That night, the nightmares were the worst they'd been.
I wasn't alone in the field. It was the same clearing where Tucker had challenged Owein, but instead of werewolves surrounding me, I was looking into the faces of unfamiliar men and women. They were looking at me, their eyes unwavering.
They were dead.
Their faces were decaying, showing muscle and tendons through gaping holes in their bodies. At the end of them, was Tilly. She was crying.
"I didn't mean to," she cried softly.
I wanted to reach out to her, but I couldn't move. Another figure got to her first. My heart jumped to my throat as I watched him walk menacingly in front of her. The familiar brown eyes were cold- colder than I'd ever seen them. And when he spoke, Tucker's voice sounded foreign to my ears.
"Balance," he repeated back to her.
My head cocked at the familiar word. Before I could cry out, he'd grabbed Tilly by the arm and forced her into the center of the clearing, the group of the dead circling around them. Quickly, I ran to the circle, trying to force my way between the bodies, but they were unmovable. Tucker shoved Tilly to the ground before him, forcing her to her knees.
"This isn't balanced!" I yelled, from outside the circle.
He raised his hand as if to strike her and I felt my heartbeat in my ears. All of the eyes of the dead suddenly shifted from the center of the clearing to me. His hand came down toward my friend.
"TUCKER STOP."
"Lou, wake up," a familiar voice shook me out of my dream.
I bolted upright in bed, knocking the concerned party back off the bed. My hand flew to my chest as I remembered the cold brown eyes, and saw that they were staring back at me. They weren't cold, however, only concerned.
"Jesus," Tucker exclaimed in a hushed whisper, taking a step back from the bed in shock, "are you okay? What were you dreaming about?"
I blinked a few times, making sure he was really here. But he was. He was standing in my bedroom. It was 2 am and Tucker Joy was standing in my bedroom.
"Okay, no," I breathed out, my heart still beating hard in my chest, and held up a finger, "let's start with what the fuck are you doing in my bedroom?"
He scratched the back of his head, anxiously. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for some type of explanation on how he'd randomly appeared in my room.
"I-uh, well, I was in the neighborhood..."
I raised an eyebrow at his attempt at a deflection. He was never one to tell many jokes, I suspected he was joking now simply because he was nervous. He sighed, realizing he was going to have to give me the real reason.
"Since Isaac's death, I've had someone patrolling around your house- thinking that if the hunters or your father tried to contact you or get to you, then we could catch them. Tonight was my turn. I came in through the window."
I stared back at him, shocked. Little did he know that I'd had contact with both the hunters and my father. Part of me wanted to yell at him that he had no right to put a giant dog outside my bedroom window every night, but another part of me was curious.
"Still doesn't explain why you are standing in my bedroom right now."
He ran a hand down his face. "You were yelling. I thought you were hurt."
I thought of the dream I'd had. His fist falling to meet Tilly's face. A circle of dead surrounding them, watching them. It was the kind of punishment that Sophia had told me about, but it was carried out by Tucker. I hoped to God that it wasn't a dream of the future.
"I'm not obviously," I snapped, a little from exhaustion and a little from the apprehension of him after what I'd seen. I softened a little when I read the hurt that briefly flashed across his face. "I-I'm sorry. The dream...it just shook me up a little."
He stepped forward again. "What was it about?"
"Something that I'm never going to let happen."
That was all I said on the matter. If he was capable of such a thing, I didn't want to put the idea in his head now. And if he wasn't, why worry him needlessly? Instead of assuaging his concern, I only seemed to make it worse. He took a step forward as if he were going to reach out to me but I put a hand up, stopping him. The fear and energy from the dream had leaked into my conscious mind and I didn't want him anywhere near me. While my skin felt alive and electrified, I also felt dangerous.
"Don't," I told him, my voice shaky. "Please."
His presence only ever confused me. He had told me we couldn't be together, and it hurt worse every time he said it. I was beginning to understand why he hadn't wanted to see me. Every time I saw him, I was constantly reminded of the words he'd said. His presence brought a fresh set of pain.
He seemed to understand and he took a step back, far enough away that I didn't feel the familiar sting of his energy.
"Are you feeling better?"
"What?" I asked, confused.
Tucker raised his dark brows. "You said you weren't feeling well earlier. Are you feeling better now?"
Fuck. He narrowed his eyes, suspicious. I'd forgotten my earlier lie and quickly tried to backtrack.
"I- oh, yeah. I feel a lot better. Thanks," I finished lamely.
He hardly looked like he believed me, but he seemed to debate whether or not to push the matter. Instead, he sighed, seemingly resolved to leave me to my horrible lie-telling.
"You know," he began, "if something is going on, you can tell me, right?"
At this, I brought my eyes to meet his. Even from a distance, I could see the gold shine of his irises. I couldn't tell him- not really. If I told him I was meeting with my father, I'd have to tell him why. I'd have to tell him that ever since I'd killed Owein, my powers and the darkness around me had been spiraling out of control. He'd already told me how he felt when he thought I'd sacrificed my life for him. I imagined that he would feel the same way if he knew that saving him had cost me a little bit of my sanity too.
Johnathan was right. He was the only one that could help me control what was happening to me. Plus, meeting with him gave me the opportunity to discover his true intentions. However, I'd come no closer to figuring it out.
"Something other than the usual torment of my life?"
He cracked a smile at that. "Yes, you can talk to me about any unusual torments going on too."
I chuckled softly. He thought we were joking with each other, but he didn't know how serious I actually was.
***
As I arrived at the warehouse after school, I felt the weight of the nightmares and exhaustion from meeting with Sophia and my father on my shoulders. A part of me was still writhing in anger at what I'd learned from her and the confusion I felt.
But Tucker needed my help with the woman that had been with Isaac when he died and a Daemon's work was never done, apparently.
The warehouse was as full, if not more so, than the last time I'd been inside. Members of the pack were spread throughout. I spotted Ben's familiar face, who had skipped last period, sitting on a couch with Jacob. The two of them were deep in conversation and, I noticed with some satisfaction, neither seemed to be arguing with the other. In fact, their movements seemed to mirror each other's and whenever Jacob would speak, Ben would lean in.
Instead of interrupting them, I climbed the steps to where I knew Tucker's office was. Before I pushed open the door, I took a deep breath of air that wasn't filled with the scent of him. This air was not tainted (or sweetened) with the electricity I knew jumped off his skin.
I pushed the door open, cutting off someone mid-speech.
Megan's harsh green eyes sunk into me. I'd never had the chance to really speak with her, other than briefly when we'd turned her against Owein and her snide remarks the last time I'd visited, but I had the sneaking suspicion that she was not my biggest fan. Her fierce glare in my direction was a pretty big indication. I raised an eyebrow at her look but said or did nothing in return. I had bigger things to worry about, like the politics between covens of witches and packs of werewolves. Or mysterious reappearances of absentee fathers. Or the disappearances of supernatural creatures.
You know, normal things.
"Lou," Tucker breathed out in surprise, probably feeling the same shock I always did when I saw him. Even though, I had just seen him the night before his presence still hit me like a punch to the brain. At least I knew that it was the same for him. "I wasn't expecting you to be here so quickly."
My eyes struggled to stay open, exhaustion from weeks of restless sleep was starting to catch up with me. Instead of responding, I plopped myself into the cozy armchair in the corner of the room. Both of the werewolves stared at me, waiting for my response.
I sighed. "I told you I'd come, so here I am."
"Real great attitude you have about helping people. It's really classy," Megan sneered sarcastically and examined my slouched position with distaste.
A bitchy werewolf did not want to start with me, not today. This time, I fixed her with a falsely confused stare.
"I'm sorry if I ever gave you the impression that I cared what you thought."
Megan's scowl grew, causing deeper wrinkles on her face. A vein popped out in her forehead the angrier she got. Her eyes narrowed on me.
"You need to take your job more seriously."
At that, my eyebrows rose. "This," I swirled my index finger around indicating the room and the warehouse, "is not my job."
Megan was about to respond, but I cleared my throat effectively silencing her. Tucker watched our interaction with an unreadable expression. I was too irritated to even notice what kind of emotions he was radiating.
"This is a choice I make. The other choice," I raised my hand and ran my thumb thoughtfully along the pads of my fingers as I looked at the other girl, "would be very painful for you."
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Things are about to start getting wild so I hope you're strapped in for the next few chapters because we're not about to slow down....
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Stay safe. Be kind.