Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“You get used to it.”
“I see.” I look him over again. “It seems this world makes people…hard. Are the children even happy here?”
He doesn’t respond, and if I’m not mistaken, he picks up his pace, taking a trail between a line of trees. I stay behind him this time, dropping the questions for now, not only because I know he’s done answering them, but because I’m getting tired. I’ve truly gotten lazy. My word.
I’d do anything to be home in my bed, rolling a joint, getting high, and then curling up in a blanket to take a nap. I suppose if I shut up, we’ll get there sooner, so I pick up my pace, but end up bumping right into Caz’s back.
Gasping, I stumble backwards, but he turns and catches my wrist, preventing the fall. With his other hand, he has a finger pressed to his lips, his eyes wide with warning.
What? I ask, and the thought is loud and clear in my mind, so I know he can hear it. What is it?
Something’s hunting us.
I freeze, staring into his eyes, too afraid to look around. Caz releases my wrist, and I steady myself as he pushes his jacket back and slowly retrieves his gun from the holster. I still remember how pleased he was to see his guns when Alexi dumped them outside the border. He’d even checked the bullet chambers, to make sure all the bullets were there.
Caz takes a thorough look around. Raising his gun, he points it past me, and murmurs, “Whatever you do, do not run.”
I don’t. I stay where I am, trembling as he narrows his eyes.
“Cover your ears.” He says, and I lift my hands, bringing my palms to my ears and squeezing my eyes shut just as Caz pulls the trigger.
Despite my ears being covered, the gunshot makes them ring, and my initial reaction is to duck down.
“Shit.” Caz curses beneath his breath, and he aims the gun forward again, letting off a round of shots. I hear rapid steps, the crunching of gravel, the snapping of sticks and twigs.
A beastly growl erupts in the air and a blur of white dashes past me, tackling Caz to the ground.
Forty-One
WILLOW
My body trembles as I remain squatting, too afraid to look around me, or even ahead of me, where Caz once stood.
He’s dead. It’s my first thought because I don’t hear his thoughts, and I can’t hear him breathing. Whatever that thing was that was hunting us just killed him, and now I’m on my own and won’t be able to get back to my world. Shit, maybe it’ll kill me next.
No, no, no. He can’t be. He can’t…
I dare myself to look up, and there’s a bushy white tail in my face, streaked with silver. Beneath it are a pair of human legs, clad in black jeans. They’re Caz’s legs, perfectly still, and above him is a wolf. The wolf’s body is white; I can’t see its face, but its shoulders are hunched as it growls down at him.
Willow, be still. I hear Caz’s voice and relief floods me.
Oh, thank God, you’re not dead!
My gun.
He moves his hand to the right, his fingers twitching, and I look in that direction. His gun is near a tree, the silver glistening beneath a streak of sunlight.
I start to move, but Caz’s voice in my head demands me to do so slowly.
I crawl toward the gun, breaths coming out rapid and panicked. Just as I’m about to grab it, there’s a rustling and a white paw touches my hand. My heart drops to my stomach.
Slowly lifting my head, I peer up at the wolf, and it stares down at me. Its eyes are silver, and there’s a patch of silver on top of its head. The wolf doesn’t snarl nor growl at me like I expect though. It cocks its head instead, as if it’s wondering why I’m reaching for the gun.
I stare into the wolf’s eyes, and a vision fills my head—one I’ve never had before. A pack of wolves. A baby wolf, running in a field. The wolf being fed by a faceless woman in all black. She pets the wolf. The wolf is happy—I can feel its happiness coursing through me. A memory it’s fond of.
“Willow, the gun,” Caz demands, snapping me out of whatever trance I’m in.
The wolf breaks our stare, turning its head to growl at him again.
My brows dip as the wolf stands in front of me, as if on guard, and Caz glares at it, confused.
“Is it…”
“She’s protecting me.” I say the words without fully understanding them.
Caz’s eyes narrow a split second as he keeps his focus on the wolf. “How is that possible?”
“How is what possible?”
“You’re not even from Vakeeli.” He steps back, blinking.
The wolf walks around me, sniffing at my legs and feet, before deciding to sit next to me. I lift a shaky hand and stroke its fur, and it rests it’s chin on its front paws.