by Holly Hook
He's gone. Cayden and the other cult members have vanished. I take a breath, urging my pulse to calm, as I tuck the weapon under my shirt.
"I haven't seen or sensed him," Brett says. He has his arm around Karina and she's making no effort to shove him away. I guess that's progress?
"Me neither," Karina says. She sounds incredibly small, like a mouse who had until now, disguised herself as a cat. And now she's exposed.
"Sis, we can't stand out here. The cult will be back if they want their limo," Brett says.
I follow his gaze. The limo still stands there, doors open and empty.
"They won't come back with the police coming," I say just as sirens start in the distance. "Let's go. We need to find Cayden and I'm not dealing with the human authorities." Panic makes my ears ring. He could be--
No. I'd feel it if he neared death, and that wave of despair hasn't approached yet.
"Karina, come on," Brett says with a gentle tone.
"They tried to kill me."
I don't have time to comfort her now. The sirens get louder, and I guess they're just a couple of miles away. Even a human should be able to hear this and worse, I still have the gun, which looks really bad. I face the alley where Cayden landed. He ran around the back of the hotel as a Wolf. When he changes back, he'll be naked and alone. I wave Brett and Karina down the alley and we vanish into the dark together.
The acrid stench of herbs still lingers in the air as my pack bounces on my back, but the dark spirits made sure to waft most of the poison up into the top story of the hotel. The broken window peers down at us as we weave between parked cars (honestly, do they always park this close together here?) and I hear the wind whistling against its glass teeth. But there's no one in the alley now, and just the remnants of a burned herb bag lie at the end. The sirens get louder behind us. We can't get caught. It doesn't help that we entered the country illegally.
Emerging at the back of the hotel, I realize we're between tall buildings, probably other hotels, and still alone.
"I don't see anyone," Brett says. He's let go of Karina, who now stands beside him.
I sniff, but Cayden's scent is very faint and I can't tell where it's coming from. He's still alive. Must be. Otherwise I would have felt his death. Darkness swirls around the edges of my awareness, telling me the dark spirits are still lingering. They could still have effects. What if the cult is working to separate us? Some of these things are still attached to Cayden and maybe they've moved on to another type of pain.
I also smell the cult from somewhere, but the scent is incredibly faint. The sirens, however, are not.
"Keep going," I say. "Anywhere. Run as fast as you can."
We take off, running through alleys and across cobblestone sidewalks. Brett and Karina keep pace with me, running separately, but I've lost all fear of Karina joining the cult again. Cayden's scent comes and goes, but every time I run down a new alley, following his scent, it fades again. The dark spirits hover over us the whole time and I know they're working to frustrate us and throw off our trail. The wind changes direction every other second, blowing papers around the streets. The three of us run under apartments with balconies. Past coffee shops that populate narrow streets. We even pass a McDonald's on a street corner. Once the sirens stop and fade behind us, I stop.
Cayden's scent is gone. The cult's scent is gone. And as if satisfied they've ruined our night, the dark spirits back off and the air clears.
I've lost my mate.
"Where's Cayden?" I ask, as if Brett and Karina will know.
"How should I know? You have the great senses," Brett says.
I'm alone with the Haydes, with a pistol tucked into my pants and barely hidden by my shirt. Something tells me to take it out. Maybe it's the fact that Karina is right there. I have no Cayden. Instead, I have this hunk of metal. At least no one's on the street to freak out over it.
Brett eyes it. "I've seen those before."
"Oh." I eye the old pistol, which looks as if it had been made in the eighteen hundreds. The handle is wooden and has a carved Wolf on the side. It's a lot like the one that belonged to my mother and might have even been Hunter made. "Did the cult steal this?"
"No," Brett says. "We've always had silver bullets on hand just in case the Savages turn on us. I know you think the cult are a bunch of idiots. And you are right. But they're not as idiotic as you think."
"You just called the cult idiots?" I ask, tucking the weapon back into my pants. It's like I'm trekking through the woods, ready to face the Savages for the first time all over again. I did that for Cayden, too. And now he's gone. The cult might have--
"Aren't I making progress?" Brett spreads his arms, almost hitting his now-quiet sister by mistake. Karina hikes her shoulders and bites her lip.
I sigh. Aunt May left my life and now I've lost my mate, at least for now. I eye the swirly white pattern of the table and grip the side as hard as I can, shoving one of the white chairs out of the way with my foot. The shop nearby smells of coffee and cream, of exotic cookies and sugar, but even the happy scent can't make me feel better.
And as expected, neither Brett nor Karina say they're sorry I'm having a bad night. My eyes burn and a horrible thought enters my head. What if Cayden ran away from me and not just the cult? He's so far away now that I can't feel him, and I'm sure the magic the cult worked makes it so that I won't be able to find him soon. They're counting on ripping us apart. Maybe it's the final part of their plan.
"Brett, are there spells to make people fall out of love?" I ask, peeling my gaze from the table.
"Controlling people and their thoughts is really difficult," Brett says. "Magic works through indirect ways." He looks to his sister as if hoping for more explanation.
"Artemis used to rip apart relationships the cult members had outside the cult," Karina says. "So people wouldn't leave."
Brett's eyes widen and her words hit me in the chest so hard they almost throw me back. "Artemis can rip lovers apart?"
Karina scowls. "She wanted to kill me, so I spill her secrets. Artemis could have her spirits screw with peoples' lives. One member wound up with another woman's underpants in his apartment laundry by mistake--and it was just because they were still in the dryer when he put his clothes in--and his girlfriend thought he was cheating when he wasn't. She broke up with him and he came back to the cult. There was another member, Thalia, who was about to marry a man outside the cult and Artemis put a stop it that, too. Another woman showed up in the man's life and he ran off with her instead."
My stomach heaves. "That's disgusting!" Could she do this to me and Cayden? Rip us apart with misunderstanding? But we've been through that before. Cayden had to pretend to get close to Olivia and we still stayed together.
"Well, it was to keep people from leaving the group." Karina speaks with a shrug. "How else was she going to do it?"
"The cult relies on its members being dark and broken," Brett says. "I hate that I didn't see it sooner."
"I'm not broken!" Karina snaps, stepping away from her brother. Her chin wobbles ever so slightly, but once she senses me looking at her, she bites her lip to stop it.
I back away from the table as the air thickens. Regret fills Brett's dark eyes as he faces me. No longer does he seem angry about me killing his father. I've paid off that debt and now he has to live with this.
Then Brett looks to his sister and opens his mouth like he wants to ask her a question. Karina turns away and faces the street. A late-night couple walks up the sidewalk towards us, wobbling against each other like they've sampled a lot of the local wine. I smell it, too.
"We need to find Cayden. The others will be landing when the sun rises, so we have hours to check," I say. At least the three of us have slept, though I feel like I need a shower.
"I know," Brett says.
We watch the couple pass. They don't even notice us but speak in low voices. I sniff again as the alcohol stench clears. Still no Cayden. "He's nowhere near us."<
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"We can't go back to the hotel. Now actually would be a good time to go to Remus's resting place," Brett says.
I whirl on Brett and Karina, pulse roaring. "We need Cayden. I can't leave him out here."
"Look, alpha, if we stall, the cult will go to the victory site and be ready for us. They'll know why we're here. Why else would Noble Wolves come to Rome? There haven't been Noble Wolves in this area for a long time. Just Savages. This isn't a friendly place for your...for our kind. If we want any chance of channeling Remus and stomping this cult forever, we have to take it now."
He's saying we should just leave Cayden to an uncertain fate. "We need my mate. You don't understand what he does for me. We can't leave him out here to die."
"We'll waste time," Brett says. "I haven't been around the guy much but we talked. He'd do anything for you. Even die. And I bet he wants you to go ahead to the victory--I mean resting site."
Brett's words scrape against everything I want to do right then. "But there are only three of us. We need the numbers."
"Well," he nods towards Karina, who exchanges a glance with him, "We have a very talented witch with us who rivals Artemis. Who Artemis wanted under her thumb. Karina, did you know she's probably scared of you?"
We're still wasting time talking about this. Karina doesn't say a word, like she's still processing things. In fact, she's shaking. "Why are you telling me this? I'm not a good sister."
Brett's gaze darkens. "You can change that."
What's going on? Karina tried to kill Brett. They're healing too quickly for reality. Is there something I don't know?
"Cayden," I remind them.
"We won't find him before the cult reaches the victory site if they're using magic to keep you apart," Brett says. "I don't even think we should wait for the others to get here now. Alpha."
I'm in command. Pulling back my shoulders, I let him have it. "You don't know much about love, do you? If Cayden dies, I'll feel it. I'll go dark and we're screwed. And that's more likely to happen before we even reach Remus's site and do our magic. Our best bet is to find him before we go there. So we find him. And that's my order."
I turn away, but not before Brett snorts and shakes his head.
Chapter Ten
Brett shuffles his feet in disgust behind me as he and Karina follow me through the streets. The buildings go from cute shops to apartment buildings and get progressively newer and more modern the longer we walk. We've left the tourist area, but Cayden's not there anymore. But I ignore Brett and Karina and pick up my phone as I walk. Making sure no dark spirits have come back, I text Leonora, my stand-in secretary, and let her know what happened in a long, four-part message.
She replies, 2 hours out.
Might meet you at airport, I respond. Depends.
And I end it there, putting my phone on Do Not Disturb, and put all my focus on finding Cayden. He's not dead yet. I'd feel the shock if he were, being his mate. I have a good sense of smell, better than the rest of the pack, and I pick up no traces of him as we traverse from one corner of the city to another, walking in the shadows.
"Brett. Karina. Do the cult members have any secret hangouts over here?" I ask. "They could be masking Cayden's smell and hiding him from us. If they have him. And I have a horrible feeling they do." I used to be able to hear Cayden in my mind, especially when I was in danger, but I realize I haven't heard his voice in my mind much since the night where the cult sort-of bound Romulus to me. It's as if the new connection is interrupting the one Cayden and I share.
"I've heard of a few," Brett says, but reluctantly.
I slow my pace as a city bus crawls past us. Best to look natural. The pale glow of dawn is creeping over the horizon and trams are starting to run, carrying people past us.
"You know, Cayden seems able to take care of himself," Brett says.
At last, I breathe out and face the twins. "He's not dead, but the cult could be planning to make him that way. I don't like that I can't sense him at all. Hiding places. Spill. The faster we get Cayden out of this jam, then the faster we can go to the victory site. Trust me, I don't like wandering around and wasting time, either."
"At last. We're on the same page about something." Brett looks to his sister, who snorts. Are they both laughing at me? But later.
"The hiding spots."
Brett shifts leg to leg. "They have a few apartments around they rent when they're here. Two upstairs ones and one basement apartment."
Finally. Something. "The cult would go to a place where no one would ask questions, right?"
"If they got away from the cops," Brett says. He grips a light pole and leans on it, making a show of telling me he's sick of walking.
Well, so am I. "Which apartment is the closest?"
Brett pulls out his phone. "Let me turn on the GPS."
GPS. The three of us have enhanced senses and we have to rely on technology. It's sobering and a reminder that the cult can really mess us up. But at least I'm getting Brett on board. Karina, I still don't know about. She's silent, sitting down on a random bench.
"Got it," Brett says. "One apartment is a mile from here, so if we run, we can get there in a few minutes. And this one is the basement apartment. Probably our best bet."
* * * * *
Brett's urge to get to the victory site--and I really hate that name--must be driving him to run behind me as we trek through dark alleys and stay in the shadows. I run at full speed, through concrete brick alleys and past garbage cans. Random cats and stay dogs scamper out of the way. Even an historic city like Rome has its not-so-pleasant parts, but no one tries to stop or mug us.
And all the while, Brett's GPS tells as where to go in a pleasant female voice. At last, it announces, "You have arrived at your destination."
The three of us stop in a corner alley. I look up at a nice-looking, red and white apartment building with five stories. The top stories probably have a great view of this part of the city. Somewhere, a bus hums as it passes the front of the building with what must be an electric, environmentally-friendly engine. We're standing just inside the alley now, having come around the back.
"I don't feel any bad vibes," I say, looking at Brett and Karina. "What about you? I don't know magic all that well."
Karina paces in a wide circle through the alley as if she's concentrating. "There could be dark spirits guarding the building on the inside. We won't know until we go in."
"Good point." Is she opening up? The angry witch from the basement is fading. Or maybe she just wants to be done with this and split from us horrible people. "We could do what they don't expect and walk through the front door?" I don't have Cayden here to discuss plans with. Even Everly would be welcome. She'd pour cold water on any stupid ideas. I can't believe I miss her attitude.
"That might be best," Brett says. "The cult will expect us to try going through a window if anything. And we don't even know if we're in the right place." Irritation creeps into his words.
Despite walking across the city and not eating since forever, my legs twitch. "Come on. I'll lead the way."
"You get attacked first," Brett says, following me to the front door.
The front door looks pleasant, covered in fresh white paint I can smell, and there are potted plants and vines just inside the windows. I enter the big apartment building and step into a lobby, which has everything from the plants to a few vending machines. My stomach rumbles as I cross the small room, which has no one behind the desk at this early hour, and head to a set of stairs instead of the elevator. The basement also smells of fresh paint and a few people sleeping downstairs, who carry that musty trace of sleep still. Someone runs a shower in the farthest reaches of the building.
"You could really hear some inappropriate business with these senses," Brett says.
"Stop it," Karina snaps.
At least he's making me feel better. "The neighbors have treated me back home."
Then Brett snorts. "Let's check and get out of here. Maybe i
f we can't find him here, we should just go ahead to--"
I whirl in the stairwell and press my finger to my mouth so hard I indent my lips. Brett glares at me and Karina presses up behind him, urging us both to hurry. The hatred is back in her eyes. Whether it's for us or Artemis's betrayal, I don't know. And that scares me.
Once we creep to the bottom of the steps, I listen. The basement apartments are just as lavish as the lobby, at least from the outside. Someone starts a frying pan and starts cooking some eggs. The sound overtakes everything else, so I sniff instead, hoping and not hoping that I catch a whiff of Cayden's nature scent. But it doesn't follow and I look at Brett and Karina, heat rushing into my cheeks. "I smell nothing. We might be in the wrong place."
"Not necessarily," Brett says. "Even I can do the magic that causes distractions."
"That's saying something," Karina says.
"Knock it off," I order, but at a whisper. The brick wall is back. Karina's still not going to be easy.
So I try to listen past the frying eggs and the shower. Creeping down the hall and along the maroon carpet, I pause at each door like a stalker. Three of the apartments turn out to be empty. But the one at the very end of the hall turns out to be eerily silent, as if there's a void on the other side. I don't even hear the walls settling like I just realize I've heard in every building I've entered since turning. So I turn to Brett and Karina, who seem to both be listening to our surroundings. "Nothing's here, but this last apartment is creeping me out. Listen."
Brett shuffles to the door and presses his ear against it. "Nothing. No one lives in there. We should just go." Then he lifts an eyebrow. "Something is wrong. I can't even hear the outside through this door and I should. It's like a black hole in there."
