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RYLAND
Luca’s voice in my head makes me pause. His team disappeared and there are witches hunting us. This is not good news. I send a quick text to the team leads and let them know to bring everyone back home. I won’t lose any more wolves than we already have.
Once I’m certain everyone is heading back home, I shift and race toward our cabin. If Amber and her people don’t have Red, we may have bigger problems than missing wolves. I can’t let my emotions get in the way of finding her. As the territory alpha, I have to remain in control. It’s hard, but I know I can’t lose focus.
The minute I step inside the cabin, I know that something is wrong. Grammy turns toward the door, her expression nearly unreadable. “What is it?” I ask, crossing the room to stand in front of her.
“The healing brew didn’t work as well as I’d hoped it would. The infection is spreading. If it reaches his heart, that might be the end. I’ve never dealt with anything like this before, so I’m not certain. It could just change him,” she explains.
“Change him? Into what?” I ask, my eyes searching her face for answers.
She meets my gaze before turning to look at James. “I don’t know.” It’s not good news at all, especially since Red isn’t here. If he dies, it’ll break their bond, and she’ll suffer. Without the rest of us near her, it could kill her. I have to keep that from happening.
“What can we do?” I hate how helpless I feel right now. I’ve grown to care about James too, and don’t want to lose him. We have to find Red, and we have to save James. Those are the two things I want to focus on right now. I can’t defeat Amber without Red, and she won’t be strong enough without James.
“I’m working on it. He’s stable for now, though that can change at any moment. Have you made any progress in finding Red? I’m going to need her help.” Grammy stares at me, as if I’m hiding something from her.
I shake my head. “No, but we learned that Amber doesn’t have her. That’s all we know.”
Before she can say anything else, Luca walks in. “Where have you been? You should have beat me home.”
“The witches circled back around. Amber must have sent them out to look for more wolves. Did everyone else make it back okay? Where’s Orym?” Luca asks, looking around the room.
Fuck. I check my phone and see confirmation that the only group unaccounted for is the one Luca was with, but the group Orym left with hasn’t seen him. “Looks like he’s not with his group.”
I call to him through the bond, hoping that Amber’s people didn’t take him, too. Orym, where are you? We need you at home. Amber’s people are taking wolves from the forest.
GARNET
“No, I don’t know exactly what my magic will do. I didn’t even know I had magic until recently. It’s not like I’ve had help figuring it out.” I look at James and wince at the hurt in his eyes. “At least not from anyone who knows about magic.” His expression softens and I feel a little better. I hate that my words hurt him, but I hope he understands that I didn’t mean it that way.
“Well, you have someone who knows about magic now. I will help you, but you have to listen to me. Do you understand?” Trevan seems irrationally upset by me using my magic, and I don’t understand what’s going on here. He’s hiding things. I know it.
I nod and glare at him. I’m pissed and want him to know it. James squeezes my hand. It’s surreal to me that he feels so solid here, when I know that this is just a manifestation of his soul. His body is back at home, probably dying. My heart aches because I’m here instead of there helping Grammy find a way to save him.
“It’s okay, Garnet. She’ll figure it out. Grammy is good at what she does, and the guys will help her,” James comforts me, obviously reading my emotions through our bond. I hate this entire situation more than I could ever explain.
“How can you be so calm about the fact that you’re dying?” I wail as he pulls me into his arms and holds me against his chest.
“Because I know I’m not actually going to die. It’s pretty easy to stay calm when you know the people you care about won’t let you go without a fight,” he says against my temple. I know this isn’t the time, but I melt into him and soak up his positive energy. I need this embrace as much as he does.
We stand there like that until Trevan clears his throat. “Not that this, display of emotion, bothers me,” he begins, “but we have things that need to be discussed in private. So, if you don’t mind, we need to get moving.”
I want to punch him for being a dick. My mate is barely hanging onto his life, and this guy is worried about someone hearing our conversation. It’s ridiculous. I have bigger things to worry about than his issues with privacy and affection. Who the fuck does this guy think he is, my dad? That’s a ridiculous idea. Isn’t it?
James and I follow Trevan into the palace. Now that one of his subjects, servants, people—hell, I never even asked who Miriam was to him—knows that we’re here, I guess we don’t have to worry about sneaking in. I stare at him as we walk, letting James lead me. The more I watch this Fae man, the more convinced I am that he could be my father. How crazy is that? It would explain why he claims he can help us, and why he spent time with Luca and me when we were kids.
But if he is my father, why wouldn’t he just tell me? What does he have to hide? Is he ashamed of me? Questions fill my mind and I realize that if I don’t stop this train of thought, I’m going to start blurting out what I’m wondering. Of course, none of it will be in order or make any sense. Then I’ll be even more embarrassed than I was at being cornered by one of his people.
James, can you hear me? I wait for his response. Nothing. Fuck, why did I think that our bond communication would work here? Maybe Trevan is right, and I don’t know enough about my powers yet. I’ll have to talk to James after we’re left alone for the night.
Our Fae host leads us to a large corridor with so many doors lining each side that I know I’ll never figure out which room is ours if it’s on this hallway. I can’t even count how many doors we’ve already passed.
“Where are we going?” I ask. Trevan doesn’t even pause at my question. Nor does he respond. Frustration bubbles up in me, and at the moment when I expect I’m going to explode at him, he stops in front of a door.
“Here we are,” he says, throwing the ornate wooden door open and gesturing for us to enter. “This is your room, Fae child. Your gentleman will be right across the hall in his own room.” He closes the door behind us, and I turn on him.
James wraps an arm around my waist to keep me from jumping on Trevan. “No, he will not. James will stay here with me. You cannot separate us. I won’t allow it.”
