Chapter 22: Change of Plans

“This can’t be right,” Silvana muttered, completely stunned.

She reached her hand through the purple flames and grabbed the enchanted blue map. Silvana, Kurt, and Amelia gathered round as the flames dissipated and a blue dot sizzled on the parchment, serving as a beacon for Bruce’s whereabouts.

“I must’ve done something wrong,” Silvana said.

Amelia quickly responded, “I think you did that expertly.”

Silvana chewed the inside of her cheek, crumpled up the parchment, and with a determined glance at the ring of wax declared, “Let’s do it again.”

Amelia and Kurt plucked the necessary components from the garden, and on a new sheet of parchment, Silvana cast the same spell.

“Looks like it’s saying the same thing,” Kurt said, peering over Silvana’s shoulder and examining the new magical map.

“Maybe his phone broke and he’s waiting for you to return home,” Kurt suggested.

“There’s a good possibility he’s waiting for you to come home with open arms,” Amelia added.

Silvana thought about what she had read about a werewolf sacrifice in her father’s journal.

“Maybe,” she said, gathering her bag and coat.

She swiftly laced her sneakers and said, “I’m going to go check it out. Thank you both for all your help and hospitality.”

“Good luck, sweetie,” Amelia said. “Call us once you find him.”

“That big lug is totally fine and just waiting for his girl to return,” Kurt kindly assured.

Silvana nodded and sped back to her house, trying to call Bruce the several hours she was on the road. Moonlight shined exceptionally bright on the highway and city streets, and it looked like it would soon be a full moon in a day or two.

When Silvana walked inside her home, she found her father pouring himself a stiff glass of scotch from a crystal decanter.

“That’s the good scotch you told Bruce you’d have with him,” Silvana said, her voice harsh. “Is he here with you?”

“I’ve just returned from the council,” Solaris said, dropping in a large ice cube into his glass with a firm clunk.

He stirred it around with his finger and said, “So I’m afraid I don’t know where your boyfriend is.”

There was a rudeness to his tone that Silvana picked up on.

“Bruce?” Silvana shouted, searching each room of the house. She heard the thwap of Solaris’s cane behind her.

“Bruce, are you here?” Silvana hollered desperately, investigating the house while her father sipped on scotch.

“If he was here, I don’t think he’d be in the broom closet,” Solaris commented, watching his daughter tug the pull string to a light in the upstairs storage room. She kicked around an overturned mop and bucket inside the closet.

“I want to find Bruce,” she said, her hands forming fists.

She shot a glance at her father that nearly made him choke on his scotch, but he kept his cool.

He wondered, for a second, if she had some knowledge of his devious actions.

If she so much as had an inkling of information, he knew he needed to defuse the situation immediately, or suffer the consequences of potentially losing his daughter’s love forever.

“Silvana,” Solaris said paternally, his silver hair bobbing as he approached her, “Bruce isn’t here.”

He looked directly in her eyes, calm as could be, and lied, “But I saw him in the council meeting, and he agreed with some of the revisions to our original plan to have you become Guardian.”

Silvana’s heart raced. “So you saw Bruce?”

“From afar, yes,” Solaris told her, continuing his deception. He thought of his dead wife, and how if he had kept his lies going for a little longer with her, she might still be alive. Mourning her had provided him with plenty of time to develop a strategy to keep Silvana close to him, even though he would be robbing his daughter of her true love.

“I realize that you’re worried,” Solaris said, fetching a second cut-crystal glass. He reached for the decanter of good scotch and continued, “But perhaps you’d sit with me for a moment and I can help calm your nerves.”

Silvana was completely caught off guard since her father was so rarely considerate of her emotions. Delighted, she jumped at the opportunity to connect.

And, if he had seen Bruce, she wanted to know everything her father could tell her.

“So,” Solaris said, dropping a thick cube of ice into the empty glass. “Would my beautiful daughter have a glass of celebratory scotch with her old man?”

Silvana discarded her negative thoughts about his journal.

It was his pained scribblings from after her mother died, and although it mentioned werewolf sacrifice and spellcasting, staring in the eyes of her father as he poured her the very first glass of alcohol she’d ever share with him, she knew her father couldn’t be capable of such horrible treachery.

She accepted the scotch and almost felt bad for thinking he had been up to no good in the first place, but Silvana reminded herself how hectic her life had been, and that she couldn’t blame herself for being cautious with all that was happening.

“I take it you didn’t see where Bruce went after the council dismissed him?” Silvana said, seating herself in her father’s quarters and in a regal chair across from his.

“No, my dear, I did not see, though if I had to surmise where he had gone, I would imagine he would be attending The Meeting of Moons.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Silvana said, relaxing into the chair. She finally felt like what she had been training to do—become her father’s equal.

“As you know, werewolves can transform on command,” Solaris explained, “but on a natural full moon, their strength is enhanced, and they transform regardless of whether they’d like to or not. To mark such occasions, there is a meeting held between the packs.”

Silvana curled up in the chair and rubbed her tongue against the back of her teeth. “I just don’t understand why Bruce wouldn’t tell me any of this, or explain to me where he was going.”

The spectacles on Solaris’s face twinkled in the flames from the fireplace. “Don’t forget, dearest, that your relationship with Bruce Winters is not something most people would welcome.”

“What’re you saying?”

Solaris gave his glass a shook and the ice cube rattled. “I’m saying that perhaps some unsavory forces were spying on Bruce, and he’s refraining from contacting you until he knows this meeting has passed and he’s in the safe to see you.”

“He was addressed by his pack not too long ago, and he denied the accusations.”

“So then, rest assured that your lover is waiting for the proper opportunity to see you.”

Solaris took a long sip and smiled, “And maybe he’s left you some sort of note for you to find.”

With a chuckle Solaris added, “Though again, I’ll say that I doubt he’d hid it in the broom closet.”

Silvana laughed and rubbed her leg. The scotch was warming her and she could taste the age of such a fine, sophisticated beverage.

“So Bruce was safe,” Silvana said, a tad more life in her eyes.

“Yes,” Solaris approved. “Healthy and strong, and busy and responsible.”

Silvana nodded and they both drank.

“About a lot of people not agreeing with our relationship,” Silvana said, clearing her throat, “Do you approve of me and Bruce?”

Solaris concealed his disgust by bringing his head back and finishing his scotch.

He leaned forward and said, “Silvana, I’ll be honest with you because I think you deserve it. At first, I held reservations towards Mr. Winters. But I see how much he wishes to love and protect you, and what could a father ask for beyond that?”

Silvana gleamed.

“And,” Solaris said, “He agrees that I should maintain my position as Guardian, and you can continue training to accept the position in a few years. Possibly a decade.”

To further torture Bruce, Solaris projected his conversation to the cellar through the magic of his seals.

Bruce writhed in anger as he heard every lying word.

“Dad,” Silvana said, very upset. “That’s not what we agreed too. I’m to become Guardian. You’re not in any shape to do it anymore.”

Smugly, Solaris stated, “Remember, dear, I created the potion for the Spirit Scars.”

He rose and walked to the decanter. “I can create something to combat my illness as well.”

He freshened his glass and joined Silvana once more.

“I’m worried for you,” Silvana said.

“Please, don’t be,” Solaris said, bringing the decanter to her and pouring another glass. “Just relax and trust that I have your best interests in mind.”

Beneath them, Bruce wrestled with the clasps holding him to the table.

He was being electrocuted by Solaris’s magic, but Bruce grit his teeth and thought about Silvana.

He would save her at whatever the cost.

Then, while screaming with might, the clasp around his right arm loosened.