Willow (Blood Vine Series) (28 page)

“Oh, you know,” I poked him in the chest, “waiting for a dark, handsome stranger.”

“Oh?” His eyebrows rose dangerously cute. “It’s a good thing I came along instead.”

“Indeed.” I raised up on my tiptoes, fully expecting to be kissed; but I was disappointed yet again by my dark stranger.

“You really shouldn’t be out here all alone.” His tone became serious, leaving me deflated.

“The boys were just here.”

“But they aren’t now.”

“Which is a good thing.” I brought my arms up to twine around his neck.

“What did I tell you before I left?”

“We hunted and they … ”

“You hunted?” His nostrils flared, and so did my temper.

“Yes.”

“Without me?”

“This may come as a shock to you,” I fired, dropping my hands and taking a step back from him so that he also dropped his hands, “but we can do things without you.”

His eyes narrowed but he kept the ridiculous smile in place. “Not with the Knights in the area.”

“The Knights are not in the area,” I sneered.

“They’re not?” His smile tightened slightly so that his teeth were no longer showing.

“It’s Carlie and her dad.” My voice had started to rise but I tamed it back down.

“That’s enough.”

I snorted unattractively. “You know,” I crossed my arms over my chest, “I think Carlie might have been right about you.”

“About what?”

“You look too hard to find danger in everything.”

“There is danger in everything.”

“No there isn’t!”

“You aren’t living in a fluffy fairytale, Willow.”

“I didn’t say I was.”

“Nor are you living the teenage dream,” he continued viciously as if I hadn’t said anything.

“Obviously,” I muttered.

“You’re a werewolf.”

“What was that, Gage?” I cupped my hand around my ear, “Couldn’t quite get that. You said I’m a what?”

“Willow.”

“You can’t possibly think I don’t know all that already, Gage,” I snapped. “Like I don’t have to live it every miserable day!”

“You don’t understand what
all that
means. What kind of danger that entails.”

“I have spent my entire life learning all about the dangers of our kind.”
Mikhaul
.

He jerked his head back slightly. “A child’s nightmares.”

“I think you have already made it clear that you see me as a child.”

“If you want me to stop seeing you like that, then quit acting like one.”

“You’re impossible!” I shouted, at the end of my patience. “We’re a good pack, Gage. We don’t need you!”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth I wanted to swallow them back down but I couldn’t do anything about it. I spun on my heel and left him standing there, his mouth hanging slightly open. On the momentum of my misplaced anger I ran all the way back to the cabin. Without giving Gage time to catch up, I stormed into my bedroom and gathered up the first clothes I came across. I slammed the bathroom door closed just as the front door opened.

“Willow, we need to talk,” Gage called through the bathroom door.

“I’m taking a shower,” I called back, “then I’m going to bed, so you can just leave.”

“You really want me to leave?”

Did he mean like
leave
leave, or just leave the cabin for a little while? Because if he meant leave the cabin then yes, I wanted him to leave; but if he meant leave us - leave the state - then no, of course not. “I just … ” I pressed my head against the cool wood of the bathroom door, “ … I need a minute Gage.”

He didn’t respond - not a single word. I turned my head so that my ear was pressed against the door but I still couldn’t hear anything. I exhaled loudly and turned away from the too silent door.

Jed had been absolutely right when he said everything we did turned to shit. For the first time in recent memory I really wanted Bella’s advice.

A shower didn’t calm me down much and I ended up going to my room with my head still swimming. Of course I hadn’t expected to see Gage, but him not being there made me cringe.
I shouldn’t have sent him away,
I thought guiltily,
and I really shouldn’t have said we didn’t need him.

I crossed the room to perch on the window seat. I pressed my face close to the glass but couldn’t see any signs of Gage outside either. Where was he? He wouldn’t have left, at least not gone too far, would he?

I glanced at my clock. It was only a little after eight. I considered doing some homework, but it was a brief thought. With any luck we’d be out of Grover by the end of the week, why waste time with homework?

Instead, I climbed under my blankets and stared up at the dark ceiling. Tomorrow I would talk to Gage, I decided, I would apologize for saying stupid things that weren’t true. I sighed deeply and rolled over to my side. Tomorrow would be better.

Chapter Thirty

The Dream

I was almost positive that I was dreaming. The fact that Ivy was sitting at the bottom of my bed wearing a white sundress with her long hair flowing freely down her back pretty much gave it away. But just to be sure I crawled to the end of the bed and poked her arm. She seemed solid.

“Ivy?”

“Why did you just poke me?” She scowled just the way the real Ivy would have; maybe this was real.

“What are you doing here?”

She shrugged. “Am I not allowed to visit my sister?”

“Yeah, but how did you get in?”

She stared at me blankly then smirked. “How should I know? This is your dream.”

“So this is a dream?” Disappointment filled me like a ton of lead.

She laughed merrily, further solidifying the dream theory. Ivy never laughed so freely. “Don’t look so sad, Willow,” she cooed.

I sat back more comfortably across from her. “So why are you here?” I asked again.

She raised one perfect eyebrow. “You’re not doing too well here, are you?”

“It’s a lot harder than we thought it would be you know. Just wait until you have your own pack to lead, then you’ll see.”

“I don’t have long to wait now. Soon I’ll be of age and I’ll have your pack.” I clicked my tongue in disapproval. “What’s this?” Her face lit up as mine darkened. “Do you mean to tell me that you’ve grown attached to them?”

“It’s different than I thought it would be,” I scowled.

She laughed again, the sound filling up the room and making it lighter somehow. Without thought, I was smiling with her. It was just like we were kids again, back when it was us against the world. Before we morphed and came to realize just what the world was.

“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted softly.

“But you do, Willow.”

“I do?”

She nodded eagerly. “Despite all her faults, Bella taught us how to lead a pack.”

“There are so many things that go wrong.”

“Just follow your instincts, sister, the rest will fall into place.” She turned suddenly to look behind her as if someone had called her name. When she turned back to me, her eyes were wide with terror. “I have to go.”

“What? We’re in my dream. Why do you have to … ” I looked behind her but I saw no one.

“I know, Willow, but,” she grasped my hand tightly in hers until her knuckles turned white.

“What’s wrong Ivy?” From somewhere far away there was a steady sound of pounding. Footsteps? Someone with very heavy footsteps.

“It’s almost time, Willow,” Ivy said in an urgent whisper.

“Almost time for what?” The pounding was getting louder.

“It’s almost time for you to come find me.”

My heart slammed to a stop. This wasn’t the first time she had told me that. “What?”

“Please, Willow,” she cried loudly over the pounding. “It has to be you. Only you can save me.”

“How?” Panic was starting to claw at my throat, making my voice sound funny.

“You have to be strong.” She gave a little shriek as something unseen grabbed at her arm. Thin lines of blood marred her skin.

“Ivy!”

“You have to be strong, Willow,” she screamed. “Come find me. Don’t let him eat my heart.”

The pounding was so loud I had to let go of Ivy’s hand to cover my ears. There was a bright flash of light and her face changed grotesquely. Her cheeks and eyes sunk, giving her the eerie similarities of a skull. There were cuts of dried blood all over her face and her eye was black and blue with bruises.

“Ivy?” I cringed low when another flash lit up right above me. Then, very suddenly, Ivy was gone. “Ivy!” I screamed again; over and over until my throat hurt. All the while the pounding continued.




I jolted awake so abruptly that I fell out of my bed, slamming my head into the bed frame. “Ohh,” I groaned. There was a tickling sensation on my forehead and when I brushed it away my hand came back streaked red. “Ouch,” I whined.

The pounding from my dream sounded again, making my chest tighten painfully. I skidded under the bed and shoved my fist into my mouth to stop myself from crying out. It wasn’t until I heard Rueben’s voice that I started to come to my senses.

“Willow,” he called, “if you don’t open this door in three seconds we’re coming in. One.”

I scrambled back out from my hiding place, cursing under my breath when my hair got caught in the springs.

“Two.”

With a hard yank, I freed myself from the bed but had to sacrifice several strands of tangled red hair.

“Three.”

“I’m … I’m fine,” I called still trying to catch my breath. “I’m fine, Rueben. I just had a bad dream.”

“Who’s in there with you?”

“No one.” I looked around the room just to be sure but I did appear to be alone. The sky outside my window was light but overcast a dark grey so it was impossible to guess at what time it actually was.

“We heard you talking to someone.” There was a pause of silence. “Gage is out here with us, so we know it’s not him.”

I rubbed harshly at my eyes, which were still tear filled from my bizarre dream. What had that been about? Was Ivy in real danger? I wiped away my tears, causing more blood to get on my hand. I pinched the bridge of my nose, my mind still fuzzy. I had forgotten that I was even bleeding.

“Willow?”

And the boys. “Yeah?”

“We’re coming in.” The door handle turned but they didn’t open it all the way, uncertainty evident.

“No, I’m fine,” I called weakly.

“Someone is in there with you,” Rueben’s voice came more clearly through the cracked opening, “just tell us if it’s … you know … a private thing.”

“A what?” What did that mean? Who did they think was in here? “I’m alone, Rueben, so alone.” I sniffed loudly and bit down hard on my knuckles. “I had a really bad dream, I was probably just talking in my sleep.” My voice came out warped and throaty but they didn’t come in. “Um,” I cleared my throat, “what are you guys doing here?”

“Can we please come in?” Jed asked very softly.

I puffed out my cheeks and quickly swiped once more under my eyes. “Yeah. Ok.”

One by one the boys slinked into my room, staying pressed against the wall. “Are you all right, Willow?” Gage asked cautiously.

“Yep.” I nodded my head quickly but stopped when I realized they probably couldn’t see me. I pulled myself up to sit on the bed facing them. “I just had a bad dream.”

“What the hell happened to you?” Gage roared. He was the first on the bed but there was a soft blur of colors as the others crowded close.

“Nothing!” He gripped my chin roughly and turned my face from side to side. “What are you doing?”

“You have blood all over your face.”

“I do?”

“What happened?”

“I … uh … ” I closed my eyes tightly, trying to think of what could have happened. Then I remembered. “I fell. Off the bed.”

“You fell?” Gage obviously didn’t believe me.

“Yeah, I hit my head.” I gingerly touched the gash on my head. “It’s fine, though.”

“And your hair?” Jed tweaked a place on my head.

“Got caught on the springs.”

“You fell
under
the bed?” Gage’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“No,” I pushed his hand away from my face. I would probably have a bruise there now. “I crawled under the bed when I heard you guys knocking.”

“Why would you do that?” Jed asked, his eyebrows nearly as low as Gage’s.

My head still felt foggy though and it was hard to tell what was real and what had been a dream. It felt like I had been under water for too long and was still trying to catch my breath. “I … uh … ”

“Why would you want to hide from us?” Jed asked again.