Chapter Twenty
Nathan
My eyes weren’t on Willow when her neck was snapped and her life ripped away as she stood trapped and defenceless.
I was trying not to breathe through my nose, and my gaze was steady on Perdita. That was the way I had been since I’d caught her scent and found her in the crowd as we approached the meeting place. It took everything, everything, in me to stay still, not to run to her. I couldn’t risk her getting in the way of a werewolf shifting. It killed me that I couldn’t protect her, couldn’t take her home with me.
She didn’t look afraid, and wolf grew proud. I knew she was doing it for us, but her strength lessened my anxiety slightly. I wanted to stay calm, didn’t want to mess things up for anyone. Seeing her standing there, looking as though she hadn’t slept and with her hair hanging around her face in jagged edges, left me with the desire to kill something.
Preferably the wolves who had taken her from me.
My eyes fell on the alpha again, my nostrils flaring with anger at his presence. My first glimpse of Vin had brought to mind the word unimpressive. He wasn’t intimidating; he wasn’t that large. He was fit—that was obvious—but his sinewy muscle was lean rather than bulky. He wasn’t particularly tall, not so young anymore, and he didn’t come across as dangerously aggressive.
Until he murdered Willow without a second thought.
All of the stories I had heard about him, and it still came as a surprise that he would kill her. Ryan had told us Willow held little value for Vin, but she was part of his pack. I couldn’t believe he would go through with it, in public, for everyone to see.
I blinked a million times, trying to fix the image, but Willow’s body crumpled to the ground all the same. If he would do that to his own pack, his own werewolves, his own people, then what could he possibly have in store for Perdita?
Time stood still. I heard the snap, but I saw Perdita’s horror and outrage. I waited for her to cry, but she didn’t because she was strong. Stronger than I was. She was thrown to the ground with a strike, and I wanted to run over there and rip out hearts when I saw her fall. I knew her father wanted the same thing. I knew we couldn’t do anything.
At least not yet.
A man yanked her roughly to her feet. I committed that werewolf’s face to memory and promised myself I would tear him apart, one limb at a time. A gush of sound swallowed me up then. It was as if someone had pulled a plug. Everything changed in a split second.
Perdita’s father was going into some kind of shock. Jeremy danced around, ready to run, trying to hold himself back, fighting with his wolf over what to do. Opa kept a stony gaze on Vin, and Byron swallowed hard, his spine twitching as he struggled to keep his focus.
It was Ryan I felt sorry for. He had tried to help Willow, to protect her. And her life had been torn away in a split-second by the same person who had stolen his daughters. Vin meant business. And he had my girlfriend next to him, too close to a limp body on the ground.
“He’s messing with us,” Jeremy said. “He thinks he can…” He looked away, biting his knuckles in an attempt to lock in whatever he was feeling.
Opa remained silent, and I knew he was the one to watch. He was liable to run right at Vin. That was probably why Amelia kept hovering next to him.
Even though Vin was supposed to be talking with Byron, he had kept his eyes on Opa the entire time, taunting him, tempting him to approach. Every word was directed at my grandfather.
Vin was bat-shit crazy.
And he had Perdita.
Then he opened his mouth about choosing only one of them, and any sign of unity within our family fell apart. I barely understood what he was saying at first. It made no sense. The direct change in approach. Then I realised. It made perfect sense.
Ryan and I faced each other, and I shook my head.
“Two girls,” he spat. “Two girls are worth more than one.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” I said with a growl. “I’m not giving up my sister or Perdita. Not for anything.”
He gripped my shirt, and I pushed back.
Byron got between us before anything escalated. “Enough,” he commanded. “Stop giving him what he wants.”
“We only get one choice,” Ryan reminded him, his teeth gnashing together dangerously.
“So we change the game,” Byron said under his breath. “We take everything from him.”
“We can’t leave,” Stephen insisted, pushing into the conversation. “I’m not leaving without my daughter.”
“There are too many of them around the girls,” Amelia said. “Werewolves who would kill them before handing them over. They’ll never let us take them like this. You saw how quickly Willow…” She turned away, her eyes glassy.
“We need to get out of here and come up with a plan that gets everyone home safely,” Byron said.
“Or I could take him on now,” Opa said, his first words since we had arrived.
“No!” I shouted. “Didn’t you hear? They’ll kill the girls before you reach him.”
He didn’t care. I could tell by the slackness in his jaw and that mean look in his eye. He focused on Vin only. He didn’t give a crap about the innocent people standing in his way. He would willingly plough through them to get whatever he wanted.
Byron stood in front of him. “We need to leave. Now. Dad, did you hear me? Get in the car.”
Amelia and Jeremy pushed Opa toward the car, but Stephen wanted to chase after Perdita.
“Stop it,” I snapped. “You’ll get you and Perdita killed. Is that what you want?”
“I can’t leave her there, Nathan. Did you see her? Did you see what they did? How can I leave my little girl and walk away from this?”
He looked as destroyed as I felt, but I gripped him by the scruff of the neck. “Get in the car. I promised you I would bring her back, and I will. But I can’t if you get her killed today. Do you understand me?”
“Nathan, stop it,” Amelia said, pulling me away.
I swallowed hard, trying to control myself. I had been too close to the edge. I was still dangerously close to losing myself to the wolf. It would make things easier for me, but it could provoke a battle that wouldn’t end. We all had to be careful. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m just… I’m sorry. I’ll get her back somehow. I will.”
Ryan was the hardest to persuade to leave. “I won’t let you sacrifice my girls,” he insisted as Byron shoved him toward the cars.
“We won’t,” Byron kept saying. “We’ll get all of the girls home, but we need to surprise Vin’s pack to do it. The girls are too close to danger right now. Our time will come, Ryan. We’re keeping all four girls alive. I swear it. The only ones who are going to get hurt are the ones who took the girls. We’ll deal with them together. Are you with me?”
Ryan sagged in Byron’s arms, but he let my uncle lead him to the jeep with Opa.
“My daughter,” Stephen practically whimpered as Amelia and I pushed him toward the second car. “She’ll know we’re leaving her.”
“You saw him!” I shouted. “He would have killed her without hesitation. And she knows that. She isn’t stupid. She understands!” I seriously hoped I was right.
“Poor Willow,” Amelia said, hiccupping a sob as we all climbed into the car. “I should have gone over there. I should have given myself up to him.”
“So he could kill you, too? Don’t be so bloody stupid,” I snapped.
“That’s enough,” Jeremy said from the driver’s seat. “This is exactly what he wants. For us all to turn on each other. Ryan must be…” He shook his head. “This is going to take some dealing with.”
“There has to be a way of finding their camp,” Amelia said. “Surely someone in the country will have heard of a group of people camped out somewhere near here.”
“They could be anywhere,” I said. “Didn’t you see how pale Perdita and Ryan’s girls were? You saw those trucks, right? They could have been driving
all night, for all we know. They might not even have a camp. They might drive around constantly.”
“I have the registration of one of the trucks,” Stephen said. “I can give it to the police, see if they can find something on it.”
“And what are you going to tell them?” I asked. “That you saw a werewolf? If they did find the girls, what’s to say the wolves won’t kill Perdita and the police? We’re not dealing with normal people here. And what’s a kidnapper going to do, hand the girls over to the police? No, they’re going to get rid of them first.”
That I was speaking the truth only made it all the harder to stay in the car and not freak the hell out.
Chapter Twenty-One
Amelia
I stopped listening to the others. Something crawled across my skin, a feeling, a premonition. Ever since I had turned into a werewolf, the feeling of something squirming under the surface, struggling to break free, had relentlessly strengthened until I couldn’t ignore it.
Sucking in a breath, I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate. A thudding swept over me, violent and blackened red behind my closed eyes, and I snapped back to reality.
“Stop the car!” I screamed, startling Jeremy into slowing down. Just in time because the jeep swerved in front of us before stalling out.
Swinging open the door before we came to a full stop, I leapt out and ran toward the other car. Ryan was out of the vehicle and running back the way we came before I could grab him. I chased him a couple of yards before latching on to his arm and dragging him to a stop.
He was trying to run back for his girls. I saw it in the desperation smoking his eyes, the way his fingers stretched out as if he could reach them.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, trying to calm him. As soon as I touched his skin, I felt the wildness under the surface, the way the burning madness was always ready to take him because he had no mate. He needed his family back, and I hated to be the one who kept him away, but we had no choice. We couldn’t afford a mistake.
“I’m so close,” he whispered. “So close to them.”
“I know,” I said, overwhelmed by his anguish.
Opa and Byron joined me, and I worried that my grandfather’s aggression would trigger something in Ryan. The wolf stared out at me through Ryan’s eyes.
I nodded, keeping my voice as calm as possible. “We’re going to get them home. We need to do it safely. We need to make a plan and figure all of this out. We need you.” Something in my wolf soothed Ryan’s, soothed everyone’s in some way, but with him, the change was direct, forceful, and immediate. I used that to my advantage. I kept talking, saying the things he needed to hear, and slowly, his breathing calmed, and his pupils stopped dilating.
“I know,” he said hoarsely. “I know.”
Influencing the werewolves was irresistible. There wasn’t a better word to describe it. It was power, but in a less obvious way. Half the time, they didn’t realise I was doing anything to them, not even my brother. I had calmed him so often, it became a full-time job, but it didn’t take anything out of me that I didn’t have to give. It made the pack better, helped us be around each other, and that was the smallest thing I could do to make up for everything. The only one I couldn’t get through to was my grandfather.
I wasn’t sure why that was. I had no idea what I was doing really, but I knew one thing: Not even my omega-ish power could keep the werewolves calm now. Vin knew exactly what he was doing to us. I needed to help track Perdita before it was too late. Ryan remained on edge, despite my efforts, and I knew it would only take something small to set him off again. I couldn’t even think about Nathan.
As Byron spoke to Ryan in an attempt to reassure him, a thought occurred to me. An old gypsy woman had told us where to look for Perdita. If we could find her again, who knew? She knew me, recognised what was inside me, and that meant she knew how to use it.
I tried not to think about how strange it was that she had been alone, apparently settled in for the evening, and then she had vanished without a trace. We were desperate. Even the smallest hope was worth chasing.
“Byron, I have an idea,” I said and quickly told him what I wanted to do.
“Sounds like a bit of a wild goose chase,” he said.
I looked at Ryan. “We have to do something. This person knew about me. Maybe she can tell me more, help me find the camp.”
Byron thought about it briefly. “We’ll make a quick journey that way. If you don’t find her, we’re leaving. Understood?”
“Of course.” I jumped back into the vehicle, trying to explain it to the others.
“So we’re looking for a little old lady now?” Jeremy asked, sounding confused.
“She might be able to help me find Perdita,” I said firmly.
Nathan nodded, making me grateful for his support. “It’s worth a try.”
Stephen didn’t appear convinced, but he didn’t argue, and I sensed his despair as we clutched at straws.
I fidgeted for the rest of the journey, trying to remember exactly where we had found the woman. But it wasn’t until I had phased and was running through forestry that I remembered the way, as if it were a puzzle a human mind couldn’t decipher.
I heard someone following me and realised it was Nathan. He couldn’t wait. I barked impatiently, but I knew we weren’t far off.
We came into the clearing quicker than I expected, and at first, I couldn’t see anyone, but then a laugh from behind startled us both. Who sneaks up on werewolves?
“I’ve been waiting for you,” the old woman said.
A crackling fire appeared out of nowhere. It couldn’t have been there before. The sky was suddenly dark, when a few minutes before, there had been daylight. I smelled magic in the air, felt it crackle against my skin like electricity. I had been right to come there. I edged closer to the woman, but she refused to look in our direction, her blind eyes fixed upward on something I couldn’t see.
“Little cousin, haven’t you opened it yet?”
Opened what? I thought, fascinated.
“That third eye of yours,” the woman said, chuckling as I stepped backward in fright. Had she read my mind? “That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it?”
The power, I thought, wondering how she was managing to communicate with me directly. The chovihani essence. Is that what you mean?
“That and more. The greatness your bloodline has been waiting a long time for. The balance the earth needs. This can be your time,” the woman said.
Greatness? I don’t deserve that. The thought came fully-formed before I could stop it.
She cocked her head. “None wake up deserving it. They earn the right to keep it. To make up for their wrongs. And they can only keep it by sacrificing a piece of themselves at a time.” She stoked the fire and turned her blind eyes to me. “This isn’t a gift. It’s a burden. To keep it will take from you, over and over again. Only the tainted hearts need to prove themselves, little cousin. You owe debts that only you can repay. Some of those debts aren’t even yours, but your line’s greatest fault has always been that selfish streak, so you’re weighed down by generations of wrongs. Now it’s your turn to learn from it. Even a deaf little Romani thing like you should understand the truths you’ve already heard.”
But I don’t understand. How do I use it? What do I do with it? How can I—
“It’s in your blood. I am but a guide. Only you can open up your final path. And from one witch to another, it’s about time you woke up.” She blew ashes in my face, and I choked out a cough.
Lightning struck, and when my eyes focused again, the woman was gone.
Nathan growled, a constant stream of rumbling sound. All I wanted to do was figure out what had just happened. I ran back to the car, knowing Nathan was following, and I tried to shrug off the excitement in my blood. Something had changed. I felt it.
Once we had phased and changed back at the cars, I tried to explain what happened.
“It was like she was reading
my mind or something. We were communicating mentally. It was…” I glanced at the faces staring at me with interest. “Actually, I’m not sure she was real,” I confessed.
“What are you talking about? I saw her,” Nathan said.
I shrugged. “I’ve read similar stories, and I think she might have been some kind of spirit guide.”
Nathan groaned. “Just once, I’d like to wake up to a normal day.”
“Keep hoping,” Jeremy said. “Is this for real?”
Ryan frowned at me. “Do you feel different? Did something change?”
“I think so. I just don’t know what. It’s hard to describe because everything is new for me now.” I screwed up my face, realising nobody was taking me seriously. “Let’s just go,” I said, tired of the scepticism.
When we got back, Joey was sitting on our doorstep, a bunch of papers in his hands. “I couldn’t stop,” he said before yawning. His eyes found Stephen. “You in on it, too?”
“Sort of,” he said. “You?”
“Nah, they won’t tell me anything. Where’s Perdy?”
“She’s in big trouble,” Stephen said.
“Let me see,” I said impatiently, yanking the pages out of Joey’s hands. The adults all wandered inside to discuss how to negotiate with Vin. I scanned the pages, important words popping out at me as if there were neon lights flashing around them. “This actually might help. Scrying, why didn’t I think of that before?”
Scrying was probably the best way to find a person, but did I even have the power to do something like that? Maybe I needed a little guidance. This was my perfect chance to make things up to Nathan and Perdita, to show everyone in my family that I could be relied upon, that when it mattered, I could do something useful and important. Fear built up inside me at the thought of the pressure mounting on my shoulders, but I pushed it aside. Perdita needed me.
“Nathan, Joey, there’s something I want to do, but I need both of you. Will you help me?”