Chapter 35: Neeve
1544 Words
All of our spells are ineffective. Emerald-coloured nebulae spring from my fingers and wrap around those of Sixine. Our concentration is at its maximum in the middle of the pentacle that we have drawn with chalk on the ground. Despite the moonstone in its centre, despite all our incantations, we cannot locate her.
"Elinor, reveal yourself, in night and day, in shadow or light. Show yourself…"
But nothing.
Nothing.
The very essence of Elinor is gone. Sixine and I open our eyes. Our pallor expresses our concern. Levenach warned us. Sorcerers still threaten us. My heart beats hard in my chest when, suddenly, Six and I have this revelation: Eli cannot be dead. No, that we refuse to think about. So the solution is quite different. Cooper!
"She’s gone back to the wolves!"
We said it simultaneously as if the light had suddenly illuminated our minds. I repress the desire to say out loud "How stupid we are!", but it is not time to blame ourselves for being so stupid, for having drained all our mystical energy, when it is the first thing that should have come to mind… Sixine and I exchange a knowing look before she closes her eyes again and concentrates.
"Uh… what are you doing?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Hush."
OKAY…
Her face twitches. She inspires. Expired. His eyelids lift.
"SO?"
"Jaxson is at the apartment. Let’s join him."
"And?"
"He’s going to accompany us to the cave."
Not stupid. I have no memory of the path we took. Without our wolf flair, it’s hard to go back. And with the amount of energy that we have just stupidly released.
But Jaxson is the key. I throw myself into Sixine’s arms. She’s a genius! She blushes a little and pushes me away, making me understand that we have to go. We need about ten minutes to reach the loft running. As soon as we open the door, I put on a bewildered face and suddenly close my eyes. Jaxson is naked. No, seriously, as much fun it was with Tyler and Emmitt, it bothers me that every time Jaxson comes back to the loft, he’s not wearing any clothes. He’s my girlfriend’s boyfriend! And then, it’s not as if he didn’t have a pair of buttocks to die for! I open one eye to ogle them discreetly and say to myself that fortunately, he goes through the back of the building. Our neighbours are old people who no longer see anything, otherwise we would have been unmasked a long time ago.
Jaxson places a chaste kiss on Six’s lips before saying:
"Follow me."
He transforms into a wolf with a lot of cracking bones and unsavoury noises, then rushes up the stairs that lead to the back of the building.
We need about thirty minutes running before arriving at the cave. I’m sweating. Six is on the verge of attacking us. I put my hands on my knees and catch my breath.
"She better be here or be dead!" I say. I couldn’t forgive her for the calories burned. I only ate a salad!
"Do you miss my cooking, Northern Neeve? How’s the smart one in the gang, the vegetarian wolf?"
I turn around and find myself face-to-face with Lyle.
"Lyle!" I exclaimed.
I jump up and throw myself into his arms. The old wolf was the nicest of all during our stay in the cave. With… Masha. At that thought, I recoil and remember what our adventure cost the pack. Lyle hasn’t forgotten it either, but that doesn’t stop him from smiling at me.
"Where’s Elinor?" asks Sixine dryly.
It’s true that she doesn’t know the cook, except by the dishes that were served to her in her dungeon. Not the same atmosphere on Six’s side, therefore.
Lyle doesn’t answer and turns his face to Jaxson who has retained his lupine form. His eyes narrow.
"Are you in such a hurry to meet death, Jaxson?" declares the old wolf. "Considering the consequences of Cooper’s decision for the pack, I thought you wouldn’t be crazy enough to come back here. This territory is forbidden to you, you forget that?"
Six turns pale.
"He’s right, go away," she told him.
Jaxson raises his muzzle. His gold-rimmed pupils express a sorrowful glow that breaks my heart before he disappears into the forest. He left everything, lost everything. For her. For us. And it’s been a long time since I understood that this young wolf underestimated the impact of his decision. Sixine knows it too, even if we never talked about it. It doesn’t take a fortune teller to understand that she’s no longer the successful lawyer she once was.
"You came back!" says the deep voice of a man emerging from the cave.
Emmitt. Tyler follows him a few feet away, a smile plastered on his face. I can still see Emmitt’s hand stretched out towards me, and mine, hesitantly, moving towards it, then backing away.
"I’m here for Elinor."
A silence follows my remark. Tyler’s smile fades as a voice rises behind him.
"Well, I’m here, girlfriends!"
Holy s**t! Eli...
My friend walks gracefully. Her long white hair blows in the wind, surrounding a face where two water-green eyes are haloed by a circle of gold. A scar seems to be slowly disappearing on her neck. Bitten. Wolf. Elinor has become a witch-wolf. She was marked!
Six remains speechless. But I don’t know if she realizes what I have just understood. I know from the cousins that a being marked by an Alpha wolf inherits the power of transformation.
"What… what did you do, Eli?" asks Sixine, terrified.
Elinor approaches and takes me in her arms with a big smile, before grabbing Sixine’s and curling up around the two of us. As soon as she pulls away, I realize that I’ve never seen her with such a happy expression on her face. Eli is happy. She even radiates.
But Six, flabbergasted, takes a step back.
"You didn’t… Jaxson told me that… But you didn’t…"
"Now is not the time to talk about it," Eli replies, oddly sure of herself. "We have an important appointment to make."
Oh yeah? What is this story?
Cooper in turn comes out of the lair and walks towards Elinor. His arm wraps around her shoulders. His lips land on a cheek that immediately tints. The love that I read in their eyes overwhelms me. Their bodies come closer as if they wanted to blend into each other. "What meeting?" says Six sharply.
"Talks with vampires," Cooper says without taking his eyes off Elinor.
I am always amazed by this feeling that overwhelms me while observing them. As if they were about to merge. Speaking of merging… Yeah… that’s the look of merging I see in Eli. Oh there, there, the rascal…
"We are not available!" responds Six to the Alpha.
"Uh... Six," I whispered in her ear, "that’s the deal we made, remember?"
"We didn’t agree that Elinor would turn into a wolf!" she asserts. "We did not agree that she would choose them." A trial is coming, and she spawns with a pack of wolves!"
"And you, Sixine, who do you hang out with?" Elinor retorts. "Do I need to remind you of Jaxson’s existence?"
Six swallowed. Of course, she has no lessons to give her. Admittedly, the moment Eli chose to join the pack is not the right one. It’s true that she could have waited for a while, but what’s done is done. No point in arguing. I won’t take it anymore, after everything we’ve been through. No. This story almost cost us our friendship. So I decided that if my girlfriends want to mess with the wolves, well, let them!
At that thought, my eyes turn to Tyler and Emmitt. They don’t take their eyes off me. A tiny smile crosses my face, immediately followed by theirs. Then I remember their attack, and my injuries, and mine disappears and turns into a pout that tells them that I’m still sulking for an indefinite period.
"Let’s go," says Cooper who, with a wave of his hand, invites us to follow him.
My eyes leave those of the cousins, but the two hasten to surround me with their presence for the entire hour of the journey.
"You smiled," Tyler said.
"A twitch on my face," I replied.
"You came," Tyler remarks.
"For my girlfriend."
"You miss us, Neeve. Admit it."
As we set out on the path that leads to the meeting place, I remember the warmth of their bodies. Of their kisses. Of their tenderness. s*x… Hell, yeah, I miss them! But they attacked me and hurt me. I disgusted them, and I still remember the sour emotion when my heart broke, when they were about to kill me, all because I’m a… witch. So yes, Cooper and Eli are paving the way for diversity, but no, I’m not going to forgive them for not having the same open-mindedness as their Alpha! I quicken my pace and walk alongside Six, who remains silent until we reach our destination.
Vampires… My heart drums loudly in my chest as we wait, in a moonlit glade, sheltered from the darkness.
- Writer
