what key did she hold? The key to the riddle?
He’d have to talk to her and find out. It was the only way. But first he’d visit some of her relatives and find out if any of them could give him a clue, because he’d be damned if he had one.
Chapter Eleven
Two becomes one, one becomes three. Bear knows the way, but Fox holds the key.
That riddle was becoming the bane of her mating. Barney was so fixated on it that it was driving him crazy. He was positive that it was the answer to why Chloe was being targeted. If Heather could figure out the answer, then maybe, just maybe, Barney would relent and mate her.
She could hope, right? Besides, it wasn’t as if she had anything better to do. She was stuck here until the doctors cleared her of any infection, and the solitude was driving her insane.
It beat the hell out of afternoon talk shows, that was for sure. And the soaps? Blech. Why did humans cheat on each other so much? It was disgusting. If you were in love and happy, couldn’t you keep your legs crossed and your panties on? It didn’t even have to be in that order either.
Heather tapped the pencil she’d talked her brother into picking up for her against the pad of paper. Perhaps it was best to start at the beginning, with the first part of the riddle. Julian had been the first one to speak the prophecy, but since then Chloe had repeated it several times.
Neither of them was the Bear or Fox spoken of.
So who, or what, was two that had become one?
She began writing, starting with everything that could go from two to one. There was math, of course, with two minus one becomes one, one plus two becoming three. But she doubted it was that simple.
Or…was it?
Two becoming one could be marriage. Most people spoke of two becoming one when two people tied the knot, but the riddle specifically said two becomes one. Heather frowned. Wasn’t “becomes” present tense? That meant it was happening, not had or would happen, right? She grunted, wishing she had her tablet PC so she could remember. What was happening right around the time Julian first spoke the prophecy?
She tapped her pencil again on the hospital table. That had to be it. Julian was the first to speak, and something was happening right around then. What was it? She racked her brain, trying to remember.
Wait. No. It wasn’t Julian who’d spoken—it had been Chloe! Chloe was the first to receive the message, and had been ordered to give it to Julian. Then all the Kermode had the same damn dream.
She put down Chloe as the speaker, just to make sure she didn’t forget. That Fox had spoken in present tense when giving Chloe the prophecy had to mean something , but for now she’d just make sure nothing escaped her, not even the tiniest clue.
Chloe gave the message to Julian, who delivered it to Alex and Ryan, as far as she knew. Perhaps she needed to call Julian and confirm?
She picked up the hospital phone and dialed Julian’s cell number.
The deep voice of the Kermode Bear filled her ears. “Hello, Heather. I was wondering when you’d call.”
“Hey, Super Bear.” She wasn’t even creeped out anymore by Julian’s powers. The guy was just too nice to get upset over a few quirks. Add in the fact that he made Cyn happy, and Heather was all about Team Julian. “Listen, when you got the prophecy from Chloe, who did you tell about it?”
“No one, actually. Bear came to me while I was at work and spoke the prophecy again, and when I woke, Jamie was there. He was the first one to hear it.”
Jamie Howard? “Then maybe…” Heather scribbled furiously. “Two becomes one. Jamie lost his mate, and became one person again.”
“I thought of that, but then how do you factor in one becomes three?” Julian sounded as puzzled as she felt.
“Hope, maybe?” Heather jotted down Hope Walsh’s name. Hope was the twin sister of Glory Walsh, Ryan’s mate. She’d been kidnapped as a teenager and held by a rogue wolf who’d repeatedly done
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