by Thorne, Elle
Chapter Eleven
Ilse.
What the hell was Ilse doing here?
It hit Alannah like a ton of bricks. Ilse and this shifter called Hawke were in collusion. But why?
She recoiled at the sight of the Krauss coven leader who’d been the head chair of Northfork the last time Alannah had seen her. Northfork, the guild of witches in northern New York state, touching on and actually in part of Mikhail Romanoff’s territory.
Alannah heard there’d been an upset of the leadership at Northfork after she’d helped the Romanoffs save Fiona from Ilse’s nefarious plans. Fiona, a witch and falcon shifter hybrid, was in imminent danger under Ilse’s thumb.
Until Alannah and the Romanoffs stepped in.
And now, Ilse was here.
Probably for payback.
With him.
“You disgust me,” she said to the shifter. She ignored the confused look on his face. He was clearly more than adept at acting. So sure, why wouldn’t he pretend to be surprised? She glanced at the still unconscious Mireille. She’d move slightly and let her lay on the trunk while she took care of the betraying duo. “And you, Ilse, you’ve brought anything that’s happened to you on yourself.”
The spider was perched on the shelf, her front legs raised, hissing up a storm.
Well, hell, I’ll just have to take care of all three. The spider, the shifter, and the witch.
Hawke rose to his feet, stood between Ilse and Alannah.
What the hell is he doing?
As if matters couldn’t get worse, that was the precise moment Mireille awoke, mumbling and moving about.
Alannah swiftly disengaged herself and left Mireille on the trunk, stepping to the side so if Ilse did cast a spell, Mireille wouldn’t be hurt as collateral damage.
“I should have known. The two of you are working together.” She glared at Hawke.
Hawke moved to the left. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I freelance. I showed you the papers.”
“And I told you they’re fake. I can prove it. With one phone call.”
Ilse watched them, an evil gleam in her eye. “Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. How adorable. A lover’s spat.”
Hawke whirled on Ilse. “Why is she saying the paperwork is fake, witch?”
Alannah watched the exchange with interest. Was it possible he didn’t know?
Surely not. No one would have abducted Mireille without knowing about Ilse. Would they?
“I’ll deal with you later, shifter,” Ilse snapped, then turned to Alannah. “You cost me my position. I was removed as chair at Northfork. They’ve appointed an interim until they find a replacement for me. Then my coven decided I clearly wasn’t able to handle matters, so they took that from me. Then they expelled me. It’s time for you to pay. I’ll have my redemption and I will get my place back.”
Ilse raised her arms, hands to the sky. Between her palms a red and green orb pulsated.
Vengeance hissed and spat a silk line at Ilse.
Chapter Twelve
Hawke wasn’t pretending to be confused. He had no clue what sort of undercurrents were going on between these two witches, but he had a feeling the gaunt witch in black had misled him. Maybe Alannah had told him the truth. Maybe the documents were fake.
“What’s going on?” Mireille’s voice had that out-of-it quality as she blinked and rubbed her eyes.
He felt like he’d stepped into the middle of a gunfight, unarmed, as far as information went.
Then again, it wasn’t like he had much time to consider the matter.
Ilse was preparing to cast what looked like a green and red fireball.
Ven shot a line at Ilse and it caught the ball of fire as it made its way toward Alannah. The orb, surrounded by Ven’s enchanted silk, fizzled and fell to the basement’s concrete floor.
Hawke was stunned. Vengeance had come to him from this very witch. He’d have thought the spider would have been true to Ilse. And yet, Ven chose Alannah over Ilse.
“You.” Ilse turned on the spider. “You’re not supposed to attack witches. You pathetic, miserable little creature.”
Alannah flung her hand toward Ilse, sending a shower of blue darts in Ilse’s direction.
Ilse performed a swift pirouette, her black dress swirling about. A white aura surrounded Ilse, rendering Alannah’s darts useless as they deflected from the shield and scattered.
Mireille cried out as one of the enchanted darts caught her in the shoulder.
Hawke slapped a hand on his chest where blood was flowing, one of Alannah’s darts embedded in his flesh.
Ven hissed.
Ilse flicked her wrist, sending a red cascade of energy hurtling toward Ven.
Hawke roared and lunged, intercepting Ilse’s spell.
“You can no more protect that spider than you could your own mewling sister, shifter.”
Except he did protect her and then he fell to the ground, motionless.
Alannah didn’t have the time to figure out what Ilse meant. She needed to act. She gathered her energies preparing to attack again.
Ilse flipped her wrist, this time toward Alannah.
But the spider was faster.
Ven cast another web toward Ilse, this time, the witch wasn’t quick enough to avoid the spider’s web flinging. Ilse was wrapped in the line, hands bound as Alannah’s had been. The webbing surrounded her legs, forcing her to the ground.
Alannah glanced from the fallen Hawke to her bleeding sister, and ran to Mireille, tears blinding her eyes, almost making her trip over her own feet.
I will never forgive myself if my own weapon killed my sister.
Alannah had accidentally almost killed Mireille when they were kids and horsing around. That’s when they learned that Mireille was highly affected by Alannah’s magic.
Ven spun her web with supernatural speed and before Alannah could react, Ilse was in the beginnings of an enchanted cocoon cage.
Alannah took Mireille’s head in her arms, softly whispering a prayer, though she was not sure whom she was praying to. Please don’t let my sister die; please don’t let my sister die. She stroked Mireille’s head, pushing the hair away from her forehead.
Mireille gasped.
Thank goodness. She’s alive.
Mireille’s eyes fluttered. “Is it over?”
“It’s over.”
“What about Hawke?”
“He’s hurt.”
Mireille raised her head. “How bad?”
“He’s not moving.” She looked at the man who’d fallen. She prayed he was still alive.
Vengeance was scurrying toward Hawke, making leaps across the floor. She crawled onto his chest, then went close to his face. Then, Vengeance did the strangest thing. She looked at Alannah.
“I think she’s trying to communicate with you,” Mireille said.
“She’s a spider. That’s not likely.”
“How do you know she’s not the victim of a transformation spell?”
Alannah look at her sister. “I don’t.” She shook her head. “But I do know she was your warden. And mine.”
“She’s on our side now.”
From the cocoon, Ilse said, “You two are pathetic. I can’t believe this. Are you witches? Or what?”
“Not your brand of witch,” Alannah said. “Vengeance, please gag her. Stifle that witch before I kill her.”
Vengeance wasted no time shooting out a line of silk that immediately put an end to Ilse’s speaking.
“Killing her doesn’t seem like a bad idea, right now.” Mireille sat up. “Check on Hawke.”
Alannah had already noticed his chest was moving. The large shifter was breathing. But she also noticed a lot of blood streaming out of his body. “We need to get him some help. I don’t think I can stop the bleeding on my own.”
“I haven’t learned how to heal shifters yet. So what are we gonna do?”
“If I had a signal, I could call Mikhail.”
“This is his home,”
Mireille pointed at Hawke. “I’m sure his phone works.”
That was the best idea she’d heard thus far. Alannah jumped up, approached Hawke, then dropped to her knee beside him.
She kept one eye on Vengeance. Let’s face it, she still wasn’t fond of spiders, even if this one had been on her side during a fight against Ilse.
“Easy, Ven.” She borrowed the nickname she’d heard Hawke using. “I just want to get his phone so I can get him some help, okay?”
Yeah, okay, I may just be certifiable. I’m asking a spider for permission to touch a shifter. And I’m acting like she knows what I’m saying.
Well, doesn’t she? She did gag Ilse when Alannah had asked her to, after all.
Alannah gave the spider another look. Just what are you, exactly? You’re more than a magic spider, aren’t you?
She wasn’t about to voice that bit of madness out loud. No sir, no how.
Alannah kept her eyes pinned to Hawke’s face while she dug in his front pocket. If he woke and found her doing this—she blushed. Then she chastised herself.
Of course, he’s not going to think I’m making a pass at him. He’s going to think I’m trying to kill him.
Okay, that was good enough reason to work faster. Much, much faster.
Eureka!
She took the phone out and hustled back to Mireille’s side, releasing a shudder at being so close to the arachnid.
“Still not wild about spiders?” Mireille teased.
“Lower your voice,” she hissed at her sister. “That thing does understand English.”
Mireille giggled.
She gave her a dirty look. “He’s breathing, by the way. So that’s good. And his color’s good.”
“He’s hot.”
“Mireille! He kidnapped you. Stop that.”
Mireille gave her a sly smile. “Sure thing, sis.”
“He is. He could die, and he was saving us.”
“Actually, he was helping us, but he was saving his spider. If he dies, it’s because he gave his life for her.”
Alannah glanced at the eight-legged creature still on Hawke’s chest.
Vengeance cocked her head, just a slight tilt as though listening in.
“Could you stop talking about her like she’s not here?” Alannah whispered, a bit nervous. That spider could take them both out if she had it in her mind. Or she could inflict a whole lot of damage, if not.
She fumbled with the phone. “Not locked.” That could have been ugly if it had been. She dialed Mikhail Romanoff’s cell phone.
“Romanoff.” His voice was brusque.
“It’s Alannah. I’m on a borrowed phone. There’s this shifter here. He’s bleeding. Unconscious, and I don’t know how to treat or help him. I know your kind goes into hibernation to heal. How do I even get him to do that?”
“Slow down.” On the other side of the line, Mikhail was saying something.
She heard Miriam’s voice in the background.
“Miriam’s calling Jonah on his cell. He and Fiona are in Russia. They’re with the wolf shifter tracker. They’ve hired him to take them to the last place he took you.”
“I’m exactly where that wolf shifter left me. In the house across the field at the end of the drive.”
Relief flooded through her. She put her hand over the phone and whispered to Mireille, “Jonah and Fiona are close. Miriam’s calling them on her phone to find out where.”
Mikhail came back to the call. “Miriam told them. He said they’re not far. Who’s the injured shifter?”
“He said his name is Hawke. That he knows Malachi from the Middle East. He…” Of all the damned times for tears to start coming to her eyes. This was ridiculous. Unbelievable. She coughed and cleared her throat. Am I really getting emotional about some guy I just met? “He saved us.” She could have added he was the reason they were imprisoned in the first place, but at this point, it seemed he thought he was serving the Shifter Council.
“What happened?”
There was a loud knock above her head.
“Oh. I think they’re here. Let me call you back, Mikhail. My cell doesn’t have reception, so I think this number’s the best way to reach me.”
“Keep me posted.”
Alannah handed the phone to Mireille. “I’ll get them.” She glanced at Hawke. “Keep an eye on him.”
Chapter Thirteen
Hawke had an awareness. He was wounded, sure, but his bear was keeping him from dying. His bear was trying to heal him at a faster rate than he was losing blood, but Hawke knew it was a losing battle, long term.
He was hoping his bear would put him into a hibernation so he wouldn’t die. But the bear refused to do so. He refused to on two counts. First, he didn’t want to abandon Alannah, and second, he didn’t feel a hibernation would be safe, because he’d be vulnerable the whole time he was out.
Oh, and I’m not vulnerable, right now? While I’m lying on this cold ass concrete floor bleeding out?
Anger served no one for the bear had ignored his arguments.
At least, give me my body back so I can get up and do something, for Pete’s sake.
No luck, again. The bear had totally shut him out.
You’ll pay.
That was all Hawke had, an empty promise for retribution.
And he was sure his bear knew he didn’t mean it.
He felt Vengeance on his chest, not much to her, almost feather light. She was standing guard over him as he figured she would.
His bond with Vengeance had been strong from the get go.
And that’s why you’d risk our lives? For a spider?
Oh, now his bear was back?
It was Hawke’s turn to do the ignoring. He refused to acknowledge his bear’s question.
It wasn’t that Hawke didn’t understand his bear’s feelings for Alannah. Hell, Hawke felt strongly about her too, it was just too…
Confusing.
In the back of his mind, he could hear Ilse’s muffled protests. Clearly, Vengeance had applied a gag on the witch.
There was something that witch said he wanted to know more about. Something about his sister. What the hell had she said? He couldn’t remember now, maybe because it was the heat of the battle. Or maybe because she shot him with that bolt.
What had she said about Renee? Something about her mewling.
Damn it all to hell.
He couldn’t remember, and for some damned reason, it meant so much to him.
Chapter Fourteen
Alannah didn’t even bother looking to see who was at the door. That’s how eager she was to get Hawke help. She threw the door open.
And promptly fell back.
Ilse’s second-in-command from Northfork. As tall and lean as Ilse, her gaunt face was tightlipped and her eyes widened in shock.
“You.”
“Me.” Alannah raised her hand to cast.
The second—why couldn’t she remember her name?—snapped her hand up, quicker and more lethal than Alannah remembered.
Her hand erupted into a hook that latched around the back of Alannah’s neck and jerked her forward, out of the house, onto the porch, then tumbling down the stairs and landing on the snow-dusted ground. Hard.
“Where’s Ilse?” Second said.
The hook the witch had turned her hand into became a steel wire noose, tightening around Alannah’s neck. She gasped, eyes watering from lack of oxygen. She couldn’t answer if she wanted to; she was crushing her larynx.
Have… to… cast… before…
Too late. The hope she’d have enough strength to spell before passing out was gone. Pinpricks of light dotted behind her eyelids as they lowered.
In the distance, she heard a falcon shrieking. The shriek was louder, then louder, finally it was followed by a scream.
The noose loosened.
Alannah gasped for air. Everything was darkness and flashing white dots. She tried to gain focus while using her other senses to ascertain what was happeni
ng, but she couldn’t tell. All she could hear was a tussle.
Calling as much mana energy as she could, she cast a spell of protection around herself, knowing it wasn’t perfect but might protect her from some of the spells cast against her, depending on the spell caster’s skills.
She rubbed her eyes, finally finding things coming into focus.
A large falcon was perched on a nearby branch while the Second lay at the foot of the tree, bloody and broken.
I know that falcon.
“Fiona?” Could that be her cousin Fiona? Why would she be in her falcon form?
She shook her head to clear her vision, but before she could fully focus, the falcon shrieked and flew away.
Alannah rose to her feet. She’d get the phone and call Mikhail, find out where Fiona and Jonah were before anymore of Ilse’s allies could come forth for another attack.
Alannah was too weak to survive the next bout. With a final glance at Second’s body, verifying from a distance that it was unmoving, Alannah made her way up the stairs, holding the banister to keep from falling. On the last step, she paused and leaned against the column to catch her breath. Her throat felt on fire on the inside and rubbed raw on the outside. She didn’t even want to touch the tender, tortured skin on her neck for fear of hurting more.
The sound of a car’s engine approaching caused her to turn and look at the driveway. The vehicle, a large, government-type SUV pulled up and hit the brakes. Out jumped Fiona from the passenger seat and the wolf shifter tracker from the backseat. Jonah exited the driver’s side.
Fiona ran up the porch. “Are you okay?” She took Alannah in her arms and stared at her neck. Then she glanced at Second. “What the hell is she doing here?”
Alannah opened her mouth to tell her cousin it was a long story, but all that came out was a dry croak.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this.” Jonah took two leaps and was at the top of the stairs and heading for the front door.
“I’ve done my part,” wolf shifter Anthony said.
Alannah thought he should have been a chicken shifter, not a wolf shifter.