Gooseberry continued to howl. Vatten sat on the floor against the wall, trying to calm the puppy down to little avail. Canton waited until the first group was gone before saying anything else.
Philip beckoned me with a finger through the crowd. I glanced around sure he was waving to someone else because I wasn’t going anywhere until Vatten was ready to leave.
“Gonna need your help or at least you’re gonna want to stick around,” Philip said, adjusting his hat. “Gonna take the pup around to see what he sees or smells or whatever he knows. The spells on that page were holding strong. If she’s getting out, she’s smarter than we think.”
I glanced around for Bernard and Nashen but they had left with the group of folks who lived here.
“Don’t worry about them,” Philip shook his head. “They’ve survived this long living with it. Pras has a handle on it but like most alphas from back then they underestimate not only omegas but also women. His head’s so big from savin’ the flight that he thinks he can’t fuck up.”
“And that’s when you fuck up,” I nodded, finishing the bear’s thought for him.
We waited with Canton and Bellamy while Philip walked those who lived off the farm through the winding passageways of the Burrow to the closest exit to where most of them would’ve parked. I hoped no one pulled a dipshit move and smashed into my truck.
I slid down the wall and wrapped an arm around Vatten’s shoulder. Gooseberry was now sitting on Marabell, Tarabell, and their little brother. The girls had shifted into rabbit form and were hiding under him. Canton scooped them up one at a time and stuck them into Bellamy’s shirt pockets before fishing out the wolf pup. Gooseberry stood up to follow Bellamy down another passageway, the one I thought led straight to Canton’s house, but Canton called him to heel. Gooseberry glanced at Vatten whose eyebrows shot high on his head. The puppy wagged his tail. I wasn’t sure exactly how it was communicated but I was pretty sure Vatten told him that we were going to hunt the bad lady.
“He’s going to gobble her up!” Vatten laughed and pulled the overgrown puppy in for a hug.
I hoped Gooseberry could gobble up ghosts because it would save us all a lot of trouble.
Chapter 17
Nashen
Canton Valley Farm
I paused on the porch before going inside. Diamond and Bree were already back. Diamond had left her heeled boots on the porch but that didn’t explain why a man’s voice was coming from inside our house. I wasn’t in there. Bernard was with me and we just waved his parents off on their journey to their own home. Jacand was with his parents and Jacand was yet to sound like a man. He was still a boy. I glanced at Bernard who squinted like he was straining to hear something. He was hearing it secondhand of course.
“You can’t go in there if Ferrick is out,” Bernard said.
“It could be Pras arguing with Pami. If its Pami, I should go in there. I could probably calm her down. Might have to lie to do it but—”
“YOU STUPID LITTLE BITCH!” the man roared. “THAT’S NOT HOW WE FIX THIS PROBLEM! WE DON’T GO AROUND---” he paused. “Shit! Get back in your paper! They’re back! But this isn’t over! This is far from over. You can’t go around killing people.”
“I wouldn’t have to kill so indiscriminately if you just tell me who you’re related to!” my sister’s voice reached my ears and myheart dropped into my stomach. I opened the door fast, thankful that Diamond had left it unlocked in her hurry to get inside. By the time I stepped in, my sister stood alone in the beautiful living room furnished and designed by Bernard’s parents.
“Nash,” Pami said, her voice soft.
She was ethereal and looked as she did in her later teens. So fucking young. I almost reached out to her but then I remembered the bodies in front of the trapdoor were probably her handiwork.
“What did you do?” I asked instead, raising my hands to my hips to stand akimbo. “Why did you do that?”
“For you! For everyone!” Pami said. “He was the bastard son of Sharon Claudis and she needs to kill him!”
“Why are you still working with her?! She killed you! I know because I was the one who had to carry your body off the island in the center of Moonbottom Lake!”
“I’m not!” she shook her head and raised her hands like I pointed a gun at her. “I’m not even helping Ferrick anymore! He said he’d help me with Sharon but he lied about what he wanted in return! He’s locked in tight--- He can’t fit through my loophole. That coyote was her son. She needs to kill three of them – any of her people – to come back to life.”
My sister had lost her mind or Sharon Claudis had filled it with bullshit.
“She has to be the one to kill them and the only way I can keep that from happening is to kill them myself! You could help me, Nash! You could help me get them before she does!” she said, her eyes wild and desperate.
“Where is she?” Bernard shouted as if Pami was very far away and might have trouble hearing her.
“Where is who?” Pami shouted back at him.
“Sharon Claudis!” Bernard shouted.
“In one of the old wells. I don’t know which one! Venal wouldn’t tell me! That’s her son! She killed him! That’s one down and two to go!” Pami said, shifting her weight foot to foot as something whimpered outside.
