by Zoe Chant
Rowan immediately bristled, his griffin rising up in fury at the implied threat to Emilia. “You said you would leave her out of this. You gave your word.”
Curtis shrugged. “And if it were up to me, I would. I’ve got no desire to drag humans into shifter business. But I’m not the boss. Watts is. And if he tells us to go get your girl, you better believe we’re gonna get her.”
Rowan snarled, anger pumping through his veins. Unable to hold back, he snarled, “You touch a hair on her head, and you’ll be sorry you were ever born.”
Sneering slightly, Curtis shook his head. “Well, we’ll see about that. Seems like you’re not going anywhere or doing anything right now. And believe me – if you want what’s best for your girl, you’ll stay that way.”
In his chest, Rowan’s griffin was screeching, talons raking the air in fury. It wanted to sink those talons into Curtis’s flesh – to kill anyone who dared to threaten its mate. With effort, Rowan reined it in. He didn’t need the griffin’s wildness and pure instinct right now. He needed his human’s rational mind and ability to strategize, to hold back and wait for the right moment.
It will come, he promised his griffin. And then, they will pay.
Chapter Ten
Emilia
Trotting by her side, Max let out a low warning growl.
Emilia looked down at him. “What is it, Max?”
He halted, hackles raised, his teeth bared. At this moment, he looked beyond fearsome, and if Emilia hadn’t known him for the gentle creature he was, she would have been terrified of him.
“You smell them – the men Rowan went with,” Emilia whispered, reaching down to rest a reassuring hand on the dog’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, boy. We’ll get him back.”
They had been moving swiftly through the woods for about half an hour now. Emilia hadn’t even thought about her sore ankle – it was aching a little, but she was so filled with adrenaline that she barely noticed it. Nothing was going to keep her from Rowan, in any case.
She could only hope that Hardwicke and his promised agents arrived in time to help her.
But if they don’t, it doesn’t matter, Emilia told herself, trying to believe it. Rowan is the strongest man I’ve ever seen. Things will be okay...
Clinging to the wish she’d made on the Christmas star, Emilia tried to have faith. It just didn’t seem fair that Rowan would come into her life only to be snatched away again. Hoping that something good would happen on Christmas went against everything she’d tried to train herself to believe over the last two years, but for now, it was the only thing she had to hold on to.
That, and my belief in Rowan, and the bond we share.
Crouching down, Emilia crept forward, the fresh snow crunching slightly under her boots. It was a moment until she smelled what Max had already detected: cigarette smoke, wafting on the breeze. If they hadn’t been in the crisp, pristine air of the woods, Emilia doubted she would have been able to smell it so quickly. But here, it was a smell that most definitely did not belong.
Swallowing, she moved forward, trying not to make a sound. She had never been hunting despite the fact it was a very common hobby for people in Fairhill, and she now found herself regretting it just a little. Stealth wasn’t really her strong suit!
The smell of smoke became stronger as she crested a slight rise. Peeking over some snow-laden bushes, Emilia finally saw the source: two men, standing outside the entrance to a large cave.
They were clearly on sentry duty, but they didn’t look like they were taking the job too seriously – they were slouching, cigarettes in hand, chatting to each other rather than standing strictly to attention, alert to their surroundings.
Emilia watched them. She thought she recognized one of them as the man who Rowan had left with – so his animal form must be a wolf. She eyeballed the other, slightly bigger man suspiciously. What did he turn into?
She knew from the fact their cigarettes smelled so strongly to her that she must be downwind from them – which was to her advantage. Between the wind direction and the cigarette smoke, Emilia hoped they wouldn’t smell her before she could act. From the way Rowan had accurately tracked Freddy yesterday, she had guessed that even in their human forms, shifters must have better senses than humans.
As she crouched, pondering her next move, snatches of their conversation drifted to her on the wind.
“... I dunno, I think Watts should’ve laid low for longer. We had a sweet setup, and now Shifter Patrol is sniffing around. We don’t need this shit.”
There was a pause before the second man answered. “You want to be the one to tell Watts that? I don’t know about you, but I like my head where it is.”
“No, man, that’s not what I’m saying,” the first man said quickly. “I’m just saying we could’ve just kept things how they were. Why’ve we got a fucking Shifter Patrol agent tied up in a cave? How the fuck does that help us?”
Rowan. They mean Rowan, Emilia thought, her blood running cold. Rowan must be in that cave then – and tied up. He was their prisoner.
I’m coming, Rowan, Emilia thought, hoping that somehow psychic powers were included in the mated bond they shared. That would make things a lot easier!
“Watts is out for revenge,” the second man said. “You know what he’s been saying – ranting about how the guy who put him away is going to pay.”
“I get that, but is Curtis on board with this?”
“Fuck, no. Curtis doesn’t even know Watts sent Rory to the house to grab that girl. He agreed with Watts it’d be a good way to threaten Stanton, but Watts knows he hates dragging humans into this stuff.”
“Speaking of, where the hell is Rory? How long does it take to grab a human chick?”
Emilia swallowed, her heart beating faster as she listened. Rory must be the man she had tied up in her shed, then. Well, he wasn’t coming back anytime soon!
She needed to distract them somehow, Emilia realized. She needed to draw them away from their post, leaving the entrance to the cave unguarded. Then she could sneak in and free Rowan, and together they could make a break for it.
Since Rowan had told her that mythical shifters like him were quite rare, she doubted the gang had any kinds of shifters who could take him on. Having seen the size and magnificence of his griffin form, Emilia doubted anything but a dragon could really mess with him.
Shuddering at the thought, Emilia decided not to curse them. If she thought there was no possible way they could have a dragon, they would definitely, certainly, absolutely have a dragon.
Hefting the skillet in her hand, Emilia wondered how far she could throw it. Would the noise it made when it landed be enough to make them go and investigate?
It wasn’t the perfect plan, but it was the only one she had. Gritting her teeth, Emilia lifted the skillet, winding her arm back to throw it with all her might...
And just as she was about to hurl it forward, Max suddenly burst out of the bushes, growling and snarling, heading straight for the two men.
“Ma—!”
At the last moment, Emilia clapped a hand over her mouth. She could only hope the men hadn’t heard her. Max clearly hadn’t thought much of her plan, and had taken matters into his own hands.
Oh, Max, please be safe.
She didn’t know what she’d do if anything happened to him, but he’d been too quick for her to stop him.
Her heart in her throat, she watched as Max raced up the hill, snarling loudly, barking wildly at the men before suddenly veering away, disappearing into the thick, black woods.
“What the hell was that!?” The man sounded shocked – and Emilia couldn’t say she blamed him.
“Was that a shifter?”
“I didn’t get a good enough look at him to know – shit.”
“If there’re other shifters around, they’ve gotta be cops.” The second man sounded tense and nervous. “Damn, I knew this was a bad idea.”
“Either way, we gotta know for sure,” the first
man replied. “Curtis’ll kill us.”
“Forget Curtis – he thought this was a dumbass idea to begin with. It’s Watts you need to worry about.”
Emilia watched as the men hesitated, clearly paralyzed by indecision.
Go! she mentally willed them. Go!
She felt sick, but she didn’t know what else to do. Presumably they’d leave Max alone once they discovered he was just a normal dog. And he had a head start on them – maybe they wouldn’t even catch him.
In the next moment, the men apparently made up their minds.
“We need to check this out, or he’ll rip our throats out,” the first one said.
They nodded to each other, before swiftly transforming into wolves and dashing off into the trees.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, Emilia crept forward. Thank her lucky stars the two wolves were apparently smart enough to figure out kidnapping a shifter cop was a dumb idea, but not smart enough to realize that one of them could have stayed on guard here, while the other went to sniff out Max!
But there might be more of them, she reminded herself, moving as quietly as she could. Maybe a lot more.
There wasn’t a lot she could do about that, though. She’d just have to deal with it when it happened. And if there are more, they better get ready to be skilleted!
Creeping forward, Emilia peeped around the entrance of the cave. It was dark inside, of course. Daylight illuminated the first few feet past the entrance, but after that it grew impenetrably dark.
Taking a deep breath, Emilia inched forward.
Her eyes adjusted to the lower levels of light further inside the cave as she crept her way inside, crouching down low.
The cave was wide, but it wasn’t that deep, and it wasn’t long before she saw a kneeling form in front of her, arms behind his back, but his head held high.
Rowan!
She wanted to call out his name and run to him, but some instinct told her to keep silent. As she hesitated, Rowan suddenly turned, his eyes falling upon her. She could see shock in them – but also, she realized after a second, fear.
He shook his head at her, and she could read a clear warning in his golden eyes: It’s not safe.
Emilia swallowed heavily, taking a step back. She didn’t want to leave him, but she knew to take his warning seriously. Rowan was clearly telling her to back away, and she knew she should listen to him. Everything in her was screaming at her to run to him, to help her mate, but –
“You’ve got guts, girl, I’ll give you that.”
Emilia gasped at the sound of the rough voice in her ear. The next thing she knew, a strong arm had wrapped itself around her shoulders, and the cold point of a knife was pressing against the soft skin just below her ear.
Emilia froze, her stomach dropping past her knees. All her muscles seemed to seize up at once. She wasn’t sure she could have moved, even if she’d wanted to.
“Leave her alone, Curtis.” Rowan’s voice was a low, dangerous rumble. “It’s me you want – you said you didn’t want humans caught up in this. So let her go and let her walk away.”
Curtis growled, his breath hot against Emilia’s ear.
“She got herself caught up in this. We left her alone. She had no call to come here. I can’t help her if she’s going to come wandering into shifter business of her own accord.”
Emilia shook her head, trying to clear it of the haze of panic and anger – anger at herself for not having been more careful.
Her heart was racing, but she did her best to keep her mind clear. What was it the wolves outside had said...?
“That’s not true, I didn’t come wandering in by myself!” she said, hoping Curtis couldn’t hear the obvious tremble in her voice. “They – your friends – sent a man to attack me in my own home! He was supposed to kidnap me and drag me back here.”
Rowan’s head shot up, fury seeming to radiate from his eyes. For a moment, Emilia saw his muscles bulge as he strained against his bonds. Then, with effort, he seemed to rein his anger in again, as Curtis tightened his grip across her chest.
“Bullshit,” Curtis spat out, and honestly, Emilia hadn’t expected anything else. Why would he believe her? She bit her lip, hoping what she had to say next would convince him.
“It’s true,” she said. “I hit him with the skillet I’m holding. He’s tied up in my shed right now. I heard the guys out there talking about it. They said Watts sent Rory to my house to grab me – that’s a direct quote! I’m not bullshitting you! How would I know his name if I was lying?”
This time, Curtis’s uncertainty was palpable. Emilia kept her eyes focused on Rowan as Curtis hesitated. Rowan’s eyes glimmered in the half-light, as golden as the sun. As golden as the Christmas star she had wished upon.
Keep him off his guard, Rowan seemed to be saying.
Right, Emilia thought. She could do that.
“I didn’t want to come out here, but I was frightened,” she said. “A man just attacked me!”
“That wasn’t part of the plan,” Curtis said, though Emilia could now detect a slight hint of doubt in his voice. “No humans. Watts knows how I feel about that.”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” Emilia said. “Except that he definitely tried to drag me into it.”
Just for a moment, Curtis’s grip on her shoulder slackened slightly as he was clearly thrown into uncertainty about whether his leader had lied to him. Rowan, with his eagle eyes, must have seen it – because in the next second, he broadcast her a message, loud and clear: Duck!
There was no time to think. Taking advantage of Curtis’s momentary slip, Emilia jerked herself forward and down.
He was too strong for her to break his grip entirely. But still, she managed to duck down a little, and get a few inches between their bodies.
“Get back here, you little –!”
That was as far as he got.
In the next second, she heard the clank of chains hitting the floor, and then a massive flurry of warmth, fur and feathers shot past her head, and Curtis’s grip on her was gone.
Emilia gasped, her hair blown into her face by the slipstream. When she looked up, all she could see were some old iron chains lying on the ground. Her eyes wide, Emilia turned to look behind her, only to see the massive, magnificent form of Rowan’s griffin, pinning Curtis to the ground.
At least, I think it’s Curtis...
As fast as Rowan had been, Curtis had still managed to shift, and Emilia was shocked to see that Rowan had a massive, angry lynx under his talons.
It snarled, spitting and hissing, but it was no match for Rowan.
His talons pressed down on the lynx’s throat until it stopped struggling, going limp in Rowan’s grasp.
Emilia bit her lip, but then she saw that the lynx was still breathing when Rowan took his claws away – Curtis was only unconscious. As she watched, his body then began to shrink, his thick gray fur and pointed ears disappearing as he became human once more.
Thinking suddenly of the man tied up in her shed, Emilia ran to grab the chains. They were too heavy for her to lift completely, and in the end she had to drag them to where Rowan stood over the lynx’s unconscious form.
“Here, use these – since we know they can hold a shifter.”
Rowan shifted back to his human form in an instant – and before Emilia knew what had happened, he had enveloped her in his arms, pulling her tight against his chest.
“Thank God you’re safe,” he growled, his voice thick in his throat. “How dare they – how dare they come to your house and try to hurt you. I should never have left you.”
“I – I’m okay,” Emilia said, embracing him back just as fiercely. “I won’t deny I was scared, but –”
She paused, wondering how she could explain her Christmas wish. It seemed silly somehow, but right now, she believed in it.
It still isn’t over yet, though...
The worst criminal of the lot was still out there. Rowan still had to catch him, and
bring him to justice.
“Come on,” she said, after a moment. She was reluctant to leave the heat of Rowan’s body, but she knew they couldn’t delay even one second longer. “Let’s get this guy tied up, and then go after the leader.”
Rowan glanced at her, his eyes narrowing. “It’s too dangerous for you, Emilia. Merritt Watts is bad news, and now we know he won’t hesitate to harm humans. I don’t like the idea of you getting involved any more than you already are.”
“So I should just leave you to face them alone? I don’t think so,” Emilia said. “Anyway, it’s not just me – Max is here too. I need to make sure he’s safe.”
Rowan looked like he was going to argue with her for a moment longer, but then, perhaps seeing her determination in her eyes, he shook his head, backing down.
“All right, Emilia – but you need to listen to me. Curtis isn’t exactly a nice guy, but Watts is on a whole other level. If I tell you to stay back, you stay back. I couldn’t stand it if he hurt you any more than he has already.”
Emilia nodded. That was sensible. She couldn’t risk getting in Rowan’s way, or being used as a pawn to threaten him. Her heart ached, but she knew Rowan was right. “All right.”
“Come on,” Rowan said, jerking his head toward Curtis’s unconscious body. “Let’s tie this guy up, and go after Watts.”
Chapter Eleven
Rowan
Rowan sped low over the tops of the trees, coasting on the wind, the warm, reassuring weight of Emilia on his back.
He still didn’t feel completely comfortable about having her with him, but he knew leaving her alone was also risky, since the wolves who’d run off after Max might return at any moment. But nor could he take the time to fly her somewhere safer: if Watts and his men were on their way into town, he didn’t have a moment to lose. Watts had proven he had no qualms about hurting a human if it helped him get his way. Rowan shuddered to think of what he might do if confronted in the middle of Fairhill... and at the memory of Watts’s threat to raise hell.