“Let me at him! I’ll fucking kill him!” Ottavio howled.
Arturo sent a blast of power at him, and Ottavio’s howl ended in a yelp.
“I will help find her,” Zoey offered.
“You’re right, and I was wrong.” Arturo spoke so fast his words were blurring together. “When it comes to Giuliana, I lose common sense. It was not your fault she left my house; it was mine, and I punished you for my mistake. I apologize.” He inclined his head to the side, exposing his neck to Dominic. Zoey knew that show of submission was an enormous deal for the Capo di tutti Capi. “If you help her, I’ll reinstate you into the pack.”
“I gave you my loyalty and pledged my life to you for the last decade, and you abandoned me when I needed you most. I will never be part of your pack again, Arturo.” Dominic’s voice was thick with fury. “I will work with you to find her because she is my friend. And I will help take down the ghouls because it is the right thing to do. And then we’re done.”
“I’m coming! You need me. I can find her,” Zoey said.
Dominic looked as if he wanted to argue, but Arturo said, “My men will make sure she’s safe.”
They followed Arturo out the door, crowded into a giant SUV, and drove north. Another car full of his men trailed behind them.
Cop cars and ambulances zipped through the mostly abandoned streets. Cars were parked haphazardly, many in no-parking zones. Storefronts were covered with steel shutters, and their protection wards glowed fiercely. Customers were most likely crowded inside, waiting fearfully and trying to reach their loved ones by phone. Signs blinked over designated shelter areas. As they drove, they saw a few doors open with people standing in them, waving in any stragglers. Homeowners took in any strangers who’d been caught far from their own homes when the sirens went off. Times like this were terrifying, but they also brought out the best in people. Differences vanished, and the city united to fight off the threat.
They took the road northeast through Bianchi Pack territory, but during a city-wide alert, all hostilities would be suspended.
They passed through the modest suburbs with their smaller houses. Bicycles lay abandoned on sidewalks. A woman rushed out into her front yard, grabbed a yapping collie, and ran back into her house before slamming her door.
Arturo’s driver pulled into the parking lot of a warehouse next to a wooded area. A command center had been established there, and police, shifters, and mages rushed to-and-fro.
There was a row of bodies under tarps to one side of an asphalt lot. Med-mages and EMTs treated bleeding victims who had been grouped together in a triage area.
They all scrambled out of the SUV, Dominic keeping Zoey by his side. Arturo’s foot soldiers crowded around him, awaiting orders.
“I don’t like you being here. I should have just had you call me with her location,” Dominic said to Zoey, tension vibrating through his body.
“That wouldn’t work as well and you know it,” she replied. “I’ve been focusing on her the whole ride up here. She’s been moving around, and I’d have to keep calling you back to tell you her latest location. She’s not the only person who might need to be found.”
“We need to go get her, now,” Arturo growled. His eyes glowed so brightly, they could have illuminated a ballroom.
Shouts and screams from the wooded area to their right distracted them. Arturo jerked, his nostrils flaring.
“She’s not there. She’s to the left,” Zoey said.
“Go help,” Arturo said, pointing his foot soldiers in the direction of the screaming. They tried to argue, clearly unhappy about leaving their leader unprotected, but he bellowed, “Don’t fucking question me!” and sent a wave of skull-rattling power rolling over them.
They shifted without another word and ran in the direction he’d pointed. Zoey quickly led Arturo, Ottavio, Carlo, and Dominic into the wooded area to the left. She wrinkled her nose. The air reeked of ghoul.
They kept pushing through underbrush until they found Giuliana in a clearing, crouched over an injured, glassy-eyed human on a stretcher. There were EMTs and cops there too.
Giuliana ignored them as they rushed over to her. She poured all of her energy into healing the man, and as Zoey watched, blood stopped flowing from his gashes and his color went from waxy to merely pale.
“He’s stable now,” Giuliana pronounced.
The EMTs lifted the stretcher and hurried through the woods.
A terrible odor washed over them, and three ghouls came crashing through the bushes and headed straight for them. They were tall and cadaverously thin, their mouths filled with too many sharp, pointy teeth. Their eyes were pits of pure blackness, their hair yellowing, greasy strands plastered to their heads. They were naked, but their genitals were so shriveled, it was impossible to tell their sex.
Zoey tensed as all the wolves shifted and attacked the ghouls, tearing into them. The smell in the air was so ripe and horrible, it made her gag. It made her yearn for the scent of three-month-old garbage ripening in the sun on her neighborhood streets.
And then it was over. Ghouls were mindless rage machines, and all they did was lunge at things and tear at them with their claws and fangs. They couldn’t plan or strategize in a fight, they didn’t dodge or feint or flee, so they were easy for wolves to take down. Once their heads had been ripped off, they stopped moving but continued stinking.
“Gah,” Zoey said, breathing through her mouth as she made her way back to Dominic. “That stench.”
Arturo started to say something, and Dominic barked, “Quiet!”
Ottavio and Carlo snarled at Dominic for snapping at their Alpha.
“What is it?” Arturo demanded.
Dominic concentrated. “There’s a portal close by. I can feel it. Believe me, when you’ve been partway through a portal, you don’t forget how that feels.”
Arturo nodded. “I sense it too. Powerful pulses of magic. Definitely a lesser portal, but I can sense chaos magic leaking through. There’s something strange about it though. Lesser portals usually fade at a steady rate. They don’t pulse.”
“We need to investigate.” Ottavio turned and hurried through the woods, and Carlo followed him.
Zoey narrowed her eyes. That’s odd. He’s leaving Arturo’s side in the middle of a magical meltdown?
Giuliana jumped up and followed Ottavio and Carlo, and Dominic hesitated and then grabbed Zoey’s arm. They pushed through thick underbrush, made their way around a hillside, and … there it was. The portal was a bizarre rip in reality, a big hole about eight feet high and equally wide. It hurt to look directly at it, and the air in the clearing was wavery.
Standing near it, pointing a long, slim wand at the portal, was Benedict. His hand shook. His face was pale and sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Close it!” Arturo shouted.
“Can’t you see I’m trying! I’m not strong enough on my own!” Benedict’s hair was plastered to his skull with sweat.
A strangled scream came from the woods off to their left. “Primo,” Arturo said. “That’s his scent.”
Zoey turned her gaze on Ottavio. He’s behaving oddly.
He had stepped close to Arturo, but he was putting Arturo between him and the portal. He should be placing his body between Arturo and the source of danger. Arturo, distracted, took a couple of steps backward—closer to the portal.
Dominic noticed at the same time. “Stop that!” he bellowed at Ottavio.
“Stop what?” Ottavio replied innocently.
“We need to get help for Benedict,” Arturo growled. “A few more mages will be able to help him close it.”
“No, we need to stay here in case more ghouls come out,” Ottavio reasoned.
Arturo looked at him strangely. “Since when do you argue with me?”
A strange question bubbled up inside Zoey’s head. It had been nagging at her subconscious for a while now, but all of a sudden it seemed extremely urgent. “Giuliana, how many times did you follow me and
try to kidnap me?” she blurted.
“She did what?!” Dominic barked.
“You’re asking me this now?” Giuliana squinted at the portal, then looked at Zoey, blinking hard. “Twice. Why?”
“There were dozens of times something was blocking me, trying to get at me. For weeks. Ever since Dominic bit me. It was you, wasn’t it, Ottavio?” Zoey demanded. “You’re up to something.”
They were distracted for a minute when Luigi Bianchi came bursting through the bushes, grinning fiercely, covered with blood. “It’s done,” he said to Ottavio. “I killed them.”
Primo and anyone who tried to defend him. Zoey’s stomach clenching tightly.
Quick as a flash, Ottavio jammed his pistol against Giuliana’s head. Giuliana cried out with rage, clawing at Ottavio’s hands. Arturo let out an infuriated snarl.
“Careful,” Ottavio snapped. “A silver bullet through the skull and she’s beyond the help of any med-mage.”
Dominic moved protectively in front of Zoey, putting himself between her and Ottavio.
“Why?” Arturo demanded, his eyes glowing a deadly gold.
"Because you are weak," Ottavio said. "And so was Primo. You should have killed Primo and taken the east side for the pack a long time ago. Primo should have been willing to do the same or die trying. No real Alpha allows another pack to operate in their territory.”
Carlo looked hurt and baffled. “What are you doing?” he demanded of his brother. “Why are you hurting Giuli?”
Ottavio ignored him and looked at Arturo with hatred. "You should have killed Carlo when he failed the turn. He's an embarrassment. A weakness."
"Me?" Carlo’s face fell. "I'm barrassment? Is that bad?"
“Stop him!” Dominic bellowed to Benedict.
Benedict glanced at Ottavio. “Hurry the fuck up,” he snapped. “I can’t hold the portal open much longer.”
“Holy hell,” Zoey said in astonishment.
Benedict was working with Ottavio and Luigi. He wasn’t trying to close the portal; he was using his magic to keep it open. He’d been tearing open portals and releasing ghouls. Distracting the authorities while the two packs duked it out, and while Ottavio and Luigi maneuvered behind the scenes.
Ottavio started moving with Giuliana, forcing her toward the portal. "Why were you following me?" Zoe tried to stall him.
"Because you are a troublemaker who asks questions."
"You," Arturo said furiously. “You were the one who drove the businesses out of town. You sabotaged the garbage pickup. You told Jordan to stop the garbage trucks, and then you killed him so he couldn’t snitch on you. You were trying to turn me against Dominic and weaken the pack.”
“Only so I could build it back up again!" Ottavio yelled, his face reddening. “Luigi and I are going to unite the packs and eliminate the weaklings. The whole city will bow to us. Anyone who doesn’t like it will die. Just like this spoiled little bitch.”
He hurled Giuliana through the portal and into the Chaos Realm.
Without a word, Arturo dove in after her.
“I can get them! I can get them!” Zoey screamed at Dominic. “My map magic will bring us back! Stay out, Dominic!” Before he could stop her, she darted through.
But Dominic, that fool, ran in after her.
Bizarre sensations blasted Zoey, overwhelming her. The ground rippled under her feet. Her head pounded, and she choked on a wave of nausea and terror. If Benedict stopped focusing his magic, the portal would seal itself off. And that’s what he would do, of course. They’d be trapped here forever, and Ottavio could spin his own story about what had happened and take over the pack. The portal wouldn’t close instantly, but without Benedict holding it open, they probably only had minutes.
Everything was wavy and fractured and constantly changing. She fell to her knees, disoriented, and started crawling toward where she thought Giuliana was, but her map magic was confused. It wanted her to run in a thousand directions at once.
What was she crawling on? The ground felt harsh and spiky, ugly and angry. The air here hated her. This place was wrong, or she was wrong. She needed to get out, get out, get out …
Zoey desperately tried to focus. She pictured Giuliana, but the picture stayed still in her mind. She couldn’t sense which way to go. That had never happened to her before. She was completely lost.
She forced herself to crawl. Anything was better than staying still. She’d find her friends or die trying. She blindly thrust out her hands, crawling on her knees, desperate to feel anything. The air slid through her fingers with a strange, oily sensation.
She couldn’t see. There were no colors or shapes anymore, and everything was blurring together. She heard distorted howling sounds, and she thought it was Dominic yelling her name, but she was no longer sure of anything.
Zoey had led the man she loved to his death. She had failed everyone. Her heart sped up, slowed down, fell out of her body, jumped and danced … she was losing her mind. They would all die here.
Chapter Twenty-three
“C ome on!” That sounded like Carlo’s voice. Sort of like Carlo, but clear and intelligent, all the dullness gone. It must be a trick of the Chaos Realm. “I’ve got you! Zoey, come on! This way!”
The air was too thick to breathe. Zoey couldn’t move her limbs. It felt as if someone was pulling her through mud, through quicksand, through … through the portal.
She and Dominic flew through the air and landed with heavy thuds on the dirt, gasping for breath. A minute later, Arturo and Giuliana flew out. Dominic reached out and grabbed Zoey’s trembling arm and pulled her to him.
“Oh my God. What was that?” she moaned, half-dazed.
“You’re alive. You’re alive,” Dominic chanted, pressing his face into her hair.
The air smelled like blood. Carlo was saying something, and then he was standing over her.
A small explosion shook the ground. Zoey looked up, and the portal was gone. Benedict lay on the ground, his throat torn open. Luigi was sprawled on the grass next to him, his neck hanging at a strange angle, and Ottavio was on his knees, whimpering and clutching a broken arm.
“I said, are you all right?” Carlo said again.
“All right?” Zoey blinked up at him. “I … I can breathe. I can see again.” She felt her face, her legs. “I’m here. All of me is here. Whoa. That was so much fun, let’s never do it again.” She struggled to stand.
Dominic climbed to his feet, and they stood there, leaning on each other and shaking.
“Carlo?” Arturo stood, looking dazed. “Carlo! You’re healed. My God, you’re back.”
Carlo nodded slowly. “When I jumped through the portal after you, everything was perfectly clear. You were all crawling around yelling in this strange, blank land where everything had no color. It was like the chaos was scrambling your brains and fixing mine.”
He looked around the clearing. “I killed them,” he said dimly, his gaze focusing on Benedict and Luigi.
Giuliana was still on her hands and knees, puking in the grass.
“Carlo,” Ottavio wailed, cradling his shattered arm. “Look what you’ve done! To me! I’m your brother!”
“No, Ottavio. Look what you’ve done.” Carlo’s face was bleak as he stalked over to Ottavio. He pointed in the direction of the city. “You had Benedict open the gates to hell. All those people died just so you could lure Arturo here. You knew he’d have to respond to a ghoul attack, and then you’d throw him through the portal. That was the only way you could kill him, wasn’t it? You couldn’t take him on in a fair fight.”
“Carlo, you’re fixed! You’re okay now!” Ottavio tried to scoot away from his brother. He gave him a sickly, ingratiating grin, cringing as Carlo followed him. “Look how strong you are! You’re stronger than ever! We can rule the pack together now! We can … ahhhhhhh …”
Zoey put her hands over her ears to dull the sound of Ottavio’s dying screams as his brother killed him.
Two da
ys later, they were gathered in Arturo’s living room. Arturo had summoned Dominic, Romano, and Zoey to his house, probably to ask Dominic to rejoin the pack. That wasn’t an offer Dominic could accept. He’d only come to say goodbye.
Giuliana was there, sitting to the left of her uncle, still looking pale and queasy, as they all were. Even Arturo’s normally healthy complexion had a pallor to it. Med-mages had done everything they could, but they’d all feel like they had a bad hangover for at least another few days.
Carlo sat by Arturo’s right side. His demeanor had changed so much, he was barely recognizable. He wore a crisp, pressed suit, and his dark eyes shone with intelligence and awareness, but they were haunted. Ottavio’s treachery had cut deep, and having to kill his own brother would always weigh heavily on Carlo’s soul.
They sat nibbling on biscotti and sipping coffee for a few minutes, murmuring pleasantries, while Dominic waited for Arturo to get to the point of why he’d invited them.
But the question he sprang on him wasn’t the one Dominic expected.
“Why did you bite Zoey?” Arturo asked. “It wasn’t a moon-bite.”
Dominic set down his coffee and arched an eyebrow. “How long have you known?”
Zoey looked at him in confusion.
“I always knew,” Arturo said, leaning back in his seat. “You’re not a born wolf. You’re a made wolf. Only born wolves moon-bite.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Dominic tilted his head and quirked a brow.
Arturo shrugged. “It gave us an easy way to get out of having you enter an alliance with Fabiana. I knew they only wanted to do it to send her in as a spy. I suspected they might use it as an excuse to declare war on us, but they would have done so either way. I also suspected they were somehow behind the sabotage on our businesses, I just never guessed Ottavio was part of that too.”
“I knew too,” Giuliana said. “It’s just not something that comes up that often because made wolves are rarer than born wolves, and either way, most wolves end up in arranged matings before they get to meet their real mate on a full moon. But I knew it was impossible it was a moon-bite. That’s why I questioned it. I thought Zoey had placed a spell on you or something and she was just playing coy to make it more believable.”
Mated to the Capo (Mafia Wolf Shifters) (Encantado Shifters Book 1) Page 17