by C. M. Owens
“Go on.”
“Roslyn can taste someone’s blood, and if she doesn’t kill them, she can always track them. I don’t know if her captors learned that or knew it already when they took her. I think they were watching her or something. How else could they have known what she was?”
She can track someone? She can track fey?
“That’s actually something we can use,” Gage points out. “She tasted the blood of Slade.”
No fucking way am I letting her near him again.
“How are they discovering they’re fey?” Dice asks, moving forward. “Karma and her sister were caught while still mortal. They knew what they were, and that should have been impossible. Reese took numerous precautions, yet they knew what she was.”
That has us all stumped.
“They have a visionary.” Kimber’s voice is so abrupt and unexpected, that even I jump a little.
She comes down the stairs, glancing around at us all. How long has she been listening?
“With the exception of you, visionaries are extinct,” Gage reminds her. “That power has been dead for so long.”
She blows out an annoyed breath while going to step into his arms. It just makes me want to get back to Roslyn. The feeling gnawing at my stomach isn’t pleasant, and I know it’s because she’s been out of my sight for too long.
Fucking whipped.
“It’s the only explanation, and it’s not like I’m a visionary anymore. Besides, whoever it is isn’t as powerful as I once was. I’ve definitely done my homework on my kind. Most visionaries get glimpses of something. They have to seek and search for what they want. Small clues get them there, but they can’t just find exactly what they’re looking for the very second they look for it.”
That’s the best bad news I’ve heard. Fucking eh.
“So they have a visionary, and they may or may not see us? Or what we’re doing? Or when we get close?” I ask in summarization.
“Yeah. They’ve been searching for various things for centuries. Mostly powerful beings, it seems,” Kimber says, looking over at Kane. “And they may or may not learn all of our secrets. Secrets we desperately need to keep from people like this.”
Recognition sparks in Kane’s eyes at the same time her underlying meaning hits me.
Alyssa has a powerful yet vulnerable baby growing in her womb. And these people are seeking major power. They take children, just like they took Kimber. Like they took Kya. Like Karma.
Motherfucker.
“I gotta go. Call me if you need me,” Kane says, disappearing immediately.
Reese looks confused, glancing around at all of us. “Something going on?”
I shrug. “You have your secrets we have ours. What about the rest of what you were saying?” I prompt. “What about the spell? And why did you say her becoming immortal soon is a bad thing?”
His intrigue turns to seriousness once again.
“The spell wasn’t strong enough to do on an immortal. It was hard enough to make it to be strong enough for a mortal. When she turns immortal, the spell wears off. It wasn’t ever a long term solution. It was just to buy some time until a more permanent solution could be found.”
Fuckity fuck fuck.
If Roslyn gets hit with all those memories at once, they’ll tear her apart.
“Then we’ll find something long term,” Gage says with a sense of confidence that already has me feeling a little more at ease.
“We need to know what she faced in there, as much as I don’t want to hear it. We need to be prepared just in case. You saw it, right? You saw her memories?”
Tears fill his eyes again, and I already dread whatever he’s going to say.
“You want to know what she faced? She faced something worse than hell. You talked earlier about your girlfriend,” he says, looking over at Dice. “Your girlfriend might have suffered, but I assure you it has to be mild in comparison, otherwise she wouldn’t be sane.”
Dice’s hands turn to fists as fury blazes in his eyes.
“I mean no disrespect,” Reese adds. “I’m stating the facts. Most of the prisoners were kept in cages where they could see everyone else. They had contact with other beings at all times. Werewolves have to have contact with others. It’s why we travel in packs. Hell, it’s why we’re in packs. A wolf has to have some semblance of a family in order to remain sane and healthy.”
Taking a deep breath, I try to keep my temper down as I ask, “She was kept in solitary confinement, wasn’t she?”
“For two years,” Reese says while looking down. “To a werewolf, that’s like fifty years. It’s painful to be without contact with someone else for that long. The only interaction she got with a breathing being was when they came to beat the hell out of her.”
A few tears trickle from his eyes, and my jaw grinds as my beasts try to claw their way to the surface.
“She got to a place in her broken mind where she looked forward to those moments, because it was the only thing that soothed her need to be around someone. That’s how broken she was. They wanted her that way. They needed to break down everything about her so they could slowly become what she depended on.”
Dice’s hands uncurl, and he looks over at Reese with apologetic eyes. My skin actually hurts, because it feels like it’s on fire right now.
“She didn’t have fingernails left when she got out. She clawed the walls and floors so much that she broke every one of them off. She was frail, pale, and almost dead. They made one mistake. That one mistake is what freed her. They blood starved her.”
The hairs on the back of my neck rise. I knew she was feeding as a wolf, but…
“She needs blood now? As a mortal?” I ask, confused. “How did that save her?”
He nods. “She’s always needed blood. Even as an infant. That wasn’t an easy task, but I managed. I had to enlist some help along the way from someone I trusted, but she has always been fed. And she needs immortal blood to survive. Going longer than three days isn’t good. She went two years in there without a drop of blood. I don’t think they realized she needed it, and they never listened to her or even spoke to her.”
“Motherfucker,” Gage says on an exhale, running a hand through his hair.
Kimber has tears falling from her eyes as she listens to a horror story even worse than her own. No wonder Roslyn’s mind was fucked when she got out.
“It saved her because, unlike night stalkers, when we’re starved, we get desperate instead of weaker. We get deadlier by the day. She broke the chains that were meant to hold her in place while they beat her. Chains that bound her there by magic. And she managed to escape by dematerializing through the walls also bound by magic. But it’s also why she fed like a starved animal when she escaped. Because that’s what she was. You can’t hold her accountable for that. I know Alyssa’s policy is no killing unless—”
“No one here is worried about any rules she’s broken,” I interrupt, glaring at Kimber like I’m daring her to object. She doesn’t even look at me as she wipes away her tears.
“We’ve only found a few,” she says.
Reese’s lips tighten. “I cleaned up a mess already. Personally, I don’t think she did any damage to anyone who didn’t deserve it, but then again, there aren’t many of us who haven’t earned a death or two.”
No one says anything for several long minutes. I’m trying to catch my breath, but it seems to be too hard to do.
“Can I see her now?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I whisper, unable to form a stronger tone or even move. “She’s upstairs. Knock first. Make sure she’s decent. You can tell her to come down, and we’ll move this to the living room. We’ll pretend we’re all normal for the rest of the night.”
He growls, causing me to snap my eyes up.
“I think now that you know her history, you’ll stop with your little games. She’s not someone to just play with and toss away.”
A hand clamps down on my shoulder when I almost lunge at him
without thinking. Zee has remained quiet for most of the conversation, and he picks now to step out of the shadows. Bastard.
“Still can’t kill her dad,” he reminds me.
“Thad’s a bit in love with your wolf girl,” Dice says, back to being his annoying self. “He’s not playing with her in any way she isn’t enjoying.”
Normally, I’d groan or something, but right now, all I can think about it getting back to Roslyn.
“You love her?” Reese asks skeptically.
“I haven’t known her long enough to love her,” I say distractedly, hoping he just leaves so I can talk to Gage about the spell he wants to try and work.
I need to know all the side effects that it could possibly have—
“There’s a particular time frame required for love?” Dice asks in his cheeky, assholish way. “Pretty sure you love someone on some level when you’re willing to die for them. Fairly positive you love them if you’re threatening us about what you’ll do if she gets hurt. And I know you don’t look at her like a sister. Therefore, you don’t just love her; you’re in love, dumbass. And don’t forget about wanting to make her immortal using any bitten venom you could, just so you could keep her. Hashtag—wake up and smell the motherfucking coffee.”
That has me admittedly squirming in place, but Reese seems to have a ghost of a smile on his face.
“Then she’ll be safe here,” he says before heading up the stairs.
As soon as the door closes, Kimber speaks as though she’s been waiting on him to leave the soundproof room.
“Sadie is definitely the only one powerful enough to perform a spell like that,” she says with a scowl. “So what’s her angle?”
“Maybe she doesn’t have an angle,” Dice says, defensive of the evil bitch witch I want dead.
“She has one,” I say, agreeing with Kimber. “The sooner we figure it out, the better. Roslyn is powerful, if all he’s saying is true. Sadie could have very easily intended for that spell to go awry in order to get Roslyn away from Reese’s protection.”
“It makes sense, only she probably wasn’t planning on her staying so well hidden or having a stash of cash. It also makes sense why she found a roommate. She didn’t want to be alone.”
She never has to worry about that again.
“Still on a bloody witch hunt,” Dice says under his breath while heading up the stairs and away from the conversation. The second he’s gone, I turn my attention to Kimber and Gage.
“I think it’s time we stop risking Sadie. She’s a liability, and I feel like she’s tied to the rings. She’s tied to all of this. You were right about the spell to find the rings being too convenient. She’s playing with us, and I’ve never been a fan of games. Time to cut her out of the picture.”
“Completely with you,” Gage says in agreement.
“Same here,” Zee chimes in.
Kimber sighs hard as she seems to wage some internal war. Glad I don’t have the same useless morals as her. Threat equals something to kill.
“I’m in. But we can’t tell Mom or Alyssa. Hell, we can’t even tell Ella.”
Time to put together a hunting party. After I see Roslyn and keep her in the bed all night, of course.
“My girl is coming to the dark side,” Gage says with a half-cocked smile. “That’s hot, babe.”
The basement door slings open, crashing into the wall, and I spin around just as Reese’s red, furious face comes into view. Looks like Roslyn was still naked after all, and I’m about to have to fight.
Well, I only thought I wasn’t going to have to piss her off. At least she doesn’t know who he is right now.
“Where is she? She’s not upstairs, downstairs, or anywhere else in the house! What games are you playing?”
My blood runs cold, and my spine stiffens as small, invisible needles prickle my scalp. I don’t even bother answering as I barge by him, leaping up the stairs in one jump, and bursting through the door.
The staircase that leads upstairs gets jumped as well, and I crash into the bedroom. A table by the wall has been turned over; several things are broken; and it looks like there was a struggle.
“The hell?” Gage asks, eyeing the room in the same disbelief as me.
“I thought you had a protection spell on the place!” I snap, rushing to the window.
Locked. That means whatever came in here didn’t need it.
“I do. There’s no way in hell someone got in without an invite. Any chance she might have gotten pissed about you two fucking then you disappearing?”
A new sense of dread spreads throughout me, just as a snarl tears through the room. I really don’t need to deal with an overprotective dick dad right now on top of everything else.
“I shouldn’t have even come down there. I thought Reese would try to take her back to his pack. There was no reason for me to be in on that. I could have had it all recapped to me later. Fuck!”
Everyone moves away from me when I slam my fist through the wall, splitting a stud on impact. My fist comes out unscathed, but I’m a fucking mess. How the hell do I find her?
“I’ll grab the keys,” I hear Zee say.
“I’ll grab mine. Kimber—”
“I’ll meet you downstairs,” she says in interruption while I push open the window and look out. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She’s never going to trust me to take care of her if I keep fucking up and losing her. No way did she hear any of our conversation, and no way did she leave without changing. This room is fucked up.
I hop out of the second floor window, and land with a thud just across from the Hummer. Reese is right behind me, landing with just as much force.
“I’ll head to the woods and shift. If she’s in shifted form, I might be able to get close enough to smell her.”
“I’m taking the sky,” I tell him while stepping behind the outdoor shower stall.
The flutter rises to my chest as my flesh moves over bones, feeling my body contort and shift. It feels good to finally unleash at least one of my animals, and I push off from the ground.
Before my feet even fully leave the ground, feathers have replaced flesh, and I’m climbing the air, getting higher and higher until I can see for miles around me. I just hope I find her before Slade does.
Chapter 24
ROSLYN
It hurts. It hurts so bad.
Hours and hours.
I’ve been ending up in so many places, and I don’t know how. I’ve seen brick walls, trees, stone walls, grass… I’ve seen the entire town and more. My head is pounding as more and more memories assault me.
It’s all so clear, but it hurts so damn much. So, so much.
Thad. Thad. Thad.
Just his name over and over seems to help. All I want to do is get back. I want him to make it stop. They have to stop. I can’t be alone. I can’t breathe. They only come to hit me.
It hurts. Why are they doing this? He has to make them stop.
“Check this shit out,” I hear a voice nearby saying, but it’s not inside my mind. Not like my voice that keeps playing over and over.
Beg. I begged so much. Begged them to speak. Begged them to feed me. Begged for blood. I begged for so much, but they denied me every time.
“Girl is wasted,” another male voice says.
They come to hurt. They come to play.
No more blood from me today.
“Let’s have some fun with her.” It’s a different voice this time, and I try so hard to push up to my knees, but I can’t stand up. I can’t see their faces.
Everything is so distorted.
“Definitely up for some fun.”
Rage, rage. So much rage.
It’s ready to break out of its cage.
Soon the day will finally come.
The monster is going to have so much fun.
A voice other than mine finally enters my mind; a panicked, desperate voice that I know all too well.
“Do it!” Thad is yelling.
“It’s dan
gerous, Thad. She’s lost a lot of blood,” a girl counters.
“She’ll die if you don’t at least try.” That’s Ella’s voice, and she sounds so strong, so in control.
A growl cuts through the thick silence that has ensued, a growl so familiar that I feel the tingles from scalp to toe.
But I can’t see. Why is everything so dark in this memory?
“I’ve got him,” Ella says to someone, but who?
“They’re definitely not mates,” the other girl says.
“What?” Ella asks.
“Just fucking do it already!” Thad roars, pissed and ready for action.
Pain sears through my neck, and I internally cry out, even though no sound escapes my lips. But then the pain fades, and I feel something, something strong and heady. Something I know well.
Venom. Someone with bitten venom is trying to change me, just like the experiments. Only this time, they’re trying to save me instead of play mad scientist.
Thad—he thinks I’m human. Thad wants me changed. Thad wants me to stay. Thad wants to keep me.
The memories I thought were dreams crash down on me just as abruptly as the memories I wanted to forget, and I’m hit with the truth my mind was shielded from. I’m hit damn hard.
Immortals. They’re all immortals.
Time for death. Time for fear.
The monster is finally here.
As sudden as it all started, it stops. Silence settles inside my mind, and a heavy veil is lifted. There’s chaos and pain, but there’s also a sense of peace. No longer is my mind searching for what’s missing.
Everything is at my fingertips now, and my fingertips burn with a need for release. My arms… Long lines of tribal ink start at my wrists, and travel upward, taking form in front of my eyes, and spread, leaving gaps where the flesh can still be seen. They stop when they reach my elbows, never causing even a touch of pain.
My head snaps up as all the pieces settle in, and the blur in my vision disappears, offering nothing but absolute clarity. Crystal clear images find my eyes like never before, and the sounds are so pristine that I can pick apart each and every one.
Four guys come into view just as they near me, standing within five feet away, and a dark, twisted smile spreads across wicked lips. My lips, that is.