Chapter 20
Lucian
It takes me a moment to catch her scent mixed in among the humans and at least one other hellhound. My hound’s hackles rise because the scent isn’t familiar to us, but with so many beings coming through this, it’s easy for the scents to mix. Breathing in once more, I think of my mate.
There. It’s Cara.
I follow her scent through the winding path of mirrors.
My hound growls. Something doesn’t feel right to us, but I try not to worry too much. I’m probably just jealous after watching her walk away with an unfamiliar male. Fuck, I’m too paranoid and I know it, but I just finger-fucked her in the haunted house and still haven’t marked her as mine.
I should have done it already. Should have told her everything.
When I find her, we’ll get out of here, and I’ll spill every one of my secrets.
We’ll make this work.
Her scent is strongest here, but it’s a dead end. Where did you go, mate?
I’m about to turn around and retrace my steps when I spot the stuffed animal she’d been carrying earlier. The one she won for her pet.
For me.
Terror rises within me as I pick it up and bring the plush object to my nose, inhaling deeply. I’m drowned in the scent of her fear, but there’s something else too. Another hellhound, the unfamiliar one I noticed when I entered the house of mirrors. He was with her when she dropped this.
But why?
It hits me then, and it feels like my heart is being torn clean from my chest. There’s only one reason a hellhound would take an angel-blooded being alive.
Nausea works its way up my throat, but I fight it back and focus. They can’t have gone far. But where…
There.
A scuff mark lines the floor, suggesting there’s a door nearby. It takes a little prodding, but I find the hidden handle, and it swings open. I’m at the back of the house of mirrors, likely an entrance for staff, but as hard as I try, I can’t find her scent again.
Fuck!
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out, hoping to see Cara’s name flash across the screen, but it’s not her. I tuck my phone away again, ignoring the call from my mother. I’ll find out what she wants later when my mate isn’t in danger. She’ll understand once she has all the details.
Except she doesn’t give up and calls twice more before I finally pick up.
“What?”
“Lucian! Where are you?” my mother says, sounding relieved.
“The carnival. What’s going on? Now isn’t a good time.”
“Are the others with you?”
“Cooper was earlier, but Mom, I really can’t—”
“Harry’s gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
Mom lets out a long breath. “You know Harry. He likes to run alone, but he follows a strict schedule, and he hasn’t come back yet. We can’t reach Tobias either. He went to the carnival with Evan, who says Tobias just disappeared. He thought he had come back home, but we haven’t seen him.”
Shit.
It could just be a coincidence, but I doubt it. I suspect the hellhound who took Cara also has the missing members of our pack.
“I think I know what’s happening. Talk to the others and have them gather near the pond beyond the pack house. I’ll find Cooper and meet you there.”
“We’ll be ready. Be safe, son.”
With Cara’s stuffed animal in my fist, I stalk from the staff-only area back to where I last saw Coop. I don’t smell him, so I head toward the group of food stalls and call him. After about a dozen rings, it goes to voicemail.
Fuck!
I call Coop’s phone again once I’m in front of the food stalls and don’t see him.
My ears perk up as the telltale sound of “Houndin” by Layto plays nearby.
My best friend thought it would be hilarious to personalize my ringtone with a song that reminded him of the early days in this realm when I struggled to adjust here.
I follow the sound until I find his phone discarded on the outskirts of the fairgrounds.
Beside it is a cluster of footprints. There are Coop’s and two other sets that smell of unfamiliar hellhound.
They’ve captured Coop, too.
If these fucking assholes do anything to harm my mate, my best friend, or any member of my pack, they’ll pay in blood and ash. A ripple goes through me, changing my vision until I know my eyes no longer resemble a human’s. Fur sprouts on my arms, threatening a full shift, but I hold it back.
Barely.
I make it to the pack house in record time, though my need to shift and hunt has only gotten worse. The pack is strong, and I know we’ll have a decent-sized group ready to go after our family, but will they be so keen to help Cara?
I should have told them about her earlier. I should have claimed her too.
But my failure can wait.
“Where’s Coop?” my mother asks as I stride toward the pond and the rest of our packmates.
I only shake my head in answer. As I get closer to the gathered pack, there’s a flurry of worried questions.
“What are we going to do?”
“What do they want with us?”
Stepping onto a stump, I clap my hands once, and the crowd grows quiet. “Thank you all for coming. I’ve asked you here because the worst has happened. Hellhounds from the Obsidian City have captured our pack. They were likely sent by the demon king.”
“No!”
“It can’t be!”
“I’m afraid it’s true. Harry, Cooper, and Tobias are among the missing pack members,” I say, and Elizabeth, Tobias’s human mate and fiancée, wails. “But there’s another. A woman named Cara was captured at the carnival, and I intend to get her back.”
My mother watches me curiously.
“Who is this Cara, and why did they take her?” Maurice, one of our best trackers, asks.
This is it. No turning back now.
“Cara is part nephilim, but she’s also my mate.”
There are huffs and gasps of shock, but I expected this. I should have told them about it sooner. Or at least my mother. She could have helped me sway the pack to the idea.
“I was as shocked as you all are, believe me.”
“You would ask us to help an angel?” Maurice asks.
My mother steps in front of me and scoffs. “If Cara is his mate, then she’s protected by pack law. So yes, our rescue mission includes her as well, just as it would Elizabeth.” She turns to look at me, and I nod in thanks.
“Despite the angel blood flowing through her veins, Cara has no powers. I don’t even think she knows it herself. This is hard to understand. I know that. It’s why I kept it a secret for so long, but I assure you that Cara is not a threat. In time, you’ll see that for yourself.”
“I look forward to it,” Maurice says, breaking the silence. I knew he and Harry would be the hardest ones to win over, but I didn’t expect him to accept it so easily. He exchanges a look with my mother that tells me everything I need to know.
He’s doing this for her.
For the pack.
Crossing my arms, I stare down at each member of the pack and say, “I won’t sugarcoat it. This rescue mission will be dangerous. Our old realm is not a place any of us intended to go back to, but it’s very likely we’ll need to enter the gateway.”
“Marianne will stay with Evan and Elizabeth.” Maurice looks at my mother, and when she doesn’t object, he continues. “Those of you who are willing and able, please step forward.”
I take off my shirt and prepare to shift, watching as the pack moves up, each of them ready to fight for one another.
Inside, my hound snarls, begging to be let out, but I hold him back. Soon.
“What’s that?” Evan asks, pointing to my chest. I look down and hold back a curse. The nametag. I must have forgotten to remove it in my rush to get to the carnival. “Why do you have Cooper’s name on your chain?”
“It’s a long story. One I’ll explain after we save the others.”
I take off the nametag and hand it to my mother. “Keep this safe for me until I return. Please.”
She doesn’t say anything right away as she watches me, likely trying to figure out all the things I’ve been lying about. Finally, she nods. “We’ll have a lot to discuss. Come back safely.”
Guilt and shame bubble up inside of me as I think about all the secrets I’ve kept. From my pack and from Cara.
The hellhounds were likely only here to hunt us down.
My pack.
It’s my fault she’s been taken.
With our best trackers and fighters surrounding me, I vow to return to the place I escaped from in order to save her and my pack.
Once we have her safely back in this realm, I’ll tell her everything.
What I am, what she is, and that she’s my mate.
She might hate me for lying to her about her pet and everything else, but at least she’ll know.
And at least she’ll be safe.
I look around at my friends and family, who look ready to kill and maim for their pack. “Grab what you need. We leave in five.”