When I saw the Adalwulf female rush out, covering her mouth like she had to throw up, I slipped into the elevator just before she did and hit the close-door button before her retinue arrived. Dropping a tracker into her tiny purse was child’s play.
But now Aster is having some kind of seizure. Her body shakes and trembles. Her eyes are open, but unseeing, the way they were at first in my dream this morning. She’s completely vulnerable. Alone in an elevator with the enemy. I could kill the Adalwulf seeress right here, right now, with one easy snap of her neck. Weaken their pack by removing their ability to see into the future. It’s tempting.
But I need to know why Fate led me to her.
“Aster.” I say her name out loud, wrapping both my arms around her to hold her up.
Aster. This time I try it in my head.
Still no response. I suspect this is not a medical concern. Aster is a seeress. Perhaps she’s having a vision.
According to my grandmother, the “moonborn” are created through the ritualistic interbreeding of witches with wolves during a powerful planetary influence like an eclipse. There’s dark magic involved. The seeress is created through some kind of power bond with the alpha. It gives the Adalwulfs a distinct advantage but comes with a cost–some kind of warping or twisting.
Aster doesn’t appear warped, but who knows what lies behind her luminescent exterior.
I rub her sternum to activate her calming reflex. It’s okay. I’ve got you, I tell her telepathically. I have no idea if that works in real life or only when I meet her in dreams.
Her body starts to relax, just as the elevator dings. We’re already on the first floor.
I hear the sound of pounding footfalls–her army racing down the stairs to meet her.
I scramble to my feet, lifting Aster with me. She lets out a soft moan. One of her hands covers mine as she drags in a breath through her nose. My scent won’t be on her because I covered it with a spray of men’s cologne to keep her from scenting another wolf.
I prop her against the elevator wall and step out before her men round the bend.
Chapter Four
Aster
I haven’t had such strong and debilitating visions since I was young. I step into the limo on shaky legs. The scent of men’s cologne permeates my clothes, irritating my already frayed nerves.
A man in the elevator.
I can barely piece together what happened. Only snippets of memory bled through the excruciating visions.
“What was all that?” Otto asks when he settles in the opposite seat.
Another wave of pain shoots through my temples, making my stomach turn. I rub my forehead. “The stone held great power.” My voice sounds thin. “It activated my Sight.”
Otto makes a sound in his throat. He knows he’s not high enough on the pay grade to ask me what I Saw, but I don’t know if he believes me. He takes a water out of the mini-fridge and uncaps it to hand it to me.
I drink deeply, still trying to stabilize my nervous system. Chocolate would help. Meat would be better. It dampens the Sight, which is why Oma never let me have any, but Oma’s dead, and my wolf is hungry.
I press the button to speak to the driver up front. “Find a hot dog vendor,” I tell him. “I need food.”
“Yes, Seeress,” he says.
Otto studies me. “What happened in the elevator?”
I grit my teeth. I don’t want to explain myself to this man, but he’s a wolf, and he can smell the stranger’s scent on me. “I lost consciousness for a moment, and a man helped me back to my feet.”
It seems like a likely explanation, but that wasn’t what happened.
I know that much.
The clamoring of the Grandmothers had grown so strong that I felt ill. I was running for a bathroom before I threw up, but I somehow ended up in the elevator instead.
And he was in there with me. Smelling like a human coated with harsh cologne.
