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Werewolves, she clarified. They bring me corpses every few weeks, but never ones that I need.
I thought of her all-consuming hunger. You don’t eat them?
Eww, no.
I frowned. I don’t understand. You’re clearly hungry.
I don’t eat just anything! She sounded shocked. I’m not a bin! I am the gateway to the Great Pack. She lost her haughty tone. Or I used to be. When I was revered, the dead werewolves were laid at my door and I, in turn, laid them to rest and made sure the wolf made it back to the Great Pack. But since the Great Pack has abandoned me, no wolves have been laid at my door. It is the act of passing the soul to the Great Pack that feeds and preserves me, not something so crass as flesh, she said disdainfully.
The Great Pack didn’t abandon you, I repeated.
So you say, Lucy Barrett, but I have been alone all the same.
What have you been doing with the corpses that were brought to you? I asked out of morbid curiosity.
Bringing them in and burying them. The ground underneath my foundations is littered with their bones.
Nice. Still, if I was to walk out of this house alive, I needed to show her I could be of use to her and this was the perfect opportunity. I broke the curse, I announced. The Great Pack has been restored to the wolves but I don’t understand why it hasn’t been restored to you.
The orb, she huffed. It was stolen.
The orb?
It may have escaped your notice but I am not a werewolf, she said drily.
I bit back the sarcastic ‘no, really?’ that wanted to escape. I deserved a bloody medal. I noticed, I said instead.
It was the holy orb that powered the connection between me and the Great Pack. When the orb was stolen, I managed to close the connection and send the orb to sleep. It’s the orb that allows the wolves to access their air powers. Without it, they cannot use the air and I cannot reopen my connection to the Great Pack. Still, whoever took it has nothing but a pretty bauble. Her voice was coloured with vindictive glee. The powerful orb was useless to its thief. That was something at least.
My heart was pounding. This was the answer to everything. The orb had to be the artefact that Esme had spoken of. If I could find that, and awaken it, I could make it so that I could talk to the Great Pack freely, not to mention, restore the lost air powers to the wolves.
I licked my lips. I’d seen Ben and Roan’s vision; I’d seen us using air powers. I knew we could fix this. Could we restore the orb? I asked her. It would surely be easier to awaken such a thing rather than to create a whole new one.
Of course I can, she said smugly, condescension dripping from her voice. If we can find it again.
We will find it for you, Esme said firmly.
Will you quit rashly promising shit? I huffed.
She is starving. She needs it.
Actually, the house interrupted, I don’t need the orb to send the souls to the Great Pack. I just need it to communicate with it.
I thought you said the orb powered the connection? I said, confused.
It does, but it is like the postal service. If you write to someone often enough, you remember their address. I am confident – though not certain – that I could still release the souls so that they may rejoin with the Great Pack.
In that case, do you really need the orb? I asked.
I cannot communicate with the wolves without it – though I do appear to be conversing with you. It makes me wonder if I have finally lost my grip on my sanity. Maybe Terrance is right.
I had seen no hide nor hair of a Terrance, so maybe he was right. Could imaginary friends be right? I’m a piper, I admitted. That’s how you can talk to me.
Ah, she said. Then I am not mad?
I don’t think so, I said delicately.
You seem a bit mad to me, Esme said flatly. But most things do. Humans are the most bizarre creatures.
