by Rye Brewer
“It will take that much?” Scott asked.
“Yes, it will.”
“There are that many of you?” I couldn’t imagine that.
“No, less than twenty. Malory is the one you have to be careful of.”
“I can get plenty of backup for us,” Scott said. “Just give me the word.”
I turned toward my brother. “You think you can round up enough?”
“If the Bourke clan leader wants it, consider it done.” He gave me a smile of support then was on his feet and gone in a flash. If anybody could convince an army to band together, it was Scott. He had the touch.
Meanwhile, the werewolf looked at me. “What do I do?”
“You go, unless there’s anything else you think I should know that might help.”
He shrugged. “Not really. The girl’s in the dungeon with her sister. The metal has some kind of magic spell on it, so you can’t just break it. I don’t even think I could.”
I thought about that. “Who has the key?”
“Malory.”
“You should go,” I said.
I didn’t have to tell him twice. He ran like someone had set fire to him.
I turned toward the cottage. As I had assumed, there was a dungeon. The cottage had to be enchanted, to contain a dungeon. That made me sure that the chains holding Anissa to the wall would have to be enchanted too.
The thought of her being chained made my fangs want to descend.
15
Anissa
It was the strangest feeling I’d ever known. Like she’d drained something out of me, and I’d felt myself getting weaker with every passing second. Was this what it was like for the ones we’d drunk from?
Malory hadn’t fed long. It had been such a relief when she’d stopped, too.
I could breathe again.
And when she stepped back, I gasped.
As did Sara.
Where an old, withered woman had stood before us just minutes earlier now stood a much younger woman. Not young, not like my sister or me, but middle-aged at most. The gray hair was a mix of black and gray instead, and, where it had been frizzy, it was suddenly shiny and smooth. Much like her face, which had filled out, the wrinkles lessening. Her eyes were brighter, her lips fuller. Even her body wasn’t so thin anymore.
“You see,” she said with a smile, “all the good your blood has done for me.”
“Yes, I see.” Whose voice was that? The weak, fluttery voice? It couldn’t be mine, could it? I was stronger than that, always. And yet it was the best I could do.
Malory’s smile never faded. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Don’t worry, you’ll both be provided for.” She left wearing the same sick, nasty smile as always.
I waited until she was gone to slump a little in my chains, which left me just enough room to sit on a cot.
“I’m so sorry,” Sara whispered.
I couldn’t bring myself to answer her. I was too ashamed.
“Won’t you even speak to me?” she whispered. “Are you that mad at me?”
That shocked me into response. “Mad at you?” I asked, stunned. “Why would I be mad at you? You didn’t do anything wrong!”
“If I hadn’t sold my blood, I wouldn’t have been imprisoned and you wouldn’t have had to save me like this.” She went silent for a long time, the only sound the slow drip… drip… drip of water from somewhere nearby. “And you wouldn’t have needed to do what you did for Marcus.”
“I don’t want to talk about that,” I said, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.
“Well, I do. You know what was always worse than being chained up and being away from you?” I heard a tremble in her voice.
“What?”
“Knowing what you were doing. I knew the entire time.”
“You did? How?”
She shrugged. “How do you think? Marcus told me.”
My stomach turned. “He didn’t.”
“He wanted me to know. It was torture, and he loved knowing it got to me.”
“Oh, Sara, I’m sorry.” The tears flowed—tears I could hardly spare, seeing as how I was half-drained. “If I had been thinking more clearly, I would have killed Jonah when I had the chance, and none of this would have happened. The werewolves would never have caught me again.”
She gasped. “No. You can’t kill him.”
A part of me was relieved she felt that way. Okay, more than just a part of me. All of me.
“They caught you because you came to rescue me. It’s my fault. If it weren’t for me being so careless three years ago, I wouldn’t have gotten caught and I wouldn’t have been imprisoned and I wouldn’t have made you do something so awful for me.”
“And if I weren’t part fae—”
“Don’t,” she warned. “That’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything to make that so. And it’s not your fault people couldn’t accept us because of our mother. We didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“I know.” We were quiet for a long time. I understood now why she’d been so weak when I dragged her through the tunnel and the woods. I couldn’t have run just then for anything. I wasn’t even sure I could walk.
“How much did she take?” Sara asked.
“Not enough to hurt, but enough to exhaust me.” I sighed, wanting to rub at the sore spot on my throat but determined to keep my hand away from it. I wanted to forget it was there.
“And she’ll do that every day…”
“Until she thinks she’s had enough, and then she’ll kill us both,” I finished. “At least we have a little time. I can put a plan together to get us out of here.”
“Oh, Anissa.”
“What do you suggest?” I asked. “That we sit here and wait to die? That’s not me. And I don’t think it’s you, either.”
“I’m not,” she said. “I just don’t see a way out. Not when we can’t even get ourselves away from the wall.”
“We can’t see it now, but we will.” I had to have hope. I just had to. Otherwise, I’d sink into a pit of despair there was no getting out of. And if I despaired, I wouldn’t be able ever to get out. I might as well bite at my wrists, as I’d already threatened to do. There would be no point in keeping myself alive solely to provide sustenance for Malory.
“I wonder how old she is,” Sara mused, sitting cross-legged on her cot.
“Ancient,” I guessed. “You know how witches are.”
“Yes, if she looked that old, she must be older than the woods themselves.”
“I guess so. And she knew all about me. How unnerving.”
“You’re special,” Sara said. “I’ve always thought so. I knew there had to be something about your father. You’re so much more special than me. There’s never been anything different about me. Not like you.”
“That’s not a bad thing. You’re not the one the witch is feeding on,” I reminded her.
“No, but you’re a leader. You’re brave. You have a special power.” She snorted. “Marcus could never read your thoughts, and it drove him crazy.”
“He told you that, too?”
“Oh, he told me a lot of things about the time you two spent together. You’re such a puzzle to him. He tried to get me to give him insight into you. Can you imagine?”
“I honestly can’t.” Even though we were in deep trouble which I couldn’t make heads or tails of, I had to smile at my sister. “I’ve missed being able to talk to you like this,” I admitted.
“I’ve missed it, too.”
We stretched our arms and could clasp hands. It was comforting, feeling her hand in mine. We could find a way out together. Nothing could stop us.
“So, what about that Jonah guy?” she asked.
“What about him?” I dropped her hand, on guard.
“You don’t have to act that way,” she teased. “I can tell you like him.”
“A lot of good that does,” I muttered. “I’ll never see him again.”
“I thought you were trying to be hopeful,” she reminded me, still
gently teasing.
“I didn’t mean we’ll never get out. But I’ll never see him when we do. He’s a Bourke. We’ve gone rogue. It can never be—we’ll never fit in anywhere, ever again.”
“And that’s my fault.”
“We can’t keep going around in circles like this,” I said. “This is just the way things happened, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I hate seeing you chained up again so soon after being free, is all.”
She chuckled. “I’m used to it.”
16
Jonah
It only took about an hour for Scott to return, though it might as well have been three days. Every minute seemed to drag by as I crouched in the brush, watching the cottage. There hadn’t been another guard out there since the one we’d captured. How long it would take for them to realize somebody was missing?
When Scott returned, it was like the sun shining through storm clouds. “I left all of them maybe a half-mile away,” he explained. “When I give the signal, they’ll come on the charge.”
“How many?”
“Fifty. And that was because so many of them weren’t home when I went around the building. I might have brought twice as many, otherwise.”
“Fifty is better than I’d hoped for,” I admitted.
“They’re all just as ready for a fight as I am,” he said with a broad grin. “It’s been too long.”
“I’m glad somebody feels that way. I sure don’t.”
Then, Scott’s expression darkened.
“What is it?” I asked. “Did you have trouble with any of them?”
He nodded then studied the ground. “Gage.”
I sighed. It would have felt so much better if he had been with us. Knowing how much he disapproved was disheartening. “What did he say?”
“Well, I didn’t exactly get the chance to talk to him,” he explained. “Don’t be mad.”
“What’s there to be mad about if you didn’t talk to him?”
He wouldn’t look at me, which didn’t bode well. “As it turns out, he has some allies of his own in the clan.”
“He what?” It probably isn’t the best time for me to hear about this.
“I know. It was as much of a surprise to me, believe me. I had no idea.”
“You didn’t know?”
“No, of course not. I would have told you.”
It took the wind out of me. I leaned against a tree. My own brother. My twin. “Do you know how long it’s been going on?”
“I didn’t have time to find out, but it was like an open secret. Open to everybody but us.”
“Philippa?”
“She didn’t know, either. She stayed behind to find out what she could. She should know more by the time we get back.”
I nodded, doing my best to keep my temper under control. I could have uprooted the very tree I leaned against. I could have screamed loud enough to scare the birds from the trees. I could have torn any werewolf apart who dared get in my way.
My own twin has gone against me.
“I should have seen it coming. You know how weird he’s been lately. Always with something to say, always complaining about this or that. I should have seen it.”
“How could you? You trusted him. I did, too. Neither of us wanted to believe he would do something like this.”
“I still don’t want to believe it,” I said. “And what does this say about me as the clan leader? I don’t know what’s happening in my own immediate family. What else don’t I know about in the clan? It makes me seem a little ridiculous.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about it right now,” he said.
“He wouldn’t come?”
“No. Now let’s think about what we’re going to do once we’re in there. Did you find out where Anissa is?”
He was right. I would deal with Gage later. I struggled to remember what the werewolf had told me—it wasn’t easy when I couldn’t stop thinking about my brother.
“It’s a dungeon. They’re chained up in the same cell. The iron is enchanted, so I don’t know how we would break it, though Malory might have a key.” Assuming the werewolf didn’t lie.
“All right. You think we’re ready?”
I took a deep breath. “There’s one way to find out.”
17
Anissa
If I were capable of sleeping, I would have sworn it was a dream.
I heard what sounded like thunder coming from just above my head.
Followed by shouting.
Then crashing.
“What is that?” Sara trembled, and she wasn’t alone.
I took her hand, and we stood as close as we could to each other as all hell broke loose above us.
“It sounds like the entire building is coming down!”
We both flinched, pressing ourselves to the wall when a massive crash brought dust down on our heads.
“What do you think it could be?” I turned to my sister.
We were both wild-eyed with fear.
“Is it her magic?” she asked, and we cringed again as another crash brought down yet more dust and debris.
I’d seen a herd of wild elephants once at a circus and was convinced something similar was happening. Somebody had set a herd of elephants loose in Malory’s cottage, or castle, or whatever she’d intended it to be.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Why would she bring down her home with magic?”
“You don’t think somebody came for us, do you?” We had to shout over the sound of crashing and banging just to be heard.
“What? No! Impossible!” Nobody knew where we were.
“I thought nothing was impossible!”
“Could you please stop throwing that in my face all the time?”
Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the noise stopped. Somehow, I was more frightened by the silence.
“What do you think happened?” Sara whispered.
“Somebody won.”
“Won what?”
“Whatever we just heard up there. Somebody won.” I didn’t dare hope it was Jonah. There was no way, just as I said to Sara. No way anybody knew we were here.
He’d already been long gone by the time the werewolves caught up with us. Probably back at his penthouse in his fancy apartment building.
“Maybe her werewolves beat her,” she whispered. “Or another being.”
“But do we want to meet the creature that could beat her?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to. There was no telling how much evil it would take to overpower her.
We waited with bated breath to see what would happen next. Every silent second was agony. Would they come for us? Or would we rot here forever, wailing and pleading for blood, long since forgotten? I wasn’t sure which scenario terrified me more.
Then, I heard it. So did Sara, judging from the way her head snapped up. We both stared at the door, trembling. They were coming. Footsteps.
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
“Me, too,” I admitted. Why lie? I was near panic. And I couldn’t do anything about it thanks to my enchanted shackles.
“Anissa?”
My heart leaped to life when I heard his voice. It couldn’t be! How was it possible?
“Jonah? In here! We’re here!”
“Jonah?” Sara asked, eyes wide. “How?”
I didn’t know, but it was him. And then I saw him. Sapphire eyes with a gold perimeter. I recognized his eyes peering at us through the little window in the door, and I could almost taste sweet relief in my mouth. Only the thought of my sister beside me kept me from collapsing. I had to stay strong for her.
“Just wait a minute. We’ll get you out of there.” His voice was the most comforting sound I’d ever heard.
Then came a rattling, after that, the door swung open.
Jonah hurried through, catching me as I nearly fell on weak, shaky legs. “You’re all right now. You’re safe.”
I closed my eyes, unable to believe it. He came. He actually came for me. I le
t myself rest against him for just a moment before opening my eyes again and taking in the rest of the scene.
Jonah’s brother, the one with the quick smile, unlocked Sara’s shackles. I couldn’t help noticing the way he stared at her, like she bowled him over. Not surprising, given her beauty. She nodded gratefully, rubbing her wrists.
“Here.” Scott tossed the keys to Jonah, who used them on my shackles.
“Keys? How did you get them?”
“They were hers.” Jonah didn’t look at me as he unlocked me. “We took them from her.”
“Malory?” A chill ran through me. No wonder it had sounded like the building was falling around our heads.
Once I was free, Jonah took me by the arm. “Come on. We have to get you out of here. I don’t think we’ll run into any more opposition, but you never know. The sooner we’re gone, the better.”
“I don’t understand any of this. How will we get away?”
“Like I said, we took care of it.” He glanced at his brother, who took Sara’s arm as Jonah had taken mine.
“One second.” I slipped out his hold and staggered toward the shelf, retrieving my blades and slipping them into their sheaths. I couldn’t leave these behind. Just couldn’t. “Ready.” Though what I was really ready for was to lie down and rest.
He took my arm again then gave me a reassuring grin as they led us out of the dungeon and up a flight of stairs.
“Don’t delay,” he warned.
I wouldn’t, but there was no way to keep my eyes from shifting back and forth.
Blood.
I smelled it, thick and still fairly warm, heavy in the air. The bodies of werewolves right and left, broken, still bleeding or already dead. So many. Crumpled against walls, on floors. Horrible.
“What happened here?” I whispered. “You did all this?”
He snorted. “Hardly. My clan backed me up, and I advised them to get out of here once we were sure there was no more danger.”
“Where’s the witch?” I expected her to come out at any moment, just around a corner or through a dark doorway. I stepped over a body on the floor and moved onward, Jonah’s hand still on my arm.