Chapter Twenty–Four

I waited until my father left me alone in the clearing before I dropped to the grass and closed my eyes. I reached deep inside myself and did the only thing I could think of. "Grandmother, I need your help." I waited in the silence of the clearing until I felt a chill run down my neck. I opened my eyes to see her sinking down in front of me.

Her silver and black hair hung in a braid over her shoulder, swinging in my face. She lowered herself, and I couldn't stop myself from reaching out to brush the strands, but I felt nothing. "I’m not truly here, Amy. I send my spirit to you when I sense your need. But you cannot touch the spirit world, as I cannot touch the living. I don’t feel the ground we sit upon, or the wind that blows through your hair."

"But you seem so…" I trailed off.

"Alive? Because I am, in a weird way. Who is to say Earth is the only life we live?" She gave a secret smile and a wink. "But that is not for you to worry about right now. Now why have you called me here? I have given you the only guidance the moon goddess will allow." She trailed her fingers through the grass, but I finally noticed that none were moving.

"I know." I worried at my lip for a moment.

"Stop." She raised her hand before my face, and I swear I could feel the heat of her skin. "Talk to me, little one. What have you been so anxious about?"

"Dad."

"What has he done now?" She settled back and turned her face to the early morning sun.

"Something is wrong with him."

"What do you mean?" She tilted her face back further.

"When he is alone, he’s fine. He remembers everything, he’s alert, he’s not warring with Loki—"

Her head snapped down. "Warring with Loki? What?" Her brows furrowed, and she sat up. "Stop beating around the bush and explain."

"There is a wolf. Her name is Aurora. She says she is going to be the next luna."

My grandmother laughed. "Your father is devoted to your mom."

"My mom has been gone for almost seventeen years now, Grandma."

"WHAT?" she screamed.

"Okay, a little bit of backstory is needed. Dad came back from his first life and changed it by pretending to cheat on my mother."

"I know that foolish girl. I’m the one who told him to."

"What, why? Wait. He said you were long gone before then."

"And I was, but just like you, he called on me, and I gave him advice." She rubbed her face. "But he was supposed to tell her the truth once he found out the culprit and bring her home." I watched, and she stood up and paced. "Maybe he still hasn’t figured it out? But it has been seventeen years. What is going on?" She whirled back to me and motioned with her hands for me to continue.

"So when Aurora isn’t around, he’s fine, but when she is, his eyes cloud over, and he says he loves her." I stood and made my way to where she was pacing in a circle. "Just yesterday, he yelled at me, saying that he loved her, and then he and Loki fought for control.

She rubbed her face and turned to face me. “You still need to focus on connecting to nature.” She pointed to the ground, and I knelt. She settled on her knees in front of me. "You still need to focus. I need you to sneak away from your pack. Do you know the old gazebo in the yard?"

"Yeah. I used to play on it when I was younger."

"Under it, there is a doorway. Find a way in, and the path will lead you underground for about a mile. When you come up, follow the trail to my old cabin."

"Under the gazebo?"

"Listen, pup. In my cabin, there will be a fireplace made of black and white stones. The fifth black stone from the left will be heavy, but liftable. Under it is a book. You'll find your answers there."

"A book? How is a book going to help me?"

She laughed. "Amy, you called your hundred-year-dead grandmother to a clearing for advice. Why wouldn’t a book have answers?" She leaned in and kissed the air in front of me, and I swore I could feel her lips. "Get the book, find your answers." Then she was gone.