Chapter 8
“Well,” Miss Baylor said with a forced smile while nervously rubbing her hands together. “That’s never happened before.” After pursing her lips, she stepped away from the circle without saying a word to anyone and quickly left the cave.
I furrowed my brow. “What just happened?” I asked Luna, the hair on my arms stood.
“Miss Baylor really believes in this stuff, and all the signs point to the princess being here.”
“You mean like, here in Alaska, or here inside this cave?” I suddenly felt paranoid like all eyes were on me. I glanced around the room and spotted William leaning against the wall, his sexy eyes made my heart flutter, and for obvious reasons I blushed and lowered my eyes. When I looked up he was halfway across the room coming straight toward me. He smiled and his pearly white teeth sparkled from the light of the fire.
“Well…that was.” He paused and cleared his throat. “Weird.” He smiled crookedly. Every time he got really close to me, I’d catch myself holding my breath, and had to remind myself to breathe.
“Yeah. Extremely.” He could have said the sky was green and I would have agreed with him. William had an aura about him that swelled me with happiness.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed at me, like he was thinking. “I want to show you something.” He held out his hand gently taking hold of mine. “Come on.” We went outside and he placed his arm on the small of my back as we started climbing on the large rocks directly above the cave. When we neared the top it leveled off somewhat into a path.
“Close your eyes.” His voice was like velvet. Without even asking why, I just did it. For whatever reason I felt a connection to him unlike anything I had ever experienced. I couldn’t explain it, I just knew in my heart he wouldn’t let anything or anyone hurt me.
He took my hand and guided me a short distance. “Okay,” he whispered softly next to my ear. “Open them.”
The view before me took my breath away. We were standing on a large flat area of rock on top of the back side of the cave, and above us the sky was a series of, blue, red and green curtains of light, dancing and waving. The colors had made the sky into moving art, like a symphony but with light instead of sound.
We sat together. I was speechless as I watched, and I could feel William watching me as I peered at the lights. After a few minutes, I started rubbing the back of my neck. It ached from constantly looking up. William removed his jacket and laid it behind us, then gently pulled me back. His touch caused my stomach to swirl with butterflies.
I lay on my back with my knees bent, watching the colors change and move. William lay on his side with his head propped on his hand, staring at me. I tried to act like I didn’t notice, but I’m sure my trembling hands and quivering lip told him otherwise.
“So…where are you from?” His thumb rubbed a delicate circle on the back of my hand.
“L.A. is where I just moved from, but I was born in Oregon. Me and my mom moved a lot after my dad died. I guess she just couldn’t find a place that felt like home.”
“Your aunt told me and my dad what happened… I’m really sorry-”
“Where are you from?” I asked, cutting him off, not really wanting to get on the subject of the fire and losing my mom.
“Canada. Just me and my dad. We move around a good bit, too…because of his job. Mostly Europe. My mom left when I was little.”
“Oh…I’m sorry, too.” I detected a hint of sadness in his voice that tugged at my heart.
“It’s okay. It was a long time ago; I don’t even remember her…not really, anyway.”
There was this awkward exchange where neither one of us really knew what to say next, so we both started watching the aurora borealis, again.
I felt completely intimidated by him. He was perfect in every way, something I could never be. I kept giving him sidelong glances, and every time he was still eyeing me. He must have noticed because he suddenly flashed that sexy smile of his again, revealing a dimple I didn’t recall seeing before. A burning flush flew over me, I promptly lowered my eyes and smiled.
He slowly inched closer until his face was right next to mine. My heart sped up until I thought a heart attack was eminent.
He placed his hand on my chin and softly turned my face toward him. His hand was like ice at first, but quickly started to warm up, until it felt burning hot. His eyes danced back and forth between my lips and my eyes, and mine did the same. I wanted him closer to me, which made my heart ache. Somehow, I knew that nothing he did would get him close enough to satisfy me, and he would always leave me wanting more. It was as if a part of me physically needed William, and I had never felt that way about anyone before.
He inched his way closer, but just before our lips met, his expression turned hard and he quickly sat up.
“What…what is it?” I quickly sat up.
He creased his brow and pursed his lips. “Shh,” he said, not unkindly, cocking his head to the side. He paused briefly. “We should go.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. “Come on,” he said with an urgency in his voice.
“What’s wrong, William?” I searched his face and my heart fell, not knowing what I had done wrong. I think he realized it too.
“It’s not safe up here,” he said, his eyes narrowed and turned dark, and then I heard what I thought he might be referring to. An eerie howl echoed somewhere behind us. “Hurry,” he said, tightening his grip on my hand, and dragging me behind him.
As we neared the bottom I was compelled to look behind us and I saw why William had been so upset. Peering over the edge were three giant wolves revealing their fangs. There was something strange about their eyes. They looked almost human.
William didn’t waste any time getting us back over to the bonfire, around people, and of course a really big fire. I guess he figured that the wolves wouldn’t venture in too close.
I noticed Miss Baylor standing off by herself, leaned up against a car. She appeared to be nervously biting at her thumb nail. I told William I’d be right back and walked over to join her.
“Hey Miss Baylor,” I smiled. Apparently she was in deep thought, because she didn’t answer at first. “Miss Baylor…is everything all right?” I asked after lightly touching her on the arm.
“Hmm? Oh—yes, Genevieve. I’m sorry. I was a million miles away.” She forced a laugh, but I could tell something was definitely bothering her.
“Can I ask you a question?” I stood with my hands in my jacket pockets, eyes lowered, pushing around pebbles with the toe of my boot.
“Of course you can.” I detected a slight tremble in her voice.
“What was all that about in the cave earlier? I mean…at first I thought you were just telling spooky stories to try and scare us. But after the fire roared back up and I saw your face…” I trailed off.
“Gen, my great-great-grandfather was an Inuit Shaman, highly respected by the tribes in Alaska. All the great leaders came to him for guidance, or prayer, even healing. He was very powerful. He talked of the great war between the blood suckers and the shape-shifters.”
“Shape-shifters? Blood suckers?” I sort of shook my head, and smiled.
“Lycan are werewolf slaves, and the Adlet are giant werewolves. They’re both shape-shifters. And blood suckers are vampires. They have been fighting for years. Before my grandfather died he told about a vision he had with his spirit guide. A princess would walk among us, and on the night of the blood moon, she would claim her throne and end the war.
“Do you really believe all this? Because you sound a little…stressed.” Subconsciously, I had taken a few steps back.
“I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve seen them!” She snapped, but didn’t mean to. I didn’t think she noticed that I kept glancing past her, looking over the top of the cave.
“You saw them tonight, didn’t you?” She asked.
“Saw who?” I furrowed my brow. I was beginning to get a little freaked out.
“Not who…what.
The lycan were here tonight. They know of the princess too, except they don’t want the war to end. They want to kill her before she rises to take the throne.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This was stuff that was only supposed to exist in fiction books, and sci-fi movies. It wasn’t supposed to happen in real life, and certainly not around me.
I stared at Miss Baylor, waiting on her to laugh and say it was all just a big joke. But she never did. She believed every word of what she was telling me. I just wasn’t sure that I believed it.
“So…this princess…is she here?” I asked jokingly, but got totally freaked out when she stared at me, but never said another word.