by Sara Snow
This room was a bar. Candles with blue flames rested on each wooden table and filled the room with an eerie blue light. A woman tended the sizeable bar, and dark creatures occupied a few of the tables. At first, it surprised me to see werewolves chatting amongst themselves at one of the tables, but then I realized they must be rogues—werewolves without a pack. I followed Cyrus to the back of the room and took a seat as I observed my surroundings.
I noticed several curious stares as I looked around the bar, but the sight of unusual yellow eyes ogling me was unnerving. The man was sitting alone at the other end of the bar, close to the exit. His hair was as white as snow—much like his skin—and it was so long, it fell over his shoulders. I inhaled the scent drifting from his table and frowned at how sweet it was—like nothing I'd ever smelled before. As the corner of his mouth arched, a chill went down my spine, and I looked away quickly.
"It's best if you don't look at him," Cyrus mumbled as he reclined in his chair. Considering his back was turned to the rest of the bar, I wasn’t sure how he knew who I was looking at. "The creatures here aren't friendly."
There were so many beings in this world that I'd never even heard of. Being here with Cyrus now, it suddenly hit me just how dangerous this place was. How dangerous he could be.
"Don’t worry. No one here will approach you," he added after a moment. "Not while you're with me."
"They know who you are. Those incubi bowed to you."
He nodded. "They do, although I kept it a secret for a while. But you see how things are around here. Eventually, I had to reveal my wings."
"So, is this like an incubi bar or something?"
"Not necessarily. It's a bar that welcomes any being—dark, supernatural, gods, and demi-gods. Everyone is welcome here. And many of them come for the special services only the owner can provide."
"What services?" I asked. Suddenly, my attention shifted to the four women who appeared through a door on the left, each carrying a goblet or goblets to a table.
They were all clothed in sheer white dresses, and I realized they were all humans. Gorgeous, identical humans with long brown hair and two-tone eyes—one brown, one blue.
Finally, the woman behind the bar made her way towards our table, her hips swaying seductively and drawing attention with ease. "For a second there, I thought I was seeing things. The great Cyrus has returned to us," the woman said, stopping in front of us. Her blue eyes wandered to me. "I'm Scarlet. And you are?"
"This is Elinor. She's family," Cyrus responded before I could say anything. Scarlet nodded as she moved a strand of her strawberry blond hair behind her ear. Scarlet’s lips were perfectly plump and naturally red, and she had an adorable sprinkle of freckles across her nose. She was definitely a succubus.
Are all sex demons stunning?
Her eyes rolled over my face with interest, the same way the incubus had done at the entrance, and for a moment, I felt really uncomfortable. Cyrus and Theanos were the only incubi I’d known, and I’d never met a succubus before. I wasn't sure how to react to the lustful look in her eyes. She chuckled, noticing my discomfort. I glanced at Cyrus, whose face looked as expressionless as it'd been since we arrived.
“So you're Elinor. You're prettier than I imagined,” she smiled warmly and I couldn't help smiling as well. “If you're family to Cyrus, you're family to me.”
"Thank you," I told her, and her eyes wandered back to Cyrus.
"Where is Skye? I'm eager to meet the girl that stole your heart.” When Cyrus said nothing, she changed the subject. “So, what brings you back to this little piece of hell? I'm guessing you're not here to feed? You don't look pale—that's a good sign."
Cyrus and I shared a look, and he cleared his throat. "No, I'm not here for that. I'm here to see her."
Scarlet frowned. "Are you sure you want to do that? You know the price you'll have to pay."
I didn't have a clue what they were talking about, so I remained quiet. No one spoke for a moment as Cyrus and Scarlet studied each other, and I wondered for a moment if they were communicating in some other way. Cyrus nodded after a moment. As two men raised their voices behind her, Scarlet turned away.
One was a rogue werewolf, with a large scar along the left side of his long chin. The vampire he was arguing with hissed loudly, and the soft chatter in the bar turned to silence as his pointy claws elongated.
"Give me a minute," Scarlet said as she walked over to both men.
I watched in surprise—and admiration—as she used the side of her hand to hit the vampire behind his neck, knocking him out. As she reached out to grab the vampire before he hit the ground, she punched the werewolf in the face before he even realized it was coming. She knocked him out right away and even managed to catch him by the collar before he could fall.
"Wow," I said under my breath as she dragged both men towards the exit. "She's strong."
"The men by the door aren't the ones who protect this bar—Scarlet is. When I was here, she taught me how to fight," Cyrus said. "She taught me how to control my hunger as well."
"You told her about Skye, huh?" I said with a smirk, and his cheeks immediately turned red. "It's cool. It's nice you told her about me, too, and not just your girlfriend."
"Don't start," Cyrus grumbled. "But yeah, I have her to thank for a lot of what I know."
“So, who is this ‘her’ you two were just talking about?”
Scarlet suddenly appeared by our table. "Come with me."
We got up and followed her through the door to the left of the bar and entered a dark corridor. With my senses heightened, I had no problem seeing in the dark, and I noted the doors on both sides of the hall as we walked. Unfortunately, I could also hear the sounds coming from behind them.
I tried not to focus on the sexual noises coming from behind those doors. Really, what did I expect? At the Black Souls Market, everything was for sale . . . including sex—consensual or not. It was making me sick.
At the very end of the hall, I saw a staircase, and behind it was a large door with a red doorknob. Scarlet knocked twice and turned to face us, but her eyes were on me. With my cloak pushed over my shoulders and my Guard's uniform revealed, she took advantage of the chance to look me up and down.
"Come in," a voice said from behind the door. Scarlet winked at me before she walked away.
Cyrus and I entered a small room. Shelves upon shelves of books lined the walls, and sitting behind a desk by the door was a woman with long white hair and violet eyes. I knew she was a witch instantly, and her eyes widened with joy when she saw Cyrus.
"Cyrus! My boy!" the old woman yelled as she got up and hurried around the desk to hug him. She was rather short, coming only to Cyrus's chest. "I knew I sensed my favorite little demon." Cyrus hugged her back, but she pulled away quickly and pointed a wrinkled finger at his face. "Two years! You haven't been back in two years. Your rare little visits used to be enough, but then you just vanished."
"I'm sorry. I had a lot going on," Cyrus answered. "But I'm here now," he added with a grin, and she rolled her eyes.
"And who might this be?" she asked, turning to me.
"This is Elinor. She's the one I told you about." I looked from the witch to Cyrus. "Elinor, this is Saleem."
I placed my fist over my heart and leaned forward. "It's nice to meet you, Saleem."
"Likewise, firstborn." Her lips curved with a smirk and for a moment, I was confused how she knew of me, but of course Cyrus must have told her. "But Cyrus, your aura . . ." The smile on her lips faltered. "What's wrong?"
Cyrus held out the strand of Skye's hair that he had taken from her hairbrush. "I need you to find someone for me. I'm running out of time."
Saleem's violet eyes examined the strand of hair, and while she didn’t smile, the joy in her eyes didn't go unnoticed by me. "You know what the price will be?"
I glanced at Cyrus quickly to see his jaw clench. "I know, and I'll pay it."
Alpha Grayson
My fist c
ame down hard on my desk, shattering it and sending all the objects on it flying across the room. Connor was standing quietly by the door as I got up from my chair and stepped over the broken desk to stand by my window. I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply to calm myself.
"Have you told the Luna?" I asked Connor without turning around.
"Not yet," he answered. I opened my eyes to stare at the stars hanging high above the earth. I could also smell the oncoming rain.
Elinor, why do you never listen to me?
"How long?" I growled as I turned to face him.
"She was spotted leaving with Cyrus over an hour ago. They were heading east."
The office door opened, and Darian walked in. "Alpha, I ordered men to follow them. I figured it would be best to act immediately." Then, through clenched teeth, Darian added, "We should have expected this. She never does as she's told."
Despite Darian and Elinor's constant bickering, I knew he cared for her with the same sisterly love that Connor had for her. Like myself, he’d feared Elinor being accepted in the Werewolf Guard. As a Guard himself, he was fully aware of the things that Elinor had yet to learn, and he worried that she’d unnecessarily put herself in danger. But her eagerness to venture out into the world was apparently stronger than our wish to protect her. Even with so many people watching over her, she still managed to get into trouble.
First, vampire Bleeders had almost killed her in the woods, and now this.
Her mother is going to kill me when she hears about this.
Running my hands down my face, I groaned. "At this point, I don't know what else to do with Elinor."
My office door flew open, and Clarice—my stunning Luna—walked in. "Start by sending men after her." I’d been so occupied by my thoughts I hadn't noticed her heartbeat on the other side of the door. "That's all we can do at the moment. Elinor is no longer a child. She's still a little naïve, very stubborn, and still has a lot to learn . . . But she's an adult now. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll realize that that's what caused her to go off and do something like this without telling anyone!"
Her chest rose and fell as she took a large intake of breath.
"I knew you'd blame me for this."
"I'm not assigning blame to anyone, but you know what I'm saying is true. I've grown tired of this nonsense between you and Elinor! You tricked your only daughter into believing she had a shot at achieving the one dream she's had since she was a child. You arranged for her to fail the Werewolf Guards examination. You had an arranged marriage formed without her knowledge—and mine, too, for that matter." Clarice's eyes changed to black as her face grew red. "You need to stop this, or she's going to leave and never come back."
Her eyes grew sad. "You've been pushing her away from both of us. Both of us, Grayson. Of course, she would impulsively go after Skye, even though she’s unprepared. But at least she’s with Cyrus. He wouldn’t let her go with him unless he had a solid course of action, or unless he knew something we don't."
I mulled over my Luna's words as I leaned against the wall by the window. Yes, Cyrus had always been the levelheaded one in that trio. And yes, they might have learned something that we hadn’t yet. Still, I'd surely be having words with Cyrus when they got back.
I nodded to Connor and Darian. They placed their fists over their hearts and bowed to Clarice and then me before leaving.
I crooked a finger at her, and she walked to me slowly. "I'm sorry," I told her as I kissed her forehead. Clarice rarely raised her voice, but whenever she did, it broke my heart. "I'm really sorry."
"I'm not the one that needs to hear that," she mumbled as she rested her head against my chest.
We stood like that in each other's arms for a moment as I pictured my daughter's face. I closed my eyes and said a prayer to the Goddess to protect her, wherever she was, until Darian's men caught up to her.
"The distance between Elinor and me now seems almost too large to be fixed. I wish I knew when things changed between us. I've been so focused on other things, I just . . . don't know when I lost her."
Clarice wrapped her arm around my waist and placed her chin against my chest, then looked up at me. "It all began when you started trying to control her life." She sighed. "You've never put yourself in her position, have you? Did you ever try to understand the pressure on her shoulders, being a firstborn and a female? She's expected to find her mate, to be a wife, a mother, a Luna. But to do that, she has to suppress her fire as a firstborn. She has to live with the same power that burns in your veins, but because she's a woman, she has to keep that fire tamed. And why? Just to be a Luna? Maybe she doesn’t want that." She released me and stepped back. "You've been forcing her to find a mate, and now, because she can't, you're forcing her to marry someone who isn’t her mate. Are you seeing it now?"
I turned away from her to stare out the window. I knew marrying her off to Elijah would bring about judgment, but I had hoped it wouldn't be as bad as what was being said about her not being able to find a mate. At least she'd marry a highly respected wolf, and she’d belong to a powerful pack.
I shook my head. "Everything I've done is to keep her safe. I've only been trying to do what's right for her."
"I haven't forgotten what that felt like being her age,” Clarice said. “I remember decisions being made for me because my parents thought they knew best. Not everything you think is right for her, Grayson." She placed her hand on my shoulder. "We do our best to protect our children, but we can't shield them from everything. You've been doing Elinor more harm than good trying to control her."
Thunder rumbled outside, and it started to rain. Clarice wrapped her arms around me from behind and we stood in silence for a moment as the night sky was lit up by lightning. I, too, remembered being young and wanting things that went against my parents’ plans for me. But this was different. Elinor was too reckless. She was going to get herself in trouble, I just knew it.
"I think the final test during the Guards Examination really affected Elinor. I-I had no idea anything like that could happen—a girl getting bitten and infected by a vampire? And because Elinor couldn’t kill her, she failed the test? I didn’t ask for that."
"I know, my Alpha. And deep down, Elinor knows that, too. But a traumatizing event happened to her because of a decision you made.” She took a deep breath. “But right now, she's missing, along with Skye and her mother, and we need to focus on that. When Elinor gets back—and she will—you can talk to her about how you want your relationship with her to be."
"If she talks to me," I mumbled. Being an Alpha, I always had to stand firm, not show too much emotion, and remain calm and grounded. But from the moment Elinor was born, she'd always been able to throw me off balance.
Then I smiled, recalling the times when she was a child and would look at me with such love.
"Elinor might be many things, including stubborn—which she got from you, by the way . . ." She tightened her arms around me, and I chuckled. "But she's not a hateful girl. She's angry at you—and not even you can blame her for that—but she doesn't hate you. But . . . do you really think marrying her off to Elijah is a good idea, Grayson?"
"No," I answered softly as I closed the window and turned to face her. "But Elijah is an honorable man, more than many of the wolves Elinor has already met, who are only enticed by the fact that she's a firstborn."
"What you are forcing Elijah and Elinor to do is wrong, and you know it. Marrying someone who is not a mate is taboo among our kind for a reason. What will happen if, a few years after Elinor and Elijah are married, one of them meets their mate?” She pointed her finger in my face. “What will you do then, hmm?"
I walked around her, my hands behind my back, and stared down at my broken desk. Of course, that thought had crossed my mind. "But I just can't have a mate-less daughter, Clarice. She has to someone around to protect her. Because I won't always be here to do it."
"You're speaking as if you're going to die, Grayson," she said, her voic
e low with worry.
I shook my head. "I'm just saying I won't be the Alpha forever. Jackson will be the next Alpha, and I want to make sure that whoever Elinor ends up with—whether or not he’s her mate—will take care of her. Is that so bad? She's a special girl—hell, she's a white wolf—and I know a hard future is waiting for her. I can feel it."
Maybe the conversation I had with Faelen made me more paranoid about Elinor's future than before, but with everything going on, I thought it best to keep that conversation to myself for now. Once Elinor and Skye returned safely, I'd speak to Elinor and have her blood tested for divinity.
Clarice smiled. "Is that why you're so worried about her? Grayson, you still don't give her enough credit, even after seeing how powerful she already is. Elinor doesn't need a mate to protect her. She’s strong enough to look after herself.” She sighed. “Why don’t you tell her what you’ve just told me? Instead of behaving as if she won't survive without you intervening, admit that you're just a worried father."
She got up on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. As she pulled away, I picked her up and pressed my lips to hers.
"What would I do without you?" I said, holding her tight.
She smiled at me, but I could see the tears welling in her eyes. Great. "I'll get her back," I promised, crushing her to my body again. She rested her head against my chest, the smell of her tears burning my nose and making my heart ache. "I'll bring our daughter back. But for now, I trust Cyrus to keep her safe."
14
Skye
There was a bitter taste in my mouth as the darkness in my mind began to fade. Groaning, I slowly raised my hand to press a finger against my temple. My head was pounding.
A pungent scent burned my nose, and when I opened my eyes, I realized that I hadn't imagined the multiple different heartbeats I’d thought I’d heard. I sat up slowly and looked at all the humans and supernaturals around me. Men, women, old and young from various species—they were all curled up on the floor or standing in the corners of the dark, dank cell. I closed my eyes for a moment, my head still throbbing, and when I tried to stretch my leg out, I kicked someone in the process.
