by Morgan Wylie
Finally, it was quiet with only Lucius, Mather, and Gracie standing next to Rylen, who was now seated on the couch, his body exhausted from all the intensity of the last several hours.
“Rylen, are you all right?” Gracie asked, hoping he’d read into the serious tone of her question. He easily understood the unasked question.
“Yes, thank you to all of you. That was more than I had experienced in a long while. I am humbled that you had to see it. And yes, Gracie, we are fine. It was you who turned the tide in the circle. I could hear what you were saying clearly. You reached my animal and my spirit when my ears and my head were not listening.”
Gracie smiled, a huge burden lifted from her shoulders only to be replaced with another one. She plopped on the couch next to Rylen, tucking her legs under her seat and staring up into his face. Her face serious once more, she stated, “It’s time to find your mate, Rylen.”
Rylen returned Gracie’s gaze, looking for something she hadn’t yet shared—a secret that would reveal to him where his mate was, but no such luck. He sighed and expelled his held breath. “Is the prisoner talking yet?” He directed the question to Mather who had been down with the prisoner before all this chaos had ensued.
Mather shook his head. “Not yet. But Luc will have his turn next.”
“No,” Gracie jumped to her feet, defiance on her face. All eyes swung toward her, questioning her bold statement, looking to see if she was seeing something. Her eyes were clear and focused, though a slight blush was creeping up her neck at her outburst. Her mouth opened to follow up with an explanation, but at that instant, the doors to the Den flew open once more.
Frazzled and out of breath, Poppy rushed in, not paying attention to her surroundings, and shouted, “I think I found a way to locate Alana!”
Chapter Nineteen
Rylen and the rest of the boys who weren’t already standing, jumped to their feet, ready for action. Poppy’s entrance ignited the necessity for action. Blank faces met her, not yet making sense of what she had just blurted out.
“Did you hear me?” she asked, panting, staring directly at Rylen with a slight slip in focus as her gaze slid quickly toward Mather then back to Rylen.
He shook his head, coming out of a fog. “What did you say?”
“I found a way—well, theoretically I found a way—to locate Alana.” Poppy held up a device, or rather something that looked like the cradle for an octagonal shaped device, no bigger than a quarter.
“What is that?” Mather queried, eyeing the empty item.
“It was where I kept a new locating device I was working on. Similar to a GPS, it’s not entirely finished, but it’s gone. I thought since she was in my office, maybe she could have taken it. It was there before I left.” Poppy examined the item with great confusion.
A gasp of surprise came from Gracie. Her eyes were wide and her expression slightly guilty. “I didn’t know what it was.”
All eyes and expressions of confusion shifted to Gracie.
“What do you mean?” Rylen prodded.
Gracie looked from Rylen to Poppy then around the small group. “I had a vision of that little thing slipping into Alana’s pocket. So I did it, but I didn’t know what it was.” Heat crept up into her face as if she had done something sneaky or underhanded instead of following her intuition and vision.
“Can it help us find Alana?” Rylen’s words held hope for the first time since she left. “Well, yes, like I said, ‘in theory’ if she is able to activate it. I’ve turned it on here on my end, but so far, I’ve got nothing.”
“How does it work?” Enock stepped forward and asked.
“Basically, she needs to turn it on. There’s a pressure spot on the base of the disc, and when she pushes it in, it will activate. The problem is getting someone who doesn’t know what it is—or that she even has it—to activate it,” Poppy explained, leveling the possible excitement to practical reality. Rylen frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
“Rylen?” Lucius spoke, his eyes boring into Rylen’s. “Have you and your mate fully bonded?”
Rylen looked up at Lucius’ words with confusion crossing his stare.
“If you are bonded, you should be able to open channels of communication,” Lucius stated as if it was a common thing. Truth was, it wasn’t that common as many shifters didn’t find their true mates.
Rylen never had before in his couple centuries of living. That part of the communication was not at the forefront of his mind. Hope bloomed once more behind Rylen’s eyes. “I wasn’t even thinking of that. Obviously, we haven’t tried before, and I would have preferred to explain it to her and have tested it out beforehand, but I haven’t been afforded that luxury.” Rylen paused and paced over to the stacks of books, both old and new, collecting dust. “It must be tried,” he mumbled to himself. “Maybe with added magic, I can reach her more efficiently.” He stalked away from the tomes, determination etched on his face. He clapped Lucius on the back as he strode past him. “Finally, some action that might be helpful!”
Rylen reached the doorway and turned back to face his people… his family. “I have to try. I’ll be in my room; I don’t know how long this will take.”
“In the meantime, Rylen?” Mather called out for directions.
“Get the witches back here. I have a job for them to do regarding our pest problem.” A wicked gleam crossed his eyes, and the side of his mouth curled. “Oh, and Mather? You and Poppy see what more you can find out with the device, and those letters, too, if there’s anything more to learn.” Rylen smiled with a hint of sincerity mixed with a bit of mischief. It deepened at Mather’s scowl of disapproval.
Poppy sighed loudly, rolled her eyes, and stormed by Rylen in a huff back to Headquarters. Rylen chuckled along with the suppressed giggles from Gracie and the smothered laughter from Enock. Lucius watched Mather as he often did, reading him beyond what anyone else might know.
“Really? Now I have to apologize… AGAIN,” Mather growled.
“Quit doing stupid stuff, and you wouldn’t have to,” Rylen shot back.
“Mat, why do you fight it so hard? It’s obvious to us that you have feelings for her,” Enock chimed in.
“If you stopped fighting it, you might stay out of the doghouse,” Gracie surprisingly joked. The room stilled as they took her in. “What? Can’t I make a joke?” Defiantly, her hands shot to her hips and she lifted her chin, daring them to say anything. Mather tried but failed to suppress the slight lift of his smile, and to her shock, Lucius slipped and dropped his stony face, allowing a small smile break free of its stony structure. Her attempt at a joke was as humorless as she was innocent, which only made her more endearing.
Gracie reveled at being at the center of the light-hearted camaraderie that was beginning to form. She hoped that this was a step toward her being considered their friend, not just their ward. However, the moment was not meant to last. Her shoulders stiffened, her body frozen from the onslaught of one of her visions. Gracie inhaled deeply, causing every eye in the room to swivel toward her, all joking pushed to the back.
“Another vision?” Enock asked. He was closest and reached for her arm to stabilize her. Her only reply was a single nod. The swirling colors of her eyes mesmerized them as they waited for her to share.
“Mather, do not continue to wrestle the past, bringing the fight to the present. You will need each other in the end.” Gracie’s voice had taken on a hypnotic monotonous tone that was soothing yet creepy. Just as soon as it had come on, her vision ended. Her eyes returned to normal, and her shoulders slumped as she relaxed fully into Enock.
“Well, if that wasn’t pointed enough, I don’t know what else can be done.” Rylen nodded to Enock to continue assisting Gracie. He turned to Mather, “Still your choice, brother.” But Mather was deep in thought. “Remember the witches,” Rylen shouted as he walked out the door to try and communicate with his beloved mate.
Once he was at the
elevator to take him to his room, he was met by another distraction. Lacy. He had been so focused like a little boy with awakened understanding of how some gadget operated, he hadn’t heard or sensed her approach, which was odd for him. He inhaled slowly, calming his sudden anxiety from her presence.
“Hello, Rylen,” Lacy greeted, her words sweetened with sensuality.
“Lacy. It’s been several hours since I kicked you out of the Den. Are you behaving yourself now?”
She moved closer, swiveling her hips enticingly in his direction. Lowering her long, dark lashes, she moved her gaze over his frame from his booted feet up his black fitted jeans, paused over his abdominal area and chest—though covered with a white t-shirt, you wouldn’t know by the hungry look in her eyes—then finally took in his inhumanly handsome yet rugged face.
“Have you missed me? Because I’ve missed you, Rylen.” Her words were soft, seductive, and laced with something that gave Rylen a bad taste in his mouth. Magic. She was using magic on him. How had he never noticed it before? His vision wavered as if a magical force was attempting to gain admittance into his mind.
“You witch,” Rylen spat. Anger gripped his emotions, but not the same out-of-control rage he experienced before, now realizing she had somehow set it off by using the malignant magic within him. But now that it was gone and the bond he shared with his mate was growing, he was able to pinpoint it. “You’ve used magic on me. Why? To use me? To seduce me?”
Lacy rolled her pretty brown eyes and arrogantly cocked her head. “To get what I wanted,” she admitted, “which was to be with you, of course.”
Lies. He could hear the lies in her words.
Lacy had the audacity to seductively sway her hips and move in even closer like a naughty little bitch in heat. Disgust rose up in Rylen’s chest. He could stop her by force, of course, but something in him was actually curious about her nefarious plan. She trailed a bright red fingernail up one of his arms to his shoulder then back down again. He could feel the wavering energy, testing different points of his natural shield, seeking entrance to influence and deceive him.
“Lacy,” Rylen growled in warning. Now, she was getting too close. He had gained his control back, but he was not unaffected enough to restrain himself completely. “I do not want to have to restrain you.”
“Oh, but that sounds like a fun game.” She giggled flirtatiously. “We could move that up to the bedroom, come on, Rylen, wouldn’t that be fun?” she purred, leaning in with the intention of rubbing her breasts against his skin. She had no shame.
“Enough.” Rylen’s words held enough raw power and authority that Lacy actually flinched and backed off, but only for a second.
“But Rylen…” she whined.
Suddenly, the image of Lacy before him, transformed. It was not a pretty picture. Her perfectly done makeup, ran and smeared across her face. Hair that had been styled and taken care of was matted and sticking out in odd places, and some places even had clumps missing with patches of skin showing through. Once perfectly whitened teeth were yellowed and decaying. Startled, Rylen actually took a step back, distancing himself as much as he could, placing his back against the elevator door. He had never seen this sort of reverse glamour before—her heart reflected onto her outer person. He cleared his throat, attempting to disguise his shock. Then just as quickly, the image wavered and he was looking at what he normally saw when seeing Lacy.
Strange.
Her eyes narrowed and her face pinched at the realization that he was unaffected by her special attention. She straightened her shirt, held her shoulders back, raised her chin, and appeared as though she knew she had lost. Just when Rylen’s shoulders relaxed a fraction, she moved in fast and close, practically pressing herself against him with as much of her body touching his as she could. The sight had to be strange. Even to a complete stranger, there was no way it could be misconstrued as passion—it was wrong, plain and simple.
“It won’t work, Lacy, whatever it is you’re trying to do.”
“It will. I’m strong enough, and I’ve had enough pull over you in the past.”
He could tell by the desperate tone in her voice that she was losing control. “Who are you working for Lacy? What do they want?”
“How… what makes you think I’m working for someone? I just want to reign at your side. I would make a great queen of this Lair; we could rule together.” Her voice had taken on a spacey, wistful tone almost as if trying to convince herself of the dream.
“Who are you working for, Lacy?” Rylen pushed her off him and held her at arm’s distance, even though she struggled in his grip to get closer or to get away, it was hard to know. She resembled a flopping fish for a couple minutes, squirming in his grasp.
“No one,” she ground out between her teeth. “I just want to be with you, Rylen. Is that so hard to believe?” Her whine was climbing the octave range when someone else entered the room.
“Forget Alana, she’s trash compared to me,” Lacy intoned desperately. “She doesn’t know your people or this place like I do. She’d be a shitty queen anyway. It’s for the best she’s gone now. You could do so much better.”
Lacy was apparently unaware of the low, menacing growl coming from Rylen’s chest and the eerie glow his eyes had taken on, allowing his beast to the forefront. No one spoke against his mate like that. This one would be lucky if she made it out of the Lair alive. He sensed others had entered the scene as well. He had witnesses, not that he needed them. He was well within his rights to destroy this vile creature before him. It was the person approaching, slowly and cautiously who held him back.
“Let her go, Rylen. She deserves it, but you have more important things to do right now. You have to save your mate,” Mai reminded him with calm words infused with peace only as Mai—the good old Mai he remembered—could. He dropped Lacy to the ground, though to his displeasure, she landed on her feet, a little wobbly, but still on her feet.
Lacy reared back as if she had been slapped. “Ha, you think you can stop me. I will make you mine one way or another and I will be the ruler of this…”
Unfortunately, or fortunately, no one heard the rest of her rant as Mai hook kicked her behind the thighs, dropping her to her knees on the ground. Lacy, planted all fours on the ground to stabilize her fall. She began to laugh; it was a menacingly haughty laugh that rivaled a TV possession.
Then all at once, the shifters in the area began to growl. The vampires on site hissed, lengthening their fangs with practiced ease and control, and their eyes glowed brightly. Those with magic brought the dissonance together in an unearthly and ominous chant. Both beautiful and terrifying, it would strike fear in the heart of anyone within hearing distance. Rylen’s beast swelled with pride and joined his growl with the others, his people.
He moved close to her and placed his hand on her head, gripping her hair just enough to force her head back so he could see into her eyes.
“Lacy, you are hereby officially banned from this PAC. You will leave and never return. Your memories of this place—how to find it and the layout—along with Lair secrets including Gracie will be stricken from your mind,” Rylen commanded in an unwavering tone that spoke into her very soul. He then spoke a few words in the ancient tongue of the warlocks that few knew. The air around Lacy grew warm and moved swiftly around her head. It only took a moment, but it would last her lifetime.
Lacy’s head snapped up, eyes wild with terror, she took in what was happening. The realization she was beat seemed to strike instantly as she rose quickly to her feet. With one last look at Rylen, a sneer emerged on her face just before she took off running away from the PAC and out of the Lair forever.
Mather watched as she left, his eyes bright with anticipation and a smirk on his lips; his joy evident in his expression. It had been quite a while since anyone had been excommunicated.
The harmonious rumble and unification of those present at the Lair stayed steady for a few minutes after she left. Something almost religio
us was taking place, unifying the PAC more than before. Gracie wove her way through the gathered group, almost tiptoeing to not disturb what was taking place. She reached Rylen and gently placed her hand on his arm, gripping the edge of his t-shirt sleeve, and yanked him down to her level.
“Try now. Try to reach Alana, the PAC’s magic is strong right here,” she whispered, but he heard her and nodded. Gracie then backed away to stand next to Mai off to the side.
Rylen closed his eyes and breathed in deeply through his nose and held his chest full of air then slowly released it, reaching from within his mind and his heart, seeking the connection he shared with Alana. Not having been mates for very long, it was weak, but it was still there. Never taught how to engage the bond, he allowed his magic to guide him. In his mind’s eye, he could see strands of green swirling around his head, throughout his body, then into his heart. Finding what it was seeking, it wrapped itself around a key like a ribbon on a package. What do I do with it? His magic responded, lifting the key and plunging it like a dagger into the center of his heart. Stabbing pain shot through Rylen’s chest and reverberated through his entire body. But, at the center of the pain, it felt like a vortex opened up, sucking part of his soul away from him only to slam into something on the other side. It battered at the blockade on the other side of his heart, in the dark void, until there was an equal force of pressure from the other side that slammed into his heart in return. Like the wind getting knocked out of him, he couldn’t breathe while a combination of his magic and his soul united with an entity not his own. At first, he resisted, knowing all he had just gone through to get rid of the foreign magic in his body, but this was different, and soon he relaxed into it, allowing the two entities to dance together creating an unbreakable bond. Alana. He could feel her. It was her soul dancing with his. Rylen had no idea this was what finding a true mate was like. This would change him, and he wouldn’t have it any other way as long as he could always feel tied to the woman he loved.