Chapter 53

Roman's POV

0

"Let's hold off on kicking anyone's ass just for a minute," Roman pulls Lucas back and pats him on the back.

0

"Well, when he goes I'm going with," Leo says, and honestly he has every right to. This is his life, and his piece of shit social worker deserves to be confronted by him.

0

"I'm going too," Jack chimes in and I don't argue. These two boys have been joined at the hip since Leo got back, and that's how it should be. They are going to have to trust each other completely.

0

"Boys, go grab some dinner with everyone else. Lucas and I need to talk to Josh's father."

0

When we get to the hospital room we find Evan and his wife crouched over their son, and poor Sammi is sitting in a chair against the wall. I knock gently on the door and Evan gives his wife a kiss on the cheek and joins us in the hallway.

0

"How's he doing?" Lucas' asks.

0

"His breathing and heartbeat are erratic. But nothing broken or hurt. Sammi told us what happened. What's going on?"

0

"Let's go in here," I say as we walk into one of the empty family waiting rooms. "Evan, have you sensed any change in Josh? Has he behaved differently?"

0

"When we were outcast he was just a baby. We kept the truth from him when he was little, and even though we had nothing, he was a happy kid. But, things changed when we had the twins. It wasn't planned and it was so much harder to provide just the bare necessities; we had to make hard decisions. Josh had to start working when he was just a boy, and when his wolf emerged he had a lot of questions. We told him the truth, about where we are really from and what happened. He hated that he was having to take care of the girls so that we could work two, sometimes three jobs to keep food on the table and medical bills paid. He missed a lot of his teenage years and he has always been outspoken and expressed his anger about it, but he wasn't reckless. He never pulled crazy stunts that put anyone in danger, that is until about a month or so ago. Sure, he has a temper and he holds a lot of resentment towards us and for our people for not supporting us, but the chances he has been taking with his own life and others, that's new."

0

"Did you have any idea about the orb he had?"

0

"No. Josh started to withdraw emotionally from us years ago. His mom and I have been trying so hard to make him happy. Maybe too hard," Evan admits, and you can see embarrassment on his face. "It's been a struggle to keep the kids safe."

0

"When did you hear about Leo's existence?"

0

"Not long ago, word travels fast in the underground world of rogues. Those of us who survived the separation from our packs, and didn't go insane, have formed an unofficial community. It spans the north and the south. News of Leo was, and is, a big deal. It's a new beginning for so many. I tried to get here sooner. We came as soon as we had money saved for travel."

0

Lucas shifts in his chair and taps on the desk nervously.

0

"Did Josh start acting out around the time you found out about Leo?" He asks.

0

"Maybe a couple weeks before if I had to guess."

0

"Roman, I don't think Josh found that orb by accident. I think he was given it. Whoever he got it from knew who he was and I think they knew that Evan was Augusta's beta. I have a hunch that whoever was responsible for him finding it was aware that they would end up back here, close to Leo."

0

"I think we need to get back to Odette and Yuki. See if they've found anything new in those books."

0

"Evan, I'm deeply sorry for what your family has had to go through. I wish there was a way that you could have reached us, or that we could have reached out to you. I promise we will make this right. If you can, reach out to the other leaders in your community. I'd like to look at establishing a pack for you all. You shouldn't have to fear for your families lives."

0

Evan nods and smiles and Lucas and I check in one more time on Josh. Lucas gives Sammi a hug and tries to convince her to come home and get some sleep, but she refuses to leave her mate.

0

"If he wakes, you come get me, got it?" he says and she tearfully agrees.

0

We head back to the pack house and we agree, tomorrow we will head into the city to find his case worker. It's starting too feel like Leo's existence wasn't completely unknown after all.

0

Odette's POV

0

I don't love being stuck in this dusty library, but I do love a challenge, and I do truly love my dear Elise. When she was born I was delighted and I vowed to Roman and Anna to protect her.

0

When I met Leo, I recognized the same primal need to survive that my dear husband had. Everald was my everything. He sadly perished in the same battle where Roman and Anna first met. We were fighting on Roman's side and my poor husband was taken from me before we all realized that Roman and Anna were about to unite the waring sides and bring us to peace. I loved him and vowed to never love another, and I haven't.

0

"Odette, come look at this," Yuki startles me out of my thoughts and tugs at my coat, pulling me closer to her. The poor dear has been pouring over the Book of Shadows for hours, refusing to take a break. She holds a thin piece of paper up and opens it.

0

"This was folded into this page of the book."

0

It is an etching of the symbols that Leo drew in the books.

0

"What page was this in?" I ask and Yuki pushes the book towards me.

0

"Do you understand anything on this page?"

0

All of the text in the Book of Shadows looks like gibberish. I only understand parts of it. This is a well known book and has been reproduced thousands of times. Most think it's fiction, something that was put together as a set of silly fairytale stories. There are, however, very few that know that the original book exists. It has what appear to be random symbols and letters combined, it all seems nonsensical. I flip back several pages to see what section of the book this is in.

0

A knock at the door startles Yuki, and I roll my eyes. She's so jumpy.

0

"Roman, how is the young man?" I ask.

0

"He's the same, how are things here? Did you find anything?"

0

"Yuki has been going through the Book of Shadows in painstaking detail." I say.

0

He smirks and is thinking what I was thinking when she said she was going to dive deep into it. A waste of time.

0

"And?"

0

"I found this," Yuki hands over the paper with the etchings. "These are the symbols from one of the books the boys found."

0

"They're etchings?"

0

Roman holds the paper delicately up to the light.

0

"They are, which means they came from somewhere. Something physical has these symbols on it." I say, staring at the page that Yuki found the paper in.

0

"This page is in the book of Ahriman," I say as I flip forward in the book.

0

"Ahriman is the spirit of destruction and chaos," Yuki quickly looks through several books that are also stacked near her.

0

"This one here, I found this symbol, it looks somewhat like what Leo drew. It is listed with the name Lamia."

0

"Ahriam and Lamia," I say as I pace the room. These names are familiar to me, but I can't quite put my finger on why.

0

"Do these names mean something to you?" Roman asks and I quickly facetime my sister.

0

"Gia, darling, so lovely to see you," I say as her face fills the screen.

0

"When are you coming home?" She asks and I shake my head.

0

"Soon, I hope. I'm calling to ask if you are familiar with the names Ahriman and Lamia?"

0

She scrunches up her nose and shakes her head angrily.

0

"Grandfather used to tell us stories of them, don't you remember? Why, those stories would keep us up for hours."

0

"What were they about?" Roman asks and Gia's face lights up.

0

"Roman, darling! How lovely to hear your voice."

0

"You too, Gia. Can you tell us more about these stories of yours?" He asks and she chuckles.

0

"Our Grandfather loved to scare us as children. Ahriman and Lamia were a pair of evil spirits. Ahri was the king of destruction and darkness and Lamia, or Amia as Grandfather called her, was a child eating demon queen. All stories revolved around how they would find naughty enchanted children and force them to do terrible things to cast spells for the underworld. They would lure children in with cookies and candy and promises of a better life, and then they would trap them."

0

"I remember the stories now as well, I despised them growing up," I add. "Those were ridiculous stories to tell children, but Grandfather insisted that they were real. He was always laughing at us when we would yell for mother and tell on him."

0

"What kind of grandfather would do that?" Lucas asks shaking his head and I laugh.

0

"He was a prankster to the end. He loved us, but his stories were always very creative and intended to keep us well behaved," I smile remembering him.

0

"Can I take a picture of that etching," Roman asks and Yuki lays it flat for him to snap a photo. "We are going into the city tomorrow to talk with Leo's case worker. I'll keep my eye out for anything that looks like this."

0

"Excuse me, but we need to get back to the hospital," Lucas interrupts. "Sammi just mind linked me, Josh is awake."

0

Josh's POV

0

As I stir awake and slowly regain consciousness, the remnants of the darkness that has been consuming is fading, but it's not gone. I'm struggling to shake off the lingering grip of whatever evil is still there. An evil that feels like it's clawing at the edges of my mind trying to hold on. I can still hear sinister whispers echoing in the depths of my soul and it is leaving me gasping for air as I climb out of the darkness.

0

I blink my eyes open several times and they focus on eyes that are staring back at me.

0

Mate

0

I can smell her heavenly scent and her gaze is soft, yet piercing. My heart races seeing her, and my wolf howls in my head. Anger surges through me as I battle the remnants of the evil entity that is somehow still deep within me, and I think of how cruel this life has been to me, especially now finding my mate as I wake up from a nightmare I may not be able to escape.

0

I need to protect her from whatever monster may still be inside me, and the weakness I feel for her could easily put her in danger and leave me vulnerable to whatever remains. I'm torn between the desire to pull her in close to me and the instinct to push her away for her own safety.

0

"Josh," She whispers as she places her hand gently against my chest and it's like a jolt of lightening that causes my body to spasm and twitch into the air, quickly falling back down on the bed. She grabs my hand and I can feel the energy coursing through my veins. The whispers start to go quiet and the tendrils wrapped around my mind feel like they are pulling away but I'm terrified that somehow I could cause her harm.

0

"I don't want to hurt you," I try and say, I don't want to reject her, but I'm terrified that I could hurt her. "I'm so sorry," I say and she looks at me sadly. She bends over and kisses me on my forehead and I tell her again that it's too dangerous. Is she not hearing me?

0

When she steps back I yell out to her and it's then that I realize I'm not hearing my own voice. The nurses rush in and move her out of the way and I try to yell at them as well, but nothing is coming out. I try and get up and push them off of me, but I quickly find that I am not able to move either.

0

What's wrong with me?

0

"I'll be right here," she calls out to me, "I'm not leaving you Josh, I'm right here!"