Chapter 10

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I snuggle deeper into my pillow, burying my face in it to block out the sunlight that streams in through the windows.

And then I hear my pillow rumbling in satisfaction.

"I'm going to murder you!" I shout, scrambling off of my bed and glaring at the insufferable Alpha.

"Now, now, darling," Killian grins. "No need to ruin such a nice morning with death threats."

I take a deep breath and count to ten, repeating in my head over and over: I will not stab Killian in the throat even though he deserves it. I will not stab Killian in the throat even though he deserves it.

"Come back to bed, dear," Killian pats the space on the bed next to him. "We were having such cute morning snuggles."

I reach for the knife on my bedside time and try stabbing him, but he disappears.

"You're so cuddly in the morning," Killian murmurs from behind me. "Like a cat. Haha. Kat."

I scream in frustration and throw the knife at him, but he disappears again, reappearing once more on my bed, completely relaxed.

"Just to clarify, is that a no on the snuggles?" Killian quirks an eyebrow.

"I am going to rip out your spleen and beat you with it," I threaten.

"That's not a no."

"Get OUT!"

Killian sighs and teleports to the door. "Fine, but since you won't spend your morning cuddling with me, even though that would have been my first choice, hurry up and get ready. We have a circulus meeting in twenty minutes."

I glare at him. "Couldn't you just have woken me up like a normal person?"

Killian shrugs. "You didn't seem to mind two minutes ago. You make the most adorable little sighs when you curl up closer to me."

"OUT! NOW!"

Killian laughs and disappears, and once again, I remind myself that killing him is more trouble than it's worth.

I quickly get dressed and pull on my gloves, cursing the day he was born as I do so. Once I'm dressed, I go downstairs, where the circulus is gathered around the table eating breakfast.

"Ooh, Kat, come sit by me!" Layla yells, pulling out the chair next to her. "I want to know which muffin I'm going to eat for breakfast."

Jae rolls her eyes. "Can't you just make that decision and see for yourself, Layls?"

Layla frowns, like the idea hadn't occurred to her. I laugh, sitting next to her. "Blueberry," I tell her. "Mar is going to come late and ask where all of the blueberry ones went, and Kage is going to tell her that he was the one who took the last one, even though he only ate a chocolate chip one."

Kage chokes on his chocolate chip muffin, and Layla giggles, reaching for a blueberry one.

"Can we please start the meeting now?" Knox asks, rolling his eyes, and Jae nods.

"We'll wait for Maryn," Killian sighs. "How much longer until she gets here?"

"Based on previous arrival times, I estimate two to three more minutes," Gabe looks at his watch as he makes his prediction.

"Close," I say, impressed by Gabe. "Three minutes, twelve seconds."

Gabe grins. "I compiled data points of how many minutes Mar is late to circulus meetings in the morning, excluding every data point outside of two standard deviations, and then took the average of that."

"You did all of that just now?" I ask in surprise.

Gabe shrugs. "I have the Gift of perfect memory, so after having the times, it was really just a matter of simple algebra in order to get the estimation."

"He's our resident genius," Killian states proudly.

Layla nods in agreement. "Wolf Google."

"I told you not to call me that," Gabe sighs.

"How many seeds are in an apple?" Layla asks, titling her head.

"About 5-8 on average, why?" Gabe looks confused by the question.

"Wolf Google," Layla nods seriously, and Jae and Knox stifle their laughter.

Maryn finally comes in. "Sorry I'm late, traffic was a nightmare," She sighs, taking a seat next to me. "Hey, who took the last blueberry muffin?"

We all look at each other before bursting out into laughter. "Assholes," Maryn mutters, taking a banana nut one.

"Alright, so the objective of today's meeting is to track down the Viatoribus," Killian says, now serious in Alpha mode.

"It won't be easy," Gabe mutters, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a map of the continent, spreading it out over the table. "I marked down their last known locations, which aren't many, because they make it a point to not be seen. Based on those few locations, I made geographical predictions about where they may be now."

"There's ten possible locations on here," Knox notes, frowning at the map.

Gabe shrugs. "Like I said, it won't be easy."

"Killian, can you teleport to those locations and see if they're there?" Jae asks.

Killian sighs. "These location marks aren't precise enough for that. It would take weeks to cover all of the area, and by then, they'll already have moved on."

"So, how do we find them?" Maryn asks impatiently, nervously fiddling with a ring on her finger.

Killian glances towards me. "If Katrina is up to it, there's something we could try."

He pulls out a leather arm band. "The Viatoribus wear leathers. This is mine from my time with them. If Katrina touches it, maybe she'll be able to help us narrow down to one location."

I frown. "I can't See anything related to you, Killian You know that."

He shrugs. "I haven't been connected to the Viatoribus in years. Maybe that will put enough separation between us. It's worth a try."

"I agree," Jae nods, her hands trembling slightly. Almost unnoticeably.

I have a bad feeling about this, but I agree anyways. I take off my gloves slowly, and the circulus stares at me nervously. They have high expectations. I don't want to disappoint them.

Killian holds out the leathers and gives an encouraging smile. My stomach twists.

Hesitantly, I take the leather in my hands, and a chill goes up my spine.

"Katrina?" Killian says in concern. "Your nose is bleeding. Do you See something?"

I shake my head, but something feels deeply wrong inside of me. I start throwing up blood.

And then I'm no longer at the table with the circulus. I'm in a desert, sinking in sand. I see people in leather in the distance. I have to go to them, have to figure out where I am.

I try to pick up feet, but the sand keeps pulling me down further with each attempt. The people in leather get further and further away in the distance.

"No!" I cry out, trying to escape the sand. Sand, sand, so much sand.

It pulls me under faster and faster until I'm completely submerged. I know I need to stop pushing the Sight, get out of the vision before it's too late, but I have to See more.

I can't face the circulus without more information.

I swim through the sand, trying to claw my way out, but the more I push up, the deeper I sink. My Sight is resisting, does not want me to See whatever is out there.

I push back.

The sand fills my mouth, and I can't breathe. When I'm on the verge of passing out, I finally throw myself out of the vision.

I cough, spitting up blood, once again on the floor of the Crimson Shadow Pack House.

Maryn smacks my back as I choke on more blood. That was close, way too close. If I had stayed in that sand a second longer...

"Katrina, should I call for a healer?" Knox asks, his voice firm, but I can hear traces of anxiety.

"No, they can't help," I cough, sending more blood splattering on the ground.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I say, and try to stand up, but my bones feel like they're made of sand, and I crumple.

Killian catches me. "That's it, I'm taking you to the healer," He says, his voice taut.

"No, I'm fine," I insist, weakly smacking him. "Just help me sit down. I just need a second."

Killian's eyes darken, but he does as I say, picking me up and placing me in a chair at the table. The circulus hesitantly sits down, looking at me in concern. Kage puts a glass of water in front of me, which I chug, still feeling like there's sand in my throat.

Layla rips off a piece of her dress and soaks it in her cup of water, gently dabbing under my eyes, nose, and mouth to clean up the blood. Her hands shake as she pulls them away. "Pretty Kat," She mumbles, sitting back down in her chair.

"Um, are you sure you're okay?" Kage asks softly.

"Seriously, Kat, that was bad. Like watching The Exorcism in real life bad," Mar adds nervously. "Black eyes and throwing up blood and all."

"I'm fine," I lie. They don't need to know the extent of how bad that was, could have been. Killian narrows his eyes suspiciously. He doesn't believe me.

"There was a lot of sand," I quickly say, hoping to distract them. "Does that help at all?"

Gabe looks at the map. "That narrows it down to two possible locations," He says in surprise. "Thank you, Katrina. That helps a lot."

"We should split up," Knox suggests. "We can cover more ground that way. Groups of two. Once we find the Viatoribus, we mindlink the other group to let them know."

"We'll go tomorrow," Killian agrees.

"No, now," I insist. Time is too precious. Especially for me.

Killian glares at me. "No. You need to rest. We go tomorrow, that's final."

"I agree," Jae says, to my surprise. She of all people should be insisting we hurry.

The rest of the circulus nods. "You're kidding," I say in disbelief. "Come on, guys. We can't waste any more time."

"No," Maryn says. "Killian is right. You rest, we go tomorrow. We all agree."

The circulus nods in unison, the first time they've ever agreed on anything.

Killian gets out of his chair and clicks his tongue. "Come on, darling, you're on bed rest for the rest of the day. Alpha's orders."

I glare at him. "I have training."

Killian rolls his eyes and swoops me into his arms with one motion. "If you want a workout, my dear, I'll give you one. In your bed."

I scowl as Killian pulls us into the in between and lands in my room. "This is extreme," I tell him when he gently lays me on the bed. "I told you I'm fine."

"Katrina, I heard your heartbeat slowing down," Killian snarls, and I flinch, not used to him ever taking such a harsh tone with me. "I tried shaking you out of the vision, but you wouldn't come back. Your eyes were black. Blood was seeping out of your eyes, nose, mouth. You were choking, Katrina! That's not fine!"

I shrug. "Hazard of the job, Killian." Hazardous indeed. A deadly one.

"Why does that happen to you?" Killian asks, almost sounding concerned.

I sigh. "It's just the Sight, Killian. Push too hard and it pushes back. It's what nature demands. There has to be a balance."

"Then you're done helping," Killian says abruptly. "I'm taking you back to Iron Claw tonight."

"You're kidding," I laugh, but my smile falters at the look on his face.

"Killian, don't worry," I lie. Lie right through my teeth. "The visions can't kill me. A little blood doesn't really matter all that much, not in the grand scheme of things. I spill a little blood, get visions, end of story."

Killian searches my eyes, and for a moment, I think he's going to call me out on my lie. "You promise that you're not putting yourself in danger by helping?" He asks quietly.

"I promise." A lie that's too easy for me to tell by now.

He sighs. "Fine. But you're taking it easy today, okay? I'm serious about the bed rest thing. I'll bring you chicken nuggets if you don't give me a hard time about it."

I force a smile. "Bribing your Seer now, are you?"

"Whatever it takes," He winks. "I'll let you rest for awhile but... Just call if you need me, okay? I'll stay nearby."

There's a lump in my throat as I nod.

"Katrina," He says hesitantly. "I'm glad you're here."

And then he disappears.

I can't help the tears that soak my pillow once he leaves. I feel guilty for lying to all of them, to Killian especially.

Because I know my Sight is going to kill me.

At this rate, even faster than I expected.

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