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“We should still investigate. Be prepared for anything.” Fran leads us to the loading dock. A rusted chain is all that’s holding the double steel doors closed. It disintegrates as soon as she touches it, releasing its hold. “Well, that was easy.”
The heavy doors slide open with a grunt, welcoming us into a large room that seems to be theentire building. Windows line the back wall, overlooking the Mississippi River. “This place has been empty for as long as I can remember,” Topher says, moving to a closed door on the right. He pulls it open, revealing another empty room.
“I don’t smell anything,” Luna says, lifting her nose high in the sky. “At least nothing paranormal. There’s a faint smell of humans, but even that is old.”
“She’s not here,” Alex confirms. “I don’t smell her or my sisters. Where’s the next place to visit?” He moves to the other side of the building, looking through what remains of a broken window.
Fran shrugs. “I thought this was it. I’m as surprised as everyone else.”
I turn, realizing Alex is no longer by the window. In fact, he’s not in the building. “Alex?” My voice echoes off the brick walls.“Alex?”
“Outside,”he answers.“By the river.”
I find him on the banks of the Mississippi, standing with his arms out to his sides, allowing the breeze to lift his dark hair from his head. “Is everything okay?”
“I feel her.” His voice is barely loud enough to hear over the wind.
I follow his line of sight, seeing nothing but brown water leading to the open sea. “Out there?”
He nods ahead. “She’s that way.”
Thorne moves to my side. “What’s happening?”
“I feel Patrice,” Alex answers.
“Are you sure? There’s nothing out there but water.”
Alex turns toward Thorne, his face saying more than words could ever speak. “I know what she feels like.” He nods toward the open water. “She’s out there.” Seconds later, Fran and Amelia are standing next to me, with the lycan running toward us.
“She’s that way.” Alex points once everyone is outside.
“There’s nothing out there except open sea,” Topher answers.
“There’s nothing that says they have to be on land.” Amelia’s words hit me in the gut.
“Kragen,” I whisper into the wind. With the insanity of the past few days, I forgot about an important detail from the church and Patrice. “Oh, my, God.”
“What?” Thorne questions me.
“Patrice. She knew my name. When we were at the church, she called me Elsbeth Abernathy. Kragen is the only way she would’ve known.”
“Shit.”
“What would Patrice gain by working with Kragen?” Amelia asks. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.” Fran moves in front of us. “The two of them share an acquired taste.” She looks me in the eyes. “It seems your pirate enjoys collecting people with abilities, too.”
I scoff. “That’s ridiculous. In my years on that ship, I never met anyone with any abilities other than cruelty. The only ability I have is survival.” Anger fills me forno apparent reason.
“Whether you choose to believe it or not, you have an ability.” Amelia moves next to Fran. “I sensed it the first moment we met. You are strong, both mentally and physically, along with something else I can’t quite put my finger on.”
I scoff at the hybrid. “That’s nothing more than what my father called stubbornness. It doesn’t mean I’m special or have an ability.”
Amelia shakes her head and shifts into the six-foot bright-red wolf I’ve seen several times. Without giving me time to think, she’s on top of me, pinning me to the ground. “What the hell are you doing?” I ask the woman who I thought was my friend.
Thorne moves to my aide as the lycan jump between us. “No,” Topher warns my lover. Thorne bares his teeth, as all three lycan work to hold him in place.
“Let me go,” he warns. “I will kill you all.”
