The Waking (The Upturned Hourglass) (35 page)

“Come now, Jack. Let the girl speak.” Again, Isaac’s voice sounded casually reproving.

Jack seemed unable to reply. Valie wondered what this was like for him. She wondered why she herself didn’t feel more fear. Perhaps it was the nonchalant way Isaac spoke, or the fact that she had never truly heard him threaten her. Jack obviously believed such a threat was fact and up until this point, Valie had believed him. But, in looking at the commanding man that was her father, listening to him speak, a tiny blossom of doubt began to bloom in her heart.

“Valentine,” Isaac addressed. “How are you doing? I’m deeply sorry for the trouble that has surrounded you. It must be quite overwhelming.”

Valie nodded unwittingly. Jack remained stiff. The light had gone out of his eyes, which made Valie’s stomach tighten in apprehension. She had no idea what was going on in anyone’s mind, not even her own.

Isaac continued. “I apologize. It seems, in my efforts to reconnect with you, I’ve only caused confusion and disarray. This,” He motioned to the surrounding forest.
“Is my doing. You should never have been brought here, away from those you know and love. Though, I must say, Alden is in a sorry state to behold. I did not know of your circumstance or else I should have done something about it. You deserve better.”

A warning bell seemed to go off distantly in Valie’s mind as the stranger attempted to act paternal. She glanced at Jack. He seemed to be calculating. To the girl’s relief, the boy spoke.

“Where are the others, Isaac? Where are Terrence and Eliza?”

“Not here,” Isaac replied with a wave of a hand.

Jack’s defenses rose further. That was not what he had expected.

“I’m surprised you’ve come so close to those who would want you dead,” Jack said cautiously. Valie had thought the mention of Terrence and Eliza’s absence would have made him relax—it had had that effect on her—but he remained tensed for
action.
She
could tell he was planning, which meant Isaac could, too.

“They
will
seek my execution,” Isaac corrected vehemently. “But that’s for tonight’s convening Council to decide after they’ve heard my case. For now, I am a more respected member of Lycanthrope society than you are, my boy.” Jack flinched at the epithet, and stood up straighter. Isaac sighed. “Deserting your own . . . I’d hoped I could convince you to return to the pack, but I can see you’re determined to contest me.”

“You know me. I guess I’m going through my rebellious phase.”

Isaac frowned. “You know not from which you rebel.”

Jack smiled, his dark eyes narrowing. “I think I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Valie heard shouts coming from the house. How they could have learned of their predicament, Valie didn’t know, but she was grateful, grateful for whatever Jack was planning and the cavalry that would surely discover them.

“The others are on their way, Isaac. You won’t be able to get past us all.”

Valie started to breathe a sigh of relief, but it caught in her throat as Isaac gazed at her with a sinister stare. His eyes looked Valie up and down, making the girl shiver. She held onto the back of Jack’s arm, but she felt as if her protector was transparent, as if she were physically trapped in the yellow eyes just a few yards away. She was exposed, an ant of previous insignificance beneath the light of a magnifying glass, yearning for the protection of the shade.

The man
spoke, his tone cold, detached: “You forget. I have before and I will again.”

Before Valie could blink away her petrifaction, Isaac had blurred to her side, tearing Jack from her timid grasp, trapping his arm behind his back. The boy growled in pain as Isaac twisted it in an unnatural direction with inhuman speed.

“Stop!” Valie cried. Seeing Isaac’s cold resolve, she cried out helplessly.

Shane and Noah arrived on the scene, ripping the air with fierce roars of warning, but upon seeing Jack pinned, they too
froze.

“Isaac. What are you doing?” Shane demanded. Her
voice held a hint of appall. If Valie’s entire heart hadn’t devoted itself to fearing for Jack’s life, she would have felt sorry for the she-wolf. Shane had seemed the least supportive of Jack’s vendetta against Isaac because of her reluctance to abandon what she considered her family, but here was living proof that he who she thought was family was truly the monster Jack knew him to be.

“Be quiet, Shane,” Isaac snapped as he backed away. Shane flinched like she’d been slapped. Tears came to her distant eyes.

Valie stepped toward Isaac unthinkingly. “Don’t,” he warned severely. “Or I will break his arm.” His hold tightened. Jack’s eyes met Valie’s, reinforcing Isaac’s words. She took a deep breath in an attempt to rein in her raw and overwhelming fear.

“What do you want?”

Isaac smiled. Valie did not care for the expression, behind which she knew some baleful intent lurked.

“Come with me willingly. If you do, I will let him and the others live.”

Jack opened his mouth to protest, but Isaac clamped his free hand tightly over the boy’s mouth. Jack attempted to resist despite the pain, but to no avail.

“No, Valie,” Noah murmured. He stood perfectly still, trying to keep any movement as innocuous as possible. Valie didn’t look at the boy. She considered Isaac’s words carefully. If she went with him, she would die. If she didn’t, her new friends would take her place and who knew? She might follow soon after anyway.

She knew her choice.

“Valie…” Noah began to warn.

“No,” she replied warily, holding up a silencing hand. She spoke to Isaac. “If I go willingly, you will not touch Jack or any of the others. You won’t lay a hand on them once we’ve gone.” Her words sounded stronger than she thought possible at this point near the ultimate end.

Isaac’s eyes narrowed. He tilted his chin upward in appraisal of her counter-offer.

“Very well. No harm shall befall them.”

Valie nodded, looking not at Isaac, but at the boy powerless in his grasp. Jack’s eyes screamed with both wrath and alarm.

“It’s okay,” Valie mouthed, unable to use her voice without tears coming to her eyes.

Jack fought Isaac’s superior strength, thrashing against the physical restraint, making his arm explode with pain.

“This is touching, really,” Isaac mocked. “But I’m afraid you’ll do nothing but cause trouble trying to tail us, my boy. It was nice to see you.”

“What…?” Valie began to ask, apprehensive, but before she could voice the question, Isaac had struck Jack in the head, knocking him unconscious.

Valie rushed to the fallen boy’s side. She whimpered for him to get up, checking his pulse. He was alive.

Shane tried to run to her friends’ side, but in one swift motion, Isaac had both the she-wolf and Noah out cold on the damp forest ground.

“No!” Valie couldn’t find the strength to rise from her place beside Jack. “You said…” she choked. “You said…”

Isaac shook his head impatiently. “I’m sorry, my dear, but they would never have let you leave with me. Come.
Jericho will be along all too soon.”

Valie was unwilling to rise. The impact of what she was about to do hit her with full force. She didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want to die.

Isaac, sensing her change in heart, sighed.

“If you do not come, I’ll kill them all,” he explained dispassionately. “Come.”

Valie looked up at the man, wondering why he didn’t just kill her here. He could dispatch everyone easily. They were helpless as they lay. The agreement between them was hollow when there was no one able to enforce Valie’s position.

“Valentine,” he chided.

A wave of acceptance swept over her. This had always been her fate. She’d been a fool to try to fight it. Jack had instilled a sense of hope within her from the very beginning.

Inevitability had a reputation of destroying all hope.

Valie rose to follow, surrendering to protect those she cared for. To her surprise, Isaac walked on ahead, leading her away into the woods with only the expectation that she’d follow.

She did.

After witnessing what Jack and the others could do, she could only imagine how her father’s powers would be amplified by age and experience. She had no chance of escape.

Once or twice, as they trekked through the forest, Valie was inclined to ask where they were going, but she refrained. It really didn’t matter. An hour passed in virtual silence, with only Valie’s footsteps disturbing the grass and fallen leaves. Isaac moved soundlessly, a ghost passing between the trees.

After a time, Valie began to tire. She wondered why the others hadn’t followed. Valie’s tracks had to be easily traced. She spent the majority of the time contemplating the question, wondering what Isaac had up his sleeve.

When the two hit what appeared to be the opposite end of forest, dead-ending at a decaying road, the answer dropped from the trees.

Eliza.

Valie jumped back, frightened by the appearance of the fierce she-wolf. She stumbled, falling to the ground. With a look of disdain, Eliza offered her willowy hand in aid. Valie, ignoring the gesture, rose, brushing the bracken off of her jeans. Valie had not yet forgotten their encounter at the lake back in California.

Eliza rolled her dark eyes.

“Hello, dear,” Isaac greeted. It was the first time he’d spoken in so long a time that the sound surprised Valie. His tone held an amount of exhaustion, but remained commanding nonetheless.

“All traces are either gone or confused. This one,” She nodded toward Valie. “Walks like an elephant stuffed in shoes.”

Valie did not like Eliza’s vicious tone. It set her on edge. Isaac had a calmness about him that made his company bearable. Eliza had the opposite effect on Valie’s nerves. Her presence made Valie more claustrophobic than ever, as if the trap she had knowingly walked into was about to spring.

Isaac shook his head. “Valentine does not share the same benefits that we ourselves enjoy, Eliza. Bear that in mind before you begin to criticize.”

Eliza made a look of disgust. “I do not miss being…like
her
.”

Eliza glared at Valie as the girl stood near her father. Though Valie considered her life forfeit, she did not want to spend what little time she had left next to Eliza’s condemnatory form.

“I’m sure you don’t remember it. It was so long ago,” Isaac indulged. He looked up and down the edge of the forest, along the road. Apparently they were waiting for something.

At the mention of Eliza’s age, Valie couldn’t help but smirk. She was going to die anyway. She might as well enjoy her last words.

“How old are you, Eliza?” she inquired of the red-headed beauty. She looked not a day older than thirty, but Valie knew better. “I mean, I can see you must have been changed quite late in life, but how long ago was that?” Valie didn’t falter in the minor insult, blinking innocently as Eliza’s glare turned deadly. The she-wolf stepped quickly toward the amber-eyed girl. Valie didn’t flinch. She understood that Eliza was not going to be the one to bring her to her end.

As expected, Isaac halted Eliza’s advance with one meaningful glance.

“Behave,” he ordered the fuming woman. She settled, however her original dislike of Valie quickly escalated to loathing. Something told Valie, though, that it was an easy task to repulse Eliza.

Valie heard the car before she saw it. It was a large vehicle, a black SUV fit for eight people. As it pulled to the side of the road, Valie saw Terrence manning the driver’s position. He actually grinned at her as he parked.

Isaac opened the rear door, ushering Valie inside. Luckily, Eliza took her place at Terrence’s side in the front passenger seat. Isaac sat in the middle row while Valie took refuge in the very back, rolling the window down.

“Claustrophobic,” Valie half-heartedly explained as Isaac
gave her a questioning look. At this point, she wondered if passing out would be a good thing.

Valie, feeling only depression and very little fear in her inevitable circumstance, decided to take advantage of the time to ask what she wished.

“Where are we going?”

“To a nearby cabin.
We’ll conduct our business there. It’s near enough to the Council meeting that I won’t have to worry about making good time.”

Valie’s jaw dropped open. “Why would you go to the Council?” she asked, incredulous. No wonder Jack’s plan hadn’t worked. It had hinged on the thought that Isaac would avoid the Council at any cost. But if Isaac ran toward his enemies and truly had no fear, then all would have been lost anyway when Jack presented his case at the meeting.

Isaac glanced at Valie’s disbelieving expression and smiled with a wicked glint to his eye. The sight made Valie shiver. She hoped that look never entered her own amber eyes.

“To show them
you
, of course,” he laughed. Valie wanted to take back her words, preferring Isaac’s previous stoic silence. At least it didn’t make her stomach turn.

“Why would you show them
me?
Won’t they sentence you to death? Won’t they sentence
me
to death?”