Born By Moonlight by Krista Street
Chapter 4
~ AVERY ~
I frowned heavily as I listened to Wyatt’s retreating footsteps along the hallway. Confusion still flooded me that he’d actually seemed genuine in his concern for me, but that quickly gave way to unease.
I told myself it was entirely because of the bomb he’d just dropped on me—his sinister message about my health—but I knew that wasn’t the only reason.
He was leaving for an assignment, and I had no idea if I’d ever see him again.
I shook my head. No, that’s no longer my concern. He was simply doing his job, and that had nothing to do with me.
Instead, I focused on his dire warning, and my stomach twisted, worry slithering through my gut like a venomous serpent.
What did the healers withhold from me this morning and why?
“Avery? Is something amiss?” Eliza’s singsong tone carried to me from the couch. The purple-haired fairy was sipping a cup of herbal tea while reading a trashy magazine. She’d become obsessed with them in the past few weeks, ever since discovering them at the grocery store downtown.
I forced a smile. “No. Everything’s fine.”
I retreated to my room, pacing the length of it while scratching at my sternum. The damned itching had started again along with that weird hum in my chest.
Promise me that you’ll make them tell you. And promise me that you’ll hold on to life.
His cryptic words quickened my pacing. A part of me debated if I should head to the healing center now to insist on an explanation, but I felt fine. I truly did.
Surely, it couldn’t be that serious, but still, I would ask tomorrow.
∞ ∞ ∞
I didn’t need the magical alarm to wake up the next day. I hadn’t slept well, tossing and turning as I waited for my morning appointment at the healing center even though I’d spent most of yesterday trying to convince myself that Wyatt had been overreacting.
At least I hadn’t had another nightmare—no screaming awake today.
Much to my roommates’ surprise, I was the first one up and dressed. Eliza had only just pulled out the coffee pot while Charlotte stumbled out of her room, bleary-eyed and still in her pajamas, as I headed to the front door to slip on my shoes.
“Is there a sufficient reason you’ve risen from bed before the sun’s shining on a Sunday?” Eliza asked, her hand still in the coffee canister as she tried to fish out the scoop.
“I have to check in with the healing center every morning. Be back soon.” I rushed out the door before more questions could follow.
I’d told my roommates about Wyatt’s new assignment yesterday, but I hadn’t told them about his concern for my health.
I didn’t fully understand why I hadn’t told them everything. A part of me wondered if my subconscious thought that if I didn’t speak of Wyatt’s ominous warning, nothing bad could come from it. Some weird cosmic shit like that, as though giving Wyatt’s comments more time and energy only made them more relevant.
Shaking my head, I jogged down the stairs. Regardless of whatever was going on with me, the bottom line was, I didn’t have time to be sick—if that’s what had truly happened to me.
I had my ambassador job starting soon. I had a final test to pass. Then I would be off to Geneva to officially begin my life.
I’d been waiting for this moment for years.
Thinking of my future job at the Supernatural Ambassador Institute helped calm me as I pushed open the doors to the outside. How long had I dreamed of getting to this place in my life? I’d worked so hard over the past few months here at the SF, not to mention the years of studying beforehand, and it was all about to pay off.
Moonlight bathed the grounds as I picked up a brisk pace on the sidewalk. It was still ridiculously early, but at least it wasn’t as cool today, although I knew that was thanks to the Supernatural Forces’ wards which helped control the outdoor temperature.
When I reached the healing center, it was dark on the ward. Nighttime lights gave off a bluish glow.
“Private Meyers, good morning.” One of the witches sitting behind the main station greeted me in hushed tones. She was young with blond hair and a wide mouth. “Farrah isn’t here yet. Her shift doesn’t start for another hour.”
“Oh.” Crap. “What about Douglas? Is he here?”
“No, he doesn’t ever work here unless he’s specifically called in.”
I bit my lip. “Well, I’m here for my check-in. I was told to come in each day after I woke up, and I was hoping to talk to someone more about the comet’s effects on me. Could you do that?”
The young witch shared a wary look with her co-worker who was fiddling with potions in one of the cabinets.
“I’m afraid not, but I’ll give Farrah a call and see if she can come in early.” The witch extracted her SF tablet, the magical device buzzing to life. “Why don’t you have a seat, although in the future it would probably be best if you didn’t arrive quite so early.”
I grumbled under my breath but did as she asked. It would have been helpful if I’d been given more specific instructions. Like a time to show up here.
Irritation washed through me, but then I reasoned that I had come in particularly early today. But that was also because I still needed to retrieve my Explorer from downtown. I’d completely forgotten about it yesterday after I’d woken up in the afternoon, and it’d been nearly two days since I’d parked it on the street outside of the supernatural marketplace, which meant I would be lucky if it wasn’t towed.
I groaned. That additional stressor was all I needed right now.
I kicked myself again for forgetting about my car, but it had completely slipped my mind after spending half the day sleeping, then having Wyatt show up, then trying to get out of explaining everything to my roommates, and finally spending two hours on the phone with my parents when they’d called.
That conversation had been exhausting enough. Apparently, my parents had missed multiple calls from my commander on Friday night—while I’d been unconscious in the healing center—telling them that something had happened to me.
They’d finally connected with him yesterday morning, but Wyatt’s recount of the event hadn’t put them at ease. So I’d spent most of our phone call yesterday reassuring them that I was fine, even though after my conversation with my commander, I wasn’t actually sure if I was.
Initially, my parents had insisted on coming back from their positions in India to be with me in the States, but I’d managed to convince them not to.
“Avery?”
Farrah’s voice jolted me from my mulling. The older healing witch stared down at me, her astute expression already raking over my form, as if her gaze could magically assess my organs and internal well-being.
I forced a smile. “Hi. I’m here for my check-up.”
“Come with me.”
I followed her down the hall, the blue-tinted lights dipping everything into shadows, before she stopped at a room full of machinery.
She led me inside. “We’ll do a few scans, then you can be on your way.”
“Speaking of scans . . .” I hopped onto the table she waved toward. “Can you tell me more about what happened to me? Is everything okay? Or am I actually sick?”
Her hand stilled by the magical device near the wall, but she quickly recovered and pulled the machine over. “What exactly do you remember about your condition?”
“Um, not much. Honestly, that entire night is kind of a blur.”
“Let’s just see where things are at first, then I’ll explain.” She had me slip into a loose gown before attaching electrical probes to my head, chest, and legs. A buzz of magic washed over me once they were all in place. Following that, she told me to lie down before positioning the scan above me.
“This will just take a few seconds.” She pushed a button, and a swath of magical lasers erupted from the machine, scanning me from head to toe. When finished, she had me sit upright again before pulling the sticky probes off.
The hum of magic that had been encasing me ceased, and I quickly dressed before sitting down on one of the vinyl chairs lining the wall.
Farrah reviewed some things on the machine’s data, her expression impossible to read. Following that, she grabbed the chair at my side, scooting it over until it faced me.
She sat, a soft whirring of her magic registering in my senses, but her next words took my breath away. “What I’m about to tell you may be upsetting, but please know that the SF is doing everything in its power to ensure that you remain well.”
She whispered a spell, and the lights shut off completely before an area in the far wall lit up. An image of the scan she’d just taken stared back at me.
“Do you see this here?” She pointed, and a magical spark shot from her fingertip, glowing around a circular object in my chest that the scan had brought up. The image was white and dense, as if whatever was inside me was as strong and thick as bone. “This is what the Safrinite comet did to you. It’s encased your magic, and if you look over here—” More magical sparks erupted from her fingertips, highlighting some kind of graph. “You’ll see the effect that it’s having on your magic and life source.”
I stared at the jumble of brightly colored lines and numbers. “What does all of that mean?”
After she whispered another spell, the magical display ended, and the lights kicked on. Farrah’s mouth downturned, her eyes growing soft. She took a deep breath. “It means that unless we can figure out what that comet did to you and reverse it, you will inevitably die.”
“What?” For a moment, I just sat there, immobile.
There was no way I’d heard her right.
But then Wyatt’s dire warning came crashing back. Promise me that you’ll make them tell you. And promise me that you’ll hold on to life.
I scratched my chest again, the itching increasing. Farrah opened her mouth to reply, but I jumped up, my heart thundering. So this was what Wyatt had been referring to? Still, I shook my head. Denial grew in me so strongly, I was swimming in it. “You have to be wrong. That can’t possibly be the case.”
“Avery, it’s not wrong. The scans show—”
Blood pounded through my ears. “If that is true, why wasn’t I told this yesterday? Why did I have to ask this now to learn about my inevitable death? What if I’d never asked? Would anyone have ever told me?”
A guilty look overtook her face. “I’m sorry. We should have explained better yesterday—”
“You didn’t explain at all! And if I hadn’t brought it up today, would anyone have told me?”
“Yes, we would have. Actually, today I would have after this scan. I’m sorry, perhaps we should have told you everything yesterday, but we’ve often found that most individuals who have experienced trauma aren’t in the right frame of mind for education directly following an incident. But today, you’re rested and feeling better, so I’m happy to explain everything.”
For a moment, I sat numbly. Her demeanor was so calm and apologetic. Still, I oscillated between whether I should be angry or cry. “You should have told me yesterday, even if you had to explain it again today.”
She inclined her head. “And for that I’m sorry, but if you’ll let me, I’ll explain now.” After I gave a curt nod, she continued. “Whatever magic infected you is eating away at your insides. It seems to be consuming both your life force and magic. Why? We don’t know. In fact, we’ve never seen anything like this.”
“So you don’t know how to fix it?”
Her lips thinned. “At this point, no, we don’t, but we’ll continue trying potions and spells when you visit us each morning. We’re not giving up, but you may notice the effects of the comet as the days pass. Or you may not. Its effects may come on suddenly instead of gradually. Honestly, we just don’t know. I wish I had better news for you.”
I dropped my chin, staring at my fingers. “Can I even finish training? Or will that weaken me further?”
Farrah reached for me, but I pulled back. The entire world suddenly began tumbling down. Did everything stop here? Was everything I’d been working toward just made obsolete? Was this officially the end of my dream?
My hands began to shake. No. No. No.
As if sensing my growing meltdown, Farrah licked her lips and replied in a quiet, steady voice, “We don’t believe training will harm you. If it did, we would have notified you and your commander. From what we can tell, and from what our tests have shown us, nothing will alter the course you’re currently on. You could lie in bed all day, or run a marathon each morning—it wouldn’t matter—your magic and life force are being influenced by whatever the Safrinite comet did, not by what you’re doing, if that makes sense. So, if you would like to finish your last week of training, you may. However, if you would rather stop training entirely while we try to get to the bottom of this, that’s fine too. I’m sure everyone would understand.”
My chest heaved as her words sank in. It didn’t matter what I did. I could train, not train—nothing would stop this.
Everything inside me went cold, as if I’d just turned off. “I need a minute.”
“Of course.”
A million thoughts slammed through my mind as my head fell into my hands. The speed of my whirling thoughts made it impossible to think rationally.
But Wyatt’s quiet warning whispered through the back of my mind.
Promise me that you’ll make them tell you. And promise me that you’ll hold on to life.
I choked on my breath, which got a concerned look from Farrah, but I stayed quiet. She and Douglas may have meant well, but it was wrong to keep this kind of information from me. They should have told me immediately.
“Would you like me to write a note to your commander, relieving you of your duties?” Farrah asked.
Her quiet question only made me realize how serious this was, but a new sense of resolve grew within me.
I wasn’t ready to give up, and I sure as hell wasn’t ready to tuck tail and run from the SF to my inevitable funeral. I’d worked too damned hard over the past three months to give up now. I could afford to spend my last full week at the SF finishing training, especially if the physical exertion didn’t alter the pre-destined course that the Safrinite comet had forced me on.
I sat up a little straighter and took a deep breath. “No. I’m going to finish what I started here.”
She nodded, her expression gentle, and in that look I could see the lingering question lurking beneath the surface—and then what?
But I wasn’t ready to face that yet. I still had my ambassador position waiting in Geneva. Maybe by some miracle, the SF would figure out in the next few days what had happened to me and reverse it. Then I could continue with my life as I’d planned—which meant I definitely needed to finish my training and complete my final test.
“Is there anything I can do to stop this?” I asked. “Maybe if I try to fight the comet’s magic with my own, even though it’s encased? Or maybe I could return to the fae lands to see if that reverses it?”
Her brow furrowed. “You’re of course welcome to try whatever you like, but I don’t want to give you false hope.” My expression must have fallen, because she lurched forward to grip my hand comfortingly. “But rest assured that the SF is looking into this.”
I pushed to a stand, my pulse racing, but at least I’d made up my mind about not giving up. “In that case, I should go. I have to get my car.”
Farrah stood, too, her lips pressed into a sympathetic smile. “If you change your mind about training, just drop by and let me know. Otherwise, I’ll see you again tomorrow.”
“Right. See you tomorrow.” I somehow managed to keep my chin up as a numb feeling coated my insides. But I focused on the task at hand—the only thing in my life that I could control right now—getting my car.
Thinking about anything beyond that would surely dissolve me into an emotional mess.
I left the room, and once on the ground floor, I pushed through the exit door to the outside.
A few SF members strolled by on the sidewalk, and the dawn sun lit the land in pale light. I rubbed my arms, more from nerves than cold, and just stood there.
What am I doing now?
Oh, right. Going to the garage.
I picked up my pace, eventually breaking into a jog as I ran toward the SF garage. I kept my focus on what I needed to do today, using it to ground me—get my car, maybe go for a walk, eat, then sleep. That was it. It was Sunday, a day off, so I could spend today taking it easy and trying to process everything that I’d learned.
Tomorrow, after training, I could try to find answers about what had happened to me and hopefully find a way to stop it.
Suddenly, I wished I hadn’t told my parents to stay in India. I wished that they were here with me now.
No. You’re fine. The SF or you will figure out what’s wrong with you and fix it. Mom and Dad don’t even need to know.
A few minutes later, I reached the garage.
One of the technicians raised his eyebrows when I barreled through the door. “Private Meyers? May I help you?”
I ran a shaky hand through my hair. Labored breaths made my chest rise and fall. Maybe I shouldn’t have run.
I forced a smile. “Sorry, I just need to get my car from downtown. I was hoping someone could—”
But my jumbled words ground to a halt when I spotted a familiar black Explorer parked near the end of the garage.
“Is that my car?” I blurted.
The technician turned his lanky body toward it. “Indeed it is. Are you checking out?”
I shook my head, confusion making me frown. Did I get my car yesterday and not remember doing it? Oh my Gods, if that were the case, what the hell did that mean?
“No, I . . . uh, I guess I don’t need to go anywhere. I came here to get a ride downtown so I could retrieve my car, but I see that it’s already here.” I shuffled my feet. “Did I bring that back here yesterday?” Please say no. Please say no.
He cocked his head, his brows pinching together. “I don’t recall seeing you in the vehicle. I believe it was just Major Jamison who retrieved it.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief that more hours of my life hadn’t just slipped from my memory, but then surprise made my head snap back. “Wait, Major Jamison got it?”
“Yes, I’m quite certain that was who drove it.”
My lips parted. That meant that Wyatt had gone out of his way to get my car for me, apparently not expecting anything in return, on a day when he was preparing to leave for a new assignment.
A flare of begrudging gratitude filled me. “That was very”—I frowned—“thoughtful of him.”
The technician smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He was probably wondering why a crazy-looking new recruit was bothering him at this ungodly hour with questions about a vehicle that she had no intention of actually doing anything with.
Banging sounds came from the other end of the garage. He looked over his shoulder toward it. “Indeed. Now, if there’s nothing else . . .”
He let his words hang, and I backed up. “No, sorry for the confusion. Thanks for your time.”
I exited the garage before I could act even more chaotic and forced myself to walk at a slower pace back to my apartment.
I took deep breaths the entire time, yet I still couldn’t believe Wyatt had done something so nice for me.
The itching sensation began in my chest again, and for the first time, I realized that sensation lay exactly where the scan said the Safrinite comet had encased my magic and life force. So that was what caused the itching.
I dropped my hand and looked down, as if I could see into myself. See this thing that had taken a hold of me.
My lips parted as the enormity of that hit.
Tears formed in my eyes, my numb feeling slipping. Another SF member passed me, eyeing me, but I quickly averted my face and wiped the tears away.
No. I need to keep it together. All I needed to do today was eat and sleep. That was it.
I squared my shoulders and reminded myself that eventually I would be fixed, and that this wouldn’t be the end. Because this couldn’t be how my life ended. I was too young. I had too much I wanted to do.
I pictured Wyatt’s dark hair, square chin, and green eyes. A flutter ran through me. He’d actually been kind enough to check on me yesterday and retrieve my car when he probably had a gazillion other things he needed to be doing.
Dammit. Why was he being so nice? It was harder to dredge up my hatred for him when he acted that way.
Yet when I reached my barracks, the sneaking realization that Wyatt had not only retrieved my car, but that he’d also made a point to visit me before he left, truly hit me. He’d wanted me to know the truth about my condition.
He’d essentially been the only one who had deemed me worthy of that information right away—information that was by right mine.
And as I opened the door to my apartment, it struck me for the first time that Wyatt had been the only one on my side.
