The wolves ran beside the bike, guarding us as I sped around the curve.  When I reached the long rutted drive to the Compound, I slowed considerably.  Bethi was in no shape for a rough ride.  The woods remained eerily quiet.  No bird song or other natural sounds echoed around us.  Only the rumble of the bike engine and the thump of the wolves’ feet broke the silence.

Nothing made sense to me.  Why would the Elders come to aid our fight against the unmated instead of ordering the unmated to leave Bethi alone until she reached the Compound for an official Introduction?  So many had died because of that decision.  The Elders were supposed to protect our race, not destroy it.

When we reached the ramshackle buildings, I pulled to a stop beside the car that had passed us.  It was empty, but I was sure I’d see Emmitt soon enough.

I cut the engine and listened to Bethi’s shallow breaths.  The silence seemed to rouse her because she lifted her head in time to see the woman who stood on the porch throw a robe to the white wolf.  The rest of the wolves kept their fur on, probably a consideration to Bethi.  I appreciated the gesture.

“Come on,” I said, holding out an arm so Bethi could dismount first.

She moved slightly but didn’t get off.  Winifred quickly shifted to her skin and put on the robe.

“How badly are you hurt?” she asked.

“Just a nick,” Bethi said, still not moving.

Winifred stepped toward us and plucked Bethi off the back of the bike.  The light breeze cooled and started to dry the blood on my back.  Most of it was hers.  I dismounted slowly as I studied Bethi.  She didn’t look well.  Her vacant stare through glossy bloodshot eyes and her unnaturally pink cheeks on an otherwise pale face worried me.

“Let’s get you inside,” Winifred said to her.  Then, she glanced at the brown wolf.   “Jim, Emmitt’s saying the boys are worried.”  She herded Bethi toward the door while calling out further instructions.  “You should go reassure them.  Grey and Sam can handle things out here.”

Everyone moved to do as she said.  Since inside was safer than outside, I didn’t try to fight her.

Jim shifted and stepped in front of me just as Bethi stepped inside.

“I’d like the keys back.”  He held out his hand.

“Give my apologies about the empty tank,” I said, handing them over.  Jim didn’t say anything, just took the keys and stepped aside.

Realizing I was losing Bethi, I hurried to follow.  I’d known the Elders would take over when I brought her here; yet, the loss was tearing me apart inside.  I wanted her safe, but I couldn’t let her go.

Seeing Bethi’s shuffling, pained steps wasn’t helping calm me down, either.  Couldn’t Winifred see Bethi couldn’t walk?

Elder Winifred, I sent to her as I moved to scoop Bethi up into my arms, I am stating my interest in Bethony and ask that you take note of her interest in me.

“About time,” she said aloud.  Then, to me, she said, I saw how she kissed you when she sat behind you.  Her interest is noted.

“Who are you?” Bethi asked, looking over my shoulder at Winifred.

“Winifred Lewis.  You can call me Nana Wini.  The woman behind me is Mary, and the man who will be following us shortly, the one who pulled you from that dog pile, is Jim.”

“Oh, I’m Bethi.”

“Luke, take her upstairs.  Second door on the right should be open,” she said as we neared a set of stairs.  “We’ll be right up with some bandages.”

I took the stairs two at a time and opened the door she indicated.  The apartment was homey and clean.  But the scent of Bethi’s blood overwhelmed all of it.

With relief, I set Bethi in the chair.  They’d fix her up.  They had to.  I couldn’t lose her.  I knelt before her and cupped her face between my hands.  Her skin was too hot.  My fingers started to tremble.  Humans were so fragile.

The vacant look in her eyes and the defeated slump in her shoulders worried me just as much as the fever.  Despair drifted from her, and I struggled to find the words that would help console her.

She blinked and some of the despair faded.

“Go,” she said, reaching up to squeeze one of my hands.  “Take a shower and put on your own pants.”

I glanced down, snorted at the sight of Tinker Bell then met her gaze once more.  Amusement struggled to break through the pain in her eyes.  Smoothing a thumb over her hot cheek, I slowly shook my head.

“I’d rather stay with you.”  I focused on the spreading bloodstain on her shirt.

“There’s nothing for you to do right now,” she said, crossing an arm over her stomach.  “They’ll fix me up, I’m sure.”

Someone would, but I didn’t want her to go through it without me.  These people were all strangers to her.  I wasn’t going to leave her with anyone she didn’t trust.  I stood, ready to tell her that when she arched a brow at me and waved toward the door.  Determination shown in her eyes.  Not wanting to upset her further, I decided I’d let her think she was getting rid of me.  I needed to figure out what was taking Winifred so long, anyway.

Leaving the room, I met Grey on the stairs.  He had our bag, and it was stuffed with the clothes from our saddle bags.  Unfortunately, I knew I wouldn’t find any pants for me in there.  I’d wrecked the last pair.

“Here,” he said, reaching into the bag and pulling out a set of clean men’s clothes.  “Thought you might need it.”

“Thank you.  For the pants and the help.”

“Any time.”

“Do you know where Winifred is?”

“Digging up the supplies we’ll need.  Stitches aren’t something we need to do often.  The room next to yours is open if you want to wash up.  Your girl already looked feverish.  We don’t want to add to that.”

It looked like Bethi was right about showering.  With a nod to Grey, I did as he suggested.  Using a burst of speed, I showered, was dressed again, and back in the hall within five minutes.

When I opened the door, I caught Bethi tossing two pills in her mouth.  The contents of her bag were spilled out on the floor in front of her, and she was still alone.  My annoyance with the Elders crept up a few notches.

Bethi swallowed hard and leaned her head back.

“That bad?” I asked, shutting the door behind me.

She startled and looked at me.  “What do you mean?”

“Pain pills?” I asked, coming over to take the bottle from her hand.  It wasn’t pain reliever but a prescription for Lorazepam…in someone else’s name.  Fear held my heart in a tight fist.

“How many did you take?”

“Relax.  It’s just a bottle.  I keep other stuff in there.  I took two sleeping pills.”

Sleeping pills?  I glanced at her stomach then squatted beside her.  When I lifted the hem of her shirt, I saw a mess of bloody tissue exposed by the gaping horizontal slit.  The edges were jagged.  She’d torn herself open.  I looked up at her, trying to quell my panic.  How much blood had she lost?  Was it safe to take sleeping pills without knowing?  Where in the hell was Winifred?

I tried to steady my thoughts.  Winifred would fix her.  She had to.

“I know,” Bethi said, steadily meeting my gaze.  “It’ll need stiches.  No hospital though, okay?”  She grabbed my hand and squeezed it as if trying to force my compliance.  Fear poured from her until I nodded.  “The dreams will knock me out, and the pills will keep me under.”

She hated her dreams.  That she was willing to endure them instead of being awake told me just how much she hurt.

“Luke,” she whispered.  “The ones who are after us aren’t done trying.  Tell the others to soak the buildings.  I’ve died by fire before, and it’s not fun.”

Winifred, where are you?

Coming.

The door opened and Winifred walked in followed by Charlene and Grey.  Both the Elders were freshly showered.

“Grey has more experience stitching,” Winifred said without preamble.  “Charlene will assist, and you and I will hold Bethi down.”

Bethi twitched in her chair, but I knew it was because of a dream and not what was to come.

“Holding her down shouldn’t be necessary,” I said.  “She took two sleeping pills.”

“Those usually take a while to work,” Charlene said, watching Bethi.

“I don’t know about that.  Bethi’s different.  She said they’d keep her under, and I think they will.”

Winifred nodded slowly, also staring at Bethi.  “We’ll hold her just in case.”

Winifred knelt on Bethi’s right side, near the door.  I sunk to my knees on Bethi’s left side and gently held her upper arm and set my other hand on her thigh as Grey lifted Bethi’s shirt.  Concern filled his gaze.

“We should take her to a human hospital,” he said.  “This isn’t a new cut and needs to be cleaned better than we can do here.  I might be making matters worse by sewing something in.”

I was already shaking my head.  “No.  No hospital.  They would ask too many questions.  Especially with her sleeping.”

“It could get infected.  They have antibiotics.”

“We do, too,” Charlene said, moving to the kitchenette.  She reached under the sink for a wash pan and started filling it with warm water.

Grey seemed to take that as the final answer because he didn’t say anything further.

“Bethi’s worried more unmated will attack.  You need to call them off.  She’s in no shape—”

“I’ve already sent out a call,” Winifred said.  Something in her tone seemed off.  She wasn’t lying; it was something else.

Charlene brought the water over, stopping me from questioning Winifred.  With Charlene’s help, Grey cleaned away as much of the blood as he could.  A sick feeling settled in my gut as I watched Grey open a pack of sutures while Charlene doused Bethi’s stomach with iodine.

“Why were they attacking you?” Winifred asked, distracting me.

I studied her face as I answered.  “In the beginning, I thought they were challenging me.  Now, I’m not sure.  They hurt her and didn’t seem to care.  Why would they attack an unclaimed female?”

Winifred glanced at Bethi, a troubled expression clouding her features.

“The speculations I have are…disturbing.  It has come to our attention that there are some of our kind who can ignore our commands.”

I stared at her, weighing her words.  I’d skirted around a few rules and laws myself.  Yet, what those mutts had done wasn’t skirting.  Injury was injury.  They shouldn’t have been able to hurt Bethi like they had.  That meant her call to avoid Bethi might not do any good.

Breaking eye contact, I looked down at Bethi. The idea of things changing didn’t bother me—that was the point of evolution—but the idea of Bethi’s safety being comprised did.  If the Elders couldn’t control our kind, how could they possibly protect her?  Instead of the Compound being a place of safety, it was just another damn hotel.

Grey tied the next knot and opened a new suture pack.  Bethi twitched when he poked the needle into her flesh.  I hoped it was a dream twitch and not because she was feeling what he was doing to her.

“What are you going to do about it?” I asked Winifred, picking our conversation back up.

“There isn’t much we can do.  We’re still trying to understand why.”

“Why?  Maybe it’s nature’s way of telling us your rules and laws aren’t in the best interest for our kind anymore.  Maybe it’s evolution’s way of giving those of us without a say a chance to decide what’s right for ourselves.”

My words didn’t upset her; instead, she seemed thoughtful.

“Perhaps.”

I turned to watch Grey carefully place each stitch.  After he snipped the end of the final one, he went to the sink and washed his hands while Charlene cleaned up all the supplies.

“She needs rest,” Charlene said.  “A lot of it.”

“The less she moves, the better,” Grey added.

I gazed at Bethi’s restless face.  They didn’t know how impossible that order would be to carry out.

*    *    *    *

She slept for hours, twitching through dreams.  Tears would wet the corners of her eyes one moment and then anger would draw her features.  I hated seeing her suffer through the very thing she’d wanted to avoid.  And, because of Winifred’s watchful gaze, I couldn’t lie with Bethi to try to help ease her tormented sleep.

“Is she always this restless?” Winifred asked, breaking our long silence.

“Yes.  Every time she closes her eyes, unless she’s lying in my arms.  That seems to help.”

I smoothed back her hair, trying to comfort her.  A tear ran down her right cheek then her left.  I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Bethi,” I said, close to her ear.  She didn’t move.  “Bethi.”  This time I shook her shoulder.

“Why isn’t she waking up?”  My question wasn’t really to Winifred.  It was just my frustration.

“Go…away…”

Bethi’s sleepy, slurred words had never sounded so sweet.

Could I have a moment alone with her? Winifred sent to me.

I gently smoothed my hand over Bethi’s hair again then stood.

I’ll be right outside.

Gabby asked that we let her know as soon as Bethi was awake.  Could you find her?

With those words, I knew Winifred was getting rid of me.  I could try to say no and stay, but if Winifred really wanted me gone, she’d command me.  If I left on my own, I could return on my own.  Standing, I nodded to Winifred then walked out, quietly closing the door behind me.  Winifred’s voice reached me as I walked away.

“Do you need a drink, Bethi?”

Unwilling to leave Bethi for long, I raced through the halls to the Commons.  Gabby and Clay stood talking to a few others.

“She’s awake,” I said, uncaring if I interrupted.  Then, I started to walk away.  A hand grabbed my shoulder and tried to turn me.  After what I’d been through, I wasn’t going to budge.

“There’s only two reasons to touch someone,” I said softly.  “You’re either making a pass or starting a fight.  Which is it, lover?”

“That’s enough, boys,” Grey said, coming into the room.  His gaze shifted from me to whoever stood behind me.  “I’ve had my fill of stitching and mending for the day.  Clear?”

“Yeah,” a voice said right behind me.  I knew that voice.  I knew the scent.  Emmitt.  The pack leader’s golden boy, and owner of the bike.

The hand released me, and with a brief smirk, I started out the door once more.  Several people followed, but I didn’t turn to see who.  I didn’t care.  I didn’t like that Winifred had gotten rid of me.  Why?  Bethi had given me the slip too many times not to be wary.

“Is she all right?” Gabby asked from behind me.

“She was when I left her.”

“What happened?” she asked.

“That’s a good question,” Emmitt said as we climbed the stairs.  “Feel free to start talking.”

“No thanks.  You’re doing enough for both of us.”

He growled behind me.  Uncaring, I pushed open the door to the apartment.

Bethi stood in the hallway just outside the bathroom.  She’d run her fingers through her hair and had a tiny bit of color back in her cheeks.  However, her pained expression and slight stoop told me that she had a long way to go before she felt better.

“What happened to my bike?” Emmitt demanded, his words clipped with anger.  Uppity git.  His pampered life had given him a sense of self-entitlement.  I wasn’t about to cater to him.

Ignoring him, I watched Bethi study the people who’d followed me.  Her wary gaze shifted from one to the next, evaluating.

“Emmitt,” the woman beside him said.

“Michelle, he trashed my bike.  It looks like he dumped it.  Jim feels guilty enough that it was stolen.  He won’t even look at me now.  You owe me an explanation.”

He pushed my shoulder.

“Ah, there you are,” Bethi mumbled.  “We were just talking about you.  You must be Peter Gibbons.”

Peter?  Who in the bloody hell was Peter?  I glanced at Winifred, who was smiling slightly.

Is she all right? I sent Winifred.

I believe so.  She’s quoting a movie.

Emmitt pushed me again, and I tore my gaze from Bethi to glare at him.

“I don’t owe you anything.  But if you ask nice, maybe I’ll tell you what happened so you can go running to daddy.”

Emmitt’s hand closed loosely around my throat, a pathetic attempt to show his dominance.  But I knew who had the true authority in the room, and Winifred wouldn’t put up with cocky shows of power.  I laughed in Emmitt’s face and knocked his hand aside.  He growled.  I did the same, baring my teeth.

Suddenly, Bethi was between us, slapping a hand on each of our chests.

“Stop.  Both of you.”

I stepped back, unwilling to cause Bethi more pain.  Emmitt didn’t move.  His jaw twitched as he stared at me.

Clay snorted slightly, and Bethi turned on him.  “Something to say?”

That was a lot of angry in one tiny package.  If Clay was smart, he’d stay quiet.  Oh wait, he didn’t know big boy words yet.

“He’d hoped to see Luke get his butt kicked,” Gabby said, honestly.

“Do you have any friends here?” Bethi asked, giving me an arched look.

I grinned.  “Probably not.”

Sighing, she dropped her hand and focused on Emmitt.  “He did dump the bike.  Several times.  Each time it was because we were being attacked.”

It was more explanation than the arrogant ass deserved.

Emmitt studied Bethi, inhaling slightly.  The scent of her blood still coated her.

“I would have been a lot worse off without him,” she said.

Emmitt nodded.  “It’s always my bike.”  The dark haired woman patted his back with a slight smile on her face.

“Michelle,” Bethi said softly, staring at the woman.  “We need to talk.”

Michelle stared at Bethi in surprise as Bethi studied Gabby.

“Thank you for sending him, Gabby.”  Bethi glanced at me sheepishly.  “I wasn’t very cooperative at first.”

What the hell was going on here?  How did she know who Gabby was?  Or Michelle?  I didn’t even know who Michelle was.  I looked at Gabby, but she seemed just as surprised at the moment.  We’d both almost died getting here because I’d thought Gabby had the answers.  She was the one who sent me to Bethi and started all of this.

“Well, Little One, here she is.  Now what?” I asked Gabby.

Bethi’s gaze narrowed on me, then she turned to Emmitt.  “I changed my mind.  Hit him.”  She walked away from me and went back to stand by Winifred.

“Bethi…” I said, not understanding her mood shift while Clay laughed.

“Everybody out,” Bethi said.  “Except you two.”  She pointed at Michelle and Gabby.

Did she really think she could kick me out?  I’d fought countless males to get her here and had just watched someone sew her shut.  I wasn’t leaving until I understood what was going on.

“Why?” Emmitt asked, still glaring at me.

“Because I need to talk to them.  In private,” Bethi said.

“This isn’t the place to do it, then,” Gabby said.  “Too many sharp ears here.”

Gabby turned and walked out the door.  Clay and Michelle followed.  Emmitt gave me one last look of promised retribution then did the same.  I stayed and eyed Bethi.  What little color she’d started with was already gone.

“Do you want me to carry you?” I asked.

She snorted.  “No, you can save your heroics for Little One.”

Ah.  She was jealous.  It felt like everything in me was expanding.

It would be wiser not to smile just now, Winifred sent to me.

Bethi looked ready to hit me as she shuffled past with Winifred close behind.  We walked the halls to the infamous soundproofed room.  It didn’t look like much.  Just a bedroom-sized space with a large table surrounded by chairs.

Everyone else already stood in the room, waiting around the table.  I stepped in behind Winifred.  Emmitt gave me a look as he moved to close the door.

“Private means the three of us,” Bethi said firmly.  She looked at Gabby and Michelle.  “There are things we need to talk about.  Things no one else would believe.”

Gabby looked a little wary but turned to Clay.  He didn’t look too happy about leaving.  Neither did Emmitt.

“For Pete’s sake!  What do you think’s going to happen in here?” Bethi said.

“She’s right,” Michelle said, looking at Emmitt.  “We’ll be fine in here.  You should check on the boys.”

Emmitt moved to kiss her before turning to leave.  Gabby stared into Clay’s eyes in a sickening moment of silent communication.  He sighed, touched her cheek lightly, and exited.

The three women turned to look at me and Winifred.

“She has new stitches and should try not to pull them,” Winifred said, looking at Michelle.

“She’s right here,” Bethi mumbled as she eased into one of the chairs.

Winifred smiled at Bethi and left.

“I’m not leaving,” I said softly.

Out in the hall Emmitt said, “If he’s not leaving...”

“Just shut the door already,” Bethi snapped.

I closed the door, cutting short the growl from the hall, and leaned against it to settle in for some answers.

“I’m Bethi,” she said.

“I’m Michelle,” Michelle said.  “How did you know my name?”

Bethi glanced at Gabby who remained quiet.  “You’re not curious how I knew your name too?”

Gabby glanced at me.  “I assumed he told you.”

“No.  It would be a nice answer though.  A normal answer,” Bethi said as she continued to study the pair.  Bethi’s gaze carried a hint of sad defeat.  “Are you ready for the truth?  The truth about your abilities, and why we are the way we are?”

Abilities?  I looked at Michelle and Gabby.  Both looked stunned by Bethi’s words, as if they made sense.  Michelle slowly sank into a chair while Gabby still stood.

“Well, to be honest, I don’t know all the details, but I’m pretty sure I know more than you,” Bethi said.  “I remember.  That’s my lovely ability.  We’ve existed before and will exist again…and again.”  She took a slow, deep breath.  “Each life we’ve lived before, I will eventually remember.  Each death.  Each emotion.”  She swallowed hard.

“I can see what will happen with the stock market.  Well, I used to, anyway,” Michelle said.

“I know.  I saw you.  You were curled up in a ball,” Bethi looked up at the ceiling, her gaze becoming unfocused.  “It felt like your head had already exploded, exposing every nerve ending within you to even more pain.”  Bethi looked at Michelle.  “I saw a man pick up your little brother by his arm and carry him into the house.  The other one was just a baby.”

Shock filled me.  It was real.  All her bad dreams.  All those deaths.  All those lives she’d said she’d lived.  It was all real.

“I saw you too, Gabby.  All those homes.  You could never let your guard down.”

Gabby sank into a chair.

“We’re not alone,” Bethi said.  “There are six of us.  We need to find the others but can’t trust anyone.  When we do, we die...or worse.”

Anyone?  Was I anyone or someone?  I glanced at Michelle who looked equally troubled.

“You said you knew why we had our abilities?” Gabby said.

“Kind of.”

“I see lights,” Gabby said.  “I just want to know why.”

“Because you’re our Hope.  But also, our biggest weakness.  With you, they would be able to find us all.”

“Six of us,” Gabby whispered as if suddenly understanding something.

“And you,” Bethi said looking at Michelle, “are Prosperity.  You always bring fortune to those around you.”

“And you know all this because you remember?” Gabby asked.

“It’s not simply remembering.  I relive our past lives through dreams.  Not just my past lives but all of ours.  When I wake up, they stay with me—every detail.  Our abilities and how we used them in those lives.”  She tapped her head.  “We’ve died so many times.”

“So you know what our abilities are for?  Why we are like this?”

“The dreams are still coming.  I’m not naive enough to believe I’ve learned everything.  But I do know we exist because something was needed to keep the balance between humans, werewolves, and the dogs of death.”

The what?

“Excuse me?”  Michelle glanced at Gabby as if saying “did you hear that too?”

“Urbat.  A cousin to Lycan.  They’re close, but not quite the same.  They tried to wipe out the werewolves almost a thousand years ago.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Oh,” Michelle said, looking suddenly enlightened.  “I think Nana Wini told me something about that.  But she didn’t mention any cousins.  Just that there was a huge fight—they weren’t sure of the reason—and that it decimated their numbers.”

“Of both sides,” Bethi said before turning to Gabby.  “Right?  You can see the difference in their sparks.  Are there more werewolves or Urbat?”

Gabby looked slightly stunned.  “I knew it,” she murmured.  “Two different kinds.”  Her expression grew vacant and then troubled.  “There are more Urbat.  At least double.”

Pieces started falling into place.  All those attacks…all the wolves I’d killed…they weren’t werewolves.

Gabby’s worried gaze flicked to the door, and she chewed on her lip for a moment.  “So what does it mean that I’m Hope?”

“So far, I just know that you’re the key to bringing all of us together.  You know where the other three are.”

Gabby’s attention returned to Bethi.  “Two,” she corrected.  “Charlene is one of us, too.”

“Who’s Charlene?  Where is she?”

“Here,” Michelle said.  “She’s Emmitt’s mother.”

“Mother?  How old is she?”

Michelle shrugged.  “In her forties.  I’m not exactly sure.”

“What’s her ability?” Bethi asked.

“She admitted she could control people.”

Relief and excitement poured from Bethi.  “Strength,” she said with a happy grin.  “We are just missing Peace and Courage.”  She looked at Gabby.  “Where are they?”

Gabby’s gaze grew slightly unfocused again.  Awe filled me at what I was seeing and hearing.  Gifted women.  I should have listened to Bethi.  Trusted her.

“Both on the East Coast.  One is very far north and the other just a little south.”

“One is with Blake,” Michelle said in a quiet, deeply troubled tone.

“Who’s Blake?” Bethi asked.

“He kept me prisoner for my premonitions.  I thought he was a werewolf, too.  But I’ve heard that word before.  Urbat.  One of his men was talking about Urbat ruling the world.  We have to tell the others that another kind exists.”  Worry filled her gaze.  “The Elders have been trying to find Blake through their connection.  But they can’t.  After I met Emmitt, I had a vision of Blake with a tall, blind girl.  She called him Father.  She seemed okay with him.”  She shrugged and explained further.  “He definitely didn’t strike me as a good person when he kept me locked up, but he seemed to treat her well.  Kissed her head and everything.”

Although Michelle painted a decent enough picture, Bethi looked ready to vomit.

“I’m sure she’s one of us.  The visions I’ve had so far have all proved to be of us, people with abilities.  I saw you in the mall talking to some other girls,” Michelle said to Bethi.

If I hadn’t already believed, in that moment, I would have.  I hadn’t told Gabby where or how I’d found Bethi.  The air had been clear of anything but human scents.  No one else could have known.

“And you,” Michelle said, looking at Gabby, “sitting on the floor with Clay in wolf form by your side.  You were both reading.  There’s only been five different girls in my visions.  The other is a really angry redhead.”

Bethi gave a clipped laugh.

“That would be Peace.  We need her.”  She blinked slowly.  I knew that look.  She was fighting another dream.

“We need her,” she repeated.

“Are you okay?” Michelle asked.

“No.  I’m not.  Sorry.  The dreams I have are less than pleasant, and they won’t let up.”  She straightened slightly.  “Gabby, you pinpointed me enough to send Luke.  We need you to do the same for the other two.”

Gabby zoned out for a minute.  “We can get to one, but not the other.  The one in the north is surrounded by the other ones.”

“The one in the north, the tall blind one that Blake has, must be Courage.  Have there been any attacks here since we arrived?” Bethi asked.  Both women shook their heads.  “Are there any Urbat here?” Bethi asked Gabby.

“No, but I’ve seen them before.  A few of them attacked us.  And then there’s Elder Joshua.”

My jaw clenched as I understood what she was saying.  Different colors meant different species.  We had an Urbat Elder.

“He was the one I contacted,” I said.

Bethi glanced at me.

“Someone betrayed us on the way here,” she said.  “That’s why there were so many attacks.”

Her blood was on him.  I curled my hands into fists.  Elder or not, next time I saw him, he would die.

“There’s a lot more to discuss, but I’m about to pass out,” Bethi said with another slow blink.  “Gabby, keep an eye on the Urbat.  If they start grouping and heading this way, we need to give everyone a warning.”  She sighed and rubbed her face.  “The children should be evacuated, now.”

A sharp knock sounded at the door.  The handle twisted, and I stepped away to let the door open.

“Time’s up,” Clay said.

Gabby grinned and waved him in.  Emmitt followed closely behind, elbowing me on his way past.  Ass.

“Please keep quiet about all of this,” Bethi said, standing.  “You have no idea what’s coming our way, but I do.  I’ve been raped, beaten, cut,”—she lifted her shirt to show them the stitched gash—“starved, drowned, blinded, burned...you name it, I’ve lived it.  We’ve lived it.  You just don’t remember.  Don’t trust anyone with your safety.  When we do, we die.  And I’ll be the one who has to remember.”

Turning, she left the silent room.  I followed.

Winifred stood just outside the door, her thoughtful expression on Bethi.  She’d heard Bethi’s little reminder at the end.  Any sane Elder would have questions.

She’s about to pass out, I sent Winifred as I scooped Bethi into my arms.

Will you tell me what was said?

You wouldn’t believe a word of it if I try to explain it.  They need to tell you.  I don’t understand everything, but I do know trouble is coming this way and these girls are at the middle of it.