15. Out of Options
fifteen
RYLAND
When Trevan bursts into the training center, I know something is wrong. I barely get turned to face him when he starts shouting. “We need to go, now. My daughter is in danger.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“She was here. I think she’s gone back to the cabin, but we need to make sure,” he explains. I’m still lost, not understanding what he’s saying.
“Who was here? I’m gonna need more info, Trevan,” I insist.
“Amber was here, but Garnet was too.” His explanation still doesn’t make sense. How was Red here without us knowing?
“Red was here? Where did she go? How was she here without us knowing?” Orym asks. It’s a relief that he’s as confused as I am.
“She was using soul projection. I’m pretty sure she had no idea what happened. Luca was with her. They caught Amber sneaking into the camp,” Trevan explains further.
I turn to the guys who have been standing guard here. “Go see if you can find Amber. We need to keep her away from Red until we’re ready for the confrontation.” Once they take off, I race toward the cabin, hoping that Orym and James follow. I can’t stop to wait for them; there isn’t time.
I throw the door open and rush inside, my body refusing to relax until I see Red in Luca’s arms. “Are you hurt?” I ask, pulling her from him and wrapping her in my embrace.
“I’m fine. It wasn’t something I meant to do, but I didn’t know how to stop it or control it. I’m guessing Trevan told you we were there. Amber is sneaking around the camp; your guys need to be careful,” she responds. I can’t believe that my mate is in so much danger but is more concerned with everyone else. She amazes me.
“My guys will be careful. Don’t worry about that. We have to keep Amber away from you until the Wolf Moon. Unless you think you can defeat her before then.” Red shakes her head, and I understand her hesitation.
“Where are Orym and James?” she asks, and I see the fear cross her features.
“They were right behind me,” I insist, turning toward the door. They should have been here by now. Something must have happened.
Luca walks out the door, and we follow. “They must have been ambushed; that’s the only explanation. We need to find them.” He starts toward the other end of our encampment, but I stop him.
“Wait. We can’t just go running off like this. If Amber is trying to get intel or worse, we have to play this safe. We need a plan,” I insist. He stops and turns to face me.
“Then plan quick, because I’m going to find them. I won’t take a chance of losing someone important to us,” he says.
“I’ll see if I can reach them through the bond,” Red offers quietly.
ORYM
When we start to follow Ryland back toward home, James stops me. “I think I just saw her over there,” he says as he points toward the trees.
“Who?” I ask, wondering if he means Garnet is out here instead of at home where she’s supposed to be.
“Amber,” he answers before darting off. I can’t just let him take off by himself, it’s not safe.
“Fuck,” I mutter, then race off after him. I understand his desire to capture Amber, but I wish he’d at least waited for me to call for back up.
Just as he disappears into the trees ahead of me, I hear Garnet’s voice in my head. Orym, James? Where are you two? Is everything okay?
Should I tell her? I have to; I can’t lie to her about it. James thinks he saw Amber. We’re chasing the trail now. I explain where we are so Ryland, Luca, and Garnet can catch up to us. I don’t want to face Amber alone, even if that makes me a coward.
Noises nearby stop me in my tracks. I frantically look around to see where it’s coming from. Once I settle on a direction, I turn toward the commotion, hoping that James isn’t involved. It doesn’t sound good. I peek around a tree and see that he’s surrounded by a group of people. So much for James not being involved. I shift closer to the tree and watch, hoping that the others get here before this escalates any further.
We have a problem,I say along the bond. James is surrounded and there are too many for me to be able to take them all out by myself. Hurry!
“Where’s your witch, human?” one of them snarls. The more I learn about Amber’s followers, the less I stress over doing what needs to be done to deal with them. I don’t enjoy killing anyone, but it’s a little easier when they’re as awful as these assholes.
We’re almost there. Ryland responds instead of Garnet. It catches me off guard for a moment and I jump. The group surrounding James looks toward me, and I wonder if they know I’m here. I freeze, expecting to be dragged out of the brush any minute.
“Did you hear that?” another of them asks. They’re starting to panic and I feel as if we’re running out of time. What are they planning to do with James?
“What do you want with Garnet?” James asks without looking at my hiding spot. I’m certain he’s trying to draw their attention back to him because he knows I’m here.
“Amber wants us to bring her to our camp. Honestly, her obsession with your witch is ridiculous. Amber acts like she’s the devil or something.” From her tone, I imagine the one speaking rolls her eyes as she talks. It’s clear she doesn’t think much of Amber or her vendetta against Garnet.
Good, we’re learning things. This could be helpful when Garnet faces her aunt.
GARNET
I sense James’ fear when we approach the area Orym said they were in. I don’t understand why James didn’t call out to me along our bond, but maybe he was worried the witches could track that communication. Or maybe he didn’t think about it. He’s been resistant to our reconnection, and I wish I knew why. He claims that he’s trying to protect me. Is there more to it than that? I don’t know.
Ry holds up a hand for us to stop just as I see Orym tucked behind a tree. We don’t want to alert them to our presence. Ry’s words echo in my mind. This is an intense situation, and we need to be careful so that we don’t trigger the witches to attack before we can get James out of there.
We carefully make our way to the small group of trees near Orym’s hiding spot as soon as he motions for us. I’m glad we have the bond for communication, because that means less chance that the witches will hear us than if we had to actually speak to each other.
James, we’re here. Try to stall them until we can get into position.Ry’s quiet command is implied in the tone he uses. I wonder if he thinks James is one of his wolves who will just obey. It’s risky to treat him that way, since he’s been really sensitive about being human.
“If you think Amber’s lost it, maybe you shouldn’t be following her orders,” James says to the witches. I wonder what they said to make him think they don’t agree with Amber.
“It’s not like we have a choice. She’s insane and super powerful. And she’ll be even more powerful once she kills the half-breed and takes her powers. I’m not about to go against that. Now tell us where she is, before we decide that you’re not so helpful after all, human.” The way she sneers as she says human makes me want to rip out her throat.
I don’t realize that my internal growl wasn’t so internal after all until James dives at one of the witches who’s started to walk over here. “Fuck,” Ry’s voice rings in my ears, even though he didn’t say the expletive loudly.
Things get chaotic as everyone is attacking everyone else. My wolf mates fight against the witches to both protect me and to save James. I do my best to protect my mates, but splitting my shield between the five of us when we aren’t sticking together is hard. At some point, Ry shifts and starts attacking with his claws and teeth.
Magic is tossed around so much that it’s hard to see. “I can’t tell where they went,” Orym shouts.
“We need to get out of here and regroup. Is everyone accounted for?” Since Ry is in wolf form, I take point. I wonder if it will upset him, then decide that I don’t care. I will make my demands and push my mates if that’s what it takes to keep them safe here.
“I’m right here,” Orym says. “I can’t see the others.”
I take a deep breath and push a blast of air out to clear the smoke-like magic that surrounds us. “That should help,” I offer as our field of vision clears. “I don’t see the witches.”
Orym shakes his head. “Me neither, but there’s Luca. Where did Ryland and James go?” He starts walking across the small clearing toward Luca, who’s leaning over someone on the ground.
“Is that James?” My heart starts to race and my throat constricts as I dash over to Luca. I’m scared to look, but I have to know. The body he’s leaning over is mangled, but it’s not James. I breathe a sigh of relief, letting out the breath I’d been holding.
“Red! You’re okay. Wait, you are okay, right?” Luca turns his attention to me.
“I’m fine. Are you okay?” I ask, then as soon as he nods, I continue, “Where are Ry and James?” Luca points toward the trees, but before I can race off after them, a shuffling noise catches my ear.
James stumbles into the clearing, half dragging a barely conscious Ry. “He’s hurt. Someone come help me. This guy is heavy.” He drops to his knees and eases Ry to the ground. “I don’t know what they hit him with.”
I rush over, with Luca and Orym on my heels. They lift Ry easily, and I look him over to see what’s wrong. Blood drips from his hairline, and he has a knot. They must have hit him on the head with something heavy. “We should head back to the cabin.” I turn to James. “Are you okay?”
He nods. “I’m fine. A few scratches, but nothing like what he took.” I want to push the issue and check him over, but I also don’t want to force him to do something he’s not comfortable with. I’ll have to trust that he’s telling me the truth.
Ry groans and my attention is pulled away from James. It’s obvious that if we don’t get Ry taken care of soon, it’s going to be bad. “Try to stay awake, Ry. We’re taking you back to the cabin where I can heal you.” He stills at my words, but I can see him trying to hold his eyes open. I look at Orym and Luca. “Hurry; we’ll be right behind you.”
They start running toward the cabin, carrying Ry between them. James lets me take his hand as we walk behind them. We’re moving quickly, but not running. I’m not sure if James is exhausted or actually injured. I know he said he was fine, but I have a bad feeling about this. It’s probably because Ry is hurt, and I’m scared.
James squeezes my hand and urges me to move faster. “I’m sorry we got ambushed. I shouldn’t have tried to track Amber on my own.”
JAMES
The admission costs me. I know that it wasn’t smart to follow Amber into the forest, especially after she held all of us at her cabin without much backup. I should have known better. I have no idea why I was so obsessed with finding her right then. I wonder if she still has some kind of hold on me.
I can’t tell Garnet that I got stabbed, either. Ryland is hurt worse than I am, and that’s where her focus should be. Besides, it’s not that bad. I’m sure it’ll heal in a few days as long as I keep it clean and covered.
I keep her hand in mine as we walk because that’s the only way I know that I can be sure she won’t start poking and prodding at me to check for injuries. I don’t want to worry her, so I decide that this is what I have to do.
We get to the cabin shortly after Luca and Orym arrive with Ryland. Garnet drags me inside, where they have him laid out on the floor. I head to the kitchen and start gathering herbs and other ingredients she’ll need to make a salve for him.
When she kneels next to him and starts checking all of his injuries, I slip into the bathroom to check my own. I slip my flannel off and peel my t-shirt over my head. It’s soaked with blood, so I toss it in the trash. I’ll have to remember to get rid of it so the others don’t get concerned.
The cut on my side oozes blood, but it doesn’t look too bad. I could probably use a few stitches, but I don’t have time for that. Besides, I’m an EMT, I can take care of this myself. I grab gauze and tape from under the sink and get to work cleaning myself up. I secure six layers of gauze over the wound and tape it down tightly. It’s sore, so I take some ibuprofen and grab a clean shirt before heading back into the living room.
“Where’d you take off to?” Luca asks when I squat beside him.
“Bathroom. I was just tending to my scrapes.” It’s not an outright lie, and I prove it by showing him the shallow scratches on my arm. “How’s Ryland?” I change the subject pretty easily, since everyone is more worried about the territory alpha, who is lying on the floor nearly unconscious.
“She’s working on him. He’s got a nasty head injury, and lots of cuts and bruises. What happened, exactly?” Orym looks up from Ryland to meet my eyes.
“They ran off when visibility got bad. He and I chased them, and they ambushed us. He took the brunt of it since he was more of a threat, according to them. I am only human, after all.” I hate to admit that their words had any effect on me, but I can’t lie to myself. Their disdain hurt.
LUCA
It seems odd that James disappeared for a few minutes when we got home, but in the chaos of Red inspecting Ryland’s injuries, I can’t focus on that. Maybe he’s just overwhelmed by what happened and needed a minute. I don’t know.
I’ll worry about whatever is going on with him after we’re sure Ryland is okay. His wounds look better now that we’ve cleaned him up a bit. Red is concentrating on his head, which is still bleeding and swollen. Orym and I are dressing his arms and torso. James jumps right in, although he’s moving slower than usual.
He’s probably got some pretty bad bruises and is sore from the fight. I know he’s pretty salty about the witches treating him as less than because he’s human. That has to hurt, especially since he’s been pretty sensitive about it lately. We’ll have to make sure that we check in with him soon.
“Hold him still. This is going to hurt,” Red demands as her hands start to glow. James winces, and I know it’s because he remembers how her magic healing feels. She waits until James, Orym, and I have Ryland pinned to the floor, then starts letting her magic flow.
It takes longer than I expected, but after a while, she motions for us to let him go. “He’ll sleep for a while, but he should be fine.” Her attention turns to James. “I can heal you, too, if you want.”
He shakes his head. “I’m okay, really. Just a few scratches. Nothing that you need to bother with.” She doesn’t push him, but I can tell that she wants to. I know her better than anyone else does. Red will worry herself to death over James being distant and pulling away, once she’s sure that Ryland is okay.
“It’s no bother, James. I can use my magic to heal your cuts,” Red insists. When she stands up, she sways a bit and collapses. I barely move fast enough to catch her before she hits the floor.
“She used too much magic at once. Let’s get Ryland and her into bed so they can rest,” I say, readjusting Red in my arms and taking her to the bedroom. She doesn’t feel warm and has no injuries herself. It’s clear she’s just exhausted from using her magic so much.
She tries to protest when I tuck her in, but I shake my head. “You rest. If James needs healed, it can wait until you’re rested.”
Orym and James bring Ryland in and put him to bed next to her. That seems to relax her a bit as she settles into his side and closes her eyes. The three of us stand there for a minute, just watching them sleep.
“They’re going to be okay, right?” James asks. Concern fills his tone, and I feel the need to reassure him.
“Yeah, they will. After some rest,” I insist. He looks relieved, which is exactly how I feel right now.
GARNET
After a few hours of sleep, I wake up to find myself alone in the bedroom with Ry. It’s dark outside, and I wonder where everyone went. Not wanting to disturb Ry, I slip out of bed carefully and head into the living room.
Orym and Luca are curled up together on the couch, asleep. James is sprawled out in the chair with his feet on the table. I walk over to give him shit about having his feet on the furniture. Before I get a word out, I see the large puddle of maroon spreading out in the chair around him. “Fuck, I knew he was hurt worse than he let on,” I mutter, dropping to my knees to check him out.
I need more light, I think, then watch the room illuminate. It’s as if my magic hears my plea and automatically lights up the room. Luca growls, turning away from the light. Orym jumps up as if someone hit him. “What’s going on?”
“James is hurt, and he hid it from us. It’s bad. I don’t know if I can heal him. Will you call Dec and see if he can come now?” I respond, not taking my eyes off the stab wound I just found. It’s not bleeding fast, but it’s steady. I can tell that James cleaned and dressed it. He must not have realized that it was this bad. Why else would he have insisted that he was fine when I offered to heal him?
Orym nods and steps outside to make the call. I feel Luca’s hands on my shoulders as I pour my healing magic into James, praying that it will work. My vision goes hazy, and Luca pulls me away from James. “Red, it’s not working. You can’t kill yourself to save him if the magic isn’t working.”
“Dec is on his way. He claims that he’s not sure what he can do to help, but at least he’s coming. I don’t think he took James’ request to be turned very seriously,” Orym announces as he comes back inside.
“Is that how you’re planning to handle this?” Luca asks, astonished.
“If it comes to that, I don’t think we have much choice,” I respond. I suspect that James asked Dec to turn him as a spontaneous thing, and that he didn’t give it much thought. But right now, that may be the only way I can keep James in my life. If that’s the case, I’ll do whatever it takes to convince Dec to make his brother a vampire.
“What if he won’t do it?” I don’t like Luca questioning me like this, but I understand his concern. I can’t exactly force Dec to change James.
“Then I guess James will die, and we’ll all suffer from the pain of a broken bond again. But at least his brother will have the chance to say goodbye,” I snap. I drag myself up from the couch and start to pace.
I don’t want to think about what will happen if Dec refuses to turn James. I kneel beside my mate again, noticing how pale he is. He’s lost too much blood, and I know that I can’t heal him. There’s no point in trying again. I know it won’t work, but I do it anyway.
I’m not sure how long I sit there, pulsing my magic into James and cursing because it’s not working, before a pair of strong arms pulls me away. “No, I have to keep trying,” I insist weakly. I know if I don’t stop, I’ll pass out, but I need to save him.
“Red, it’s okay. Dec is here. Let him take a look,” Luca says from behind me. I realize he’s the one who pulled me away. I want to struggle against his hold, but I don’t have the energy for it. I relax into his arms and watch as he sits on the couch with me on his lap.
Orym and Dec speak in hushed tones as Dec checks over his brother. I can’t tell if Orym is trying to talk him into turning James or not. I jump when Dec shifts his attention to me. “And you’ve tried your magic to heal him?”
I nod, “I did. Twice. But it didn’t do anything. I’m not sure what happened to him. Maybe if I’d known sooner, I could have helped.”
“So, he hid the wound from you?” Dec doesn’t seem surprised.
“He told us that he just had scratches,” Orym insists. “Are you going to change him?”
“I don’t know. This isn’t an easy decision. Especially with the way he reacted when I first became a vamp. I know it’s not what he wants, even though he asked for it. He wants to be worthy of you, and thinks this is the only way. He’s wrong.” Dec makes the statement with no hesitation.
“I agree completely. I’m the one who’s not worthy of him. I wish he could see that. I’ve tried, Dec, I really have. But I can’t lose him; not like this. Please.” I’ll beg if I have to. I will get down on my hands and knees, then I’ll promise this vampire anything he wants if he’ll just save my mate.
“What do I do if he hates me for it? This isn’t like borrowing his car without asking or taking his favorite shirt. This is a lot bigger than that. Can you deal with the fallout if he hates you for it too?” Dec asks, staring into my eyes. I see the unshed tears in his eyes that match mine.
“I will take full responsibility for the entire situation. If he hates me, at least he’ll be alive to hate me. I won’t let him blame you at all,” I insist. I clasp my hands in front of my chest and let my tears fall. “Just please don’t let him die. Turn him so he can survive this. Please, Dec.”