Page 17 of A Brighter Yellow
“Yeah, actually,” said Anna, pleased with the analogy. “Anyway, I finally infiltrated one of the biker clubs long enough to figure out when a delivery was coming in for a new temple. I’m not sure where it’s located, but the guy who’s founding it must be pretty important because he got his delivery from Europe. That means his gunk is old. That means that Charlie can use it to test her theory. So, I stole it from the Warlock who was delivering it, and I mailed it to myself.”
Ochre made a shocked noise. She decided not to mention the gunshot wound that had gone with her theft. It had gone right through her, and there wasn’t even a scar, but it seemed like Ochre might freak out.
“That’s what’s in the package I had you pick up. Charlie and I are hoping that with this sample, we can figure out a cure.”
“Oh, holy fuck.” Ochre was staring at her open-mouthed.
“What?”
Ochre made another noise that seemed somewhere between outrage, laughter, and shock. Finally, he gave a strong blink and composed himself.
“There are actually a lot ofwhat’sgoing through my head. But let’s start with: who else knows about this?”
“Like I said, there’s another wolf who gets stuff for Charlie. Cade Sinclair.”
“Well, what about him? Could he have told the Warlocks where you were?”
Anna shook her head. “He’s currently in Alaska. Probably. Arctic circle somewhere anyway. He doesn’t own a phone. From his emails, I don’t get the impression that he’s been spending a lot of time in human form lately.”
“Oh,” said Ochre looking puzzled. He clearly wasn’t getting what she was saying about Cade. She wasn’t sure she should spell it out for him. Cade probably wouldn’t appreciate his situation being talked about. Pack issues were supposed to stay within a pack.
“He went to school with Charlie. They talk through the biology. Charlie and I try and work through the magic,” said Anna, trying to stay neutral.
“There’s got to be someone else,” said Ochre looking shocked.
“No. Charlie is too much of a scientist for the witches and too much of a human for the Supernaturals. And I’m too young for any of the wolves to take me seriously.” She hesitated. She didn’t think Ochre was ever going to get it, so she was going to have to say it. “And I think Cade is kind of on the run from his family. So, we just figured… it was easier to keep it a secret if it was just us. It’s not that we don’t want help, but it seemed like we were the only ones who want to actually do anything.”
Ochre’s hand shot up in the air.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m volunteering. I want in.”
Anna smiled at him and felt herself blush even pinker. This was the first time anyone had listened to one of her crazy rants and actually wanted to be a part of it.
“I’m not sure you do,” said Anna, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing her arms. “The warlocks nearly caught me in Montana, and somehow they’ve found me here. They shouldn’t know who I am, let alonewhereI am. And now Charlie isn’t answering the phone. What if… What if they know about my pack because they found Charlie? If they found Charlie, then she could be in danger, then my pack is next on their hit list.”
“I’m not going to let that happen,” said Ochre, with what she thought was an amazing, and perhaps misplaced, amount of confidence.
“I need to find Charlie,” said Anna.
“Weneed to find Charlie,” said Ochre, smiling at her. “I told you, I want in.”
Anna stared up at Ochre in confusion. She felt like she were inching out over a chasm on a tight rope. How did people trust other people at the drop of a hat? But he really wanted to help. She could see it in every line of his body. Slowly, she started to smile. Maybe with Ochre she really had found an ally. It was a delicious feeling not to be alone and she savored it.
Episode 10
Not Nothing
Ochre
Anna Allanach was out to save the world, and she was a little bit embarrassed about it. Ochre wasn’t sure why, but she was. Telling him about her theory on wolf breeding had taken an enormous leap of faith on her part, and she had expected him to mock her for it. He couldn’t figure out what kind of asshole would do that, but he wanted to make sure she knew that he wasn’t one of them. He just wasn’t sure how.
His phone beeped. It was a message from Scarlet.
Did something just happen to you? You’ve gone extra yellow.
He stared at his phone impatiently. What did that even mean?
