Journey of a Girl

Secrets We Keep: Chapter Twelve

Credence was rummaging through a shop for a hammer, intending to take it to the charred door in the ground.

Even if it did nothing, smashing the hammer against the wood would be a satisfying way to release the rancor that had risen within.

How could Ma have been so hateful, so callously cruel to someone she once called friend?

The Galeia in the Queen's story was nothing like the woman Credence knew.

Ma could be resolute to the point of stubbornness, but she was never merciless. It went against the very kindness she preached to her children.

But she was always full of secrets.

Credence wasn't sure if, given the chance, she would ever want to see Ma again. She hated thinking that way, but found no argument passionate enough against it.

Ma gave her child away. Ma refused to honor her promise. Ma turned her back on the ones who loved her.

She even threatened to raise Credence as someone completely blinded by hate.

But she hadn't.

But neither had she prepared her daughter. She hadn't spoken a single word of the truth, but pushed Credence into the world, helpless and unready. For all the good she may have intended, Ma's desperate clinging to secrets had cost Credence everything.

Pa. Josiah. Her freedom.

Galeia brought a world of misery to Credence—just as she had to Ajo. It wasn't fair, a daughter should not have to shoulder the burden of a parent's rash mistakes.

Maybe she deserved her fate, the thought flashed in her mind.

Credence instantly regretted it.

She was so caught up in her grim thoughts that when she opened the door to leave the shop she almost collided with the wolf on the other side. It took a few seconds for Credence to recognize who the animal was.

"John."

The wolf gave a short bow. Seeing John this way brought a painful memory of the loss she suffered under his kind.

"Come to fetch you, my lady. It's time for dinner."

"I'm tempted to refuse, to see how a wolf would manage binding my wrists."

He grinned, showing sharp fangs.

"Don't need rope with teeth like these."

An image of the animal chasing her through the streets flashed in her mind.

"Please," John said, "he allowed me to be a wolf again. You made him happy, and he extended a courtesy because of it. Don't make him take it back."

"I don't make him do anything."

John snorted. "You have the ability to sway his mind and shape the whole of this world. You might be the most powerful thing in it."

He let out a low whimper, as if he regretted saying the last few words. Credence laid the hammer she'd found on a nearby counter.

"I doubt that very much," she said.

"Is this handsome beast before you not the very proof of it? I've come bearing a gift."

He brought forth a bundle of elegant paper tied with ribbon, held with the utmost care between his teeth, and laid it at Credence's feet.

"He would be honored if you accepted it. He's asked that you wear it."

"Asked? Or demanded?"

The wolf shook his head. "I will wait for you to change."

He turned from the shop to wait near the door, giving Credence a moment of privacy. Over his shoulder he casually remarked, "Just like old times, isn't it?"