by May Dawson
“He thinks he’s funny,” I called over to her, forcing a smile, as I grabbed my brother and half-carried, half-dragged him to the car. I managed to get the back door open, and by the time I did, it was a full-blown wolf that I thrust into the back seat.
I got into the front seat and slammed the door shut.
“I know you’re scared,” I told the growling wolf, acutely aware that the car was rocking as he paced and shuddered. I looked over at Skyla, who was still shaking like a leaf, her body not under her control at all. I reached over and buckled Skyla’s seatbelt, trying to keep her safe.
I told Blake, “You’re not just a wolf. Think through the fear and pain. Find that human part of yourself.”
I was the wrong person to teach him this. I’d spent two months living in Dean McCauley’s garage because I couldn’t stop myself from shifting and I couldn’t control myself when I did. And Blake didn’t even have the preparation I did.
I was already forming the spell, just in case, as I tried to talk to him. If it had just been me, I would’ve kept talking to him and risked getting maimed. After all, I felt like I kind of deserved it right now, after putting him and Skyla in so much danger by becoming a wolf.
When he leapt at me, I grabbed his neck and muttered the last word of the spell. He went down hard, instantly asleep, and those teeth that had been so close to my face dropped. His head struck the center console and he tumbled into the backseat.
“I’m going to get you some help,” I promised Skyla.
Not the hospital. They wouldn’t know how to help her anyway.
I drove hard for the Northsea pack.
Chapter Sixty-Four
Silas
As soon as Chase had the kids, Lex gave me the nod. I was supposed to stall Alice if I could, just long enough for Chase to get away. Then the patrol guard would move in.
We knew it wouldn’t be that simple, of course. The Day would be waiting, just like we were.
I muttered “Hide as Echo” in Latin, pressing my hand over my face. Maybe a familiar face from the past would throw her off balance. Lex recoiled, then nodded, letting me know he’d protect me if no one else recognized me.
I headed for Alice.
She was walking toward the park exit with the backpack slung over her shoulder. She had bright pink hair at the moment, but she hadn’t bothered to alter her face.
“Hello, handsome,” she told me when she saw me, a slow, wicked smile crossing her lips. “How’s it going with the shifters?”
“They’re still better than you witches,” I promised her.
She laughed at that. “I think you forget I know Maddie. Some of her stories didn’t make them sound that great.”
“People are complicated.” At times when I’d first arrived here, I’d wondered why the hell we were even fighting for the packs. Why not let the shifters and the witches kill each other?
But no matter how dark this world was—shifters, witches, humans alike—there was both innocence and jaded goodness in it. When I watched Maddie bounce Scarlett or Cole, or one of my friends laugh with a sword in their hand, I knew my fate was tied to this world, one way or another.
“They’re not even people,” she said. She glanced over her shoulder, then leaned to look to my side, as if she were looking all around. “I know you’re trying to stall me. Where are they?”
“Am I that boring that you want to jump right to the fighting part?”
“Oh, I’ve never wanted to fight you.” Her eyes were dark as she stared up at me. She sounded blithe, but I had the sudden crashing realization that it was an act.
I’d hurt Alice.
“I never wanted to fight you either,” I reminded her. “We just had the bad luck to end up on opposite sides of the war.”
“If we’re all complicated, why are you on their side?” she asked.
She meant why was I on Maddie’s side, but she couldn’t say that.
“What you did?” I demanded. “Taking a child… Rafe and Lex and Maddie would never do that.”
She scoffed. “Plenty of shifters would do worse to a child.”
“But I don’t fight alongside those shifters,” I said.
“So high and mighty, Silas Adelphus Zip,” she said, and something about her use of my full name—and the knowing look in her eyes—sent a prickle of warning up my spine. “What will your friends think of who you are in the Greyworld?
Damn it, she knew where we were headed next. How? Through Clearborn’s guards? And if so, had all the guards we couldn’t trust already been recalled to their packs—or were they still there on campus, waiting to betray our next move?
Or had someone on our team slipped and told the plan to their family, only to be betrayed?
“I don’t know what my friends would think of who I was,” I said, pretending to mishear her instead of confirming our plans. “But I’d like to think they trust me now.”
“How could they ever trust you when you’re not a shifter too?” she demanded. She leaned on the railing of the bridge, her hair teased by the breeze.
She was either stalling me, or she genuinely needed to understand what had happened between us so badly that she was willing to give our shifters an advantage to get it. Warily, I braced my elbows on the bridge beside her, looking out over the same burbling creek. The trees were thick greenery around either side of the creek, the sun shining through them. I had to admit, it was beautiful in this world, when the people let it be.
“We’ve been through a few things together,” I said.
“You put Maddie through a few things, Echo,” she said. “Would they ever see you the same way if they knew?”
Sooner or later, she was going to do everything she could to destroy my position with my team. She wanted to kill us all, sure. But more than that, she wanted them to stop trusting me. To wrench away the only family I knew.
Deep down, Alice still hoped I’d come back to her. I wondered what had happened to twist her so badly, that she needed to win my love so desperately even though she saw herself as a hardened villain.
“Probably not,” I admitted. “Would the Day still respect you if they knew about your hopeless crush on a Greyworld wizard?”
“The Day respects power,” she said. “Even after everything you did, you’d be welcome in my world. You’re barely tolerated by the shifters.”
There was nothing to argue there.
“But you’re not going to come over to my side,” she said slowly. “Because you’re so stubborn? Because you love a girl who can never truly love you back? You’re not her kind, Echo.”
I shrugged. “She does seem to love me anyway.”
“I’m sure she thinks she does. But every other male in her thrall has that magical mating bond. What do you have with her that can ever compare?”
“Regular old love makes people pretty crazy too, Alice,” I reminded her.
She should know that.
“What makes her so special?” she asked softly. “You don’t have a mating bond with her. There’s no magic at play.”
There was no mating bond, true. I’d fallen in love with Maddie slowly. Once, I’d watched her stumble when someone knocked into her on purpose—the way they did those first few months at the academy—and she’d had this stoic, resolved look on her face, her lips pressed together, her features expressionless. Even when she slammed into the ground, nothing showed on her face.
And then a few seconds later, she’d struggled to her feet and just for a second—when she thought no one was watching—this grimace of hurt and vulnerability and longing had passed across her face. Just for a second. I’d admired her strength, and I’d wanted to pull her close and protect her, all at the same time.
She had that easy magnetism, a sunny smile that drew people in, the ability to talk to anyone. She was charming and kind and good, so genuinely warm and caring in a way that carried more strength than the most dominating alpha male.
She was always real, and I was always wearing a mask. Maybe I d
idn’t deserve her, but that would never stop me from pursuing her anyway.
“She’s magic to me,” I said.
“You’re a real asshole, Silas, you know that?” Alice asked.
“I know,” I said.
“Don’t you think that she deserves better than you?”
“Maybe. But even if you and I were low enough to deserve each other, Alice—I’d still choose her.”
She turned to me, raising her hand to slap me across the face. Magic crackled around her fingertips—that slap would do a lot more than sting.
I caught her wrist in one hand, stopping her hand just inches away from my face. Dark red strands of magic wove around her narrow fingers.
I ducked to scoop one arm under her thighs, lifting her up to the railing. As I tossed her over the rail, she tried to clutch me, but I was already dumping her into the creek.
As she fell, I grabbed the backpack and wrenched it away from her. She shrieked in outrage as she slammed into the cold stream below. It doused the vile fire magic she’d woven.
“Maybe you’re right and you and I are alike,” I told her. “And that’s why I’ll always be one step ahead of you, Alice.”
I threw the backpack over my shoulders and headed for the exit to the park, knowing our enemies would be coming.
Sure enough, before I reached the edge of the park, half-a-dozen shifters emerged from the woods around me.
I smiled, eager for a fight after what they’d done, my magic already blossoming around my fingertips.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Chase
I stopped next to Piper’s car. She was by my side in a second when I climbed out.
“Are Blake and Skyla okay?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “I think someone bit them. Someone turned my brother and sister.” The words came out staccato. Even I could hear that my voice was wrong, distant, but I forged on. “They’re both… Blake wolfed out. I had to knock him unconscious. But Skyla… I don’t know what’s happening to her.”
“We’ll figure it out,” she promised. She was already climbing into the backseat. “Hey, Skyla. I know you haven’t met me yet, but I’m Maddie’s big sister. I’ve been waiting to meet you!”
“What’s going on with the rest of the team?” Maybe I should only care about Blake and Skyla that much, but I hated not being with them.
She chewed her lip, her hands moving rapidly over Skyla’s body as she checked her vitals and assessed her. “They intercepted Alice, the Day moved in, and things started going to hell. Okay, it looks like she’s stable enough. I’m going to move them back to the academy—Clearborn’s got the doc on standby in the infirmary. Are you coming with?”
I hesitated. Blake couldn’t even hear me. “Skyla, I’ve got to go help my friends, okay? You can trust Piper.”
“I’ve got her,” Piper promised.
One of her men swung into the front seat, and the car was moving practically as soon as I jumped out.
I ran toward my team just as I heard the crackle of magic ahead.
Lex slammed into the ground ahead of me. I couldn’t see whoever had hit him with that blast of magic, but even though he was obviously fighting to stay conscious, his fingers curled tightly around the hilt of his sword.
“It’s been fun, Lex,” Alice said as she strode into sight from the cover of the building’s edge. Wet pink hair trailed down her back. She didn’t notice me out of the corner of her eye, and I froze, trying to maintain the advantage of surprise.
Lex raised his hand to spark a spell, magic lighting across his fingers, but his lips couldn’t form the words.
She dropped with her knees on either side of him, and there was a sudden sharp glow of magic in her hand.
I moved toward her, determined to knock her into next week, but she was distracted as Penn flew at her. He slammed into her, knocking her into the concrete, and the two spun over and over each other fighting for control, both of them forming spells, shouting Latin, blocking each other’s spell as soon as they could be formed. Their competing magics were a blaze of orange and blue around them as they fought.
I ran forward, trying to figure out how to help. Penn had turned out to be a natural these past few months, but he didn’t have the kind of practice and experience that she had. I was afraid of what would happen to him.
She got the upper hand and suddenly scrambled off Penn—
Just as her magic sparked, lighting him on fire.
Instead of panicking, he grabbed her, tackling her, forcing her under his body.
I ran up to them both and grabbed Penn off her so I could separate them before I doused the magic fire across Penn.
“Help me,” she begged as the fire consumed her. She kept trying to form the counterspell, but she couldn’t do it if she couldn’t speak the Latin. Her lips formed the words, and she was almost there, so close…
I yanked Penn’s knife off his belt and slit her throat. She stared at me, gasping, as blood poured down her throat from her severed vocal cords.
“You should never have come after my family,” I told her. “Not Blake and Skyla. Not Penn and Lex.”
Those were the last words she heard before she died.
Silas strode up then, wearing that damned backpack over his shoulders, his hands in his pocket. He looked so damned relaxed. Then he saw Penn, still laying on the ground groaning, and he rushed to his side to try to heal him.
“Magic burns,” he muttered. “Shit.”
“Where the hell have you been?” I snapped. “Alice got away from you.”
“I was busy,” he said. He glanced back at Alice, his eyes merciless. “Looks like she didn’t get away from much.”
For the first time, I noticed there was blood splattered across Silas’s shirt, across his arm. His hands were covered in it.
“Yours?” I asked.
His gaze fell to his shirt, following my eyes, then he shook his head.
This time, we brought her body back to the academy. This time, we knew she was really and truly gone.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Maddie
When we reached the academy, I was surprised to see my sister’s Suburban parked outside the academic building.
I broke away from the guys and headed into the building, my hiking boots noisy on the polished floors. There was no one in the dean’s office, and a panicked feeling tightened my chest as I ran down to the infirmary.
Skyla was lying on one of the beds. Her brother, Blake, was sitting in the chair, and Piper rubbed his shoulder comfortingly in her maternal way. The doctor and one of the nurses were bustling around Skyla.
“What happened to Skyla?” I asked. “Where’s Chase?”
“He should be on his way back now if everything went okay,” Piper said. “He went back to help Lex and the others. They had to stop Alice from getting away with the Dark Collar once the trade was done.”
“That’s what Alice wanted?” I asked, and I wanted to know why, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Skyla’s slender form. She was unconscious, and I looked at Piper, begging her to explain.
She squeezed Blake’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
Piper and I stepped out into the hall. “Skyla and Blake were both bitten.”
“What do you mean?” I frowned. “Skyla is too young….”
Piper glanced back to make sure the door was closed to the infirmary before she said softly, “It’s not always a death sentence at that age.”
Not always. Those words landed like a fist in my gut. Then my chin rose. “We’re going to find who did this.”
“Eventually,” Piper agreed. “Arthur and Callum took our pack and went hunting. If there’s any way we can track them with magic, they will.”
“If we had our wolves, this would be easy,” I said.
“But we don’t. So we’ll find another way.”
“I’ll go help.”
“Take your men and go to the library,” she said gently. “We need a team studying
what could help Skyla come through this. And it would be good to know, too, what exactly Alice might have wanted the Dark Collar for—if you can keep an eye out during your research.”
I nodded, and Piper held me at arm’s length, studying my face. The guys entered the hall between us, being loud—they couldn’t help it—and she said, “I’ll walk with you to the library. Then I want to stay with Blake and Skyla—in case they need help. They’ve been through a lot.”
“What happened?”
Piper filled me in on what she knew so far: Alice trying to worm her way into their lives, the kids being kidnapped by the Day, their escape attempt, being caught.
“Why the hell would they turn kids? Were they trying to get back at us?” I demanded.
“I’m not sure why they would do such a thing,” Piper said. “The packs used to turn kids, but the fatality rate was so high. It’s been a long time since anyone practiced such a barbaric tradition.”
“Why was it a tradition?”
“The younger a child is turned, the more powerful the wolf seems to be,” she said briskly. “If they survive.”
“Skyla will survive,” I said. “She’s tough.”
Piper had been with her during all the medical interventions, but I could tell from her face she was holding herself back because she didn’t want to destroy my optimism. “Yes, she sounds like a wonderful little girl,” she said. “The doctor has her sedated, resting a bit easier right now. But I’m looking forward to getting to know her.”
She stopped to face me. “Now, what’s wrong with you?” she asked gently.
I would never fall apart in front of anyone else. We had just entered the empty library. I couldn’t walk through this school without seeing the ghosts of memories—of my men and me fighting, against each other and for each other, and falling in love.
I’d left Tyson behind and I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again.
I’d been missing when Chase and his siblings—kids I had come to love like they were my own brother and sister—had needed us.