opposite of what you’ve been doing,” Cole jibed. He tenderly moved the hair out of her eyes and gazed into them though she didn’t know why he would want to.
She remembered what those eyes looked like when she’d seen her reflection in the great wolf’s glassy stare. “The wolf!” she gasped, still out of breath.
Amanda jumped out of Cole’s arms and put herself in front of him protectively. Spinning around quickly, she dropped into a crouched position. She was face to face with the great beast. The animal’s large eyes gazed at her curiously. Like the last time she’d met the animal, she felt at peace.
It has to be some trick. Calm its prey into submission, before making it dinner.
Even as she thought the words, the animal shook its large head back and forth, sending silvery fur into a dance. It was like no other wolf she’d seen. Perhaps it wasn’t like an earthily predator out for a midnight snack. Maybe it was something else entirely. Cole put a hand on her tense shoulder and spoke.
“Amanda, what…”
She waved him silent. “Did the Ancients send you?” she asked.
Again, the wolf looked at her inquisitively. He wasn’t looking at her, but gazing in her knowingly. At that moment, she’d never felt closer to another being. He was a part of her, an extension of her. She saw the wolf’s spirit, and it was the oldest she’d ever seen, older than the Ancients even. Its light melted into her pores like falling rain on dry skin. She felt whole, and in that
moment of temporary bliss, she was pulled back to reality by Cole’s urgent voice.
“Amanda, Amanda, what is happening? What are you staring at?” he asked.
She took a second to process the question. Then she glanced back at the wolf, her wolf, or she thought of him that way for a reason she couldn’t understand. The wolf’s ears were erect, and he stood taller than her shoulder, lighting the forest like the noon sun.
“Amanda?” Cole smoothed her face with his rough hand.
“Are you all right? What’s going on?” he asked.
She watched as her wolf’s fur was tussled by the same breeze that Cole’s loose curls swayed in. Amanda was about to speak, telling him about the wolf that was before them. ‘Can’t you see the shimmering, horse-sized wolf’… but she thought better of it. She didn’t think she was crazy. Amanda knew he was there but didn’t want to frighten Cole. He was dealing with enough right now. He didn’t need to worry about throwing her in a makeshift straight jacket.
Amanda glanced at the wolf one more time just to make sure he was really there. His furry lips twitched into what could only be described as a smile. She shrugged her shoulders, still perplexed as to why Cole couldn’t see him or feel him. Her wolf’s presence was about as subtle as being hit by a train.
“Nothing, I’m just in shock. I couldn’t find you, and I got scared… which is not the best emotion for me to feel right now.”
Cole hugged her closer to him. “Why do you say that?”
She remembered the feeling of the darkness within her spreading like fire through her body and shuddered. “I don’t know if I can explain it right… it’s like the demon’s poison feeds on my fear. I can feel the poison spread and my spirit weaken when I am afraid.”
He looked at her with worried eyes like she might turn into a dandelion puff and float away on the breeze. “Don’t worry. I’m here, and you don’t need to be afraid. I won’t let anything happen to you, ever.” He paused. “Let’s stay together, Amanda. I don’t think ‘divide and conquer’ was the best idea you’ve ever had,” he said, looking at her with concern. “I think we should stay here tonight. We aren’t going to find anything but injuries in that darkness.”
She made a face, wanting to argue. They had to find Madgie, but she didn’t feel like she should argue with him when he was so worried. Cole busied himself throwing together a shelter that would hide them and help keep them warm. He’d said a fire was a bad idea with Carter out in the forest. It would give away their position for miles away. When he was finished, she was amazed with what he’d constructed.
He’d woven long bamboo shoots into a small dome that was just large enough for both of them to squeeze into. After the shelter took form, he left and came back with an armful of wild roses. She was curious about why they needed roses and wondered off-hand if it was an ill-timed romantic gesture. She was going to ask him, but he’d started weaving them carefully throughout the shelter before she could form the question.
“Wow, it’s starting to look just like the rose bushes scattered throughout the forest.”
Amanda walked over to the pile of roses and picked one up. She studied the flower. It seemed so fragile compared to the roses she was used to seeing. The flower had just two layers of thin petals with a small yellow ball of pollen at its center. How can two things sharing the same name be so very different? she wondered. She was looking for the best place to weave it when a thorn stuck her thumb.
“Ouch!”
Cole laughed and gently took her hand. “I think you’ll live through this one,” he said, caressing her. Cole turned her hand over and traced her palms. His brow crinkled together as he noticed the strange pattern that rose on her skin. “What’s this?”
She looked down. There was an elaborate design pressed into her skin. It was too faint to make out all of the detail, yet for some reason she knew the pattern. She’d seen it before. “I don’t know. It must have something to do with the…” She didn’t know what to call what had happened to her, so she went with the easiest. “Incident. I noticed it a few minutes before I found you.”
“There’s so much we don’t know,” he said, dropping her hand and going back to work. Cole stuck the last of the roses in place, and she was shocked at how well the dome blended into their surroundings.
“Wow! That’s pretty amazing, you know?”
“Well, I just hope it does us some good. Come on, let’s get some rest. We’ll pick our search back up in the morning.”
She crawled through the small opening and was astonished at how roomy it felt once she was inside.
Cole came in after her and threw himself on his back. “I wish there was someone to talk to about all of this with. I feel like I’m of no use to you. I have no idea what’s going on. I don’t even know what happened to you.”
“Look at what you’ve already done,” she said, gesturing around them at the intricate dome. “I’d still be out there tripping over blades of grass. You’ve been so much help for me already. I’m just sorry for the trouble I’ve gotten you in to.”
“Don’t feel bad. I’ve wanted to leave the Hovel since the day that they took me,” Cole said.
“Really? I thought I was the only one who wanted to leave. I mean, we aren’t supposed to want to leave. It’s our duty to be there and serve, right?” Amanda asked in a rush.
“Of course you aren’t the only one who wanted to leave. I was snatched away in the night, taken from my family when I was ten years old,” he said angrily. “They say it’s for the greater good, and they say it’s our duty, but that doesn’t mean they can do what they did to us. The Dredging, it’s kidnapping. A Scar hadn’t even taken me yet,” he shouted. “I had two brothers. Did I ever tell you that? One older and one younger, we were so close…” he trailed off.
She was surprised. He’d never told her he had siblings. She knew he had a family, but he never talked about it much. He had it so much harder than I did. I didn’t have anything to leave behind.
“I’m so sorry, Cole,” Amanda said, leaning into him.
She wasn’t good at physical contact, but she had to be near him. Amanda couldn’t stand the pain he’d been through in his life. It wasn’t right. He was too good to suffer. He wasn’t like her.
“Don’t apologize,” he said, drawing her into his arms.
She went rigid, but allowed him to pull her in. “Is this okay?” he asked, squeezing her.
She wanted to tell him just how ‘okay’ it was but was too shocked by the thoughts running through her mind. Amanda tried to remember if she’d ever daydreamed about lying wrapped in someone’s arms and supposed she had, but her daydreams had been way off. Amanda had dreamed it would be calm and somewhat peaceful. This was, if anything, the complete opposite of peaceful.
She was hyper-aware in a way that she’d never experienced, and her heart hammered in her chest as if she’d just run a mile. Just feeling Cole’s warm chest move up and down with each breath sent shivers through her that weren’t entirely unpleasant. She guessed he was feeling it too because she felt his body still, as if he was
