Chapter Sixty-Six

I’m suddenly pulled from the forest, away from Adrian, and back into the living room of Serene’s dorm left gasping for air from the sudden rush of adrenaline. I’m vaguely aware of Serene’s hands on either side of my face as she peers at me with concern, guiding me into a sitting position. “Oh my God,” She exclaims, leaning back on her heels as relief floods through her. “You can’t do that so suddenly. You passed out on me.” She explains, her eyes roving over me in search of injury.

I blink a few times until the room comes back into focus, feeling like I was suddenly woken up from a deep sleep. “What happened?” I ask slowly, looking around the room as I remember where I am and the events leading up to now. “Jasper is hurt. We have to help him.”

Serene pushes me back against the couch gently, stopping my attempt to get up. I’m not sure when I got onto the floor, but I’m now propper up against the side of the sofa with Wilfred on my lap and Serene peering at me like she’s seen a ghost. “Jasper is fine, don’t worry about him. Adrian wouldn’t kill him,” She reaches to touch me again but withdraws, reaching to chew on her cuticles instead. “You can’t Shadow Travel without a familiar. If Wilfred hadn’t stepped in, you might have never found your way back.”

I stare at her, trying to comprehend her words through the fog in my brain. “Shadow Travel? What does that mean?” I ask, remembering how dark the woods around me seemed. It was almost like I had a veil over my eyes that kept everything shaded, shrouded in shadows. I decide not to mention the red thread that connected me to Adrian, still fixated on the state that Jasper was in when I found him lying in the bloodied snow.

Wilfred climbs from my lap and transfers over to Serene, offering her a quizzical meow as he rubs against her. Serene seems exasperated as she lowers herself into a seated position across from me to avoid losing her balance with Wilfred’s sudden appearance in her lap. She strokes him aimlessly as she fixes me with a scolding look. “You’re lucky that Wilfred likes you, otherwise you would have been a goner. You shouldn’t be able to travel like that, yet. It takes most Sorcerers years to master that, and even longer to travel without being seen. Are you sure that no one saw you?”

I frown, feeling a dull pounding in my temples. Adrian was searching for me through the trees, but I know he didn’t see me. I shake my head. “No one saw me. I didn’t mean to do that, I was just curious to see what happened with Jasper,” I admit, feeling a little bit more awake now that I’m talking. “He was barely breathing when I found him.”

Hearing my baleful tone, Serene pats my leg reassuringly. “Werewolves heal super fast so don’t worry about him. As I said, Adrian wouldn’t be careless enough to kill his own Beta. You’ll probably even see him at school tomorrow.”

Oh, that’s right. I’d nearly forgotten that serious injuries like the ones Jasper had aren’t life-threatening to Werewolves or Vampires. Relief washes over me, leaving me feeling exhausted as I sag against the couch behind me. She mentioned that it usually takes years for a Sorcerer to manage to Shadow Travel, yet I managed to do it without even meaning to. I didn’t even know what was happening, but it didn’t feel scary. Come to think of it, I felt unnaturally calm throughout the whole thing, even when I saw Jasper and Adrian bleeding from the aftermath of their fight. The clearing that Jasper was laying in was littered with trees that were snapped in half with blood everywhere, yet I hardly paused to continue following the string that led me to Adrian. It felt almost like a trance like I couldn’t help but discover where it led. My own apathy scares me, even though I don’t feel it anymore.

I swallow, feeling unnerved by the memory. “Oh, right. I should go soon, shouldn’t I?”

Serene shakes her head quickly in response to my question. “Not yet. We still have two more hours before our doubles make their way back from shopping with that Wolf Grunt. Besides, if you so much as step foot outside right now, Adrian is going to know you’re here. We have to let him take care of Jasper before I can drive you back.”

“Oh, right,” I say stupidly, having almost forgotten about why I’m even here. All that I can think about now is getting back to Adrian, almost forgetting that I can’t tell him about what happened. How could I forget that there are doubles of us out shopping on my dime right now? I hope that my twin didn’t buy anything that I wouldn’t approve of, but I guess I’ll see when we intercept them later on.

I prop myself back up onto the sofa, nearly sitting on my forgotten plate of vegan eggrolls. I set it on the coffee table with the rest of them, knowing that I should offer to help clean up the leftover mess, but feeling too tired to even move. I’d love nothing more than to take a nap right about now, but I know that I should take advantage of the time that I have with Serene to practice and learn as much as I can about magic. There’s no telling how many of these meetings we’ll be granted, so I can’t afford to waste time sleeping. I need to prepare myself for the Hybrids as much as possible before they find me.

Serene watches me find my resolve from the floor, continuing to stroke Wilfred for a job well done in bringing me back safely. I wonder what would happen to someone who didn’t make it back? Would their body be lifeless while their soul continues to wander the earth forever? I shiver at the thought, deciding that it’s best not to find out. “Do you want to rest?” She asks cautiously, looking me over. “You look exhausted.”

I force a smile and shake my head, willing the pounding to go away. “I’m fine. How does one come across a familiar, anyway?” I ask, gesturing to Wilfred. His help was probably the difference between life and death for me, showing me the importance of a Familiar to a Sorcerer.

Serene looks down at the cat with a fond smile, remaining seated on the floor in order to avoid disturbing him. “They find you. Now that your powers are awakened, it shouldn’t be long until yours seeks you out. You’ll know it when you see them, so don’t try to force a connection with just any animal. Let’s just hope that Adrian won’t find it suspicious if you suddenly bring home a cat or dog.”
I wince at the thought, knowing that he would, in fact, find it suspicious. The only animals I’ve ever owned or interacted with have been horses, which would hardly make for a good familiar, I’d assume. It would be more convenient to have a small animal that can be kept indoors so that they can stay with their owner most of the time. I guess I’ll just have to make sure that I avoid accidentally projecting outside of my body in the meantime. “Oh, okay. How did Wilfred find you?”

Serene smiles fondly at the memory as she thinks back. “I was working at my high school job, some shitty fast food place, and went outside for my smoke break. Wilfred was just a tiny little kitten back then who was abandoned inside of the dumpster at the back of the building. I could hear him crying from inside of a plastic bag that he was shoved inside of. It was horrible, but I knew that he was meant to be mine the moment that I laid eyes on him.”

“Oh my god,” I whisper, aghast that someone could do something like that to a harmless kitten. I guess it’s true that humans are far more monstrous than any beasts out there. “I’m glad it was you that found him. They can’t… turn into humans, can they?”

Serene laughs, looking down at Wilfred who is curled up in her lap, snoozing happily. It looks like I’m not the only one who got worn out from Shadow Traveling. I definitely need to be more careful with controlling when that happens, because I’d be trapped if it weren’t for him.
“No, they can’t shapeshift. Familiars are usually humans that we reincarnated as animals in order to repay a karmic debt, so they have more consciousness than normal animals.”

I stare at Wilfred as I think, amazed to find out what a Familiar really is. “Wow, do you think they remember their past lives?” Watching the cat sleep so soundly, completely trusting in Serene to watch out for him while he rests, it seems unlikely.

Serene shrugs. “I guess it’s possible. It isn’t like he can talk to me, though, so I guess we may never find out.”