by Jayne Hawke
“Not really. I got a little distracted with some witch business. A friend’s trying to find some orb,” I said with a little shrug.
“Ah. You’re not still dealing with Cole Loxwood, are you? He’s a dangerous man,” he put his hand on my knee, “and I really don’t want to see you hurt.”
There was that edge again. It was a clear possessive warning. His hand felt like a lead weight on my leg holding me down and ensuring that I saw his view on this. I had heard the silkiness of his words, but it was growing increasingly difficult to miss the sharp almost growl beneath.
“I’m afraid I’m tied to him as his shadow,” I said with a sad little smile.
I just had to play along for a little while longer. Breaking this potential pack bond without concrete evidence would be stupid. I had no one else to turn to or call pack. That understanding saddened me and added a resolve to get my feet under me.
“When you tell the council he’s the rogue, you’ll be free of that. I can take you into my pack so that you’re safe.”
It sounded like such a tempting offer in that moment as I so desperately wanted a pack around me. I knew that I’d curl up on the couch with him and everything would be ok. There would be no more worrying about money, or my place in the world. Valentin would handle all of that. It would have been so easy to give in to that tug on the bond between us. To just close my eyes and give in to him.
I forced myself to lean into him and act as though everything was great between us. I was falling into his little trap.
“Thank you. That’s so kind. I’ve been really feeling the need for a pack recently.”
He brushed his fingertips over my lips, and I resisted the urge to bite him. It was such an intimate gesture, and while my wolf side very much wanted that, it felt like he was pushing my limits.
“You really are special, Rosalyn. I’m fortunate to have met you,” he said with a slight breathiness.
And I was done. I couldn’t continue this little façade between us anymore. There was no escaping the darkness that writhed just beneath his manicured appearance. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that his skin didn’t quite fit right and the distinct slithering feeling of wrongness that rippled off him. I felt like a complete idiot for missing it for so long, for being weak and desperate enough to fall into his clutches. The bond was strong between us, I reminded myself. Never again would I allow such a skilled predator to manipulate me.
I frowned down at my shadow mark and told myself that it was aching. I’d read that Cole would be able to do that to track and summon me. It wasn’t the best plan I’d ever had, but given that I’d gotten there in his car, it was the only one I had. I needed to get away from him and breathe so that I could get my head straight. My mind was in riot, and it was only going to get worse if I remained close to him. I needed to escape the bond and assess everything I’d seen and felt.
“I’m sorry. It seems Cole’s trying to find me. I’ve been avoiding his calls. Can we continue this another time?”
He tensed and went to place a hand on my shoulder, holding me there. He stopped and rested it on the back of the couch. Still his eyes remained flinty and his smile was hard-edged and predatory.
“Of course. Would you like a ride home?”
“I’ll run to Cole’s. Thank you, though. You’ve been so kind and supportive through all of this. I don’t think I could have survived without you.”
I placed my hand gently on his cheek to try and smooth my exit and stop him from chasing me through the woods. It felt cruel to give him the affection he so clearly craved, but I had to be cool-headed and logical about this. It was my emotions that had gotten me into this stupid mess.
He smiled and leaned in a little closer.
“You’re very welcome.”
I HAD TO SHIFT INTO my wolf form to run over to Cole’s house. I wasn’t quite sure where it was without my wolf sense of the world. The moment I was on four legs, I ran with everything I had to get away from Valentin. The part of me that wanted to curl up in his arms and let me feel safe was fading fast. A slithering darkness and deep sense of wrongness filled that space. There was no doubt in my mind that Valentin was the rogue. Now, I just needed to take him down.
Cole was standing in his driveway talking to two fae mercs when I arrived. My ears flattened reflexively as I watched the fae leave with smiles on their faces. Once they’d driven off, I shifted back into my human form. My throat was parched, and my stomach growled. I ignored all of that and walked up to Cole’s front door. He threw the door open and pulled me inside.
“I told you not to run alone or during the daylight. Did anyone see you?”
“I came straight from Valentin’s,” I said flatly.
His eyes narrowed.
“Did he try and hurt you?”
“No. You’re right, though. I can feel the wrongness in him now.”
Cole nodded but maintained his deep scowl.
“Why were you dealing with fae mercs?”
He glared at me.
“I’m a councilman. We deal with all sorts of beings.”
I stared him down in a hope to push him into explaining himself better. It failed. He simply walked off into the kitchen, leaving me standing in the hallway.
I followed him.
“You need to stay away from Valentin,” Cole said with his back to me as he started making a sandwich.
My stomach growled loudly, and I flushed with embarrassment.
“I need to prove he’s the rogue and hand him over to the council,” I said, crossing my arms.
Cole turned to face me and approached with a sandwich. Thick white bread surrounded heavy chunks of roast beef. My mouth watered just looking at it.
“You need to be careful. The Blackthornes are itching to torture a garou.”
I flinched.
“Torture?”
Cole sat down at the table.
“Yes. So they can get full details on all the garou and shifters in the area.”
“And take them out?”
“As many as they can get away with.”
I sat at the table and ate the sandwich as slowly as I could make myself.
“Why me?” I finally asked.
Cole raised his eyebrow.
“Why did Valentin turn me?”
Cole sighed and looked away. He rolled his jaw before he looked back at me.
“Guardians are rare. They’re also the only thing that can bring a rogue back to something resembling a real garou.”
“What are guardians? How do they do that?”
Cole’s scowl deepened once more.
“Guardians are as they sound. And no one’s quite sure. The theory is that because they’re tied to the very essence of whichever being they are, that pulls the rogue back from the edge.”
I crossed my arms.
“Are you saying I’m a guardian?”
He said nothing.
“You should be more careful about what you eat and how often. You need a high protein diet. Your body will become more efficient in its calorie usage so you’re not ravenous after you shift, but it will take a little time. Don’t let yourself starve.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
He shrugged.
“Why did you come to me?”
He watched me closely as I tried to think of a suitable answer. Why had I gone to him?
“Because you’re the only one who knows he’s a rogue.”
His lips thinned with dissatisfaction.
“I’ll drive you home. Do not see Valentin again. Not until we have enough evidence to take him in.”
Like hell was I going to sit back and let him take all the credit. Valentin was my bounty, and I was going to kick his ass.
51
I FELT SOMETHING WAS different when I stepped over the threshold into the apartment. Pausing, I pricked my ears and listened. A familiar scent filled my nostrils, and my chest clenched. Jake. And blood.
He was sprawled out on the cou
ch looking very sorry for himself. His pretty face was bloodied with a black eye and split lip. The blood on his clothes suggested that his body wasn’t faring much better.
“The wanderer returns,” I said sarcastically.
He jumped and looked up at me.
“Rosalyn!” He sat up. “I’m so sorry for abandoning you like that. Let me explain. Please.”
I sat on the far arm of the couch and waited.
“I just wanted to keep you safe.” He held up his hand. “I know you’re not weak. A while ago, now, a group of pixies approached me. They knew who my father was.” He dragged his fingers through his hair. “They said if I didn’t help them steal an artifact, they’d kill you and your dad. I didn’t have enough magic to take them on. They had me over a barrel, and they knew it. At first it was just little things, introduce them to a pretty half-fae, retrieve a package, nothing too bad. Then things escalated. I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t risk them killing you.”
He reached out to touch me. He looked at me with pleading eyes. I could feel the sorrow rolling off him, and it didn’t soften my resolve at all. He’d abandoned me, after he pushed me away. I understood that he was trying to keep me safe, but I couldn’t forgive him for shutting me out like that. After everything’s we’d been through.
“It’s over now. I know I should have told you, but I couldn’t live with myself if you died because of me.”
He tried to edge a little closer to me.
“You’re sure it’s over?”
He looked away.
“I don’t have complete control over my magic. I was trying to weaken their life essence enough that I could overpower them in a physical fight and scare them. My magic took control and killed them. I felt their life essence shatter between my fingertips.” His voice wavered.
I was weak. I couldn’t shut him out any longer. Despite everything over the last month, he was still my best friend, and I loved him to bits. I hated seeing him so fragile and desperate for forgiveness.
I scooted down the couch and held him gently.
“Don’t hide things from me again,” I growled.
That was his last chance and I needed him to understand that. I wasn’t the pathetic girl who pined after him while he screwed around anymore. I was stronger than that. I deserved more.
“I won’t. Promise.”
He leaned into me and rested his head on my shoulder. It felt good to have him back.
He reached up and stroked my cheek.
“Do you forgive me?”
“I can understand your reasoning,” I said coolly.
He leaned in a little closer, his breath curling against my lips, tempting me.
“No. You led me on for years. I’m not going there, Jake,” I said firmly.
Anger that he was daring try and go there in that moment flared. It felt as though he was just using me, and that hurt more than I could express.
He squeezed his eyes closed.
“I really didn’t mean to lead you on.”
“But you did. You’re my best friend, but that’s it,” I said sharply.
Whatever games were being played needed to stop there and then. New boundaries were being laid down, for both of our sakes. We were never going to be the happy couple I’d dreamed of for years. We needed to move on and embrace our friendship.
He gave me a sad smile that melted the ice around my heart. I’d never been able to stay mad at him for long.
“Go and get a shower. I’ll make you some food.”
He brushed his lips over my cheek, leaving a tingle in his wake.
“I missed you, Rosalyn. I’m not letting you go again.”
I shooed him away and headed into the kitchen. Things weren’t going to be the same with us again. They couldn’t be.
52
JAKE HAD CRASHED OUT right after dinner and slept like the dead on the couch. He hadn’t been awake long enough to get to his bed. I pulled a blanket over him and let him sleep while I made breakfast. I had a Pop-Tart in my mouth when my phone rang.
“Hello?” I mumbled around the Pop-Tart.
“Ms. Mercier. We are concerned that you have not caught the rogue yet.”
I stilled, realising it was someone from the council. I’d hoped that Cole would keep them up to date and off my back. I knew that the investigation was taking forever, but I didn’t have any access to information. Maybe if the garou would allow me into their archives and such I would have been able to get somewhere far sooner. My suspicions were that Valentin was the rogue, but suspicions weren’t going to satisfy the council. I needed cold hard proof.
“I’m making progress. I just need proof, which I’m sure I’ll get this afternoon.”
“Do that,” the female voice said before she hung up.
Amy was bringing the rogue test over in an hour. I was planning on sneaking into Valentin’s place and snooping around for some hairs or something to use in the test. It wasn’t the best plan in the world, but there was a chance that he wasn’t the rogue. Cole could have been playing one hell of a chess game this entire time. Or Jake could, for that matter. There hadn’t been any new bodies since Jake had been away.
My wolf side refused to believe that it could possibly be Valentin. He had been so good to me from the start, and he fulfilled the need for a pack beautifully. It was so damn easy to be around him. I sighed, knowing there was a strong chance that was because he’d turned me and the bond between us made things that way. Why couldn’t things be straightforward?
I chewed on my bottom lip and distracted myself by looking through the Grim for any news on the hex breaker. My list of hexed people had come up with nothing. None of them had the ability to break into the coven, and they all had alibis. The Grim showed nothing, so I began looking around for details on the hex breaker itself.
Amy had pointed me towards a hidden website with lots of witchy information on it. There wasn’t much about the hex breaker, but a line about myths stating that it would break the curse on a rogue garou caught my eye. Could Valentin have taken the artifact? I still hadn’t figured out what the witch connection to the rogue was. There was clearly something there, but I’d come up empty when I looked through what sparse information I had. There were theories, but none of them fit together quite right. The rogue’s victims seemed to be random, which made me lean towards a witch using the rogue to show that garou couldn’t control their own.
I looked through Callie’s notebook for a witch in the Hecate coven that might talk to me. There had to be someone who could help me track down more information on Valentin. The notebook came up empty, and I couldn’t think of anyone else. I was going to have to see if I could find it in his house when I went looking for hairs and such for the rogue test.
Amy was very happy to see Jake half-naked on the couch when she came in. Jake took his time stretching out all of his muscles, which distracted the witch frequently. I rolled my eyes and tried to keep her on track.
“You have the rogue test?”
“Oh! Yes.” She handed me a small vial of violet-coloured liquid. “Put a minimum of three hairs or drops of blood into that. It’ll turn neon yellow if he’s a rogue.”
Finally, something was nice and easy.
“Would you like a little help healing those injuries, Jake?” Amy asked sweetly.
“I, er...” Jake said looking between me and Amy.
I glared at him. Amy was my first friend outside of him for a while. He was not going to screw that up.
“No. I’m good, thank you.”
Amy deflated and turned her attention back to me.
“People have given up with the Loki coven and are now scrambling to figure out who it could have been. I think a number of people are trying to track down a puka they suspect might have posed as a simple black cat.”
Puka were shapeshifting fae. They could turn into a black cat, a black rabbit, a black dog, and some said a black deer, but that one hadn’t been confirmed. I could see a puka finding amusemen
t in shifting into a classic witch’s black cat and stealing one of their prized possessions.
I debated whether to tell Amy my theory. She could laugh at me, but that was hardly the end of the world. She might be able to provide insight.
“I think it’s the rogue.”
Amy pursed her lips and lost herself in thought for a minute.
“Valentin Devaux, right?”
“Yea.”
She nodded and began grinning.
“Yes! He’s a notorious playboy, he’s supposed to have slept with the coven leader of nearly every coven in the state.”
My wolf side snarled at the idea of him with another woman.
Amy continued.
“He could definitely have had access. Robin, the coven leader, would likely have fallen for his charm. He’s supposed to be as charming as a fae.”
I could certainly believe it. He hadn’t needed to work very hard to wrap me around his little finger, although a lot of that was the stupid bond between us.
“He’s dangerous, Rosalyn. He has ties to dark fae,” Jake said.
I hated that Jake hadn’t felt the need to tell me that until right that second. How much else had he been hiding?
“I really wish people would stop telling me ‘so and so is dangerous.’ I’m becoming a bounty hunter. I’m not going to sit around and wait for a nice safe person to bring in.”
I decided it was best not to call him on it, especially in front of Amy.
Jake smiled at me before he winced from the pain of doing so.
“You’re going to make both our moms proud.”
He was right, I was. I’d make sure of it.
53
SNEAKING INTO VALENTIN’S house was one of those plans that sounded great on paper, and not so great when it came to actually doing it. I’d done two circles around his house and not found a single conveniently placed spare key or open window. I was ready to give in and ask Amy if she had some lock-picking spell or something when I spotted a way in. It looked as though the latch on the top floor window was a bit shaky. If I could just climb the tree and jump across, I was pretty sure I could wiggle it loose.