James has a direct connection to her soul or some shit.”
And that’s how I found myself in a dark cavern in the middle of the Arctic, armed with my new scope and night vision goggle setup. Our team was silent as we crept through the darkness, and we weren’t alone. Everyone on team one: James, Austin, Cody, Mason, Jason, and even the elusive Caleb were here with us, ready to kick some ass. Ingrid had brought us here to the site of the dark fae’s prison to make our last stand against evil.
The guys all had their pack bond to stay coordinated, but I had to rely on hand signals and whispered comments to guide me on what the plan was. It sucked.
The further we got into the cave, the warmer it became, and I was now sweating under my winter gear. I had taken off my hood and partially unzipped my outer coat, but I didn’t want to risk letting my guard down to undress any more.
This entire situation was insane. We were going in blind to a hostage situation, and we were going up against a psychotic wolf who was being controlled by dark fae. I had to believe that we could get to Anna before she was harmed.
James held up his hand to stop, and I extended my magical senses as far as they could go. I frowned when I couldn’t feel anything ahead of us, at least not at the range that I was sensitive within. But I understood the reason we had paused when James pulled a pendant out of his parka. It was glowing strong enough that I could see it clearly, and I smiled. That meant Anna was alive and close by. We were going to get her back.
My hope was buoyed even further when not even ten minutes later, a faint tingle of Anna’s familiar magic glimmered in the distance. I grabbed hold of Trevor’s arm because he was the expert at nonverbal communication. I made a bunch of hand gestures that I hoped translated into the message I was trying to communicate.
If Anna was close, that meant the enemy was too, so it wasn’t a good idea to speak out loud in a cavern where voices might carry and warn the enemy of our approach. Trevor raised an eyebrow and squinted at me in question. I gave the brightest smile I could and made a heart with my hands, hoping he would realize I was trying to say ‘Anna’. He nodded, and I pointed ahead of us.
I could feel Anna getting closer at a fast pace, and that’s when we all heard a faint rumbling. I could now see a faint glow of light ahead of us, and Trevor pulled me in close to him as everyone in the group crowded together and let their weapons rest by their side. I followed their example in confusion, and again lamented my lack of pack bond.
I could now see Anna in her wolf form coming in fast. She was running at a desperate speed right towards us, and I was once again confused. Why were we just standing here? Were we going to run or fight?
That’s when the huge wave of magic crashing towards us at breakneck speed. “Oh, shit,” I mumbled numbly as Anna crashed into our group and threw a shield over us.
Anna’s shield held as the magic crashed into us, and streamed all around us, but some of it sank through the barrier. Darkness invaded, and I started to hear whispers.
It’s your fault she’s dead.
It should have been you.
You failed your best friend and left her to die.
Sadness and despair leeched into my mind as pain ripped through me. It was my fault that Hart had been blown to pieces. Trevor gripped my arm and shook me. “Snap out of it!” he shouted.
It took everything I had, but once I realized it was the dark magic that had overwhelmed me, I was able to fight it. Mike shoved into me as he shouted wildly, and I grabbed his arm. His other fist came flying right for my face, and I cursed as I ducked and lost my hold on him. Trevor was now dodging his frantic attacks, and I leapt on Mike’s back and tried to get my arm around his neck to put him in a chokehold.
Mike tried to step back so he could smash me up against the cave wall, but Trevor held him in place as I looped my right arm around his neck. A gunshot went off, but I couldn’t take my attention off this fight, or I’d lose the advantage. I got my left arm into place so I could apply pressure to both sides of his neck for a sleeper chokehold. Amateurs thought that a chokehold meant cutting off the air supply, but that could take minutes of holding someone still like this. The real trick was to restrict blood flow to the brain to take your opponent down quick. Just as I braced my hip on his back to apply enough pressure, the dark whispers faded from around us.
Mike stopped struggling, but it wasn’t due to losing consciousness. He tapped on my arm, and I cautiously loosened my grip enough for him to speak. “I’m okay,” he choked out.
I cautiously released him, but before I could take a step back, the figure of a woman appeared in front of Anna. Anna cried out as she was forced from her wolf form to human, and I shouldered my rifle to take a shot at the new attacker.
Before I could take a shot, my entire body froze in place. I was completely unable to move. I took a deep breath and tried not to panic. I’d gotten out of this before by unraveling the magic that was holding me in place.
But this magic was different than anything I’d ever encountered before. Touching this power was like brushing up against death itself, and I recoiled. The mysterious woman spoke with Anna, but I couldn’t hear what was being said. I bolstered my determination and reached out to try and unravel the magic again, but it dissolved before I touched it.
Abruptly, the dark magic that had been swirling all around us rushed out of the cavern, away from us and into the world.
“Fuck,” I heard multiple voices say together.
Anna collapsed into Cody’s arms, and Ingrid looked at all of us in horror. “The dark fae are free,” she said with dread.
Fuck was right.
Chapter 22
“Okay,” I said in disbelief. “So, to summarize, the Morrigan is an ancient goddess of death who we accidentally freed into the world.”
“Yeah,” Anna said with a sigh.
“And the wolf council thinks that you’re a fae who has managed to scam Austin into letting you feed off the pack like Gemma.”
“Uh, huh.”
“And they probably think that you escaped prison and murdered Justin. And will probably come after us in a misguided attempt to ‘save’ the rest of the pack from you.”
“Um…”
“And Blaze and Tony, and possibly even more of the pack, turned against us and think you’re evil.”
“Yup.”
“But we’re still going back to Seaside to hang out with the traitorous wolves and dare the council to put us all to death.”
“Well…” Anna’s voice trailed off.
“And while we prevent those people from murdering us, we also need to take down an ancient goddess of death whom we know nothing about. And who just escaped from a prison specially designed just for her by a group of super powerful fae.”
“Yeah?”
I sat back in my chair on Austin’s plane as she snuggled into his lap. “No, that’s cool. I just want to make sure I know the plan.”
Austin frowned at me as if to chastise me for disturbing Anna, and I held up my hands defensively. “Got it. I’m gonna head to the back of the plane to debrief with Trev and the crew.”
“Thanks for coming for me, Sam,” Anna mumbled, seconds away from sleep. “I promise we’ll figure all of this out.”
I made my way to the back of the plane and saw Trevor, Rich, Quinn, Davis, and Mike in a grouping of five seats that all faced each other. “Hey guys,” I said as I approached. Davis and Mike would probably be more than happy for me to sit in their laps, but I knew it would bother Trevor. Naturally, I chose to make myself comfortable on Trevor.
Instead of pushing me away or giving me an irritated grunt, he rested one of his hands on my thigh. I wasn’t sure if I was more pleased by his acceptance, or disappointed that I had failed to get under his skin, so I ignored that conundrum for now.
“We need to talk,” I said in a low voice. “Shit has happened beyond anything I could have ever expected, and I need to come clean. Obviously, I’ll talk to Austin once he
gets Anna back to Seaside and is slightly more chill, but I want to tell you guys first.”
I wasn’t stupid enough to think that no one else on the plane could hear us over the buzz of the engines and their own conversations, but I was hoping that they weren’t interested enough to try to listen. James immediately proved me wrong by appearing out of thin air to loom over us with a glare that rivaled Trevor’s best.
“James,” I said with a bright smile. “What brings you to this particular corner of the plane?”
James simply raised an eyebrow at me as if to say, are you joking right now? Get on with it. He must have taken the same ‘How to speak without words’ class that Trevor had.
“So,” I said nervously. “I never lied about anything; I just may have left out a couple of tiny details about my mom’s side of the family.”
“She’s your tie to South America, right?” Quinn asked.
I nodded. “My mother was raised in the Jaguar community there.” I winced before I said the next words. “Where my grandmother is kinda the big boss lady.”
Davis gave me a solemn nod, but I could see the sparkle in his eyes. “So we’re only using official terms then, good.”
I flashed a grin at him, grateful he was lightening the mood. James wasn’t impressed, he simply stared at me to continue. “My father introduced my mother to a new way of life. He gave her freedom like she’d never experienced before,” I explained. “And after they were married, she only went back to Colombia once a year. Things took a bad turn when my mother made it clear that neither her nor I would be joining the community.”
I cleared my throat. “That’s particularly meaningful because our community is matriarchal, and the title should have passed down to my mother and then to me.” “The ‘big boss lady’ title,” Mike said with a solemn nod.
“Yup. My grandmother cut us off, but then my parents were killed.” “Shit,” Rich said.
I turned my face away and looked at the far wall. “Yeah. I called to get in touch with my grandmother once because I was a scared teenager alone and craving family, but my cousin, Ximena, told me that my grandmother had disowned me.” “And Matias?” James asked.
I looked at him in shock. “What?” I asked weakly.
James’s dark eyes glittered. “I wouldn’t let you around Anna without keeping very close tabs on you.”
“You bugged me?” I asked in disbelief.
“Matias?” James asked again without any inflection in his voice.
“He’s a jaguar,” I mumbled. “I guess if you heard the conversation, then you know that my grandmother has either changed her mind about disowning me, or she wants to lure me back to Colombia to have me killed.”
“And you think the jaguars would be willing to help us in our current situation?” Rich asked.
“Uh, no,” I admitted. “They won’t leave Colombia or get involved in anything that will distract them from their main task.”
“Which is?” James asked impatiently.
We were starting to attract more people by the moment. The twins, Mason and Jason, were now hovering close by, and I could see Caleb watching us and probably listening. “So, I always thought that stories of the Jaguar Goddess were bullshit,” I admitted. “But I grew up in a place with magic said to be created by her. Our sanctuary was made to guard her possessions until her return, but I think there’s a weapon there that we may be able to use against the Morrigan.”
“The Jaguar Goddess,” Mike said thoughtfully.
“Yeah,” I said with an embarrassed shrug. “Like I said, I always thought it was bullshit. And my father knew about the fae, so I just assumed that it was really just fae magic or something.”
“Either way,” James said. “It sounds like it may be useful. When we land, you should contact them immediately.”
“Sam isn’t going to Colombia without us,” Trevor announced. “It’s too dangerous, especially if her family has treachery planned.”
“I can’t spare the only wolves that are loyal to me right now,” Austin said as he walked towards the back of the plane where we were seated. “Not after Blaze’s betrayal. I need all of you if we’re going to have any chance of preventing the council from annihilating our pack and taking our territory. We can’t take down a goddess without first assembling our forces and creating a plan.”
“I agree with Austin,” I said quietly. “Getting weapons that might exist and might help us fight a goddess isn’t as critical as resolving our other issues and finding allies that will fight with us. We can’t go off half-cocked on a fool’s errand.”
“Excellent,” Austin told us. “Caleb is working on getting intel on the situation with Blaze.
James, I need you focused on the council.”
James gave Austin a nod and strode back to his seat in the front of the plane. “When Anna is awake and recharged, I’ll speak with her about the possibility of reaching out to the fae. For now, I’ll attempt to get in touch with Arminius. He may have information on the Morrigan as well as insight into the Jaguar Goddess.”
I nodded in agreement, but I highly doubted it. When Europeans had first come to South America in search of gold and riches, my mother’s people had retreated to the mountains and remained in hiding. It was only recently that some of the humans who had remained a part of our extended community had communicated with the outside world. The rest of the world had no clue what secrets were hidden within the mountain. And here I was – about to expose it all.
Chapter 23
“Get in here!” I heard Quinn shout as I stepped out of the shower.
I hurriedly wrapped a towel around myself and ran into the living room cautiously. “What
is it?”
Davis turned around to smirk at my dripping form wrapped in a towel that was too small to cover anything but the scandalous bits. But the rest of the guys stood staring at the television. Trevor turned the volume up, so we didn’t miss one word.
“Oh, shit,” I said as my stomach dropped. “Is this real?”
The reporter was obviously struggling to keep her cool as she reported on the existence of supernaturals. Her voice squeaked as she announced that vampires, werewolves, and witches existed all around us.
“Uh, is anyone believing this?” Mike asked. “Because if I were human, I’d be calling bullshit right now.”
Trevor flipped channels to a twenty-four-hour news station where a male reporter sitting at a desk in the studio was staring into the camera with wide eyes. “How do we know who these monsters are?” he asked. “And how do we keep our children safe?”
I rolled my eyes. “Your children aren’t in any more danger from us than they were yesterday, asshat.”
Davis chuckled, but Trevor shot me an irritated look.
“They’re just scared,” Mike said gently. “They don’t know how to react outside of fear.”
“Where are the lamia?” I asked. “Don’t they usually keep control over this type of thing?
At the very least, I would think they would be up in arms about humans calling them vampires.”
At that very moment, all six of our phones beeped. “It’s an SOS from Austin,” Rich told us. “He wants everyone at the house and accounted for as safe.”
“Get dressed,” Trevor told me. “We move out in five, regardless of what you’re wearing.” His eyes dipped down my body, and I saw the slightest twitch of his mouth that hinted at amusement.
I turned my back on him and walked back towards the hallway, letting the towel slip down my back. Right before I would have exposed my ass, I stepped into the room I was sharing with Quinn and reached for my clothes. I slipped a couple of knives in my boots while I was getting dressed and threw on my leather jacket after putting my hair in a quick braid to keep it out of the way.
“Three minutes,” Rich called as I stepped back out.
Davis laughed out loud. “Told you. How many weapons do you have on you, Sam? I wanna win part two of the bet as well.”
I
smirked at him. “If you want to know, you can try your best to search me.”
“Austin wants all pack resources concentrated at the main house,” Trevor told me.
“Well, that’s certainly going to put a crimp in Blaze’s rebellion,” I joked.
Mike let out a harsh breath. “He needs to get the stick out of his ass and admit Anna’s one of the good ones.”
“James isn’t going to let any of those guys get within five miles of Anna,” Davis warned. “It doesn’t matter if they suddenly agree to swear loyalty to Austin again, he’s not going to trust them.”
“I don’t blame Austin,” I said with a shrug. “Those guys suddenly flipped on him because they don’t like his girlfriend? We don’t need them.”
We moved outside to the vehicles as a group. “Those guys have been fighting with
Blaze for a long time, and they trust him. When Blaze told them that Anna was manipulating Austin and the others, their first instinct was to protect the pack,” Trevor said as he unlocked his SUV.
“They’re going about it the wrong way, and they’re wrong about Anna being an enemy, but their hearts are in the right place. We just need to get them to see the truth,” Quinn announced.
“You with me, Sam?” Davis asked as he nudged me with an elbow.
“I’m driving, right?” I asked as I followed him to the garage for his bike.
“You’re so cute,” he said as he handed me a helmet.
I smirked at him. “So that’s a yes?”
Davis straddled the bike and started it. “Hop on if you want a ride.” God, he was fucking hot.
I secured my helmet and climbed on behind him. The bike purred between my legs, and I scooted closer to Davis so I could wrap my arms around him.
The cold wind whipped by me as Davis accelerated. Once we got on the highway we were flying, and I enjoyed every second of it. The world might be crumbling around us, but right now, I’d never been more alive.
Finding Buried Secrets: A Seaside Wolf Pack Novel Page 17
