by Sarah Piper
Death Untold
Copyright © 2019 by Sarah Piper
SarahPiperBooks.com
All rights reserved. With the exception of brief quotations used for promotional or review purposes, no part of this book may be recorded, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express permission of the author. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, organizations, brands, media, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Origins of The Witch’s Rebels
About Sarah Piper
One
LIAM
Nothing was certain, they said on the material plane, but Death and taxes.
Yet the longer I lingered among them, the more deeply I came to understand that despite the frequency with which such platitudes were offered, Death and taxes were merely constructs in their eyes, words to encapsulate complex systems and ideas too vast for the human mind to grasp.
The only true certainty in their world—a world to which I so desperately ached to belong—was love.
It broke all the rules. It decimated once-immutable truths. It kicked down walls and spilled blood and burned so fiercely its heat possessed the power to bond that which, by all the laws of the cosmos, should have been severed.
Indeed, even as the fae’s silver blade had severed Emilio Alvarez’s spine, Gray’s fierce love for him kept him tethered to her essence, against all odds.
His soul vibrated inside my raven form, guiding me on fierce winds high above the burning warehouse, far beyond the small town of Raven’s Cape, through time and space and back again. When I finally felt called to stop, I found myself soaring through the deep indigo skies of Gray’s magical realm.
It was as if she’d guided us both here, though she couldn’t have known I’d already claimed him. I saw her now in my limitless vision, leading the witches from the warehouse, her incubus and vampire steadfast at her side.
All of her companions were fighters, just like Gray.
Just like Emilio.
Sighting the glow of her stone altar in the meadow below, I swooped down and dropped soundlessly to the earth, shifting into my human form just as Emilio Alvarez’s broken body materialized on the ground before me—part man, part wolf, ruined and very near an end he didn’t want to accept.
I suppose I hadn’t wanted to accept it, either. If I had, I would have retrieved his soul, leaving the body for his loved ones to mourn and bury, as was their custom.
Instead, I’d brought him with me.
His blood soaked through the dark green meadow grass, and once again, his soul writhed and spun inside me, a frenzied dance that quickened beneath the shadow of the rune gate and the Shadowrealm beyond. Further down the path, its stone archway loomed, beckoning me to carry him through.
It was, after all, my sacred duty. My purpose.
Yet I was immobilized.
Whether it was his unfathomable strength in resisting Death’s call, or my weakness in performing my task in the face of the pain I’d already caused, I could not bear the thought of escorting the soul of Gray’s wolf to his eternal resting place.
Not until she had the chance to say her farewell.
One more day, one more hour, one more moment to hold a loved one close and whisper all the right words… Every human who’d ever suffered the loss of someone dear to them had wished for the same thing. Begged for it. They believed that the gift of time, however brief, would be a balm for their shattered hearts.
It was the least I could give the woman who’d captured mine.
As if he understood my intentions, Emilio’s soul heated from within, making my skin glow silver. Human or raven or some other creature altogether, none of my vessels were strong enough to contain him long term. His energy was too bright, too strong, even in death.
The pentacle carved into Gray’s altar pulsed a violet-blue, and ahead of us on the path, two of my strongest and most loyal ferriers appeared—a great horned owl and a white raven. They perched in the lower branches of a barren, oil-black tree, awaiting my orders.
But those orders would not come. Not yet.
“Tonight,” I said, “in the realm where all things are still possible, we shall endeavor to stop time for them.” I had no idea how long it would take Gray to arrive—only that she would arrive. Ronan would tell her of Emilio’s passing, and she would find us. Find him.
I knelt in the grass beside his broken body and reached for his hand, his human fingers curled in agonizing pain against the forepaw of his wolf form, his entire body caught mid-shift. His death had been agonizing, but he felt no pain now. The blade had done its work carving through flesh and bone; the silver poison had done the rest.
I brought his hand to my chest, held it close. The blood of the wolf soaked my human clothing through to the skin, and an inexplicable wetness leaked from my eyes.
He deserved better.
Such was the way of all brave men.
“She is coming,” I promised him in a voice so despondent, I hardly recognized it. “Gray will be here.”
Two
ASHER
Busting out of the smoke-filled warehouse and into the chilly night, I sucked in a deep breath. I almost didn’t recognize the smell.
Air. Fresh, free, glorious air and a cloudless sky full of stars that not even the fire behind us could dim.
But as much as I wanted to drop to the ground and roll around in the grass like a puppy, there was no time. We had to get everyone to shelter, and pronto. The witches needed food and medical attention, all of us needed showers, and someone—hopefully not me—would need to come up with a plan.
Orendiel was still out there. Fucking coward. And I was pretty sure none of us would sleep until Emilio was well again, and we’d given that sick fae fuck the brutal farewell he so deserved.
“This way,” one of the shifter cops shouted, and in a blur, our group raced down a side street, fueled on nothing but adrenaline and freedom, and fear that it could be snatched away again. We reached a row of unmarked vans and hurried inside—me, Darius, Gray, the witches, the cops, and the fae princeling who was now in the mix. Oh, and the hellhounds that had somehow, in my absence, attached themselves to Gray, and were now jumping on her lap in the back seat, yelping and licking her face like she was a piece of steak smothered in peanut butter.
Not much to look at, those two, but they were fiercely protective of her. Never thought I’d say it, but I was damn grateful they were on our side.
“Alright, we’re rolling,” one of the cops said into his comm device. Lansky, I thought Gray said his name was. After a quick head count and confirmation from the other two vans, we were off, Lansky phoning ahead for EMTs and food delivery, ordering his people to meet us at the rendezvous point.
The house belonged to Emilio’s sister, I was told—another part of the story I was still trying to catch up on.
“It’ll be tight,” Gray said as we poured out of the vans and headed inside, the hounds halfway up her ass with excitement. Seemed they thought of this place as home, and they were glad to be back. “But it’s warm and safe, and there aren’t any electrified bars on the doors.”
“Always a bonus,” I said with a wink.
She was right—the house wasn’t exactly set up for an influx of two-dozen witches. But for now, cramped as it was, we’d find a way to make it work. Whether they were from the Cape or the Bay or someplace else entirely, the witches couldn’t go home yet. Not with the power balance so out of whack in all the surrounding communities. As far as we knew, Lansky had told me on the drive over, Blackmoon Bay had been the hardest hit, with supernatural crimes and violence mucking things up over there in a major way. But other cities would soon fall, and we needed time to regroup.
“It’ll be awesome,” I assured Gray as I took a look around the living room. It was open, with hardwood floors and bright orange walls. Seemed like a nice place. “Hot water, freedom of movement, food, drinks, safety? Hell, this place is a fucking palace.” I gave her a smile, best one I had for the moment, and she blew out a relieved breath. I was about to pull her in for another hug when my eyes landed on a small lump at the center of the couch, snoring softly beneath a pile of blankets.
“Reva,” she said, following my line of sight. “Safe and sound. Judging from that empty pizza box, probably suffering from food coma.”
“Last time I saw this kid, she was slipping into the shadows of the caves like a pro spelunker.” I knelt in front of the couch and ran my hand over her shorn head, careful not to wake her up. Even more careful not to let Gray see the tears of relief flooding my eyes.
Damn, is someone cutting onions in here?
“Brave girl,” I whispered.
“Hey, help me get her out of here,” Gray said. “I don’t want her in the middle of all this tonight.”
With a light touch, I scooped the kid up in my arms and followed Gray to the master bedroom down the hall, depositing her into Elena’s bed. Reva yawned and turned over on her side, falling into a deep sleep once again.
“She’ll be good in here for the night,” Gray said softly, kneeling down at the side of the bed and pulling the blankets up over Reva’s shoulder. “We’ll figure out more permanent sleeping arrangements when Emilio and Elena get back later. He’ll probably need his own room for a while.”
“Oh, hell yeah,” I said, forcing a smile I absolutely didn’t feel. “Big motherfucker like that? He definitely snores.”
She let out a quiet snicker. “Oh my God, you have no idea.”
“I… Wait. How do you know how Alvarez sounds when he sleeps?” I teased. Clearly, they’d gotten closer—another part of the plot I’d missed. “Hmm. Something tells me we’re gonna need to invest in a bigger bed for you, Cupcake.”
Gray opened her mouth to shoot something back, but then shut it, emotion suddenly overtaking her face. Her brows drew together, and she shook her head, fisting the blanket at Reva’s shoulder. “If Ronan can’t heal him, Asher, I—”
“Hey. Don’t do that. Ain’t nobody got time for doubt tonight. El Lobo is a tough sonofabitch. He’ll be back before you know it, along with Ronan and everyone else. And guess what? Tomorrow morning, we’re gonna have the best fucking reunion breakfast you can dream up.”
“With bacon?” she asked, that smile finally coming back to her lips.
“So much bacon. And scrambles and pancakes and OJ mixed with whatever booze the she-wolf keeps in here, because after tonight, I think we all need a stiff one.”
“You’re telling me.” She laughed again, and I took her hand and tugged her to her feet, drawing her close and nuzzling her neck and pretending I couldn’t smell Emilio’s blood congealing in her hair.
Three
ASHER
The main living area was a hotbed of activity, and Gray and I dove right in, helping Darius, Lansky, and anyone else who had the strength to move furniture and set up the living room for triage. The two EMTs—panther shifters—had beaten us here, and those guys were already hard at work, checking vitals and administering IVs, patching up wounds, wrapping sprains, passing around clean T-shirts and sweatpants and blankets. No one wanted to risk exposure at the hospital—there was too much at stake now, too many questions with answers that humans wouldn’t understand.
And here, at least, we could keep an eye on everyone, pool our resources, and figure out some kind of plan.
While Gray and I helped out the medics, Jael and a few of the more experienced witches who’d already been treated headed outside to set up more wards around the perimeter. Lansky called in a few men from a neighboring pack to help patrol the woods that backed up to the property. In the dining room, someone had set up a buffet of sandwiches and pizzas and Chinese takeout, and the witches who’d already been cleared by the medics were seated around the table picking at the food, the shock from their ordeal slowly receding.
Not one to stand on ceremony, I helped myself to a slice of pepperoni-and-mushroom pizza and grabbed a chair between Haley and the smoky-voiced witch with the yellow eyes.
“Your friends came through for us,” Yellow Eyes said approvingly. Then, reaching for an apple from a bowl of fruit hidden among the pizza boxes, “I damn near forgot what real food looked like.”
“You came through, too, Ash,” Haley said, rubbing the chill from her arms. “In a big way. Who knows what would’ve happened to us if you hadn’t shown up.”
“Come on, Hay. You guys would’ve figured things out.” I licked the pizza grease from my fingers and shot her a cocky grin. “It just would’ve been a little less interesting.”
“A little less bloody,” she said, “that’s for sure.”
“Hey. He had it coming to him.”
“Which one?” she asked, but then she just shook her head and laughed. “Dude. I still can’t believe you took out Benson’s eyeball.”
I shrugged, swallowing a bite of pizza. “It was all part of my bigger… vision.”
“Did you… did you really just say that right now?” Haley asked, cracking a smile.
“Look, Hay, I’m sorry we don’t see eye to eye on this,” I said, “but Benson was a little short-sighted.”
“Really, Ash? Really?”
I grinned at her. “Girl, I could do this all night.”
“Please don’t,” Yellow Eyes said, but she was laughing so hard she had to blot her eyes with a napkin.
When we all finally stopped busting a gut over poor Benson, I blew out a breath, the seriousness of the situation sending a chill down my spine. “The truth is… As far as I’m concerned? When it comes to men who think they can take away a woman’s power, every damn one of them deserves to bleed. Matter of fact, soon as we find the rest of those hunters, I’m gonna take out more than just eyeballs, and that’s a promise.”
I wolfed down the rest of
my pizza and grabbed another slice, along with a carton of something Chinese that smelled like spicy chicken and peanuts. I offered it to Haley first, but she shook her head, her brow creased like she was trying to figure something out.
The chopsticks were halfway to my mouth when I felt her eyes boring into me again.
“Darius told us that Gray sacrificed herself to trap Jonathan’s soul in the Shadow Realm,” she said. Her tone held a mix of confusion and awe, even a shade of disbelief. “For us.”
I nodded, and even though I hated remembering the moment Gray had ripped out Jonathan’s soul and vanished before my eyes, I couldn’t help but be proud of her for doing it.
“She thought it was the best way to take him out and give the rest of us a chance to escape,” I said. “Hell, maybe it was. Wished she didn’t have to go there, though. We damn near lost her, from what I understand.”
“How is she even alive?” Haley asked.
“No idea, but I’m looking forward to the story.” I still wasn’t sure what had gone down in the Shadowrealm—Gray and I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk about any of it yet—but she’d beaten the odds and come back. That was the main thing.
“Fucking badass,” Yellow Eyes said, taking a bite of her apple.