Ignited By Flames

by Day, Vella

  The last door on the right opened. “In here,” he said.

  From the look on his face, the situation was dire. “What happened exactly?” she asked.

  “I’m not totally sure. Danita called and said that a wolf had attacked her. She told me where she was, but by the time I found her, she’d passed out and has yet to regain consciousness. I called a doctor who cleaned and bandaged her wounds, but she’s not showing any improvement.”

  The pain and caring in his eyes proved to her how important Danita was to him. He had been the one to care for her after Birk’s mate had freed Danita from that horrible castle cell. Greer sensed that Griffin wanted to do more for Danita, but the white lighter was keeping her distance from him.

  “Why don’t you wait outside so I can do my healing magic?” Greer said.

  “Do you want me to call Declan to help you?” he asked.

  Their cousin was also a powerful healer, but the two of them had slightly different skills. “Let’s not bother him yet. Let me try first.”

  He nodded. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

  As soon as her overly anxious brother left, she pulled up a chair and sat next to Danita. Greer placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Danita, can you hear me?”

  The lovely white lighter didn’t respond, but from the way she was thrashing about, she was working hard to regain consciousness. Not wanting Danita to suffer further, Greer closed her eyes and concentrated on sending her light and heat into her patient as she said her special chant. Dark energy rose up inside Danita and nearly burned Greer’s hands, but she held tight, forcing this new evil from the injured woman’s body.

  Danita groaned. Greer opened her eyes and repeated the healing chant once more. Right before Greer’s eyes, some of the smaller, uncovered wounds began to heal, and even the color of her pale skin improved. Danita’s breathing slowed, and then her body went limp.

  Greer stroked her heated forehead, waiting for it to cool. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there until finally Danita opened her eyes.

  Too bad her eyes widened as she tried to sit up. They’d met several times, so it wasn’t as if she didn’t know who Greer was.

  “It’s okay, Danita. You’re safe. The wolf is gone.”

  Danita looked around. “Where’s Griffin?”

  From the way her brows pinched and her breaths suddenly increased, she was worried about him. Interesting. “He’s in the kitchen. I’ll get him if you want.”

  Greer thought she’d tell her not to bother, but Danita nodded.

  Greer found Griffin sitting at the kitchen table holding a coffee cup in his hands, staring off into space. As soon as she stepped closer, he shoved back his chair and jumped up. “How is she?”

  “Easy there. She’ll be fine, but she’s asking for you.”

  The light in his eyes brightened. He set his cup on the table. “Did she say anything?”

  Greer held in a laugh. “Not yet. Maybe she wants to tell us both at the same time.”

  When they entered the room, Danita was running her fingers over the bandages on her arms. She looked up and almost smiled.

  “Thank you for saving me,” she said to Griffin. Danita looked over at Greer. “Did you heal me?”

  “A doctor cleaned and bandaged your arms, but I added a bit of magic to speed up the healing process.”

  Griffin rushed over to the bed, sat down, and picked up her hand. “How are you feeling?”

  “From almost coming back from the dead, quite well, thanks to you and Greer. Where are we?”

  “A safe place. Don’t worry, no wolf can get to you here.” She sighed. “Can you tell me what happened?” he asked.

  Danita rubbed her head. “I just started having these premonitions. They just come out of the blue. It’s not like I can summon them or anything.”

  “What are they about?” Griffin asked, keeping his voice soft and reassuring.

  “This time, I had the sense that an evil force was following me. I know that sounds ridiculous, because the only evil person interested in me—Sanditra—is dead.”

  “Maybe not. And I’m not talking about that terrible dark entity who attacked a lot of people recently either.”

  She shivered. “I thought it was dead.”

  “Let’s just say he’s gone forever, but there might be another being here now.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Who?”

  Griffin gave her a brief rundown of the Changeling and what he’d done.

  Greer sat on the chair. “Where were you when you sensed this new force?” Greer asked.

  “I’d come from a therapy session with Dr. Aminor.” She looked up at Griffin. “You know how the woods settle my soul?” He nodded. “I headed to the forest to gain a little perspective on things.”

  “It helps me too.”

  His lips turned up, and Greer could have sworn it was with love. Holy shit. Her stoic brother only focused on work and nothing else, but apparently Danita had caught his fancy—or was it more than that?

  “Anyway, I parked at one of their picnic spots along the roadside. That’s when I heard something rather large running in the woods and sensed this evil.”

  “You can sense evil that easily?” Greer asked.

  “I never used to be able to, but after being incarcerated for so long in the Royal dungeon and subjected to that terrible dark lighter, I can.”

  “You said you were attacked by a wolf. By any chance did it have red eyes?” Greer asked.

  Danita lifted up on her elbows. “Yes! How did you know?”

  She filled in the rest of the blanks about this werewolf that Griffin had omitted—such as the color of his eyes.

  “He’s from Earth?” Danita asked.

  “We believe so.”

  “Why would he attack me?”

  “That’s what I’m going to find out,” Greer said.

  Chapter Sixteen

  After questioning Danita for a while longer, Greer left her in the care of Griffin. Danita’s wounds had almost completely healed, and Greer suspected her protective brother would let her return home soon.

  The big news Danita had revealed was too important to hold back. Because it was a little after five when she returned to town, Tory had already locked up the store. Yes, she and Blake had decided to give Anderson another day to search, but this Changeling’s essence trail might be gone by then. It was time to take back control.

  The bank would be closed, so she headed to their apartment. Blake might even be home. When she entered, his was there with his back to her.

  “Hey,” she said.

  He spun around, and his eyes widened. “I didn’t expect you home so soon.”

  She had called to tell him about Danita and to say she wasn’t sure when she would make it home, but he hadn’t answered the call. It was possible he had been too busy to respond.

  “I called you.”

  He patted his pocket. “Shit. I turned my phone to silent when I was meeting with someone. I’m sorry. What did you need to tell me?”

  She repeated what happened to Danita, though if he hadn’t seen her message, why did he think she was late arriving home? Most likely, he’d lost track of time.

  “Danita regained consciousness and told me something very interesting.”

  “What was it?”

  Greer lifted her chin. “I know where the Changeling is.”

  “Seriously?” He averted his gaze as if her news disturbed him.

  “Is something wrong?” She stepped closer. Blake was sending out some strange signals, but she couldn’t be sure what they meant.

  “No. I want to find this Changeling as much as you do.”

  “Good. Let’s change. We need to look for this wolf.”

  He held up his hands. “Now?”

  “Yes now. I know where his new campsite is. Between Danita and Griffin, I’m pretty sure I can find it.”

  “For real?”

  That wasn’t the response she expected. What the hell was going
on? “Yes, for real. This creep took Danita there, attacked her, and then left her for dead. If she hadn’t been able to call Griffin to come get her, she would have died.”

  Blake glanced to the side. “Okay. Calm down. I’ll make you some peach tea. Go change, and then we can do our search.”

  Blake was acting strange. “I don’t need any tea.”

  “Well, I do. It will help me focus.”

  She’d never even seen him drink tea, though with everything that had happened recently, she wasn’t surprised that Blake might be coming unglued. First Kaleena was arrested, and then Danita was attacked. “Fine. I’ll change.”

  The teabag box was on the counter just where she’d left it yesterday, which probably made him think of brewing some.

  When he smiled, the familiar lustful rush of hormones failed to fill her. Then Greer’s thoughts cleared, and she stiffened. This wasn’t Blake, but rather the Changeling. Holy shit.

  Not having a plan, Greer rushed into the bedroom, closed the door, and pressed her back against it. Shit. She pulled out her phone to text Blake. Oh, no. If this man looked like Blake then clearly he’d been in contact with her mate. The big question was had he harmed him? Knowing the werewolf would become suspicious if she took too longer, she texted Blake. Before she had the chance to finish, the man pushed open the door. “Are you okay? You seem a bit off.”

  She gave him her best smile. “No. I’m still thinking about Danita.”

  “Your tea is ready.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be ready in a second.”

  He ducked out. Greer quickly changed. Her plan was to get him outside, shift, and then fly his sorry werewolf ass to the police station where she would deposit him on the front steps.

  With a plan in place, she returned to the kitchen, where the Changeling was dipping the tea bag in the hot water.

  “Drink this while I change.”

  Whatever. As soon as the doppelganger went into bedroom, she took a few sips, relaxing for just a moment. When she’d almost finished, she pulled out her phone to complete her text to Blake, but her eyes refused to focus. What the hell? Before she could even send what she had or call for help, the werewolf returned, dressed in one of Blake’s red and blue plaid shirt.

  “Ready?” he asked, his face now a blur.

  She grabbed hold of the counter. “Blake, I’m feeling a little funny.” That was the truth. “I think I’ll rest first.”

  Before she could reach the bedroom, Greer lost consciousness.

  When Blake finally opened his eyes, he couldn’t figure out why he was on the floor of his office, staring at the legs of his desk. His mouth was sand dry, and his vision was a bit blurry. Aw, hell. Had he fainted? The last thing he remembered was talking with Belinda, his secretary. They were looking at something on his computer while he was drinking the cup of coffee she’d brought him.

  Then what happened? Crap. It was as if someone had erased his memory. Belinda probably came and left, and then he’d passed out.

  Pushing up to a seated position, he glanced around. How long had he been unconscious? The lights outside his office were out. Disgusted that he’d collapsed without remembering anything, he managed to stand. Thankfully, the dizziness that assaulted him quickly dissipated. Whatever had happened, his dragon had mostly healed him, albeit slowly.

  Only because this was déjà vu all over again from when he’d been taken over by that dark entity did he check to see if he had any injuries. He lifted his shirt and looked. No dark marks were there, making him conclude no other dark entity had entered the realm.

  His coffee cup was still on his desk. When he picked it up, it smelled kind of funny. Oh, shit, had he been drugged? By Belinda? Just as he was about to call her to find out what she knew, he checked his watch and was stunned to find it was past six. Crap.

  By now, Greer would have been home for a while and probably had called to see when he was returning.

  He checked his phone. Sure enough, there were two messages. He listened to them, stunned to learn that Danita had been attacked by a wolf. Greer was helping to heal her and wasn’t sure when she would get home. The second message was also from Greer. She told him that Danita would be okay, and that the wolf had red eyes. She was on her way home now and hoped they could search for this evil being tonight.

  What the hell was going on here? The only logical explanation was the Changeling was involved in this mess. Damn it.

  Blake looked around his office to make sure nothing obvious had been stolen, but everything seemed undisturbed. He quickly checked his laptop for an obvious breach but found none either.

  Needing to make sure Greer was safe, he grabbed his laptop and headed out the building’s back door—a door that required his security code to unlock.

  Once upstairs in his apartment, he was surprised he didn’t sense her. “Greer, honey, are you here?”

  When she didn’t answer, his pulse soared. The most likely explanation was that either Kaleena was having issues again or Danita still needed her. If she’d been with Danita, the werewolf wouldn’t have gotten to her.

  Blake first called Greer, but her cell went to voicemail. Thankfully, she had insisted that Blake have everyone’s number programmed into his cell just in case he needed to contact someone. Everyone had his in case his skills were needed.

  Next, he called Kaleena, since he didn’t know how to get a hold of Danita.

  “Hello?”

  “Kaleena, it’s Blake. Is Greer there by any chance?”

  “No.”

  “Have you seen her since we saw you at the police station?” His pulse beat hard.

  “No, but I heard that Danita had been injured, and that Griffin needed Greer’s healing abilities for her.”

  “She left me a voicemail to that effect. Thanks.” Apparently, Guardians shared everything. “I’ll call Griffin and see what he can tell me.”

  Griffin answered on the first ring. “Blake. What’s up?”

  “I’m looking for Greer. Is she with you?”

  “No, she left over an hour ago. Why?”

  “I thought she’d be home by now. Greer left a message saying that Danita needed her gift of healing.”

  “Sadly, yes. Some red-eyed werewolf attacked Danita. Even though she had lost a lot of blood, she managed to call me and tell me where she was. When I got to the forest, the werewolf was nowhere to be found. I took Danita back to the safe house and immediately asked Greer for help.”

  “How is Danita now?”

  “Good, thanks to Greer. Oh, crap. If my sister is not with you, I wouldn’t be surprised if she went out there to look for that monster herself.”

  Shit. Shit. Shit. “Where is this place?” Griffin gave him the directions. “Thanks.”

  “If I didn’t need to stay with Danita, I’d come with you.”

  “I can handle a wolf. Trust me.”

  Every cell in his body went haywire. Only now did it occur to him that when Belinda was in his office, she was acting a bit strange. He’d asked her a few questions about one of the accounts, and she said she didn’t remember the details—something that never happened.

  Right now, Blake needed to find his mate. When he went to look for his car keys, which he always left on the counter in a bowl, they were gone. Then a wisp of gray essence mixed with Greer’s golden aura floated by. Fuck. This was not good. In fact, it was totally bad. The Changeling had been here.

  Her purse was tossed on the sofa, causing his blood pressure to skyrocket. On the off-chance Blake was wrong about seeing the Changeling’s trail, he ran into the bedroom, hoping to see Greer asleep on the bed. Her work clothes were strewn across the chair, but she wasn’t there. More fear spiked through him.

  Almost in full-blown panic mode now, he ran back to the living room and searched Greer’s purse for her keys. When he found them, he sighed a breath of relief. Not that he couldn’t fly to the forest, but once there, walking the seemingly endless miles to the middle of the woodland on foot would be s
low going.

  Blake debated calling Finn to ask for his help because he was a wolf, but what if Kaleena needed her mate? After some debate, Blake decided to find Greer on his own.

  As fast as he could, he drove through town, but to his dismay all of the stoplights seemed to have it in for him. It took forever to be free of traffic. While Greer’s essence trail had been in the apartment, it had disappeared as soon as he went downstairs to the parking lot in back—and so had the gray essence trail that had mingled with her golden one.

  Poor Greer. This guy had to be stopped. Every killer, thief, and miscreant could claim that some Changeling had touched him and then committed a crime in his name. The irony of it wasn’t lost on Blake since that was exactly what had happened to him with Mange.

  His mind refused to stop spinning about how to approach this monster—or rather whether to kill him out right. The fact this freak had possibly harmed his mate meant all bets were off.

  Frustration drove him harder. Once he made it to the forest, his thoughts turned a bit more rational. Killing the Changeling might cause issues for Greer and her family, and he wouldn’t do that to her. Knocking the guy unconscious however was definitely in the cards. Unfortunately, Finn hadn’t really known the limits of the Changeling’s magical powers. Could this guy put a spell on him, like, freeze him in time? Greer had told him how some dark lighter had done that to Thane. Bottom line was that Blake had to be cautious.

  Possibly because it was past sunset that Blake almost missed spotting his black car off to the side of the road. With no other vehicles close by, he pulled onto the shoulder, cut the engine, and jumped out.

  As soon as he headed down the trail, he was able to pick up both essence trails, even though they were faint. At least he was in the right spot. His slight joy was short lived when he imagined what that red-eyed werewolf was doing to her. He fisted his hands, trying to calm down enough to remain cautious—a very difficult chore indeed.