Chapter 9-Hidden Things

Odett’s POV

  The nightmare returned three nights later. White flowers covered the trees around a witch coven, and the houses looked peaceful until I stepped inside one. Blood marked the floor beneath a table set for dinner. A fire still burned on the hearth, but nobody answered when I called. I woke with Sam’s name caught in my throat.

  ‘We need to tell Mom,’ Lorilie insisted with a worried growl.

  ‘There is nothing to tell her,’ I argued silently.

  ‘You know that is not true,’ Lorilie replied.

  The dreams came once or twice a week after that. I saw packs, covens, vampire collectives, fairy communities, and places I could not name. Each had been damaged in some way. None held the people who should have lived there.

  I left a lamp burning beside my bed. It did nothing to stop the dreams, but the light helped me recognize my room when I woke. I kept the nightmares from Mom because she would worry, Dad would increase the guards, and the twins would refuse to let me sleep alone.

  ‘They would want to help us,’ Lorilie reminded me with quiet concern.

  I wanted one unbroken night and a letter from Sam. Lorilie wanted me to tell the family. I told her I could manage until he came home, even as I began to dread going to bed.

  ‘You keep saying that,’ Lorilie muttered with obvious doubt.

  By winter, the investigation lived at the edges of everything we did. Meetings ended when I entered, patrol routes changed, and Dad called new protections around the Academy routine. Mom watched the tree line during dinner. No one would tell us enough to be frightened of a specific danger, so we learned to be frightened of the silence instead.

  We still went to class. The twins argued over the bathroom every morning, Gaven carried Zerina’s things despite her complaints, and Sean noticed whenever one of us lied about being fine. Joshy had begun noticing me in the same way.

  “You look terrible,” Joshy said with a concerned frown as he sat beside me before our political assessment.

  “Thank you,” I replied with an unimpressed expression.

  “That wasn’t an insult,” Joshy explained with a patient look.

  “It wasn’t a compliment,” I reminded him quietly.

  “Did you sleep last night?” Joshy asked.

  “I slept enough,” I answered while opening my notes.

  ‘That is not an answer,’ Lorilie pointed out with an irritated huff.

  “That means no,” Joshy said with a knowing expression.

  ‘He agrees with me,’ Lorilie said with satisfaction.

  “It means I don’t need you acting like my mother,” I corrected with a warning glance.

  “Your mother is terrifying,” Joshy replied with a serious nod.

  “I could never act like her,” Joshy continued with a playful smile.

  I laughed, but Joshy kept looking at me. I could tell him about the dreams. He knew me well enough to take them seriously, and that was what stopped me: if he thought I was in danger, he would tell Aunt Jess. I wasn’t ready to have everyone watching me every time I closed my eyes.

  ‘He would only tell her because he cares,’ Lorilie said.

  “I’ve been thinking about Sam,” I admitted with a tired sigh.

  That part was true.

  “Have you heard from him?” Joshy asked with a gentler expression.

  “Not directly,” I answered while looking down at my notes.

  “Uncle Orian received another report from him two days ago,” Joshy said carefully.

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I demanded with rising frustration.

  “Because it wasn’t a personal letter,” Joshy explained with an apologetic expression.

  “It was part of the investigation,” Joshy continued carefully.

  “Do you know what it said?” I asked.

  “No,” Joshy answered honestly.

  “Dad only said Sam had entered another Alpha King’s territory and would remain there until he finished tracing the reports,” Joshy explained with a troubled expression.

  “He has been gone long enough,” I said.

  ‘Too long,’ Lorilie agreed with a low whine.

  “I know,” Joshy replied sympathetically.

  “He keeps moving farther away, and no one will tell me what he’s looking for,” I continued with a frustrated frown.

  “Maybe they don’t know yet,” Joshy suggested with a thoughtful expression.

  I wondered what kind of reports could keep Sam moving without showing him who was behind them. Our instructor arrived before I could ask more. Joshy and I passed the assessment, though neither of us felt much like celebrating; Nolan’s team had to retake it after Barrett insulted a representative again.

  The twins retook their battlefield assessment that afternoon. This time Zander explained his distraction before he ran, and Zerina changed the route around it. Gaven stayed with the civilians while Sean caught a lie in the enemy commander’s briefing. They brought everyone across and earned one of the highest scores in their year.

  “I told you the distraction would work,” Zander said with a smug grin.

  “It only worked because you followed the plan,” Zerina corrected with a proud smile.

  “It was my idea,” Zander argued with playful offense.

  “It was my plan,” Zerina reminded him with a challenging look.

  “It was Sean’s information,” Gaven added with a serious expression.

  “It was all of us,” Sean said with a patient smile.

  No one argued with that.

  ‘They are learning,’ Lorilie said with pride.

  Snow arrived during our last combat assessments before winter break. Zander started a snowball fight, and Zerina buried him in a drift after he struck her in the back of the head. Gaven tried to pull him out and disappeared beside him. Sean stayed clear until I pushed him toward them.

  “You’re supposed to be the responsible one,” Sean complained with a betrayed expression.

  “I’m responsible when necessary,” I said with a laugh.

  “This was not necessary,” Sean argued with an offended frown.

  “It felt necessary,” Joshy corrected with a grin before throwing another snowball.

  For twenty minutes we were students throwing snow, with no titles or reports to carry. I laughed until my cheeks hurt. Then I looked toward the Academy entrance and imagined Sam there, catching a snowball with the offended expression he wore whenever anyone got the better of him.

  ‘He would have thrown one back,’ Lorilie said with a fond laugh.

  That night I dreamed of a pack surrounded by smoke. Broken weapons covered the training field, and blood led between the trees, but I found no one. When I followed the trail, the pack gave way to an empty vampire collective beneath its permanent shade. Every door stood open.