From the Grave

by Karina Espinosa

  Stepping inside the precinct, I realized I’d forgotten my badge or any form of credentials. Luckily, the guys knew me and let me in. Lucian just had to sign in as a guest with his I.D. I practically sprinted to the squad room. It was filled to the brim with familiar faces. I could feel the tears in my eyes that wanted to spill forth, but I held them back.

  “Mackenzie!” Amy was the first to notice. Of course, she was. Using her vampire speed, she ran to me, and in less than a second, I was engulfed in a vise-grip.

  “Aims …” I breathed her in. “God, it’s good to see you.” I held on, clutching her just as tightly.

  “Make way!” Duke shouted. “Make way!” he said, cutting through the crowd that had formed. It seemed like the whole Brooklyn Pack was in the room and then some.

  “What happened to the warehouse, Amy? How did everyone escape?”

  “There are tunnels in the basement. Most of the pack left for the estate to shift for the full moon. No one was hurt.”

  “Amelia, why didn’t you come to me if you were in trouble,” Lucian interjected once we pulled apart.

  “There wasn’t much time, and I knew you’d contact Alexander right away. We didn’t have enough information,” she said. “I knew you were alive.” Amy smiled as she looked at me.

  “Of course, I was,” I said, slightly confused. “Although, I can’t say the same for you.”

  She tilted her head and opened her mouth to say something, but Duke stepped in front of us.

  “Darlin’, am I glad to see you.”

  “Ditto—”

  “You’re gonna want to come with me.” He grabbed my wrist. My brows furrowed as my gazed zoned in on his hand—a hand that was soon to be broken if someone didn’t explain themselves.

  Amy grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Hold on. Can’t you see she’s been through some shit? She needs time to adjust—”

  “We don’t have time!” he shouted, the dark circles around his eyes revealing his distress. “He needs our help.”

  At the mention of he, my body tensed and my mouth dried.

  “What’s going on?” I felt like I was being pulled in two different directions.

  “It’s nothing, Kenz. Relax for now.” Amy tried to pull me away, but Duke wasn’t having it. His grip on me was tight and unrelenting.

  “It’s Bash, Kenzie,” he said, and I felt the floor give way. “He needs you.”

  “Duke!” Amy hissed and bared her fangs.

  “Easy there, Amelia.” Lucian placed a hand on her shoulder.

  I watched the two of them as they had a silent argument over me, but all that kept running through my mind was Bash. He was alive.

  “Where is he?” I asked, my body shaking. “Take me to him.”

  Duke exhaled loudly and nodded toward the elevators. We were followed by Amy and Lucian as we rode upstairs to the witches’ station where the injured usually were. A knot formed in my stomach.

  “Did he get hurt in the fire?” I questioned as we stepped off the elevator. The witches’ station used to be run by Amara, but she’d died during the Great Freedom War against the Fae. Belinda was the head witch of the SIU now. She was tough as balls. Since she’d started, I hadn’t been able to get her to crack a smile, and trust me, I’d tried. A lot.

  She stood at the station and stopped us in our tracks. “And where do you think you’re all going?”

  “He needs to see her.” Duke pointed to me. “It’s the only way he’ll get better.”

  “Sebastian needs rest,” Belinda said. “If the lot of you charge in there, you’ll only stress him even more. He’s stable for now.”

  “You don’t understand. Mackenzie is his Anam Aonachd,” Duke argued. “If he sees her—”

  “I understand your customs, Mr. Davenport,” Belinda placed a hand on her hip, “but you will not see him at this time. If anything, it looks like Ms. Grey may need my services as well.”

  I backed away. “I’ve had enough of needles for today. No thanks.”

  Amy nudged me. “You don’t look well, Kenz. Maybe you should see the witch.”

  “I know what’s wrong with me. She can’t help me. Now, will someone please tell me what the fuck is wrong with Bash?” I was starting to lose my patience. “If he wasn’t hurt in the fire, what happened?”

  Duke looked to Amy for guidance, but neither of them said a word.

  “My God, pet, how have I not realized it sooner?” Lucian threw his hand in the air. “It all makes sense now. What a clever, clever wolf, that Enzo. Sadistic yet brilliant.”

  “Excuse me?” I choked out. “There’d better be an explanation with this monologue of yours.”

  Lucian looked at Amy. “First, Amelia, how safe is the building?”

  “We’re in a full-on lockdown. You were only allowed in because of Mackenzie.”

  “Excellent,” he said. “Anam Aonachd can feel each other through their wolves. When one of them dies, it's like the other dies too. It’s a very intense relationship that progresses throughout the years, but your,” Lucian pointed to me, “relationship with Sebastian hasn’t had the proper time to develop yet. When your wolf disappeared—”

  “Your wolf is gone?” Duke interrupted.

  “Shhh, I’m speaking,” Lucian quieted him. “So, when she disappeared, it was as if you died. Sebastian is most likely feeling the effects of decades of emotions that haven’t developed. He’s in pain, and a lot of it, pet.”

  “He’s dying, Kenz.” Duke looked at me with sadness in his eyes. “It’s not pretty.”

  Enzo had played it all so perfectly. How he knew we were Anam Aonachds, I had no idea, but he’d figured it out and used it to his advantage to kill off one of his enemies, and it was working.

  “I have to see him,” I implored. “Where is he?”

  “He’s quarantined, Kenz.” Amy placed a hand on my arm. “Jackson and Bernard are with him. He’s not stable, and you don’t look strong enough.”

  I frowned. “Bash won’t hurt me.”

  “Amelia is right. You don’t have your wolf. He may not recognize you if he’s not all there, pet.”

  I pushed past them, Duke trailing behind me. I didn’t care what state of mind Sebastian was in at the moment. He needed me, and I’d be there for him. Just like he was always there for me. No matter what.

  “To your left, last room at the end,” Duke said.

  “Hey!” Belinda shouted. “You are not allowed back there!”

  “Try and stop me, you old hag,” I growled, smiling when I did it right.

  I attempted a mad dash down the hallway to Bash’s room. Belinda flung out her hand, and I felt the magic come out of her fingertips. I ducked and kept running. The tattoo on my hip protected me from all malicious magic, but Belinda wasn’t being malicious. She was protecting her patient. Duke flung himself behind me to protect me from whatever magic the witch was trying to use, and I heard his screams as he fell to the ground. I wasn’t as fast as a wolf, but I made it to the end of the hallway, flinging open the door to the last room and shutting it behind me.

  Taking in fast, deep breaths, my chest heaved as I rested on the door and observed the scene before me. The room was dim, with fluorescent lights flickering overhead. Sebastian thrashed in his hospital bed as Bernard and Cassidy held him down and Jackson tried to give him a sedative through his I.V.

  “Mackenzie!” Bash cried. The anguish in his voice was heartbreaking as he kept repeating my name. The strong, masculine, thunderous voice I’d grown to know had been reduced to nothing but broken shrills I didn’t recognize as he sobbed. My heart shattered into a million pieces as I watched a broken man, in a pool of his own sweat and tears, at the brink of no return. And I did this.

  “Finally,” Jonah whispered beside me. “I thought you were …”

  I shook my head. I didn’t trust myself to speak.

  “He’s been like this for days. When you didn’t come home, I went looking for you and found Finn. He told me what happened. I’ve
been by Bash’s side ever since. It’s not good, Kenz. He thinks you’re dead.”

  “Hold him down!” Jackson yelled. “The sedative isn’t working!”

  I inched closer to the guys. They were so busy with Bash—an Alpha they couldn’t control—they hadn’t seen me.

  “Maybe I can help,” I whispered.

  “Mackenzie.” Cassidy was the first to acknowledge me, his mouth hanging open and his grip loosening on the Alpha.

  “Cas!” Bernard shouted, and Cassidy adjusted his hold on Bash.

  Jackson came toward me in two strides and pulled me into a massive hug. “Holy shit, Kenz,” he said. “You’re alive.”

  I hugged him with just as much vigor. “Me? Die? Never. Well, not yet.”

  He chuckled and pulled away. “You gave us quite the fright for a second.” Jackson turned to look at an unstable Sebastian who kept mumbling my name over and over again. “I don’t know what to do anymore, Kenz.”

  Bash laid in bed, his body contorted and a sheen of sweat over his skin as he fought against those holding him down. His beautifully angelic face was now morphed to an unrecognizable grimace that showed the pure agony he was experiencing. It was as if he were being tortured.

  “Let me try.” I slipped past him and went to Bash’s bedside. “Sebastian?” I whispered cautiously as I attempted to hold his hand, but he kept moving so erratically, it was nearly impossible. How do you heal a broken heart? This was on another level. If the tables were reversed, would this happen to me? I shivered at the thought.

  Being soft-spoken wasn’t going to work. I climbed onto the bed and straddled him. “Hold on to him, boys,” I told Cas and Bernard. The last thing I needed was to be thrown off like a bull. I gripped Bash’s face and forced him to look at me. His ice-blue eyes were sadder than I’d ever seen them. They mirrored my eyes—empty, hollow. “Look at me, Bash. I’m not dead.”

  He tried to pull away from my hold. “This isn’t real,” he cried.

  “Enzo did this,” I replied. “He took away my wolf. Look into my eyes, Sebastian Steel. See me. You know who I am, and you know I’m real. Wolf or not. We don’t need them to love one another. You love me for me. You told me that six months ago. Look at me, dammit!”

  The room quieted, and Bash’s movements slowed as he watched me intently. I didn’t dare blink as I feared it would ruin the moment.

  “Mackenzie?” he whispered.

  I loosened my grip on his face and ran my hand through his hair.

  “Yes, Bash, it’s me. I’m here.” Before I knew it, he pulled me into an embrace, placing his face into the crook of my neck and breathing me in. I stroked his back, taking in his scent of sandalwood. “It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay.” I continued to straddle him, and he rocked us back and forth as the others slowly released him. He was no longer out of control.

  “We’ll give you two some privacy.” Jackson turned and ordered the other two to leave with him. I didn’t acknowledge them. I only held on to this fragile man who shook in my arms. I’d never seen Bash so broken before, not even when Jonah had died.

  “Bash, talk to me,” I implored. “I need to know you’re okay.”

  He dug his face deeper into my neck, taking in a deep breath and exhaling loudly. “I thought you were gone,” he croaked. “Some part of me still thinks that, but here you are.”

  “That’s good, that’s good.”

  “Is it?” He pulled away with a grimace. “Am I going crazy?” He placed a hand on my cheek and caressed it. “I see you. I smell you. But I don’t feel you.”

  I kissed the inside of his palm. “You remember how Adaline suppressed my wolf for eighteen years before Drusilla had it reversed? Somehow, Enzo did the same. He learned you were my Anam Aonachd. He figured this was the best way to get to you without an official attack.”

  “It worked.”

  “It did. But I’m here, alive, just wolf-less.” I frowned. “Does it matter to you?”

  Bash scoffed. “How can you ask me that? Of course, it doesn’t matter to me, Mackenzie.” He took my hands in his and kissed them repeatedly. “I’ll take you any way I can. As long as you’re alive and healthy, that is all that matters to me. Does it matter to you?”

  I was silent for a while. I should have had the same quick response, but … “It does. I don’t feel whole, Bash. I’m off-kilter. I feel selfish saying this after what you said, but I can’t lie to myself.”

  “Don’t feel selfish.” He tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “I want you to be truthful. We’re in this mess because of all the secrets we’ve kept from each other. No more.”

  I nodded.

  “Is he here?” He scanned the hospital room.

  I laughed. “He was, but he left with the others to give us privacy. He hadn’t left your side while I was gone. Jonah watched over you.”

  Bash gave me a rare smile. “Of course, he did. Just like him to stay by my side. A true beta until the end.”

  A knock at the door pulled our attention away as Lieutenant Owen Briggs of the SIU walked into the room, followed by Cas and Jackson.

  “Grey,” he said in his gruff voice, “it’s good to see you alive and kickin’.”

  “I’m not easy to kill off.”

  He turned a shade of red and looked away. “Can you get off the goddamn patient?” he hollered loud enough to be heard in the next borough.

  I untangled myself from Bash. “Sorry, boss,” I mumbled and moved to get off the bed, but the Alpha wouldn’t let me. He held my hand and wouldn’t let go. I looked down at our hands and then at him, and he shook his head. He wasn’t ready to be apart.

  “We need a statement, Grey,” Briggs said. “You’ve been gone for seven days. Where the hell have you been?”

  “Of course.” I nodded. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

  I told them every detail I could remember. My memory was shitty at best. Especially the drive back into the city. I was running on pure adrenaline and had collapsed as soon as I made it safely to Lucian’s. Luckily, many cars nowadays had GPS trackers and the team was going to retrieve the car and see for themselves. Other than that, the trail on Enzo had run cold.

  “The full moon is tomorrow night. We expect a full-blown attack from him and his soon-to-be-turned wolves,” Cassidy explained. “It could be a bloodbath with many human causalities if we don’t contain it.”

  “Do you have any idea where it might be?”

  “He’s been obsessed with Bash this whole time. I’m assuming he thinks he’s killed him at this point. What about Duke? What does Duke have to lose?” I asked them. We had to put ourselves in Enzo’s mind. He most likely thought he’d killed Bash. His last target is Duke, but everything he cares about is in Tennessee … or is it?

  “Where’s Duke?” Bash asked.

  “He’s here,” Jackson said. “He got injured protecting Kenz from a witch who tried to stop Kenzie from getting to you.” He chuckled.

  “Do I even want to know what Belinda did to him?” I questioned.

  Cas and Jackson shook their heads.

  “I suggest the two of you get your energy up because I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.” Briggs turned and exited the room.

  Interesting indeed. Good thing we had the element of surprise on our hands. Sebastian was still alive, and that was something Enzo wouldn’t see coming. I just hoped my wolf would make an appearance soon, or I wouldn’t be much help.

  “Amy told me about the tunnels,” I said. “How come I never knew about them?”

  Jackson scoffed. “Hell, I never even knew about them.”

  “They’re old,” Sebastian started. “I almost had them sealed off long ago but never had the time.”

  “Thank God.” I snorted. “Why didn’t you leave for the estate with the others? You could have been safe.”

  “With you out there fending for yourself? I don’t think so,” he growled. “My place is here, Mackenzie. Searching for you.�
��

  “Stupid wolf,” I muttered and turned to Jackson. “Who’s with the pack?”

  “Mohammad.” That made me raise an eyebrow. He was the last captain I imagined leading a pack. “With Sterling,” Jackson added with a laugh.

  My chest deflated, and I frowned. While that was better for the pack, I didn’t know if that was good for Sterling. I had to trust in my friend that she could handle herself. Speaking of …

  “How’s my brother?” I turned to Cassidy. “What did you tell him?”

  Cas let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his low fade haircut. “You definitely didn’t make it easy on us, Kenz, when you wolfed out in front of him!”

  “I did not!”

  “Well, he saw two wolves fighting, and one of them had glowing, gray eyes. His words, not mine,” Cas explained. “He swears the gray-eyed wolf was trying to protect him.”

  “I was.”

  “We know!” Cas and Jackson shouted in unison.

  “Yikes.” I flinched. “No need to yell.”

  “This isn’t funny, Kenz. He’s on to you,” Jackson said. “He’s getting suspicious.”

  I shook my head and laughed. “My brother doesn’t believe in this kind of stuff. I bet he’s just shocked he saw some random wolves in the city. That’s all.”

  Cas snorted. “Sure. All I’m saying, Kenzie, is be prepared when he starts asking the tough questions because he will. You’d better be ready to either tell him the truth or make him feel crazy.”

  “Ollie is as sane as they come. He’s a man of science. He never even believed in Santa Claus. Trust me, we’re good. Now, what does he know about my disappearance?”

  “The truth,” Cassidy replied. “We couldn’t hide it. He knows you were taken, and your parents have been calling nonstop.”

  The blood drained from my face. “How could you?” I snatched my hand away from Bash and hopped off the bed.

  “You involved Oliver, Kenz. Not me. How would we explain your disappearance? Tell me.” Cas threw his hands in the air. “You were gone. We had to tell him.”