by S. Young
If they didn’t get to her soon, it wouldn’t matter if they found her breathing.
They would be bringing back a dead lykan.
Cutting class was nothing to Caia. The world had shifted enough on its axis for such things as war, torture, and imminent death to put perfect attendance on the back burner. After giving herself a good talking-to, Caia scrambled to her feet and went after Sebastian. He was in Shop and sneaked out easily enough.
“What’s happening?” he asked as they slid into his car.
“It’s Jae,” she whispered, choking on the name. “She’s … it’s getting worse.”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles white with rage. “What’s happening to her?”
“Believe me, Sebastian, you don’t want to know.”
“Yes, I do,” he snapped.
Caia drew a breath, grabbing either side of her seat as he whirled them out of the parking lot. “You might want to cool it, or we’ll never make it to my house.”
After he eased off the accelerator, Caia explained what she could of the images she’d seen.
“And you’re sure it definitely means Jae’s being—” He cut off, flinching. The thought of sweet Jaeden being subjected to anything as horrifying as torture was too unbearable to voice out loud.
“Yes. It’s not dreams. I don’t know how or why I know with such certainty, but I do.”
“I believe you. I wish to Artemis I didn’t, but I do.”
They remained in tense silence until they pulled into Lucien’s driveway. Sebastian exhaled. “Dimitri and the others are back,” he said.
Caia didn’t wait for him to shut off the engine. She was out of the car and rushing toward the house with him on her heels.
He caught up with her just as she was about to open the door. His hand gripped her wrist almost painfully.
“What?” She whirled on him, trying to pull out of his grasp.
Sebastian’s eyes flicked from hers to the house. “Are you going to tell them what you saw?”
Dimitri.
He would go ballistic at this news.
“Oh. I didn’t think.”
They stood for a moment in silence.
“Well,” Sebastian whispered, “I don’t think it would be wise. It would be different if you knew where she was. They obviously didn’t find her, or you wouldn’t have had those visions.”
She nodded, her shoulders slumping. “I don’t want to lie.”
He seemed to understand and drew her into a hug, his chin resting on the top of her head. “No one blames you, Caia, for who you are. How many times do you have to be told?”
She didn’t say anything. It wouldn’t matter how many times they told her she was blameless; she would never believe it. If they’d just left her in hiding, none of this would’ve happened.
Seb’s arms tightened around her, and she knew before the familiar dark voice said, “Am I interrupting?” that Lucien was standing in the doorway.
She drew out of Sebastian’s hold and winced. Crap. She didn’t even have to be half magik to understand Sebastian’s body language. He looked Lucien straight in the eye and kept a possessive arm around Caia’s shoulders. Jeez. She really had to remember to lay off touching Sebastian. It sent the wrong message.
A little worried, she glanced up at Lucien from under her eyelashes. He looked furious.
She stepped out of Sebastian’s embrace.
“I have news,” she explained. “But I don’t want Dimitri to know.”
Lucien’s expression changed, eyes filled with concern. “Jaeden’s not—”
“No,” she reassured quickly, still whispering, “but I think our time is running out.”
He nodded and stepped onto the porch with them, shutting the door behind him. He brushed past them, perhaps knocking Sebastian back deliberately, and they followed him as he wandered down to the driveway to be farther from the house.
“Speak.”
Caia drew in a breath. “I had another vision. At school.”
“That’s why you’re both cutting class?”
Trust him to notice that in the middle of a crisis. Caia waved off the comment. “Lucien, she’s in a bad way.”
“What I don’t get is how you can see Jaeden,” he replied.
“What?”
“Marion said you would be connected to the Midnight Coven, but Jaeden is Daylight.”
Understanding dawned. Caia had already thought of that and shuddered at her theory. “I don’t think the visions I had before of Jaeden in the cage came from Jaeden. I think they were from Ethan.”
Silence.
“And today I think I was seeing through his eyes as he … well …”
More silence.
Caia bit her lip, looking between the two males. They both had paled, mirror images with their shoulders hunched and arms crossed over their chests, legs apart. They still didn’t say anything. Oh goddess, they were just as creeped out as she was. Maybe this had finally pushed them over the edge.
Until now, there had been no real evidence of her connection to the Midnights. She was just a magik, and really a Daylight one at that. But forming some scary mind connection with Ethan … well, it was disconcerting to say the least.
“Oh!” She threw up her hands. “For goddess’ sake, say something.”
“Does this mean you can trace Ethan to Jaeden?” Lucien asked.
Caia shook her head. “I don’t know what Marion meant about me being able to trace Midnights, but I feel nothing. I couldn’t tell you where he or any other Midnight was unless they were right here with us. Or unless I see something when I connect to Ethan that’s a recognizable landmark.”
Lucien nodded and then looked back at the house, his eyes narrowing against the sun. Caia’s heart stumbled as she looked at him.
“I’m not telling Dimitri,” he agreed. “They’ll be heading west soon. Telling him this would just disrupt the control he’s managing to maintain during the search. An uncontrolled werewolf is not exactly my idea of a party right now.”
“Especially not one like Dimitri,” Sebastian added, his eyes betraying his anxiety.
“Exactly. Okay.” Lucien glanced at his watch. “School’s out now anyway, so I doubt they’ll question your presence, Caia. Go inside.”
She wanted to protest at his command but didn’t. He was still the Pack Leader and that would pretty much be his argument if she argued with him. Jaw clenched, she muttered goodbye to Sebastian as she shuffled toward the house.
As she opened the door, she looked back at Sebastian and Lucien. They stood facing each other, and whatever Lucien said had a decided effect on the younger male. Sebastian’s face paled and his shoulders drooped, his hands hanging by his sides. Before she could return to see if he was okay, Caia was pulled inside the house.
“Ella?” She winced at the female’s tight grip. The door slammed shut behind her.
“Not thinking of disrupting pack business, were you?” Ella mused, a smile tilting her lips, although her eyes were deadly serious.
“Pack business?”
“Lucien needed to speak to Sebastian. When your Pack Leader asks you to do something, like, say, go into the house and give him some privacy, you do it.”
“Even for a lykan, your hearing is unnatural.”
“Supernatural, don’t you know.”
Caia smirked but couldn’t shake off her worry for Sebastian. Whatever was going on out there was seriously upsetting him.
“Do you understand, then?” Lucien hated the look in the young male’s eyes. He’d always liked Sebastian and hadn’t wanted to tell him what he’d had to today. And the news may make him resent Lucien, but he was just going to have to live with it.
“Why tell me?” Sebastian snapped.
“Because I don’t want you to get hurt.”
The boy laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “Too late.”
“I can trust you with this?”
Sebastian’s gold eyes blazed at him, but he nodd
ed. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“Good. You better go home.”
Lucien turned to leave, but Sebastian stopped him. “She forgives you for deceiving her. She told me so today.” Seb’s eyes narrowed. “She won’t forgive you for this, though.”
Lucien cracked his neck. Artemis, give him strength because, no matter how kind he was trying to be to Sebastian, the kid was really pushing his buttons. “Why?” His drawl was deceptively lazy. “Because she has feelings for you?”
Sebastian winced at his mocking tone and shook his head. “No. Because she has feelings for you.”
That shut him up.
“And when she finds out, you’ll kill those feelings. And I’ll be waiting.”
Lucien growled, “I think you better leave.”
Sebastian nodded, seeming to gloat that he’d gotten the better of his Pack Leader.
“Remember who your Alpha is, Sebastian Trey.”
No matter what issues arose within the pack, respect for their leader was ingrained in their souls. It was evident in the way the light of anger dimmed reluctantly in Sebastian’s eyes, and the slight deferential nod he gave as he climbed into his car.
Lucien ran a hand through his hair in aggravation. He hoped Sebastian wouldn’t take too long to get over it. The pack had enough to deal with as it was.
He wandered back into the house, dreading the return. Dimitri was almost unbearable to be around, his anger and pain so thick it was contagious, and Lucien needed to keep a level head. He found Caia in the kitchen with the others as Aidan and Ryder packed what appeared to be the last of their supplies. Dimitri gulped down the dregs of his coffee and clambered off his stool. Lucien noticed how Caia watched the Elder’s every move, as if waiting to catch him when he finally broke.
Dimitri grabbed his rucksack. “We’re heading out.”
Lucien merely nodded and placed a hand on Dimitri’s shoulder as he passed. The Elder stopped, touched his calloused fingers to Lucien’s in acknowledgement, and then left. His son followed him, Aidan striding behind. Only Ryder stayed back.
He, like Lucien, was watching Caia’s face. His eyes met Lucien’s over the top of her head, and he read what he was thinking. She was never going to stop blaming herself for Jaeden’s disappearance.
“I’ll watch out for him,” Ryder promised, and Lucien knew he meant Dimitri. He squeezed Caia’s shoulder, and she smiled gratefully as he passed.
Lucien jerked his chin up at his friend. “Be careful.”
“Always am.”
When they were gone, Lucien slid into the seat across from Caia. “Where’s my mother?”
Caia blushed. “Upstairs with Magnus.”
Lucien laughed at her red cheeks. “You’ll need to get used to how open we are around here.”
“It doesn’t bother you?”
“It’s my mother. It bothers me a little.”
“Well yeah that but also that they’re doing that while all of this …” she shrugged sadly.
“Caia, when emotions run high sometimes closeness with someone, expelling it through them, is the way we deal with things. It’s not intended to be disrespectful.”
She nodded, understanding. “Where are Marion and Saffron?”
“They had to report to the coven, but they’ll be back.”
“For my training?”
“Partly. Marion says you’re doing fine, though.”
Caia looked anywhere but at him. “Is Sebastian okay?”
“Do you want to practice with me?”
The questions were asked in unison. Lucien’s tone had a little bite to it. “Sebastian’s fine. Pack business.”
“I was just asking.”
“I was just answering.”
“Practice what with you?”
He smiled, trying to shake off his jealousy. “Your magik.”
“What could I do?”
“Marion said you still need to practice telekinesis.”
She sat back in her chair. Her green eyes washed over his face with a perceptiveness that made him want to squirm. But he was Alpha. So he remained stoic.
“It sounds like you’re receiving daily reports.”
“Of course.”
Dropping her gaze, she fiddled with a frayed edge on Ella’s tablecloth. She was quiet for so long Lucien began to worry. Had he said something wrong? Without thinking, he leaned across and pulled her hand gently away from the thread she was pulling at and laid it palm down on the table.
“What’s up?” he asked, drawing back.
She shrugged her delicate shoulders, her hair falling across her face. “Nothing.”
“You are a terrible liar.”
“Good to know in times of war I can’t bluff for shit.”
He chuckled. “With great powers comes great attitude, apparently.”
Her lips twisted in petulance but at least she was looking at him again. “I don’t think that’s how the saying goes.”
“I don’t think a Spider-Man quote counts as an actual saying.”
“Pop culture reference. Ryder would be proud.”
Lucien smiled but leaned toward her. “Stop avoiding my question.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed.
“You know, you keep doing that and your eyeballs are going to be permanently stuck facing the wrong way.”
She laughed, and he relaxed at the sound. “I’m being a teenager again, aren’t I?”
“You are a teenager.”
She shuddered and sat back. “No, I’m a hybrid. There should be a difference. No rolling my eyes, for a start.”
“I’ll try not to say anything that makes you want to roll your eyes.”
They smiled at each other. Their gazes caught, and suddenly they were back where they’d been before he’d kissed her that Saturday night. The moment stretched, twisting tighter with tension. He was a second away from launching across the table at her like some uncontrolled pubescent male when suddenly the back door flew open, leaves scuttling in with the wind.
He shot out of his chair, sending it flying behind him.
“Sorry.” Caia smiled sheepishly, standing. “You said I could test out my telekinesis on you.”
Lucien narrowed his eyes. “A little warning first, perhaps.”
That night Caia fell into bed, her emotions shredded. She’d spent most of the day with Lucien, showing him what she could do so far. For hours they stood together in the backyard as she moved things with her magik and created water from nothing. In all that time, her heart had ached in panic for Jaeden, and ached for the male standing next to her. She’d never wanted to feel anything for anyone and now her heart was breaking for two lykans.
Not once did Lucien touch her; it was almost as if he was afraid to. Instead, he encouraged her and smiled proudly at her accomplishments like any Pack Leader might. When she pounded a branch like a spear into the thick trunk of a tree, she pretended it was Ethan she was obliterating, soothed by the sounds of splintering wood and Lucien’s snort. He was impressed with the speed and power she could put behind her telekinesis.
It seemed like years before she fell into the blackness of sleep, and as soon as she got there, her mind fought to be free.
“Please,” Jaeden whined, pressing her body against the back of the cage.
“How many times do I have to tell you, you mangy mutt, that begging won’t get you anywhere?”
Caia had her face pressed against the cage, could hear those awful words tumbling from her own mouth. But no, it couldn’t be. It hadn’t been her voice; it was cold and clinical and decidedly male.
“I can’t breathe,” Jae whimpered.
Anguished, Caia tried to push her arm through the bars to reach for Jae, but her arm wouldn’t move. Instead her other one came up and gripped a bar. She looked at the hand and gasped, even though no sound came out of her mouth. The hand was large and elegant, but masculine.
“We wouldn’t want that, would we?” the cruel voice taunted. “I still need you a
live, after all.”
His hand let go of the bar and he flicked his wrist, sending a flare up into the cage’s ceiling. It burst into beautiful light and then filtered down like golden petals. As it touched Jaeden, her eyes closed, and her breathing normalized as she fell asleep.
“Sleep well. Tomorrow it’s going to start all over again.”
“NO!” Caia tried to scream and rip his body away from Jaeden, but he wouldn’t move. Desperate and terrified, she kept screaming for him to get away from her friend, but not once did he acknowledge her presence.
“Jaeden!” she screamed hoarsely.
“Caia.”
“Caia.”
She was being shaken all of a sudden, and finally she was able to move her body. Her eyes flew open and she was back in her room. Lucien had a hold of her, gripping her arms. Ella stood in the doorway, fully dressed, but her hair was wild like she’d been sleeping.
“Are you all right?” Ella came forward.
Caia blanched, embarrassed, as Lucien eased her back against her pillows. “Was I dreaming again?”
Ella glanced anxiously at her son. “I wouldn’t call that dreaming, honey.”
“I was calling out?”
Lucien looked back at her and for the first time, she realized he was half-dressed, his muscular torso bare and gleaming in the faint light from her bedside table. He at least wore jeans, merciful Olympus.
“Calling out?” he asked hoarsely. “Caia, you were screaming so loud and hard, I nearly had a heart attack.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What happened?” Ella pressed a comforting hand over hers.
But Caia didn’t get a chance to answer. Lucien turned to his mother, towering over her. “I’ll make sure Caia’s okay.”
Ella must’ve read something in her son’s face because she just nodded, pressing a motherly hand to his arm. “I was just going over to Irini’s.”
“At this hour?” Lucien frowned.
“She called.” Ella sighed. “She’s lonely and upset without Aidan. Newlyweds separated and all.”
Was that admonishment in her voice? Caia frowned as Lucien tensed. “He’s needed elsewhere.”
“Magnus could have gone in his stead. I’ve been comforting him because he feels useless.”