Chapter Twenty One
The paper was soft at the creases, worn from rereading. Ink slashed across it jagged and angry. No matter how long I stared, it offered no clue who had left it.
In my bed. In a house meant to protect me.
I supposed I was there for the protection of others, not my own. Prisons were reinforced for breakouts, not break ins.
I hadn't slept that night, my eyes trained on my window, tensing at every passing shadow as I waited for the promised strike.
It was connected to the rogues and judging by how coordinated their attacks had become, I wouldn't have been surprised if this was left by one of them. The thought made my skin crawl.
Wolves thrived in packs and on their own, they were bound to lose their minds and become slaves to their basest instincts. It was less common that these rogues would band together, their temporary comradery staving off the madness for a time.
But the fall was inevitable.
These rogues were different. With coordinated movements and targeted efforts, their predictably erratic movements left us unprepared for their fights again and again.
The last major conflict between wolves was the war between Northern Circle and the southern packs and my parents were children when it ended. We weren't prepared for a war with wolves.
Something didn't add up with their newfound strategy, however. Nothing like this sprung up coincidentally. There was a driving force, a leader pushing their movements.
A dark thought niggled the back of my mind. The heel dragging in the Council could be written off as pointless bureaucracy, the infiltration of one of the best trained and heavily fortified packs a lucky break, but this note - this note said more than what was on the page.
If someone already inside the borders had not placed it then someone had helped them get in and whoever it was, they were most likely on the Council.
The terrace door creaked behind me and I didn't need to look to see who it was.
Lucien moved like silk over stone. Quiet but never shy. Earthy but sweet with a subtle but sharp tang of iron or copper.
The note disappeared into my pocket before he materialised at my side.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," he said with his charming smirk that flashed sharpened canines.
"You're not that pale, Lucien," I answered, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Unfortunately I can't say the same for you, Snow Queen." His crimson eyes twinkled with mischief.
"And here I thought my hours of sunbathing were paying off."
His chuckle was sleek but light. Something about it made me want to smile, though I held it back under my icy facade.
It was rare to see Lucien interact with someone without sarcastic ire or devilish mirth.
Stealing a moment of genuine amusement from him filled me with a strange sense of accomplishment.
"I found something I thought might be of interest." Lucien pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.
My heart jerked as I leaned forward. Another note had relief tangling in my chest. At least I wouldn't be alone in my threats.
Lucien unfolded the paper and the threads knotted together into the bundle of anxiety that had become a permanent fixture.
Not jerky, scratching handwriting with a thinly veiled threat. Just a printed list of call logs
"Money troubles?" I asked with a straight face. "I would have thought a vampire as old as you would be able to afford his phone bill."
"Oh ha ha." Lucien rolled his eyes but the curve of his lips was warm. "You wouldn't be my first call, Snow Queen. Isn't your currency just sticks and leaves?"
"Bold of you to assume we have a currency. Bartering is still very much in fashion at home." I didn't add that the most valuable trade was trust.
With another rounded chuckle and a shake of his head, Lucien let me take the paper from him.
"They're not my call logs," he explained and pointed to a number at the top. "But they are connected to a Council service tower. One meant to be exclusive for secure calls between allies."
I nodded slowly as he traced his finger down the page to a number. "Only this number isn't connected to any Council ally or known pack or coven that I could find. And it pinged a cell tower suspiciously close to a border I heard was ambushed yesterday."
My eyebrows furrowed as images of the rogue ambush flashed behind my eyes. Dax in danger, the blood red fury that overcame me.
"We need to go check it out." It wasn't a request or a question. I was going and Lucien was going with me.
"I was hoping you'd say that," he said with a wink before his eyes flicked to the door. "Unfortunately, this little expedition has already been vetoed by the powers that be."
I could have growled but my composure managed to stay, even as Lucien raised an eyebrow before it dropped in disappointment that he couldn't get the rise out of me that he was looking for.
"I may know a way that we could slip under the radar long enough to get past any prying Alpha eyes though.
" Lucien's eyebrows bounced and his flangs flashed in that mischievous smirk.
He'd caught me and he knew it. "So what do you say?
Are you going to be a good little prisoner or do you want to have a little fun? "
"Lead the way."
There was no time to tell Talia or think about whether Dax would even notice that I was gone.
Lucien whisked me away to a staircase hidden behind a bookshelf in a sideroom and down through a series of darkened tunnels. I could barely get my bearings as we wound and twisted through the corridors, trying to match Lucien's terrifying silence as he gracefully glided away from detection.
Determination and stubborn pride fuelled me, overriding the latent fear of discovery that threatened to shake my confidence.
While I disagreed with the ridiculous decision, I had already landed in hot water with the Council and been placed under supervision.
Evading my jailor to go on a forbidden recon mission would surely be a mark against me - possibly enough to send me away and crush any chances of a treaty being formed.
But the reward outweighed the risk.
If something inside the Council was influencing these rogues and we could find the smoking gun, Northern Circle's name could be cleared and I could have my freedom again and finally be away from the suffocating weight of Dax and Lyra's presence.
Lucien led us up a set of stairs and through a set of doors in the ceiling. The woods grew around us, the Council building small between the trunks.
Birds chirped and branches rustled as we carefully picked our way through the forest, following the echoes of the trail I remembered all too well from the day before.
The soiled stench of dried blood and a fruity stink of decomposing garlic hit me before we emerged into the makeshift clearing that resulted from our skirmish with the rogues. My jaw clenched, my muscles filled with a dull ache at the effort of keeping my face straight.
No one had cleared the site yet. Bloated bodies littered the ground, abnormally large wolves with blood matted fur and maroon crusted gouges.
There was something eerie about picking over the bodies, of seeing lives wasted in violence with bodies discarded so unceremoniously.
But Lucien didn't look bothered. His focus was clinical and precise as he combed over the lifeless battlefield.
I tried to find anything lurking underneath the reek but other than the vague hit of masking herbs they used, I came up empty.
My defiance had been pointless.
"Well look at that," Lucien purred, pulling my attention to where he was crouched next to a corpse with his hand nearly completely inside its ear. He pulled it out with something pinched between his fingers.
I narrowed my eyes as I took a step closer. It was half crushed from a deadly blow to the head but the small, black piece of metal and plastic was still intact.
An earpiece.
It was too pristine to be salvaged. This was provided by someone with pockets deep enough to kit out an unknown number of rogues attacking across the country.
"A lead is better than nothing," I said, leaning back on my heels, returning Lucien's grin with a raised eyebrow.
"The best we'll get in this shit hole." With a toss of his head, Lucien started leading the way back towards the hidden entrance we had used.
'Diplomatic tunnels' Lucien had called them, though they were really created for getting people in and out without the fear of prying eyes.
The bookshelf was pushed away revealing two guards with stoic faces and weapons drawn.
Lucien's eyes were hard when he glanced at me, red diamond screaming a single message.
Silence.
I returned an imperceptible nod, guard raised for the storm that awaited us inside the small room that sat next to the main Council chambers.
Alpha Hendrix, Alpha Bennet, Alpha de Silva and Dax were already waiting when we were led inside. The guards that escorted us followed, shutting the doors behind them as the room turned stifling.
"You violated director orders from this Council," Alpha Hendrix said, a stern frown marring his face.
"Only because you'd prefer we debated it over for a few weeks before doing anything," Lucien answered with scathing boredom.
Their disturbed expressions were enough to make me jump in. "We found evidence-"
"Enough," Alpha Bennet snapped, her eyes flashing amber. "You have overstepped your authority."
"She was protecting the Council's interests," Lucien shot back with a sneer.
Alpha Bennet's voice curled with disdain. "You're lucky you're protected under the treaties, vampire. She, however, is not."
My eyes flicked to Dax only to meet his hardened eyes but unmasked regret that lingered was new.
"Bring it forward," Alpha de Silva said with a nod towards the guards behind me.
They stepped forward with a black velvet box lined with satin, as though they were gifting me jewelry.
The tracking collar gleamed like a blade in moonlight.
Smooth, runed, laced with silver.
My heart stuttered, fear leaching into my bones as nausea gnawed at my stomach and my composure fluttered.
"This is not what we discussed," Dax said, his words biting, something akin to worry lacing his words.
"We discussed appropriate punishments." De Silva brushed Dax off as he reached for the box.
Dax moved in front of me, intercepting the box before De Silva could touch it. His stance widened, shoulders squared like a wolf ready to stand guard.
"Which this is clearly not," Dax pushed with a growl, his voice low but dangerous. "You're not putting that on her."
"Alpha Varyn," Hendrix piped up. "I trust you're ensuring your judgement here isn't compromised. You failed to watch her. This is the only way."
Dax's nose twitched, his jaw tightening in contempt and he snatched the box from de Silva with a challenging glare. The air around him crackled as he lifted the collar and took a step behind me.
The heat between us radiated against my back, warming the frost that wanted to appear. His hands brushed against my shoulders as the collar over my head and around my neck.
"I'll fix this," he promised, his voice a fading whisper tickling my ear.
I felt the lock click into place.
And then the burn searing through skin and pride, cold metal branding me with every heartbeat.
Sorry I missed an update yesterday! I've been aiming for one a day but yesterday just got away from me. Hopefully this one makes up for it!
If being forced under Dax's watch was too much for Kiera, having a collar on is going to be a killer...
But Dax promised to fix it. Do you think he will?
What do you think Lyra's next move will be now that Kiera's collared?
Thanks so much again for reading! All your comments and votes and support is really helping me push through to get this chapters out for you!