Page 174 of Moonlit Nights & Northern Lights
As if on cue, Freddy twisted in my arms and hissed at Maxwell.
Maxwell rubbed his temples. “This is going to be a very long courtship.”
30
Epilogue
Rory
3 months later
The afternoon light slanted through the grimy windows of The George, casting everything in that particular golden haze that made even London’s tattiest pubs look almost romantic. Almost. The place buzzed with post-work chatter, suits loosening ties and office workers celebrating the end of another Thursday. Kit and I had nabbed a corner table, two pints of bitter sitting between us, both half empty.
I wrapped my fingers around the cool glass, watching the condensation bead on the surface. “Do you have a date for your operation yet?”
Kit shook his head, jabbing at the spot just above his neck. “Little metal bastard has been inside me so damn long, Seb wants Dr Hartwell to run more tests before they attempt removal. Something about mapping neural pathways and ensuring they don’t cause more damage taking it out than leaving it in.”
The last three months had been a whirlwind of loose ends and careful cleanup. We’d extracted as much information as possible from the people we’d found at the castle. Sadly, none of them were very high up in GREY—mainly lackeys, apart from that one woman. Dr Sarah Chen, according to her university records. Masters in bioengineering, PhD in neural implant technology. Seb hadalmosthad to resort to more persuasive methods to get her talking, but she’d eventually cracked, passing on everything she knew about GREY’s structure and operations.
The real work had come after. We’d housed the rescued wolves at Killigrew Street Hotel for weeks, nursing them back to full health and sanity. Seb had enlisted Dr Hartwell to remove the chips from each of their cerebellums—delicate operations that had to be undertaken at a private hospital. It was no small feat to keep them off any official records. Though Dr Hartwell made it clear there was a small chance of death from the operation, every single wolf went through with it.
Then we’d sent them home to various cities across the UK. Carrie and her cousin had stayed the longest, meeting up with Dev on several occasions before finally taking a train back to Glasgow. She’d made it abundantly clear that she didnotenjoy the private jet experience, luxurious as it had been. Something about “rich people nonsense” and “perfectly good trains that don’t leave the bloody ground.”
My pack had never found Isla. Or, if they had, they hadn’t contacted us. I preferred to pretend it was the former of the two options. The alternative—that they’d found her and dealt with her according to their own justice—made my stomach turn, even knowing what she’d done.
Following up on leads was our current top priority. Seb had spent more time than ever on the phone to White, their weekly calls stretching into hours as they tried to track GREY’s other operations. Seb had also been pestering her about how my mother had somehow obtained information about Theo’s identity and ability. Unsurprisingly, she hadn’t been terribly forthcoming.
Now, only Kit’s chip remained. A chip that had been inside him for years.
“Well, if it’s going to be dangerous, then maybe you’d better—”
“I want the bloody thing gone, Rory! Every day I can feel it in there. Like a splinter under my skin, except it’s in myhead.”
I leaned forward, lowering my voice. The couple at the next table were deep in their own drama, but still. “And you really don’t remember them putting it in? Nothing? Not at all?”
Kit’s eyes went distant, unfocused. He lifted his pint but didn’t drink, just held it like an anchor. “There’s so much of that time I’ve forgotten. Used tothink it was PTSD, you know? Combat stress, losing mates, all the usual military bollocks.” He paused, finally taking a sip. “But now… now I wonder if some of it was whatever they’ve put in me.”
The thought made my stomach clench—someone scrambling around inside my brother’s brain like he was a bloody computer.
“I just can’t believe it’s been there, all this time. I keep having thoughts about how I might have been acting like a human camera all this time. Like, recording everything I see and sending it to them. Felix has told me it’s unlikely, but…”
“But we’d have said that about someone creating an army of wolf robots a couple of months ago,” I finished.
Clink.Kit set his pint down harder than necessary. “I understand why they’re resorting to controlling wolves. Because the things they had us do…” His voice trailed off, eyes fixed on something I couldn’t see.
“Kit?”
“All in the name of ‘national interests’ apparently. But with GREY completely off any record, there wasn’t ever any level of accountability. Who even knows what we were actually doing?” The bitterness in his voice cut through the pub’s warmth. “God… the things I did.” He covered his face with his hand.
“You know, you’ve barely ever told me anything about that time,” I said softly.
“Yeah, well.” He exhaled heavily, shoulders sagging. “It’s no secret that I hate talking about hard stuff. I like to keep it all buried in locked boxes in my brain. And when a box opens, even a little, everything rushes out Pandora style, and it’s all too much and I just want to lock everything up again.”
I nodded slowly. “I get that. I really do. Though… not today, obviously, because the others are coming, but one day soon, I’d really love to sit down and talk with you. About some of the stuff that happened back when we were growing up, that I still think about. I want to talk about it all without you shutting me down straight away.”
Kit looked away, his jaw working.
“Even if you mainly just listen,” I continued in a rush. “That will be enough. Honest. But, Kit, it’s really important to me. You’re the only one I want to talk to about it. The only one who will truly understand.” Teddy had been nothing short of extraordinary when the nightmares dragged me under—those steady hands and quiet reassurances in the dark hours before dawn. But there were things only my brother could help me make sense of, memories that needed someone who’d been there to witness them.
