Chapter 25 Trish
Trish
I tried to hold onto the dreams of Jaxon and what he’d done to me in the woods the other night just a little bit longer, but they faded as I slowly came awake.
Last night, I’d crashed hard. I hadn’t meant to sleep like a baby in this warlock’s war camp, but in my defense, life had been stressful lately and it was the first time I’d slept in a real bed in almost two weeks.
Finally. My wolf yawned. Your turn.
She stretched out her front paws, giving me our body, as her bones broke and rearranged with that of mine. I continued the stretch with my arms above my head, echoing her yawn.
Thanks for keeping watch.
She mumbled something incoherent as her consciousness settled down in my mind to sleep.
Smiling, I caught a whiff of myself. I still smelled deliciously clean from my first real bath in ages last night. Vincent may have been a crazy warlock, but he sure knew how to treat his guests.
A girl could get used to this.
If only there wasn’t the lingering threat of war on the horizon and the mystery of the Ossory witch to solve.
I dressed quickly. Vincent had my stuff brought to this tent—that was more of a guest house than a tent—despite my protests.
If I didn’t know Alpha Kera would be here any minute and that Jaxon would look for me if I disappeared, I might’ve bolted last night.
But Vincent seemed to trust me and I wanted to use that to my advantage while the opportunity presented itself.
Once I was dressed, I sat cross-legged on the intricately woven carpet and inhaled deeply.
Like a long-lost friend, the warmth of my magic embraced me as if it’d never left.
Hell yeah! I squealed to myself. We’re back.
My wolf opened one sleepy eye and nodded. Good. I needed a break.
Whatever happened on the training field yesterday with Jaxon had reignited my spark. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this whole.
I was still smiling as I opened the flap of the tent and welcomed the light of day outside. First on the agenda was to find Sarah. She’d slipped away yesterday at the chow hall, and I hadn’t seen her since. Jaxon and the others would want to know what she was doing here.
But that was proving to be a challenge.
You’d think we were in a whole other territory with how large a setup Vincent had. The tents themselves were tall enough to house giants, and there was enough space to host an army far bigger than the one currently testing to be here in the next valley over.
I tracked the sun in the sky, realizing it was probably close to breakfast time now, and just about the time that the other witches would be heading toward that field. Jaxon was probably still pissed at me. I chewed my bottom lip as I walked, sending up a silent prayer that he’d understand.
Once this was all over—this afternoon most likely—I’d make it up to him somehow.
I continued to walk through the makeshift war camp, trying to find my way back to familiar landmarks by using my instincts because I didn’t recognize anything. It was eerie how abandoned the paths all seemed.
Maybe Vincent planned to fill these tents later, and this was some sort of mock set up to test his equipment. Ossory territory wasn’t near any human city I’d ever heard of—Virtua must’ve been at least three hundred miles to the south—so he couldn’t have planned to stage a base camp here.
And I didn’t know why he needed such large beds and bathtubs for a war effort anyway.
Wasn’t war supposed to be less… luxurious?
I retraced my steps to the chow hall tent, trusting my gut to lead me there. The stomach never lies. I found the tent in no time at all. It was empty too except for the silver trays on the serving table piled high with fruit and baked goods like an offering to anyone who entered.
Don’t mind if I do. I snagged an apple and a slice of sweet bread before resuming my search.
I wanted to make sure Sarah was okay before I went running back to Jaxon. And truth be told, I wanted to show up with more than my tail between my legs. I wanted to make them proud. For them to see me as more than a burden.
Now that my magic was flowing through my veins steadily again, I felt brave and—
“There you are.”
I almost screamed as I rounded the path, coming face to face with Vincent.
He caught me by the arms before I windmilled backwards, giving me a curious smile. “Is everything all right? I went to your tent and you weren’t there.”
“All good,” I squeaked, wondering how he’d been able to sneak up on me. My wolf woke from her slumber and growled until I stepped back, away from Vincent’s touch.
His hands fell to his side. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
In the morning light, his golden hair framed his head in a halo, giving him a soft glow. But his unmated male scent made my wolf anxious.
And it hit me.
I’d never much been able to tolerate any males—even decently handsome ones—except Jaxon. Ever. I’d thought my wolf was just picky, but she never once had a problem with him or his scent.
Oh… Fate.
Oh, Jaxon.
I nodded way longer than appropriate as I was struck dumb by this new revelation. Then I remembered myself. “Where is everyone?”
Concern deepened the lines on Vincent’s face. “They’re in temple this morning.”
“Temple?” I asked, not sure I heard him right.
His lips quirked. “Would you like to see?”
*
Holy….
“What is this place?” I whispered as if my voice would echo in the vast tent. Holy was right. Even the sand under our feet seemed cold, blessed with an ancient magic I’d never felt before.
Giant golden statues—three times as tall as any wolf Alpha I’d ever met—wrapped around the perimeter, guarding the pews of witches and warlocks that were humming along with an organ being played.
At the center of it all was an empty star-shaped dais next to a low platform stage with jeweled footboard.
I quickly scanned the bowed heads, looking for Sarah among the gathered attendees, but I couldn’t search long because Vincent was watching.
“This is…” I blew out a breath so long my lips vibrated. Crazy? Scary? A total cult. “Wow. This is wow.”
Vincent smiled. “It is something, isn’t it? Do you recognize any of the deities?”
I shook my head until I realized he was talking about the hundreds of statues that lined the makeshift cathedral like they were guarding an army.
“That’s Cerberus with Hades,” I said, pointing out the three headed massive canine at the ancient Greek god’s side.
My family’s namesake. “And that’s Cadejo.
” I smiled at the horned wolf with glowing blue eyes.
Jaxon couldn’t look further from his namesake, save for the goodness depicted in those tales.
“Those are some of the canid deities,” Vincent said, still studying me. “And what of the others?”
“Um…” I chewed my bottom lip as I looked around.
I wasn’t expecting a history test, especially one not so early in the morning.
Some of the statues had Viking braids. Clearly, Odin with Fenrir.
And others held the was-scepter and staff.
Ancient Egyptians such as Anubis. There were kimonos, and warriors with swords, and golden priestlike robes. I think I even saw Buddha in there.
“It’s a lot of gods,” I said, backing up as I took them all in, and coming to a stop when a golden hand brushed against my lower back.
“Tell me you at least know Hecate.” Vincent smirked.
I glanced up, seeing the moon in her other hand and a deep sadness in her eyes.
“I know this one,” I rushed to say. Hecate was the goddess of witchcraft and the moon. Gram mentioned her specifically numerous times. In some myths, she blended in with all the other goddesses of the moon. Selena, Diana, Athena… “We celebrate the goddesses of the moon.”
Not we, exactly. But Amarok pack did, and they threw a mean Luna festival that my sisters and I loved to attend.
“You celebrate a perversion of the moon and passing of the seasons, as if Earth were the only one worth your worship.” Vincent smiled condescendingly, like I was a child. “And you’ve forgotten the old gods.”
“That’s not true,” I said, glancing around when I saw we’d picked up a little audience from those gathered in the back pews as the song changed. “I pray to the gods.”
“Do you pray to them? Or do you curse them with your flippant tongue by calling on them for any little inconvenience?” Vincent crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
It was just a figure of speech.
I thought about arguing with him and explaining that was how culture worked. As a species, we’d blended together for so many years that our gods and religions had blended too, and we only kept the bits and pieces that served us now.
But then I remembered my covert, self-imposed recon mission and decided to play dumb.
My eyes widened slightly, like I was a fawn. “Oh, my gods.” I clapped a hand over my mouth, catching my slip of tongue. “You’re right.”
He blinked.
I let my shoulders drop. “I didn’t think about it like that. We don’t worship them daily. Not like they used to. And when we pray, we don’t call them out by name.”
There were murmurs of approval from the curious backrow onlookers before they turned to face front again, joining in on the new hymn.
I could’ve pointed out the irony in this form of worship, but Vincent seemed to think he’d won and I didn’t care to correct him.
Told you he was crazy.
“You’re not alone in your ignorance, but I’m glad you can see the error of your ways so quickly.” His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Time to turn up the charm. “Yes. Thank you for showing me. I’ll definitely rethink some things.”
“We’ll have plenty of time to help you reflect.” Vincent turned, heading toward the tent exit.
I lingered a moment longer, scanning the heads of the worshippers one last time, before hurrying to catch up with him. “If you don’t mind me asking, what does this have to do with the witches trapped behind the human walls?”
I knew that purists prayed to science, but something about all this wasn’t quite making sense.
“It has everything to do with them.” Vincent held out his arm for me to take. “I’ll have to tell you more about it later, after we speak with our new guests.”
“Guests?” I had to fight down the revulsion of my wolf as I placed my hand in the crook of his elbow.
Vincent patted my hand and strolled lightly, as if this was where he’d always wanted to be. “It seems there are some Alphas who are requesting an audience with you.”
Finally. My wolf sighed. It’s time to leave.
But a stone sank to the pit of my stomach and I had a feeling in my gut that I was only starting to scratch the surface of what we were dealing with here.
I needed more time to see this through.