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Chapter 20
Dorian
Margo had spent an entire weekend at my place, surrounded by werewolves. She took her pills, did everything right, but still, her temperature remained cooler than normal. Maybe she was right, and the process took time, but then why was it taking more out of her each time she used her power? Had it happened too often, too quickly? What if next time was her last? The thought filled me with dread.
Most of the pack had left on a run, but I hadn’t wanted to join them. Still, I needed time away from Margo to think, well, brood, properly. There had to be a way to fix her permanently, or at least figure out how to use her gift without harming her. We were never going to convince her to stop using her power for good. That much was clear.
Victor was hanging around outside the woods when I headed out there. I shot him a confused glance. “Didn’t you go out on a run?”
He ignored my question and nodded in the direction of the houses. “She still cold?”
I rubbed my forearm, still feeling traces of her cool fingertips on my arm before I left. “Yep.”
“Told you she smelled like death.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
He shrugged, unbothered. “Think her family hides out somewhere so they don’t have to deal with it?”
“Her family?” I frowned. “You mean her biological family.”
He shrugged again. “Maybe she needs to stay away from people to survive.”
“Then why would they put her up for adoption?”
“Maybe they didn’t know.” He yawned. “I’m going for a run. Come with me.”
“I’m going to hang out here,” I said. “I don’t want to go far.”
“That’s what I meant.” He stripped off on the spot without a care for who might be watching.
Shaking my head, I moved further into the woods before removing my clothes and shifting. My head was so full of Margo that I was barely even aware the shift had happened. Who had given her up? Why? Did they have her gift, too?
Every time she used her power, she gave up a piece of her own health in return, as though she paid for each life she saved with a little of her own. It was beginning to feel like death constantly hovered around her, creeping closer all the time. Victor hadn’t been completely wrong about her smelling like death.
Her biological family had to know the whole truth. Margo couldn’t be unique. Her relatives had to be aware of her struggles. Was she supposed to help people with her gift, even though it was slowly killing her? Then what was the point?
The answers to all of our questions had to be out there, but not in Ireland. Our pasts came from elsewhere. If Margo was truly a harbinger, then there had to be others. Who better to help her? We couldn’t sit around waiting for the answer to fall into our laps. I had to seek it out. That was all I could do now. I would go and track her people down, and then I would make them help her. That was it. That was the plan. The only plan. It had to work.
Byron looked concerned when I shared my idea. “I can’t let you go alone.”
“I’m old enough,” I told him, effortlessly holding his gaze because it was for Margo. “I can’t not do it. We’re getting nowhere here, so I have to go to where the answers are.” Even if he told me not to go, I was going.
“Is this the only way?” Perdita asked, unable to hide her concern. “I’m not sure I like this, Dorian. We don’t even know who these people are.”
Byron sat back in the chair in his office, fidgeting with a pen as he thought about my idea. “There are no werewolves in Romania anymore,” he said. “We’ve looked. Perhaps there’s a reason for that.”
Nathan nudged me from the chair next to mine. “That’s suspicious enough to ward you off.”
“Maybe the reason for that is the answer I’m looking for,” I said stubbornly. “If Margo’s kind are driving away werewolves, I’ll have to face them myself. They’re the only ones who can help her. She can’t stop herself from using her power. They have to know how to either control it or stop the side-effects.”
“What if they refuse to help?” Byron asked.
“At least I tried,” I said. “Margo was healthy until she came here. We did something, triggered something in her, I don’t know what. All I know is we made Margo use her power, and that hurt her, so I have to try to fix it.”
“This isn’t your fault,” Perdita said gently.
I held her gaze. “I have to do something. Sitting here waiting for something worse to happen is going to drive me crazy. Can you please support me?”
