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Scratch opens the third, which is the first door to the right.
It is full of beds. Most of them small and every one of them occupied.
I nod at him, and he slips inside, wincing as he closes the door behind himself.
I keep going, opening doors to empty rooms and wondering if I might be wrong about Candace.
Scratch had the same thought I did when I asked him where he thought she would go.
The only trouble is, if she’s not here, then she could be at my mother’s house.
The thought makes me shudder.
I do not think Candace is powerful enough to make that kind of move. Her abilities seemed impressive until we got closer to those illusions and saw them for what they were.
It was not difficult to shatter them.
I think there is a reason she is hiding, and it is not simply because she is afraid of us.
Valerie was honest and ready to face her death.
Maria was arrogant enough to believe she could win the fight her mate lost, despite having lesser abilities.
Candace is running scared because she knows she is not strong enough to survive.
She is the last of the chimera. Her friends are dead. She is on her own now.
I follow my instincts along the corridor, leaving open the doors that have nothing inside.
I’m not sure if it’s something I hear, or something I feel, but I get the shivers as I reach the door to the last room of the house. It’s the kitchen, the room that looks out into the back yard.
I know this is where she’s hiding. I can sense her presence before I hear her continually hitching breathing. I crouch past the door frame and spot her cowering in the corner of the room, eyes squeezed shut as she breathes as if she’s trying not to hyperventilate.
I don’t think she has seen me. I don’t think she even knows I’m in the room with her right now.
She looks as if she is in a trance. She is murmuring under her breath, her lips shaking.
I move closer, crouching down in front of her.
“Candace,” I murmur, making her gasp.
I can see now that her eyes are glowing.
It is not the golden-amber glow of a wolf’s enhanced sight.
Her eyes are silvery and flecked through with a multitude of vivid colors that are swirling too quickly to focus on. It hurts to look at her eyes directly, so I move my gaze down.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” she whispers.
“No,” I tell her. “You’re the one who’s not supposed to be here.”
She blinks and her eyes return to their normal human color. It is a relief. I do not know what was causing her eyes to glow, and I do not wish to find out.
“We made this town,” she tells me, her voice emotionless. “Why do you think there’s nightshade all around us? It grows where chimera live, as if the earth itself wants us to die. We’re an abomination. Three parts don’t make a whole. They make a mess. I am part wolf, yet I am not loyal or caring like your species. I have no reason to live, yet I’m afraid to die. Why is that? I do not understand this feeling.”
“Come with me,” I offer, getting to my feet and holding out my hand.
Valerie was right that this woman was having some of the same feelings that she had.
