Chapter 48
-Angie-
It had been a full day and night since I had heard my mother summoning me home through the mind-
link. Her words were enigmatic, but I already had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach when I ran
from Dorothy and Ignatius.
I had run all the way back to my family home as fast as my legs could carry me. I wiped at a bleeding
cut on my forehead, courtesy of Ignatius, and swore when a car swerved around me as I turned a
corner. The driver shook his fist out the window but I was already too far up the road to hear his yelling.
I rounded anotherer and reached the house, Kicking open the door I was met with the determined
faces of my small family. My mother and grandfather stood in the living room. My little brother sat on
the sofa in the corner, looking back and forth between the two of them.
“What’s going on?” I raised my voice, mining the door shut behind me. “What do you mean we’re
leaving?”
“The Bielke Pack is doomed, Angie, my grandfather said sternly “We have been doing their dirty work
for years. And now we’re expected to go down with them when the Tally attack?”
“Have you forgotten that we ourselves are Bielke!” I made no effort to keep my voice down. What my
grandfather said was treason at its ugliest. “Have you forgotten how they took you in when your own
pack abandoned you? How can you expect me to leave them? This is a time of crisis. We need to
protect our people now more than ever!”
They are not our people” my grandfather thundered. “What happens when the Tallyes knocking,
and the other packs stand aside and watch? I won’t risk the lives of my family on a useless feud. The
Bielke has no true allies, not anymore. There is no hope against the Tally.”
“So what then?” I folded my arms, squaring my chest and raising myself to his height. “What exactly do
you n on doing instead if you’re not going to stay and fight? Where will you go?
N?velDrama.Org owns ? this.
My grandfather crossed his own arms, his bushy brows furrowed low over hus angry eyes. “We have
been offered impunity and citizenship in a different pack.”
My mother tried to interrupt us but when my grandfather and I butted heads there was no getting in
between us. I stared him down. “And what pack would that be, exactly?””
My grandfather faltered for a second. For a brief moment, I caught a glimpse of just how unsure of
himself the man was. My heart sank
This was ast-minute decision made out of fear and resentment. He wasn’t thinking logically. My
grandfather was afraid. His answer shocked me, sent me reeling for a moment myself.
“The Tally Pack. We’ve been asked to join the Tally”
1 had left pretty quickly after that. I knew I would have to tell Ignatius but I needed to investigate first. If
he learned of my family’s treason he would have no choice but to exile them, or worse. I needed to
prove to them that this was the wrong idea
I needed to find the person who had spoken with my grandfather. He told me he had been approached
near the words by a strange man who bore the scent of the Tally, the strong smell of rot and decay.
The man told him that he would protect us if we wished to leave with him the following day. He said he
would be waiting at the border between Bielke turf and the nearby open road. I would get there first
Besides the fact that it would be ludicrous to join forces with the Tally people, there was no guarantee
this man was even trustworthy. Who’s to say this wasn’t a new way for the “Tally to hire people to their
doom?
How many other desperate families had he tempted with the gift of safety and security when their pack
was on the brink of a terrible war
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10:49 FC, Jan 26
I searched the area where the man said he would be waiting. I was a day early obviously and there
was a good chance he wouldn’t be there yet, but I had to make sure.
1 walked the small, overgrown pathway from the woods down to the side of the road, testing the air for
any sign of a strange scent and scanning the ground for footprints,
1 could find nothing at all. If there had been a man here he was an untraceable shadow. That made my
distrust grow exponentially
I searched the forest all night long, tracing my steps back to where my grandfather had first been
approached by the shadow man. Still, I could catch no scent.
He must have masked it or covered his tracks somehow. I had heard that it was possible to vanish
one’s scent from an area but that kind of trick required witchcraft or the likes
I wondered if I could be on to something there. It had never urred to me before that the Tally could
be dabbling in old magic in order to convert their attackers into those thering, yellow-eyed monsters.
That was another point I would have to mention to Ignatius. But if it was true, and the Tally had crossed
the line between shifters and witches, we had an enormous problem on our hands. This was an area of
expertise that nob*dy in our pack but Ignatius himself was skilled in
He didn’t use these skills anymore though. But I had memories from early childhood when Ignatius was
shorter than mel and the world looked so much bigger when looking up at the adults around us. They
were like towering trees in our own personal forest, legs for trunks and swishing clothing for highrise
branches
I remembered Ignatius’s mother. Morticia. I recalled her long straight hair that cascaded down her back
like a waterfall. had always wanted to touch it, braid it, and put flowers in it as a child, but Morticia
frightened me.
Her b*dy was skeletal in nature, the skin was drawn tightly over her high cheekbones and sunken eyes.
She went about her daily housewife routine with a vacant look in her blue eyes, like she herself was
somewhere far away while her b*dy carried on without her.
Ignatius had loved her though. And she clearly adored him too. She carried him around even when his
toddler b*dy grew too heavy for her frail one. She also did magic. Those were the moments when I
watched life spark in Morticia’s eyes.
She would catch Ignatius and me peering into her small cluttered study and snap at us to go away. Her
little room of potions was small, but it was clearly the woman’s haven. Unlike the rest of the house
which she kept clean and minimalistic, Morticia’s study was a treasure trove of trinkets and odd things.
There were precious stones and jewels lining the windows and dusty, moth-eaten books on the rickety
bookshelf. There were so many stacked into there that the shelf seemed to sag in the middle, bursting
with pages and pages of spells and runes and secrets.
Books spilled out onto the floor along with a collection of jars and vials all containing strange-looking
liquids, herbs, and nt bulbs. Ignatius had once stolen a jar to show me. It contained a whole finger
belonging to some unknown person. floating in a yellow liquid inside the cloudy jar.
Ignatius liked to believe that his mother chopped it off of her own father’s hand. I was mortified by the
discovery but also a little intrigued and 1 would always be excited to catch glimpses into Morticia’s
study when Ignatius and I barreled past during ytime.
Sometimes, when Morticia was feeling generous, or excited by some discovery, she would beckon us
in and bnce the both of us on her knees to peer down at whatever she was working on
Her desk was always a mess of twigs, nt clippings, and dark stains where unknown liquids had
spilled onto the table and seeped into the wood to stay there for good. It was during these times when I
was most excited, Ignatius and I were always thrilled to be involved in whatever it was his mother was
looking at
Sometimes it was a healing potion, sometimes it was a single feather standing dead straight all by itself
even when a breeze blew through the window. She showed us a clockwork mouse that seemed a little
too lifelike in its movements and the turning key in its back had made me trfortable.
10:49 Fri, Jan 26
Once, it had been an injured bird. She had whispered for us to be quiet, as she stroked the tiny
creature, taking care to avoid the broken wing. Then she had drizzled a dark liquid from a small vial into
the bird’s beak and we watched in awe as the bird’s wings slowly began to reform.
The creature chirped and cried as much as a bird could, struggling in Moritica’s hand as the wing
repaired itself. Its small, headlike eyes had turned white, and when it was finally still. Morticia released
in..
The wing was healed but the bird was dead. Morticia had brushed it aside as a failed experiment and
chased us out of the study quickly after that.
But I had peeked back in, curious about the magic potion that could heal a broken wing and haunted by
my first confrontation with death, only to see Morticia staring down with a manic, cerily wide grin at the
dead bird that was suddenly moving its wings
She snapped her head up to look at me when I let out a small gasp and I hightailed it out of the house
as fast as my little legs. could carry me. I was always a little afraid to be around Morticia after that.
1 knew she had taught Ignatius some of her tricks, and for a while, he had been pretty chied up in the
art of both ck and white magic. He eventually seemed to let it go though, as his heart grew colder
and colder towards his mother after her early abandonment.
Nob*dy had been prepared for her disappearance. Everyone knew Morticia didn’t get along with her
husband. There were Tumors of the terrible things Elliot did to her behind closed doors. Ignatius would
never speak of it bu
it was clear he too
had his suspicions
Everyone had expected Morticia to escape Elliot eventually. But nob*dy had thought she would
abandon her son.tius grew to hate her for this and then when he grew up a little more, he was merely
saddened by it all
I tested the air onest time, before heading to my car. I sped down the empty roads towards the
mansion by the sea just as the early morning rays began to break over the h orizon, lighting the sky
scarlet and crimson like nature itself was giving us warning signs
There was no doubt about it. There was danger ahead.
-Dorothy-
Ignatius and I took a long ssh around in the outside shower that was hidden to the side of the giant
sea cottage. I had never seen it before, the small showerhead hidden by a still wall of stained ss that
hugged around the little watery haven
Ignatius turned the shower on and I felt cold water droplets trickling over my hot flushed skin. He took
his time in cleaning me, insisting on taking care of it himself.
Ignatius licked over the small beads of blood trickling from where his teeth had nipped at my neck. His
hands slid between my legs, cleaning the hot mess of both my c um and his
“Don’t get me going all over again, I whined into his mouth when he k*ssed me, his hand sliding along
my entrance, teasing with his fingers.
Ignatiusughed, pulling me to his chest. I can’t help it. I could do this all day
“Well you can’t,” I tried to sound stern but his thumbs rubbing over my cl it in the cool trickle of water
turned it into a sigh. “We have things to do. Responsibilities and sh it.”
“I suppose so Ignatius seemed like he was going to carry on anyway but suddenly both of our heads
turned to the front of the house at the sound of someone’s voice.
“If you’re finally done canoodling over there, we need to talk!”
I c ocked my head to the side, frowning at Ignatius “Angie”
Ignatius turned the water off and reach for the towels we had distarded on the grass earlier.
375 Chapter 48
He wrapped one around his graist and proceeded to bundle the other one around my shivering b*dy,
ruffling my hair in the process and k*ssing the tip of my nose. I followed behind him as he strode over
to where Angie was leaning against her car.
“How long have you been here?” he asked.
“Long enough to smell your rutting from a mile away. Angie rolled her eyes, but her face was grim and
her mouth was set into a hard thin line. “Ignatius I have to tell you something. We have a problem.”
Ignatius shook his own wet hair, sending flecks of water spraying over both me and Angie.
“What kind of problem!”
Angie looked nervous, she seemed afraid to speak. “I need you to promise that nothing bad will happen
to my family first. No matter what I tell you, I need to know they’re going to be safe. They’re scared,
they’re just thinking things through”
“Angie, what is it Ignatius interrupted her, sensing that she would go on defending her family for hours
without actually disclosing what they had done. “Your family will be safe. You have my word.”
Angie scuffed her foot against the gravel, folding her arms. She looked like she was holding herself
together more than appearing intimidating. “My grandfather was approached by a man, I don’t know
who, he offered them safety and protection if my family joined his pack.”
Ignatius was silent for a moment, his own mouth turning into a dry smile as he thought over the
implications of Angie’s words,
“What pack?”
Angie kicked the ground again, keeping her eyes low.
“Angle. Ignatius’s voice was stern. He didn’t want to be harsh with her, but we were both feeling a
growing rm at what this meant for the Bielke “What pack? Who did your grandfather intend on
joining?”
“The Tally, Angie whispered, digging her nails into her arm. “He ns to join the Tally.”
“What!” My cry was a loud interruption. “Why? That’s suicide!”
“F uck,” Ignatius muttered. “That’s treason.” He pressed his palm to his forehead. “If the Tally has
tempted your family, who knows how many others they’ve already approached.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Angie said quietly. “They know people are afraid. Nob*dy ising to
help us. They’re trying to tear us apart from the inside. They want to divide us before they strike.”
“Where did your grandfather meet with this man?” Ignatius asked Angie, but she shook her head.
“I’ve already gone to inspect the area. I’ve been up all night searching for even a hint of evidence but I
found nothing”
The dark rings around her eyes proved to us that she was telling the truth. Angle looked worn and
exhausted, her usually stiff shoulders were dropping forwards and her hair was knotted and frayed in
ces, escaping from her bum in messy wisps.
“What do we do about this, Ignatius?” She looked up at him with tired eyes. “Where do we go from
here?”
“Get some
some rest for a start,” Ignatius said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You did well Angie. Thank you for
round up some trackers and we’ll sweep the area for this Tally shifter”
“And my family?” There was pain in Angie’s voice. They had betrayed her just as much as they had
betrayed their people, but she still clearly cared for them a great deal.
“I can ignore this for now. But you need to tell your grandfather that if any of them leave the house
today to seek out this man, there will be hell to pay. I will never stop anyone from leaving this park if
they so choose, but your grandfather could very well be walking right into a trap.
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10:49 Fri, Jan 26
Chapter in
“And we can’t afford the Tally getting a hold of elder council secrets from him. Right now, your family
needs to stay put. I’ll have a guard watching your house. No attacker will make it inside either.”
they’ll be safe?” A long tendril of brown hair fell over Angie’s eyes. It made her look younger, more
vulnerable, and less put together like she usually presented herself.
“So long as they stick. the rules, they’ll be safe. And I need to make some calls. We need to figure out
how many others have been tempted by the same man. We can’t afford to lose moir people to the
Tally”
“Thank you, Ignatius” Angie ?ncathed a long sigh of relief. “Thank you. This means a lot. I’ll make sure
they follow the onders. T’in sure I can bring my grandfather to his senses someliów”
“You’re going to have to,” Iputius said quietly. “If word gets out that one of our very own elder councilors
is a turncoat, things could get very had for us”
Ange nodded a new look of revolve on her face. “I’ll fix this. And I’ll send Fae and Gideon over right
now to prepare for the
Ignatius stared after her as Angie sped away. I slipped my hand into his, noting the dismal look on his
face.
“This is hard,” was all he said. “This is really bad.”
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