Spellbound (23 page)

“I know. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair at all.”

Severin flew at Clay, who caught him by the shirtfront and whipped him against the other wall. “My mistake,” Clay said as Severin slid to the floor. “Apparently, it's still not fair.”

He tossed me the rope. “I take it you're still able to tie knots?”

“Sure.” I knelt to bind Severin. As long as I kept out of the way of his hands, I was safe. Same for Clay, who went after Sierra. She'd wised up faster than her brother and stayed out of Clay's reach, which left them dancing around each other, lunging, and missing as their opponent spun out of the way.

Sierra could have run. But she didn't even look at the door. We had her brother, so she was staying. Finally, Clay tired of the game, and when she charged him, hands outstretched, he lifted his right arm to block. She grabbed it. Her fingers frosted. He didn't even flinch, probably because an old zombie scratch had left the area insensitive to pain.

With his left hand, he grabbed her around the throat. One good squeeze and she let go of his arm and started kicking and punching and struggling. He carried her by the throat to me, and I used the last piece of rope to bind her hands.

“We want to negotiate,” Sierra said once I had her bound beside her brother. “We have answers you'll want.”

“Then we'll get them,” Clay said. “We'll do it your way, though—the same way you got answers from that half-demon in Albuquerque. And if you have any idea who I am, then you know that compared to me, you're amateurs.”

I got his attention and mouthed, “Keep them alive.”

“Course,” he said aloud. “Killing them is easy. Real technique is seeing how long you can keep them alive.”

He turned to the siblings. “Do you know why mutts don't set foot on Pack territory?”

He told them. By the end of his story, Sierra looked like she was going to puke. Severin just sat there, his head down. Clay grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his face up.

“Did you hear what I said?”

Severin's eyes glowed orange. “Oh, I heard, wolfman. And I'm impressed. I'll be even more impressed if you can fight your way out of this.”

He lifted his hands and snapped the rope as easily as Clay had. As he leapt up, Clay sidestepped, then came back behind Severin and slammed him in the back of the head. Severin dropped, but twisted at the last second, caught Clay by the leg, and threw him into the wall.

“He's a demon,” I said. “Possessed.”

“News flash about two minutes late,” Clay said as he darted out of the demon's way. “The glowing orange eyes were a tip-off.”

“It's not a lord demon,” I said. “Green is lord. Orange is just a regular demon. If that helps.”

He glowered at me. “You know what would really help, Savannah? If you—”

The demon's punch caught Clay in the chin and sent him reeling. The demon glanced at Sierra, and I raced over so he wouldn't free her. He didn't try, though. Just looked at her and went after Clay again.

This time, Clay didn't get distracted. He didn't try to hit the demon either, just kept out of his way, watching him, studying his moves. As moves went, they were simple ones. This was an entity accustomed to relying on brute strength.

Then Clay slipped. As he staggered, the demon swung full-force. Clay spun out of the fake stumble, and kicked the demon in the back of the knees. The demon dropped. Clay grabbed him by the hair.

“We only need one of them alive, right?” he said.

“Right.”

Sierra screamed. Clay's free hand grabbed Severin's neck to snap it and—

Severin disappeared. A figure flashed, so fast all I saw was a shape reaching for Sierra. Then she disappeared, too.

Clay raced for the door and threw it open. I followed and caught up to him in the parking lot, looking around.

“They're gone,” I said. “Teleportation. Balaam wasn't going to let them get killed. Just enough of a roughing up to teach them to pay more attention.”

“Whatever.” Clay took out his cell phone and dialed. “Hey, it's me. Got her. I had to take care of a demon infestation first. Seems to be over now, but I'm getting her in the car.”

He paused. “I'm fine. She is, too. Can you call—?” Another pause. “Thanks. See you in Miami.”

“Was that Elena?” I asked.

I knew it was. You could always tell by his tone. So why did I ask? Because he hadn't looked at me since we'd left the room. With Clay, that meant he was seriously pissed off. I hoped I was wrong, which is why I was trying to get his attention.

“How's she doing?” I asked. “I know she was attacked—”

“Battered and bruised. No lasting damage. Car's over there.”

“How's your arm?” I said. “It looks like it's blistering. Are you—?”

“Jeremy will take care of it in Miami.”

“Okay, so you're upset about Kate and Logan? Rhys told you the twins could be a target, and I almost delivered Elena right to them—”

“You didn't deliver Elena anywhere. No way you could have known this had anything to do with our kids.”

“Is it because you're here, rescuing me, when you'd rather be taking care of them? I—”

“In the car, Savannah,” he said, unlocking the doors on the rental.

“No, you're mad at me and I don't understand what I did.”

“Nothing.”

I planted myself in front of him. “I know I did something.” “No, you didn't do a goddamned thing. What the hell was that, Savannah? I'm fighting a demon and you stand there, doing fuck-all?”

“Excuse me? Did you miss the part about me not having my spells?”

“I didn't think it meant your whole body was paralyzed, along with your brain. My mistake.”

I took a step back.

“You run and I'll stuff you in that damned trunk and lock it. Which, all things considered, might be the best place for you.”

He threw open the driver's door and climbed in. As he shut it, he noticed I was still standing there and put down the window.

“Get in the damned car, Savannah. I'm not Adam. I'll chase you once, and then I'll make sure you don't run off again.”

I got in the car.

O
f all the friends I have today, Elena was the first I'd bonded with. She'd been taken captive by the people who'd killed my mother. At the time, she'd been friendly, but not overly chummy. Not like Leah.

Leah had been one of those adults who doesn't really “get” kids, tries too hard and ends up coming off phony and condescending. At the time, I hadn't been mature enough to realize that. I only knew that when Elena came along—with her quiet concern and unwavering attention and fierce determination to get me out—I liked her better. Trusted her more. As a child, I was worthy of her protection, but a deeper bond wouldn't come until she knew me better. That felt genuine. I had to earn her respect.

Then I met Clay and realized earning Elena's respect was nothing compared to the task of earning his. The first summer I'd spent at Stonehaven, Clay had tolerated me only because of Elena. I'd known he didn't like having a near-stranger stay in their house, and even as a child, I'd understood what a huge honor I'd been given.

I'd earned his respect by staying out of his way and not expecting anything from him. I didn't expect anything from Elena or Jeremy either. At home with Paige and Lucas, I was known to sleep in until noon, then wait for lunch to be put on the table, and take off afterward, bitching if they called me back to clear my dishes. At Stonehaven, I woke up with everyone else, helped with breakfast, and cleaned up. If I needed towels, I found them. If I needed entertainment, I grabbed a book. If I needed clean clothes, I hauled my dirty ones to the basement and asked if anyone else wanted some washed. Of course, I wasn't expected to do everything myself, but I offered and I pitched in, and in doing so, I earned the respect of the most feared werewolf in the country.

And now I'd lost it.

I could rage against the unfairness of the accusation. What did Clay know about losing your greatest strength? About feeling powerless? A lot, unfortunately. That zombie scratch four years ago had left him with a nearly useless right arm, just weeks before the birth of his children, when the drive to protect his family was so strong it nearly drove him crazy.

How had Clay dealt with that? Moaned about the injustice of it? Surrendered his role as Pack enforcer and relied on the others to defend them? No, he worked out harder than ever, then learned to compensate for the remaining weakness. No one had marveled at his determination. No one had expected anything less. That was just Clay. If you'd asked me what I'd have done under similar circumstances, I'd have said “the same thing.” I was tough, too. If I got thrown from a horse, I got back on.

Only I hadn't. I'd watched Clay fight Sierra and Severin and never even considered leaping in to help.

What had happened to me?

Maybe nothing at all. I thought I was strong and determined and resilient, but that was only because I'd never been tested.

 

 

Karl met us at the airport. Jeremy had sent him with Clay, and they split up to cover more territory when I wasn't at the hotel. Karl wasn't happy about the situation. If Hope was in danger, he wanted to be with her. But he did as his Alpha wanted, namely because it was also what Hope wanted.

I got a curt nod from him as he paced the private hangar, waiting for the Cortez jet to be ready to take us back to Miami. I'm sure he blamed me for getting kidnapped. Not that I'd have gotten a much warmer reception under any circumstances.

On the jet, Clay called Elena again, to fill her in on the details. He didn't tell her about my damsel-in-distress routine. That wasn't his way. He just gave her his story, then put me on speakerphone to talk about Giles and the group.

They were concerned, of course. They were worried about the twins and Hope, but when it came to the big picture—the exposure risk—their primary concern was for the Pack first, friends second, greater supernatural world a very distant third. That's how werewolves think.

I asked if the twins were in Miami.

“No,” Elena said. “Antonio and Nick took them to Europe with the boys.”

By “boys” she meant eighteen-year-old Noah and twenty-two-year-old Reese, young werewolves the Sorrentinos had taken in last year. In other words, they'd gathered the younger generation and headed for higher, more defensible ground.

“If we need help, Nick and Reese will join us,” Elena continued. “Antonio will stay behind with Noah and the twins.”

Clay took the phone off speaker then, to talk to Elena alone. Karl sat by the window, looking out, paying no attention to either of us. I settled back, closed my eyes, and tried to sleep.

 

 

I didn't even get off the plane before Paige was on it, Lucas right behind her. The werewolves slid off quietly.

I looked at Paige and Lucas, so familiar that even seeing them made my chest ache. Made me want to curl up on the seat and start sobbing like a little girl, waiting to be comforted. Paige, nearly a foot shorter than me, her curves shown off in a sea-blue sundress, her dark curls pulled back, her face drawn in concern. Lucas looking even more somber than usual, tall and lean, his tie and glasses both uncharacteristically crooked as if he'd hurriedly pulled them on in the car.

As I stood to greet them, my whole body trembled. Even my voice wavered.

“So I guess Adam told you,” I said.

Paige crossed the last few feet between us and hugged me, so tight she managed to squeeze out a couple of tears before I collapsed, chin resting on the top of her head, eyes closed.

“We're so proud of you,” she whispered, her arms tightening around me. “I know that wasn't an easy decision to make. I know it wasn't a decision at all. Just an impulse. But it was a huge sacrifice. I don't know”—her voice caught—“I don't know if I could have done the same.”

I hugged her back. “Believe me, I wouldn't have made the offer if I thought anyone would take me up on it.”

“Don't be so sure,” she whispered.

She let me go and wiped her cheeks as Lucas embraced me.

“We're going to fix this,” he said. “Someone has directly contravened the laws of demonic bargaining. And when we find out who it was, there will be an accounting and the effects will be reversed.”

“Can we sue for damages, too?”

A faint smile as he released me. “We'll see. First, though, we have no intention of waiting to discover who did this or why. I find it impossible to believe your spells have been completely bound. Thorough testing may reveal deficiencies in the procedure—loopholes that we can exploit and recover at least part of your powers as we pursue the guilty party. We'll need to do a complete accounting of spells and rituals—”

“Make a list,” Paige said, taking my hand and starting to lead me off the plane. “We'll get to it later. Right now, this girl needs food and rest.”