“My future? What future? If we can’t turn Daniel back into a human, I don’t have a future.” Why didn’t they understand? “The cure could be in this very room right now. I am not giving up.”
“We told you, Grace, we’re not telling you to give up. We’re telling you to take a break. It could take weeks, maybe even months, to go through all these rocks.” He swallowed hard, no doubt trying to hide the hopelessness that echoed in his voice. He didn’t believe we were ever going to find it. “You won’t be any good to anyone if you get sick or lose it.…” He paused again, and I knew he was thinking about Mom. Mental instability did run in the family. “April is going to take you home so you can get some sleep. Gabriel and I will pick up here where you left off with these rocks tomorrow.”
I stared at the three of them as they stared at me, and I realized what exactly this was: an intervention.
How dare they try to stop you from helping Daniel? a soft but harsh voice whispered inside my head. They’ve given up already, and they want you to also. They don’t understand how important this is for you. Nobody knows you like I do. I shook my head hard, trying to get rid of the demon wolf’s voice. My hand flew to the nape of my neck, searching for the moonstone necklace that wasn’t there. I tried to disguise the move by scratching at the collar of my shirt.
But I couldn’t fool Gabriel. He nodded with recognition. “The more tired or stressed or emotional you are, Grace, the more the wolf will be able to invade your thoughts. You’re making yourself vulnerable by wearing yourself out. How would Daniel feel if your fears for him are what led you to losing your own self to the wolf?”
I clenched my hands at my side. The voice inside my head wanted me to lash out at Gabriel and tell him that he was wrong—he and I had never really gotten along—but deep down I knew he was right. Losing my moonstone at the warehouse meant I needed to be more careful and guarded than ever against the wolf … oh!
“I need to go back to the warehouse,” I blurted out before I’d even finished processing the thought.
“Why the heck would you want to do that?” April fidgeted with the beaded bracelet on her wrist—no doubt one of her new creations. I’d think it was an odd digging-through-rocks accessory if she hadn’t spent an extra-long lunch break downstairs with Jude. “I’d never want to go back there if I were you.” April shivered dramatically. “I get the willies just thinking about that place.”
I shivered, too. So do I. “We need a moonstone. And Dad’s right, it could take months to go through every rock in that gravel-strewn parking lot.” I indicated the buckets and bowls full of rocks, trying not to feel defeated admitting that it was a near-impossible task. “But Caleb smashed both my and Jude’s moonstones at the warehouse, and since a pack of teenage boys aren’t exactly the best housekeepers, I’m guessing there’re going to be moonstone fragments scattered all over the place there. What if I can find enough pieces—maybe April can weld them onto some sort of necklace or dog tag?” Finding enough fragments to make a difference seemed like a long shot—but not a shot as long as going through all these rocks. “I’ll go now.”
“Absolutely not,” Dad said.
“But Dad, I have to—”
“You’re tired, Grace, and you’re not thinking rationally if you believe I’m going to let you go waltzing back into the place where you were almost killed. Your mother would never recover if—”
“If what?” I asked. “You tell her the truth again?”
Dad and I still didn’t see eye to eye on that one. When I’d disappeared from the Halloween festival with Talbot (i.e., gotten myself kidnapped), Dad had taken it upon himself to tell Mom the truth about what all was going on. And let me tell you, that hadn’t gone over so well.