Chapter Sixteen

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Chapter Sixteen

Clueless was home.

She would always recognize this place. Even if she had never set foot here after becoming sentient, it was almost as engrained in her memory as Zave's face. She was lying in Zave's bed in her dog form, wrapped in his blankets and feeling extremely proud of herself. Zave didn't like for her to be on the bed, but he never punished her for it, and his reactions had never failed to make her tail wag.

And speaking of Zave…

"Hey, Stupid," said Zave, who was suddenly standing beside the bed, "that's my bed."

Two emotions. Joy and anger. Both burned inside her at the same time, and Clueless didn't know which one she wanted to feel. Happiness or rage? Love or bitterness?

Zave reached out for her, and she growled at him, forcing him to snap his hand back or be bitten. She immediately felt ashamed. But he deserved it. Didn’t he?

"You don't have to get down, Idiot," he said. "But can I get in the bed too?"

Clueless cocked her head in surprise. Her and Zave in bed…together? They had slept in the same bed tons of times, but only because Clueless had jumped on him until Zave had given up trying to push her off. But for him to invite her like this, that meant something. Was he asking her to be…she struggled to form the words in her head…equal to him?

"We can share the bed, Dummy," he said, already moving to lie down next to her. "Our bed. Together."

Clueless stared at him, unable to decide what to think, how to feel. Being equal to Zave? She wanted that! She wanted that so badly that it burned her! And yet…

There was still something there. Some feeling she couldn’t attach words to. Even if she didn't understand exactly what it was, she knew she didn’t like it. It made her hackles rise. She growled at him again, and he sat up.

"Don't be mad at me, Stupid," he told her.

Suddenly, it occurred to her what was wrong. He was offering to share the bed, but he was still treating her like a dog! And worse, he kept calling her…

"Dumb. Ignorant. Stupid. Idiot," he said, his eyes boring coldly into hers. "I gave you that name for a reason, and nothing you do or say will change that! Being a skinwalker doesn't change anything! You will always be Stupid, Dumb, Id—"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, her human voice coming out of her canine mouth.

As if she had summoned it, a violent wind blew through the bedroom, picking Zave up and flinging him out of the bed. Clueless sat upright, her head held high and proud. She was a skinwalker now! It could be her bed! She didn't need Zave's permission to sleep in it anymore, and she could sleep in it all by herself!

Zave lay motionless, face down on the floor. Clueless barked at him to stand up. He needed to see how strong she was now. How smart she was! Then he could…what? She paused. He could call her a good girl, just like he always had when she was nothing but a common dog. Back when she really had been clueless.

That wasn't what she wanted.

The door stood wide open. She could force Zave through it and slam it behind her, making sure he never got to call her Stupid or Dumb ever again. She would be alone, but the bed would be hers…all hers…forever.

But she didn't want that either.

Clueless let out a whimper, confusion making her brain throb inside her skull. What did she want, then? She looked over the side of the bed at Zave, who still hadn't moved. Did she want him?

Yes! she realized with a wave of yearning so strong that she felt it feel all the way down in her core. She loved Zave! She was mad at him, but she had never stopped loving him! And while she did feel conflicted, she didn't want him to go away! He didn't have to be her master, and she didn't have to be his pet. They could be…

"Equals?" asked a voice as dark as night and as cold as ice.

A shadow took form just outside the bedroom door, its eyes glowing a sickly yellow. A single dark claw reached into the room and hooked itself around Zave's neck. He still didn't move.

"It's too late for that," it cackled, before yanking Zave out of the room and slamming the door faster than Clueless could react, leaving her alone, alone, ALO—

"Wake up already!" A sharp pain in Clueless' ribs jolted her out of the nightmare, and she looked up to see Ember standing over her, her foot drawn back to deliver another kick.

"Uhhh?" Clueless asked, her head still reeling from the cascade of images that had been pouring through it only moments before.

"I said get up!" Ember hissed at her. "And keep quiet! Don't you dare wake him up!"

Clueless looked from her to the pile of leaves she and Norrin had been using as a bed, but the bear-walker was no longer there. Then who…

A soft snore came from the other side of the camp, and Clueless saw that even though the sun had come up, Gil was still lying in his sleeping bag, fast asleep.

"Not Gil wake up?" Clueless asked.

Ember rolled her eyes dramatically. "No! It doesn't matter what I say, that freak is going to lead us straight to the thunderbird!"

"So…"

"So we're ditching him, stupid!"

Anger flashed through Clueless, and before she knew what she was doing she was on her feet. Ember was a few inches taller than her, at least in human form, so she stood on her tiptoes so that they were at eye level with each other.

"Not stupid!" she declared. "Stop call me that!"

Ember sneered. "What are y—"

"STOP CALL ME THAT!"

Gil mumbled something in his sleep, and Ember's eyes widened in alarm. After a moment of rolling back and forth, though, he began to snore again.

"All right, fine!" Ember snapped, looking at Clueless as if this was all her fault. "God, what is wrong with you?"

Ember stomped away, muttering under her breath as Norrin came back to camp. She looked at him, and he nodded.

"If everyone is finished being drama queens," she hissed, glaring at Clueless, "we have places to be!"

With that, she strode off confidently into the forest, leaving Norrin and Clueless to catch up. Norrin looked at her almost apologetically, but didn't say anything before following.

Clueless looked at Gil, who was still sleeping peacefully. Was he dreaming too? Dreams about being betrayed by the ones you loved, only to betray them right back? A twinge of guilt pinched her heart. Zave…

Finally, she followed the others.

NEXT CHAPTER: 2/26/2025