AMBER
Amber grabbed the bouncer by his jacket and jerked him forward so hard he lost his footing. “You either let me in, or I’m going to rip your arms and beat you to death with them you piece of shit––”
Genevieve got in between them and shoved her back, and kept a hand on both of them to hold them apart. “My packmate disappeared from here early this morning, around one a.m. We need to talk to someone, or look at video surveillance.”
He shoved Genevieve's hand away angrily and sneered at her. “We don’t have video surveillance. And you’re sure as hell not walking in there now. You can leave or I’m calling the police and pressing assault charges.”
Amber growled and her vision bled red. She was two seconds away from shifting right there and forcing her way inside.
“Amber, enough!” Angel shouted. He swooped in front of her, blocking her view of the bouncer and Genevieve. “Ceri is counting on you, if you lose your shit in public, she will die.”
“They can help us!”
Angel rolled his eyes. “You don’t need him. All you need are your senses. Find her scent. Her car is parked right over there, so you know she made it here. Stop and think.”
She jerked around, seeing Ceri’s car for the first time and felt like an idiot. Dragging her hand down her face, she forced herself to breathe.
“The sorcerer most likely took her to lure you into a trap,” Angel said, drifting around her. “While I wouldn’t normally recommend walking into a trap, I think this one is unavoidable. This is a chance to kill him.”
“Shut up and let me think,” she said angrily as she walked over to Ceri’s car. Pausing next to the driver’s side door, she shut her eyes and inhaled deeply. The wolf, already at the front of her mind, sifted through the scents until it found the one that was distinctly Ceri. Citrus, lavender, and magic.
She followed it across the street, though it was faint beneath the smells of exhaust and other people. Instead of leading to the front door, it led around back. Derek hurried after her, while Genevieve followed a little slower, still apologizing to the bouncer.
Ceri's scent led in through an employee's only door, but it also led back out. Not back to her car though, it led into the alley, then...vanished.
"It ends here," she said, dropping to one knee and inhaling deeply to draw in as many scents as she could.
"If someone took her here, perhaps you can get their scent."
"Dozens of people have been through here. I'm not a bloodhound, I don't know what to follow." Amber pushed back up to her feet angrily. This couldn't be a dead end. There had to be a way to find Ceri.
"Can you use the pack bond somehow?" Genevieve asked.
"I can't feel her at all," Amber said, pacing nervously.
"Perhaps you should try again," Angel suggested, swooping in front of her to force her to pay attention. "You don't know as much about the pack bond as you should, but it's not something that can be completely severed unless she's dead. If she is alive, no matter how they're blocking it, if you are strong enough you can find her."
"How the hell do you know all of this?"
Angel rolled his eyes. "I'm extremely intelligent and well-educated. And I've known more werewolves than you, Miss Recently-Bitten."
"What is he saying?" Derek asked impatiently.
Amber turned back to them. "That if I focus hard enough, and I'm strong enough, that I'll be able to find her." She paused, swallowing down the lump in her throat. "If she's alive."
"Then do it." Derek balled his hands into fists as though he were expecting the worst news. She couldn't even consider that as a possibility.
Footsteps from the end of the alley startled her and she looked up only to see Shane walking toward them.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Genevieve texted me," he said.
Genevieve immediately lifted her hands. "We need help, and we need someone else from the council there if we do find the sorcerer. They may not take our word for it. Shane was the only option I could think of."
Amber ground her teeth together but nodded. Genevieve was right and was thinking of all the things she hadn't.
"I'm here to help," Shane said firmly. "If Ceri has been taken by a sorcerer, I don't want to see her dead either."
"Does Jameson know you're here?" Amber asked.
He scratched the back of his head and pursed his lips. "Not yet."
"Will you get in trouble if he finds out you helped us?"
Shane shook his head. "That's for me to worry about, not you." He held his hand up before she could object. “I may be his beta, but I'm not his slave. That's not how this works."
She pulled back all her questions and worries and nodded, accepting that he could decide for himself. "What do you know about pack bonds?"
Amber sat sideways in the driver’s side seat with her feet resting on the running board. Her hand was wrapped tightly in Genevieve’s and she was trying to breathe deeply while she focused on the pack bond.
“This will be as natural as breathing one day, but for now, let the wolf guide you,” Shane said slowly.
She tried to picture the wolf as she’d seen her that day during the Trials. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she thought she could see red eyes looking back at her. She focused on the pack bond strumming between herself and Genevieve.
Her pack’s fear and worry rushed over her like a tidal wave. It was hard not to pull back just to protect herself from their emotions, but she couldn’t do that. The wolf pushed her deeper, not caring what she felt. The sounds of traffic and Derek pacing impatiently began to fade away as other senses came into focus.
Each of her pack members felt like another heartbeat in her chest. She could sense where each of them was. The wolf looked around, touching each bond in turn. Genevieve. Close. Tommy. Far. She held her breath and she sank farther into her mind.
Ceri had to be there, she couldn’t be dead. As she drifted deeper, she felt something dark slither across her mind. The wolf growled in her mind and crouched down. There was something pushing back. Trying to hide.
With a glimmer of hope that Ceri may actually be alive, she pushed back against the shifting shadows in her mind. The wolf howled and the sound grew louder and louder, making her head ache. She gritted her teeth and kept pushing. Angel said she just had to be stronger than whoever was trying to hide the bond from her. There was no power in heaven or hell that could keep her from Ceri.
She pulled strength from the pack and tore through the darkness. The bond that tied her to Ceri throbbed weakly in the back of her mind. She dug her fingers into Genevieve’s hand so hard she had to be bruising it as she desperately reached for the bond. Ceri was alive.
“I can feel her,” Amber gasped. “She’s pretty far, not within the city limits.”
“Where?” Derek growled.
“I don’t know, but I can get there.”
“I’ll text Tommy,” Genevieve said as she hurried around to the passenger side of the truck.
“I’ll follow you,” Shane said, before running back to his suburban.
They piled into the truck and Amber cranked it up with shaking hands. They had a chance if they could just get there in time. Ceri was alive, but she was in pain. And she was afraid.
Chapter 63
TOMMY
Witch’s Castle in Forest Park. Call the police if I don’t text back in one hour.
Tommy dropped his phone in his lap and buried his face in his hands. The wolf was raging inside of him. He couldn’t just sit here and wait.
“Is she alive?” Evangeline asked quietly, stopping her pacing abruptly.
“Yeah. For now.”
She started pacing again. He wanted to tie her to a chair and make her stop. It was driving him nuts.
“What if…” she hesitated, picking at the hem of her jacket. “These people hurt my mom, and they’re not going to stop until we’re dead. What if we go help?”
“And leave Eloise here alone?” He couldn’
t believe she was even suggesting it. He wanted to go get Ceri back more than anything, but he understood why Amber had asked him to stay.
Evangeline groaned in frustration. “I don’t want her to die, but I couldn’t live with myself if Ceri died either.”
Tommy looked down at his hands. He couldn’t even think about that. Ceri was the one that had convinced him to stay. She’d given him hope. He didn’t want a life without her in it.
The floor near the balcony upstairs creaked and Tommy’s head snapped up. Eloise was leaning against the banister looking down at them.
“Evangeline, you should go help them,” the old woman said, her face set in determination.
Evangeline stared at her in shock. “You can’t be serious.”
“And why can’t I be? Haven’t I taught you to help people when they need it?” Eloise asked, her hands gripping the banister tightly to stay upright.
“But you know what this means. What it requires,” Evangeline said quietly.
“I do. In fact, I think I know better than you,” Eloise replied, giving her a serious look. “I won’t tell you what to do, but I will give you permission, since it seems like you need it.” With a final nod, Eloise pushed off the banister and began hobbling back toward the bedroom.
Tommy heard Deward’s car turned into the driveway.
“What is she talking about?” he asked as he rose from the couch.
“She’s talking about my demon side. The way that I saved her that night we were attacked.” Evangeline dragged her hands down her face.
“Didn’t you fly away with your mom or something that night? Can you do that now?” he asked, a plan forming in his mind.
“There’s only one way I can do that right now,” Evangeline said, her expression pained.
“How?”
“As a favor.”
“I don’t understand.” They didn’t have time for this. Tommy could feel the panic coursing through the pack bond. “A favor?”
“As part of a demon mark.” Evangeline blurted out. Her hands trembled as she pushed her hoodie back. Her hair was blonde, like it had been the day in the forest. She’d grown paler though and had dark circles under her eyes. “The demon magic is limited during the day, but if you accept my demon mark in return for my help in getting you there and defeating the sorcerer and Zachariah, then I can use it.”
“Then let’s do it,” he said without hesitation.
“You’d be indebted to me. How can you be so casual about it?”
“Are you going to demand I do something terrible?” he asked.
“No, I would never––”
“Then what is there to think about? I trust you, and I need your help. Please stop hesitating. We have to do something.”
Evangeline looked stunned, but nodded. She lifted her hand. “Come here.”
He walked up, standing within reach. She placed her hand over his heart. Heat rushed between them and her eyes lit up with power. “A debt for a debt.”
The magic burned. He ground his teeth together to keep from reacting as the magic forced its way under his skin. She yanked her hand away like she’d been burned and took a step back but it felt like she was still touching him. Like she was part of him now.
“That wasn’t so bad,” he said despite the sudden dizziness at the loss of contact.
She held her hand to her chest and looked out the window. “I’m a parasite.”
“Barely.”
Eva glared at him, but the corner of her lip turned up in a half smile. “You’re an idiot.”
As she stood there, color bloomed in her cheeks. Her blonde hair darkened from root to tip as the horns grew from her head. Blue eyes became black. The effervescent glow of her skin became warmer. Healthier.
“Was that why you were sick? Because you wouldn’t give someone your mark?” he asked, understanding dawning on him.
“Yes. It’s a curse. A demon will die without at least one mark, and the more we have the more powerful we become.” She glanced around the room furtively. “Don’t tell anyone I told you that. Please.”
He nodded, though he would have to tell Amber. Right now, he needed Evangeline focused and an argument would distract her.
There was a knock at the door and he rushed over, yanking it open.
Deward looked startled. “What’s wrong?”
“Deward, I need to ask you to do something both dangerous and possibly stupid.” He stepped back and waved him inside, shutting the door behind them.
The troll raised an eyebrow, but didn’t immediately object. “What is your request?”
“Ceri has been kidnapped by a sorcerer. My pack is about to try to rescue her, but they need all the help they can get. There is…” he hesitated, then decided Deward would appreciate the truth more than anything else. He pointed at Evangeline. “She is the girl on the news. The demon they are stupidly blaming for the no magic spots. It’s a really long story, but her mother was hurt when the sorcerer and this half angel tried to kill her. She’s upstairs, and we can’t leave her defenseless in case someone comes here trying to hurt her, but I can’t let my alpha fight alone.”
Deward crossed his arms and looked at the floor, thinking. He tapped his long green fingers against his arm. Tommy knew better than to interrupt, but it was hard.
Finally, he looked up. “I see your dilemma, and I am willing to protect the woman. Perhaps this is reckless, but I find myself inspired by your fervor. I will do it.”
Tommy sighed in relief. “Thank you.”
“Also, just so you know, the house is kind of…sentient.” Evangeline said hesitantly. “If someone tries to hurt you it may help. Trust it. And talking to it may not be a bad idea. It likes compliments. Isn’t that right, Mr. Cottage?”
The cabinets flapped happily, and Deward jerked in alarm. “That should not be possible.”
”Well it is, good luck,” Tommy said, grabbing Evangeline by the arm and dragging her outside. The front door shut on its own and he heard all the locks click into place. The window shades dropped one by one and a wave of magic passed over the house as it turned itself into some kind of fortress.
He turned back to Evangeline. “Okay, how do we do this?”
“Um, just step back.” She pulled off her hood and shook out her arms. Her horns, normally black as her hair, began to glow red. With a rush of magic that almost knocked him back, fiery wings exploded out of her back. Her eyes were completely black and her hands changed, claws extending from her fingertips.
He looked at her in awe. “That is badass.”
“Shut up and get over here, teen wolf,” she hissed, her voice changed by the sharp teeth in her mouth. He walked over and she awkwardly wrapped her arms around him. “Arms around my neck, and hold on tight.”
Standing this close, for a split second, all he could think about was kissing her, but thoughts of what Ceri might be going through killed that as soon as it began. He wrapped his arms tightly around her neck and she kicked off the ground. They shot straight up and he squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on the bond and not the fact that he was flying through the air with a demon that had no clue what she was doing.
Chapter 64
AMBER
Amber stared at the old ruin. The roof of the house had rotted away long ago leaving only the skeletal stone structure behind. Moss grew on the exposed edges, dripping down the sides like mold. Deep in the forest, The Witch’s Castle was rumored to be haunted but still attracted tourists daily.
Strangely, no one was here today. Perhaps they’d felt the ominous chill in the air. She shuddered as the wind picked up slightly.
“I can try to convince Jameson to come help if you wait,” Shane said quietly.
“No. Ceri doesn’t have much time.” She scanned the ruins for any signs of life but the whole area was still. “It doesn’t look like there’s an entrance but I know she’s here somewhere.”
She walked into the ruins with Genevieve and Shane close behind her. Derek pushed
ahead of her, jogging into the main room of the old house. They spread out slightly as they searched for whatever room or basement they had Ceri in. The pack bond throbbed painfully in her chest almost robbing her of her breath.
All her senses focused on the area around her. She thought she caught a whiff of Ceri but it faded quickly. It had rained sometime last night –– the forest floor had still been soft and damp –– and washed away the trail.
A loud crack startled her and she whipped around ready to fight, but it was just Derek. He'd kicked in an old cellar door that had been hidden under a pile of wet leaves and was peering inside. He nudged the now broken lock away with the butt of his gun.
"I saw a footprint near it," he said, waving Amber over.
She sprinted to him and helped him pull open the splintered door. The pack bond twisted inside of her, abruptly growing even stronger. The underside of the cellar doors had symbols drawn in what looked and smelled like blood. It had been blocking the bond.
Genevieve jogged up behind her, almost bumping into her. "Is this it?"
"Yes." Desperation filled Amber's heart as she felt the full extent of Ceri's suffering. She stepped down into the darkness without hesitation. The pain Ceri was in was almost overwhelming even through the bond. Her friend’s fear screamed at her to move faster.
"Amber, we should make a plan," Shane said, trying to grab her arm.
She jerked it away and glared at him over her shoulder. "The plan is to rescue her and all get out alive. Don't you dare try to stop me. You don't have to come if you don't want to."
Shane's lips thinned in frustration, but he nodded. "I'm calling Jameson then I'll catch up."
Done waiting on him, Amber walked carefully into the cellar. The wooden steps creaked under her feet. She had to blink for her eyes to adjust to the impenetrable darkness. It smelled like earth, moss, and rat droppings down here. Ceri's scent mingled with all of it. She'd been brought this way.
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