Chapter 37
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
Elise was trying not to panic.
It wasn't working.
She really didn't want to die. She definitely didn't want Nico to die, but the bonds holding them in place wouldn't budge.
Neither she nor Nico had a knife to cut through them.
Just because the bonds were spelled against using magic didn't mean that they couldn't be cut the human way.
But she didn't have anything that would work, and she couldn't use her teeth to do it.
She was stuck and waiting for the death knell that would come at midnight.
She had considered Austin's offer of sending on any last words to the coven and was trying to come up with a really good curse she could level on him at that last minute.
Even if he had something that dampened her magic, she wanted him to live with the threat of it for the rest of his life—his hopefully short life.
But anticipation was only making her panic more. She had to think about something else, something that had been pricking at her curiosity for days and that she hadn't allowed herself to truly contemplate.
There was no time like the present because it was very possible that she would never get another opportunity to ask.
"This 'mate' thing …" She turned her head toward Nico as much as the ropes would allow. "What's that about? You keep using that word. Is it just the werewolf word for girlfriend or does it mean something more?"
Elise had just confessed that she loved him. It shouldn't have been so absolutely terrifying to ask that question, as if it might reveal far more than she was ready to hear, but she hadn't run away from him yet. So maybe she was brave enough. And it wasn't like she could escape right now.
Nico found her hand and squeezed it.
"It's—" He was cut off by the sounds of wolves howling in the distance. The howls bounced off metal and concrete, making it impossible to tell how close they were. Howling turned into pained yelps and human screams.
Whatever he was going to say went right out the window.
They both started tugging even harder at their bonds.
The ropes bit deeper into her wrists, but she twisted and pulled anyway, ignoring the hot sting of the burns.
Something was happening, and Elise hoped it was the rescue squad coming to get them, but she wasn't willing to bet her life on it.
She spotted a rusty nail sticking out from the pallet next to her and managed to get onto her knees.
She started working the ropes against it.
The nail's rough edge caught on the fibers, and she sawed back and forth franticly, feeling the first threads begin to separate.
She let out a sound of triumph. The rope rubbed against her wrist, and the skin was raw underneath, but she put that pain out of her mind.
If she could get free, she could get Nico free. Or at least give him access to the nail.
Now he was looking for a nail of his own, running his hand over the pallet closest to him.
The door at the end of the pathway opened. Elise found herself flattened to the ground as Nico threw himself on top of her, shielding her body from whatever threat was coming their way. His weight pressed her into the cold concrete, and she could feel his heart hammering against her shoulder blade.
"Take that, you furry motherfucker!" Delainey's voice rang out through the warehouse.
For the first time since waking up, Elise let herself feel hope. She pushed Nico off of her and saw Delainey and Aya running beside two wolves. When had that happened?
The last conversation she had, her coven had been calling them "mangy animals," and the last thing Elise had ever expected to see was them working together. Reece was running beside Delainey, and Javi was taking up the rear.
"Hold them off," Delainey shouted to Aya and Javi, who took up posts right in front of the door. She and Reece knelt in front of Elise and Nico.
"Are you okay?" Delainey grabbed Elise's shoulders, eyes scanning her for injuries. As she picked at the rope, she sent a burst of magic into it and cursed when it rebounded back onto her. The spell ricocheted with a spark, and Delainey jerked her hand back, shaking out her fingers.
"They're enchanted," Elise managed to get out.
"No shit," was Delainey's response. She pulled a switchblade out of her back pocket and flicked it open with a practiced snap.
She sawed at the ropes as quickly as she could.
Then she made quick work of the ropes at Elise's feet and got her to stand just as Reece was doing the same thing to Nico.
Elise's legs wobbled as blood rushed back into her cramped muscles, pins and needles shooting through her calves.
"Okay, come on, we have to go."
How, Elise was trying to ask, but Delainey was leading them back towards Aya, who was maintaining a magical barrier in the doorway, and Javi, who was in his half-shifted form, claws and teeth at the ready to fight anyone who got close.
They took off running. Elise forced her stiff legs to move, adrenaline overriding the screaming protest of muscles that had been bound for hours. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest as they sprinted for the exit, and she was sure they wouldn't make it.
That certainty only got worse when Austin stepped out from behind a stack of crates and blocked their path. He placed himself squarely in their escape route, and the smile on his face was all teeth.
It was one-on-four. They could take him, but Elise was shaky. Her wrists were raw from the ropes, and she remembered the deadly efficiency Austin had orchestrated to take her and Nico off the street without a fight.
She refused to underestimate him.
The Iron Runner beta looked furious. His suit jacket had disappeared somewhere, and the sleeve of his shirt was not only ripped, but there was also a streak of blood on it.
Fresh blood, still wet and dark against the white fabric, ran from his shoulder to his elbow. He glared at them and curled his lip.
"What do you think you're doing?" He was looking right at Reece and Javi, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl. "We do not work with witches." He held up a purple stone that glowed with a sickly light.
Elise could feel the magic rolling off of it, and it made her stomach roil. Whatever that rock did, it was bad news.
Delainey lobbed her magic at Austin, but he dipped his shoulder and dodged it like it was nothing.
The spell sailed past him and exploded against a metal support beam, leaving a scorched mark on the steel.
"Little annoying witch, do you want to see what my new toy does?
I was hoping to save it for them. The sorceress who sold it to me said it would flay the skin off a witch's bones. "
He took a deep breath. Elise suspected there was some kind of trigger word to the charm, and she braced herself. Her magic rose instinctively, gathering beneath her skin in preparation for whatever horror was about to be unleashed.
Nico didn't hesitate. He launched himself forward and smacked the rock out of Austin's palm.
His hand connected with Austin's wrist in a sharp crack of bone on bone, and the stone went flying through the air.
The move was so sudden that the Iron Runner beta didn't have time to jerk out of his reach.
The stone fell to the floor and shattered, the magic inside of it releasing harmlessly into the air around them.
Purple light burst outward in a dying flare before dissipating into nothing, leaving only broken shards of dark rock scattered on the floor.
"You do not get to harm my mate," Nico roared.
He drove his fist into Austin's jaw, sending him sprawling. Knuckles met bone with a satisfying crunch, and Austin's head snapped back, blood spraying from his split lip. Austin crumpled to the ground, out cold.
Nico stood over him, chest heaving, and kicked him once in the ribs for good measure. The kick landed with a dull thud, and Austin's body jerked but didn't wake.
"We have to move!" Delainey yelled, grabbing Elise's other arm. They took off running, away from Austin's unconscious form.
Elise was ready for more of a fight, but as they ran the rest of the way through the warehouse, she saw a few fallen wolves and no one in any position to face off against them. Bodies lay crumpled between crates and pallets, some breathing shallowly, others ominously still.
They ran through the parking lot and down the street to a second parking lot about a block away where Briana's Jeep and a truck that Elise didn't recognize were parked side by side. Her lungs burned with each gasping breath.
Reece opened the door to the truck, and all of them piled in. Javi, now fully human, sat in the driver's seat with Aya beside him. Elise and Nico were squished together in one seat in the back while Delainey and Reece were next to them.
Elise took the opportunity to send another burst of magic through Nico and heal anything that she might have missed earlier.
He sent her a look that told her he knew exactly what she was doing and that she didn't need to be doing it.
She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, her lips brushing against skin still damp with sweat.
If the silly man thought that she was going to let him hurt when she could do something about it, he was out of his damn mind.
"Come on, come on, where are you guys?" Reece was muttering, his eyes fixed on the warehouse entrance.
"Serena, get the fuck out of there. Briana, come on!" That was from Delainey, her hands gripping the back of the front seat hard enough to make her knuckles white.
The rest of her coven was still inside, as were Nico's fellow betas. They had all come for them.
Elise watched, heart thumping so fast she thought it might explode.
Then she saw figures sprinting for their lives coming around the same corner the rest of them had run from several minutes before.
They burst through the warehouse door in a desperate scramble, and even from this distance, she could see the pack of wolves pouring out behind them.
Reece let out a curse and jumped out of the truck, transforming into a wolf between one breath and the next.
Bones cracked and reformed with sickening speed, fur rippling across skin, and his clothes tore away as his body reshaped itself mid-leap.
Delainey was out of the truck right after him.
She threw magic at the wolves that were chasing Briana.
Bolts of crackling energy streaked through the air, forcing the pursuing wolves to scatter and dodge.
Cole was carrying a half-slumped-over Serena, and Hugh had transformed into his wolf form.
He kept barking at the wolves that were chasing them.
He took up the rear, ready to fight anyone who got too close.
Hugh's snarls were vicious, all bared teeth and raised hackles, daring any of them to try getting past him.
Cole, Serena, and Briana passed Delainey and Reece. Then Hugh caught up to Reece, and both of them stood their ground while Delainey stayed right behind them and covered them with her magic. She sent spell after spell into the advancing wolves, each burst buying them precious seconds.
Javi turned on the truck while Cole, Briana, and Serena got into Briana's car. The engine roared to life, and Elise could feel the vibration through the seat beneath her.
"Come on, get back here, motherfucker," Javi was saying under his breath. Aya gave him a look that Elise couldn't interpret at this moment.
Her brain was kind of fried by now. She was doing her best to just stay conscious.
Delainey summoned a wall of fire that grew up between the wolves of Nico's pack and the wolves that were chasing them.
Flames erupted from the asphalt in a roaring curtain, heat distorting the air and forcing the pursuing wolves to skid to a halt or risk being burned alive.
Then she stumbled backwards and fell to her knees before starting to crawl back to the truck.
Doing something like that took a lot of power. That kind of magic usually required the entire coven, and Delainey was going to pay for that. Blood trickled from her nose, red against her brown skin, and her arms shook as she tried to drag herself forward.
Reece, in his wolf form, got close to her and started tugging on her with his teeth and then butting into her with his head.
She managed to get up to her feet and take a few stumbling steps that eventually turned into a pace that was half stumble, half run.
Her legs barely seemed able to hold her weight, but she kept moving through sheer force of will.
Hugh jumped into the back seat of Briana's car, still in his wolf form, while Reece stayed with Delainey the whole time, looking over his shoulder every few seconds to see if her wall of fire had fallen and the wolves were coming after them.
The flames were already beginning to die down, shrinking from a wall to scattered patches of fire on the pavement.
He nipped at her heels and pushed her with his nose into the bed of the truck and then hopped up beside her. His paws scrabbled against the metal bed as he pulled himself in, and he immediately positioned himself between Delainey and the warehouse, still on guard.
Delainey closed the back of the hitch of the truck and then banged on the windows.
"Go, go, get us out of here!" She pounded her fist against the glass hard enough to make it rattle.
Javi took off with Briana following close behind.
Tires squealed against asphalt as both vehicles peeled out of the parking lot, leaving rubber marks and the smell of burning brake pads in their wake.