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“Yeah, so? What does it matter if it gets rid of them?” The words spew from my lips without any forethought. I pause, debating whether I mean what I said or not. “And it would … it could stop others from getting sick, like those poor shadow wolf cubs … and your mom.”
He silently considers what I said. Or, well, I think he’s considering it until he opens his mouth.
“If Legend came to you and said he was going to sacrifice his life to get rid of some poisonous vines, would you let him?”
Clever wolf has me there.
“I’m not sure.” A lie. I know exactly what I’d do. “I’d probably have to be in the situation to know how I’d react.”
His gaze welds with mine. “No, you know what you’d do. You’d beg him not to do it and you’d stop him if you could.”
“Maybe not if he wanted to—”
“Lake,” he cuts me off, stepping forward. “I thought you were dead for ten years, so trust me when I say you would do almost anything not to lose a creature you love.”
Love.
Love.
Love.
The word is a swirling cloud of echoes thundering in my chest. Is he implying that I love Legend? Is he declaring that he loves me?
His hands tremble as he curls his fingers around the back of my neck and looks me dead in the eye, pleading, “So please, please, please spare me the pain of losing you again, and do not tell any wolf about your gift.”
I wordlessly nod. There’s really no other answer, not when he’s staring at me like I hold the power to crush his heart.
“Maybe we can look into my gift more, though?” I suggest cautiously. “Perhaps there’s a way around me dying with the vines if I take the energy from them.”
He presses his lips together then nods. “We’ll see what we can find out. Until then, we keep it a secret, okay?”
“Okay. And thank you.” I hug him in an attempt to take away some of his sorrow, like I wanted to the first time I laid eyes on him. Or the first time I can remember laying eyes on him, anyway.
“Have you remembered anything yet?” He changes the subject, molding his arms around me.
“Not yet. I’m starting to wonder if the spell was a dud.”
“Give it some time. I’m sure it will work.” He stares down at me as I yawn. “You should get some sleep. If you’re okay with going to the city, then I think we should leave at dawn.”
“Will I train with Rune there?”
“Yes, I think that’s important.”
“So do I.”
His lips caress my forehead. Then I hop into bed while he ducks into the bathroom to change into a pair of drawstring pajama bottoms.
I roll around on the mattress as I wait for him to return, trying to get comfortable. My body is overheating, and the more I toss and turn, the more stifling I become. Then my brain joins in on the fun, singeing against my skull.
By the time Jules vacates from the bathroom, I’m a tangled mess of dripping sweat and tears.
He clambers onto the bed and examines me in a panic. “What’s wrong?”
“I think I’m remembering.” Splinters of colors, shapes, and emotions pierce my mind, creating images and memories.
Me as a small girl, playing in a field of violets. The violets play with me and I laugh, so happy. A female werewolf joins me. She has teal eyes like me—my mom. A male werewolf soon follows, and I know by his scent that he’s my father. He laughs as the flowers dance with me, seeking my touch.
“You can’t tell anyone ever,” my mom says, “about what you can do.”
