As I left Advanced Monster Hunting on Wednesday, there was a twinge at the corner of my brain. Emma was up and crying. I couldn’t feel it, but I knew she had to be in great pain.
I wanted to go to her, but every time I saw her in person put her at risk. I brushed against her mind, to let her know I was there. She reached back, though the effort nearly caused her to cringe away.
An idea popped into my mind. I couldn’t give a virus to her if I was in my shifter form. When I reached the hallway, I transformed into a wolven, and scratched at her door, giving a whine.
Emma opened it slowly. Her tear stained cheeks and red nose broke me. I slipped inside, and she nearly collapsed against the door as she shut it behind her.
Shifters were far too big to walk around inside the dorms in animal form, but we had to make it work.
Emma fell back onto her bed. Her body wracked with tremors, and Tygrys flew overhead, purring in concern.
I put my paws on the bed and pulled myself up. The bed creaked and barely supported my weight. I heard the sound of the timber frame cracking. I hoped it didn’t break. I circled a few times and curled around Emma, so she was wrapped in a cocoon inside my body, my nose touching my tail.
Emma stroked my fur and sniffed. “It’s not worth living like this.”
“Don’t say that, onawilke.” A growl emitted from my throat.
“I’m in so much pain I can barely move,” she whispered as she laid her head against my shoulder. “When does it end?”
“I cannot say when, but I promise you it will.” Gods, she was breaking my heart. How I longed to rush to the palace and eat Gabby’s heart out of her chest. I’d devour it whole, in front of my cousin. Perhaps then Elijah would understand the agony he was putting me through. Shifters weren’t meant to watch their Marked suffer like this. We were meant to take the pain for them, and yet, there was nothing I could do in this particular situation.
My mind rushed with ideas to pay for her medication. I wish she’d accept Stefan’s help, but she was too proud. At some point, he was going to break down and buy her medicine for her, but, as I was reminded, that was merely a temporary situation. We had to find a way to get her medication to her permanently. At the same time, all I wanted to do was figure out some way just to get her by.
“We could sell the wolven necklace I forged you for Christmas,” I offered. “There are royal jewels inside. It’s worth a fortune.”
It was one of the few things that wasn’t taken from me, because the royal family had forgotten I had it. A stroke of luck.
“No, Ethan. We need that.” Emma’s tears ran into my fur. “It’s a weapon for us to use against Gabby and Eli, and it contains Unseelie magic. If the monarchy finds out you infused royal jewels with Unseelie powers, you’ll be breaking the law again, and we can’t afford to give it up. We’ll need it to find the Crystals. It proved invaluable during the Slaughter of the Innocents, so we need it now.”
“You won’t be able to find the Crystals if you’re like this,” I reminded her.
“I’m not giving up one of the few things I have left. You gave me that necklace. It means something to me,” Emma insisted. “Please, don’t ask again.”
I quieted. I was out of ideas. Emma cried into my fur until she fell asleep. I remained with her, breathing evenly. In her sleep, Emma winced and turned against me, like she couldn’t get comfortable. Tygyrs sat on my nose and let out soft mews, like he was asking me what we should do.
I didn’t know what to do. And that was the problem.
At some point, I too drifted away.
The full moon shone outside.The light illuminated the darkness, and the Zlodia mansion. I stuck my head out the window of Elijah’s bedroom, looking down. A summer breeze skirted by my face, and I smelled fresh flowers on the breeze. What it was to be eight and carefree again.
“Ethan, come on!” Elijah gave a giggle. He waved up at me from the ground. I looked from left to right, to see if anyone would notice us, but no one did. I shimmied down from the window and landed next to Elijah with a roll.
“Follow me!” Elijah poked me in the side, and we slipped through the barred fencing that surrounded the mansion. Once we were free of the boundary, we took off running toward the trees.
We were supposed to be having our weekly sleepover, but what our guardians didn’t know is that once midnight passed, Elijah and I hardly slept. We roamed the forests like wild beasts, void of consequence. As children, we were vibrant. We were free.
Elijah let out a howl at the moon as he ran, and I joined him. We wouldn’t be able to shift until we were much older, but already, I longed to find my wolf skin. I wanted to be strong, like my father was.
As the trees lengthened around us, I quivered. I wasn’t afraid of the dark, only what lurked in it. “Do you think there are monsters in here?”
We’d never come by one yet, but there was always that risk when a fae walked the woods. I knew so. My father had told me.
“I’m not afraid of monsters,” Elijah pledged. “If one comes by, I’ll fight it for you.”
“We’ll fight it together,” I said, and I joined Elijah’s arm in mine. Though the threat of monsters was real, it wasn’t worth giving up our nightly adventures. Last week, Elijah and I had found an old hollowed tree that would be perfect for a hideout, and the week before that, Elijah had discovered a toad. There was always something new to explore, and as wolven children, we were curious about the world.
Elijah was brave— I wasn’t. I followed his lead, because he never seemed to be scared of anything. That made me unafraid, too.
