TWENTY-ONE
BRYN TOOK MY HAND, leaning into me as we left the
cell.
“I’ve missed you so
much, Cal,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you
again.”
“I missed you too,”
I said, though I didn’t feel worthy of her affection. She’d been
through so much while waiting for me to come back. They all
had.
“I’d better stay on
my toes,” she said, returning my smile before she dropped to the
ground—a bronze-furred wolf. She joined the other wolves, who
trotted side by side, tightly bunched, nuzzling each other, tails
wagging.
Ethan and Connor
watched the young wolves reestablish the pack bonds. The Searchers’
faces were puzzled. I guessed they were trying to make sense of the
way their sworn enemies demonstrated affection, loyalty, even
playfulness. Traits the Searchers associated with their own kind,
but not with Guardians. Only Monroe seemed unsurprised by the
wolves’ behavior. He strode ahead, driven by a single
purpose.
We crossed the room,
heading for the north cell block. The dais loomed before us and the
scent of blood, old and fresh, grew stronger. The sharp tang, layer
upon layer of agony, flooded my senses in a blinding wave. I
stumbled, gagging as we approached the raised stones. The violence
witnessed by this place seemed to have leached into the floor and
the walls. I dropped my head, wanting to cover my ears. I thought I
could hear my mother screaming. Connor caught my elbow, steadying
me.
“Hang in there,” he
murmured.
I nodded, trying not
to look at the stains on the hideous stage.
Monroe unlocked the
cell block door. He’d pushed it open only partway when something
flickered in my peripheral vision. It was just like earlier, a
furtive moment in the shadows.
“Wait.” I grabbed
Monroe’s arm.
“What’s wrong,
Calla?” he asked, watching me.
My eyes tracked over
the spot where I thought the movement had come from. Then I saw
it.
A
gargoyle.
It wasn’t moving at
all now. It looked just like a statue perched against the stone
frieze that ringed the ceiling, but every nerve in my body screamed
that it wasn’t.
“Ethan.” I pointed
at the creature, whispering. “Shoot that. Right now.”
“That’s a statue.”
He frowned. “Creepy as hell, but I can’t waste bolts.”
“Just shoot
it.”
He looked at me for
a moment and then took aim. The bolt flew true. Ethan swore when it
didn’t bounce off a carved monster but buried deep in flesh. The
gargoyle screamed, stone coming to life.
“What the hell!”
Connor jumped back as the creature dove from the ledge, flying at
us.
I covered my ears,
thinking that my eardrums would burst from its hideous screeching.
Bryn snarled, leaping to meet the creature midair. Startled by her
fearlessness, the gargoyle balked, screaming its outrage. Bryn’s
teeth tore through one of its wings and the creature dropped to the
floor, gray milky blood oozing from its torn flesh. Sabine leapt
onto its chest, pinning it to the dais. Bryn struck again, this
time jerking her head fiercely when she took hold of its throat. I
heard the crack of bone as the gargoyle’s neck
snapped.
“It’s been watching
us the whole time,” I breathed.
“Are there others?”
Connor asked, turning in a swift circle, keeping his eyes on the
ceiling.
“No, but Calla’s
right. It must have been tracking our movements since we arrived,”
Monroe said. “I think we may have just triggered the
alarm.”
Each one of us went
still, taking in the significance of Monroe’s words. Our silence
was met by a low, urgent sound in the distance, like faint
drumming. The scrape of nails on wrought iron, footpads hitting the
steps. Coming fast, the drumming became pounding as our enemies
descended from the upper level of the club.
“They’re coming for
us,” Monroe said, glancing toward the door that would take us out
of the prison and back up the stairs.
“Do you know of
another way out?” Connor asked, looking at the wolves. My packmates
glanced at each other. Sabine whimpered before she shifted
forms.
“None of us have
seen another exit,” she said. “That’s the way we were brought in.
I’m sorry.”
Her eyes found Ethan
as she apologized.
“We’re trapped down
here, then,” he said, staring at Sabine as if he were weighing the
possibilities of how he’d like to spend his last moments on
earth.
“The rest of the
pack has to be in this block,” Monroe said. “If we can free them,
we’ll be able to put up a decent fight. Maybe get out of
here.”
“Not all of us,”
Connor said.
“We don’t have any
other choice,” Monroe said.
“He’s right.” Ethan
loaded new bolts into his crossbow. “Time for the last stand.
Always knew it would come someday.”
“No,” Sabine said.
“I’m not dying down here. I won’t give Efron the
satisfaction.”
She dropped into
wolf form and howled. The rest of my packmates raised their
muzzles, joining her battle cry. From the levels above us I heard
the answering howls of the approaching Guardians, singing out their
own challenge.
The wolves’ howling
seemed to revive the despondent Searchers.
“I can jam that
lock!” Connor was sprinting across the room. “If it really is the
only way in, it might buy us some time.”
“Good thinking,”
Monroe said. “Ethan, help Connor and the wolves. Try to keep them
at bay. Calla, come with me.”
I followed Monroe
into the cell block, glancing back to see my packmates circling
Connor and Ethan as they fiddled with the lock of the east prison
door. I drew a slow breath and shivered. Beneath the harsh metallic
odor of the cell block a whisper of wood smoke curled through the
air.
“What is it?” Monroe
asked.
“He’s here,” I
whispered.
A howl from another
part of the prison spilled into the cell block. The hairs on the
back of my neck stood up. I’d recognized the cry—Mason was calling
for help. Nev’s answering howl sounded a moment later. Monroe
looked at me. I heard the scrabbling of toenails on flagstones,
followed by barks and snarls.
“Guardians,” I said.
“They’ve broken through.”
“Find him. Let him
know we’re coming. I’ll tell the others—make sure they keep the
fight away from here—and I’ll be back for you and the rest of your
pack. I promise.”
I nodded, swallowing
my fear.
Monroe drew his
swords and ran back into the Chamber.
The scent pulled me
to the far door on the left. Please be
unlocked. Please.
I turned the knob
and the door swung open. This cell was larger than the others.
Sparse, bright metal illuminated by buzzing fluorescent lights
running along the ceiling. I caught his scent before my eyes found
him. The warmth of sandalwood and rough edge of leather made my
chest ache. Without thinking, I stumbled forward, running toward a
figure crouched in the far corner of the room.
“Ren!” I wrapped my
arms around his shoulders, pulling him against me.
“Calla,” he
murmured. His forehead rested against my throat, his hands pressed
into the small of my back.
“Are you hurt?” I
whispered, still holding him tight, bursting with relief that he
was alive.
“No.”
“Thank God.” I
pulled back slightly, catching my breath, barely able to hear my
own words over the pounding of my heart. “We don’t have much time.
I can’t explain right now. We have to get out of
here.”
Ren looked at me and
suddenly I was dragged forward, crushed against him. His lips were
on mine, feverish, burning into my skin. Memories rained down on
me, drowning me in a flood of emotions.
Ren.
This was Ren as I’d
known him for so long. My intended mate. The young Bane alpha. My
rival and my friend. The one who would lead the pack by my side. A
warrior like me. A wolf like me.
I kissed him back as
tears burned in my eyes. The tide of the past carried me with it,
and I pushed my body closer to his. I didn’t know what to think or
feel. All I knew was how good it was to be near him again. Pressing
against him, I was haunted by the destiny that I’d anticipated but
hadn’t fulfilled. A time when I didn’t know that lies were lies.
When I thought I understood my place in the world. Some small part
of me longed for that certainty, for the life I might have had
before my world spun into chaos.
He pulled back,
gazing at me. Lifting his hand, he traced the shape of my face. His
other hand took mine. His fingers paused, lingering on the braided
white gold band of my ring.
“With me,” he
murmured. “You belong with me.”
The lump in my
throat was painful, stopping me from speaking even if I could have
found the words. How many promises had I made only to break? How
much had I stolen from him by leaving?
He kissed me again,
softly this time. His lips moved over my jawline, down my throat.
He pulled me even closer, whispering in my ear.
“They said you’d
come. I didn’t believe it, but now you’re here.”
The whirlwind of
emotions that lifted me stilled as his words brought me tumbling
back into the present.
They said you’d come.
I lifted my face,
looking at him more closely. He was here. Alive in the room. But
unlike the others, he wasn’t bruised. His face wasn’t drawn from
ordeals of pain and constant hunger. His clothes weren’t torn or
grime-covered. His scent was the one so familiar to me, warm and
masculine but untainted by vomit, blood, or filth. I looked at his
arms. He wasn’t restrained. And he was alone.
Cold fear snaked
over my skin.
“Ren?” I whispered.
My heart was screaming out against the chilling facts that my mind
was quickly wrapping around.
He leaned forward,
kissing my earlobe.
“I missed you, Lily.
So much,” he murmured, taking my arms in a firm grasp. “I’m
sorry.”
Suddenly I was
sailing through the air across the full length of the cell. My head
slammed against the wall and for a moment I couldn’t see anything.
My body tipped over and I sank toward the floor. Fingers dug into
my upper arms, lifting me up. I felt Ren’s breath hot against my
skin. His lips crushed mine again, but this time I tasted blood. I
jerked my head away and gasped, fighting to regain balance and
vision.
“Ren, stop. Please.”
My hands found his shoulders and I tried to push him away. “What
are you doing?”
His gaze locked on
me and I saw the tightness of his jaw, the strain in his eyes. Fury
and sadness pooled in the darkness of his irises.
“I don’t want this,
I never wanted this,” he said through
clenched teeth. “I don’t have a choice. You’ve given me no
choice.”
He slammed me
against the wall again, forcing air from my lungs. For a moment he
hesitated, staring at me, grief etching his features even as his
grip on my arms tightened.
“It’s the only way.”
He choked on the words as though desperate to believe them. “You’re
my mate. It’s my duty to bring you back. To make you stay. They
said I have to.”
I stared at him.
“Have to what?”
“Break
you.”