by S. Young
She closed her eyes and slumped in her chair, refusing to look at the big oaf.
What ensued was one of those seething but quiet, controlled arguments fired back and forth between Marion and Lucien. But as it stretched and heightened, their voices rose, and with that, Ella and Magnus joined in, trying to smooth things over. Caia sat listening but not really processing; all she could think about was how she was being given the opportunity to be where they really accepted her, where they really needed her. Wouldn’t her father have wanted her to do everything in her power to stop the Midnights after all they’d done to him and the people he loved?
“ … don’t care. You are not dragging my mate off to be used as a weapon—”
Caia cut him off by standing so abruptly, her chair clattered hard against the island behind her.
“Marion,” she said evenly, feeling everyone’s eyes on her. She drew in a deep breath. “You would be right that I’m not going anywhere until I get Jaeden back, so my answer right now is that I will think about it. I will really, really think about it.” She smiled a real smile for the first time in days. “And thank you.”
She thought Lucien would yell at her, but when she was met with only silence, Caia dared to look at him. And he was looking back at her as if he’d never seen her before. A hurt, a deep hurt, burned his eyes and swelled out of him to gnaw angrily at her heart. She didn’t have to look at Ella and Magnus to see their reactions because she felt their hurt and astonishment too. They all thought she was betraying them.
And so that was why everyone was treating her with icy disdain.
Sebastian had been different. He swore he just wanted her to be happy, going on about how even if she did go, it didn’t mean he couldn’t visit her. He’d heard the Center was full of lykans and vampyres. Hey, maybe he could even train to be a soldier too. Yeah. He was surprisingly chipper about the whole thing, and Caia suspected it had more to do with it meaning she wouldn’t be with Lucien than anything else.
So now it was just the two of them against the world, with two days gone and no luck on her mission to rescue Jaeden.
“Ignore them,” Sebastian said as they sat alone in the cafeteria. He was referring to the way she kept guiltily glancing over at the others who refused to look at her. She found it especially weird being confronted with Mal’s actual anger. He’d never been serious about anything in his life, but there he was, glaring at her. “You know they’re just being loyal to Lucien.”
“I can’t believe it got around the whole pack so quickly.”
“Gossip travels fast among wolves.”
Caia snorted and played with her food, her expression grim. “What if I can’t reach her again?”
Sebastian didn’t mention her change of topic. “You will. Keep faith.”
“I swear to Gaia if this has anything to do with me stressing over other things, I’ll be so pissed.”
“Caia.”
She looked up and was met with his focused, tawny gaze. “I believe in you.”
Those words struck her so hard, they knocked the breath out of her. She had to stop herself from reaching over to touch him like she wanted to. He really had become her rock. Her frown melted into a smile and the tension eased from her body. “Then I guess I better find her quick.”
Magik was exhausting.
“I think you’ve killed me,” Caia wheezed, flopping onto the ground. She heard Marion’s soft chuckle and resisted the urge to flip her off.
After she’d gotten home from school (to an empty house for the third night running), Marion had pushed Caia right back into her training, and this time it was all squadrons go. The backyard was now a battle zone where plants were either drowning in a deluge or dying in ashes. For the last two hours, Marion had chased Caia around the yard, throwing fire at her while she had to douse it with water or duck. The strain on her focus, and not to mention the nonstop running out of lykan form, had reduced her ribs to a tapestry of stitches.
“Was that really necessary? Ella’s going to kill you for destroying her yard.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the yard.”
“Are you kidding me?” Caia sat up and shut up just as she was about to gesture at the war zone. There was no war zone. Everything looked just as neat and alive as it had two hours ago. She looked wide-eyed at the witch. “You did this?”
Marion nodded and ambled gracefully over to her. “Of course.”
“Wow.”
“You’ll learn soon enough how to do it. It’s called glamour.”
“I see.”
“No, you don’t, but you will. I’m starting off with the hard stuff. We’ll get to the easy stuff later.”
“Glamour is easy?” Caia asked, incredulous.
“Believe me, in comparison to what we’ve been doing for the last few hours, it is.”
Caia didn’t reply, just stared around in wonder at the yard as Marion sat beside her.
“You know, Caia, normally I would never do an exercise such as what we’ve been doing this afternoon with someone so early in their training. The fact that you not only rose to the challenge but doused ninety percent of my fire is …” She chuckled, sounding amazed. “Impressive.”
Caia wanted to blush. Marion was this mega magik, and here she was calling Caia impressive. She listened as the witch rambled on about the extent of her power, what she could be capable of doing. Her abilities with trace magik for the Midnights was what really fascinated Marion, and the more she talked about it, the more Caia wanted her to be right. She needed her to be right.
After a while, when the sun had fallen behind the trees and the moon danced in the sky, Caia decided it wouldn’t be rude now to take her leave and head off to bed. She was buzzing with a newfound desperation to find Jaeden.
“Caia,” Marion called to her as she wandered up the back porch.
“Yes?”
“I know what you’re trying to do. In your dreams.”
“What about it?”
“Marita told me a little about how it feels to be connected to Daylights. She’s dealing with a potential rogue magik from the coven who’s in Scotland at the moment. To find him, she delves into his head in her dreams, like you’re doing with Ethan. She told me when she’s inside, it’s like she’s sharing his body more than his thoughts and that to tap into that part, she can’t just sit docile and wait.”
“I don’t understand.”
“She said she visualizes the space she occupies inside him as a room with a door that leads to his thoughts. Some are easy and all she has to do is open the door and everything she needs floods into her. Others, she spends some time kicking down the door.”
Huh. “You think that’ll work?”
Marion smiled apologetically. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t have trace magik. But I believe Marita when she says that’s what she does.”
Caia stood a moment looking at her. If what she said worked, Caia was going to kill somebody. Something that simple and it’s been within my grasp all this time? She wanted to huff and scream like a petulant teenager. Instead she smiled tightly, thanked Marion, and headed up to her room.
“Well now,” Ethan said and she felt his excitement as he gripped the cage bars. “You seem to have recovered nicely from your wounds.”
He was rewarded with a meek whimper.
“Sounds like I’ve definitely broken you now, girl.”
NO! Caia screamed, desperate to claw at him somehow, maybe take those evil mitts of his and rake his own damn nails down his face.
He was smiling as he bent down to the floor. Caia could see Jaeden, sitting upright, her slender arms wrapped around her knees drawn tight to her chest. She’d lost so much weight, her cheekbones sharp, her blue eyes stark in her narrow face. Her eyes didn’t flinch away from his, but Caia saw no emotion there either. She just stared numbly at him, like a zombie.
“You know, I was going to kill you since I really have no strategical use for you anymore, but … I think I’ll keep you a
s my punching bag until you die of … well, unnatural causes.” He laughed and stood up and walked away.
Caia screamed and screamed, trying to make him walk back so she could keep an eye on Jaeden. Finally she exhausted herself, and by then, he was back in the old-fashioned sitting room, staring at the television. Across from him was a young male magik Caia had seen once before. Unfortunately, they’d never said anything interesting to one another while she’d been … visiting.
Suddenly Caia remembered why she was here.
Right, right! She wanted to smack her own head. She was to visualize a room. And a door. She took a deep breath and did just that. A long, narrow, cold room with the stench of evil, and at the end … a black door. She walked toward it, trying to stay calm. She stopped outside it and smirked at the sign on the door: Ethan’s Evil Brain.
Who says you can’t have a sense of humor even in the darkest times?
She tried the door handle and found it locked. Oh yeah, Ethan was going to be a tough door to break down.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! She threw herself with everything she had against the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Next her legs were flying at it. Thump thump thump—oof! Marion never mentioned that this was would actually hurt! Frustrated as all Hades, Caia took a running throw at it and despite the burning pain in her ear where she had smacked against it, she was happy to hear the splintering of wood. She got back to her feet and stared triumphantly at the cracked middle panel on the door. A few more beatings and the place would be hers for the taking.
Ten minutes later, Caia stepped through the door and into a world of pitiless darkness.
She shot up in her bed, drawing in gulps of air. Sweat ran down her forehead, had gathered under her arms, and her PJs stuck to her like a second skin. Her whole body ached as if she really had been throwing herself against the door.
Glancing at the clock—10:15—Caia hurried out of bed and into her bathroom where she did a quick cleanup. No one was in the house and she couldn’t feel any of them, so she threw on some jeans and a sweater and grabbed her car keys.
She knew where Jaeden was.
She couldn’t stop grinning, her heart pounding, adrenaline rushing. She almost wanted to change.
The Ford flew smoothly into town as she headed for Lucien’s store, where she knew he’d been hanging out till all hours of the night, trying to avoid her. But right now, he couldn’t avoid her. She needed him to help her get Jaeden back to the pack.
As expected, the mall she had to park in was completely empty, except for Lucien’s truck. She smirked and got out of the car, shivering in the cold night air during the five-minute walk to Lucien’s place. At the opposite end of the mall lot was a narrow alley between two stores through which she’d reach the main street. She glanced around, very aware of being on her own, and tried to shrug off a sudden blast of ice that tingled in a perverse caress over her skin.
“Stupid … wimp,” she muttered as she headed across the lot.
And then she stopped.
Her ears pricked, the hair on the back of her neck rose, and her animal instincts told her to run.
By then it was too late. The ice blasted through her veins at the same time something solid crashed against her back, sending her flying. Sickening pain exploded through her body when she landed on the asphalt, the flesh on her hands and legs scraping off in burning strips. Her head snapped back with the impact and her front teeth jarred, rattling her brain and then piercing her bottom lip. She tasted the blood and hissed, turning over in time to watch the approach of something she’d never seen the like of before.
It could have been a human, except for the swirling vortex of hell that was its lipless mouth, its nose two small holes in the middle of its face where smoke belched out its excitement as it neared her. Caia’s heart pounded dangerously in her chest, but she breathed in and out, in and out as she scrambled away. The thing’s eyes blazed at her like two white, glowing orbs. Hairless, the beast stood at least seven feet tall, towering over her in nothing but leather and twisted muscle for a torso, its skin burnt red and roped.
A daemon.
Caia instinctively knew that’s what it was. Ryder had come across a few in his time and had described them in perfect detail.
Oh, I am so screwed.
She hopped to her feet and crouched in a defensive position. “What do you want?” Her voice was impressively steady, considering.
The hole that was its mouth widened into what could have been a smile, and a soft, eerie voice escaped it. “It’s not what I want, little wolf, it’s what your uncle wants.”
“Ethan?”
It nodded and smiled again. “Aren’t you going to ask what he wants?”
There was no need. Ryder had told her that daemons were only used for two purposes: security and assassinations.
Quickly, she scanned the area, gauging what her best move would be. She didn’t know if she could outrun this thing. She could maybe if she was in lykan form, but did she really have time for that?
No.
And then her eyes alighted on her car and she gasped, looking back and forth between it and the daemon. Could she? She’d never moved anything as large as a car before.
The daemon took a step toward her. Caia threw all her energy toward the car and it strained, the metal crunching under her pull. It stopped the daemon in its tracks.
The monster looked confused as it took in the crunching car, which had begun squealing slowly toward them, then turned back to Caia. Seeing her concentration, it stood stunned in disbelief.
“I hadn’t thought it true,” it grumbled and picked up its pace, striding toward her.
“Aaaaaaaarrrrggggh!” Caia reached out with both arms and pulled on the car with all her magik, sweat beading across her body. The car soared into the air and hurtled back down, knocking the daemon over like a bowling ball hitting a pin. Caia didn’t hang around. She took off in the direction of the store, flinching at the deafening sound of the car crashing to the ground and rolling and rolling.
It sounded like it was rolling toward her.
She whipped around and stared in shock as it tumbled across the lot, still coming at her. How much power did she put into the damn thing? “Waa—” she shrieked and dove to the side, out of its path. Panting in disbelief, Caia watched as the Ford finally lost momentum and drew to a screeching halt on its left side.
“My car.”
It was completely wrecked.
“Don’t mourn your car, little wolf.”
“Aw, come on!” she yelled in frightened irritation at the gods.
The daemon sneering down at her from a few meters away.
Getting back on her feet was the toughest thing she’d ever had to do.
“I’m angry now,” the daemon said serenely.
“Gee, I couldn’t tell.”
She really couldn’t.
So what was she going to do?
Her best bet would be to turn lykan and run.
The thought hadn’t even left her head when the daemon pulled out of nowhere a long, thin, metal chain with spikes. The daemon lassoed it above its head, and then to her horror whipped it out at her. All she was aware of was the lashing, breath-stealing pain that lanced across her stomach as the spikes ripped her open. And then she was on her back, gazing at the sky.
When the pain hit, she couldn’t help but scream, clutching her stomach as warm, thick fluid coated her hands.
Terrified, Caia craned her neck and sobbed at the bloody mess that was her belly.
“Don’t worry,” the daemon’s voice carried from a distance, but she couldn’t see it. “It will be over soon.”
No, she shook, her head falling back to the ground. She couldn’t die. She had to get to Jaeden. She couldn’t die.
Biting back more screams, Caia managed to turn onto her side and then onto her knees, saliva dripping from her mouth with the effort.
“You’ve got heart, little wolf.”
I’m going to rip out
your throat.
She had no idea how she managed the next feat. All she knew was that she needed to change in order to heal, and in order take this dick out. Maybe it was her magik, but the change rippled through her in a second, no crunching, no tingling, no wincing pain—just one minute human, the next a wolf. The intense, ferocious pain of her belly wound was enough to make her want to pass out, but she forced herself onto all fours. She took a few steps, ignoring the blood dripping onto the ground below as the wound tried to heal itself with her transformation.
She looked up with her sharp lykan eyes, pulled back her muzzle, and snarled ferociously at the daemon as it stood amazed.
It was all she needed.
Ignoring her wound, Caia ran and pounced, pushing her wolf until she hit the daemon, her claws piercing its burnt flesh. The daemon didn’t even have time to throw her off before she widened her jaws and sank her teeth into its jugular, tearing its neck open and dousing her mouth and fur in blood. She gagged at the amount that flowed down her throat and then salivated as the daemon struggled. It had a hold of her body and punched at her wound, causing her to whine in pain. Its actions only angered her more.
She ripped and tore at its neck until eventually its whole head rolled off and fell with a thud. She collapsed with its decapitated body and backed away, her belly weeping in agony.
Lucien. She had to get to Lucien.
Lucien didn’t know what he’d been thinking when he asked Marion to come to his store to discuss what she’d offered to Caia. The magik was like a brick wall, and she wasn’t moving.
“I’ve told you I can’t take back my offer because it isn’t my offer to take back.”
He tried not to growl and instead opted for intimidating pacing. “Marion, I thought you were a friend to this pack.”
“I am.”
“How can you possibly think about taking an Alpha’s mate from him?”
Marion heaved a huge sigh and slid onto one of the workshop stools. “I told Marita all of this, but I have to do what she asked, Lucien. And … Caia has the right to make her own decisions.”