by D. N. Hoxa
Those few seconds was all it took for her friends to shoot me with a tranquilizer right between my shoulder blades. I didn’t soar at all. I just fell face first onto the asphalt.
When I came to, my first thought was Red. He was going to go out in the sun, looking for me, and he was going to burn.
How the hell had I been such a fool? I deserved a fucking medal.
Haworth’s people hadn’t blindfolded me this time. My back hurt all the way to my tailbone, and my wolf was pissed. She was angry. She was mad—at me and at them. Red had been right all along. If I’d just been able to let her out, she would have never fallen for it. She would have never been caught off guard like me, at the sight of my sister.
My sister, who’d known I would be there and who’d known I would be so distracted by her to notice anything else—like her friends approaching me and shooting me with a tranquilizer.
Traitor, my wolf whispered in my mind, but I couldn’t accept it. Maybe I was a fool, and maybe I was still suffering the psychological consequences of having left her when I was a teenager, but I chose to believe that either she had no choice or she had a plan. A much better plan than I had.
My wolf wanted to come out, but she was having second thoughts about it. Good thing the Reaper String was…
Where the hell was the Reaper String?
Certainly not in my back pocket where I’d left it before…
My heart fell all the way to my heels. No longer worried about them noticing that I was awake, I opened my eyes wide and sat up with a jolt. They’d found my Reaper, and now I was as good as dead.
I was in a dark room, this one fully furnished with velvet sofas, a white marble mantel, a huge shelf to the left full of books, and a table with an empty vase on it. There were no windows—just walls covered in red and gold wallpaper. The air smelled stale and dust covered everything, as if nobody had been down there for a long time. We could have been underground, but I wasn’t too sure. The yellow overhead light made everything look antique. It was dim but bright enough for me to see my surroundings. The first thing I looked at was the floor. There was no ritual drawing around me. My wrists were cuffed behind my back—no rope this time. It was going to be impossible to break free from them, but I could get up and walk right out the dark wooden door, if I just had enough time.
I’d barely made it to my knees when I heard the footsteps on the other side of the door. A cry escaped me, but I doubted they’d hear. At first, I wondered who it would be, but I should have already known.
The door opened and Haworth entered the room, together with a mountain of a man I didn’t recognize and my sister Izzy. I fell back with my butt resting on my heels, my strength leaving me with the whoosh of air that came through the door before Haworth pushed it closed with his foot. He was dressed in another suit, this one black, and his smile was as big and as evil as ever. This was nothing like the last time I saw him, in the middle of the battle in Finn’s offices. Back then, I’d had hope that I was going to somehow make it out alive.
Now, I no longer did.
“There she is, the little wolf,” Haworth said with a grin, his voice as smooth as honey. I swallowed hard and didn’t dare blink for fear I’d miss something he was going to do. “Tell me, is Finn Germain out of his coma yet?”
My blood ran cold instantly. The image of Finn’s face came in front of my eyes, and anger made my cheeks flush. How dare this murdering asshole mention Finn’s name after what he’d done?
“At least he has a chance of waking up. You won’t,” I spit. Of course it was all a bluff. It didn’t take a genius to know that I could never kill Haworth. My wolf, on the other hand…
Haworth laughed like he really was enjoying himself. “The idea of cutting out your tongue intrigues me, but you’re far too funny.”
“How about you get these cuffs off my hands, and we’ll see how funny I really am,” I said through gritted teeth. My wolf was wide-awake, watching. There would be nothing to stop her now. The Reaper String wasn’t on my person. All she’d have to do was want to come out and take over, and maybe we both could live another day.
I looked at the stranger standing next to my sister and at her. They both looked at me like I was a thing, not a woman about to die a very painful death. I meant nothing to them. I meant nothing to her.
In those moments, it was hard to believe that she was faking it, but if she was, Izzy was really, really good at it.
“I will, in just a second,” Haworth said, putting his hands in his pockets. “First, though, tell me what you are. I’ll admit I’ve never seen anything like you before, and I’m curious.”
“None of your goddamn business,” I said and my voice broke. How much longer would he keep this up? How much time had passed since his people—my own sister—had shot me and brought me here? Where was Red?
“Oh, please, Victoria. Indulge me. You’re half human, my people tell me you smell like a werewolf, but you are also a witch.” With a dumbfounded smile, he sat down at the edge of the velvet sofa across from me. “You’re far too interesting to let wither away, don’t you think?”
Ugh. “How did you know I was half human?” I asked despite my better judgment. He’d been the first to tell me this, and he’d done it by simply holding his hand over my head. I’d wondered a lot of times in the past months about what more he could tell me, and now, that curiosity burned right out of me.
A proud glint lit up his eyes.
“I’ve got my own tricks, little wolf,” he said. “But you can’t be both a witch and a werewolf. You can either be one or the other. Which one are you?”
For a split second, I imagined myself asking him to do that thing with his hand again and give us both the answer to that question. I shook the thought away instantly.
“What the hell do you want from me?” I asked, but I already knew.
“Simple,” he said without hesitation and leaned back on the sofa. “I want two things from you. I want your wolf.”
The smile on his face made my stomach turn. My wolf growled, and it almost sounded like I told you so. This was why she hadn’t wanted me anywhere near Haworth. This was why she’d taken over and ran away the last time I was close to him in Staten Island.
“And I want this.”
Standing up again, Haworth raised his hand and showed me what was between his fingers. The Reaper String.
My mouth ran dry, as if this was a surprise, when I’d known all along that he had it. He’d taken it off me while I was still unconscious, and there was nothing I could have done to stop him. I could do nothing now, either, as I watched him open the ring and put it on his pinky finger, and throw the Reaper to the floor. It returned to his hand, its string almost invisible in the dim lighting, and my heart skipped a beat.
“My understanding is that it’s attached to you—to your magic,” Haworth said, still playing with the Reaper like it really was a toy. “I’ve wanted this piece of magic for a very long time, and if it wasn’t for you, it would have already been mine.”
“It won’t work,” I said, my voice breaking. “Its previous master gave it to me before he died, and I will never give it to you, even if you kill me.”
“Didn’t we just cover that part?” he asked, feigning confusion. “Killing you is not what I want to do, Victoria, because I wouldn’t need your blessing to use the Reaper String, just like I never needed it from its last master. His life would suffice, as yours would.”
Oh, shit. I knew it. I knew that Red was wrong. General rules didn’t apply to men with as much power as Hector Haworth.
“So kill me because I’m not giving you shit.”
I meant every word. It was enough that I’d been such a fool to bring the last enchanted item right to Haworth’s lap. If there was a way I could stop him or even just make it harder for him, I would do it, even if it cost me my life.
But the strangest thing—my wolf didn’t argue. She didn’t try to warn me, to tell me what a stupid idea that was. Maybe, for
once, she approved of a decision. I wondered what that would be like…
“You’re not very smart, are you?” Haworth asked, and I suspected he really meant it. “I told you, three times now, that I don’t want to kill you. You’re very useful to me, Victoria Brigham. Imagine what I could do with your wolf.”
“Nothing!” I said, suddenly panicked—or maybe it was my wolf’s feelings taking over mine. “Nothing because you can’t have her. She’s either mine or nobody’s.”
“With my guidance, she’d be unstoppable. Imagine the places we could get into, the places we could escape. I’d never need another soldier again!” Haworth laughed.
All the hairs in my body stood at attention. A howl came from within my mind, momentarily rendering me deaf. She was trying hard not to, I could feel it, but she did blame me. My wolf blamed me for this.
If I had any hopes that she would come to my rescue now or obey any order I gave her, now it was gone. She was never going to give Haworth the chance to put his spell on her.
Tears welled in my eyes. “You can’t do this,” I whispered, but I already sounded defeated.
“I will, but in time,” Haworth simply said. “For now, all I need is your blood to fool this thing”—he shook the Reaper String in front of his face—“and we’ll get there.”
He raised his free hand, and the stranger put a small knife in it while Izzy just watched. I couldn’t even look at her anymore. It was worse than looking at a stranger.
When Haworth came for me, I already knew that I wasn’t going to die. No, something much worse than death awaited me. Was this what he’d done to Izzy, too? Had he already possessed her?
But she didn’t look possessed. She didn’t smell possessed, not like those wolves had. No, this was all her. She’d chosen to do this.
Haworth kneeled in front of me and grabbed my chin in his hand. I jerked my head away as hard as I could and dragged myself away until I hit the wall while he laughed. There was nowhere left for me to go, and Haworth was in front of me again. This time, he grabbed a handful of my hair, and no matter how hard I tried to jerk away, he wouldn’t let go.
Come on! I shouted in my head. Come out, now!
A growl was my wolf’s response.
Right now! Come on out, or we’re both dead! I tried again.
And again.
And again.
The blade of Haworth’s knife touched my left cheek, the cold metal making me shiver. He wanted my blood, but I’d be damned if I let him have it so easily, even if my wolf didn’t want to have anything to do with this.
My legs were free, so I turned and kicked him as hard as I could, right on his knee. Haworth didn’t fall, only stumbled back, but I kicked him again, in his stomach this time, and it fascinated me how he didn’t try to stop me with his magic.
He probably didn’t want me damaged in any way, so that when he possessed me and took my wolf, she’d be as good as new.
When he finally had enough, Haworth stood up and waved his hand. The stranger walked over to me. I tried to kick him, too, but he saw it coming, and he easily dodged my feet before he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up. One arm wrapped around my torso and another around my thighs to block me from moving. I screamed in frustration and swung my head back as hard as I could. The cracking sound his nose made when it broke was one of the most satisfying things I’d ever heard.
But it was the last blow I got in. Cursing under his breath, the stranger pushed me down on my knees, put one foot over my calves, held my arm with one hand, and grabbed me by the hair with the other. I screamed again, but it was useless. My legs were already numb, and my scalp was on fire. He was pulling my hair as hard as he could as payback for his broken nose.
“Nice and easy,” said Haworth, coming for me again with his knife. He wasn’t so amused anymore, though.
“Fuck you!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, knowing that this time I wasn’t going to be able to stop him. But before he cut me with his knife, he slapped me with the back of his hand across the face. The pain went all the way to the base of my neck because the man holding me wouldn’t let me even move my head to the side from the impact. My cheek burned, but I made myself laugh anyway.
“Not such a gentleman, after all,” I said and spit at Haworth’s shirt. Really, I was just doing everything I could think of to either stall him or make him kill me.
He did neither.
His knife touched my cheek, and…
Something fell against the other side of the only door of the room—hard.
It was Red—I could feel it, though I couldn’t smell him through the door. It was very tightly locked, and no air came through it. But he came for me, just like he did last time.
Haworth turned away from me, more annoyed than afraid, and looked at Izzy. She instantly pulled out two guns, turned her back to Haworth, and pointed her guns at the door.
And the door flew open.
It wasn’t Red. It was Amara, and she was already bleeding.
She wasn’t holding any guns, only two swords in her hands, and when Izzy shot at her, the bullets hung in the air before falling down right in front of Amara’s feet. She was already protected.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Haworth asked, not even noticing the five dead bodies in the hallway behind Amara. Or maybe he did notice them—he just didn’t care.
Amara didn’t bother with talking. She jumped forward, both her swords aiming for Izzy’s throat. I screamed and tried to break free from the hold of the giant behind me, but it was useless. He wasn’t going to let me go.
And Izzy escaped. She moved to the side lightning fast and almost fell on the sofa. Amara didn’t wait for her to recover. She immediately ran after Haworth, who already had one hand up toward her. For a split second, Amara stopped in her tracks, as if suspended on air. But it didn’t hold. She came to it again and continued to go after Haworth, who’d begun to laugh now.
Amara swung the blade of her sword at his face, and he stepped away almost too gracefully for a man. That’s when the man holding me back let go of me, and he stepped forward to defend his master. Whatever Amara had done this time, Haworth couldn’t stop her so easily.
“Don’t interrupt me again!” Haworth shouted, as he turned to me and left his man and Izzy to fight with Amara.
I tried to fight him with all I had, especially now that Amara was here. I couldn’t just let her die! But Haworth moved his lips, and my limbs became too heavy. I hit the floor on my side, and he grabbed me by my hair once more, closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.
That’s when I felt the pull—of magic, but different this time, unlike the spell that rendered me motionless. My eyes turned in their sockets, and blowing out one last breath, I fell unconscious.
17
It was very confusing at first because I couldn’t remember a fire burning in that room.
But then I remembered. There was no fire in Haworth’s room, but there was one in my wolf’s memories.
The scent of sulfur made me nauseous, and the black smoke spread like fog all around us. I recognized the house and I recognized the people standing in front of me—two women, one blonde and one brunette. The witch and the new mother.
My wolf was having trouble standing in one place, but apparently, she’d been given an order. Someone screamed from the front of the house—a woman—and my wolf’s need to howl and run for her was incredible. But she couldn’t. An order was an order, no matter how much she hated it. Once again, I was in awe of her self-control.
It felt like night had fallen, but it was still daylight. The brunette was holding her baby close to her chest, crying like the world was ending, while the witch was trying to get her to let go.
“Leave her, Elizabeth. We’re running out of time!”
The woman—Elizabeth—cried out, and that cry cut me straight through the heart. She kissed her baby’s face a thousand times before she fell to her knees and placed her in a basket. The way that woman cried fo
r her baby, it made me want to break through my wolf, through her memories and through time, to do everything I could to stop whoever it was from coming and breaking them apart. My tears fell and I screamed, but nobody heard it except me.
The witch grabbed the basket and pulled it close to her before grabbing Elizabeth by the shoulders and shaking her.
“You have to do this,” she said. “It’s the last chance we’ve got. You have to talk to him, right now!”
Another scream from the front of the house. Somebody was fighting, and somebody was hurting badly. My wolf howled, no longer able to hold it in.
“I c-c-can’t….c-can’t leave her,” Elizabeth said and tried to grab her baby again, but the witch stopped her.
“Do it for her!” she shouted and grabbed Elizabeth’s face in her hands to make her look away from the baby—who was sleeping, despite the noise and the smell. “Please! It’s the last chance we’ve got!”
Something exploded and the ground shook. My wolf growled, her eyes moving from one side of the house to the other, expecting to see…who? Who was this man who’d come to separate a mother from her baby, the man my wolf hated with such a passion?
Suddenly, the view in front of me changed.
It turned into one I’d seen before—the very first memory.
My wolf standing behind a house. A baby moving in a basket.
A blonde woman running for them.
My wolf growled. She didn’t want her there. She didn’t want to be there. She wanted to be fighting, doing what she was born to do—to protect her family.
But the woman—the witch—had other plans in mind. She fell on her knees in front of the wolf and put her hands under her chin.
“You have to keep her safe. He cannot find her, not for any reason,” she said, her words slurred together.
A scream coming from the house, that of the woman, and the last I’d ever hear. The witch turned to the house for a second, then back to my wolf.
