Page 42 of Fire Bound

There’s a moment of defeat before I remember something crucial. “Yes, but not all grave robberies have a perfect black circle scorched into the ground.” The room falls silent as everyone stares at me with puzzled looks on their faces. “When Kaius resurrects someone, the dark magic he uses leaves a perfect black circle around the bodies. If he can, Kaius prefers to resurrect people in their final resting places since the energy there is stronger.”

“I can work with that.” Whisper smirks cockily.

Two days later and I still haven’t gone back to the hotel or my parents’ house. Pruitt, without me having to ask, went to the house and packed a bag full of my clothes for me just so I didn’t have to.

I’ve stayed at Ranger and Winslow’s house which is a lot more fun now that Whisper is here. I no longer feel like the awkward third wheeler. Plus, it’s fun being around someone who doesn’t know everything about you. Whisper doesn’t ask how I’m coping or how I’m doing. It’s refreshing to spend time with someone without them looking at you with worry or sympathy.

Leaning against the kitchen counter, I stare at Whisper where he sits at the bar top working on his computer. I’m not convinced this dude sleeps. The steady stream of energy drinks I’ve seen him consume help keep him upright.

“I finally figured it out,” I announce around a mouthful. “I know who you remind me of. An emoSonic The Hedgehog.”

Without skipping a beat, he replies, “And you remind me of the girl in every early 2000s coming of age movie. She’s hot but behind the pretty face is a tragic backstory.”

Blowing past the tragic backstory comment, I dramatically clutch my chest. “Did you just call me the pretty popular girl?” My lips pull up in a grin.

Whisper finally looks over the edge of his laptop at me. He sighs before finally relenting, “The prettiest.” He’s smart and figured out I didn’t want to talk about my trauma. “But only if I get to be the quirky sidekick that ultimately steals the whole show.”

“Deal.” Laughing, I rinse out the bowl and move across the room to sit down on the barstool next to him. I stare at the screen and don’t recognize a single window that’s open. Awkwardly, I clear my throat. “I know you’re busy looking for suspiciously empty graves, but I could actually use your help on something.”

“Name it.”

“I didn’t get Pru a baby shower gift yet.” Because of the before stated trauma. “I could be boring and go off the registry, but I want to get her something she never thought she’d be able to have.”

“That wasn’t cryptic or anything, Remi.”

I push the strand of hair that’s fallen from my ponytail behind my ear. “I want to get her information on her family. Specifically, her mom’s side. Her dad used to be the alpha of this pack, so we have adequate info to tell her about him, but her mom is a pretty big mystery to everyone. I have her name and her birthday. I know it’s not much to go on, but any information at this point would make Pru happy.”

Whisper is quiet for a moment before pushing a blank piece of notebook paper over to me. “Write down what you do know, and I’ll start running a search.”

“Thank you.”

He smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I think it’s sweet how much you all care for each other. I’m glad this is where Winslow ended up.”

“We’re glad too,” I agree. “Plus, I really like how she doesn’t make me look like the crazy one.”

“Oh sweetie, I can smell the crazy coming off you like a cheap perfume.”

“I’ve earned my crazy.”

Whisper chuckles. “Haven’t we all.”

The buzzing of my phone in my pocket interrupts the moment. Isabeau went with me to town yesterday to replace the one I lost in the car wreck. Two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been in a rush to get a new one, but since being back and feeling a little bit like the angry fog has lifted from my shoulders, I’ve wanted to have it on me just in case someone needs me.

The phone number that reads across the screen isn’t saved on the phone, causing me to consider not answering it for a moment, but a lot of numbers aren’t saved on the new phone. It could be someone I know, and I’d never know, because who the hell remembers phone numbers anymore? More importantly, who calls instead of texts.

“Hello?” I answer, pressing the phone to my ear.

“Remington?” A voice I don’t recognize comes through the line. Feeling Whisper’s eyes on me, I get up from the counter and move to stand by the back French doors.

“That’s me.”

“H-hi,” the woman’s voice stammers. “I know this is out of the blue and I’m sure you’re busy. I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m—I’m Gage’s mother.”

Whatever weight that had been lifted off my shoulders in the past few days crashes into me, making my bones creak and my muscles shake under the heaviness.

Instantly I’m catapulted back to six months ago when I had to make the hardest phone call of my life. Telling someone that their child has died is something no one should ever have to do. Pruitt and Ryker had offered to make the call, but I insisted it be me that tell Gage’s parents. At the time, I was numb. The weight of what had happened hadn’t yet settled in. When the horrific sound of Gage’s mom screaming in unbearable pain at the news is something I hear at night when I close my eyes. In the blink of an eye, I forever changed this poor woman’s life. It happened faster than Gage died.

She didn’t see it coming any more than Gage did.

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