Page 91 of Tangled Fates

Hudson sat down beside me. “Talk to us, Raven. Get into the habit. What haven’t you told us?”

The three of them were staring at me and I knew I couldn’t hide it any longer.

“Remember when we found Brody in the woods, and I did that—that healing thing?”

Levi started putting the food he had cooked onto the table. “Yeah? Why?”

I sighed heavily. “Something happened. Not quite a vision, but kind of like that?”

“A dream?” Dean asked.

I shook my head. “More than that. I don’t know. It was just… off.”

Hudson nudged me. “Tell us about it. What did you see? Or hear, for that matter?”

So, I drew in a deep breath and launched into the spiel. I told them about the voices I had heard and how it almost sounded like Brody had been talking willingly to someone before everything changed. How it started out as voices in the dark, but quickly merged into a scene where Brody was being hurt. Tortured, even. Stuffed into a cage and taunted while he cried out for help.

And when I finished, I leaned back and shrugged.

“I’m open to any and all interpretations, because for the life of me I don’t know what happened,” I said breathlessly.

Levi pushed the plate of freshly cut fruit toward me. “Eat.”

Hudson nodded. “Yes, you and Dean both need to eat.”

Dean reached for a pancake. “Don’t mind if I do.”

I picked up a piece of cantaloupe. “I feel like I’m going crazy, honestly. I don’t even know what to make of it, but I know I heard it. I saw it with my own eyes. I just don’t know what happened.”

“Well, you didn’t have a vision, per se,” Dean said.

Levi furrowed his brow. “It’s almost like you?—”

“Hopped into his mind?” I asked.

Levi nodded. “Yeah, like you hopped into his mind, almost.”

“So, what?” I asked as I plopped the cantaloupe into my mouth. “I saw his thoughts, and then he changed them on me? Is that what happened?”

The guys looked around at one another before Hudson tossed out a theory.

“What if it was the venom?” he asked. “Like a fever dream of some sort?”

Levi tilted his head. “Or maybe he changed what she saw somehow? Like he knew she was there and didn’t want her to see something?”

Dean wrinkled his entire face. “That makes Brody sound like the villain almost. Remember who we’re talking about.”

And yet, the whole of me wanted to side with Levi. “Unfortunately, my gut is telling me that Levi might have a point. And with how rough things are around here, I can’t discount what my gut’s telling me.”

“You’re right,” Hudson said, “you can’t. So, for now, I think it’s wise that we keep a very, very close watch on Brody. I mean, make it a point for all of us to check on him at least once a day.”

I reached for another piece of fruit. “I like that plan. For now, we can just tell him that he’s been through a lot. Make him think we still believe he was captured somehow.”

“That won’t fly forever, though,” Levi said with hesitancy in his voice. “Eventually, he’ll start to get suspicious.”

I sighed. “It’s all we’ve got right now, and I figure it’ll buy us a couple of weeks’ worth of check-ins, especially if we get the healers to check in on him regularly as well. We can hide behind them for a little bit until we get more intel at our disposal.”

“I’m in,” Dean said.

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