CSPWDT - Dead Things #1 - ch. 9-16 (Patreon)

Chapter 9

Ember

When Ember came to, the world was a blurry swirl of color, everything out of focus like she was viewing her surroundings through a dirty window. Her head throbbed, and her tongue felt like she’d dragged it across a carpet.

She noted the rather comfortable couch beneath her and the sound of agitated voices carrying from the other room.

“So, you thought you’d just disregard everything we’ve ever been taught and bring her here without consulting any of us, without consulting our alpha?” asked a male voice she didn’t recognize.

“What should we have done? Left her to die?” That voice was clearly Kai.

“Yes!” the other male shouted. “You are a reaper. That is your sole purpose for existing, remember? That is the textbook definition of what you were supposed to do, dumbass. You help people who are going to die to…die.”

Ember winced at the lame ending to what had started out as a scathing comeback.

“You don’t get it, Rhys. Tristin screamed. She screamed for her. That means something.” Kai sounded almost frantic as he pleaded, “It has to mean something. Besides, she’s family, man.”

There was a snort of disgust. “We have no idea what your sister’s screams mean. We don’t know anything at all about banshees. How could you be this stupid? You brought her here, and you don’t even know who she is. You don’t know what she is. Do you ever think before you act?” There was a sigh of exasperation. “It’s not always about you. You don’t get to just make your own decisions and let the rest of us clean up after you.”

“Oh, screw you,” Kai snarled. “I’m sorry I care about people. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stand by and watch my family member get slaughtered. I’m sure you would have just grabbed some popcorn and enjoyed the show, but we can’t all be heartless robots. I’d say it must be a wolf thing, but since the rest of the pack have feelings, I guess it’s just a you thing. You’re such a dick.”

“And you’re too reckless. Where is this girl going to stay? Here? We’re not running an orphanage for homeless paranormal teens. There’s not a lot of room here at the inn as of late. You’re lucky the pack lets you two even stay here. Isa is going to kill you when she finds out.”

“We have six bedrooms, and your sister will understand. Ember’s my family. You don’t abandon your family. Even someone like you should be able to get that. There aren’t many of us left.”

Having heard enough, Ember risked sitting up, unable to stifle the groan that slipped from her lips as the world tilted on its axis. They both glanced at her sharply. Kai grimaced, looking at her with apprehension.

The other boy glowered at her, a sneer pulling sharply at one overly pouty lip. He was one of the largest guys she’d ever seen. His eyes were moss green and shone, like they were lit from within. He was all heavy brows and squared jaw. She supposed he was good-looking if you liked that Spartan warrior look. Despite the fact that he was currently glaring at her like he had homicide on his mind—which was apparently her new type—he wasn’t really doing it for her. Maybe it was the skull-splitting headache pounding behind her temples. Maybe it was because he looked like he wanted to murder her newfound family member.

Rhys cocked his head to the side like a German Shepard and smirked at Kai. “Hope you know what you’re going to tell my sister because she just pulled up.”

He pushed past her cousin, body checking him into the banister as he passed. Kai stumbled but recovered, having braced for the impact. How often did the other boy shove him around? He glanced at her, giving her a tight smile that was probably supposed to be encouraging. Mostly, he just looked terrified. He walked out of her line of vision.

A door opened and closed in rapid succession. “Hey, Isa—” Kai began. There was a muffled oomph, followed by a squeak, and then the blur of a body flying past the doorway, followed by another fast moving shadow.

The crash that followed sounded suspiciously like splintering wood and shattering glass. She was on her feet before her brain even registered the decision, carrying her to the next room. The crash was the coffee table, currently crushed beneath her cousin. On top of him was a woman. Well, she was definitely female, though the elongated teeth currently at his neck were undeniably not human.

She felt herself nodding to nobody in particular as she made peace with the realization that her cousins weren’t crazy. The supernatural was real, and there was, given the conversation she’d overheard, a werewolf about to tear her cousin apart.

“Isa, I can explain,” Kai panted, his hands held up in surrender, his throat bared in submission. She’d seen that on Animal Planet. “Please, please, please just let me explain.”

Isa growled—she honest to goodness growled—low in her throat. “Oh, too late for that, buttercup. Your sister already filled me in.”

He looked dismayed at this new information. Isa didn’t wait for further explanation; she slammed him once and then again against the wood remnants. He sucked in a pained breath. “Careful,” he grunted. “I know you’re mad, but I don’t heal like a wolf. Fragile human-like physique here.”

Another snarl. “You’re not a human,” she hissed. “You’re a reaper and an absolute idiot. Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Give me one reason why I shouldn’t just tear you apart and feed you to the rest of the pack, like reaper tar-tar?”

“I’m probably really gamey, like free range venison,” he joked. The low rumble that emanated from the wolf made Ember’s blood run cold. Kai whimpered.

Ember’s heart rabbited against her ribs, an entire drum line pounding against her skull. If this wolf killed Kai, Ember was probably next. Perspiration trickled between her shoulder blades and beaded at her hairline. Why was it so hot in there? She pulled at her dampening sweater, desperate for any kind of relief.

Kai’s hand was on his neck where a tiny bit of blood dotted his skin. “Come on, Isa. I know you’re mad, but you’re not going to kill me. If you want to kick my ass, just do it so we can move on.”

The girl leaned back a little, still straddling his waist, arms folded across her chest. Kai sat up slightly, resting his weight on his forearms. “Aren’t you even a little curious as to how she popped up on my list when she’s supposedly been dead for twelve years?”

At that, the wolf turned to glance in Ember’s direction.

Ember’s gasp was a reflex. There was no other response when faced with glowing gold eyes, a slightly elongated nose, and a low drooping brow. She felt her mouth fall open. She prayed she didn’t do something completely uncool, like wet her pants. She fought to keep her hands to herself and not reach out to touch the creases that marred the girl’s heavily furrowed brow. She was equal parts terrified and fascinated.

As she watched, the wolf tossed her head back, shaking her hair like she was in an ad for fancy conditioner. Her long tresses flowed, slightly obscuring her face, but they didn’t hide the way her features shifted, bones sliding under the skin, righting themselves until her features looked entirely human.

“Awesome,” Ember whispered before she could stop herself.

She dropped heavily into the high-backed chair behind her, gawking at Isa. She was gorgeous when she wasn’t shifted and snarling with murderous rage. She wasn’t tall like Rhys. She was tiny, but Ember could still see the resemblance. They were both beautiful, with dark hair, impeccable bone structure, and insanely long lashes. They also shared the same startling green eyes. Ember’s hands itched to sketch them.

Isa cocked her head in that same canine way Rhys had earlier, though she didn’t appear to be listening for something; she seemed to be concentrating. Ember fought not to shrink under the wolf’s weighted gaze. Dogs can sense fear, she reminded herself. She bit down on her lower lip. She didn’t think they’d appreciate a dog joke.

“So,” the older girl began. “You’re claiming that you are November Lonergan.”

Ember floundered, not sure how she should answer. She opted for the truth. “Um, I never claimed to be anybody. I was minding my own business when I was assaulted in a cemetery,” she said, wincing apologetically in Kai’s direction. Isa snapped her gaze to Kai, her look mutinous. Kai’s eyes widened, and he shrank from the wolf. “No, not him,” Ember clarified quickly. “Kai didn’t attack me… Theydidn’t attack me. Some hot, sullen guy with major bedhead did.” Her heart did a weird little flip-flop as she pictured Mace. If that was even his real name. She tried to explain. “Well, he was going to. Attack me, that is. He, um, well, he talked about attacking me. Actually, first, he just insulted me a lot…then he talked about killing me but, like, in a weird flirty way.” The she-wolf was looking progressively more confused. “I guess that’s not really important. Kai and Tristin found me and saved me.”

“She’s definitely one of them,” Rhys muttered, materializing in the doorway. “She rambles as bad as he does.”

She flipped up her middle finger in his direction with a glare, hoping it wasn’t the last thing she ever did. He snorted, rolling his eyes.

There was a clatter from the front room, and all eyes swung towards the door. Ember was prepared for almost anything but what she saw.

Chapter 10

Mace

Mace wasn’t sure exactly how long he lay on the ground, clutching his throbbing head. He wasn’t sure about much, really. He didn’t know how they’d found her, he didn’t know where they’d taken her, and he didn’t know which one had wielded the blow that felled him. He did know, however, that he’d happily beat them to death the next time he saw them. If he could just get off the ground. It was his own fault for indulging his curiosity.

His phone rang in his pocket, which felt miles away from his hand for some reason. Whatever the girl had hit him with—hellebore, he suspected—was potent. Ember had been worth it, though. She was something. He groaned, attempting to right himself before thinking better of it and lying back down, staring at the stars as they swam in and out of focus.

If he didn’t answer, there was an excellent chance they would send somebody else to follow the girl. Possibly someone with even looser morals than he had. If such a person existed, he didn’t want them anywhere near his newest hobby.

He’d met plenty of fascinating girls over the years. He wouldn’t be so trite as to say she was different. They had all been unique in some way. This girl, though, she was a bit of a mystery. He should’ve known better than to make assumptions, but he’d thought she would be meek and quiet. His intentions had been pure. He’d only wanted a conversation, but when she’d asked if he’d planned to kill her, he just had to know how she’d respond.

She surprised him. He wouldn’t let her surprise anybody else. She was his. He had to know more about her. His magic wanted hers, and it seemed the feeling was mutual. If he wanted to keep her, he didn’t have much choice. With great effort, he pulled his phone from his pocket.

“Mace,” he said.

“What did you do?” He held the phone away from his ear, wincing at the pain that shot through his skull at Echo’s definitely-not-flirting tone.

“What?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“You had one job, Mace. Watch and report.”

“I’m sorry. I realize I’m two hours late with my check-in, but I assure you there was nothing to tell,” he lied smoothly.

I just disobeyed a direct order, threatened a girl, got hit with some supernatural pepper spray, and was left for dead in a cemetery. Nope. Nothing at all to report.

“We happen to know otherwise.”

“Do you?” he asked. “Fascinating. What is it you know?”

“Do you think this is a game?” she whispered.

“It’s all a game.” He grunted as he pushed himself into a sitting position, reclining against the stone building at his back.

“It isn’t a game to some of us. I get that you get some sick thrill out of flirting with a lifetime of torment, but some of us would like to keep our skin on our bodies.”

His eyelid twitched. “I’m not interested in any of us losing our skin, least of all myself. I just don’t like secrets, and you and I both know there’s no reason for him to have chosen me for this job unless he has something else in mind for this girl.”

“So, what?”

His eyebrows shot up. “So, what? It doesn’t bother you that he might want to kill an innocent human?”

Echo snorted. “Oh, please. Since when do you care if people are innocent? You’ve lived off innocent humans for over a century. Are you suddenly developing a conscience?”

“I’m only saying I don’t understand why I’m being kept out of the loop. Shouldn’t I have all the information if I’m going to keep tabs on this girl?”

“This isn’t a loop. It’s a ladder, and you’re on the bottom rung, so just do what you’re told before you get us killed, yeah?”

“Wow. Time has made you bitter, Echo.”

“Listen to me; you go find that girl. You do exactly as you’re told and not one thing more. Do I make myself clear?”

“Mm, no. I don’t think so, m’dear,” he said, happy that she couldn’t see him grimacing. “New plan. Tell the man upstairs I want to speak to him directly.”

She laughed, hard and loud. “That will never happen.”

“Tell him I want to speak to him now or I’ll just rip the girl’s throat out and be done with it. I am, after all, the only one who knows her whereabouts.”

“Are you crazy?”

He felt a little bad. The poor dear sounded panic-stricken.

“Do it, Echo. This conversation is starting to bore me, and we both know what happens when I get bored. I promise you, the girl didn’t go far. Tick tock.”

“Hold,” she said, leaving him listening to a surprisingly jaunty tune. He always expected the bad guys to have darker taste in music, but he supposed that was stereotyping.

Time crept by as Mace listened to all the hits from the classics to today. He stared up at the stars, the shapes still bleeding in and out of focus, hoping that his supernatural hangover would soon dissipate. His eyelids were starting to droop when a voice came on the line.

“Mace.” The voice hissed his name like a snake. “I knew giving you this job was a mistake. I knew you were reckless, but I didn’t think you were suicidal. You will not touch that girl unless I say. Is that understood?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes. I’ll be tortured, maimed, and you’ll cut out my heart, rend the flesh from my bones. Blah, blah, blah. Just tell me what she is and I’ll go back to being creepy-lurking-in-the-shadows guy until you let me off my leash.”

“Excuse me?”

“What is she? You must know. That’s why you’ve been waiting for her powers to show, right? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

There was a long pause. “So, she did come into her power? I knew it,” the other man muttered under his breath. “Were you planning on telling Echo this?”

“I wanted to tell you directly. I’m not one for middle management. Too much room for error. I think if this arrangement is going to work, I should just speak directly to you.”

“I’m not entirely sure where you got the idea that you’re the one making decisions around here, but I assure you that is not the case. I’ll just hire somebody else to watch the girl. Someone who knows how to take orders.”

“What do you think that somebody will do when they get a taste of her magic? I can tell you, whatever she is, she’s powerful and a bit out of control. It seems like she might be quite a weapon with a little bit of training. Do you really trust anybody else with her? Besides, she and I really hit it off quite nicely.” He thought back to their brief interaction. “I believe she likes me.”

“You disobeyed a direct order and talked to the girl?”

He smiled at that. “Oh, come on. You had to know I would. You can’t dangle a hunk of meat in front of a lion and not expect it to at least give it a sniff.”

There was a snort from the other end of the line. “I can’t figure out if you’re a genius or one of the stupidest people I’ve ever met.”

“It varies from day to day,” he reasoned. “But I’m not wrong. We wouldn’t want your fancy new toy falling in with a bad crowd, would we?”

There was a long pause and then, “I want you to make friends with her. Get her to trust you. Do nothing else until I say. Nothing, Mace. Until further notice, that girl is your new best friend. Are we clear?”

“Crystal, sir. Crystal.”

Chapter 11

Ember

A disheveled, fair-skinned boy appeared, practically falling into the room as if gravity itself worked against him. Rhys shook his head, using just one hand to right the boy, sighing as if this was something that happened all the time. The boy glared at the doorframe as if it had tripped him before righting the navy blue beanie cap perched on his russet hair.

The new boy took in the scene, his amber eyes narrowing in confusion, before he pushed his black-frame glasses up the bridge of his nose, almost like a nervous tic. Kai gave a half-hearted wave from his position beneath Isa. The new kid gave a wary one-fingered salute back, moving to the side of the room where he would be out of the line of fire.

Behind him, another boy followed. He walked with every bit of grace and confidence the first one lacked. He had the build of an athlete and biceps the size of her head. His hair was close-cropped, almost to the scalp, and his complexion was the same melted copper of some of the Creole kids she grew up with in the French Quarter. But his eyes…his arctic blue eyes were a starling contrast surrounded by thick black lashes. He wore a pair of baggie jeans and a sleeveless gray hoodie. He hovered at the edge of the room, hands buried deep in his pockets like he was cold.

She was no expert on the supernatural, but from what she could tell, the wolves’ eyes all seemed to glow slightly, which meant the clumsy boy wasn’t a wolf. His eyes were amber behind those square frames, beautiful but human.

“Where are the others?” Isa asked, tone sharp.

“Harpy,” Donovan said as if it explained everything.

Clearly, it did because Isa huffed an aggravated sigh.

Hoodie wolf’s gaze fell on Ember, and a huge smile split his face. “Is this her?”

He rushed forward. She shrank back, bracing for an attack. Instead, he leaned close, pressing his nose against her neck, before inhaling deeply. Her skin crawled, her muscles tensed. His hands braced on either side of her head, boxing her in as he took his time snuffling at her, like an overeager puppy. People really needed to stop smelling her.

“What isshe?” he asked wondrously to nobody in particular.

Her head throbbed. Was he kidding? What was she? What the hell were they? What was she doing here? She was not a pet. She shoved hard, only briefly admiring the wall of his chest muscles as she pushed him. He didn’t even budge, though he did grunt a bit.

“Uh, dude,” the pale boy said. “I know we’ve never really lived in the outside world, but humans out there don’t like being sniffed. They think it’s strange.”

The guy in front of her laughed like that was the weirdest thing he’d ever heard, but he backed off. She glared at him. “Yeah, that’s right. We don’t.” She pulled her legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around herself and wiping her sweaty forehead on her sweater sleeve. “Here’s a short list of other things we don’t like. Being kidnapped. Being driven over state lines. Being the only human in a room full of supernatural freaks. Being stared at by said supernatural freaks like they’re contemplating whether I’m their next snack or a nifty science project.”

As her last sentence died off, silence filled the room, growing awkwardly until Hoodie McSnifferwolf turned to Isa earnestly and said, “I like her, Isa. I like her so much. Please tell me we can keep her. This place is so boring, and she’s”—he sighed—”awesome.”

He suddenly seemed to remember his manners. He thrust out his hand. “I’m Donovan.”

She stared at him blankly, brain fighting to keep up with his odd behavior. She took his hand before dropping it, his skin scalding against her already overheated skin. “You’re hot,” she gasped.

He winked at her. “Thanks. You too.”

“That’s not wh—” she started.

“Ignore him,” Black Glasses said. “He has no manners at all.” He walked forward, clumsily sticking his hand out for her to shake. He flinched when she took his hand. “I’m Quinn, and given the way everybody in this room is reacting to you right now, I’m about ninety-eight percent positive that I’m the only human in this room.”

There was a shuffling outside the room, and two more people hurried through the door, Tristin trudging along behind them resentfully. “Did we miss it?” a male voice asked, sounding more curious than disappointed.

Ember gaped. More stunningly good looking people. A petite girl with long platinum hair and huge pixie-like eyes stood just inside the doorway, leaning herself against Rhys, her back to his chest. They were a striking couple, like the kind you’d see on a romance novel cover. He wrapped an arm around the girl’s waist and used his other thumb to wipe at a weird green substance on her cheek.

“Harpy?” he asked.

“Harpy,” she confirmed in a soft bell-like voice.

The guy who arrived with her cousin and the pixie didn’t venture far from the door either. He stood, arms crossed, back against the wall, taking in the scene. He was tall and lean with hair the color of wheat. A rather impressive tattoo snaked up his right arm and disappeared under the sleeve of his t-shirt.

“Oh, come on,” Ember moaned, clutching her temples. “Do all wolves look like they escaped from a movie? Are you, like, supernatural models?”

Quinn snickered, crossing his arms over his chest, mimicking the older male. He moved to lean against the wall as well, flailing when he realized he’d miscalculated the distance.

She didn’t think this was funny at all. Did being supernatural make you supernaturally hot? Were they just genetically gifted? Was it years of breeding out flaws? Would she somehow get hotter since they thought she was something not quite human?

Maybe she could finally get rid of her freckles or that weird birthmark on the back of her neck or the slight gap in her front teeth. That would be awesome. There had to be some perks to being kidnapped by werewolves and whatever her cousins were.

Isa finally left her perch on top of Kai, kneeing him in the diaphragm as she did, most likely on purpose judging by the small smile playing at her lips. She walked over to the older guy with the spiky blond hair and planted a hard kiss on his lips. “Hey, babe.”

He smiled, wrapping his arms around her. He buried his face in her neck, growling softly. Ember knew she was staring, but she couldn’t look away. The man rubbed his cheek against Isa’s and made a strange sort of snuffling sound. Ember risked a glance at the others. Nobody seemed to think this was strange at all. Kai dusted wood and shards of glass off his butt and cracked his neck. Ember tried to school her features into a look that didn’t scream “what the hell” but knew she was failing miserably. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?”

Isa untangled herself from her boyfriend, dragging him to the sofa across from Ember’s chair. She shoved him down roughly and sort of draped herself across his lap. He just smiled dopily at her.

Jeez, these people didn’t care at all about personal space. Isa looked at Kai and Tristin each in turn. “Gather round, children,” Isa commanded the room, her voice daring somebody to argue. “It seems it’s story time. And, since Kai decided he can make decisions without his pack, he gets to be the one to fill us all in.” Kai at least had the decency to blush.

Tristin stayed against the wall near Quinn. Donovan sat in the mate to the chair Ember was sitting in. The pixie girl peeled herself away from Rhys and settled herself on the floor in front of Donovan. The boy began to run his hands along her back and shoulders, not even looking as he did so.

Kai sat on the couch next to Isa, like he wanted to be close to her but wasn’t sure if he was still in trouble. From the corner of her eye, Ember watched Rhys watch Kai. What was the story between those two?

Kai looked at his sister, clearly hoping for help. She smirked viciously instead. “Go ahead, Brother. It seems the floor is yours.”

Chapter 12

Ember

“I hope you weren’t planning on starting without me,” a voice asked from the doorway.

A man of about fifty sauntered into the room, casual in khakis and a button-down shirt. He had familiar eyes, hair graying at the temples, and a big fake smile on his lips that made Ember think he should be selling life insurance or used cars.

She didn’t know if he was friend or foe as his arrival sparked several different reactions among the rest of the group. Isa looked relieved. Quinn’s mouth turned down at the corners. Tristin shuffled closer to Rhys, who tucked her into his side, his bored expression never changing.

Kai looked like he might vomit.

Isa smiled. “Of course not, Allister. You’re just in time. We were just going to introduce ourselves to our new friend here, and then Kai was going to tell us exactly how screwed we are.”

“Excellent,” the older man said, smiling benevolently at her, earning a glare from Quinn.

Kai took a deep breath and blew it out slowly before nodding. “Uh, right, introductions,” he mumbled to himself. “So, um, this is Isa…Isa McGowan. She is the alpha werewolf of the Belladonna pack.” His voice shook as he continued, “This is her mate, Wren.” He gestured to the man beneath her. “Um, they’re, like, werewolf married…kind of.”

Isa slapped Kai’s arm and then stroked a hand through his hair. He leaned into the touch. “That’s Rhys,” he said, gesturing half-heartedly toward the broody wolf in the corner. “He’s Isa’s douchebag brother. He says he’s in charge of keeping everybody safe, but mostly, he just scowls and mopes and rolls his eyes.”

Everybody chuckled at Kai’s assessment except Rhys, who growled low at Kai. The alpha raised a brow at her brother, and the sound died with another eye roll. Ember wondered if it was possible to sprain an eye muscle.

“You’ve met Donovan; he’s an omega,” Kai said as if Ember knew what that meant. Donovan nodded towards her. Kai pointed to the blonde girl with the wide hazel eyes. “That’s Neoma. She’s an elemental. She came with Wren.”

Ember tried to keep up, she really did, but this was a lot of information for her foggy brain to digest. She’d seen enough movies to understand the werewolf part. The last introduction stymied her. “Elemental?”

“She’s fae,” Kai said.

Ember smiled weakly. At least she’d been right about that. “I thought you looked like a pixie.”

Neoma’s face fell, and Quinn laughed. “Oh, no. Faeries and pixies are not the same things. Pixies are nasty, violent little things…like Tinkerbell with fangs.” He crooked his fingers like snake teeth for emphasis. “Neoma is a faery, an elemental from the Orhenthral Court.”

“Oh, sorry.” Ember looked at Quinn. “What about you?”

It was Rhys who spoke up. “Oh, the human? Near as I can tell, his job is to eat all our food and distract him”—he gestured to Kai—”from providing any useful contribution.”

“You’re really just human?” Ember blurted.

They all gaped at her. Her face flushed, not sure what she’d said to deserve that look. Allister sneered at Quinn, and Quinn glowered back. The Allister guy seemed like kind of a douche. Tristin glared at Ember, gravitating towards Quinn like a magnet. The room seemed to be turning hostile. She tried to correct herself, wiping her brow. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It just seems like there aren’t a lot of humans around here.”

Staring down Allister, Quinn shrugged and said, “The town has been cloaked from the humans for their own protection. We get too many supernatural creatures roaming through this place. We have plenty of humans here, but they’re all born to magical families. Mine are witches. Talbot witches, actually. Now, that doesn’t mean anything to you, but we’re kind of a big deal in the supernatural world.” She wasn’t sure if he was joking. His face would suggest no.

“So, supernatural people are cool with humans?” That sounded promising. If she was a human. Of course, she was human. God, she hoped she was still human…didn’t she? Ember didn’t know anymore.

“Most supernatural families don’t care what their children are as long as they’re healthy. But some, say, from prestigious bloodlines like mine, tend to look down on humans.”

Ember nodded, but Quinn, still staring at Allister, didn’t notice.

“Despite what my brother thinks, Quinn contributes plenty around here, human or not,” Isa stated, eyes on Rhys, her tone denoting it as the end of the matter. Rhys was too busy glaring at Kai to notice. As far as Ember could tell, Rhys’s full-time job was watching Kai.

“So, yeah, that’s everybody,” Kai finished lamely.

Allister cleared his throat, and Kai looked embarrassed. “Oh, yeah, and this is Allister Talbot. He’s the head of the witches’ council and Quinn’s dad.”

“Oh,” Ember said. Well, that explained the hostility. She smiled sadly at Quinn. She could relate. She could write a book on daddy issues.

Isa spoke up, watching the older man. “Allister, this is the girl Kai saved. November Lonergan.”

Chapter 13

Kai

Kai almost laughed at the look on Allister’s face. Almost. The older man stumbled forward, stopping just in front of his cousin. “I…” Allister started. “How is this even possible? I mean, we all thought you were dead.”

“Nope, alive and well,” she said, her head lulling a bit on her shoulders. “Well, alive, anyway. Sort of.”

Allister studied her. “You do look just like them. Nobody could miss Seraphina or Samara when they were in the room. That hair…” He reached out a hand but caught himself. “Are you all right, my dear? You look…unwell.”

Unwell is generous, Kai thought. Her skin was chalk. She was sweating again like she had in the car, her pupils so dilated he could no longer see the irises of her eyes. The girl was definitely sick. Had she been bitten?

“I just feel shaky,” she promised. “It’s been a long night.”

“Yes, it has,” Isa said. “So, why don’t we let Kai tell us what happened?”

Kai couldn’t help it; he slid towards Isa before speaking. He needed her to not be mad at him. “I was in class this morning when I got a name for collection.” He shoved up his sleeve, tapping the blank space where Ember’s name had been just hours before. Ember leaned forward, her brow wrinkled in concentration. From a distance, his tattoo was a swirl of black ink starting just above his elbow and winding around his bicep. If you looked closer, though, the image consisted of names, all crammed together to create a pattern. The names of his collected.

“Hello?” Ember raised her hand as if she was in kindergarten. “Newbie, remember? What does that mean?”

“So, I’m a reaper. A collector, to be exact. I cross people over.” He felt his face flaming with embarrassment, though he didn’t know why. He thought about his next words. “When it’s somebody’s time to go, I collect their souls so that they can move on to the otherworld. Their name appears on my wrist, kind of like a tattoo. Once they’ve been collected and have passed through the veil, the name moves to its place in the design.” He gestured towards the swirl of names.

“That’s so cool,” she said, her eyes glassy but her tone reverent.

“This morning, it was Ember’s name. Her real name.”

“Where did you find her?” Allister asked as if Ember wasn’t sitting right there.

“New Orleans,” Tristin said.

“This whole time?” Allister pressed Ember. She nodded, frowning. “And your father, he’s…” He trailed off.

“Dead…since last week,” Ember mumbled.

He felt the mood of the room change. The wolves moved, drifting closer to each other and his cousin. They found comfort through contact.

“We’re very sorry for your loss, Ember. That’s terrible,” Isa said, giving her a sad smile.

His cousin nodded, shifting uncomfortably.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to backtrack a bit,” Wren said. “You’re in the middle of class and see a dead girl’s name on your arm, and you don’t question it? You didn’t think to call us?”

Kai’s mouth tightened. “Of course, I questioned it. She was dead. I knew it couldn’t be possible,” he told the room. “But her name was there.”

He looked at Ember, wincing at the words, explaining further. “As far as this town knew, you died twelve years ago with our moms and the others.”

She seemed to take this information in stride. Maybe she was in shock. “I didn’t know you existed, so I guess that makes us even,” she said.

He plunged on. “I was going to say something to Rhys,” Kai said, hoping his already erratic heartbeat would mask the lie. “But then, Tristin screamed.”

All eyes swung to his sister, whose eyes dropped at the weight of everybody’s stares. She slid herself to the floor, drawing her knees to her chest.

“Is that true, Tristin?” Allister asked. “Did you scream?”

She froze, looking to her brother for help.

“She did,” Rhys supplied. “I was there. She scared the crap out of our sixth-period math class.”

Isa looked like she wanted to skin Rhys alive. “If you were there, why am I only just hearing about this now?”

Rhys’s nostrils flared. “I was going to tell you, but then I was sent a text four pages long about the supplies for the twins’ birthday party this weekend. I figured they would tell you at work.”

“Wait,” Ember interrupted. “Your birthday is this weekend?”

“No, our birthday is today, like yours,” Kai said, glancing at the time on his phone. “Well, technically yesterday now.”

“We share the same birthday? How old are you?”

“Seventeen, like you.”

“Our moms had us on the same day?” Ember shook her head. “That’s really weird, right? Like, even in this world that’s gotta be weird.”

“We’ll get to that in a minute,” Isa said. “Tristin, you screamed…for Ember?”

“How should I know what I screamed for?” she grumbled, her posture defensive. “It’s not like I know what I’m doing or have any control over it.”

“Well, now. That is interesting,” Allister said, looking at Tristin with a smile that made Kai’s stomach feel squishy.

“The screaming is important because…why?” Ember prompted.

“Because Tristin is a reaper as well,” Allister supplied, his gaze still on Tristin. The added attention had Quinn sliding down the wall to put an arm around her.

“Are you a soul collector thingy like Kai?”

“There are many different types of reapers,” Quinn explained.

“Oh, so what type are you?” Ember asked.

“Banshee,” Tristin mumbled.

“Banshee?” Ember repeated. “Really? I thought banshees were old women who would wash the clothing of the soldiers destined to die in battle.”

Tristin narrowed her eyes at Ember. “You seem to know a lot about the supernatural for a girl raised with humans.”

“My father was a professor of Celtic mythology and occult studies. I grew up in New Orleans. I know more than you think,” Ember said. “Though, up until ten hours ago, my knowledge was entirely anecdotal.”

Isa gave her an assessing look before saying to Kai, “Continue.”

Kai looked like he was struggling to decide how to proceed. “I figured if Tristin screamed, it had to be something, right? Tristin hasn’t screamed since…well, in a really long time.” He cleared his throat. “Banshees are rare,” Kai supplied to Ember.

“How rare?” Ember asked, looking to Tristin.

Tristin’s mouth tightened into a grim line, her eyes fixed on the floor. “Like, as far as we know, I’m the only one still in existence.”

Quinn squeezed her tighter. She half-heartedly tried to shake it off, but he held on until she deflated against him. “That just makes you more special,” he said. Tristin hmph’d but said nothing.

“My son is correct. You’re unique. That makes you special. You screaming is a good thing. It means you didn’t lose your powers; they were just dormant.”

“You thought you lost your powers?” Ember asked.

Tristin shrugged but remained silent.

Ember looked puzzled. “But, even if you are the only one, somebody must have information on your powers. On what you are. There have to be records, books, databases.”

Kai watched as Allister puffed out his chest. “Of course, the Council has records, and she can petition them to give her access to information concerning banshees when she’s eighteen.”

Ember’s forehead furrowed, and she blinked like she was trying to clear her vision. “I don’t get it. Why does she have to be eighteen? Can’t you just go to your local library and google information on banshees?”

Allister’s eyes narrowed. “I’m sure this all seems confusing to you, but you have to understand, Ember, information about our kind is highly sensitive and dangerous in the wrong hands. As such, the Grove has restricted access to any information concerning our kind until adulthood.”

Quinn snorted. “Adulthood? You mean if you’re an adult witch. Even then, it’s not likely to get you anywhere. Requesting information from the Grove is like asking the government about Area 51. You’ll get back a bunch of papers covered in black sharpie. Everything’s classified.”

Kai felt for his friend. It physically hurt Quinn not to have access to the thousands of years of knowledge hidden in the Grove library.

“Okay, I understand it’s dangerous, but how do you ban books. I mean, they’re books. Don’t people have a right to that information?”

There was no hiding Quinn’s bitterness. “You would think that, this being America and all, but no, not in our world. If you aren’t a witch, you are a second-class citizen. Only the witches can be trusted.”

“But that’s crazy? How can that be possible?” Ember asked.

She was right. It was crazy. It hadn’t always been like that. There was a time when information was free. Back when his mother and aunt ran the Council. Back before whatever happened to cause the Council to close ranks and shut out all supernatural creatures but the witches.

Allister shifted uncomfortably. “It’s a long story, Ember, and it’s getting late. The Grove keeps the information well hidden for the protection of all,” Allister said as if he rehearsed the line in front of his mirror at night. “Can we please focus on what brought you to us?”

“Weird,” was her only response.

Kai cleared his throat, startling the room back to attention. “So, after Tristin screamed, I showed her Ember’s name. We both decided we should go to New Orleans and see for ourselves. We had to know if it was really her.”

“Isa,” Allister said. “It seems you are not keeping a close enough eye on your pack. Should I be concerned? The consequences of this little excursion could’ve been catastrophic. They still might be.”

Isa flinched like he’d slapped her before she steeled her spine, looking at Kai then Tristin. “He’s right. You should’ve come to me first. You know we can’t travel through another alpha’s territory without permission. You could’ve caused a ton of trouble for the pack,” Isa scolded. She looked to the others. “Nobody is to travel outside of this town without my express permission. I thought that was clear, but it seems I was mistaken.”

Kai couldn’t bring himself to look at Isa. “I never had to clear a collection with you before. And besides, like I said, we didn’t really know if it was real.”

Rhys shook his head. “That just makes it worse. You didn’t think it was weird that your dead cousin’s name popped up for collection in another state? You didn’t stop to think it might be a trap? When have you ever had to travel that far for a collection? Nothing about this made sense, and yet, your first instinct was to say, ‘Screw it, let’s just see what happens?’ That’s not how the pack works.”

Kai set his jaw. “Well, as you like to tell me all the time, we’re not really part of the pack, are we?”

“Enough,” Wren barked from beneath the alpha. “No more distractions. Just finish telling us what happened. This is giving me a headache.”

“When we got there, she had attracted the attention of some kind of grim.”

Eyebrows shot up all around the room. “What kind?” Neoma asked, crawling closer to Kai like a child excited the teacher was finally getting to the good part of the storybook.

Kai shrugged. “Not sure. Vampire, maybe an incubus, random demon of unknown origin?”

“Whatever he was, he was certainly interested in her, and it looked like the feeling was mutual,” Tristin supplied.

Ember looked embarrassed, ducking her head. “Grim?”

“It’s just our code word for anything supernaturally bad. We made it up; it’s not in the official handbook,” Kai explained.

“There’s a handbook?” Ember asked.

Kai smiled. “I was kidding.”

“Oh,” Ember said, disappointed.

Isa jerked forward, and Wren hissed in discomfort. “Let’s get back to the grim. Was he looking for her? Or did he just happen upon her?” When Wren moved her, she patted his face. “Sorry, babe.”

“I don’t know,” Kai said, shrugging helplessly.

Isa’s eyes shot to Ember. “Have you ever seen this creature before?”

Ember shook her head, goosebumps erupting over her skin. “I don’t feel s’good,” she said, the words sloppy, like her tongue was refusing to cooperate with her brain. She tugged at the collar of her sweater.

Kai looked to Isa, not sure what was happening or what they should do about it. Ember was drenched in sweat, a near impossibility in a house that kept its air conditioning set to seventy degrees to offset the wolves’ elevated body temperatures.

Donovan moved closer to his cousin, putting a hand on her forehead. She didn’t try to move away. In fact, she swayed closer. “Isa, she’s burning up.”

“It’s so hot in here,” Ember mumbled, yanking off her sweater and revealing a wet black tank top that emphasized her corpse-like pallor. “S’anybody else hot?”

“Ember?” Isa pushed Donovan out of the way, clasping Ember’s face in her hands. “Ember? What’s happening here? Are you okay? Did that thing do something to you? Did it bite you or scratch you? Ember, honey, stay with me. This is important.”

Ember blinked unfocused eyes at the alpha, looking at her like she’d never seen her before. Suddenly, Ember bolted forward, surprising Isa and causing her to stumble back.

Ember lurched to her feet, her head swiveling in every direction, before she clutched her stomach, a look of dread on her face. “I’m so sorry,” she managed before vomiting a foul black sludge onto Isa’s ancient and expensive Persian rug.

The alpha had just enough time to look dismayed before she caught Ember’s limp body.

Chapter 14

Ember

Ember was in the ocean, all alone in the frigid, black water. She floated upon gently cresting waves, eyes narrowed against the blinding white sky above. Water filled her ears, blocking all but the sound of her steadily thudding heartbeat. The freezing water was lovely, a balm to the scorching heat of her skin.

It was a dream. It had to be. It couldn’t be anything else. But she’d stay like this forever, happily floating in a vacuum of silence and nothingness, if it meant she could keep this feeling of serenity. But the universe had other plans. Frantic voices, muffled and far away, shattered her peace. She tried to protest, but a heavy weight descended on her, sucking her under the surface. She gasped, arms thrashing, water filling her nose and mouth as she scratched and fought against her unseen attacker.

Her dreams never felt this real before. Panic clawed at her chest. Each time she broke the surface for a much-needed breath, she was shoved back down. There was no traction, nothing to hold onto. She had to wake up. She had to wake up or she was going to die.

She forced her eyes open, viewing the world from beneath a foot of water. She wasn’t dreaming. Amorphous shapes moved above her, and a large hand held her under. She began to struggle anew, her screams bubbling through the water.

Then it was gone.

Her arms flailed as she broke the surface, coughing and sputtering, forcing water from her burning lungs. Her brain was swimming, and she fought to stay conscious.

Were they trying to kill her?

She looked around, trying to make sense of what was happening. Three things occurred to her at once: she was in a bathtub, she was in her underwear, and she wasn’t alone. Kai, Tristin, Quinn, and Rhys were against the far wall, arms akimbo, limbs entangled as if thrown across the room. Three of them stared at her in horror, but Quinn smiled like he had a secret. She opened her mouth to ask why they were doing this, but she only choked up more water. Her world started to go black at the edges, narrowing as she started to slip beneath the water.

The last thing she heard was Quinn saying, “Take her out. She’s had enough.”

When she woke again, she was in somebody else’s clothes and tucked into an unfamiliar bed. Quinn sat in a wooden chair next to her. He was pouring powders into a steaming cup. “Oh, good, you’re awake. Drink this.”

Ember squinted her eyes at him, sitting up with effort. Her whole body ached. “What is it?” She sniffed the cup suspiciously. “Is this some kind of potion? I thought they said you were human.”

“It’s true. I am but a simple, useless human.” She arched a brow in his direction. He sighed. “Sorry, it’s not witchcraft; it’s just herbs. Some yarrow tea with a few other things thrown in. I’m hoping it will help with your fever—even though I’m pretty sure this isn’t the flu.”

She sipped the tea, wincing at the taste. “You don’t seem useless.” As far as she could tell, Quinn was the only one with any real information.

“Sorry,” he said again, blushing. “I’m not always this annoying. My father tends to put me in this mood.”

She nodded. “I can relate.”

“Anyway, since we don’t have a hospital around here, and our healer sort of parted ways with her grip on reality eighteen months ago, I do what I can.”

“Did she train you?”

“I trained me. I have an IQ higher than Einstein and an eidetic memory. I could probably teach myself open-heart surgery with the right YouTube video.”

“So, you take care of everybody?”

“I don’t know about that. I keep them alive. It’s not like we can go to the local hospital with a werewolf scratch or a vampire bite.”

He sounded a little defensive, like he was used to having to justify himself and his usefulness. She didn’t say anything, watching as he jostled small bottles and vials in the box at his feet. His human brown eyes were almost luminous in the dim lighting of the room. He had freckles spattered across his cheeks, and he still wore those black frame glasses. He had a sweetness to his face the others’ didn’t.

“So, I had a fever? Is that why you tried to drown me?” she finally asked.

He grinned at her. “Technically, I made Rhys try to drown you.”

She couldn’t help but smile back. “Awesome, thanks. All my future nightmares will be so much more vivid.”

“Normally, you don’t plunge somebody into ice water to help a fever, but yours was so high I took a chance. There was no way we could take you to a hospital with a fever that high. Any human would have been dead.”

“So, I’m definitely not human?” It was weird to hear somebody say it aloud.

“It seems more unlikely by the minute.”

She downed the last of the bitter tasting tea. “Does it bother you? Being human?”

He swallowed hard, his eyes meeting hers briefly. “Me? No, not really. I mean, if I really wanted to be supernatural, I could have somebody bite me. A shifter, vampire.”

“They can do that? That’s a real thing?”

“It’s illegal in our country, but in other places, yeah. I could be…something.” He took her cup. “Still wouldn’t be enough to interest my father. If I’m not a witch, carrying on the family name, I’m nothing.”

She touched his hand. “If I know anything, it’s that nobody should have to work this hard to interest their own father. Screw him.”

He smiled, and Ember fell a little in love. “You sound like Kai,” he said.

There was a knock on the door, and Kai stuck his head in, almost like he’d heard them. “Hey, can I come in?”

She nodded, feeling heat prickle along her skin. “Sure.” To Quinn, she said, “I don’t think your tea is working, I feel sweaty.”

He grimaced. “Sorry, that’s how it works. It helps sweat out the fever.”

“Gross. Thanks again for that.”

There was another terse knock at the door, and then Rhys barged in with his hair wet, his chest bare, and his sweatpants riding low on his hips. Ember was pretty sure she was gaping, but she couldn’t help it. Rhys’s abdominal muscles had muscles. If there was such a thing as an eighteen pack, Rhys possessed it. Ember didn’t even like him, but she was grudgingly impressed.

“Isa wants to see Ember downstairs when she’s feeling better,” he said. He looked at Kai. “And she said to tell you you’re working a double tomorrow.”

Her cousin openly glared at Rhys’s bare torso as if it had offended him before swallowing hard, finally dragging his gaze back to Ember, heat flaring in his cheeks.

Oh. That explained the weird tension.

Rhys waved a hand in front of Kai’s face. “Hello?”

A strangled noise escaped her cousin, and Rhys’s lip twitched. He sniffed the air, frowning. She couldn’t imagine ever getting used to this wolf behavior.

Kai crossed his arms over his chest, fixing a scowl onto his face. He kept his eyes on the floor. “Yeah, fine. Whatever.”

Rhys slammed the door with more force than necessary.

After a few awkward minutes, Kai said, “So…how are you?”

“Considering my night? Okay, I guess. Embarrassed.”

He flopped down on the bed next to her, crossing his legs at the ankles and snaking an arm under her pillow. “Why, because you threw up some horrifying black goop and then passed out in a rather spectacular display of melodrama? Happens all the time,” he said, waving his hand like it was just another night at Casa-de-Werewolf.

“Really?” she asked, doubting him.

Kai laughed. “No, not really. It was pretty disgusting. But awesome.”

She rolled her eyes at her cousin as he nudged her shoulder with his. She wanted to move over, feeling crowded by his presence. He didn’t seem to feel the same. After a minute, she asked, “What’s happening to me?”

Quinn and Kai exchanged looks before Quinn conceded, “We don’t know. Truthfully, this whole thing is weird. You aren’t human, but you aren’t a witch.”

“And I’m definitely not a reaper, like you and Tristin?”

Quinn thought for a minute. “It seems unlikely, but really, it’s hard to say at this point. Witches and reapers both inherit their magic, but there is only supposed to be one reaper per family.”

“Why?”

“The common theory is because it’s a form of soul magic. It’s a supernatural failsafe to make sure that no one family has access to that kind of power.”

“But you and Tristin are both reapers.”

She felt Kai shrug next to her. “The witches said it was a fluke because we’re twins. They think our magic may have split in utero or something. They probably would’ve looked into it more, but then Tristin’s powers disappeared, so people stopped worrying about it.”

“So, there can’t be more than one reaper, but there can be more than one witch in a family?”

Quinn nodded. “Most supernatural creatures, including witches, inherit their magic only when another witch in their line dies. So, when a witch dies, their magic passes to the next who bares the mark.”

“The mark?”

“Sometime around puberty a mark appears, signifying they are the next to inherit.”

Ember sat up on her forearms. “What does this mark look like?”

“It varies for different families. My family’s mark looks like an olive branch. Kai’s and Tristin’s look like the moon. If both your parents are supernatural, the mark will signify whose magic you’ll inherit.”

Ember’s heart rate sped up. She pushed her hair aside for Kai, showing him the full-moon-shaped birthmark at the base of her hairline. “Like this?”

Kai inhaled sharply. “How long have you had this?”

“My whole life, I guess. It’s always been there.”

She looked back and forth between her cousin and his friend, distress etched across their faces. The mark was obviously freaking them out. She started to panic. “Why? Is this bad? What does it mean? Oh, God, did I accidentally murder somebody or something? Is that why I can’t remember anything?”

Kai looked horrified. “No! Jeez, Ember. It’s just that you shouldn’t have that mark. If you were a witch, you would bear the mark of your father’s house, not your mother’s.”

“Wait, my father’s house? Are you saying my father was a witch?” Her laugh sounded harsh even to her own ears. “My dad couldn’t be a witch. He was a drunk. He barely functioned as a college professor.”

Kai looked away. “I can only tell you what we know about your family. Your mom was a reaper. Your dad was a witch from a pureblood family. That carries a lot of weight in the witch community. It’s not that you couldn’t be a witch; you just don’t smell like one, and you bear the mark of our mothers. Plus, Quinn’s dad would’ve been able to sense it. Other than that, we just don’t know.”

Ember fidgeted. “So, maybe the witches are wrong. Maybe more than one reaper can exist in a family.”

“Or maybe the witches are lying,” Quinn said, his voice bitter.

“Does your mark look like mine?” Ember asked Kai. “Is it a circle like mine?”

“Not exactly. It’s a crescent moon. Tristin and I both have the same mark.”

After a minute of Quinn staring into nothing, he looked at Ember, his brown eyes serious. “Ember, do me a favor and keep your hair down until we know more about your powers. I think it’s better if nobody knows about your mother’s mark for now.”

She nodded, her mind trying to process the ins and outs of magic. There was just so much she didn’t know. “What about the wolves? Do they have to inherit their powers?”

Quinn shook his head. “No. People in shifter families are either born shifters or humans. Humans born to shifter families can decide to take the bite when they are eighteen or they can stay human. Occasionally, an alpha shifter will bite a human not born into a shifter family, but it’s illegal here, and the Grove takes that sort of thing very seriously. Vampires can transfer the virus with a bite, but on rare occasions, vampires can be born.”

“Pregnant vampires? Seriously?” Ember rubbed her temples. “This is so confusing.”

“Magic is fluid. It’s not something we can explain scientifically. People aren’t born ghosts, poltergeists, or furies. Same with the harpies. They are turned that way due to circumstances; it’s usually vengeance driven. Demons are demons because they sold their souls. Wendigo, selkie, and chupacabra aren’t really even necessarily supernatural, just rarely seen hybrid creatures with bad attitudes. It would take me days to explain everything, and even that wouldn’t help because the real information is being kept from us, guarded by the witches and hoarded by the Grove.”

“What is this Grove you keep talking about?”

Kai scoffed. “Depends on who you ask. The witches will tell you they are the supernatural world’s system of government tasked by the gods to keep the balance. But that’s because the witches are in the Grove’s pocket. The Grove put the witches in charge, forcing all other supernatural people to answer to them. But most of the supernatural world questions why the gods would put humans in charge of the super humans,” he finished, almost to himself.

“Wait, the Grove is human?”

“No, the Grove washuman,” Quinn said. “They’re druids, humans who sold themselves to the gods in exchange for magic.”

“So, you can buy your way into magic? Why wouldn’t everybody do it?”

Quinn’s mouth twisted. “They’re slaves. They spend hundreds of years in servitude before they can call themselves one of the Grove. They endure years of torture at the hands of their brothers. They are taught to speak all languages, forced to know all things. A wrong answer to a question asked by the Grove can lead to a fate much worse than death. When they have proven themselves, the Gods release them to serve as mentors and tormentors to those stupid enough to want to follow their example. They start out as humans, but they end up monsters.”

Ember shivered. “They can’t be the only people with information. Isn’t there anybody else who would know? There has to be more than three adults in this town. Somebody willing to talk.” Then a thought occurred to her. “This isn’t like that movie where the kids kill all the adults and pray to that creepy little demon kid in the cornfield is it?”

Kai smiled, nodding in admiration. “Children of the Corn. Stephen King.” Quinn nodded in agreement, and the two knuckle-bumped over her without looking. “But no, we didn’t kill any adults.”

Quinn cleared his throat. Kai rolled his eyes but said, “Okay, well, not any good adults.”

“And never any humans,” Quinn supplied.

Ember wanted to scream in frustration. They talked in riddles. She needed answers. She needed to know if she was going to keep vomiting black goop and feeling like people were trying to tear her brain apart with meat hooks. She needed to know she wasn’t going to keep passing out like some paranormal overheating engine.

Quinn must have sensed her frustration. “Listen, anybody who knows anything won’t talk about it for fear of having to deal with the witches’ council or worse, the tree huggers. I’d love to say we saved your life and brought you to a magical place where everything is going to be okay, but it’s not true. In many ways, this town is like an entirely different world. The only law that matters is the Grove, and they have a lot of laws. More than we could explain to you in a hundred years.”

She felt sick, her chest tight. There was no guarantee they’d find out what she was. Tristin had been living there her entire life and still knew nothing about being a banshee. What were the odds they’d figure out what Ember was before it was too late?

“If you’re feeling better, you should get downstairs and talk to Isa. She’s in the kitchen stress-baking.”

Quinn’s eyes lit up. “What is she making this time?”

“Pumpkin muffins, I think.”

Ember frowned. What did you say to an alpha werewolf after you puked on their carpet?

Chapter 15

Ember

She padded barefoot down the stairs. It had to be well after midnight, but everybody was still awake. After a few wrong turns, she found herself in the kitchen, which was bigger than the apartment she’d shared with her father. Isa had changed into a pair of leggings and a slouchy looking t-shirt and was sliding around the kitchen in…leg warmers?

It was freezing in there. Ember didn’t know what the temperature was like outside, but the air conditioning hummed along at full blast, causing condensation on the many windows. She shivered, freezing after her ice bath.

Isa stirred a bowl of something orange as music played softly in the background. Ember hovered in the doorway, waiting for the other girl to acknowledge her. Isa bobbed her head, hips swaying, lost in the music or her thoughts.

Ember took a step back, feeling like she was intruding.

“Get your butt back here,” Isa said, not looking up.

Ember did as she was told, taking it all in as she walked. The kitchen was decorated in cool grays and blues, the cabinets and countertops white. The appliances were stainless steel and probably cost more than a car. To her left was another set of stairs, and to her right, a set of French doors led to the backyard. How could they afford a house like this?

She slid onto a stool at the center island, and Isa handed her the bowl. “Stir.”

Ember stared at the spoon thrust into her hand for only a moment before following her command, watching the older woman carefully. Isa moved with grace and efficiency; the kitchen was clearly her domain. The hazy windows and soft music created a cozy pocket of calm, putting Ember at ease.

Isa pulled a tray of muffins from the oven and replaced it with one waiting to go in. Ember watched, mesmerized, as the alpha burned herself transferring twelve still hot muffins from the tin, clutching each in turn by their little decorative papers. Each relocation was punctuated with a whispered, “Ouch.”

Isa placed new cups in the tins and slid them over to Ember with a small ladle. “One scoop each. Don’t overfill.”

Ember spent the next ten minutes dropping batter into the paper cups, content to take instruction if it meant she could stay there, hidden in the kitchen with Isa. Isa in the kitchen was its own kind of magic. There was something about the tiny wolf that Ember found comforting.

Even in their bubble, Ember was aware there were literal wolves outside the kitchen door. Sounds traveled throughout the house, muted but ever present. Wren and Donovan watched something in the living room, the low murmur of the television dotted by their occasional laughter. Neoma was singing from somewhere at the top of the back stairs, but she never revealed herself.

These were just the normal sounds of people existing together, and yet, the noise made Ember edgy. Most of her nights were spent at the funeral home or alone on the couch waiting for the phone to ring and tell her she needed to pick up her dad from the bar or find a way to pay whoever he owed money to that week. She didn’t know how to be a person somebody liked. Her default setting was sarcasm. What happened when they realized she was awkward and socially inept? How long before she wore out her welcome?

“Ember.”

The sound of her name startled Ember out of her thoughts.

Isa smiled apologetically. “I know this must be weird for you. I can’t imagine what all”—she gestured vaguely around the room—”this must seem like to you. I don’t want you to worry. Nobody is going to kick you out. You are now part of our weird little family. Our parents were friends. They would never let you live on the street, and neither would I.”

“Even if I keep passing out and redecorating all of your rugs with Satan’s vomit?” Ember asked, trying for a joke but flushing with embarrassment.

Isa dropped her voice down to a whisper. “Rhys turned for the first time when he was seven and shredded my great-grandmother’s hundred-year-old sofa and three hand-sewn pillows, and then he peed on the carpet under the dining room table. His fangs would drop so often without his permission he talked with a lisp for two years. He was so embarrassed that he would stop talking for weeks at a time. It’s why he barely talks today.”

Ember winced. She didn’t want to feel sorry for the wolf, not when he was so hostile towards Kai.

Isa went on, “When I first turned, I forgot to bring clothes with me and had to walk home completely naked. Kai botched his first soul collection, and the poor dead guy almost got a front row seat to his own autopsy. The stuff that happens to us…it’s no different than puberty for humans, embarrassing and inevitable. You’re just a late bloomer.”

Isa was sweet, trying to make Ember feel comfortable, but she didn’t know how to share space with so many people. She didn’t know how to be part of a family.

“I know we are overwhelming. If you think this is too much…if you think we are too much…I can talk to Allister about maybe contacting your father’s family. You were born here, Ember. You have people in this town. Your dad didn’t really get along with them, but I can’t imagine they’d turn you away, even if you aren’t a witch.”

She was starting to think the alpha could read minds. Ember wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but from what she gathered, the witches weren’t real fond of non-witches, which put her squarely in the middle of a fight she couldn’t even remotely begin to understand. She didn’t think she could handle that kind of anxiety.

“Ember, I’m not going to lie. We’re a huge family. On a slow day, seven people live here. Donovan has his own place, and technically, Quinn lives with his dad and sister across town, but they sleep here more than there. We’re loud. Rhys, Kai, and Quinn are always bickering. Neoma sings like she’s in a musical. Tristin is often super-aggressive and snotty for no discernible reason. Wren wants to fix everybody’s problems, and I’ve been told that when I’m stressed out, I’m no Swiss picnic, either. We fight a lot. We butt heads a lot. I’m in charge. I’m the alpha, and ultimately, what I say goes, and sometimes, people have a problem with that. You don’t have to like what I say, but you do have to do what I say. Some people can’t handle that.”

Ember struggled to see what she was getting at. Before she could ask, the timer beeped, and the girl spun around, repeating her earlier process. With two trays cooling, the smell of pumpkin was overpowering. Ember’s stomach growled loudly. Color bloomed on her cheeks, but Isa just laughed. Ember hadn’t eaten all day.

Isa placed a muffin on a paper plate and poured Ember a glass of milk.

“What I’m trying to say is we want you here and you are welcome to stay, but you are free to go if you want. We just want you to stay close by until we figure out what’s happening to you. You could hurt yourself.”

“Okay.”

Isa’s face split into a toothy grin. “Okay? You’ll stay with us?”

Ember took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to temper the anxiety building in her chest. “Yeah, sure.”

“Oh, and this is now your house too. The kitchen, living room, library, and porches are all community space. We are used to a crowd. We are lucky enough to have a large house. We have six bedrooms. Two beds per room in all but the master. Quinn usually beds with Kai when he’s here. Neoma prefers to sleep on the couch in the solarium, something about sleeping under the stars. You can have the last room at the top of the stairs. It’s the most private. We will get you your own sheets and any clothes you need tomorrow.”

Ember nodded, flustered by everything. She broke off a piece of muffin and blew on it before stuffing it in her mouth. “Oh mah gaw.” Swallowing, she said, “These are amazing.”

Isa smiled. “Thank you.” She placed her hand over Ember’s. Ember snatched it back without thinking. Isa’s eyes went wide. Ember felt her face flush.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m just not used to all the touching.”

Isa’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I grew up surrounded by shifters. We scent everything. We want everything to smell like us. We’re worse than actual wolves.”

That explained all the touchy feely stuff.

Ember felt like she had a lot to learn. Her knowledge of wolves consisted of information gleaned from Animal Planet documentaries, and her knowledge of werewolves came from old black and white movies.

“It takes a little getting used to,” Ember admitted.

Isa’s expression turned serious. “Nobody here has the right to touch you without your permission. Our…habits aren’t your problem. If Donovan or anybody else is touching you—”

“I don’t think—” Ember started.

“No, Ember,” she said. “This isn’t up for debate. You are new to the pack, so they are going to do anything they can to make you smell like them, to make you smell like home. If you’re uncomfortable, you tell them no. Even me.”

Ember nodded earnestly. “Okay.”

“Your acceptance isn’t conditional. I agreed to take you in. Allister agreed that you should be here.”

They ate in silence for a while before Ember asked, “Isa, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Why do I have the same last name as Kai and Tristin? Our moms were sisters. Weren’t my parents married?”

Isa shrugged. “In our world, you take the last name of the person whose family is more prominent. Not sure if it’s a matter of safety or bragging rights, but it’s always been that way. Your father came from a powerful witch family, and the twins’ father was a human born to a large leopard pack out of Thailand, but in the case of the Lonergans, few names carried more weight. At least before the witches took over.”

People respected her family. Ember thought of her life in New Orleans. Her dad had been a joke. A punchline his students used to amuse each other in the dining hall. She’d had no friends and barely showed up for school. Her heart squeezed. Her mother would’ve found her to be a huge disappointment.

Isa frowned, sensing Ember’s shift in mood. She moved closer, hand hovering over Ember’s before she caught herself. Isa looked bewildered as to how to comfort Ember. She took a deep breath and grasped the other girl’s hand. Ember needed to embrace her new life. Since the pack was touchy-feely, she would do her best to try.

“Allister is going to look into what’s happening to you. He thinks it would be best if you try to get back into a normal routine. Tomorrow, I’ll take you shopping for some supplies. You can take the weekend to get settled, and we’ll get you registered for school on Monday.”

Ember tried to take in all this information, her hand spasming around Isa’s as the door between the kitchen and the dining room banged open, Kai and Rhys barreling through. Kai rushed towards the muffins, but Rhys swept a massive arm around her cousin’s shoulders, jerking him backward, swinging him away. Rhys held Kai hostage with one arm, snagging a muffin with his free hand.

“Rhys,” Kai whined, making grabby hands towards the muffins that were just out of reach. Rhys snickered, taking a bite of the muffin, paper and all, making exaggerated moaning noises. “So good,” he told Kai around a mouthful. Kai’s eyes bulged, staring at Rhys’s mouth, watching his tongue flick the crumbs from his lower lip.

Ember looked away, feeling like she was intruding on…something. Quinn came in and saw his captive friend. He whooped a war cry and hurled himself at Rhys’s back but slipped on his own shoelace, toppling forward. A pained look flashed across Rhys’s face as he seemed to try to decide whether to let Quinn fall or sacrifice the pilfered dessert. He dropped the muffin and spun to catch Quinn’s arm, saving him before he hit the ground.

“I’m going to put you in bubble wrap,” Rhys grumbled.

Ember noted that he’d dropped the muffin but not her cousin. Kai was not letting his imprisonment stop him from snagging the baked goods, which were now finally in reach. He stuffed one in his mouth and another in his pocket. He didn’t take the paper off either. She pulled a face. She didn’t get boys at all.

Kai tossed a muffin towards Quinn, but Rhys intercepted it, his green eyes flashing. Quinn made a sad noise.

Isa smiled at Ember, her back to the boys, and growled low. Rhys stiffened, huffing and giving the muffin to Quinn. Ember couldn’t help but smile. Rhys couldn’t even see his sister’s face and he’d obeyed. What it must be like to have that kind of quiet control. Quinn groaned as he took a bite. Rhys consoled himself with another muffin still in the tin, eating it one-handed out of the wrapper.

Isa smiled fondly at the chaos. “Welcome to the circus, Ember.”

Ember pointed at the boys. “They must be the clowns.”

The three males all glowered at her.

“Uh, we on a date here, dude?” Kai asked, eyeing the arm that kept him snug across Rhys’s chest.

The wolf snorted and shoved him away.

Chapter 16

Tristin

Tristin slipped left and hit the bag with a hard right cross. She grunted as she threw two jabs before circling left. Sweat drenched her clothing and burned her eyes, but she still threw punch after punch.

She couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid. The adrenaline of the night had long since worn off, and reality was creeping in.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. Instead, she hit the bag with her left knee hard enough to rattle the chain from which it hung. She was just as responsible for this mess, maybe more. She never should have let her brother intervene. They should have told the pack. They should have told Isa.

She kept moving, kept circling the bag. Every time she stopped moving, dread crept up her spine, creating a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hated uncertainty. She liked facts. She liked orders. Everybody was so preoccupied with keeping Ember’s mysterious powers under control that the real danger hadn’t occurred to them yet. They couldn’t see that the actual threat wasn’t the girl puking up black goo but something far more sinister.

Footsteps approached, but she didn’t stop, instead throwing a left roundhouse at the bag before faking left and coming in hard with a right elbow. It was Quinn. She knew his walk, the way he breathed. She ignored how the knot in her belly loosened at the sight of his shadow against the wall.

He set something down and came around the other side of the bag, holding it in place as she pounded away until her muscles screamed for relief. He made sure he stayed out of the way of her fists and feet and said nothing, just watched her with those endlessly curious eyes.

“I brought you a muffin.”

She didn’t acknowledge that he spoke. She couldn’t. Not yet. When she couldn’t bring herself to throw one more punch, she let her arms fall.

He clung to the bag. “What’s eating you, Dagger?”

She set her jaw, trying to decide whether she wanted to talk it out or not. Quinn always wanted to talk. He wanted to know all her deepest thoughts and feelings. He’d never met a thought he didn’t think needed expressing. That was why he and her brother were such good friends. Whatever popped into their heads flew out of their mouths without them ever worrying about the consequences.

She just wasn’t like that.

She sighed, almost wishing Rhys had come to find her. He understood not wanting to talk about feelings. They could just sit in a room and be, without having to fill the silence. He understood what privacy meant. But Rhys wasn’t there, and Quinn’s whiskey gold eyes were so earnest. How could she not tell him?

“Everybody is so preoccupied with Princess Power Surge upstairs that they seem to be forgetting we have a bigger, more pressing problem.” She put her hands on her hips, just sucking in air and catching her breath. He gave her the bottle on the table. She poured half of it over her head and then took a swig of the now warm water.

She didn’t miss the way his eyes followed the drops of water as they rolled down her throat.

“She was supposed to die, Quinn.”

“Okay,” he said, voice hoarse, his distraction visible.

“She was supposed to die but is instead downstairs, eating pumpkin muffins and bonding with the pack.”

Quinn’s eyes scanned her face, looking for a clue.

“Kai didn’t complete his assignment.”

Quinn’s eyes widened. He stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets and licked his lower lip. “Well, yes, but there have been other cases of reapers who failed to collect the souls they were assigned.”

“Those reapers left the soul in a dead body. They still died. They go back and finish the job, collect the soul, and that’s it. Crossed over, no problem. That’s a slap on the wrist; a rookie-with-nerves mistake. This is different. This is much worse. You know I’m right.”

She took a deep breath, trying to stave off the panic building in her chest. “He didn’t just keep her from crossing over. He actively prevented her death. She’s not supposed to be alive. Her name disappeared from his arm. That’s never happened, Quinn. That’s never happened.”

Quinn pulled her into his arms. “Have you ever met another reaper? We don’t know if it’s ever happened before or not. Let’s not worry until there’s something to worry about, okay?”

She didn’t answer him right away. It was true; they hadn’t met other reapers. Allister said they existed. He talked Kai through his first collection. That was the thing about this stupid town—nobody came in, and nobody went out. The same people had been here for as long as she could remember.

“Don’t. I’m all sweaty.” She squirmed against him, but she wasn’t really trying to get away.

He loosened his grip, giving her the chance to move out of his grasp. She pretended not to notice.

Quinn was lame. He had terrible taste in movies, and he was the most uncoordinated person she’d ever met. He wore stupid beanie hats pretty much every day and those stupid black-framed glasses he didn’t even need; he only wore them because he thought they made him look like Clark Kent.

She inhaled deeply. But he smelled like home, his arms always felt really good, and he was just tall enough for her to put her head on his shoulder.

“Do you know what they could do to him, Quinn? Do you know what they might do to all of us?”

She chewed on her bottom lip, rubbing her cheek against his flannel shirt. Quinn didn’t say anything for a long time. He just stood there, holding her, but she knew his mind was working over a hundred different scenarios, mentally rereading every word he’d ever scanned in any human book.

She didn’t need extra-special senses to know he was afraid. He looked to the door, dropping his voice to almost a whisper. “What if she died now? What if, the next time she spikes a fever, we do nothing?”

He sounded sick at the idea, but it wasn’t as if they hadn’t committed horrible acts to protect this town and the people they loved before. His hands fidgeted idly with her hair, combing through the wet strands.

She smiled weakly, shaking her head. “Are you just going to sit there and watch her die? Do you think Isa and the others will do the same? Just sit and watch her self-destruct?”

“If it comes down to her or Kai, yeah, I think we’ll do what we have to do.”

“You’re wrong. Kai would happily die for somebody else, even a stranger. The damage is done. Besides, Isa and the others are already in love. You like her too, I can tell. Isa loves an orphan, and that girl just screams love-me-I’m-tortured.”

Quinn snickered. “Maybe they won’t find out. Maybe her name disappeared for a different reason. Maybe he was supposed to stop it?” Quinn was grasping at straws, and they both knew it.

“The Grove will never allow that to go unpunished. He literally just altered the fabric of the universe. We must maintain the balance. How long do you think it’ll be before they find out? How long before they figure out what he’s done and come for him?”

“Tristin. You’re freaking out over nothing. We don’t even know anything will happen. If something happens, I’ll figure something out. I always do. I promise. There has to be a way to keep Ember alive and the tree worshippers off our backs. We just need more information.”

She smiled into his throat. He believed that you could solve any problem in the world with an internet connection and the right password. She shivered as she felt his lips graze across her forehead, letting her eyes close for just a second.

“Dagger.”

Her eyes fluttered open. “Huh?”

“I love you, but you should probably take a shower.”

She hid a slight smile against his shoulder. “Are you saying I stink?”

“Yeah, but in, like, a super sexy I’m-a-badass kind of way.”

She snorted. “It’s no wonder you’re single.”

“I’m single because my future wife refuses to acknowledge that we are fated to be together.”

She burrowed closer to him. “Wow, she sounds like a real bitch. Maybe you dodged a bullet. She doesn’t really sound like wife material.”

He stepped back, smiling that dopey smile as he rubbed his thumb across her cheek. “Oh, I don’t know. Underneath that knife-wielding, ass-kicking exterior, she’s gotta really soft heart.”

She shifted her eyes to the ground. “That scar on your thigh would beg to differ.”

“So, she stabbed me. Think of the story it will make at our wedding reception.”

“You are impossible and annoying, so I’m going to go shower before I stab you again.”

His smile split into a grin, and he wiggled his brows. “Good. I’m going to bed with the image of you showering fresh in my mind.”

She snickered at the grunt he made when her water bottle connected with his shoulder, snagging the muffin as she walked past. Despite Quinn’s assurances, she couldn’t shake the awful feeling that things were going to get worse.

She couldn’t lose her brother. She wouldn’t lose her brother. It didn’t matter what she had to do.