Page 37 of (Sur)real
“Everyone thinks you’re leading them to us,” she said.
“Isabelle,” Carlos warned.
“I think they’re wrong. The Elders with Gabby are communicating silently with Grey to give us directions to avoid the Urbat.”
“I know,” I said. “Blake spoke about the Elders ability to communicate with all werewolves.”
“You sent it, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” I didn’t pretend to misunderstand. That letter had cost me much to get to her.
“I thought you were warning me about them, werewolves, at first. I ran when I saw them. Why didn’t you say more?”
“I’m blind. Writing is hard.”
She laughed slightly and turned forward.
“Thanks for the warning. It did help,” she said.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For letting me know it was worth the price I paid to send it.”
I turned and looked out the window, watching the Others dance around the passing trees. After a few minutes, Isabelle reached out and turned on the radio at a low volume. For the next several hours, stories of werewolf sightings, captures, and fights filled the car. The state of the world made me shiver.
“That’s the first emotion I felt,” Isabelle said.
The reminder had me quickly focusing. Think, but don’t feel. I knew better.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t much,” she said.
“Why are you so closed off?” Grey asked, speaking for the first time. “Carlos explained about his sister and protecting her. What about you? Who are you protecting?”
“Myself. Will we be stopping soon?”
Another surge of anger pierced my mind. The Others stilled outside the car.
“Whoa,” Isabelle said. “What was that?”
“Not yet,” I whispered. I turned away from the window and breathed slowly.
“There’s coordinated Urbat movement again,” Grey said. “They were still moving toward Missoula, where we’d stayed. Now they’re moving south, toward us. What just happened?”
“My hold is slipping, and we’re running out of time. Has Bethi dreamed the answer yet?”
There was a moment of silence.
“Not yet. What hold?” he asked.
“If I told you, you might make a rash decision that would jeopardize everything. Bethi needs more time, and I’m trying to give it to her.”
“What exactly does that mean?” Isabelle asked.
“You’ll see soon enough. I’ll let you know when we need to stop.”
