21. Raven
CHAPTER 21
Raven
T he long grass rustled as I crawled another inch forward. A light rain misted above, crackling against the bonfire that raged just a dozen yards upwind of us. We’d taken precautions by dousing ourselves in wolf-scent, but the wet earth and wood-smoke were like gifts from the gods, further concealing our presence from those sharp-nosed fuckers.
I paused, peeking through the grass as I gave Dom a moment to catch up.
Teeter and his crew danced and shouted all around the fire, half ritual and half premature celebration. It was still early evening, but the ale flowed freely in anticipation of that night’s full moon. There were only about thirty or so wolves in this area, immediately in front of the cottage Maverick was holed up in, just as Gabe had promised. Despite the demons typically trying to keep things neutral, he had done us a solid by running a quick recon mission, following Maverick and the others off the grounds of the keep the night before at Diana’s request.
It was a brilliant play out of her, because, while they’d had a contingent of soldiers watching their six on their way out, they hadn’t even glanced at the night skies. They’d just led Gabe straight to their camp, a clearing deep in the eastern part of the forest. Even better, while there were dozens of makeshift shelters and tents about a half mile further into the forest, it seemed that Maverick had stayed true to form and greatly exaggerated the size of his unseen forces. Gabe had clocked only a couple hundred in camp, including the thirty-odd “guards” howling and causing a ruckus around the fire.
Hopefully, once we cut the head off the snake as Diana said, the movement would fizzle and die. But if not, I liked our odds, even if Will didn’t call his army. Diana had a good number of supporters herself, not to mention those who now backed Elka. Plus, we had Sienna, who could call on her Hunter, if it came to that.
The two queens had chosen scalpel over war-hammer…for now. But it gave me comfort knowing we had options.
“They’re completely distracted and already starting to come unglued. We’ve got to make our move,” Dom murmured. “We have an hour or so before the moon shows its face. And as much as there’s no one I’d rather fight beside than you, we do not want to get caught out here once that happens.”
He was right. Soon, every werewolf in the kingdom would shift and go feral, and we’d find it almost impossible to escape, never mind being able to kidnap their human leader before his changing ceremony.
We moved in silent sync toward a cluster of trees and then paused to examine the cottage that was our target. While the front door was in plain view of the men by the fire, the back was completely unguarded, just as Gabe had promised.
I tugged the rope and long piece of cloth from my bag, tossing both over my shoulder as we crept toward the house. Then, I raised three fingers, locking eyes with Dom as I ticked them off.
3, 2, 1–
Pushing the door open, eyes darting all around as I strode silently into the home. A rustic kitchen opened before us, and we crept, painfully slowly, over to the hallway.
A quick glance at Dom to make sure he was with me. I was still surprised after all these years at how quietly he could move. His massive frame was built for anything but stealth, but the countless decades of training made him almost impossible to hear, even with my enhanced senses.
I held in a breath as I turned the corner, ready for anything that came our way, but the hall was empty, too. I scanned the three closed doors, sucking in a quiet whiff of the still air. A quick wave of bloodlust rolled through me as Maverick’s odor pricked at my senses, but I tamped it down.
His scent was the most prominent, which meant there likely weren’t any wolves in the room with him, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Thanks to Gabe and his scouting ahead of time, this was going to go down without a hitch.
I jabbed my finger at the middle door, and we both closed in. This time, it was Dom who did the counting.
No stealth here.
Dom just hurled his massive shoulder into the wood as I launched myself at a stunned Maverick, who sat in front of a crackling fire.
He opened his mouth to yell, but I shoved the balled-up strip of cloth into his mouth before he’d even registered what was happening.
He struggled at first, but I let my fangs snap free of my gums and leaned closer. “Elka and Diana want to interrogate you first, but just give me a reason, Maverick,” I growled.
His narrow, defiant eyes locked onto mine. Then, to my everlasting disappointment, he nodded and went still.
Dom’s hand was nothing more than a flash as he sent a brutal karate chop to the back of the man’s neck, sending Maverick instantly into dreamland.
I looked at Dom, who just shrugged.
“They just said don’t kill him yet. They didn’t say anything about hurting him. No point in wasting energy if he decides to start struggling again.”
“See, this is why I like going to battle with you. I miss this.”
I bent to bind Mav’s wrists together with the rope, and then tossed him over my shoulder like the faithless sack of shit he was.
“That’s a wrap. Let’s head out.”
But the words were barely out of my mouth when Dom’s arm shot out to keep me in place.
The high-pitched creak of a rusty hinge cut through the air, and I held my breath as footsteps clomped through the hall. Dom glided toward the door, dropping into a fighting stance as the sound grew closer.
My muscles tensed as the footsteps came to a stop, the last sound coming from just outside of the door. “Mav? You good?”
Movement erupted on my shoulder all at once as Maverick began to flail wildly, screaming as much as the gag allowed, and my heartbeat thrummed heavily in my ears.
Dom sprang through the door before the visitor could step into the room, slamming his elbow into the other man’s jaw with a sickening thud. The werewolf dropped like a ton of bricks, his skull bouncing off the wood floor.
Dom and I leapt over the fallen man, dashing toward the back door. I had to strain to hear behind us as we ran and was satisfied by the lack of sound when we reached the trees.
A perfect escape?
A deafening howl split the air as if in answer, and I broke into a full-on sprint. “The time for stealth is done. Let’s fucking go!”
Maverick glared at me through beady slits as I circled his chair. “This is pointless, you know. We might have had some softies in the mix, but all that’s left are rabid supporters who blame Diana for every bad thing that’s ever happened to them in their miserable lives. They’ll come for me…and for her. Only a short while until?—”
Maverick cut off with a grunt as I yanked the rope at his wrists with everything I had, relishing the touch of white that crept into his hands as it tightened. Diana had been clear. She hoped to find out where Maverick’s magic had come from and to learn of any other plans he might have put in motion. Elka had been even more clear, demanding the names of all those who had betrayed Diana beyond redemption. Maverick was to be spared until those ends were met, but as soon as Nicholas had relieved him of all his secrets…
“He’s good to go,” I said, nodding at Nicholas as he approached.
Maverick shrank back at the sight of him, but the young vampire paid him no heed, dropping a hand to his shoulder.
Diana took a step forward, eyes bright with anticipation as Maverick went stock still, head rolling back.
“I need to know what this magic is that he possesses,” she whispered, watching Maverick’s face like a hawk. “Show me, Nicholas.”
An image sprang into existence as if from nothing, etched into the air like a too-realistic hologram. Fog rolled up from the ground, stopping abruptly at the edge of the memory as Maverick’s inner thoughts were laid bare. A dense, misty forest, with mushrooms the size of bushes. A witch with a hut born from a seed.
It was almost a live-action dream, a deft skimming of the past, like a movie at double speed. We all watched in growing horror and disgust as he pleaded with the witch whose name he did not know. Watched him deceive her and earn her pity. Watched him fuck her and rob her blind, taking what seemed to be her most valued possession.
And the longer it went on, the more unbearable my rage became. I could see my own Diana in this poor woman. My own Diana, and the soft heart this motherfucker had destroyed?—
“It’s—” Nicholas sucked in a breath, unsteady on his feet as the image flickered and faded. “He’s fighting it, and it’s taxing…”
“What did the grimoire and the dagger do for him?” Diana encouraged even as Maverick shook his head furiously.
The image flickered back into view, only this time, Maverick was older, looking much the same as he did now. He was seated at a table, staring down at his hand that trembled and shook. He gulped down something from a medicine bottle and, finding it empty, hurled it against the wall where it shattered into a thousand pieces.
“That bitch thinks she’s outsmarted me. I will find a way to end the curse and grow my power. I just have to?—”
The real-life version of Maverick began to jerk and twitch, eyes rolling back in his head even as Nicholas staggered backward.
“A moment,” he managed, his voice raspy as he dropped to the stone floor of the great room.
Maverick continued seizing until I shot a hand out and clapped him hard in the cheek. Then, he stopped and stared at me in mulish silence.
“You’re making this much harder than it needs to be,” I muttered. “Let the man do his job and we can all move on.”
Well, maybe not all of us…
“It’s a rather chilling power…” Elka murmured, studying the clearly exhausted Nicholas with concern. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s taking a toll on both of them,” Sienna said. “Should I—?” She broke off and shot Diana a questioning glance.
“Yes. Let’s give Nicholas a short break while Sienna tends to him. As for Maverick, he doesn’t deserve your gift. If he doesn’t survive the interrogation, so be it.”
Diana waved the rest of us away, leaving Sienna with Nicholas and Dom keeping watch over Maverick.
“I guess we now know the source of Mav’s longevity.”
Gabe turned to Diana. “I know you were in possession of the dagger at one point, but what about the grimoire? In all your travels with him, have any of you ever seen evidence of it?”
“I still have the dagger.” Diana’s hand went to the sheath at her hip. “That’s how I was able to drive the dark goddess back. But the grimoire…”
She turned to me and eyed me thoughtfully. “I don’t recall ever seeing it.”
I shook my head. “If he’s had it with him this whole time, he hid it well.”
“We are running short on time,” Diana said, her anxious gaze shifting to the sky above and then to Elka, who had begun to pace with restless energy.
“The moon is upon us,” she confirmed with a nod. “We’ve got five minutes or less.”
Gabe’s silvery brows rose high on his forehead as he stared at her. “Shouldn’t you be locked up somewhere then?”
“Diana’s scientists created a dagger that allows the wearer to control whether they shift during the full moon. She gave it to me since she…” Elka trailed off, shooting Diana an apologetic glance, but Diana just shrugged.
“Since I no longer need it.”
I spoke up then, the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner of the room seeming louder with every passing second. “If we want more information, now is the time to get it, before the wolves go off the rails out there. If Nick can’t continue, I’m happy to extract it the old-fashioned way…” I cracked my knuckles and let my fangs poke free.
“Nicholas?” Diana turned to face the vampire, who was now on his feet looking a little steadier.
The vampire murmured his thanks to Sienna, and then dipped his head. “Ready for another round.”
A quiet Maverick grew animated again, fighting against his restraints. “Look, whatever he’s doing is worsening my condition. I’ll do anything if he agrees to stop probing,” he managed, sliding the few inches away that his restraints would allow. “How about a deal? You ask, and I’ll answer. Simple. The bloodsucker can verify the truth without going so deep, yes?”
A weary Nicholas turned to Diana, and she dipped her head in assent.
“Just know that I do this for Nicholas’s comfort, not for yours. Let’s give it a try, shall we? Question one: whatever malady she cursed you with, it’s worsening, yes?”
“Yes. When I’m on the mainland, it’s not so bad, but I also can’t access the magic. Here, I have more power, but the curse is taking over more rapidly.” His voice broke as he looked out the window and then turned his pleading gaze on Diana. “I’ve tried everything to get it to stop, Di?—”
“Enough!” Her lip curled in disgust. “Stick to the facts.” She shot a look to Nicholas, who nodded.
“He’s telling the truth,” Nicholas said after a short moment of contact with our prisoner’s shoulder.
Diana stared Maverick down, her cold gaze drilling into him. “Have you ever cared for anyone but yourself at all, Maverick? What of Opal?”
He averted his gaze, staring into the dark stone of the keep’s wall for a long moment before answering. “I wanted to return to the Territories so I could use the magic in my possession without suffering the full effects of the curse. I thought the shard might have power, they glowed and danced when they went into the girls, I could see the magic. So, I took Opal with me and decided to wait…”
Diana let out a low gasp. “Until she died so you could take it. Did you even try to help her at all?”
“You make it sound so terrible.” Anger flickered in his eyes, and he let out a grunt. “I didn’t kill her, did I? There was no helping her, anyway. It was clear the shard was too strong for her.”
Nicholas laid his hand on Maverick and again nodded. “All true.”
“So now the plan is to have Teeter and the others complete the changing ceremony, correct?”
“It is…it was.”
“Not a lie.”
Diana let out a dry laugh. “Should’ve taken my offer all those years ago when you had the chance. Because I can guarantee you it won’t be happening now.” She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Nicholas held out an arm, cutting her off with a frown.
“Something…is amiss.” He closed his eyes and gripped Maverick more tightly. An image flickered into view as Maverick bucked and twisted, trying to wrestle his arm away. Maverick standing over Gavin Barrach’s dead wolf, dagger in one hand, an open book in the other, even as Gavin’s widow Mary and the others of her clan circled around him.
My muscles tensed as Diana’s face contorted in horror.
“We need better restraints!”
I spun around just in time to see Maverick’s body twist and contort, but it was too late. He exploded into a mountain of dark brown fur before my very eyes, a guttural roar tearing free of his throat.
I looked up, preparing to end it in a single heart strike, when I stopped short. Where even was his heart? Maverick’s wolf was massive, three times the size of the largest I’d ever seen, with thick sable fur stretched taut over bulging, oversized muscles. Purple, vein-like lines snaked out from his blood-red eyes, which seemed to glow with unholy power.
And, crazier yet?
The white blaze on his head and muzzle.
He was Gavin. Gavin was Maverick. Even their scent was the same…only the two had melded into a ghoulish mix of magic and might. He’d transformed himself into a true monster . A zombie wolf, whose size and strength put all others to shame.
The creature lunged for Nicholas, but Elka’s wolf threw itself between them, taking the brunt of a brutal blow that sent her spinning across the room to smack against the wall with a whimper. I had to admire her bravery—befitting of a queen—but she was no match for the monster before us.
As if by tacit agreement, Dom, Will, and I formed a circle around him even as Diana and Gabe dropped low into fighting stance. As Maverick took a glance around and sized us up, I realized something else. He looked confused, maybe a bit disoriented, but the man was still in there…
He tossed back his head and let out a howl that shook the rafters. Then, he leapt twenty feet in the air, clear over us, and took a running dive through the freshly replaced picture window he’d thrown a fireball into the day before. We all stared out the open window, stunned. It wasn’t until a few seconds later, when the lights overhead went dark and the low hum of the heating units quieted, that Dom broke the silence.
“He cut the fucking power.”
That’s when it all truly clicked into place. Maverick’s wolf had the ability to reason. The separation that typically made werewolves unpredictable in their animal state—especially during the full moon, especially the first few times shifting—didn’t exist in this abomination. He was the most lethal combination of brains and brawn. That was why so many of Diana’s brethren had followed him.
He was the apex predator.
The Alpha.
Once he truly got his wolf legs under him? He would be a killing machine. And wasn’t that a kick in the dick.
Will cleared his throat and shot his sister a questioning look.
“So…maybe it’s time to call in that army now?”