by Holly Hook
"We'll be over an ocean before too long," I say, pocketing my phone. We walk out of the hallway, with Brett and Karina trailing us, and I look at the flight schedule. We board in another hour and I'm starting to feel tired. But at least Brett seems to have stopped drawing energy from us. He's had plenty of practice to shut that ability off.
For now. All it will take is another emotional attack from his sister for him to go back to what he was.
"I know." Cayden kisses me on the cheek this time. "I'll make sure Karina doesn't hurt you. You're sleepy."
Brett says nothing, so we wait for the next flight. Cayden offers to sit with the Haydes while I grab us some food, so I do. The afternoon drags on and we board the next flight after Brett buys our tickets once again. I fear Karina will come through full force on the plane, but when we sit down, she lets her head rest on Brett's shoulder again. Brett says nothing as if he's lost in thought.
Brett was the lucky one. It doesn't make sense. Maybe the drugs were talking but I can't let that go.
"Looks like the second group is on their way to New York right now," Cayden says, checking his phone.
At last it's time to board, so we do for the longest flight of the journey. This plane is bigger than the others, with more people than the last one. My stomach turns and my head starts to pound. I sit at the window seat and Cayden takes the aisle. Brett and Karina sit opposite us.
"Oh." I jar out of my trance.
The plane takes off, but Karina remains out of it. I can't help but look at the other passengers. Mostly older people, probably heading for a fun vacation, but that doesn't make me feel better. Around me, people tilt their seats back to sleep, including Brett and Karina, though Brett has to tilt her seat back for her.
"Should we stay awake?" Cayden asks.
"I think so," I say, stifling a yawn.
"I'll stay awake for you," Cayden says.
I should be the one to stay awake. I'm alpha. But Cayden has that need in his eyes again, that need to be useful, and even though Brett's not feeding off us right now, that desire is still there.
"That would be great," I say, leaning back into my seat. And it's one of the hardest things I've ever done.
* * * * *
The twins fight as wolves.
Two dark creatures, hackles raised, twist and snap around each other. The air reeks of blood while Allia screams Remus's name. Her voice screeches over the field, where the waiting Savages snarl and wait for their master's word to jump into the fight. Remus, the dark wolf, snaps at his brother's ear and tears it off with a disgusting ripping sound. Blood runs down the side of the Savage King's face as he growls and backs over his fallen armor. Remus steps back, shaking his head, and trembles as confusion fills his bright blue eyes--
"We're almost there."
Cayden wakes me from my sleep and I open my eyes to the humming of the airplane engines. He leans out of his seat and hovers over me, blocking my view of the front of the plane.
"Why do you keep doing that?" I ask.
"Doing what?" Cayden lifts an eyebrow. Bags hang under his eyes like he hasn't slept in forever, but he's still as gorgeous as he's ever been.
"Waking me up when I'm just about to see how the fight between the twins went down." I sound like I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome, but I'm not. At the same time, being around Leonora and other magic users has taught me that maybe some visions are important. I saw Cayden's curse, after all, as the dark insects clinging to his life force.
"Sorry," Cayden says. "But we're almost there. I let you sleep as long as I could. Are you sure it's not just a dream?"
"It feels real when I'm there. I mean, I know it's a vision because I'm just sort of floating there, watching things, but the whole fight feels real and looks real down to every blade of grass. Why wouldn't I have a link with Remus? I'm a Royal." I keep my voice down, even though the other occupants of the plane, including Brett and Karina, are sleeping. Darkness covers the world outside. And I don't want to say the rest. I have a link with the other guy, too.
Cayden sits back down. "They just announced we'll be landing."
I look outside to get my bearings. Lights shine far below. I sniff, trying to pick up anything I can about my surroundings, but nothing comes to me from this high in the air.
Then it hits me and I grab my armrest. We're over another continent. Maybe we're over Italy already. The thought makes my heart race and I pull out my phone, but there's nothing from Aunt May. Callie's texted me, though.
We're behind you by six hours, cuz. Well, she's not hiding our relation anymore. It's not as if anyone still doesn't know, and the thought fills me with warmth.
I text her back a smiley face. Then I eye Karina, who's sleeping next to her brother, who's also out. Brett's got his mouth open in a way I could make fun of later. My joints are stiff and I stretch. We must have been on this plane for half a day. Everyone on board smells musty and my time as a Wolf have told me that smell means fatigue. A man up front snores as he leans back in his seat.
"I know, I know," Cayden whispers in my ear. "That jet lag is horrible. Never been on a plane for this long before, but I've heard about it. We need to eat as soon as we're off the plane. They haven't served any good food here."
My stomach rumbles. Despite my nerves, I'm hungry. But I turn my attention to Karina again. Her breathing tells me she's actually asleep, though her chemical smell has faded. Yikes. But at least we're away from the cult and the flight is almost over. Our pilot comes on the intercom, telling us to buckle up. People jar awake and do so.
We land several minutes later at the unknown airport. I look to Brett as he grunts awake, and he nods like he's ready to give us the information we need to find this graveyard place. He mouths, we're in Rome.
Finally, some information. Of course, I could have looked at the ticket, but was so worried about everything else that I didn't. I nod back as he nudges his sister. She groans and twitches back to consciousness. Karina glares at Brett in a way that tells me the drug is almost worn off.
"Not good," Cayden whispers.
The plane pulls around the terminal and we sit for another few minutes. At last we can get off, and I rise. "Aunt May still hasn't contacted me."
"She doesn't want to distract you." Cayden wraps his tired arm around me. His normal forest scent smells musty, too, and I know he's stayed awake for the entire flight.
"You didn't have to do that," I say to him.
"It was my choice."
We grab our bags and disembark. The airport isn't that busy at this time of night--it must be super late or super early in the morning--and I can see some distant, old buildings out the window. People gather at the luggage pick-up and we do the same. I take my backpack--I packed very light--and put it over my back. The others do the same. Karina grudgingly puts hers on as the air thickens. But she doesn't run. Where does she have to go?"
"I can't believe you," Karina tells Brett in a tone that says yes, she can.
He ignores her. "You need me again," Brett says right behind me.
I jump, having not noticed him. Like us, Brett now walks quietly.
"Don't sneak up on Brie," Cayden says.
"Security will want our nonexistent passports and it's going to suck for another guard or two."
I sigh, but we need to get Karina somewhere and give her another dose of that medicine. It's only a matter of time before she explodes the airport. "Good point. Brett, just do what you need to do and don't kill anybody."
Brett vanishes into another bathroom as Cayden takes Karina again, holding her arm. The discomfort level climbs as she turns her mostly-clear gaze on him and then me. The hatred is back. It's dulled down, but it's still there.
Karina waits until the other passengers have progressed to security to speak to Cayden. "Don't touch me."
"Trust me, I'm not enjoying it," he says to her. "And you're safe."
"Bull." The muscles on her arm bulge as if she could repel him with her will alone.
But Karina goes silent as the room clears. I listen as one of the security guys grasps his stomach around the corner and says something in Italian to his coworkers. I'm guessing he's excusing himself to the bathroom. Footfalls thud and Cayden nods at me. That's our chance.
We bolt through security before Brett even gets back--it helps that another one of the guards is on his cell phone and arguing with someone--while darkness dances at the border of my awareness. I might not like the dark spirits, but they've sure been helpful at the airports. Once through security, the scents of coffee overtake us as we progress through a big lobby with lots of little restaurants. Brett meets us there and shakes his head as his magical gear shifts together in his leather pack. "I'll take my sister," he says to Cayden, and not without a hint of jealousy.
"Gladly," he says, shoving Karina towards her.
"Men," she snaps.
Brett rolls his eyes. "She'll find any reason she can to hate someone. Guess she has to move on to what's between a person's legs."
Cayden snorts. Are they starting to get along?
"We need to get out of here," I say. There must be a reason Karina wanted us with her.
"Agree." With a glare that says we're not going to discuss where we're going in front of his sister, Brett leads us out of the airport and checks his phone for information. Karina doesn't speak again--she doesn't seem to talk much now with her brother here--and hangs her head as Brett guides her to a bus that's parked near the edge of the sidewalk. Brett seems to know where he's going and I'm not sure I like that.
The outside night air smells like exotic coffee, ancient stone, and even a hint of the ocean, though that's probably fairly far away. It's definitely different than Breck. I'm in another world here. Where Breck was made of wood, wilderness, and sometimes snow, this place is made of ancient history and marble. A city of ancient buildings stretches out before me with some lights still on even at this late hour. I check my phone. Two in the morning. "Are hotels even open this late?" I ask Brett.
"For tourists, yes. And by the way, we're tourists," Brett says. "We'll find one. My phone's recommending a good one to me right now."
I get the sense he's leading this expedition. We board the bus (and I'm getting sick of being a passenger on buses and planes) and I can't manage to say a word. Taking charge means trying to find this graveyard myself which I won't be able to do. My stomach turns over. Something's bothering me and I don't know what it is.
The driver takes off without a word, and we find ourselves riding past some dark buildings, ancient restaurants, and narrow streets that were not originally built for cars. At last, our bus pulls up beside a fancy hotel and Brett motions for us to get out. He's picked us a good one, too. Marble pillars and purple awnings wait for us and warm lights glow inside. It's worthy of an emperor.
And he's let go of Karina.
She doesn't attempt to flee. Of course, we're in a foreign country and where does she have to go? Instead, she stands and lets her brother move ahead of her. I expect her to kick him, but she doesn't despite her glare.
That should make me feel better, but it doesn't. My throat's dry and my teeth hurt with stress. I eye Cayden, sure he can read the tension I'm carrying, and he responds by staring out the windows and flaring his nostrils. He's trying to sniff out the area even though my sense of smell is better than his. All I pick up are some late night drunk tourists who inhabit the surrounding bars. Alcohol doesn't make for the best smell and it's also overpowering.
"Pleasant, huh?" Cayden asks.
"Lots of partying here," Brett says. "You'd think they'd have more respect."
"Seriously. Are you secretly dating my sister?" Cayden asks.
Brett snorts at him as we get off the bus in front of the hotel. "This is a place of history. The cult used to take excursions here to celebrate Romulus's victory over his brother. Said it was part of building the link to the Savage King." He steps down onto the sidewalk in that cocky way of his. "Never came myself. Neither one of us were involved at the time."
I follow, the contents of my stomach (and there isn't much) lurching. "The whole cult knows where the gravesite is?"
Brett whirls on me, and since he's grabbed his sister's arm again, he half-drags her by mistake right on the sidewalk. "I thought you'd come to that conclusion yourself? How else would I know about the gravesite? Never been there myself, but I've heard the stories. Our awesome father used to show us pictures and tell us where it was so we could be faithful cult members when we grew up. Ta-da!"
Cayden and I exchange a glance. My mate's eyes harden. We both must be thinking the same thing. Brett should have told us this a long time ago, like right away.
"Why didn't you tell us this immediately?" I ask.
"Because I thought you'd figure that out?" Brett asks.
Cayden pulls on the back of my shirt so that I'm pressing up against him and he's breathing on my neck. It's another protective move.
My face heats. "Brett, you're an idiot. That means the cult could figure out where we're going if they got even the slightest hint that we've left town. They know what we want to do. I thought you had figured that out." We're even, but now that I know what's been bothering me, panic explodes and replaces the dread.
Behind us, the bus closes its door and pulls away. I see the hotel we're standing outside of is called the Portrait something. Its lavish interior, complete with a water fountain, tells me that if the cult comes to Rome on excursions they must have money, just like Brett. For all we know, they're on a plane over the ocean right now.
"Is there anything else we need to know?" I ask Brett.
He balks. "I never went on these things myself. But they never used hotels, so we should be safe here. The cult always used safe houses."
"Did the cult ever tour Rome itself?" I ask. "Did they plan to come back here or catch a whiff of what we were going to do?"
"Karina?" Brett asks. "You were closer to everyone."
She snaps back to life. "There are so many romantic Italian names that I don't know. When Father told me about his trip, he focused on the battle site." For once there isn't much hatred in her voice.
The four of us stand there, staring at each other. "We have to take our chances," I say at last. "If the cult doesn't know exactly where we're staying, we should make it through tonight. If they're even on their way."
"We had better," Cayden tells Brett.
"It depends on if Karina is lying," I say, glaring right at her. It's late and I don't have patience for her. "Karina. Are you telling the truth?"
Then she gets ugly on me, fixing me in her hateful stare. "I don't know!"
The night seems darker and though the stars are out tonight, they fade out of existence as Karina continues to stare me down. Her dark spirits are at work, ready to descend on us, and already I feel a faint pressure in my chest. Cayden groans and releases the back of my shirt. He's feeling his curse, too.
"May you suffer misfortune," she says.
"Sis!" Brett says. "You're not going to accomplish anything by getting all witchy on these guys. They're just trying to help both of us."
But it's too late. Karina's gaze shifts to the street, which the bus has left empty, and I follow her gaze to a limo parked well down it, dark and lifeless. Or at least, I thought it was lifeless. All four doors open at once, and just like in a scene from a bad crime movie, six people step out at once, clad in black robes with red trim. The leader, a stereotypical witch with a hooked nose and deep wrinkles, glances at Karina and nods with what must be reassurance. Artemis. The high priestess of the cult.
Karina's somehow called them here before we even got on the plane. The drugs didn't stop her after all. Romulus's cult has beaten us here.
Chapter Seven
"Back away from the freaks," Cayden whispers, throwing his arm out to push me back.
I take a sharp breath. The curse. With half the cult members here, Brett won't be able to hold the dark spirits off Cayden if he tries to protect me. Next to
me, Cayden lets a growl rise from his throat and he grabs at his leather jacket with his free hand.
"No." I leap in front of Cayden.
The head priestess approaches with confidence that terrifies me. Equally scary is the fact that we didn't detect them until now. Karina sidesteps away from us, ready to run back to her people. She still doesn't get it.
"Can you kindly give us back our member?" Artemis asks. Her voice is scratchy but full of fake syrup. "Karina?" She turns her hawk-like nose to her, but bites her lip and runs her tongue over her two front teeth.
"Don't go to her," I say. It's a trick. Artemis might be old and experienced but I see her lie. Artemis doesn't care about Karina. The look in her eyes is cold and calculated.
"I..." Karina takes a step towards the cult and stops.
"They're going to hurt you!" I shout at her. I hate to reveal the truth in front of this old witch, but I have to. We have to keep Karina with us. "They won't let a Noble Wolf back into the cult."
Karina turns a hateful glare on me and the world pulses with darkness. But Artemis leans back, closing her mouth into a stormy frown.
"Brie, back away," Cayden says. He puts his body in front of me, leaving me to look over his shoulder.
"Walk over to us, Karina. And we will be on our way." Artemis's voice crawls over my skin as she eyes Brett, and then one of the men who stands at her side.
He has a gun in his robe. I smell the cold metal and the sweat around his palm. Dark spirits aren't necessary to take Brett out when something else will work better.
I have the feeling he's loaded the weapon with silver bullets.
"They have a gun!" I shout.
"What?" she snaps her gaze to me.
The warlock by the car, a cruel-looking man with a scar down his face, draws his weapon. The pistol is old, cold and lifeless, with bullets clinking in the chamber. And he’s training his stare not on me or Cayden, but the Hayde siblings.
“Stay away from her,” Brett shouts, jumping in front of his sister.
