“Haven’t you seen the wolves with the glowing red eyes? What do you think they are?”
“Rafe said they’re wolves a witch cursed.”
Although Reagan wasn’t shocked at how well Rafe had covered his bases, she realized she had a difficult task ahead of her. “Did Rafe tell you what he did to me?”
“He said he tried to save you before his brother could take you.”
“So he didn’t mention he tried to rape me; that the only thing that stopped him was Mom firing a gun at his head. Feel free to ask Mom.” With each word, her volume escalated. She’d never forget that night. Not that the last few days had been a picnic.
“Maybe he was angry because you wouldn’t—”
“Dammit! You won’t even listen. I’m your sister. Shouldn’t you trust me over some crazed lunatic who came into your life after he brutally attacked you? All he cares about is the prophecy. He wants to be immortal and live forever. The demon in him wants to open the gates of Hell.” Reagan could see the evil in Rafe every time she looked in his eyes. How could Sam not?
“Fine. Say what you will about Rafe. I don’t care. I don’t want to be in the middle of this war. What I do care about is the girl I love. Jessica needs me.”
Love—one of the most intense motivators. Reagan wanted to fall back into the role of being Sam’s big sister and ask him all the important questions. What does she look like? How did you fall in love? When can I meet her? She knew the intensity of love, especially first love. Reagan thought Dex, her high school quarterback boyfriend, was her first. Then there was Rafe; a sorry lapse in judgment. Was she in love with Rowan? She was attracted to him—a lot—and her heart beat faster when she was around him. But she’d trusted those emotions before to no avail.
“I thought I was in love with Dex. But I wasn’t.”
“You broke up with Dex?”
She forgot how much her brother looked up to her first boyfriend. How Dex used to take Sam out and throw the football with him. She thought it was endearing. Now she knew Dex only did it to get into her pants. “Yes. He was a jerk in the end. But back to Jessica. I don’t doubt you have feelings for her, but there’s too much on the line. Even if I could convince the others to try and go back for her, the risks are too great. It’s a time to focus on our family, not some girl you barely know.”
“Don’t talk to him like that. He’s been through a lot,” Dad interjected.
“We’ve all been through a lot, and you can’t walk away from me one minute and then jump in and act like you have Dad-authority the next.” How dare he jump in on Sam’s side? Was it another way of letting Reagan know who was blood and who wasn’t?
“Please, let’s all settle down,” Mom said. “We need to work together and trust each other.”
“We also need to make good decisions,” Reagan said, frustrated with the conversation.
“You didn’t let that stop you from getting me,” Sam said.
Reagan softened. Arguing wasn’t going to do them any good. Mom was right; they had to find a way to work together. “That should tell you something about our intentions. Shouldn’t it?”
“If you want me to trust you, then go get Jessica.”
If it was up to Reagan, she’d do it; if for no other reason than to prove to her brother how much she loved him. But, she doubted Papa would consider it. “It’s not my decision to make. There are a lot of lives at stake.”
“If Rafe is as bad as you say he is, then she’s not safe. I love her.”
How could she deny him this one thing?
“There’s something I should show you.” Sam lifted his arm. “Feel here.” Reagan touched his arm and felt something hard under the surface. “It’s a tracking device. He put it there after I left the first time. He said he didn’t trust me. The only way I could earn my way back in was to be tagged.”
Reagan jerked her arm back like he’d burned her. “Rowan!”
Rowan came charging into the room.
“Sam is tagged. Rafe is tracking him.” She held up her brother’s arm. “Feel!”
“Dammit,” Rowan said as he felt the implant. “We have to tell Jed.”
Without so much as a backward glance, Reagan and Rowan left the room in search of Papa. As soon as they cleared the open door, Rowan scooped her up and carried her down the hallway. This time she found no comfort there, but she was glad to have a quicker way to her grandfather. She had no clue what time it was—living in a cave was similar to the way her parents described their one trip to Vegas. Her parents had stayed in the Venetian and noted it had no windows or clocks in the casino area. Reagan’s dad told her it was so people wouldn’t be tempted to leave since they never really knew what time it was or whether it was light or dark outside. The same was true in the cave. Clocks were few and far between, and there was no natural light. She wondered how long Sam had been their guest, or prisoner as he saw it, and how long Rafe had been tracking her brother.
Papa, it turned out, wasn’t in the command center.
Rowan set her down. “Let me go find him and have him join us here. It’s easier. Plus, I’ll grab you something to eat. I’m sure you’re hungry.” Hunger hadn’t registered until the second he said the word. Her stomach responded with a telling growl.
“Guess I am. Thanks.” She hated feeling useless.
With Rowan gone, she was left with more of her back and forth thoughts: Sam and his girlfriend, Mom and Dad. Guilt hit. Where was Winona? Was she feeling left out? Did any of them check on her before Reagan woke up? So many questions and concerns floated around her brain, one slamming its way in, then another. She decided to tackle them in some order. First, she needed the time. Hobbling over to the nearest computer, she swiped the mouse to one side so the screen would come back to life. Eleven o’clock. She and Sam probably took off from her house not long after two o’clock, maybe three. Eight hours. This one thought took over all the others. She knew the mischief Rafe could cook up with that kind of lead time.
A locator spell. She needed a way to find out where Rafe and his cronies were. She thanked her interest in paranormal books yet again for the thought coming to her. Between Aunt Sarah, Nana, and Cheveyo, a locator spell should be a piece of cake. Plus, Winona seemed to have honed some pretty cool skills in her first seventeen years of life. If they knew how close Rafe was, they could formulate a plan. Or run—escape to a place to buy them all some much needed time.
Then a dangerous, but enticing, plan hit Reagan: Why wait for the supposed prophecy? Why not attack Rafe before he was expecting it? Get Sam back his girlfriend. Reagan was sick of waiting around for the fight to come to her.
If she wasn’t sidelined by her stupid ankle, she would’ve run around collecting all the relevant parties and shared her idea. But she was stuck here until Rowan and Papa came back. Her stomach grumbled again. Damn silly things like hunger when you were planning a war.
She smelled the food before she saw their faces, but she knew Rowan and Papa were close. Either that or some of the other wolves were running around with late night snacks. She was tingling with anticipation, like a girl waiting for her new boyfriend to ring the doorbell.
Rowan entered the room first with a plate extended. “There wasn’t much to choose from at this late hour, so I warmed you up a quesadilla I scrounged up.”
Momentarily sidelined by his efforts, Reagan took the plate. She’d never had a guy cook something for her or carry her down a hallway. Or see her shoot flames out of her mouth while in wolf form. Lots of firsts lately. After several mouthfuls and Papa’s arrival, she began to spell out her plan. “I’ve been thinking. We keep talking about all the training I need to do to be ready for some epic battle the day Winona and I turn eighteen. But that’s what Rafe is expecting. He’s got eight hours, maybe a bit less, on us thanks to Sam’s tracking device. If I know him at all, he’s coming. It’s in his best interest not to see my eighteenth birthday, so why don’t we just get ready now? The only other option I see is to run. How
many cave homes do you have around fully stocked and ready to house us?”
Rowan and Papa exchanged glances, and she got the distinct feeling they’d already been plotting without her.
Papa spoke first. “I understand your thought process. I’ve considered it myself. And, yes, Sam having a tracking device does complicate things. There’s so much we don’t understand about Rafe’s plans. I don’t like going into a battle with spotty intelligence. I talked to Sam earlier today. Found out some things that concern me. Of course, I wish he would’ve mentioned the device to me hours ago, but—”
“Wait, what did Sam tell you?” she asked, interrupting him.
Before he could answer, reinforcements came in the form of Madeleine, Sasha, and Ricardo.
“Great, glad you guys are here,” Papa said, motioning for everyone to sit down. “As you all know, Reagan’s brother has joined us. He’s been with Rafe for several months. I talked with him earlier. But first, Reagan found out Rafe implanted a tracking device in Sam’s arm.”
Madeleine gasped.
Ricardo, who was sitting next to her, put a hand on her arm.
“I have someone in with Sam now, removing it.”
Reagan, who’d been focusing on Madeleine ever since her gasp, jerked back toward Papa. All Reagan could think about was everything her poor baby brother had been through in the last few weeks.
“He’ll be fine, and it’s part of our new plan. We need a small group to run it far away from here and quickly. We don’t need Rafe anywhere close. I’ve got Jackie working with Cheveyo on a cloaking spell for our current location. Winona, too.”
“I volunteer.” Madeleine jumped out of her seat as she spoke.
“And you aren’t going anywhere without us,” Sasha said the words as Ricardo nodded in agreement.
“Great. You three should gather a couple more. I want everybody paired up. Nobody goes off alone. Madeleine is point person on this one. They should have the tracker out soon so you might want to head over there.”
All three stood and left. Reagan watched them go, silently wishing them well. “I still think we need to stop running. Rafe won’t be expecting us to attack so soon. Doesn’t that give us an advantage? You know; the element of surprise.”
“I didn’t tell you what else Sam told me,” Papa said.
“I think I know. Is it about Jessica?”
Papa had a worn out look. “Hear me out. Yes, he told me about Jessica. But he also mentioned Rafe’s son.”
Now it was Reagan’s turn to gasp.
“Actually, sons. Sam said he knew for sure of two, but that he’d heard rumors of many more. He didn’t know details. But then he mentioned the boys’ mother. He also said Rafe had sired kids with other members of his pack. He only knew one name. Someone we thought was lost.”
A name. Reagan racked her brain, trying to force to the forefront the nagging suspicion that she knew something about this.
Rowan beat her to the punch. “Amélie.”
Reagan’s jaw dropped.
Madeleine’s sister—the one pregnant with Rafe’s baby at the same time Madeleine was. Were these children Sam talked about demonic like their father?
“Why didn’t you tell Madeleine while she was here?” Reagan wasn’t sure how Madeleine would react to hearing her sister’s name and knowing she had at least two children by Rafe. How would Madeleine handle reliving her own baby trauma and what these children were? They were demons, but demons with her sister’s blood running through them.
“I’ll talk to Madeleine. Years after we left Rafe behind, he sent word that Amélie had died,” Rowan said. “I’d like the news to come from me, if you don’t mind?”
“Not at all. I thought you might want to be the one. Reagan,” Papa started, refocusing his gaze on his granddaughter, “now you see why we have to be extra cautious, to make sure we know what we’re getting ourselves into. We knew he was building an army of demon wolves, but now we know he’s building an army of demon-wolf hybrids.”
Reagan’s brain was full to overflowing. With every new piece of information, the odds became more stacked against them. “So at least the oldest of the boys would be about?” she asked, dragging out the last syllable and looking to Rowan for some kind of answer.
“Twenty-five or twenty-six. But he’d look younger. More like Sam’s age if not a bit younger than that.”
“For now, let’s focus on the cloaking spell and our team throwing Rafe off our path. That and training.”
“Is it time to call in reinforcements?” Rowan asked.
Papa nodded.
“And they would be?” Reagan was sick of being out of the loop.
“I have some resources. A few friends who owe me some favors. And your grandmother is going to need your help. It’s about time we check in with the one person who can tell us what we need to do to prepare. The one person Rafe can’t touch.”
Reagan arched her eyebrow.
“Cecilia.”
In a matter of a few months, Reagan had reconnected with her grandmother, discovered Papa and Sam were still alive, and found out about a twin sister. Now, it seemed, Reagan would get the chance to meet her great-grandmother, the woman who set forth the prophecy that was controlling their lives. After Papa’s revelation, he insisted Reagan get some rest. Winona was already asleep when Reagan entered her room. She pulled off her sneakers and socks and crawled into bed.
When she first laid her head on the pillow, she feared sleep would never come. But the next thing she remembered was waking up in an empty room. She pulled her socks and tennis shoes back on, wondering if a shower was in her near future. What she wouldn’t give for a long, hot bath. A good breakfast would have to be a consolation prize. Hungry, she headed to the kitchen.
Papa and Rowan were seated at a table, so she joined them with a heaping plate of eggs and bacon.
“Glad you got some sleep. Looks like the ankle’s better, too,” Papa said as she sat down.
She’d forgotten about her ankle. There was a dull ache, but she could bear weight and felt almost back to normal. “I guess I really did need the sleep. Once I eat, I’ll be ready to tackle the day. I was going to stop by and check on Sam, but my stomach pulled me here.”
“Sam’s fine. I checked on him this morning.” Papa pushed the food around his plate, but never took a bite.
Then it hit her—Sam, the tracking device, Madeleine, and a plan to throw off Rafe. Granted, Reagan was exhausted last night, but how could she have forgotten? She was almost too embarrassed to ask, but curiosity won over eating a little crow. “What about Madeleine, Sasha, and Ricardo? Were they able to get rid of the tracker? Are we safe? Did the cloaking spell work?”
“They’re fine; and, yes, everything worked. Or seemed to. It was almost too easy,” Papa said. “Eat up. Everyone is waiting for us in the library. They’ll need you to contact Cecilia.”
“How did Madeleine take the news about her sister?” Reagan asked, turning to Rowan.
“She’s struggling.”
Reagan made a mental note to check on Madeleine later, but first there were more questions needing to be asked. “What about Jessica? What are we going to tell Sam about bringing her here?” Reagan knew the answer, but she couldn’t bear to disappoint her brother again.
“It’s too dangerous.”
Reagan knew what Rowan said was true, but she had to look for other options. Maybe consider a spell for forgetting, something to erase Jessica from her brother’s memory. She shoved the rest of her breakfast into her mouth and threw down the last of her milk. “Let’s go.”
She followed Papa and Rowan into the library where everyone was waiting to begin. One room full of all the people she loved—except Sam who was still recuperating down the hall. She walked over to the table, sat down next to her sister, and squeezed her hand. “Are you okay?” For a brief moment, Reagan wondered where Cheveyo was.
“Yes. It’s been crazy. Sam woke up quite angry.” Winona reached her right hand
over to her left side and pulled her hair away from her neck. A nasty looking wound ran from her hairline and disappeared into her shirt.
“I’m so sorry.”
When Winona laid her hand back on the table, Mom took it. “He’ll love knowing he has another sister. He’s just not ready yet.”
Reagan was happy to see the sweet exchange between her mother and sister and hoped Sam and Dad would come around soon. But Sam only had one focus: first love. Reagan knew all too well how hard it was to shake. Dex was her first, although looking back, she wouldn’t call that love. However, good luck to anyone who tried to convince her of that in the beginning.
“We’re just waiting on Cheveyo. He should be back any moment,” Nana said.
“What’s the plan?” Although Reagan wasn’t sure what was in store, she knew conjuring up the dead couldn’t be an easy task. “How do we talk with someone who’s been dead for so long?”
“She’s very much alive, just in another realm. Some call it Heaven. She’s come to me in dreams before, but I’ve never called on her. In a dream I had just before your accident, she told me I’d need to contact her but it would require the power of six to do so. I was stumped. That is, until we met your sister.”
Reagan counted and still only came to five: Nana, Aunt Sarah, Mom, Reagan, and now Winona. “I’m only getting five.” Just then, Cheveyo walked into the room. “Ah, six. But, wait, you said you were stumped. You already knew Cheveyo would play a part.”
“She mentioned his name. Told me he was essential to what we needed. And he has been.”
“So we have all the players. Is there anything you need?” Papa asked.
Reagan noticed her father hadn’t said a word since she arrived.
“Sarah’s been gathering supplies all day. We’re ready. Jed, if you’ll take Rowan and Steve with you, I’m sure you have battle planning we ladies can skip out on. We’ll let you know how this goes.”
Papa, Rowan, and Dad stood to leave. Papa placed a kiss on Nana’s cheek. It never grew old for Reagan to see her grandparents’ affection. One of the few silver linings to these events was Nana and Papa being reunited. Reagan noticed her father leave without any kind of goodbye for her mother. They really needed to sit down and talk about seeing Sam again and how Dad was dealing with everything. Mom gained a daughter, but Reagan wasn’t sure how Dad saw things. Did he gain a daughter or lose one?
Tala Prophecy: The Complete Series Page 32