Chapter 43

Katla

I had never wanted to betray my instincts so badly. Even though I met Peter less than 24 hours ago, he mattered to Damien, and he was suffering. I had to remind myself that it wasn’t happening now, it was already done, and our presence would be of no comfort to a dying shadow of the past.

My instincts were telling me if I didn’t follow the Night Flame, whatever power this was that my ancestors were flowing through me would end as abruptly as it had started.

Brian ducked down a side street next to the alley As we moved down the street, though, Damien and I looked at each other when we heard an unmistakable scream. Brian hesitated for a moment, turned back, then looked at the necklace. “What the fuck do I do with this, and who wants it?” Then, at the top of his lungs he shouted, “FUCK! Fuck this fucking fuck.”

He turned away from the screaming, running much faster down the dimly lit street until it came to a main road that was well lit and clearly in a nicer part of town on the edge of the suburbs. He unzipped his jacket pocket and secured it inside, then looked at his phone. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

He pressed the screen then held it to his ear. We could just make out someone saying, “Thank you for calling emergency services. Your call is important to us, but all our dispatchers are busy with other callers. Please stay on the line to report your emergency,”

“FUCK!” He shouted again at his phone and slammed it on the ground. A passerby looked at him then quickly hurried past. “That’s so sad,” Aurelia observed, “Humans are more alone than I thought.” I agreed with her but had to keep focus.

I had heard of “out of body” experiences before in books or movies, but thought it was just fantasy. That’s the only way I could describe what was happening. It was me, but it wasn’t. What I did know was that it was taking every shred of energy that Aurelia and I had to keep following the Night Flame, and my guess was we were both relying on strength from somewhere else, too. I wasn’t sure how much longer this could last.

Brian paced, back and forth, then squatted and took some deep breaths. His eyes were wild; and the few humans walking by from time to time were giving him a wide berth. “More concerned for themselves than their pack,” Aurelia noted. She was not impressed with them.

He stood up, then stuck his arm out to stop a car labeled “Taxi.” We stood next to him, as he opened the door, I tried to slide onto the seat, but my feet went through the floor. Of course it wasn’t solid, it was a projection. As the taxi lurched ahead, I was left standing in the street, and the scene began to dissolve around us. “No!” I called out, “Please, Goddess. Please let us find Brian.”

All at once, a wave of exhaustion hit me like a tree falling in a forest. “Katla, that was incredible,” Damien breathed as his hand slid around my waist, supporting me. “We have so many answers.”

“But it’s still missing,” I looked up at him, his eyes burning with pride as mine filled with tears. “I wasn’t strong enough.”

“Katla, we will figure this out, and you will get stronger. Right now, we know the Night Flame is in the city trying to find its way back,” he tilted my chin up and kissed me. “You need rest. Let’s go home.”

“Home,” Aurelia purred and stretched in my mind, thinking of Damien’s wolf. “Sounds really good,” I said and he scooped me up like a baby as one of the Droptails pulled to a stop next to us:

“What about the other car?” I asked.

“It’s taken care of, just rest,” he soothed and cradled my face as he placed me in the seat. The exhaustion took over, and I was asleep before he had walked around to the other side of the car.