Wolfsbane (2 page)

“I’m your uncle,” Bosque said calmly, walking
toward us. “Your own flesh and blood.”

“Who are the Keepers?” Shay asked.

“Others like me, who want only to protect you. To
help you,” Bosque replied. “Shay, you are not like
other children. You have untapped abilities that
you cannot begin to imagine. I can show you who
you truly are. Teach you to use the power you
have.”

“If you’re so invested in helping Shay, why was he
the sacrifice at my union?” I pushed Shay behind
me, shielding him from Bosque.

Bosque shook his head. “Another tragic
misunderstanding. A test, Calla, of your loyalty to
our noble cause. I thought we offered you the best
of educations, but perhaps you aren’t familiar with
Abraham’s trial with his son Isaac? Isn’t the sacrifice
of one you love the ultimate gauge of your faith?

Do you really believe we wanted Shay to die at your
hands? We’ve asked you to be his protector.”

I began to shake. “You’re lying.”

“Am I?” Bosque smiled, and it almost looked
kind. “After all you’ve been through, have you no
trust in your masters? You would never have been
made to harm Shay—another kill would have been
provided in his place at the last moment. I
understand such a test may seem too terrible to be
fair, too much to ask of you and Renier. Perhaps
you are too young to have faced such a trial.”

I bal ed my hands into fists so Monroe wouldn’t see them shaking. I could hear the screams of succubi and incubi, hear the hissing chimeras and the shuffling gait of those horrible, desiccated creatures that had crawled out of the portraits lining Rowan Estate’s wal s.

“Where is he?” I asked again, grinding my teeth. “I swear if you don’t tel me—”

“He’s in our care,” Monroe said calmly.

There was that half smirk again. I couldn’t puzzle out this man’s reserved but confident demeanor.

I wasn’t sure what “care” meant in this case.

Keeping my fangs bared, I edged across the room, waiting for Monroe to make a move. Even as I watched him, blurry images of the past wavered before my eyes like watercolors.

Cold metal encircling my arms. The click of
locks and the sudden absence of weight from my
wrists. The warmth of a gentle touch rubbing away
the icy chill on my skin.

“Why isn’t she awake yet?” Shay asked. “You
promised she wouldn’t be hurt.”

“She’ll be fine,” Monroe said. “The enchantment
from the bolts acts like a heavy sedative; it will take
some time to wear off.”

I tried to speak, to move, but my eyelids were so
heavy, the darkness of slumber pulling me beneath
its surface again.

“If we can reach an agreement, I’l take you to him,”

Monroe continued.

“An agreement?” I was right about not wanting to show weakness. If I was making any sort of deal with a Searcher, it had to be on my terms.

“Yes,” he said, risking a step toward me. When I didn’t protest, he began to smile. He wasn’t being deceptive—I didn’t catch the scent of fear—but his smile was chased away by something else. Pain?

“We need you, Cal a.”

My confusion buzzed more loudly, forcing me to shake it off like a pesky swarm of flies. I had to appear confident, not distracted by his strange behavior.

“Who exactly is ‘we’? And what do you need me for?”

My anger had dissolved, but I concentrated on keeping my canines razor sharp. I didn’t want Monroe to forget for one minute who he was dealing with. I was stil an alpha—I needed to remember that as much as he needed to see it. That strength was the only thing I had going for me right now.

“My people,” he said, vaguely gesturing behind him toward whatever lay beyond the door. “The Searchers.”

“You’re their leader?” I frowned.

He looked strong but grizzled—like someone who never got as much sleep as he real y needed.

“I’m
a
leader,” he said. “I head up the Haldis team; we run operations out of the Denver outpost.”

“Let’s talk about your friends in Denver.”

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, Lumine, my mistress, smiled and a Searcher screamed.

I crossed my arms over my chest so I wouldn’t shudder. “Okay.”

“But it’s not just my team that needs your help,” he continued, turning suddenly to pace in front of the door. “We al do. Everything has changed; we don’t have any time to waste.”

He ran his hands through his dark hair as he spoke. I considered bolting—he was clearly distracted—but something about his manner mesmerized me, enough so that I didn’t know if escape was what I real y wanted anymore.

“You might be our only chance. I don’t think the Scion can do this alone. You might be the final part of the equation. The tipping point.”

“The tipping point of what?”

“This war. You can end it.”

War. The word set my blood boiling. I was glad for it; the heat coursing through my veins made me feel stronger. This war was the one I’d been raised to fight.

“We need you to join us, Cal a.”

I could barely hear him. I was trapped in a red fog

—thoughts of the violence that consumed so much of my life fil ed my being.

The Witches’ War.

I’d served the Keepers in their battles against the Searchers since I could cut flesh with my teeth. I’d hunted for them. I’d kil ed for them.

My eyes focused on Monroe. I’d kil ed
his
people.

How could he possibly want me to join them?

As if sensing my wariness, he froze in place. He didn’t speak but clasped his hands behind his back, watching me, waiting for me to speak.

I swal owed, forcing steadiness into my voice.

“You want me to fight for you.”

“Not just you,” he said. I could tel he was fighting to control his words as wel . He seemed desperate to flood the air between us with his thoughts. “But you’re the key. You’re an alpha, a leader. That’s what we need. It’s what we’ve always needed.”

“I don’t understand.”

His eyes were so bright as he spoke I didn’t know whether to be afraid or fascinated. “The Guardians, Cal a. Your pack. We need you to bring them over to us. To fight with us.”

It felt like the floor had dropped out beneath me and I was fal ing. I wanted to believe what he was saying, because wasn’t this the very thing I’d hoped for?

A way to free my pack.

Yes. Yes, it was. Even now my heart was racing with the thought of returning to Vail, of finding my packmates. Of getting back to Ren. I could take them al away from the Keepers. To something else.

Something better.

But the Searchers were my enemies . . . I could only tread careful y if I made a pact with them. I decided to play up my reluctance.

“I don’t know if that’s possible. . . .”

“But it is!” Monroe lurched forward as if to grab my hands, a mad glint in his eyes.

I leapt back, shifting into wolf form, and snapped at his fingers.

“I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “There’s so much you don’t know.”

I shifted back. His face was etched with deep lines. Haunted, ful of secrets.

“No sudden moves, Monroe.” I took slow steps toward him, extending my hand, warding off another approach. “I’m interested, but I’m not convinced that you know what you’re asking of me.”

“I do.” He looked away, almost flinching at his own words. “I’m asking you to risk everything.”

“And why would I do that?” I asked.

I already knew the answer. I’d risked everything to save Shay. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant I could get back to my packmates. If I could save them.

He stepped back and extended his arm, clearing my path to the open door.

“Freedom.”

TWO

THE DOOR LED INTO A WIDE,
wel -lit hal and I swal owed a gasp. The wal s were hewn from gleaming marble, its surfaces reflecting a glimmering veil of sunlight that spil ed through glass.

Where am I?

The startling beauty of my surroundings distracted me enough that I failed to notice that Monroe and I weren’t the only ones in the hal .

“Heads up.” A distinctly sul en voice made me jump.

I turned, barely maintaining my human form, bristling with anger at being caught off guard. I almost shifted again when I saw the speaker.

Ethan. I’d met him twice and both times we’d been fighting. First at the library and then at Rowan Estate.

My lips curled back so I could flash my fangs.

Looking at him, I clenched my fist in front of my chest. His crossbow bolts had almost kil ed me before Monroe knocked me out. Ethan stared back at me, nose stil slightly crooked from when Shay had broken it. Instead of marring his hardened good looks, it had the effect of making him seem that much more dangerous. My muscles quaked as I watched him. The slightest twitch of his fingers in the direction of the dagger sheathed at his waist was al it took.

I shifted as I leapt, my cry of outrage turning into a howl, mind a frenzy when I barreled into him.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Two kind words from Monroe and I’d walked right into an ambush.

Ethan’s fingers twisted in the fur at my chest, shoving me away so my fangs snapped just short of his throat. He spewed curses as he writhed beneath me. I wrenched free of his grasp, but before I could tear into his unprotected flesh, someone else slammed into my back.

Arms and legs wrapped around my torso, clinging tightly, refusing to let go. I snarled and bucked, twisting my head around as I tried to free myself of this new assailant. I couldn’t get a good look at the attacker nor could I manage to sink my teeth into the arm locked around my chest. A deep masculine whoop and the sound of laughter only fueled my rage. I crow-hopped and whirled in a circle, desperate to throw him off.

The laughter was coming from Ethan, who’d jumped to his feet and was watching me struggling with a satisfied smirk on his face.

“Ride ’em, cowboy! Only eight seconds, Connor, and you’re golden,” he said. “You’ve already made it to five.”

“Stop this!” Monroe loomed up between me and Ethan. “Cal a, I gave you my word. You aren’t in danger here. Connor, get off her.”

I thrashed as the rumble of Connor’s laughter rippled through my back. “But Monroe, this is almost a new record for me.”

“Welcome to Wolf Rodeo.” Ethan was laughing so hard he’d bent over, hands resting on his knees so he wouldn’t fal .

“I said stop.” Nothing in Monroe’s voice was amused.

I was so startled when Connor slid off me that I continued to buck and nearly tumbled over.

“Whoa there, sleeping beauty.” I whipped around to find Connor grinning at me. I had no trouble remembering him: the other Searcher who’d ambushed Shay and me at the library. And he’d been at Rowan Estate as wel , scooping up Shay—

unconscious and a wolf—and whisking him away from Bosque’s onslaught of wraiths, succubi, and incubi. I shuddered, both at the memory of the horde and at the sick dread I stil felt at not knowing what had happened to Shay.

Unlike Ethan, whose gaze had made me certain he wanted to stick a knife in my gut as much as I wanted to sink my teeth into his throat, Connor was working hard not to laugh. With that expression he looked boyishly appealing, even a little innocent, but I recal ed too wel the way he could wield swords. Two swords, curving sabers like Monroe’s, were sheathed at his waist at this very moment. I snarled at him, backing slowly away from the three Searchers.

“Not a morning person, are we?” Connor smiled. “I promise we’l get you some breakfast, wolfie. You just can’t eat Ethan. Deal?”

“Cal a.” Monroe was walking toward me, shaking his head. “We aren’t your enemies. Please give me a chance.”

I met his dark eyes, which had locked on me, intense and a little fearful. Pul ing my gaze off Monroe, I glanced at Ethan and Connor. They’d taken flanking positions behind Monroe, but neither had drawn a weapon. Conflicting impulses paralyzed me. Al my instincts were screaming to attack, but the Searchers had only acted defensively. And they weren’t trying to hurt me now.

Stil uneasy, I shifted forms.

“I like her better this way, don’t you?” Connor murmured with a sideways glance at Ethan, who only grunted.

“What are they doing here?” I pointed at the other two men but spoke to Monroe. “I thought you said I’d be safe with you.”

“They’re members of my team,” Monroe answered. “And you’l be working closely with them.

You can trust them just as you can trust me.”

Now it was my turn to laugh. “No way. These two have tried to kil me more than once.”

“No more fighting now that we’re on the same team,” Connor said. “Scout’s honor.”