Chapter 8 Death of an Innocent

Vera's POV

The silver-eyed man approached closer, and my new senses shouted danger. Truth-sight revealed to me something off about him – shadows that moved not in line with his body, coldness where I should see warmth. He was not completely human.

"Who are you?" I maintained my voice level, although every nerve in my body was screaming.

"Somebody who is doing the same thing you're doing right now." His grin exhibited teeth that were a little too sharp. "My name is Darius. I've been watching the corruption increase in your pack for months."

"Watching and doing nothing?"

"Waiting for the time. For the individual." His silver eyes fixed on me with uncomfortable intensity. "Thalia discussed her plan before she acted on it. She told you'd be the way to stop what's coming."

I experimented my truth-telling ability with his words, honing the manner Thalia had taught me. His words were true-sounding, but there was more to them than that – folds of covered-up meaning that I could not quite catch.

"What exactly is going on?"

"Kane isn't working alone. He's been in touch with forces of the shadow world, beings that live to feed on death and destruction." Darius moved closer, his steps quiet on the ground of the forest. "They've made him promises of power for opening doors between worlds."

"Shadow world?" The words sent a cold shiver down my spine. "You mean demons?"

"Beasts of the dark that between life and death. They cannot enter our realm without invitation, but once they do. They'll consume everything. Every living being will be fodder for their hunger."

I thought of Marcus on the ground, Kane's cold manipulation, pack members who had so quickly turned on me. "How do we keep them from coming?"

"Survive the next few hours, first." Darius gestured toward the entrance of the temple. "Kane will discover Thalia aided you in your escape. Men are already sent to search the forest."

As if summoned by his words, I heard the voices rising from the trees. Commands, the sound of men moving through leaves, the clashing of weapons and armor. They were still distant, but closing in.

"They'll find the temple soon," I breathed.

"Let them. They'll locate Thalia's tomb and believe you died in some failed magic ritual." Darius produced a black cloak from beneath his jacket. "But you need to be out of here when they arrive."

I grabbed the cloak, which was interestingly absorbing of light instead of reflective. As I wrapped it around me, I felt my existence sort of fade, like I had become more difficult to see.

"Where should I go?"

"Safe from Crescent Pack territory for now. You have time to hone your new abilities before you see Kane again." His silver eyes glowed a clearer intensity in the growing light of dawn. "Three days' travel north of here is a safe house. Other servants of the light visit it as a meeting place."

"Other servants?"

"You are not alone in this war, Vera. There are wolves throughout the territories who've sworn to protect our world from shadow realm incursions." Darius put a little crescent moon-shaped silver pendant into my palm. "Show them this, and they'll know you were sent by Thalia."

The voices were closing in. I could now hear individual words – commands to search all the structures, to discover traces of magical use, to take me in alive if possible.

"I have to go," I said, but did not rise. "What about you? Won't they suspect you here?"

Darius smiled, and this time his sharp teeth looked almost wolf-like. "They don't see me unless I wish to be seen. Shadow world beings are not the only thing that lives between worlds."

I was unable to question him what he was saying before he disappeared into the darkness between trees as though he had never existed at all. Only the pendant held tightly within my hand convinced me that the dialogue had actually taken place.

I pulled the hood of the cloak up around my head and walked out into the woods, taking roads I'd trodden all my life. My new awareness was daunting – I was able to hear heartbeats for a couple of hundred yards, feel fear and excitement on the wind, feel the life force of every creature in my vicinity. It was as though I'd entered another dimension.

Behind me, shouts of discovery were emanating from the temple grounds. They'd found Thalia's tomb and were arguing about what it indicated. I caught pieces of what they were saying on the breeze.

".priestess is dead."

".no sign of the Luna."

".search the grounds around the tomb."

Kane's voice cut through the others, cutting through them with fury. "She can't have gone very far. Find her."

I walked more quickly, taking detours from trails and along game trails which merely brought me deeper into the wood. I stopped to listen in intervals of a few minutes to make sure that nobody was tracking me. The cloak Darius gave me to wear also appeared to suppress both sound as well as sight – my steps were barely heard.

By lunchtime, I had a few miles on me from the temple. The shouting of the search party had long since been out of hearing distance, although I did have a sense that they were somewhere. Kane would not so easily give up.

I took shelter in a cave at the back of a waterfall, one that I had found years earlier on early childhood outings. The roar of the waterfall would mask my own, and the cave was spacious enough to hide me if others were to pass by.

Exhaustion overwhelmed me like a punch the moment I was out of danger. The ritual had drained more energy out of me than I had expected, and my body was still learning how to use its newfound abilities. I curled up into a ball on the cave floor and slept soundly and irrevocably.

I woke up to find it was evening. The waterfall illuminated the cave in golden light, showering rainbow hues on the walls. I was stronger then, more centered in this new body.

Something was not right, though. My new senses were picking up on a familiar scent drifting on the evening breeze. Pack scent. Crescent Pack, I figured.

I shifted position to the edge of the cave and peered down through the falling water. Three wolves were opposite me across the stream, their forms stretched tight with the intent of hunting. I recognized them – Derek, the warrior who'd been willing to kill me, and two of his men.

"The trail ends here," Derek said with annoyance in his voice. "It's as if she just disappeared."

"Magic," one of them said. "That old crone must have done something before she died."

"Beta Kane wants her found," Derek said. "Dead or alive, he wants proof of what happened to her."

"Maybe she did die in this ritual. Maybe there's nothing to find."

Derek's head shook back and forth. "Kane doesn't believe so. He says she's too stubborn to die so easily."

They spread out in both directions along the stream for any sign that I had come through. I held my breath and continued deeper into the cave, praying the waterfall would cover my scent.

"Wait." the third man yelled. "I smell something."

My heart stopped. Had magic from my cloak failed?

"What is it?"

"Blood. Fresh blood."

I looked down at my hands and noticed I was still bleeding from the ritual cuts on the wrists. My altered blood had seeped onto the floor of the cave, making a trail even human noses could detect.

"This way," Derek ordered, moving in the direction of the waterfall.

I got seconds before they found me. There was no rear exit of the cave, and I could not fight three trained men even with the new powers. I was cornered.

But then I remembered something Thalia had spoken to me when we were in the ritual – the power would be greater during times of utter need. I focused on the reality I needed most: I was not here. I left no trace. There was nothing for them to find.

Power flowed through me, separate from my healing gift but somehow known. It flowed out to the three adventurers, brushing their minds with soft persuasion.

Derek stopped dead, his head tilted in the way a person listens to a sound. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Voices. North of here." He turned from the waterfall. "Someone's calling for help."

The other two men looked confused, but Derek was gone already. "Come on. Someone might be in danger."

They disappeared into the forest, following like ghost voices heard by only themselves. I leaned against the cave wall, shocked and terrified at what I'd just done. I could manipulate thoughts, plant suggestions, make people believe the impossible.

The power was thrilling. And lethal.

I waited until darkness before I left the cave. The night forest was unlike anything during the day – full of sounds and odors that my new senses could detect. I could hear voices miles away, smell emotions as if they were tangible objects, feel the pulse of life everywhere.

According to Darius's orders, I followed the northern route to the hideout. Three days of travel, three days to get used to these new abilities and ready myself to go back to Crescent Pack.

But walking under the moonlight in the woods, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. Not by Kane's trackers, no, but by something else. Something which moved in shadows and left no trail.

I stood at the edge of a moonlit glade and stretched my senses to their limits. There – something strange lurking in the trees. Not living, not dying, but following me with hungry attention.

If I looked straight at it, the thing evaporated like smoke. But I could still sense it, chill and hungry and waiting.

Darius had warned me of shadow realm creatures trying to invade our world. What if they already did so?

What if Kane had already succeeded in creating gateways between worlds?

I tightened the black cloak around me and headed north, but now shadows all seemed to hide perils. The war for my world's survival began, and I was walking into the very heart of it.

Behind me, something howled in the distance. It wasn't any wolf sound that I ever heard.

It sounded hungry.