Page 96 of A Curse in Darkness

Chapter 23

Willow

I woke with a start and blinked into the darkness of my room. I was alone. Completely. There was no scent of pine and leather or motor oil lingering. Warrick hadn’t been here.

I sat up.

Something felt…wrong.

Shoving off the covers, I climbed out of bed and threw on some clothes, slid my blade into the sheath at my hip, put on my boots, and rushed from the room.

I opened the doors to my sisters’ bedrooms as I went. All were fast asleep, and Mom had drifted off in a chair at Rose’s bedside.

I took the stairs as quietly as I could. Else was tucked up in her room as well.

Relic was in the kitchen when I walked in, and he didn’t look happy. “Where is he?”

“Edric,” Relic said. “War went to clean up.”

This was not good. Not good at all. “Where? What happened?”

Relic studied me for several long seconds, deciding if he should tell me, then shrugged. “State forest, the east side. Edric wiped out a group of campers.”

Fuck.

“How long ago did Warrick leave?”

“Not long.”

“He went alone?”

Relic looked pissed. “Yeah, and he pulled rank. Said it was his mess to clean up.”

Which meant Relic’s hands were tied. You did not ignore the alpha of a pack’s orders, and in some cases, it was physically impossible, depending on the animal.

I rushed to Else’s workroom, quickly and quietly loaded my satchel with what I needed, and headed out in the Morris.

I didn’t know if Warrick would find Edric, but if he did and they fought, the spirit might leave and I needed to trap it before it moved to someone else, before it caused more damage.

I pushed the Morris to its limits the whole way, my stomach in knots. Warrick was incredibly strong, the most brutal out of his brothers, which was why he was alpha, but Edric was possessed by pure evil. That alone made him beyond dangerous.

I cursed and planted my foot harder on the accelerator. The sense of urgency grew. He needed me. Somehow, I knew Warrick needed me, and it drove me forward.

I finally saw his bike and skidded to a stop, then throwing on my satchel, I gripped my blade and ran into the forest. My gut told me where to go, and I was positive I could smell his scent lingering among the trees. Pulling out a flashlight, I shone it at the forest floor, and sure enough, large hound prints were pressed into the soft soil.

I rushed on.

This part of the forest was frequented by humans, the trees and undergrowth not as dense, giving very little cover, so demons, especially, tended to avoid it. I tramped on until I saw firelight flickering up ahead.

“Stay back,” Warrick’s gravelly voice called through the shadows, sensing my approach.

There was no way in hell I was doing that. I strode to the edge of the campsite and froze. There was barely anything left of the campers. They’d been torn to pieces.

Warrick closed in, naked and fierce. He looked me over, and his nostrils flared. “You shouldn’t have come here. You’re still recovering and Edric’s close by.”

“I’m fine, and him being close is exactly why I should be here,” I said and lifted off my satchel. “We need to stop him from doing this to anyone else.”

“The sprits weren’t part of your trial, they’re not your problem anymore,” he said. “This is too dangerous.”