Page 70 of The Wild Moon
The other members of Aaron’s team had procured weapons from somewhere as well, a mixture of rifles and wicked-looking pistols, and in Pieter’s tiny hands, a sawed-off shotgun.
“Sit down,” Aaron barked as I got to my feet, thinking I should try and stop them.
“What are they going to do?” I asked, still standing.
“They’re going to make sure we’re safe,” Aaron said as the other five members of his team disappeared into the wilderness without a word. “Now, sitdown.”
“No,” I said, worried sick for whoever was out there.
I hated Johnathan, his father, too, but I didn’t want to see them gunned down in an orgy of blood and death. Not to mention, if they heard Aaron’s men coming, the blood spilled wouldn’t be that of the shifters. It would be his team. And then, they would come for us next.
Aaron stood, getting in my face. “You are safe, Dani. We’re not going to hurt you. Now sit down.”
“Call them off!” I shouted, not backing away. “Now!”
“You know who’s out there, don’t you?” he asked.
“No,” I said, not sure why I was sticking with that lie.
Because to tell the truth would mean revealing the secret of what you really are. You can’t do that.
“Then my men will continue to ensure our safety,” Aaron said coldly.
He didn’t like being lied to, but I had no choice. I couldn’t just tell him we were being followed by a man who could sense me, thanks to our link, granted to us by the animal that lived inside us. I had to clamp down and hope that Johnathan and whoever he was with decided to avoid trouble instead of seeking out a fight.
I really hope you left your father behind, John. Because he wouldn’t see the logic in retreating.
“This is insane,” I hissed. “You’re insane. I can’t believe I trusted you. I want to–”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Iblinked, and I was somewhere else.
Somewhere familiar, but certainly not the forest in the valley northeast of Kellar. There were no trees here. No green growth underfoot. No fire. There was nothing.
I was back in the Wasteland, as I’d come to think of it.
“Comeon!” I shouted angrily. “What is wrong with me? I wasn’t sleeping! I was wide awake, damn you. This shouldn’t be possible!”
There was no response as usual. I closed my eyes, waiting for the presence of Mr. Mysterious, the giant sex hulk I met on previous journey here. But he must have been busy because nothing happened. There was no change. It was just me.
Eventually, I opened my eyes, deciding maybe it was better if I didn’t blind myself in an unknown land. So far, Mr. Mysterious had come across as friendly, but I really didn’t know a damn thing about him, other than that my father had found a drawing of him somewhere. But that wasn’t helpful without a name.
I was on top of that same hill I’d climbed my previous visit. In the distance, the giant stone wall and gates rose high into the sky, towering over the bleak, blackened landscape. They were the only non-flat objects around, besides the little hillock upon which I stood.
“Fine,” I said. “If I’m stuck here, having a waking hallucination–is it even a hallucination if I’m fully aware I’m having it?–then I may as well go exploring.”
As I stared down the hill toward the gates, my boots crunched their way through the brittle landscape, rock crumbling to dust with each step, compressing an inch or two. Looking back, I could easily see my path. It wouldn’t be hard to retrace my steps to my starting point.
I walked for what felt like an hour, maybe two, toward the gates, but they never seemed to grow any larger. How big were they? They must be huge.
And what was going on back in the valley? Was Johnathan okay? Was I still standing face to face with Aaron? While I walked, I pondered how time might pass back there. Was this all happening in the blink of an eye? Maybe Aaron didn’t even know something was up.
Even as I thought about him, I felt it. The change around me.
“So, youarehere,” I said, turning my head slightly to the side to speak behind me, even as I continued trudging toward the gates in the distance.
“How are you here?” the same smooth bass voice asked. “What are you doing here?”
