You can speak to me, you know? The sweet voice laughed. Just think. It’s harder as a bear, I’ll admit, but you can do it. Just try. I’ve been dying to talk to you for so long. Don’t make me wait.
Who are you? Keller asked into his mind. Thankfully, he had the brain of a human even when he was in his bear form.
Who do you think I am?
I’ve been eating a lot of raw fish in my human form. Maybe you’re a product of a parasite.
Crazy people heard voices in their head.
Well, crazy people and Holly.
Holly? Is that you?
He felt a ripple of disgust flow through his mind.
Not Holly.
No, I’m not Holly.
Then who are you and why are you in my head?
The voice didn’t answer right away.
Hello?
Patience, darling, the voice cooed. This is a delicate matter. It must be handled correctly, or everything will fall apart before it has a chance to begin.
I don’t do well without information, Keller grumbled.
The black bear had run off long ago. Keller saw no reason to remain where he was. He wanted more fish. He strolled back to the river.
I know you don’t. That’s why I called you clever. You’re very smart when you have all the pieces, the voice said. I will give you the pieces I can.
All right. Lay them on me. I want to get a nap in before I go back to the real world.
Why go back at all?
Excuse me? Keller twitched his nose.
He reached the river. Something shiny and silver darted near the surface of the water. He charged into the shallows and slammed down with his paws. One claw pierced the base of the fish’s tail, allowing him a chance to snap it up in his jaws.
It was still wiggling when he swallowed it whole.
What do you mean, why? You’ve spent most of the last two weeks as a bear.
That’s not true.
It is absolutely true, the voice said. Can you not remember?
I turn my brain off when I’m a bear. It’s easier.
It certainly is, which is why I wonder why you don’t do this all the time. What’s stopping you?
The human part of me has obligations that can’t be ignored, he replied.
Do tell.
You’re in my head. Shouldn’t you already know?
Now Keller knew how Holly felt when she talked with the Maiden.
Keller froze.
You never said who you are.
No, I haven’t. But you have.
Why not just tell me?
Because I’m distrustful by nature, the voice said. I’ve been lied to, cheated, robbed, stolen, and abandoned many times. I don’t wish to repeat any of those experiences. You’re going to have to earn the answers you seek.
You showed up in my head. Not the other way around.
Because I want to trust you, I simply need to know you’re trustworthy first. I’ll leave you with a clue. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out.
What’s the clue?
No answer.
Hello?
He walked up the river to his favorite cave, his heart set on having that nap.
Then he felt it. It was soft at first, like a funny tickle in his stomach. Then, it grew.
He stopped in his tracks. Something deep in his gut pulled him in the opposite direction, north.
When he closed his eyes, he saw peaks and valleys coated in snow. Something deep inside him told him that was where he needed to be. Only, he’d never seen a place like that before. It certainly wasn’t in Silver Spruce. It might have been Golden Oak, but snow hadn’t fallen in the mountains yet.
Where was it?
His heart sped up as his desperation skyrocketed. Why couldn’t he figure out where that place was? He knew it was important. With every passing minute, the pull inside of him grew so intense he wanted to scream, roar, and knock off a tree. Preferably all at the same time.
He didn’t know of anything that caused a pull so strong except…
Except for the Maiden.
But the voice he heard specifically told him she wasn’t Holly. If she wasn’t Holly, who was she?
Who was Holly?
As the pull within him reached a maddening pitch, Keller knew one thing was true.
Holly wasn’t the Maiden.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR—HOLLY
Holly stood on the deck as far as she could from the place where she and Keller had indulged themselves last night.
She still couldn’t believe he left her there alone, half-naked, all night.
She was wrong to compare him to Trevor. She shouldn’t have used him to flush Trevor out of her mind. She cared for Keller deeply. It wasn’t right to use someone she cared about like that, regardless of how poorly they’d treated her.
After hours of fruitless searching, Johnny, Garret, and Loch returned to the house. They couldn’t even catch Keller’s scent.
Holly tried not to let her mind wander to the worst-case scenario, but she couldn’t help it.
What if, somehow, Keller had started going dark? Could it happen involuntarily? Holly refused to believe Keller would deliberately turn his back on her and the others.
She needed to speak to Trevor. He knew more about the dark shifters than anyone else, even Elise.
Desperate for any sort of guidance, she retreated into her mind.
Hello? she called into her consciousness. Maiden?
After several moments of nothing, her desperation only grew.
She hoped that once she was away from the barrier, she’d be able to speak to the Maiden again. If it wasn’t the barrier preventing their communication, then what was it? Had the Maiden abandoned her? Had she screwed this all up that badly?
Could the Maiden
