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CHAPTER 10

C alla

T he peace doesn’t last. The sounds of death split the air and remind us exactly where we are.

We’re still in The Tangle. Far from home. Nara can travel, but she’s still recovering from her wounds. Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to have any ongoing issues from the concussion, other than fatigue. Fiona and Tansy are scared to death—we all are, even if some of us are just better at hiding it. Brenna is trying to be courageous, but she seems to realize the sharp stick she’s clutching won’t save us if the noises get closer.

“Gunshots,” Fiona whimpers. “Do you think it’s the slavers? What if it’s Frank?”

“If it’s Frank, we’re fucked,” Brenna says. “But I’m not letting them take me without a fight.”

“I’m not going back in a cage,” Tansy sniffles, her eyes dry, despite the fear in her voice. “Never again. They’ll have to kill me first.”

“They might do a lot worse than kill us,” Nara says hesitantly.

“We should keep moving,” I say, motioning for them to follow me. “Once they deal with whatever they’ve run into, they’ll be coming for us.”

We’ve eaten what we can and gathered some fruit to take with us. We don’t have anything to hold water. The fruit will keep us going for a while, but I’m not sure it’s enough to get us home. I’m not even sure where home is. Not really. I think we’re still moving in the right direction, but without the stars, I might as well be navigating blind. The blind leading the blind. I never really understood that old saying until now.

We go in the opposite direction of the noise. The same direction we were headed before we found the oasis. I let out a half-sigh of relief when an hour passes, and nothing seems to be chasing us. Nothing we can hear, at least.

I haven’t had much time to think about the dream I had last night. Nara needed me as soon as I woke up and then we were too busy trying to survive. But was it actually a dream, or some kind of twisted vision? The Aether. The heat storms. The onyx wolf that turned into a man.

It felt too vivid to be just a dream. I could feel the heat searing my skin. Taste the ash and ruin in the wind. And his eyes—those gold eyes—they’ve stayed with me. I can picture them perfectly if I close my eyes, even for a moment.

He said he didn’t live long enough to claim me, but his brothers would.

I’m not even sure what he was. A wolf? A man? A ghostly memory, woven into The Aether? Maybe all three.

The hybrids we learned about in school were like Frank. Sort of. I pictured them being more animalistic. Minimal intelligence, driven by instinct, and certainly not able to have a conversation with me. Or hide so much pain behind slitted emerald eyes.

But I’ve never heard about any kind of hybrid that can shift like the wolf did.

Or make something strange and confusing clench my core.

“It’s been quiet for a while, Nurse Calla,” Fiona whispers, looking around as we continue our trek. “If it wasn’t so scary, this place would be kind of pretty, don’t you think? There’s nothing like this is Haven North.”

There’s so much innocence in Fiona. She’s a woman, but she hasn’t exhaled her last breath of childhood. Not yet. Everyone is like that, right before they learn their assigned path and start college. That’s when the supplements kick in, and everything is a little quieter. A little easier.

Fiona went from fearing the needle to seeing horrors the supplements would have never been strong enough to stifle. And still, somehow, her innocence persists. Even when she limps or groans from the spanking she got. Thank goodness that was the worst of it.

“We’re lost in the fucking woods, Fiona,” Brenna sighs, shaking her head and stabbing her stick into a tree we walk past. “There’s nothing pretty about it. Still, it’s better than where I’m headed when we get home.”

Brenna’s path is different. Unassigned. The last breath of childhood kicked out so fast you barely remember what it tasted like. Torn from your guardian and shoved into the Lower District. Half-rations, dirty water, and despair. Most people in Haven North don’t think about the Unassigned. They’re not worth remembering. Not when they have no purpose.

That’s never sat right in my stomach, even when I was properly regulated. We treated Unassigned sometimes, when the Lower District’s clinic overflowed, or they needed more care than a clinic can provide.

What makes Brenna any less worthy than the rest of us? Sure, she may not be able to learn medicine or teach, according to her aptitude scores, but I’d certainly rather have her by my side than a lot of people I’ve met in Haven North. Couldn’t she still… learn?

“Um, I think that tree just growled at me!” Tansy shrieks, jumping back and nearly sending Nara to the ground.

“Ah, damn it!” Nara gasps, grabbing at her ribs and catching herself on Fiona’s shoulder. “They growl, yeah. I’ve heard it, too.”

“Everything is okay.” I steady Nara, then turn to Tansy. “There are lots of scary things out here. We’re trying our best to avoid them.”

I glance at the tree that supposedly growled and take a step toward it to investigate. I stop in my tracks when roots tear from the earth and the tree takes a step backwards.

“What the fuck?” Brenna asks, aiming her stick at the tree.

I tilt my head slightly, then I feel the pulse on my wrist change. The bracelet is no longer in tune with my body. Tendrils reach toward the tree, and I walk closer. It trembles, roots shaking at my feet.

Then it speaks, its bark moving as it does. “I… I’m sorry,” it says in a voice that rattles the ground and makes the air shudder. “Please forgive me.”

I swallow hard and look back at everyone else, thinking the fruit we ate earlier is causing me to hallucinate. The look on their faces confirms they’re seeing it too—and hearing it. I turn to the tree and glance at my bracelet, seeing tendrils fluttering from the braided vine.

“It’s okay,” I call out. I’m talking to a tree, but after some of the things we’ve seen, I guess this isn’t that unusual in The Tangle. “You just scared her, that’s all.”

“Tansy? Is that your name?” the tree asks, turning itself to her—the part of the bark that is moving, at least.

“Y-yes,” Tansy whispers, her voice shaking.

“I shouldn’t have scared you,” the tree rumbles. “Oh, no, I’m still scaring you, aren’t I?”

“You’d scare her a lot less if you stopped talking and just stood there. You know, like a tree!” Brenna barks.

“Understood,” the tree replies, the wind around us sounding like a sigh.

The roots settle back into the earth and the tree goes rigid, just like all the others around us. My bracelet begins to pulse in rhythm with my heartbeat again, and the tendrils retreat into the vine.

“Alright, the show’s over,” Nara says, her voice sounding just like some teachers I had in school. The only thing missing is clapping to get our attention and a stern finger pointing out where we should go next.

“Yes, let’s keep going,” I say, rubbing my wrist before motioning for everyone to follow me.

That’s one voice in The Tangle that was impossible not to hear. But I think my bracelet had something to do with it. Allowed it to speak somehow? I’m not sure. There are too many mysteries out here, and we don’t have time to solve them. We have to find our way back to Haven North.

We hear noises in the distance that change our course—then more noises that send us in another direction. Howls, roars—the sound of something dying . Some of the howls almost sounded like a wolf, and it isn’t the first time I’ve heard that. I even heard something similar when we were in the cage.

At least I hope they’re just wolves, and not like the one in my dream. Could it be his brothers… coming to claim me? I feel another twinge inside me that makes heat color my cheeks. I don’t want to think about that.

“It’s getting dark again,” I say, motioning ahead. “We should stop for the night in the clearing.”

“I hope there are no talking trees around here,” Tansy whispers.

“It wasn’t a mean tree, except when it growled,” Fiona says. “It was actually rather polite, once Nurse Calla got close to it.”

“I’m not sure how I’ll be able to go back to teaching from textbooks after this,” Nara says, stretching out once we reach the clearing.

“Maybe you should write your own,” Brenna says, a slight edge to her tone. “Tell people the truth about what is out here. The world is a lot bigger than Haven North.”

“I’ve seen enough of it,” Tansy says. “I can’t wait to get home. Any idea how much further we have to go?”

I look up. It’s cloudy tonight, so I can’t see the stars. At least it doesn’t smell like rain. Hopefully they’ll clear before morning so I can confirm we’re headed in the right direction.

“We moved faster when we were in the cage, so it could be a few days,” I admit begrudgingly. “But for now, we need to rest. We’ve got food, but we should conserve as much of it as we can. We’ll still look for high ground, in hopes of finding more water.”

“I’ll take first watch tonight,” Tansy offers. “I’m still a little freaked out.”

The moment I lie down, I know sleep won’t come easy. Not with this bracelet on my wrist, pulsing in unison with my heart. But I need rest. Fiona’s curled up behind me, her back against mine. Nara is sleeping deeper now that the pain has eased. Brenna isn’t asleep, based on the way she’s breathing.

Everything’s quiet. Almost too quiet for The Tangle, but I try not to think about that. I turn over, adjust my position, and do it again. Then again. I move around so much Fiona scoots away from me. It should be her watch next. Just when I think I should offer to take over for Tansy and let Fiona sleep longer, I slip into a haze.

It isn’t sleep. Not really. It’s like before—some mixture of vision and dream. The world around me fades, the air thickens, and I’m back in that strange place. The place he called The Aether.

It looks different this time. Softer somehow. The heat storms that raged overhead have passed, though the sky is still veiled in a milky, unnatural gray. The scent of smoke clings to the breeze. It’s faint, but persistent. Beneath my bare feet, the ground is warm and spongy with layers of moss and coiled vines. The city in the distance is being rebuilt. I can make out scaffolding and the rising walls of what will one day become Haven North.

An eerie sensation creeps along my skin. The vines begin to stir, curling in waves like they’re breathing. Then they part, melting away to reveal him.

The onyx wolf. Massive and majestic, shimmering in the milky gray light. He doesn’t move at first, just lifts his head and stares at me with a haunted, golden gaze. Then he lets out a low, anguished howl that trembles through my core. His body ripples as he begins to shift, fur dissolving into flesh that becomes the mountains of his muscular frame.

He hasn’t aged, but that doesn’t surprise me. I’m not sure The Aether has aged, either. I’m seeing glimpses of the past, like some kind of dim reflection.

The wolf takes on the form of the seven-foot man with midnight hair—just seeing him again makes something tremble inside me. There’s a dampness between my legs like I used to wake up with some mornings before my first cycle of supplements. I squeeze my thighs together and he seems to notice. His golden eyes flick to my budding arousal and his lips curl into a grin. A grin that ignites a raw ache, low in my belly. My breath hitches when he takes a step forward.

“You’ve returned to The Aether,” he says, his voice low and rough. “You’re getting more comfortable with it, aren’t you?”

“Comfortable with what?” I ask, looking around. “I didn’t come here on purpose. I just… I just fell asleep.”

“No, you didn’t,” he murmurs, taking a step closer. “You came back to me. I can smell your arousal, Calla. All of my brothers will have this scent soon.”

He circles me slowly, like a predator. Every brush of air as he moves sends heat across my skin. When he passes behind me, I feel his breath on the back of my neck. It’s warm, damp, and causes me to shudder. He puts a hand on my lower back, leaving a tingle across it as he moves in front of me again, much closer than before.

“If you listen carefully, you can even hear some of them call out for you here in The Aether—the eternal anguish of never finding their mate,” he rasps, his eyes fierce and hungry.

Then the howls begin. One. Two. Then a haunting chorus that makes it hard to tell how many are echoing around us. I see wisps of smoke forming ghosts that resemble wolves, and they start to circle us, but they never fully take shape.

“These will be the last of my brothers to cry out in anguish,” the man says. “Those that still roam The Tangle will claim you. Mark you. Breed you.”

“Breed me?” My eyes get wide. “That isn’t even possible. If you and your brothers are after a Bride, then you picked the wrong woman. I’m… I’m not fertile.”

“You’ll see,” he rasps. “But for now, you should go. You don’t have the strength to remain in The Aether for long, especially after your journey today.”

The haze begins to dissolve around me, but I cling to it, even as it tries to push me away.

“Wait!” I call out. “Tell me your name.”

He looks up, his gold eyes flickering. “My brothers called me Silas.”

The haze vanishes and I gasp as I sit up. It’s almost dawn and Nara is sitting a few feet away, holding Brenna’s stick. She glances over when she hears me.

“Are you okay?” she asks gently.

No. Not even close. But I nod and shrug it off. “Yes, it was just a dream.”

I look up, taking in the position of the stars dawn hasn’t hidden from view. I make a mark in the dirt, pointing toward the route we should travel so we can get home to Haven North. I still don’t know how far away it is, but I feel better having a general direction again. Hopefully, we won’t lose it fleeing from the sounds of things we don’t want to encounter.

“I took a double shift, since you’ve been covering for me,” she says. “Figured you could use the rest.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” I shake my head, trying to regain my senses. “You’re hurt.”

“I’m much better today,” she says, lifting her tattered shirt to show me her ribs. “Most of the bruising has gone away. We should have brought some of those vines with us in case someone else gets hurt.”

“Maybe we don’t have to worry about that,” I say, shrugging a shoulder. “They appeared when we needed them, but I hope we don’t have to find out if that will happen again.”

After it gets lighter out, Nara and I wake the others. We eat some fruit, then break camp and I lead everyone in the direction I marked. Deeper into The Tangle. Closer to Haven North—I hope.

“More noises,” Nara cautions, pointing ahead.

“Let’s veer right,” I suggest, motioning in that direction until a loud howl stops all of us in our tracks. “Okay, left it is.”

We’re off course again. I try to find landmarks to follow that should line up with the stars. Rocks, trees, and ridges. It’s hard to trust the trees, since some of them move, so I try to rely mostly on the landscape.

By midday, I’m feeling like we’re lost again, but I don’t mention it to the others. I don’t want to take more of their hope away, especially since things have been silent for a while. The silence seems to stretch on. So much silence for The Tangle. The others don’t say it, but I can see it in their eyes. They’re expecting another growl, another anguished cry as a predator claims its prey, or the sound of one we need to flee from.

Instead, we hear… nothing. Not even the birds. The wind is gentle and warmer than it has been the last few days.

“The ground is a lot different here,” Nara observes. “This area has been well traveled.”

She’s right. The soil beneath our feet has changed. It’s firmer. Packed down, almost like a road, but not the broken highway we lost track of.

Tansy points ahead. “Over there. That rock. It almost looks like metal. It shimmers, like the wall around Haven North does at night.”

I feel a sense of unease and rub my thumb across my bracelet. It’s still pulsing, just like before. If there’s danger, it isn’t reacting.

We move carefully as we approach the shimmering rock. I brush aside a layer of moss and vines covering it, and sure enough—it’s not a rock. It’s a hatch. Old and rusted, but not broken. The seal around the edge still seems to be intact, and the faint impression of stenciled numbers is visible under the grime: Sector D-15 Bunker. Long-Term Containment & Survival Unit.

“What the hell is it?” Brenna asks, tilting her head slightly.

“It’s old,” Nara says. “It was built before the Great War, for sure. It might be an old military bunker.”

“There may be some supplies inside. Maybe even some weapons,” I say. “We should check it out.”

I grip the hand wheel with both hands and try to turn it. It doesn’t budge. Nara offers some assistance, but the two of us are no match for centuries of rust.

“I’ll help,” Fiona offers, lending a tiny bit of strength to our attempt, but it still doesn’t move.

“We won’t get into this without tools,” Nara concedes.

“There’s a cable over here,” Tansy says. “Brenna, give me your stick.”

Brenna hands over her stick and Tansy digs in the dirt around the cable. It’s mostly buried, but Tansy manages to unearth it enough for us to follow it toward a thick cluster of trees and a looming wall of rock, except something shimmers like the hatch. As we get closer, we see massive steel slabs embedded in the stone that is mostly covered by vines and brambles. One of the steel slabs is tilted toward us, and the vines around it look to have been cleared.

“Doors!” Tansy says excitedly. “This must be another way in!”

“Careful,” I caution. “Something opened this, which means they could be close.”

“It also means whatever supplies were inside were looted long ago,” Nara sighs. “But we should still look around. It’ll be dark soon. If whatever opened the doors has moved on, this might be the best place to rest.”

There’s enough light for us to see a narrow corridor on the other side of the door, but we can’t see much else.

“We won’t get far without light, but since we’ll be inside, we might be able to build a fire,” I say. “Let’s gather some sticks and vines. The dryer the better.”

We gather what we can and step into the bunker. The air inside is cooler and mustier. Stale, but not rotting. As we get past the illuminated corridor, my bracelet glows, providing just enough light for us to navigate further. We pass several doors that are closed, but don’t try to open them, because we see one open at the end of the hallway. I hurry toward it, making sure I don’t lose the others in the dark.

“I think this is some sort of control room,” Nara deduces, squinting as she tries to look around. “Calla, come closer. It looks like there is a lever on the wall.”

I walk closer and notice the lever. There’s a faded yellow sticker next to it that says Auxiliary Power. Nara and I exchange glances, then she attempts to push the lever up. I’m skeptical, but I offer my assistance. It takes both of us to get the lever to budge.

“This shouldn’t work after all this time,” I grunt, but the hum that follows the lever’s shift proves otherwise.

The low hum seems to echo through the bunker. The hum grows louder, then we hear grinding beneath our feet. A second later, a flicker of light. Then another.

“The lights are coming on!” Fiona says excitedly.

They’re not very bright, but they illuminate the bunker fairly well. The lights seem to be the only things that come on. The monitors and everything else in the control room remain silent, likely burned out from the solar flare, like the rest of the technology people relied on.

“I guess the generator, or whatever powers this place, was far enough underground that it wasn’t damaged,” Nara mutters, looking around. “But the circuits and wiring should be fried—unless someone repaired them.”

“Maybe the same person who opened the doors,” I say, feeling a twinge of concern. “Let’s investigate. If it looks like someone still lives here, we shouldn’t stay long. We’ll just grab whatever supplies we can find.”

We leave the control room and venture deeper into the bunker. It doesn’t take us long to realize the bunker is massive and built to house dozens, possibly more. We pass rooms lined with cots that are mostly just metal frames. The padding and bedding are musty and threadbare.

“There are lockers in this room,” Nara calls out. “We should check them for supplies.”

The five of us fan out and start opening lockers. Several have been busted open, and I see claw marks along the metal. Deep gashes that suggest it was a strong hybrid.

“I found a necklace,” Fiona says, holding up a metal chain that has two rounded pendants hanging from it.

“Those are dog tags,” Nara says. “Soldiers used to wear them so they could be identified—if there wasn’t anything else left to identify.”

Fiona shrugs and discards the necklace. We continue our search, but don’t come up with anything useful.

“I think we’re wasting our time,” Brenna sighs. “Anything useful in here would have been taken long ago. We’re clearly not the first ones to find it. Let’s just find somewhere to rest.”

“Yeah, somewhere far away from the entrance.” Tansy looks around nervously. “Just to be safe.”

Some paper maps, books, and manuals crunch under our feet as we continue on. This part of the bunker has been exposed to the elements outside. They’ve taken their toll, just like age. We walk past other rooms, but don’t spot anything useful—then we turn the corner and all of us freeze.

“I don’t like the looks of that,” Fiona whimpers, her eyes getting wide.

I don’t like it either.

Directly ahead of us is an open room. Whatever it was designed for originally is a mystery, but there are pelts on the floor—what type of animal or hybrid, I’m not sure. There are bones, all picked clean and weathered, lying in a pile. Metal shelves are lined with skulls. Animal, hybrid, and some I’m almost certain are human.

We came looking for shelter, but I’m starting to wonder if we just walked into something else’s home.

“We should leave,” I say, glancing over my shoulder.

“Why?” Brenna asks, walking ahead and looking at a row of skulls like she’s fascinated by them. “They’re clearly old. I don’t see any recent trophies.”

She’s not wrong. The air is colder here. A little thicker. But there’s no scent of rot or decay.

There are things in The Tangle a lot worse than bones.