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“What happened?” he asks. His eyes are kind, and he looks familiar, but I have no idea who he is. Where the hell is my father? Does Gunnar really not care enough about his defective daughter to come help us?
“We were hoping you could tell us that,” Ry says, putting his hand on the man’s shoulder. Why are my mates treating this man like he’s someone they know? And where the fuck is Gunnar? I’m going crazy with my questions that just keep building up in my mind. I need to be out of this ice so I can figure out what the fuck is going on here.
“She’s getting upset. We need to get her out of there, now. Trevan, is there anything you can do?” Grammy steps closer, realizing that I’m getting desperate for help.
“Let me try this,” the man says, turning to me. “Hold on, daughter, I’m going to get you out of there.”
Daughter?! What in the hell is this man talking about? I can’t be his daughter, can I? Thoughts swirl around my brain as I try to process this new information. I get flashes of memories, too.
nine
Divisions
JAMES
When I get to the edge of the forest, I realize that I have no way out of here. I haven’t needed a car in months, so I had my brother take mine to keep it maintained. And since I stole one of the pack's SUVs earlier, they have them guarded. Fuck. Can this day get any worse? I shake my head and start walking toward the city.
After a few minutes, I pull out my phone and dial Dec. When he answers, I wonder if someone has already told him what’s going on.
“What happened?” he starts.
“I need a ride. Can you come get me? I’m walking toward the city now,” I say, ignoring his question.
“Of course, I’ll come get you. But why are you walking? What happened? Is everything okay?” he assaults me with questions that I have no intention of answering. At least not right now.
“Just come get me, and we can talk about it. Please.” I won’t answer his questions, so he relents. Once I know he’s on his way, I hang up and continue walking. I’ll meet him halfway if I can. I just can’t stay here any longer.
I keep rubbing at the pain in my chest as I stumble down the dirt road that connects the edge of the city with the forest community. It’s a pretty well-kept secret, even if it seems obvious that it exists. I wouldn’t have even known this place existed if my brother wasn’t a vampire who controls a quarter of the city we live in.
All of this supernatural stuff is insane. Vampires and wolf shifters control the city, but most humans have no idea that they exist. And that there’s a community of wolf shifters and one of witches living in the forest right beside them. That’s not even considering the Fae community. I have no idea how to get there, so I’m not sure if they count as neighbors or not.
The further I get from Garnet, the worse I feel. I’m sweating and shivering, hot and cold at the same time. Maybe I’m getting sick. I’ll have to get checked out after Dec picks me up. What was I thinking getting involved with this mess?
Relief washes over me as I see my car speeding toward me. I step into the grass on the side of the road and wait for my brother to stop. He streaks past me, and for a moment I worry that he didn’t see me. A few minutes later, the car pulls up behind me and stops.
“Get in,” he orders, stepping out of the car for a second before dropping back in. I rush to the passenger side and climb in before he puts it in drive and races down the dirt road.
“What’s the big rush?” I ask, puzzled at this new development.
“We’ve been under attacks from witches for the past few days. I figured you needed backup and that’s why you were calling. We have to get back fast to protect Delilah,” he explains.
LUCA
Trevan gets close to Red, checking out the ice that encompasses her entire body, except her face. I have no idea how she’s even still breathing. The ice is holding her in place, and preventing her from speaking.
“I think this is a magical malfunction. I’m not sure what I can do to reverse it.” He turns his back to her and faces the rest of us. “Tell me what happened before this, and I’ll see what I can come up with.”
We explain about James breaking the bond and her reaction, then how it changed. The whole time, I watch her face. Red’s expression doesn’t change much because of the ice, but I can see the pain in her eyes.
“So, if she’s blocking the pain in order to move past it, could that be what’s frozen her?” I ask, my eyes locked with hers.
Trevan nods. “That is a possibility. I’ll see if I can thaw her a little, but I doubt I can make the ice go away if it’s there because she doesn’t want to deal with her emotions. There may only be one way to remove it.”
“We’ll do whatever we have to in order to save her,” Ryland insists. I’m worried that it won’t be up to us to do anything to save her, and that she’ll make the wrong decision. What happens if she decides that losing James is too much to bear and she doesn’t fight?
“Dear one, I need you to help me. Use your magic to warm your head. We’ll start where the ice is the thinnest and work our way down. Okay?” Trevan speaks to Red, but her eyes are full of questions, as if she has no idea who this man is or what he’s talking about.
“What if she can’t?” I say, considering my thoughts out loud. “What if she’s blocking the pain so fully that she doesn’t remember things that she should?”
