Chapter 24 #2
My wolf howled his displeasure. Inside the town line, the Ravenspell’s wards protected Thorne. Out here, she was officially in human territory. Unwarded. Exposed. Absolutely anything could go wrong.
About fifteen minutes later, Ricky eased off the gas. He reached down and killed the headlights, plunging the truck into absolute darkness. He navigated the last mile by moonlight and memory, the truck’s suspension groaning as the asphalt finally disappeared, replaced by deep, rutted gravel.
“We’re here,” Ricky murmured, throwing the truck into park behind a massive, overgrown embankment, hiding us from sight.
I glanced out the window and scoped what little I could see.
But what I did see didn’t impress me. Truly, it looked like little more than a rundown building sitting in a massive clearing surrounded by tall weeds.
Stacks of rotted, waterlogged timber littered the property, while an old, rusted crane loomed over the far side of the yard.
When Evander first chose this spot for the exchange, I hadn’t thought much of it. Now I found myself wondering why. It wasn’t anything special. Was it simply because this was the closest spot to Eternity Falls? Or did this location hold some sort of special meaning to him?
I threw open the back door and climbed out, straining my senses.
Movement came from behind me, and I turned in time to watch as Cassian and Felix jogged toward us, the SUV hidden in the nearby trees.
They moved with a stealthy silence I’d never heard from them before.
Good, we didn’t want to broadcast their presence here until absolutely necessary.
Once they came to a stop next to the truck, I rapped my knuckles against Ricky’s door. He opened his window and leaned an arm out.
“You three stay here,” I said, my voice quiet just in case.
“What?” Cassian breathed. “No. We’re coming with.”
Great. Another Wolfe I had to argue with. Thankfully, Ricky spoke up and saved me the trouble.
“Calder and Thornicle are going in. We’re hanging back so we don’t set off any alarm bells. We go in when the fighting starts.”
Cassian’s gaze shot to his sister, who was now climbing out of the passenger seat, the leaden box in hand. A deep frown darkened his features, and he took a step toward her.
“Don’t start,” Thorne snapped, her anger perfuming the air.
I stepped in to stop the fight before it started.
“Split up and take the perimeter. Keep an ear and eye out for any trouble. Stay downwind and keep an eye out for magical wards as well. Ricky, you stay here. You’re in charge of keeping the truck running in case we need to bust our asses out of here. ”
“And the Ravenspells?” Ricky asked.
I sighed and scanned our surroundings, but there was no sign of them. “Selene assured us we wouldn’t see them, but they’d be here. We have to trust that they won’t abandon us. Their goal is to take down Wren. Evander and Adrian are our responsibilities.”
Cassian’s jaw tightened, his amber eyes flashing in the dark. He pinned Thorne with a glare that would have withered a weaker wolf. But Thorne just glared right back.
“You don’t take any chances,” Cass said. “I don’t care what happens in there, you stay alive, alright?”
Her expression softened, and she simply nodded.
I stepped closer to the group, feeling that familial bond flare within me.
“Listen to me,” I said, power flaring in my blood.
“When this kicks off, my sole focus is going to be Adrian. We all know how strong bear shifters are. And this one is a killer. Taking him down is going to require everything I have.” I locked my focus on Cassian and held his gaze.
“I won’t be able to watch Thorne’s back while she’s handling Evander. ”
Understanding lit in his eyes. “We’ve got her, Calder. Don’t worry. We aren’t going to let anything happen to our sister.”
I nodded, then reached out my right hand.
I almost didn’t expect Cassian to take it, but he did without the slightest hesitation.
I pumped it once, then yanked him in for a bro-hug.
“Don’t worry about the witches. Let the Ravenspells do whatever they need to in order to take down Wren.
Don’t even worry about me with Adrian. I can handle this.
But if that human so much as makes a single aggressive move toward Thorne—”
“We take him out,” Cass said.
My gaze shot to Felix, who nodded. Then to Thorne, who simply sighed and shook her head while muttering, “Boys.”
Without a word, she turned and began to climb the embankment.
I followed, but with every step, the tension in my body grew.
I’d pictured this moment quite a few times.
The moment I won back my freedom and finally cut Evander out of my life for good.
Never—and I mean never—did I imagine this moment with Thorne at my side.
Not because I didn’t trust her, or think her capable, but because I’d planned to keep her apart from all this.
In my eyes, keeping her safe meant keeping her away from Evander.
Yet here we were, traipsing toward danger. Together.
“You ready for this?” I asked her.
“Are you?”
Hardly. But we were here, and this was happening. So, I needed to put all my doubts and fears aside and focus on winning.
We quickly reached the edge of the abandoned lumber mill and entered. Moonlight spilled through the half-missing roof across the cracked concrete floor. Good. At least we had some light to see by.
“Evander,” I called out, my voice bouncing off the steel walls.
Silence. Nothing but the sound of the wind whistling through the building.
Then the slow, rhythmic sound of hard-soled shoes on concrete.
The footsteps came from the far end of the building, and there, in the shadows, emerged a figure.
Evander slid into the moonlight—a middle-aged human with thinning hair, dressed in an expensive, tailored gray suit that looked completely out of place in this old lumber mill. He looked like a near-retiring accountant, yet he was the most dangerous person I knew.
Thorne shot me a glance as though to say, “This guy?”
I understood her confusion. I’d thought the same when I’d first met him. But I’d soon learned one didn’t need to look dangerous to be deadly. It was the mind that mattered, not that outward appearance.
Evander stopped about twenty feet away. He slid his hands into his pockets, and a smug smile spread across his face.
“Calder,” he said, his voice smooth and devoid of any power. “You’re late. I was beginning to think you might stand me up.”
“There were some complications,” I said. “Namely, some nasty carnivorous plants that tried to take a few bites out of my ass.”
“How charming,” he said. He tilted his head, his pale gaze taking in Thorne. “And I see you’ve brought your lovely wife for me to finally meet in person.”
My wolf’s hackles immediately rose. It took me a moment to gather enough brain cells to respond. The beast within wanted nothing more than to attack this human and kill him here and now, if only to protect Thorne.
“She wanted to meet the man who holds her life in his hands,” I said.
“Naturally.”
As though that was her cue, a second figure materialized out of the shadows and strode toward Evander, stopping right beside him.
Wren Ravenspell. She wore all black, and her eyes glowed with a sickly, bright red light. One that had Thorne’s breath catching.
I shot her a glance. Her entire body had stiffened, and her eyes were wide as the full moon.
“What’s wrong?” I muttered under my breath.
“Her eyes…” was all Thorne could say.
The stench of her fear clogged my nose and sent my wolf into a full-on rage. Something was wrong. Thorne was trembling so hard, I could practically feel it through the floor.
“It’s not her,” Thorne whispered to herself. “It’s not her. She’s dead.”
I stole a step toward Thorne and touched her hand. She practically jumped out of her skin the second my fingers grazed hers. She looked at me, but I wasn’t sure she was seeing me. The whites of her eyes were nearly as bright as the moonlight.
“Thorne,” I hissed. I moved, stepping sideways to physically block Wren from her line of sight. Something about the witch’s eyes had set her off. I studied Wren’s unnatural eyes, and Thorne’s words from last night came back to me. I see him and his witch with her hollow red eyes.
Hollow red eyes.
Was Wren the witch that had helped Trystan torment Thorne? Thorne never mentioned a name when she told me the story.
A fresh wave of anger surged within me. My wolf clawed at my ribs, roaring at me to shift, to rip out the witch’s throat before she could so much as lay a hand on Thorne.
“I’m waiting, Calder,” Evander said, unaware—or uncaring—of Thorne’s panic attack. “Bring me the box.”
“The files first,” I snarled, wanting nothing more than to snatch my mate and run for the hills.
I didn’t want her here, especially if Wren was the witch who’d harmed Thorne. But we had to play this out. We couldn’t leave without the files, without Evander’s guarantee of her and her family’s safety.
“Our deal was always the files for the artifact,” I continued, squeezing Thorne’s hand.
“Such distrust,” Evander crooned. “I would think our time together would assure you of my earnestness.”
He outstretched his arm and a manila envelope materialized in his hand, thanks to Wren. He took another step toward me, his arm now stretched out with the files, offering them to me.
I turned and placed myself in front of Thorne, then cupped her face. Her unfocused eyes looked right through me, and her lips moved in a soundless whisper.
“Baby, look at me,” I whispered. “I need you here with me.”
Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn’t respond.
Okay. Then I would take care of this myself. Thankfully, Adrian wasn’t here. That made things simpler. I would make the exchange, then get us both the hell out of here, for her sake.
I grabbed the box and gently pulled it from her grasp. She didn’t so much as twitch.
“I’ll take care of this,” I promised. “That witch won’t ever harm you again.”
“Not her,” Thorne whispered. “It’s not her. She’s dead.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant. But I couldn’t focus on it right now. Instead, I gripped the box and closed the distance between me and Evander.
The trade-off happened fast. We both snatched at our respective prizes, then I hurried back to Thorne, still lost to her panic attack. Her breath came fast, her chest heaving, and her pulse was erratic. I needed to get her the hell out of here.
But before we could move, a deep snarl echoed through the warehouse.
I whipped around in time to watch as a third massive shadow lumbered through the nearby hole in the wall.
Adrian.
The bear shifter had already shifted and stood in his nine-hundred-pound bear form. He was a mountain of muscle and dark fur, and he let out a bone-rattling roar, his pitch-black eyes locked dead on me.
“Kill them,” Evander said, his voice devoid of any tone.
Wren laughed like a hyena—a sound that lifted every hair on my body—while Adrian shook out of his fur.
“Evander!” I shouted. “You have your artifact. I delivered.”
“So did I. You and your wife have your freedom,” he countered. “For the five seconds it’ll take them to kill you. It was nice knowing you, Calder. Truly. Thank you for all you did for me. It’s because of you that this is even possible.”
Without another word, Evander flipped open the lid and reached inside the box.
“Wait!” I shouted, but of course he didn’t listen.
When Evander drew back his hand, he had the gem gripped between his fingers.
Light imploded, and all hell broke loose.