Bloodrose

by Andrea Cremer

  “No way.” Shay started to back off, but I snarled.

  “Do it.”

  “Damn it, Cal. You’re heartless,” he said, biting his own wrist.

  “I know.”

  Shay and Ren glared at each other, eyes locked as they drank each other’s blood, bonding them as packmates even though they still despised each other.

  “Nicely played, alpha,” Logan murmured.

  As much as I wanted to level a stony gaze on the Keeper, I couldn’t stop my own smile. Something inside me was running free, wild and howling its joy.

  THREE

  “SINCE THAT’S SETTLED, can we talk about winning this war?” Connor sheathed his swords.

  From the way Ren and Shay continued to glare at each other, I knew their rivalry was far from settled. But this uneasy partnership was the best I could hope for at the moment. At least they weren’t shredding each other’s flesh anymore.

  I turned to face Anika. “No more secret meetings where I’m not invited. If you want wolf warriors, you include us at every turn. Strategy and execution.”

  The hawk-faced man snorted but kept silent when Anika shook her head at him.

  “That’s fine, Calla,” she said. “Shay had already insisted on that point before you arrived.”

  I smiled at Shay, but he was still glowering at Ren. I wished he would look at me. If he could just meet my eyes, maybe he’d see how hard this was for me. How much I wanted to pull him aside, to be alone with him and explain all of this.

  Anika turned back to the table. Large maps covered its surface.

  “Logan’s informed us that the Keepers are going on the offensive,” she said. “Purgatory was just the beginning. We’re running out of time.”

  “In what way?” I asked.

  “Time to collect the pieces,” Logan said. “We’ll be expecting you, of course.”

  He’d lit another cigarette and recomposed his nonchalant attitude.

  “If they’re waiting for us at the sites, we don’t stand a chance,” Anika said. “Any element of surprise we can still hold is vital. We need to move on each of the sites quickly, one strike following immediately after the other. No waiting. No delays.”

  “You need someone to run interference.” I turned in surprise at the sound of Ren’s voice.

  Anika raised her eyebrows.

  Ren shrugged. “Like Calla said. Shay’s leading the Searchers. I lead the wolves. Let us do what we do best: fight.”

  Connor whistled. “You want to open another front?”

  “Not another front,” Ren said. “Two teams. A decoy and the real team sent in after.”

  “It would pull attention off the sites.” Adne grinned at her brother. “The stealth team would go in for retrieval while the strike team did the fighting.”

  Ethan nodded. “That could work.”

  “Any team drawing that kind of attack would suffer heavy casualties,” the hawk-faced man objected.

  “Who are you?” I barked, frustrated by his constant sniping.

  “Pascal is the Tordis Guide,” Anika said. “His team would be joining the attack that Ren’s proposed.”

  She gestured around the room. “The group gathered here are the strike teams from each of the outposts. You already know the Haldis team, but Tordis, Eydis, and Pyralis have gathered at my request to plot our course. For this effort to succeed, we must work in concert.”

  I gazed at the Searchers. Assembled in Haldis Tactical, the core team members looked weary but alert. It made sense: they were staring death in the face. We all were. I met Pascal’s scornful gaze and my heart ached for Monroe. The Tordis Guide clearly didn’t share the same empathy for Guardians that Monroe had encouraged.

  “Pascal’s right,” Ethan said. “The decoy team would suffer heavy losses. But the way I see it, we’re not getting out of this war without heavy losses no matter what.”

  “We need those pieces,” Anika said. “We can’t finish this without them.”

  Pascal’s lips thinned, but he inclined his head.

  Shay cleared his throat. “Ren’s right. I think two teams is the way to go here.”

  “Agreed,” Anika said.

  “But I have a request,” Shay continued, throwing a cold glare at Ren.

  “And what is that, Scion?” The Arrow watched him, her eyes narrowing.

  “The stealth team will be backing me, right?” he asked.

  “Of course,” Silas piped in. “We know now that you’re the only one who can remove the pieces from their resting places.”

  The Scribe winced when Connor fixed a stony gaze on him.

  Shay nodded. “Then I want to pick my team.”

  “Excuse me?” Anika frowned.

  “I need to fight beside people I trust,” he said. “I’m not going into the sites with strangers.”

  “We’ve been fighting this war much longer than you have, child.” Pascal’s face was mottled by rage. “How dare you presume—”

  “Oh, put a lid on it, Pascal,” Ethan said. “I’ve seen this kid fight. You don’t want to mess with him. Let him pick his own team.”

  “It’s not unreasonable for you to select your teammates, Shay,” Anika said. “But would you object to the Guides for each outpost weighing in on your choice? They’ll be taking heavy casualties in order to protect your team.”

  “If they want,” Shay said quickly. “But I’m only talking about the retrieval team. And my companions are coming from Haldis . . . which no longer has a Guide.” He glanced at Adne, sadness shadowing his face.

  I was a little surprised to see Ren put his arm around Adne when Shay spoke. She looked up at him with a weak but grateful smile.

  “Do you really think you have the skill to make these decisions?” Pascal glared at Shay.

  “Calla and I found Haldis on our own.” Shay bared his teeth at the Guide. “So yeah, I think I have the skill.”

  Pascal spluttered at Shay’s words. Shay and I shared a quick, conspiratorial smile. It was amazing how almost dying from a giant mutant spider attack could end up being a good memory. But it was. And not only because we’d killed the beast and retrieved Haldis. That was the day Shay had become a wolf to save my life. I realized I held that knowledge close, treasuring its intimacy along with the joys of our first days running together through the wilderness near Vail. Before our world had fallen apart, and running for joy had been displaced by fleeing for our lives. After all that had happened, it seemed strange to think of him as once having been just human—though as the Scion he’d never been ordinary.

  Shay caught me watching him and arched his eyebrow. A blush surprised me as its heat bit into my cheeks, but I answered his quizzical gaze with a smile before I looked away from him. I’d never been much of a daydreamer, but thoughts of Shay—particularly of the moments we’d shared alone—captured my mind a little too easily.

  Connor laughed. “Nice job, kid. I’ve never seen Pascal speechless before.”

  “I believe this issue is settled,” Anika said. “Pascal will assemble the decoy team for deployment tomorrow morning. What are you envisioning for the stealth team, Shay?”

  “Small,” Shay said, running a hand through his hair. “Adne weaves the door, putting us at the entrance to the cave. I’m assuming it’s another cave?”

  Silas nodded.

  “Connor and Ethan as Strikers. Calla, Nev, and Mason backing them up.”

  “We’re integrating the Guardians this soon?” Pascal asked. “We don’t know that we can trust them.”

  “You can trust them,” Ethan said. I stared at him, hardly believing what I’d just heard.

  “You’re going to trust us too,” Ren said, offering Pascal a cold smile.

  Pascal grimaced, but didn’t bother to argue with Ren.

  “The decoy team was my idea,” Ren continued. “I’m not missing its trial run.”

  Fear needled my skin. Ren’s plan was a good one, but the Searchers were right. The decoy team would be hit hard. They wou
ldn’t get out of the fight without losses. I didn’t want Ren to be one of them.

  “And Sabine, one of my packmates who’s here,” Ren said. “I’m guessing she’ll want in too.”

  “She’s only just recovered from her injuries,” Ethan said. “I think she should stay behind.”

  Ren laughed. “Have you seen how we recover? I don’t know what happened to her, but if she’s had pack blood, she’s fine. She’ll be more than ready for a fight.” He glanced at Logan. “Besides, if we’re going up against the Keepers, I’d like to see you try and leave her behind.”

  Logan shuddered.

  Ethan didn’t respond, but his mouth set into a hard line.

  I was surprised by how quickly Ren had settled into his role here. We were surrounded by lifelong enemies, but he’d taken command without hesitation. He was a natural leader, confident and strong. I could see it burrow into Shay. Each time Ren spoke, Shay bristled.

  Shay was a leader too, taking control of this war in which he’d play such a vital part. And he wasn’t ceding pack rule to Ren. By taking some of our packmates, including me, with him to retrieve Tordis, Shay had made it clear he’d be leading wolves, not just Searchers.

  How would the pack respond to Ren’s return? Would any new allegiance they felt for Shay dissolve? Nev and Sabine had loved Ren. Ansel and Bryn had thought he was a good alpha. But I also remembered what Sabine had said. Ren made a mistake. If he wanted you so much, he should have come here. He should have been here to fight for you. He was here now, but was it too late? I wondered if she’d still feel loyalty to her former alpha.

  Thoughts of my pack, of our bonds, brought me back to the wolf I was the most worried about.

  “What about my brother?” I asked Anika. “What have you decided about him?”

  “Nothing’s been decided yet,” Anika replied carefully.

  “It wasn’t his fault.”

  “According to Logan, your brother betrayed our location to the Keepers of his own volition. He wasn’t forced to do so.”

  “You don’t understand what they did to him. They destroyed his wolf. They broke him. They promised they would make him whole again. He had no choice!”

  As much as I didn’t want to think about it, I wondered if I wouldn’t have done the same thing had I been in Ansel’s place. I couldn’t imagine life without the ability to shift. The wolf was who I was. Without that part of me I would feel like I was nothing. Just like Ansel did.

  “We’re taking that into consideration,” Anika said.

  “How could Ansel have told the Keepers about the Denver hideout?” I protested, growing more desperate. I couldn’t make my brother a wolf again, but at least I could try to set him free. I turned pleading eyes on Connor. “You saw what he was like. He didn’t have any strength left.”

  Connor looked at Logan, who smiled cruelly at me.

  “He didn’t need strength,” Logan said. “All he needed was a simple invocation. A spell that revealed the location of the supplicant. The only thing your brother had to do was read the words aloud.”

  My throat closed as I remembered two nights before, when I’d tried to turn Ansel. Tried and failed.

  He reached into his pocket, pulling out the crumpled paper.

  “Ansel, what is that?” I asked, trying to get a better look.

  “Leave me alone.” His eyes rested on the dirty scrap for a moment before he gripped it in a tight fist, pressing it against his chest. “It’s from Bryn, okay? I managed to hang on to it while the Keepers had us separated.”

  He’d lied to me. There had been no poem. No last words of love from Bryn. Only betrayal scribbled on a slip of paper. Logan watched me, still smiling while the truth twisted like a knife in my belly.

  Shay’s hand was on my shoulder. I let myself lean into him, the reassurance of his touch easing my fear about Ansel’s fate. “They won’t hurt Ansel. I made them promise.”

  A growl rumbled behind us. “Could you not touch her?” Ren didn’t make it sound like a question.

  “Bite me,” Shay snarled.

  “Stop it. Both of you.” I rubbed my throbbing temples, pulling away from Shay even though I wanted him to wrap his arms around me and find comfort. If I was going to referee this game, I had to stay neutral. I could see now while it might make me powerful, at times it would leave me miserable.

  “We did give our word, Calla,” Anika said. “No harm will come to your brother. But we also can’t risk freeing him.”

  “But you’ll let him come and go at will?” I pointed at Logan.

  “If you haven’t noticed, everyone in this room is armed,” Anika replied coolly. “Logan was escorted here from his cell. He’ll be escorted back. Make no mistake. He’s a prisoner, not a guest.”

  “Thanks, that’s lovely,” Logan said, blowing smoke rings into the air.

  I glared at Logan, wishing I could bite off those fingers and let him try to hold a cigarette without them. As much as I wanted to convince the Searchers they shouldn’t trust him, I knew I was right about Logan. He was here because he’d lost his place among the Keepers. Logan was just like his father: he’d only ever been interested in power. Somehow he thought the Searchers were his way of getting it back. I just couldn’t figure out what angle he was playing.

  Anika surveyed the map on the table. I knew the conversation about Ansel was over. Fury bubbled up inside me. If I couldn’t fight for him, at least I could fight. Edging forward to peek at the map, I saw mountainous terrain.

  “That’s where we’re going?”

  She nodded. “Mürren, Switzerland. At dawn. We’ll send in the decoys first. The cave is here. We’ll draw the Guardians away from the entrance and then send in the stealth team.”

  “You up for early morning bear baiting, Pascal?” Connor laughed.

  For the first time Pascal cracked a smile. “Of course, mon frère. It’s what we do best.”

  “Huh?” I frowned at Connor.

  Connor cocked his head at me, then his eyes went wide. “You don’t know?”

  “Know what?”

  “Oh, man.” Shay glanced from me to Ren. “The other Guardians are bears?”

  “What?!” Ren and I exclaimed in unison. I looked at him. The other alpha’s face mirrored the shock I felt.

  “Just the Guardians of Tordis,” Silas replied. “You really didn’t know about the other Guardian forms?”

  My skin felt too tight. I wanted to shift and bolt from the room.

  Ren managed an answer. “No. We didn’t.”

  “Was that bear that attacked me when we met a Guardian?” Shay asked me.

  “No,” I said, still shaken. “That was just a grizzly.”

  Not once in my life had I considered the idea that other forms of Guardians might exist. Our wolf packs were closely knit. We were proud of our ferocity and of our skill as warriors. The Keepers made us feel like we’d been chosen. That we alone could serve them in the war. More lies.

  Ren threw me a puzzled glance. “You saved him from a bear?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I want to know more about these other Guardians.”

  Silas puffed up. “It’s quite genius, actually. Keepers created Guardians naturally suited to each environment they would protect. Wolves in Colorado. Bears in Switzerland.”

  A stocky, dark-haired Searcher from a team I hadn’t been introduced to smiled grimly. “Y las yaguares en Tulúm.”

  “Sí. Las yaguares.” Silas shuddered. “La muerte en las sombras.”

  I didn’t speak Spanish, but I knew he was describing another type of Guardian. My stomach twisted. I’d always felt that we were special somehow. Even if we were servants, I’d felt a sense of privilege of lives marked by exception. Now it turned out that we were just convenient.

  The shock of learning wolves weren’t the only Guardians created by Keepers wasn’t the only thing gnawing at me. Everything about this scenario—the strategizing, the strike teams.
Haldis Tactical was the place where Searchers planned their attacks. Where they’d planned their attacks on Vail. I didn’t have any doubts about whose side we should be on, but I wondered if I would ever feel at ease here.

  Silas was still talking. “It would be the perfect system, except for the—”

  “If you call them a sin against nature again, I will end you.” Ethan’s hand was on his dagger’s hilt.

  “Look who’s a born-again Guardian evangelist now.” Connor laughed. “What’s up with that?”

  A blush slid up Ethan’s neck. “Nothing. They’re our allies. That’s all.”

  “Sure it is,” Connor said.

  Ethan swore and turned his back on Connor.

  FOUR

  BRYN HAD BEEN RIGHT about Ansel’s quarters. They weren’t so much a cell as a sparsely furnished bedroom. Though from looking at Ansel, you’d have thought he was back in the Keepers’ dungeon. He was curled up in the window seat, head pressing against the glass.

  In the distance you could see the sea lapping at the shore, but the idyllic setting had no effect on Ansel’s blank stare. I could see now why the Searchers posted outside the door were so relaxed. Their ward seemed to have no interest in escaping, and even if he did escape, he had the strength of a wet noodle. My bones ached as I watched him. Why did it have to be Ansel who suffered?

  Bryn sat next to him, stroking his hair. I was surprised to see Tess sitting on the opposite side of Ansel, a plate of oatmeal cookies in her lap. As they sat opposite each other, Tess looked almost like Bryn’s older sister. Tightly curled ringlets crowned each of their heads; Bryn’s bronze locks glinted in the sun while Tess’s blue-black curls took on an almost violet hue. The former Haldis Reaper turned mother-like caretaker of my little brother watched Ansel with a kind but worried expression. Mason stood near her, munching on a cookie. Nev and Sabine were a short distance apart, speaking to each other in soft tones.

  Nev saw us first. His mouth opened and closed, but rather than speak, he jerked his chin at Sabine. She turned. And hissed when she saw Ren.

  “You.”