Chapter 15
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
SAMANTHA
The report didn’t have anything about what they were fighting exactly—which made sense since that was why I was coming to help them—but it explained why the Wayfarer pack got called to Charleston in the first place.
The FBI had alerted them to a series of suspicious murders. That surprised me. I knew the packs had been working with the authorities on supernatural things ever since supernaturals came out into the open six years ago, but I didn’t realize how closely they worked together. The attached printed email exchange between the FBI and Max was pretty familiar, not as professional as I would have expected.
“It sounds like the wolves that were killed were isolated.” I circled that little piece of information on the document in front of me. “They were attacked when they were patrolling alone, but you always stick in groups. Why the change?”
“It’s been a rough week,” Max said as he walked up from the back of the plane. He was chowing on a thick sandwich, piled high with roast beef. His eyes were back to his normal human blue, which I guessed meant he’d dealt with his disappointment or anger or whatever it was he’d been feeling that set him on edge. “But yeah, we are usually in groups of no less than three. When Garrett and I first got the call to come to Charleston, we only brought a few guys with us. The first night on patrol, we got split up almost immediately. There had been too many calls that were routed to us, and we decided while doing our initial patrols, it was okay to split up. But then Peter died.” He set his sandwich down on the table and brushed his hands off. “It just got worse from there.”
“From what I could tell last night, something is drawing the pack apart,” Tessa said. “It’s like something was isolating us.”
I knew what that was. “That’s oppression.”
“What?” Phoenix asked.
“Oppression is a way demons manipulate mortals via the spiritual realm. Whatever is doing this is separating them to pick off wolves. Or humans. Whatever gives it the most power.” I thought about it for a second as I flipped through the rest of the folder’s contents. “With all the wolves around, the demon will be drawn to them, not the humans. Werewolves have way more juice than any human.”
Tessa gave Dastien a look, and their bond lit up.
I ignored their silent conversation while I flipped through more pictures of bodies. Phoenix let out a little noise.
I immediately slapped the folder closed. His face had gone a little pale. “You okay?”
“What the hell happened to them? That last one was dismembered. I thought demons couldn’t do that. They’re not even on this realm.”
This was about to get really tricky. “I wish that were true, but honestly, it depends on a lot of factors. Demons fall under a huge umbrella along with so many different things that could be of this realm.”
Phoenix turned to Tessa and Dastien as he reached over and gripped my hand. “Is it always this dangerous for her?”
The plane’s cabin went silent.
Dang it. He was worried for me, and I got that. I wanted to answer him, but I didn’t want to lie either. I honestly didn’t know what to say. If I said yes, that wouldn’t be exactly true. But I couldn’t say it wasn’t true either.
“Not always ,” Tessa said before I could figure out what to say.
“That’s not really answering the question.” Phoenix threaded his fingers with mine. His hand was warm but rough, and I liked the feel of it probably a little too much.
“For the most part, what I do is not that big of a deal. As long as I don’t run into my father, I can handle it. It’s usually more along the lines of what you saw in that apartment six years ago.”
He rubbed his thumb along the back of my hand. “Scary, dangerous, but not deadly.”
“Right. I mean—if something goes badly, it could always end up deadly, but I’ve been doing this for a long time. It’s second nature to me now. I also don’t usually go into unknown situations like I did that night. I get asked to help so many people that I don’t usually get the cops called on me anymore, let alone arrested.”
“Arrested?” Max nearly shouted the word.
“Yeah. That sucked,” I said and Phoenix laughed.
“It really did,” he said to me softly.
“Wait.” Max rose from where he’d been perched to get in Phoenix’s face. “You let her get arrested?”
“Max!” I dropped Phoenix’s hand and stood, shoving Max away.
Max was strong enough that he didn’t have to back down, but he let me push him. Which was a good thing because I’d had enough of his attitude. “Phoenix didn’t let anything happen. There were guns on us, and we were technically trespassing, and…” Why was I engaging in this? “You know what. The details don’t matter.” I didn’t owe him—or anyone else—an explanation.
But I did owe Phoenix one, who currently looked like he was ready to punch Max.
To be honest, I felt the same way. I wanted to be patient with Max because he’d lost pack members and he clearly wasn’t acting like himself, but he was seriously pissing me off.
My body grew hot, and I knew I needed to calm down. So, I took a deep breath and sat again, focusing on Phoenix. “Back to what we were talking about.” Where had I been…oh yeah. “Some of the stuff the pack brings me is a little more dangerous, but I’ve always got a group of werewolves—sometimes fey, sometimes witches—watching my back. So, it’s not like I’m going in there alone like I did with you when I was a kid.”
I looked at Max. “We were both a lot younger, and I didn’t have the backing that I do now. You’ve seen me go into places where people get pissed. If you weren’t there to help smooth things over, how do you think it would go?”
Max gave me a nod. “I have a pretty good idea. Sorry for overreacting. I’m a little on edge.”
“Don’t worry about it, man,” Phoenix said. “I can see you’ve had a really bad time.” He motioned to the pictures.
“Losing pack members is always hard. So many…”
“All good. How many are in the Wayfarer pack?” Phoenix asked Max.
“In general?” Max said from his perch on the buffet table. “Maybe fifty or so. But if you mean in Charleston right now, I originally came with four guys—so five in total—but after the first night, I called in fifteen more. Now, there are thirty Wayfarers there. We can call in the rest, but I’d rather not. They’re busy at the moment. If we need more numbers, it might be better to draw from another pack of cazadores—that’s what we call the elite werewolves. Wayfarer is just one of the packs of hunters, but there are others. The Wayfarer pack has some of the toughest fighters, though, and that’s not me bragging. It’s a fact. Think of the cazadores as highly trained military, but the Wayfarers are the SEALs of the werewolf world—the best of the best. We’ll fight for her. No doubt about that, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I reached for Phoenix’s hand. “I’ll be fine. I always am.”
He gave me a nod, but I saw doubt in his eyes.
I knew I had doubts of my own, but not for the same reason he did. I was terrified of him leaving or getting hurt or worse.
I closed the folder and shoved it in my backpack. I was glad to be done with the horrific pictures.
“You have any ideas?” Dastien asked, leaning forward with so much hope in his eyes.
I chewed on my lip for a second before letting out a big sigh. I hated to let him down. “No. Not really. There are just too many options to narrow it down, and Gabe is…” Gone.
Just gone.
And just like that, the piece of my heart that was missing him ached.
Usually, I’d ask him for some advice. Sometimes he had nothing. Other times, he’d know right away just by looking at the pictures. Usually, he’d go into the fight with me.
But not this time.
Tessa took a cookie from her plate, then nudged the plate across the table to me. “How are you doing with that?”
I took a cookie, but I couldn’t bring myself to take a bite. “Drowning in guilt.” I tried to smile, but I was sure it looked more pained than anything else. I put the cookie down on the table. “I’m getting through it, though. I’m trying to figure out a way to help him without killing myself in the process, but…” I shook my head and looked out the window at the clouds and the ground far below. “I just hope he’s okay.” Although, I couldn’t imagine how he was.
Eli might’ve been right—that Hell was home for Gabe—but it still didn’t feel right to leave him there. Who knew what my father was doing to him.
As we got closer to Charleston, I busied myself by getting my earbuds from my backpack and untangling the cord. I’d used them a few days ago in the hospital exorcism, but I’d just shoved them in my bag after. Not my best move.
“Why don’t you have wireless headphones?” Phoenix asked.
I did. I had a few pairs, but I always went back to wired. “They don’t work as well, and honestly, they mess with the electromagnetic energy around me. I don’t like the way that feels. There’s enough other stuff I can’t control—WiFi and whatnot—that interferes with what I do. Bluetooth is one of them. If I can eliminate even just one thing…” I kept working on untangling them. How in the world did they manage to get into such a knot? “My wired earbuds have never failed me.” I looked at him. “Unless I’m in a car or actively looking for something, they’re on when I travel.”
Once they were untangled, I plugged them in and cued up some music that I had downloaded, pausing it so I could finish gathering my things. I put my phone and earbuds on the table in front of me and pulled a belt bag from my backpack. I needed to load it with a few things before I got off the plane.
I dug through my backpack and pulled out one of my most important tools—holy oil. I studied the vial, trying to discern how I wanted to use it today. I wanted to put some on for protection, but then I didn’t because it might keep away the monster I was here to find.
“We putting that on?” Dastien asked.
I shook my head without looking up. I knew he hated it. The oil had a pretty strong smell, and werewolves were extremely sensitive to scent. “Not today. At least, not yet.” I dropped vial of oil into the belt bag, along with a vial of salt, a spray bottle of holy water, and a bigger cross. I tossed in my ID, a credit card, and some cash in the front zipper compartment of the belt bag, just so it was handy.
Was I forgetting anything?
I did a final search of my bag and decided I was good to go. If I needed something else, I’d have to just deal with it in the moment.
I zipped up the belt bag and slung it across my body, and then zipped my backpack, leaving it at my feet.
“What was in the vial?” Phoenix asked softly.
“Oh.” I looked up and realized he’d been watching me. “It’s holy oil. I was thinking about using it because unknown city and whatnot, but decided against it. I can’t exactly find a big bad demon if I’m keeping them away.”
“Got it,” he said, taking it as fact without any questions.
I wondered if he had more questions and he was just not asking them. He’d had a chat with Dastien about wolves when we boarded so I knew he didn’t have any trouble asking questions. So, I didn’t think he was hesitant to ask, but Phoenix had been shoved in the deep end of my crazy life. It was probably a good idea to explain myself more than usual.
That started now. “I like having the belt bag for smaller items that I might need to keep handy in a fight. The last thing I want to be doing is wrestling with a demon-ridden human while trying to find holy water at the bottom of my backpack.” I slipped the belt bag off again and opened it wide so he could see all the little pockets and compartments inside.
“I try to keep it packed really well, so I’m not digging for anything. I put the holy oil in there in case I change my mind. I also moved a few other supplies with it—some blessed salt. It neutralizes evil, but it’s also what’s used to make holy water.” I pulled the salt from its compartment and held up the bag, then put it right back in its spot.
“Holy water.” I held up the small, one-ounce spray bottle. “A little goes a long way. And this—” I pulled out the cross. “—isn’t a regular cross. It’s blessed with a holy relic stashed inside.” I showed him how the bottom screw came out to reveal a compartment. “The relic isn’t big, but size doesn’t matter with?—”
Dastien snorted.
I sent him a look. “Oh, grow up, moron,” I whispered, knowing that the werewolf would hear me. “Anyway…the one I’m wearing should be enough.” I tugged my cross necklace from under my shirt. “—but the other one makes a statement. Especially with whatever Frank put in it. It’s something he was Spirit led to find in Jerusalem. Whatever it is, demons hate it. Big time.”
“Got it. Do you ever use other things? You asked for a mirror once. A bucket of water.”
“Sometimes, but I’ve learned to do without a lot of things that I needed when I was younger. Although mirrors are great because I can open a portal through the mirror. It’s a one-way thing—nothing can climb out of it while I’m working—and it’s much, much harder for me to fall through it. But it has to be a big one.” I motioned with my hands, making a three-foot by three-foot square. “Big enough for the demon to fit through without me having to shove it. If that makes sense?”
“It does, actually.”
“But that’s not exactly practical to carry around. If it cracks, it won’t work. It has to be a solid plane.”
“Why did you need the water before? I’ve seen you do this a few times recently, and you never asked for water.”
I didn’t usually need it anymore, but I had a version of it as backup. I tapped my water bottle that I was about to hook onto my belt bag with a carabiner. “The water is for overheating. I used to ask for a bucket or a bin or something of water to stand in, but like with the mirror, I’ve found it to be not exactly practical and sometimes useless. I can’t stay still with my feet in a tub of water and chase after a demon, but when I was younger, I overheated pretty quickly when I was close to an open portal. The water is my way of trying to combat heat exhaustion. I mostly grew out of it, but I have a backup on the off chance it’s an issue. I don’t want a redo on passing out and waking up in Hell. That was beyond awful .”
Phoenix’s eyes were wide. “I bet.”
I tapped the bottle. “This is much easier and more effective. If I’m doing something and I’m getting too hot, I just toss it over my head so that I don’t pass out and end up in a dangerous situation. I don’t do it often, but there are times when it’s come in handy. I usually just hand it off to someone.”
“Great.” Phoenix reached over and took the bottle, tucking it inside the front pocket of his hoodie. “I got this.”
“You sure?” I knew he wanted to help, but I didn’t want to put too much on his shoulders.
“Yep. Absolutely.” There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation in his voice. “You do what you need to do and know that I’m here in case you need me. Mostly I want to make sure you don’t get stuck somewhere bad. I’m your backup. Right?”
“Right, but you have to be careful. We’re going into something really dangerous, and you’re human. I?—”
“Samantha. I’m going to be okay. We are going to be okay.”
I let out a shaky breath. Leaning on someone else was going to take some getting used to, especially since I’d been getting nervous about his reaction to whatever we were going to run into. But if something was killing wolves this easily, then there was a very real chance that both of us could get really hurt.
“I’m not great at explaining what I’m doing or why. I’m really, truly not great at asking for help. But know that I’ll try to let you know what I’m doing and if I need help. I won’t be great at it at first. So, it’s a good thing you’re pretty patient.”
He gave me that smile. The one that made everything in me race. “Thank you,” he said it as if he truly meant it. “I know it’s hard for you to trust, but I’m not going to let you down.”
Phoenix was something I’d never had before—a boyfriend that I could actually rely on.
Although boyfriend didn’t exactly feel like the right label for whatever we were to each other. We actually hadn’t talked about what we were supposed to call this. I should probably do that soon. Eventually.Whenever I had the guts to do it. I could only tackle so many things at once…
But regardless of what I called him, Phoenix wanted to be a part of my life, and even if I hadn’t said the words out loud yet, I’d definitely fallen for him. So, I’d be stupid not to let him in all the way.
He gave me a nod, as if he’d read every single one of my thoughts, even though I knew that he couldn’t have. “When we fly back home, I’ll be with you, and the only thing that will have changed is that I’ll be more all-in than I was when we got here.”
The fear that he’d be running home early to get away from me was bigger, deeper, more terrifying than any portal I’d ever opened, but I wanted him to be right. “How sure are you?”
“Fully. Completely. One-hundred-percent sure.”
My gaze caught Tessa’s. She gave me a look—a head-tilt, eyebrow-raise, half-smile look—as if she were telling me to just chill and give it a chance.
I was. More than giving him a chance, I was borderline obsessed with this man. Tessa didn’t get why I was worried, but I didn’t have a mate. That wasn’t what Phoenix and I were. We weren’t like Tessa and Dastien, a fated match. Phoenix could leave.
It might be hard with the tie, but he could.
And yet, every time he reassured me, the fear that this would end up with me nursing the biggest heartbreak of my life went down just a little bit.
Phoenix snagged my phone and earbuds from the table. He wrapped the cable around the back of my neck and handed me my phone. “There. Now they’ll be ready when you need them.”
“Thanks.”
He reached over and took my hand in his. “Don’t worry. You’ll figure out whatever is doing this, and then we’ll go home.”
If only it were that easy. I’d gone into battles before, and I’d seen wolves get injured. But I’d never seen one die. I had no idea how long it would take for me to figure out what this was, what the fight might look like, or how bad it would get before we got to go home. If we were lucky, we could be going home tomorrow. If we weren’t, it could be weeks. Maybe even longer.
A few minutes later, the plane touched down. I took a breath as the plane taxied and then parked. The copilot came out, opened the door, and lowered the staircase. The werewolves all jumped up from their seats, moving to the exit. Phoenix and I were the only ones with bags, and I usually liked to take a minute to prep.
Dastien snagged my suitcase. “See you down there.”
Tessa followed Dastien, pausing to give me a nod.
I gave one back to say Yeah. I’m coming. And I would. I just needed a second to prepare.
This was it.
It was time.
Time to get to work.
Phoenix rose. “You ready?”
No. Not at all. I was tired of fighting. I didn’t want to admit it to anyone—even myself—that I wasn’t fully recovered from my trip to Hell, but this wasn’t something I could quit. It wasn’t just my job. It was my personal mission. My calling. My destiny.
“Yep. Ready.” And I would be.
So, I got up, tugged on my backpack, and then followed Phoenix to the door. I let him go down the stairs first, while I popped my earbuds in and hit play.
God, let me see whatever is doing this. Let me find it fast without more deaths. Please.
Alright. Time to do this.
I opened up my self, my sight, my senses to the spiritual realm and took a step out of the plane.
And froze.
Everyone else kept going down the stairs. I heard the clank of the shoes on the metal steps, felt the rattle on the bottoms of my feet, but I couldn’t move.
All the air whooshed from my lungs. “ Motherfu ? — ”