The rest of the drive to the airport was spent in silence. I could tell that Nico was thinking about something. I could almost sense his anger. When we got to the private airstrip and got our bags loaded, I finally asked him what was wrong.
“I can’t stop thinking about that story. About Javi’s pack going down south to that orphanage.”
When I’d heard the royals had ordered the murder of three babies, my own blood had boiled. The shock, disbelief, and anger had been almost more than I could stand. I nodded. “I feel the same way. I mean, I know it’s incredibly distant, but those kids are my relatives. They’ve been targeted simply for existing. They’re just babies. How could anyone think they were a threat?” My tone kicked up a notch with each word I said.
Nico put a hand on my shoulder as we walked up the stairs to the plane. “Stay calm, Maddy. Remember what I said about the plane. Not a good place to have a stressed-out wolf.”
He was right. As the plane took off, it was like my skin was too tight. My wolf and I had come to an agreement, a happy truce. Even then, the flight was rough. My anxiety was high and my senses were at an all-time high. It was an exhausting flight. Thankfully, I finally fell asleep after three hours of dealing with it.
I didn’t wake up until we landed in Sweden. The thump of the landing gear hitting the pavement jolted me awake. I rubbed my eyes and glanced outside, chuckling softly. I was actually in Sweden. It wouldn’t to be a fun trip, but it was still a pretty cool moment.
“What’s so funny?” Nico asked.
“I’ve never been to Europe. It’s kinda neat. Even though we’re on a life-or-death mission.”
A car waited for us on the tarmac. Nico had arranged it beforehand. The keys were hidden on one of the tires. After we loaded the car up and got in, Nico punched in the coordinates that Kenneth had given him, then the next leg of our trip began. It was midafternoon there, and already the jet-lag was dragging at me. It didn’t, however, stop me from checking out all the sights as we went.
The safe house was a four-hour drive from the airport, and for the first hour or so, things were fine. But the deeper we got into the countryside, the more anxious I became. It was different from what I’d experienced on the plane. This was more intense, a bone-deep worry. My wolf was pacing and whining inside my head, pushing my anxiety even further.
Nico must have noticed. Two hours into the drive, he finally said something. “Maddy, are you all right? You seem…I don’t know.”
I nodded, continuing to stare out the passenger window. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” I said, hiding the anxiousness. I tried to calm myself and my wolf down, but it wasn’t working.
After stopping for a snack, we continued to follow Kenneth’s directions and turned onto a smaller country road that took us deeper into the mountains. I closed my eyes and pretended to nap, but in reality, I was just trying to hide my building anxiety. It felt like an eternity before Nico finally pointed out the window at a cabin up the road.
I sat up to look and saw that the thing was like something out of a storybook. It was flanked by a distant waterfall and completely surrounded by old growth trees. The sky was barely visible through the canopy, giving the place an early evening look. It was so shrouded in shadows that I had a hard time making out just how big it was.
The trees seemed familiar. I frowned and looked around as Nico pulled the car up and put it in park. The entire area seemed familiar. I’d never been here before, so why would this piece of property jog something in my memory?
My eyes snapped wide open. I knew where I’d seen all this before-in my dream about the moon. This looked just like the forest I’d walked through in that dream. Instead of calming me down, the realization made me even more nervous.
Kenneth stepped out onto the porch and waved us in. We grabbed our luggage and walked up the steps.
“Glad you all made it,” Kenneth said, taking one of the bags from me.
He hurried us inside, closed the door, then quickly locked it and set what appeared to be an alarm panel. I gaped at it. “How the hell did you get that installed way out in the middle of nowhere? I didn’t even see any power lines running to this place.”
Kenneth grinned. “You learn a lot of things over the years when you’re trying to stay hidden.”
He surprised me by dropping the bag and enveloping me in a massive hug. I stared over his shoulder at Nico. His eyes were wide, and he had a shocked grin on his face. “Uh…nice to see you, too,” I mumbled as he set me back down on the ground. But before he released me, I returned the hug. He was my uncle, after all.
“Sorry. You start to miss human interaction when you live alone like this. Plus, I miss your father, and you remind me of him.”
“It’s okay,” I said.
“I was just getting some food ready for an early dinner. Hope you like Swedish food. Smoked fish, roasted potatoes, and of course meatballs. I made a bit of everything, I wasn’t sure how hungry you’d be.”
Other than some dill-flavored potato chips and a Swedish chocolate bar, we hadn’t eaten anything since leaving America. Nico and I both dived in, devouring everything Kenneth had put together.
After eating Kenneth’s entire spread, the three of us sat and relaxed by the fireplace. Nico and I on the couch, Kenneth on a recliner.
“Well, we have news about Javi,” Nico said as he sipped a cup of hot chocolate Kenneth had made for us.
“Is he dead?” Kenneth asked hopefully.
Nico shook his head. “Even crazier. He’s allied himself with us. He turned his back on the royals after they ordered him and his pack to kill three eighteen-month-old babies in El Salvador.”
“Eighteen months old?” Kenneth said in horror. “Because they have some shred of the old blood in them?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Javi had to…eliminate some of his own guys who wanted to go along with the plan.”
Kenneth slapped his thigh in anger. “Those baby-killing sons of bitches,” he hissed. “Those kids are…well, hell, they’re our family, right?”
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