I was going to die.
Not if I can help it, the wolf inside me snarled, and she seized control.
My body twisted, and my arms flailed out. The claws of my right hand
ricocheted off the tower, then raked down along the stonework. Suddenly,
they sank into the wooden lintel of a window. I gasped as my body jerked to
a stop. My shoulder wrenched out of its socket, and an unbearable jolt of
agony shot down my spine as my body slammed into the stone wall.
The Soul Knife slipped from my belt.
For a second, I watched it fall. Then the lintel split, my hand slipped, and
gravity took hold once more.
I thrashed wildly. There was one brief moment of clarity when I saw the
clouds and stars whirl by overhead, but then my body erupted with pain as I
crashed into the bushes. Twigs ripped into my skin, and I howled as I rolled
out onto the grass.
I groaned and wiggled my fingers. My shoulder was screaming, but at
least my legs worked. I glanced up at the gaping hole in the tower high
above. How was I even alive?
You’re a werewolf now. We heal fast, and we’re damned hard to kill.
It was a goddamned miracle.
A shadow drifted over me, and a new wave of adrenaline brought me to
my senses. I rolled to my side and looked up. High above, a monstrous four-
winged shape circled in the air, descending quickly.
The noctith demon.
It was coming for me. Could I find cover in the tower? I looked toward
the caves, where light glinted from the shattered doorway, and my gut
clenched. Was the basilisk still in there, lurking in the shadows? I was
trapped between a demon that could put me to sleep and a monster that could
turn me to stone.
Think.
Heart pounding, I looked around wildly. Where was the Soul Knife?
Something glinted in the middle of the garden.
Whimpering in pain, I pulled myself to my feet and staggered forward. I
grasped the Soul Knife by the hilt and headed for one of the dark openings in
the face of the cliff, praying the basilisk wasn’t lying in wait. As I hobbled
forward, I called the shadows around me. I just needed enough time to get
inside.
The demon screeched above, and I could almost feel its wings vibrating
the air around me. With as much speed as I could manage, I turned and
ducked into the caves.
The earth shook behind me as the noctith demon landed at the edge of the
garden. On its back sat Kahanov. That fucker.
Though I was certain he couldn’t see me, he looked toward the caves
where I was hiding. “Savannah…you should be more careful. I need you
alive. Let’s not make this more painful than it needs to be.”
The noctith demon shrieked and swung its strange head left and right,
searching the garden with its hundreds of eerie, glowing eyes. I bit my lip
until I tasted blood to keep from screaming, and pulled the shadows closer.
“Fine,” the sorcerer called. “We can do this multiple ways. Nighty night.”
The demon emitted another piercing cry and exhaled a plume of pinkish
gas toward the caves. I looked around in desperation as the cloud billowed
toward me. Did I have to inhale it, or would contact alone knock me out?
I searched the cave hopelessly. The only cover was the pool. I ran over,
gulped in the biggest breath I could manage, and slipped beneath the water.
Closing my eyes, I began to count. Each second that passed was a prayer
that the noxious gas would dissipate. I tried calming my mind, but every cut
and gash in my body stung, and fear pressed in, heavier than the water around
me.
My lungs began to burn, but I fought down my instincts. Every time a
second passed, I vowed to stay one second more. Finally, when I could stand
it no longer, I lifted my head slowly above the water.
The cloud of gas was gone.
While every nerve in my body wanted me to gasp in relief, I sucked a
breath in through my teeth as slowly and quietly as I could.
The earth shook again as the noctith demon shifted position and released
another plume of sleeping gas down the path outside.
A little relief trickled through me. They didn’t know where I was. How
could they not hear my heartbeat? It was practically ripping out of my chest.
Then my pulse skipped a beat as something scraped on the wall behind
me—massive claws scrabbling on stone.
My stomach sank.
Death was coming.
26
Jaxson
Find her, my wolf howled in my chest. She’s in pain. Dying.
I leapt from the hole in the wall where the window had been and hurtled
down the face of the tower, using my claws as brakes to slow my fall.
The moment they found wood, I dug in and swung myself onto the
windowsill. It was a fucking ridiculous way to get down, but speed was
everything.
I heaved myself left to the next sill over.
The noctith demon shrieked and swung its head from side to side,
searching for Savannah in the garden below.
Fucking Kahanov was on its back. I wanted to throw myself into the air
and dive toward him, but it was too far to leap and have any chance of
landing the attack. I had no idea what to do. Try to kill Kahanov? Take out
the demon? Or simply find Savannah and get the fuck out?
I crouched and prepared to leap again, but I froze. Something was off.
Then I saw it: the shadows below were moving. A dark velvet wall drifted
closer to the demon.
Savannah’s magic.
Damnit, what the hell was she doing?
I had to get to her. I leapt for the next window down. Stone rushed past
me, and then I slammed my claws into another lintel and swung myself up
onto the stone sill.
The noctith paused. Then both it and Kahanov looked up.
I’d been spotted.
The thing began beating its iridescent wings and started to rise. But
suddenly, it spun to its right with unimaginable speed toward the caves and
shrieked.
Savannah’s cloud of shadows ripped away, revealing the hidden form of
the basilisk. The noctith demon’s mouth split wide, and it spewed a pink gas
toward the monster.
But it was too late. The demon had looked the basilisk in the eyes.
The noctith reeled backward and gave a twisted, piercing wail as its head
and legs turned into stone. It clawed the earth and tried to rise, but its dead
and hardened foot caught on the low wall, and the demon feebly flailed its
stone wings and limbs in the air.
It was already doomed. Half statue, half flesh and blood, the demon
plunged over the edge of the garden, flinging Kahanov from its back. There
was a flash of light, and he disappeared.
Transport charm.
Grinding my teeth, I leapt into the air and plummeted toward the garden
below. I crumpled and rolled as I hit the ground, but my right shin shattered.
Still, I roared and staggered to my feet, my bones already healing.
Find Savy.
I limped toward the caves, then slowed. The basilisk lay in the middle of
the garden. I approached cautiously. Its chest rose and fell, but it made no
movement in my direction.
It was sleeping, a victim of the noctith’s poisoned
breath. But for how long?
I sprinted toward the caves. She had to be here. She’d been controlling
the shadows that had hidden and probably bewildered the basilisk. It had
stumbled through the darkness, toward the loudest source of sound: the
demon.
Gods, that woman was smart.
Her signature flooded my senses, and protectiveness coursed through my
veins. “Savannah!”
“Here…” came a feeble response.
I ducked into the northern cave.
She was lying at the edge of the pool, soaking hair draped around her.
Her skin had been shredded by hundreds of cuts, though they were already
healing. I dropped to my knees and wrapped her in my arms. She was limp
and cold. I pushed my magic into her, a torrent of healing fire.
She gasped and sat bolt upright in my arms. Her shoulder popped back
into its socket, and the remaining cuts in her skin stitched closed, leaving
white scars scattered like stars.
I gritted my teeth as I gave her everything I had, pouring my strength and
life into her. She trembled in my embrace and arched her back as her mouth
opened in a silent moan of delight.
I’d heard that the healing gift between mates was intimate, but I’d never
seen it done. Not like this. It was the transfer of life. Of vitality.
Savannah’s eyes flickered open. “My God, what did you just do?”
“I healed you.”
“Remind me to fall out of buildings more often.” She coughed, and as she
turned to look around, a little bit of blood trickled down her lips. “Did I get
Kahanov? With the basilisk?”
I could barely think. The drop of blood quivering at the edge of her ruby
lips mesmerized my mind. I wanted to lick it from them. To press my lips
against hers and kiss her with abandon. My head began to bend forward as
she turned her mouth toward mine.
Suddenly, she jerked out of my arms and scrambled down into the pool.
“Holy shit, my clothes are shredded!”
She was looking at me like I was a filthy predator. And maybe I was. I
scowled. “You’re a werewolf now. Get used to it. Also, don’t go adventuring
in any outfits you’re too attached to.”
I looked away.
“Jax. Kahanov. Did we get him?”
I cleared my throat and sat back. “The basilisk got the noctith. And the
noctith got the basilisk.”
“But not him.”
“No. He escaped.”
“Fuck.” Her head tilted back. “We were so damn close.”
“It was a good plan.”
She slammed her palm down on the edge of the pool. “I was so fucking
close.”
27
Savannah
Two hours later, I stepped up to the front door of Aunt Laurel’s house,
completely and utterly drained. I had the Soul Knife but couldn’t shake the
deep sense of failure. Kahanov had gotten away, and Amal was comatose,
trapped in her dreams like the other sleepers.
Everywhere I went, I brought disaster.
Jaxson had called in the Order to secure the tower, and they’d transported
the sleeping mage, his lover, and his staff back to Magic Side. Hopefully, the
archmages could find a cure for the curse.
I couldn’t bear much more guilt. Amal and the Italians had raised the
number of sleepers to eleven. How many more would there be before this
was over?
With a weary sigh, I shoved through the door.
“Savy? Is that you?” Aunt Laurel called from the kitchen.
While it was almost five in the morning in Italy, it was only ten p.m. in
Chicago, and my family was apparently still kicking it.
I wandered into the kitchen like a zombie.
Laurel and Casey sat at their usual spots around the kitchen table, having
dessert. She smiled and motioned to the freezer with her spoon. “You’re just
in time for ice cream.”
It was like I’d strolled into a bizarre alternate reality, where everything
was sane and homey.
Moving in a daze, I grabbed a bowl of country-style vanilla, topped it
with a pile of Fruity Pebbles, and plopped down on a stool.
“You’re so much like your father,” Laurel said, eyeing my ice cream.
Casey stood up halfway, eyes wide. “Gods, Savy, what are you wearing?”
Oh, right. That.
“Uh.” I looked down with no idea how to explain my current appearance.
“An Italian man’s clothes. I think they’re really expensive.”
My clothes had been incinerated by magic flames and shredded by a
combination of demon claws, flying shrapnel, and plummeting into a bush.
There hadn’t been much left. And while the mage had a palatial closet,
there’d been nothing for a woman. I’d grabbed a pair of slightly too-tight in-
the-hips wool trousers and a not-busty-enough shirt that was currently ready
to pop at the seams.
I was pretty sure Jaxson had appreciated that.
I’d also borrowed a scarf and a purse. Technically, a murse. It was real
Italian leather, and no one would know the difference.
Casey leaned over to inspect the cuffs of my shirt. “Okay, I’ve got to hear
this one.”
Laurel raised her eyebrows. “Seems like you had an interesting night.”
I leaned back. What should I even tell them? Nothing? Everything? I was
too drained to care. “I went to Italy and sneaked into a mage’s tower. I fought
a basilisk, a blood demon, another one of those noctith demon things, and the
blood sorcerer. I managed to live but didn’t catch him.”
My aunt dug into her bowl of ice cream. “My. That’s a lot for one
evening. No wonder you seem exhausted.”
Casey waggled his spoon at me. “You haven’t explained how you got the
clothes, though.”
I stared at them in disbelief. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
My aunt leaned forward. “Well, give us some details. Sounds exciting.
What were you after?”
“Whose clothes?” Casey added. “That’s what I’m most curious about.”
I pushed back from the table. “You two are mad.”
My aunt was taken aback. “What?”
“What I just told you was literally insane. Like, out-of-this-world
ridiculous. I don’t know how many times I nearly died tonight. And you act
like it was the most normal thing in the world! I know I’m in Magic Side, but
this isn’t normal, is it? Please tell me it’s not normal.”
My aunt gave me a knowing smile. “Normal? Of course not. But then
again, you’re not normal. You’re a LaSalle. And clearly, you were up to the
task, to your credit.”
I ran my hand through my hair in disbelief. “How are you not yelling at
me for running around and diving headfirst into dangers I know absolutely
nothing about?”
My aunt narrowed her eyes and rested her elbows on the high table.
“First, because it’s not my place. I’m here to help, not run your life. Second,
it’s been clear from the start that the three ladies have their eye on you, and
there’s nothing anyone can do about that.”
“Who?”
“The fates, of course. They have their favorites. From time to time, they
pick a mortal and push as much on their plate as they can, just to see if
they’ve got what it takes. Thankfully, I think you do.”
My heartbeat rose as my temper twisted like a knife. “You mean this is all
happening because some heartless cosmic entity is just fucking with me?”
“It’s happening because you have the capacity to be great. To be special.
And that draws danger like a light draws moths from the night. Trust me, my
life at your age was an utter nightmare, too. But it made me like iron.”
I gritted my teeth and glared at the table because I didn’t want to glare at
her. This was messed up. I despised the way Jaxson could compel me with
his alpha presence. The way Kahanov had forced me to sleepwalk into the
arms of a demon. The way the wolf inside me could take control of my body.
I was tired of being pushed and pulled and thrown around. I wasn’t going to
give up control, even to the fates.
“I make my own destiny. I refuse to believe in fate,” I hissed.
“Well, clearly, they believe in you,” she said.
I shoved my bowl of ice cream back as frustration and resentment
strangled me to choking. I did my best to broadcast this is not acceptable into
the universe.
My aunt studied me silently for a while, then traced her spoon absently
around her empty bowl. “What were you after in Italy, anyway?”
I didn’t respond at first. Finally, with a sigh, I popped open my new,
expensive-looking Italian leather handbag and pulled out the Soul Knife. Just
touching the cool metal made my fingers sting. It felt evil.
I set it down carefully on the table. “This was what Kahanov was after,
and we got it. Jaxson Laurent said that the Order should take it, but seeing as
I don’t know them from Adam, and since Kahanov is bent on using it to cut
out my soul, I thought I would ask you where the safest place to keep it
would be.”
My family might be mild lunatics and weapons manufacturers, but they
had been fiercely loyal to me. My aunt would know what to do.
She leaned forward and inspected the knife. “May I?”
I nodded in assent.
She picked up the blade and turned it over slowly in her hands. “Very
interesting. And dangerous.”
I bit my lip. “To be clear, I’m not asking you to hide it in the house. I’m
certain Kahanov will come looking for it, and I don’t want you two or Uncle
Untamed Fate (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 2) Page 19
