My sneakers touched down on the gravel driveway and I fell into a squat, waiting and listening. Scaling the ten-foot block wall was a breeze since the council didn’t use the location. Which meant no guards, nor were there any magical wards in place.
I hadn’t expected there to be any. At least not from the council. If my father was using the property to hide, he’d be arrogant enough to not use any.
Zane had plucked the address out of my head while we were at the mansion on the island, which I was still annoyed by, and checked out the warehouse while he was out on his run last night. He said it was for all our safety to know what we were getting into.
Although the Alpha thought he was protecting us, he also wanted a reason to not trust Lewis. I knew that because of the psychic bond we had. We had some kind of telepathy with each other.
I shivered at the feel of dark magic hanging in the air. The darkness that ran in my veins. My father’s power.
The bastard demon stole two of my loves: Dimitri and Wade.
Each minute of every day for last few months brought me closer insanity. The thought of my guys at the mercy of my demonic father fueled my anger and anxiety.
A low growl sounded beside me. I turned my head and met the gaze of my Alpha wolf, Zane. Our mating bond allowed us to feel each other’s emotions, hear each other’s thoughts, and connect in a way I’ve never connected to anyone before.
That and the bond I formed with Wyatt and Trevor, who were waiting in the truck on the other side of the wall. Neither were very happy about being left behind, but they compromised to being the getaway driver and tagalong.
Another growl from the Alpha male, then a nudge on my back made me cut a glare to Zane. In wolf form, he was tall and bulky. His coat was pitch black and it made his green eyes stand out. He was beautiful.
“Don’t growl at me. You could have stayed at home.”
He let out a sneezing-like sound, then tilted his head to toward the small house a few feet from the warehouse. Pressing my lips together in a thin line, I stood straight and let him lead the way. The council spared no expense when it came to their meeting locations.
According to my mother’s journal, the council had places around the world where they met and performed rituals and whatever other evil things they did. They moved from location to location in a random pattern. Another reason for me to mistrust them.
If they weren’t hiding things from the para communities, then why change locations?
Zane stilled, then tilted his head. I moved closer so my legs touched his side. His ears perked up and he let out a whimper before darting off toward a building behind the main house. “Dimitri.”
My heart hammered against my ribs at the sound Zane’s voice in my thoughts. I gave chase. Fear burned through my veins and dread sat in my gut like a rock. I sent a quick prayer to the Universe that Dimitri was okay. However, by Zane’s whimper and mixture of sadness and anger he was trying to hide from me, I guessed my love wasn’t doing so well.
When we reached the building, which looked like a run down guesthouse, Zane looked up at me. “Stay here.”
“I’m going in.” I pursed my lips and stared until he huffed. Then he nudged me on the back of the leg. “That’s better. For the record, Salrus is going to die.”
Zane growled in agreement while I opened the door. “I smell a trap.”
“Yeah, Yeah. So do I. In fact, I’d be disappointed if it wasn’t one.” I’d trained with Zane for the past two months when we weren’t searching for information and clues on where the demon would have taken the guys.
The training kept my mind off calling the whole council out and killing each one of them slowly. When the ass-kicking from Zane stopped distracting me, he, Trevor, and Wyatt took turns distracting me in other ways.
But my heart still longed for Dimitri and Wade. I didn’t seem whole without them.
The snap of Zane’s teeth brought me out of my thoughts. Glancing at him, I noted he was in the middle of what was once a living room. “Where are they?”
The light in his green gaze dimmed. Heartache flowed through the mating bond. Something wasn’t right. But he didn’t answer me, just turned and trotted off toward the hallway.
About mid-way down the hall I heard a groan. Dimitri. It had to be.
Ignoring Zane’s warning growl, I charged into the room to my left. The door slammed against the wall and I glanced around. Being half demon, I had some night vision, but it was nothing like Zane’s. Holding my hand up, I formed a ball of light and made it hover in the middle of the room.
The room filled with a soft glow. When I turned around, I froze. Dimitri sat with his back against the wall, his head hung down. His auburn hair had grown out and covered part of his face. He was surrounded by a magical circle.
Zane moved closer to Dimitri, apparently not seeing the circle. “Stop. Salrus put him in a magical bubble.”
I dropped to my knees inches from the circle, then lifted my hand. The hum of power coming from the bubble was dark, demonic. Not surprising, considering Salrus would have been the one to create it.
Another thing I’d learned in the past two months was to embrace my demon side. As much as I hated my father, I needed to learn what abilities I had and how to use them in combination with my witch powers.
Tentatively, I moved my hand closer to the bubble. Power slapped at me and I jerked my hand back, not expecting the aggression of the energy. Fury and anger were laced in the magical threads of the circle.
A crash sounded from the front of the house. I whirled around and glared at the bedroom door. Zane growled, then he darted out of the room. Cursing low, I stood to follow the wolf.
I got a few feet from the door and two demons materialized in front me. Both had short, dark hair and a crimson hue over their skin. One had black eyes. The other demon’s eyes were violet.
They snarled at the same time. The sound cut through me, rattling my insides. Inky power flowed around the room.
Straightening, I called my magic from deep within and directed it to my hands. “Hello, boys.”
Violet Eyes glanced to Dimitri and I snapped my fingers at him, letting out a spark of my demonic power to zap him. He jerked his gaze to me, brows drawn and sharp teeth bared.
I bared my human teeth back at him. Not as intimidating, but I didn’t care. “Yeah, I’m half demon. And you will focus on me. Dimitri is mine.”
Black Eyes darted to the right, but I was ready. I shot out my arm while throwing an energy ball at him. With a quick step back, he dodged the ball. “Nice try, bitch.”
I smiled. “That’s crazy bitch to you.”
Fury and fear fueled my dark power and for once I didn’t fight. I let it rise. These weren’t humans or innocents I was dealing with. White and blue flames engulfed my hands.
Violet Eyes laughed. “Your demon fire doesn’t work on us.”
He charged and out of reflex I thrust my hands out. The fire hit him and vanished. Shit. The other demon rushed at me, tackling me to the ground. Violet Eyes pulled out a set of handcuffs and lowered to me.
Oh, hell no. They were not putting those on me. I slammed my palm into the nose of the demon straddled over me, holding me down. The crunch of bone was followed by blood. He fell to his side with his hand over his face. Dumbass should have held on tighter.
The other demon with violet eyes reached out to me, but I rolled, then jumped to my feet. My fury rushed through my veins wildly, mixing with my magic. I let out a growl and threw both hands straight out in front of me. Cold, pure white energy shot out from my palms and blasted the demon in the chest.
Ice started to cover him. What the…?
Then both demons dematerialized.
A moment later, Zane ran into the room, still in wolf form. His green eyes searched me, then he came over and sniffed me down. With a sigh, I lowered to my knees and took his big head in my hands. “I’m fine. Honest. We have to get D out of here and find Wade.”
His response was to lick my face. When I frowned, he laughed, his voice entering my thoughts.
I let go of Zane and turned to Dimitri. My heart hurt to see him so out of it. When I reached out to the circle again, I didn’t hesitate. But I did say a prayer to the Universe.
“The Universe gives me strength to break the barrier between me and my love.” I pressed a hand to the wall of the circle and called to the dark magic stirring deep inside me.
The power traveled down my arms to my hands. My fingertips tingled. Suddenly, Dimitri lifted his head and stared into my eyes. I gasped and almost let go of the demon magic I called.
Dimitri’s face was swollen on one side, bruising around his eyes, and his bottom lip was cut, dried blood smeared on his chin. Fury pushed me to complete the task of freeing him. I needed to get him far away from the demon and make sure my father never hurt anyone else I loved, again.
My father will die.
Pressing my palms against the circle wall, I pushed. “As the daughter of the creator, I claim this magical barrier for my own. I will thee to open without repercussions.”
With ease, the circle opened and I knee-walked to Dimitri. Tears blurred my vision. I reached out to him, not sure where he hurt. Knowing Salrus, he’d beat him and the gods knew what else to get information. But what intel was he looking for?
Just then Dimitri lunged, pulling me into a tight hug. He shook and buried his face into my neck. I circled my arms around him and cradled him close. “We’re going home so you can heal and we can plot that bastard’s death.”
I positioned myself so my shoulder wedged under his arm, then began to stand. Dimitri was weak and felt like dead weight to me. I really needed to build more muscle. After hiding away in a psycho hospital for a few years, I’d never taken the time to build my physical strengths up.
Zane shook, then in a flash of white light shifted to human form. It was hard not to be distracted by his nakedness. Then again, Dimitri needed me to focus. Zane cursed, then said, “Take him to Wyatt and Trevor, I’ll search the rest of the house.”
I nodded as Zane darted from the room. A pissed off wolf on a mission.
In practicing the teleportation thing, I learned it did have its limits. One being I needed to have been at the location before. Plus, I was still limited to short distances, which made me thankful Wyatt and Trevor insisted on coming.
Teleporting with Dimitri in the state he was in would take all my concentration. Even though I was only going to Zane’s truck parked outside the Estate’s gates where Wyatt and Trevor waited.
Taking a deep breath, I focused on Wyatt and Trevor. The room we stood in dissolved to nothing as we were pulled through what felt like thick, jelly-like water. Within moments we stood outside the truck. Wyatt and Trevor jumped into motion, taking Dimitri from me.
“I’m going back. Zane is searching for Wade.” I hesitated, not really wanted to leave Dimitri.
Wyatt cupped my face and kissed my lips quick. “We’ve got D.”
I peered into Wyatt’s grey eyes and nodded. “He’s hurting.”
“I know. We’ll take care of him.”
My guys had become part of my heart. They were there for me and for each other. With a final nod, I teleported back to the room.
Zane wasn’t in there. I hadn’t expected him to be.
Opening my senses, I found Zane in kitchen. He stood in front of a door I assumed was the basement. Zane was still in human form but had a pair of sweatpants on. “Where did you find the pants?”
“The laundry room.”
I opened my mouth to ask how he could just wear other stranger’s clothes, but he added, “When I was here earlier this morning, I got the strange feeling I’ve been here before. I was right. The farther I went in the home, searching each room, I realized I had been here.” He took a shaky breath. “I followed the demon here after Wade died. The fact that the council used it never registered. I was too set on killing the demon. I’m not sure why I didn’t remember.”
I closed the distance and hugged his waist. His confusion reached out to me. It wasn’t like shifters to forget things so easily. My father did something. Maybe took the memories from him using the demon mark. “You lived here for a while.”
“A few weeks before D tracked me down and dragged me to the coven.” Zane kissed my temple. “It might be the reason Salrus brought Dimitri here.”
I nodded, agreeing with him. It didn’t make sense. Then again, nothing my father did was logical. “Salrus is using this place for something big.” Surveying the kitchen, then stretching out my senses, I tried to hold in my sadness. “Wade isn’t here.”
Voicing the words out loud made my chest tighten. Zane opened the door and sniffed the air. “But he was. Maybe there are clues down there.”
Zane was hesitant on going into the basement. That wasn’t good. “What is it?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”
The energy shifted around us. I whirled around and came face to face with Wade. My heart lurched and stepped forward, reaching out to him. Tears filled my eyes. Wade shook his head and held up his hands. His face was a mask of pain, fear, and conflict. “Get out of here before he comes back. I am not able to disobey him any longer. He did…something.”
No. I reached for him, but he stepped back. That was when I noticed he was in solid form and alive. The wounds from the accidents gone. How could that be?
“What’s going on?” I had a guess and hoped I was wrong. Because I could lose Wade forever. A lump formed in my throat.
My father had brought him back to life and used the Sleeping Stone on him.
“Salrus owns my soul. Now go!” Wade vanished.
I turned to Zane. “How could he?”
A low growl rumbled from his chest. “The bastard must have called in some favors in Hell to bring someone back to the living. I didn’t think he was that powerful of a demon.”
Wade materialized again a second later. “Go. He wants me to kill you. You can’t undo this and I can’t resist any longer. Go. Please!”
Zane tugged at my elbow. I wanted to grab Wade and bring him home. But he was right. Plus, Salrus would use his link to Wade to break through my new boundaries around the coven and my home. “I’ll find a way to kill him. Then I’ll be back for you.”
Wade’s haunted eyes filled with tears. Then pain etched in his features and I knew Salrus would hurt him bad for disobeying him. Or would the power of the stone hurt him for fighting its effects? “I promise,” I whispered as I teleported Zane and me back to the truck.
I’d lost Wade. Sorrow gripped me so tight, I found it hard to stand. Zane scooped my up in his arms and climbed in the back seat of his Tundra. Instead of placing me on the seat, he held my in his lap. “We’ll get him back.”
I nodded as I buried my face into his bare chest. Trevor started the truck and peeled out of the gravel driveway.
For now, I’d focus on healing Dimitri.
Then I’ll plot the death of a demon, and figure out how to get Wade back before he was lost to me forever.