Page 73 of Blood of the Fallen
As the other six chieftesses put their hands up in the air, there was no hesitation in their expression. Lawana had succeeded in rousing their anger and desire for bloody revenge. Worst of all, they meant to use us as their weapon.
“This is not what I signed up for,” I said, biting out each word.
Lawana put a hand on her chest and took a few steps in my direction. “Perhaps you still don’t understand what it means to be pack. But like you said, it’s not your fault. With our guidance, you will learn, and when this is all over, you and your triad will be held in high regard.”
If she thought I cared about some sort of misguided glory, she was wrong. My fists tightened, and I was about to step forward, willing to fight her, but a small tug through the tetrad bond stopped me. It was silent, no words delivered with the message, but I could understand it, nonetheless.
Let it go. Just let it go.
I didn’t want to let it go. Reason told me to stand my ground, to make everyone understand that this wasn’t the way. But something in that silent message eased my worries. There was another way, one that I’d begun to plot in my mind as I’d sat on my own in that dark corner of the cave. Somehow, the others had gotten a sense of my thoughts, and it seemed they agreed with them.
Taking a deep breath, I unclenched my fists and relaxed. I lowered my eyes to the ground, making Lawana think that she’d prevailed. When I next glanced up, she wore a gleeful smile.
It was decided that everyone would rest for the night, and the Pack Rule would reconvene in the morning to come up with a plan.
We started walking away, instinctively retreating to that corner I had found.
Behind me, Novuk let out a huge sigh. “What now? I don’t want us to be at Lawana’s mercy. It doesn’t bode well.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Kall offered. “But maybe we don’t have to be. Sheela?” He searched my face. “I have a feeling you have an idea.”
“Me too,” Maki echoed.
“An idea?” Ila said.
“What idea?” Bethel said.
I took a deep breath, trying to draw courage from the air. “Follow me. I’ll tell you about it.”
I was inside of Bethel’s body—a passenger—and I could see the world through her eyes. Ila was with me, standing a few steps back. I knew she was nervous as hell. I could sense her frantic heartbeat with my enhanced hearing. Still, she wasn’t doing too badly, considering it was her first time in Lux City.
Since I was a little taller than Bethel, my perspective kept throwing me off. Everything looked larger than normal, like doors and the counter in front of me.
The witch had used a spell to accomplish the feat. It was the weirdest thing I’d ever experienced, but it was also the coolest.
A woman sat behind the counter, filling out a paper form. She blinked up at me, a pen in her hand.
“I need to see your ID, please,” she said with a blindingly white smile.
“Sure thing,” I said in Bethel’s voice.
So weird!
I reached inside the back pocket of my jeans and pulled out an ID with Bethel’s picture on it. “Here you go.”
To say the least, I had been dumbfounded to find out that they all had fake IDs. They said it had been Nosh’s job to procure such things for everyone. It seemed he’d gone to Augusta for more than just spices.
The woman examined the ID and copied the information on the paper form. I let my eyes wander over her styled hair. She looked as if she’s slept in rollers and was in need of her next visit to the salon since gray was starting to show at the roots of her brown dye job. She seemed to be in her early sixties, and the tag pinned at her ample breasts read Clarice Ouellette.
“What brings you two to Lux City?” she asked in a pleasant tone, idly making conversation as she did her job.
“My sister and I are on sabbatical before going off to college,” I said cheerfully, gesturing toward Ila behind me.
Ila offered her a smile, which the woman returned. Ila scratched under the collar of her light pink sweater. The material had been bothering her ever since she put it on. She wasn’t used to synthetic city clothing.
“We’re planning to spend a few weeks here and there,” I added, looking the place over. The lobby looked like the inside of a house with comfortable furniture, a fireplace, and patterned wallpaper.
The woman sighed. “That’s a great idea. I wish I’d done that before I settled.” She pushed the ID over the counter.
