* * * *
She noticed the suffocating darkness first, even before the whispered chanting reached her ears. The air tasted of mildew and dust. Goosebumps pebbled across her skin. She heard something heavy dragging in the distance just before a gust of wind brushed against her body. That’s when she realized that wherever she was, wherever they’d taken her after knocking her over the head, they’d stripped her of all her clothes.
She tried to move, tried to get up, but her arms were secured above her head. Her legs were spread-eagled, and something heavy and tight encircled her ankles. Her stomach clenched. A wave of nausea swept over her. She struggled against her bindings and they only tightened around her wrists and ankles, sending numbing pain through her limbs.
She needed to think, needed to find a way to save herself from Goddess knows what, but she didn’t even know where she was, who had her, or how many people she’d have to fight off. Her head pounded, beating mercilessly with every frantic pulse of her heart. This couldn’t be happening to her. She should never have left the pub tonight. How could she have been so stupid?
The whispers grew louder. She licked her lips, scared out of her mind, afraid to speak, afraid not to. Her entire body trembled. The nausea worsened. The more she struggled against her bonds, the louder the chanting grew. They had to know she’d awakened and yet they didn’t stop speaking. She could hear voices all around her, coming from every direction. So many voices, men and women, yet no one particular voice stood out as familiar to her despite the small size of their town.
If she could only see what was going on around her, perhaps she could calm down enough to think, but the darkness was all consuming. As the voices rose in pitch yet again, a haunting wail echoed around her, like the call of a banshee portending death. Her heart thumped against her chest as paralyzing fear threatened to suffocate her. Whatever was going to happen to her, it would be soon. She didn’t have a doubt in her mind about that.
She had so many regrets. She regretted that she hadn’t given in to the impulse to take Derek and Quinn to her bed before her abduction and that she hadn’t had a child of her own to pass on her genes. But most of all, she regretted that more than likely the people who held her would get away with their crime.
Before another regret or morbid thought could enter her mind, the flare of a match briefly lit up the room. What she saw in that second chilled her to the bone. She closed her eyes, briefly, positive that when she opened them she’d find that she’d imagined the black-robed figures surrounding her. But when she worked up the courage to open them again, she quickly learned she hadn’t imagined a thing. The room was brighter now, allowing her to see more of what surrounded her… unfortunately.
Her entire body trembled as her gaze quickly scanned the small square chamber. She didn’t know whether her teeth chattered from the bone-deep cold of the cement room or the sight of the eleven black-robed kidnappers surrounding her, their cowls completely cloaking their identities. It took only seconds to catalogue the rest of her surroundings, making her wish she’d never bothered to regain consciousness. Without a doubt she knew she was about to die.
The one reading from the tome grew louder as the light in the stone room grew brighter. That’s when Willow realized just where she’d been taken, just where they’d stashed her to perform their rituals—inside the only mausoleum in Serenity’s single cemetery.
When someone grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, brandishing a long, copper, crescent-shaped blade over her throat, all semblance of calm disappeared. She did the only thing she could. She screamed as if her life depended on it because it very well did. The chanting grew louder. She screamed again before giving in to the waiting darkness.
Chapter Three
“And why are we at the cemetery, Quinn?”
“Because her scent trail ended in that alley and Sera saw a hearse idling outside The Howler. She passed and waved at Willow while taking out the trash, but the next load out, Willow was gone as was the hearse. It’s the only lead we have—half-assed, though it may be.”
“But…”
“I know, D, it’s a long shot, but at this point, it’s all we have.”
Instead of doing the smart thing and going to the law immediately, he and Derek had gone off half-cocked and gone to the rescue. Hopefully, the delay in calling the Sherriff’s Office wouldn’t make things worse in the end. They only needed a little bit of good luck on their side and perhaps a benevolent goddess or two.
“Okay, Derek, you take the south end of the cemetery. You hear anything—I mean anything, even the slightest bit suspicious—you call my cell phone. I’ll take the north end and do the same. We’ll meet in the middle. Then start over taking east and west next, okay?”
“Absolutely, Quinn. I want our Willow back. I miss her, man, and I want her back. I won’t let anyone keep her from us.
“Just keep remembering that, buddy. Just keep remembering that.”
Despite his every internal warning screaming at him to tear apart the cemetery, they had to move cautiously so as not to alert the kidnappers. It’d been hard enough waiting around for Sheriff Ben Marcum to arrive at the scene and convince him to accompany them to the cemetery with some officers.
If it had been up to Derek, they would have searched without the police entirely, but they wouldn’t take unnecessary chances with Willow’s life, despite their belief in their own abilities to bring her home safely. The more people looking for her, the better.
Thank the Goddess she seemed to have friends in this town or they might be up shit’s creek without a paddle. Once they told Sheriff Marcum that Willow was missing, he put his entire police force on emergency duty, so they had plenty of bodies out searching the town if his hunch about the cemetery didn’t pan out.
Knowing he and Derek could catch her scent better in their wolf forms, Quinn pulled Ben aside.
“What is it, Quinn? We’re doing everything we can to find your mate.”
Quinn shook his head. “It’s not that. We have a better shot going in as wolves. Just don’t shoot us when we go wolf. We should have started tracking her the moment we arrived here. We’ve already lost too much time as it is.”
Ben nodded. “We’ve got you covered.” He started to turn away, then paused and looked back, meeting Quinn’s gaze. “We’ll find her, Quinn. Never doubt it.”
Quinn nodded, then let his gaze roam throughout the graveyard. The cemetery consisted of thousands of acres, with tombstones and crypts and even an ancient mausoleum. It could take hours to search it all and find her, and that was if she was even here. He pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed Derek’s number.
“Derek here,”
“I suggest we shift. We’ll pull up her scent much faster as wolves.”
“I agree, Quinn. Meet you by the front gate in five minutes.”
“Agreed.”
After making his way to the front gate, he waited for Derek to join him, his every nerve taut. So are we going to strip here or find some shed to duck inside?
The gardener’s shed might be the wiser choice. The town may be full of Supernaturals, but we don’t want to announce that we’re hunting, either. Besides, it’s just up ahead, on the path toward the right. I walked past it earlier.
Then let’s get going, Quinn. It’s time we get our mate and bring her home to us.
Within minutes, they entered the small garden shed and began to disrobe. Once naked, Quinn prepared to shift. His muscles stretched and contorted, joints popped. Bones changed shape and grew. Power and strength surged through his body, completing the transformation into his black wolf. He dropped to all fours, geared for the hunt, spurred more by fear for his mate than courage or preparation. The transformation’s pain and disorientation ended as fast as it had begun.
Beside him, Derek completed his transformation into a golden wolf. Ready?
Before he could answer, his mate’s soul-shattering scream pierced the night air.
* * * *
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Willow woke to pain, sharp stinging pain. Small cuts were seeping blood up and down her arms and legs, across her tummy and down both sides of her rib cage. Blood ran down her body in rivulets, filling the etched scrollwork on the tomb they’d tied her to. As she struggled to remain conscious and aware, her body steadily grew weaker, the blood loss too much for her to fight. The chanting, though, seemed to keep growing louder, adding rhythmic feet stomping and hand clapping, too.
She tried to fight against the bonds tying her to the tomb, but she didn’t have the strength. She could barely lift her head. Another stinging cut slid across her right thigh, another rhythmic chant rang out above her head, another slicing cut slashed at her abdomen. Her lashes fluttered. Unconsciousness threatened, but she swore she thought she heard wolves howling in the distance before she succumbed to the darkness.
* * * *
Deep within the body of the wolf, Derek’s mind raged. He wanted to ravage the ones who had the audacity to kidnap his mate. He could smell her blood on the wind. He could smell the ancient and evil magic. They were attempting a blood sacrifice and it enraged him that they would attempt such with his mate─that they would attempt such with anyone at all, but especially his mate. It incensed his beast. They would be lucky to survive his wrath.
Locked on to her blood scent, it took only a few minutes to locate the mausoleum where they were holding Willow prisoner. Two sentries stood outside, garbed in long black hooded robes, shotguns cradled in their arms. I smell a whole bunch more than just the two men that are standing out here. I say we go in low and circle in from behind. Take these bastards out. Show no mercy, Quinn.
I agree, Derek. Show no mercy.
They went in low, using the cemetery monuments and headstones as cover to circle around until they’d come up behind the guards. When he was certain they were close enough to attack, he signaled to Quinn. Now!
As one, they leapt for the men’s necks, breaking them in one vicious bite, leaving the men dead at their feet. Not sure what they’d find inside, he thought it best to shift back into human form first, just in case Willow needed to be carried out.
We should slip on these robes to blend in. In the dark, they shouldn’t see the blood. Let’s just hope there aren’t any Supernaturals who can smell the fresh blood among these guys.
Good idea, Derek.
Unfortunately, by the time they shouldered their way inside the mausoleum, only their unconscious mate remained inside, still tied to the makeshift altar, unable to tell them how her kidnappers had disappeared as quickly and as cleanly as they had.
Their priority had to be taking care of their mate. The sentries had fallen beneath their blood lust and would not be answering any questions. He and Quinn had a more important duty now, pampering and claiming their mate. Someone else could go after her remaining abductors. She needed them more than they needed vengeance.
Only after they’d secured her in a relationship would they question her about what had happened to her, and only if she brought it up first. They didn’t want her to think they were with her only due to the trauma she’d suffered through because that certainly wasn’t the case. They’d walked around with hard-ons while they’d waited to claim her, willing to wait to give Willow time to get to know them as men first.
After untying Willow’s hands and feet, Derek carefully lifted her into his arms and cradled her against his chest. He wanted to weep when he looked at all the shallow cuts across her body. What they’d done to her body, what they’d done to her soul—they should burn in hell. He wanted to rip and tear into their bodies, each and every one of the bastards that had taken her─he wanted to make them each pay.
“We can’t let the others see her like that, Derek.” Quinn’s voice sounded as broken as Derek felt inside.
He nodded. “Do you see her clothes anywhere or something we can cover her up with?”
With Willow pressed against his chest, he scanned the mausoleum, only now taking notice of the finer details. He studied the tomb and the surrounding detailed carvings of the Demon Leonard, the Master of Black Magic and Sorcery. The first order Demon was Inspector General of Sorcery, Black Magic and Witchcraft. From the waist up, Leonard had a goat's body with three horns on his head, a goat's beard, two fox-like ears, and red, enraged eyes. He held a goblet of a sacrificial victim’s blood in one hand and an ancient text in another. In the carvings, a human woman lay on an altar, her body covered in shallow cuts, her wrists sliced open, her head missing. Thirteen hooded followers of the demon knelt at his feet.
On the other side of the tomb, he saw the Tumi, a crescent-shaped blade made of copper—used in ancient times for ritual beheadings—lying on the mausoleum floor. Obviously, they had arrived just in time.
Chapter Four
Quinn shook, his eyes drawn repeatedly to Willow’s bleeding and battered body held so protectively within Derek’s arms. Rage infused every cell of his body. He may not be able to hunt down who had done this to his mate and bring them to justice, but he would see to it that the Sheriff knew what they were up against. If the followers of the Demon Leonard were trying to summon him and were making blood sacrifices in his honor, they were up to something well beyond whatever the Sheriff had likely ever handled in the past. But Quinn definitely needed to warn Ben Marcum about what he may face.
He wanted to hurry and relay his news so they could get their mate home. They needed to get her bathed, bring in a doctor to see to her injuries, and, after she healed—physically and emotionally—they’d lay claim to her body, heart and soul, and mark her as their mate. But before all that, they needed to cover her. She wouldn’t want the others to see her this way, injured, naked and vulnerable.
As an Alpha wolf, she wouldn’t be able to tolerate being in such an exposed position. Unable to protect her earlier as they should have, in this they could at least do something to prevent others from pitying her in the future. She’d hate such a thing even more than what her kidnappers would have done if she'd remained in their care. She could accept torture more than she could accept pity. As an Alpha wolf, he could understand that.
Quinn told Derek, “I’ll go ahead and tell Ben what we know and arrange for medical treatment for Willow. I’ll be right back with our clothes as well. We can cover her with one of these robes until we get her away from here. She wouldn’t want anyone seeing her this way. Let’s get her home and somewhere safe before anything else happens.”
Derek nodded. His gaze, though, seemed distracted.
“What is it, Derek?”
“Look at the carvings on that tomb and along the walls. I think whatever they intended here tonight would only have been the beginning of their plans.”
Not wanting his voice to wake her until they were someplace safe and someone could treat her pain and injuries, Quinn chose to speak to Derek using their pack bond instead. As a shifter, she’d heal, but he didn’t want her to hurt in the meantime. As soon as she regained consciousness and the doc gave permission, she could shift into her wolf form and back to human, and her injuries would be gone as though they had never existed.
I know, Derek. That’s the Demon Leonard. We’ve been up against thousands of dangerous Supernaturals in our time, some that most would run screaming from, yet my wolf just sneered at. But this has me quaking in fear. We must guard her at all times until either someone eliminates him or his use for her is at an end.
You’re right. In a town full of Supernaturals, when friend can be enemy, and demons that can possess others easily are involved, we definitely need to make sure that no one gets near her unless we’re absolutely positive they’re not tainted by demons.
Stripping out of his robe, Quinn handed it to Derek. Here, put this on her. I’ll be back with our clothes in a few minutes. I need to speak with Ben and let him know what we’re facing. Then I’ll bring the car around so we can transport her to our home. It’s time we showed her the house we had Conn and Marcel build for the three of us once we discovered our mate liv
ed here.
Derek smiled. You’re right. I can’t wait to see her eyes light up when she gets a load of her new digs. Do you think she has any idea you’re loaded and built her a mini-mansion to live in?
Quinn laughed. No, and I can’t wait to see her reaction. He drove a ten-year-old pick up, wore jeans and t-shirts most days, and scuffed-up sneakers. More than likely, she had no idea he’d inherited millions and had looked forward to the day he’d finally meet his mate so he could start spending his inheritance. They’d have plenty of money to raise a family of their own—the three of them. He couldn’t wait to get started.
Calling forth his wolf, Quinn shifted, letting his beast free. After witnessing what her attackers had done to his mate, his beast needed to run against the wind or it would hunt her kidnappers down rather than return to where the Sheriff waited coordinating the search and rescue. Another time he’d let his beast have more time to race and hunt prey, but for now, he had to get back to his mate. Sniffing the wind, he picked out the Sheriff’s scent and headed that way. The sooner he found Ben, the sooner he could return to Willow.
* * * *
Willow woke to warmth and a sense of safety and security, something she didn’t expect. Hell, she didn’t expect to wake again. Stretching, she could feel the burn of the shallow cuts across her body and the sting of silver burns around her wrists and ankles. But already she knew her body had begun to heal. Wherever she was, her kidnappers no longer had her. She knew that without a doubt.
A familiar scent tickled her nose, making her smile for the first time in hours, or hell, it could have been days. She had no idea how long she’d been sleeping. Just knowing that somehow Derek had found her—and therefore Quinn as well—gave her all the reason to smile she needed. She shivered, her thoughts automatically turning to why she’d needing rescuing. Just thinking about what her attackers had planned for her gave her chills. She had no doubt she wouldn’t have survived it if she hadn’t been rescued.
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