Soul Guard (Elemental Book 5) (13 page)

He then jumped into the backseat and buckled himself
in before the shifter could even acknowledge his order. He hadn’t meant to be
rude, he was just really excited. Unfortunately, as the minutes passed, the
whole thing with the negligent vets wouldn’t let him be. He needed to check on
two more veterinary hospitals. After thirty minutes, he sighed and pulled out
his phone.

“Hello?” Amelia asked.

“Hey, Amy. Sorry I got to do this, but I need to do
something tonight. Do you think I could come over tomorrow?”

“Of course. I know you have a lot on your plate and
we have all summer. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yep, tomorrow,” he said regretfully. Then he hung up
and spoke to Taorec. “Change of plans. We’re going to New York.”

A few hours later, they pulled over to the side of
the street so Darwin could get directions on his phone. He stepped out onto the
street to try to get better cell reception, frustrated with the spotty
connection, and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground, blinded by the
pain.

His brain was busy analyzing the center of pain and
the force of the blow, determining that he was not shot but hit with a blunt
object by a man who was more than two hundred pounds and six feet tall. He
ignored the analysis in favor of cradling his head and trying not to puke. This
wasn’t even the worst pain he had ever felt.

Then he somehow ended up on his back, looking up when
Taorec swung a bat at Darwin’s chest. He felt ribs crack and screamed, but the
cry quickly changed to a wilder sound. At first, he had no idea what was
happening. His skin itched so badly he could feel it over the agonizing pain in
both his head and chest. He couldn’t breathe. His bones were breaking all on
their own now, rearranging and reshaping themselves.

The cracking of his joints, bones, and tendons was a
gory sound, but soon that was drowned out by his screaming as his muscles
stretched. Taorec’s eyes widened in horror and he tried to smash Darwin’s face.
Darwin’s wolf was already taking over, however, and he had enough survival
instincts to dodge it, even though it felt like his entire body was cramping.
Before Taorec could try again, Darwin took advantage of his next uncontrollable
twitch to move him close enough for him to sink his fangs into Taorec’s left
ankle.

Taorec screamed and bashed the bat into Darwin’s
throat, incapacitating the half-wolf, half-man again. Taorec struck Darwin
twice more in the head and once on the back again. Darwin didn’t move. He was
holding on by a thread.

Assuming Darwin was dead, Taorec got back in his car
and drove off. But Darwin wasn’t dead. In mid-shift, his body was already in
the process of changing. For normal wolf shifters, this was their most
vulnerable state. Darwin’s wolf, on the other hand, was far too stubborn to let
that betrayal go. He clawed his way back to awareness with the sole intention
of burying his teeth in Taorec’s throat so deep the older shifter’s head would
pop off. By sheer determination, he used the shifting magic to repair the
damage caused by his pack member.

Unfortunately, it used so much energy that by the
time his body was fully formed, he couldn’t even stand. His last thought was
more human than wolf; he was going to survive the betrayal of the pack member
only to die of hypoglycemia.

*          *          *

I took off my ring. “It’s worse than I thought. I
don’t know that we’re going to be able to get him to shift back.”

“What happened?”

“One of the members of his pack betrayed him and
almost killed him. Someone must have found him and brought him in. The problem
is his mind, though. I don’t think he wants to be himself right now. He’s
likely to kill anyone who comes near him.”

And that was when I realized Scott wasn’t with us.

“Kitten, no!” Henry yelled, running after his son.
Scott was already on the other side of the enclosure and was working the gate
release. Fortunately, it had a small holding section so even though he got the
gate open, there was a secondary gate. Henry grabbed him and pulled him out
before he could even start on the second gate. “What were you doing?!” he
yelled.

Wolves howled.

“I’m trying to help Darwin,” Scott said, confused as
to why his father was mad.

In Henry’s rush to get Scott away, he didn’t secure
the second gate, and that was a huge mistake. Neither of them saw the dark gray
wolf bolt out of the rock cave. When he slammed all his weight into the gate,
it didn’t stand a chance.

Darwin broke out, snarling and snapping at the metal
as if it were attacking him. Within seconds, he turned his attention on Henry
and Scott, but by then, Henry had shifted. Instead of attacking, Henry stood
protectively over his son. I tried to reach Darwin’s mind again, and
apparently, the wolf sensed it; he turned and came at me.

I had a split second to decide whether to summon my
staff and try to fight him off, or put up an energy shield. I knew using
something like my staff would only exacerbate the problem when he was beaten
with a bat, but by then it was too late to put up a protective force of magic.
The only chance I had was to attack with magic, and I wasn’t willing to hurt
him. No matter how far gone he was, he was still Darwin.

But Darwin never reached me. Faster than I could
really comprehend, Maseré cut him off. Suddenly, they were both rolling around
on the ground in a blur of teeth, fur, and blood. Growls and the snapping of
teeth were very loud in the terrified silence of the conservation. Even the
insects seemed to be too afraid or too awed to make a sound. No matter how much
I wanted to tell Maseré it was his son he was fighting, the words never reached
my mouth. If the alpha showed even an ounce of weakness, he was dead.

I created the same blast of red lightning I had used
on the shadow walkers, but I struck a rock next to them, since I only wanted to
startle them. Fortunately, it worked; they broke apart and circled each other.
Maseré had a bloody gash on his neck and both of Darwin’s forelegs were
wounded. Maseré was bigger by a few pounds. Darwin was faster.

At the same instant, they both attacked each other,
once again becoming a mess of fangs and fur. Henry continued hovering over his
child and I had no idea what to do to stop the fight. This went on for about
fifteen minutes before I could see them starting to tire. They were both
bleeding.

When they circled each other again, Henry shifted.
“Darwin, if you let the wolf win, you’re just an animal.”

Darwin made a jerking motion and growled, as if he
was telling Henry to shut up. On the upside, this meant that Darwin recognized
that Henry was talking to him. “He’s right, Darwin. You don’t want to fight
your father; that would mean Taorec won.”

That had the adverse effect of making Maseré look at
me, which was all Darwin needed to attack. He went for the kill.

Maseré was ready.

Moving faster than any wolf I had ever seen, Maseré
jerked Darwin down by his leg, taking a deep bite to his shoulder, and pinned
the younger wolf under him. When he clamped his mouth over Darwin’s throat,
Darwin froze. After a few seconds, Maseré bit down harder and Darwin whimpered.
Every instinct in me told me not to move.

It took nearly two minutes before there was a very
subtle change in Darwin’s posture and Maseré let him go. First Darwin and then
his father shifted back. The young shifter was sitting in the dirt, panting,
sweating, covered in blood, and clearly confused. “Why…?” He tried to clear his
throat when his voice came out hoarse.

“What do you remember?” I asked.

“I was going to see Amy one minute, and the next, my
dad is trying to kill me.”

“You attacked Devon,” Maseré said stoically. He was
also covered it blood and sweat, but there didn’t seem to be any open wounds.
Darwin’s eyes widened with shock. “It’s my fault, and I’m sorry,” Maseré said,
shocking us all.

“What do you mean it’s your fault?” Darwin asked.

“In the last two years, I have detected changes in
your scent that suggested your wolf was finally emerging. I thought I sensed it
when you were fourteen, though, so I didn’t really think it would happen. I
should have warned you.”

Darwin hung his head. “No, this is my fault. I
shifted at Quintessence. I didn’t tell you because I knew the wolf was an alpha
and I didn’t want you to kick me out. I knew he would attack my friends.”

“This wasn’t either of your faults. Darwin came out
to New York to finish an investigation on some corrupt veterinary hospital and
his driver, Taorec, attacked him with a bat. The only way for him to live was
to shift, and his human mind just closed itself off.”

“Taorec has no reason to attack anyone in the pack.
Do you have any proof?” Maseré asked.

“Darwin bit him on the ankle.”

“A wound like that would be long gone by now.”

“Taorec is Bill’s best friend,” Darwin said. “If
Taorec was able to kill me, Bill would be that much closer to the top. If you
could tell my wolf was developing, I bet Bill could as well, and he would have
worried about his position being threatened.”

“Sounds like motive enough. Can we get out of here
before authorities arrive?” Henry asked, picking up Scott. Since he, Darwin,
and Maseré were naked, I could see his point.

When Maseré reached his hand out to help Darwin up,
the young shifter avoided it and pushed himself to his feet. Darwin limped a
few steps, only to flinch away when Maseré tried to help him. Their struggle to
find peace with each other was painful to watch; Maseré couldn’t touch his skin
and Darwin didn’t even have his clothes to protect himself. It wasn’t that he
was trying to avoid his father’s help; he just couldn’t let him help, and
Maseré was trying to fight the urge to do so anyway.

*          *          *

Maseré’s driver was waiting nervously next to Henry’s
truck when we got there. The worry on his face when he spotted the alpha was
only overshadowed by the greater worry when he spotted Darwin. He quickly
pulled out a blanket from the back seat, met us halfway, and wrapped it around
Darwin.

Henry growled when the stranger didn’t immediately
step away. The shifter was no older than Darwin, with almost white-blond hair,
huge green eyes, and black painted fingernails. Although he ducked his head submissively,
he didn’t leave Darwin’s side, and instead used the blanket to help guide
Darwin to the car.

“Are you also friends with Bill?” Maseré asked the
driver, suspicious.

“No! Bill’s an asshole. What happened to you two? Did
Bill attack?”

“Taorec betrayed the pack, possibly in support of
Bill. I’m calling a pack hunt on them both, and anyone else involved.” The
young shifter looked worried, but kept his mouth shut, so Maseré turned to his
son. “I think you should stay with Devon for a while.”

I could practically see the arrow stabbing Darwin in
the heart. “Okay,” Darwin said, his voice emotionless.

“Just until I get the pack sorted out. If I have to
banish everyone in the pack and start over with just you and your mother, I
will.”

Darwin didn’t say anything as the driver helped him
into the back seat of Henry’s truck. Scott climbed into his car seat and
buckled himself in without a word, obviously picking up the somber atmosphere.

“Tell him to call me when he feels up to it,” Maseré
told me. I nodded and with a last glance at his son, Maseré got into his own
car.

*          *          *

It was a quiet drive home. Fortunately, Henry had
several sets of spare clothes in the truck, so there wasn’t a peepshow on the
way up to the apartment.

Just before I opened the door, a heavy feeling filled
my head. “Again?” I reached into my pocket for the small leather pouch, slipped
the ring out, and put it on. A vision immediately came over me.

It was night and a woman was walking down a deserted
street. Right behind her, a Dothra wizard appeared. “Hey,” he said casually. It
was just a little too dark to see their expressions well.

The woman jumped and turned, then smiled when she saw
him. “You scared me.”

“You look like you had a bad night.”

“Try terrible.”

“Come home with me.”

She didn’t hesitate for a second. “Okay.”

I gaped, but before I could do anything, my vision
changed to a different woman who was sitting on the couch with two little kids.
A few seconds later, a female shadow walker appeared right behind the couch. I
started to slip the ring off my finger, but the scene changed again. This time,
I saw a little boy standing in front of the closet at night. A very young woman
appeared in a white wedding dress, with deep bruises all over her throat. She
also had a very small baby bump.

“Who are you?” the boy asked.

“I’m your Great Aunt Mary. Your mom talks about me a
lot.”

“But she said you died.”

“I didn’t die; I was murdered by my father. It’s
okay, though, because a very powerful wizard avenged me. Now he wants to meet you.”

“Why does he want to meet me?”

“Because you’re a wizard like him, and he wants to
help make you powerful.”

I forced myself out of the vision and tugged on the
link between Rocky and me. “
Take care of the two kids and the woman if you
get a chance
.” Without giving him a chance to respond, I focused on my
symbol, then on the boy. I didn’t have a name or know what his mind felt like,
so I just had to go on his appearance. Possibly for that reason, I felt like it
took longer than usual in the shadow pass, even with my instincts leading the
way.

When the darkness finally dispersed, I was standing
right behind the boy. The woman was in the closet and reaching her hand out for
him. Although her eyes widened with shock when she saw me, the boy didn’t notice
me and reached out to take her hand. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He
jerked in surprise, so I let him go. “Don’t listen to her. She’s a demon.”