that I don’t care to think about.”

Jack nodded. It was a choice every Lycan had to face, but he had never had to wonder about the ‘
what if
’ scenario; he’d lived through it. It hadn’t gone well.

Noah, who had been sitting silently through the exchange, shifted in his chair and said, “I think we’ve gone a little off topic.”

Shane nodded absently. “You’re right. Valie is the concern right now. The future is our concern—her future, our future. So what do we do next?”

“Right now, our main concern is Isaac. He and the others are the only ones other than us that know what Valie is. We need to go to the pack and pretend like we don’t know any of what we’ve learned about Isaac. We hav
e to be at the Council meeting.”

“Why?” Noah asked.

Jack seemed to slow his own speech as if to counteract the impatience of his friends. “Name one place that is safe from Isaac.”

“Nowhere,” Shane muttered as she looked away from her pack-mates.

“Exactly!” Jack said quickly, making Shane jump a little; she hadn’t expected her response to be the correct answer. “Nowhere is safe. Isaac is far too well-connected in the Occult world. He’s a pack leader for Fate’s sake!”