Chapter Eleven
“I have to tell him.”
“Millie, please. Give me two hours. That’s all I ask. I need to find him before Liam brings the entire pack crashing down.” Sarah whispered.
They were in the living room. All the lights were off, the moon spilling its light across the floor. Liam wasn’t here. It was the middle of the night and he was off searching for Bill. Millie clutched her cellphone in her hand, looking torn between calling Liam and letting Sarah run off.
“This is crazy. Do you understand how dangerous this is? You can’t run off to the crystal pools. You might not even be able to find them!”
“I know where Logan shifted at the edge of the woods. He said it was nearby my apartment. I know I will be able to find it.”
When Sarah had awoken from her dream, she suddenly knew where Logan had gone. He had spoken so fondly of the crystal pools in the hotel. It made sense he would go there and lure Bill with him. Bill’s scent had vanished because Logan simply covered it.
Sarah needed to get to the pools and make sure he was okay before something terrible happened. Trying to take Bill on himself was madness. She had fear growing in her stomach, threatening to sweep over her.
“Listen, as far as I can tell, Liam’s pack doesn’t care about Logan. Do you really think Liam and his pack will find Bill and Logan and try to protect him?”
“Yes. Liam will be there. They have to listen to him. He is the pack leader.”
“Jin didn’t listen. Bill isn’t listening either. I’m not trying to say Liam isn’t a good leader. I know he is. But I don’t want to put him in that situation where he is going to have to upset more people to protect Logan.” She grabbed her friend’s hands, holding them tightly. “Please, Millie. Two hours. If you don’t hear from me in two hours then you can call Liam and tell him.”
Millie chewed on her bottom lip before relenting. “Fine. Fine but if anything happens to you, I will kick your ass.”
“Don’t worry about me.” She said quickly, turning around to grab the burner phone and shoving it in her pocket. Luckily, Liam had brought a change of clothes from her apartment as well.
“Take my keys. Use my car. You aren’t walking there.” Millie said. “And be careful.”
*
By the time Sarah left Millie’s house, it was a little after three in the morning. She had coffee in a travel mug, shoved into her hand at the last second from Millie, in the cup holder as she drove towards her apartment.
Sarah knew that rushing off to save Logan was crazy. There was no telling what she would be heading towards once she set off for the crystal pools. If she got there and it was only Bill, things would spin out of control very quickly.
But if Logan was there, trying to fight Bill, then she needed to be there to help him. Every moment since she met Logan had been dangerous. But that pull towards him was overpowering. She needed to be there, by his side, making sure he could get through this safely. Each beat of her heart was for him. Her feelings had moved passed overwhelming. They were all encompassing now, sweeping over her and propelling her forward.
The streets were empty. St. Neuri was fast asleep. No one around her was risking their lives for werewolves. Just a week ago, that had also been her. Now, everything shifted underneath her feet.
It could be a new chapter – if Sarah only got to the crystal pools in time.
*
She left Millie’s car in the parking lot of her apartment, hurrying towards the woods. She glanced over her shoulder, looking at where her apartment was, the lights dark, no sign of life. Sarah wasn’t worried about anyone waiting for her here. She felt confident Bill was solely focused on Logan.
It was strange how even staring at her apartment made her feel as though she didn’t belong there. The safety net of her apartment had been shattered when Bill took her. Now, it was up to her to find a way to bring that comfort back.
The grass was wet from condensation as she crossed it towards the woods. She had a flashlight and raised it, cutting a light path forward. Sarah stopped briefly at the tree line, took a breath and ducked inside.
Her mind simply refused to let the dreams go, haunting her. She didn’t believe dreams could show you the future but she did believe they brought to the surface worries, concerns, things heard in conversations the brain latched onto. She had dreamt about a pool of water, learned about the crystal pools, and dreamt about them again. Her brain screamed for her to realize where Logan was going to go – her waking self just had to catch up.
Now that she had, Sarah shivered in her jacket, the cold feeling stronger in the woods somehow. The moon was blotted out by the trees and the darkness curled around her like a smothering blanket. With each step, Sarah hoped that it was the right way. Her only source of information was that Logan said it was close.
How close? What if he meant close in werewolf form? He would be able to move faster, after all, and find the pools quicker. Sarah hoped she hadn’t miscalculated. She couldn’t afford to be bumbling around in the woods all night. Every second that passed weighed heavily on her.
She stepped over a fallen branch, looking up. She could see the moon poking through slightly here as if the trees were thinning out. That was good, right? Trudging forward, she realized something else.
The woods were eerily silent. No noise at all. They should be active in the middle of the night. Yet the only thing making noise was herself. Why was that? She wavered for a moment, fear gripping her. In that moment, it hit her just how truly crazy this all was. Whatever Sarah was walking towards could easily get her killed.
With a shaky breath, she pushed onward. Her flashlight made it easier but the hair on the back of her neck still stood up. This was definitely an experience she never wanted to do again. The woods, something she didn’t think much of during her time in St. Neuri, now seemed to be beckoning her forward, wanting to swallow her alive.
As Sarah weaved her way through the forest, she kept Logan in mind. He was her driving force as she moved forward, anxious to get there and make sure he was okay. In all her years, Sarah didn’t think there was any other guy she would go tramping through the woods for.
Logan was different. It felt as though every time he saw her, his eyes cut through whatever noise was going on and he saw just her. His kisses made her feel things no other man had. She didn’t even second guess her body around him, worry that she was too fat, or that she looked ugly. Those thoughts didn’t hover over her or plague her afterwards.
Her feelings for Logan felt simple even if everything else surrounding them were not.
She was deep in thought about Logan, about the crystal pools, about working with Millie, when a sudden noise got her attention. It sounded like a deep growl in the distance; it was the first noise she heard in the woods since entering and it brought her to a sudden stop.
Sarah strained to hear more, moving faster now towards the source of the noise. Her heart hammered in her chest. She could hear something else now – splashes of water, more growling, snapping. This was it. She had found the crystal pools.
Fumbling for the button on the flashlight, she turned it off. The trees had thinned out enough that the moon offered up light to guide her the rest of the way. Sarah crouched, pushed past the branches and looked at the crystal pools.
The pool was a lot larger than she had been expecting. It almost glowed in the moon light, shining like a gem in the center of the woods. It would have been beautiful if there hadn’t been a vicious battle across of it between two werewolves.
Sarah felt as though her heart stopped. Logan appeared injured; it was too difficult to tell from this distance. Bill was much larger in werewolf form, a brute of a thing covered in scars and patches of missing fur. He looked as though he had been in plenty of battles and Sarah didn’t doubt for a moment he had.
Now that she was here, the full extent of what was going on washed over her. Seeing the two beasts fight – what was she going to do? How could she possibly help Logan? Clutching her flashlight close to her chest, thinking perhaps it could work as a weapon of some sort, she kept close to the tree line and began to circle around the pool, making her way towards the battle.
Logan was bleeding, standing on his hind legs with his talons extended. He looked as though he was swaying slightly on his feet and Sarah knew time was running out.
Bill pushed Logan backwards and he hit the ground hard, the water sloshing around his head. Sarah’s heart pounding in her chest. Bill had him cornered and pinned to the ground. She could see his razor-sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight as he raised his head.
Sarah took off as fast as she could. She wasn’t thinking anymore. All she could do was focus on the fact that Logan would die if she didn’t step in. She screamed loudly, getting Bill’s attention. In the moonlight, she could see the one-eyed werewolf staring at her. She raised her flashlight, crashing into him, and bringing it down across his head.
It didn’t injure him but it distracted him long enough for Logan to roll to the side, getting to his feet. Bill swatted Sarah away. His talons sliced through the side of her sweater, grazing her skin. She gasped in pain as she went soaring backwards, rolling across the muddy earth of the crystal pools.
Logan pushed off the ground and slammed into Bill. The two were a flash of fur and teeth, loud noises that hurt her head just staring at them. Her side blazed in pain and she looked down to see blood against the sweater. Was it serious? It was difficult to tell in this light, with the pain making her head feel dizzy.
Her vision tunneled, focusing on Logan and his fight. She wanted to go to him but the pain was too searing. It was awful to watch it play out and she couldn’t do a thing.
Bill tried to knock Logan down to the ground again. But this time, Logan didn’t fall for it. He twisted at the last second, sending Bill forward, crashing into the ground. Sarah closed her eyes, not wanting to see what happened next. The pain in her side was so intense that the ground swayed underneath her. Maybe she wasn’t grazed after all.
There was a horrible noise – like something being crunched – and then silence settled across the pool. A few seconds later, the woods seemed to come alive with noise. Creatures waking up, coming alive now that the battle was finished.
But Sarah couldn’t focus. Her side felt as though it was on fire. Her eyes fluttered open as she saw Logan shifting back to human form. Bill lay, still and silent, near the edge of the crystal pool. She wanted to call out to Logan but instead her head rolled back. The last thing she heard was Logan calling out her name.