by Kym Grosso
“Why’d you run in here?”
“I don’t know. I was outside and then I saw the sunlight coming through the stained glass. I just…something just drew me in. I can’t explain it.” Katrina’s chest tightened in guilt. She didn’t even know Ilsbeth but when the door opened, a force called to her and before she knew what she was doing she was inside, dancing. Demanding the witch cease her attack had been as natural as breathing.
“Jesus, Kat.” Jax wiped the sweat from his brow, and locked his eyes on hers. “This isn’t good. You know that, right?”
“I…I don’t know what to say. It just happened.” Jax’s penetrating stare told her they’d discuss what had happened later.
“Hey sweetheart.” Jake stirred and he blinked, smiling up at Katrina. His eyes darted to Jax. “You too, big boy. I’m feeling loved.”
“Yeah, right.” Jax went to push him off but hesitated as Jake groaned.
“Are you all right?” Katrina asked Jake. “Do you think you can walk?”
“I was just enjoying that righteous rock concert. Must have passed out. Waking up to your beautiful face, though? Worse places to be. Just sayin’.” He winked and brought his hand to his head. “Fuck, that hurt.”
“Okay, smartass, you ready to get up now?” Jax glanced around the foyer, its cathedral ceiling adorned in hanging crystals of various shapes and colors.
“I don’t know. I kind of like being held. I’m reliving my childhood.”
“Goddammit, Jake.” Jax shoved him away, and stood. He extended a hand to Katrina, who brushed a kiss to Jake’s forehead before she accepted his assistance.
“You saw what she did?” Jake pushed onto his knees and blew out a breath, steadying himself before getting to his feet. “Not the kiss. Although that was nice. Very nice. I mean the other thing.”
“Yeah, I saw it all right and I don’t like it one damn bit.” Jax walked toward the staircase, and scanned the room.
“I didn’t do it on purpose.” Katrina stifled the panic that rose in her throat. Never in her life had she controlled magick outside her own wolf, nor had she conjured psychic connections with physical objects. But there was no doubt in her mind that her command had ceased the music.
“It was kinda cool if you think about it.” Jake shrugged and patted her on the shoulder.
“Scary? Yes. Cool? Not so much,” Jax disagreed.
“Hey Alpha, did you ever hear that expression, ‘look on the bright side of life?’” Jake winked at Katrina and brushed the dust off of his jeans. “You gotta loosen up, man.”
“I’m just tryin’ to keep us alive. I know you’re used to all this voodoo shit down here, but I prefer my mate to be a wolf,” Jax replied. “No offense, Kat.”
“I am a wolf. Just what the hell are you trying to say? You believe Samantha?” Katrina tore her hand from his and put her hands on her hips. I knew it. He thinks something is wrong with me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that…” Jax sighed and exhaled loudly. “Look, something just happened here and I don’t know what it was. I know you’re a wolf but I don’t have a good feeling about this. I really don’t want anything happening to you.”
“Let’s just look for whatever we came for,” Katrina told him, hurt that he doubted her. Granted, she knew what she had done wasn’t normal but it wasn’t as if she didn’t have a wolf inside her. Since being with Jax, she’d felt stronger than ever.
Katrina stared up at the spectacular curved staircase. Streaks of sunlight reflected off its mahogany banister.
“This place is huge. Where should we search?” Jake asked.
“Everywhere,” Jax responded.
“It’s somewhere in here.” Katrina ran her palm along the wall, its rectangular insets appeared in an artistic geometric pattern. The cool wood tingled her skin, and as much as she didn’t want it to be true, a voice inside her head told her the mystery would be found within the grand home. “I want to see Ilsbeth’s bedroom.”
“So did a lot of people. Dimitri used to joke that was where the magick really happened,” Jake laughed.
“That turned out well,” Jax noted.
“No, he’s right.” Katrina started up the stairs.
“Where the hell are you going?” Jax asked.
“To get answers.” She stopped on the third stair and turned back toward Jake and Jax. “Where do women keep all their secrets? We keep them close to us. If it’s not in the bedroom, my guess is that it’s somewhere special to her. She was passionate.”
“Crazy is more like it.” Jake gave a smirk.
“She was a lover spurned. Fueled by passion,” she surmised. “Sometimes when a person is desperate, they’re not thinking clearly.”
“Hey, I’d like to give that bitch the benefit of the doubt as much as the next person, but seriously? She almost killed Dimitri’s wolf. He would have lost everything, including his pack. She might as well have just killed him.” Jake shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. Sometimes you cross a line and you can’t go back. You say something, in her case, do something, something really, really shitty and you can’t just call ‘take backs’. Not buyin’ it.”
“Sometimes people are redeemable, Jake. Sometimes we do things for reasons people don’t always understand.” Katrina’s eyes met Jax’s. “And we deserve forgiveness.”
“I know you’re talking about what went down with you and Jax, but this is different. You didn’t try to kill Jax. I knew Ilsbeth over the years, yeah, sure there were times when she’d get her freak on or help people out, but she was one fucking scary witch. You did not want to get in her way. I’m sorry, Kat, but we’re just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.”
“Don’t you want to find her?” Katrina felt the energy emanating through her palm as she caressed the railing. A dynamic vibration hedging between benevolence and anger reverberated within its otherwise lifeless timber and Katrina pulled her hand away. Concealing her reaction from Jax, she wasn’t ready to disclose what she’d sensed. She prayed whatever supernatural phenomenon she was experiencing in the house didn’t follow her home.
“We all want to find her,” Jax agreed, following her up the steps.
“I don’t,” Jake admitted.
Katrina caught the hard stare of disbelief Jax gave him.
“We do want to find her. And so do you,” Jax told him. “Ilsbeth has answers. Who knows what we’re going to find here today? All I know is that it would be a helluva lot easier if we could just ask her about what she did to Quintus instead of playing Sherlock Holmes.”
“I get your point, oh-great-one, but after what went down with D, I’m good without seeing her again.”
Katrina heard Jax growl under his breath as they ascended. A hum sounded in her ears, and neither male took notice. The closer they came to the bedroom, the stronger it became. She found it ironic that, for the first time, her body and mind were responding to a witch she’d never known. Despite rumors of Ilsbeth’s death, Katrina knew in her heart that she was alive. Whether she was well or not was another question entirely, but her vibrant spirit filtered through the hallways. As she opened the mistress’s bedroom door, she became more convinced her salvation lay hidden within the mystical estate.
Upon first glance, nothing appeared sinister. To the contrary, the well-decorated room gave off an air of comfort. The room’s amethyst-colored walls were offset by pale bamboo hardwood floors. A circular bed with a satin padded headboard sat in the center of the pentagram-shaped room. Above it, a web of beaded crystals hung from a chandelier, its strands connecting to each of the corners. A life-sized painting of a nude mermaid covered one of the walls. Its sparkled canvas flickered in the waning sunset.
Along the far side of the room, a built-in bookshelf was filled with hundreds of books. Katrina scanned the collection, running her fingers over the spines. From Shakespeare to romances, it appeared Ilsbeth was an avid reader.
Katrina considered the impeccable state of the
bedroom and noted how everything appeared in its place. The witch had been particular, she speculated. From the brush and mirror set on the dresser to the matching floral notebook and pen sitting on her desk, its perfect décor could have been found within a design magazine.
Spying a closet door, Katrina crossed the room and turned its handle. She flipped on the light switch and stepped into the large walk-in wardrobe. To the left, an entire wall of neatly stacked shoes sat on wooden shelves. She glanced to the right, finding racks of clothing, sorted by colors. An enormous bronze floor mirror rested along the far wall. A garland of dried pink roses draped over its grand arch, bringing a sense of nostalgia to the room. Everything had been properly arranged, including a set of matched luggage in one of the corners, which further convinced Katrina the witch hadn’t planned on leaving.
She heard a laugh come from the bedroom and peered through the door to find Jake dangling a pair of black panties from his finger. He stood in front of the chic dresser, its drawers opened. Katrina almost felt guilty for rummaging through Ilsbeth’s things but self-preservation prevailed. The only way to find clues to the witch’s whereabouts was to thoroughly search everything.
“D always said she wasn’t exactly vanilla. He sure as hell enjoyed the kinky witch before all the shit went down.” Jake inspected the delicate lace and ran his finger through its seam. “Oh, yeah. Crotchless. And beaded. Nice. That’s one way to get a wolf.”
“Seriously?” Katrina rolled her eyes.
“Hey, am I lying?” Jake laughed and gestured with the undergarment up into the air toward Jax.
“I’m with Jake on this one. Sexy. Easy access.” Jax shrugged and gave a smirk.
“Maybe you need to get Kat a pair,” Jake suggested, holding them to his nose. “Hmm…smells nice. Gardenias. No, wait. Lavender.”
Jax sniffed. “Definitely, lavender.”
“Maybe I don’t need him to buy me anything. Maybe,” Katrina paused and cocked her head to the side, giving Jake and Jax a wicked smile, “I already own a pair. Maybe a couple of pairs.”
“Oh, yeah…now that I’d like to see.” Jake tossed the underwear back into the drawer, closed it and opened another one.
“Not going to happen.” Jax combed through the desk and flipped through some loose papers.
“I’ve already seen her au natural.” Jake retrieved a pair of handcuffs and waved them at Katrina.
“Ah, but that’s not the same,” Jax countered.
“Jax is right. Shifting doesn’t count.” Katrina shook her head and laughed.
“How’s that?”
“It’s the allure of the chase. Sometimes what we can’t see is far more arousing than what we can.” Jax smiled at Katrina, who winked at him.
“Maybe if you’re a good Alpha, I’ll give you something to chase later,” she teased. Katrina studied the intricate pattern of the wallpaper. The seams appeared to come together in the shape of a door. “Hey, look at this.”
Katrina ran her finger over the brass circle. Jax reached for it, admiring its intricate pattern.
“I’m not sure what it is. Hold up. Wait.” He extended and inserted a long claw into an edge and it clicked open, revealing a solid ring. “It looks like a door knocker. Now what the hell would that be doing here?”
“Hey, it’s in the bedroom. Looks like you could clip something to it. Maybe it was for BDSM play. You could definitely tie something onto it.”
“Yes, you could,” Jax responded. “But I don’t know. It’s in an odd location. If you were going to install these in the bedroom, you’d want them higher up.”
“And you would know this because?” Jake laughed.
“It’s a door.” Katrina glided her palm downward, kneeling onto the floor. Jake followed her action, while Jax continued to manipulate the metal.
“She’s right. It’s cold. There’s definitely something here.” Jake rapped his knuckles on the wood.
“There’s something else…” Katrina felt more than just air. A twinge of magick seeped through and she shivered in response. “We have to get inside.”
“You sure that’s a good idea? Secret door. Bondage ring. I have a bad feeling about this.” Jake watched as Jax tugged on the ring. “I’ve seen a lot of horror movies and this doesn’t usually turn out well.”
“Maybe there’s a key?” she asked.
“Here…let me try,” Jake suggested.
“Be my guest, but I’m telling you I just almost yanked the thing out of the wall and it’s not budging.” Jax pounded on the wall with his fist and although a hollow sound resonated, the sturdy surface didn’t budge. “I think Katrina’s right. There must be a key or something.”
“We haven’t searched the rest of the house. Maybe we should just move on to another room.” Jake grunted, pulling and pushing on the brass sphere. It made no movement, but he stepped up his efforts, and continued. “I’ve been here a couple of times, and there’re other places we should look. The office, for one, is a place we should search. She’s got an entire wall with nothing but ingredients. I’m talkin’ a huge antique apothecary cabinet. I bet the thing has dried worms from the 1700s along with ashes from the French Revolution. She once took blood from a naiad right in front of Léo. Dimitri even gave her his wolf hair.” Jake gave a great heave and snapped his fingers away. “Goddammit.”
“I don’t know.” Jax speared his fingers through his hair. “We all know there’s something back there.”
“Jax.” Katrina removed her hand and stood. Besides the magick, there was nothing else she could detect. “Whoever would have gone to such lengths to build some kind of secret wall surely has something hidden behind it. Maybe we could find a tool in the basement to open it up.”
“We could check out the garage,” Jax suggested.
“After we get done breaking into the super-secret playroom, can we please go downstairs?” Jake asked, his voice laden with sarcasm. “Seriously. That set up she has, it’s the real deal. Hundreds of drawers.”
“Maybe he’s right. I’m sure she does have stuff down there,” Katrina reluctantly agreed, frustrated the door wouldn’t open. “But I want in here.”
“How about you stay here with Jax and I’ll go look in the garage for something to open it? I’ve been in there, too. It’s mostly tools and stuff.”
“It’s beautiful, though.” Katrina observed the ring. Her eyes were drawn to the antique object. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but what she’d thought were geometric shapes were miniscule horse heads intertwined, fitting perfectly together.
“What is it?” Jax asked.
“Do you see it? They look like little ponies…” Katrina’s fingers drifted to the object, and a jolt of preternatural energy ripped through her body. As if she’d been electrocuted, she stood frozen, unable to move her hand. She felt the pinch of Jax’s fingers wrapped around her wrist, his loud voice telling her to let go. But the longer she touched it, the stronger the draw to unlock it. A click sounded in her ears, the door falling free of her palm.
Katrina sucked a breath, willing her dizziness to end. Strong arms caught her as her legs gave out, and she breathed in the scent of her mate. Her eyes blinked open and she deliberately attempted to slow her pulse.
“Hey, baby.” Jax pressed his lips to her forehead. “You okay? You scared me.”
“Scared us,” Jake exclaimed. “I’m shitting my pants right now. How the hell did you do that? Both Jax and I tried to open that thing and you just…”
Katrina caught the glare Jax shot Jake, and she knew it was because he didn’t want to address the elephant in the room. For some unexplainable reason, Ilsbeth’s magick was influencing her. As much as Katrina wanted to believe it was just the house, the shock on Samantha’s face and her foreboding words warned her that something more insidious was happening.
But given the urgency, they didn’t have time to speculate. As the door swung wide open, it occurred to Katrina that if it had opened that quickly, it could shut and lock
as well. She forced herself to wake up from the spell, and right herself.
“Where are you going?” Jax asked, refusing to let her go.
“The door. We need to get going.”
“Maybe you need to rest a minute. I’m not going to pretend to know what just happened here, but it obviously did something to you. You almost fell.”
“I gotta go with Jax on this one. What the hell is going on? First the music. Now this.” Jake held the door with his foot.
“I don’t know. I…” Katrina stuttered. How could she explain what had happened when she had no idea what was affecting her? She accepted Jax’s assistance and held his hand as she regained her balance.
“How can’t you know? You saw what just happened, right?” Jake pressed.
“Let her be,” the Alpha growled. “We’ll discuss it later. The sooner we find something, the sooner we get out of here.”
“Fine. But I’m just sayin’ it’s not natural.”
“Leave it,” Jax told him.
“You know I’m right,” Jake insisted.
“Just stop.” Katrina had had enough. The air in the room thickened, making it difficult for her to breathe, and she suspected that whatever was inside the house, it was forcing her to move. She put her hand on her chest, and took a step toward the dark entrance. As she ventured into the darkness, the pressure lifted and she couldn’t be sure in that moment whether the flutter in her stomach was caused by relief or dread.
Katrina breathed in the scent of sage as she entered the great room. Awestruck, she held tight to the railing as they made their way toward the wooden spiral staircase. Floor to ceiling built-in bookshelves circled the oval balcony. She stopped momentarily to gaze up at the stars through the cathedral ceiling that was made entirely of glass. Katrina wondered why it couldn’t be seen from the front of the home, but guessed that Ilsbeth had enacted a spell, creating the illusion of solid stone, which had hidden it.
“This is unbelievable.” Jake ran his hand over the books. “Now this is what I call a library.”
“It must be some kind of a ceremonial room,” Jax noted.
