by Kamryn Hart
David looked past Rogue, right to Max and Ava behind him. “I see you caught my witch. I was wondering where all my little shadow minions ran off to.”
Ava was right then? There was only one Black Witch. Why didn’t that make him feel any better?
“Shift, black panther!” David shouted.
He didn’t need to be told twice. Rogue began to shift immediately, anything to placate the psychopath standing in front of him, anything to keep Emily breathing for a minute longer. He kept his eyes on Emily as his bones reshaped and slid into their other home. He wanted to tell her everything would be okay. The best he could do was try to reassure her with eye contact.
The cold bit at his skin as the last of the black fur coating his body receded. He was left in his human skin, exposed and standing barefoot on frozen and burned ground. He ignored the urge to shiver.
“What are you doing with a Black Witch, David?” Rogue questioned casually. “They hate shifters.”
David laughed. “Not all of them. Not the Circle.”
“Especially the Circle.”
“No, the Circle hates Trinity—which, oh, you’re a part of. You joined the same fucking shifters who destroyed Five Claws. But you wouldn’t care about that because you murdered your own father.”
The fire in David’s eyes was undeniable. He was livid, living this moment, recalling these memories like it all just happened. David squeezed Emily tightly, pressing her more firmly against him. Her eyes squinted with the pain, but she didn’t flinch, and she didn’t cry. Rogue’s heart broke.
“The Circle loves shifters. They like Sun Shifters best. The more light, the darker the shadows cast. Power, Ethan. It’s all about power, and that was something you never understood.”
There was no way Rogue would be able to reason his way out of this. Maybe he could have talked circles around the guy and tricked him into something leading to Emily’s release if it wasn’t for one crucial detail: Ethan killed Liam, the one person in this world David respected. He’d have to find another way to get Emily away from David. It would come down to force. And it was dangerous.
Rogue tried to communicate all of his feelings for Emily in a single look, all of his regret that they hadn’t been together sooner. Mason would have listened to her like he did now if Rogue had sought her out, if they had been reunited sooner. Was their love doomed to fail? Was that all there was to it?
Maybe this world wasn’t for them.
No, he couldn’t think like that. There was a life he wanted to live. He wanted to live it with Emily, with Mason watching over them. Mason didn’t want them to come to him just yet.
“What do you want?” Rogue asked, cutting to the chase.
“I want you to suffer. You were never worthy of carrying your father’s blood.”
David curled his fingers. His nails sharpened as his cat showed through partway. Every muscle in Rogue’s body coiled tightly, ready to propel him forward and end this in another bloodbath that would destroy him for good. But Emily caught his eye and froze him into place.
“You could be more powerful,” Emily said calmly. “More powerful than you already are.”
David stopped his claws inches from her throat. He broke out into uncontrollable laughter.
But Emily continued, unaffected. “Moon Shifters like Ethan can create unbreakable contracts.”
David’s eyes went dark. “I already fucking know that, bitch!” he screamed and spat in her face. Then his body started lighting up, absorbing Solsis, filling himself up with it and getting ready for another explosion.
Rogue was about to shatter, but Emily remained calm and resolute. She asked, “What if that Moon Magic could give you more lives?”
“You are a lying little—”
“She’s right,” Rogue jumped in. “You know the kind of power Liam had. You have his mark even though the Lunas holding that pledge together has died with him. You could never betray him.”
“You did. You betrayed him, and I could never kill you,” David said the words so quietly, Ethan could barely make them out. His eyes were boring into him, warning him to choose his next words very carefully. His skin went back to its normal tone, no longer emanating light. They were buying time.
“Not outright.” Rogue paused for a moment, considering this. He had never given that much thought. He was a kid when Liam forced him to pledge to him. He agreed, said what Liam wanted him to say out of fear. It did create a binding contract because Ethan gave in, but he also never wanted to. The Moon worked off of intent, built its power based on the contents of someone’s heart first and foremost. Did that, from the very beginning, give Ethan a way out? David was always cruel, but he never did harm Ethan physically until given an explicit order to do so and that was also why he could never kill him. Rogue knew David would have offed him years ago if he could have gone against his pledge to Liam. His undying loyalty to Liam was a bind without exception. It wasn’t so for Rogue.
“Liam was careful,” Rogue mused, “thorough about the pledge and its details, but I found another Moon Shifter who counteracted Liam’s contract with a contract of his own. It didn’t completely erase it, but yeah, you’re right. That’s how I betrayed him.”
“Mason,” David growled.
“But that’s how powerful Moon Magic is. It can only be broken or modified by more Lunas.”
“Untrustworthy and backhanded is what it is. Not like the Sun.” David touched Emily’s vulnerable throat with one claw, drawing a thin trickle of blood. Emily held still, refusing to show weakness by squirming. Rogue wished he had her mental fortitude. He was barely holding himself together.
“Lunas could get you extra lives, David. That’s unreal, untapped power,” Rogue said with a conviction that surprised himself. He was talking straight out of his ass. Was what he saying possible? He supposed it could be if a Moon Shifter willingly gave up their life for another, but that was cheating life and death on a scale Rogue was fairly certain even the Moon wasn’t capable of.
David scowled, but he lowered his hand away from Emily’s throat. He was actually considering this bullshit. Thank the Moon he was a Sun Shifter and didn’t call Rogue’s bluff. God, Rogue hoped everyone trusted him. He was probably about to do some crazy iffy shit to back up his speech.
“You’re shitting me,” David deadpanned.
“I’m not. It’s true,” Rogue assured.
David shook his head and grinned. “Okay, Ethan. I’ll play, but I want nine lives. I know you’d be willing to give me yours to save your lovely Emily, but that’s not good enough. Lunas is powerful, but I’m not stupid.”
Fucking sadist. David just wanted to see him suffer more before he carried through with killing Emily.
Bones crackling and snapping signaled someone was shifting. Rogue glanced over his shoulder to see Bruiser in his human skin, bare-ass naked like him.
“I volunteer,” Bruiser said.
David froze for a second. Then he chuckled. That chuckle grew and grew until he was laughing hysterically. “You’re an Earth Shifter. How is that going to work?”
“Ethan will act as a medium,” Bruiser informed. He said it in such a serious tone, like he knew exactly what he was talking about. Maybe he did, but Rogue had never seen or done anything like that before.
“Fine, bear,” David said once he had control of himself. “Taking your life was on my agenda anyway. Come here.”
Bruiser came forward, standing tall, shoulders back and broad as ever. He did something with his hand, something really discreet that couldn’t really count as a hand signal, but it did. Bruiser and Rogue had worked closely together when Rogue first joined Trinity. Bruiser had a plan, and Rogue needed to buy him as much time as possible.
Bruiser stopped when he was at Rogue’s side, still feet away from David. Rogue dry swallowed when David’s hand lit up quickly. Looking at it made Rogue see spots. He was fully charged and gripped Emily’s neck. He wasn’t cutting off her air, he wasn’t killing her, but if Ro
gue or Bruiser made a move he didn’t like, he’d blow off her head. Rogue was dizzy at the thought. His legs almost gave out on him, but Bruiser clapped his big hand on his shoulder, steadying him.
“Well, come forward then. We’re talking about mutual contracts and physical contact. I know that much about Lunas,” David announced. He was curious about all the bullshit. Power like that was too enticing for someone like him to pass up. And he wasn’t worried. That Solsis gathered in his hand would go off faster than any of them could move. He felt like he was in control. As far as Rogue could tell, he was.
He hoped Bruiser wasn’t in over his head because Rogue couldn’t see a way out of this. He couldn’t see a way to save his beautiful Emily. His belief in Bruiser was the only thing that gave him the strength to move forward with the grizzly, to stand right in front of the live wire lion holding half of his heart captive.
“Right, so, I’m new to this,” Rogue said.
Bruiser closed his eyes. He just straight up closed his eyes while inches away from the enemy. The only reason Rogue could see him doing that would be to access Terros, but what could Terros Sight do for them right now? It was the most passive of the Celestial Trinity’s different magic.
Fuck, just keep going. You’ve bullshitted your way out of things before. “I need to connect to Bruiser’s energy so I can do this mediating thing. He’s closing his eyes to meditate. He has to find calm and inner peace so he doesn’t fight me on this.”
David raised an eyebrow. Rogue was afraid he’d blow up. Maybe he went way too mystical on his explanation. But come. Fucking. On. They were dealing with magic here. What else was he supposed to say?
“Okay,” David said simply.
Rogue refused to show his relief in the form of a sigh and carried on. He settled for touching two fingers to Bruiser’s heart. The heart was the center of everything from what he knew, so it made sense—as much as any of this was making sense.
Rogue tried to prolong this. He even closed his eyes in pretend concentration since he and Bruiser were supposed to be connecting on some deep spiritual level now. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the freezing temperature.
“Time’s up,” David clipped out.
Rogue’s eyes snapped open. David’s hand was too bright. He was going to blow and kill Emily in seconds. Rogue panicked and reached for Emily even though he knew it would do absolutely nothing. The Solsis Burst was just about to go off. It was so bright, a whiteout, game over.
The light in David’s hand snuffed out.
The white burning Rogue’s eyes was gone in silence. No explosion. No death. Emily was staring at Rogue with wide eyes. He returned her gaze before his eyes drifted to David. He was frozen. His eyes rolling back into his head, showing only the whites. It was like watching a horror movie in slow motion, and Rogue was beyond horrified.
But not too horrified to act.
He ripped Emily from David’s grasp and jammed his claws into the bastard’s throat. Blood sprayed out, coating his hand and arm as he grounded David once and for all. A few convulsions and gurgling gasps were the last sounds he made before his heart stopped beating and that unnatural white-eyed look stayed plastered onto his face.
At the same time, Bruiser let out a heavy gasp and collapsed into the snow. Rogue stood in shock. Time slowed almost to a halt. He hated the feeling of warm blood coating his arm. He hated feeling it cool drastically because of the frigid air. He couldn’t think. He had no idea what just happened. Bruiser came through for him. His hand was gripping Emily’s arm. David was dead. Ava had the Black Witch in a deep sleep. Everyone was safe. He looked around to make sure it was true.
David talked about the Circle, but there was really only him and the one Black Witch. Maybe the Circle had fewer witches than Trinity thought and could only spare one. It could have made sense. They lost a large number of witches when they killed the previous Celestial Alphas during that massacre that took place thirteen years ago. Rogue didn’t know the details, but he knew it was a big blow for Trinity and the Circle. But what was the point of this attack on Moonwatch then? If the Circle was involved, it didn’t seem to make much sense for them to send one witch out here. Was that witch a deserter? Maybe she just wanted to kill and agreed to help David out with his vendetta.
Oh, God. Rogue’s head was spinning. He felt sick to his stomach.
Emily grabbed him, steadying him. The world came zooming back into focus and time resumed its regular speed. She gripped him tightly and he hugged her back, trying to be mindful of her burns as he fought with his desperation to hold her close and never let her go. He slumped into her, breathed into her neck, and finally backed off when he knew he was irritating her burns.
“Are you okay?” he asked, voice cracking.
“I’m okay,” she said.
“God,” Bruiser said from the charred and snowy ground. He was pushing himself back onto his feet. He managed to do it, but he grimaced and pushed the heel of his hand to his ruined eye.
Rogue didn’t get a chance to ask the lovable lug if he was okay because suddenly they were being crowded by a bunch of Blue Pack members. Nick was first up. He went right for Bruiser, assisting him in standing. Everyone else was reuniting with loved ones, producing a relieved hum of chatter.
“What the fuck did you do?” was all Rogue managed to say as he stared at Bruiser, dumbfounded. Boy, did he sound ungrateful. And Bruiser looked like shit.
“I’ve been experimenting with a new way to use Terros Sight, or just Terros I guess. I go into Terros Sight, my spirit seeing and traveling through the Earth, but then I manifest a part of my spirit into a physical force instead of a passive, observing spirit. I got the idea after Beatrice Black managed to use Black Magic to fuck with me while I was using Terros Sight.” He shook his head. “Good thing you were right there with me and that I was able to get so close to David. I wasn’t going to be able to hold him for long. I can’t control this well. It was a long shot chance, but it was the best plan I had to keep everyone alive. Anything flashy would have set David off.”
“Bruiser,” Rogue said, tone perfectly flat.
“Yeah?”
“I fucking love you.”
Rogue didn’t wait for a response or a never-to-come invitation. He grabbed the bear of a man, ripping him away from Nick, and hugged him as tightly as he could, trying to squeeze the air out of the big brawler he had a hard time wrapping his arms around. Bruiser held his arms and hands out to his sides. Rogue expected this since hugs were not in Bruiser’s repertoire. He did, after a moment, pat Rogue on the shoulder though.
“Okay, enough,” Bruiser growled as he shoved Rogue away. “We’re both naked.”
“We’re animals. It’s not weird.”
“It is weird, and I don’t want to touch you beyond a hand on the shoulder.”
Rogue smirked. “Yeah, I know. Touching isn’t your thing unless it’s the manly-hand-on-the-shoulder gesture or punching someone’s lights out.”
Bruiser grunted, and Emily giggled.
“Why the hell did you tell Trinity to send me here? Do you have foresight too?” Rogue asked.
“You weren’t okay with being alone. Never were, even though you said that was what you wanted when Trinity saw no reason for you to be under my supervision anymore. A lot of cats are solitary, but I figured you’d like this pack. That was my reason.”
“You are so soft!” Rogue accused. “You really are a teddy bear, Bruiser. But thanks.”
Bruiser gave him a dirty look but didn’t comment.
Emily wrapped her arm around Rogue’s waist and cuddled into his side. He gently and carefully wrapped his arm around her in return. It was so good to have her close.
“Thank you, Bruiser,” she said with a soft smile on her face. “You really saved the day.”
“Uncle Rogue!” a little voice called from outside the crowd. It was Opal with an armful of clothes. She was running straight for him, Cedric hot on her heels.
“I’m Uncl
e Rogue now?” Rogue asked as he strategically placed Emily in front of him to hide his private bits from the little spitfire. He just went through telling Bruiser it wasn’t weird to be naked, but whatever.
“Apparently,” Cedric replied.
“Daddy said it’s cold, and you should get dressed,” Opal informed matter-of-factly.
“I also said I’d take care of it.” He scooped Opal up in his arms, handed the clothes off to Rogue and Bruiser and turned back around to where Stella and Russel stood. The cute little family was untouched, which Rogue was grateful for.
“We’re lucky,” Nick spoke up after Rogue and Bruiser quickly got dressed. “No one died. Everyone hurt will recover. But I can’t believe the kind of power just two people had. We all stood there and did nothing.” He was clearly feeling powerless.
“Everything is overwhelming when a hostage is involved, but your pack is strong. You also have two new members,” Bruiser said as he shoved Rogue forward.
Rogue felt a bit sheepish as he said. “I kept my promise. And I’ll continue to keep it.” He held up his left hand to show the Lunas Sigil emblazoned on his palm from when he first made the promise to protect the pack with his life.
Nick took his hand and shook. His right hand, limp at his side, glowed with the reaffirmation of their promise. “Welcome to the pack, Rogue, Emily.”
Emily was beaming. “Thank you, Nick.”
“Guess the next thing to do is assess damages and figure out what to do with that Black Witch and Trinity Shifter,” Nick commented.
“Right,” Bruiser agreed. “Ava, you okay keeping the Black Witch and Griffin asleep?”
“Josh will take care of Griffin while I focus on the Black Witch. We’re good,” she replied.
“Perfect.”
For a moment, Rogue’s ears weren’t needed. So he tuned everything out. He focused on the feeling of holding Emily at his side. He looked at each of the faces surrounding him, memorizing them. Some he knew well, others he didn’t, but something big had changed. He no longer felt like an outsider.
