by Nicole Hall
“She wishes you were there, Mad. Her greatest wish is to have her whole family together and safe…and for Thor to descend from the heavens in nothing but a kilt, but we’re pretty sure that was the wine talking.”
She snorted out another laugh. “That, I believe.”
“Come to the party, Mad. Let us help you heal.”
“I’m not interested in healing.”
It was the wrong thing to say. Maddie couldn’t see Sera’s face, but the disapproval came through clearly in her stiffened shoulders. Years ago, Sera would have been the one hiding while Maddie coaxed her out. Coming into her magic had given Sera confidence that age hadn’t. Maddie was only a year younger than her, but she felt much older.
“Jake looks happy.” The subject change worked to get Sera’s focus off of Maddie. “When are you two going to get married?”
Sera shrugged. “We’re not in a hurry, but it would make things easier when we finally sell Evie’s house.”
“You know I’ll be there, right?”
“I know. Jake knows too, but he’d be happier if his sister came home for good.”
“I can’t do that, Sera. I’m not sure I can ever move back to Mulligan. There are too many bad memories.”
“I understand that. You know I do, more than anyone else, but running isn’t the answer.”
“I’m not running. I’m preparing. Torix will be back.”
“He’s powerless, Mad. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Maddie shook her head, even though Sera couldn’t see her. The moment had snuck up on her. All she had to say was Torix is back, and he has a Will-zombie, but the words were stuck in her throat. “Will was powerless. That didn’t stop him from hurting you.”
“That’s true.” She was silent for a moment. “We’re worried about you and we miss you, but it’s your life. You get to decide what you need out of it. Promise me you’ll be careful?”
“I’m always careful now.” Released from the pressure to make an appearance, Maddie could breathe again. The baby started to cry, but before Sera could push away from the tree, Jake came out of the house to calm her down. “You guys need to be careful too. Don’t underestimate Torix and Will.”
Sera nodded, but the baby was distracting her. Maddie needed to make her understand.
“I mean it, Sera. He’s dangerous, even without his power, and Will is under his thrall.”
Sera spun around, and Maddie could feel the wave of magic she used to check the area. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I saw it in a dream.”
Sera relaxed. “You had a lot of nightmares after we freed you. Maybe something you were doing in Wales triggered another one.”
Maddie wanted to shake her. “It was real.” She couldn’t claim any more than that because Torix could have been manipulating the situation. At the very least, she knew for certain that Torix had outside magic at his disposal somewhere near Mulligan.
Sera smiled and took her hand for a second. “Okay. We’ll keep our eyes open then. Maybe Evie or Lana have some more information about Torix’s whereabouts. I know where Will is living. I’ll go by and check on him.”
Maddie gripped Sera’s hand. “No. Please don’t, Sera.” The whole situation suddenly felt like a trap. Could that have been Torix’s plan all along? Use Maddie to lure Sera and Jake into danger? “Please promise me you’ll stay away from Will. Even if he calls you or something. I know you’ll keep it if you promise me.”
Sera grimaced. “Okay, if it makes you feel better. It’s not like I hang out with him.”
“I need you to say the words.”
Maddie felt prickles of magic crawl up her arms as Sera met her eyes. “I promise to stay away from Will to the best of my abilities.”
The prickles faded, and Maddie sighed in relief. “Thank you.”
Sera glanced over her shoulder to Jake and the baby. “I have to get back.”
“Don’t tell them I was here. It’ll just make everything worse.”
Sera speared her with a look. “I won’t lie to Jake. Besides, he knows I’m over here talking to you.”
“I don’t want you to lie. I just don’t want you to bring it up.”
She nodded and tilted her head. “Are you sure you don’t want to come meet Amber?”
Maddie stared past her at the happy baby that Jake was bouncing around. She did want to come meet Amber, but too much darkness followed her. “I can’t yet. I love you guys.”
Her voice cracked at the end, and Sera pulled her into a quick hug. “Be safe.”
Sera jogged across the yard toward Jake, who never took his eyes off of her. She said a few words, and his gaze shifted to Maddie’s hiding place. He sent her a sad smile then gathered his family and went back into the house. A cloud drifted in front of the sun, and the breeze made Maddie shiver again. She had to stay as far away from them as possible. Torix enjoyed playing twisted games, and until Maddie knew the rules, she needed to take every precaution to keep them safe.
Maddie stayed in the shadows and circled the house until she was out of line of sight of Jake’s place. The neighbors didn’t worry her. Evie had left for the Glade months ago, and no one else would care that Maddie had returned. She’d spent a lot of time in the last few years severing connections. If she couldn’t control her actions, she’d at least be able to limit the amount of people hurt by them. Torix had allowed it because it amused him to see her in pain.
The for-sale sign and the empty feel of the house made her sad. Even under Torix’s influence, she’d spent a lot of good hours there practicing magic with Evie. Maddie hated what she’d done to her former teacher, and the time Evie had spent trapped ate at her. For a second, she considered going to the Glade and throwing herself on the mercy of the Fae, but they weren’t well-known for their mercy. She’d heard Evie had tempered that a bit, but the idea of putting another person in charge of her fate again made her itch to run away as far and as fast as she could.
Maybe not the Glade, but the forest had always been her safe space. Maddie shouldered her pack and walked toward the trees across the street. She’d slept on the flight and the drive up from the airport, but she hadn’t had a chance to stretch her muscles.
Maddie had taken worse strolls through the woods on a crisp January day. Her mind wandered as she wove between full pine trees and walked over crunchy leaves. Torix had engineered her presence in Mulligan. He’d known she wouldn’t be able to ignore a threat to her family.
Torix said he’d been searching for her, and she wasn’t ready for him to find her yet. Best case scenario, he’d get what he wanted and leave her more of a broken mess than she already was. Worst case, he killed her and everyone she loved. Maddie frowned. Mulligan was a small town, and by evening, everyone would know she was back. How could she keep away from Torix if they were both frequenting the same nine square miles?
She’d warned Sera and Jake; she could go back to Europe. An image of Amber kicking her feet in her swing popped into Maddie’s head, and a fiery anger filled her. How much of her life was she willing to sacrifice for Torix? He’d stolen seven years. Was she going to give him another decade while she hid from him? She kicked a rock into the underbrush and looked up at the sliver of bright blue sky visible between the trees. He had to be stopped. She had to stop him. Everyone else had responsibilities, and none of them knew him as well as she did.
Fear threatened to overtake her, freezing her muscles and closing her throat, but she’d learned to move around it. Torix used fear to control, and she was done being controlled.
A clearing opened up ahead of her, and Maddie shook her head. She hadn’t meant to walk there, but old habits died hard. It was bigger than she remembered, and full of tiny glowing balls of light. Sera had decimated the old dead oak, but the sprites and the circle of pines remained. She walked to the center and found the stone etched with ancient markings. Torix had called it a nexus. A place where several magics converged. And a place he’d spent several generations trappe
d in a tree.
She’d considered it the heart of the Wood, and considered the Fae stupid for trying to imprison a powerful force there. In the back of her mind, she’d always wondered if Torix hadn’t manipulated that outcome as well.
A wind moved the tops of the trees, but the nexus stayed silent. The blue sky had faded as if the sun had gone down, but Maddie recognized the in-between space. At some point, she’d crossed from normal forest to magical trod. Maddie hadn’t been able to make any paths since Sera had freed her. She’d tried. The trods hadn’t responded before, but the Wood apparently wanted her here now.
Her stomach growled, and she remembered that she hadn’t eaten anything since the questionable egg sandwich at the airport. Maddie cursed her issues for keeping her from the food at the party. She really missed brisket.
Maddie scrounged through her pack for a granola bar, but stopped when she felt someone watching her. She lifted her head and looked around. A quarter of the way around the clearing she spotted the wolf sitting in the brush. His dappled coat blended with the shadows. He looked relaxed, but his ears were perked up. She moved further into the circle, and his golden eyes followed her.
The last time she’d seen him, not counting the dream, he’d been as trapped as she’d been. Sera had removed Torix’s hold and dismissed him as an errant wolf, but Maddie knew better. She dropped her gaze to her pack and pulled out her last two granola bars.
“You might as well join me. I have enough for both of us.”
He didn’t move right away, and when he slunk closer, he made no noise among the leaves. She sank to the ground and tore open one of the packages. He’d stopped a few feet away, and when she offered him the bar, he stayed where he was. It would be smart to fear him, but Maddie simply didn’t. She sighed and tossed the food to him, then opened her own.
He ate the bar in three neat bites, but his eyes never left her.
Maddie tilted her head and stared back at him as she ate her late lunch. “Why do you stay in that form after everything he made you do?”
His ear twitched, but he didn’t answer her. Not that she expected him to.
“You know he’s back. That’s why you’re here. I get that part. What I don’t get is if you’re here to stop him or help him.”
His shape blurred, and she felt magic dancing along her skin. Survival instinct said she should back away because if it was the latter, she was in trouble. Curiosity kept her still. His change fascinated Maddie, but watching him was probably rude. In all time she’d known him, she’d only seen the wolf. During the nearly instantaneous change, her eyes couldn’t focus on him. One second a large wolf sat in front of her, the next, a large man crouched there.
He propped his arms on his knees, and Maddie raised a brow at his clothes. Honest to God leather pants tucked into high boots. At least they looked like leather pants, maybe suede, some kind of supple dark brown material. She had the urge to touch them and find out for herself. On top of that, his thigh muscles might have been bigger than her head.
He cleared his throat, and she realized she’d been basically staring at his crotch. A warm flush flooded her cheeks, and Maddie looked up. Broad shoulders, dark hair tied back from his face, a smirking mouth, and the same golden eyes. She’d expected him to look older, more grizzled, but the smooth angles of his face made her glad she’d been wrong. He couldn’t have been much older than her. When had Torix had managed to capture him?
He quirked a brow, and Maddie was drawn back to his eyes. Wolf eyes, but not. He watched her like a predator, and a shiver went down her spine, but not from fear. If she ran, would he chase her? The thought sent a thrill through her, and she fought to shake off the effect. She had no time to be attracted to whatever he was.
Her mouth opened to question him, but her brain hadn’t caught up with her common sense yet. “You look ridiculous.”
He glanced down at himself. “How so?”
His rich, deep voice echoed inside her, and Maddie struggled to remember what she’d said a second ago. “No one wears leather pants unless they’re going to a club.”
“I’ll keep that in mind the next time I’m in combat.”
He didn’t sound annoyed by her critique, which was fantastic because Maddie was annoyed with it. What was wrong with her? A sinful face and a sexy voice shouldn’t be enough to completely shut off all rational thought.
She mentally shook herself and tried to focus on his relationship with Torix. The most likely scenario played out with him as a victim, like her, but people were crazy. Who knew what the effects of enslavement had been on him? “So, good guy or bad guy?”
“Neither.” He didn’t take his eyes off her, but he sat down in the pine straw, which made her feel a little better about his intentions. “But I’m not working with Torix. You?”
Considering her reaction to his human form, his response relieved her. She also appreciated having her instincts confirmed again. This time, they’d said he wasn’t there to bring her back to Torix, and she’d learned the hard way to listen to herself first.
“No. I’m here for a different reason.” She wasn’t being coy; she wasn’t sure why she’d ended up in the nexus.
He watched her a moment longer, then broke the tension by looking around the clearing. “Things have changed. I like it better this way.”
She stifled a laugh. “You mean without the super powerful, psychopathic Fae controlling everything we did from inside a damn tree?”
His smile was quick, then it was gone. “Yeah, and being human again has its perks.”
She sobered. “You couldn’t change?”
“No. His hold was absolute, and he wanted the wolf.”
Maddie nodded. She knew all about Torix’s hold. “I’m Maddie Thomas.”
“Aiden Morgan.” He extended his hand, and she shook it. His warm, gentle contact settled her better than his words had.
Maddie drew her hand back reluctantly. “If you’re not here to serve Torix, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to kill him.” The words were matter of fact, and Maddie respected his bluntness.
She nodded again. “Me too. You were in my dream.”
He grabbed a handful of pine needles and stared weaving them together. “I was following Torix. He pulled you in; I pulled you out.”
Maddie couldn’t look away from his hands. The motions were delicate and precise. “How is that possible? I understand Torix and I are still connected, which theoretically lets him pop in, but how were you able to affect anything?”
He shrugged. “There must be more connecting us than indentured servitude.”
Maddie wasn’t so sure, but she didn’t have a better idea. He worked a small circle in his hands, and she could see the beginnings of a tiny knot design forming. “You’re not Fae.”
“No.” He didn’t look up from his crafting.
He wasn’t human. His magic felt like something…else. Not to mention she’d seen him shift from wolf to man. Most humans couldn’t do that. “Werewolf?”
He chuckled. “You think the stories are true?”
“I think anything is possible at this point.”
“Not a werewolf.”
“Will you tell me if I guess it correctly?”
His eyes raised to hers, and she felt that tingle again. He fell quiet for a moment, intense, as if searching her for something. “I don’t know.”
At least he’d given an honest answer. “I’m going to keep asking.”
His smile returned. “I know.”
Maddie didn’t usually go for the cryptic, know-it-all routine. She wanted direct answers to her questions, but she couldn’t fault him for wanting to keep his secrets to himself. It’s not like she was being all that forthcoming. Maybe she should ask a question that required a more complicated answer.
“Why a wolf?”
“Better than a dragon.”
“I’m going to disagree with you on that one,” she muttered.
A small crash and
a thud came from the trees, interrupting their peaceful interlude. Both of them sprang to their feet. Aiden moved with an easy grace, despite being much taller than her. He scanned the area, turning in a slow circle, but didn’t reach for any weapons. She didn’t relish the idea of fighting side by side with Aiden in his human form. As a wolf, she knew what to expect from him, but men sometimes reacted in stupid ways.
He looked up at the darkening sky as if he’d seen something, and a flash of movement streaked out of the trees at them. Maddie didn’t have time to think. She threw herself between Aiden and the creature. Her hands came up as if drawing a sword, and a blade of shimmering silver magic took shape.
She swung at what looked like a white lizard that was roughly the size of a cat. It dodged around the magic and leapt at them with bared fangs. Maddie jerked back and bumped into Aiden. One arm came around her waist from behind and spun her to the side. The lizard missed her face, but managed to sink its teeth into her shoulder.
Her breath hissed out between her teeth as fiery pain shot down her arm. Aiden grabbed the creature around its neck, and it disappeared in a puff of warm smoke. Blood trickled into her shirt as the trees started to slowly spin. She released the magic, and the blade disappeared, but she was having trouble keeping herself upright. Aiden’s other arm slid under her knees, and he lifted her without much effort.
“Put me down. I’m fine.” Maddie’s weak voice embarrassed her as she tried to push against his chest. The guy was solid muscle.
“You’re not fine, but you will be. It’s okay. I’ll take care of you.”
She wanted to laugh at the idea, but her eyes drifted closed. He tightened his grip, which jostled her arm painfully. She must have made a noise because he shifted her until her head rested on his shoulder with her wound tucked between them. It should have been terrifying to let him handle it, but she was strangely okay with it. Her arm had gone numb, and instead of trying again to handle things on her own, she pressed her face into the softness of his shirt and marveled that he smelled like warm cotton instead of dog.