by Jayne Hawke
“Oh!” Amy said
“Oh?”
“The Apophis witch can probably maybe turn into a dragon,” Amy said casually.
Of course he could.
The gods were taunting me. They were sending me off to fight a dragon.
“WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP? Any word from Sky?” Adam asked.
“Not yet. We haven’t been summoned to retrieve her from a cell either, so I assume she’s doing ok.”
We were quickly running out of threads to pull. The feeling of failure loomed over me. Shoving it aside, I focused on what we could be doing. Someone had to know Liam and therefore where he’d be.
Sighing, I re-opened my laptop and was surprised to find an email from a temporary address. There was no name attached, just a set of letters and symbols.
Rosalyn.
I have heard that you’re looking for Liam due to his being the Apophis witch. There aren’t many people on your side. You should know that he started in the Epona coven.
Take him down.
I re-read the email a couple of times, unsure what to make of it. The information could be fantastic, but what if they were leading us astray again? Could I risk ignoring the email?
I handed it to Amy who pursed her lips and read it again.
“I don’t feel any deception,” she finally said.
“We look into the Epona coven. There’s only one in the state that I know of. An anonymous contact has stated Liam was a member there before he turned to Apophis,” I said firmly.
The kitchen became a bustle of activity as Adam started making coffee, and the others gathered up the laptops ready to start digging. This could be exactly what we needed.
I had to believe that we still had allies in this fight. We couldn’t afford to be led down another useless path.
THE EPONA COVEN WAS surprising open about what they were and what they did. Epona was a small Celtic goddess who mostly watched over horses. That meant they had a large horse ranch and all members competed in at least one discipline.
“So, we’re looking for something horse related?” I asked the pack.
“I think so. It looks like Liam competed in reining and cutting,” Amy said.
I wasn’t really familiar with horses, but there couldn’t be too much tied into them.
“Briar, start looking for abandoned barns or barns he could be renting. Adam, look into an old competition ring. Amy, check on pastures, and I’ll continue looking into Liam’s past for something specific.”
Everyone gave a noise of confirmation, and I took a sip of my revoltingly cold coffee.
Sky came in bearing copious amounts of Thai food and sushi.
“So, I banged a lot of heads together.” She placed the food down in the middle of the table. “And it looks as though he started in the Epona coven. Although, what I really got from it is that he has far more connections than we first realised. Half, maybe more of the council is in his pocket. There are at least two entire covens, and multiple groups of fae. There are rumours that he’s gotten some humans involved, too. We’re up against far more than a single witch here.”
I rubbed my temples while Amy dished out the food.
“What does this mean for our getting Cole back?” I asked.
“It means we’re going to have a lot of people getting in our way,” Sky said wearily.
“And you’re worried your magic won’t be enough to help us,” Amy said softly.
Sky nodded.
“Can you still summon your swords?” I asked.
Sky held out her hand, and a pitch-black sword appeared.
“Then we’re good,” I said.
“Agreed. We’re fighting with tooth and nail. We’ll take this witch down with whatever we have. He’s pack. There is no failing,” Briar said.
Sky smiled and stole a California roll off Amy’s plate. Amy glared at her before she stole two pieces of sushi back.
“Don’t you dare start a food fight,” I growled at them.
“Food’s precious to wolves,” Briar said softly.
The witches quietly put the rest of the food out, and everyone began eating.
“So how do we deal with the allies?” Adam asked.
“We need to find out which witches so we know their magical potential,” Amy said.
“And which council members. That’ll tell us who and what they roped in,” I added.
If shifters were involved then we could potentially be up against entire packs of cougars or bears. I felt safe in thinking no garou were involved. My instincts told me they had more sense than to join something as insidious as the Apophis witch.
“We need more allies of our own,” Sky said.
Amy turned her laptop to face me. A long list of names and magical types sat before me.
“That’s the number of people I’ve managed to find so far.”
“Working for the Apophis witch?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I cursed under my breath. There were at least forty names. Sky was right. We needed to build our own small army.
“We start with the local garou. Sky, do you have anyone you can call on?” I asked.
“I have a couple of favours I can call in.”
“Briar? Adam?” I asked.
“Same. There are a couple of people who owe us.”
“I have a few people too,” Amy said.
“The more people we have, the more chance we have of finding Cole, too,” Adam said.
He was right. We’d be able to cover more ground and have a better chance at finding the right connection. We were getting so close now. I had to believe that.
17
THE EPONA COVEN WAS surprisingly open about what they were and what they did. Epona was a small Celtic goddess who mostly watched over horses. That meant they had a large horse ranch and all members competed in at least one discipline.
“So we’re looking for something horse related?” I asked the pack.
“I think so. It looks like Liam competed in reining and cutting,” Amy said.
I wasn’t really familiar with horses, but there couldn’t be too much tied into them.
“Briar, start looking for abandoned barns or barns he could be renting. Adam, look into an old competition ring. Amy check on pastures, and I’ll continue looking into Liam’s past for something specific.”
Everyone gave a noise of confirmation and I took a sip of my revoltingly cold coffee.
Sky came in bearing copious amounts of Thai food and sushi.
“So I banged a lot of heads together,” she placed the food down in the middle of the table, “and it looks as though he started in the Epona coven. Although, what I really got from it is that he has far more connections than we first realised. Half, maybe more, of the council is in his pocket. There are at least two entire covens, and multiple groups of fae. There are rumours that he’s gotten some humans involved too. We’re up against far more than a single witch here.”
I rubbed my temples while Amy dished out the food.
“What does this mean for our getting Cole back?” I asked.
“It means we’re going to have a lot of people getting in our way,” Sky said wearily.
“And you’re worried your magic won’t be enough to help us,” Amy said softly.
Sky nodded.
“Can you still summon your swords?” I asked.
Sky held out her hand and a pitch-black sword appeared.
“Then we’re good,” I said.
“Agreed. We’re fighting with tooth and nail. We’ll take this witch down with whatever we have. He’s pack. There is no failing,” Briar said.
Sky smiled and stole a California roll off Amy’s plate. Amy glared at her before she stole two pieces of sushi back.
“Don’t you dare start a food fight,” I growled at them.
“Food’s precious to wolves,” Briar said softly.
The witches quietly put out the rest of the food and everyone began eating.
“So how
do we deal with the allies?” Adam asked.
“We need to find out which witches so we know their magical potential,” Amy said.
“And which council members. That’ll tell us who and what they roped in,” I added.
If shifters were involved, then we could potentially be up against entire packs of cougars or bears. I felt safe in thinking no garou were involved. My instincts told me they had more sense than to join something as insidious as the Apophis witch.
“We need more allies of our own,” Sky said.
Amy turned her laptop to face me. A long list of names and magical types sat before me.
“That’s the number of people I’ve managed to find so far.”
“Working for the Apophis witch?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I cursed under my breath. There were at least forty names. Sky was right. We needed to build our own small army.
“We start with the local garou. Sky, do you have anyone you can call on?” I asked.
“I have a couple of favours I can call in.”
“Briar? Adam?” I asked.
“Same. There are a couple of people who owe us.”
“I have a few people too,” Amy said.
“The more people we have, the more chance we have of finding Cole too,” Adam said.
He was right. We’d be able to cover more ground and have a better chance at finding the right connection. We were getting so close now. I had to believe that.
18
THE BLUE DAGGER PACK was the closest one to my territory. I hadn’t made any attempt to contact them before, but needs must. They should feel that I was a guardian and make this nice and easy. Of course, there were no guarantees.
A pair of wolves ran alongside my old Mustang as I drove down the well-worn dirt track to what I’d been told was the pack house. It was buried deep within the forest and looked to be well maintained when it came into view.
It wasn’t as flashy as Cole’s house, as my home, but was still a pretty house with plenty of room for a good-sized pack. The pale grey stone gave strong walls and an imposing feel as the house sprawled out before me. Three stories - each looked to hold a good ten or more rooms, meaning there could be forty or more in this pack.
I hadn’t done much research into them before I started driving. There wasn’t time. The clock was ticking, and I had to take risks, for Cole’s sake. A part of me hoped he’d be proud of me, but I could hear him grumbling in the back of my mind. There was protocol to be followed, and etiquette. How would I feel if a strange garou drove right up to my front door?
Two more wolves joined the original two when I pulled up behind a brand-new Mustang. The newer car was pristine with a beautiful deep blue paint job. I patted the hood of my old car and reassured myself that it was the better car. The wolves growled at me and moved in close with their hackles raised. They were intimidating up close, each with powerful muscles beneath their short grey coat.
Allowing my instincts to rise, I bared my teeth and growled at the largest of the group with the smudge of red running down his spine. His ears flattened to his head, and I growled more as I stepped forward. The others echoed my growl, but I ignored them. He was the beta, and the one I needed to push so I could speak with the alpha.
Something clicked within the beta, and he lowered his head, bowing a little. The other three dropped to their stomachs and looked away from me. Smiling, I walked around them to the front door, where a tall brunette woman stood glaring at me.
“Who do you think you are to make my guards submit!?”
“I am the garou guardian,” I growled.
She narrowed her eyes and looked deep into my eyes. A small gasp confirmed that she saw or felt something within me.
“What brings a guardian to our door?”
“My alpha, my life bond, has been taken by the Apophis witch.”
She bared her teeth.
“That witch dared come here and tried to take some of my wolves. We fought him off as well as we could, but he claimed the life of two of my younger packmates. What do you need of us?”
“We are gathering as many allies as we can to get Cole back and kill the witch.”
She held out her hand.
“I am Erin, alpha of the Blue Dagger pack, and you have our teeth and claws at your disposal.”
I shook her hand and grinned. We were one step closer.
“What can you tell us about the Apophis witch? We haven’t yet found where he’s doing the ritual.”
“We believe he’s holed up in an old horse barn about forty minutes from here. There has been a lot of weird activity there, and it sits outside of any garou territory.”
That sounded wrong. Garou territories traditionally butted up against each other.
“A witch was involved. Perhaps a Fenris witch,” Erin spat.
Fenris was thought of as the garou god, not a witch god. It felt like a great betrayal to have Fenris witches turning against us.
“Come. Meet my pack,” Erin said as she stepped aside.
I followed her into the bright and airy house. Every wall was covered in personal touches, photos, paintings, and trinkets that looked as though they’d come from all around the world. I almost paused to get a closer look at a small knife, but we had things to be doing.
The guards followed behind us in their human form. We stepped into a large living room that comfortably housed four five-seater couches, each turned to look at a TV screen as big as I was. Armchairs were scattered in the spaces between, along with beanbags and huge cushions. Everything felt very lived in. I wanted that for my home.
Some fifteen or so garou gathered in the room around us. The youngest looked to be my age, and the oldest in his early forties, which could really have been his seventies given how garou aged.
“This is Rosalyn. She is our guardian, and she has summoned us to fight at her side. Together we will take down the Apophis witch.”
A roar went through the room, filling the space with electricity. Each of the wolves was muscular and taller than me, but they kept their eyes low and showed deep respect. A respect that I felt I needed to earn.
“What’s the plan?” Erin asked.
I couldn’t really admit that I didn’t have one yet.
“We understand that there are many obstacles in our way. The witch has gathered a lot of allies. We need to remove them from our path so we can take down the witch before his big ritual.”
“Ritual?” the beta asked.
He was a striking man in his late twenties with dark blond hair and brilliant green eyes. There was a presence about him, a confidence borne of experience.
“Yes. The witch is doing a ritual to become the avatar of Apophis.”
Growls went around the room.
“This will not happen,” Erin snarled.
“No. It won’t. We need you to help ensure that the witch’s allies don’t get between us and the witch. There are councilmen among that count.”
Erin nodded.
“Consider it done.”
The beta looked between Erin and me. Erin gave a small nod.
“I request to fight at your side, and take down the witch,” the beta said.
“His brother was killed.”
He was a powerful wolf and we could use all the help we could get.
“Come with me,” I said.
He lifted his eyes and grinned at me.
“I’m Rowan.”
“I’ll return him to you in the state he leaves this house,” I said to Erin.
I had no idea if that was a promise I could keep, but I was going to try.
19
Rowan was a far more relaxed garou than I’d grown used to. I realised that Cole was all I’d really known. I’d assumed that they were all growly, brooding types. Rowan sat next to me with a smile on his face as he sang along to a classic rock song. He was a breath of fresh air that I desperately needed.
“How many are in your pack?” he asked as we left his terr
itory.
“Only four.”
He nodded.
“I heard about the tragedy of the Loxwood pack. I’m glad to see Cole found a good partner.”
Pride flushed within me, making my cheeks burn. It was quite an honour to have a born garou compliment me in such a way.
“You’ve fought this witch before?”
I had, and I remembered it all too well. The darkness and blood. Briar’s form lying there too still while I made the decision I’d never regretted. Twenty years off my life to save hers was a decision I never needed to think about.
“Yes. I scarred him, but he transported or something before I could kill him.”
I still didn’t know how he did that, and it was very inconvenient.
Rowan nodded and looked away.
“He came to our pack looking for blood and pets. We refused to give him either. Never before have I seen a witch like him. We have fought witches before, but they were cubs compared to him.”
What was with witches wanting garou as pets? That was something I was going to have to look into putting an end to. It was a horrifying practice.
“We have two witches on our side. They’ll give us an advantage.”
I wasn’t sure how much of an advantage Sky would provide, but I believed in her. She was a skilled fighter without her magic.
Rowan tensed.
“Garou don’t work with witches.”
There it was, the familiar prejudice that ran through the entire supernatural community. I wasn’t without prejudice, of course. Fae were awful beings not worth trusting. Most witches weren’t much better, but I tried to give them a chance at least.
“I do,” I growled.
“My apologies.”
Rowan looked away, but some of the tension remained. He wasn’t happy about my decision, but he had no choice but to accept it.
“They are good people. Amy is a Ma’at witch; I’m coming to think of her as pack. You’ll never meet a more beautiful soul. She’s bright, bubbly, and gives her all for those she loves. Sky is a Morrigan witch, a fierce fighter who would make any garou proud.”