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I know the answer to that question. I know it, and I don’t dare say it out loud.
“It’s OK,” she shrugs. “I can’t say that I’ve ever truly felt a part of their community. This just proves it.”
The sadness in her voice is palpable. Her entire body seems to lean slightly forward, as if she is carrying the weight of the world. I want to pick her up in my arms, and just tell her that things will be alright. I have no idea if that is true or not, but I want her to hear it this moment. I want her to believe it.
Then, I realize something else. She is taking this way too easily. Shifters, just like vampires, can be very unforgiving when it comes to being disloyal. If they deemed her an enemy of the clan, they might want to do more than just banish her from the town. They might want to make an example out of her, hurt her just to prove a point. Once again, that rage inside of me comes to a boil. I know what I have to do, but the question is, will she accept my help?
“Come with me,” I suggest.
She stops instantly upon hearing me say that. She turns to me, with a confused frown. “With you?”
“Yes,” I nod.
“I think it would be best for me to be alone,” she tells me.
“No,” I try to convince her. “You’ve lived your entire life with the shifters, but you have no idea how bloodthirsty they can truly be. You have no idea how cruel and unforgiving they can be. I’m very glad that you didn’t get a chance to experience that, but I think now, you are very close to that.”
“But if I stay with you, it means that the shifters were right,” she suddenly says. “They will be sure that I betrayed them.”
I should tell her that it isn’t so, but the truth is, she’s right. They will think she’s betrayed them no matter what. Just by talking to me, she violated their code. That violation costs dearly.
“They will be looking for you,” I remind her of something she probably already knows herself.
“Rose said the Elder just wants to talk to me,” she hesitates when she says those words. I can hear it in her voice that she doubts this as well. “But she said I should still get out of town for a while.”
“And be where?” I wonder, looking around. “Here in the woods on your own? What if they find you?”
The question lingers in the air between us. She doesn’t reply at first. She’s thinking about it. I know she’s considering all options, even the worst ones. Then, her entire body seems to shudder with fear. I know she’s just seen the worst option of them all with her mind’s eye. She may not have seen what they can do, but she knows what they are capable of. The shifters, those same shifters she has considered family. But even family can break apart.
“I’ll hide well,” she says stubbornly.
“You can’t,” I point out. “You need help.”
“Your help will get me in even more trouble than I already am,” she manages to make me shut up for a moment with this statement.
In a way, she’s right. I’ve already done enough damage just by being seen talking to her. If they knew we had sex as well… that would seal her fate. I can’t let her be on her own, not now that she is in danger.
Then, I come up with another strategy. Maybe this one will work.
“What if I tell you that I need your help?”
The moment I say these words, I can see her eyes light up with interest. That’s good. I managed to catch her attention.
“My help?” she repeats.
“Mhm,” I nod. “You probably figured out that I am here for a reason. There are a few vampires here in the woods as well, hiding from the shifters, just like you. That reason is the Well of Salubrity.”
I wait to see her reaction. “But… that’s a legend.”
“That’s what everyone wants you to think,” I correct her. “That’s what the shifters wants us to think. We know better than to believe them.”
“You think it exists… here?” she asks, spreading her arms around her, pointing at the entire woods, and at nowhere in particular.
“Somewhere around here, yes,” I confirm. “We just can’t figure out exactly where. That’s why I need your help.”
“You think I know where it is?” she asks, sounding incredulous.
“I think you may know something,” I explain as gently as I can. “You may have heard or overheard something, without even realizing they were talking about this well in particular.”
