be happy.
Of that, I had no doubt. I checked the time—almost 11:30—and sent a
quick response: Meet you at noon. Let Savannah know.
Regina was waiting for me outside a curtained hospital room, along with
a doctor and Lily Duvoir, the curse diviner, who was dressed in a long
flowing blue skirt with stacks of bangles around her arms. I was surprised
she’d agreed to come. She rarely left her home in Dockside.
I tucked my phone away. “What’s our status?”
The doctor looked at his chart. “We have three of your werewolves here.
They’re in comas. We haven’t found a way to bring them around with magic
or modern medicine.”
I pushed aside the privacy curtain, revealing a young woman with short
black hair who was sleeping peacefully. My heart caught. “Shit, it’s Cara.”
Regina nodded.
Cara was a green recruit, but enthusiastic, and I’d believed in her enough
to put her on the team that I’d sent to hunt the rogue wolves in Wisconsin last
week. She was there when we stormed Billy’s cabin. Now she was comatose.
Had Kahanov picked his victims at random, or had he seen her up there
somehow and was seeking revenge?
I scrubbed a hand across my jaw and cursed. This was my responsibility.
Rage and frustration fought for control of my emotions, and my wolf
stirred. I dug my fingers into my palms and forced it back. I had to keep my
head clear.
“What are we dealing with here?” I growled, my voice teetering on the
edge of lupine.
The curse diviner stepped up beside me. “I’ve examined them all. It’s a
sleeping curse.”
I looked from her to the doctor. “Fine. How do I break it?”
Lily shook her curly dark hair. “I don’t know. I think the girl is trapped in
a dream, perhaps a nightmare. To break the curse, you might have to enter
her dreams, but how that would be done, I haven’t a clue.”
“And the others are the same?”
Regina nodded. “Sleeping soundly, just like her. Sometimes they move a
little or moan or cry out, but they can’t wake up.”
Not good.
I looked from one woman to the other. “Savannah Caine was attacked in
her dreams last night. The sorcerer made her sleepwalk. Did that happen to
any of the sleepers? Were they attacked in some other way?”
Regina crossed her arms and lifted her head toward Cara. “According to
her mother, she came in late and just went to bed like normal.”
I took a deep breath, seeking an increasingly elusive calm.
Kahanov had appeared in Savannah’s dream. Had he entered Cara’s
dreams and trapped her there? The consequences were staggering. If the
bastard could attack my pack in dreams, then he could attack anywhere. We
were under siege from an invisible assailant who was going to put my wolves
to sleep one by one until I submitted.
Regina handed me photos of two other pack members. The other sleepers,
trapped in nightmares.
This was the consequence of not handing over Savannah.
Every muscle in my body wanted me to shift and to hunt and to kill.
There will be a time for that, I told my wolf.
I needed more information. “Can I talk to Cara’s mother? Is she here?”
The doctor led me to a woman sitting alone in a waiting room, who rose
when we entered the room. “Alpha.”
I inclined my head. “I’m sorry about Cara. She’s a good wolf.”
Her mother looked away and covered her mouth.
I pushed my alpha presence toward her. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll do
everything I can to get her back.”
She nodded slowly as my presence took away her fear and pain and
amplified the true power I had over my pack—their trust.
I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Tell me what happened. Was she
attacked? Any sign of a demon entering the house?”
She shook her head and wiped her eyes on the backs of her hands. “Cara
came home from a night on the town and was quiet all evening. I thought she
was just sleeping in late, but when I checked on her, she wouldn’t wake up. I
called 911 right away.”
The scent of her emotions tore at me. Despair. Anguish. Hopelessness.
My pack was hurting, and that cut worse than any knife wound.
I tried to coax more information out of her, but the anguished woman had
little to give. Eventually, Regina laid a hand on my arm, and I caught the
meaning in her eyes.
I stepped back. “I’m sorry to ask so many questions. I’ll let you get some
rest. And I’ll do everything I can to lift the curse from Cara.”
“Thank you, Alpha.”
I turned to leave, but the woman caught my arm. “It’s silly, but I had a
dream about this.”
My heart froze. I’d only been asking about Cara. “What do you mean?”
“A man came to me in my dreams…he was tall and thin, and I never saw
his face. He said my daughter was in trouble, and that…” She paused and
averted her eyes, and I sensed deep shame.
“What did he say? Tell me. It’s important.”
She swallowed and wouldn’t meet my gaze. “He said that you’d failed us,
but that you’d know what to do to make it right.”
Fury wound around my heart. That fucking bastard Kahanov.
She quickly grasped my hand, sensing my rage. “I know it was just a
dream, and this isn’t your fault, Alpha. But I’m praying that you do know
what to do.”
Hand over Savannah Caine.
I nodded. “I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
I left, and Regina tailed me down the hall. Once we were out of earshot, I
pulled her to the side. “This is Kahanov, for certain. He’s trying to force me
to hand Savannah over.”
“Will you?”
“No.”
She frowned, and I could sense her dissent.
“You think it’s the wrong decision? Kahanov is a terrorist. I won’t
negotiate.”
She averted her eyes. “It’s the right call. For now.”
I followed her look back down the hall to the worried mother sitting alone
in the waiting room.
What a fucking mess. Regina was my second in command. That meant
she could question, doubt, and consider all options. But I couldn’t. I was
alpha, and I wouldn’t bend before him.
“I’m going to the Archives to chase a lead. You need to get the word out.
Find out if anyone else has been attacked. Get someone to interview the last
people to see each of the victims awake, as well as anyone who was
approached by a faceless man in their dreams.”
“On it,” she said with palpable relief. She was more comfortable when
she had a clear plan to pursue.
I turned and headed down the hall. As I walked, I texted Damian Malek,
one of Magic Side’s underworld bosses. I’m calling in a favor. I need to find
the Viper, whoever the hell she is. ASAP.
Savannah, Amal, Neve, Regina, Damian. One of them was going to find
something that pointed to what Kahanov was up to.
And once I knew that, I would relentlessly hunt him down and make him
beg for mercy. I would become his nightmare.
9
Jaxson
Inquiry. I slammed my door and climbed the stairs of the massive limestone
building. It was neoclassical in style with a wide columned entry and massive
brass doors—a beautiful façade erected to convince everyone that everything
was in order, that everything was under control. But I knew the truth. This
city was run by monsters and mages and crime lords, and always one step
away from the brink of destruction.
Savannah and Neve were waiting for me on the top steps, two redheads
side by side. Neve’s burgundy tones made Savannah’s hair look like flowing
flames, verging on orange.
It was almost impossible to take my eyes off the LaSalle woman. She
wore pale blue jeans and a black moto jacket that hugged her curves in all the
right places. I took in her form, my gaze lingering on her lips. Lips I had
tasted before.
Something about her put me off balance. No one had ever had that effect
on me.
Frustration drowned my desire the moment she spoke: “You’re late this
time.”
I glared at her and turned to Neve. “Three werewolves went to sleep last
night and never woke up. They’ve been hit with some sort of sleeping curse.
Kahanov must be behind it, just like the attack on Savannah. Tell me you
have some idea what’s going on.”
“Maybe.” Neve led us through the front doors and deep into the Hall of
Inquiry.
Now that she was out of the sun, I could see that Savannah’s face was
drawn, and worry dragged on her shoulders.
“Are you all right?” I asked gruffly as we crossed over a skybridge to the
Archives building.
She set her jaw. “I haven’t slept, I’m five coffees into the day, and my
brain is running a million miles a minute—all I can think about is how I’m
going to hunt down Kahanov and skin him alive.”
My lips curled into a dark smile as a wild heat spread under my skin. This
woman was resilient as all hell. My wolf approved, and so did I.
Her tired eyes widened as we pushed through the massive door of the
library, which was decorated with moving carvings of scientists and scholars,
myths and monsters. She opened her mouth to speak, but when she saw the
library, her jaw dropped.
The Archives was much bigger on the inside than it appeared from the
outside. A domed roof soared over a vast cylindrical chamber lined with
books.
Savannah leaned over the balcony railing and looked down into the room
below, a deep pit with imps flying in and out carrying books. “Belmont’s
library was the size of a Taco Bell and only open on Wednesdays and
Thursdays and every other weekend.”
Neve opened her mouth and then snapped it shut.
We followed her to a back room with a large leatherbound book spread
wide on the table. The pages were yellow, and the thing looked like it had
been printed in the nineteenth century.
Neve gestured to Savannah’s drawing of the monster that was on the
nearby table. “I found a description of the demon that attacked you last night
in Carter’s Bestiary of Strange and Infernal Abominations. ”
She flipped the pages to a bookmark and held the book open wide,
revealing a delicate ink sketch of a gangly, six-legged creature with a flytrap
head and four mothlike wings. Its jaws were open and dripping, and a long
snakelike tongue lolled out. It matched Savannah’s drawing almost exactly.
Savannah looked away. “That’s it.”
I nodded, recalling the acrid taste of its blood when I tore its throat out.
A subtle quake shook Savannah’s body, and I could sense her revulsion
and fear. A jolt of protectiveness pushed me toward her, but I stopped short
and tightened my fists. She’d already chosen who she wanted protection
from. Who she trusted. And it wasn’t me.
Neve gave Savannah a warm smile. “With the sketch you sent me, the
monster wasn’t hard to track down.”
“What did you learn about it?”
“It’s a noctith demon. Fun fact: they breathe poison gas that puts people
to sleep. They’re classified as a third order demon, though technically,
they’re not really demons…more of a beast native to the Dreamlands.”
“What are the Dreamlands?” Savannah asked, her voice laced with
wonder.
“A realm of dreams, sort of like one of the fae realms but different. Most
of the information is myth and anecdote. The best source is a book written by
a witch, The Grimoire of Nightmares. But when I went to look for it in the
Archive of Bound Tomes, it was gone. Stolen.”
I started to open my mouth, but Savannah beat me to the punch. “The
Archive of Bound Tomes?”
Neve nodded. “It’s the section of our collections where they chain down
particularly malicious and deviant books. Like a prison for knowledge.”
A confused expression crossed Savannah’s face. “Chain down deviant
books? I don’t think I…”
Neve smiled and closed the leatherbound tome. “Books of magic can be
tricky things. If you cram enough spells and secrets and forbidden knowledge
together in one place, sometimes the book will…well, sort of wake up and
take on a personality of its own.”
“But it was stolen?” Savannah shot me an anxious look. “Was it
Kahanov?”
“The moment I discovered the book was missing, I called security and
had them do a facial recognition search for Kahanov between now and the
day he escaped. They got a hit on the cameras in the Archives.”
She held out her phone and hit play on a recording. The video feed
showed the Archives in complete disarray. Open books were scattered across
every available surface, and people were rushing everywhere.
“When was this?” I asked, certain it had to be when the Archives was hit.
“The day he escaped. This place was flooded at the same time the marid
attacked Bentham Prison. It was a distraction. Four hours later, Kahanov
showed up.”
A few seconds into the clip, a bright box appeared on the screen, isolating
a figure who was moving warily through the shadows. For one second, he
glanced up, and the video paused.
“That’s him?” Savannah asked, a soft tremor in her voice. She’d never
seen his face. Nor had I, but I clenched my fists and burned the image into
my mind. Got you, asshole.
“Yes,” Neve said quietly. “That’s Kahanov. I can send you other
pictures.”
Savannah swallowed hard and nodded.
Neve slipped her phone into her pocket. “He went directly to the Bound
Tomes and freed the grimoire. Then he vanished with a transport charm. He
knew exactly where he was going…I wonder if the book called to him,
somehow.”
“That’s creepy,” Savannah said absently. “What powers does it give him?
Other than summoning these noctith demons?”
Worry clouded the sky blue of Neve’s eyes. “I don’t know. I’ve gone
through the archivist’s notes on the thing. It’s a guide to the monsters and
realms of the Dreamlands. It promises, of course, unimagi
nable powers to
those that learn its secrets and sleep with their head upon the book.”
My pulse accelerated. “Could he use it to invade the dreams of others? To
stop my wolves from waking?”
Neve nodded. “According to the notes, yes. It can grant the power to
infiltrate and shape the dreams of others. Possibly more.”
“So he hacked into my dreams?” Savannah asked.
“And into those of my wolves. How do we wake them?”
There was a long silence, and Neve frowned. “I’m sorry, Jaxson, I don’t
know—but that doesn’t mean the information isn’t out there. I’ll keep
digging in the Archives.”
Savannah looked between us expectantly, like there had to be more that
could be done. “I’m not sitting around while people read books. What can we
do?”
Neve’s expression darkened, and a slight breeze rose around us. “Find
him, and don’t sleep until you bring him down.”
“Right.” Savannah swallowed. “Simple as that.”
The scent of her despair tore at me, and I knew she needed something to
cling to. And for no conceivable reason, I wanted that to be me.
I stepped close, and she shivered as I let my alpha presence surround her.
“We’ve learned quite a bit. Kahanov wants to toy with us through dreams and
have his minions do the dirty work. He’s never attacked you himself. What
does that suggest?”
Savannah tilted her head and gazed up at me. “He’s afraid of direct
confrontation?”
“Exactly. He’s weak or afraid we might best him in a fight. We need to
hunt him down. Thanks to Amal, we know he’s in Italy and on the move.
That tells me that he needs something beyond the grimoire. We just need to
get to it first.”
“How?”
“We find the Viper and see what she knows.” I nodded subtly to Neve. “I
asked an old ally with deep connections to look into it. My guess is we’ll
know where the little snake is in less than twenty-four hours. Until then,
Neve looks for a way to break the sleeping curse, and we rack our brains for
every other possible clue we’ve overlooked.”
I poured my alpha presence into Savannah and Neve, drowning their
doubts with a torrent of strength and conviction.
If only I could drown my own.
10
Savannah
Untamed Fate (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 2) Page 7
