Page 246 of Fangs
The eleven stones still hidden inside my pocket seemed to hum and pulse, almost like a heartbeat. I pressed my palm against them, willing it to stop, and after a moment, the sensation faded away. I struggled to swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. What the fuck were they? I hadn’t said a word about them to anyone, and I didn’t really know why. It was almost like… like the stones themselves didn’t want me to reveal their presence.
I shivered.
“You ok?” Wolf asked.
“I’m fine.”
40
It was another day before we reached my crew on the radio. Mac’s voice sounded fierce as he demanded to talk to me, although talking to me probably didn’t ease his worries much since I immediately burst into tears when he asked if I was alright. Wolf gave him a rundown of what happened, my injuries, and where we were. My crew had gone southwest, but Mac promised to be back at the Vault by midday tomorrow when Wolf told him we’d be arriving.
I couldn’t sleep enough to ease the exhaustion running through me. I couldn’t tell if it was just from my body trying to heal the burn on my chest or the ordeal or something else.
You were always meant to be his, and without him, your powers will corrupt. You feel it, don’t you? The darkness in your veins?
I tried to tell myself Talmar was lying, twisting things as he attempted to manipulate me, but I feltweak—just like he’d said I would.
If you continue on this path, your body will weaken, and you will become a harbinger of sickness and death.
This nausea was just my anxiety. It had to be.
Roe slowly opened up to Wolf and his crew, and I had to admit it was cute to see them interacting with him. All of them were more at ease around a child than I would have guessed, which was a pleasant surprise. Sable and I seemed to call a truce. I let him re-bandage the brand every day and didn’t fight him about examining me, and he seemed careful only to do what was necessary. Wolf relayed to the rest of the crew what I’d told him on the first night, thankfully while I was sleeping. After that, I noticed Kai stopped glaring at me and seemed to make more of an effort not to be a dick. And Lee was Lee. He returned to teasing and flirting as though nothing had happened, but we had no more opportunities to be alone together.
My nightmares grew worse. I woke up screaming every night, sometimes more than once, and I hated that it made Roe cry every time. I tried to remember how I’d managed to keep my jaw clenched shut after Trey’s death, but maybe my body had reached its threshold for stuffing down hurt. Wolf was always there to calm me down, though, and I fell back asleep every night to him humming, but Talmar and the Voiceless continued to haunt me. I started dreading nightfall and tried to sit by the fire and keep myself awake as long as possible in the evenings. I could tell everyone knew what I was doing, but they didn’t mention it.
“Em, wake up.”
I straightened with a gasp, my heart slowly calming as I realized I was still on the horse with Wolf.
“Look,” my brother said, raising a hand to point ahead.
The Vault was below us, nestled in the small basin between the mountains, and my heart swelled at the familiar sight of the tall metal walls and even the fucking watchtower in the middle.Home.The Vault was home.
“Mac must’ve beat us back,” Wolf said, gesturing to where I could just barely make out the rovers parked inside the gate.
“Mac?”I tried, wondering how far his power reached.
“Em!”
His familiar voice filled my head and brought tears to my eyes.“Hi,”I managed to get out.
“Are you back?”he demanded.
“Almost.”
“Fuck, I need to see you,”he sounded agitated.
“What, speaking to me telepathically isn’t enough?”I teased, but the urgency in his tone made me feel unsteady.
“You’d think it would be, but it’s really fuckin’ not,”he said with humor, but it still sounded strained.
“I’m really okay, Mac.”
“Em,”I felt the jolt of pain and fury that went through him,“you’re not okay. They fuckin’ tortured you.”
“Okay, true,”my mouth was so dry,“but I’m feelin’ so much better now that we’re almost home.”
“I hope you’re prepared ’cause there’s a whole damn welcoming committee for you.”
