Under My Skin (20 page)

Alec was officially blurting. Usually I had that honor. The burnt toast scent of his uncertainty, his nervousness, started my own pulse racing. I unfolded the tissue paper, while Kate loudly insisted that if I liked it,
she
had told Alec where to look. The tissue rustled in my hands. My clumsy fingers ripped the fragile paper in a few spots. Something tumbled onto my palm—an antique cross pendant, its dark patina embellished with vines and a single rose resting in the heart of the cross.

The silver cross etched itself into my palm as I examined it, but the burning pain barely registered. What Alec had said was true. We were lucky to have a few go-to defenses against vampires, all thanks to one of the original vampires, Judas, who’d betrayed his friend for a few silver coins. Ever since then, crosses and crucifixes repelled vampires. Holy water burned like acid, peeling away their preserved skin right down to the bone.

But the cross and its history wasn’t what had me riding a wave of emotions. With the crew sitting around me, waiting for my reaction, and the gift in my hands, I could almost trick myself that these were my people. That I belonged. Cared for and cared about.

But as the silver singed into my palm, foreboding—dark and overwhelming—settled in my stomach, destroying my fairytale moment. This was going to end badly. For all of us. I knew it, and yet I couldn’t walk away from Alec and Brit and Redgrave.

I could help. I refused to betray them in their hour of need. Loyalty could be so aggravating.

“So, do you?” Anxiety edged Alec’s words. “Like it, I mean. You can exchange it if you want. The shop is across the street.”

Our eyes met. I held his gaze. I needed to be watching him while I did this. More than a guy giving a girl a token present, this was acceptance on a silver cross platter. My heart on a spike.

“I love it,” I murmured, then put the leather cord around my neck, careful to hide the red welt in the center of my palm. The cross weighed me down like an oath, a promise I wore on my chest. It settled on my rust colored sweater in the dip between my breasts.

Kate and Brit made admiring noises, while Alec stared at the cross, watching it dip and slide with my every breath. Breath that came faster the longer he looked. He met my gaze again, his eyes dark with wanting. He flushed and grabbed his coffee mug.

“Like I said.” He shrugged casually.
Too
casually. “It will give you more protection against Wade and his father.”

Matt snorted. “Well, I’m glad that’s settled. Since it wasn’t a
present
or anything.”

Okay, maybe Matt didn’t exactly want me around.

Brit slapped his shoulder, her lips twisted in an exaggerated pout. “You know, you can get me
non-
presents like that anytime you want.”

I tuned out their banter as my heart pounded deep in my chest, like it could shatter me into a million pieces. Alec had given me a silver cross, an icon passed down through the ages from the ankh, the Egyptian symbol of life, to the Christian symbol of ultimate sacrifice. Meant to protect the innocent.

What protection existed for a creature that walked two worlds? Yet, belonged to none? Even now, with the heat of Alec’s cross burning through my sweater, that beastly blood boiled in my veins. No symbol, no matter how holy and reverent, prevented Wade and his sire from pursuing me. They knew I wasn’t human. Being half wolven ensured that in
my
case, the usual rules didn’t apply.

I was paranormal fair game.

And Lord help me, around Wade, I couldn’t think straight. Like I stood outside myself. Like maybe if Wade chased me, I’d enjoy getting caught. I had two hearts as well as two kinds of blood pulsing through me. I twisted in my chair, leaning heavily away from the crew, afraid Kate would pick up my emotions.

Crack
. The wooden armrest of my chair split under the shift in pressure. My body jerked.

Kate reached out to steady me.

“Oh,
now
I remember.” Kate laughed. “
That
one wobbles”—she pointed to the empty chair beside us—“and
this
one is totally falling apart.” The armrest now pointed due south, hanging by a rusted nail and a prayer. I tried to pop it back into place.

“Whoa, what happened to your hand?” Kate grabbed my forearm and twisted it none too gently. The armrest slipped from my fingers to swing from the nail, exposing my palm. The imprint of the cross appeared as a raw, festering welt on my flesh.

“Nothing.” My chest tight with apprehension, I used some wolven strength, attempting to yank my wrist from her grasp, but Kate held on. The others, still razzing Alec about exactly what constituted a guy-to-girl present, hadn’t noticed the tug-of-war over my hand.

Kate’s amused expression faded. She studied me for a moment. Her power simmered in the air around us.

The hair on my neck vibrated with the mystical charge. My arm tingled strangely under her touch. I held my breath and braced for a blast of witch’s magic. For her to denounce me to the crew. To Alec.

But the air stilled, and Kate only folded my fingers into a fist, hiding the wound.

“Liar,” she mouthed and removed her hands.

I released my breath in a shuddering sigh.

“You know, boys,” Kate said, interrupting Matt and Brit’s fun, “it’s too bad your mother doesn’t come into town. Marie hasn’t met Eryn yet, has she? I know she’d love her. Eryn seems like a real straight shooter, and Marie’s so big on honesty and hunter loyalty.”

I cringed at her pointed words.

Matt snorted. “Mom avoids Redgrave the way fugitives avoid donut shops.” He angled his chin toward me. “Not even the chance to tell Alec I-told-you-so about Eryn lured her to town.”

Alec shifted on the couch, glaring at his brother. I frowned. Matt had taunted Alec before about their mother. That she had revealed a secret about me. But what?

Brit tapped her watch-less wrist. “I hate to break up the Alec burnfest, but I can’t miss my English midterm next period.”

Kate made a face. “You’re all business today.” She glanced at me. “Eryn, I asked Brit to bring you here today to give you a warning. Your uncle has a reputation as a do-gooder. Lawyer, married to a kindergarten teacher, upstanding citizen, quick to lend a helping hand. But this time his do-gooding has landed him in the middle of a paranormal hailstorm.” She took a sip of her black coffee. “Covens from all over the area are heralding a substantial increase in activity. It’s like paranorms are relocating. Seeking untried ground.”

“Exactly.” Alec twisted on the couch, his face intent. “That’s where your uncle comes in, Eryn, with his clients being run off their land. I did some checking at city hall, made like I was interested in working construction for the summer. They told me the real estate market was booming, so I’d get a job no problem. Seems Harbinger bought up most of the ranches and available properties surrounding Redgrave.”

Matt shook his head. “What do they want with Redgrave? Most people can’t wait to get out of this town.”

“There’s the appeal,” Kate said. “An isolated population, miles of unclaimed territory…” She focused on me again. “Eryn, one more thing’s been bugging me about your vision.” She waved a hand when I started to protest. “I mean your
dream
. Did Wade’s mother say anything to you? Give you some clue of her intent?”

“What do you mean,
her intent
?”

Kate’s gaze locked on mine. “Did she give you a message? A warning?”

I kept my face blank. “No,” I lied. “She cloaked me so Wade and Logan wouldn’t detect my presence, and then she…died.”

Matt snorted, his face a mask of disgust. “You mean Wade killed her.”

I shot him a dark look. “Yes, but he had no control over what he was doing.”

Alec’s head snapped up at that. I swallowed and pushed back the sudden rush of images—the witch demanding I watch her fate unfold, telling me only I could save her son. Wade feasting at his mother’s neck. The torment on his face when he realized what he’d done.

“That’s all I can tell you, Kate.” I leaned on the chair’s only secure armrest. “That’s all that happened.”

Kate sighed and shifted in her chair. Like she knew I was holding back and was disappointed I didn’t trust her or the crew enough to tell the truth. How easy was I to read?

“For her to spend all that effort, use most of her magic, and then not communicate her will. It doesn’t make sense…” Kate shrugged. “So, what’s the game plan?” she asked Alec. “Tonight’s the full moon, the werewolves will be at their strongest. If more beasts are going to be made, it will happen at midnight.”

“The witching hour,” I noted. “Why does so much of what we do come back to clichés?”

Kate smiled. “Well, all clichés originate in some truth. That’s why they keep cropping up. At the witching hour magical energies and
other
paranormal strengths peak.” She paused and met my gaze. I could feel her willing me to tell the crew what I was. “You might want to make a mental note.”

“Speaking of mental notes—” I tapped my finger to my temple, hoping no one noticed how unsteady that finger was. “I almost forgot. I had a bizarre bathroom confessional with Olivia today.”

“You did?” Brit’s eyes widened. “When?”

“After art history.”

Brit leaned back in the couch. Her black lined lips slanting down at the corners. “You have to learn to share. You never tell me anything good.”

Kate shot me another pointed glance, I looked quickly away. She could hint all she wanted. I wasn’t ready.

“Anyway, Olivia told me Travis got this weird tattoo right before he disappeared.” I plucked a napkin from the metal dispenser. “Anyone got a pen?”

Kate handed me the one tucked behind her ear.

I sketched out the wolf-and-skull image from art class. “We both—I mean, Olivia wigged out when Stantial showed the class a bunch of slides from Rome. This was one of them. An emblem painted on a limestone wall.” I omitted the part about the wall and the painting being exactly like the mental barrier I’d used to block Wade. They didn’t need to know about Wade’s stroll through Eryn-land. When I was done, I spun the napkin around so the others could see.

I expected the sketch to get a reaction—energy sizzled through my fingertips from drawing the image—but I didn’t expect Brit to gasp and bury her face in Matt’s shoulder.

“What?” Matt wrapped his arms around her. “Brit, what is it?”

“My brother, Blake, had the same tattoo done a few days before he died.” Brit said, her voice muffled against Matt’s chest.

Kate examined the sketch. “This is old, powerful.” She dropped the napkin on the table. “It’s a brand. Those who bear it are marked.”

“Marked?” Matt kept his arm tight around Brit’s shoulders. “As in they didn’t have those tattoos done willingly?”

I shrugged. “Oh, they probably got them willingly enough. Or thought they did. Olivia made it sound like Travis had gone from hating tattoos to being obsessed with them—with that one anyway.” I avoided Brit’s gaze as she peered at me from the haven of Matt’s arms. “Stantial said scholars think it’s an emblem for a warrior cult that thought they were descended from werewolves.” I swallowed hard. “Lots of shapeshifters trace their origins to Rome.” I didn’t mention I knew this because my mother was one of those shapeshifters.

Brit tugged free of Matt and shifted to face me, her eyes swimming in black-washed tears. “Blake would never have gotten that tattoo if he’d known…”

I reached out and grabbed her hand. “I know. Whoever gave him and the others the design for that tattoo sure didn’t show them the fine print.”

“And that would be?” Alec raised a brow.

“Get branded with that thing, and you’ve agreed to become one of them. A werewolf.”

Brit’s face crumpled, and Matt glared at me as if everything was my fault.

But he wasn’t the one with gory images flashing through his head. Someone, or
something
, had beamed the werewolf mark into my mind. Why?

I made myself meet Brit’s fixed stare. At least she’d stopped crying. I couldn’t have asked her what I had to if there’d been tears. “I know this is a painful topic, Brit…but…your brother died about six months ago, right? And from what everyone says, that’s around the same time peoples’ pets started to disappear.”

Brit nodded and rubbed her arms as if warding off a chill. “Blake died in a car accident, so everyone says. It happened during my dad’s shift, and he arrived first at the scene. He said Blake was a mess. His body all mangled.” She swiped at her running nose. “He said Mom and I didn’t have to see him. We didn’t want to. Who would want to see their brother, their son, like that? I wanted to remember him alive, strutting around the house with that huge ego of his, stinky feet and all.”

Brit crumpled into Matt again. This must be crazy hard for her to deal with. It would be worse if I told her my father had been working on a cure for wolven that might have worked on werewolves too. How did I tell her there was a wafer-thin chance to save her brother when I had no idea where my father had stored his anti-were stash? After my parents disappeared, I found no trace of his work in the house or at the pharmaceutical company. Which accounted for the freaky things happening to me lately. Had the drugs only suppressed my wolf? Or had they altered it somehow? The changes I’d been experiencing…were they normal for wolven?