above ground: chapter 13

Chapter 13

As soon as Silver left, Lilith felt incredibly conspicuous, like a criminal framed by spotlight. She glanced around the clearing uneasily.

Rae and Scar were still sitting on the other side, with another man and woman. Al’s place, smack in the centre of the clearing, was empty, and neither Silver nor Amber were in sight. There were only two other weres in the clearing, sitting off to one side by themselves. One of them was staring directly at her.

He looked young, surprisingly so, not more than sixteen. He had short brown hair that stuck out in wild tufts, as if it was never combed. There was an almost feral look about him, and she was surprised to notice the fang necklace around his neck, so similar to her own. But most startling was his expression: he was glaring at her with thinly veiled disgust.

Lilith had no time to ponder over the reasons for the boy’s aggression; she was distracted by the approach of an older, male were, the one who had been sitting with Scar and Rae only moments earlier.

She tensed and eyed him carefully as he approached. He had a rather rounded face, and short, cropped hair which did little to hide his large ears. His skin was slightly pale—although nowhere near her shade of white—and his eyebrows were furrowed tightly together, etching three deep lines into his forehead.

“You should leave,” he informed her as soon as he was within hearing distance, quite simply and to the point. “Weres and humans don’t mix.”

She didn’t know what to respond. She half-shrugged and looked away uncomfortably, as if he were one of the Upper Hall beggars.

The were wasn’t perturbed, and took another step closer. “Forget Silver,” he said. “He already belongs to another.”

Amber appeared by Lilith’s side, moving to stand between the two of them. “Back off, Claw. Kara left a long time ago. She has no claim over him.”

Claw bristled at the name. “This girl’s a human. How can you defend her?”

“Silver can have as many non-pack friends as he wants.”

He clenched his fists. “Only as long as the alpha allows it.”

“Al isn’t going anywhere.” Amber seemed furious all of a sudden, and bared her teeth. She took several steps forward, a low growl punctuating her movements.

Claw glanced around, then hunched his shoulders in defeat. As he left, he looked at them over his shoulder. He didn’t open his mouth, but his expression said it all.

Lilith heaved a sigh of relief. “Thanks.” Her relief didn’t last long.

Amber settled down on the ground across from Lilith, looking furious. “Is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“That you did something to Silver.”

“Al seems to think so,” Lilith replied cautiously. She couldn’t for the life of her understand why; she’d made it clear enough to him that she was a bland.

“But you don’t?”

She half-shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Amber leaned forward, her expression fierce. “Let’s just make things clear, then. Anyone messing with Silver, is messing with me.”

Lilith’s voice rose without meaning to. “I’m not messing with him.” She took a deep breath. “I’m just his… friend.” Is that what she was? She wasn’t so sure.

“Friend? You hardly know him.” Amber threw her hands into the air. “He hardly knows you. But you’re both behaving as if you’re family. And you say you’ve done nothing to him to make him act this way.”

She blinked back a few tears. “I haven’t done anything! I swear on the Gods Below.”

“Good. Silver’s very important to me.” Amber took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “I haven’t been a very good hostess, have I?” She stood, and beckoned for Lilith to do the same, forcing a smile. “Come, let’s get those cuts washed.”

They headed back over to the stream, and Lilith carefully rinsed her wrist. She poked the wound gently. It was a little tender and uncomfortable, but not half as bad as it looked.

“Wash your other cut, too,” Amber said, and, noticing Lilith’s confused expression, she clarified: “On your leg. The right one.”

Lilith rolled up her trouser leg to reveal a scrape which had already begun to heal. Dry blood was caked to the edges, as well as some fluff from her trousers. When had she cut herself? As she took off her shoe and sock to dunk her leg into the river, she remembered. It had happened at the theatre. The skin around it was red, perhaps it was a little infected.

Infected. The word brought with it a cold wave of fear. Lilith moved her head closer to the cut, picking away at the dried blood, trying to make out the shape of the wound beneath.

“What are you doing?” Amber was right behind her.

Lilith jumped guilty. “Just… just checking.” Trying to make sure her cut was from a stray piece of glass or wood or metal or anything—anything—other than Silver. She didn’t want to be a were.

“Checking for what?”

Lilith forced herself to act naturally. “Just dirt,” she replied. She settled down on the bank of the river and dunked her leg straight in, gasping at the coldness.

Amber didn’t look convinced, but she let the matter drop. She scrutinized Lilith for a few moments, then nodded decisively. “Take off your top.”

Lilith froze. “Excuse me?”

“You need to bandage your wounds,” Amber replied, unfazed. “And it’s not like we have bandages lying around.”

“I also need to wear something.”

Amber laughed. “I’m just going to tear off the sleeves, silly! I’d rip them off you but I’m not great with my hands, plus you guys take ages to heal.”

Lilith still felt hesitant, but took off her top and passed it over to Amber. In the worst case, everyone would see her in her bra. Did it really matter? Her swimming costume covered even less. And anyway, she’d never see these weres again. As soon as she made it home, she was going to stay safely underground. If she made it home, her subconscious added. Lilith pushed the thought away angrily.

“Rae’d really be the one for this job,” Amber said, her voice muffled by the material. Her teeth looked oddly sharp, a little big for her mouth. She bit down carefully, tearing the sleeves off of Lilith’s top.

When she was finished, she handed Lilith the top, and bent down to rinse the bandages in the river. Lilith pulled the top back on, fingering the jagged edges of her sleeves. She was beginning to look as ragged and dirty as the weres. It had to be done, though. It was far more important to keep her cuts clean than to look fashionable.

Amber squeezed the strips of cloth of excess water and flapped them around, trying to dry them a little. Eventually she handed them over to Lilith with an apologetic shrug.

Lilith pulled her leg out of the water, flexing her toes. The cut wasn’t that deep, it was more of a scrape than anything. But she couldn’t tell what it was from, whether claw or glass or fang. She tied a bandage around it, feeling faintly sick.

“Let me help you with your wrist,” Amber said, squatting down beside her. She grabbed the bandage, but paused before wrapping it around Lilith’s wrist. With delicate, hesitant fingers, Amber examined the cut.

“How did you get this?”

“The Snake.” Lilith scrutinized Amber’s face for even the faintest flicker of emotion, but all Amber did was purse her lips thoughtfully.

“Be more careful next time.” Amber wrapped the cloth around twice and tied it in a double knot. “You don’t want any more of these.”

“Why not?” Gods Below, her voice sounded petulant. Lilith pressed on anyway. “Silver didn’t tell me anything. He just got angry and walked away.”

Amber looked uncertain. “The less you know about it, the better.” She stood up. “Come, let’s head back to the others.”

Lilith stood as well. “I just wish someone would tell me something,” she muttered. Amber looked awkward, but didn’t reply. Lilith trailed after her, her annoyance growing with each step. Maybe it was time to confront Silver. He had brought her into this mess, after all.

When they reached the clearing, Lilith noticed that it was a lot more crowded. She spotted Silver quite quickly. He was on the other side of the clearing, huddled together with Al and a tall black were Lilith didn’t recognize, who had an arm casually draped over Rae’s shoulders. She eyed him with instant suspicion; a friend of Rae’s was bound to be an enemy of hers.

Amber looked incredibly cheerful. “Great! They’re back!” She started walking towards the group of weres, but at that moment Al noticed their arrival. His head lifted, chin slightly in the air, and he stared at Amber, looking stern, as if she could understand what he wanted just by reading his body language.

Amber’s face fell, but she said nothing. She led them back to where they had been sitting before, which, Lilith realized all of a sudden, was slightly apart from the rest of the weres.

Her dread returned. Al had said she was safe with the pack until he decided what to do with her. It looked like that decision was being made now, and, judging from Silver’s scowling expression, it wasn’t good.