She thrashes and gnashes her teeth, wild and feral. “No. No. My time. Mine!”
“Fee!” My voice is a whiplash. A command from an alpha to his mate.
She stills, and then her eyes flutter closed, and she slumps forward in Conah’s arms.
We stand, face to face, chests heaving, surrounded by my pack, and then Conah finally breaks the silence.
“Grayson, what the fuck is going on?”
Chapter Thirty-One
Fee
Waking up was like swimming through treacle. Confusion clouded my mind, leaving it sluggish. There were voices, people. I knew these people.
“How long?” Conah asked.
“Ever since you three left for the Underealm,” Grayson replied. “Uri saved her.”
“When she jumped?”
“Yes.”
“And this heart stopping is the only solution?”
“The only one we have, and we’re short on time,” Grayson replied.
A female voice joined in. One I recognized as Petra. “She used a knife, which means the curse is gaining more control. Up until now, it simply managed to get her to a ledge and try and make her walk off. Making her use a blade to slit her throat shows much more control.”
“It was as if she was someone else,” Grayson said. “I looked into her eyes, and she wasn’t there.”
I forced my eyelids open, dragging myself out of the arms of sleep. “It happened again, didn’t it?”
I focused on the faces around my room. Grayson sat on the bed by my hip, Petra stood by the dresser, and…Yes, that was Conah by the window. He’d come.
“What did I do?”
“You tried to slit your throat,” Conah said. “I got here in time to stop you.”
“I wouldn’t have made it to you in time.” Grayson’s tone was low, his voice hoarse as if he’d been crying, but Grayson wouldn’t cry…would he? “You would have bled out.”
There was torment in his eyes that I desperately wanted to soothe. “I’m fine, though. I’m okay.” I took his hand. His fingers were cold to the touch. Chilled. “Grayson?” He made a strangled sound and then pulled me into his arms, breathing me in. “I’m fine.”
I caught sight of Conah’s face over Grayson’s shoulder, and I knew that look. It was a we-just-escaped-a-fucking-dire-situation look.
I’d tried to slit my throat… I felt the tightness on my neck for the first time. “How bad was it?”
Grayson kissed the spot by my ear and then pulled back. The tears in his eyes were a slug to my chest because Grayson didn’t cry. I mean, I’d never seen him lose his shit. This must have been a close call. Right in front of him. If Conah hadn’t turned up…
I reached up to touch the dressing that was pressed to my skin.
“It’s healing,” Petra said. “It was deep. You were lucky you didn’t nick your artery.”
“Lucky? I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. Sorry felt right.
“It’s not your fault,” Grayson said. “Fuck, Fee, none of this is your fault.”
“No, it isn’t.” Petra handed me something…My journal. “We found this open on the floor. You should read it.”
“My journal? But I haven’t written in it yet.”
“Please,” she said.
A shiver rushed up my spine to settle at the nape of my neck as I took the open journal from her. All eyes were on me as I looked down at the marred pages. The writing was a scrawl, overly large and rushed, but there was no mistake…this was my handwriting. I scanned the short sentences, repeated over and over.
Can’t let him out.
Can’t set him free.
Must not let him out.
Must not let him wake.
And amidst it all, one word was scribbled across the page almost angrily.
Purgatory
There was that scratching at the back of my mind again, that feeling there was something vital I was forgetting. I focused on the sensation, trying to tease it to the forefront of my mind. A sharp pain lanced through my head. I cried out involuntarily and released the hidden thought. My temples throbbed as the pain eased.
“Fee, what is it?” Conah asked. “What happened in Purgatory?”
Yes…Something happened. Something…behind the wooden door…I went… Pain hit me again, claws unfurling in my brain, shredding and tearing.
“No!” I grabbed my head to stop it from exploding, and like before, the pain melted. “I can’t…Every time I think about it, there’s pain.”
“A hidden memory,” Conah said. “Probably a block placed by whoever put this curse on you.”
Was this the key to what was happening to me? To this curse placed on me? “Can you remove it? Can you get to the memory?”
“I can try.”
He stepped forward, and Grayson released me and climbed off the bed so Conah could take his place.
Conah sat facing me, his hip by my thighs. “Close your eyes and relax.”
I snorted. “Closing my eyes and relaxing is a huge problem right now.”
But I did as he asked.
His fingers were cool and firm on my temple. “Relax,” he repeated. “This won’t hurt.”
Long seconds ticked by, and then pressure bloomed at the back of my skull. A strange vibration filled my head, and then there was a crack like thunder, and the pressure of Conah’s fingers was gone.
Petra cried out in alarm, and my eyes snapped open to find the space where Conah had been a moment ago empty. My Dominus friend was crumpled on the floor against the far wall of the room.
He pulled himself up with a wince and shook out his arms. “Well, that was interesting.”
“What the hell just happened?” Grayson asked.
“I was expelled,” Conah said, rolling his shoulders. He ran his hand through his golden hair and fixed his serious sapphire gaze on me. “Whoever did this to you put a powerful block on those memories.”
“Cora spoke to Elijah, who believes it’s a group of outliers who want to kill witches born under a certain zodiac sign. He thinks this group is controlling the tulpas that are the hooded figures.”
“You’re not a witch,” Conah reminded me. “Cora has your power.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t get that memo.” I filled him in on the Grimswood witches and the potentials.
“But wouldn’t that make Cora a potential?” he asked.
I froze. Fuck. I hadn’t thought of that, and she hadn’t elaborated. I’d been too caught up in my curse problem. But if Cora was connected to Grimswood, what did that mean for us?
“Fee,” Conah said. “I get the wanting to kill witches, but this seems a little extreme.”
“They failed to do it any other way,” Grayson said.
“But Purgatory?” Conah shakes his head. “How did they get into Purgatory. It makes no sense. Only a celestial or a Dominus can get in or out.”
I massaged my temples, trying to soothe the low-grade headache that had taken up residence behind my eyes.
I didn’t have the answers, and that made me sick. “Maybe the Purgatory thing is a separate thing…I don’t know. We don’t have time for this right now. Cora and Uri will be back soon with intel on the ouroboros site, and we still have to find out what Kristoff knows.” I looked up at Conah. “Which is why I called you. I need you to read his memories.”
“Kristoff? I don’t understand.”
“I think it’s better if I showed you.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Cora
The signpost with the ouroboros symbol points to a trail that’s beaten down enough to tell us it gets regular use. We’re on it for about three minutes before two wider trails link to it, and the sound of an engine forces us into the bushes.
My hands get scratched to fuck by brambles, and I think I might have swallowed a bug. We crouch and wait for the motor to pass.
It’s a minivan, black, no number plates. Dodgy as fuck.
Uri’s eye whites gleam in the gloom as
he looks my way. “I think we’re on the right track.”
“Agreed. Let’s scope up ahead a little.”
It’s too risky to jump. We have no idea what lies up ahead. We have no idea who has Hunter and the humans or why.
We slip back onto the trail and keep to the left, close to the bushes, as we make our way after the van. It isn’t long until the trail spills onto a field, ground all churned up by wheel tracks, and up ahead, sitting silent and alone in the middle of the flatlands, is a farmhouse, dead and empty-looking. But the two vans parked outside it and the winking lights at the gates tell me this is the place we’re looking for.
Whoever has the missing humans and Hunter has them here.
“What do you want to do?” Uri asks.
“We need to get a lay of the land.”
“I’ll go in.”
“No.” I grab his arm. “I’ll do it. I’m smaller. I can hide better.”
Uri looks torn, but I can see that the strategist in him knows that out of the two of us, I’m the better scout.
“Don’t be a hero,” he says. “Scope and get out.”
“I’ve got this. But if I’m not back in fifteen, you need to go.”
I expect him to argue, but he nods. “Fifteen.”
I give him a mock salute and then jump to the fence surrounding the building. I’m in the cover of shadows, which is perfect for sneak-peeking into the drive where the vans are parked. It’s dead. No sound, no signs of life. Eerie as fuck. I jump into the drive using the vans for cover and wait. Did anyone see? Is anyone coming?
Nothing.
Okay. I jump again, right up to the side of the house so I’m pressed to the wall, and wait for long seconds. There’s a lawnmower parked not too far from me, rusty and broken. A trough that’s filled with slushy snow water and a wellington boot.
The place feels deserted, but it can’t be.
Vans don’t drive themselves.
There’s a window to my left, and I take a breath and peer in. The glass is grimy, but I can see enough to know the place isn’t lived in. Dustsheets cover furniture and cobwebs cling to the inside of the window frame.
Okay, the moment of truth.
I jump into the house.
Uri
Five more minutes and I’m going in after her. Leaving her behind is not an option. I count down the seconds, watching the house and looking for signs of movement. There are none.
This feels wrong.
Like a dead end.
Like a lure.
Maybe a trap.
Damn it. If anything happens to Cora, Fee will never forgive me. I’ll never forgive me. I should have gone in first.
I catch a flash of movement. A figure pressed to the side of the house, but it’s hard to tell for sure from here.
Then the figure vanishes.
It has to be Cora.
Three minutes left, but I’m not waiting any longer.
Two minutes.
One.
There’s a flash of light in an upstairs window, but it’s gone so quick that for a moment, I think I’ve imagined it. But the thud of my pulse and the thunder of my heart tell me different.
My instincts kick in.
Something’s wrong.
I jump into the house, into the musty interior that screams neglect. The world feels smothered, like pillows are being pressed to my ears. The air is thick with dust motes and leaves a funny taste on my tongue. The room is dark, lit only by the weak rays of moonlight that make it through the grime-encrusted windows. Sheets that were probably once white, but are now brown and ragged at the edges, cover the furniture.
Unlived in.
This can’t be right.
Cora? I resist the urge to call out her name and fall into stealth mode, studying the room around me. Footprints in the thick layer of dust on the ground lead out the door.
I follow her trail and peek out into the bare hallway. There is a staircase facing the door leading up to the first floor. The trail leads to them. I follow, wincing at the creak of the floorboards, way too loud in the silence. My boot kicks something. A wooden peg.
I could jump to the top of the staircase, but something holds me back, warning me to be wary, and then I feel a buzz against my skin that teases the hairs to attention.
Stop, it says. Stop now. This is my celestial power. My instinct for danger, for power unseen.
There is something up ahead.
Something hidden.
I look down at the steps, at Cora’s footsteps pressed into the dust that’s collected on the bare wood. They stop here. Right here, as if…As if she jumped.
I keep my eyes on the top of the staircase and reach down to pick up the wooden peg. I clutch it tight, and then I throw it as hard as I can to the top of the stairs. It whizzes through the air, and then a blinding white light steals my vision.
My eyes recover quick enough to see the aurelia of power shrink back to nothing and vanish.
There is a doorway up ahead. A portal, and Cora’s jumped right into it.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Fee
Conah stared at Kristoff, disbelief etched onto his face. “How…” He approached and crouched by the vamp. “Kristoff, old friend. Can you hear me?”
Kristoff’s face remained as smooth and unmoving as glass.
Conah pinched the vamp’s chin and turned his head from side to side. “Kristoff?”
“He won’t respond,” Bastian said gruffly. “Hasn’t moved or spoken since we took down his team.”
“Can you get in his head?” Grayson asked. “We need to know who sent him. Anything about the organization running the super vamp show would help.”
“Are the Magiguard involved?” Conah asked.
“They’ve been informed, but their main duty is to the humans. Vamps being taken isn’t a priority to them. That one falls to the outlier chain of command, and in Necro, that’s the packs and the covens.”
“Of course. Well, I can try to read him. See what’s locked in his mind.”
He pressed his fingers to Kristoff’s temples and closed his eyes.
Long seconds passed as he worked. Grayson put his arm around me and hugged me to his side while we waited.
My throat itched under the bandage as it healed, and the patter of rain hitting the windows filled the silence.
Finally, Conah sat back on his haunches. “Paper and pen. Please.”
Bobby rushed to find the items and was back in less than a minute.
Conah scrawled something on the notepad. “It’s a mess in there. A jumble. But there was one image I saw over and over. I believe Kristoff was trying to communicate with me. I believe he’s still in there.” He finished scrawling and handed the notepad to Grayson. “I saw this. I’m sorry it isn’t more.”
Grayson cursed softly and then tipped the pad toward me. I stared at the circular image of a snake eating its tail.
“Mother fu—”
The air crackled, and Uri appeared by the lounge. His mouth was tight, eyes too dark in his face.
“We have a problem,” he said.
I waited for the second pop. For Cora to appear, but it didn’t come.
“Where’s Cora?”
“That’s the problem,” Uri said. “She’s gone.”
“A portal.” I paced. “Like when we went to the club.” I turned to Grayson. “Like when the vamps took you.”
“They took me through a portal, yes,” Grayson confirmed. “Bright white light, and then we were in the museum.”
“So, we need to go after her.”
“It’s not that simple,” Uri said. “The fact she didn’t come back out means wherever she is, she’s stuck. No jumping out once in, which suggests powerful wards.”
“Jasper…She has Jasper. He’ll get her out. He got her out of a vault that was magicked to keep intruders in.”
“Then why isn’t she here?” Conah said. “We have to consider the possibility that something’s gone wrong, interfered wit
h their connection, maybe even trapped Jasper in there with her.”
“They could be anywhere,” Bastian said.
“And when we go in after them, we’ll be trapped,” Grayson added.
I loved that he said when, not if.
“I don’t understand it,” Dean said. “They took vamps, and then they took humans, and they took Hunter too…”
I looked down at Kristoff, and the process was suddenly clear. “I think they’re turning the regular vamps into these super vamps.”
“And the humans? Hunter?” Dean pressed.
“I don’t know… Humans could be a blood source for the super vamps, I guess…”
“Blood drive. Blood donations,” Grayson said. “Fuckers.”
Oh, shit. It was all clicking into place. The only piece that didn’t fit was Hunter.
It didn’t matter. We needed to focus on getting them back. “The humans are involved, so we need to contact the Magiguard. They’ll want in on this now.” I didn’t have Ursula’s number. Cora did, but… “Conah, can you please contact Ursula for us before you leave.”
He looked torn, and I knew he was struggling over the dilemma of whether to go to the Underealm or stay to help us.
He was needed there more than he was needed here. “Look. We’ve got this. You need to focus on Lilith and stopping the war.”
“I’ll speak to Ursula now.” He winked out.
I focused on Bastian and Dean. “Put together two teams. One for extraction and one for backup.”
Bastian and Dean headed off to round up the Loup, and I was left with Grayson, Uri, and a catatonic Kristoff.
My stomach churned. My best friend was in danger…and my fated mate…I’d pushed my feelings about his missing status aside over and over because they came from a primal place, a place deep within that didn’t connect with my human psyche, but there was no ignoring the alarms bells my Loup was blaring right now.
Reaper Unhinged (Deadside Reapers Book 6) Page 18