Chapter 69
Elodie
We all returned to the battle a short while later.
We had three different options, with different people in charge of executing them if the opportunity arose.
So far, there had been no sign of Bran since Dirge sliced him open, but Narcissa’s soldiers were still viciously holding the tree line, neither progressing nor retreating.
It was tense, and everyone was on edge. Plan A was for Kane and all the alphas to form a wedge, then break through their line.
Once they were through, they would try to find Bran and end him before he recovered his full strength.
I wasn’t certain what they would do if they got to him and even a beheading didn’t work.
Hopefully, they’d all survive it. I heard the signal, and Valens turned to me. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”
I shook my head, feeling awful for not telling him that we had a plan of our own. But he couldn’t know, because Kane couldn’t know. “No. Someone has to hold the line, make sure they don’t collapse back on you and block your exit path.”
He nodded, clearly torn between protecting me and executing the high alpha’s plan. “Go,” I insisted, pressing a firm kiss to his lips. “You can make it up to me later.”
He grinned wolfishly, eyes briefly glowing.
“I plan on it.” One more kiss, and he jogged away to join the rest of the males.
I watched him go, then retreated to the back of the army, waving to a cluster of goblins working their catapult as I passed.
They cheered, always in good spirits, even in the middle of war.
By the time I reached Brielle at the castle wall, I knew Valens was already fighting his way through. I felt a twinge of guilt that I wasn’t watching his back, as he expected. But if our plan could work, we had to try.
Brielle’s expression was conflicted when I spotted her. “You closed the bond?”
She nodded. “I convinced Kane I didn’t want to distract him, which is technically true. If he knew what I was doing, he’d be very, very distracted.”
I snorted. “I think furious is the word you’re looking for.”
“He’s already furious.”
True enough. “Where’s Shay?”
Tired as she was from grabbing us all earlier, we needed her to drop us behind enemy lines. We were lucky to have Shay on our side, but even a greater fae had limits, and the power was still new to her.
“Here,” she said, appearing at our sides, a familiar witch in tow.
“Aunt Kari!” Brielle hugged her, even as I wanted to take a step back. Witch power creeped me out, and Kari’s eyes… Well, she was a very powerful witch. It always felt like her power was tasting me. I didn’t know how Bri could stand to touch her, but I guess that was familiarity for you.
“Apologies for my lateness to the battle. I sensed it wasn’t time for me to arrive yet.”
“I wish you didn’t have to come at all, but I’m afraid it’s all hands on deck.”
“Indeed. I’ve consulted my scrying bowl on your behalf, niece, and time is of the essence. The one you seek lies wounded in the forest, hallucinating as he heals. The red-powered one is heading toward him, so your time grows short. If you wish to succeed, you must go now.”
“Can you show me exactly where he is?” Shay asked, brow furrowed. The weary lines etched into her face concerned me, but her voice was determined.
Karissma lifted her hands to Shay’s temples, and Shay shuddered. When Shay’s eyes opened again, Karissma turned to me. “I saw that you would need this.” She pressed a vial into my hand and curled my fingers shut around it. “You’ll know when.”
“Thank you,” I forced myself to say over my revulsion.
“Go now. Quickly. Time runs perilously short.”
Shay grabbed me and Bri by the wrist, and then time and reality twisted around me once more.
We landed in the forest, and for the first time in weeks, all was still.
But Brielle’s soft gasp told me it wouldn’t stay that way. I spun and spotted Bran Cadogan, legendary evil, mass murderer, immortal warrior of old, lying unconscious in the leaf litter.
Brielle raced to his side, and I kept pace, scanning our surroundings for threats.
For now, all was quiet. Bri dropped to her knees without hesitation at the enormous male’s side, pressing one hand to his cheek, another to his wrist. Her eyes fell closed, and Shay and I had nothing to do but wait and watch.
Long minutes stretched in tense silence as Brielle worked. Her hair floated softly in the air around her, and white light emanated from under her palms, where they were pressed to his bare arms. I was nearly ready to lose my mind by the time Bran stirred.
He groaned low, one giant paw of a hand coming up to grab his now-healed neck wound. He mumbled something in a language I didn’t know.
“Do you speak English?” Brielle asked softly, using her gentle healer’s voice.
“Yes,” he said in a thick accent.
“My name is Brielle. You were gravely wounded, both body and soul. My wolf has healing talents, and… you needed them.”
“You are omega,” he said brokenly. “Your touch is that of the Goddess.”
She nodded slowly, and my hand tensed on the hilt of my staff. She might have healed him, but I wasn’t above gutting a man who was flat on his back if he tried to hurt her.
“Where am I?”
Oh shit, we did not have time for this. Karissma had warned us Narcissa was on her way.
“In the forest, not far from a battlefield where your people are attacking ours.”
“Your pack wars with mine? I don’t recognize this forest. We are not in my homeland.”
“No, we haven’t attacked you. You attacked us. And we’re asking you to stop, and stop your mate.”
“Mate?” He sat up, leaning back against the tree, blue eyes fixed intently on us. I swear to the Goddess, he was so fucking oversized that I heard the tree trunk crack and groan under his bulk. His biceps were the size of my head, his hands covered in scars from old knife wounds.
“Her name is Narcissa. You don’t remember her?”
He shook his head, genuinely confused. “I remember none of this.”
“That’s because she is an omega too, and her powers have… touched you.”
“You say this like it is not a blessing,” he said, tone sharp. “Why?”
“That is part of what I healed you of. Her influence is not like mine. She seeks power and domination through war. That is why you are here, attacking us.”
He was silent for a long moment, his expression stormy.
“Why then did you heal me? I am a great warrior, capable of killing any male who stands before me.” He looked down at his hands, saw the blood there, and pressed them down to the forest floor as if what he saw there pained them. Was his memory coming back?
The vial in my pocket seemed to buzz, and I looked down at it. Was this the moment Kari had been talking about?
It buzzed again, and I pulled it out. “I think this is for you. For your memories.”
I passed him the vial, and he glanced at Brielle for confirmation. She nodded, and he uncorked the little vial, then downed it in one trusting gulp.
He gripped the sides of his head, releasing a pained cry. “No, no! It can’t be true.”
I grabbed Brielle, pulling her back as he began to thrash.
“You’re lying to me! All of you!” When he glared up at us, his eyes glowed green with his wolf.
His lips split in a snarl, canines already elongated as fur began to sprout along the backs of his hands, where wolf’s claws already dug into the ground.
The leather bindings on his armor began to creak as his shift took hold, threatening to snap.
“We need to leave, Brielle. This isn’t going our way.” I sent Shay a pointed look, and she grabbed Brielle’s wrist again.
“Not yet. We almost got through to him,” Brielle hissed.
“Bran, I promise you, we’re telling the truth.
The only way to stop the war, the killing, is to end it with Narcissa.
It’s been over four hundred years since you were last awake, and you’d remember.
You were put into magical stasis to stop her last time.
This time, only you can stop her. You know what’s right.
I saw the goodness in you when I healed you.
Please, don’t let her corrupt you again. You can fight it. You can, I know—”
Bran roared, his wolf bursting out of his flesh, and then his form warped, and the world was nothing but light as Shay flashed us back to the castle.