Chapter 14
The tires skidded on the gravel, sending a dust cloud swirling around us. The haze thickened, and I couldn’t see through it.
Raffe lurched, and I reached over to keep him in place. His groan sounded so raspy, and the pain that shot through our bond had my breath catching. He wasn’t doing well, but I didn’t know what the fuck to do about it.
What the hell is going on? I almost rear-ended you, Keith linked. Did you see Bambi or something?
I would’ve found his sarcasm humorous, but between the threat, Raffe’s agony, and his current state, my patience snapped. I just drove through coven magic.
There was silence as the air cleared around us. Then tires squealed behind us as Adam slung his car into reverse.
Let’s get out of here, Adam linked. Before they attack us.
We needed to go, but I didn’t know what that meant for Raffe. Our bond had cooled ever so slightly. If we left, I wasn’t sure where we could take him—an emergency room wasn’t an option with his shifter blood and healing.
Worse, we couldn’t afford to stay anywhere, let alone buy food and medical supplies. I wanted to scream and flip off the world, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything.
If we left, I couldn’t bring Octavia with us. Part of me wanted to keep her as a bargaining chip, but I doubted she meant much to the coven, so there was no true benefit in keeping her with us. That alone made the decision for me. She’d told me I could trust her, and before even reaching the door, I’d felt coven magic swirling throughout the area.
“Get out,” I commanded as more tires squealed and Keith backed out. Now I had room to back up too, but I had to get Octavia out of the damn vehicle.
“What?” Octavia rasped, leaning forward so that her head appeared between my headrest and Raffe’s. “Why?”
Oh, so she was playing innocent. That was fine. Slade had given me plenty of experience in dealing with that. “Coven magic. You told us you weren’t part of the Veiled Circle or working with witches, yet coven magic is everywhere here. Get your ass out of the car, or I’ll make you.”
Raffe’s connection faded a little more, and I grew light-headed.
The front door of the house opened.
Shit, they were making a move.
“What? I’m not working with Supreme Priestess Olwyn or her coven.” Octavia bit her lip and hung her head. “It must be because I vanished. The witches who live around here probably spelled the area so no other witches can enter, I’d guess.”
I climbed out of the car, ready to drag her ass out. My blood went straight to a fizz as I yanked open the back driver’s side door. “Well, I don’t trust you, seeing as my skin is crawling from the amount of magic out here. This is your last chance. Get out, or I’ll make you.”
Keith’s car stopped ten feet away, and I could feel his and Lucy’s gazes on me. The driver’s side door opened, and Keith climbed out as he came to join me.
Two sets of footsteps came from the house, and I turned to find two men rushing out the front door, carrying some sort of bed. My head spun as I took them in. I didn’t feel any magic coming off them, and this could very well be my biological father and brother.
What’s going on? Keith linked to all of us, heading over to me. Why are you out of the car? That defeats the point of leaving. Lucy, get in the driver’s seat in case we need to escape.
Lucy didn’t hesitate, climbing over the center console to get into the seat.
We can’t bring Octavia with us. My stomach hardened. Her presence had impacted me more than I wanted to admit. We can’t afford to take care of another person, let alone ourselves, and Raffe isn’t doing well. Where the hell do we go to get him help?
If the coven is here, we need to leave and quickly. We’ll figure out someplace to take Raffe. He’s a fighter, so he won’t just give up, Adam interjected.
“Is that the injured man?” the older man, who was close to six feet tall, asked. His olive-green eyes glanced at the front passenger seat of my car. Even though they weren’t the same shade, the brown in his was close to the brown hint in my cognac eyes. “I’ve set up the garage to treat him and put a cooler in there with ten blood bags for the vampire.”
I hesitated. It genuinely sounded like he would help Raffe and Dave. I homed in on Raffe, noting his clammy and sweaty complexion. Though he’d groaned in pain, he hadn’t woken up, and he looked more pasty, challenging Dave for the fairest of them all.
He needed help.
I feared if we left, he might not make it.
And that caused my heart to break and not give a damn about my safety.
“Skylar, I promise it’s not what you think,” Octavia said, getting out of the car and placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” Keith growled, sounding an awful lot like Raffe. He stalked up next to me. “If she thinks we can’t trust you and wants you gone, go. Or I’ll make you.”
My heart squeezed, knowing Keith was protecting me because Raffe couldn’t. Despite everything, I was beginning to see more and more why the others kept Keith around. Once he accepted you, he was loyal and protective. He’d be a good mate to someone someday.
She exhaled and dropped her hands, but her focus remained on me.
“Why should I trust you?” I asked, torn about what to do. She didn’t smell of a lie, and no coven magic surrounded her. Most importantly, Raffe needed help. If that meant I got held hostage, it’d be worth it so long as he didn’t die.
Both men came to a stop not far away. The rise and fall of Raffe’s chest slowed even more.
I could feel my father’s and brother’s gazes on me. A shiver ran down my spine.
I’m heading back to you, Adam linked, and the sound of his vehicle grew louder. If something happens, I need to be there to help fight.
“Remember how I told you I was aware of all the supernatural goings-on?” Octavia licked her bottom lip. “That’s because a huge coven lives down the road. They’ve helped our family stay hidden for years and have been doing research to help us.” She pointed at the gravel road that led past their house and deeper into the woods.
I laughed. “You expect me to believe that with how little you trust covens?” Okay, clearly, people thought I was dumber than dirt. Granted, I deserved that for falling for Slade and Supreme Priestess Olwyn’s bullshit.
“That’s why I don’t trust Olwyn’s coven.” Octavia lifted her hands. “The coven here is descended from the original ruling coven that took in Foster. His loss changed them fundamentally. They gave me his journal and tried to help him control his magic. For instance, I know that your power … it’s all vibrations. That’s why you can shatter glass and cause the ground to shake.”
I sucked in a breath, unsure of what to do. What she said made sense. Earthquakes, shaky limbs, causing furniture to break, and even knocking over trees. Hell, even the jolt, fizz, and hum were vibrations. And my connection to animals … they were attuned to the earth’s shifts in patterns and vibrations, which was how they sensed natural disasters before they happened. That one revelation helped me understand so damn much that it wasn’t even funny.
Still, that didn’t mean it was safe for us to stay here.
Raffe’s heartbeat weakened.
“If you want me to help him, you need to decide now,” the older man, Dru, said gently. “He’s not looking well and likely needs blood.”
My heart ached, and that alone made my decision. If Raffe needed blood, he was too close to dying for my comfort. I stared into the man’s eyes. They were warm and kind, but I didn’t trust my gut anymore, not after being wrong about so many people.
“If you let me help him, I believe he’ll be fine.” The man appeared to be in his late forties, younger than my adoptive parents. “But I need to know you’re okay with me helping him.”
“Listen—” Keith started.
“Do you swear you won’t hurt him or use him to get even with me?”
Dru’s forehead lined with worry, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I swear I’ll do everything I can to help him. He obviously means a lot to you, and the last thing I’d ever want to do is hurt my daughter more.” He adjusted the handles he was holding and ran a hand through his warm-brown hair.
With my blood at a fizz, I could read his emotions clearly. He was being honest with me. “Okay,” I muttered. Keith and Adam, do you mind helping them get Raffe into the garage? He’s fading fast.
Sky, are you sure? Keith linked, his body tense.
I snapped my head toward him and bared my teeth. Would you rather he die?
Adam’s vehicle appeared behind Keith’s as Dru, Keith, and my brother jumped into action. The three men hurried to the passenger side and opened the car door. But when the two of them tried to lift Raffe out of the seat, their faces turned red, and Raffe didn’t budge.
“Move, please,” Keith said curtly. “If you can’t lift him, get out of the way so I can.”
I climbed back in and tried to help Raffe from the driver’s seat. When I touched his hand, the buzz of our connection barely sprang to life.
My mouth dried just as Adam reached the door behind Keith.
“Here, give me his feet, and you take his torso. We can carry him in that way,” Adam instructed and glanced at Dru and my brother. “Why doesn’t the one who’s not a doctor take the bed down to the car at the end?”
My brother swallowed. “The vampire? Won’t he try to … you know.”
“He’s unconscious, and Josie and Lucy can carry him,” Adam replied, taking Raffe’s feet and slowly moving backward as Keith slipped his hands under Raffe’s armpits.
I wished I could help Dave, but with my blood at fizz level, the worst thing I could do was get close to him.
“Come on.” Octavia hurried around the car and took one edge of the bed. “I’ll go with you.”
My brother nodded, and the two of them took off toward Adam’s car as Dru led Adam and Keith to the largest garage door, removing a fob from his pocket. Soon, the door was opening, revealing two beds inside. One had plastic around it and an IV hanging from the pole.
That had to be for Raffe.
Discomfort and stinging pain radiated from my mate, but instead of hating it like I had before, I clung to it, knowing that meant he was still with me. Still, it wasn’t intense.
Josie, they’re coming for Dave, and they have a setup for him and Raffe in their garage. I wasn’t sure why the garage, but I wouldn’t complain. They have blood for Dave there.
Thank gods, Josie replied. Dave has begun bleeding from his chest again, and every time I place my wrist to his mouth, he turns his head and refuses to drink my blood.
Neither of our fated mates was doing well, so at least we understood each other.
“Try not to jostle him.” Dru winced, watching the two wolf shifters carry Raffe. “The more he moves, the more he’ll bleed, which will exacerbate the problem.”
Keith growled, sounding more animal than man. “You try carrying three hundred pounds of solid muscle. Then you can tell us we aren’t being as careful as fucking possible.”
Dru nodded. “Point taken, but that doesn’t make the situation any less dire.”
The closer we got to the garage, the more blood seeped from Raffe’s bandage. The little bit of healing Raffe’s body had done was already reversed. I had to believe my power wasn’t lying to me and that Dru was being honest.
Raffe had to be all right.
There was no way I could do any of this without him.
My limbs grew heavy, and after what felt like hours, Keith and Adam got Raffe on the bed while Dru put on blue gloves and a face mask. There was an AC unit at his feet, keeping the area cool.
With steady hands, he bent down and grabbed some blood.
“Whoa. No.” Adam shook his head. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“He needs blood.” Dru pointed at the spot on his chest. “He’s lost too much.”
“Do you know anything about wolf shifters?” Adam crossed his arms, his lips pressed into a line. “We can’t take regular human blood. It has to be from another shifter with his same blood type.”
Unfortunately, that made sense. Shifters were part human, part animal. I’d bet animal blood wouldn’t work for him either.
My heart shattered. After all of this, we wouldn’t be able to save him. Eyes burning, I rasped, “Do any of you have his blood type?”
Keith shook his head. “We don’t. The royal line has its own kind. His dad or mom are the best people to give him blood.”
Vision blurring, I took a ragged breath. “We know that won’t happen.” I exhaled noisily. “Are there any options left? Can you get him to stop bleeding long enough to let his body remake the blood?”
He gritted his teeth. “I can try.”
My world tilted, but I hung on to the bed, refusing to leave Raffe’s side.
Dave, Josie, Lucy, my brother, and Octavia joined us. They moved Dave from the transportation bed to the more stable one, and within seconds, they had him drinking blood.
I watched Dru like a hawk as he removed the bandages and dug inside Raffe’s wound. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he breathed heavily through his mouth. He held the edge of a knife to the injury, and blood squirted out. Raffe’s heartbeat quickened, and his breathing turned labored.
Something was wrong. “Why is he bleeding like that?”
“I … I don’t know.” Dru leaned over, squinting as if it might help him see better. “I see nothing that should be causing this. He should be healing. Something must be causing this bleeding. It’s like his blood won’t clot, but he’s a shifter, so that’s not possible.”
“Wait.” Lucy hurried over to us, her eyes wide. “A coven member stabbed him.”
“Yeah. We were all there, Lucy. Damn.” Keith shook his head, pacing at the foot of the bed.
What I saw on her face wasn’t confusion but fear. My pulse stopped. “What do you mean?” Once again, there was something I didn’t know. Add it to the fucking list.
“Don’t coven members have a poison that causes bleeding like that?” Lucy rocked on her feet. “I swear King Jovian told us about a poison like that in a Book of Twilight? That’s one reason the wolf shifters made the covens destroy the books—so powerful spells like that can’t be used against us.”
I swallowed.
“And they have access to those books in the secret fucking library.” Adam’s voice dripped with a malice I’d never heard from him before.
My blood turned cold, and my power wanted to hum, but I couldn’t lose control. Not when my fated mate needed me.
“You said a coven lives nearby, right?” I asked, turning to Octavia. “Can they help us?”
She licked her lips. “I … I don’t know, but we can ask them.”
That was all I needed to hear. “Then call them, please.”
“He won’t last much longer.” Dru swallowed. “If you’re going to do something, I suggest you get on it.” He began packing the wound again to slow the bleeding.
“Yeah, I can—” Octavia started, but magic filled the air around us.
We didn’t have to call the coven.
They were already here, and judging by the amount of magic they radiated, they were here to fight.