It was harsh, but Cael doubted anyone in New Orleans worked with Pureblood and reported Christian’s group. That left one of the five, and he doubted it was Christian or Charlie. Maybe if they found their mole, the vampires who fought against Phoenix would have a fighting chance. It was a big if.
They didn’t exchange polite goodbyes before he and Raphael left for a location the Elders had picked for the short ceremony that would free Cael. As he was the last of the pack to be freed, all of the Elders decided to make an appearance, maybe to declare the pack a teaghlach rather than a clan prohibitum. A teaghlach was a regular pack complete with an Alpha and soldiers, something their pack was turning into with or without the Elders’ declaration.
Cael felt his claws threatening come out from his hands. He wanted this, but he needed it to be quick. Every moment since Aiyanna had disappeared with Vale weighed upon him, slowly paralyzing him with fear. I need to get to her.
Vale wasn’t answering their texts or calls, giving Cael evidence to back up that sick feeling that grew worse by the moment. Something was wrong.
Wordlessly understanding Cael’s worry, Raphael drove almost twice the speed limit to reach an exclusive club on the uptown parade route. As the daytime parades were over, and the parade that night was in Mid-City, the club was nearly empty, with only a few older humans milling around, drinks in their hands.
“Raphael! Cael! Over here.” Nathaniel Walker, the youngest Elder, waved by a doorway. He led them into a large, dimly lit room filled with couches and plush chairs. Tables covered with food lined the wall, ending in a small bar.
The five Elders sat together. There were three men and two women who had aged in their immortality, indicating thousands of years of life, possibly tens of thousands of years.
Cael remembered their names from his trial, the first time he’d met them. He hadn’t seen them until the past spring, when they arrived in New Orleans after hearing how corrupt the lupus dux over their clan prohibitum had been. Raphael had taken his position, and with the support of the pack, was chosen to be their Alpha.
Now, Raphael exchanged greetings with each of the Elders. From their proud expressions, they obviously didn’t regret their decision. Nate and one of the women, Mariel, positively beamed when he shook their hands. He’s just a lupus dux, not one of their kids. Why were the Elders so attached to Raphael?
Cael hung back warily, preferring to stand close to the door. To them, he was still a criminal, and he would remain so until the moment he was freed.
“I hear you’ve had a change of heart,” Mariel said to him, a hint of a smile on her face. “We’re glad you did.”
“Only because of the warlock situation,” Clay added, his eyes narrowed. In a century, there hadn’t been a single moment when Cael forgot why he was convicted. Apparently, Clay had just remembered.
Cael ignored the pain in his chest and thought of Aiyanna.
“I’m grateful for the freedom you’re granting me,” he began, hoping he wouldn’t offend them so much they’d rescind their decision. “This has to happen quickly. A healer friend of ours is badly hurt and the sooner my bindings are lifted, the faster I can travel to her.”
Rather than appearing appalled at rushing them, the Elders looked intrigued. “Healer?” Nathaniel murmured, stroking his chin. “How useful. Yes, we’ll get this over with so you can help her.”
“I’m letting Heath know right now.” Raphael held up his phone, its screen glowing blue in the dim lighting of the space.
A second later, Heath arrived with Briony and her grandmother, Big Mama, on his arm. He managed to land on the floor rather than in a side table or on the corner of a couch. It was a skill he hadn’t yet mastered, which he undoubtedly didn’t want the Elders to know.
Cael had released many a good laugh at Heath’s transportation issues, but having a member of the pack who could move that way was extremely handy. Especially in situations like this, when time was so critical.
“I said I’d only help one of you.” Big Mama helped herself to a drink from the bar before sitting next to her granddaughter. At Briony’s questioning look, the older woman patted her knee with a smile. “Don’t worry, I didn’t count unbinding Sebastian’s powers, since he’s my Briony’s soul mate.”
The tension in the room lessened, but Cael wasn’t relaxed in the slightest. Every eye was on him. Big Mama beckoned him over to her chair, and for a moment he thought he couldn’t move. What if he hurt someone once his powers were back? Did he really deserve this freedom after what he did?
Miraculously, his feet moved of their own accord, taking him to the interim High Witch for the New Orleans coven. He didn’t doubt her abilities; he was afraid of what would happen once she succeeded in freeing him.
Aiyanna.
There was no time for him to drag his feet. He could deal with his unbound powers once she was safe and whole, preferably within his arm’s reach.
Big Mama looked up at him from her relaxed position on the small couch, and for a moment confusion crossed her aged features. She simply watched him for long, uncomfortable minutes until Nathaniel finally spoke.
“We’re confident in our decision to free Cael Prendergast. He’s served his time and not only shown signs of change, but he has displayed loyalty to his pack as well as compassion for humans and creatures alike, as noted by the lupus dux for this pack, Raphael Saar.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that,” Big Mama murmured without taking her eyes from Cael. Once she finally turned her sharp gaze elsewhere, it was in the direction of the Elders. “He should have been freed long ago, but I think you know that already.”
None of them refuted her claim. Cael narrowed his eyes, perplexed, but was distracted when the woman reached out and grabbed his arm, exactly as she had when she freed Sebastian.
Heat sank into his skin, only slightly warmer than typical body heat. She closed her eyes, and…nothing. For one panicked moment, Cael thought his elemental powers were gone, bound for so long they’d left him, or been squelched into nonexistence.
Then something inside him unlocked, like a muscle he’d flexed for so long he no longer realized it was in use anymore. Something straining inside him finally relaxed, and he knew he was free. With the flick of his wrist, he could send every object and person in this room to the ceiling. He could throw cars parked in the street against each other, and bend back the light poles illuminating the sidewalks.
It was like a breath of fresh air, or the first day of being healed after a devastating injury. My element is back.
He wanted to try it out, and also to properly express his gratitude to Big Mama and the Elders, but there wasn’t time.
“Thank you very much,” he told the witch quickly, nodding to Big Mama and also to Briony, who, to his surprise, he was beginning to like. But Big Mama hadn’t released his arm. She tugged him down, so his ear was near her pink-painted mouth.
“They were wrong,” she whispered quietly. Briony overheard, but the others in the room were too busy speaking with each other to listen to the witch’s words. “You were wrong too. It was someone else, and he walks free.”
Cael barely heard her. He met her gaze briefly when she finally took her hand away and wasted no time moving to Heath, who knew exactly where to take them. He reached out, grabbed his friend’s shoulder and watched as air shifted around them, allowing them between molecules. It took less than a second of travel to reach their destination, but he could sense the Northwest trajectory, and when they slowed down, the air that had been pushing them dispersed as they landed in what seemed to be a fairly ordinary apartment.
“Oof.” Both he and Heath landed in front of a kitchen island, their hands reflexively pushing them away from the marble counter that pressed against their abdomens.
“Sorry,” Heath said, coughing. “I didn’t see that in time.”
“I owe you.” Cael ran around the island toward a sitting room where he smelled three distinct sc
ents. One was Aiyanna’s, but it was wrong. When he saw her, he knew.
He smelled death on her.
“Why haven’t you helped her?” he roared, shoving Vale out of his way. She lay on a sofa, her long hair spread out behind her head like a dark halo. Blood from her chest stained the fabric of the blanket placed over her, and her skin was the color of ash. The healer sat next to her, her hands clasped on her lap.
As gently as he could, he pulled Aiyanna into his arms. “Fight this,” he begged, holding her as close as he dared. “Survive.”
This woman, one he knew he couldn’t live without, was slipping through his fingers. And there was nothing he could do about it. He’d made such a mistake in holding himself back from her, trying to protect her by keeping them from getting too close. Now she would die anyway, with no knowledge of how he felt for her.
“I think it’s time,” the woman declared, leaning forward and placing her hands on the lower portion of Aiyanna’s ribcage.
“Why, because your ‘healing senses’ tell you so, or because you know Cael will kill you if you let her die?” Vale asked irritably.
The woman tsk-ed. “Because it’s time.”
While she spoke, Aiyanna’s almost nonexistent breathing ceased completely. Something inside Cael broke, but he held it together if only because the healer was moving her hands, unperturbed.
She moved Aiyanna’s shirt up to expose the wound, one hand holding her shirt back and the other covering the injury itself. Soon—but not soon enough—Aiyanna began breathing again, easier now. The color returned to her skin, not just her face but her entire body. Even her hair seemed affected, shining under Cael’s fingers.
The woman took her hand away in a fist, but the bullet hole was still there. She brought that hand closer to Cael and opened her fingers, palm-up. A cylinder of metal sat in her palm, wet from Aiyanna’s blood.
It was the bullet.
“I can’t heal her completely,” she said, keeping her hand extended until Cael took the bullet. “She’s a healer, and her body doesn’t take well to any healer’s touch. The only reason I could heal her as much as I did was because she was so close to death that her healing capacities were nonexistent. Once they were built back up, there was only so much I could do.”
Cael set free the darkest curse he could think of. Of course healers wouldn’t be able to heal themselves or others. Just another great injustice of the universe.
He almost snapped at the woman, but when he looked at her, there was regret carved in the lines around her mouth and eyes. She, like Aiyanna, truly wanted to heal. Failing to do so completely hurt her, but not as much as it affected Cael.
Aiyanna would live; it was obvious the healer had safely gotten her out of the woods. Still, the healing would be slow going, even for an immortal shapeshifter. Aiyanna would be out of commission for days, and Cael didn’t have enough knowledge to guess when she would be able to move without pain. Hell, he so was used to everyone being healed by her, he couldn’t remember the last time anyone sustained any kind of injury for more than a few hours.
The healer seemed to read his mind. She gave him a small, pained smile. Her eyes were a warm brown, not unlike Briony’s. Her puckered skin was a few shades lighter than Aiyanna’s, revealing definite Native American heritage.
“A few weeks,” she told him, running her fingers through Aiyanna’s hair fondly. “And that’s only because of her unusual…lineage.” There wasn’t any judgment in her expression, but puzzlement.
“You’re not used to seeing a healer who’s also a shapeshifter, are you?” Cael asked.
She shook her head. “I’m still not used to seeing others like me at all. There are more in this city than in any other I know of, and we’re all human.” With a shrug, she rose to stand, stretching to the balls of her feet. At her full height, Cael was certain Aiyanna stood at least a foot taller than she was. “I don’t know of anyone else like your Aiyanna.”
The healer ambled into the kitchen, took something from the refrigerator and settled herself back on her tuffit to watch Aiyanna, a bottle of a vibrant green liquid in her hand. When she took a few pulls from the drink, she visibly brightened. Cael had been so concerned about Aiyanna, he’d barely noticed what the healer sacrificed to help her.
“But you do know many other healers,” Vale said, sounding interested. He caught Cael’s gaze, and he understood.
His pack could use another healer, at for the time being.
“My pack is from New Orleans,” Cael started, his heart racing as Aiyanna began to stir in his arms. “We need another healer.” He told her and Vale about Pureblood. When he mentioned how another healer would have spared Katarina from a severe break—if it’s only one fracture—in her arm, the other werewolf became as stiff as a board, his jaw locking into a scowl.
For good measure, Cael filled the healer in about their situation with the warlocks too. He couldn’t read her face, while Vale was still furious about Katarina.
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
Air brushed Vale from the room, and Cael wondered if he could do that now. It was something he’d experiment with later, when Aiyanna was somewhere safe and comfortable, and he’d managed to convince a healer to come with them back to his pack.
He needed this for Aiyanna. She’d overextended herself with the vampires, and he had no doubt she would only hurt herself more with all the injuries bound to be brought before her in the coming weeks and months. She needed to heal herself now, and not worry about others.
“Once Vale is back, I’ll speak with the others,” the healer said with a genuine smile. “You forget we work with vampires. If Pureblood’s involved, your entire city is in danger.” She nodded to Aiyanna. “Let’s get her into a bed, and some supper into your belly. You’re starving.”
Twenty minutes later, Cael had a chair pulled up beside the bed Aiyanna rested in, a plate balanced in his hand. On the side table was a cup of fruit juice for him and a bottle of the green juice the healer preferred for Aiyanna when she finally woke up.
“Yell for me if you need anything,” the healer said, backing out the door. “I’m Ingrid.”
“Cael,” he answered. “Thank you, Ingrid.”
She smiled before closing the door behind her.
The silence deafening, Cael set down his plate and took the remote to the television across the room. Once he turned it on, he flipped through the channels until he came across what looked like a movie Aiyanna would like, one where its channel had a heart in the logo and the film’s title included the word “love.”
Maybe the slow, dramatic music from a movie she liked would encourage her to wake up sooner. He didn’t know how much longer he could take her laying so still, with no emotion in her features, no strength in her perfectly shaped body.
“Please, wake up.” He tucked her hair behind her ears and placed a hand on her cheek. “Come back to me.”
Chapter 10
WHEN Aiyanna came to, she refused to open her eyes. Somehow her dream hadn’t faded yet despite a regained awareness of her consciousness. It couldn’t have because Cael was here, closer than he ever was…unless he absolutely had to be. If she didn’t know any better, she would think the length of their bodies were touching, her uninjured side pressed against his. A hand played in her hair, and was that Happythankyoumoreplease playing in the background?
It was one of her favorite movies—and there it was, speaking to her over Cael’s soft breaths against her ear.
What a dream. This was much simpler than the dream she’d just left, one where she and Cael were running from some unknown force, something that met them at every corner, this close to reaching them. It hadn’t been romantic, but they’d been together, a team. If not for the terror of the nightmare, she would’ve enjoyed it.
This was much better. She hummed pleasantly and snuggled even closer to Cael, cringing when her chest protested her movement. He became motionless beside her, a
nd her eyes flew open.
He was still there. I wasn’t dreaming. Her head was turned away from him, but she could smell him…and the acrid scent of his fear for her. She tried to roll onto her side to face him, but he put one large hand on her shoulder, pinning her to the bed.
There was no way in hell she wanted to fight this hold.
“Don’t move.” Cael’s voice was rough, making him sound as if he’d swallowed equal amounts of sandpaper and sharp nails. Does he sound like this because of me? Surely not.
Cael leaned down over her. He searched her face, his eyes the color of her favorite dark-wash jeans, before moving down her body and stopping where she was shot. It was sore, but the pain wasn’t unbearable. What was unbearable was this man leaning over her, such concern in his expression it brought tears to her eyes.
Before her tears had a chance to fall, he lowered his face to hers and kissed her softly, a light brush of his lips. There was no tongue, no pressure, but a caress that wouldn’t bruise even the wing of a butterfly. When she tried to kiss him harder, reaching up to cup his face, he pulled away.
“Nuh uh, come back here,” she grumbled, tightening her hold on his thick, wavy hair. The tips curled at his shoulders, brushing against the backs of her hands.
“I don’t want to hurt you further.” He kissed her again, as lightly as before.
“I’m not a piece of glass!”
“For the next couple of weeks, you might as well be.” Cael actually put his fingers on her chin to tilt her face toward his. If she wasn’t so crazy about him, she may have bit his hand. “How much pain are you in?”
She sighed. “I can handle it.”
“Your bullet wound didn’t heal properly, and until it does, you must rest.” Cael’s scowl was formidable, but it did nothing to intimidate her. More than anything, it made her want to kiss him again.
“Healed properly…” Aiyanna trailed off when she realized she didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. Then she remembered the healer Vale had taken her to, as well as traveling to a few places before reaching her.
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