by Bella Jacobs
“I know, sir,” he says, gulping. “It just looked like you were in the middle of something, and I—”
“We’re at war. News of incoming aircraft trumps good manners, even if the aircraft is one of ours,” I say, gentling my tone as Diana shoots me a look that seems to remind me to exercise my softer side. “Why is Hermione here? She was supposed to stay back at the tower.”
“The cloaking spell was interfering with our communication systems. She couldn’t get through to anyone and has important information,” he says, his thin throat working as he swallows and adds, “from the new Pathfinder. Your fiancée, who um, who is…with her on the chopper, sir.”
A dark swarm of anger and fear begins to swirl inside me, but before it can churn into a storm, Diana taps a claw on my chest.
I glare down at her and snap, “She’s pregnant. She should have listened to me and stayed safe.”
Diana tilts her head in a way that seems to say, “Well, then she must have had a good reason for coming. Why don’t you hear her out first and have a bossy freak out later?”
I stalk away from the helicopter to set Diana down on the grass before I mutter, “Just remember, you’re in charge of protecting this woman if I can’t, and she won’t make it easy for you. We’ll see how you like it when it’s your orders she’s ignoring.”
I’m still angry—very angry—but when the chopper lands and Willow emerges, her hair swirling in the wind from the slowing blades, and runs toward me, I hold out my arms and pull her in for a fierce hug.
“The worst,” I grumble into her hair. “You’re the worst.”
She pulls back to meet me gaze. “I had no other choice. You need me here so I can tell you what I see as soon as I see it.” Excitement sparks in her eyes. “And you’re going to be glad I came. There’s a man coming with an army of animals. He’s an ally and means well, but you have to send someone to meet him and tell him not to detonate his explosives until after he talks with us. If he does—”
Her words are cut off by a boom so loud it shakes the ground and vibrates up my legs, rattling my bones. My ears begin to ring, but I can still hear the shocked sounds echoing through my troops and Willow uttering a string of curse words so foul I know we’re in trouble, even before she says, “Too late for that, then, but if we move fast, we can hopefully keep this from getting any worse.”
She glances over my shoulder. “We should join your commanders and let everyone hear this at once. The portals are already collapsing,” she says, her eyes beginning to glow, proving this isn’t theoretical information. “We have fifteen, twenty minutes tops before the enemy forces left on this side find Bane and set him free.”
My jaw drops, but before I can say anything, Willow grabs my sleeve and starts toward Sam and the others, “Yeah, he’s alive,” she says grimly. “Sort of. And if we don’t stop him, he’s about to destroy life as we know it.”
Chapter Eighteen
Willow
It only takes a few minutes to relay the information from my latest vision to Maxim and his commanders, but every moment drags on for a terror-filled eternity.
A voice inside my head screams that I should run to the underground room as fast as I can and put a stop to this myself instead of wasting time with explanations. The fate of every creature on this planet is hanging in the balance and every second counts.
But I was no match for Bane when he was human, let alone now. And the future will be saved by people working together, not the actions of any one woman, no matter how good her intentions.
“What do you mean the portals are gone?” Sam asks, sounding properly horrified. “How can that be? Maybe the portals here were destroyed by explosives, but that shouldn’t mean—”
“It set off a chain reaction,” I cut in. “Bane was working with wraiths trapped in between the two worlds. They mistakenly took that explosion we just heard as the signal from Bane to set off their own bombs. They think they’re going to collapse the barrier between the worlds, freeing themselves in the process. But that isn’t what happens. Instead, the two worlds are now completely separated with no easy or safe way to travel between them.”
I pull in a breath and repeat what I’ve already said, hoping a second sharing will spur them to action. “The good news is that my sister and ninety percent of her fighting force are now trapped in the Parallel. They won’t be causing us any trouble tonight and the hundred or so people left on Human Side are no match for our forces. We’ll overpower them easily, but only if we move now. Before they find Bane in the underground room and free him from his chains. If he gets out, he’s going to start infecting people and this is going to spread insanely fast. In a month we won’t recognize reality anymore. We’ll be living in a post-apocalyptic hellscape.” I turn to Maxim and add, “And your sister will end up ruling in that world, doing her best to keep those of us who haven’t been infected alive. That’s why I saw a dark shadow over her reign in my first vision. I thought it was maybe because of the personal grief I’d feel if you were gone, but it wasn’t.”
Maxim, who’s been unusually quiet, rests a hand on my back. “You did the right thing. But now you have to go.”
I start to protest, but he shakes his head and insists, “You already told me exactly where the room is located, I know how to kill a zombie, and I have more than enough people here to back me up. You’ve done all you can do. So now I need you to take Diana, get back in the helicopter, and go home to the tower. And if the worst happens, I need you two to take care of each other.”
The Alpha part of me, the part that insists I should be in on the action and the decisions, wants to argue with him. But the rational part knows he’s right.
And that we don’t have time to waste arguing.
I nod, “Okay. I’ll go, but hurry. Shift and run, as fast as you can. And if he’s loose, watch out for his hands. For some reason, he can’t use his mouth, but he can scratch people with his hands. That’s how it spreads.” I gulp and amend, “if it spreads.”
He gathers me up, squeezing me tight and whispering, “I love you. Always, no matter what comes next,” before releasing me and motioning to his soldiers. “We move now. Sam, assign a team to transport prisoners. Cox, activate the bomb squad to disarm any explosives that might still be dangerous. Liam, activate the strike force and meet me by the tree line. We run in sixty seconds.”
I step back, watching everyone launch into swift, efficient motion. I’m so busy dodging soldiers running back and forth that I don’t realize Maxim’s trying to get my attention until he waves his arms from across the valley and shouts, “Diana’s the owl. She puts her wings up for yes, and shakes her head for no.”
I frown and start to ask what the hell he’s talking about when a stunning white owl hops out from behind a patch of tall dry grass, waving her wings in the air.
Somehow, I instantly understand that it’s Diana. I feel her signature energy and when her golden eyes meet mine, I swear I can almost hear her voice in my head, telling me she’s going to take care of me until Maxim gets home.
And that he will be coming home.
Hoping she’s right, I kneel down to her level as she executes an awkward walk-hop-tumble across the grass.
I shake my head. “I’m so glad to see you, but…are you okay? How on earth did this happen?”
She rolls her eyes and lifts her wings in an exasperated gesture that might make me laugh at another time. It’s just so Diana, despite the feathers and everything else.
But nothing is funny right now.
“Come on, let’s get going,” I say, holding out my arm for her. “We’ll figure out a way for you to tell me everything on the way home.”
Diana hops onto my arm, her claws gripping it tight as I lift her surprisingly solid new self into the air. She’s heavy. I tell myself that’s why I’m shaking as I glance over to see Maxim and his team shift and run into the woods, but I’m a bad liar.
Especially to people I love.
So, when H
ermione—who’s been waiting for me by the chopper—asks, “Are you all right?” I don’t bother putting on a brave face.
I suck in a breath and shake my head. “No, but hopefully I will be. He’s going to get there in time. He has to.”
“You did everything you could. If our people come out on top, you’re the reason why.” Hermione reaches out as if to squeeze my shoulder but pauses as her gaze fixes on Diana. Her arm falls back to her side. “So, this is Diana? Is that what Maxim said?”
Diana screeches and clicks her beak for several seconds, her head bobbing back and forth with sufficient attitude that no further explanation is required from me.
Hermione nods. “Okay. Definitely Diana.” She motions toward the chopper, where the pilot is strapping in. “Don’t worry, kid. Enchantments like this don’t tend to last long and if we end up needing a magical intervention, I know a few savvy witches who owe me a solid. You’ll be back to normal in no time.”
The words make Diana look a little sad, I think, but it’s hard to tell with her bird face. And I’m not sure I’m capable of reading anyone’s mood clearly right now.
I’m too terrified. Too on edge, and so worried that as the chopper rises into the air and turns, heading back toward the city, I close my eyes and pray harder than I’ve ever prayed for anything.
I beg the stars, the universe, the gods and goddesses of old and new to make Maxim swift and strong, to guide his hands and his people, and most importantly, to bring him back to me.
Chapter Nineteen
Maxim
I run faster than I have in years, bounding over boulders and fallen tree limbs on the forest floor, flowing like dark water rushing down a riverbed.
My blood pounds in my ears and my breath comes faster, but I’m not winded.
I’m strong again—nearly back to normal—and I have my best fighters with me and a huge support team waiting in the wings.
I don’t have to beat Bane alone, and as long as we get to him first, this mission should be relatively easy. Zombies are strong and insanely dangerous when on the loose, but they can’t do shit while chained to a wall.
It will be like shooting fish in a barrel.
One big, evil fish…
Still, when we reach the charred edges of the camp and slow our pace, skirting quietly around the settlement to the north, avoiding the worst of the smoke and the people sobbing and coughing as they dig at a pile of rubble not far from the central cabins, apprehension has my fur standing on end. I keep circling back to what Diana said in her note, about Bane killing our mother.
It should shock me, but…it doesn’t.
What’s shocking is that I didn’t see what a monster my brother was back then. I knew he was selfish and arrogant and wanted the privilege of power without putting in the work, but I didn’t see the evil at the heart of him.
Maybe it hadn’t fully taken hold yet.
Or maybe I was just a naïve teenager, too busy thinking he had shit all figured out to see what was right in front of his face.
All I know for sure is that I won’t mind watching him die a second time.
I won’t enjoy it—I’m not a monster—but I won’t shed one fucking tear for the man who blew a hole through the middle of our family and then tried to do the same to the rest of the world.
There’s only one thing that could make this mission more satisfying.
As if summoned by my thoughts, the fairy devil who tortured me runs across the glen by the line of blue toilets Willow described.
A growl vibrates low in my throat and my lips peel away from my teeth. I want to race straight for that sick fuck and rip him apart, but that’s not my mission here tonight.
I have one target, one goal above all others.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t spare a few fighters to take care of Mr. Gray.
I reach out telepathically to Sam, That fairy with the long gray hair. He’s the one who tortured me. If he surrenders without a fight, capture him. If not, take him out.
On it, Sam says. She gives the order for three of our toughest fighters to join her and they break off from our pack, racing through the grass toward Gray with a speed that makes my mouth fill with salt.
I want to spill his blood so much I swear I can taste it, thick and hot, flowing down my throat. Wanting to kill another creature this much—not just to end them, but to do it as viciously as possible—is nothing to be proud of.
And I’m not.
But I never said I was an angel. I may have a big heart, like my sister said, but I also have a dark, angry side that comes out to play when the people I love are threatened. As my team and I arrive at the place where I was held prisoner and Evan shifts long enough to hold the heavy metal door open so that the rest of us can race down the stairs as wolves, my darkness rises.
By the time I reach the bottom of the stairs and burst through the door into my personal hell, a deep, threatening growl is rolling from my throat like thunder, warning of the impending storm. The woman standing close to where Bane is chained to the wall hears it and spins to face the door, sending her long gray braids flying. Her eyes are gray, too, but a paler gray than the fairy’s and her face is so finely wrinkled she has to be at least eighty, maybe older.
Elsbeth. This must be her.
She’s exactly as Willow described.
I shift, jabbing my arm forward as I transform so that a beat later, I’m standing with a warning finger aimed at the woman’s face. “Don’t take another step. This ends now.”
Bane roars in response and his milky eyes fix on mine. He’s deathly pale, drool flows from the side of his sewn-shut mouth, and black veins stand out on his neck in a way they didn’t before, but he’s still my brother. There’s still something of the old Bane trapped inside this dead body. I can see it in the way his gaze sparks with a mixture of excitement and hatred as it fixes on my throat.
If he gains his freedom, I’m his first target. I’ll be a zombie, too, within a few moments of his escape. The virus works quickly and is irreversible by magical or scientific means.
You don’t come back from the dead.
Death comes to haunt the living wearing your old body.
“Step away from my brother and let us finish this,” I continue, raising my voice to be heard over Bane’s snarls and grunts.
The woman’s tear-filled eyes narrow. “It’s too late. The ritual is complete. Kelley is bound to the sword and will rise to rule.”
“She’s also trapped in the Parallel and the portals between our worlds will soon be impassable,” I say, knowing I can trust Willow’s gift. “If Kelley rises to rule, she’ll be doing it in another dimension. It’s over, Elsbeth. Your side lost. Surrender, and you’ll be treated with fairness and respect.”
Her lips twitch into a trembling smile. “As if you understand the meaning of the words. Thorn men are all the same. You take and you control and eventually, you destroy. You’ll ruin this world, the same as your brother would have. You’re no better than he is. Willow is a fool to give you her trust. You certainly haven’t earned it.”
“But I will earn it,” I say, taking a slow step closer, wanting to make sure the key dangling from a ribbon at her left wrist doesn’t get any closer to my brother’s chains. “And I’ll earn yours, too.” I motion to the men and women behind me, some of them wolves, some now in their human form. “These people don’t follow me because I’m my father’s son. They follow me because they trust me to put our pack and our people first and do my very best by them. I truly want them to flourish, and they know that. I’m not always a good man, Elsbeth. I won’t pretend to be something I’m not.”
I take another slow step closer, encouraged by the uncertainty creeping in to tighten her features. “But I am devoted to my people and determined to be worthy of my wife. Bane was neither of those things. You know that.”
Another step, and now I’m nearly close enough to reach out and grab her arm. “I’m not the same as my brother. And if I promise yo
u mercy and fairness, that’s what you’ll receive. But only if you get out of the way and let us do what needs to be done.”
She shakes her head, clutching the key to her chest with both hands. “No, you can’t kill him. Kelley needs him alive to grow strong. Just let me go. Let me take him to her in the Parallel and I swear you’ll never see either of us again.”
“I told you, there is no more Parallel, at least not as far as we’re concerned,” I say sternly, subtly motioning for Liam to circle around to Bane’s other side and prepare to take his shot. Liam is one of our sharpshooters. During battle, they wear leather tethers around their necks equipped with a holster for a small gun, enabling them to transport their weapon as they shift back and forth.
I planned to decapitate Bane with one of Gray’s larger torture devices—still proudly displayed on the far wall—but a few bullets through the brain will get the job done, too.
“Please,” Elsbeth begs, taking a step back toward the still snarling Bane. “He’s harmless. He’s been spelled so he can’t spread the virus. See? He can’t bite me, even if he wanted to.” She thrusts her hand toward Bane’s mouth.
He groans—a tortured sound that makes his cloudy eyes bulge in his face—and strains toward her flesh. But when he gets close enough to take a bite his sewn mouth remains motionless as his drool flows to puddle at the ground by his bare feet.
“See?” Elsbeth shoots a victorious glance my way.
I’m about to tell her that it’s not his mouth, but his fingernails, that we have to worry about when Bane’s groan becomes a howl of rage and his straining muscles bulge beneath his skin. A second later, he rips the chain attached to his left manacle from the wall.
Time slows to a crawl as I watch him reach for the old woman’s arm. I try to grab her, to push her out of the way, but by the time I get close enough it’s too late.
