Triton’s Curse: Willow Harbor - Book 4

by Sarra Cannon

  “I was,” I said. “But I lost her in the crowd, and I can’t find her. I’m going to go check and see if the car is still there, okay?”

  “You’ll let me know if you need help looking for her, though, right?”

  “I will,” I said, but I had no intention of getting him mixed up in all of this. “Thanks, again.”

  I glanced over toward the antique shop and noticed Cole and the others had already cleared out. I didn’t want to waste time looking for him if Eva was really out there alone.

  I ran as fast as I could, crossing the square full of celebrating families, and out into the quieter streets beyond. I made it to the auto-repair shop in less than ten minutes, but I hadn’t seen any sign of Eva.

  As the shop came into view, though, I noticed her car was still there, parked to the left of the shop. Frantic, I looked around, not knowing where to turn next. She couldn’t be gone, she just couldn’t. I never should have let her out of my sight.

  I took a step toward the car, and something ground against the pavement under my boot.

  Stepping back, I crouched low to take a look at whatever I had stepped on, but my heart nearly stopped as I caught sight of the object on the ground.

  It was a single silver chain link with an all-too-familiar stamp etched on its surface.

  A heron.

  It wasn’t the greed demon who had taken Eva. It was Selena.

  Twenty-Eight

  Eva

  When I woke, every muscle in my body ached, and my mouth was so dry, it felt like I’d eaten an entire beach worth of sand. I squeezed my eyes closed, wanting the pounding in my head to stop.

  “Well, look who’s finally decided to wake up and join us, boys,” a woman’s voice said. “You may leave us.”

  Footsteps sounded as I forced my eyes open. No wonder my body ached. I was chained to a wall in some type of medieval-looking dungeon, a set of pure silver bars separating me from the woman standing on the other side.

  I sat up and scooted back against the stone wall of my new prison. My neck and back were killing me, and I still felt a little groggy from whatever that man had injected me with earlier.

  I tried to connect to my magic, just to make sure it was working, but I felt empty. It was one of the most terrifying things I’d ever felt in my life. I had no access to my magic, and panic rose through me. What if she’d stolen it from me forever?

  Nik had said that he’d felt his magical powers drained from him the second Selena had shackled him with her silver bracelet. What if these chains had done the same to me?

  I tried to swallow the lump of fear in my throat, but my mouth was too dry to even swallow.

  “Any chance I could get some water?” I asked.

  “You’re lucky to even be alive right now,” she said. “When one of my many spies told me Nikolas was seen with a beautiful woman who was new in town, I could hardly believe them. Surely, my Nikolas would not betray me like that, after all we’ve been through together. And yet, here you are. Truthfully, I don’t see anything special about you.”

  “He’s only your Nikolas because you tricked him,” I said. “What kind of loyalty could that really buy you?”

  Her pale blue eyes turned to flames, suddenly as red as rubies. “How dare you speak to me that way,” she said. “Do you know who I am?”

  “Not really,” I said. “But I know your kind. You think you’re the special one, but the truth is, evil creatures like you are a dime a dozen. You just come in a prettier package than the ones I normally deal with.”

  She stared at me for a moment, as if she couldn’t quite decide whether to laugh or slice my throat.

  “Is that so?” she asked. “And here, I thought you were just a pitiful little witch who’d just happened upon this town by accident. What kind of past are you hiding, I wonder? Everyone who ends up in Willow Harbor has some kind of secret, you know. They all like to pretend they’re one big happy family down there, but everyone is hiding something. I’m guessing from the look in your eyes when you first saw me, you had no idea about Nik’s little secret, did you?”

  I looked away, not wanting to talk about Nik with her. Yes, I was furious with him, but deep down, I could no longer deny my feelings for him. This siren, however, was no better than Dominic with the way she enslaved people and forced them to do whatever she wanted.

  “So, what are you planning to do with me now that you’ve got me here?” I asked.

  My question made her smile, but her expression gave me chills. It was never good when someone who took joy in evil deeds had a smile on their face.

  “First, we wait for your precious Nikolas to realize you’re missing,” she said. “I made sure my men left a trail of breadcrumbs for him to follow. He should be here soon, I imagine.”

  I let out a trembling breath. This whole time, I’d been worried about Dominic and how my actions might affect this town or hurt Nik, but the real threat had been hiding inside the lies he was too afraid to share.

  Now, we might both die.

  If he wasn’t about to get killed by a siren, I might kill him myself. Damn. Why hadn’t he just told me the truth when I first told him about Dominic? Maybe we could have figured this out together, but now it was too late. Without my magic, I was helpless down in this dungeon.

  Of course, if I hadn’t run away from him like an angry child, maybe Selena wouldn’t have been able to get to me so easily. There had been more than a hundred people in the town square tonight. There was no way she would have tried to kidnap me there in front of everyone. From what Nik had told me, the townspeople never would have allowed it.

  It had been stupid to go walking in the dark all alone, but it was too late to worry about that now. I needed to be thinking about how I was going to get out of this mess alive.

  I had escaped from a powerful demon. Surely I could come up with some way to escape a siren, too. Different supernatural creature, but the same type of mentality. Greed. Ownership. I’d been studying this type of person all my life, trying to learn their weaknesses.

  Come on, Eva, think.

  I just needed to keep her talking. If I could escape a demon as powerful as Dominic, surely I could come up with something to help me defeat Selena. The odds might be stacked against me, but if I had learned anything during my life in Las Vegas, it was that sometimes all you needed was the right card to win the whole game.

  Twenty-Nine

  Nik

  I wanted nothing more than to charge straight up to Selena’s castle and rescue Eva, but I knew as long as I was bound to her, there was nothing I would be able to do against her.

  I needed reinforcements, and I needed them fast.

  I ran back to the town square celebration and searched for Anna in the crowd.

  She was standing near the cauldrons with her Aunt Ritzy, but she jogged toward me as soon as she saw me.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. “Where’s Eva?”

  “She’s gone,” I said. “Selena kidnapped her.”

  “Oh my God, Nik,” she said. “What are we going to do? You don’t think she’d hurt her, do you?”

  “I think she’s trying to get me up there,” I said. “But what she plans to do once I’m there, I have no idea. It can’t be good. She was pretty furious about my affection for Eva. I can’t believe I put her in that kind of danger. I just wasn’t thinking.”

  “This isn’t your fault,” she said.

  But I’d heard those words before. It was all my fault, but this time I wasn’t going to just sit around and take it. I was going to fight back.

  “What do you need me to do?” she asked.

  “Do you have any potions that might be useful against a siren?” I asked, and Anna smiled.

  * * *

  While Anna rushed home to gather a few potions, I went searching for Cole.

  The hunters here in town knew a lot more about fighting demons and all kinds of supernatural creatures than anyone else here in town. They were like the supernatura
l police, and I needed their help.

  So far, they hadn’t done anything about Selena and her kidnapping, because she always worked outside of Willow Harbor. But this time, she had ordered her men to kidnap someone right here in the middle of town, and I had proof.

  Plus, once Cole knew the truth about Selena’s drug-potions and how she’d been ferrying them through the Willow Harbor docks, he would have to get involved.

  It might also mean he would arrest me, but right now, that was the least of my worries.

  I didn’t see any sign of him, but I did recognize three of the other hunters—Nathan, Landon, and a new hunter named Tessa—sitting on the steps of the library.

  It must have been obvious from the expression on my face I was upset or worried, because Nathan immediately stood and met me at the base of the steps.

  “Hey, you’re Nik, right?” he asked, his dark eyes flashing with concern. “Everything okay?”

  “I was looking for Cole. A friend of mine has been kidnapped,” I said. “And I think I know where she is.”

  I explained about Selena’s appearance at the festival, how I’d found the silver chain link outside Black Bear’s. I told them about her bracelet and the greed demon who might be on his way to town. I explained the drug-running operation and my part in it for the past ten years.

  Nathan and the others listened intently, taking it all in and exchanging meaningful glances along the way.

  “If I’m going to rescue her, I’ll need your help,” I said.

  “You’ve got it,” Nathan said. “Cole told me about the break-in at The Dragon’s Hoard earlier. He’s still investigating it, but I can give him a call and bring him up to speed on your friend’s situation. To tell you the truth, we’ve been trying to tie Selena to those potions for months. We could never catch her making one of the deliveries, though, but I guess this explains why.”

  “I can show you her whole operation,” I said. “But we have to make sure Eva’s okay first.”

  Nathan pulled out his cell phone. After a brief conversation, he nodded and motioned for Landon and Tessa to head toward the car.

  “We’ll be gearing up and heading to the castle in thirty minutes,” he said. “Are you coming with us?”

  “I’ll meet you there,” I said. “I have something I need to take care of first.”

  I broke away from them, praying that I was right about Selena not hurting Eva, at least until I showed up. I ran toward the willow tree, where I knew Anna would be waiting for me with the potions.

  She explained what each one did and loaded them into a leather bag for me. She wanted to come, but I refused to put her in that kind of danger.

  “The hunters can take care of this,” I said.

  “Be careful,” Anna said, handing me the bag of potions and the keys to her car.

  “Thank you,” I said, then hopped into her car and sped toward Selena’s castle at the edge of town.

  Thirty

  Eva

  I was still trying to get something useful out of Selena when a big commotion broke out somewhere up above us. Shouts, gunshots, and what sounded like an explosion rang through the dungeon.

  Selena’s eyes flamed red again.

  “I’ll be back,” she said, and she turned to run up the steps, leaving me alone in the dungeon.

  I had no idea what was going on upstairs, but I could only hope Nik had arrived with reinforcements. And that wherever he was, he was being careful.

  I hated myself for running away from him like that.

  Here, I had spent most of my life longing for freedom, and when I finally got a taste of it, I had run from it like a scared child. But running wasn’t freedom at all.

  True freedom was staying put, even when you were scared, because you were willing to fight for what you truly wanted. If I ever got the chance to see him again, I would tell Nik how I felt about him, and I would stand by his side, no matter the cost.

  But first, I needed to find a way out of this cell.

  As the battle continued to rage somewhere upstairs, I fought to free myself of the chains the held my hands behind my back. But I quickly realized the struggle was of no use. These chains were magically bound, and I had a feeling the only person who could free me was Selena herself.

  I focused on the silver bars of my cell, instead, trying to find the lock, but it appeared the bars were magically sealed, as well. Dammit. I kicked against the bar with my boot, wanting to scream. I had not come all this way just to rot in some prison cell.

  But before I could even try to come up with a better plan, footsteps sounded on the steps leading down to the dungeon.

  Selena stumbled forward, her gown torn in several places, and a black mask covering the lower half of her face. Her eyes had turned nearly black and there were tears running down her cheeks. Her hands were bound behind her back with a red rope that was so familiar, it made me sick to my stomach.

  Dominic used ropes like that. Red was his signature color, and he’d tied me up in those ropes more times than I cared to remember.

  My blood ran cold as he stepped into the dungeon’s hallway, his coal-black eyes seeking mine.

  “My dear, little Eva,” he said, shaking his head. “Just look at the trouble you’ve managed to get into without me. Only you would run away from me just to end up in the dungeon of some siren.”

  He threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing against the stone walls.

  Panic flowed through me, and I backed as far into the cell as I could.

  No, this couldn’t be happening. How had he found me here?

  My earlier prayer that Nik would come for me turned to a prayer that he would stay as far away from this place as possible. Selena I had hoped to be able to handle, but Dominic himself was an impossible foe.

  “You can’t imagine my disappointment,” he continued. “When I returned from my weekly poker game to find an entire room full of dead men and demons, I wanted nothing more than to resurrect them just so I could kill them myself. I guess I underestimated you. I should have been guarding you with twice as many men, but don’t you worry your pretty little head. I won’t make that same mistake again. After I’ve tortured you to the point of near-death, I’m going to make sure you’re at my side at all times. So, I hope you enjoyed your little excursion across the country, because you’re never going to know a moment of freedom again for the rest of your life.”

  He pushed Selena forward, and she stumbled in her high heels.

  “Get her out of there,” he demanded. “I think I’ll take you both home with me tonight. I imagine a siren could be quite useful in a town like Vegas.”

  Selena’s eyes met mine, and despite all that she had done, I actually felt sorry for her. She’d never even had a chance against Dominic, I’m sure. That must have come as quite a shock to a woman so used to getting exactly what she wanted from men.

  But Dominic wasn’t a man. He was an abomination.

  I couldn’t wish his terror on anyone, not even her.

  She closed her eyes and the chains fell from my wrists. As much as I had wanted to be free of them, their absence now was not at all a comfort.

  Next, she turned around and with both hands still bound, she gripped the steel bars. Like magic, they shimmered and disappeared, leaving nothing to protect me from Dominic’s wrath.

  He stepped forward and grabbed me by the hair. He dragged me toward the stairs, motioning for Selena to follow us.

  As we walked up the steps to the main part of the castle, I couldn’t help but feeling like I was walking to my own death.

  I had survived thirteen years of his terror, but through it all, I had always had the hope of escape. Of something greater out there. But the truth was, I had never really known what I was missing. I had never truly understood the life that might await me on the other side of freedom.

  Now, though, I had tasted life. I had known love.

  And I knew if he took me back to Vegas now, my spirit would be broken forever.r />
  I couldn’t let that happen.

  As we walked up those steps, I decided I would fight him here, tonight. I would fight for my freedom at all cost, or I would die trying.

  One way or another, tonight would be the end of it all.

  Thirty-One

  Nik

  Nathan had told me to wait for them near the gates to Selena’s castle, but when I reached the base of the hill, I could see the battle had started without me.

  A line of black SUV’s were parked along the drive, and up ahead, shouts rang out into the night.

  I couldn’t believe the hunters had gotten here so fast, but as I sped up the hill and through the gates, I quickly realized the battle wasn’t between the hunters and Selena’s men. The men who worked for Selena were battling lesser demons. An army of them.

  Somehow, Dominic had followed her here.

  I slammed on the brakes, grabbed the bag of potions, and got out of the car. If Eva was still inside, there was no way I would get to her through the battle that raged on the front lawn and just inside the house.

  But I knew another way inside.

  I’d been here many times to pick up deliveries and meet with Selena when she’d commanded my presence at dinners and other events. There was a secret entrance to a dock through a cave behind the house in the forest.

  I swung wide and darted through the trees. Everyone else was too busy fighting to even notice my presence, and I took advantage of it, making my way to the secret entrance and disappearing inside.

  It was dark and wet inside the cave, but I’d traveled this path so many times over the years, I knew it by heart. A fifty-foot yacht was docked at the end of the large cave. It was Selena’s private yacht, easily recognizable from the heron painted onto the side of it. I crept up beside the yacht and listened.