Suffering a loss

*Kelly*

We certainly don't have time to waste, but there is no choice but to try to fix the van so we can continue on our way. It appears to be the only vehicle these people have, and our utility vehicles were pretty much totaled in the accident.

Especially the one carrying Ben and Liam.

I know Liam's wife well, and I have spent time with Ben's wife at all of the pack's special occasions. Both couples were clearly destined partners, so they're going to be devastated. Just by looking at Pete, I can imagine what his life will be like when they find out his companions are gone. He is completely lost, looking out the window as if he thinks his partner will magically appear there. It is a horrible fate.

Eli just left with Brent and Sean to work on the van, and Trevor stayed with me. I'm pretty sure Eli ordered him to do it to protect me, although he must have done it through the mental link. I can take care of myself, and Eli should know that. Sometimes siblings can be a pain.

But I stayed back on purpose to talk to Heather. I am intrigued by her, and this place, and want to know more.

“Tell me about your pack,” I say. I know they're not a pack because they're clearly renegades who've joined a leader who isn't an ET1, but I feel like I should respect Heather by calling them what she's known them for as long as she can remember.

She's been looking at Pete as if waiting for him to react, but she gives up and turns to me. "Haven't you ever heard of us, the Stone Creek Pack?"

I shake my head. “Sorry, no,” I say. She looks sad, so I add, “Our pack lands are quite far from here, so we don't travel through this area often.” I hope she doesn't feel offended.

"Oh," he says. "Well, I guess since I've never heard of you either, it makes sense."

I smile.

“Stone Creek is a cool place,” he says, his eyes shining. —We live here in a real hotel. Pete says a lot of rich people used to come here and pay good money to be here.

“I bet so,” I say. —It seems to be a great place.

She nods, but some of the shine disappears from her eyes. —Well, the pack was the best until Betsy died.

"Betsy?"

She points to Pete, who seems to flinch at the mention of the name but continues to stare out the window, not moving from his spot.

"Pete's partner," he says.

“I see,” I say.

“I wasn't very old at the time,” he says, and now he's looking out the window with a vacant look too. —But I remember everything very clearly. It used to be a lot of fun here. The whole place had a ton of stuff, and we were never without anything. My brother and I walked through the hallways picking up things.

I nod, and she looks at Pete. She hears a creak on the floor and senses Trevor settling into one of the flimsy chairs.

“Everything was old and run down,” Heather continues. —But still there were many things. It's like people just left. Some of the elders... I remember they were talking about fixing up the place, painting and things like that. Pete was happy then. He said we would do all that. He said we would make this place as special as it was when the rich came here.

He stops talking for a few minutes, then continues, —One day, Betsy was at the river. Men came, terrifying ones, and grabbed her. Pete and some other elders tried to stop them. Well, they stopped them so they wouldn't take her but...

He stops there, and I put my hand on his. I look at Pete and see a tear running down his face. He doesn't move to dry her.

“Pete never wanted to do anything else after that,” Heather says. —Then we started running out of things, and he started making rules. Rules about who could hunt, who could wash, who could marry. Pete didn't want anyone to have companions anymore.

Stop talking now, but I understand the situation. It amazes me that an entire group of changelings could fall into disgrace because of one man's devastating grief, especially since she's not his ET1. I don't know much about renegades, but I know they tend to band together. That primal need for a pack never leaves a ET, even if we leave an actual pack. I guess they just needed an ET1 so badly that they clung to Pete no matter what.

“Well, we're here to help now,” I say. —We can't stay here because we need to rescue my friend, ET1 Eli's companion. But I promise that we will help you.

"You're a good lady," he says.

I smile and pat his hand, then look at Trevor, who has an inscrutable expression on his face. Well, he could start helping now. —The first thing we have to do is take care of these rules....

***

*Adam*

Shelby and I have searched everywhere in this maze of secret pas...ages, and we still haven't found that mysterious lockless door that Malena Milly was talking about. She maybe she's just lying.

I'm excited there are no Kane warriors anywhere. I'm sure Shelby and I headed to our deaths investigating the tunnels.

Finally, we ended up pretty much back where we started, finding nothing.

"Well, there's nothing around here," Shelby says. "So where the hell is this door you're talking about?"

"I don't know," I say. —But maybe we should go back upstairs and see if Malena Milly is still in her room. We could hear her talking to someone or something.

Shelby nods, and we head to the nearest secret door, which leads us to a hallway. Since there are so many hallways here, and they all look the same after a while, it takes me a while to get my bearings and realize we're close to the library. I remember the plans the ET1s made, so I enter, gesturing for Shelby to follow me, thinking it would be best to clean things up in case Kane's people infiltrate the castle. The library is empty, and I tidy up the section the ET1s had been working on earlier.

"It's weird how there's a door that leads into this room, and then another one that leads right outside," Shelby says.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Who knows who built those or what they were for?" I say.

We leave and go to Malena Milly's room, where we find the door open. The guard is inside, but Malena Milly doesn't seem to be. The guard looks at me, scared. “I stopped listening to her inside her, and like you said, I went in,” he says. —But she's not here. What kind of witch is this woman?

Shelby laughs a little. “The worst kind,” she says.

I don't want this guard to know about the secret pas...age, so I excuse him and close the door behind me, then Shelby and I examine all the walls and corners of the room. Sure enough, there is a secret pas...age door. It's strange that we didn't see Malena Milly down there a few minutes ago. She must have been sneaky or gone the other way.

We follow the hallway in the pas...age for a while until we see light, and when we open that door, we are in a hallway again. This one is next to the sewing room, so I look inside, hearing a commotion.

And there is Malena Milly, yelling at the dressmaker. I have this strange feeling of relief at having found it mixed with horror at having actually found it, and my brain can't handle those emotions right now, so I don't say a word.

But Shelby does.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asks in a high-pitched tone.

Malena Milly puts her hand on her hip as if she had never been so insulted in her entire life. “I have never been insulted so much in my life,” she says.

I guess I got that one right.

“She's not supposed to know we're watching her,” I tell Shelby in the mental connection. "Tell her you were hoping she would take measurements for the new clothes."

"Well, I was hoping you'd take measurements for your new clothes," Shelby says quickly.

I'm impressed because that was really skillful. "You've had us waiting here for a while," Shelby adds.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about because I've been here since they brought me in," he says, pointing at me. Of course, that's a lie, because she brought her near here, but then she disappeared, and she didn't come here then. And we heard her talking to King Gene.

Anyway, now we know where it is, so I inform the ET1s. “There's not much going on with Malena Milly,” I say, happy to have at least one thing to honestly report.

ET1 Tristan answers me. "Good," he says. —But we're a little busy right now. Keep up the good work and let us know if anything important happens.

Shelby looks at me strangely, and I realize I've been smiling since the ET1 said I'd done a good job. At least, I think that's what he said.

Malena Milly looks at me with a frown and yells at the dressmaker again, something about yellow thread. There's not enough room in my brain to waste it thinking about what the hell she's talking about, so I take Shelby's hand and lead her outside of her.

We will only continue to monitor Malena Milly from afar.