by Unknown
"Probably." The girl eyed her. "How do you know Meadow?"
"From the bookstore," Ruby said, flipping through her phone until she pulled up the surveillance photos Smith had obtained of the various BadCreek pack members. "Start from here and keep swiping right. Tell me if you see the guy."
The girl frowned at the phone as she paged through the photos. "Is Meadow in some kind of trouble? No offense, but she doesn't get this kind of attention much. Or ever."
"She's gone missing," Rafe managed to say.
"Missing? Figures." The girl sighed and handed the phone back to Ruby. "The rent is due in two days and she still owes me half. This is the guy who asked about her. I told him she was working and he said he'd meet her at the bookstore."
The wolf raged and almost broke free. The scarred face and dead eyes of one of the BadCreek betas stared back at him from Ruby's phone, and Rafe thought his mind might break and he would be stuck as the wolf forever. Ruby took one look at him and shoved him toward the door. "Thanks. We'll be in touch."
"Cool." She shrugged and rolled her eyes. "Tell Meadow she owes me four hundred bucks."
Rafe couldn't take it. He spun on his heel and dodged past Ruby as his sister tried to drag him out the door, and instead he confronted the roommate. "You told that guy where to find her. He kidnapped her and now we don't know where she is. She could be hurt or dead. Because of you. Because you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself."
The girl's face drained of color. "What?"
"Yeah." His fists clenched and he could feel his teeth getting larger in his mouth. A dangerous sign even as they caused a hint of a lisp. "Some friends of mine will be here in an hour. They will pack up all of Meadow's things, and then you'll never have to see her again. And here." He had just enough cash in his wallet to throw on the table to cover Meadow's rent. "That should cover what she owes. Don't ever call her again."
He couldn't breathe until he stood outside and the door shut behind him. Ruby shook her head as she started down the stairs. "Maybe not the best idea to threaten the girl."
"It wasn't a threat." He sounded too grim. Almost as dead inside as that BadCreek beta looked. Rafe snarled and grabbed the banister, wrenching at it in his anger until it splintered and fell apart. "We have to find her."
"We will." Ruby strode to the car, her phone to her ear as she issued orders to the rest of the pack.
"Ruby," Rafe said, but stopped as he pulled his door shut and stared out the windshield, a sudden possibility tilting the world and shaking him to his core. "What if she isn't the same? They could be doing anything to her."
He cut off and gripped double fistfuls of his hair, wanting to tear it out at the roots as a hundred awful possibilities occurred to him. BadCreek would hurt her in order to hurt him. They might experiment on her, pump her full of chemicals and God only knew what.
"Brother." Ruby faced him across the console as she started the car, though she didn't put it in gear. Instead she smacked his cheek to get his attention, even though Rafe felt wild-eyed and almost halfway toward shifting. Her voice dropped, steely and controlled. Confident enough he believed her. "If she is hurt, we will heal her. If she is scared, we will reassure her and protect her. If she is... different, we will cherish the memory of what she was and love what she has become. She is your mate. She is our family. We will get her back and you will be fine. You will both be fine."
Rafe met his twin's gaze and took a deep breath. She was right. Of course she was right. The wolf retreated slightly, content that Ruby was also on the hunt. "Okay."
"Okay," Ruby said. She put the car in drive and peeled out, headed for the bar and the rest of the pack. "Smith is meeting us at the bar with whatever his people found. The sooner we find her, the better."
He concentrated on Meadow, on the tentative thread that connected them. The wolf wanted to hunt, nose to the ground, and search until they found her. Search until they found that scar-faced bastard who drugged her at work and dragged her away. His hands clenched again and he had to roll down the window until the cold air knocked the rage back a level. He had to be clear-eyed and focused to find her. Anger only clouded his judgment. Rafe took a deep breath and sent a promise into the universe, so Meadow would know, wherever she might be. I will find you and bring you home.
He hoped she heard him.
Chapter 18
The hours ran together until I had no idea how long I'd been in the facility. They brought meals even when I wasn't hungry. Dr. West came back a few times to discuss my delusions and whether I'd gotten to a point where I could acknowledge the hallucinations as hallucinations. I struggled to play along and tell him what he wanted to hear, because deep down I couldn't think for a moment that Rafe wasn't real. That what we'd shared was just a product of my imagination.
The third time West returned, he brought someone else with him: a tall, dark-haired man who looked just close enough to Rafe that my heart leapt and I thought I might have been saved. But it wasn't Rafe, just a handsome man with a couple of scars on his face. West smiled as he approached the bed. "Do you remember Nick, Meadow?"
Nick. I searched his face and my memory for any hint of a connection to the stranger, but came up empty. I shook my head slowly, paralyzed by the fear of what West would do because I didn't remember the tall guy. Nick didn't even blink, watching me with a small degree of interest. The doctor sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Nick is your boyfriend, Meadow."
"Boyfriend?" I bit my lip to keep from laughing or crying. The impassive giant looked about as cuddly and comforting as a brick, and I couldn't imagine him stroking my hair or kissing my neck or waking me up with gentle snoring. "I don't think —"
"You met earlier in the year, when you were still at school. Before you tried to hurt yourself."
"I didn't —"
"The first step towards healing is acknowledging the difficulties you've faced," West said, unmoved. He was the worst damn psychiatrist I'd ever talked to. I wanted to punch him right in the nuts, and wished I had my taser to back it up. "Meadow, Nick helped you heal. He stayed with you after you left the facility, and helped you move in with your roommate. He's been here every day for the last week, since you arrived."
I shook my head, clutching at my temples. At least they'd removed the restraints, though I only wore a set of scrubs and socks under the thin sheet. It couldn't be true. Nick didn't look like someone I would trust. He didn't compare to Rafe. "I appreciate it but I don't know him. I don't love him."
West's eyebrow arched. "But you love this Rafe character?"
"Of course." It slipped out before I could check myself, and I shivered and shook my head as his expression darkened. "No, I didn't mean that. I meant I love the idea of him. Not that he's real. He's not real."
"He isn't real," Nick said, and his voice came out deeper than I'd expected. A hint of empathy lurked in his dark eyes, but one of the scars pulled at the corner of his mouth until he sported a permanent smirk. He didn't try to touch me, at least. "Meadow, he's not real. We have a long road ahead of us. Just focus on getting well."
My breath caught as I stared at him. And again a seed of doubt grew in my heart. No one would go to the crazy wing of a hospital and try to convince a girl he was dating her unless he was actually dating her. I rubbed my forehead, wanting to curl up under the sheets. My voice came out too small. Too sad. "I don't know what's going on."
They exchanged a look and Nick edged close enough to touch my hand. "It's okay, Meadow. Just relax. Maybe in a week or two, I can take you home and we can start over."
"Are you lying to me?" I looked up at him, praying he would admit it was all made up or a big misunderstanding, and for a moment I saw something in his face that gave me hope.
But instead he squeezed my hand and said, "Just focus on getting well, Meadow. I'll visit you tomorrow."
Then he and West left, talking in low voices, and I stared at where the door shut behind him. I lay down with my back to the door and buried
my face in the pillow. Maybe I'd dreamed Rafe up because Nick had all the warmth of a whetstone. I wanted the type of love that Rafe gave me, and when I didn't find that in the real world, maybe my brain took a vacation and made him up. I squeezed my eyes shut.
The tears snuck out anyway and I drew my legs up to my chest, struggling to breathe normally. I tried to hold on to Rafe, to my memories of him. The feeling of his fingers running through my hair, the warmth of his skin against mine, the taste of his lips. The ecstasy of making love to him and waking up in his arms stayed with me, warmed me even in that cold room. I held on to the thought, exhaled, desperate to maintain the illusion.
I needed Rafe. My chest ached as I drifted in a half-sleep, almost dreaming of him. It had to be real. He would come for me. He would find me. I cried as the world grew soft and hazy and muffled, and I whispered prayers against my pillow. I begged Rafe to find me, I begged Smith to get me, and I wished with all my heart that they were real and this was not.
I dreamed of Rafe, dreamed of him searching for me, of him begging me to tell him where I was, and somewhere Smith called out for me to give him a sign. It felt safe, finally, as I reached for Rafe and he reached back. I needed help. I needed them to help me. And I needed to help myself.
The dreams grew darker, more desperate, as fear built in my chest. I wasn't safe here. I wasn't safe at all. Something bad would happen and I wouldn't be able to escape. I had to escape.
I sat up in a cold sweat, sucking in a great draught of air, and stared around the dark room. Nighttime. It had to be nighttime. My heart raced and I concentrated on controlling my breathing as spots drifted across my vision. A little light bled from the window in the door, casting the foot of the bed clearly.
I froze as I stared at where my feet had bunched up the sheets. A long shadow lay across my legs, even in the light from the window. My hand trembled as I reached for it, and it wasn't until I held the shadow in my hand that I truly believed it. It was Smith's cane, the beautiful carvings swimming as tears filled my eyes. The cane showed up in the middle of the locked room in a mental facility, as they told me that Smith didn't exist. That magic didn't exist.
But it did. The cane found me. The magic found me. I reached for Rafe in my dreams and he reached back. Smith sent me the cane to protect me. It was real. It was all real.
A figure moved past the door and I shoved the cane under the sheets, pretending to sleep until the shadow disappeared. I held my breath for another few seconds, counting my racing heartbeats as jubilation threatened to spill out. I wanted to find that asshole Dr. West and cram the cane down his throat. But first I needed to plan. I had to escape and find Rafe.
The cane warmed in my hand and I took a deep breath as I struggled to remember what I'd read in Smith's book. I had the cane and myself, whatever muse powers I could remember and utilize, and that was it. I couldn't wait around to find out what Dr. West and the other people in the building had in store for me.
When fear crept in because I couldn't remember what the book said, I gripped the cane and smiled into the darkness. Magic existed. I was a muse. And Rafe loved me. Rafe. I needed to get back to Rafe, and nothing in the world would stop me.
Chapter 19
Rafe paced and snarled and tore chairs apart with his bare hands until Ruby kicked him out of the meeting and sent him upstairs. The bottle of whiskey he pounded didn't help with his state of mind. Somewhere out there, Meadow needed him. BadCreek had her and he couldn't reach her. When he finally passed out on the couch, he dreamed of Meadow.
She begged for help. She cried out to him and pleaded for him to find her, to rescue her, and in his dreams, he tried. He tried to ask where she was, tried to catch her hand in his, but her fingers slipped away every time. The rage built in his chest until he roared awake and found himself in wolf form, rampaging through the apartment as he tried to burn off the awful desperation of not being able to reach his mate.
Ruby opened the door to her room and watched him for a few seconds, then said, "What happened?"
She had to know. She might not understand what he felt, not being able to reach his mate, but she was his twin sister. And Carter leaned on the doorframe behind her, still looking half-asleep.
Rafe forced the wolf back and shifted to human, though the snarling continued as he searched for clothes to wear. "It's getting worse. She's hurting. I have to get her."
He expected Ruby to argue. He expected her to say something about the Council or the plan or waiting until morning. Instead, she nodded. "Then let's go get her."
That was enough. Rafe found his boots and started lacing while Ruby called one of their betas to rouse the pack. Carter, eyebrows raised in alarm, shuffled into the living room as Ruby and Rafe prepared. "Look, I know this is —"
"This is pack business," Ruby said, not looking at him as she brushed past to retrieve clothes from her room. "If you're not going to help, Carter, stay out of it."
Rafe dragged gear bags out of the closet and unpacked a few of them, searching for weapons and climbing gear and everything else they might need to breach the compound. The wolf settled down as they made progress toward rescuing their mate, regardless of what the lion said. They would free Meadow.
Carter made an aggravated noise and disappeared into the bedroom, talking on his phone. Rafe glanced at his sister. "If he tries to stop me..."
"He won't," Ruby said. "He knows better."
"I'm getting her back tonight." Rafe took a deep breath and shouldered two of the bags, throwing them down the stairs to the sleepy beta who waited below. "Or I'll die trying."
She met his gaze for a long time, not saying anything, and Rafe wanted to explain. There weren't words, so he just waited. Ruby nodded once and squeezed his hand as she headed for the stairs. "We'll get her, brother."
By the time they loaded the pack into five SUVs, the trucks and people bristling with weapons, Carter joined them. He didn't look happy but said, "The rest of the pride will meet us there. The bears are trying to find a babysitter."
Ruby snorted and shook her head. "What about Smith?"
"No one can find him. He's not answering his phone. We left him messages, but no telling if he'll receive them in time to help." Carter frowned as he checked the magazine to his rifle. "Which eliminates whatever advantage we might have had. Rafe, if we just wait, we can —"
"She can't wait. She's hurt. I'm getting her tonight." Rafe stared straight ahead as the city turned to suburbs and then farmland, the snowy hills rolling by peacefully. He wondered how anyone could still be sleeping, dreaming through the awful night, when his life was in such disarray and he couldn't reach his mate.
Carter didn't try to change Rafe's mind again. Rafe closed his eyes as the vehicle's occupants went silent and the only sound was the bumping of the tires against the road and the occasional static from the radios. He focused on Meadow, trying to reassure her even though he knew she couldn't hear him, and tried to calm the wolf. They had to be focused. And part of him knew they wouldn't succeed. He would die trying to breach the fence, and then it would be left to Ruby and Smith to save Meadow. His throat closed around a knot of emotion and Rafe almost ordered them to turn the car around. The lion was right — it was suicide to charge in there. But he couldn't stand the idea of Meadow alone a moment longer.
He caught Ruby's hand, hoping the shadows inside the car would hide it, and held it tightly. Ruby squeezed back. Rafe took a deep breath as the cars slowed to a stop in a stand of trees, the compound's bright lights just behind where they stopped. The driver cleared his throat. "They'll see us if we get any closer, boss. What now?"
What now. Rafe's heart hardened. He was close. He felt Meadow, felt her pain and panic and desperation. He couldn't hesitate. "Everyone get ready."
He got out of the truck and strode to the trees, easing forward until he caught sight of the compound's double fence topped with razor wire, and a few strands of concertina wire coiled between the two in a no man's land. Guards in dark uni
forms and wolves trotted around the perimeter. Ruby came up behind him and took a deep breath. "Holy shit. Makes me wish Edgar had actually taken pictures of this place. Seeing it for real is different than looking at the map."
"Yeah." Rafe squinted as he searched for any weakness in the perimeter. "But it doesn't change anything."
Carter stood at his other elbow. "Rafe, man, this is suicide."
Rafe didn't bother to look at him, feeling dead inside. Somewhere behind that fence, Meadow waited for him. "Tell me you would do anything differently if it was Ruby in there, and I might reconsider."
Carter growled and stormed away, once more on his phone as he demanded his brothers hurry. From the sounds of it, he'd mobilized the entire Chase clan: the lion brothers, their shifter mates, and even the half-gorgon medusa mate who could paralyze people from a distance. She was useful in a fight, but only if she got there in time. Rafe glanced at his sister, keeping his voice low. "Take the pack, create a diversion. I'll get through the gates and start looking for her. I'll call when I find her."
"The gates are too well-guarded," she said, shaking her head, and pulled a pair of small binoculars from her pocket, aiming at the gate. "You wouldn't make it inside, much less into the buildings."
Rafe started to pull off his jacket and sweater, handing his rifle over to another pack member. "I'll go in as a wolf, blend in. It'll be fine."
They both knew he was lying. Rafe bent to unlace his boots but paused as Ruby swore under her breath and reached for his arm, trying to hand over the binoculars. "Something's happening."
He straightened and grabbed the glasses, struggling to focus as his hands shook. Floodlights began to sweep the perimeter between the fences, and the guards deviated from their precise routes, scattering into a search pattern. He thought he heard sirens.
In a heartbeat, he knew it was Meadow. She knew. She was trying to escape, and those sons of bitches were going to catch her before she reached him. His wolf snarled and Rafe tossed the binoculars back to his sister. "That's her. We have to go now."