Ember's Curse (Prime Wolf) (20 page)

Tegan chuckled. "I'm not going anywhere. Not without my uncle and his friends. Sorry." she shrugged.

"That's unfortunate," Margo placed a hand, palm out, arm extended in front of her. "Maybe this will convince you."

Fire erupted from Margo's hand. It sailed across the room right toward Tegan. Tegan didn't so much as flinch as she held up her own hand in retaliation. Water cascaded from her palm and it collided with the other witch’s fire before it could even get near enough to touch her. A fog of steam rolled out from where their magic collided, making it hard for me to see through it to the two battling witches. Arcs of fire and water exploded all around us. The floor became slippery from the unspent water. Everyone jumped up onto their cots when the same boiling liquid began to collect and rise from the ground.

"Ember, you okay?" Harper shouted over the booming battle.

"Yes. Can you see Tegan?" I asked her. The steam had gotten so thick that I couldn't see more than a few inches in front of me.

"I can't see shit through this fog," she answered.

A small hand slipped into mine and I could hear Dane’s quick breathing. "I'm scared," he said, holding me tight. "It's okay. I'm here," I said, trying to console the frightened child.

Then suddenly, the ruckus stopped. The noise, the rising of boiling water, even the bellows of steam lessened. Everything went silent.

"Are we dead?" Milo asked after a few tense seconds.

"No, we're not dead, you idiot. Can't you keep your mouth shut for two seconds?" Harper admonished.

Everyone kept still while the steam dissipated and the room came more and more into view. When I could finally see, I jumped from the cot, my bare feet splashing in the now cold water. Tegan stood drenched in the same spot she was in when the fight started. Her shoulders and head where cast down and her arms hung loose at her side.

"Is the bitch dead?" she asked.

I looked over where Margo had been. She wasn't standing anymore. Instead, the Fire Witch was face down in a puddle of water, not moving. I watched her for a little while longer to determine if she was breathing, but not even one bubble breached the surface of the shallow water that covered her face.

"Yeah," I said soberly, "she's dead."

"Good," she said walking over to my cell. She placed her hand over the lock and began chanting under her breath. She had to stop a couple times and gulp in some air. The energy she used against Margo had taken a lot out of her. "The wards are broken, now that the witch who cast them is dead. So if any of you are vampires, you should easily be able to break through the bars."

She pulled on my cell door and moved aside. "Now let's go find Collin." I looked at her pale face and nodded. "Yes. Let’s do that."

Chapter 17

I tried not to notice how pale Tegan was, but it couldn't be helped. I was worried. She was moving from cell to cell opening up the doors, picking all the locks with her magic.

"Tegan," I called out. "You've done enough. It's time to rest."

She rubbed her cheek, smearing grime from the bars she was touching, across her face. The dirt and her gaunt pallor made her look tired and fragile.

"There are only a couple locks left to spell. I can manage," she said, walking over to the next one. I reached out and stayed her hand by gently grabbing her arm.

"Harper? Can you come open these remaining cells?" I asked.

Harper handed off one of the weaker wolfs that she was helping carry, to Milo.

"Sure," she said, getting right to it.

Dane yanked on my sheet and held up a dented tin cup. "She looks thirsty," he said, handing it to me. I took it and patted his head. "Thanks, Dane."

"I can't help but wonder where the guards are," I said a bit curious. "You would think that with all the noise we have been making, they'd come running."

Tegan managed to lift her lips into a sly grin. "I spun a Sleeping Beauty spell on the whole house. Mojo was able to give me a pretty good idea of where you guys were being held, so I just spelled around you." Her gaze swept over to the witch lying dead under the stone archway. "She must have fashioned a charm to protect herself against witchcraft." Tegan sloshed through the water and made her way over to the prone witch.

When she reached her side, she pushed the dead body over. "These charms are a bitch to make," she explained while yanking the wooden disk that hung from Margo's neck, off her. There were strange markings carved into it. The charm was actually very beautiful. "It would be a shame to let all that hard work go to waste." Tegan tied the charm around her own neck and walked back over. "The sleeping spell isn't going to last much longer so we have to find Collin before it wears off."

We wandered through the underground chambers, our footsteps echoing on the grey slate floor as we opened every door we stumbled upon. Harper and Milo had stayed behind to evacuate the prisoners before the Gatherers woke up. Nobody knew where Brady and Nathan were. I could only hope that they believed Tommy when he told them that Collin and I had taken off after speaking with him. It would make things much easier, and give me a couple things less to worry about, if I knew for certain they were okay.

The cells where we had been kept in were only a small portion of what turned out to be a very large compound. Tommy or his father had had bedrooms built down here, with updated fixtures and decor. The rooms even had their own en-suite bathrooms, decked out with jet soaking tubs and marble flooring. Tyson and his followers lived like kings down here.

We had just started to search a rather spacious gourmet kitchen for any hidden passageways, when we ran into some of the guards. They were still fast asleep. Some of them sprawled out on the concrete floor while others were hunched over a long dining room table. There was a bottle of blood knocked over next to one of them. It dripped over the edge and formed a puddle on the ground. My stomach growled and my teeth throbbed for a taste. I sucked in a few good breaths in hopes of easing the tension that rolled through me.

Tegan kept her blue gaze on her surroundings. She was pretty anxious to find Collin and get the hell out of here.

I tried to reach out and touch the mind of my true love, but still, nothing. Even if he had finally woken up from the drugs given to him, Tegan’s spell would have just knocked him right back out. Even though I couldn't hear him, I could feel him. I jerked toward the doorway we just entered. The sudden movement was instinctual. A soft yellow line of light shot out from my stomach area and kept going, in a straight line, down the hall. I felt an overwhelming need to follow it. My feet moved over the floor carrying me in that direction. I stopped myself from blindly following it, even though everything inside me screamed to do the opposite.

"What's wrong with you?" Tegan asked. "You look...funny."

"I don't know...there's a light…" I said, running my hand through it, "…here. It's coming from my stomach."

Tegan held her hand over my stomach. She didn't touch me, just hovered above it.

"It feels like earthen magic," she said after a few seconds. She closed her eyes and her face scrunched up in concentration. "It’s animalistic in nature. And strong, very old magic....Ouch!" Tegan snatched her hand back. She looked at me with wide eyes. "She bit me."

"Who bit you?" I asked confused.

She paced back and forth, holding her hand against her chest, still thinking. Then she must have come up with something, because she stopped in her tracks and gave me a knowing smile. "It's your wolf. And I'm almost certain she's trying to lead us to her mate, and since they are one and the same, Collin."

That was all I needed to hear, so without another moment wasted, I followed the line of magic my wolf produced. Its yellow glow beamed brighter the longer I followed it. We passed several doors and turned a few corners before the light shot right through a closed door. The door was made out of a mixture of steel, iron and silver. I could smell the silver. It left a burnt taste in the back of my throat. Tegan paused and tilted her head. She repeated the same process of hovering her hand over the door, just like she had done on me.

"These wards have extinguished, just like the other ones the Fire Witch spun, when she died."

"What about the iron in the door? Is it enough to drain your power?" I questioned.

We all had our weaknesses. Werewolves are deathly allergic to silver. Vampires’ weaknesses included holy water, religious totems, and sunlight. When it came to the fey and witches, who were considered close cousins in the opinion of all supernatural beings as a whole, their power was weakened by iron. I never had to worry about a vampire’s bane before; my wolf side had always been the dominant gene. But I couldn't be too sure about that now. The bonding left everything up in the air. I was going to have to start over. Relearn everything I have come to know, magically, about myself. I didn't even want to think about the whole ‘Cannon’ thing. I just wanted to find Collin, kill Tyson, find out where my friends were, and then beat the living shit out of my cousin, Tommy.

"My wolf magic bolsters my witch given magic, so I still have resources to tap into. It just might take a bit longer to get us in there." She closed her eyes and shifted her body into a sturdier position; hands out, legs apart. "Time isn't currently our friend right now. The Sleeping Beauty spell will be wearing off any moment," Tegan said. She then began her familiar chanting and I watched as her body began to slowly vibrate, reminding me of a tuning fork. Her voice got louder and the vibrating more intense. Then after a few seconds and a loud "crunch," the door folded in on itself like a taco.

"Remind me not to ever piss you off," I said, kicking the door out of the way.

Tegan cleared her throat and shook herself. After cracking her neck, she gifted me with a smile. "From what Mojo has told me, I should be saying the same about you."

"You and the pooch can actually hold a real conversation with each other?" I asked with genuine curiosity. I still couldn't picture the little white fur ball as a powerful witch, imprisoned within the confines of a dog's anatomy. That had to suck.

"It's not like she can speak actual words to me, but yes; we can communicate through our thoughts just fine."

A curt laugh escaped her lips and she shook her head. "She's actually a bit of a bitch, but I guess I can't blame the poor girl. I just wish I wasn't the only one she had to complain about life and Milo to. She gripes mostly about that idiot."

I was tempted to ask her more about her obvious, less than favorable opinion of Milo, but there wasn't time. So I just kept my mouth shut.

We rushed into the dark room, my feet slipping over broken glass and spilled liquids scattered all across the floor. Someone sure had left in a hurry. Security lights kicked on as soon as we breached the archway. "Collin!" my voice echoed throughout the large space. My eyes flung to a table against the back wall. It was empty. Silver chains hung loosely over the railing. They were the same ones used to confine my mate. I knew this because I could smell his musky scent everywhere.

"Where is he?" I demanded over heavy breaths. "He is supposed to be here!"

"Uh, Ember, take a look at your arms."

I looked down and watched as silver hair pushed through my skin. It cascaded down my limbs and covered my hands. Instead of fighting her, I embraced my wolf and went with it. As soon as my paws hit the floor, I was off and running. Tegan’s footfalls echoed behind me. She must have shifted as well. Good thing, because only another wolf would be able to keep up with me. Now that I was in wolf form, my awareness of Collin encompassed me. I could feel his heart beat as if it was my own. It was pumping very slowly, too slow for my liking. Another dose of that red shit would probably stop it all together. I wasn't about to let that happen.

I rounded the next corner and was finally able to see Collin. He was being dragged by his arms, by two vampire guards. They were running at a breakneck speed, but I was gradually catching up to them, Collin’s dead weight was slowing them down. I growled out a warning, one that boomed off the walls and down the hall, the sound reaching them a few seconds before I could. But their steps didn't falter; they just pushed themselves harder, trying to outrun me. The first guard screamed and punched at my head when I landed on his back. His collarbone splintered under the weight of my jaw and he fell, bleeding to the floor. Tegan had attacked the second vampire. She wasn't fairing as well. I heard a yelp from her direction. I had to finish mine off fast so I could help her. I aimed my next attack at his throat. He threw his hands up to stop me, but it wasn't any use, he was a young vampire with limited strength and subsequently, no match for me. I ripped at his neck until it was reduced to nothing but a flap of skin barely hanging from a severed head. I sprang off the dead vampire and landed next to Tegan.

She was panting heavily and was dripping blood from a couple deep gashes at her neck and stomach. I rushed the vampire as he was readying himself for another go at her. Instead of ripping into her face with his sharp claws, as he had first intended, he found his wrist caught inside my mouth, trapped inbetween my teeth. I shook my head and chomped down several times, snapping the bone. Within seconds, I had gnawed it right off. The vampire jumped back, landing several feet away from us. Terror flashed through his black eyes and he screamed when he looked at his bloody stump. I opened my mouth, and he watched, as it dropped with a sickening "plop" to the floor. I never thought it was possible, but the vampire’s face turned even whiter than before, almost translucent.