Chapter 41
AXE
Demi drops us in Evanswood, a small mountain town roughly ten miles from the second largest city in the Agathoran Heartlands.
Elder River, Preston’s pack, is the closest lycan settlement to human civilization that remains.
The group that lives here has flourished in recent years since it volunteered to merge with the surviving Iron Heart wolves, who Cora and her mother once belonged to.
Many of its people who work in the city dwell on the edges of its boundaries, or in Preston’s case, in the heart of the mossy forest.
Dominik is almost unrecognizable, wearing a baggy hoodie and jeans. The door to the car rental agency swings behind him with a jingle. I tip my cap. Halfway across the lot, Dom tosses the keys to me. We load up quickly and strap into the vehicle, programming our GPS as the engine rumbles to life.
Five minutes in, my fingers grip the steering wheel in a chokehold. If there’s a speed limit enforced in these parts, I wouldn’t have a clue as to what number is posted, nor would I give a damn.
My wolf whines, scratching at my chest. I know, I answer. Every minute counts.
Dom clears his throat. “When we get back, there’s something I need to tell you and Demi.”
“This better not be about the loan you just took out for the new bar,” I sneer.
“We don’t need to get into the details right now . . .”
“The fuck’s wrong with you, bringing up your club at a time like this? Vessa could be locked up in this prick’s basement.”
“I know.” Dom tosses his phone to the side, clutching his fists. That there tells me a third person wants in on this argument. Is waging war in his head. “I’m sorry this happened. Really, I am. But once we get her back, I’m done, Axe.”
“If you desert Bleeding Sun, you know how that will reflect upon us. What you’ll be branded as.”
A rogue.
My temper surges, grip tightening as we approach the main road. He can’t be serious. After everything Demi and I have done to defend him? After everything has been handed to him his entire life?
“I have never been like you,” he snaps. “I have no desire to lead. Or to kill. This pack is plagued with wrath and ceaseless violence. I want out, before it ruins me. Why is that still so hard for you to get through your thick skull?”
“Because I can’t believe my own flesh and blood would be so blatantly selfish.
” I shake my head. “If you recall, I didn’t want jack shit to do with the Alpha title.
That was Demi’s dream. Not mine. But when it fell to me, I took the vows, not only because it was my duty, but because I swore to Father as he bled out that I would do whatever necessary to hold this family together. ”
Dom’s throat is taut as he swallows, angling himself towards the passenger window. Misty droplets begin to gather along the windshield. Trees grow taller as the road curves, giving way to a mountainous ascent.
I accelerate up the hill, which soon reveals an industrial ranch-style home, tucked within a clearing of birches that might as well be skyscrapers. All window blinds are shut tightly. Two sedans are parked in his driveway.
Dom cranes his neck, widening his nostrils. He can’t unbuckle fast enough in the passenger seat as I park behind the second vehicle, having come to the same conclusion as me—no lycan scent is here, nor has anyone been recently.
Something’s off.
“See if you can jingle open the front door,” I say lowly. “I’ll loop around back.”
He nods, reaching for the revolver in the center console.
I draw my own weapon, watching him take off before I slip between the trees to avoid detection.
Once I’ve scanned the south side, I dart out, making for the back patio entry.
The security camera has been blown off the awning, dangling like a noose.
Beneath it, the door’s glass panel has been punched through.
I swing the door open and face a sprawling kitchen, scenting that Dom has also found his way inside.
Keeping my gun poised in front of me, I step lightly around the corner.
The house has been torn apart in a frenzy.
Dom bends over to retrieve a small metal sphere by the fireplace.
Scrunching his brows, he hands it over. It’s a gas bomb with a metallic band that turns ice blue when activated.
I know this prototype—developed by a former member of my pack, intended to knock lycans unconscious and dilute the trace of their scent.
Stuffing the device into my pocket, I look over my shoulder. Working in tandem, we clear the rest of the first level and the attack before searching for an entrance to the basement, where the laboratory resides.
The basement door is through the laundry room.
I kick it open, rushing down the dark steps.
The overhead light flickers over a long table where his computer monitors would normally be.
But even here, the room reflects the aftermath of a raging cyclone.
Racks of test tubes have been knocked to the floor, shattered glass covering the entire floor like ice.
Papers thrown everywhere, chairs and stools overturned.
I fall to my knees, attempting to sort through the documents littered all around me.
Dom and I scan them frantically, scratching our heads at the all the analytic jargon.
Nothing contains information concerning Vessa or the samples Preston took from her.
But in the corner, a purple stuffed giraffe has been discarded, patches of soft synthetic fur tainted by dried blood.
I bring it to my nostrils, summoning my augment.
When my eyes close, I’m immediately bombarded by a women’s last conscious moments before a fist comes down over her.
Her mate thrashing against an armed stranger.
A child sobbing hysterically for her mother.
Preston’s experiment has been seized along with his family.
Pivoting towards the staircase, I tuck the stuffed animal under my arm, only to freeze at an agonizing stab in my chest.
It’s Vessa.
No! my wolf shrieks. What have they done?!
Vessa
Drifting in and out of blackness, I start to wonder if I’ve been shoved down a well.
Someone whispers my name. Shifting on my stiff cot, my thighs moan in protest. My lids blink until my vision is wiped clean. I’m met with the appalling image of my legs, ghastly beaten. Bruises from the ropes set in overnight, dotting all over my limbs.
Esmé scans the hallway to make certain that no guards are in listening distance. Once all is clear, the witch presses her face against the cage.
"They have my mate,” she breathes. “That's how they drew me in. As soon as they finish testing your blood, they'll kill us.”
Holy gods. “Where is he?"
"Upstairs. With the highly guarded lycan prisoners. They’re used as leverage. Preston’s family is being held, too. The little girl named Emilia . . . she’s his daughter."
I gulp. "Do Levi and the others know what you are?”
She shakes her head. "Only that I specialize in blood magic. The kind that allows me to identify lineage. If they knew the real gift I possess, their search would've been over long ago."
“So, you lied then. Earlier. Before he . . .”
She looks upon me with immeasurable regret. “Yes.”
My heart aches for Dr. Caulder, letting the weight of his predicament sink in. His daughter. "How long have you been a prisoner?"
Esmé tenses. "Down here, your sense of time is distorted. If not for my visions, I wouldn't know. I've been here over a year.”
Gods above. "What’s their end goal?"
"Levi has been producing Ludone and pushing it on the human club scene since before I was taken. He and his partner have been using it to traffic humans who possess a unique scent and beauty, selling them to rogues at the highest bid. But there is also a hunt amongst the rogue mercenaries who are sired to the Blood Master. They’ll earn a substantial reward if they find the right one. You."
That would explain the confrontation with the vampire woman on the Silverbacks’ land.
Why Levi and his associates have been prowling nightclubs in the region.
Why Axe’s private consultation with the arms dealer was hijacked.
But wouldn’t they require someone to infiltrate Bleeding Sun from the inside?
Someone with deeper ties than an amateur patrolwoman?
As I swing my legs, I flinch. The nasty puncture marks dig far deeper than I initially thought. I use my cot sheet to wrap them up and smother the bleeding.
"We’ll find a way out of this, alright? Save your strength."
Tears stream down my cheeks as I turn to look at her. "Will I ever see my mate again? He has to know that I didn't run away, that I was—"
Esmé shushes me. "He knows, I promise. And as sure as the sunrise, he will be coming for you."
It occurs to me then, what startled her before my interrogation with Levi took a heinous turn. “The portal—do you know where it’s shifted?”
“Not yet. Though my visions have shown bear demons crossing the Slovko Straight. Into Volken.”
Volken. Could that be where Maurleen is heading?
I open my mouth to respond, but Esmé curses. Someone races down the stairs.
Levi looms into view at the end of the hallway, feet carrying him swiftly in our direction, two guards hot on his tail. “Fucking idiots!” he yells. The purple veins in his neck beat with fury. “Whose brilliant idea was it to put these two next to each other?”
One of the brawny, nameless guards looks to his partner. The younger boy who escorted me the other day clears his throat. “I’m sorry, boss. It was a misunderstanding.”
Levi roars as he snaps the guard’s neck. I shriek, bear crawling all the way to the back of my cell and clutching my knees to my chest. Keys jingle and a heartbeat later, the cell door swings open.