Chapter 86 - Shooting a silver arrow

EMMA

I scrub my skin clean of all the dirt stains and wash the knots out of my hair. My hair twists and tangles. Calling it a bird's nest would be an understatement. The dirty tunnels, the forest and the time since my last shower are a recipe for disaster. The water turns a cloudy brown beneath my feet.

My clothes lie in a pile on the ground and the journey here has not been kind to them either. They are dirty and in definite need of a wash or maybe just a burning fire.

I dry my body and pull my brother's t-shirt over my head. My hair is wet and it drips on the tiled floor. I gather the mess of wet strands and wrap it in the towel. I quickly run back to my brother’s bedroom. I refuse to wear my dirty underwear and I shoot a prayer that I don’t run into anyone.

I halt when I spot Lucas in the room with a black duffel bag at his feet. He’s sitting on the bed with his elbows resting on his knees.

“What are you doing here?” I cover an arm over my chest and I hide myself behind the little pile of clothes in my hands.

My brother is avoiding looking my way, but a frown pulls at his face. “This is my room sis.” There is a melancholic edge to him that is unfamiliar to me.

Lucas is the one to look at the bright side. He’s the one to tell me that everything will be okay. The one to banter when I wish he would not. The one that leaves awkward silences after a cringe-worthy joke.

“I know, I just—“ I chew on the inside of my cheek. There’s a distance between us that wasn’t there before. It has been me and Lucas for years and now I don’t know how to talk to him.

Lucas leans down to pick up the duffel bag. “I brought your clothes.”

My clothes? I zip open the bag and inside are all my old jeans, a bunch of shirts, sweaters, one blue dress and even my underwear.

I beam at my brother when he saves me once again. I dart back to the bathroom to change into a pair of jeans. The fit is way tighter and shows way more curves than I remember. I keep on my brother’s long boxy t-shirt to hide the obscene fit of my jeans.

I run my hand through my towel-dried hair when I walk back into the bedroom. The white strands knit together stubbornly and I peel them apart.

“Are you going to talk today?” Lucas asks, he has his arms crossed as he sits on the bed. I notice the bulk he has put on in the last few months. Apparently, I’m not the only one who has gained weight in the presence of food.

We spent years living on rations and had to often skip meals to give to the other people in the town. My brother was lanky with the definite potential to grow closer to the size of Hadrian.

“I am talking.”

Lucas lifts his shoulders. “Not really.”

I sit down on the bed next to him and twist my fingers. “What do you want to talk about?”

Lucas turns his head to me with a raised eyebrow. “How about Prince Hadrian?”

My nails dig hard into my skin. Thinking about Hadrian is painful. Thinking about who I’ve lost is agony. I try to bury the memories that hurt so much. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

I swallow when the pain resurfaces. I can feel it in the tremble of my fingers. The pain suffocates me like a rope squeezing my heart. It hurts too much.

Lucas leans in and his eyes burn into my profile. “How about your blue eyes? What happened in those months?”

I scrunch my nose at the idea of digging into that hole. Our mother, sorcery, protection spells, dying, healing abilities, half-werewolf. Where do I even start?

I can feel his scrutiny and I get up from the bed. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here now.” I cross my arms to create a barrier. I’m not being fair and I know it. I’m running away from my responsibility. He deserves to know, I just can’t get my mouth to work.

“Yes, it does.” Lucas gets up from the bed and follows me around the room. “My gut is saying—“

“Don’t even start.” I hold up my hands and grind my teeth. “I can’t believe I missed you!”

There is a knock on the door and it swings halfway open. Dex peers his head around the door. “Are you coming? The strategy meeting is starting in five.”

He directs his smile and the full force of his dimples at me. “That means you too, Emma.”

I still can’t handle how happy some people seem to be that I’m here.

Lucas sinks back down on the bed and his shoulders deflate. The grimace on his face and the overall sadness emanating from him reverberates through me.

I move towards my brother and give him a hug. I wrap my arms tight around his waist and pull myself close to him. “I’m still the same.”

“But you’re not.” He whispers as he envelopes me in his arms. His warmth is familiar and protective. He’ll always be my big brother.

“What is your gut saying?”

His chest lifts in a deep breath. “That part of you is dying.”

I can feel him shake his head against mine. As if he doesn’t believe his own words. “Something is weakening inside you that I’ve never noticed before.”

I pull away from my brother to look at him. His eyes show the fear in them. My brother has always had a great sense of intuition. I always cast it off as luck. Could it be something more supernatural?

“I can’t even explain what it is.” He runs a hand through his messy blonde hair. “It’s like your soul is dying or… I don’t know.”

Could it be that Lucas senses things that cannot be perceived by humans? Our mother can see visions and cast spells. I healed from wounds that should have killed me. It isn’t a far stretch that Lucas could have his own unexplored abilities.

*Am I dying?*

——————

My brother mopes and grumbles when Dex greets us in the living room. Lucas takes a seat in the far corner of the sofa and crosses his arms.

“I don’t think your brother likes me very much,” Dex says with a chuckle. He leans in as if he’s sharing a secret with me.

My brother has always been social and he always had lots of friends. He had the girls flocking around him with his easy and sometimes cringe-worthy charm.

“It’s nothing personal.” I counter as I think about my conversation with my brother. I take a seat next to Lucas and I don’t leave any space.

“Where’s Justin?” I expected he would be here too, usually Justin and my brother gang up on me.

There is a serious edge darkening his face. “Jonathan got sick, he got back to take care of things in town.”

Jonathan is Justin’s father and the leader of the fisherman’s town where we lived. He took us in when we had nowhere to go. My chest tightens at the news.

“Is he going to be okay?” I ask and Lucas nods.

More people trickle into the living room. Two guys that I haven’t seen before take a seat on the large sofa.

A tall lanky guy with brown hair and green eyes that are filled with pain sits down in front of me. He looks like he’s in his twenties, but has weathered eyes. They’re old like they have seen things enough for several lifetimes. He has scars that run from his jaw and across his throat.

The second guy sits down in the middle and his eyes are directed at me. The set of his mouth is serious. He has sandy brown hair with dark strands running through it. He has black eyes and his presence has something dark to it.

Dex takes a seat next to me. “This is Ben.” He points to the lanky guy and then he hooks a thumb toward the other guy. “And this is Carter.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say as I direct my gaze to Ben in front of me. He gives me a solemn nod.

“Ben can’t talk, he lost his vocal cords,” Dex says. He doesn’t explain how, but judging from the scar lines down his throat I can make a guess.

Kelsey springs into the room carrying a large jug of pink lemonade and slices of lemons. The space instantly brightens. Somehow it makes me sigh in relief. It makes me want to stay closer to her and absorb her positivity.

Alex follows with a tower of empty glasses. Her movements are graceful as she places the glasses on the table. She can make any task seem cool.

Dex gets up from the sofa. “I called for this meeting to get Emma up to speed and see if we can get some new ideas to take on our plan.” He places his hands into his pockets as he paces in front of the sofa.

Kelsey pours the pink lemonade for everyone and sits down next to me. She hands me a glass with a bright smile.

“What plan?”

“To kill the Alpha King,” Kelsey explains and somehow I’m surprised that she utters the words so easily.

The idea seems simple, but knowing what I know. There is no way it would be possible.

“And how are you going to do that?” I ask Dex. Judging from his overall presence, I gather that he’s the leader of this rebellion of some sort.

Dex sends me a wolfish smile that shows the full brunt of his dimples. “By shooting a silver arrow right through his heart.”