Requiem (Blackwater Pack #5)

Chapter 9

9

LULU

Rolling over in bed the next morning, I felt less like I’d been run over by a train. But my chest gave a twinge as I opened my eyes and realized Dimitri was gone.

I swept a hand over the place where he’d been curled against me almost the entire night. All that remained now was a few stray black hairs from his wolf. I meticulously plucked each one off the sheets and sat up. Opening the drawer of my nightstand, I withdrew a simple wooden box and cracked the lid before depositing the hairs.

There was probably some deeply psychological diagnosis for the box I kept next to my bed that held all the stray pieces of fur I’d picked off my clothes and carpet—now sheets—from Dimitri’s wolf, but I wasn’t about to crack open my brain and figure out why I couldn’t vacuum up a few stray hairs without feeling like I was going to vomit.

Getting up, I took a deep breath and resolved to make progress today. There were questions that needed to be asked, and it was my job to suss out the answers.

Even if the answers were going to come from a traumatized teenager currently being held under lock and key.

I quickly got changed and pulled my curls back into a thick braid. My work area was located deeper in the mountain compound, so I stopped by the kitchen and grabbed a granola bar and a bottle of juice before making the trek through the underground tunnels that connected the Alpha house to the rest of the Narodnaya pack compound.

Since Narodnaya was the first known shifter pack in existence, they had spent hundreds of years digging out the mountain to create an impenetrable shield that functioned as a headquarters, training facility, prison, and research laboratory.

My office was in the research wing, a space that I’d dedicated myself to finding out why shifters were dying out. And I’d damn near cracked the magic code.

All of that would be put on hold now to figure out where this new threat had come from.

A shiver rolled down my spine as I remembered the woman from the night before. The way she effortlessly wielded her power like it was the very extension of her body. The way it felt when our magic collided, and how quickly it had shattered just when we’d needed it most.

She’d had spirit magic.

Long ago, there had been five types of elementals—earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. But when the spirit wielders went too far, manipulating and subjugating innocent humans and elementals alike, the other four sects had combined their powers to eradicate the threat that could have destroyed the world.

Most spirit elementals were dead now, but there were a few outliers.

Like the woman last night.

Like the boy, Jack, being held inside the mountain.

Like my father.

Shame swept through me, hot and acidic, as my steps faltered.

That was part of the reason why I’d never really blamed my mom for casting me out. I couldn’t imagine being reminded every single day of the most traumatic experience of my life. I looked exactly like my mother other than these damn eyes.

No one in my mother’s lineage had my silvery eyes or the curve of my mouth.

Bypassing the biometric hand scan to my office, I used a simple incantation to release the magic wards guarding the space. It kept people out of here when I wasn’t around, but it also kept people from leaving when it called for it.

“Hey, Jack,” I greeted, my tone calm and even. I stilled when I saw Jack was awake and alert.

Almost like he’d been waiting for me.

The oversized closet in the rear part of my office had been converted into a makeshift bedroom for Jack since none of us knew where to house him. A double bed, a dresser, and a TV had been put in the closet along with multiple gaming systems and every streaming service known to mankind.

My office had a seating area and a private bathroom that Jack made use of. I tried to make sure he got outside a few times a week, but we had to be careful. Jack had proven he could be volatile, and his magic could do a lot of damage.

The tall, gangly teen was halfway between a boy and a man. He was several inches taller than me, but his lanky frame lacked the muscles and bulk that would come with maturity. At fifteen, Jack had been through a lot.

His family had been taken and he’d been imprisoned by a pack in America that forced him to conduct experiments on shifters. And it was all because he, like me, held spirit magic.

Jack’s bright blue eyes practically danced as he vibrated with energy. “Where is she?”

I set down the juice and granola bar on my desk. “Where is who?”

Jack scoffed. “Carrie. I felt her energy signature last night. I knew she’d come for me.”

A band tightened around my chest. “We didn’t get to the name portion of the meet and greet.”

His eyes narrowed. “But she’s here, right? Now I can go home?”

“Is Carrie your sister?” I asked carefully. I knew Jack had two sisters and his parents, but he’d been rather silent about their names.

He shook his head. “No, but she's part of our coven. One of the strongest.”

“And you knew she was here?” I felt like I was tiptoeing around a landmine. Jack’s incarceration and abuse at the hands of the Norwood pack in upstate New York had him swinging from severe depression to almost manic-like states.

This was definitely one of the latter.

Jack huffed and shot me a look that said I was an idiot. “Of course. Now where is she? I know you chased her off—her power isn’t here anymore.”

I took a deep breath. “Her power isn’t here because she isn’t here.”

“Carrie wouldn’t leave me,” he hissed, pounding a fist on his chest. “She’s coven. Family.” A derisive sneer curled his lip. “Not that you would understand the concept. Your coven betrayed you.”

“I betrayed them,” I murmured, the correction automatic.

He eyed me carefully. “Then why are you wearing that ?”

“Wearing what?” I asked, baffled.

He stalked forward and jabbed a finger at my amulet. “That.”

My fingers curled around the metal and stone. “It was a gift. From my mother.”

“Smothering mother. Smother,” he muttered and began pacing. “Your smother is a liar, and she’s crippling you.”

“What—”

“That talisman is a suppressant,” Jack interrupted, his cheeks red with anger and indignation.

“It was just a gift,” I argued.

“It’s hematite and selenite. Suppression and amplification. That amulet is used to weaken powers,” he scoffed. “And you’re wearing it like a pretty little necklace.”

My blood went cold and I held the chain away from my neck and looked at the stones. They’d been polished to gleaming perfection, hiding the tiny cracks and crevices under the shine that told me this necklace wasn’t what my mother claimed.

A sick, clammy feeling swept through my body.

Jack laughed. “See? This is why I need Carrie. Where is Carrie?”

I was still numb, staring at the necklace. “Carrie’s gone.”

“Gone where ?” Jack actually stomped his foot.

But I barely registered his growing agitation as I whispered, “She’s dead.”

He paled so quickly that I worried he’d pass out. “Liar.”

Sighing, I pulled my phone out and tapped on the security icon. It only took a moment to find the security footage from last night and capture a still of the moment she had stepped out of the shadows.

Slowly, I turned the screen so he could see.

And then all hell broke loose.