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“Most of it, yeah,” I say, taking her hand and pulling her away from him. “But, Red, I killed him. He was suffering, and it had to be done.”
She freezes in my arms. “You didn’t even give me a chance to heal him.”
“There was nothing left to heal, Red. He was too far gone.”
She glares at me.
GARNET
“You can’t know that. I could have healed him,” I insist. It doesn’t matter that I know this isn’t something Ry would do lightly. I believe I could have saved him.
“Amber gave him the potion, Red,” Luca offers. I whip my head around and stare at him.
“What?”
“The hybrid potion. She gave it to him. And he reacted badly; just look at his injuries. There’s no way a wolf shifter should ever be injured this badly. His natural healing would have taken over at some point. But it didn’t. What does that tell you?” Orym steps in to explain.
“That bitch,” I cry. “I will kill her.” The vow leaves my lips before I even realize that I’ve said it. An hour ago, I was trying to figure out how to end this without violence. Now, I want to do to Amber exactly what she did to Vincent. He may not have actually been my brother, but we grew up thinking that was the case.
My four mates stare at me. I won’t apologize for what I said. Or for racing down here with James struggling to keep up. I spent my life training with wolves, after all. The moment I felt something off with Luca, I knew I had to get down here. I wasn’t expecting this.
I feel as if salt has been poured into the cracks of my heart. It was just starting to heal from James destroying it. But losing Vincent burns. It makes me crave revenge, even more than I did when she kidnapped Luca.
If he hadn’t escaped, I would have killed her then, or died trying. But now, this feels like she’s just rubbing it in that she can do what she wants to anyone. And I will not stand for that. I can’t.
“Red, take a breath. We can’t go off half-cocked or she’ll have the upper hand,” Ry warns. I shake my head at him.
“I’m not going to chase her down right now. But I will kill her. On the evening of the Wolf Moon, when she plans to kill me. Let her think she’s gotten away with this for now. She doesn’t think I’m strong enough to take her on, much less to kill her.” I hate how much I enjoy the thought of torturing Amber. I want to snuff out her life like she did to every single one of her captives who’ve been killed so far.
I want her to feel that moment of panic just before it happens. I can almost feel the darkness creeping into my soul, and I welcome it.
“Garnet? We should let them take care of the body. You don’t want Grammy to see this,” James suggests, finally stepping close enough to touch me. I want to push him away; to punish him for rejecting me. But I don’t. Instead, I let him drag me into his arms and hold me while I cry against his chest.
I don’t watch as the three guys wrap Vincent up and take his body away. I need to tell Grammy what happened, but I can’t do it right now. “Let me tell her,” James offers, passing me to Orym. “I’ll handle it and be back as soon as I can.” He kisses the top of my head and is gone before I can say anything to stop him.
Orym holds me tightly, as if that will keep me together. I feel broken inside—it’s a feeling I’m getting used to, and I don’t like it. Everything that’s happened to us plays over in my head, and the more I relive, the angrier I get. It doesn’t matter that I’m broken. My mates can put me back together again.
I have to fight this; I can’t give in to the sadness. I won’t let Amber win. We’ve lost too much to give up now. There have been way too many sacrifices in this war. It’s time we turn the tables.
“We need to go home. I have spells to prepare, and magic to practice,” I say, wiping my eyes and stepping out of Orym’s embrace.
“Shouldn’t we wait for James?” Luca asks, gesturing toward Grammy’s cabin.
“He’ll be with her for a while. She won’t be surprised, but she won’t take the news well,” I offer. I’ve known that woman my entire life. I am certain that I can gauge her reaction to this situation. She’s going to be as pissed as I am. But she’ll need time to process first.
“Trevan is with her, though,” Ry reminds me. I nod, but I still think James is using this as an excuse for space. Who knows? Maybe Grammy will talk some sense into him while he’s there comforting her.
“James will be back when he’s done. We can’t worry about that now. I have to get things ready. Time is running out,” I insist, walking toward the door. I know that they’ll follow me, if for no other reason than they don’t want me walking around alone in the forest. My aunt is out to get me, after all.
The walk back to the cabin is quiet. I’m not sure how long it took, or even if anyone tried to talk to me. I’m caught up in going over my spell books in my mind while trying not to trip over tree roots. I race through the door to the cabin and head straight for my books. It’s strange how this has encouraged me instead of discouraging me.
I can’t let myself think about the fact that Ry was the one who took care of it, either. It had to be done, and he handled his responsibility. Part of me resents him for not letting me try to heal Vincent, but I have to let that go. I can’t let that be a way for Amber to get to me. I won’t let her manipulate me the way she did James.
fourteen
Hybrids Gone Wrong
LUCA
