by Holly Hook
Leonora faces the closed front door. Brett’s yelling so loud she can hear everything, too. I tear open the door and step inside to find Cayden kneeling over Brett, holding his arm down to the floor. Brett’s fingers are beet red. Swollen. If they’re broken, I can’t tell, but I can see the angry blood pulsing under his skin.
I hate Brett but this makes my stomach turn over. I look to Cayden, who still eyes Brett with hatred. He lifts his gaze to me and frowns. “You heard what he said?”
“Of course I did.”
Brett trains his sunglasses on me. “Are you happy?”
“You got Callie’s blood sample?” I ask, storming over to him.
“How many times do I have to repeat myself?” The attitude is back.
“So how do we unbind Romulus from Callie? And why do this to her?” I stand over Brett, resisting the urge to kick him. I have to be careful. Hurting a human is guaranteed to bring the darkest of spirits back to me. It will turn me Savage and rot us all from the inside.
“Good luck,” Brett says. “I don’t even know how to do it. It wasn't my decision, but the cult wanted you to see her suffering so you'd take the burden on yourself. So you'd let the Savage King take you over.”
I shudder. It sounds right and like something they'd expect me to do.
“Then make up a banishing ritual,” Leonora says, joining me. She speaks with surprising force. “That’s up to you to do. You know that and you’re not telling all of the truth. What sigils do you use to represent Romulus? I know you must have a way to summon him.”
I don’t know what she’s talking about, but I grab the book off the couch. It reeks of Brett and old leather. Moldy paper. The moisture has gotten to it, blurring the bad handwriting and the symbols inside. One of these has to represent Romulus, but every symbol in the book looks ugly and alien.
“So you’ve been studying,” Brett says to her. “Smart girl. It's up to you to figure the rest out.”
“He’s not going to cooperate,” Edwin says. The old man rocks his chair back. “I want to break all his fingers just for the sake of it.”
“Then we’ll move on to toes,” Cayden says, eyes darkening.
“Cayden, no. There has to be another way.” I kneel beside him even though that puts me inches from Brett. Cayden holds Brett’s wrist so tight it’s amazing any blood is getting to his fingers at all.
I don’t want to see my mate like this. It fills me with dread. I can feel his agony and rage as he’s doing this. “You have to stop being this way. Brett’s goading you, hoping your anger bleeds over into me and brings the Savage King back.”
Brett doesn’t have a snide comment for that. Cayden looks at me, eyes widening. “I can’t stand what he’s done to you.”
“I can’t stand it either. But this has to stop. We can wrestle the answers we need out of him if we want. Remember Lawrence?”
“But that’s because you’re alpha and you ordered him around.” Cayden seems to think for a second before his eyes widen. “You’re saying we should turn him?”
Chapter Five
Brett stays really, really quiet on the floor for almost a minute as Cayden and I stare at each other. The threat hangs in the air. Edwin watches us with pure interest as his jaw drops. He wouldn’t have thought of this and I’m not even sure why I blurted it out at first.
Clearly Brett doesn’t like this idea.
“You want one of us to bite him?” Cayden asks.
“How else will we get him to open up?” I ask. “One. Brett won’t be able to go back to the cult or the Savages if he’s a Noble Wolf. Two. I can order him around. And three. Working against me will mean his doom.”
“Like he cares about that last point.” Cayden looks at Brett from the corner of his vision.
No snide comments. Brett screws up his features as he struggles to keep his face neutral. He hadn’t expected this turn of events. That alone tells me this is a good idea. It’s better than letting Cayden torture the guy. He's not cut out for that. My mate won’t come out of this unscathed if we let this go on for too long.
“Wait,” Leonora says. “Won’t it take until the full moon to make Brett turn?”
Cayden clears his throat as adrenaline rolls off him. “Nobles and Savages are a bit different. If bitten, Brett will turn right away like Mr. Saffron did, but he won’t shift until the full moon unless he chooses to. That’s…that’s what happened with Remo. He turned right away and that’s how he survived the car accident. Savage infections always hide until the full moon.”
My mate doesn’t want to do this. I’m throwing him into another mountain of crap. Good job, Brie.
“I can do it,” I say.
“But then you’ll be hurting a human.” Cayden turns to me, releasing Brett in his distraction. Cayden takes my hand before he realizes what he’s doing.
The young warlock rolls and bolts off the floor, ankles still tied. He hops to the door in terror. But Cayden rises like he expected this. He’s going to take this burden for me, too, and it’s my fault—
Stop it, I tell myself.
Too late. The pressure roars into my chest, riding on the guilt. I fall back, facing the ceiling and gasping for breath.
Cayden rips off his jacket as a growl emerges from his throat. Brett bangs into the door and opens it. Adrenaline fills the room, but it fades as the darkness closes in. I lie on the floor as Leonora shouts my name, and then Cayden’s name, but he’s already off, popping and changing shape. Distracted, he doesn’t realize what’s happening to me.
The pressure increases on my chest and I struggle to breathe. I can’t see it, but I sense an immense darkness settling down on me, lapping up the darkness within.
Nothing will matter in a few minutes.
“Cayden,” I gasp, but the black Wolf runs after Brett, who screams obscenities. I claw at the air as Edwin rises from his chair. A dark film separates me from the rest of the world. Cayden’s feet plod farther and farther away, and Brett’s shouts of pain follow with a thud and the sound of teeth meeting flesh.
He’s not here to help me. Or maybe his darkness is helping the Savage King along.
“What are you doing?” Leonora asks.
Edwin paces around me as I struggle. I can't move or get up. My limbs are stone. Romulus is trying to push me back into a tiny box at the back of my mind, where I won’t have control. There is no existence there.
“Do something,” Leonora begs.
Edwin reaches into his pocket, drawing Brett's silver dagger. Traces of my blood remain on the blade. “Stand back,” he tells her, shaking.
The blade is sharp. Very sharp. Pain and duty seethe in Edwin's eyes.
Edwin waves the blade above me, cutting air. He mutters strange words. My shoulder wound screams again and I open my mouth, uttering a cry of pain. Edwin’s eyes turn to steel as my ears ring. He slices the air above me again, and this time a new line of pain screams into my chest. I grip my flesh, but the wound is invisible. My skin's whole, but the pain digs deeper, crawling towards my heart. Edwin's words float in the air and I scream as the pressure backs away and the Savage King abandons me.
Edwin's going to kill me to stop the Savage King from coming through. He has my blood. He can.
He slices the air again.
I turn over, trying to shield myself, and a third line of pain screams across my back.
“What are you doing?” Leonora asks, grasping my arm.
“I'm fine!” I shout.
“Get back!”
In my head, Romulus gives one final growl.
I scream and the pressure releases. My limbs go slack. The dark veil lifts from my vision, clearing the room.
“I'm fine! He's gone!” I shout, turning over onto my back.
Leonora and Edwin look down at me, eyes wide. Edwin’s hand trembles as he holds the dagger that inflicted invisible pain on me.
“You hurt her,” Leonora gasps, standing up. She pales, bringing out her freckles.
The pain
fades away except for the real wound on my shoulder. I listen for Cayden but he's gone.
The older man sheaths the dagger and puts it back into his pocket. “Neither one of you are to speak of this. It was necessary and it may be necessary again to prevent all of our deaths. Do you understand me?”
“Did you almost kill Brie?” Leonora asks. “You know dark magic?”
Edwin chews his lower lip and grips the arm of his chair, but he doesn't sit. “Light magic can't always help us. I had to protect us. Next time, I might have to kill.” Then he stalks out of the room, walks into the guest bedroom, and slams the door. It’s the exclamation point added to the end of his sentence.
I push myself up. The last of the deep cuts vanish as I force in a breath, careful not to make my shoulder flare up again. I look at Leonora and we stare at each other with wide eyes.
Edwin has my blood.
Leonora hugs me. “I'm sorry. He made me give the dagger to him when Cayden and Callie brought you here.”
“What else could you have done?” I manage.
Leonora releases me. “Let’s go outside.” Her face tells me that ratting on Edwin will only make things harder—much harder. He has all the respect in the coven and her parents are still the bottom members, though no one says that out loud.
What do I do? This man could kill me if the Savage King tries coming through me again.
I have to leave. Rising from the floor, I follow Leonora back out the front door. I’ve got to leave the real Edwin behind, the Edwin who may have always had the backup plan of killing me. And maybe he's even right to have that plan.
Cayden and Brett have vanished from the Russells’ front yard, though I smell blood. It’s Brett’s metallic blood and fear. It mixes with Cayden’s forest scent and saliva. My mate has bitten the young warlock. Another sniff tells me they're to the right, off the driveway, and just out of sight behind a clump of trees. Brett seethes. Already, I smell the changes in Brett’s blood. The burning hay smell remains, but it’s warping with each breath. By the second, the fire vanishes from Brett, leaving fresh hay and grass. Cayden's bitten him. And Brett's already starting to turn.
The warlock groans.
“Are you happy?” Brett shouts at Cayden, who still paces around the warlock in wolf form. But underneath that sarcasm is real fear.
Cayden's paws crush wet, dead leaves. Wavng Leonora with me, I walk forward. I make out the dark form of the beautiful Wolf through the tree trunks. As I run through the woods, Brett comes into view, too. He’s lying on the ground, a heap of black fabric with red trim, and he’s grabbing his shin. Blood soaks through the bottom of his robe where Cayden must have landed the bite. And as I approach, he glares at me from behind his sunglasses.
I want to tell Cayden what happened. But when I open my mouth, I can't. Just like Leonora, I'm holding information from my boyfriend.
At the same time, Cayden turns his hazel eyes down to the ground. Brett’s blood smears his muzzle, dark and sticky like it’s never going to come off.
“You’re still getting nothing out of me,” he says, fixing me in his black gaze. “I don’t care what you’ve done. I think you’re a bit unstable for that.”
I sniff. Brett still carries that toxic scent, a smell that matches his attitude. Though he still grasps his leg, he keeps me in his stare, almost like he’s challenging me to try ordering him around.
“Get up,” I say.
But Brett laughs. I'm falling into that pit of rage again. I hold back kicking him. Cayden grunts like he’s trying to tell me something. I meet his gaze to see that he’s shaking his head. I’m not sure what it means, but I’m guessing it’s that Brett will take some time to turn.
And he might end up like Lawrence, or worse, Abigail. But we have no other choice.
“I hope your leg doesn’t hurt too badly,” I say, grabbing Brett’s arm. He tries to punch me, but his fist lands on my arm harmlessly.
Then he seethes as he rises to his feet. “Why don’t you just tear out my throat and get it over with? You know you want to.”
I will not listen.
“You didn’t have a problem killing my father.”
The chest pressure starts in, and I exhale, turning my thoughts to Cayden and I running through the woods. I hope he’s doing the same, but I feel nothing but despair and guilt from him, too.
If you take over here, you will die, I think to the Savage King.
You will die and you'll feel that blade again.
So I talk instead. “You didn’t even like your father. Admit it.” I spit the words from my mouth as I pull Brett to the Russell cabin. Edwin now stands at the door in the distance, waiting for me to wrench him inside, and Cayden follows me, plodding on paws. “You know, Brett, if you bring Romulus out of me now, he’s going to kill you. You're starting to smell funny. So you might want to think about what you’re saying. Helping your sister isn’t going to be possible if you’re dead. In fact, he might kill you anyway even if Cayden hadn’t bitten you.”
Cayden grunts again, like he’s telling me not to remind him.
Brett curses as I drag him through the doorway. Leonora and Edwin stand out of the way to let us and the beautiful black wolf in. But my chest pressure remains. Just looking at Brett is bringing it on now, and Cayden’s mood isn’t helping. Brett's making us weak. Cayden’s struggling again. I'm struggling again. Edwin's display also wasn't a good sign and neither is the way Leonora's hanging her head.
“He can have the floor again,” Edwin says quickly. Though he walks back to the chair, he places his hand near the sheathed dagger in his pocket. The outline taunts me.
I flinch under the slashing memories. Cayden looks at me with worry. If he knows the truth, that will just make his mood even worse. “We tie him up again and then Cayden and I will go decide what to do next.”
Edwin snaps his gaze to me. Though he says nothing, the message is clear. I’m not to speak a word about what he almost did or he’s going to kill me. We’re both walking on a tightrope, and shifting my weight the wrong way will throw us both off. The look in his eyes tells me he's willing to die by Cayden's claws and teeth to protect the world from the Savage King.
Brett's shoulders sag and he looks at the rug. He's no longer trying to run. The truth is hitting him. Brett’s become homeless. And hopeless. With the thought, I help him to lie down since he still has trouble balancing with his bound ankles. Brett seethes. “It hurts,” he groans, biting his lip.
Cayden nods at me, still in wolf form. I get what it means. He’s starting to turn and the process won’t be pleasant. Leonora bites her lip at me. The muscles in Brett’s lower arm seize and he bites in another grunt. But the sound escapes his throat as he curls into a ball.
I release his arm and let him twist and turn in pain.
We did this to him. Turning will be far more torture than Edwin could ever inflict. Before my guilty thoughts can finish themselves, I turn and run out of the house.
Chapter Six
“Cayden, you did the right thing. We did the right thing,” I say, gripping the tree trunk.
I’ve run far enough from the cabin to escape Brett’s pained grunts and cries. He’s a tough guy and so far has managed not to scream. But putting half a mile between myself and the cabin hasn't completely drowned out his cries. Nothing has.
Cayden walks up behind me, now back in human form and pulling on his jacket. I gained distance on him thanks to leaving him to change back and throw on his clothes in front of Leonora and Edwin. That wasn’t awkward at all.
“I know we did. I just…don’t like turning people, even crappy people like Brett,” Cayden says, standing beside me. He caresses my arm with his warm grasp, eyes begging me to help him relieve his guilt. “I thought I was over the whole Remo thing, but maybe I’m not.”
“Remo has gotten better. He doesn’t hate you. If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t even be alive,” I say, tracing my finger down his chest. But something's wrong. Instead of sof
tening, Cayden flinches. “There was no other way we were going to get to Brett. With luck, he’ll be like Lawrence and I can order him to give us the way to remove your curse and maybe the way to unstick Romulus from me and Callie. We’re making progress.”
“Noble Wolves don’t run around turning people unless it’s to save their lives,” Cayden says. He releases me and paces. “I tortured Brett and then I turned him. Now I have to go to bed with those thoughts. I tortured. And I did it for you.”
Our gazes meet. I swallow as my throat goes dry. As we face each other, tension flows between us. The happy tingles are gone, fleeing from the darkness.
“You did it for all of us,” I say, because what he’s saying is too horrifying. “We have to do what we have to do. You're the one always telling me I'm being too nice and now you're saying we're being too mean. Trust me, I didn't like the torture, either. I don't even think Edwin enjoyed it.” My stomach turns at the thought of him. I should tell Cayden about him right here. But I can't. Cayden will go into a rage and attack Edwin. He's on the edge of a pit and one push will make him fall in. I can't bear to see him in pain again.
“I’m dedicated to you, Brie. We’re mates and that might be our weakness. For a bit, I felt dark. Just being around someone like Brett brings out the worst in all of us. That’s his goal. He’s like Romulus, capable of rotting us from the inside out. That whole cult is.”
“Are you saying…” I start. “No. That’s too horrible.”
Cayden licks his lips, though we won’t be kissing.
A cloud moves over the sun.
“When I’m around Brett, he puts me back to where I was after I lost my parents. And he's not even trying to do anything. Is he? It could be another curse he's using. I hate him for what he’s done to you and that’s not going to change. For a few seconds, I felt that pressure you’re getting. And I know I wasn’t helping you being the way I was. I couldn’t help you. All I could do was make things worse.” Cayden stuffs his hands in his pockets and takes a step back.