by Cane, Laken
Like she needed my permission and understanding so she could be at peace with her decision to murder me. And I was not going to break the bonds of her magic in time to save myself.
Finally, as the effects of Avis’s paralyzing and painful magic drifted away, rage began to swirl in my stomach. My mind slid into darkness, and my heart began to thud faster and harder with hatred. Maybe I was the bad guy. Maybe I would kill everyone who pissed me off. Maybe I hated the world.
The council wouldn’t have chosen me if I were weak enough to let one fucking seer kill me. I smiled as an eager joy added itself to the dark rage.
Hello, Psycho.
“Go ahead and kill me then,” I murmured. “Let’s see how strong you are, pretty girl.”
She jerked so hard the back of her head hit the wall, and a blast of hard purple magic splashed from the wand. It landed on the floor with a splat, and the stones broke beneath it. Genuine terror lit her gaze, and for a brief second, I saw myself through her eyes.
Was I the bad guy?
Yeah. Right then, I was.
She scrambled to her feet, and there was no more delaying. Her fear and revulsion were larger than her reluctance to kill. She steadied her shaking hand and whirled her wand, leaving beautiful traces of color in the air, and then she sent all the power she could muster at me. “Please die,” she whispered. “Please just die.”
Poor thing, so upset at having to kill me. I guess she’d blame that on me, too.
I braced for the impact, but really, one couldn’t prepare for a killing magic. For a few seconds after it hit me, I thought I was never going to survive it. It wasn’t meant to be survived. Simply put, it hurt like a motherfucker.
God, I wanted that wand.
But whatever was inside me didn’t flinch from the pain. It welcomed it. It absorbed it and used it and in the end, it broke her magical bonds. She screamed as I ran toward her, and then fell as she tried to scramble away from me. But I couldn’t let her go, just as I couldn’t let Avis go.
I took the wand. Lennon didn’t deserve such a gift. “Don’t worry,” I told her. “I won’t destroy it. I’ll use it for what it was meant to be used. A weapon.” Then I frowned at her. “Why haven’t you shifted?”
“Because I don’t want you to hurt my wolf,” she murmured, and she was dead serious. “I didn’t want any of you to hurt my wolf.”
“I guess I’m not the only one who has trouble separating my wolf from myself,” I told her. “But you know I’m going to kill you.”
She didn’t scream or run or even try to hit me. She didn’t shift. She slid to the floor, her back against the wall, and stared up at me with a complete lack of hope in her eyes. “Please, Kate,” she said. “Show me mercy. Give me back to my pack, to my alpha. Don’t let me die here.” Then she said nothing more, and she didn’t take her stare from mine. She was almost calm as she waited to die.
And psycho or not, I couldn’t kill her.
“I’ll turn you over to Jared,” I told her. “But I’m keeping the fucking wand.”
Her eyes widened. “Kait. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” I said. “Jared will not go easy on you. If he doesn’t kill you, he will do something worse.” But I could see by the look in her eyes that she didn’t believe me. For a moment, I wavered. He might blame me for everything. She could definitely twist Eli into believing whatever she told him.
If I killed her now, I could blame it on Avis. No one would ever know. And I wouldn’t have to tell any of them the things Lennon had said about me.
But I didn’t kill her. “How the hell,” I said, yanking her up from the floor, “do we get out of this place?”
“Only Larry can admit or expel a person,” she said. “That’s what Avis told me. But I don’t know how to get him to let us out.”
“Larry,” I called. “We’re ready to go. Open the door.”
And apparently it was just that simple. Apparently anyone could give Larry orders and he’d obey. He detached from the wall like a sinister shadow, walked toward a section of the wall, and reached for a doorknob that hadn’t been there a second earlier.
But I couldn’t go, not yet. There wasn’t a nonhuman or counsel on earth that wasn’t going to want to see proof of Avis Vine’s death. I had to take her with us. I wound her hair around my hand—and the wand—and I dragged her across the floor and out the door.
When we were in the hallway, Larry shut the door, and it was simply gone. There was no doorway, no room, and no living Avis Vine.
Not anymore.
But her legacy, that would live on forever.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Outside the room the wolves, vampires, and turned humans were still fighting. It was as though I’d never left. I kept a tight hold on Lennon’s arm, using her to hold myself up. I could barely walk. I’d taken too many hits, and now that the adrenaline and desperation were wearing off, I was feeling every pain, injury, and shock that I had received there that night.
Oh, I was still desperate to reach Lucy, the detective, and Ash, but I was no longer in fear for my own life. Maybe that didn’t make sense, seeing as how I was half dead. I was also naked. And naked made me feel vulnerable. So I did what I always did after a shift. I found a dead body and stole its clothes. Lennon made no attempt at all to run. She didn’t believe she needed to.
“Kait,” a hoarse male voice yelled, and I turned my head to see Jared loping toward me. Bastien was at his side.
“After you ran,” Bastien said, “I tried to find you. I couldn’t find you.” He sounded honestly devastated about that but overjoyed to see the enemy dead and in my possession. “You did it. You killed Avis Vine.” He gestured at his house. “The glamour will hold now.”
I was pretty sure it was too late to put the glamour back into place. “Get her to the Council,” I said. “Can you do that, Bastien?”
“Yes,” he said. “I can do that.”
“Damn you, Kait,” Jared murmured. He pulled me and Lennon into his arms. “What happened to you?”
“Get us out of here, Jared. I’ll tell you everything, but we need away from here.” I couldn’t tell him about Lennon. Not there. He kept one arm around her quaking shoulders, his face a mask of concern. He was going to be so hurt by her betrayal. And yes, part of me was afraid he wouldn’t believe me when I told him. “I need to find Lucy.” I stumbled and would have fallen if he hadn’t been supporting me with his arm around my waist. He lifted me into his arms, glancing briefly at the wand I still held.
He hurried us out the back, through doorways I hadn’t even known existed, and when we slipped out into the night, a car was waiting. Lennon got into the front seat with the driver, so serene and quiet I got worried all over again. She was a seer after all, and apparently she wasn’t seeing anything that scared her. Or maybe she hadn’t seen anything yet. Maybe she just didn’t think her pack and her alpha would turn on her. She didn’t think they would take my word over hers. She was probably right.
But there in the back seat, with Jared’s arms tightly around me, I told him everything. He didn’t say a word. Lennon turned her head to look at us once, her face occasionally illuminated by streetlights that we passed.
“Alpha,” she said softly. “You’ve known me my entire life. You still don’t know her.” Then she turned back around, leaned her head back against the seat, and for all I knew, she went to sleep. She never said another word.
Jared leaned forward slightly. “I need a phone,” he said, and the driver immediately handed him one. “I’ll call Louis. Maybe the image you saw was doctored. Then I’ll call Rick. We’ll find her, Kait.”
“Rick is not himself,” I said. “But maybe now that Avis is dead, whatever hold she had over him is gone, the magic broken.” I could only hope.
The mayor told him that Rick had taken Lucy and Ash to his house. He seemed to think they would be safer there, though Louis had no idea why. Jared told him that I had killed Avis Vine but gave him no more in
formation.
Rick answered on the second ring.
Jared handed the cell phone to me. “Rick,” I whispered, suddenly unable to make my voice work correctly.
“Kait?” His voice was groggy and thick and there was confusion just under the surface. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“Where’s Lucy,” I asked. “Rick, you took Lucy. Where is she?”
“Took Lucy? Why would I take Lucy? She’s with Louis.”
“Why are you home?” I asked, keeping my voice as calm as I could. “Why would you go home and go to sleep with everything going on?”
He said nothing for ten seconds. Then, “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.”
“We’re on our way to you. Stay there, okay?”
“Yeah.”
By the time we reached Rick’s house, I was feeling a little stronger. My wolf, whether or not I shifted, would help me heal. I would heal faster and better if I could shift, but there was no time to shift. Not yet.
There was also the matter of Lennon. “Jared,” I said, as the driver parked the car behind Rick’s. “Lennon—”
“Concentrate on finding Lucy. When that’s settled, we’ll figure everything out. Okay?” He pushed my hair behind my ear and leaned forward to kiss me. It was probably the best kiss of my life, because to me, that kiss meant he was behind me. He believed me. He trusted me.
Didn’t it? Any why the hell did I care so much?
What had I been afraid of? That he’d try to kill me instead of Lennon? That he’d look at me the way she looked at me, like I was a monster?
Maybe I was afraid that if he didn’t see my heart, I didn’t have one.
Fuck that. I knew the truth. And I was damn sick of feeling like the pack was all that mattered and my worth or “goodness” hinged on their approval or rejection. Not just theirs, but the alpha’s.
“When this is over and things have settled down,” I murmured, and the words were only for myself even though I said them aloud, “I’m going back to my office, and I’m dealing with spirits and humans and the odd rogue nonhuman who needs me to kick his ass.”
“You’re a lone wolf with a mission,” Lennon said, and though she kept her voice light and infused with humor, I wasn’t fooled. “You’re better than us, and you don’t need anybody. We’re aware, Kait.”
She’d hated me from the very beginning. Or maybe she’d just been afraid. Either way, I’d had no idea. It was starting to seem like seers were all assholes. Except Lucy, who was a seer of sorts. If Lucy were alive.
Strangely reluctant to find out, I had to force myself to get out of the car after Jared climbed out and stood in the open doorway, waiting for me. I took his hand and let him help me out.
“You need to shift,” he said, when I sucked in a painful breath.
“As soon as I find Lucy and Ash.”
Before we started toward Rick’s house, Jared leaned into the open doorway. “Lennon,” he said, “do not leave this car.”
“Of course not,” she said, but there was a waver to her voice. Maybe she wasn’t as sure as she pretended. “Alpha,” she said, suddenly. “I know you won’t want to return my wand to me just yet, but could you keep it safe for me until you decide?”
“No,” I said immediately. “It’s not your wand anymore, Lennon. Its magic has crossed with mine, and we’ve accepted each other.” I had put the wand into the pocket of the too-large jacket I’d taken from the dead vampire, and I slipped my hand into my pocket to reassure myself that it was still there. Apparently I was the stealer of awesome weapons. I had nearly the same possessiveness over the wand as I did the demon blade. “Besides,” I added, “dead people have no need for weapons.”
She flinched. “I’m an angel compared to you. And Jared will see that. My pack will see that.”
But I was already limping toward the detective’s porch. Halfway there, though, Lennon’s words caught up with me. One word in particular.
Angel.
“Are you okay?” Jared asked, when I stumbled.
“Yeah,” I said. “A memory or…something. It’s nothing.”
“Kait,” Rick said, his voice gravelly.
He hadn’t turned on the porchlight. None of us wanted to draw attention to ourselves in these strange and dangerous times. He pushed open the door and then followed us inside the dark house, and only when he flipped a light on and then turned to face us did I get a good look at him.
He looked…bad. His face was dead white, his eyes dry and slightly protruding, and he was wearing a stubble and a rumpled, dirty suit. The same suit he’d been wearing at the mayor’s, and there were bloodstains on the left shoulder and down the front of it. The dark circles under his eyes were pillowy and purple, and his lips were flaking and colorless. He looked like he’d been sick for a very long time, yet I’d only left him a few hours ago.
“You look like hell,” he said.
He surprised a laugh out of me, but it sounded more like a sob. “Back atcha, Detective.”
“Rick,” Jared said, impatient, continuing to keep a grip on my arm, “Tell us what happened.”
Rick shook his head. “I don’t know. I was at Louis’s house, and then Kait called. The phone woke me up. I think I have a memory of the time between, but it doesn’t feel real.” He looked at me. “Did I hurt Lucy?”
I wanted to hug him, but I couldn’t. Not yet. I had to see Lucy first. “We need to search your house,” I said.
He only nodded, then stumbled to a chair and fell into it.
“Fuck,” I whispered. I doubted he’d ever be the same person he’d been before the vampires had gotten him, and that broke my heart.
But right now, I needed Lucy and Ash. They were all that mattered. “Lucy,” I yelled.
“I smell blood,” Jared murmured. “This way.”
A few seconds later, I caught the scent, as well. We tracked it to the staircase, and I knew as I stood at the bottom looking up that Lucy was upstairs. I didn’t know if she lived.
“Stay here,” Jared said, when I hesitated. “I’ll check.”
“No.” I grabbed the banister and hurried, as much as I could hurry in my current condition, to the top of the stairs. The first door I saw was closed, and there was a smudge of blood on the frame.
Jared shoved the door open, shielding me despite the fact that I didn’t want to be shielded, then reached to the wall beside the doorway to flip the light on.
“Lucy,” I cried, my voice cracking.
She was in a wooden chair, so much silver duct tape wrapped around her that all I could see were her eyes, swollen with tears, and her little nose.
She was alive.
We ripped off tape with our bare hands, using our claws to slice into it, sometimes catching her flesh as well. She didn’t care, though, and neither did we. She was alive.
Almost before she was completely free, she flung herself into my arms. “You died,” she cried. “I saw it! How are you here? Ray is the serial killer, but his name is Samuel. Rick did this to me. Ash is gone, Kait. Oh my god, Ash! Rick tore his leash from my hand and left him on the street when he forced me into his car.” Finally, she ceased her babbling and broke down into sobs. Just like for the rest of us, the night had been too much for Lucy Shannon. And then, she did something that made me cry out with joy. She forced her trembling, likely numb fingers into the top of her tall left boot, and she pulled out my demon blade. “I kept it safe for you.”
“Thanks, Lucy,” I whispered.
Jared lifted her gently away from me, then reached down to help me to my feet. We turned to leave the room, and Rick was there, filling up the doorway, his eyes filled with horror.
Lucy screamed and began to struggle, and no amount of soothing or reassurances could calm her. At last, Jared scooped her up into his arms and looked at Rick. “Move,” he said.
Rick grabbed the doorway to keep from falling as he stumbled to the side, and Jared strode from the room, holding the hysterical human against h
im with one arm, his free hand wrapped around my upper arm to either support me or to make sure I went with him. Rick slid to the floor and huddled there, his fingers to his chest.
He needed me, Lucy needed me more, and Ash was out there alone on the streets. Still, I took a moment for the detective. God knew he’d taken enough of them for me.
I pulled free of Jared’s grip and went to crouch in front of Rick. “Detective,” I said sharply. “You’re stronger than the fucking vampires. What they did to you is not your fault. Take a shower, eat something, and get a grip. Call me when you can.”
He didn’t even look at me.
I grabbed his chin and forced his face up, and I made him look me in the eye. “Shit happens, Princess,” I said, my voice hard. “Suck it up. Get a fucking shower and stop wallowing. We’ll sort this out.” I leaned closer, until my nose nearly touched his. “You didn’t hurt Lucy. The vampires hurt Lucy. And the shit they planted inside you is gone, Rick. I killed Avis. The magic is gone. Do you hear me?”
“It’s not gone,” he said, his voice so ragged and thick I could barely understand him. “I feel it. I feel it wrapping around my brain, digging into my chest, controlling me. I feel it, Kait.”
God, the pain in his eyes. Still, that pain didn’t smother the darkness. Not completely.
And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do for him, except maybe kill him, and I was pretty sure he was going to do that himself. I couldn’t blame him. What if the magic never faded? He couldn’t live that way. He wasn’t even himself now. It was like the man I knew had already died and this pain-wracked, guild-ridden creature had been plopped down in his place.
But then, I felt the wand pressing insistently into my thigh, and I realized I could help him. The magic in that wand was strong enough to force out the sick, sinister magic of Axton, Kaloni, and Avis. It had to be.
But I couldn’t wield it, not like that. I could kill with it, but I had no idea how to heal with it. Only Lennon could do that.
I closed my eyes. “Fuck.”
Lucy was quiet, now, and when I turned to look at Jared I found her watching me. The hysteria had fled, and she understood. She knew it wasn’t Rick who’d hurt her, not really.