Crescent World

08

I opened my mouth to say. . .something, I wasn't sure what, but Donald spoke. "Catching up, are we?"

"You can say that," Blake grumbled.

Donald grinned even wider, showing way too many teeth I was comfortable with. "Excellent. I'm glad you all have had the opportunity to catch up." He glanced up at the sky where the sun was starting to lower as evening approached. "We should start heading back. Dinner will be ready soon."

***

Donald allowed Sarah and me to eat in the dining hall with my Pack later that evening. Even though we couldn't talk freely about everything that was going on with Donald's guards everywhere, it was still nice to be able to sit with them and talk.

In a way, it felt like the old days, although not having Eric there left such a huge void that couldn't be overlooked. I was still desperately worried about him and wished he were here, though I clung onto the hope that he found somewhere safe far, far away from here and was getting us help.

The small, dark part of me wondered if he'd gotten away from here and was living his own life now and put everything that's happened here behind him, but I dismissed it. There was no way he'd escape and not try to help us. He could be offered a chance to live a life as a millionaire in luxury and he'd pass it by in order to save his Pack. I just knew it.

Dinner was wrapping up and I spotted Bryce sitting a few tables down with a trash can beside him. A perfect opportunity to talk to him without raising any suspicions.

"I'll be right back," I told everyone before grabbing my tray and walking over to the trash can.

There were other Shifters at the table with Bryce but he was sitting away from them at the edge and tapping away on his phone as the Shifters were too busy in their own conversation to notice him.

I threw away the tray and said, "I'm making progress," as the sound of the trash falling echoed throughout the room.

He gave such a subtle nod that others wouldn't have seen it without paying close attention but I caught it. Message received.

I walked back to my table and saw Rikki was glancing from me to Bryce. I raised an eyebrow but she just shrugged and turned back to her attention to the conversation Brandon was having with Blake and Perry.

Dinner was officially over a few minutes later and we were brought back to our rooms.

I spent the whole night tossing and turning, thinking about what Blake and Perry told me about that creature and how it'd ripped that poor boy apart. I kept having and waking up from nightmares about those creatures jumping out of the shadows and mutilating my family.

It was way, way too soon when Donald came by to wake me up. I groggily rolled out of bed, took a quick shower, changed into a green sweater and ripped jeans, bunched my hair in a messy bun on top of my head, then went outside to meet Donald.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us today," Donald said and led me to his office, where three huge textbooks greeted me.

Oh, joy.

***

I did put my research to good use as I flipped through the textbooks, trying to find any information about the creatures Blake and Perry had described. The textbooks talked more about other Other Beings and how they contributed to the Shapeshifter Packs being made. I read a small passage about Sorcerers being able to create life though it had been outlawed for centuries.

It was so brief and I tried scanning the other textbooks for additional information but that small passage was all that was there. A growl of frustration escaped me before I could stop it.