Nev moved to kneel and felt Wyatt stop her. “It’s okay,” she responded, trying to reassure him.
Wyatt nodded reluctantly before helping her to her knees.
“Alright, that is the best you are going to get. Now tell me,” Nev demanded.
“You are the one. The one I’ve hunted for so long. Your smell, your essence… it is delicious and so familiar,” the prowler purred, inhaling deeply.
Nev fought the urge to permanently silence him. “Familiar… how?” she insisted.
“Hmm… fine. I may as well tell you. Besides, I suspect the reaction will be entertaining for me to watch. You see, we may hunt all the Unmarked, but they are only a necessary step on our real path. Our true purpose is to hunt you and you alone. We are taught to focus all our hunger, all our desire to find you. Your energy is the familiar beacon that calls to us endlessly, even to those untrained. We must possess it now and always. That is why the boy was drawn to you, and it is why he stays. Whether he knows it or not. It is why, once we learned of him, we simply followed his trail of friends and acquaintances knowing they would likely lead us to you. He is powerless to let you go, just as we prowlers are,” he explained before looking directly at Wyatt and flashing a menacing grin.
Wyatt was growing increasingly uncomfortable as the prowler spoke. He felt his anger beginning to boil over. “No! You are wrong,” he yelled furiously.
The prowler just laughed and sneered, “Am I? Perhaps I am. Perhaps you are nothing like me. Or perhaps you grow furious because you are more like me than you want to admit. Deep down, you know I speak the truth.”
Wyatt’s mind raced as his wrath grew. No, you are wrong. I am not like you. I was drawn to her because she needed help and because she is special. I stay because I love her… Not because… No, he thought to himself.
“I sense your doubt. As does the heiress. You cannot stop fate from finding her, no more than you could stop me from finding her. You can only hope to delay it. For when it truly calls her, she will be powerless to resist. Just like her mother was. And when that happens, nothing else will matter. Especially not you,” the prowler growled, grinning and turning his gaze to Nev. “You will be lost, and he will have no choice but to let you go.”
Nev could sense Wyatt’s anger and anguish growing as she touched his thoughts, hoping to ease his pain. Instead, she was met with an unfamiliar feeling of him withdrawing from her. She gasped as she felt his mind momentarily snap and cave to all of the sufferings he had witnessed and endured.
Wyatt yanked the dagger from Nev’s belt and thrust it deep into the prowler’s throat. “No, you are wrong,” he bellowed, his voice shaking. He watched as the prowler’s eyes went dark and cold. Then he handed the dagger to Addi and walked off several feet by himself.
Addi and Nellis looked at Wyatt stunned. Addi had never seen Wyatt so furious or so broken. She turned to Nellis and said, “Take Nev to your house and start patching up her shoulder.”
“Wyatt,” Nev whispered, taking a shaky step towards him.
“Nev, go with Nellis,” Addi directed.
Nev shook her head no. “I need to…,” she pleaded.
“I know, but not now. Not yet. Go get your shoulder patched up, and I will make sure Wyatt gets to the house safely,” Addi said, handing the dagger to Nellis and gesturing for him to take Nev and get going.
“Come on, lass. I may not be much at patching up wounds, but I can at least get started. Plus, I can brew a pretty good cup of tea, and I have some soup that should be ready,” Nellis instructed, his voice calm and steady. He leaned Nev against him and led her off towards his house.
Nev wanted to protest. She could feel Wyatt’s heartbreak and desperately desired to help him. Somehow. However, Addi had made it very clear she thought she should handle it, and Nev felt like pushing the issue wouldn’t help anyone. So, she consented to Addi’s request and went with Nellis. As she was led towards the house, Nev tried to reach out and ease Wyatt’s pain. Despite her efforts, she felt him continuing to pull away from her. Nev sighed heavily, feeling herself drifting as Nellis chatted in her ear. “Wyatt,” she whimpered.
Addi found Wyatt sitting quietly with his head in his hands. She sat down next to him and watched him closely for a few minutes. “Do you remember when our mother and father first got sick? I was a mess. All I could think about was how I would be all alone with the responsibility of looking after you. I was afraid of it. I resented it, and I took it out on you. I was far harsher to you than you deserved. Then one day, I was sitting under the tree in our backyard crying, and you brought me a flower you had picked. You looked at me and said, ‘Addi, I love you, and I will always take care of you.’ I shook my head, but you just took my hand and insisted that you meant it,” she remembered fondly.
Wyatt just sighed and sunk deeper into himself. “Addi, just don’t,” he countered, sounding broken.
Addi wrapped an arm around his shoulders and leaned against him. “That is who you are, Wyatt. That is who you have always been. For me and now also for Nev. You were drawn to her because you saw she needed your help, just like when you saw me under that tree. And you stay because you love her, and you are the rare person that truly tries to take care of those you love. Even when they are older than you, and it should be their job.
