by L. P. Dover
Faith closes a hand over her mouth and looks away. “Are they dead?”
Beck glances over at her, and reluctantly turns back to me. “They are. I’m so sorry.”
“Oh my God,” I cry, feeling as if I’m going to throw up. “I have to get over there.” I pull away from him and rush downstairs. Faith and Beck follow behind me, and my father doesn’t seem shocked to see him. Tears fall down my face as I storm toward the door. “We have to go.”
My father grabs my arm. “We don’t know what we’re walking into.”
“I don’t care,” I growl. “Either you drive me, or I’ll go by myself. Your choice.”
With a heavy sigh, he nods and opens the door. “Let’s go.”
Beck places a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll meet you there.”
We all pile into my father’s car, and he finally gets in touch with Micah. I can hear his voice through the phone, saying they’re about a half-mile past Seraphina’s house. Hearing her name makes all the emotions resurface. I try to penetrate through Cedric’s mind, but all I get is a dark wall.
There are other cars when we get to Seraphina’s, but nobody is in them. I jump out and take off as fast as I can. I can smell the pack, and worst of all, I can smell blood—a lot of it. There’s a clearing up ahead with five large tree trunks, all positioned in a circle. What I saw scattered around the ground made me stop dead in my tracks.
The elders weren’t just murdered; they were brutally slain, and pieces of them strewn out everywhere. Cedric and Ryker are on the ground, kneeling by another body. All I can see is her bare feet and the hem of her white dress, splattered with blood.
Cedric barrels out a scream so loud it rips my heart in two. I run over and fall to my knees beside him. When I get my first glimpse of Seraphina, I’m sickened to the core. Her throat has been slashed, and there are claw marks on her chest, her blood soaking the ground. I take Cedric’s hand, and his mind blasts open, his rage and despair pouring through me.
“When I find out who did this …” he growls.
I squeeze his hand. “I know,” I whisper. He lifts her hand, and the stone we got her for Christmas falls to the ground. Cedric’s anger becomes my own. He’s had so much taken from him. His parents, and now Seraphina, who’s been a mother to him, is gone now too. “I know,” I say again, hoping my love with help give him comfort. “We’ll kill them all.”
Nineteen
Laila
Cedric’s despair has taken him down a dark path. In his mind, all I can see is red and feel nothing but revenge. Visions of his parents flash through every now and again, but they've been taken over with images of Seraphina’s lifeless body, covered in blood. I’d give anything to take those images away from him.
As I stare at him out the window, he appears to be holding it together while talking to Ryker and the other wolves in the pack. I haven’t told anyone how broken he actually is.
Amelie and Faith come up behind me, and I can see their reflections in the glass. “Why is it always something?” Amelie whispers. “We always talk about how horrible humans are to each other but look at us. Our kind is the same way.” She rubs a hand over my shoulders.
Faith huffs. “One good thing about us is that we can get revenge on those who do us wrong. Humans don’t have that luxury. We can kill the rogues who murdered our people and not have to worry about going to jail. Humans not so much.”
Amelie squeezes my shoulder. “How’s Cedric coping?”
I can’t take my eyes off of him. I keep waiting for him to break. “On the outside, he looks fine, but inside, he’s raging. Any minute, I’m waiting for him to blow. I wish there was something I could do.” An idea comes to mind, but I hide it away quickly. Not that Cedric is peeking into my brain, but now that we’re connected, he can hear my thoughts. Given what’s going on, I’m sure listening in on my mind is the last thing he’s trying to do.
Ryker runs into the woods, followed by Sebastian, Colin, and some of the other wolves except for my father, Micah, and Cedric. They all three seem to be deep in conversation.
“I think this is the first time I’ve seen your father,” Amelie says. “He looks exactly like Sebastian and Micah.” I look over at her, and her eyes stay glued to my father. “To be three hundred years old, he doesn’t look a day over thirty.”
“Another perk of being a shifter,” Faith comments. “We don’t have to worry about getting old and saggy.”
I think about Seraphina and the other elders. They lived for hundreds of years just to have it all taken away by a senseless act of violence. Cedric, my father, and Micah head toward the door, and I back away from the window. When they walk inside, Cedric comes up to me and pulls me into his arms.
“I have to leave for a little bit. Ryker wants me over at his place. Your father and Micah are going to stay here with you.”
“Okay,” I murmur. “Be careful.”
He tilts my chin up and kisses me. “I’ll be back.” He looks at my father and Micah once more before taking off out the door and through the woods.
I shut the door and lean against it, glancing back and forth between my father and my uncle. “What’s going on?”
Micah peers over at my father and then back to me, sighing. “They want to find the wolves. The only problem is that there was no trace of anything.”
That’s what I feared. No rogue can conceal themselves, not unless they’re royal. In this case, that likelihood is slim to none. The only other alternative is magic; it was used to hide them. “And?” I prod. “What is everyone thinking?”
Micah shrugs. “Well, not everyone’s thinking this. I have theories I’ve kept to myself. Either the rogues are working with a witch to hide them or …”
He pauses, and I huff. “Or what?”
My father is the one who speaks up. “Or it could be the dark fae Beck warned us about. They could’ve been looking for you. I could sense your essence in the stone you and Cedric gave Seraphina.”
The harsh realization of what he just said hits me like a ton of bricks. If it’s true that my essence in the stone is what drew them to that spot in the woods, then it’s my fault Seraphina and the others are dead. Amelie rushes to my side and takes my hand. “It might not be that, Laila. We don’t know yet.”
Tears burn my eyes. “I need to go there, to the spot they were killed. I’m going to find the bastards who did this.”
Faith stands at my other side. “Can you?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure as hell going to try.”
Micah holds up his hands. “Seriously? The last place three unmated females need to be is out in the woods with rogues running loose.”
Amelie lifts her chin. “And if any of those cocksuckers come near me, they’ll regret it. I ripped my last mate apart after what he did to me. I guarantee none of them are as bad as that man.”
I cringe at the sharpness of her tone. Her mate was my stepbrother, Jaret, who made her a pawn in his sick, twisted game. I can’t even begin to describe the horrors she endured. I was there, helping her in the background even though she didn’t know it. To keep her alive, I had to make my brother think she was pregnant. I hate I had to do it, but I didn’t know how to keep her safe from the Sierra pack. My father regards her curiously but then looks away when he notices me watching him.
“I need to go out there,” I plead, focusing on my father. “You, of all people, know what it’s like not getting your revenge. If I can help Cedric, I’m going to do it.”
My father looks over at Micah and then back to me, sighing. “Fine. Let’s go. But if anything happens, all three of you,” he states, glaring at me, Amelie, and Faith, “better get the hell out of there.”
He already knows I wouldn’t leave him, but I nod anyway. We all head outside, and my father takes the lead while Micah pulls up the rear. There’s so much energy around us. I can feel it in the trees, in the wind, and even in the ground below my feet. It’s a mixture of both good and bad.
Amelie an
d Faith flank me as we come upon the murder site. The smell of death still lingers in the air, and the crimson-colored snow only makes it more real. In my mind, I can see Cedric hovered over Seraphina’s lifeless body; it’s a vision that’ll forever stay ingrained in my mind.
“The men already tried sniffing out a lead,” Micah says. “There was no trace of the other wolves.”
Moving to the circle's center, I kneel in the snow and place my hands on the ground. If there is only one drop of the rogue wolves’ blood, I’ll be able to sense it. Closing my eyes, I concentrate on the earth below the snow. Tears spring to my eyes when I feel Seraphina’s life force. It’s faint, but her energy is in the ground with her blood. Soon, it’ll disappear forever.
“Anything?” Amelie asks, her voice just above a whisper.
I start to shake my head, but then I feel it, magic. It’s in the ground beneath me and several areas around the elder’s circle. I have to concentrate hard to pinpoint it, but it’s there. It’s just not my kind of magic; it’s different.
“What are you doing?” Micah asks curiously.
Amelie drops down to the ground beside me. “Do you feel something?”
Taking her hand, I stand and help her up. “I couldn’t find any trace of the wolves, but there’s magic around us. It’s not mine or Seraphina’s. This has a cold, dark feeling to it.” My first thought goes to Beck. Something tells me he might know.
By the look on my father’s face, he knows what I’m thinking. “Go ahead. If you think he can help, say his name.”
They all stand back as if Beck’s going to appear right in front of us. I take a deep breath and turn away from them. “Beck,” I whisper. “I need your help.” A few seconds later, the air shifts, and the magical veil between my realm and his appears. He steps out and walks toward me, his expression guarded. “Hey,” I say to him.
He stops in front of me and glances at everyone to my back. “Are you okay?” he asks, averting his gaze back to me. “I know it’s not easy being back here.”
I nod. “I’ll be fine. I need to see if you can help.” I kneel, and he does the same, his body facing mine. “Touch the ground and tell me what you feel.” Closing his eyes, he touches the ground, his brows furrowing in concentration, and then a hiss escapes his lips.
“What is it?” I ask, feeling my heart jump out of my chest.
His icy blue eyes swirl with anger when he opens them. “Dorian. I can feel his dark magic. It’s not potent, but it’s there. A cloaking spell of sorts.”
It all starts to make sense. My father walks up to my side. “It’s probably why we couldn’t track the rogue around the lake that day.”
Beck agrees with him and stands. “True. But now we have a bigger problem. Dorian’s here, and it’s obvious he’s picked up on Laila’s presence.” The black carmine is in my pocket, but if Dorian is sniffing around my pack and using rogues, then he has to know about me. Beck clenches his fists. “None of my people have tracked him here. Usually, he moves quickly to keep off my radar.”
I look up at my father, but he has his focus on Beck. “Obviously, he’s doing things differently this time,” he growls.
Beck huffs. “Yes, he is.” Then he focuses on me. “I’d like to say that coming with me would be the safest thing, but I think we’re past that.”
If there’s one thing I’ve learned growing up with the Sierra pack, it’s that you don’t wait around to be slaughtered. “You’re right, we are. We need to fight back. Whoever these wolves are, we’re going to find them and give them what they deserve. Maybe it’ll draw Dorian out.”
Beck blows out a sigh. “Or he’ll change his plans. He’s not your typical fae. He’ll strike when we least expect it.”
A part of me wants to toss away the black carmine and expose myself. The sooner Dorian comes after me, the sooner we can fight him and end his games. He’s already taken someone I love. What’s going to stop him from going after everyone else? I look behind me at Faith and Amelie, and my dad and Micah. I couldn’t bear it if I lost any of them.
“How are we going to find the rogues?” Faith asks. “They’re cloaked.”
Beck looks at me; his expression is more serious than I’ve ever seen before. “We might be able to break it. I just need your help.”
“Anything.”
He takes my hand and leads me over to the middle of the elder’s circle. His expression hardens when he peers down at the ground but then softens when he looks into my eyes. “You and I have an earth affinity. Dorian doesn’t. His power comes from evil. The earth’s energy is pure and much stronger than that. If we combine our power, we can break it.”
“How?” I ask.
Standing in front of me, he reaches for my other hand. “The spell is cloaking the rogues’ blood. I didn’t know the other elders, but I had the privilege of meeting Seraphina. She wasn’t the type to go down without a fight. She would’ve fought until the end.”
Tears well up in my eyes. “Yes, she would’ve.”
Beck squeezes my hands. “Close your eyes and concentrate on the spell. Visualize it as long, black vines, weaving its way through the ground like roots. All we have to do is rip them out.”
I close my eyes, and in my mind, I envision myself standing like we are with the black vines spreading underneath my feet. They’re poison, something that needs to be demolished. Beck’s magic fuels me as it flows through my body. It’s strong and pure.
“All right, Laila,” Beck murmurs. “Give it all you got.”
All the rage from losing Seraphina comes back with a vengeance. It builds and builds in my body until I can’t keep it in any longer. The pain and heartache leave my lips in the most guttural scream I’ve ever had come out of my mouth. The ground rumbles beneath us, and our power grows stronger.
“Almost done,” Beck says.
The air crackles around us, and the vines rip apart as the spell breaks, exposing the truth underneath. The second the black vines disappear, I can smell the rogues.
Gasping, I open my eyes, and Beck catches me. “We got ‘em.”
My father and Micah both growl, their eyes are blazing like fire. “I smell them,” Micah says, his voice deep and filled with fury. “We need to get the others.”
I look up at Beck. “Thank you.”
His smile is sad. “Glad I could help. Just be safe out there. I don’t like the way things are going.”
“Neither do I. What if Dorian sends more wolves? Or what if he’s the one who comes after us next?”
Beck sighs. “Then we’ll be ready. Say my name, and I’ll have all my warriors here in a matter of seconds.”
I nod. “Okay.” Beck releases my hands, and I step back. “Find Dorian if you can. I don’t want to wait for him to strike.”
The veil between realms shimmers behind him. “Neither do I.”
As soon as he disappears, I close my eyes and open my mind. “Cedric?” I’m still trying to get used to the fact that we can hear each other’s thoughts. I don’t want to pry into his head if he doesn’t want me there, and he doesn’t force his way into mine either.
“I’m here, Laila.”
I breathe in the scent of the rogue wolves and open my eyes so he can see where I’m at. “I found them. Bring the others. It’s time to make them pay.”
It didn’t take long for several men in our pack to show up to the elder’s circle. Cedric marches straight over to me and takes my hand, pulling me away from everyone else. I can feel his worry, his pain of being back at the site Seraphina was murdered. It reminded him of when his parents were killed by rogues all those years ago.
Once we’re away from everyone, he wraps his arms around me. “I should be furious right now. It’s not safe for you to be out here.”
“I wanted to help,” I whisper, listening to his heart pound in his chest.
“You can help by going to Ryker’s. Sebastian’s there with Bailey and Tyla. Stay there until I come for you.” Taking my arms, he gently pushes me away
from him and slides his hands down to mine.
Staring right up into his eyes, I grip his hands. “Kill them all.”
His eyes flash to his wolf. “That I can promise you.” He kisses my hand and lets me go. “I’ll see you soon.”
“You ready, Laila?” my father calls out.
Cedric takes one last look at me. “Go.”
He slowly walks over to the spot Seraphina took her last breath. He kneels and breathes in the scent of the wolves. There is one whose blood is mixed in with Seraphina’s. She was a fighter, and I know without a doubt that she was the one who made him bleed.
“I’ll kill that fucker last,” Cedric growls in my mind. He runs off into the woods while some of the other men, including Micah and Colin, shift and race off after him. My father places a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “He’ll be fine.”
“I know.”
Once he’s out of sight, the rest of us hurry to Ryker’s. Sebastian is on the front porch when we arrive. My father stays outside with him to talk while Amelie, Faith, and I go inside. Tyla and Bailey are in the living room, and Bailey already has three cups of hot chocolate waiting for us.
“Thanks, sis,” Faith tells Bailey as she sits down beside her on the couch.
Bailey motions for me to sit. “Is Cedric letting you in?”
Cedric’s mind is open to me, and I can feel his impatience. He’s way past ready to find the rogues. “Yes,” I say, taking a spot on the loveseat beside Amelie.
Bailey nods and closes her eyes. “Ryker says he thinks they’re almost there. The scents are getting stronger.”
Tilting my head back, I take a deep breath and focus on Cedric. He doesn’t try to hide anything from me. It’s dark, but there are lights ahead in what looks to be a rundown cabin. Cedric’s bloodlust grows more intense.
“They found them,” I whisper.
Being in his mind is almost like being there myself. I can feel his emotions and experience everything going on. A part of me doesn’t want to watch the carnage, but I can’t get out of his head. I want him to get his revenge.