(Un)wise

Admittedly, I’d expected more from the Compound than what I saw when I lifted my head from Luke’s back. A scattering of dilapidated buildings came into view. Someone had put a lot of effort into in an attempt to make them look better. The old wooden structures worried me. I’d watched my family die in flames so many times.

Luke pulled the bike up to the porch, right next to one of the two cars that had sped past us. Wolves surrounded us. Some had helped us during the fight, but a few new ones joined the group. A short brunette woman stepped outside with a robe and tossed it to the white wolf who caught the material with its mouth.

“Come on,” Luke said, holding out an arm so I could dismount first.

My stomach cramped with pain as I tried to stand. I hesitated to swing my leg off the bike.

“How badly were you hurt?” a woman asked from behind me.

An older woman with white hair wore the robe the white wolf had caught. The white wolf was gone. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Girls could fight, too. I knew that. Yet, I’d foolishly assumed they’d all been male back there.

“Just a nick,” I mumbled. I wasn’t about to admit any weakness in front of the large group. Who knew which of them might betray me? The woman with the white hair moved to my side and helped me off the bike. She was stronger than she looked.

“Let’s get you inside.” Still holding my arm, she turned to glance at the brown wolf. “Jim, Emmitt’s saying the boys are worried.” She herded me toward the door while calling out instructions. “You should go reassure them. Grey and Sam can handle things out here.” Everyone did as she said. Since inside was safer than outside, I didn’t try to fight her.

A stack of pants waited just inside the door. Made sense.

I shuffled a few more steps before Luke turned and scooped me up in his arms.

“About time,” the woman reprimanded.

“Who are you?” I asked, peering over Luke’s shoulder at her.

“Winifred Lewis. You can call me Nana Wini,” she said with a kind smile. “The woman behind me is Mary, and the man who will be following us shortly, the one who pulled you from that dog pile, is Jim.” She looked at me expectantly.

“Oh, I’m Bethi.”

“Luke, bring her upstairs. Second door on the right should be open,” she said as we neared a set of stairs. “We’ll be right up with some bandages.”

Luke took the stairs two at a time and had me in a chair in short order.

As soon as he sat me down, he dropped to his knees in front of me and cupped my face between his hands. After everything we’d just gone through, his gentle touch brought tears back to my eyes.

We’d made it. But the place I’d thought would save me was a dump of tinderbox buildings out in the woods. We’d be dead in hours. I already felt dead inside. And tired. All that running. The fighting. Had there been any point to it?

The worry in his eyes tugged at my heart, and I felt a stab of guilt as I thought of everything he’d gone through to get me here.

“Go,” I said, reaching up to squeeze one of his hands. “Take a shower and put on your own pants.”

He snorted a laugh, then smoothed a thumb over my cheek.

“I’d rather stay with you.” His gaze flicked to my very bloodstained shirt.

“There’s nothing for you to do right now,” I said, crossing an arm over my stomach. I didn’t want him to look at it before I could. “They’ll fix me up, I’m sure.”

Reluctantly, he stood. I arched a brow and shooed him toward the door. Watching him walk away, I couldn’t remember Tinker Bell ever looking so good.

When he closed the door behind him, I eased out of the shredded jacket and lifted the shirt. I almost gagged. Pulling it back down, I eyed the blood-soaked fabric. The cut needed stitches. A lot of them, really. I did not want to be awake for that. I’d had enough pain for…oh, ever.

The door opened behind me, and an older man with merry grey eyes poked his head in. When he saw me, he smiled and held up my bag. Perfect. I waved him into the room and accepted the bag. He nodded and left without a word, but I caught his worried glance at my stomach.

I tipped the bag onto the floor and found my bottle of pills. I still had two sleeping pills mixed in with the other ones I’d tried.

I swallowed them dry and leaned back into the chair.

“That bad?” Luke asked, startling me.

“What do you mean?”

“Pain pills?” he asked, coming over to take the bottle from me. His shirt showed dark patches from putting it on wet, and it clung to his skin. His hair was still damp too. He couldn’t have been gone for more than a few minutes.

A frown settled on his face when he studied the prescription label and the unknown name on it. “How many did you take?”

“Relax. It’s just a bottle. I keep other stuff in there. I took two sleeping pills.”

His eyes flicked to my blood-soaked shirt. He squatted down near me, balanced on his heels, and lifted the hem of my shirt. His shocked gaze flew to mine.

“I know. It’ll need stiches. No hospital though, okay?” I grabbed his hand and begged with my eyes until he nodded. “The dreams will knock me out, and the pills will keep me under.” I did a slow blink without trying. Already they called to me.

“Luke,” I whispered. “They’re not done trying. Tell the others to soak the buildings. I’ve died by fire before, and it’s not fun.”

I suffered the same dream duality as I had before, but more. My present-self, my past-self, and the past-selves of four of my sisters. The multiple views disoriented me, and I fought to focus on just one.

Heat flickered over my stomach like tiny flames dancing on my skin. I wanted to look down, but my eyes remained focused on the horde before me.

My fingers gently squeezed the hand wrapped within mine before I looked to my sister.

Through her eyes, I looked back at me. Again, my present-self suffered a wave of vertigo. My stomach twisted with pain, but I couldn’t tell from which of us it stemmed.

“All will be well,” I promised my sister.

I pushed away the discomfort and tried to focus. My sister squeezed back as her eyes closed.

“What do you see?” I asked.

Concentrating on my sister, I jumped perspectives.

A swarm of glowing lights filled my mind. Blue-green, blue-grey, yellow-green, and then us. The humans were far from us. We’d agreed to leave them out of our fight. The blue-grey almost outnumbered blue-green.

“They will not win. They do not have Courage. Her spark no longer exists,” I said on a sob. Knowing they would not win did not soothe the loss of our sister.

“Be strong. They may not win the Judgement, but they may win this fight.”

A hand closed over my shoulder and peace flowed through me, taking away fear, hate, worry, even the odd outside feeling of pain in my stomach. I breathed deeply and struggled not to smile. I fought to hold onto my worry.

“Stop, sister. Save yourself for them. We will need you,” I begged.

Changing perspectives again, I surged into a mind filled with so much fear, hate, worry, pain, and doubt.

I struggled to breathe. My skin felt too tight as if all the emotion inside of me fought to burst out. Fists clenched, teeth gritted, I growled, “And we need you focused. They will learn to fear me.”

“Sisters, join hands,” another of us spoke, drawing our attention.

Turning, we clasped hands. Five of us: Strength, Hope, Prosperity, Wisdom, and Peace.

“Courage will always be with us,” Strength spoke with confidence as a surge of power flowed through us.

My present-self struggled as what each of the past-selves experienced in that moment flooded me.

The sparks in my mind ignited, glowing brightly…

Emotions surged within me as I had the capacity to drain even more from those around us…

Glimpses of the battle to come floated around in the white infinity of my mind…

Flashes of the past rekindled my purpose.

Our purpose.

“The Urbat have grown too strong. We must reduce their numbers or face a worse fate the next cycle,” I, Wisdom, predicted.

“I have no claws, but give me a knife and I will do my part,” I, Peace, intoned. Seething rage boiled within me. I itched to pace the field.

“I can only see our fates in this life, not the next. We will stay back and do what we can. Be well and be loved in your next lives,” I, Prosperity, said softly, pulling Strength and Hope from the circle.

I looked at my sister, Peace. “I remember how to fight thanks to your past lives, but I don’t have the skills you have from this life.”

I watched her pull another knife from the leather belt at her waist. She handed it to me hilt first.

“Grip it firmly and don’t let go. Swing it around like a wild woman until it feels like your arm will fall off. Then keep swinging. Make them bleed. Make them sorry. Make them see their fate.”

An eerie howl rent the air, and it began. The werewolves around us surged forward, meeting the Urbat in the middle of the field. Hand in hand, we ran.

The dream shifted, but not much.

I stood in the center of the red field, the center of the storm, surrounded by a moment of stillness. Bodies lay about me, all reverted to human form. My friends. My adopted family. My protectors. I looked down at the vacant vibrant blue eyes of my sister. She’d fought well with just memories.

A small distance away, the battle continued. Here, I looked around in misery. We’d hoped to decimate their numbers. Instead, they’d succeeded in decimating ours, almost exterminating the Elders, the keepers of knowledge for the werewolves. I glanced around at the Urbat fighters. They didn’t believe in Elders. They didn’t want any group to hold such power over them. Leaders led. If they were not strong enough to do so, they were challenged and replaced with ones who were stronger.

Their emotions drenched the field. I inhaled slowly and deeply, pulling the stagnant mass toward me. For those closest to me, I siphoned their consuming hate, leaving only traces of fanaticism. Several fell to their opponents during their confusion. I felt bloated and tight. Still I inhaled again, pulling more from them, expanding my reach to pull from every Urbat on the field. Something trickled from my nose, eyes, and ears. I kept breathing in, impossibly filling my lungs, and myself, with everything I could.

Something inside me popped, and a flaring pain seared through my stomach. I knew I needed to let go. I gathered everything I held, everything that made me boil and shake with rage, and released it all at once, killing the still staggering Urbat where they stood. The few friends who remained staggered as well. Blood ran from their ears as they toppled to the ground. I fell to my knees as they fell. The world surrendered to darkness. The time for Judgement faded.

The dream repeated countless times. I absorbed every sight, thought, and feeling from each perspective before I finally floated to the surface. I now understood the war that had raged, since the beginning of time, between the Urbat and Werewolves.

“Bethi,” Luke demanded near my ear. Then, not so loud, he asked, “Why isn’t she waking up?”

“Go. Away.” My lips didn’t want to move. My mouth tasted like I’d kissed a skunk’s butt, and my stomach hurt. Bad. Still reeling from the graphic dream of death, hate, and pain, I wanted to be left alone. For a long time.

Someone gently touched my head, smoothing a hand over my hair. The touch disappeared a moment before a door opened and closed.

In the silence, I recapped my current life, compared it to past lives, and didn’t like the similarities leading up to the finale. I tried licking my lips and instead moaned.

“Do you need a drink?” a new voice asked.

Opening my eyes, I looked at an unfamiliar face. Wait, no. I blinked at her and remembered. I almost smiled at myself. As if I could forget anything. Winifred. Nana Wini. But I stopped the smile because I didn’t want her to think I was smiling at her. More than ever, I didn’t know who to trust. I needed Hope. I needed to know which of the wolves around me were Urbat and which were Werewolves. Only Hope could tell me that. Knowing the difference between the two wouldn’t determine my trust, but it was a start.

I nodded, and she handed me a glass of water. I drank slowly and grimaced.

“Can you help me up? I need a toothbrush.”

She nodded.

Setting the glass aside, I gripped her hand and slowly stood. The gash on my stomach felt hot and tight. It pulled a little. I lifted my shirt and looked at it. Neat little stitches ran along my skin where the cut had been.

“I did the best I could. Luke insisted you did not want to go to the hospital.”

“Too dangerous,” I agreed, moving to my bag and grabbing my toothbrush. The longer I stood, the more I could straighten up. Still, I brushed my teeth, with a slight bend. She stood near watching me closely.

“You really need to change into something clean.”

I spit, rinsed, and turned to face her. Her steady gaze met mine. She seemed kind enough, but I couldn’t trust anyone.

“Where’d Luke go?” I doubted he’d actually listened to my muttered “go away.”

She stepped back to let me out of the tiny bathroom. “He went to get the others. They’ve been waiting for you.”

Just then, the door to the room flew open. Luke strode in followed closely by another man with short dark hair.

“What happened to my bike?” the newcomer demanded, looking ready to strangle Luke.

Two women followed the man. The first one, olive skinned with dark hair, looked worried and the second one, a short blonde pixie, appeared slightly concerned. A second man followed the group in. I couldn’t see much of his face due to the dark hair hanging in his eyes and a full beard. Still, his lips twitched as if he shared the amusement of the woman he followed.

“Emmitt,” the first woman said, laying a hand on his back. Emmitt stopped his advance and glared at Luke, who ignored them all since his gaze was locked on me. The worry in his eyes told me enough.

“Michelle, he trashed it. It looks like he dumped it,” Emmitt said without turning to look at Michelle. “Jim felt guilty enough that it was stolen. He won’t even look at me now. You owe me an explanation,” he said, pushing Luke’s shoulder.

“Ah, there you are,” I mumbled. “We were just talking about you. You must be Peter Gibbons.” Luke gave me a puzzled look and everyone else ignored me. Obviously, they didn’t get the movie reference and had no idea how much I didn’t care about their drama at the moment.

Luke tore his gaze from mine. “I don’t owe you anything,” he said. “But if you ask nice, maybe I’ll tell you what happened so you can go running to daddy.”

Emmitt moved incredibly fast and grabbed Luke by the throat with a loose hold that allowed Luke to laugh. Michelle paled. I took a step forward. That man’s neck was getting way too much attention lately by everyone but me. Before I took another step, a hand clamped down on my shoulder, stopping me.

Luke reached up and knocked Emmitt’s hand aside. Both started growling.

I looked back at Nana Wini and with a cold voice said, “Don’t touch me.”

Her eyes widened in shock, and she immediately released me. Neither Luke nor Emmitt paid me any attention until I stepped up to them and smacked them both in the chest.

“Stop. Both of you.”

Luke immediately grew serious and backed up a step, while Emmitt’s jaw twitched. He fought not to follow Luke’s retreat.

The shaggy man snorted slightly, and I arched a brow at him. “Something to say?”

The woman standing in front of him flicked a glance back at him. “He’d hoped to see Luke get his butt kicked.”

“Do you have any friends here?” I said, glancing at Luke.

He grinned at me. “Probably not.”

Sighing, I dropped my hand and looked at Emmitt. “He did dump the bike. Several times. Each time it was because we were being attacked.” I slanted my head and eyed them all.

Emmitt turned his attention to me, his eyes sweeping me from head to foot. His nostrils flared, and I knew he smelled the blood still very visible on my shirt.

“I would have been a lot worse off without him,” I said, acknowledging the truth. If the Urbat would have found me first… I cringed at the thought.

Emmitt sighed and nodded. “It’s always my bike.” The dark haired woman patted his back with a slight smile on her face.

My eyes locked on her, and a memory triggered. “Michelle,” I murmured. One of my sisters. The one who had the two brothers she’d tried to protect. I wondered if she’d found a way. She eyed me curiously, obviously wondering how I knew her name. “We need to talk.”

My gaze drifted to the other one, her childlike face brought a sad pang. “Thank you for sending him, Gabby.” I glanced at Luke sheepishly. “I wasn’t very cooperative at first.”

She smiled but didn’t get a chance to answer.

“Well, Little One, here she is. Now what?” Luke said, impatiently.

My eyes narrowed at him. Little One? She had a pet name?

I looked back at Emmitt. “I changed my mind. Hit him.” I turned away and went back to stand by Nana Wini who watched me with a slight tilt to her head. Luke’s expression turned slightly pained as his eyes followed my progress.

“Bethi,” he said as the shaggy man laughed.

What did he have against Luke?

“Everybody out,” I said, then changed my mind. “Except you two.” I pointed at Michelle and Gabby.

“Why?” Emmitt asked, casting a glare at Luke.

The shaggy man stepped forward enough to rest his hand on Gabby’s back. Good. She was taken. I fought not to scowl at Luke again. It explained why shaggy man didn’t like him.

“Because I need to talk to them. In private.”

“This isn’t the place to do it, then,” Gabby said. “Too many sharp ears here.”

She was right. I looked thoughtfully at the walls of the room. They would only block so much from werewolf or Urbat ears. I nodded in agreement. She turned and walked out the door. The others followed with Emmitt giving Luke one last look of promised retribution. Luke stayed and eyed me. I wanted to stand straight but knew it would hurt too much, so I didn’t bother.

“Do you want me to carry you?” he asked quietly.

I snorted. “No, you can save your heroics for Little One.” Idiot. I shuffled past him and heard Nana Wini follow.

The whole group wandered down a set of stairs, turned several corners, and entered a small room. Luke and Nana Wini followed. Everyone stood in the room, waiting around a table that filled the center of the room. I shook my head before Emmitt could close the door.

“Private means the three of us.” Instead of looking at him, I looked at Gabby and Michelle. “There are things we need to talk about. Things no one else would believe,” I added. Gabby looked a little wary but turned to meet her man’s eyes. Shaggy-man’s lips turned down in a slight frown. Emmitt didn’t look any happier.

“For Pete’s sake! What do you think’s going to happen in here?”

“She’s right,” Michelle said with a small smile at Emmitt. “We’ll be fine in here. You should check on the boys.”

Emmitt leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips before turning to leave. Her eyes never left him as he walked out the door. The other woman turned to look at the shaggy man. Neither spoke. They just looked at each other. Finally, he sighed, touched her cheek lightly, and exited.

The three of us turned our eyes on the remaining two.

Nana Wini met Michelle’s eyes. “She has new stitches and should try not to pull them.”

“She’s right here,” I mumbled, sitting on one of the chairs.

Nana smiled at me and left.

“I’m not leaving,” Luke said softly.

Out in the hall I heard, “If he’s not leaving…”

“Just shut the door already,” I snapped. Luke closed the door on a growl in the hall, his smirk annoying me. He leaned against it, ensuring our privacy.

“I’m Bethi,” I said ignoring him.

“I’m Michelle,” Michelle said. “How did you know my name?”

Gabby remained quiet. “You’re not curious how I knew your name too?” I asked.

She glanced at Luke. “I assumed he told you.”

I shook my head. “No. It would be a nice answer though. A normal answer.” Gabby’s eyes dropped to the table. She knew what I was working up to. Good. “Are you ready for the truth? The truth about your abilities, and why we are the way we are?” Both of their eyes rounded. Michelle slowly sank into a chair. Gabby still stood. “Well, to be honest, I don’t know all the details, but I’m pretty sure I know more than you.

“I remember,” I said meeting their eyes. “That’s my lovely ability. We’ve existed before and will exist again…and again.” The thought of having to keep enduring this made me want to cry. I settled for taking a slow calming breath. “Each life we’ve lived before, I will eventually remember. Each death. Each emotion,” I had to stop again. Maybe it was the pain of the stitches weighing on me, but everything just seemed so hopeless again.

“I can see what will happen with the stock market. Well, I used to, anyway,” Michelle admitted.

I nodded. “I know. I saw you. You were curled up in a ball,” I tipped my head back looking up at the ceiling as the memory of her pain washed over me. “It felt like your head had already exploded, exposing every nerve ending within you to even more pain.” I met her shocked gaze. “I saw a man pick up your little brother by his arm and carry him into the house. The other one was just a baby.”

Gabby’s gaze flicked to Michelle. I could still see the distrust there.

“I saw you too, Gabby. All those homes. You could never let your guard down.”

Finally, she sank into a chair, and I knew they believed me.

“We’re not alone. There are six of us. We need to find the others but can’t trust anyone. When we do, we die…or worse.”

Michelle looked troubled.

“You said you knew why we had our abilities?” Gabby asked.

“Kind of.”

“I see lights,” she admitted. “I just want to know why.”

“Because you’re our Hope. But also our biggest weakness. With you, they would be able to find us all.”

Her eyes widened in understanding. “Six of us,” she whispered.

I gave her a smile. “And you,” I said looking at Michelle, “are Prosperity. You always bring fortune to those around you.”

“And you know all this because you remember?” Gabby asked.

“It’s not simply remembering. I relive our past lives through dreams. Not just my past lives but all of ours. When I wake up, they stay with me—every detail. Our abilities and how we used them in those lives.” I tapped my head. “We’ve died so many times.”

“So you know what our abilities are for? Why we are like this?”

“The dreams are still coming. I’m not naive enough to believe I’ve learned everything. But I do know we exist because something was needed to keep the balance between humans, werewolves, and the dogs of death,” I answered tiredly.

“Excuse me?” Michelle glanced at Gabby as if saying “did you hear that too?”

“Urbat. A cousin to Lycan,” I explained. “They’re close, but not quite the same. They tried to wipe out the werewolves almost a thousand years ago.”

“Oh,” Michelle said, looking suddenly enlightened. “I think Nana Wini told me something about that. But she didn’t mention any cousins. Just that there was a huge fight—they weren’t sure of the reason—and that it decimated their numbers.”

“Of both sides,” I said before turning to Gabby for confirmation. “Right? You can see the difference in their sparks. Are there more werewolves or Urbat?”

Gabby looked slightly stunned. “I knew it,” she murmured. “Two different kinds.” Her expression grew vacant and then troubled. “There are more Urbat. At least double.” Her worried gaze flicked to the door, and she chewed on her lip for a moment. “So what does it mean that I’m Hope?”

“So far, I just know that you’re the key to bringing all of us together. You know where the other three are.”

Her attention returned to me. “Two,” she corrected. “Charlene is one of us, too.”

“Who’s Charlene?” The name sounded familiar. “Where is she?”

“Here,” Michelle said. “She’s Emmitt’s mother.”

“Mother?” Emmitt had to be at least in his twenties. “How old is she?”

Michelle shrugged. “In her forties. I’m not exactly sure.”

“What’s her ability?” I asked.

“She admitted she could control people.”

Of course! The dream starring Penny the bully. I felt like jumping up and down and cheering. “Strength,” I sighed with a happy grin. “We are just missing Peace and Courage.”

I looked at Gabby. “Where are they?”

Gabby’s gaze grew slightly unfocused, and I was glad she didn’t ask what I meant. “Both on the East Coast. One is very far north and the other just a little south.”

“One is with Blake,” Michelle said in a quiet, deeply troubled tone.

“Who’s Blake?” I asked a moment before the memory resurfaced. Her stepfather’s business partner.

“He kept me prisoner for my premonitions. I thought he was a werewolf, too. But I’ve heard that word before. Urbat. One of his men was talking about Urbat ruling the world. We have to tell the others that another kind exists,” she said, meeting my eyes. Worry filled her gaze. “The Elders have been trying to find Blake through their connection. But they can’t. After I met Emmitt, I had a vision of Blake with a tall, blind girl. She called him Father. She seemed okay with him.” She shrugged and explained further. “He definitely didn’t strike me as a good person when he kept me locked up, but he seemed to treat her well. Kissed her head and everything.”

My stomach flipped in a sickening way. One of them had one of us and treated her well? A cramp started in my chest, and I struggled to keep my face straight as she continued.

“I’m sure she’s one of us. The visions I’ve had so far have all proved to be of us, people with abilities. I saw you in the mall talking to some other girls,” she said to me. “And you, sitting on the floor with Clay in wolf form by your side.”

Clay. So that was the Shaggy-man’s name, I thought absently as I continued to spiral into a dark, depressed place. With their numbers, if they already had one of us, was there any hope?

“You were both reading,” she told Gabby. “There’s only been five different girls in my visions. The other is a really angry redhead.”

That pulled me out of my thoughts for a moment for a harsh, pained laugh.

“That would be Peace.” I recalled the dream of the little girl on the playground. Isabelle. But I kept that to myself. “We need her.” I felt the tug of a dream coming on and wanted to groan. I’d found them. We were together. Wasn’t that enough? “We need her,” I repeated. I needed her. Or Luke. If Luke would just let me Claim him, these dreams would stop.

“Are you okay?” Michelle asked.

“No. I’m not,” I snapped, sighed, and then apologized. “The dreams I have are less than pleasant, and they won’t let up.” I changed the subject back to the issues at hand. “Gabby, you pinpointed me enough to send Luke. We need you to do the same for the other two.”

She zoned out for a minute. “We can get to one, but not the other. The one in the north is surrounded by the other ones.”

If the redhead was Peace that meant…

“The one in the north, the tall blind one that Blake has, must be Courage.” If they didn’t know Peace’s location, we could still get to her. I tried not to dwell on the impossibility of getting Courage. That just left the threat at hand. “Have there been any attacks here since we arrived?” I asked, recalling my warning to Luke. Both women shook their heads. Why hadn’t they attacked? What were they waiting for?

“Are there any Urbat here?” I asked Gabby.

She shook her head at me. “But I’ve seen them before. A few of them attacked us. And then there’s Elder Joshua.”

An Elder. I looked up at the ceiling and tried to think. We needed to expose the traitors and remove them before we could even consider making a move toward Peace.

“He was the one I contacted.”

Luke’s voice surprised me. I’d forgotten he was there.

“Someone betrayed us on the way here,” I told them. “That’s why there were so many attacks.” But why not bigger groups of them? If the werewolves already had three, why would they risk me, the fourth, joining them? “There’s a lot more to discuss, but I’m about to pass out,” I admitted when the dreams nudged me again. My time was almost up.

“Gabby, keep an eye on the Urbat. If they start grouping and heading this way, we need to give everyone a warning.” I sighed and tried not to remember what the Urbat had done in the past. “The children should be evacuated, now.”

A sharp knock sounded at the door. A moment later it pushed open.

“Time’s up,” Clay said.

Gabby grinned at him and waved him in. Emmitt followed closely behind, elbowing Luke on his way past. The dream’s tug grew more insistent.

“Please keep quiet about all of this,” I said, standing. Then, to impress on them the seriousness of our situation, I repeated what I’d told Luke. “You have no idea what’s coming our way, but I do. I’ve been raped, beaten, cut,” I lifted my shirt to show them all the stitched gash, “starved, drowned, blinded, burned…you name it, I’ve lived it. We’ve lived it. You just don’t remember. Don’t trust anyone with your safety. When we do, we die. And I’ll be the one who has to remember.”

Turning, I left the silent room. Nana Wini stood just outside the door. Her expression told me she’d heard what I’d said.

Luke stole my opportunity to say anything to her by scooping me up into his arms. I shot him a disgruntled look still upset with his use of a pet name on another girl. But his angry, clenched jaw kept my mouth shut. I’d been too recently abused to have reminded him of all the other abuses I’d suffered. I rested my head against his shoulder and let him carry me.

“It was just a name,” he said after a moment.

I didn’t answer, keeping my head on his shoulder. But I felt better knowing he understood his mistake.

He gently set me on my feet just inside the tiny apartment’s door, and cupped my face in his hands. “There’s no room for anyone else in my heart,” he said softly. “Only you.”

“Then why?” I pleaded. If I was in his heart, then why did I have to wait to Claim him?

“Because I promised I would protect you,” he said. His eyes burned with fierce resolve. “Even from myself.”

The dream tugged, and my next blink turned into a three-second nap. A fingertip traced my eyebrow.

“You need rest,” he said, wrapping an arm around me and guiding me down the hall.

I did. I promised myself I would argue some more about the logic behind letting me Claim him now. But after a nap.

Fully dressed, I crawled up on the mattress, eased onto my side, and curled up protectively around my aching stomach. Stupid idea to cut myself. Didn’t work and now the pain lingered. Always pain. With that thought, the dream pulled me as Luke’s weight depressed the mattress next to me.