Chapter 21 - Rachel
I paced back and forth in my living room.
The guard Sam had ordered to keep tabs on me regardless of whether I wanted him to or not had ordered me to stay indoors, and had been doing laps around the house in wolf form for over an hour.
Something had happened, something other than just the wraith coming to the oasis, and he refused to tell me despite my repeated requests for him to do so.
Whatever had happened, it was bad. I couldn’t calm my anxious nerves. In my mind, I could see Sam dead on the ground. He would never meet his unborn child. I would never get the chance to bicker with him again or feel his arms around me.
He’s all right, I told myself. You would sense it through the bond if he weren’t.
That might be true, but I still couldn’t shake that dread. And when I felt a jolt of rage and shock through that bond, I knew something bad had happened. Not knowing precisely what it was made it nearly unbearable.
I should still be annoyed with him for the constant hovering and bodyguards, but that irritation had flown out the window when I realized he might be in danger.
Despite everything, I still cared about Sam.
I appreciated that he wasn’t protecting me because he thought I was weak, but because he didn’t want to worry about me being hurt.
He had still encouraged me to learn how to protect myself, and he had done his best to take care of me, even if it had been ill-advised.
He was stubborn and hardheaded, but he did try to do what he thought was best. No matter what, I couldn’t stand the idea of him getting hurt.
As I wore holes in the carpet from walking back and forth, my ears pricked.
Someone was outside. A moment later, the door opened.
I spun around just in time to see Sam limping through the door, exhaustion radiating off him with every step.
A cut ran along his hairline, dried blood crusting around it, but he was alive.
The relief washing over me at seeing him safe evaporated almost instantly when I saw the somber expression on his face.
“What happened?” I asked. Even if I was still mad, I had been out of my mind with worry ever since I heard the alarms go off in town. My hand reached up to his cheek, running my thumb along the jagged cut there.
Instead of answering, he caught my hand, bringing it to his lips, as if that was all he had wanted to do for hours.
He pulled me against him, still not saying anything, as his hands went to my back, pulling me against him.
He buried his head in my hair. I could smell the stench of blood and dirt on him, but I didn’t care.
I breathed it in, letting it remind me that he was alive. He was all right.
After a moment, I pulled away. My stomach lurched when he pinned me with that intense stare. My heart pounded as I took in the anger and frustration wafting off him.
“What happened?” I repeated. “I know about the wraith, but then the guy outside told me not to leave, and I had no idea why. He said something else had happened and that I needed to stay in place.”
He let out a deep breath. “Sorry,” he said. “He should have told you so you wouldn’t worry, but things happened fast, and we got caught off-guard. I should have called, too. But…”
The expression on his face chilled me, and I knew that, whatever had happened, it was bad. I stayed silent, knowing that he would tell me what was going on when he was ready. My stomach lurched with dread as I waited for him to tell me what was really going on.
“The wraith attacked the oasis,” he said. “But it was a trap.”
Fear gripped me, freezing me in place as I stared up at him. “What sort of trap? Did it kill a lot of people?”
Sam’s lips thinned, and he glanced away.
“It’s almost worse than that. Emma’s missing,” he said. “The wraith took her.”
My hands flew to my mouth despite myself, certain I had misheard him. There was no way that the wraith had taken Emma. It didn’t seem real. It couldn’t be real.
“Is she…” I trailed off, unable to actually make myself say the words.
“We don’t know, but we think she’s alive,” Sam said. “The wraith could have just had its demons kill her then and there. It wants her.”
“How are Grace and Elias?” I asked, once I had gotten over the initial shock.
He let out a huff as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Both are worried, but Elias is already getting moving. He’s setting up a team to go after the wraith. It doesn’t know it, but we found its lair earlier, so we know where to go. That thing isn’t going to know what hit it.”
Unease gripped my insides as the words sank in. Frowning, I studied Sam.
“What are you going to do once you get there?” I asked. “Emma is the only one who can use magic. You guys aren’t going to be able to beat it.”
“We’re not trying to,” Sam growled. “This is an extraction mission.”
I shook my head, trying to articulate my thoughts. “It’s going to know you’re coming. For all you know, this could be a trap.”
“It probably is,” Sam said. “But we’re going, anyway, because we have to. We can’t let the wraith hold onto Emma. I don’t know what plans it has for her, but they can’t be good. There’s a reason it didn’t just outright kill her. It wants to use her. We need to get her out of there before it can.”
He was right. They couldn’t sit around and do nothing.
I knew this as well as he did. But the idea of them going into the wraith’s lair without any way of combating the wraith sounded like suicide.
Unless they found Emma in time, they wouldn’t be able to fight the wraith.
Not unless they had someone who could wield magic.
Steeling myself, fully aware of what I was doing, I walked toward Sam, reaching out and grabbing his wrist as I looked up at him. “Let me go with you,” I said.
He blinked, tilting his head as he stared down at me, frowning. “What?”
“Let me go with you,” I repeated. “I can help, and you know it.”
He didn’t even consider it. He shook his head. “No,” he said. “It’s too dangerous.”
Through the mating bond, I could sense the worry that rushed through him the second I offered, and I could understand it. But as much as I wanted to soothe him right now, we didn’t have that sort of time. I had to go, whether he liked it or not.
“You know I’m the only person who can fight the wraith right now,” I pointed out.
“Well aware,” Sam fired back. “But I already told you we’re not going to fight the wraith. We just want to get Emma back.”
“And I can help,” I said. “What? You don’t think a wall of fire between you guys and the enemies wouldn’t help?”
His jaw tightened as he stared down at me.
I could see the inner war raging in his eyes.
He knew I was right; he knew that having me there would only increase their chance of survival.
He knew that he needed me. Except admitting that would put me in harm’s way, something that he’d been trying to avoid for ages.
“It’s too dangerous,” he repeated. “We put Emma in harm’s way, and look what happened to her. I’m not going to let it take you as well.”
I pressed my hand against his chest. “I know you’re trying to protect me, and I appreciate it. But I can help,” I said. “Right now, I’m the best chance you have. Don’t sideline me because you’re worried I’m going to get hurt.”
“You’re pregnant,” he snarled. “If you think I’m willingly letting that wraith within a mile of my unborn cub, then you’re crazy.”
“I’m less than a month pregnant,” I said slowly.
“I’m not even showing yet. I can move and run just fine.
I have all my mobility. Sam, I can help.
Emma is my friend, one of my only friends.
I’m not going to let the wraith take her and just sit idly by when I know I can help.
Arguably, I am the only person who can make a serious difference. ”
I was right, and he knew it. But he would never admit it, would never accept that I could help, not if it put me in danger. I could see it long before he answered, but I refused to back down. Not when I had a friend in danger. My sister-in-law.
He let out a long, slow breath as he folded his arms and stared down at me. “And what about keeping your powers a secret?”
The words rang in my ears, and I didn’t answer right away. Because the truth was, that was the part that scared me the most. Deep down, I didn’t want anyone to know about my powers. I didn’t want my baby being born already ostracized because of what their mother could do.
I bit my lip as I considered the silence hanging between the two of us.
I thought about all the ways revealing my secret could go wrong.
Me and my unborn baby might be thrown out of the pack.
Elias might refuse to speak with me ever again for keeping it from him.
I could become more of an outcast than I already was.
But if I didn’t tell anyone, then Emma and any shifter who went after her were almost certainly going to die. And I knew which of those scenarios I would choose every time.
“We weren’t going to be able to keep it secret forever,” I finally said, trying to keep my expression neutral and my voice even.
“And I would rather everyone know my secret but have Emma be safe than keep it a secret, knowing it meant Emma would stay in the wraith’s clutches.
If it means I keep being ostracized, then so be it.
I’m not going to let that fear keep me from helping my friend. Not anymore.”
He stared down at me, as if stunned that I had said this much. He had actually expected me to concede the second he reminded me of what I would have to do.
“I admire that you would be willing to do that,” he said, “but you’re not coming.”
Frustration welled up in me. This was him being pigheaded again for no reason. “Sam—”
“I’m not letting you help,” he growled. “It’s too dangerous. You’re safer here. We all know it.”