So I’d just have to keep trying until then.
In the meantime, I went downstairs, ready to help the group with our plan to get Flint on board with our rescue mission.
Empty boxes lined the walls of the living room. Thomas sat in the center of the room, a pile of things he’d called “drones” in front of him. He huddled over one of the drones, doing something or other to it.
I mumbled a greeting to him and walked over to the kitchen, where the delicious smell of bacon was calling my name. Sure enough, Amber and one of her sisters who looked alike—either Evangeline or Doreen—were cooking up a storm in there.
“Evie and I woke up a bit earlier to get breakfast going,” Amber said with a smile. “I hope we have enough. We know shifters have crazy large appetites.”
I glanced at the sister cooking with her, making a mental note to remember she was Evie and not Doreen.
Evie wore a black shirt with a cat face on it. As long as Doreen wasn’t wearing a matching cat shirt when she came downstairs, I’d figure out a more distinct difference between the two witches so I wouldn’t confuse them in the future.
“Thanks,” I said, practically salivating at the sight of the bacon sizzling on the grill. “Smells great.”
Amber tossed me a finished piece of bacon, which I easily caught in my hand and wolfed down.
I wanted to offer to help them out. But cooking wasn’t something my pack and I did, since we always ate in our wolf forms. Meaning no cooking required. I hadn’t learned at the Montgomery complex because the more submissive wolves cooked there, and on the road Sage and I always ate out or ordered in.
Luckily, my hunting skills made up for my lack of cooking skills.
“It smells fantastic,” Thomas said from where he was tinkering with drones in the living room. “But I’ve gone long enough without blood that it’s starting to impair my focus. Which one of your neighbors wouldn’t mind me dropping by for a pint or two?”
I glanced at Thomas, noticing that he did look paler than usual.
“There won’t be a need for that.” Bella waltzed down the stairs like a Hollywood diva ready for a day on the set. “Not when you can easily feed on the humans in our basement.”
She said it so casually that I did a double take, unsure I heard her right. “Why are there humans in your basement?” I asked slowly.
“Evangeline, Doreen, and I are dark witches,” she reminded me. “The most important difference between dark and light magic is one key ingredient. Fresh blood from a human killed by the witch performing the spell or brewing the potion.”
“Right,” I said, since this wasn’t anything I didn’t know. “I just didn’t realize you kept them in your basement.” I looked down at the floor, wondering what types of horrors laid beneath my feet.
I also realized that I didn’t know much about the Devereux witches beyond the fact that they’d helped me track demons and also had it out for Azazel after he killed their sister.
Dark witches made up the majority of their circle. Which made them a dark magic circle.
I’d always trusted them because Sage trusted them.
But what if we were wrong in coming here?
“It’s inconvenient to have to fetch a human to kill every time we do a spell or brew a potion, so we store them in our basement,” Bella said. “But don’t worry, dears.” She looked back and forth between Thomas and me, apparently noticing the alarm on our faces. “We only capture the worst of the worst. We work with the Tower kingdom in South America and get the most dangerous criminals off the streets. Those monsters down there deserve everything they’re getting. You can trust me on that.”
“What’s in it for the Tower?” Thomas asked.
“Just a small portion of our profit, and a few under the table spells and potions,” she said with a smile. “No big deal. So, are you coming or what?”
Thomas must have been pretty hungry, because he stood up and followed her into the apothecary without asking any more questions.
I’d been in there many times, when Amber had done tracking spells to find demons for Sage and I to hunt. I’d always noted the small, padlocked door in the corner—the one the witches never opened. I’d assumed it was where they kept their most valuable materials.
I never would have guessed it led to the basement where they were keeping some of the most wanted criminals in the world so they could kill them at their convenience.
At least they killed criminals and not innocents. Surely that was more than many dark witches could claim. And they were helping us fight the demons. So who was I to judge?
“So,” I said, turning to where Amber and Evie were still cooking up a storm in the kitchen. “What can I do to help with breakfast?”
16
Noah
There wasn’t much I could do to help out with breakfast. Besides eating it, of course.
Amber and Evie proved to be excellent chefs. Once we’d consumed every ounce of food on the table, I helped the witches clean up while Thomas returned to doing whatever technological stuff he was doing with the drones.
When his work was complete, Bella took the drones into the apothecary and cast a dark magic spell on them to make them soundproof. According to the witches, keeping sound in was light magic, and keeping sound out was dark magic. So if someone wanted to soundproof a room so someone couldn’t spy on them, it was a light magic spell. But if someone wanted something to be soundproofed so they could spy on others, it was dark magic.
In general, that was the basics of how light and dark magic worked. Light magic was more defensive, whereas dark magic was more offensive.
I guessed one of those criminals in the basement had just lived his or her final day.
When everything was ready, we packed up the Devereux SUV with the materials we needed for the task ahead. They had one of those special cars that plugged in and used electricity instead of gasoline.
Thomas was quick to comment about how he owned a few of them as well.
Once we had everything we needed, the witches saw us off. I sat in a passenger seat, and Thomas was behind the wheel. Except he didn’t actually need to touch the wheel—or anything in the car—to get it to drive. He just set the radio to a type of music he called “cool jazz,” sat back, and used his power to have the car drive on its own.
Show off.
He also didn’t need any navigational help, so I was able to sit back and stare out the window. But I wasn’t paying attention to the scenery. Instead, I focused on trying to reach Raven through the imprint bond.
By the time we neared the border of the Montgomery property line in the Hollywood Hills, I still hadn’t had any luck in contacting Raven. But I could feel her heartbeat through the bond. It was pumping fast—like she was either exercising or panicked about something.
I hoped it was the former, even though the latter was far more likely.
At least she was alive. That was all that mattered. Because as long as she was alive, I could save her and get her back to me where she belonged.
The houses in this area of the Hollywood Hills all had a lot of property to their names, so we stopped at the Montgomery pack’s closest neighbor. It was close enough to do what we needed, without getting so close that the shifters realized there were other supernaturals near their land. The neighbors were Hollywood stars that Sage claimed were in tons of famous movies, and were always off at some exotic filming location. As expected, they weren’t home.
Thomas was easily able to use his power to get us past their gate and situated on their driveway.
We got out of the front seats and walked around to the trunk. Thomas opened the hatch to reveal what he’d dubbed “command central.”
The back seats were pushed into the down position to make more room, and it was filled with drones, cameras, controls, and a TV that was wired up and ready to go. There was also a bag full of vials of clear potion—invisibility potion.
Thomas unfolded the first drone and situated one
of the cameras inside of it. Then he handed the device to me, and nodded to give me the go ahead.
The unfolded drone looked bizarre—like a giant metallic alien bug posed to attack. It was also much lighter than I’d anticipated from the look of it.
With the drone firmly in my grip, I used my other hand to uncap one of the vials of invisibility potion. I downed it without hesitation. It tasted like nothing, and was light as air.
It tingled as it settled in my stomach, the feeling spreading out to my limbs as the potion did its job of making myself and anything I was wearing or touching with my bare skin invisible. Most importantly, in this case, the drone.
What I could see of my body—and of the drone—was light, hazy, and slightly glowing, like a ghost.
To Thomas and anyone else, I’d be invisible.
He got up, walked to the dirt next to the driveway, and made a circle in the ground with his foot. “Place the drone here,” he instructed.
I did as he said, being as careful with the drone as possible. “Done,” I said, since Thomas had no way of seeing me. To him, I was a voice coming from nowhere.
With the cloaking ring hiding my scent and the potion hiding me from sight, I was close to the perfect predator right now.
My wolf side wanted to burst onto the Montgomery complex and catch Flint unaware. But I leveled my urges and reined them in. We had the tactical advantage right now, and our plan was good. I couldn’t give into my more animalistic instincts when both Raven and Sage’s lives were on the line.
Thomas sat back down, remote control in hand, and stared at the television screen in front of him. The screen showed dirt, since that was the view from the camera attached to the drone.
A normal person would have to actually use the remote to control the drone. But not Thomas. Simply holding the remote allowed him to “tune into the drone” and lift it off.
As the drone lifted, the view on the television went from dirt to a spanning view of the SUV. The screen showed Thomas sitting in the back, but even though I was there, I didn’t show up since I was invisible.
“Looks like everything’s working well,” I commented.
“Of course it is,” Thomas said. “I don’t mess up. At least not when technology’s involved.”
It was a good thing he’d added on that part about technology, otherwise I would have been tempted to point out that he’d sure as hell messed up when it came to his relationship with Sage.
But there was no need to start a fight with the vampire now, so I pushed the thought aside as the drone zoomed toward the Montgomery compound. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until it was safely over the property line.
When I’d lived there, Flint didn’t keep a witch around to maintain a barrier spell around the compound. That hadn’t been long ago, but so much had changed recently, especially given the secret alliance he was making. There was no saying how he was protecting the compound now.
Of course, barrier spells were in the shape of a dome. So if there was one, Thomas could have flown the drone above it. We just wouldn’t have had as good of a viewpoint.
As it was, our view was perfect.
Not just our view—our timing, too.
Because the Montgomery wolves were all gathered in the center of their land in what I instantly recognized as a mating ceremony.
And Sage stood in front, officiating.
17
Noah
Raven wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Which wasn’t surprising, since she’d told me through the imprint bond that Sage had been taken somewhere else.
But Sage being here didn’t make sense. Azazel had taken her. She knew Azazel had taken Raven as well.
She had to know Thomas and I were worried sick about both of them.
Yet here she was, back home officiating a mating ceremony.
There was no doubt that was what was going on. The Montgomery wolves were all seated in two groupings of chairs, with an aisle in the center between them. Sage stood at the front, with the ritual book in hand.
Why hadn’t she reached out to us? What was she doing here? Why did she look so calm and relaxed, like everything was normal?
And why was she officiating at all? Alphas always officiated mating ceremonies. The only time they didn’t was when…
The only time alphas didn’t officiate a mating ceremony was when they were the one committing to a mate.
Somehow, I managed to gather my jumbled thoughts together and communicate them to Thomas, who was staring at the screen like he was seeing a ghost. I couldn’t blame him. He was imprinted to Sage.
If Raven had been safe at home this whole time and hadn’t bothered to contact me, I’d be shattered, too.
“The alliance must have something to do with the person Flint chose as a mate,” Thomas decided. “He must be holding something pretty huge over Sage’s head to get her to go along with this and cease communicating with us.”
I nodded, since it made sense. But at the same time, it didn’t. “Azazel’s the one who took Sage and Raven,” I said. “Why would he bring Sage back home?”
“A greater demon took Sage and Raven,” Thomas said. “We have no proof it was Azazel.”
“Raven told me it was Azazel.” I stared straight into Thomas’s eyes, daring him to accuse me of hallucinating that I’d heard her through the imprint bond.
“You’re the one who told me imprint bonds don’t work like that,” he said simply. “Raven couldn’t have communicated with you. Therefore, we have no evidence that Azazel is the same greater demon that took Sage and Raven.”
Apparently, stare downs didn’t work on Thomas like they did on other supernaturals.
One glance down at my hazy hand reminded me that of course it wouldn’t work on him. I was invisible.
Thomas had no idea where I was looking.
“Fine.” I ran my hands through my hair, since continuing this argument wasn’t going to get us anywhere right now. Especially since the ceremony was starting, with Flint walking down the aisle to join Sage in the front. “But we do know they were taken by a greater demon. Which still begs the question—why would the greater demon drop Sage back off at home?”
“Maybe she fought him off,” Thomas said. “She had that potion on her—the one that forces greater demons to teleport back to their last location. She could have used it on the greater demon and gotten away.”
But as he said it, I could tell he didn’t believe it. Because if Sage had gotten away, she would have reached out to us as soon as she could.
Just then, Sage glanced up at where the drone was flying.
Her eyes were red. Demonic red. Just like the shifters that had attacked us in the alley.
I didn’t need to ask Thomas if he’d seen it. It was clear from the horrified look on his face that he had.
“That bastard is going to pay.” Thomas’s voice was deadly and terrifying as he stared at the screen. “I don’t know what he did to her to make her like that, but he’s going to pay.”
I wasn’t sure which bastard he was referring to—Flint or Azazel—but I nodded in agreement. Because they were both going to pay.
Then I remembered that I was invisible and Thomas couldn’t see me nod. Apparently I communicated with my body instead of my words more than I realized.
But I didn’t have time to speak before the bride came out of the house. As was customary in mating ceremonies, she was led down the aisle on her father’s arm.
Azazel.
When she smiled, her pointed teeth revealed she was a demon as well.
“Shit.” I dropped my arms to my sides, dread settling on the bottom of my stomach. “Flint imprinted on a demon.”
18
Noah
It all came together in a sudden, horrifying blur.
The alliance Flint had told Thomas about must have been with the demons. That was why he wouldn’t tell Sage any details about it. He knew she’d want nothing to do with it. So he’d tried forcing to come back home
by getting his allies to abduct her instead.
Quickly, Thomas and I confirmed we’d both come to the same conclusion.
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it before,” he said. “I knew Flint was up to no good. But I never imagined this.”
I paced around, unable to stay still. “No one could have imagined this,” I said.
“We need to get Sage out of there.”
I started to nod, but then I remembered he couldn’t see me. At the same time, I remembered that Sage hadn’t made any attempts that we knew of to reach out for help.
She was smiling at Flint, Azazel, and Flint’s demon bride as she read the opening passages of the mating ceremony.
“Assuming Sage wants to get out of there,” I said, the dread in my stomach growing as I watched her.
She was beaming, looking beyond happy to be there.
“She’s being forced to marry her brother to a demon,” Thomas said. “Of course she wants to get out of there.”
I said nothing, not convinced.
“They’re holding something over her head to keep her there,” he continued. “Otherwise, she’d already be out of there.”
“Are you sure?” I didn’t want to be the one to say it. But someone had to, and I was the only other one there right now. “We both know Sage. She’s not that good of an actress. When she hates someone, it shows all over her face.”
Thomas didn’t confirm or deny it. He simply stared at Sage on the screen and clenched his fist, looking like he wanted to ram it straight through the glass.
This was the closest the vampire prince had ever come to looking like he was about to lose control.
I wasn’t sure what more to say, so I didn’t say anything. Anything I could say right now would only infuriate him further. He needed more time to watch—to take in what was right in front of us.
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