Once all packed, we checked out of our Phoenix hotel and drove to a small, private airfield about thirty minutes away to wait for the jet. Sawyer has heard of me talk about Chase and how he has his own plane. I told him we needed to get to Minnesota fast, and that’s how we could do it. I hope that Reed doesn’t try to check up on us. For all I know, the FBI might get notifications if our signals go blank. If so, we’re screwed. The last thing we need is more agents searching for my kind. They’ll get killed, or the wolves will go on the run like they probably are now. I hate not knowing what I’m going to find when we get there.
We didn’t get off the ground until two in the morning, and it took three hours to arrive in Minnesota. As soon as we landed at the airport, we had a two-and-a-half-hour drive ahead of us, so we rented two vehicles. Colin and I are in the lead, with Sawyer and Tia behind us. I have my laptop open and my GPS programmed to lead us straight to the lodge Chris and Anthony were staying at. Looking at the satellite footage, they have their own little cabin on the grounds. When we pull up, we bypass the main lodge and drive the winding, narrow road until we get to the right place. Parked out in front is a dark blue Chevy Tahoe.
Colin parks beside the Tahoe, and Sawyer pulls in behind us. “Here we go.”
As soon as I get out, I smell the trace of a wolf, several in fact. The scents are all mixed, but something is vaguely familiar about one of them. I don’t know how I recognize it, but I do. Colin scans the woods around us, and luckily, no one is close. However, I do smell blood coming from inside the cabin.
Colin takes my hand. “Ready?”
“Not really.” I look over at Tia, and she can see the worry on my face. Sawyer rushes up to the door, and it’s cracked open. I know nobody’s in there. He pulls out his gun and rushes in, ready to fight. I admire his courage, but this is a fight he won’t be a part of.
When we get inside, it’s clear there was a struggle. There’s blood on the floor, the beds are messy, and the lamps are broken. Sawyer lowers his gun and looks around, his eyes darting from the broken lights to the blood on the floor.
“Fuck,” he hisses. “What the hell do you think happened?”
The whole plane ride, I thought about all the possible scenarios. My only guess is that Chris and Anthony pissed off a group of wolves, and they came after them. I’ve looked through the list many times and haven’t seen any targets I thought could be shifters.
“I don’t know,” I lie. “We need to find the laptops.” Colin straightens one of the mattresses while Sawyer does the same with the other bed. I bend down to look under them, and that’s when I see one, the small red light on the side giving it away. It almost seems as if it was hidden there on purpose with all the clothes surrounding it. I reach under the bed and pull it out. “Got one.”
Tia rummages through a duffle bag in the corner and pulls out another. “Here’s the other.”
Sitting on the couch, I open the laptop I found, and the screen comes to life. The password box appears, and I look up at Sawyer. “Do you know either one of Chris or Anthony’s passwords?”
Sawyer shakes his head. Luckily for us, Reed is an expert hacker and showed me some of his tricks. There’s a code you can type in, and it’ll give you access to any computer in the world. It’s long and full of letters, numbers, and symbols, but I have it engrained in my mind. I begin to type it in, and Sawyer sits beside me, his eyes narrowed at the screen.
“What are you doing?”
I’m almost done with the code. “Reed showed me this one day after you, and the guys were in the locker room. Said it might come in handy. Guess he was right.” When I finish typing it in, I hit Enter, and the screen blackens the way it’s supposed to with the little wheel of death – as I like to call it—twirling in the middle. In just a few seconds, I’ll have complete access. I look over at Sawyer and give him a sad smile. “The code lets you hack into any computer.”
Sawyer blows out a sigh. “I should be pissed he didn’t trust me with it, but then again, I don’t think I could remember a code that long.”
And I know Chris and Anthony wouldn’t be able to either. Keeping my eyes on the screen, I pat his leg. “Just be lucky your partner can.”
The wheel of death fades, and the black screen comes to life. What comes up next is something I never expected to see. It’s not just something, but someone. The picture before me is how I remember him, bright blond hair, a sardonic smile, the scar above his right brow, and his evil crystal blue eyes. Ivan Whitecross. He’s an arctic, but not royal. A Yukon. I thought they were all dead.
My blood boils as I look through Ivan’s file. He is a target, but I’ve never seen him on my list. He’s connected to multiple disappearances, all women. Several of them have turned up dead, their bodies mutilated to the point of no recognition. The only way they were identified was through DNA. When I exit out of Ivan’s profile, there are many others I don’t recognize. They are all in a whole new file labeled Most Dangerous. I glance over at Sawyer, and there’s no hint of shock on his face; he knew there was another list.
Memories flash through my mind, and I can’t stop them. I can see the lust in Ivan’s eyes as he bit me over and over, and the way he groped me with such force left bruises all over my skin. I fought so hard against my restraints to the point I couldn’t move anymore. All I could do was sit in that chair, bound with wolfsbane-soaked ropes. There were three of them who tortured me, at least, until I was rescued by Colin’s sister, Bailey. I ripped two of them apart, and I assumed Ivan was killed in the war. This whole time he’s been alive.
Colin’s rage consumes me, and it fuels my own. He saw my thoughts, and now he knows my pain; I can’t hide it anymore. Now I know whose scent I recognize in the cabin; it makes me sick to even breathe. Slamming the computer shut, I rush outside and suck in a breath, keeping my back to Sawyer as he shouts my name. He knew there was another list and intentionally kept it hidden from me.
Colin blocks his emotions from me, but I can feel him behind me. “Kami,” Colin murmurs. He gently places his hands on my shoulders, carefully pulling me back against his chest.
“I know you saw,” I whisper. “I remember killing two of the men, and I just assumed Ivan didn’t survive.”
The Yukons are the same people who killed his parents. “What do you want to do?”
My blood burns with hatred and revenge. There’s no way I’ll be able to rest with Ivan roaming free in the world. I don’t even know what he’s done to be put on the list, but I’m going to be the one to strike his name out.
I turn around and look up into Colin’s eyes. “He’s our enemy, Colin. We have to find him.”
Colin nods. “Good. Because either way, I am. He’s going to suffer for what he’s done.”
Sawyer rushes out of the cabin, but he doesn’t say anything as I stare at him over Colin’s shoulder. He knows he kept something huge from me, and I can feel the regret pouring off of him.
“You kept this from me,” I growl, storming toward him. “How could you not tell me?”
Sawyer hangs his head and holds up his arms. “I know you’re mad. We only did it to protect you.”
Tia stands by his side, and I can feel her magic sweeping across me. She mouths the words your eyes, and it all becomes clear. “They were glowing,” Colin says through our bond. “She has to glamour them until you calm down.”
“It’s going to be a long time before that happens.”
“We?” I hiss. “Who’s we?”
Sawyer finally looks me in the eyes. “Reed. He didn’t want you having access to that list just yet. He thought he was protecting you.”
I want to shout that I’m the strongest one in the whole damn bureau, but I can’t. If anything, Sawyer and the others didn’t need the list. Look where it got Chris and Anthony. They stepped into something they couldn’t handle.
My hands shake, but Colin grabs it. “Calm down, baby. You can’t blame Sawyer. They were trying to look out for you.”
“Did you know Chris and Anthony were hunting people on this other list?” I ask through clenched teeth.
Sawyer averts his gaze. “Yes. Four agents have already gone missing searching for Ivan Whitecross. That’s why Chris and Anthony wanted to put him down.”
“And now they’re dead,” I growl. “Along with the other four agents.”
Sawyer pulls out his phone. “We need to call Reed. He has to know what’s going on.”
I snatch his phone before he can even react. “No.”
He looks at my hand holding the phone, and his mouth gapes. “How did you grab that so fast?”
“You’re not calling him,” I snap. “Ivan Whitecross will be dealt with, but not by Reed or anyone else in the FBI. This is something I have to handle on my own.”
He throws his hands in the air. “But why? This doesn’t make any fucking sense. It’s too dangerous. There’s no telling what was done to Chris and Anthony.”
I look over at Tia, and she knows it’s time. We have to do what we must to keep those we love safe. Colin slides over behind Sawyer, and Tia whispers her spell on him. He collapses into Colin’s arms, a deep sleep that’ll keep him out until we find Ivan.
Colin lays him in the backseat of his and Tia’s rental car. “Let’s get what we need from inside and get the hell out of here.” His glowing blue eyes meet mine. “We don’t know if they’re coming back. We need to be the ones hunting them.”
I nod in agreement. I don’t know who all Ivan has with him, but we will kill them all.