Wolf Song (Wolf Singer Prophecies Book 1)

become contaminated. Blood sickness and disease. Infertility.
And that would have been Earth’s final legacy.
AEGIS wanted to direct Human evolution toward a different path. What they reaped instead was its destruction.Soleil
The tea in my hand was ice-cold when Creed had finished telling his story. I had stopped drinking it sometime after the first part of his tale. He barely stumbled in his recitations, and even so, I didn't want to interrupt in case that messed him up somehow. "Something tells me that a lot of that wasn't exactly a story."
He merely met my gaze and dropped it again. Whatever hold he'd had to compel him otherwise, kept him from saying anything else.
"So what you mean to tell me is that somehow my dad and mom were involved with a scientific research that involved new kinds of magic?"
He nodded.
"And that the new kind of magic opened a gateway into an unknown, and that now there are unholy plagues in the world because of it? Because of my parents?"
"I wouldn't say that it was because of your parents. They were the ones invited to the research and your mother was told to identify plants. And your father, well, he was asked to consult on hunting and creating shields."
He looked at me meaningfully.
Of course. As an outspoken preacher and activist, my father would be recruited to do these things. No wonder he was so sure there were monsters that wore human skin. He had been working with the people who had created them.
This was starting to make a little sense then. "So he made a shield. And?"
"Something happened and the shield didn't work out as planned. The lab was destroyed and the researchers were nowhere to be found."
I nodded. I remembered that my parents mentioned a lab in their past, but they never made it seem all that important. "Why was this all relevant now?” I mused more to myself.
Creed shifted on his feet, and it drew my attention. I let myself really look at him. His cheekbones were of course still perfect, but his face looked leaner, bleaker after the telling. In fact, he looked damn near drained.
I felt ridiculously selfish sitting here when he looked about ready to faceplant. "Sorry, I didn't think about the fact that you're probably tired. I should let you sleep."
He perked up then. "I won't sleep unless you do."
I raised my eyebrow at him. I hadn't planned on going to sleep any time soon. I finally had pieces of my mother back after all this time. I was able to recall some memories of her that didn't end with her being lured away into the night.
And I needed to process all this new information that he had dropped on me. Right now, my mind was blank, there was too much that he had described that I needed a moment to focus on bits and pieces first. "Well, I guess that’s your choice. Just don’t stay up on my account."
I grabbed the notebook that I had come to think of as mine, and brought it with me.
"It will be sunrise soon,” Creed informed me. “Wouldn't you want to sleep just a little? Rest is a kind of weapon too?"
I paused at his words. Dammit. That was exactly what my dad used to say. Had he gotten it from him?
I still ascended without another word, and hopped into bed. Yawning, I opened the notebook and started to write down all the new information he shared with me. My eyelids twitched a little in protest, but I just had to get this all down. I didn’t want to forget a thing. Besides, my brain was spinning, there was no way I could sleep…
Creed
She was out.
Vin chuckled. ~Did you put her to sleep again, Boss?~
~No need. She'd been fighting sleep for the past hour, she just didn't want to admit it.~
~Stubborn. Like you.~ Osiris didn’t usually speak up, but when he did, he usually silenced the others.
I was grateful. Soleil had called me out on my exhaustion, and she was right.
She had taken the notebook with her upstairs, but she had kept her mother's plant book out on the dining table. It was fascinating to see it there. I lingered over it, remembering her mom. The person he had remembered as her mother wasn't the person of her memories.
Soleil remembered her as someone who had carelessly run out in the middle of the night. What Soleil didn't know was that her mother had been compelled to.
Lena Bishop was anything but stupid or careless, and thought only of saving Soleil's life. And the reason why had been kept secret.
I hated secrets. Once the brand was off of me, I would be able to tell Soleil as many secrets as she wanted answers to. But, if her dad would wake up, it would be most helpful.
Vin’s overeager voice rose up. ~We got that town, Creed. Nothing is going into that town let alone that church.~
~Are we following through on that plan then?~ Osiris’ cool tone a balance to Vin. ~Will we show Soleil her father’s memories?~
There wasn’t anything to think about, not really. It was the easiest solution, especially now that she had deciphered the message. Allowing her to run blind did her no good at this point. ~I don’t see why not. It would be the fastest way to gain her trust. Maybe then she will allow us to lead her to safety.~
~More safe than her warded home?~
Remy was the most uneasy about Soleil being outside this home. ~A warded home would not stand against that Hellfire.~ I let them chew on that a moment.
Thankfully, it had created the desired effect. Their voices dimmed inside my head
For now...
I slipped out of this human skin and shook off the feel of it from my body. I padded my way up the stairs. She had left the door partially open. Already she was fast asleep, the book laid open by her side. Her hand lingered over the edge of her bed.
I pushed