Leif locked gazes with Jasper, his eyes narrowing, and then he nodded. “Thank you.”
So it was settled. “We’ll go after them. We just need to open a rift. Can we do that?”
Jessie’s lip curled. “I dunno, but I’ll give it my fucking all.”
Poppy wiped her eyes and stood. “They need to pay for what they did to Danny.”
Leif put his hand on her shoulder. “Danny wouldn’t want you putting yourself in danger. If you do this, you go in stealth. You get the wolves out. You do not engage the enemy.”
Poppy’s chin jutted mulishly. “If they step into my path, then they’ll get obliterated.”
Leif opened his mouth to argue but something slammed into the main doors, fists pounding. My head whipped around to find Tor standing outside, palm pressed to the glass as he peered into the gloom.
Trenton rushed across the room and unlocked the door. My monolith of muscle mate strode in. Frost clung to his short dark hair and kissed his lashes, and smoke curled off his skin as the moisture from the air outside evaporated against the heat emanating off his body. He was in joggers, sneakers, and a long-sleeve navy V-neck sweater that showcased his biceps and powerful chest.
Rune padded in behind Tor, bringing the scent of the forest with him. His golden fur shimmered with flakes of ice and he shook his huge body, dispelling the moisture, before looking up at me with his huge hazel eyes dappled with liquid gold.
“No rifts,” Tor said. ‘The fuckers have gone.” His gaze raked over me, checking for injury, then he inhaled, his attention flicking from me to Leif. His jaw tightened.
Oh fuck. Could he smell Leif on me and vice versa?
I noted the muscle ticking in his jaw and the storm in his steely eyes. “Later,” he growled at Leif. “We need to post guards at all the regular rift sights. We can grab a varga as soon as one comes through, and—”
“The Elites are going in,” Leif said.
Tor’s gaze flew to me. “No.”
Typical Tor. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, Tor.”
“You’re the fucking anchor. We can’t risk your life.”
“And it’s okay to leave those women to the varga’s mercy?”
His chest rumbled. “This is pack business.”
“And like it or not, I’m part of your pack, all your packs, and The Elites are a part of me. We’re a package deal. We can do this.” I fixed my attention on Jasper across the room. “We can do this with Jasper’s help.”
Tor focused on him for the first time, his mulish expression freezing and then morphing into a speculative one.
Jasper arched a brow and crossed his arms over his chest.
“You keep her safe,” Tor said.
Jasper’s smile was wry. “Let me get something straight. I don’t give a shit about your wolves, or the other Elites. I’m here to protect my investment.”
“Yeah, we get it,” Sloane said. “Do what you got to do, just counter their nulling effect if we get caught.”
I tried to catch Jasper’s eye, but he wouldn’t look at me. He hadn’t come when I’d called, but he was here now…How had he known I was about to go into danger, unless…Unless he’d been hanging around. Fuck, how long had he been watching and listening?
His gaze slid my way now and I caught the glint of anger, the accusation and the hurt.
He’d seen me with Leif, and although I didn’t regret what I’d done with my mate, my heart ached to soothe Jasper, and show him that he meant just as much to me, if not more.
But then his lip curled, and his gaze turned cold and cruel. “Well, we best get to work.”
Jessie pushed back her seat. “I need to get some supplies from the mansion.”
“I’ll drive you,” Sloane said.
“Meet us at the cabin,” Tor added.
“Fuck, Lauris has the keys to the car,” Jessie reminded Sloane.
Lauris chose that moment to bang on the door, peering in just like Tor had.
Sloane yanked open the door and ushered him in.
“What happened?” He looked about the room, taking in the scene and soaking in the tension. “What did I miss?”
“Like you care,” Poppy snapped.
“Poppy…” Sloane shook her head. “This isn’t his fault.”
“He could have done something.” Poppy glared at Lauris. “Like his fucking job.”
“It’s not his job to look out for the wolves,” Jessie reminded her gently. “Besides, we were all here; anyone could be blamed for not helping.”
Poppy’s lip trembled and she dashed more tears off her cheeks with angry swipes of her hand. “Fuck this. Let’s go. Let’s get this done.”
“Go home,” Sloane said to Lauris. She leaned in and lowered her voice, but I caught her next words regardless. “And if you can’t refrain from feeding on the job, then I’m gonna have to recommend you be reassigned.”
What did she mean?
I looked at Lauris properly, noting the dilated pupils and the silvery sheen to his skin as if he’d been lightly dipped in glitter. What was that?
Lauris tucked in his chin and nodded. He glanced at me, his expression almost wistful, then walked out of the bar.
I wanted to ask what Sloane meant, but she shook her head slightly, as if to say not now, before following Poppy and Jessie out into the icy night.
I have to go with Cora, Rune said.
Tor looked down at the golden wolf. “No, Rune. It’s too risky.”
“She’ll be safe with The Elites and Jasper,” Leif added.
If you had the option to go with her, would you stay behind? Rune asked.
The guys were silent.
“What’s going on?” I frowned at Rune. “I don’t understand. How can you come with us? Leif said dire wolves couldn’t pass through the rift.”
Rune blinked slowly. That’s right. But I’m not fully dire wolf any longer. Cora, I’m infected. I’m on the cusp of varga.
Chapter Thirty
I stared at Rune, uncomprehending. Had he just said he was on the cusp of becoming varga? No, that couldn’t be right.
But the sinking sensation in the pit of my belly told me it was. “I don’t understand…”
He slow-blinked. I was infected ten years ago in a skirmish with the varga.
Infected? “Oh, God.”
The usual protocol is to kill an infected wolf immediately, he continued, but as the only male descendent of the Holm bloodline, they couldn’t afford to lose me.
Leif placed a hand on Rune’s back and the wolf bowed his head. “We’d come to learn that if a shifter was infected while in wolf form, the infection would be dormant for a while, only activating when he shifted into human form. We just didn’t know how long it would remain dormant.”
So they penned me up, watched and waited. Days turned to weeks, and once a month had passed, I was allowed out of my pen but kept under guard at all times. A year passed and the infection remained dormant, but it’s still inside me. Waiting. I can feel it.
He’d been a prisoner for a year? Penned up for a month, then under guard for the rest… I couldn’t imagine how that must have felt to him. Was this why he hadn’t wanted me to visit his pack house? He’d been afraid I’d find out.
I can feel it inside me, Cora, a wrongness, a hunger, a darkness. The varga can too. The other night in the clearing, the alpha, Vax, spoke in my head. They want me to join them and…and for a moment I was tempted. He sighed. To be free, able to shift back and forth at will, but the cost…The cost is madness and the lust for human flesh. The cost is leaving you. I can’t.
What did it feel like for a shifter to be forced to remain in his beast form? What kind of strain did it put on Rune? The pain in Rune’s tone, the torment in his hazel eyes told me it was too high a price.
I crouched in front of him, hands coming up to bracket his wolfy face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He dropped his head and closed his eyes. I didn’t want you to think of me as ta
What the fuck? A twisting pain lit up my chest. “I wouldn’t have thought any of those things. I’d never fear you. Rune, you’re the gentlest, sweetest man I know.” I pressed my forehead to his, my chest tight with a tumult of emotions. Mine and his. He was infected, body in preparation for becoming one of them, but he wasn’t one of them yet. He was Rune. My Rune, and I would never let them have him. “There has to be a way to get rid of the infection.”
“There isn’t,” Tor said. “We’ve been studying it for decades. The Magiguard managed to get a sample. The infection is a combination of mystical and chemical and there is, to date, no cure.”
No cure but death. I’ve come to accept it, Cora. This is my life now.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my cheek to the side of his head. “Our life, Rune. This is our life now.”
Cora…
There was more I wanted to say, needed to say, but not while we had an audience.
I pulled back so I could look into his eyes. “You can’t come with us.”
He gave me a quizzical look. I have the infection inside me. The rift will allow me through.
“Yeah, I get that, but you’re still not coming. You don’t know how the infection will react to being on that side of the rift, and even if there is no reaction, the varga want you. They see you as one of them. I’m not risking them getting hold of you.”
“She’s right,” Leif said. “It’s not safe.”
I won’t let you go alone, Rune said, showing his stubborn streak.
“And if you come and the infection takes hold and you go varga, what then? What happens to the seal? What happens if you get a surge of bloodlust and I’m the only prey?”
He flinched as if I’d struck him. I’d never hurt you.
I hated that I’d needed to paint that picture, but I needed to keep him safe. “No. You wouldn’t. But the varga you’d become would. You need to stay. I’ll be safe with Jasper and The Elites. We’ve got this.”
Tor’s jaw was tight, but he nodded curtly, and Leif exhaled in resignation.
“Now can we go?” Jasper drawled.
I nodded. “Yes, let’s—”
“Last one to the cabin’s an arsehole.” Jasper gripped my arm and the world shattered.
The cabin’s lounge materialized around me, and I shrugged off Jasper’s grip, fixing him with an irritated glare. “Why did you do that?”
“Why not?” He moved over to the hearth and held out his hands as if he needed the warmth. “Or were you planning on another interlude with one of your mates? Tor maybe. In the restroom.” His lip curled. “You seem to prefer the cramped, dirty places to silk sheets and luxury rooms.”
He was referring to the imposed retreat he’d taken me on a year ago. Champagne, sex on silk sheets, and fancy meals, but I’d been a prisoner. Or had I? Everything looked different now. Everything had changed.
My neck heated with embarrassment and then anger, because I had nothing to be embarrassed about. Leif, Tor, and Rune were my mates, and Jasper was… Jasper was so many things I needed to untangle and learn about.
I took a step toward him. I needed to fix us. To let him know how I felt.
The door slammed open. “Anyone here?” Sloane called.
Fuck. Our chat would have to wait.
The Elites filled the room, bringing a gust of cold air with them.
Jasper’s smile was thin and cold. “I guess it’s time to get to work.”
Jessie stood with her back to us, hands held up to the night air. The chill bit at my cheeks and fingers. Thank God I’d wrapped up warm in jeggings, a sweater and fleece-lined jacket, and my favorite frost-crunching boots. This pair was a soft slate-gray lace-up mid-calf boot with a fleece lining and snow-safe soles. The inside molded to the shape of my feet. Perfect comfort while keeping my feet protected and toasty. Not the sexiest of boots, but practicality and comfort occasionally took precedence.
I didn’t feel the cold as much as a human, but I did feel it, unlike my shifter mates who stood to my left, sans coat, arms crossed, watching Jessie work her magic. Literally.
Jessie had a gift when it came to warding and opening rifts. A natural instinct for what needed to be done. But for this particular task she’d needed a few items to ground her and amplify her ability.
She worked in silence, hands moving in the air in intricate runic patterns. Long seconds passed, and silver streaks began to follow the path her hands tracked in the air. The silver streaks got thicker and longer until the runes were visible in the air for seconds at a time before fading.
“It’s working,” Poppy whispered.
“Never had a doubt,” Sloane said.
I sensed Leif and Tor tense in anticipation to my left. Rune stood behind us, his golden body bathed in the silvery light of the moon. Jasper was beside me, his arm brushing mine, sending a gentle thrum through me. Sloane and Poppy stood to the other side of him. In a moment the rift would open, and we’d be through. Just one moment.
A sharp pop followed by a hissing sound cut through the silence. The air a meter in front of Jessie split, revealing silvery light laced with crimson threads.
“That’s it,” Leif said. “You did it.”
“Course I did.” Jessie brushed her palms together. “Shall we?”
We were doing this. We were about to step into unknown territory. Okay, so I’d been through rifts before. A place called the Eye in Necro City, and into the fae realm just recently, but this…This felt different. My stomach was in knots, anxiety swelling in my chest.
I looked over at the guys to find their attention on me. Their eyes were filled with fear and apprehension.
For me.
These were their emotions tangling with mine, confusing mine.
Jasper took my hand and confidence bloomed in place of the anxiety.
“I’ve got you,” he said.
Sloane and Poppy approached the rift.
“See you on the other side.” Sloane stepped through and Poppy and Jessie followed.
“The rift won’t stay open for long,” Leif said. “Don’t linger.”
“Yes, because we plan on taking a full tour of the place.” Jasper rolled his eyes.
Tor took a menacing step toward him, but I stepped forward to intercept and his attention dropped to our joined hands.
Jasper raised our hands and kissed my knuckles with a smirk, his gaze fixed on Tor. The fucker was needling him.
Irritation flared in my chest, echoing the rumble in Tor’s.
“Not the time, Jasper.” I locked gazes with each of my mates. “I’ll be back soon.”
I tugged Jasper toward the rift and stepped through.
Needles rasped against my skin, bringing pain, and hot bile clawed its way up my throat. I was torn apart and spat out onto hard-packed earth. My palms sucked up the chill from the ground, knees burning as if they’d been skinned. We’d made it. We were through.
I stood, surveying the moonlit rural landscape. Trees surrounded me, and if not for the strange, sweet tang in the air, I’d have been forgiven for mistaking this for the earthly realm.
Wait, where were Sloane and the others?
I looked over my shoulder for Jasper.
He wasn’t there.
I was alone.
Fuck.
Chapter Thirty-One
Tor
I stare at the malevolent as he pulls himself off the ground. He looks as shell-shocked as I feel.
“It repelled you,” Leif says.
Jasper stares at the rift, his expression twisting to one of rage. “No!” He tries again, and once more he’s thrown back.
“Stop.” Leif grabs his arm. “It’s no use. You can’t get in.”
“Why can’t he get in?” I want to know. He’s not one of us, so why is the rift repelling him?
Jasper shakes his head. “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
He runs a hand through his dark hair. I’ve never seen him this agitated. “There are very few places I can’t go. The Underealm, the Beyond, and Purgatory are three of them, but I’ve had no issues stepping into the fae realm or the Eye, a place in Necro City filled with malignant spirits.”
“I don’t understand,” Leif says. “Why can’t you get through to this place?”
Something dark crosses his features.
He’s hiding something. “No fucking secrets, Jasper, not when it comes to Cora.”
“I don’t owe you anything,” he snaps.
“But you owe it to Cora,” Leif points out.
Jasper closes his eyes and exhales. “Fine. I learned a long time ago that Cora isn’t my only anchor. This world…this reality has a hold on me, and some places are out of my reach. It’s not the rift keeping me out, it’s this fucking reality holding on to me.” He slams his fist into the rift. “Fuck.”
Knowing Jasper would be with Cora is the only reason I didn’t fight harder to stop her from going. I don’t like that he’s attached to her. I hate that she has feelings for him, but I’m no fool. I recognize his merits, and I know he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. But he’s here and she’s there.
I take a shuddering breath. “She has Sloane and The Elites. She’ll be fine. Cora can take care of herself.”
I know it. I believe it, but the beast inside me is in knots. It needs to be there. It needs to be with her.
A soft growl emanates from behind me and then Rune is bounding toward the rift. I lunge to stop him, landing on his back and pinning him to the ground.
Let go, Tor. Let me go. I need to be there. One of us needs to be there.
My beast echoes his demands, recognizes his frustration and fear, but the man inside me, the strategist, knows this is a bad move. If Rune goes into the rift, the chance of a seal breach doubles.
I hold fast to my friend. “Cora can do this, Rune. We have to trust her.”
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