Chapter 62 #2
“Someone is fixing them,” she says carefully, but without preamble.
“I don’t know how or why. All I know is, when I first got in this area, they were normal, rabid rogues.
Then these other rogues started showing up, and they weren’t feral.
Not even close. They spoke the ones they could down, gave them something, and got them to follow them. ”
“Follow them where?” Aiden asks while a chill races down my spine at the picture she’s painting.
“I couldn’t point it out on a map,” she replies honestly. “I didn’t care about all of that at first. I just needed power, and there were enough left to give me just that. But the new ones noticed and came to speak to me.”
“You spoke to one of them?” Aiden grinds out, and I can feel his rage rising—along with a panic that Katerina could never understand.
Confused, she eyes him until I step in front of him to draw her attention to me. “What did they say?” I ask, remaining calm for all of us, so we don’t find ourselves with a new enemy.
Katerina is not so quick to speak this time. She looks between us, only now seeming to realise that what she planned to share in passing was information we desperately need.
“It was an invitation,” she says, while her gaze cautiously shifts to Aiden before returning to me. “They said there were more of them, and I could draw from all of them if they could use my power after.”
“That’s how you got so strong,” Aiden accuses as he tries to step forward.
“Aiden,” I warn, pressing a hand to his chest.
“I never said I took it,” Katerina snaps back, purple flashing in her eyes. “I didn’t need to. I could draw from them, whether they allowed it or not. I sent them away and told them any other visits would cost them their heads.”
Well, that explained the magical scythes.
Aiden calms a little, his breathing slowing, but the tension in his muscles keeps him stiff. It doesn’t help that with each word Katerina speaks, a sense of foreboding keeps rising, promising to swallow us whole at any second.
“They stayed away, but those clusters started growing. Five instead of three, then nine instead of five. Before I knew it, they all weren’t so rabid, and the woods out there were getting quieter,” she continues as her frown returns.
“Then they were gone, hardly any left. All heading in the same direction.”
Aiden and I share a look.
I don’t doubt for a second that if we showed Katerina the map with all the reported rogue sightings, it would match the path she noticed on her own.
“I thought I should let you know,” she says when neither of us speaks. I look at her, and she’s solemn again. “Especially because if they made that offer to me, chances are they have to other lone witches—and I wouldn’t be surprised if some accepted it.”
“Fuck,” Aiden curses, stepping away, pacing for a moment before he faces me. “How does this keep getting worse? What the fuck are we walking into here?”
“You guys have more wolves,” Katerina offers, frowning slightly.
“Numbers won’t mean a thing if there are witches there,” Aiden snaps, then curses again. “I knew something was going on.” His fingers delve into his hair as he groans. “I should’ve dealt with it sooner—I should’ve killed them all before they had the chance to group up. I should’ve—”
“Hey,” I grab his elbow before he can turn away again, easing it towards me, then seize his hands next and hold on tight as those raging eyes find mine.
They flash with a flurry of red, but I don’t look away.
“There’s nothing you could’ve done. This is bigger than us—bigger than you.
You couldn’t stop it all on your own, even if you did every impossible thing you’re thinking of right now. ”
Aiden stares at me, struggling to keep his attention honed with the million other thoughts racing through his mind, likely ones that are darker than I know.
“You’re not alone,” I remind him, rubbing my thumb over his skin. “You have me, this pack, and when we face them, it won’t be our pack alone. We can do this.”
I don’t know how. I can hardly start putting together how—but we always do.
Aiden calms. The red in his eyes fades, almost returning to their dusky black—until he looks at Katerina. In a mere moment, they ignite all over again, but this time, with anticipation.
“You could take us there,” he whispers, the idea taking root almost immediately.
“Aiden,” I warn, dread returning, not for the lives that might be lost, but for something else. “Think clearly.”
“I am,” he replies, but he’s still staring at Katerina like she’s his ticket out of this. “A few of us can go to scout what we’re heading into. We’ll get a sense of their numbers and exactly where they’re holing up. We won’t engage. They won’t even know we were there.”
“It’s too risky,” I say, trying to regain his attention. “Leaving the pack right now would be extremely irresponsible. We need to stay here, where we at least know it’s safe, before we put anyone in danger.”
“But we will be putting people in danger—our people,” he argues, jaw tight. “I’d rather know what that looks like so we can have a chance at bringing them all home.”
I grimace. I want that too, more than anything, but we’d lose the chance at any of that if we took stupid risks.
“We have a Council warrior here, and others on the way, Aiden,” I remind him, trying to rein him in. “We’re testing fate just being up here with Katerina.”
“There’s no law against knowing witches,” he counters. “If there were, we would’ve never gone out there to look for her.”
“Sure, but I highly doubt the Council would be fine with us knowing the witch that slaughtered her entire coven.” I glance at Katerina. “No offence.”
She raises a hand. “None taken. But they still don’t know it was me.”
“We could be back before anyone even notices we’re gone,” Aiden insists, nowhere near giving in. “Just the two of us, if you’re worried about the warrior. Emitt and Beckett can keep her distracted.”
“That’s even more foolish,” I groan. “Just us and Katerina?”
“That’s more than enough if something does happen—which it won’t,” he counters. “Katerina on her own is a fucking tank.”
“That was before she used all her energy to deal with her own issues, Aiden. And you can’t just offer her up like that. You haven’t even asked.”
“She doesn’t mind,” Aiden says without a modicum of hesitation, as if he knows with one hundred per cent certainty that she’d be willing to perform a whole recon mission when she’d only just told us she was leaving. “Do you?”
We both glance at her. She looks a little stunned for a moment, then shrugs. “I mean, not really. Plus, I may be down on the dark magic side, but I’m full tank on the ancestral front. I’m the only one left to receive it, ’cause, you know … they’re all, like, dead.”
“Perfect!” Aiden hoots, while I slide a hand over my face and silently pray to Goddess for wisdom.
“We called a meeting, Aiden,” I remind him. “We have to prepare for it—prepare others for it.”
“We’ll be back in a flash,” he promises like he’s the magical one.
“I could get us close without anyone sensing us,” Katerina adds, looking between us. “As long you guys stay quiet and don’t do anything.”
“Would you be able to do that?” I ask Aiden’s directly. “Would you be able to sit still and do nothing if you saw a nest full of rogues right in front of you?”
He doesn’t answer right away. Not because he doesn’t like the question, but because he actually has to think about it before answering.
Rogues were Aiden’s trigger. The mere mention of them stoked his rage, and while I know he’s eager to unleash it when we do face them, this isn’t the day. Pulling off a scouting mission without anyone knowing meant he couldn’t so much as growl, and I didn’t know if Aiden could do that.
“Yes,” he answers after a long moment. “I can.”
“You can?” I challenge, and he nods.
“I can, because anything else would put the pack in danger—put you in danger—and I’m not willing to take that chance.”
My heart thunders, beating faster like it might leap out of my chest for him. I blow out a breath and I shake my head. “This is a stupid decision, but I know you’ll go alone if I say no.”
Aiden grins, then glances at Katerina, who gives him a thumbs up. She’s back to her usual smiling self, and I can’t tell if that’s because of this impromptu mission or something else entirely.
“In and out,” I say, looking between them. “We’ll take a look, and then we’ll come back. I want to be standing right here in five minutes.”
“Yes, Dad,” Katerina drawls, rolling her eyes, her usual boredom and sass making a full return as Aiden smirks.
“Are we teleporting again?” he asks with a grimace that Katerina matches.
“Yes, but last time you threw up so …” She twists her lips before crooking a finger.
“I’ll make sure there’s nothing to come out.
” Both Aiden and I stall, not exactly enthused about how that phrasing, and Katerina groans.
“It won’t hurt. And I’ve already been in your head, so what’s there to be afraid of? ”
Reluctantly, I follow Aiden’s lead and step forward until we’re close enough for Katerina to place a hand over each of our abdomens. Warmth spreads from her palm and into my body—then immediate hunger takes its place.
“What the hell?” Aiden grumbles as Katerina draws her hand away. “Why would you have a spell like that on deck?”
“So no one can force you to throw anything up,” she replies. But before I can question the morbidity of that statement, she beams at us. “Ready? Set. Let’s go.”
The world shrinks in on itself, becoming a fine line that slips through a needle’s eye, then expands and spits us out somewhere new. My mind and soul whirl, struggling to reconnect in this unnatural setting we’ve travelled to by no natural means.
My stomach strains, contracting in an attempt to empty itself, but there’s nothing there—so I just end up gagging. So does Aiden. Katerina winces but focuses on surveying our surroundings.