Page 54 of Touched

Do I?

Glancing over at Aeris, calm flows through me. Love fills my entire being. She smiles and my heart thunders within my chest. I shake my head, “No. I don’t want to fight this. I love her.”

Aeris smiles.

Grams sighs, sounding content. We both look at her. “Stop stressing, my dears. It’ll all be okay.” She smiles at us softly.

A nervous chuckle escapes me. “Be okay? How?” My voice gets serious, rising as I exclaim, “This seems like some fable! But this is my damn life now, Grams! I have Rougarou—fucking werewolves—trying to kill me. I can’t go home because they know where I live.They destroyed my place!”

“I had wings!Fucking wings!They popped out of my back! Like what the fuck?” I breathe as she narrows her eyes at me after my tirade.

She hates cuss words. She always has. The few times I got frustrated and they slipped out when I was younger, she threatened to wash my mouth out with lye soap.

The very idea was enough to have me apologizing and straightening up.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t cuss around you. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful, Grams.” Her eyes soften as a small smile covers her lips. I try not to smile back. “Ineedto keep Aeris safe… I don’t know how to do that with these damn Trahans wanting to drain the blood from my body the next chance they get!”

I huff out a breath. “Not to mention… how am I going to explain all of this to my lieutenant? We tried to bust them tonight and couldn’t because they used Glamor and hid themselves from the SWAT team.”

“How do we take down men that they can’tsee? If I tried to explain any of this to my lieutenant, he’d have me in a white jacket with a lot of buckles! I’ve busted my ass to get here and I’m on the verge of losing my badge.”

Resting her small, delicate hands on her lap, Grams stares calmly across the room at me as she softly says, “Trevor, fetch the trunk from the closet for me, please. It’s time. Callum is ready.”

Trevor nods before quickly disappearing down the hall. A scant moment later, the shuffling sound of wood sliding across the forest floor inside of the house fills the room.

How did I miss that this was, actually, a damn forest inside of Grams’s house as a child?

Was it magic? Glamored?

Trevor reappears with a large wooden chest, breaking me from my thoughts. He’s dragging the massive box over to us by a brass handle. It’s as big as he is in height and about the same length as his body. Good thing he’s stout and, seemingly, has impressive strength. The trunk looks old and worn. A large padlock seals it shut.

Pulling a key from her pocket, my grandma hands it to him once he sets the chest down in front of me. He quickly gets to work unlocking it, removes the padlock, and then steps back to stand beside Grams.

“Open it, dear.” Her voice is steady, though I can detect a hint of nerves… or unease.

Slipping my hand out of Aeris’s I press my fingers against the cool, dark wood. Sighing loudly, I look at Aeris. Our eyes lock and she nods. I slowly lift the top of the chest, opening it. Leaning forward, I carefully peer inside. The chest is lined with black velvet and smells of rosemary, lemongrass, sage, and wolfsbane. I’m shocked that I can immediately identify the scents.

When did I become a freaking herbalist?

Lying in the chest are several very old pistols, a box of pure silver bullets infused with wolfsbane, vials of dried wolfsbane, rosemary, sage, and lemongrass, a medieval-looking flamethrower, an antique-looking axe inside of a worn leather holster, a large, sharp, angled silver sword with some sort of coating along the edge of the blade, and an old leather-bound book wrapped in twine.

“What is all of this?” I ask, genuinely confused.

“Everything that you’ll need to take care of those pesky brothers who are giving you trouble,” she answers matter-of-factly. “Pure silver infused with wolfsbane, and these four herbs are the only things that can take out a Rougarou. The bodies must be incinerated. This book will help you understand our history, Callum. It’s a detailed explanation of our people and the powers that come with being Sylph. I… I should have told you before now. But you showed no signs…”

She pierces me with her blue stare before angling her head and saying, “I thought maybe it had skipped you.”

She’s right. She should have told me all of this before now.

Had I known, I could have been better prepared.

But would I have even believed her?

My eyes are locked on Grams and I can see the apology in her eyes. I nod at her, and she sighs before saying, “If you have any questions, I’m here to help you, Callum.”

Aeris leans over the trunk, running her fingers gently over everything. “This will certainly help us stop them. I recognize some of this from the book I saw in the Archives tonight.”

Turning my head, I raise my brow, and ask, “Us? You’re not helping me fight these monsters. It’s too dangerous. And what do you mean you saw this in the book in the Archives tonight?”

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