Alpha Unleashed (24 page)

Dastien laughed as he tugged a T-shirt over his head, and I stopped to stare at the ripple of muscle along his stomach.

Cherie
. His voice rumbled through the bond.

The knocking started again. “Right. Right. The door,” I muttered. “Who is it?”

“Claudia and Lucas.”

I rushed to finish dressing. None of the witches had ever come into the dorms. I spared Dastien a second to make sure he was fully clothed before opening the door. “Hey. Everything okay?”

Claudia looked up and down the hall nervously. “Can we come in?”

I moved aside. “Yes. Of course.” My bed wasn't made. I usually made it first thing, but the whole FBI thing had thrown me. “Sorry for the mess. It's been an interesting morning.”

Claudia still wore the same clothes from last night—her khaki skirt was wrinkled and her peasant shirt had a stain that smelled like coffee on the front of it. She clutched a thick, black tome to her chest as she stepped across the threshold.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. At least, I think I am. I just couldn't sleep. I close my eyes and—” She shuddered. “Anyway, I went through the books you brought back.” She set the book on the floor. “I don't want it to touch where you sleep.”

“Thank you.” That was really thoughtful of her.

I sat next to her on the floor. Lucas stayed standing. He was in track pants and a T-shirt—which seemed to be the only thing he'd packed. At least as far as I knew.

Claudia opened the book. Its waxy black cover reeked like Luciana's room of torture, and I was suddenly grateful she hadn't put it on my bed. “See this?”

I tilted my head to try and make out the squiggly lines on the page. I got closer to the book, even though the scent of sulfur and blood was turning my stomach. “It looks like a map.” I pointed to the blue outline. “That's definitely the US, but what are the lines? They're not states. And there's no river in that part of California.” I leaned away from the book. There was something splattered on the page—something pink—and I wasn't sure if it was diluted blood or something else—and I really didn't want to find out. “What are they?”

“Ley lines,” Dastien said from behind me. “I've seen maps like this before.”

“They're lines of magnetic energy—or magical energy, depending who you talk to—that run through the world. You see these points where the lines meet?” She pointed to a few spots where a bunch of lines clustered together.

“Yeah.”

“That's a vortex.” Claudia sat back on her heels, and tugged on the hem of her skirt. “I saw this and it got me thinking. Luciana has a lot of power now, but not as much as she'll need. Some people in the coven were so weak—it seems wasteful to drain them to get the few drops of magic they had…” Her voice wavered, and she closed her eyes, taking a slow breath. When she opened them, she seemed a little more together. “There are two small line intersections in Texas. Marfa and Enchanted Rock. But the church that you described… It sounds more like a church you'd find in the southwest.” She moved her hand to the west. “In New Mexico, there are several adobe churches with stained glass windows. Some of them very old.”

I wanted to stay away from all churches, but hiding wouldn't help anything. “You think she's going there?”

“Yes.” Claudia pulled on her braid, like she did when she was nervous. “I think so. To the Santa Fe area specifically.”

“How sure are you?”

Her gaze met mine. “Pretty sure.”

Do you think we should go?
I asked Dastien, hoping he'd say no. I didn't want to leave St. Ailbe's. Even with everything that was going on, it was my home. I felt the safest when I was here. And I didn't want to leave my parents. Especially after what had happened last night.

Her face has been plastered all over the news, so it makes sense that she'd leave town. We were expecting her to attack campus, but there has to be a reason she hasn't yet. I don't know what's changed for her, but if what Claudia says is right, then…
His determination filled the bond. As he worked through his answer, I could feel him coming to a decision he was sure of.
Yes. We should go after her. We can't let her get away this time.

If that was where she was, then yes, we should go after her, but we didn't
know
that. Why would she leave now? After all this time? I felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle, and I didn't like that. Not one bit.
We don't have any proof that she went to New Mexico.

What does your gut say?

I closed my eyes and tried to force a vision of the future, but I didn't see anything. I wanted scream, but that wouldn't solve the problem. A part of me I wished that I'd never met Luciana Alvarez. That could still have visions like I used to. That I could touch something and see the past and—

Oh shit. I'm an idiot.

I'd been so focused on how my visions had evolved, that I'd forgotten how it all started. I hadn't even tried using them to see the past. Not for a while.

I reached for the book, and hesitated with my fingers hovering just over the page. “I'm going to touch it and see whatever Luciana was doing with it last.” I knew it. By saying it aloud, I reinforced my will. I placed my hand on the book and relaxed.

As I exhaled, the vision washed over me.

Luciana's magic room filled my vision. Flashes of blood. Death. A hint of sulfur.

But I wasn't seeing anything specific. Only flashes.

I focused, drawing power from Dastien, as I concentrated. This was the answer. I had to hang on.

Another flash. A splatter of candle wax. Some chanting.

And then the smell of sulfur grew. Luciana's face came into view as she placed the book on a stand. Her hair was pulled up into a braided halo on top of her head. Her long, flowy skirt brushed the floor, dragging through blood and goop that covered it, and I gagged. How could she wear anything that touched the ground in here?

She muttered something—maybe Latin—and then went to the book.

“You need more power, young one.” A scratchy voice came from the center of the circle, but there was nothing there. “Go to where the points of magic meet. Then, you can raise me and my brethren.”

“I'll have enough when the coven is drained.”

“Not so. It takes more than the lives of one insignificant coven to open the gates.”

She turned back to the book and her finger traced the lines, moving west of Texas.

I let go of the vision and wiped my hands on my jeans, wanting to get rid of evil the feel of her. Her oily aura was coating me, making me feel like I needed more than just a long, hot shower to feel clean again. “Luciana's heading out.”

This had started because of her vendetta against the wolves, but that couldn't be her end goal now. Not if she was leaving the state.

The demon last night had called Luciana ‘mistress,' but this one was calling her ‘young one.' Which meant I'd just seen her talking to something much bigger than a major demon. The possibilities of what it could be made my breath short.

Raphael had said she was losing herself, and had Claudia confirmed it. After what I'd just seen, it seemed that both of them were right. Luciana wasn't just after the pack. Not anymore. “This portal thing will hurt more than us. We should talk to Mr. Dawson. Get the others. We need to go as soon as possible.”

Dastien grabbed his phone from the bedside table. “I'll call him.”

Lucas reclined quietly against the wall as we waited. He watched Claudia, and I wondered how they were doing. A lot had happened to Claudia in the past few weeks—including finding a mate—and I hadn't had much time to check on her in the last day. We'd been going non-stop.

I leaned close to Claudia. “How are you hanging in? Are you okay?”

“I know. I look like a mess.” She fussed with her shirt. “But I'm officially out of clothes—I had to leave my new things in the middle of nowhere in Peru. And there's been no time for laundry. And…” She blushed. “It's a little embarrassing.”

I had no idea she'd left her bags. Stupid. I really should've been taking better care of her. “That wasn't what I was talking about, but you shouldn't be embarrassed about that. I'm sorry that I didn't realize sooner. We'll get you some more clothes.”

Claudia sighed. “We were planning on going to the mall, but there hasn't been time. Lucas needs some, too. We showed up in Costa Rica with what we had on us, and that was that.”

“You should've said something. I'm sure I have clothes that will work for now. And I'm sure Dastien has stuff Lucas can wear until we get the rest sorted.” Even if we left soon, we could hit a store to get them what they needed. “And how's Beth? I haven't seen her since you got back.”

“She's not doing well.” Claudia's voice cracked. “She won't leave her bed. Sh—she still had family there. Her sister and brother-in-law. And they had two kids.”

“Shit. I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I would've…” I wasn't sure what I could've done differently. But something…

“You didn't know. Beth begged them to come with us, but they wouldn't leave. They didn't want to uproot the kids. I'm not sure what to do for her, except give her a little more time. She's not eating much, and…” Claudia's bottom lip wavered. “I just don't know what to do to make it better for her. For anyone.” A tear slipped free, and she wiped it away. “It's all a huge mess.”

God. ‘Huge mess' didn't even begin to cover it. “Did Shane have family there?” He'd seemed okay in spite of everything, but he could've easily been hiding it. I didn't know him well enough to get a solid read on him.

She blew out a breath. “His parents were in a car wreck a couple years ago. He's an only child. He had some cousins and an aunt and uncle, but they weren't very close.”

“Hey,” Dastien said. “Sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Dawson wants us in the conference room in five. I texted the others.”

“Okay.” Even if I'd already spent more time than I wanted to in there. “Did you hear the clothing situation?”

“Yup. We've actually got a storage room filled with supplies for guests—clothes, toothbrushes, toiletries… I'm sorry. I should've offered. I wasn't thinking.”

Lucas stood up. “Not to worry. I'm not fussy.” That was the first time he'd spoken since he'd gotten here.

“We'll get you sorted after the meeting,” Dastien said. “They might not be the best clothes ever, but they'll be enough to get you by until we have time for shopping.”

I reached to take the book, but hesitated. I'd seen all I needed, and I'd spent more than enough of my life thinking about Luciana's craft room. “You mind taking that with us?”

Claudia picked the book from the ground, and held the disgusting thing at arm's length. “No problem.”

When we got to the conference room, the gang was already there. Adrian and Shane sat on the opposite side of the table. Raphael sat next to Shane. The three of them were laughing about something. It was good to see Raphael laugh. He was always so serious. Especially after everything.

Next to them, Cosette and Chris sat side by side, whispering, their heads tilted toward each other. When had they gotten so close? I leaned in, trying to listen just a little, but then I noticed Cosette's hand. She was wearing a glove.

On her sword hand. The one with the blackened fingertips.

She caught me looking and lifted her brows. That one motion shouldn't be so expressive, but I caught her loud and clear. Don't even
think
about asking. I was still going to—because I wanted to make sure she wasn't hurt—but it could wait until there weren't as many people around.

Meredith and Donovan sat at the end of the table, talking with Mr. Dawson. They paused their conversation as Dastien shut the door behind us.

Claudia set the book on the table with a thud.

“What's going on,” Mr. Dawson said. “Did you find something?”

“Claudia did,” I said.

“Well, I found Luciana's book of ley lines, but Teresa had the vision.”

“So you know what's going to happen?” Meredith asked.

I wished. “Not that kind of vision. I saw Luciana flipping through the book. We think she's heading to New Mexico. It would be awesome if we could find her before she does anything else terrible.”

“A sneak attack,” Chris said as he steepled his fingers. “I'm liking the sound of that.”

“Me too.” Cosette's eyes flashed with bloodlust. “Let's see her fight for her life for a change.”

“If this gets bad, you might need the pack with you,” Mr. Dawson said. “We can't all up and leave now, though. There's too much going on.”

“We'll have two Alphas—including myself—and some of these young wolves are pretty alpha, too. Not to mention a fey and a handful of witches,” Lucas said. “It's a solid group. We can get there, scout things out, and then call you if we don't think we can handle the situation. New Mexico can't be a long flight from here.”

Donovan shook his head. “Couple hours at most. I've got my plane here and—”

“You have a plane?” I asked before I could stop myself.

Meredith slapped his arm. “Yeah. You have a plane?”

The conference phone rang, and Mr. Dawson leaned to hit the button. “Yes?”

“You need to turn on the TV. The news…” Mrs. Kilburn—Mr. Dawson's secretary—said. “It's not good.”

Someone clicked on the screen.

The anchor was narrating from off-camera, but I couldn't pay attention to what she was saying. My chest tightened as I watched the image.

There was a little girl on screen. Toddler. Her hair was in tight ringlets and she wore a red and white gingham dress.