Tremaine paced away. “Savon believes Fawn is dead.”
“Aye, she does,” answered Ceridwen. “I believed her dead all this time, but I have trouble seeing beyond the veil unless I travel to the realm they’re in.”
“So you found them, and you didn’t bring them back?” Tremaine raked his hands through his hair. “Why not?”
She lifted a single shoulder. “Need a Sylvan Fae to get there. Preferably one related to Fawn.”
“So, you’re going to end this curse Nikolai put on Savon?”
“I’ll bring someone to break the curse, but Nate will need to be the one who brings her back. We’ll have to go to Fawn at some point and deal with Killian. And I’m not sure what to do about Fawn. I fear she may have lost her mind.”
Preston rolled his eyes. “That’s perfect. And what about Canagan?”
Ms. Murdock smirked. “She’ll need to be dealt with, either before or after Killian. Neither will harm the other, though, because they’ll inflict the same damage to themselves.”
“Why?” Tremaine asked.
“Backfired curse.” She looked at Draecyn. “I think bringing the pendant here would be the wise choice. Clearly Fawn is not our best option.”
“What about Savon?” Robert asked. “She seems capable.”
“Most likely. I need to know she’s ready.”
“Are you worried about Nate?” Preston asked.
“Oh no. I trust that boy with her life. I also believe she’ll unlock his potential to lead,” Ms. Murdock answered.
“The pack?” Tremaine prompted
“Yeah. And he’ll do fabulous, as long as everything goes to plan.”
“Who’s plan?” Robert demanded.
“Fawn’s. What I can figure is crazy, but might be the answer. She clearly grasps the problem and believes she has a solution. Nate needs to take the pack from his father. Not Jay, who I believe is a better fit in Seattle. He’s only sticking around to ensure Killian is dead and gone.”
Tremaine lifted his hands. “All right then, let’s get back to Savon and break the spell.”
“Go back there, keep an eye on her, on Nate, and I’ll be there as soon as I track down Nikolai’s clan.”
* * * *
Nate didn’t even move when the bell rang.
Bran hurried down the stairs and opened the door to find Evangeline looking slightly frazzled. “You okay?”
She glanced around and stepped inside. “I did some digging, found out about Nikolai. The guy is bad news.”
“Yeah, we know. Come upstairs.”
“I don’t think we can pull her out of the coma. There’s old magic involved. He’s the worst kind of gypsy.”
“He’s dead,” Bran answered. “Doesn’t that usually nullify the curse?”
“Not in his case.”
“Fuck. Then what does?”
She shook her head. “Not sure anything will. Not unless we track down his clan.”
“Clan?”
“He’s Romani. Only someone from his clan can offer help breaking it. His last name isn’t common. How would we even go about finding him?”
Robert, Tremaine, and Preston appeared before she could ask the last.
She turned to them, her mouth popping open. “The mages?”
Bran rolled his eyes. “They’re here to help.”
Tremaine stepped forward. “Old Lady Murdock knows where to find Nikolai’s clan. She will do everything in her power to bring someone here to fix the problem.”
“That’s a relief.” Bran scrubbed a hand over his face.
Evangeline glanced up the stairs. “I’m another Dreamwalker. Nate and I are going to try to reach Savon.” She rubbed one arm. “I’m sure he wants to reach her now. I need to get up there before he tries because there’s a real chance he could lose himself in there if he’s not careful.”
“Think he’ll listen?” Tremaine asked.
“That’s why I need to hurry.” Evangeline rushed up the stairs.
Bran followed. Everyone else would come up. At this point, he didn’t care. He wanted his sister back.
Nate looked up. “Any news?”
“Yeah. Not sure how you’ll take it,” Preston offered.
“Hit me with it,” Nate replied.
Tremaine looked at Bran. “First, your mother is alive. She’s the one who has Killian, in a part of Faery no one, save for a Sylvan Fae, can reach. Sounds like she’s taking revenge out on him for killing Darron.”
Bran shook his head. “But she died with Dad, in the same accident.”
“She didn’t die. Not sure who did, but Old Lady Murdock found her.”
“I don’t care what shape he’s in. I’ll challenge my father.”
“Got to bring him back here. In Faery it won’t have any bearing on the pack. In fact, it may disassemble the pack magic and there will be a fight for Alpha position.”
“Fine, what do we need to do?”
Tremaine answered, “Get Savon back first, but Ms. Murdock is on her way to find Nikolai’s clan and bring someone here to break the magic. You may or may not be able to reach Savon before then, but she won’t come out of the magical coma.”
“What happens in the meantime?”
“We’ll keep watch, waiting to see if Canagan makes her move. If we see something you need to know about, we’ll call, or you call us,” Preston answered.
Robert pulled out several cards. “That goes for all of you. We need to know if you hear or see anything. We’ll be keeping an eye on Canagan. In fact, we can track her. We’ll know if she makes a move.”
“Wait,” Preston said. “Do any of you know a Paineater?”
Bran walked out of the room, rubbing at his face.
That damned woman…
He came back. “Meridian Lagoon. Blue hair, pale blue eyes. She’s, uh, she healed that bastard, didn’t she?”
“Believe so,” Tremaine answered. “She may not have had much of a choice in the matter. She made an oath to Canagan long ago. And until Meridian completes her end of the bargain, she has to do as asked.”
“What?” Bran whispered.
“She’s a pawn. That’s all. She wants free of Canagan.”
“That’s not the story my mother tells,” Bran argued.
“No, but she may not know all of it. I knew both Canagan and Meridian long ago. Shit, this is all tying together. Ceridwen better hurry her ass up because I have even more questions than I did before we found her.”
“What are you talking about?” Nate demanded.
“It’s complicated, and until I know for sure what I’m going on about, I’d prefer to have answers. I hope she hurries.” He turned to Robert. “Let’s see what we can find.”
They disappeared. Bran stared after them.
* * * *
Nate turned to Evangeline. “You’ll help me find her?”
“I’ll do what I can. I don’t know her like you do. And you haven’t been around her in years. Navigating may not be easy. Depending on how far she’s retreated, it can take us days to reach her.”
“With or without you, I have to try.”
“She may be lost, Nate. Not for good, but when you do find her, she may not have any recollection, like when I found you. She may be so deep, she doesn’t know how to crawl back. You should have an easier time helping her find her way, but it won’t be easy. You’ll see things in her memory, things you may not want to know. Twelve years is a long time, Nate. She didn’t think you were coming for her.”
“I don’t give a shit what she did during those twelve years. I finally have her, and nothing is going to keep me from her.”
A sad smile pulled at her lips. “I’m glad to hear that. Now, lie back and pull her toward you. It will help to have physical contact. I’ll be here too, but you’re going to have to lead.”
“Fine with me.” Nate lay near the edge of the bed and pulled Savon into his arms.
/> Evangeline joined them on the bed and touched her arm. “We may have to do this in bursts. We’ll be able to go back to where we were if we have to come back. And, Nate, it took me a week to find you. You can’t expect to reach her right now.”
“I realize that, but I have to go after her.”
Chapter 29
Dark.
Empty.
Something missing.
Black for miles and miles.
Every time she closed her eyes she saw those warm brown eyes, searching, passing over her.
She wanted to reach for him, but couldn’t move.
No feeling.
Nothing.
He called something out.
The sound was distorted.
Die with me, the other voice whispered in her head. Join me in hell.
She watched those brown eyes sweeping through her vision, constantly moving.
Who was he?
Why did she want to go to him?
Then his eyes zipped away before disappearing.
She screamed out, but he was gone.
* * * *
They’d been at it for hours, and Evangeline had been right. Savon had retreated so deep it could take eons to find her.
“You need food,” Evangeline reminded for the dozenth time.
“Yeah, okay.”
Evangeline started to leave, then her essence wrapped around his, yanking Nate out of Savon’s mind.
Nate bolted upright. “Shit, you didn’t need to rip me into reality,” he snarled.
“You need food. Trust me. Been here, did this—with you.” Evangeline climbed off the bed with a frown. “Where did Bran go?”
“Probably downstairs. I can’t imagine watching three people sleeping is real fun,” Nate muttered. “Why don’t you check on him?”
“Why don’t you come down there and eat something. You can come back and look again afterward.”
Nate rubbed a hand over his face and his stomach rumbled. She was right. He needed to put something in his stomach. His shoulders deflated as he stood and headed downstairs. He found Bran lying back on the couch.
“Chinese should be here shortly. Didn’t want to leave before you were awake, so Chris is dropping it off.”
“Thanks.” He dropped into a seat and took a look at his watch. Eight hours of searching and no matter how strongly he felt her presence, he couldn’t find her.
Evangeline sat across from Nate. “I told you it might not be easy to find her. It could take some time. And that curse, I can feel it closing in while we’re in there.”
“What do you mean?” Nate asked.
“Not for us, but it’s pushing her deeper, Nate. I’m not sure we’ll manage to find her before this woman comes and breaks it, if she can even find his clan.”
“There has to be another way,” Bran stated.
“Should be, and I’ll talk to my grandmother, see if she has any idea, because right now, we’re stumbling through the dark. I didn’t see a single memory yet, and we pushed deeper than I’ve ever gone into someone’s head for the first time.”
“I’ve spent years in there with her. I know her mind better than I probably know my own. Which is why nothing is going to stop me.”
“And why I’ll be here to make sure you stop when you need to.”
Nate shot to his feet and walked to the kitchen. “I hate this. Fucking hate it.” He grabbed the pitcher of tea and paused. She’d made it that morning, a sway in her step, a smile on her lips. He didn’t think anything could ever go wrong a few short hours ago.
A fucking fantasy.
Finding her was the only option. Pulling her to the surface was his mission. He didn’t give a damn about anything else, except killing his damned father. Without him, none of this would be necessary. Neither of them would be in Silvertail Ridge.
Pure fucking suffering for twelve long years. Knowing he could reach out for her and she ran. And the worst part, he hurt her worse by chasing, but he didn’t know how to stop.
He placed the tea back in the fridge and leaned against the counter, suddenly not hungry, not thirsty, nothing but lonely when she was upstairs, trapped deep inside her mind.
The bell rang and he didn’t look up. Bran spoke with Chris but didn’t let him in. Nate dropped his head as the door shut.
“Nate, talk to me,” Evangeline murmured from beside him.
“I need to fix this, find my father, and take this pack. And if that means killing Canagan, fine, I don’t care about this damned pendant they keep talking about. I don’t get how it has anything to do with the end of the world, but they can have it.”
“About time you were ready to take the lead.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “Wish people would stop saying that.”
“It’s true. This pack needs an intelligent leader. And let’s face it, Jay doesn’t have the skillset, and Bran, unfortunately, too many of us fear what a Sylvan could do to us.”
“You included?” Bran asked softly.
She blinked and turned to face him. “No, but Meridian? When did that happen?”
He placed the food on the counter. “Three years ago. I didn’t know what she was, but she knew what I was. Knew I hadn’t been awakened.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “She thought I could challenge Canagan, end her and Killian. That was before being made a werewolf.”
“And your mother wasn’t there to train you.” She rubbed a hand over her face. “If they say Killian is alive, and he’s only been gone a couple months, why was your mother gone five years?”
“She left when Dad died? I don’t know.”
“Darron wasn’t your father,” she pointed out.
“Hell of a lot more my father than Killian,” Bran answered.
“Shit, Darron was more my father than my own, and I didn’t even live here,” Nate added. “He was a good man. But why hide all of this shit from both of you?”
“Maybe my mother can give us answers when we do finally find her.” Bran grabbed a few plates. “We should eat, then I’m assuming you’re diving back into Savon’s head.”
“What else am I going to do?” Nate answered. “I need to find her.”
Evangeline touched his shoulder. “I’ll come back tomorrow and pull you out. Early in the morning. And if you do find her, you’ll have some time to help her find herself before I get back.”
“Think I will?” He knew that sounded pitiful, but he needed to find her.
Evangeline nodded. “Maybe without me, it will be easier for you to slide deeper. I know how to find you, though, so don’t worry about that. And I’ll drag you out if I have to, at least to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”
“Thanks.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Wish she hadn’t put me under.”
“I think it might be better this way. At least you both have a chance now. If Nikolai did this to both of you? She would have drowned in that lake, and you would be locked away, searching for her. This is better.”
“Christ, I hope so.”
They filled their plates, and Nate managed to eat more than his fill. He had no intention of coming back out of her head until he found something to go on.
* * * *
“Think this will work?” Robert whispered to Tremaine.
“Got to. It’s the only way we’ll know if Meridian is on Canagan’s side or not. And the way she’s bound, if she remembers this encounter…” He shook his head. “Canagan has some pretty ridiculous powers when it comes to shifters. She could sway some of my forms. Took a shit-ton of effort to resist.”
“What?” Preston balked.
“She could mind-fuck a lot off shifters. Were and otherwise. That’s why we’re going to Meridian.” Tremaine opened the door and barged into her home.
Meridian sat on the couch, sipping wine, staring at the bottle. “Figured it was a matter of time before you came.” She glanced up. “Wasn’t expecting you to brin
g Enforcers.”
“Need answers only you can provide and want to make sure you don’t share with Canagan.”
She snorted. “How so?”
“Taking a look in your mind and wiping our presence,” Robert explained. “Only way, unless you admit guilt now.”
“Don’t want to be involved at all. I’m stuck here, or I would have left long ago.” She pulled her legs to her chest. “After what that bastard did to Savon, knowing what he wanted to do now, she let him go after her. Her sanity has slipped completely, only leaving the monster.”
“You’ll be free soon,” Tremaine promised. “And you won’t remember seeing us.”
Robert took Tremaine into her head to search her memories.
Chapter 30
High in the Carpathian Mountains, deep in the forest, Ceridwen finally found the encampment. She’d been translocating to every rural location she could to sense living organisms for miles.
Old songs drifted through the trees. Silently, she made her way through the forest, transmuting her clothing to something more acceptable for the gypsy clan.
The music stopped, voices fell silent, and every pair of eyes in the camp of sixty people snapped toward her.
The spitting image of Nikolai walked toward her. “Ceri, what brings you by?”
“Your brother’s death.”
His smile fell. “Come, let’s discuss this fortunate turn of events.”
She snorted. “I might agree if he didn’t curse a dear friend of mine on his way out of this life.”
“Oh, I see. Come. Explain what you want, what you’re hoping for. Perhaps we can come to terms.”
She managed a smile. He was sly, but he was a far better man than Nikolai ever was. Hopefully, he would understand the problem and do the right thing. After all, he cautioned Nikolai against the path he chose. Hopefully, that hadn’t changed.
Mircea led Ceridwen down another path and across the bridge. He turned to her, a dark look on his face. “What has my scoundrel of a brother dragged my family’s name into now?”
“I’ll make sure no one associates his deeds with your clan if you will help me break the curse on Savon Roantree. His latest conquest, one he loved, but she was unwilling to stand by when she learned of his connections to the Dark Templar and what they were hunting for.”
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