by Sarah Piper
“Jael, what do we do.”
“We wait,” he said simply. He sat on the floor in the center of the room and closed his eyes, his hands outstretched. “Quietly. I need to concentrate on unravelling the spell weave. This one is much tighter.”
Darius and I exchanged a glance. The chaos below was fading—I hoped it was because Deirdre and Ronan had managed to win the fight, and not the other way around.
I paced in front of the cells, searching in vain for Haley, but it was impossible to know if she was here. All the women had shaved heads, and some of them weren’t facing us.
“I don’t see Asher,” I whispered.
“Nor I,” Darius said.
“Can you sense him?”
“Not specifically, no.”
The fear inside me surged again, tightening my throat.
“We’ll find him, Gray.” Darius’s voice, even at a whisper, was confident and sure. I took a breath, trying to borrow some of that confidence. Darius was right. We’d come this far. We wouldn’t leave here without him.
“Oh, shite,” Darius breathed, all his calm confidence evaporating.
He pointed at the ceiling inside one of the cells. Some kind of sickly yellow-green smoke crept out from the vents. I didn’t need to smell it to know it was poison gas.
One of the witches started coughing. Then another. And another. Then, all at once, the screams began. I spun around on my heel. Tendrils of poison curled into every single cell.
“Jael!” Darius shouted. “We’ve got a problem!”
“I’m working on it.”
I pounded frantically on the glass, watching helplessly as four young witches choked on poison air. Their mouths were foaming, their eyes bulging, their skin turning purple.
“Jael! They’re choking to death!”
“Almost there…”
“Jael!”
“Got it!”
A tremble rolled through the room, rattling the metal tables around us. The lights flickered, then popped. A dim set of emergency lights illuminated the floor.
When the room finally stopped shaking, I glanced into the closest cell. The witches were lying in a heap on the floor, unmoving. The poison had dissipated, the air clear once again.
Seconds later, the glass windows slid open in a single, unified hiss. I set down my sword, and Darius and I rushed into the nearest cell, slowly rousing the witches to consciousness. One of them coughed, then sat up on her own, sucking in deep breaths of clean air.
Slowly, agonizingly, the others came to.
“Gray? Is that you?”
At the sound of a familiar voice, I darted over to the adjacent cell, my heart hammering in my chest.
Haley Barnes stood before me, her hand over her mouth, her eyes wet with tears of relief.
Her head was shaved, her skin gaunt, her bones jutting out where before she’d had curves for days. But it was still her, those light green eyes sparkling.
I beamed at her, pulling her into a hug so tight I was probably cutting off her air supply again, but I didn’t care. She was my sister. I wasn’t ready to tell her about all I’d learned just yet—there would be time for that later. But now that I’d found her again, I didn’t want to let her go.
“I’m happy to see you, too!” She laughed, finally wriggling free of my embrace. Her smile didn’t last, though. How could it, after what she’d been through?
“Tell me you’ve seen Reva,” she said.
“She’s safe,” I assured her. “She made it to the precinct and told us everything. That’s how we were able to track you guys down. Is this everyone?” I asked gently, gesturing toward the witches stumbling out of the cells. They were all pale and thin and severely exhausted, but it looked like everyone could walk. That was a good sign.
“If you’ve got Reva, then there are twenty-three of us here.” She scanned the room, doing a quick count. “That’s all of us. The only one missing is Asher.”
My heart leaped at the sound of his name.
“They put him in solitary. Down here,” she said, leading me to a white door I hadn’t noticed. She opened it up, revealing a dark corridor. “There’s another cell back there.”
“Go with Darius. I’ll be right back.” Not wasting another minute, I darted into the cell and down the corridor.
I found the cell at the very end of the hall. It was smaller and dingier than the others, with bars rather than glass, and bare cement walls and flooring that looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since Nixon was in office.
And there, slumped in the center of the floor, sat a man in camouflage pants and a black T-shirt that had been torn to shreds. At the sound of my approach, he lifted his head, revealing a face covered in bruises, his nose clearly broken, a fresh gash carved from his ear to the corner of his mouth.
But then he smiled, and I let out a cry of happiness, drinking in the very welcome sight of one long-lost, sexy-as-sin, bad-boy smirk and a pair of piercingly beautiful eyes the exact color of the deepest part of the sea.
“Hello, Cupcake,” Asher croaked. “You miss me?”
Thirty-Three
Asher
Gray really was magic. One look at her, and all the fucked-up shit around me disappeared in a blink.
No longer electrified with fae mojo, the bars of my cell pushed open easily, and I stepped out from behind them and took a breath. I knew we weren’t out of the woods yet, but I still felt free. It’d been a long time since I’d seen anything from this side of a cell.
And an even longer time since I’d seen anything as beautiful as her.
“You’re hurt,” she said softly, the spot between her eyebrows wrinkling. Tentatively, she reached up and touched my face. “They really did a number on you.”
I pressed her palm to my cheek, soaking up the feel of her touch. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Tough guy.”
“Me?” I laughed. “You’re the one who made it through the Shadowrealm.”
“Hell, too.”
“Hell… what?” I closed my eyes, shaking my head. “To quote our friendly neighborhood vampire, I seem to have lost the plot.”
At the mention of the vampire, sadness filled her eyes.
“What is it?” I asked, my heart thumping. “Is he—”
“He’s okay. Just… there’s a lot of plot to cover.”
I sensed the weight of her words, the depth of everything that must’ve happened while I’d been locked up in these bullshit prisons.
“And Jonathan?” I asked. “Tell me you blasted that motherfucker into oblivion.”
She shook her head. “I blasted him, all right. Multiple times. And he fell right into my magical realm. Liam is still hunting him. But that’s—”
“More plot,” I said.
Gray nodded. “We should probably stock up on bourbon and tequila on the way home. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Silence came between us, and I took her hands, stroking her soft skin with my thumbs. Just having her near me again, feeling the heat of her skin, my body was already responding, my wounds knitting back together, the force of her healing energy pulsing through my veins.
“When I didn’t see you in that other room,” she said, her voice breaking. “I thought…”
“You thought I’d checked out?” I smiled, pressing my forehead against hers, taking another deep breath of her sweet scent. “Not a chance. You kept me alive in there, Cupcake. You know that, right?”
“I’m glad my magic gave you strength. It—”
“No, not the magic. A thought. One simple thought.” I pulled back and took her face in my hands, trying my damnedest not to tremble. I could seriously drown in those blue eyes. “I couldn’t die in that fucking hole knowing I’d never kiss you again.”
At this, her eyes sparkled, a smile playing on her lips.
“Is that right?” she teased, that smirk of hers driving me wild. She stood on her tiptoes and put her arms around my neck, pressing up against me. My body respo
nded to her instantly, in all the obvious ways. I didn’t even bother hiding how turned on I was. “Who says I want you to kiss me again?”
“Oh, let’s not play games.” I nudged her nose with mine. “I’m pretty damn sure you want me to kiss you again.”
“Kiss a guy in camo?” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know about that.”
“Maybe you want to find out.”
“Yeah. Maybe I do,” she whispered, all the teasing gone. The look in her eyes turned ferocious, a passion that would never be tamed, and I crashed against her lips, stealing a bruising, breathtaking kiss. She moaned my name into my mouth, and I slid my fingers into her silky blond hair, pulling her closer, closer, closer…
Fuck, I couldn’t get enough.
I wanted to devour her, kiss by devastating kiss.
But that, too, was a plot we’d have to catch up on later.
Without another word, we broke apart, linking hands and heading out into the main room to join the others.
“If it isn’t my favorite witch and my favorite pain-in-the-ass incubus.” Haley beamed as Gray and I entered the room, her hope-o-meter off the charts.
“At your service, Hay,” I said, giving her a wink.
“So, the witches are accounted for, but where are the rest?” Gray asked, looking around the room. “Fiona Brentwood? The other shifters and—”
“Not here,” I said. “As far as we know, they only transferred witches to this facility. I’m only here because Dirty Beard can’t get enough of beating me with his big stick.”
I couldn’t be sure, but I swore I heard Gray growling.
“Do you think they’re still back in the caves?” she asked.
“No,” Haley said. “It sounded like they were clearing out from that area altogether. My guess is they didn’t want Jonathan coming back and screwing up the new world order.”
“Alright, everyone,” a commanding voice called from the other side of the room. “We still need to get ourselves out of the building, and that’s going to take a group effort.”
Darius.
“Good to see you again, bloodsucker.” I crossed the room, pulling him into a hug that seemed to surprise him.
“Oh. Right, well, it’s… lovely to see you, as well.” He patted me on the back, then turned away, focusing his attention on the witches.
I looked to Gray, confused. Why had he been so stiff and awkward with me? We weren’t exactly besties, but I thought we’d made some inroads.
“Later,” she mouthed, picking up a badass looking sword from one of the metal tables. It glowed faintly at her touch.
Shit, a lot of plot to catch up on? Looked like I’d missed the whole fucking movie.
Shifting gears, I said, “I take it the rest of the boys are downstairs, beating those fae fuckholes into a glittery pulp?”
“Ronan and Emilio are,” Gray confirmed. “With the help of the local pack. Emilio’s sister is the chief of police. That’s… another long story.”
“What about Liam? I never thought I’d say this, but I actually miss his spooky ass.”
Gray shook her head, her eyes glazing with pain. Before I could even ask about that, Darius was calling for us again, urging us to follow him down the stairs.
“With any luck,” he said, “our people have cleared the way for our exit. But if there’s any trouble, stay together, and stay down. We’ll handle the fighting for now. Clear?”
The witches mumbled their ascent, too exhausted to argue.
With Darius and Jael taking point and Gray and I bringing up the rear, we led the witches down the stairs.
Most of them could barely walk, let alone use their magic. Even Haley, the strongest of the group, was fading on me.
“You good, Hay?” I asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She turned to me and smiled, flashing a double thumbs-up. “Hungry as hell, but I’m hanging in.”
“How’s that hope-o-meter?”
“At least half,” she said. “Let’s see what happens when we got out of this shithole.”
I had no idea what had been on the second floor before, but now it was a wasteland, littered with burning paper and overturned desks, dozens of gray cubicle walls smashed to bits.
We had to watch our footing, stepping over fae corpses. I hoped none of our guys were in this mess.
“Second floor cleared,” Darius said, leading us to the stairs at the other side of the room, slowly descending.
I could tell from the explosive chaos emanating from below that the first floor would be another fucking story.
And from the looks of things, this one wasn’t going to have a happy ending.
Thirty-Four
Ronan
In all our preparations, all our planning, and in every fucking scenario we’d run through, it wasn’t supposed to go down like this.
I saw the scene unfolding in my mind before the wolf even made his move. It would end in blood—Emilio’s—and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. No one else had seen it coming, and I was simply too far away to stop it.
I charged ahead anyway, shoving aside bloodthirsty hunters and dodging fae attacks, shielding my eyes against the bright bursts of Deirdre’s magic. Gray’s hounds were at my heels, taking down would-be assailants. I was fifty feet away from the wolf, and closing in fast. Forty. Thirty.
Time slowed. Still in human form, Elena whipped around, taking out a hunter with the butt of her gun.
Twenty feet.
From behind, another hunter attacked her, grabbing a fistful of her hair and wrenching her to the ground.
Fifteen feet.
“Emilio, no!” I shouted over the melee, reaching out for him as I ran.
But it was too late, as I knew it would be. Fighting on instinct, the wolf lunged for the hunter that had nabbed Elena, knocking him to the ground. He rose up on his hind legs, his sharp claws glinting, ready to shred the bastard who’d attacked his sister.
But Emilio was oblivious to the fae soldier hiding behind the wall.
Ten feet.
Orendiel stepped into view, a silver dagger positioned perfectly, flashing like fire in the yellow-orange light of Dierdre’s spells.
Five feet.
Orendiel was quick. Efficient. The blade cut through Emilio’s soft underbelly like a hot knife through butter.
The wolf yelped, then dropped, hitting the ground with a thud that rattled my bones.
Elena screamed.
And shattered my fucking heart.
“Ronan! Incoming!” Deirdre shouted, and I jumped on top of Elena, shielding her from the blast of magic that exploded behind us. Something burst into flames, but it wasn’t Orendiel. He was already running away from the destruction, fleeing our brutal assault like the coward he was.
I crawled over to Emilio, gently turning him onto his back. I gasped, unable to swallow the raw horror of it.
Elena said nothing, her face a mask of pure shock.
Her brother was covered in blood, more of it pumping out with every beat of his heart. Muscle and torn flesh glistened, the jagged edges of broken ribs protruding. The silver was pure poison, amplifying the effects of a regular dagger by a thousand. I couldn’t even decipher where the blood was coming from—where the worst of the damage was. Confused by the silver poisoning, Emilio’s body was stuck in limbo, parts of him shifting back into human form, while other parts remained wolf.
“No!” A gut-wrenching scream rang out across the room, and I looked up to catch Gray and Asher pushing through a group of witches, running toward us from across the room.
I caught her eyes and knew in an instant that she’d seen everything. That she’d watched the man she loved get gutted by the Darkwinter captain while I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop him.
“Emilio,” she breathed, falling to her knees before him. She took his human hand, tears spilling into her mouth as she reached up to touch his wolf snout.
He was stuck, half wolf, half man, his face twisted in e
xcruciating pain. The sounds coming from his mouth were indescribable, each one tearing a chunk out of my heart.
Behind us, the fire crackled, superheating the air around us.
“Put pressure on the chest wound,” I ordered, snapping my fingers in front of Elena’s face to snap her out of her shock. “Now, Elena. Now!”
The sharp command woke her up, and she did as I asked, pressing her palms to the wound near his heart. Blood leaked out through her fingers.
“He needs to shift back into wolf,” she said. “His body is using too much energy trying to shift back and forth between the two. We can’t heal him like this.”
“We damn well need to try,” I said. “Unless you can force him to shift.”
She shook her head.
I whipped the T-shirt over my head and tore the fabric into strips, tying them tight around his limbs, anywhere I thought might help slow the bleeding.
But nothing I could do was helping. Emilio’s breath was shallow, fading. Blood pooled on the cement floor beneath him, a glossy black slick that reflected the flickering firelight surrounding us.
“You fucking listen to me,” I shouted at him. “You’re not going anywhere. Don’t even think about it. You hear me, asshole?”
A gentle touch on my arm made me flinch. I didn’t need to feel the burn to know it was Gray.
“Ronan,” she said, her voice broken and soft. I didn’t even want to look at her. Didn’t want to see the hopelessness in her eyes. The resignation.
Behind us, the flames surged, licking up the walls, consuming everything they touched. We had five minutes, maybe ten before they crawled across the ceiling, and then we’d all be fucked.
“Ronan,” she whispered again, that soft voice trembling. I’d never seen her so scared. Not in the Shadowrealm. Not with Sebastian. Never. “Do something.”
I finally met her eyes, the fierce need to protect her rising up inside me.
“Go with Ash and Darius,” I said, blinking the sweat from my eyes. This place was quickly becoming an oven. “You need to get the others to safety. I’ll take care of him.”