“When was the last time you saw a hiker off the main path?” Keller countered.
“Boys.” Holly sighed. “We’re getting off-topic here.”
“How? You want to know about the bear clans. You should be soaking up everything we say.” Johnny grinned.
The tension between them had started to ease, but it wasn’t gone yet. If she was going to forgive him or trust him, they’d have to have a talk. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the mental bandwidth for that at the moment. It was all allocated to understanding the prophecy.
“Just pick up a book and start reading,” she said.
Johnny looked like he was going to argue but thought better of it. He returned to his book, leafing through it quickly.
Holly got up to survey the exposed bookshelf. A dark brown book with gold calligraphy on the spine read Myths and Legends. Vague, but it seemed like as good a place to start as anywhere. She picked it up and turned to the table of contents. Nothing stood out to her. She put the book back and selected another. She repeated the process until her vision went blurry and her head started to throb.
“I can’t keep doing this,” she groaned.
“It’s been, like forty-five minutes,” Johnny pointed out.
“There has to be a better way.” She glanced around the room, her eyes settling on the portraits. A snippet of the conversation she had with Garret in the forest before things took...a turn. He wasn’t sure how many firstborn sons were still in Silver Spruce. Now was as good a time as any to find out.
“Who are the firstborns?” she asked. “Besides you three. I already knew that.”
“Loch,” Johnny said without looking up from his book. Holly furrowed her brow.
“Loch? But he was trying to help me get out of Silver Spruce,” she said.
“Because he’s up to something. We talked about it last night after you fainted.”
“You didn’t think I should be part of that conversation?” she said.
“Did you miss the part where you fainted?” Johnny said. “Besides, at that point, we were still trying to keep the bear thing a secret on Pearl’s orders.”
“Is that why she wanted me to stay in town for a month? So, you could slowly reveal pieces of this insanity puzzle?”
“I think so.” Keller nodded. “I think she was hoping that you’d become so fond of the town and its people that, at the end of the month, you wouldn’t be as quick to reject the shifters and our clans.”
“Makes sense in a shady and manipulative kind of way,” Holly muttered.
“I know it’s hard to see it this way right now, but she was doing what she thought was best. She didn’t want to manipulate you, she wanted to avoid traumatizing you. Unfortunately, Loch had other plans.”
“What did he do?” Holly frowned. “He just happened to be there when I was trying to bail.”
“He was one of the bears that came up to the house last night,” Johnny said.
Holly went still. Her skin felt clammy.
“What? Why?”
“We don’t know. We didn’t know the other two bears, either. They might be from another town.”
“As in, the ones who want to go full bear? To go back to the dark ways?” Holly asked.
“Maybe.” Keller shrugged and squinted at a line of text. “Maybe not. I may have found something that fills in one of your blanks.”
“Which one?”
“The identity of the king.”
CHAPTER 19 - Holly
“What?” Holly clamored over to where Keller stood.
Johnny closed his book and slowly sauntered over with a calculated look of disinterest. She knew he was just as curious as she was. “Who is he?”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“I can’t think of much I like about this situation to begin with.” Holly rolled her eyes. “Out with it.”
“It’s up to you.”
“Excuse me?”
“The prophecy says that the maiden finds the king,” Keller said. “It really should say the maiden makes the king.”
“The baby is the king?” Holly frowned. “How does that work?”
“What?” Keller furrowed his brow. “What are you talking about?”
“The maiden’s job is to make a baby, right? How can she make the king if the king is not the baby?”
“No, no, no.” Keller shook his head. “The one the maiden chooses to make the baby with becomes the king.”
“Are you sure? I feel like the wording is really strange.”
“Hang on, let me consult Expanding on Ancient Prophesies for Dummies,” Keller quipped. “Of course, the wording is strange! Language barely existed when this prophecy came to be.”
“It’s dealer’s choice, then.” Holly put her face in her hands. “I have to pick a firstborn son to make a magic baby with.”
“Magic baby sounds ridiculous,” Johnny mumbled.
“And the rest of it doesn’t?”
“It says here,” Keller continued loudly before Johnny could make whatever snarky remark he was planning, “the maiden has the final choice. She will be drawn to all, but the king will be special.”
“Drawn to all? What the hell does that mean?”
“You think we’re all hot.” Johnny smirked.
“That’s an objective fact,” Holly snapped. “What does that have to do with the maiden.”
“You think we’re hot?” Keller looked at her with a smirk. “You’ve all but admitted it.”
“Seriously? That’s what you’re going to take away from this conversation?”
The sound of the front door opening and closing drew everyone’s attention away from the conversation. Garret returned.
“Let’s take a break.” Holly sighed. “I have a lot to think about.”
“Like how hot we are?” Johnny grinned.
“I’d hit you with this book if it didn’t look so expensive.” Holly pushed the volume she held into Johnny’s chest and strode out of the study. Garret stood in the entryway, dripping wet and holding four duffle bags that looked like they were about
