Freeks(86)

54. omen

“If you’re gonna be here, then we’re putting you to work” was my mom’s response to Gabe’s offer, and she meant it.

First she sent us with with herbs and powder to put circles around everything that needed to be protected. As we walked around the campsite, Gabe slipped his hand in mine, and I realized what a strange thing it was that, at this point in my life, preparing for a monster attack could double as a date.

“I hope you don’t mind that I’m here,” Gabe said quietly. We were at the edge of the campsite, with the crescent moon lighting the sky above us, as I carefully sprinkled the white powder of ashes and gypsum.

“I don’t mind.” I cinched up the pouch of powder so I could give Gabe my full attention. “I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I don’t want you getting hurt, either,” Gabe replied with a smile. “That’s part of the reason why I came here.”

“What’s the other reason?”

“Well, if this is your last night in Caudry, I want to spend it with you.” He bent down, kissing me gently on the mouth.

“Mara!” Mom yelled from the other side of camp, destroying the moment. “Take Gabriel to Gideon’s trailer and get a weapon!”

“There isn’t time for kissing now,” I said. “But when this is all over, we’ll finish this.”

When we got in the trailer, Gideon was poring over the grimoire, trying to find something that my mom may have missed. Hutch sat beside him, polishing his sword, and offering up propositions about how to handle demons and monsters. Most of them seemed as if they were based on something he’d seen in movies or read in comic books.

Gideon barely glanced up when Gabe and I came in, and he motioned at the open trunk and told us to have at it. I knelt beside the trunk first, carefully pulling out various weaponry and handing it to Gabe for further inspection.

He took a sword from me, and the blade barely touched his skin before I heard a loud sizzle. Gabe winced and dropped the sword back into the box. A red line had been seared across his hand.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine.” Gabe rubbed his hand, then shrugged it off. “It must’ve been made of silver.”

“So you’re a werewolf?” Hutch asked casually from where he sat at the table.

Gideon looked up long enough to offer an apologetic grimace. “Lyanka came and told us while you were doing the protection rituals.”

I mouthed the word sorry, but Gabe just shrugged it off. I hadn’t told everyone—my mom had, apparently—but in the end, it didn’t really matter. We all had secrets here.

“Yeah, I’m a werewolf,” Gabe replied.

Hutch cocked his head. “How do I know it wasn’t you that attacked me?”

“The thing that attacked you, did it look like a big silver wolf?” Gabe asked.

Hutch seemed to think about it for a moment, then shook his head. “No.”

“Well, then it wasn’t me. I look like a wolf.”

“He does,” I agreed. “I’ve seen him.”

Gideon lifted his head suddenly, staring off at nothing, and I was about to ask him what was wrong but then I saw the change. His normally sky-blue eyes began to darken, changing to an indigo so dark it was nearly black.

“What’s happening to him?” Gabe asked.

“He’s having a vision,” I whispered, and put my hand on Gabe’s arm.

“Do you want me to get your mom?” Hutch offered, looking at Gideon warily.

“Just give him a minute,” I said.

It only lasted a few seconds, with Hutch, Gabe, and me all watching him with bated breath. Gideon remained stoic, as if in a trance, and then the color in his eyes began to fade. He breathed in deeply, and his whole body relaxed.

“What’d you see?” Hutch asked.

“It’s hard to explain.” Gideon blinked several times, as if clearing his vision. “But it’s coming for us, and it’s very hungry.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a howl echoed outside. I’d heard dogs howl before, but this was different. It sounded more like a force of nature, like a crack of thunder.

“Oh shit,” Gabe groaned. “My mom is here.”





55. the queen of wands

When I followed Gabe outside, his mother was standing in the center of the campsite.

Everyone had come out to see what the commotion was about—my mom stood in front of our trailer, pulling her shawl more tightly around her; Roxie and Luka sat on the table outside Luka’s trailer; and Gideon and Hutch followed Gabe and me outside, staying a few feet behind us as we approached Della Jane.

Barefoot and without any jewelry, she appeared strangely subdued as the wind blew through her blond curls. Despite her small stature, tonight she gave off an aura of something much more powerful.

“Gabe, you need to come home.”

He shook his head. “No. I’m staying here to fight with them. If you’re worried about me, you can stay and help.”

“This isn’t a discussion. You are coming home with me right now, Gabe,” Della Jane commanded, and her voice twisted with a guttural growl.

“You can’t just drag me out—” Gabe began, but I saw the look in her eyes, the one I’d seen at their house this morning.