Alpha Unleashed

by Aileen Erin

“There was no word from Andromeda.” She shrank a little under Cosette’s energy, but managed to shoot the rest of us a glare. “We’ve been on a retreat. We heard word from Luciana. She was waiting for us when we returned to our compound.”

  Cosette muttered something fey, but I didn’t care who had and hadn’t been warned. All I cared was whether this lady could point us to Luciana. And how we were going to keep her from reporting that she’d found us.

  A flash of movement from the hotel entrance caught my eye. Raphael exited the hotel lobby, and jogged toward us. The witch’s back was to him, and he started motioning for a spell, but I shook my head.

  The witch held her hands out to Claudia. “Why are you with them? How could you betray your coven?”

  Raphael reached the circle, and stepped between Adrian and Shane. “You shouldn’t listen to Luciana,” he said, and the witch spun to face him. “She drained the entire coven for the power to raise demons. She killed everyone. The only reason we’re alive is because we broke our blood oath to her and—”

  She scoffed. “No coven leader has demanded a blood oath in centuries.”

  “Luciana did,” Claudia said. “She made every coven member pledge to her in blood.”

  “She couldn’t…” A look of confusion crossed her face, and I knew we had an in. This lady knew where Luciana was. If we could get her to trust us, she could tell us.

  “She did. She used the blood oath to murder our friends and families, sucking them dry of their magic. The wolves have only ever tried to help.” Claudia sighed. “Please. Tell us where she is.”

  “I—I can’t. Not until I talk to the rest of my coven.”

  No. “If you go back there and confront her, she’ll kill you all.”

  She stared straight ahead as she thought, not looking at anything. “I’ll call them. They’ll meet me at our sanctuary. We can come to an agreement there. Make contact with Andromeda. If everything is as you say, then—” She let out a slow shaky breath. Her eyes were glassy as she looked at me. “I’m sorry. If you had no part in this, then I apologize.”

  “That’s okay. But please. Tell me—”

  “No. I have to be sure. She came to us for protection. Before I break my word, and give her to the wolves that have been hunting her, I have to make sure I’m doing this for the right reason.”

  I hated this, but she seemed decent enough. She wanted to do the right thing, and that was all anyone could really ask for.

  We should let her go. She’ll come back with the information we need, and we’ll have more witches in the fight.

  Are you sure? What if she changes her mind? Or Luciana kills her?

  She’ll be back.

  “Take my number,” I said. “Call me when you decide.”

  “I don’t need it. I’ll just scry for you. If what you said is true, we’ll help. But if it’s not…”

  Sirens wailed in the distance. “Do you hear that?” I said to no one in particular.

  Hearing what I heard, the wolves all started moving toward the car, but when the witches didn’t, I paused for a second to explain. “Cops are coming,” I said to Claudia. “We can’t stay here.”

  Claudia nodded. “Let’s go.”

  “I’m sorry,” the witch said. “My actions—If I’m wrong, I’ll make it up to you.”

  I believed her. Maybe it was stupid, but I really did.

  I believe her, too.

  That made me feel better about my decision to let her go. “Better leave now. Or else we’ll spend our night answering the cops’ questions.”

  She spun and started running, but then stopped. “I’ll be in touch. Either way,” she said, looking back at me.

  It was a little bit of a threat, but we weren’t lying so it didn’t bother me in the least. “We’ll be waiting.”

  Everyone piled back in the cars. I put the SUV in drive and exited the parking lot. Do we actually have a lead?

  We do. Nicely done, cherie. I thought she was one of Luciana’s, but you talked her down.

  “You did good,” Donovan said.

  “Even though I let her go?” I was seriously hoping it wasn’t going to turn into a problem.

  “No,” Meredith said. “You had to. If we forced her, she would’ve had that much more reason to believe Luciana’s lies. At least letting her go might gain us some allies. We’re going to need them.”

  I rolled my shoulders back, letting go of some of the tension.

  This was good. Everything was moving along, and we had someone who could lead us straight to Luciana. We were right, and she’d realize that.

  As we made our way through the streets of Santa Fe, the window being gone was actually a good thing. We listened for the sound of sirens, making sure to keep them in the distance as I drove through the night.

  The cops gave up after a few minutes. The sirens stopped, and the tension in the car eased. Dastien turned on the radio, and the group finally agreed that any motel would do at this point.

  It was late by the time we found a place, and I was bone tired. I’d only had a few hours of sleep last night, and after so many in a row, I was well into the red zone of sleep deprivation. I parked the car, hoping no one tried to steal the SUV with the broken window.

  While Claudia went to check us in, everyone piled out and started grabbing bags. By the time she came back holding keycard envelopes, we were ready to head inside.

  “How’d it go?” I asked.

  “No one recognized me,” Claudia said. “I paid cash for three nights. We’ve got two adjoining rooms on the second floor.” We’d decided to keep the rooms to a minimum so we’d be in the same place if any other disasters happened.

  “Perfect,” Dastien said. “We’ve got the sleeping bags.”

  I didn’t care what the room was like or the sleeping situation was. As we walked up the stairs, my muscles ached and my skin itched—a sure sign that my wolf was closer to the surface than I’d like. If I didn’t rest and eat soon, she’d take matters into her own hands.

  Letting my wolf out now—when cops, witches, and Lord only knew what else—were hunting me was not an option.

  Dastien wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Just a little bit more. Then rest.

  I knew it wasn’t far away, but I wanted all this drama with Luciana over. Now. I wanted to start my life with him. And I didn’t want any more curve balls thrown at me.

  But we still had the fight in the church to look forward to. I just hoped the New Mexico coven came through before that happened. If my vision could be avoided, that would be amazing.

  For once, I wanted something to be easy, but there was no way a fight with Luciana was going to be anything other than horrible.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The room smelled like a mixture of piss, mildew, and pizza. The first two made it difficult to eat the pizza, but after a brutally hot shower, even with the overwhelming stench, I’d managed to eat two all by myself—which was a lot, even for a Were. As I ate, the wolf slowly settled back down. At least that was one worry scratched off the list.

  The potions brewing in the bathtub added to the general funk. We’d adjusted batches two and six, and were hoping they’d do more damage this time.

  Batches one, three through five, and seven through ten had worked well enough on the major demon at my parents’ house, so we made more using the same recipe.

  Now we were on dinner break. Cosette had potion-stirring duty in the bathroom while the rest of us took turns looking up churches in the yellow pages. Who knew hotels still had phonebooks?

  We narrowed the options down to five spots to check tomorrow. Scrying for Luciana was still a bust, and we didn’t want to go anywhere blind in the dark. Everyone had agreed that if we had to go up against another demon, we wanted to do it in daylight. And hopefully the witch would be in contact with us by morning.

  “Ugh! What are we watching?” Meredith chucked a packet of Parmesan cheese at Adrian. “Change the channel.”

  We’d all
crammed into one room, everyone sitting where they could find space on beds, chairs, and the floor. Dastien and I sat on a towel on the floor between the beds, mostly because I refused to sit on the carpet. It was a deep brown, with very short, bristly fibers, and it smelled. Bad. Plus there were mystery spots all over it. There was no way I wanted to risk getting a vision from it. This place would be a minefield if I wasn’t careful.

  Meredith complained about the TV again, and I sat up taller, so I could see around the crowd. I’d been so concerned about stuffing my face that I hadn’t taken the time to check what they were watching. “Oh my God.” I hit Dastien’s shoulder. “What are they watching?”

  “See,” Meredith said. “Tessa doesn’t want to watch it either.”

  I would’ve sworn that the TV was older than me. The snow-filled picture flickered in and out. I tried to make out the action but couldn’t. “No. Seriously. Are they having sex or killing each other? I’m going cross-eyed trying to follow it.” The noises and movements could’ve been either.

  “I can’t tell,” Shane said. “That’s why we stopped on this channel.”

  “And it was the only channel that wasn’t talking about the pack. I think it’s pay-per-view and we haven’t paid, so we get a scrambled picture. But it’s fun to try and figure out what’s going on. I think they’re having sex,” Adrian said. “Shane thinks it’s a horror movie.”

  Lucas grunted, and Donovan shared a look with him.

  “What?”

  Donovan shrugged. “Nothing. Just feeling a wee bit old at the moment.”

  “What? Eating pizza in a shitty motel too good for you, old man?” Meredith said.

  “Not if you’re here,” he said with a flash of grin.

  Chris and Adrian made gagging sounds.

  “Oh, God. Please don’t make that noise. It makes me think about the smells in the room,” Claudia said.

  “Does anyone else think the carpet feels moist?” I asked.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Meredith jumped up to stand on the bed and swiped her hands over her butt. “I thought it was just me, but the blanket is damp, too.” The springs in the mattress gave a squeaky cry, caving in under her feet. She fell into the dent, flailing her arms in the air.

  Donovan caught her and pulled her out before she could fall. “Calm down, a ghrá,” Donovan said. “You’re going to break your neck with all this carrying on.” His Irish accent thickened as he started laughing at her, too.

  I don’t know why that made me laugh so hard—I was probably more than a bit punch drunk—but I couldn’t stop. “You should see your face.” My words were strangled through gasps.

  Glass shattered in the bathroom, drowning out our laughter. Cosette cursed and then a soft, pearly light glowed from the cracked door.

  “You okay in there?” I called.

  “Peachy.”

  Yeah. It was getting to be time to have a talk with her, whether or not people listened in. Cosette was still wearing her suspicious glove, and I’d rocked that style for enough years of my life to know that she wasn’t trying to make a fashion statement with it. Something was up.

  I polished off my last crust and was starting to get up when a flash of light exploded.

  Dastien yanked me to his side and suddenly everyone was moving, taking defensive positions.

  Cosette rocketed from the bathroom, fastest to react. “Show yourself.”

  The light slowly faded and when my pupils adjusted, a guy stood in front of our locked door. Tall and lithe, he wore tight pants, tall boots, and a fancy tunic. His long, white hair was clipped back and his cheekbones could’ve cut glass.

  The fey guy from my vision. Which meant we were getting closer to the church.

  I wasn’t sure if I was glad he was here or terrified of what that meant. “It’s you.” The words were out before I could stop them.

  Cosette spared me a withering glance and I winced. I was so going to pay for keeping that part of my vision secret. But she didn’t have enough attention for me right now.

  “No. Go home, Van.” She drew out the soft A in his name until it sounded like fawn.

  “I will.” Van reached out to her, palm up. “And you’ll be coming with me.”

  “Is that a command?” Cosette stilled, staring at his hand.

  “A request. It’s too da—”

  “I know it’s dangerous.” Her shoulders relaxed as she let out a breath. “But I’m allowed to stay and clean up my mess. Go home before you get caught up in it.”

  “I won’t leave you here to…” Van’s voice trailed. Lightning-fast, he grabbed her wrist and yanked off the glove. “You’re injured.”

  Ugly black streaks spread up her hand. They were almost all the way to her wrist.

  Shit. Why hadn’t she said anything?

  “Are yo—” I was going to ask what we could do to help, but another flash of light nearly blinded me. Everyone lifted their hands to block their eyes.

  When I peeked through my fingers, my breath caught in my throat. Van glowed like the sun as he gripped Cosette’s wrist. He radiated magic and my skin tingled—almost painfully—with it. His eyes burned bright silver.

  Cosette’s jaw was clenched, but she wasn’t trying to pull away. Only, the longer he worked his magic, the more she started to glow. It was like pearly, white light shone from under her skin.

  I’d always known she was hiding herself from us. She’d proved that the first time she pulled her sword out of thin air. Now she was casting off light, but I didn’t feel a hint of magic from her. Was that just how she was supposed to look?

  “Enough.” Cosette jerked back her hand and finally, the magic stopped.

  “You can’t stay here.” Van finally looked at the rest of us, and his lip curled a little at the sight of our room. I couldn’t blame him, because I wasn’t looking close enough to check, but I was pretty sure the brown stain on the wall was actual excrement. Still, it said a lot that he was standing in the middle of a group of worked-up Weres and brujos and couldn’t care less about it. His silver eyes were all for Cosette.

  She jammed her glove back on, covering the marks that hadn’t budged. “I’m staying.”

  “Coco.” Van sighed. “It was easy to track your magic. Others will be able to find you.”

  Coco? Who knew Cosette had a nickname? And who did she think was after her? This was getting juicier than Mom’s favorite telenovela.

  “I’m not likely to forget that, am I? Go home.” Cosette pushed him toward the door.

  “No.” Van stood his ground. “I’ve found you and I’m staying. If you want me to leave, then leave with me.”

  Whoa. What was going on between them?

  Whatever it was, I hoped Cosette would stay. We needed her, and if that meant Van had to stay too, then we’d book them their own shitty motel room. We’d take as many fey fighters as we could get at this point.

  “Anyone else wish they had popcorn to watch this show with?” Meredith whispered.

  “Me,” I whispered back just loud enough so the wolves could hear. “This is blowing my mind.”

  Cosette turned to glare over her shoulder. Whoops. I guessed I hadn’t been as quiet as I’d thought. She undid the chain on the door and nudged Van into the hall. “Let’s finish this outside.”

  He walked out without looking at us, and Cosette pulled the door closed behind them. We all settled back down, except for Meredith, who stood to peek through the curtains. I was too exhausted to try to eavesdrop. I sank back against Dastien and let his energy wash over me, spreading calm.

  “Who do you think he is?” Meredith whispered.

  “I’m not sure.” Claudia glanced at Lucas. He looked like he might know something about it. “But their auras were very similar. White and almost rainbow, although Cosette’s is a bit brighter.”

  Lucas sighed. “It’s not mine to tell her secrets. If you consider her a friend, you should be worrying more about that hand of hers.”

  I was worri
ed about it. An injury from a demon had almost killed Raphael. Cosette was acting like she could handle it, but she also acted like she could handle everything. This was one thing I was pretty sure even she shouldn’t be messing with. Hopefully she’d let us look at it and see if we could find some spells to help her. “I don’t know what’s up with her, but I saw her friend in my vision.”

  “You what?” Cosette’s voice from the doorway was like ice.

  Right. She just had to come back at the right time…

  There wasn’t much I could say to defend myself. “I’m sorry. At first I was worried you’d leave if you knew. But then, with everything else that happened, there just wasn’t a good time to bring it up again.” I said the words, but they sounded like excuses, even to me. “We’re going to need you in that church if we want to survive. I’m going to need you.”

  Cosette glared, and I deserved every ounce of her anger.

  “I am sorry,” I said again, hoping to reinforce the sentiment, but it didn’t look like it was doing any good.

  Her eyes narrowed at me. “I can’t decide if I’m pissed or impressed.”

  “Impressed?” How was that possible?

  “You got what you wanted, right? Very fey of you.”

  Is that a compliment? I asked Dastien. It didn’t feel like one.

  Probably not. His voice rumbled through the bond, a little amused.

  “I’m the last person who can complain about keeping secrets.” Cosette sighed as she tugged her bag out of the pile of gear in the corner.

  Claudia stood. “You’re leaving?”

  I said a silent thank you to her. I wanted to ask, but I’d already gotten enough of Cosette’s wrath.

  “For tonight.” She let out a slow breath. “Van needs more convincing, but I’m going to stay and fight, so odds are he’ll stay and fight with me.”

  I swallowed the ‘thank you’ that I wanted to give. “We really appreciate your help.”

  “Thank me by killing Luciana. That’s the only way this is all worth it.” She slung her bag over her shoulder. Her normal humor came back as she took in the room with a smirk. “Also, I’ll be sleeping in a feather bed that smells like jasmine. I think karma has done its work here.”