by Lisa Edmonds
It would appear there was little I could tell Valas that she didn’t already know. “If no one knew or suspected anyone from the Court was involved, you’d have nothing to worry about in that regard.”
She raised an imperious eyebrow. “Perhaps that is true, but again I ask: why would I risk war with the Were Ruling Council to help you?”
“Because Sean is a good alpha and the stability of his pack benefits the Court. Jack may have designs on taking Sean’s position. You and I both know he’d make a very bad alpha. Their troubles will become your troubles sooner or later—probably sooner.”
She regarded me. “He schemes to unite his pack with another through a mate bond with the daughter of another alpha.”
“True, but there’s no way that goes the way he wants it to. Sean loves me. He’ll never accept Lily Anderson without making Jack pay dearly for what he’s done.”
Valas nodded slowly. “You fear for Maclin’s life if he challenges Hastings.”
“He’s weakened because of the cuff, but he wouldn’t let that stop him from challenging Jack for stranding me, barring me from seeing him, and trying to get the cuff before I could. Again, it’s in the Court’s best interest to do what it can to keep that from happening, even it means covertly helping me.”
“Let us stipulate that I do not disagree with your assessment of the situation. I am still unclear as to what you want of me.” She leaned forward, her eyes so dark that they seemed eternal. Her ancient scent enveloped me and the air became thick with power. “And I wonder, Alice, what you offer me in return.”
Earlier, I sat across the table from Charles and painstakingly negotiated for possession of the cuff. Those stakes had been high, but I had prevailed.
For the second time in a single night, I opened negotiations with a vampire, with Sean’s life—and mine—hanging in the balance.
The speeding car hit a pothole and the bone-jarring impact rattled my teeth.
“Perhaps your speed is excessive,” my companion suggested, her hands folded neatly in her lap. “The road conditions do not appear ideal for your vehicle. Had I known, I would have insisted on taking a different mode of transportation.”
“We’re in stealth mode,” I reminded her, narrowly avoiding another pothole as my car flew down the country road. “The Court SUVs and limos might have better suspensions, but they aren’t stealthy. I promise we’ll get there in one piece.”
“Do humans find that comment reassuring?” Valas asked. “‘In one piece’ could mean many things.”
I slowed as a couple of deer ran across the road. “Generally it’s meant to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek.”
“Ah, a form of sarcasm. I see.” She nodded and continued looking out the window, studying the houses and empty fields as we passed.
My navigation app informed me that we were a little over a mile away from our destination. “We’re getting close. I’ll park a little ways up the road and we can go in on foot.”
“You will park directly in front of the residence,” she told me. “Additional ‘stealth’ will not be required.”
“Are you sure?”
The scent of lost empires filled my car, indicating her displeasure. “You will trust and obey.”
I wasn’t very good at doing either of those things, but I didn’t have a hell of a lot of choice in the matter. “Okay,” I said, hoping I sounded more certain than I felt.
Ahead in the darkness, I saw a two-story house set back from road. Despite it being the middle of the night, all the lights were on. Almost a dozen trucks, SUVs, and cars were parked out front. It looked like the whole damn pack was at Jack and Delia’s. That was a lot of werewolves to wade through.
Hoping Valas was right about not needing to sneak up on the house, I turned into the driveway. There were so many other vehicles already here that the only empty space was directly in front of the garage, blocking in a large truck I assumed was Jack’s. I parked and turned off the car, leaving the key in the ignition in case I had to leave quickly. I got out, put my messenger bag on my shoulder, and listened.
The house was eerily quiet. I expected pack meetings to be loud events, but I heard nothing but nighttime insects and the wind.
“We must go inside,” Valas said, closing her door. She’d opted to wear the same long blue dress to come with me to Jack’s house. My suggestion that she change into something less formal had been met with an imperious stare.
I headed for the front door with Valas behind me. Perhaps it would have made more sense to send the immortal and immensely powerful vampire in first, given we might be walking into a den of very angry werewolves, but hiding behind someone else had never been my style. It was bad enough that I’d had to ask for her help; I wasn’t going to cower behind her too.
I opened the door, stopped, and stared.
The front room was a large formal living space. Beyond it, through a wide arched doorway, I saw a family room. I counted well over a dozen men and women—most or all of the adults in Sean’s pack—in the two rooms.
And they were all unconscious.
“What did you do?” I breathed.
“What you requested that I do.” Valas moved past me into the house and closed the door behind us. “You wished to get to your lover without confronting members of his pack and to execute your plan without their interference. This was the easiest and most efficient way to accomplish both.”
Jack, Delia, Ben, and Nan were in the front room, along with an older man and woman I didn’t recognize. In the family room I found Karen, Felicia, Felicia’s brother David, and several others. Some were sprawled on the floor, others slumped over in chairs or sofas. Jack, Delia, and Ben seemed to be in a tight group in the middle of the living room, as if they had been standing close to each other, perhaps arguing, when Valas’s magic had hit and dropped them where they stood.
One pack member who was conspicuously absent was Caleb. I wondered if Jack had decided it was best to keep the volatile young werewolf far away from such a stressful and emotional situation. I hated to agree with Jack on anything, but it was probably the right call.
I became aware of a strange keening sound drifting up from below. By the time my brain processed what it was, I was already in motion, headed for a door just off the enormous kitchen. I flung the door open and ran down the stairs.
Patrick, Karen’s brother, lay unconscious on the floor near the foot of the stairs. I stopped short when I realized Jack and Delia’s basement was large and unfinished—an enormous, nearly empty concrete space that was straight out of my dream.
The wolf, however, was not in a glass cage. It was made of steel and looked like the sort used to hold lions or tigers. I shook myself and went to the cage.
The wolf stopped keening when I appeared. He’d apparently sensed the rest of the pack being spelled and dragged himself to the side of the cage to throw himself weakly against the bars. He’d been too feeble to injure himself very badly, for which I was grateful. He lay on his side, his golden eyes full of fury and pain.
“Sean, I’m here,” I told him, my voice sounding choked. “I’m here, I’m here.”
If the wolf understood what I was saying, he didn’t react except for a heartbreaking whine. I went to open the door of the cage, but it was padlocked.
The wolf raised his head and growled. I turned to find Valas right behind me. I hadn’t heard her come down the stairs.
She held out a key. “From the pocket of the beta. He did not entrust it to this one.” She nodded at Patrick. “He is a poor beta if he mistrusts his pack. As an alpha, he would spell disaster. You were correct in coming to me with this matter.”
“You got all that from a key?”
“Much can be learned from apparent trifles. Go to your wolf.”
I took the key and unlocked the padlock. The wolf raised his head as I opened the door and entered the cage.
“Don’t try to get up. Save your strength,” I told him.
He settled back but kept a
wary eye on Valas as I knelt beside him. She stayed outside the cage, watching us.
I buried my face in the wolf’s fur and drank in his scent. There was a part of me that had worried I would never smell him again, never hold him in my arms in either form. I realized my face was wet with tears. It was a hell of a thing to care about someone so much that it gave you pain to see them hurt.
“I’m here. I’m here.” I repeated the words like a mantra. It still didn’t feel real to be reunited with Sean. The situation had seemed so hopeless only hours ago, until I’d discovered Charles had the cuff.
“Ms. Worth, I cannot hold the spell indefinitely, and there is other magic to be done that will require a great deal of power. We must not delay.”
I let myself hold the wolf for a little longer before I sat up. I opened my messenger bag and took out the box that held the second cuff.
“If you wish to change our plans, you must do so now,” Valas told me. “There will be no going back. Only death will remove the cuff.”
“I never go back.” I wiped my tears away and set the box in my lap. “The only way is forward.”
I opened the box. The spellwork that hid the box’s contents from tracking spells broke when I lifted the lid. Inside the wooden box was a second box identical to the one that had held the cuff now affixed to the wolf’s front leg. I opened that box and found the second cuff inside. Charles had indeed kept his word.
I picked up the cuff. Golden magic pulsed.
The wolf raised his head and gave a short yip. I couldn’t tell if it was concern, a question, or a warning.
I lowered my face to his. “You have to trust me. It’s the only way to save you. We’ll be okay. I know what I’m doing.”
Charles had bet I wouldn’t put the cuff on. He’d been so certain of it that he’d handed it over without an ounce of hesitation. I guess he didn’t know me quite as well as he thought.
I slid the cuff onto my right forearm. The cold metal made me shiver. I sensed shifter magic, but it was dormant. I wasn’t a shifter, so the cuff didn’t react.
The wolf whined.
“The only way is forward,” I whispered, and touched my cuff to his. “Este comparia.”
The cuff closed tightly around my wrist. My world turned gold. Shifter magic seared my skin, traveling through my bones. I threw my head back and screamed. Beside me, the wolf raised his head and howled.
The magic was pure golden power. It pulsed between the wolf and me and filled me up, igniting every cell and synapse. The wolf staggered to his feet. I wondered if the magic was having the same effect on him. I hoped so. He would need every bit of strength he could get.
Then I felt the pack.
The pack bonds were like doors opening in my head. I sensed Jack, Delia, Ben, Nan, Felicia…one by one I became aware of them all. They were all still unconscious, except for two who weren’t at the house: Caleb and one other. In those lying upstairs, I sensed an echo of fear, as if they’d had just enough time to realize what was happening before they lost consciousness.
I also sensed that they’d become aware, in a distant way, that something big had just happened. There was a kind of restlessness in their sleep and I wondered if Valas’s spell was about to break.
A voice cut through the chaos in my head. Alice, what have you done? It was Charles. He sounded furious…and fearful. I had never heard fear from Charles before, not once in five years. Did he fear that he had lost me, or did he fear for my life?
I owed him no explanation and I had no time to waste; the wolves were beginning to stir. I shut the link between us and opened my eyes.
Valas knelt outside the cage. She’d closed the door but not locked it, shutting me inside with the wolf. He paced and growled, but not in anger. Through our new bond, I sensed confusion and wonder and fierce protectiveness.
Mate, the wolf said in my head, his voice a growl. Mine.
“Our time grows short,” Valas said. “The spell is finished?”
“Yes.” My eyes felt warm and I wondered if they were golden like Sean’s. “The cuff’s magic is complete. The bond is set.”
“Remember our arrangement.” Her eyes turned dark and the shadows gathered around her. “The terms we agreed upon must be fulfilled.”
“I know what I agreed to. Now hold up your end of the bargain.”
She smiled slightly. “You have no fear. I should like to know how you came to be so fearless.”
Above us, in the house, I heard movement and voices. The werewolves were waking up.
“That’s a story for another day.” I met her ancient, fathomless eyes with my own. “Make it quick.”
“As you wish.” She reached through the bars and touched my chest.
Behind me, the wolf snarled and leaped at her, but it was too late.
Dark magic rose. My vision went black. My breathing ceased. My heart stopped. My thoughts became dust.
And I died.
21
I was no stranger to death. I’d died a number of times under torture at my grandfather’s cabal, only to be revived either by magic or medical intervention each time. The only thing that hurt worse than dying was coming back.
When I’d died after fighting Amelia Wharton and the Kasten, I had felt no pain, only serenity. My return to life was equally peaceful, like waking from a long sleep. Then I’d wandered alone in darkness for what felt like an eternity while my body lay in a coma in Charles’s care.
My demise at Valas’s hands was so fast that I scarcely had time to realize what was happening before it was over—which was, I supposed, the point of asking for a quick death. I had no idea what magic she used, but it was sharper and faster than the finest blade.
I woke much the same way, like a switch had been flipped from off to on.
As my senses came back online, I realized my ears were filled with the sound of howling. A dozen voices were raised in what could only be described as a chorus of grief. It was strangely beautiful. The sound was definitely wolf in nature, but something about the intonation made me think the howls came from human throats. That didn’t seem possible, but I’d given up on the concepts of possible and impossible long ago.
“Quiet!” Sean thundered.
The howling cut off instantly.
Someone picked up my arm and pressed two fingers into my wrist, searching for a pulse. I felt a weight on my chest, as if they were listening for a heartbeat or for the sound of me breathing.
The weight lifted off my chest. “Alice, can you hear me?” The hope in Sean’s voice made my heart hurt.
Speech seemed beyond my ability at the moment, but sensation was creeping back into my limbs and I could remember how to move.
I opened my eyes.
I heard several gasps and a voice I thought was Nan’s whisper, “Thank God.” Clearly we were not alone, but the only thing I cared about was the familiar face above mine and the red-rimmed golden eyes that stared back at me in disbelief.
And then Sean kissed me so hard, and for so long, that I almost passed out from lack of air.
When he finally raised his head, he smoothed my hair back and held my face in his hands. Neither of us spoke for a very long time. For me, it was enough to see him back in human form, and—I glanced at his bare arm to confirm it—without that damn cuff.
I became aware that we were still in the cage in Jack and Delia’s basement and the entire pack was gathered around outside it, watching us in stunned silence. It felt like a punch in the stomach when I realized they’d all been howling over my death.
I didn’t know I was crying until Sean used his thumbs to wipe away my tears. He kissed the tip of my nose. “My Alice,” he murmured.
For the first time, I didn’t feel weird when he said it, not even in front of an audience.
“I missed you.” My voice sounded wispy, not surprising since I’d been stone-cold dead only moments ago.
He smiled. I loved the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. “I missed you, too.”
>
“Where are they?” I asked.
He figured out what I meant and hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “Over there, in their boxes, where they’ll stay.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
“I haven’t decided. Maybe melt them down. Maybe put them in a safe, fill the safe with concrete, and then drop the safe over the side of a boat a hundred miles out into the Pacific.”
That made me smile back at him. “It sounds like you’ve given this some thought.”
“Trust me, I had a lot of time to think about how to dispose of those damn things.” He pressed his forehead to mine the way I’d touched my face to the wolf’s. His skin felt blazingly hot against mine. “I thought I’d lost you for good this time,” he said roughly.
Before I had a chance to reply, someone spoke. “I believe the decision of what to do with those cuffs is something the pack should discuss.” The speaker was behind me, but I recognized Jack’s voice.
Sean’s eyes blazed. He raised his head and shot Jack the deadliest stare I’d ever seen from him. His fury seared my skin and alpha power rose until the air crackled around us. “This topic is not open for debate.” The words were clipped and full of warning.
It was a warning that went unheeded. “The cuffs are a source of enormous power,” Jack said.
“The cuffs are a prison.” Sean looked down at me. “Can you stand?”
It didn’t matter if I could or couldn’t; I was going to. Sean and I would face Jack together. “Yes.”
He offered me his hand. I took it and he lifted me to my feet. Everything got a bit hazy and he steadied me by my upper arms until my ears stopped ringing and I could see clearly again. He was naked, but nudity mattered little to werewolves, especially in front of the pack.
