“I expected you to keep her safe,” Kellan muttered in disgust. “But I guess I should have relied on someone else.”
Kierland flinched, but before he could say anything to defend his actions, Chloe moved toward them, her soft voice thick with emotion. “Your brother asked me to stay behind, Kell, but I refused. So if you’re going to be angry with anyone, it should be me.”
Ignoring her, Kellan kept his furious gaze locked on Kierland’s rigid features. “If Gregory finds us like this, the witch will have us frozen in place within seconds. We’ll be as good as dead.” Rough, gritty words that vibrated with anger. “So I’m going to make this very clear. Turn around and get your asses back to the compound.”
“He’s right,” Gabby murmured. “You don’t have any time to lose.”
“Who the hell are you?” Kierland demanded, his pale gaze landing with blistering animosity on the petite vampire.
It was Juliana who answered. “I can tell by her scent that she’s from the Reyker nest.”
“Leave her alone,” Kellan barked, stepping between his brother and Gabby when Kierland’s expression turned deadly. “She’s not an enemy. She helped me tonight.”
“Why would she help you?” Juliana asked, her forehead scrunching with confusion. “The Reykers only ever look out for themselves.”
Gabby moved out from behind him, sliding Juliana a wry look. “Asa might be a bastard these days, but we’re not all bloodthirsty savages, Sabin. You think your family’s the only one who landed here because of a bad choice?”
“What are you talking about? What bad choice?” Ashe demanded, obviously hoping to find out why the Sabins had been exiled, but Kierland cut him off.
“Just what exactly was your plan for the night, Kellan?”
Furious that he was having to waste time on this shit, Kellan scrubbed his hands down his face, then said, “I figured if I was on my own, I had a chance of sneaking up on Gregory and taking out the witch first, then the Casus. And after that, I’d promised Asa Reyker a fight.”
“But my brother found Kellan before he could track down the Casus,” Gabby explained, “and that’s where things went wrong. Though he was meant to give Kellan the chance to fight him for the antidote to the poison, Asa attacked him instead.”
“Antidote?” Kierland’s eyes went almost comically wide. “What antidote?”
“The one I’ve already given him,” Gabby replied. “It was close, but he got it in time to make a full recovery.”
“You’re not dying?” Kierland rasped, his deep voice choked with tears as he locked his bright gaze with Kellan’s. “In your letter, you said…that the poison was killing you. And when I confronted Juliana, she admitted that the Reykers’ poison is fatal to all species.”
“What I said in the letter was true at the time,” Kellan told him, stunned by the depth of Kierland’s reaction. “But I’m okay now.”
For a moment, Kierland simply stared at him, his expression shifting between shock and relief, and then he seemed to snap back to the moment. “You said the antidote was what Kellan would have won if he beat your brother in the fight,” he rasped, sliding his stormy gaze back toward Gabby. “But what would have happened if he’d lost?”
“If he’d lost, my brother would have been allowed to finish the feeding, draining him completely. Which is what almost happened.”
Chloe gasped, while his brother blanched. “It would have hardly been a fair fight when Kellan’s been fighting off a lethal poison!”
Gabby frowned. “I didn’t say it was fair. I said that’s what Kellan agreed to. And he had every intention of honoring that deal.”
“How do you know what Kellan intended to do?” Morgan asked, eyeing Gabby with a wary gaze.
“I know because I happen to possess the ability to see the truths in a person’s heart. Even though Kellan believed Asa’s promise of an antidote was most likely a lie, he would have kept his word and met Asa’s challenge.”
Kellan listened as Chloe took a deep breath, his heart stuttering with fear as she moved closer to him, her tear-dark gaze first settling on the bite wound Asa had left on the side of his throat, before lifting to his face. “Is all of that true, Kellan?”
He shrugged, and she shook her head in disbelief, a flush of heat beginning to burn beneath her fair skin. “So this is why you wouldn’t talk to me about any kind of future between us? Because you were dying?”
His jerky nod only seemed to make her angrier.
“God, do you have any idea how ridiculous that was? Why not just tell me the truth?”
“I didn’t want to hurt you.” He swallowed, wishing like hell that he could take her into his arms, but knowing that it wasn’t the time. “Didn’t want you worrying about me or feeling guilty about something that was my fault. If I hadn’t stumbled onto the Reykers’ land last week, I never would have been poisoned.”
Frustration glittered in her eyes, her fangs visible beneath the curve of her upper lip as she argued, “And what about Gregory? What if you’d found him? Did you think it wouldn’t bother me when I learned that you’d gone off and gotten yourself killed while trying to protect me?”
He clenched his jaw. “I was trying to do the right thing.”
“Damn it, Kell. Don’t you get it? You don’t have to kill yourself for me!”
“Worth it,” he grunted, working his jaw. “I’d do anything to keep you safe.”
“No, it’s not worth it, you damn idiot!” She trembled, more furious than he’d ever seen her, and he could feel the power of the Merrick rising up within her, burning behind those beautiful, stormy eyes. “It’s not worth it if it means I lose you. I want a partner. Someone to spend my life with. Not a goddamn memory!”
“Damn it, we don’t have time for this,” he muttered, raking both hands through his windblown hair. Her dark eyes were full of worry and fear, as well as a wealth of hurt that he couldn’t allow himself to think about. Not then. Not when her bloody life was still in danger. “Gregory’s too close! You need to get out of here!”
“If that was true,” Quinn offered in a rough voice, “Jamison would have sounded a warning. He’s running a perimeter on the clearing.”
“No. The Lycan is right,” Gabby murmured, lifting her nose to the whispering breeze as she released her talons from the tips of her fingers. “The Casus isn’t far.”
Accepting that they were out of time, Kellan forced down his rage and pulled the Marker from his pocket, slipping it over Chloe’s head before shoving her behind him. As he scanned the surrounding woods with a sharp gaze, searching for any sign of the bastard, she whispered his name, and he told her, “Stay quiet.”
Ashe pulled in a deep, searching breath, then released his talons at the same time as Gideon. “The Reyker female is right. He’s here.”
A hawk screeched in the distance, a cold breeze slicing through the trees that whipped viciously at their hair, and then Gregory waltzed out of the thick shadows on the far side of the clearing, a body slung over his broad shoulders. For a split second, Kellan thought it might be the golden-haired witch he was carrying, the darkness making it difficult to see—but then she stepped out of the trees, as well, standing a little off to the Casus’s right.
“Tell me,” Gregory called out, his long hair slicked back from his chiseled face as he slid a glittering look toward Kierland, “was this your pathetic attempt at a guard dog?” Lifting the body over his head, he tossed it into the center of the clearing, a gleaming shaft of moonlight revealing Jamison’s bruised face, his torso a bloodied, pulverized mess. With a slow smile, the Casus said, “As you can see, I went right for that tender under-belly. Works every time on you Lycans.”
Kierland, Quinn and Aiden roared with fury as they rushed toward the Casus, but the witch lifted her hand, freezing them each on the spot. Kellan felt her power lock his own body in place, and knew the same had been done to everyone but Chloe, who was clutching the back of his shirt with shaking hands, her breaths coming
in sharp, shallow pants, while his friends growled and cursed, struggling against the invisible force that bound them.
“He would have stopped you, if you’d given him a fair fight,” Kierland snarled in a savage voice. “But you had the witch freeze him, didn’t you? You fucking murdered him!”
“Yes, well, I’m afraid honor escapes me at the best of times. And when I’m tracking my Merrick…” His voice trailed away as he shrugged. “I’m hardly going to allow something as insignificant as honor stand in my way.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t go after Westmore first,” Kellan forced through his gritted teeth, “considering how badly you want him.”
A crooked smile touched the bastard’s mouth. “I do want him. And I’ll get him, too, right after I’ve filled myself up on the little Merrick.”
“She’s wearing a Marker,” Kellan growled, his own fangs dropping hard and fast. “You won’t be able to touch her.”
“Sure I will. With the right persuasion, I bet I can get her to do anything I want,” Gregory drawled, his smile widening as he slid his gaze toward Chloe, who had stepped out from behind him, and was now standing at Kellan’s side. “Once I get my claws around the Lycan’s throat, you’ll take the cross off for me. Won’t you, sweetheart?”
Kellan snarled as another bitter wind swept through the clearing, shaking the leaves in the trees, catching at their clothes and hair. As the witch’s tangled locks were blown back from her gaunt, hollow-eyed face, Noah, who stood a little ways off to Kellan’s left, made a sharp sound of disbelief. “Sienna?” the human croaked, shaking his head. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“You know her?” Aiden grunted with a thick note of disbelief.
“Yeah.” Though Noah looked as if he was staring at a ghost, the golden-haired witch gave no sign that she recognized him, simply returning his stare with those cold, expressionless eyes that gave nothing away. “At least, I used to know her,” he rasped. “But she didn’t look like…this.”
“I imagine she might have been beautiful at one time,” Gregory murmured, “before grief ravaged her features. But that would have been a lifetime ago, and Sienna has a new life now. One that ties her to me. You see, we’ve made a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” Noah demanded, struggling even harder against the witch’s power, the tendons in his dark throat straining beneath his skin. “Whatever he’s promised you, Sienna, it’s a lie!”
The Casus tsked under his breath, his sun-streaked hair brushing his shoulders as he shook his head. “You have it all wrong, because I didn’t seek out the witch. She came to me,” he explained, his ice-blue eyes shining with laughter. “I was already halfway back to Meridian, after that little human bitch shot me up in Washington, when Sienna reached in and used her power to pull me back. Took her a while to get me on my feet again, but she was determined to make it happen.”
“But why?” Chloe asked the woman. “What could you possibly need him for?”
Before the witch could respond, Gregory came a few steps closer, his bright gaze landing on Chloe as he drew in a slow, deep breath. “God, you smell good,” he drawled, stroking two fingers against the hard edge of his jaw, a wicked smile touching his lips. “Sweet and warm…and powerful. If I’d had any idea you were going to be this tempting, I’d have come after you a long time ago.”
“Stay the fuck away from her!” Kellan roared, his body racked with agonizing pain as he strained against the witch’s power with everything that he had. But no matter how savagely he fought the hold she had over his body, he couldn’t break free. And he was out of time. In the next instant, Gregory threw back his head, a deep-throated laugh rumbling up from his chest as the bastard gave himself over to the change, taking his true form. DeKreznick’s clothing ripped as his body transformed into the monstrous shape of the Casus, leathery gray skin stretched over his towering frame and wolf-shaped head, his jaws gaping with jagged, deadly fangs. He let out a stark, guttural howl, then lowered his head, his nostrils flaring as he settled his bloodthirsty gaze back on Chloe.
“Get the hell out of here!” Kellan shouted at her. “Start running, now!”
“NO,” SHE WHISPERED, knowing she should be terrified. And yet, it wasn’t thoughts of her own safety that filled her head. Instead, all she could think about was the fact that Kellan had been willing to give his life for hers. That he’d left her that night to track down Gregory on his own.
“Christ, Chloe.” His deep voice was ravaged with fear, his eyes burning with preternatural fire as he stared down at her. “Please, run.”
“And leave you?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”
“You can do it. The Merrick’s power will make you fast, honey. Just run,” he pleaded in a hoarse rasp. “Do not let him get close to you.”
“I’m staying here.” It wasn’t easy, but she managed to tear her gaze from Kellan’s and moved to stand in front of him, while focusing her concentration inward. She could feel something building within her, and it wasn’t the Merrick, the primal creature already taking up space within her body. No…this was an unknown force, and yet, it felt strangely familiar. It thrummed with promise and power, and with a deep breath, Chloe surrendered…giving herself over to it, frightened, but willing to do whatever it took to keep Kellan and the others alive.
“Holy shit,” Aiden muttered, his deep voice thick with awe. “Look at her.”
She heard Kellan whisper her name at her back as she lifted her hands toward the Casus. Chloe didn’t understand what was happening, but her hands were suddenly…glowing, her skin shimmering as if a great, blinding light was burning within her.
“Do you feel that?” Gabby whispered, lifting her face to the air as a shocking wave of warmth swept through the clearing, chasing away the cold.
“What is it?” Chloe asked her, while a rush of noise filled her ears, as if she was standing beneath the jet engine of an airplane. The trees thrashed even harder, their leaves torn from the branches as that surreal wave of warmth grew stronger…the breeze more violent. Chloe knew the others were shouting, but their raised voices were drowned out by the sound of the wind, and with a sharp jolt of shock, she realized the powerful blast of air was coming from her—from her hands!
Panic swept through her, keeping company with the fear, and then, in the midst of the chaos, Gabby Reyker’s voice reached out to her. “It’s going to be okay. Everything you need is here.”
Clenching her teeth, Chloe watched as the Casus struggled against the powerful force of the wind, fighting to reach her. “I don’t know what to do!” she screamed, her skin glowing so bright that it hurt her eyes.
“You have the means inside you, but your Mallory powers are still weak,” Gabby whispered within her mind. “You can find the catalyst you need inside the wolf’s heart.”
“Damn it, I don’t understand!”
“Look inside him!” Gabby instructed her, the vampire’s voice becoming strong and firm. “It’s there. What you need, it’s burning within him.”
The witch’s hair whipped around her frail body as she continued to hold the others in place, the Casus still fighting to make his way toward her, and Chloe knew she had to do something. With her arms still stretched out before her, she closed her eyes and tried to follow Gabby’s instructions. She tuned everything else out, and thought of nothing but Kellan. About how much she loved him. About the stunning fact that he’d been willing to give his life for hers…and suddenly she understood what the vampire had meant. She could literally feel the powerful emotions burning inside him, molten and pure, and her pulse roared as she basked in their warmth, somehow soaking them into her system, until they were rushing through her veins and her thundering heart.
As Chloe lifted her lashes, she could see that she was glowing brighter, the fiery light that was shining inside her now burning in her fingertips as she narrowed her gaze on the Casus, who was clearly using everything he had to battle against the hot, hurricane-forc
e winds rushing against him.
It’s your Mallory powers, the Merrick told her, adding its strength to the blast. They’re channeling the Lycan’s emotions into the fuel they need.
Her Mallory powers? Oh, God…was the curse truly coming to an end? If so, it explained so many things—like the way she’d been able to interact so easily with Kellan’s friends, without throwing the group’s emotions completely out of balance. But then, it also meant Kellan’s desire for her had been real, which seemed too good to be true. Could it honestly be over?
You bet your ass it is, the Merrick shouted, sounding as if it was actually enjoying itself.
Looking over her shoulder, Chloe stared up into Kellan’s gorgeous face, wishing she could tell him how she felt, but she knew he couldn’t hear the hoarse words spilling from her lips, the deafening sound of the wind drowning her out.
She could see that he was using every ounce of strength he possessed to fight against the witch’s hold, determined to protect her. Blood trickled from the corner of his left eye like a crimson tear, more blood streaming from his nose, his veins raised beneath his skin as his muscles bulged, while his eyes burned with furious intent. “I’m not going to lose you!” he growled, his guttural words echoing through her mind, the same as Gabby’s had, almost as if Chloe could hear whoever she focused her attention on, which was more than a little unusual. But considering she was glowing with light and had a windstorm coming out of her hands, it wasn’t as if something “unusual” should have come as a shock.
“I’m not letting him take you from me, Chloe. Not when I’ve finally found you,” Kellan snarled, and as she watched, his body began to change into his were form. His bones began to pop and crack, his body gaining inches in muscle and height, his clothes shredding as his skin darkened and auburn fur spread over his changing physique. He was breathtaking and massive, so much bigger than an actual wolf, with fur and fangs and a muzzled face, but a body that still retained shades of the man in the powerful arms and legs.
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