by Selena Kitt
“It had curtains in the windows.” Evan said, his eyes all squinty, like he was concentrating hard. “In the back. Oh! Like the one when we went to Stuart’s bury place! Remember, Mom?”
The kid looked at his mother and she nodded her head at him, encouraging. Kai saw tears in her eyes, worry etched on her face. They were all worried about Jules, but Kai was going insane, his mind filled with horrible possibilities.
“I asked you why they had curtains and you said because there was a dead person in there,” Evan told her. Then he turned to Kai with wide eyes. “Jules isn’t dead... is she, Mr. Kai?”
“No.” Kai refused to even consider it. He reached over and grabbed the bag of Oreos sitting on the kitchen table. “These are all yours. You’ve been a great big help.”
“You can find her now?” Evan asked, hopeful, as he took the bag of cookies.
“Yes.” Kai didn’t know if they could or not—but they had a hell of a better chance now than they had five minutes ago, when they were sniffing blind.
Kai waited until Carolyn and Evan had left, the little boy walking out with a bag of cookies in one arm and a kitten in the other, before turning to the rest of the adults in the room.
“This funeral director, he was the last person you saw her with?” Kai asked Cass, who nodded, looking stunned.
“But Kai, he’s an old man. I mean—truly. Nigel wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Kai’s hackles went up at the sound of the man’s name. “Did you say... what’s his name?”
“Nigel,” Zach spoke up. “Nigel Abaddon.”
“Abaddon.” Kai put his head in his hands, closing his eyes. It couldn’t be. But he was somehow certain that it was. He looked around the room at all the confused shifter faces. “No one here knows their Bible verses? Revelation 9:11. They were ruled by a king, the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon...”
“What are you saying?” Cass asked. “That he’s... some sort of demon?”
“No. He’s a necromancer.”
Kai stood, facing them, the entire Wilde clan, Cass, Zach, all their children—and their spouses. A dozen shifters, plus a few cousins in the room, but that wouldn’t be enough. They’d need a shifter army.
“He’s Nigellus Infernum,” Kai told them. “And he’s come back from the dead to finish what he started.”
JULES
Jules woke up in complete darkness. She couldn’t move, except to squirm. Her arms were attached with something, from wrist to elbow, bent up in front of her, hands against her forehead. She tried calling out, but her mouth was covered. Her legs were bound, too. And she couldn’t see anything at all. She attempted to roll but ran into a metal wall on both sides. And she was freezing cold.
A coffin. I’m in some sort of coffin.
She remembered the old man in her kitchen, the powder, the taste of something bitter. Then nothing.
Terrified, she thought of Kai. They would be looking for her. But she had no idea how long she’d been gone.
Her arms were bound, but her hands were available—even if they were numb from cold—and she used them to work the tape off her mouth. Then she began to scream at the top of her lungs. She screamed and used her feet, still encased in riding boots, to bang against the metal sides. If there was someone out there, maybe they would hear the racket and...
Light. Jules tried looking back but couldn’t move very well. When the metal slab she was on started sliding, the realization of where she was sank in.
The mortuary. He’d put her in one of the mortuary drawers.
“You’re going to have to be quiet, my dear.” The old man stood over her, frowning with those blood-red lips. “Or I’ll have to put you to sleep again.”
“Let me go.” Her voice was hoarse, her mouth dry. “Please, just let me go. I won’t tell anyone.”
“No, dear.” He gave her that off-kilter smile. “That won’t do. You see, you’re the bait.”
The bait. For what?
“The dragon will come for you.” Nigel leaned over, peering into her eyes. “You’re his mate.”
He wanted Kai? Panic set in and Jules struggled to get out of her bonds, but it was useless.
“He’s not a dragon anymore,” Jules panted. “He can’t shift. Please, just let me go.”
“Oh, but he can. And he will.” The old man pulled something out of his shirt, showing it to her. It was her necklace. He was wearing her necklace. “Because now I have his heart. And when he comes for you, I’ll be waiting.”
His heart? What was he talking about? Why did he want Kai?
Jules craned her head, looking around the room, hoping to find something, or someone, to help her. In the corner, she saw a shadowy figure and she strained her eyes to focus better. Then she screamed.
“No one can hear you.” He sighed, looking over to see what had set her off.
Stuart stood in the corner, his eyes just as dead and filmy as when she’d seen him that day at the edge of the woods. He was perfectly still, looking ahead, staring at nothing.
“Ah, that’s right.” The mortician nodded at the body in the corner. “You know this revenant. He won’t hurt you—unless I want him to. He’ll do my bidding. And I can see through his eyes if I send him out scouting. Extremely useful. This body I’m in leaves a bit to be desired, I’m afraid.”
A shudder of horror went through her and she looked back at the old man still standing over her.
“Oh yes, I saw you that day.” His voice dripped venom and his gaze moved over her body, like he was seeing her naked again. Jules shuddered. “I’ve been watching the dragon for a while. I saw you through both of them.”
His gaze moved to the other corner and Jules had to twist and turn her head to see what he was looking at.
This time, she didn’t scream. Her breath was just a hiss in her throat.
It was her parents, both of them, standing side by side, but not as she’d seen them out the window at Kai’s. Then, they had been whole. Now, their bodies were decayed, their flesh pulled away from their teeth, leaving them both grimacing. Their eyes were sunk into their sockets, sightless. She might not have even known it was them if she hadn’t recognized her mother’s dress, the pin on her father’s lapel.
“I didn’t know they were yours. Happy coincidence.” He gave a short, harsh laugh. “You see, I have to use the freshest bodies to get them to walk around for me. The older ones are harder to reanimate. It can be done, but I needed more time. And my God, this is a damned small town—not enough people die here. So, I had to start making bodies.”
He looked over at the younger, dead man in the corner and Jules understood his meaning instantly. He’d killed her best friend.
Oh Stuart. Poor Stuart.
Who was this man? And what did he want from her—and Kai?
“You bastard,” she choked, struggling to get out of the duct tape wrapped around her arms from wrist to elbow. “I’m going to kill you.”
“Didn’t your mate tell you?” He laughed. “Nothing can kill me. I’m already dead.”
“Kai can kill you,” she countered and saw his eyes narrow.
This was the lich—the necromancer who couldn’t be killed. It couldn’t be. It was impossible. The tomb was somewhere in Scotland, and this man was here, in little Wolfhaven. But she knew it was true, just from his reaction.
“Not if the dragon is under my control.” His lips turned up at the corners, so red they were almost like a clown’s.
“There’s an entire shifter wolf pack coming for me,” she threatened, although her voice shook. She was shivering—not just because of the cold, but from fear. “You know all those shifters you called for Cass? They’re coming for you.”
“Yes, I know.” He chuckled. “I’m betting on it.”
She gagged when he leaned even closer—his breath reeked like dead leaves molding on the top of a grave. His face was close to hers, too close. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her and that made her gag again and sh
e covered her nose and mouth with her hands.
“You have her eyes,” Nigel said, looking satisfied.
“Who? What are you talking about?” Jules turned her face away, closing her eyes to him.
“Nia.” He spoke her name with relish. “I’m going to enjoy this, my dear. I’ve been sitting in that tomb for a thousand years, thinking about what I was going to do to you when I got out.”
Her heart thudded hard in her chest and she turned her face to him again. She could hardly breathe. The story was fresh in her mind—Kai’s failed rescue attempt, Nia’s kidnapping. How he’d sacrificed himself to save her, and then she’d come back to stop the necromancer.
She couldn’t kill him—not without dragon fire—so she put him in the mystical tomb he’d made for her.
“Goodnight, Nia.” Nigel took something out of his pocket—the vial again.
“No!” she cried, turning her head. “I’ll be quiet, I promise.”
He shoved her arms down, making her yelp in pain, and blew the powder into her face. It rained down bitterness. She tried to hold her breath, but that didn’t last long. When she finally gave in and filled her lungs, she had just one thought before she sank again into darkness.
Kai.
And then there was nothing.
KAI
“So, Jules is a descendent of Nia’s daughter?” Kai asked, trying to comprehend what Graham McNeil—the Scottish wulver who had spoken up as soon as Kai mentioned Nigellus—was telling him. “I knew she’d married, but... are you sure?”
Kai had left Scotland, but he’d gone back years later, after her death. He’d seen her grave—her husband’s. Two small bairns she’d lost. He didn’t know one had survived.
“Aye. Tis true. I traced ’er lineage.” Graham cleared his throat, glancing at Cass. “Well, I had some help. But, aye. I’m sure.”
“Her father was interested in genealogy,” Cass piped up. “Jules gave it to me, after he died, thinking it might be something the Wolfhaven Historical Society might be interested in.”
“You knew?” Kai looked at her, stunned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I suspected.” Cass held up a finger, shaking her auburn head. “I didn’t know. Not until Graham borrowed a few of your books and confirmed it.”
Kai had suspected it himself. Jules had mentioned her mother’s heritage—learning Gaelic. And her voice—that song she hummed, the one she didn’t know the words to.
“But tis the jewel Nigellus wants,” Graham went on in his Scottish brogue. “Tis the key to all t’dragon shifters.”
“Her necklace?” Kai mused. “Why?”
“Ye do’na remember anythin’ about that night?” Graham puzzled, rubbing his reddish beard. “Tis all gone from yer memory?”
“Not all of it.” Kai frowned. “But it’s been a thousand years. And he did some sort of magic hocus-pocus. I don’t know. It’s fuzzy. I just know Nia said he trapped the dragon’s heart in a stone, and there was no way to undo the spell without releasing the necromancer. And we sure as hell weren’t going to do that.”
“I know t’legend well.” Graham nodded sagely. “T’dragon’s heart’s trapped in a stone. T’one hangin’ round your mate’s neck righ’now.”
“That’s the stone?” Kai stared at him, incredulous.
“Aye.”
“But wouldn’t I know?” Kai puzzled over this. “I’ve been close to it—very close to it—for months.”
“Tis charmed.” Graham shrugged. “I know the source spells, some of t’magic he used, but it takes real power t’make it happen.”
“The kind of power that hasn’t existed in a thousand years,” Zach spoke up, his arm around his mate.
The entire wolf clan was still there, waiting for Kai to pounce into action—except for Ava and Liam. He’d sent the couple up to his house to retrieve something for him from Sebastian.
Kai was itching to find Jules, and he would’ve left already, if this Scottish shifter hadn’t butted in with this outlandish tale, saying Nigellus took Jules because he wanted some necklace.
“How in the hell did he get out?” Kai wondered aloud.
“Aye, he had help,” Graham agreed. “I do’na know who, or how, but he would’ve had t’regain ’is power over an extended period of time.”
“He must have been planning this,” Seth spoke up, his arm around his mate, Simone. “He came to Wolfhaven for a reason.”
“Aye,” Graham agreed again, looking at Cass. “I think he wants t’end all the shifters. Especially us wulvers.”
“Over my dead body,” Cass snapped, her fists clenched in anger. “The whole time he was helping me bring everyone here—he had ulterior motives! That family reunion thing was his idea—and I went along with it! Here I thought he was being nice. I am going to tear him to—”
“Easy, girl.” Zach squeezed his arm around her shoulder and she glared at him.
“Don’t you easy girl me! If I get my teeth on him, I swear—”
“You can’t kill him,” Kai reminded them, glancing around at the semi-circle that they made. “Nia trapped him. The only thing that can kill him is dragon fire. And we all know, there are no dragons anymore.”
“Unless he releases ye,” Graham said. Kai looked at him, the realization hitting hard. He knew what Nigellus was up to now—the fullness of his plan took shape in Kai’s mind in an instant.
“Why didn’t he just take the necklace?” Simone, Seth’s mate, spoke up. “Why take her?”
“Because he wants me,” Kai said grimly. “And he knows I’ll come for her.”
“Aye.” Graham nodded, looking relieved that Kai finally understood. “Tis a trap. Just like t’one ye walked into before.”
“Look, this is my fight.” Kai looked around the room at the shifters that had gathered. There were a hundred more out there on alert, most of them still looking for Jules. But now he knew who had her—and he knew where to find her. “None of you have to come. But I’m going to find Jules.”
“Did ye nuh hear me?” Graham asked, rolling his eyes. “Tis a trap!”
“I know.” Kai squared his shoulders. “I’m walking into it, eyes open.”
“Well, you’re sure as hell not going alone,” Cass said, glancing up at her mate. “We’re coming.”
“Us, too,” Simone said, squeezing Seth’s hand. One by one, all of Cass’s children and their mates committed to standing behind Kai.
“How ’bout ye, wulver?” Kai asked, using a Scottish brogue he’d lost long ago.
“Aye.” Graham nodded, although the look in his eyes told Kai that he knew, more than anyone else here, just what kind of danger they were walking into. “I’m with ye.”
Then the wulver shifted—and everyone else did, too.
Kai opened the door and the pack of wolves bounded out, one after the other, howling at a rising full moon, calling their relatives.
He was going to find his mate, and he had an entire wolf shifter army behind him.
But he didn’t think that was going to make any difference at all.
JULES
This time when Jules came to, she wasn’t in a little metal death box.
This time she was tied to a tree.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty.” Nigel squeezed her breast, twisting her nipple through her blouse so hard Jules screamed. “Ah, that’s what I want to hear. That’s just the sound that will make your dragon run right to us.”
She gritted her teeth, blinking back tears, seeing everything through prisms. Her head was pounding like she had the worst hangover in the world. Shivering, she lifted her head and looked around, trying to assess her surroundings. It was dark—and chilly. Night had come—but which night? How much time had passed? She had no idea.
A fire burned in the clearing, too far away for her to benefit much from the heat, a tripod over it, but nothing was cooking. The woods, then. They were surrounded by trees. Her hands were lashed behind one, her body secured to it with rope this time instea
d of duct tape. She wiggled, but the knots held.
“They’re coming, Nia.” The old man cackled, making Jules shiver again. He was practically dancing with glee. “I have work to do before they arrive.”
Kai. How did the old man know?
She closed her eyes and prayed he wasn’t coming. That someone would warn him away. It’s a trap, Kai—it’s a trap! But she didn’t have much hope of that. The necromancer seemed sure, which meant he’d left some clue. Or maybe he was just relying on the scenting abilities of the wolf shifters to locate her.
Nigel moved nearer the fire and she heard him murmuring something, waving his hands in the air. He was dressed for the occasion in a dark robe that went all the way to the ground.
“Why do you keep calling me that?” she asked, hoping that interrupting him would keep him from completing his task—whatever it was. He had turned slightly, and she could see him in profile now.
“Don’t think you can distract me.” The lich raised his hands from his waist to his chest, eyes still closed, like he was lifting the lid to something. “I can hold a dozen worlds simultaneously.”
“Oh wow, so much talent,” Jules snarked. “I’m impressed.”
“You want to know why I call you Nia?” His hands moved again, palms up, level with his shoulders. “Because you are Nia. You are the Fireborne who trapped me in a tomb of my own making. You are the one true mate of the dragon king, the priestess who will be his final undoing.”
“No, I’m not.” Jules rolled her eyes, trying not to show him how afraid she was, managing to keep the quiver out of her voice. “My name is Julianna Monroe. I think you have me confused with someone else.”
“No, my dear. You’re the one who’s confused.”
She saw the red slash of his smile out of the corner of her eye. The old man’s hands moved upward again, and she saw them trembling, as if he were struggling to lift something very heavy, even though there was nothing there.
“You have her blood running through your veins. You had the stone of your ancestors around your neck—the one that trapped the dragon’s heart. You are Fireborne.” The necromancer’s hands moved again, this time straight up, as if there was no more impediment, his skinny, white arms reaching for the sky.