She sighed again and tapped a single finger on the center card.
“The cards are … well, they're not particularly helpful today,” Whitney said, pausing and looking around at my boys before turning her attention back to me, “unless you're like, über-curious about your love life?”
“Love life?” I heard Nic say, his voice rising an octave.
“Oh, we're mighty curious,” Che said with a nod of his head, looking at the other guys like he was seeking consensus. “Aren't we, boys?”
“What do you they say?” I asked, because even though I knew I had way more important shit to worry about, I was curious as fuck about that spread. About my love life. I truly believed that divinations, that prophecies, could be changed. After all, each person's destiny was their own … but I was beyond interested in hearing Whitney's predictions. I was still an eighteen year old in her first serious relationship…s, wasn't I?
“You see this right here,” she said, tapping the center card again, the Strength card. “This represents feminine power as well as physical and mundane urges or desires, courage, zeal, and overcoming hardships. And these?” She swirled her finger around the circle of seven cards. “These are the Minor Arcana, destined to serve, fated to fall for the Strength card.”
“And that means what, exactly?” Che asked, his bad boy attitude making me cringe … and turning me on at the same time. Oh dear. Faith would be so pissed, little hypocrite that she was.
“It means,” Whitney said, blinking her feathered eyelashes and fixing her pointed hat once more, “that the eight of you … are destined to see the fate's prediction out together. You'll thrive … or you'll fail as one. So glance around, my lupine friends, and take a good look at the people sitting beside you. You just found yourself your soul mates.”
Glistening pink entrails splattered to the ground in front of my white paws, staining them red with blood. The smell was intoxicating, that copper stink that my wolf brain liked so much. It said food; it said survival; it said success.
I sat back on my haunches and panted, my muzzle stained with red from the kill. I didn't know quite what to make of the fact that instead of a regular black-tailed deer like I'd expected … the first scent we'd picked up had been that of a white stag.
A white one.
It was a sign from Mother Earth, I was sure of it.
Aeron knelt down beside the carcass in the gossamer robes I'd brought home from faerie and buried in a cedar chest in the closet to hide the smell. I should've burned them, but for some reason, I'd kept them. I was glad now because Aeron was wearing them instead of stealing another one of the party dresses Faith had bought me. One day she was going to go through my closet and see the one that was missing and get upset. Better I didn't have two or three missing … I didn't just not wear them because they weren't my style, but also because I was afraid I'd end up having to shift on the fly and would end up destroying them, a sea of glitter and beads and sparkles exploding to make room for fangs and claws and fur.
'Is it just me or do faeries smell like honey and ash?' Tidus asked, wagging his gold-gray tail and sniffing the impressive rack of antler's on the stag's head. I think I was still in shock that we'd even seen one of these things, let alone hunted it down. It was possible although rare for a white stag to occur in nature.
This … felt more like fate.
'It's not fae that smell like that,' Anubis corrected, circling around the carcass on quiet paws, his ashy black coat thick and lush, striking against the snow speckled backdrop of the forest. 'It's sidhe specifically, that charred bone and sugar smell.'
'I can't decide if I like it or if it grosses me out,' Tidus said, moving over to sit beside me, pressing his larger body against mine, melding our warmth. And as strange as it might sound to a human, my wolf side found him attractive. His chest was wide and muscular, his eyes a gorgeous gray that mimicked the sky above the forest canopy. His fur was ashy with warm caramel and gold tones around his eyes and ears, along his spine and tail. My wolf wanted to mate with him now. It wasn't uncommon for werewolves to mate in both forms, something that even in fiction made humans shudder and shy away. But both forms were Tidus; both forms were me.
'I hate it,' Che said said, his wolf form a perfect, unblemished black with nothing but a pair of purple eyes, pink tongue, and white teeth to distinguish him from the shadows. 'It makes me think of old rotted corpses and tombs.'
'Agreed,' Nic said, sitting on my left side, his muzzle stained with red, just like mine. We'd taken down this stag as a pack, unlike last time. The kill belonged to us all, but … it was surprisingly easy. Too easy. Like the stag wanted us to catch him.
Magic shifted in the air with the breeze, teasing Montgomery's white-on-white fur and Jax's gold-white pelt, shifting Silas' gray and brown coat.
'She smells like death,' Nic added as we watched the faerie girl, in her true form, skin like crushed diamonds, her hair a void, completely bereft of light. It was so black, I had a hard time making out individual strands, like her head was bathed in shadows.
“Tell me what you need to say, sweet stag,” she said as she dropped to her knees in the red snow, the steaming carcass melting what little there was left of the white powder and turning the ground into a muddy, bloody mess. “Whisper to me, gentle spirit.”
Whitney was waiting for us in the back of the SUV, drenched in witch hazel, as far from the violence she could get. Killing anything—even a deer—was enough to lose her her position in the coven. But since our tarot reading had told us an admittedly intriguing tale of love instead of anything at all about our missing pack mates or the impending war, she wanted to stick around and see the results of Aeron's divination. And Harlem? She'd wanted to come, but with her strong desire to shift and join the pack run, she was more of a distraction than a help; we'd left her in the Yukon, too.
“Speak, speak, speak,” the fae girl hissed, running her finger along the pink wetness of an intestine, closing her eyes against the sight of all that blood and gore. “I'm listening, little dead thing.”
'Do you think our magic called this stag?' Anubis asked, shaking his coat out as he stood next to Che. It was interesting, to see the two black alpha males standing side by side. Comparing them directly like that, there was no mistaking one for the other. Che was devoid of light, almost as dark as the Unseelie princess' hair. He didn't have even a hint of color on him. Anubis on the other hand, he was actually closer to navy than black, an unnatural color most definitely not found in nature. It was as if a mystic hand had taken a bit of powdered sugar mixed with ash and shaken it all down his back, marring his blue-black coat. 'If you study 'were' history, you often find that when Nature's Children are in the most need, she provides. Is that what this is? A gift?'
'Nature's Children?' Che scoffed as he shook his head and snorted, his breath fogging into the cold air. 'That's an archaic fucking term. Nature doesn't care whether we live or die. It's not a person or an entity. There's nobody out there looking out for us but us. Sorry to tell you, Crimson Dusk, but the world isn't quite as magical as you make it out to be.'
'Well, Violet Shadow,' Anubis snapped, lifting the edge of his lip in a snarl, 'I respectfully disagree with your opinion.'
'Disagree all you want,' Che said as he lifted his nose up and sniffed the air carefully. We weren't on Ebon Red land, so the risk of Aeron being discovered by a patrol were slim, but still … we needed to be careful. If my mother found us here like this, I'd have a lot of explaining to do. And I felt like we were close to a breakthrough. So, so fucking close. 'This is probably just an albino deer or a deer with leucism or something. There's no magic here.'
'I'm sad for you, if that's what you really think,' I told him as Aeron picked through entrails and muttered under her breath, like a mad seer.
Che stood up, stretched with his front half dipping low, his ass up in the air. He trotted over nearer to me, sniffed my ear and then licked me. As soon as he did that, a gust of wind blew into the cleari
ng, stirring the smell of fresh meat and blood with the crisp bite of snow and the earthy musk of decaying leaves.
A green vine sprouted from the ground and curled around the stag's antlers, a black rose and a red rose blooming with thick satiny petals at its end.
'If that's not a sign,' I said, standing up and moving around the stag's head, my strange white, red, and black form reflected back in the dark glossy depths of the creature's sightless eyes. 'Then I don't know what is.'
Leaning down, I sniffed the roses, their smells fragrant and fresh, but with a musky undertone of wolf magic. I was starting to recognize that earthy smell. It was uniquely our own, unlike any other Numinous.
“Bring me an item,” Aeron said suddenly, her head snapping up sharply, flashing pointed teeth. Not just a few, like a vampire or a werewolf, but a whole fucking mouth of pointed teeth. I don't know what her future plans were with Whitney, but … I would not let that girl put her mouth anywhere near my sensitive parts.
Shifting back into human form, I cupped the delicate black blossom and glanced over at the fae girl.
“An item? What kind of item?”
“From the missing,” Aeron hissed, shaking her hand at me. “And we don't have a lot of time. Normally, an animal spirit flees this plane of existence within a nanosecond of death. This one stuck around, but it won't stay for long. If you want to know where to find the missing wolves, I need an item.”
'An item,' Montgomery whispered in wolfspeak, and then he was off like a shot, a streak of white, like a ghost sprinting through the shadows of the forest, heading in the direction of the Pairing House with the frantic bunching of muscles. I could feel his hope surge right alongside his fear. 'Don't follow, just wait,' he called back as I released the black rose from my grip, listening to Monty's frantic heartbeat through the strength of our new connection.
Che shifted back into human form, too, and stared down at the black rose like he was afraid. Of what, I wasn't sure, but now wasn't the time to ask.
“He needs to hurry,” Aeron said, reaching out and stroking her hand down the bloodied side of the deer. “We have a minute, maybe less.“
'Got it,' Montgomery called out, and I could feel how tired he was, how fast he'd run. Closing my eyes, I reached out to him with magic at the same moment I put my hand on Nic's hand, begging the earth for her help. She'd given us the stag; she wouldn't let him die in vain.
An ethereal wind picked up, black and red petals dancing in the air that I could not place. There were no black and red flowers around here save the ebony and crimson roses in front of me. But it didn't matter. They chased the breeze, found Monty, and teased the small little trinket from between his teeth.
It danced through the wind, this tiny crocheted band that found its way into my fingers. For a split second, I looked down at it, and saw the adorably messy work of small hands. It was a hair tie of some kind? But I didn't have time to ask or analyze it. I was sure Monty would tell me later.
“Here,” I tossed the little rainbow treasure over to Aeron and she caught it in long, glittering fingers, cupping it between her hands and placing it reverently on the stag's side, her eyes closed, mouth muttering words in the lilting symphony of the sidhe language.
Montgomery stumbled into the clearing in wolf form, slaver dripping from his jaws as he licked his lips and struggled to catch his breath, collapsing onto his side and panting heavily. But those green eyes of his remained locked on Aeron.
The faerie girl coughed, putting her hand to her lips as blood speckled her mouth and palm. I had no idea what the hell was going on, but at least something was happening. Aeron coughed again, this time leaning over and throwing up blood on the forest floor.
Her blue-black eyes glimmered as she studied the pattern and then glanced up, rising carefully to her feet.
When I walked around the stag's massive corpse to look … I found a map … made entirely of fae blood.
The world had never seemed weirder.
Montgomery swept his arm across the dining room table and sent the dishes crashing to the floor as I carefully unrolled both vampire maps. Meanwhile, Anubis pulled up a geographical map on his iPad and tossed it down on the table beside them.
“Let's see the picture,” I told Nic as he carefully lined his phone up with the maps. The picture of the bloody spatter at Aeron's feet was easily recognizable as Fern Ridge Lake—the shape was far too distinctive to be anything else. Not too far from that, a square that had to have been the airport. Yes. Blood, in a perfect square. It was eerie.
“If this is the airport,” I said, running my finger across Majka's map, “and this is the lake …” I found a very tiny spot of crimson Kingdom Ironbound territory buried in the pink wash of Crown Aurora. “Then this is where they are.”
The area I was pointing to was so small, it was almost impossible to see without leaning close and squinting, even with a werewolf's eyesight. I found a spot near Green Hill Road and Royal Avenue, where a tiny curve of water—also visible in the fae girl's blood spatter—mimicked the shape of the Amazon Creek Diversion Channel.
A tiny black and red rose had sprouted from the earth, right fucking there.
“The corner of Green Hill and Royal,” I said at the same moment Tidus flashed his phone's screen for the rest of us to see.
“Looking at Google maps,” he said, “it seems like there's an old barn on the road. I don't know when these pictures were last taken, but the property is overgrown and it looks pretty shoddy. Definitely a place you could hide people and get away with it.”
“What's the address?” Monty asked, still panting, his long white hair unbound and hanging down his back. He was nude—we all were—with the witch, vampire, and fae girl waiting outside on the porch for us. They'd have no trouble hearing us, but at least it gave us some semblance of privacy. Although I could practically feel Harlem shaking with the need to run, to shift, to be wolf. Poor girl, trapped inside her own skin. Maybe once all this was over, I could find some way to help her?
“We need to go into this the right way,” I told Montgomery, and even though his hands clenched into fists and his nostrils flared, I knew he would wait … at least for a little while. “We need weapons,” I began, and then paused as the screen door squeaked open.
“And backup?” Harlem asked, coming into the house and removing her sunglasses. We'd invited her past the wards earlier, so she was able to actually get inside. I didn't want to see what all that old wolf magic would do to a trespassing vampire. Even if she was part wolf, if she tried to harm me or any of my mates, she'd probably end up dead from the backlash of magic. “Because I'm willing to help. And nobody knows how to kill a Blood better than another Blood.”
“We accept,” I said, making a snap decision and grabbing the maps up off the table. “Montgomery, get the weapons. Anubis, get the clothes. Nic, you get the SUV ready and let your mother know where we're going. If she doesn't hear from us in … an hour and a half, have her get Nikolina and meet us there.”
A series of repeated 'Yes, Alpha' followed in the wake of my words and the three men scattered to do what I'd asked. Che, Tidus, Jax, and Silas stayed with me as I headed out to the porch to see Aeron and Whitney.
“What are you planning on doing?” I asked them, feeling my heartbeat pick up speed, my pulse race. Harlem zoned right in on it and her pupils dilated slightly, but only a little.
“I can't fight,” Whitney said with a long sigh, “but if Aeron's going, then I'll follow along and sit in the car. If it comes down to losing my Maidenhood or defending my woman, I'll tell you exactly how that's gonna go down.”
She put her hands on her hips and glanced over at the faerie girl, sitting in one of the rocking chairs with blood still staining her lips. She was doused in witch hazel, so at least she didn't smell. But having all three girls standing on my porch? That was risky as fuck. I was just waiting for Avita or Morel to come streaking by, spying on me and the boys. I had yet to speak with my sister about her humil
iating defeat in Coyote Creek, but I intended to. I wasn't going to let her walk around, hating me and lusting after Anubis.
Nope.
Not happening.
“If Zara fails, the Veil will fall,” Aeron said, untucking her legs from the chair and rising to her feet, her dark hair swishing in a shadowed wave behind her. God, she really did smell like honey and ash, sweetness mixed with old decay. “Of course, I'm coming. I didn't get kicked out of my own kingdom to dick around.”
“You never dick around,” Whitney said with a sultry purr, and I saw the corner of Aeron's mouth lift up in a lascivious smile. When they finally had sex, it was going to be explosive; I could feel it.
“Flirting aside,” Che said, drawing my attention over to him and his gloriously naked body. I could smell that bergamot oil, lavender, and vanilla scent of his, sexy and sweet all at once. Inviting. “We need some sort of plan, don't we?” He raked his fingers through his pitch dark hair and glanced away, almost like he was nervous. In fact, I could detect just the slightest hint of a tremor in his voice, the same as when he'd almost died in Faerie. “I mean, charging in there guns a-blazing isn't exactly going to work if the Ironbound Bloods really do have our people held prisoner. I mean, talk about the perfect hostages.”
“I've got one of my mother's AoE glamours left,” Aeron said, and I wasn't the only whose eyebrows shot up to their hairline.
“AoE?” Tidus asked with a bright grin. “Like, meaning area of effect, like straight-up video game slang?”
“I don't cross the Veil to play Parcheesi,” Aeron said with a slight lift of her lip. “I already told you: I'm from the twenty-first century, too. And yes, I've played my fair share of video games, thank you, sir.” She sneered at him, but Tidus just laughed and shook his head, rubbing one palm over the tattoo on his bicep.
Pack Violet Shadow Page 25