-Oliver-
This was not happening... Cedric saved Jack's spirit, but now it was Arch who was dying?
"No..." I whispered, when Arch suddenly slouched over, grabbing his injured arm, letting out a painful gasp.
"We need to hurry!" Aurora said with a strong, hasty voice. "Tilly! There's antidote inside!"
Tilly ran back inside fast, but I couldn't take my eyes off Arch. Jaden helped him stay up while Aurora hurried to pick the tiny pieces of glass from his arm. The wound looked so small and harmless... I think I forgot to breathe as I stood there, my mind completely blank.
Was Arch going to die?
Tilly hurried back with a small bottle of clear, light-blue liquid, and slid into a halt in front of Arch, opening the bottle. "Take it!" she nearly yelled at his face, her voice trembling in fear. "Drink it!"
Arch did as she told him to do and gulped the whole thing in one go. He was fine now, right? He was still turning paler, and he was clearly in a lot of pain.
"Honey – you know what we need to do now," Aurora spoke to him surprisingly gently, but her voice was shaking as well. "We need to stop the poison from spreading. The antidote is not enough."
Arch let out a humorless chuckle as he leaned harder against Jaden. Then, he nodded. "For fuck's sake..." he breathed out.
"Everything is going to be all right," Aurora said and turned to look at one of her hunters. "There should be something we can use behind the house."
The man nodded with a grim expression on his face and hurried towards the house.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Jaden – take Tilly and Oliver inside," Aurora said without answering to me.
"No – I'm staying here with him," Jaden said with an angry expression on his face. "He's my beta. My brother."
"Jaden..."
"Tilly, take Ollie inside," Jaden commanded, ignoring Aurora completely. Aurora seemed to give up as she sighed and turned her attention back to the wound.
"I'll stay as well," Tilly said quietly, but Jaden shook his head.
"No. You take Ollie inside and make sure he's safe," Jaden told her, leaving no room for arguments.
"Okay... Just..." she trailed off and kissed Arch's forehead. "Don't you dare dying now, you hear me?"
"Not my plan," Arch chuckled. He was sweating now. I looked at his arm and saw dark-blue something under his skin. Like veins, and they were slowly spreading upwards, towards his shoulder.
"Go," Jaden told Tilly, who stood up and ran to me. I could see tears in her eyes when she grabbed my hand and pulled me with her without saying a word.
"What are they going to do?" I asked.
"They need to stop it from spreading," Tilly said without looking at me, still pulling me to the front door.
"But how?" I asked, but then, the hunter stepped back into my view.
He was holding an ax.
My stomach turned upside down. I felt sick when we reached the door. "This isn't happening..." I whispered. I knew now exactly what they were going to do, and the thought of it made me nauseous.
Tilly let us in and closed the door afterward before she led me straight into their bedroom, into the farmost corner behind the bed, and sat down in the corner. She pulled me down next to her, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. And then, she covered my ears with her hands.
But I could still hear Arch's voice.
I burst out in tears, and soon, Tilly lowered her hands, crying so hard she was shaking. I could feel their distress, their fear and anxiety and it all got mixed with mine. I hugged her tightly, and she held onto me, burying her face on my shoulder.
Why was all this happening...? I was nearly paralyzed from the horridness of the situation. I had never felt so weak and powerless before.
"Is he...? Is it enough...?" I asked, trying to get some air into my lungs, but it didn't seem to be working.
"I don't know," she whispered with a strengthless, scared voice. "I don't..."
We heard loud voices outside, and a desperate scream of a woman. I didn't recognize the voice. "Arch's parents..." Tilly whispered, lifting her head up to listen.
Even I could hear all the yelling and commotion but couldn't hear what they were saying. Someone was angry.
"Jack..." Tilly whispered and stood up in a heartbeat. "Stay here!" she ordered me and ran out, but I wasn't going to hide here, so I followed her to the front door.
There were a lot more people, but no Arch in the yard. There was a big man yelling horrible things at Jack – Cedric – while four other men were trying to keep him from launching at him. Aurora was there, trying to calm things down, but the big man wasn't listening.
He seemed like he was about to kill Jack. Cedric.
"BACK OFF ARCHER!!"
I think we all got scared shitless by the booming voice since everyone fell silent. Rayleigh stepped through the gates, followed by Ryder and Ezra, and marched to the angry man, grabbing hold of his collar.
"Go with your son! Leave the rest to me," Raleigh told him sternly. When the man tried to object, Rayleigh growled loudly at his face. "Go to your son!"
It had to be Arch's father. He glared at Rayleigh for a moment, before he turned to spit at Jack – Cedric – and walked out the gates.
"Thank you," Aurora muttered. "He didn't understand the situation."
"I don't think I do either," Rayleigh told her angrily. "What the hell is going on? Why is there a Thorn in my land?"
"He's not Thorn," Aurora hurried to say. "Well, the body is, but Oliver's guardian is occupying it. Jack's spirit is with me."
"And what the hell am I supposed to think about that? Arch is poisoned. Our children were attacked in a place where they were supposed to be absolutely safe! Under your watch!"
"I'm sorry, Alpha," Aurora bowed her head down. "I failed," she breathed out, and I could almost smell her self-hate to where I was standing.
Rayleigh stared at her for a second or two, before he let out a deep breath. "Never underestimate a Shadow Walker. I should've known they have a way to get in our land. It's not your fault," he said apologetically. "What happened here?"
"Where's Arch?" Tilly asked before Aurora could open her mouth.
"He's been taken to the Hall," Rayleigh told us. "You two stay here."
"No! I need to be with him!" Tilly said, walking down the stairs.
Rayleigh couldn't reply to her when we suddenly heard footsteps approaching. I saw Natalie running to the gates and hurrying in.
"Oliver!" she yelled with a fearful voice, stumbling through the snow to get to me. "Oliver! Thank Goodness!" She ran up the stairs and wrapped her arms around me for a second, before she pushed me back and peered at me. "Are you all right?"
"I'm..." I muttered, turning to look at the spot where I last saw Arch. There was a lot of blood...
"What happened?" Natalie asked and turned around to ask Aurora the same question. "I leave for one hour, and you get attacked by a Shadow Walker?!"
I could tell she was anxious and worried to death, so I hugged her again. "I'm not hurt," I told her.
She let out a deep breath, hugged me, and started crying. She was shivering when she hugged me...
Aurora began talking, explaining that it was Henry who attacked us, and that Jack was the hero, not the villain.
"Cedric is in his body now," she said, pointing at him.
"Cedric?" Natalie breathed out.
"Who the hell is Cedric?" Rayleigh asked.
"My guardian spirit," I replied, looking at him. "I'm sorry I kept you locked up so long. If I had known..."
"Don't worry about it," he spoke. "We have bigger issues now. Natalie, you need to see this body."
Natalie let go of me and hurried back down, and I followed her. Cedric rolled up a sleeve, and I could see weird markings on his skin. Not markings... carvings. He was bleeding everywhere...
"This body is covered in these," Cedric said.
"What are these?" Natalie asked.
"I don't know," Cedric breathed out.
"I've seen these somewhere..." Ezra suddenly spoke, stepping closer and touched one of the weird markings. Then, I could see a flicker of something in his eyes, and he turned to look at Rayleigh. "Remember that book he had?"
"Book? Who?" Rayleigh asked.
"Kevin," Ryder said, staring at the marks. "Yeah, those are the same runes."
"What book?" Natalie asked with a frown.
"Kevin had this weird, old book," Ezra said. "Brown leather. Really old. He said he got it from his father, but he never explained what it was. He was mad at us for going through it..."
The wheezing sound Natalie made, and the fact that she was staring at him with wide eyes, was more than enough to convince me that she suddenly knew exactly what they were talking about.
"Attwoods had it the entire time," she whispered and turned to look at Jack's body again. "Oh no..."
"What is it?" Rayleigh sighed, looking frustrated.
"Book of Shadows," she whispered. "It's from the old world, and very powerful."
"What?" Ezra breathed out. "He had an old world with him the entire time?"
"What happened to it?" Natalie asked. "How did Anthony get a hold of it?"
"He didn't," Rayleigh said. "We buried it with Kevin."
"Thank God," Natalie gasped so hard it sounded like she had been drowning a second ago.
"We thought it had Spirit Walker spells in it and figured it would be for the best if we hide it," Rayleigh explained. "Is it that powerful?"
"Human bodies can't enter spirit or shadow realms," Cedric spoke, looking at his arms. "But with these marks, it is possible for a short period of time."
"The book has all kinds of tricks and spells for Shadow Walkers to use," Natalie said. "But if Attwoods had it, it makes sense he knows about these things. That's how Henry got here. He must know a spell to avoid being detected by our wards and shielding spells."
"But why would my father have it if only Shadow Walkers can use it? Was he protecting it?" I asked out of curiosity.
I could see Rayleigh and Ezra exchange looks, and Natalie rubbed the back of her neck. I suddenly knew the answer to my question.
"He was a Shadow Walker," I breathed out. "You said he was a Spirit Walker!"
"Attwoods... they fell off the righteous path generations ago," Natalie mumbled. "Your father chose differently. He really was a Spirit Walker."
"I thought my uncle was the black sheep of the family," I said, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "It was my father..."
Natalie placed her hands on my shoulders. "Kevin was the finest Spirit Walker there has ever been. He is a hero to all of us. It doesn't matter if he used to be a Shadow Walker or not."
"He was sixteen when he left his family," Ezra spoke. "He was determined to become a Spirit Walker again. It wasn't his fault that his father forced him to corrupt his own powers as a child to become the master of Shadows. He chose Spirits. He always chose Spirits."
"Your father was a good man," Rayleigh added. "Do not doubt that."
What else could I do than to believe them? What difference did it make if he once was a Shadow Walker?
"Sure – fine..." I muttered, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "It's just way too much..."
"I understand," Natalie said soothingly.
"What about Arch?" I asked, not wanting to talk about me and my issues any longer while my friend was badly hurt.
"We managed to stop the poison from spreading," Aurora said, and I ignored all the blood on her clothes. "He has much, much better chances at surviving now."
"He's a big, strong, healthy kid," Ezra nodded. "I've seen much worse cases and they still pulled through."
"And... What about...?" I muttered, staring at the blood on the snow. "...his arm?"
"Grows back when he uses transformation next time," Rayleigh said reassuringly. "We were lucky he didn't get shot in the head or chest..."
"All thanks to Jack," Aurora whispered, pressing a hand on her chest. "He tried to protect his mate until his last breath..."
"Not last one yet," Cedric said. "He's surprisingly resilient. His human spirit looks awful, but what about the wolf spirit?"
"What do you mean?" Natalie asked.
"Where is it?" Cedric asked.
"The wolf?"
"Yeah," Cedric nodded. "It's not here – this body is empty."
"But... it has to be there," Natalie frowned. "I only managed to save his human spirit from Henry."
"It's not here," Cedric said.
"Is it... gone?" Aurora asked in fear.
"It shouldn't be possible, but with the Book of Shadows..." Natalie trailed off, shaking her head in misery. "If the wolf is dead..."
"But, if his wolf is gone, is he... human now?" Aurora asked.
"I have no idea," Natalie said quietly. "There's nothing we can do about it now."
"Come – I'll take you to the Hall. We need to stay together now since our protections aren't working against the enemy anymore," Rayleigh said.
"I need to see Arch," Tilly said with a pleading voice.
"I'll take you to him," Rayleigh promised. "Go get your stuff."
We hurried to get out bags while Rayleigh watched over us like a hawk. I had so many new questions about my father, but at the same time, I didn't want to know. When we were finally ready to leave, and we returned outside to the others, I saw Ezra watching me closely. I stopped in front of him, and hesitated for a moment until I found the courage to speak.
"Was that the thing you wanted to tell me about? That my family is full of Shadow Walkers?"
"One of the things, yes," he nodded. "But I wanted to talk to you about your mother."
I shook my head immediately. "I don't want to hear about her. At all," I told him and continued walking away from him.
"She was sick," Ezra said, and I stopped, but didn't turn to look at him. "She thought she was crazy. She had no idea what you are, so–"
"She threw me out of the house," I said sharply. "As far as I'm concerned, I have no mom."
"Fair enough," Ezra muttered.
"You knew his mom?" I could hear Ryder's whisper.
"Not now, idiot..." Ezra whispered back.
I shook his words out of my head. I didn't care about what he had to say about my mother. I had more important things to worry about.
Natalie hurried to my side as we approached the gates and placed her hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her, and she smiled.
"I'm not leaving you alone for a second anymore," she said. "Not until this whole thing is over. Although the chances are that you're stuck with me for the rest of your life."
I smiled back at her. "Is Arch really going to make it?"
"I'm not an expert on werewolves," she said apologetically. "But I trust they know what they're talking about. I'm sure he will be just fine."
"There's only a little poison in his system left," Rayleigh spoke, spooking me again – I hadn't heard him walking right behind me. "He should be fine."
I felt relieved to hear that, but something else begged for my attention. I turned to look at Cedric, who was walking close by.
"Are you all right?" I asked hesitantly.
"Peachy," he said. "Thanks for letting me out."
"I'm so sorry for locking you up. I didn't know what I was doing," I said, feeling awful.
"Don't worry about it. What happened to us... It's not your fault," he said, giving me a small, crooked smile. "But now I'm back, and ready to kick some ass."
"Good – we need all the help we can get," Rayleigh said, peering at him for a moment. "So this Thorn boy, Jack, was just another victim after all?"
"I don't know the details, but he was trying to fight Henry," Aurora spoke quietly. "Henry mentioned something about Jack making him angry, and when he was trying to escape, he said he'll make Jack pay for everything he's done."
"He was possessed the entire time," Cedric nodded. "This body is severely malnourished. It needs medical help."
"I'll make sure he gets it," Rayleigh promised. "You... He... The body."
"If his spirit grows strong enough, he can return to his body, so we need to take good care of it," Aurora spoke.
"But what will happen to him without the spirit of his wolf?" I asked.
"We don't know. I've never heard of anything like this," Rayleigh said.
"The two spirits are linked," Natalie said. "If the other one dies, so does the other one."
"His human spirit is still alive, so the wolf should be too, but it's not here," Cedric added.
"Unless Henry destroyed it with some kind of spell," Natalie breathed out.
We arrived at the Hall shortly after. There were dozens of werewolves surrounding the big house in the middle of their village, and I would've taken my time to look around if I wasn't so worried over Arch. And I needed Jaden. I needed his strength... Rayleigh led us upstairs and deeper into the building, and it didn't take long before he stopped next to a heavily guarded door.
I could see Jaden sitting next to a bed that was in the middle of the small room. Arch was lying on it, covered in bandages and breathing heavily. His parents were also there, and as soon as Rayleigh stepped into the room, they bombarded him with questions.
"Come – I'll explain everything now," Rayleigh said, gesturing the couple to follow him out.
I couldn't help but notice Cedric trying to blend in with the shadows when Arch's father walked past us, and he didn't come out of his hiding behind the door until the man was out of the view.
"Ollie," I heard Jaden calling out to me, so I hurried to him, and got immediately pulled into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're all right..." he whispered in my ear.
"How is he?" I asked, turning to look at Arch. He had no shirt on, and he was wrapped in bandages. His whole arm was gone... Tilly was already sitting down on the bed and took his hand in hers.
"We weren't fast enough – there's still some poison left in him," Jaden said, looking exhausted and pale. "But he's strong enough to fight it."
I could tell he had trouble believing in his own words, so I hugged him again, and planted a little kiss on his lips. "He is the strongest of you three," I told him.
"True," Jaden smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. "Are you all right?"
"I'm not hurt," I said.
"But you're not fine," he said quietly.
"Let's just worry about Arch, okay?" I said, turning my attention to him.
"You should go lay down as well," Aurora spoke, and when I turned to look back, I realized she was talking to Cedric. "I'll go ask a healer come to look at you."
"I probably shouldn't stay here," Cedric said. "I'd rather not get my ass kicked by Arch's father just because I happen to be in this body."
"No. You're staying here." We all jumped when we heard Arch's stern, but hoarse, voice. "He tried to protect me..."
Cedric nodded and walked to another bed, and lay down. Just a moment later, an older woman stepped in, and Aurora pointed her to Cedric. I looked away when she started treating the countless wounds on Jack's body.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," Arch told Tilly, who looked like she was about to cry again.
"You'd better," Tilly smiled, brushing his mohawk back, but she still started crying quietly.
I watched them two for a moment, feeling a bit better now that I could see Arch was doing relatively well, and that Jaden was right next to me.
"Huh..." I muttered when I realized something. I hadn't even noticed it until now, and probably wouldn't have even spotted it if we hadn't just talked about it, but..."I think you have three spirits now," I told Arch.
"What?" basically everyone in the room asked.
"Oh," Natalie breathed out and smiled gently. "I think we found Jack's wolf."
"Really?" Aurora asked with wide eyes.
"He must've followed me when I rescued his human spirit, but decided to stay with Arch instead," Natalie spoke, placing her hand gently on Arch's arm. "He's doing well."
"It's been in me this entire time?" Arch frowned.
"Yes. I hope you don't mind – he really needs to rest," Natalie said.
"It's fine," Arch nodded. "I'll take care of him."
Natalie seemed pleased, and we all fell in silence for a moment, but then my dear, wonderful mate opened his mouth.
"So you're... gay?" he blurted out, staring at his best friend.
I let out a deep sigh.