“Are you considering going for a run?” Cole asked from behind me. I’d heard the car when it had driven up, but I’d cared more about the serenity of the woodland than another arrival.
“No. Just wondering if I can part the trees with my mind,” I shot back sarcastically.
His rich laughter filled the air. “Your sense of humor is refreshing. In fact, Skylar Brooks, you are invigorating.”
“If you came to help, the others are in the house.”
“I’m aware.” He moved closer but directed his attention to the woods. His gray eyes shone with longing as he peered into them. He inhaled, appreciating the hints of oak and the sweet redolence of wildflowers that mingled with those of the trees and grass. We’d been around so long that the air reeked of magic as well, and although it wasn’t unpleasant, it was potent, at times uncomfortable and overpowering.
It was peaceful and breezy, and I managed to enjoy the quiet with Cole just inches from me. “I’m glad Chris convinced Demetrius to help Josh.”
I didn’t answer. I knew this was a prelude to something more. And it was. “Chris and Ethan have always had a peculiar dynamic. But I guess that’s to be expected. He’s had a lot of unique interactions with so many people. But now he’s mated to you. Most of your pack didn’t see that coming. I wonder why?” he said quietly.
I met his speculation with silence. I’d let him get it out, because one way or another, he would. I kept my attention on the trees, feeling his gaze on me. Glancing at him, I noted the glint of satisfaction in his silvery-gray eyes.
Moistening his lips, he continued, “At least there aren’t secrets between you two or the pack. That has to be comforting. I wonder if he shares that comfort? He operates in secrecy. I guess it’s safe to say no one will never truly know Ethan.”
This time, I was the one who moved closer; I held his gaze, giving him my full attention. It was cool and assessing. Holding an Alpha’s eyes was hard, and my eyes inevitably dropped past him. “You can stand here and list all of Ethan’s flaws and you probably won’t miss any I’m not already aware of. I fell in love with him because the positives outweigh the flaws. I’m not as naïve as you seem to believe I am because I see right through your little act. You once said Ethan considers me a prize; I believe you do, too. I’m a prize you’ll never have.”
He didn’t seem very convinced of it as his lips curled into a smug smile. “Ethan is Ethan. Without any uncertainty, I know he will screw this up. It’s in his nature. No one person ever holds his attention for long. People have seen it time after time.”
“Hmm. Then instead of working so hard to plant your obvious seeds of doubt, why don’t you just stand back and watch the relationship implode? After all, it’s inevitable, right?” I countered. “If you’re so confident it will, just grab a bag of popcorn and watch the show. But you’re not so confident that it will, are you?”
“Duly noted.” His arrogance annoyed me, and I doubted anything I said would sidetrack his agenda.
“You’re awfully smug for someone who should be in a grave.” That didn’t wipe the look off permanently, but I gained a great deal of satisfaction in watching it falter. “I guess Ethan isn’t always a servant to his nature. If he were, you wouldn’t be standing here.”
Maintaining his composure was getting harder each moment. “If you are going to go on a run…” his fingers trailed along the buttons of his shirt. He opened one. “I think I’ll join you.”
“There’s absolutely no way in hell that’s happening,” Ethan growled. He stalked in our direction with powerful and aggressive strides. A frown strained his face, and I knew this would end badly. We didn’t need them ripping each other apart. It infuriated me that Cole derived so much pleasure from this.
“Ethan.” I said. His head snapped in my direction, but he was unfocused.
Blinded by his emotions, Cole added fuel to a fire that would set the place ablaze in a matter of minutes. “She didn’t decline,” he offered. I could hear the amusement in his voice.
“What Ethan said: there is no way in hell that’s happening. If you want to be of any use, they need help inside.”
“I am here to help,” Cole said smoothly as he made his way to the house, smart enough to keep a respectable distance from Ethan.
“I hate that guy,” Ethan said, his voice still hard and rough, growling his resentment.
Running my fingers deftly over the buttons of his shirt, I quickly undid them. “Really, I never would have guessed. You hide it so well,” I teased as he shrugged off the shirt and let it fall to the ground.
I helped him out of his pants, and he kicked them aside. He’d shifted to his animal before I could fully undress. He waited until I’d changed, and then we both ran full speed into the woods. Ethan gave me my space as I ran. The crisp air brushing against my muzzle was invigorating, and my paws struck the ground, kicking up dirt into the air. Minutes of high-speed running was enough, and I relaxed, becoming one with my wolf and processing all the information I’d acquired. Amizial and Ethos were brothers, and we assumed Ethos was responsible for turning his brother into a spirit shade in order to grab power and control the otherworld. The Clostra was warded against Ethos. His brother was the only person whose magic could be used against were-animals. The protected objects were Faerie creations and could be used to their advantage. The biggest advantage they wanted was magic they could use against us. They had the Aufero, which could neutralize the witches and elves; now they just needed Amizial to take us out. I didn’t know what they needed from the Clostra or if it was of any use to them. They likely just wanted to reacquire all the protected objects.
The feeling that I was missing something niggled at me. Was it really Ethan’s use of magic that had drawn them out of a quiescent state? Or had it been Ethos’s death? I couldn’t figure out the link or even if there was one. Ethos and Amizial had been the most powerful Faeries, and Ethos had wanted ultimate power. He hadn’t been willing to share. Was that the reason they’d waited?
Or were all the pieces in place? They had another Faerie—me. They knew a way to get magic that could be used against were-animals because of Ethan. I assumed they could read the Clostra, the same way my cousin Senna and I could. Upon meeting her, I’d felt that she was too cynical and intemperate for her perceived age. I’d seen a lot over the years, and that had opened my mind to the impossible. Sebastian had once pointed out that Senna didn’t seem related to me. He suspected she was adopted. She knew about the Clostra and its use. She knew what the symbols in the book meant.
I shifted back to human form and sat in the middle of the wooded area, naked, sorting through all the information. When Ethan approached me in his human form, his brows inched together as he scrutinized me. I had to be a peculiar sight, seated in the middle of the weald, legs pulled to my chest, staring blankly ahead as I dealt with my new findings.
“Sky?” Ethan said quietly as he knelt in front of me, obscuring my view.
“Senna is a Faerie, and she might be able to help us.”
CHAPTER 23
Sebastian didn’t waste any time scheduling a flight to Virginia for us to go see Senna. Sebastian entertained Ariel’s suggestion that she come along, and the ensuing debate lasted longer than most of us had expected. The Faeries were a problem for all supernaturals, but for some reason, Sebastian only wanted the pack to deal with Senna. The only people with me on the plane were Sebastian, Ethan, and Josh. The same three who’d come to get me at my family’s home the first time I’d visited them.
“I can hear you,” Sebastian said to the closed door after knocking several times without anyone answering.
Senna snatched open the door in the false image of a dark-haired young woman with delicate round features and keen green eyes very similar to mine. I’d wondered at our similarities in the past, but now I wanted to be very different from her. I didn’t see the face she presented to us but the monstrous visage of Ethos. I thought about how much magic they’d expended to p
resent the faces they’d had when they’d attacked the pack’s house and why they’d bothered. They were monsters and should look like them. I didn’t want to see halation that made them look ethereal. Nor did I want to see attractive, striking features. Those were masks. I wanted to see horns, leathery skins, and tails that forked at the end.
“Is that glamour?” I asked softly.
Her gaze traveled over each of our faces. She swallowed. “You know what I am?” Despite the situation, I got the impression she was relieved.
Opening the door wider, she invited us in. “No one is here.”
“They don’t know, do they?” Sebastian inquired, following her into the living room, where she invited us to have a seat.
She didn’t answer until she was seated in a chair across from us. “I would like it to stay that way. They’re my family.”
My family. But they weren’t mine. Even after meeting me and no longer seeing me as a threat, they hadn’t made any efforts to make me a part of it. I didn’t have time to deal with the hurt that came from that.
How had she infiltrated my family and started living as a witch without anyone being the wiser?
After watching me in silence and seeing I was coming up with the right questions along with everyone else, Senna spoke. “I am what you think I am, and so were my parents.” Her contempt for them was the same as ours. “There are so few of us that I thought people would continue to believe we’d died long ago. Most of us did, but the majority of those who didn’t were the ones who had the greatest desire to see the world they once knew rise again: to see you all in your old form; the witches and elves subjugated; the vampires horrible, vicious creatures of the night; and the Tre’ase cruel demons given full rein to do as they pleased. That’s the world they want, and you will make it possible for them to get it.”
How she’d become part of my family should have been the least of my worries—stopping the Faeries should have been my priority—but I couldn’t let it go. “How … when … how did you become a part of my family?” I stammered out.
“My family,” she corrected, her voice harder than before. I could see her fear that it might slip away. Her family, the life she knew. Everything.
“As I said before, what’s happening isn’t new. It’s just more organized because they have access to the protected objects. But they’ve been building their army for years, and either you join them or face the consequences. My parents suffered the consequences, but they made sure I found a home with witches—people who were equipped to keep me safe. I think they’d have preferred were-animals, but that wasn’t an option.” She shrugged. “How many do they have now?”
“We don’t know. There were six when they attacked the pack’s home,” I said.
“What did they take?” Senna asked.
“Nothing. But I think they were trying to get the Clostra and Sky,” Sebastian responded.
“For Maya, right?” she asked, her gaze slipping my way. She frowned and fixed me with a hard stare. “We should have removed her.”
“I would have died.”
“You’re probably still going to die,” she responded, her voice low, rough, and emotionless. She stood and paced around the room. Every so often, her focus moved to us. “Why are you here?”
“We need to be proactive and find them before they attack again,” Sebastian answered.
“And how am I supposed to help you with this?”
“If you are a Faerie, we can use your blood to locate them. To call them to us like we did with Ethos.” It was Josh who spoke up this time. Usually calm and composed, he seemed anxious.
Senna sighed, exasperated. “You can’t use a sourcing spell with my blood—it will just locate me. If you do an ad beatam spell, my blood will call all Faeries.” She gave Josh a chastising look for suggesting it. “You want the ones who attacked you. Leave the rest of us out of it.”
“But we don’t have the blood of the ones who attacked. They’ve retrieved it every time we’ve encountered them.”
She made another irritated sound and then turned to Josh. “I’ll give it to you, but use it as a last resort. You won’t have to find them; I assure you, they’ll find you.” She gathered everything to give us a sample of her blood: knife, vial, and bandages. She beckoned Josh to follow her to the kitchen. We followed, too.
Senna didn’t flinch as she slid the knife over her hand, allowing the blood to well before letting some drop into the vial. “Why now?” she asked, looking at the blood drip into the clear container.
I knew what she meant. They’d been silent for so long. What had emboldened them? That heaviness I’d felt when I’d had to admit to Nia that all this was happening because of us returned. Because we’d been careless with magic and these were the consequences. They’d found another Faerie who thirsted for power the same way they did: Maya, who’d tried to help them destroy the were-animals with a curse. In the process, Ethan had exposed Amizial, the only one who could wield magic against were-animals. We were at the root of all this.
Sebastian answered before I could. “A series of things we’ve done to protect ourselves.” He rarely showed remorse because he prioritized our safety above everything else. This was one of those rare moments when it seemed like he was reevaluating all the things we’d done—manipulation of magic and crimes against magic we’d involved ourselves in, rules we’d ignored—and concluded that we may not have protected the pack but ensured its demise.
Senna’s face softened as she looked at him. She stood from the chair, and instead of giving Josh the vial, she handed it to Sebastian. As he reached for it, she rested her hand on his. “The pack is like a family to some extent, and we will do anything to protect them, right?”
He nodded. “I don’t take that obligation lightly.”
“I’ve lived many years denying my magic. I use glamour to maintain my form and never use magic stronger than what a witch would possess. I’ve been cautious never to be discovered. I ask you to respect that.”
Sebastian looked down at the vial and nodded as if he were promising not to be as careless as we’d been in the past.
Senna stayed in place. “I’ve lost my other family. I don’t want to lose this one.” It took her longer to continue. When she did, her voice had lost its melodious lilt, becoming dark and so cold it seemed as if the room had chilled. Her green eyes were drowned out by an inhuman burnt orange, light supple skin was replaced by thick, leathery, coal-colored skin, and her petite form heightened by several inches. The true face of the Faeries. Nothing beautiful or human. They were powerful, magic-wielding monsters with the appearance to match.
Senna, or the being posing as Senna, spoke, and the deep, powerful voice echoed with the promise of a wrath we would not likely endure. “I will do whatever it takes to protect this one.” A slight shift of her head and we were again seeing my dark-haired cousin with the roundish face and sparkling green eyes. Her hair was lighter, however, with odd streaks of red and a few highlights of silver and pale blonde. Sebastian moved a little closer and took a strand of her oddly colored hair in his fingers to study it.
“Is that why you color it?” he asked, bemused.
She flushed. It was hard to even imagine that she had been a monstrous creature just seconds ago. How easily she settled into her human role, taking on the traits as if they were her own. It was both comforting and disturbing. She wasn’t a menace. She wasn’t one of the vile creatures we’d read about. “I can’t seem to get the color right.”
Sebastian bagged the vial of blood and nodded. “Well, your secret is safe with us.”
Before we could leave, she said. “Remember, it’s a last resort.”
It had to be. If there were Faeries actually trying to live a normal life, it would be cruel to bring them into this.
CHAPTER 24
We heard the crackle of thunder when we turned down the single-lane road leading to the pack’s home, then hard rain obscured our vision before suddenly stopping. Josh narrowed h
is eyes and looked around the area.
“It’s just here,” he said.
We stopped abruptly when a figure crashed into the car and fell to the ground. The rain stopped. Sebastian parked the car, and we jumped out. Gideon was crumbled against it, his arm turned in an odd position, possibly broken. Claw marks ran along his face, and blood stained his hand. Whether it was adrenaline, pride, or commitment to his position as the leader of the elves, he tried to stand, wincing at the attempt.
“Stay down,” I ordered him, gently taking his arm. I leaned in to look at his shoulder. “I don’t think it’s broken, just dislocated.” I touched it gently, feeling the shoulder joint where it had slipped. I wasn’t sure if he had fast healing like we did, but it would feel a hell of a lot better repositioned. I’d seen a doctor do it during one of my assignments, and thanks to my mother, I was very knowledgeable about the body.
“Do it,” he said through clenched teeth.
There was a crash behind us; while he was distracted, I pushed it back in the joint. He groaned and started panting. After several moments, his breathing returned to normal, but his face was strained and red. “The animals have been released from the dark forest. We’re trying to catch them all.”
“You don’t know how they got out, do you?”
He shook his head.
We did. Senna was right. We didn’t have to find them; they’d continue to attack until they’d achieved their goal.
I stayed in human form, although I questioned my choice. Sebastian quickly changed and ran toward the house. I waited for Ethan to change, but he didn’t. Gideon stood behind us, guarding his left arm; his other hand glowed, and I quickly felt the emergence of magic.
The Faeries were spread around the house, their magic so strong it mirrored the blast of wind Abigail was producing on the other side of the grassland. Doing a quick sweep of the area, I saw more than the six Faeries who had attacked us the first time. A lot more. This was a war they had come prepared to win. I would have to use magic and contend with Maya, who would try her best to use it for her own benefit. I quickly assessed our allies: between the elves, witches, and animals, the area was crowded. There was too much magic thrumming through the air to figure out who was doing what.
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