“It’s like there’s suddenly an embargo on even mentioning Nova.” Rev takes the kettle off the heat as it starts to whistle. “Which should probably feel like good news, but—”
“I agree,” I tell her. “It’s not right. Something is off.”
There’s silence for a moment while Rev pours hot water into the mugs. She adds some questionable smelling teabags and hands us each a drink. “Chamomile and lemon balm,” she says. “It’s too late for caffeine.”
“Smells great,” Tanner tells her sarcastically.
Rolling her eyes at him, Rev takes a seat at the table. Tanner sits too, and we watch her expectantly. There’s something on the tip of her tongue. I can sense it. Finally, she says, “So, what’s the plan? How long are you going to hide in the woods?”
“Until we figure out what happens next.” Tanner blows across his tea, takes a sip, and wrinkles his nose at it. “We know The League want Nova because they’re trying to unleash some kind of big bad on the world. We just have no idea how they’re planning to do that, or when, or where.”
A strange look crosses Rev’s face. She puts her mug down and laces her fingers together. “I might be able to help with thewhere,” she says. When neither of us speaks, she adds, “Sarah and I did a tracing spell. We were trying to figure out where all this dark energy is coming from.”
“I thought Sarah was unelemental,” Tanner says.
“She can still do spells,” Rev counters. “She has a wand, and she’s quite powerful actually.”
“Okay,” I cut in, not in the mood for a debate. “And you found the source?”
Rev presses her lips together then breathes in heavily. “The Hollow,” she says. “The dark energy is coming from The Hollow.”
4
NICO
Hot vomit spills onto my shoes as I brace my hand against the wall of the house. Behind me, Eve is chanting. What she’s chanting, I have no idea, but it sends shivers of nausea to my soul.
There’s a dead body. A deadwomanlying in an open coffin. A woman Ragnor hugged. A woman whose flesh hangs, decaying, from her pale bones.
I screw my eyes shut, trying to rid myself of the image that’s burned into my brain.
When Mother finds me, she is so pale her skin is almost translucent. She lowers herself to the ground, sitting in the dirt, her back pressed against the cold gray stone behind her.
“Who is that?” My voice cracks as dry, frightened words leave my mouth.
Mother hangs her head and scrapes her fingers through her short, dark hair. “Elena,” she whispers.
“Who the fuck is Elena?” I sit down next to her and draw my knees up under my chin. “Mom?” I turn to her, praying she sees that Ineedto know what’s happening—that I can’t be kept in the dark any longer. “Who is she?”
When she answers me, her words are barely a whisper. “She was Ragnor’s wife.” She glances at me. Her scar seems brighter than usual. “Ragnor and I were together. He was my alpha.” She closes her eyes. “But he chose Elena over me. He fell in love with her, and he left me. Two months after he left, I discovered I was pregnant with you.”
Cold shivers drip down my spine. I knew Ragnor left my mother. I never knew when, or why, or that it was for another woman.
“She was human.” Mother looks up, stares over toward the fountain where Ragnor is still arched over a coffin. “She fell pregnant too, but she died after the baby was born.”
“A baby?” I frown, my thoughts tripping over one another. I don’t know whether I’m more shocked that Ragnor—the head of the Human Extinction League—was married to a human or that he got her pregnant. “I have—”
“A brother.”
“A brother,” I breathe.
Mother looks at me. “Sam.”
Sam? That name… it can’t be a coincidence? My mouth hangs open. I can’t speak. Nothing will come out.
“Yes,” Mother says. “The same Sam.” She rubs the back of her neck and shakes her head. “Ragnor gave him up when he was a child. Sent him to foster care. He ended up with Nova’s family but that was a long time ago, before we suspected who she was.” She laughs a little. “Fate or a coincidence? I’ve never been able to decide.”
“That’s why I look like him? Nova’s foster brother ismybrother?” I stand up, my legs fizzing with the need to pace, to walk, to run. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I round on her but when I see the dejection in her face, I crouch down and take her hands in mine. “Mom? Why didn’t you tell me?”