by Aileen Erin
She didn’t have to finish the sentence. I didn’t really want to go back to that chapel either. Or the compound. Or anything that had to do with that bitch of a witch.
“In the morning, we have to find a witch that’s strong enough and that we trust to take over. To make sure that the land stays cleansed and good. I’ll go over there every day to do a cleansing spell until we can find someone to agree to watch over it.”
“Done.” As long as it wasn’t me, I was okay with that. “And I’m assuming you have a list of who?” I’d ask Shane or Beth, but they might feel the same about that land. Maybe River would be open to it? But that wasn’t a long list. Claudia knew a lot more witches than I did.
“Of course, I have a list. Beth and Shane don’t want it. I already asked them, but we can go over who I think would be up for the job in the morning.”
She already had me convinced. “Great. Do we have everything we need for this?”
Lucas held up the bag. “We’ve got the supplies.”
I looked at Dastien. You ready for this? I was so tired that it pained me to move even a foot farther away from my bed, and I knew he had to be as tired, even if he wasn’t showing it.
We’re awake now. As tired as we are, if we can rally through this, then tomorrow we can sleep. A cleansing shouldn’t take that long. I’ll even tell Michael to leave us alone—
You will? That would be a first. Mr. Dawson—Michael to Dastien—was a father figure and an Alpha to my mate. Dastien usually went along with whatever Mr. Dawson said.
I usually go along with it because he’s an old wolf. One of the oldest. His plans usually make sense, but if this works, then I’ll tell him to leave us out of the daily politics for at least a few days. We need sleep.
That’s all I needed to know. I turned to Claudia. “All right. Let’s do it.”
Buzz. Buzz. Buz-buz-buz. Buzzzzz.
Shit. Axel called three times and texted once. I couldn’t ignore him again.
That wasn’t a drunk dial or him being excited about something. Three calls meant an emergency.
Dastien moved before I could say anything, disappearing back into the cabin. I raced after him.
“Hello?” Dastien said. “Axel?”
“I don’t want to die alone.” His voice was soft and thready with pain and terror, and I knew everything was about to change.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. And every inch of me was cold.
Die alone? He was hurt? More than hurt. He was dying?
Axel wasn’t just my brother. He’d been my best friend—my only friend—growing up. A moment ago, I wasn’t sure I could take one more thing—one more fight, one more discussion about the fey, one more cleansing against evil—but then I heard something in his voice I’d never heard before.
Despair and defeat and death.
They said that God didn’t give you more than you could handle, but in that brief, less-than-a-second moment, I wondered if I could handle losing my brother.
And the answer was no. I couldn’t. It would break something vital in me, and I wasn’t sure how I’d get over the loss.
But it wasn’t too late. Not yet.
I had to move. I had to do something. I had to fight. One more time tonight. I had to find it in me.
And then the power came. Rising up. Filling me. First, from Dastien, and then Lucas and Claudia. In the next breath, the power of twelve people answered a call I didn’t realize I’d sent out. I was filled with three types of supernatural magic, and I knew that I could do this.
“We’re coming.” Dastien’s words broke over me, spurring me into action. “Where are you?”
He was already moving. He grabbed keys, shoved them in his pocket as he crossed the small one-room cabin to me. His eyes were still amber, still ready for a fight, but I wasn’t prepared for this. I wasn’t prepared to lose my brother. Not tonight. And if I looked in the mirror, I knew my own eyes would be a very non-human shade of glowing, molten chocolate.
Dastien grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door. It took me a second for my feet to catch up, and then we were sprinting to the car. “Where are you?” Dastien asked again. His voice was calm, but I could feel his fear and panic through the bond.
“I don’t know.” His voice was weak. Too weak. “A warehouse. I can’t…I don’t…They brought me here and I…” His voice broke. “I’m so sorry.” His voice grew softer with every word. “Tell her I’m so sorry.” He took a raspy breath. “Don’t bring her here. I called to warn—”
The call cut off and panic like I’d never felt before crashed into me, making me double over.
It felt like he was gone. Like it was over. Like he was dead.
But he wasn’t. Something or someone had disconnected the call.
There had to be time.
Please. Let there be time.
“Don’t slow down!” Dastien threw me over his shoulder as he ran, and my vision blurred until we were in front of Dastien’s car. He put me down and slid behind the wheel while I jumped in the passenger side. It wasn’t until another car door slammed that I realized Claudia and Lucas were with us, too.
“Where do we go?” I hadn’t heard anything about a location. We were rushing to nowhere.
Dastien turned to me. “You tell me. Where’s your brother? What do you see?”
Me. Me? He wanted me to tell him where to go? “It doesn’t work that way. I get the vision that I get. I have to touch something of his. I have to—”
“Your brother is a part of you. You share blood. You don’t need anything of his to find him.” He grabbed my face with his hands. “Tell me where he is.”
“I don’t know.” I tried to jerk away. If I knew, I’d tell him. What did he want from me? I didn’t have my brother on LoJack. I didn’t track his phone. The pressure to answer was making me panic, but there was nothing for me to say.
And if there was nothing for me to say, then how the hell was I supposed to find my brother?
And if I couldn’t find him, then he would—
Oh God. I couldn’t breathe.
“Answer me!”
“Don’t you think I’d tell you if I knew?” My throat hurt from how loud I screamed it, but the panic was growing by the second.
How could I save my brother if I didn’t know where he was?
Someone grabbed my hand, and Dastien dropped his hands so that I could look.
Claudia was squished between the front seats. “You can do this. He’s your brother. It’s the same with me and mine. Axel might not be your twin, but he’s your best friend. Your family. And you’re not without magic. Close your eyes and think of him. Find him.”
I did, but all I could think of was panic. And how I couldn’t breathe. And how he could be dying and was alone and that I didn’t know where he was and that I couldn’t help him and—
And I wasn’t sure I could do it. But if I didn’t, my brother would die.
Axel would die.
“How? Tell me how. I don’t know—I can’t—” I felt something hot running down my cheeks, but I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t care.
“Think of the last time you saw him.”
God. When? I couldn’t think. The panic. It was too much. Too much. Too—
“Your parents’ house.” Dastien’s words cut through my panic. “Two weeks ago. We went to your parents’ house for Sunday dinner. Axel said he’d been working on gaining magic of his own. You got in a fight with him, but then you made up. And—”
“Good enough.” Lucas cut off Dastien. “Picture your parents’ house, Tessa. Now.”
My parents’ house.
I saw the yellow house in my head. The big tree in the center of the circular drive.
Axel honking the horn from his car, yelling at me to stop being such a nerd before he sped away. His hand sticking out of the window as he turned the corner.
That was the last time I saw him.
But I’d see him again.
I just had
to find him.
But how? How the fuck was I supposed to do that?
“Where is he?” Claudia’s voice was a soothing balm over my panicked thoughts.
I closed my eyes, searching for him, but all I saw was black. Inky black.
I shook my head, squeezing my eyes as closed as closed could get. “I can’t see anything. I don’t see anything!” The panic was getting worse, and it felt like someone was stabbing me in the chest, twisting the knife, until I couldn’t—
“Breathe.” Claudia’s voice was soft and soothing, but I couldn’t find any peace.
All I had was panic.
Breathe. Dastien’s calm voice invaded my mind. Push the panic away. It’s not helping you. Ignore it.
“What do you smell?” Lucas asked in his deep rumble. The old Alpha power behind his voice made a clear space in my panicked mind.
I breathed in. “Dust. And—” I gasped as fear and heartbreak ripped my soul apart. “And blood. His blood. He’s bleeding!”
I opened my eyes, reaching for Dastien, grabbing his arm. “He’s going to die.”
“Close your eyes again,” Lucas said. His dark eyes were glowing, and he nodded at me. “Close them.”
I nodded, following his lead.
“Remember the dark. The dusty place. Go back there.” He waited. “Do you see it?
I nodded. I wasn’t sure if I was making it up in desperation, but I could smell dust and blood and—
“Good. Leave the dark place. Go outside. What do you see?”
I moved before thinking to myself that I couldn’t. He was guiding me but I’d never had a vision like this. I’d never tried to go somewhere in my mind. I had to be touching something.
But Claudia was right. Axel was in my blood. In my soul. Axel was my family.
I had to assume this was real. It was my only hope, a hope I had to cling to.
I tried to move out of the vision. Wherever Axel was, it was dark. “Nothing. Nothing.” But then there was moonlight and a building and…
I could see. I could see something. It was working.
“Middle of nowhere. Some kind of warehouse. It’s abandoned.” God. That wasn’t fucking helpful!
“What kind of warehouse?” Dastien asked.
“How the hell am I supposed to know? It’s fucking abandoned! There’s nothing here. No—”
“Is there a sign? The walls of the warehouse. Anything painted on them? Look around.” Lucas stayed calm, despite my panic. “Look. See it. Tell me what you see.”
I wasn’t sure how it was working, but it was. I couldn’t second-guess myself, not when Axel’s life was on the line.
“I…” I looked around, trying to see something that could give me a location.
And then I saw it. The sign was faded and hidden behind a tree, but I moved and…
I couldn’t make out some of the letters, but I could fill in the blanks easily enough. “Abe & Cole Brewery.” I opened my eyes, gripping Dastien’s arm tighter. “Tell me that’s an actual place and that I didn’t just make up this shit.” Because my mind could’ve invented any damned thing from desperation, and I was beyond desperate.
Lucas was on his phone. “It’s a place.” He handed his phone to Dastien.
Dastien looked at the map. “I know where that is.” He didn’t wait for anyone to buckle up or even for Claudia to get back into her seat.
He started the car and moved it into reverse so quickly, I had to slam my hand into the window to keep my head from hitting it.
“Dastien.”
“You said blood. We’ll be there in ten minutes. Depending on how badly he’s bleeding, that might be too late.”
Shit. He wasn’t going fast enough. “Go faster! Move it!”
The tires squealed and I prayed that we’d get there in time.
Because if we didn’t, I wasn’t sure how I would live with myself.
I should’ve answered the first time he called.
Why hadn’t I answered the phone?
Chapter Three
DASTIEN
I felt her fear and worry as if it were my own. Each beat of my heart felt leaden and slow and painful, and there was this overwhelming urge to fix this. To somehow make this right. To save Axel. But the only thing I could do was drive. Drive fast. Drive fast enough to save her brother.
I pressed the gas, but the car was already going as fast as it could. The warehouse wasn’t that far away, but when seconds could mean the difference between life and death, I wasn’t sure we’d make it in time. I couldn’t tell Tessa that. I could barely let myself think it.
If we didn’t get there in time, I wasn’t sure what that would do to my mate. He’d called us, and we hadn’t answered. Twice.
We hadn’t answered.
I should’ve answered.
It wasn’t my phone, and I took her lead, but I was her mate. I was supposed to protect her. But I wasn’t sure I could protect her this time.
With every passing second, I grew more and more sure that the worst was going to happen, and when it did, Tessa would break. She was already at her breaking point, and even as bad as losing Axel would be, losing Tessa terrified me more.
I glanced in the rearview mirror, meeting Lucas’s gaze. He checked his watch and then shook his head slowly.
He didn’t think we’d make it in time either.
Claudia’s head was bowed down, and her lips were soundlessly moving. Praying?
I focused ahead of me. I couldn’t look at Tessa. I couldn’t let her see what I was feeling. I didn’t want her to know that my hope for finding her brother alive was next to nothing now.
The woods blurred past, and I followed the navigation. My gaze kept darting to the estimated time of arrival.
Only five more minutes.
If by some miracle Axel was still alive, we had some hope. Worst case, we could turn him. In life-or-death situations—when the person would die—we could bite him. He’d asked me about becoming a werewolf a few times, but I always told him no. That we didn’t change people as a rule. But those conversations—which I’d told Michael about—would suffice as consent. Probably. I hoped it would be enough.
Whatever happened after, we’d deal with that then.
Right at the next road, and we should be there.
Tessa gasped.
It wasn’t a normal gasp. It was so soft that it was barely audible. It was a special kind of noise that, when paired with this quiet hmm in the bond, meant that Tessa just had a vision.
She hadn’t been touching anything. Which meant it was one of her prophetic visions. The kind that warned her of something really bad happening.
With her brother in danger of dying, for a second, I thought that meant that the worst had happened. That he’d passed. That she’d seen his death.
But if that were true, then her heart would have shattered. She would be screaming and crying and breaking.
But she wasn’t. And that scared me even more.
I pushed the fear away. If I knew what her vision was, then I could protect her. I would find a way to stop whatever was going to happen. That’s why she had them.
But she didn’t say anything.
She always told me what happened.
I wished I could see what she saw, but our bond didn’t work that way. Whatever had been shown to her was always for her alone unless she shared it with me. “What did you see?”
Tessa gasped again. A second vision. That was okay. More help was never a bad thing.
And then she gasped again.
And again.
And again.
Her breath was coming in short, quick bursts, and her eyes were wide and glassy with fear. I wanted to grab her and shake her—to free her from whatever vision cycle she was stuck in—but I was driving dangerously fast. I couldn’t look away from the road for longer than a second, and I definitely couldn’t reach for her.
She gasped again, and I knew I had to do something.
What did you see? I asked
through our bond, hoping that would be enough.
Her face was pale, and her hands shook as she brushed her hair away from her forehead, tucking it behind her ear.
She looked at me, and the bond opened again. The hmm of the vision was gone, and what replaced it had my heart skipping a beat.
Guilt that weighed heavier than the moon.
Sorrow, but not at a loss, but resigned sorrow. One that was tinged with regret so dark and lonely that I wondered if I’d ever see the sun again.
And her fear—no. Not just her fear. It was terror. A brand of terror I was all too familiar with. It was the same all-consuming terror that I’d felt when I heard her heart stutter to a stop. Not once, but twice.
The terror and the guilt and the regretful sorrow were a combination that had my own fear rising up to meet it.
Whatever my mate had seen, it was bad, and she was about to try something that scared her. Something dangerous. Something that could cost us everything.
“What is it? What are you going to do? What are we walking into?” The questions spilled out of my mouth, one on top of the other. She usually wasn’t given a ton of time with her visions. Whatever they warned her of was going to happen very soon.
She was quiet, and I couldn’t have that. I need to know so that I could help. “Tell me. Please. Trust me to help—”
“You can’t help me. No one can.” Her voice was hollow and empty, but she was wrong. She was so fucking wrong.
“Please. I can help—” I stopped talking when I realized that she wasn’t even looking at me.
Tessa was staring out the windshield, and her eyes still had that post-vision glassy look to them. She was trying to search for an answer, and I had faith that she’d find something—some answer to whatever we were about to face. But it’d be better, easier, we’d be stronger if she’d just use her words.
Or show me through the bond.
Or do something other than just sit there when everything was about to go to shit.
“Tell me how to help you. Please.” I was desperate. “If we’re about to go into a fight—”