Chapter 16
One silver knife. Ten vials of colloidal silver. Two vials of stamina. Two vials of stealth. Thirty feet of rope, an ax, and food for one raven. No telling if she needed all of it. Better prepared than caught with your pants down.
It would be a quick trip. No time to waste getting to Ecrin. No time to waste getting out of the capital. Hazel’s currently black car could change colors and license plates.
Renz was a stupid git. Hazel hated stupid gits.
It was just unfortunate she couldn’t get to him herself.
However, she could erode his support system.
Six months into the little king’s reign and the people groaned under his authority.
The magic was turning and twisting, frightened in the hands of a man who had no ability to handle it.
So much ruin of crops and land lay at the feet of little King Renz.
And Cain was his influence. Cain ran the throne to please his own licentious desires.
Damn the Dlya Vokodlaka, the supposed supporters of wolfkind.
That horrific group had been a thorn of poison for the wolves, and by extension, all the realms for too many millennia to count.
The stupid gits felt untouchable with little Renz on the throne.
For all of history, they’d hid. To be exposed meant death because those in authority knew they wanted complete control of every being in their vicinity.
So, instead of continuing to operate in the dark, they decided to throw a party, an orgy.
A celebration of a future they believed they held in their hands.
Little King Renz would be there with his black haired slave ‘boy.’ A man Renz claimed was her mate in the letter he’d sent her.
He was warning her off from helping the Blood Moon Pack any longer.
The stupid git didn’t realize she wasn’t intimidated.
In fact, he’d spelled out a plan for her to hurt him and take away a major source of support.
After all, who wouldn’t want to rescue their fated mate?
Witches and wolves didn’t usually mate. There had only been twelve couples in recorded history. It was how magic got infused into the Lycan blood line. And, if Hazel was correct, her mate was a Lycan waiting to happen.
If Hazel had her way, and she intended to have her way, Jaxom would become the first Lycan King in one thousand years.
He already had Drake. Two more mates to go and the magic would heal.
Otherwise, all the realms would die and that within a year, two at the most. Oh, how Hazel did love hunting stupid gits.
The orgy was in a small town just south of Ecrin.
The evil little town of Torrent. Witch Magdahl would be there to perform the Awakening Ceremony.
A ceremony usually done with only two or three member at a time.
It was a bullshit ceremony. All the witches laughed behind their hands that the Dlya Vokodlaka had performed it since they were established.
The drive took nothing out of her. It was calming to get on the open highway.
Traffic was light until she got to the capital.
Even that was nothing compared to busy weekdays.
As she entered the city, she took her stealth potion.
It would last for twelve hours. More than enough time to get in and out again.
If she got Renz in her trap, she’d be thrilled.
Unfortunately, the kingling didn’t take any food or drink from anyone but his handlers.
That included the ceremony. Cain Gentry, however, was a different story. A very different story.
Witch Magdahl would also be a difficult target in this environment.
One Hazel was fine not getting at the moment, but she did have a plan.
Magdahl knew Hazel’s power signature, thus she had to mask it.
The fewer people who knew she was there the better.
There were too many things she needed to take care of to help the Lycans return. No point broadcasting her activity.
The whole Dlya Vokodlaka was indeed at the ancient crumbling mansion.
Twenty four ruling members in all. The head of the poisonous snake.
Slaves would be dismissed to the outer courtyard until after the ceremony.
They’d be guarded but not heavily. All of them too cowed to try and fight.
That suited Hazel just fine, too. They’d find their footing once freed.
Magdahl had begun the chant in the inner courtyard around the fountain.
The fountain was a closed system. It held the mixture of wine and honey.
Hazel had dumped the colloidal silver into a water bottle tucked under her cloak.
It matched the self important revelers. She’d tucked her trademark hair under a scarf.
The hood of the cloak was extra concealment.
The followers of the Dlya Vokodlaka lined the walls around the fountain while the stupid gits crowded in to drink first from the supposed magical brew.
Hazel wandered safely among the revelers as they danced to Magdahl’s chant.
They thought it brought the magic closer.
A celebration of their power and might. A bunch of bunk.
It took no effort to stumble and tip the bottle into the honeyed wine swirling in the fountain. No one was paying her any attention. Magdahl held their attention as her voice rose in excitement to call on the Moon Goddess to bless their gathering. A gathering the Moon Goddess hated.
Cain and Renz stood at the edge of the fountain next to the witch. Renz had his own honeyed wine in a glass ready to drink. Servants were passing out glasses, ready to dip into the brew.
Magdahl’s chant crescendoed and Cain dipped his glass. Together, he and Renz drank deeply. The floodgate opened and wolves pushed their way to the fountain to get their fill. It only seemed fitting. Rumor was, Alpha King Silas had tested positive for colloidal silver poisoning, a lot of silver.
Hazel smiled as she backed to a doorway, a cupful of water in her hand.
Cain was the first to react, wiping sweat from his brow.
Then, he dropped to his knees. He was the only one Hazel really wanted to see die.
The rest were just a bonus. He tipped over as Renz frowned down at him, nudging Cain with his boot.
Cain toppled to the ground. His cup rolled out of his limp hand.
She entered the slave’s courtyard as cries of distress filled the night.
Rose and honey filled her senses. She hadn’t realized she’d scent her fated mate.
But he was there, naked with the rest of the slaves, staring at her.
Sliver scarred his wrists, ankles, and neck.
Death by silver was way too fast for Cain.
He deserved so much worse but that had not been an option.
Hazel took her cape off and handed him the pants and shirt she’d stored in its pocket. She wanted to weep. He needed food. She’d take care of that soon.
“Hey,” a guard yelled.
“Hey to you.” Hazel ran at him, jumped at his chest and stabbed him in the heart before he could react. Witches were never easy to kill.
The second guard looked at her, heard the screaming in the other courtyard and ran. It looked like she didn’t need the rope after all.
Hazel turned and held her hand out to her now clothed mate. He looked like he was ready to be rejected. She’d never have come this far just to reject him.
“Come, my future,” she said softly. “Let’s go home.”
Hazel handed him the stealth potion which he willingly downed. Green magic made silver fall off her mate as they ran out of the courtyard to her car. It changed from black to a blue as they pulled out of the parking lot. It didn’t seem like alarms were sent out. No one was chasing them, yet.
In the rearview mirror she saw revelers crawling out of the inner courtyard, trying to escape the doom coursing through their blood. If the guard did his job, the authorities should be coming soon. But, not soon enough.
Her mate was breathing heavily as she sped out of Torrent.
He kept turning to look out the back of the car.
His eyes were large, wild, like he couldn’t believe they were escaping.
He was so quiet, like he was used to keeping his emotions, his voice, on lockdown.
Getting him to let it out would be fun, and probably wouldn’t take much. Wolves were chatty when irked.
Hazel handed her mate a bottle of water. The food warmer had a hot sandwich ready for him to eat. They had a long drive ahead of them and she didn’t want to stop for food. Always plan ahead.
“I’m Hazel. What’s your name?”
“Rubin. Thank you for getting me out of there,” he said softly.
Hazel watched him eat the sandwich. He could probably eat three more and not be full. Her mother said it was fun cooking for a male wolf’s appetite. They actually ate food, not worrying about needing to outrun the meal. Made a gal feel appreciated, especially when she knew the food was good.
“That was more fun than I’d had in a while. Cain is dead.” Hazel smiled at her mate. He made her heart flutter. Wolves were so strange. It all made more sense now.
“And Renz?”
“Hmm, unfortunately no. But, his time is coming.”
“He hates you,” Rubin growled at her.
Hazel couldn’t stop the laugh of delight. “I’d be sad if he didn’t. Bet he hates me even more now.”
“What you did was dangerous. They want you dead.” Rubin was getting angry. It looked good on him. He probably had years of anger to work out of his system.
“If you want me as a mate, you’ll get used to it.” Hazel shrugged.
“How do you know they aren’t using me, right now, to get to you?” Hazel smirked as his ire raised. She wondered how far she could wind him up. So many wolves were afraid of her. There was no fear dripping off this wolf.
Hazel raised her hand and green magic bathed his body for a moment. No magic rose out of Rubin’s body to touch her’s.
“Magdahl is stupid. She completely missed an opportunity.”
Rubin glared at her but it was gradually giving way to his own smirk. He settled back in his seat. Hazel squirmed as he looked her up and down. His gazed touched her, a caress of more pleasure to come.
“I could probably get used to you taking chances, but there will be rules.” He said it like she would actually follow rules.
“Here we go,” Hazel laughed. “May the negotiations begin. What rules, pray tell, would you suggest I follow?”
“You don’t go on anymore outings like this without me.” Hazel loved the firm resolve in his voice. Being a slave hadn’t broken him. May have made him stronger.
“There will be exceptions. Magdahl is one exception.”
“Magdahl is a murderous bitch. I’m coming. When will that happen?”
“Unfortunately, not any time soon. Prophecy is in play and I don’t have permission to mess with the timeline.
I wish I could. Taking her out now brings in too many unknowns.
Renz still needs some sort of support. I took most of his support away today.
There are things that must happen for the Moon Goddess’ plan to succeed,” Hazel said with frustration.
“And, my plan for Magdahl must be done alone. If I do it right, she’s the only one that will suffer. It will be so satisfying.”
“You’ll be telling me your plans. I can’t back down if I don’t know what you’re up to. Does that make sense?”
“We’ll talk,” Hazel tried to yield a little. “How did you end up with Renz?”
Rubin went quiet. She let him soak in the peace and quiet. He’d not had an easy road with Renz. None of Renz’ other chosen slaves had made it out alive. It was hard to underestimate the lives Renz and his ilk had ruined.
“My dad likes to gamble. He offered me up at a card game. He lost.”
“How old were you?” Hazel reached over to hold his hand. Tingles spread through her hand at the contact. The warmth of his hand felt amazing against hers, too.
“15. My slavery started out well enough, I guess. I was sold to a vineyard owner. He actually took the time to teach me about growing grapes. I really enjoyed it, to be honest. I know that may sound weird considering, but it was honest work.”
“How old are you now?”
“19. I only got to shift once. The vintner allowed it after my 18th. He didn’t want me harmed by keeping me from the first shift. Said it was important for the health of every wolf.”
“Well, you’ll have all the room you want to shift now. And, if you want training, my Alpha will be only too happy to get you going.” Hazel smiled at her handsome mate. His eyes lit up at the idea. So dang cute.
“I know what you’re going to ask next,” Rubin said.
“What’s that?”
“You want to know how long I’ve been with Renz.”
“Of course. I want to know everything. We have a lifetime if you don’t feel like talking. I’ll be happy to listen anytime.” Hazel squeezed his hand. She hadn’t expected him to tell her so much. Heart wounds were always tricky to deal with.
“If I expect you to talk to me, it’s only fair I talk to you.
I was with him for 9 months. Felt like a lifetime.
He’s a sick bastard.” Rubin stopped for a moment.
“Anyway, I’m not ashamed. That’s the odd thing.
I’ve known other slaves that hated talking about what happened to them.
It’s never bothered me. I didn’t do it. The blame is solely on my father.
I lived. I even learned how to grow grapes for wine that’s something I’d like to continue. ”
“The Blood Moon Pack creed is ‘scars mean you lived to fight another day’. They live it out. It’s a sign of resilience.”
“I like that. Isn’t the Blood Moon Pack Jaxom Bane’s pack?”
“Yep.”
“Do we really look that much alike?”
“Other than the black hair, no. You’re distinct from him, thank the Moon Goddess. I could dye your hair, if you’d like.” Hazel gave Rubin a mischievous grin.
“Let’s start with bright pink highlights. Give people something to look at,” Rubin laughed.
“And that is my man!”