Midnight Lies (Shifter Island Book 2)

by Raye Wagner

  The king snarled and caught the spheres, and the flames disappeared.

  “I can do this all—” Declan’s gloating cut off as my father’s real attack appeared behind the ball of flames, which were just a distraction. My father had launched what looked like a comet, right at Declan.

  The comet was headed right for its trajectory, and I held my breath, waiting for it to splash into the king. I was so enthralled by the hot orange glow that I almost missed the icy resistance that came from behind Declan.

  What the…?

  My eyes widened as a stream of water shot out from the trees and collided with my dad’s fire. A billow of steam hid all of the Midnight wolves from our view.

  ‘Noble?’ Rage asked, huffing as we ran over the uneven ground and into view.

  Where the heck had the water come from?

  ‘Not me.’ Noble was breathless as we continued to race across the snow-covered field.

  Then who? He was the only water mage here except for…

  ‘Do you think they brought the high mages with them?’ I asked, my gaze cutting to Rage and then bouncing back to his deranged uncle.

  We picked up our pace, full-on sprinting toward the precarious standoff between our packs. Declan’s numbers were far greater than ours, so what were they waiting for? Why not attack?

  The steam cleared, revealing a red-faced and blistered Declan, cursing. With another flick of his hands, he shot a blaze of fire at my father. “Your magic has never been stronger than mine, Nathan. And it never will be.” He followed with several more shots, each one bigger than the last. “You are nothing.”

  I waited for my father to catch the flames, to tell Declan he was wrong—but the stream of fire magic drew closer … the individual swaths merged until an inferno lit the night sky, bearing down on my father.

  ‘Noble!’ I screamed.

  Noble waved his hand, nearly too late.

  My dad dove to the side with a snarl as the flames pelted the ground, the force reverberating through my legs. I gasped, fear clenching my throat before snow poured over the fire, covering it with a mound, which promptly dissolved into a puddle.

  Climbing back to his feet, my dad growled at the king, building a giant fireball between his hands. “So, this is how you want to play it? I’ll burn you alive like you did my brother and Valor.”

  Crap, I needed to find Elaine before he could do that.

  The king just grinned, and it made a stone sink in my stomach. Why did he look—?

  Aunt Lilith exited the tree line, and I sucked in a fierce breath of bitter betrayal as Lilith strode straight to Declan’s side.

  ‘Do what you can to slow Midnight Pack from hurting Crescent—but Declan is mine,’ Rage snarled, seemingly to his brothers and me in unison. ‘Honor, stay with Nai—no matter what.’

  ‘You got it,’ Honor said while the other brothers nodded.

  Justice and Noble peeled away, both in human form, striding over to join my father while Declan growled about betrayal.

  I moved to follow them, but Rage grabbed my arm.

  ‘I’m going to help my pack,’ I growled at my mate, assuming he was trying to protect me. ‘Don’t try and pull rank. I’m not staying behind.’

  Rage shook his head, ‘I need you to figure out how to destroy that protection spell on my mom,’ he said, referring to the one binding his mother’s life to his uncle’s. ‘No one else here can do that.’

  Crappity crap. He was right.

  “Fine. But don’t let my dad get hurt.”

  He nodded, and leaning in, Rage pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “I love you, Nai.”

  Then, he turned and ran in the direction of the king.

  My fingers went to my lips, and I wondered why he’d randomly said he loved me … like a goodbye in case—

  No. I wouldn’t … I couldn’t think like that.

  I spun on my heels, searching for my grandfather. How long would it take him to get to the mage lands and back? Would he step through a portal if it opened into that raging inferno?

  Whatever, I could figure this out, right?

  Operation Save Future Mother-in-Law was in full effect.

  “You asshole,” Rage snarled when he got within earshot of his uncle. He stalked forward with hot orange fire magic crackling down his arms. He punctuated his statement with a blast, not at his uncle but rather at the ground in front of him. The earth exploded, pelting the king, Aunt Lilith, and the wolves nearest them with chunks of frozen earth. “You murdered my dad.” Another blast. “And now I’m challenging you for alpha king position.”

  Well, I guess that’s out there now…

  There was a deep intake of breath—probably from everyone within earshot. Alpha challenges were fights to the death. Always.

  Racing in the direction of my father, I ignored the next explosion while scanning the tree line for Rage’s mom. Where was she? Maybe if I could scan her spirit, like Grandpa Geoff had shown me to scan Noble’s, I’d be able to see the spell and therefore know how to remove it. It was a longshot, but if Grandpa didn’t show up with the spellbreaker herb in time, it might be the only shot we had.

  “Midnight, attack!” Declan shouted like the coward he was.

  Snarls and growls ripped through the air, and I felt the wind shift as the pack moved. Their paws thundered against the ground, the sound becoming a crescendo as they neared. Heat blasted past me, and a heartbeat later, a wolf wailed in pain.

  Was that … I glanced toward my father, but it was Justice’s hands covered in flames. Justice had just shot fire into his own pack to protect mine…

  “Midnight Pack,” Rage commanded, his voice cutting through the collective rumble. “Stand down.”

  Howls and whines followed, and then several very human-sounding voices cried out with alarm.

  “Please!” a male begged. “Make it stop.”

  Mother Mage.

  A battle of wills was a battle for alpha—a battle to the death.

  The urge to glance behind danced up my spine, but any delay could spell death for Rage, Elaine, and all of Crescent.

  “Attack,” Declan screamed. “Attack!”

  The wolves nearest the king turned, some charging to attack Crescent Pack, and others attacking whoever was closest to them, including their own ranks.

  What the hell?

  ‘Come on, Rage,’ I snarled. ‘Kick his ass!’

  “Stand down,” Rage bellowed.

  The command rolled through the field, plowing into me with such force that I stumbled, falling to my knees.

  Whoa.

  I didn’t know if Rage was more powerful than Declan or if it was because we shared a close bond, but when Rage tried to compel his pack, it affected me. Something Declan’s magic had never done.

  I stood, shaking off Rage’s command, and closed the remaining distance before crashing into my father. “Dad!”

  He startled and brought his arms around me. “Nai?”

  “Where’s Elaine?” I asked my father, but he was preoccupied with making fireballs and glaring down Declan, who was in a screaming match with Rage.

  “Dad.” I grabbed his arm. “Where’s Lona? Maybe Elaine is with her?”

  As alpha, he would be able to sense if Lona was in mortal peril.

  He shook his head. “They were with Lilith in the lodge, and then our patrols spotted the buses—”

  “Do you feel her? Is she alive?”

  “Yes,” he said with a curt nod. “…somewhere.”

  Somewhere? But where was that?

  My gaze bounced from him to Justice, who stood next to my dad, then to Noble, who shot a flurry of magic toward Midnight Pack.

  ‘No idea,’ Noble said, keeping his attention on the Midnight wolves. ‘It’s not like her to hide.’

  Exactly my thought.

  ‘Honor…’ I looked down at the black wolf by my side. ‘We gotta find your mom.’

  ‘Hurry, Nai,’ Rage said.

  I peered over my shoulder t
o see him wrestling with Declan and was assaulted with a wall of heat that attested to the ferocity of their battle, but Rage was severely handicapped until he knew his mom was safe. I needed to find her.

  Now.

  A massive explosion rocked the night, and Rage seethed, his anger and frustration leaking through our bond.

  ‘I need you to stop those, Noble!’ Rage snarled.

  ‘Doin’ my best, man,’ Noble replied, his voice strained. ‘It’d be easier if Lilith didn’t block—”

  My father shifted into his wolf then and raced toward the king. His voice resounded through our pack. ‘Crescent, defend our land!’

  The pull to shift and fight hit me again, but this one was easier to push away.

  My pack streaked past me, racing to attack the Midnight wolves, and I knew all hell was about to break loose.

  Blood rushed in my ears, and tears of desperation burned my eyes as I racked my brain for quick ways to find the queen.

  Think. Think. Think.

  The only way Elaine wouldn’t be here helping was if Declan had captured her. But then where would he—?

  Oh. My. Mage.

  ‘Honor!’ I twisted toward the burning lodge and my childhood home, gaping as certainty sliced through me. Zero percent doubt. That bastard!

  ‘I need that curse gone,’ Rage barked with just enough desperation that when I called for my wolf, she roared to the surface.

  My clothes exploded into shreds as I ran.

  ‘She’s in our house … attached to the lodge,’ I told Honor. The feeling rang clear as a bell. Was that sick bastard going to burn his wife alive? Or did my aunt Lilith do this? She was the last one with Elaine…

  We sprinted to the building, and horror crashed through me when I saw flames all along the roof of our private residence. Dark yellow smoke puffed from around the edges of the back door, which was open a crack.

  ‘I sense her inside!’ Honor howled into my head, and that got me moving.

  I pushed the door in with my nose, and unease slithered through me as I entered the house with Honor right behind me. The thick haze made visibility terrible, and heat pressed against me like a physical weight. Every breath of the acrid smoke scorched my throat, and my eyes burned from the suspended soot.

  ‘Do you know where she is?’ I asked Honor, who trailed behind me.

  Before he could answer, a loud crash resounded above us, and my fur bristled. Surely he wouldn’t put Elaine upstairs, right? He wouldn’t want her dead, or did he? What could Declan hope to gain from this kind of brutality? If he killed Elaine, there’s no way the Midnight brothers would ever forgive him—not that there was much, if any, hope of that anymore. And if he did, then they would have nothing holding them back from killing him because she would be gone along with the spell. Maybe Lilith did it. I could see my Aunt going full evil and tying Elaine up in the basement if we had one.

  I froze.

  We didn’t have a basement, but we had a root cellar. We used it to store large quantities of food for our pack in the winter. There was only one way in or out: the door under the stairway to the second story. It looked like a storage closet, but stairs led down to the concrete-lined cellar.

  The floor above us groaned again, and I heard a strange popping sound. ‘Honor…’

  My mind ran a mile a minute as I hacked on the smoke getting thicker by the second.

  I had a sudden epiphany. ‘They’re in the cellar.’

  My sick aunt had punished me more than once by putting me down there when she was babysitting. If she knew the king’s plan was to burn our pack lodge and house, then that’s where Lilith would put Elaine if she wanted to kill her. Did the king even know?

  I thought of Nolan’s petty cruelty. Maybe Lilith wanted to be the king’s new wife and thought this would be a good way to make that happen. So sick.

  ‘Let’s go,’ I said to Honor, nudging him with my nose. ‘To the stairs.’

  The air shifted then, and chills danced down my spine.

  ‘Nai!’ Rage bellowed, filled with alarm. ‘Get out of there!’

  A pit opened in the bottom of my stomach.

  Glass cracked, and the windows above Lon’s sink popped, shattering inward, followed by the wall of windows in the living room. Glass rained down on us as we raced down the hall toward the staircase.

  My home groaned.

  ‘Nai, watch ou—’ Rage bellowed.

  A strange rumble emphasized his fear, but I didn’t need him to finish the warning to know what he meant.

  Panic coursed through me.

  Declan had created a bomb—and we’d walked right into the center of it. A death trap—for all of us.

  There was no time to think.

  Mother Mage, let my magic work.

  I shifted, wolf to human in an instant.

  Magic thrummed in my veins—in my chest, in my every pore. But would it be enough?

  ‘Honor!’ I grabbed my friend by the neck scruff and pulled him to my chest, throwing a layer of protective energy above us. I didn’t know how to put up magical shields, but if fire was red, then I wanted blue. All the blue I could muster. Blue like the ocean. Like the crystalline waters around Shifter Island. Beautiful, life-saving blue for me, Honor, and everyone in the cellar beneath us.

  White light exploded behind my closed eyelids, and heat blasted toward us as I waited for the pain.

  Only, it didn’t come.

  So … I blinked.

  Still clinging to Honor’s fur, I sucked in a sharp breath and raised my head. Blazing red fire magic skimmed over the top of the blue shield dome I’d created, the red and blue blurring together into a vibrant mauve like watercolors mixed together.

  My family home was gone—exploded into dust and splinters of wood. All except for the piece of hardwood floor where Honor and I still sat, curled together.

  ‘Rage?’ I reached for our bond, relieved when I felt his presence on the other end.

  ‘Are you okay? Is my mom free?’ he asked.

  Damn.

  ‘Almost … I hope.’

  I looked a few feet to my right, where the door should have led to the cellar, and nearly lost my focus. Wheezing with relief, I stared at the magic—my magic—shielding not only me and Honor but Lona and Elaine as well as my friend Callie, who happened to be with the other two women in the cellar below us. All three of them were bound by the hands and ankles.

  They were alive!

  My magic protection bubble popped, disappearing at once, and Honor and I tumbled down the steps into the cellar, the haze of smoke less here than in the house.

  I landed against a canvas bag of potatoes with a groan.

  “I seriously hate Declan,” I muttered, climbing to my feet. I scanned the smoky space, trying to locate the three females, and Honor bounded over to where we kept the potatoes. “Elaine? Lona? How are you—?”

  “Honor!” Elaine shouted and then burst into sobs. The smoke cleared enough for me to see the black wolf nuzzling her.

  Emotion tugged at my heart, a sharp contrast to the anger I held for Declan. A mother knows her child, no matter what.

  ‘My mom!’ Rage yelled, yanking me from the warm fuzzies. ‘Get that curse off my mom so I can kill Declan.’

  ‘One hundred percent behind you on that. Almost died. I’m on it now.’ I strode toward Elaine, pausing only long enough to grab the wire cutters sitting next to a basket of butternut squash. I snipped the zip-tie from Elaine’s ankles and then grabbed her hands, “Tell me about the spell Surlama did.”

  “You’re naked,” Elaine said, gasping and wide-eyed, looking from me to Honor before breaking into another sob.

  Nudity wasn’t that big of a deal among wolves though most learned how to better manage their modesty by my age. Yet, here I stood, butt-naked in front of my future mother-in-law.

  ‘She’s in shock,’ Honor said, stepping to my side.

  Because, really, what else could go wrong?

  I nodded and clipped the se
cond binding to free her hands. “The spell?”

  Elaine just continued to cry. I think seeing her once-burned son back, in the flesh, had broken her. Was there better etiquette for this kind of situation? Because I wanted to shake her.

  “Nai Crescent!” Lona scolded. “How dare you run around naked in front of guests? Callie, give her your jacket.”

  My gaze jumped to my bestie Callie, who shucked off her jacket like she’d done it a million times for me.

  “Sorry the zipper’s broke,” she said with a half-smile.

  “And put on those pants,” Lona said with a huff, indicating a pair of jeans that sat atop a donations bag in the corner of the room. I crossed the room quickly, slipping into the jacket and pants. Then, I handed Callie the wire cutters so she could free Lona.

  “Are you okay?” Callie asked.

  “No. Not at all.” In fact, I was so many levels past okay. “But good to see you, girl. We need to catch up. Later.”

  Right now, I needed to save my shocked future MIL.

  As I returned to Elaine, I saw a dark green smudge—the same color as the mist Surlama had attacked me with—right over Elaine’s heart. In fact … the smudge was darkest over her heart, but a fine mist webbing covered her entire being, both human and wolf.

  Keeping my eye trained on the sickly green smudge over Elaine’s chest, I pointed at it. “Can you wipe that away?”

  She looked at me, perplexed.

  ‘What is that?’ Honor asked, cocking his head to the side as he stepped closer to his mother.

  So he could see it too? Interesting.

  “Bite me,” I commanded and then held out my arm to Honor.

  ‘What?’ He cocked his head to the side. ‘No.’

  My gaze landed on my father’s pruning shears, and I scooped them up as Elaine’s eyes widened.

  ‘I see the magic spell—maybe my blood can heal it.’ I hoped. ‘Grandpa’s not back, so it’s worth a try,’ I told Honor.

  Dragging the sharp edge of the shears over the fleshy part of my hand, I pushed hard enough so the wound wouldn’t heal right away. Pain seared my palm, and I winced.

  ‘You’re going to rub blood on my mom?’ Honor watched as I massaged my palm to get the blood flowing. ‘She’s … not so good with blood.’