Chapter 159: Chapter One Hundred Sixty

We left. Immediately. Called the others and made sure to tell them to  get out as soon as possible. I wasn't sure we could spy on another  candidate for long if she decided to look for us, and I needed to find  Zeke and ask him about this. I knew he couldn't tell me anything  specific if he even knew it, but I trusted my Uncle to let something  useful slip, geas or not, if he thought I was in any legitimate danger.  He cared too much about me to let a little pain, or even a lot of pain,  stop him if my life was threatened. He'd shown that multiple times, and I  knew I could trust him.

In my more charitable moments, I  wondered if my dad knew that when he left him here, and had been working  both sides of the problem, though ascribing that kind of plotting to  him made me more uncomfortable than it did reassured. I didn't know if  he was an enemy or ally based on how he acted, and assuming that he had  that much of my life in his grasp even at this point made me deeply  unsettled. Though I supposed that was just arrogance on my part, after  everything that had happened. I really had no say in what he could do.  He was far too powerful.

Callie was looking at me with  worry, though she didn't question my decision to leave. She heard in my  voice how afraid I was and she trusted me more than enough to bail on  some job even if she wasn't sure we had enough information. I didn't  think we were going to be able to turn that mission in. I didn't want  the academy knowing there were candidates around. It might make someone  pay too much attention to me. I figured Callie would get that more than  anyone, since she never pushed me to share what I was with Grimmengap or  anyone else.

When we came to a stop though, she looked at  me with an expression that took my by surprise. Uncertainty. "Ok, we're  out of the way. I take it based on what we heard and your reaction that  she was another potential Wishmaster?" She sounded about as worried as I  was, but not completely sure about it. Like she didn't know for sure  there was anything to freak out about yet and just had a bad feeling.

I  blinked at her. "What? Didn't you see the power?" She looked at me  blankly. "The magic? Purple electricity? It's the same as my ability  when I use it." Nothing. "Do you...not see my ability when I'm using  it?" Looking back I realized no one had ever commented on the visual  aspect of my power. They FELT it when the power hit them, but they'd  never brought up the way it looked. In retrospect that made sense...but  it also felt strange I'd never actually noticed it. What else had I  missed about my own power?

She seemed relieved that I had a  concrete reason to recognize the ability. "No. Nothing like that. I've  felt you use your power on me before, and I kind of felt electricity or  something, but I never saw anything weird. I guess maybe its something  only people in your family can see?" Which made sense. Otherwise our  abilities might be more easily recognizable to other people.

My  surprise at that little security measure was washed away by the icy  feeling of uncertainty when she said the last part. My family. I'd known  in the abstract that the other candidates were relatives of mine, and  even that some of them might try to kill me, but to hear about it in a  more immediate sense made me feel a little sick. Given the whole thing  with my parents I was a bit sensitive about the family, and knowing that  girl might be a close relative, and worse that she might want me dead,  was...awful.

That misery must have been written all over  my face because Callie took one look at me and wrapped me in her arms,  putting her head against my chest and squeezing me tightly. "Hey. No  assumptions. Zeke never said every family member would be willing to  kill you off, she might not be here for you at all. Maybe there's  another reason. Even if she is nothing says she isn't going to be open  to negotiating. There are lots of candidates, and ones much more likely  to get to the end. I'm sure team ups happen all the time."

The  knot in my stomach loosened a bit. She was right. While offing baby  candidates before they were in the public eye did happen, I knew plenty  of the more experienced and older members of the family competed openly  without murdering each other. There was no reason to assume this  particular Wyndham was a murderous lunatic when I obviously wasn't.  There were all kinds of people, maybe whoever it was could be reasoned  with. Hell, I might even be able to meet one of my family members and  have a real relationship with them.

When I mentioned that  aloud though, Callie shook her head. "No. We aren't contacting her until  we find out more. Just because she isn't necessarily crazy doesn't mean  she definitely isn't. We aren't risking your safety, no matter how much  I want you to be right. We'll look around, find out more about her, and  then figure out what to do after that. Maybe Zeke can tell us more. I  doubt she's from this planet, so she has to have a reason to be here. He  might know what it is, if he can tell us anyway."

She  sounded as frustrated by my Uncle's geas as I was, and I smiled softly  at her as I leaned down to pull her into a kiss. When she gave me a  puzzled look I just grinned. "That was because you're amazing. You're  right. I lost my head for a second, you're the one who always pulls me  back when I'm about to do something dumb and impulsive. We wait. Meeting  whoever she is can hold off until we know more. Even if I was willing  to risk me, I'm not willing to risk you, you or the others either."

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The  others showed back up, Jin and Rellia having gone with Jessie and Cark  so Callie and I had privacy for our date. They all met us at the  entrance, clearly unsure of what had happened but worried enough to make  haste on the trip back. When they showed up, everyone looked incredibly  disturbed. Benny was the first to ask about it of course. "Hey, your  message sounded pretty panicked, everything ok?" I could tell he was  more worried about my problems than the interruption to his date, and I  felt a surge of warmth at the realization.

Unfortunately  as much as I appreciated my friend's care, I wasn't going to talk about  the issue in front of the others, much less in public where anyone  could overhear, so I had to shake it off. Luckily I had a more subtle  way to convey things. "Nothing that concerns the group. Saw one of my  relatives here and we aren't on good terms. I just want to get out of  here before they notice me so I don't end up fighting with them. You  know, family stuff." I tried my best to keep my tone casual as I  mentioned all that, but I saw Benny's eyes go wide at the mention of  relatives.

The  others looked confused, which was the point of speaking so indirectly,  so I was glad, though they missed the discomfort. I was able to hide the  signs of my distress with a subtle application of the stealth Skill,  using my Perception to pick up and erase the signs that I was bothered.  It wouldn't have worked on anyone with a higher Perception, just like  any stealth without some other Skill or ability altering it, but none of  my friends had that so I was in the clear.

Jessie  and Benny took their cue from me and kept their faces blank, accepting  the statement without prying in front of the others. They knew about my  situation obviously, but I could tell they were dying to hear about the  circumstances of another candidate being here or how I'd found out. I  was pretty curious about the first myself, and I desperately hoped Zeke  was able to shed some light on the issue, though I was afraid that we  might need to pay for the privilege and we wouldn't have close to  enough.

So we  headed back to the capsule to make our way up to the surface. We  offered to let the others stay of course, but since we were leaving  Celine had no date to continue and Sarah and Martin didn't want to leave  her on her own. Despite the suspicious choice to just leave none of  them said a word, and I was pretty sure the effort of hiding my distress  had been wasted given how weird it was that we were just leaving out of  the blue, though none of them showed any interest in questioning us  about it.

I  knew that was a deliberate choice. My friends weren't stupid, but they  did feel like they owed us quite a bit, especially Cark. Despite our  insistence that it wasn't the case, I was certain it played some role in  their decision to leave things alone. Of course, it could just be  common courtesy too. Family drama was some of the messiest as we knew  from Callie's issues with Annie. It wasn't exactly weird for them to  leave the subject alone.

The  ride up to the surface was tense and quiet. I think they weren't sure  what to say, so they were just keeping quiet. I appreciated the thought  but I lamented the easy air of camaraderie from the trip down. I planned  to do my best to restore that team dynamic when I was in the right head  space, but right now I couldn't shake the anxious nervous feeling like  something was gnawing on my stomach. I was too distracted to bother with  anything as complicated as basic socializing right now.

Once  we got back up to the surface, Jessie, Cark, Benny, Callie, me, and all  five of our wolves squeezed into the car (which wasn't really big  enough to comfortably seat so many) and headed home. Once we were in the  car Benny finally asked about what had happened. Cark knew about my  ability already, and while I hadn't explained my origin, there was  really only one family with the Wish ability. "Ok, so what the hell  Shane? You saw another member of your family? Did they see you? Are we  in danger?"

I  growled in frustration, having wanted to avoid this discussion. "I  don't know. I don't know anything. I don't want to tell the story twice  so I don't want to go into details but we saw an obvious demonstration  of her power. I'm not sure if she noticed us, not sure if she's here for  me, not sure if she knows I'm here. I have a few guesses about one or  two of those questions, but we just don't have enough information. I'm  hoping Zeke can share a bit of info,. Until then you know about as much  as I do."

He  sighed at my obvious unhappiness, but didn't ask anything else. He could  tell from my tone the I wasn't interested in speculating. We sat in  silence for the rest of the trip back to the house, and when we finally  reached the house we all boiled out of the car as I headed inside to  find my uncle. Despite the completely likely outcome of yet another  stonewalling, I was wracking my brain for the right tactic to take to  ask about this. If I could find a way around the geas I knew he would  help me. I just needed to ask the right questions. My life may depend on  it.

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