Chapter 20
Rourke looked around the table. Ulric, Geri, and Tala had bowls of chicken soup. Farkas and Due did not.
"Any theories on what this means?" Due cradled a cup of tea and was fiddling with the string to the teabag.
Rourke sighed. "I'm assuming it has a dual purpose. The main one is to scare the witches, show them what happens if they go behind Shixyll's back to reach out to us. The second is to show us, I guess."
"A bit extreme." Farkas scrunched his nose. "The guy asked for some cookies, and now he'll be forever scarred, given he doesn't get any infections and dies."
"Why dump him here, though?" Tala looked around the table.
"So we know what happens to witches we talk to?" Rourke wasn't sure.
"Yeah, but why should we care?" She held up a hand. "I mean why does she believe we'd care? If she's evil enough to do something like this to her people, she can't possibly believe we'll feel compassion."
Rourke frowned. "She knows Ezra, and he feels compassion."
Silence fell, then Geri nodded. "Yeah. He's a weak, flawed witch in their eyes because he has empathy."
"So it's to show Ezra what happens if he tries to help people by baking cookies?
" Due looked confused. "It was you who gave the witch the cookies, right?
Not Ezra." She looked at Rourke, and he nodded.
Ezra had been on the run at the time, but Shixyll couldn't know.
He didn't think everyone in the pack was aware.
Geri took another spoonful of soup, then he looked around the table. "How could she know we'd help him? By dumping him in the forest, she had to know Ezra wouldn't be the one to find him. Had she found one of us wounded on their land, I bet she would've killed us on the spot."
"Or taken us prisoner and used us as a bargaining chip." Farkas' voice was growly.
"Why give us a bargaining chip?" Tala shook her head. "It doesn't make sense. Either she wanted us to kill him and...what? Start the war again? Or did she want us to take him in and...prove something to Ezra?"
"I don't think the war has ended." This wasn't the kind of peace Rourke had envisioned. "We might not die on the battlefield, but this isn't peace."
"I agree." Ulric nodded. "This is a new kind of war, but I'm not sure we understand the rules."
Rourke pressed his lips together. "Maybe Ezra can explain their reasoning." Why wasn't he here yet? How long did it take to feed someone a bowl of soup? He focused on the mate bond. Ezra was worried, but he had been since Ulric had woken them, so nothing new there.
"Do we keep him?" Geri ate more soup.
"Ezra?" Tala looked confused.
"No, idiot, Jiprix. Will we be a werewolf pack with two witches? Ezra, I believe, is a good witch, but Jiprix? He's covered in piercings, tattoos, and braids. He won't make us chicken soup. He's more likely to turn us inside out."
"Is he the one who can?" Due met Rourke's gaze.
"I don't know." He tried to think back on what he knew about the clan and Jiprix. "He might be."
Due made a face of distaste. "Fuck. We can't keep him. I trust Ezra, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust him."
Rourke had to agree. "He stays in the hut for now. And maybe..." He didn't want to leave it unguarded, but he didn't want to risk one of his people being turned inside out either. There was no coming back from it.
* * * *
Ezra fed Jiprix one spoonful after the other. When the bowl was almost empty, Jiprix held up a hand in a stop sign.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, thank you." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply a few times.
"What happened?" Ezra wasn't sure he wanted to know.
Jiprix smiled only to halt the motion and wince as it tugged at the injured side of his face. "It was stupid."
Stupid? Ezra waited and after a few seconds, Jiprix sighed.
"She never realized how much you helped us. I know you don't have any battle skills, but since Xiveus has taken over cooking, people are tired, several have sore throats and troubling sinuses, and Uzith's girls got a chest cold."
Jiprix took a few seconds to breathe. "I only wanted the girls to feel better. They were coughing and coughing, hardly able to breathe, poor things."
Ezra gave him a small smile. Jiprix always pretended to be badass, and he was, but he cared about people.
"I came here. I figured I could get you to give me some cookies or something to help the girls. I didn't think she'd be angry about me visiting you." He winced. "Turns out I was wrong."
"She did this because you visited me?"
He gave a slow shake of his head. "Nah, she did it because I didn't tell her. Rourke did, and she claimed it made her look like a fool when he knew more about her people than she did. But Ezra--" He took Ezra's hand in his uninjured one. "--you have to help me get back."
"What?"
"I have to get back. I can't stay here."
Ezra shook his head. "No. You have to rest. You have to heal."
"Heal." Jiprix snorted. "I'll never heal." Bitterness clung to his words.
"Sure you will. It'll take some time, but the skin will heal over. You have to let it. You have to rest, have to keep the wounds clean, give your body a chance."
"No. You have to take me back. I can't stay here. She told me to come back, said she left me here to show the monsters what happened when they tried to recruit spies."
"What?" Rourke would never try to recruit a spy. He wanted peace. Everything he'd done, he'd done so they could have peace. "You came here. Rourke didn't contact you."
"I know. I made a mistake. But I have to get back, Ezra. Now. I can't stay here."
"You can't leave. You can hardly move, much less walk back."
"We'll steal a car."
"No." Ezra shook his head to emphasize. He couldn't drive, and he would not let Jiprix take one of the pack's cars.
"We'd only borrow it. They'd get it back. I have to get back, Ezra. Please." He dug his fingers into Ezra's arm. "She'll punish me more if I don't come back as soon as I possibly can." Fear was shining in his eyes. Jiprix didn't fear anything.
Ezra didn't like this. A knot formed in his gut, and he tried to untangle himself from Jiprix's grip.
"You're not in any shape to drive. You need to rest." And Ezra could help him.
This was what he did. He wasn't a healer, but he could help Jiprix rest, could help him get what his body needed to have the best possible chance to recover.
"It's only a short way. I think I can do it. If you can get us a key, we can go, and you can be back here before they know you're gone."
"I can't drive the car back." He'd never been in the driving seat of a car.
"Leave it there, and I'll drive it back in a few days when I'm feeling better. You can hike back, right? It's not too far. Please, Ezra. I have to."
Ezra hesitated. He didn't want Jiprix to get in more trouble, and he was sure the pack could function without a car for a few days.
They had more than one, so with some planning, they'd be fine.
He believed he'd find the way back here.
He'd follow the road. Maybe Rourke's meeting would be a long one. He might make it back before it ended.
He fiddled with the chains on his belt, traced his fingers over the gleaming metal. Rourke had gotten it for him for no other reason than he believed Ezra would like it. It warmed his heart.
Yeah, he could get Jiprix home then walk back here and crawl into bed with Rourke, warm and cozy.
"Okay, let me see if I can find a key."
"Thank you, Ezra. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
Ezra nodded and snuck out of the hut. He hoped he wouldn't come across anyone as he walked back into the main building. He'd seen a key cabinet in the kitchen next to the coffee maker. It would make sense if they kept the car keys there where everyone could get to them.
* * * *
Rourk was growing itchy. What was taking Ezra so long? He drummed his finger against the table, and tried to listen to what Geri was saying, but ended up squirming in his seat. It was as if there were pinpricks underneath his skin.
"Rourke?"
He jerked at the sound of his name and looked at Due who had spoken. "Yeah?"
"Is something wrong?"
Wrong? "What do you mean?"
"You don't usually change position every other second, and you don't drum your fingers." She pointed at his hand, and Rourke froze mid-tap.
"Is Ezra okay?"
He didn't like how slowly she spoke. "He's with Jiprix." But he should've been here by now.
A car started outside. The red Ford, if he heard correctly. He might not have noticed had it been midday when the house was bustling, but this was a strange time for someone to drive. He looked around the table, and a moment later, Ulric blew out a breath.
"Witches left." He held up his arm which looked normal. "It's been driving me insane to have goosebumps the entire time Jiprix has been here, but now he's gone."
Every muscle in Rourke's body tensed. "He left? In the car? Where is Ezra?"
For a heartbeat, the room bathed in silence, then everyone stood as one and hurried out the door.
"I'll check your room, but I think two witches went through the barrier." Ulric took off in the different directions of the entrance where everyone else was heading.
Rourke hurried to the front of the group, but Due grabbed his arm. "Rourke. Focus."
"I am focused."
"No, on the bond. You should be able to tell where he is, or at least in which direction he is."
He tried to take a deep breath. His head was buzzing, and he couldn't hone in on anything. His chest was overflowing with nerves--fear and regret were clawing at him. He didn't feel regret. He looked into Due's eyes. "There is too much." He gestured at his chest.
"Okay, calm yourself. Is he leaving? Is the distance between you growing bigger."
"I don't know!"
She slapped his arm. "You're not focusing. Okay, this one is easier. Is he hurt?"
The air froze in Rourke's chest. Hurt? Ezra? Then he tried to sense if he was hurt. "I don't feel any pain."
"Good. And you feel him?"
"I think so." All the emotions clashing inside of him couldn't be his alone.
"Good, so he's not dead, and he's not hurt. Is he afraid?"
"Yes."
"Less good. More, can you tell us anything else?"
"Guilty, he's feeling guilty."
She scrunched her nose. "Guilty for Jiprix hurting perhaps, which he might have used to get him to get them out of here."
Quick steps came up behind them. "He's not in your room." Ulric met his gaze with grim determination.
Farkas came back in through the front door. "One car is gone, and the hut is empty."
"Ezra doesn't drive." Was Jiprix well enough to drive or was someone else taking them? "Is everyone but Ezra and Jiprix accounted for?"
Ulric went back to the bottom of the corridor and knocked on every door.
Due's hold on his arm changed into something comforting. "Can you feel if he went willingly or not?"
"You think a half-dead man kidnapped him?"
She shrugged. "Maybe not by physically forcing him, and I don't know Ezra well, but I get the feeling he tries to please people.
Jiprix has known him far longer than we have, he knows what to say to get Ezra to do what he wants.
And half-dead or not, I wouldn't trust him not to be able to use his magic. "
"True." Rourke was sure Jiprix could manipulate Ezra. He got the feeling the entire clan had done little else.
"Why would Jiprix want to go?" It didn't make sense. He needed to heal.
"I have a bad feeling." Geri was pacing by the door, having come back shortly after Farkas. "I don't think we should be standing around here chatting."
Rourke trusted Geri's gut feelings, always had. It had saved them more than once. "What do you feel we should do?"
"I...eh..." He rubbed his solar plexus and tension crept into Rourke.
He did it when he was foreshadowing or whatever they should call it.
There were no guarantees what he was feeling was what would happen, but more often than not, it did.
"I think it would be bad if they reached their destination. "
Cold washed over Rourke. "And the destination is?"
Geri shrugged.
"You should be able to feel where they're heading, Rourke." Due touched his arm again. "The mate bond. I know Connor is in that direction." She pointed toward the dining hall. "I feel it. You should be able to feel where Ezra is."
Rourke took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Where was Ezra? His wolf whined and clawed in his mind, wanting to run toward the witches' settlement.
"The clan." His voice sounded far away, and his wolf almost broke through his human shell. The need to run, to hunt, to catch Ezra before he got too far away had claws forming on his hands.
"Feared so." Geri sounded grim.
"Why would he go there?" Rourke looked around at the people closest to him.
"It's where Jiprix is taking him." Farkas' teeth were too large for his mouth.
"It'll be bad if they get there." Geri looked pale.
"Let's go." Ulric joined the group.
Rourke narrowed his eyes. "It might be a trap."
"I'm sure it is. They'll sense us. They have wards around their land." Ulric looked grim. "But doing nothing isn't an option."
Maybe they were overreacting. Maybe Ezra would come back.
Rourke didn't think he wanted to go back to the clan.
The last few days, he'd been happy here.
He had friends, he'd been laughing, had been panting and groaning in Rourke's arms, had been baking and smiling.
Not to mention Harold was here. He didn't think he'd willingly leave Harold behind.
"Running in half-crazed without a plan might get us killed."
"Or not. If we act now, they might not have time to assemble the forces. All we want is Ezra, right? We run in, grab him, and run back."
Geri nodded at Ulric's words. "Yes, let's go. We need to go now before it's too late."
Rourke didn't like this. "This mission is voluntary." He looked around and realized the entire corridor was full of people. Normally, he only had these kinds of discussions with his council. He turned so he was facing everyone. "It might get messy. We have no real plan. It will be dangerous."
A murmur rose, and Rourke nodded. "Ulric, you stay behind in case something happens to me."
"Fuck no. We're going. Now." Ulric stepped around him and walked out into the night. Rourke should haul him back, should put him in his place, show everyone who was watching them you didn't disobey your alpha's order, but...
"Let's go!" Every single person in the corridor followed him outside.
* * * *