Chapter Twenty-NineSalvator
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Salvator
It didn’t matter how far I travelled, all roads led back to this place: a volcano that had claimed too many lives to energise spells through sacrifice.
Even though I was surrounded by the white city of Arequipa and people going about their business, Misti stood distant and proud, as if she oversaw everything with disdain. Her tip was white with snow to match the white clouds that surrounded her.
I felt a thrum in my solar plexus, pulling me toward her, almost as if I could feel the power that Luna had spoken about.
“Dominic’s men are in place,” Luna said, appearing beside me. “They’ve been tracking the warlocks living in this city.”
“Looking back, every time I ordered men to search this place, I always diverted them to another mission.” I shrugged one shoulder. “It makes sense now since this place is crawling with them.” I suppressed a shiver as I felt the weight of eyes watching us.
“I’m sure most of the residents here belong to the army of our enemy,” Luna replied, linking her arm through mine. “There are symbols engraved on the walls, hidden by murals and plants. They are designed to repel humans.”
“We used to live in temporary structures and caves,” I said, taking another look at this place. “Now, the immortals are building cities so they can hide in plain sight.”
“Says the man who owns several luxury homes and state-of-the-art facilities with modern technology,” Luna teased, bumping me with her shoulder.
I shot her an exasperated glare, even though she grinned up at me unrepentantly. “I spent too many years living in caves or ditches and eating things I would rather not remember. We all deserve a little luxury in our old age.”
Her hand landed on my abdomen to rub up and down, and I had to grind my back molars together before I growled in pleasure. “I think you still have a few years left in you before you need to retire and sit beside an open fire in your slippers.”
I glanced away, my lips twitching, because I could envisage the two of us growing old together surrounded by grandchildren who filled our home with love.
“We’ve identified tunnels under the city,” Jethro’s voice sounded in my ear. “There are multiple entrance points from major buildings across the city. Rats tend to return to the sewers.”
My gaze met Luna’s and her chin lifted as if she was steeling herself.
“Do we know where they lead?” I asked as if I was talking to Luna.
“I’m about to release drones so Tarrack can scout the terrain before I send men in,” Jethro replied.
Every instinct inside me screamed that I should be the first into those tunnels leading a team, but time had taught me that as the alpha of this pack, our enemy would be watching me. One false move and everyone could be dead.
Luna tugged me into walking, manoeuvring us toward tourist stalls to peruse what they were selling. Half coconut shells and rocks bore the name of this place, some with the Nazca symbols on them. Another stall sold hand-carved wooden hummingbirds hanging on plastic wires from a rack and wooden totem poles sat in rows on the table.
Peru was famous for llamas and alpacas, photographs of them on Machu Picchu. The wool from alpacas was hypoallergenic, and so stalls tended to be filled with knitted socks, hats, and finger puppets of well-known cartoon characters. I randomly picked up a few and handed them to the stall owner, along with some Sol to pay for them. I didn’t need the items, but these people were humans working hard to earn money for their families, and I respected their effort.
Luna had moved onto a crystal stall, and was chatting away to the woman who owned it about the benefits of black tourmaline. Most of the crystals sold in these markets were harvested from the land we stood on, and every one of them were part of my homeland. She selected several long, thin pieces that looked like wands before moving onto the quartz section. The stall owner nearly fell over herself to serve a customer with such a large order.
I casually watched the marketplace as if I was bored shopping, but every synapse in my body was vibrating with tension since my mate was standing exposed. Danger lurked everywhere I looked, and it took all my willpower not to react and drag her ass back to somewhere safe. My attention returned to Luna as she finished her purchases, and I handed the woman a handful of notes to pay for Luna’s crystals. Her smile revealed several missing teeth as she kept thanking me.
Many lycans looked down on humans, but there had been times during the war that humans saved my life, or fed me when I was starving. We were all on this planet for a reason.
I took the heavy bag filled with crystals and grabbed Luna’s hand to ensure she didn’t wander off again, navigating us toward where I had parked my car.
“First drone’s released,” Jethro’s voice sounded in my ear.
“Connecting remotely,” Tarrack replied. “Visual transmitting to phones.”
We reached the car in time for me to watch what was being sent to the secure channel on my phone. Luna leaned over my shoulder to watch the drones moving through the darkness in the tunnels.
“Those are too big to be tunnels,” Luna said. “They are corridors leading to an underground village.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention while I watched the drones move until they entered a large cavern, revealing a large habitation area with an open fire, and a domiciliary area to the side that had cubicles for people to sleep.
“It reminds me of where we lived during my service to the Empire,” I said. “We didn’t have homes, but small areas big enough to sleep and nothing more. Many didn’t even have anything to sleep on.” It seemed that those ruling this side of the war hadn’t evolved much, but then those in power rarely saw life from the point of view of those beneath them.
Luna’s hand curved around mine, her head resting on my shoulder. Her presence soothed the rage my wolf felt at the memories accosting us, calming him effortlessly. I watched the images on the screen, pressure building in my chest as the drones found an area where they kept prisoners, their bodies and spirits broken. The network continued down a series of tunnels, each stretching out into an open area some for magic users to live in and some for lycan guards. It must have taken them decades to hollow out this place, slowly forming a civilisation on top of this to hide what was under the ground.
“You need to be careful,” Luna said in a low tone, and I turned my head to stare at her. It was only then that I realised my claws were fully out and my canines lowered. Everything looked too bright, which meant my eyes were glowing.
“I’m not leaving you,” I muttered.
“Yes, you are,” Luna said. “Our paths diverge here. I need to follow the one that leads to the volcano because there is a mystery there connected to void magic. You need to do what you excel at, and that is saving lost souls.” She lifted our joined hands to her lips and kissed the top of my wrist.
“We promised to stay together,” I replied, already knowing I wouldn’t win this argument.
Luna shook her head slowly, her eyes filled with sadness even though love shined brightly in them. “You will never forgive yourself if you don’t try and save those who are enslaved down there. This is the last step on my journey, and there are those who have walked beside me who are waiting for me at the end. Mother priestess and Cybele will be watching over me and guiding me.”
I growled and glanced away. The only one who should be protecting my mate was me, my wolf didn’t trust anyone else because no one would ever love her the way we did.
Her hand tightened around mine. “We need to meet the others and split off into teams.”
I spun so quickly that her eyes widened and mouth opened in an O shape. My hand that she had been holding curved around her throat and I tilted her head back. “You are mine, Luna. I don’t care about fate or prophecies, all that matters is that you survive. Anyone touches a black hair on your head, and I will submerge them in a world of pain and misery until they can’t remember their own name.”
Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, and I memorised every tiny nuance that created the woman who owned my worthless heart. I leaned forward, my lips brushing against hers in a tantalising silent vow. No matter what happened, I would find Luna and claim that happy ending that eluded us the last time. I had served my time trying to save my people and those who lived on this land, and we deserved some peace and happiness.
My organisation may have been spellbound, but the vast network that Luna was part of had been operating in the shadows undetected for years. All of our safehouses and businesses were known, but it seemed that they owned buildings across the globe to ensure the safety of their people wherever they were.
I wasn’t sure whether I should be impressed or terrified at the sheer size of the structure that could accomplish that sort of dominance.
Their building was on the outskirts of the city in an area that wouldn’t be frequented much by tourists. I felt the familiar touch of Luna’s magic as I approached the building pressing against my skin as I drove through the enchantment cloaking this place. Behind the charade was a bustling hive of activity, which was hidden from prying eyes. Soldiers in full battle attire moved rapidly to load up vehicles or congregate into groups ready for a command.
I parked the car, gripping the steering wheel and staring straight ahead. “Take no risks,” I said, fighting the urge to stick the car in gear and drive far away from here.
Her small hand landed on my thigh. “We both have a role to play, and then we are going to travel the world together and see all the miracles of nature that I wished you had been there to witness with me.”
I nodded once, not daring to speak again as I swallowed my emotions. The man who stepped out of this car was a cold-blooded killer, the man sitting here was a lover and mate. Those two sides warred inside me, my wolf howling the loudest in the competition. He didn’t care about the upcoming war, his entire focus on our mate and our baby she was carrying. Nothing else mattered.
“I want that, too,” I replied in a low voice, knowing all the magical creatures here had heightened hearing, and my relationship was off limits to them. My fingers found Luna’s, my touch saying all the words that I couldn’t vocalise right now, my grasp crushing hers. I felt her fingers contracting to return my sentiment.
These were the last few moments of the calm before the storm, and I sat in silence drinking in her presence. It wasn’t enough, but then a thousand years wouldn’t be.
My phone rang, breaking through this private moment. My eyes met Luna’s and I lifted her hand to my lips to press a kiss to the pulse point on her wrist before I climbed out of the car. The man who emerged from the car had all his emotions locked down as I became the cold-blooded killer I needed to be to lead my pack.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luna move across the courtyard toward where the magic users were gathered. Jethro exited a door, his phone in his hand, walking in my direction when he saw me.
“I was just ringing you,” he said, pointing at me with his phone. “One of our buildings has just been attacked. Tarrack’s motion alarms were activated and he was able to watch them.” We had evacuated a lot of our properties and our men are either here or in another secure location that Aisha doesn’t know about.
Luna’s organisation had been a shocking discovery. It had been spreading across the globe when none of us had been looking. This network wasn’t about domination, it was about support and protection, and the world of creatures needed that as humanity spread across the globe. We were stronger together.
“Did they get anything?” I asked, walking into the coolness of the building.
“No, all our technology is in offsite underground storage facilities. We swept the compounds when we left.”
Balor had lycans in his ranks who could track our scents, so we cleansed our bases regularly through the air conditioning system when they were empty.
Tarrack was already set up, surrounded by a wall of monitors, his fingers moving rapidly over the keyboard in front of him. Images flared to life on more monitors behind him when he noticed me, and I witnessed the moment our facility was raided.
“They went straight to specific rooms, including yours,” Tarrack said, clicking the top of his pen and twirling it around his fingertips before clicking it again.
My eyebrows shot up but I didn’t say anything, merely continued to watch the screens.
“What was in that part of the base?” Jethro tapped one of the screens that had a soldier in a black mask pulling drawers out and lifting floor mats.
“One of the guest quarter rooms,” Tarrack replied, returning to typing. “Last occupied by… one of the witches that we had unfortunately trusted.” He returned to clicking his pen.
“What are they looking for?” Jethro asked, standing in front of the monitor to watch where they were searching, his finger following the movement of the soldier. “And why only certain rooms?”
“I have a theory on that,” Tarrack said. “I’ve been working with Maia on security settings these past few days to try and incorporate a way to determine if one of our wolves have been spellbound. She often mentions needing a sample, and when I queried that, she said something of the person you want to create a spell around. For example, a hair, nail, or piece of skin.”
“Would they have needed that to whammy us?” Jethro asked.
“I believe so,” I replied, folding my arms across my chest. “It would make sense to create a strong spell to influence us.”
“Personal artifacts from you can be used to create a voodoo doll,” Luna said from the doorway of the room, my back prickling in awareness at her presence. “Spellbinding a person is one matter, but being able to torture or kill someone remotely is another matter entirely.”
All eyes in the room snapped to where Luna and Maia stood.
“My team is heading out,” Luna added, moving forward to view the monitors. “I can spellbind a person just by standing beside them, but if I wanted to create maximum damage to someone, I would need a hair, nail, or body fluid.”
“That is slightly terrifying,” Jethro replied. “I feel like shaving all my hair off and filing my nails down.”
I agreed with Jethro, and considering there were certain rooms targeted in our base, Luna’s assumption sounded more realistic than spellbinding. I had never liked the sensation of magic, but I was beginning to realise in the wrong hands, it was even more dangerous than I thought.
“Who’s on your team?” I asked, needing to assure myself that she would be safe, and if I wasn’t there, then I wanted the strongest warriors beside her.
“Maia and Owen,” Luna replied. “We’re going to drive as close to the volcano as possible and walk one of the ancient pathways.”
The vampire was strong, but it was daylight outside. Maia had proved herself making potions, but that wasn’t the same as fighting an enemy in hand-to-hand combat.
“It’s light outside, and I hate to point this out, but vampires are allergic to sunlight,” I said.
“Don’t believe everything you read in a book,” Owen said from where he sat at a desk over in a corner behind Tarrack. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“Take some of my men with you,” I said, ignoring the vampire. “They’ll protect you in a fight.”
“It’s very sweet that you’re trying to protect your mate, but we’ve survived many wars,” Maia replied. “There are not many obstacles we can’t overcome.” Her grin was filled with mischief, and even though she was tiny, I saw her power shining from behind her eyes.
“Stay safe out there, and no playing hero.” Luna stood on her tiptoes to kiss me on the cheek on the way past.
Owen pushed himself to his feet, and I glared at him. “That’s my mate,” I said to him, nodding at the retreating figure of Luna. “I will hunt you and your kind to extinction if a hair on her head is harmed.” I folded my arms across my chest to give him the full force of my bad temper.
“You don’t even know what my species is, so I doubt you could hunt all of us down. Luna has been my friend a long time, and we’ve both saved each other’s asses more times than I can remember. She’s family, and that means more to me than a wolf’s threats.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered past me.
I had the feeling that I was clueless to who was accompanying my mate. Fuck, I barely knew who Luna was anymore, but that didn’t stop me loving her.
“Soldiers in the tunnels are on the move,” Tarrack said, diverting my attention from my pondering over the magical people in our midst.
“Tell our teams to get ready,” I commanded. “We leave in ten.”
There was no more time for questions or planning. Surprise was our best tactic, and all that was left was to seek vengeance for the crimes that had been committed against us.