Page 70 of Secrets and Ruin

“You just can’t stay out of anything, can you?” he asked softly.

“Dirk was in danger. I was prepared to leave you in this forest,” I hissed, finally unbottling the anger over the sequence of events that led us to this place. “You didn’t tell us Dirk was missing when he went missing. You didn’t tell us a werewolf breached your territory. You never bothered to tell anyone what the fuck was out here. You, a part of the family for centuries, never told anyone what was happening here. You just ran off to do it all by yourself without even leaving guidance for anyone to help you.”

“My life and secrets are mine,” Niko growled.

“You want to keep your secrets? Fine, but you don’t get to put Dirk in danger to do it!” I snapped, pointing at him to enforce the accusation I laid at his feet. “So, I breached your precious privacy and took what I fucking needed. His life matters more than your fucking secrets. You both could have fucking died out here, and no one would have known!”

Landon reached for me, pulling me back toward the hearth. I didn’t fight him, letting the distance between my brother and me grow, leaving poor Dirk standing awkwardly in the middle.

“Let’s leave this for when we get out of here,” he said. “Let’s stay on task. I know the one thing we all want is to live through this. Davor knows. He’s been trying to hold your family off. He said three days was probably the best he could do. We have no idea how long it’s been.”

“Niko can tell the time,” I muttered.

Niko pulled out a pocket watch.

“It’s…Wednesday at noon,” he said before tucking it away. “Electronics don’t work out here. That’s mechanical, no battery. I have to tune it sometimes when I leave because it’ll get a little off, but it always keeps ticking. There’s some minor time dilation here, nothing serious. Yes, I want all of us to survive this. Yes, Jacky and I can shelve the conversation for after.”

“Good. I don’t think we can sneak out of here. I bet he’ll be on top of us before we get close to the estate,” Landon said, letting me go and moving to stand in the middle with Dirk but not blocking my view of Niko. “How far away are we?”

“Ten-hour jog in human form at a reasonable pace, nothing supernaturally fast,” Niko answered stiffly. “You’re right. He’ll be faster than our pace and could very well catch us if he figures out how I’m confusing our scents. I can hold him off while you three keep going. You’ll be on a safe path home. I would need to kill him anyway after taking you home.”

“Tell me why Dirk said not to Change,” I asked quickly, narrowing my eyes on Niko.

“If you want to test the Last Change in a place where fae can manipulate or amplify your emotions, you are more than welcome to,” Niko said sternly but not enough to hide his sarcasm. “Or maybe you want to become one of their playthings in a beast form, which plays into some of their magics. You would be more vulnerable. Or maybe you don’t want thumbs, which are very useful in this place. There’s a number of ways being a normal moon cursed in this place could go wrong. The Black Forest Pack had their pack connections. They could communicate and protect each other from threats. You can communicate, but I don’t know if it gives you the connection they used. It was an adaptation of theirs.”

“Like?” Landon was asking now.

“They could literally protect each other from the manipulation of fae magics in wolf form,” Niko explained. “Dirk doesn’t have his pack here, and he’s the only one who would be considered the type of wolf that could do it. So, he shouldn’t Change. Neither of you has any of the defenses that pack developed, and they aren’t something I can teach.”

“Sounds like you had a pack full of Talented werewolves,” I pointed out.

“Maybe they were. Maybe they weren’t. We’re our own type of magical being, supernaturals, thanks to our cursed existence. For werewolves who have been exposed to this place for too long, things changed. Wolves are highly adaptable creatures.”

“Yeah, but I get it. I don’t Change. None of us should. Fine. Do you?”

“I can,” Niko said cautiously. “I don’t choose to every time I’m out here.”

“So, you must be a bit different from the normal werecat, huh?” I crossed my arms, waiting for a response.

Niko’s face went flat, expressionless against my prying.

“I might have a Talent,” he finally confirmed softly.

“And you never told anyone.”

“I might not,” he continued. “Maybe it’s just an adaptation to this place.”

“Sneaky.”

“I grew up with fae in my backyard. I learned, or I died. Get mad at me for my secrets all you want. If I didn’t have them, I would have been dead a long time ago.”

29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

There was never a consensus about what we would actually do. At Niko’s words, there was a silent agreement that we would let him take charge of the situation. He was right about a few things. He had grown up here and lived here for several centuries alone, with only his own wits to protect himself and his people. If there was one person who could put us on a safe path home, it was him.

We were low on ammo, but we all had weapons beyond that. I stuck with the swords I had picked from Niko’s armory. Landon had his as well, along with his collection of firearms. Dirk had all the firearms Heath had sent with me. We would be ready for a fight if Rainer showed up.

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