Page 22

Chapter 22

Finn pulled Callum’s aching body from under the felled tree, the chaos snapping his mind into sharp focus. The Bennet witches threw spell after spell at the wraith’s billowing, dark body. It pried Rowan’s mouth wide. The wretched sounds of its glee rattled like broken glass across metal before it sealed its lips around his.

Callum’s eyes turned crimson, haloing the world in blood. “Get away from him!”

The wraith jerked away, its needle like teeth dripping with globs of Rowan’s glowing essence. It hissed as Callum charged, swiping his blade. It found no resistance. “No!” he roared, desperate to land another blow.

The wraith’s laughter was a horrible scream in the dark. “You stupid fucking goat!” It released Rowan, now lifeless on the floor. “He’s mine! He always has been mine!”

Mighty winds blew the doors open as the wraith swirled in a cyclone. Windows shattered, ice coated the walls, the floor, and everyone inside. One by one the Bennetts fell in a mass of sobs, Finn following suit before it finally took Callum.

Misery shrouded him in total darkness. Arabella, Orlaith’s headless corpse, Rowan lifeless on the floor. It pounded his skull, despair sealing his hooves in place as he was eaten whole. Callum grabbed his head, frozen tears pouring down his face as he screamed his anguish. He let his herd die. He let Orlaith die. And now Rowan would die because of his failure. You’re a coward! You destroy everyone you love! He collapsed under the intolerable weight. Make it stop! Please Goddess, make it stop!

The wind ceased. An eerie silence thick as cotton filled his ears. Callum lifted his head, a coating of snow tumbling from his horns. The fire had dimmed, icicles dripping from the hearth.

“Wha…what happened? Ivy sat up, coated in white. She shivered, Finn wrapping his arms about her to warm her. “I just saw all my nightmares! All my fears! What was that thing?”

“A wraith,” Dahlia dug Rosemary free, dusting the ice from her shoulders before kissing her forehead. “I have read about them but never saw them. By Hecate I didn’t know they were so powerful!”

Callum ignored their conversation, digging through the slush where Rowan had once lay. His claws only met hard floor. He dove into another pile. Then another. Nothing but a soggy rug and broken bits of glass. “Rowan!”

Ivy ran to Callum helping him dig through the mess. “Oh Gods, Ro! Please still be here!”

Something hard and cold brushed Callum’s fingers. He pulled Rowan’s talisman free, the leather cord snapped.

Voices rose around him frantically chattering but it was all gibberish in Callum’s ears. Red rimmed his vision, the faint sounds of death whispering in his ears. It was happening again. The wraith had carted Rowan to some place unknown, someplace he couldn’t follow. And he was helpless, unable to save his mate from his fate and… Stop.

He pressed the talisman to his chest. While the Bennetts shouted, he took a breath. Then another. And another. “You’re not alone Rowan. I’m here. I will find you. Just…Just tell me you’re still alive. Please.” The pewter heated, the tingle of magic sharp and active as the sigil glowed. A signal from his witch-boy. He still lived. Callum rose, heading to the door.

“Brother?” Finn called.

“I’m going to find Rowan,” Callum answered.

“Then I’m going with you.” Finn frowned as Callum shook his head. “You can’t do this alone!”

“We have two witches gone. You coming with me is a waste of a good tracker.” Callum set his jaw. “I know what this wraith is, what it’s done to Rowan. So, I am the best to fight it. You’re needed here, Finn.”

Finn’s ears drooped. He took his shoulders, tapping their horns together. “Be safe brother. I’ll be very angry ifyou get your fool self killed.”

“The only one that will die is that wraith,” Callum growled. He looked to the others. “I’ll keep my eyes open for Aster on my way. But Rowan is my first care.”

“Thank you, Cal,” Ivy said, tears shimmering in her eyes. “Please find him.”

“Damn the Goddess if she keeps him from me.”

Callum fetched his bow, making sure his dagger was sheathed. He stepped out to the porch. Where would he even start? The wraith left no footprints, it was barely corporal.

He’d go east. No west. Dammit, where would a wraith even hide? For all he knew, the thing dragged Rowan across the veil forever from his reach. He clutched Rowan’s talisman tight. Don’t think like that! Find him!

Something nudged his shoulder. Callum flared his claws only to find Broderick bumping his nose against him. The stag’s eyes were wild, and he grunted, tapping his hooves on the wood planks.

“You feel him?” A bleat of affirmation made Callum’s heart leap. Of course. Broderick was Rowan’s familiar. Their connection was more solid than the one he held with his twin. “Do you know which way he is?”

Broderick jerked his antlers east, biting Callum’s loincloth and tugging him off the porch. Callum tied the talisman to his wrist, lifting it like a beacon as the sun disappeared. The two galloped into the trees, snow beginning to flurry. Callum may have lost one mate in the past but not this time. He wouldn’t let Rowan die. He’d find his witch-boy. And then he’d make that wraith pay.