Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Aster
The next morning, I wake relaxed. I slept with my head on Noah’s shoulder, nestled against his large, muscled body. He fed me pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans last night, then used his clever tongue between my legs before I fell asleep in his arms.
He must already be up. I smell the scent of bacon and pancakes from the kitchen. I jump in the shower and dress in one of Noah’s shirts again. I like having his fresh fir tree scent engulf me–it relaxes me.
I find Noah monitoring his phone screen as he works the knobs of a controller. I look over his shoulder to see an aerial view of the Celestial Cradle. I rest my hand on his shoulder, and he startles, twisting to look at me with a quick grin.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”
He pulls me onto his lap, and I twine my arms around his neck. “I’m just making a plan for getting back in.” He takes the drone higher and lifts it up above the treetops, then sweeps it over the entire compound.
“So this is the tower where Oriana is being kept?” He points at a tower and raises his brows.
I nod.
“Do you know how I can get in?”
My stomach tightens. “It will be heavily guarded. We’d need some kind of distraction.”
Noah shakes his head. “No we. I go alone. I don’t want you in danger.” He lands the drone in a tree to give me his full attention.
“No. I know the land, the buildings, and the people. You need me.”
A stubborn look comes over his face. “I won’t put you in danger again.”
I bare my teeth, gathering the power of the Grandmothers to me as I show him my wolf and my magic. “I will go with you.”
Fascination coats his stare as the corners of his lips twitch. He seems to drink me in, long enough that my fierceness starts to fade, and I blush.
“You’re so beautiful it hurts,” he says.
“I’m going with you.”
He frowns. “I don’t like it.”
I kiss his temple. “I know you don’t.” I try to think of how we might pull this off. The best thing would be if they believed Oriana and Liora escaped on their own. That way nothing would be traced back to Noah or the Blackthroats.
“Noah, what is your relationship with the Blackthroats? You said you aren’t one of them, but my visions showed me you near them.”
“I work for Moon Co.”
That tracks. “Brick Blackthroat’s company.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t join their pack?”
“Right. I’m a lone wolf. I came to New York to take down the Moonborn, and I didn’t want to involve them in that.”
“And they were okay with you not pledging your loyalty?”
He flicks his eyebrows. “No. Not really. Brick took offense. And I’m in deep shit with them right now over the tiara heist. I’m supposed to present myself by tonight, or I assume I will lose my job or maybe worse.”
I stare at Noah, shocked by the stress he’s been silently carrying. “Are you going to go?”
He frowns. “No. It was nice while it lasted, but it’s over now. I found the Moonborn.” His expression softens, and he reaches for my cheek. “I found you.”
“You’re not sorry? You didn’t like your job?”
He hesitates, and I know he does. I’m hit with a flash of Noah at a wedding, and he seems happy.
“Are they your friends?”
His expression closes off again, and he shrugs. “I thought we might be friends. They learned ASL.”
I blink in surprise. “That sounds like they care about you. I didn’t think the Blackthroats cared about anyone but the Blackthroats.”
I feel Noah’s sudden stab of pain as if it’s my own.
“No, they are good people. Brick comes off as a hard-ass, and he can be, but he was always more than fair with me. His mate is–was–” Noah winces, “a friend of mine.”
“Catherine Adalwulf was barely allowed a relationship with her children by their father.”
“Brick’s mother.” Noah nods. “I heard something about that. The war between packs has caused unnecessary suffering. But Brick isn’t like that.”
He pulls out his phone and scrolls before showing me the screen.
It’s a picture. I take the phone to study it better. It’s a group photo taken in some sort of conference room where everyone is dressed in business attire. Noah’s off to the side, but still included in the group. Even though it’s obviously a work function, everyone looks relaxed and happy.
“Is this the Blackthroat pack?”
“These are the top wolves–Moon Co’s Executive Team.
” Noah points to one young woman, a slim brunette with shoulder-length hair who’s looking up at a much bigger, bearded man.
She’s not the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, but there’s something about her face.
It’s almost as if she’s spotlit from above. I feel lighter just seeing her smile.
“That’s Madi, my friend,” Noah says. “She’s Brick’s mate. A human.”
Yes–the human. I remember our visions of a human who would be the Blackthroat’s downfall. Odin and Aiden were excited to have our enemies weakened.
Judging from this picture, it looks like the human is not only part of the pack but a central part. And the Blackthroats aren’t weaker, even though everyone in my pack would say Brick mated with a “lesser” species.
The Sight grips me, darkness swirling around me.
“Aster?”
My fingers spasm, and I hear a thud as Noah’s phone hits the carpet before I’m lost to the world.
A vision’s coming on. A big one.
Noah pulls me close, steadying me so I don’t hit the floor. Don’t fight it. Let it come, he murmurs in my mind.
His strength pours into me, and I feel so secure between his arms. I let my head lean against his shoulder. He steadies me when I quake with the power flowing through me.
The images flit through my mind so fast I nearly don’t catch them.
There’s Madi, sitting at a restaurant table with a stately older woman who looks a lot like Madi, except she has gray hair.
They’re both sharing a meal, and everything looks normal except…
there. In the corner lurks a narrow-faced woman with long brown hair, watching Madi with malice in her gaze.
Vera.
Her smoke-gray aura swirls over the humans, a green-black taint tinging the edges. The dense miasma covers Madi, blocking her from view.
Something horrible is happening. When the smoke clears, Madi is slumped over the table, and the older woman is screaming.
I gasp and come back to the room. I’m on the couch lying in the circle of Noah’s arms. He must have moved me here when the vision started.
“Easy.” Noah rocks me a little, soothing me as if I just had a nightmare. Which, I guess I did. “I’ve got you.”
His gentle tone helps my muscles relax a bit more, but I’m still aching with the force of the vision. My back is clammy with cold sweat. I rub my eyes, and let Noah help me sit up and drink some water.
He watches me with worried eyes but doesn’t pry. If Oma were here, she’d be impatient to hear what I Saw. Not Noah. He’s worried about me.
I sigh and lean into him, indulging in the moment. Noah’s got me. He’ll keep me safe.
But then I remember what I saw and lick my lips. “It’s Madi. Something terrible is going to happen.”
Noah’s forehead creases, but he simply rubs my back, soothing me. The rest of my muscles unclench, so I tell him the whole vision in a rush. For once, I don’t have to hold anything back.
Noah won’t let anything hurt me.
I describe Madi and the older woman and how Vera was lurking in the background.
He frowns and leaves my side to grab his phone. “Was this her?” He shows me another picture that looks like it was taken at the same event. Madi stands next to an elegant woman with short gray hair.
“Yes.” I didn’t see the woman’s features clearly but got a sense of who she was.
“That’s Eleanor Harrington, Madi’s grandmother. Madi didn’t have a relationship with her until recently, but now they’re close. Eleanor chose Madi as her successor to take over the family business.”
“So they’d eat together regularly.” Which means I don’t know if the vision I saw was from the past, present, or future.
“Something terrible is going to happen. I don’t know how exactly, but Vera plans to harm Madi.”
Noah’s forehead knots. I can smell the worry in his scent. Madi is his friend.
I lick my lips. I can’t believe what I’m about to say next. “We have to warn her.”