Page 38 of Blood and Magic (RBMC: Helena, MT #2)

“The stables are empty, but the sheep…the cattle we just moved. All gone.”

“Gone?” Guin asked. “What do you mean, gone?”

Dead, as it turned out. The Scorpions had mutilated the fields with them. Corpses spread as far as the eye could see, our entire herd decimated. I stared at the carnage, hardly able to look away, tears streaming down my face.

But my Molly was missing, adding salt to the already deep and infected wound. Where was she? Why were the stables empty? Had she escaped? Or was she, too, a casualty of this escalating violence?

“Where are the horses?” I asked Mill, who stood beside me with his hands on his hips. I sensed his anger, hot and fiery, mixing with a cold shame. He blamed himself. I blamed myself.

What were we thinking, leaving them like this, with Bastards on the homestead their only protection?

The Scorpions had already proved they could get on our property.

We should have stayed here. We should have done something, anything, to keep everyone safe.

They had gotten through our defenses before, and they’d keep doing it until they had what they wanted.

“Poe and some of the others are tracking them into the woods. They might have gotten out.” He turned to face me, wrapping his arms over my shoulders to pull me into a hug. “She might be okay, Maeve.”

I accepted the comfort only because I needed someone to support my weight. This was the worst thing I’d ever seen.

“C’mon,” Kodiak said, nodding back toward the mansion. “We’ll regroup at the homestead, figure out our next steps.”

“What do you think he means by killing the heirs? Are Galahad and Liam safe? What about Ava?” I wasn’t stupid. If he planned to kill Vanderbilts, he’d go after my siblings. “Has anyone heard from them?”

“I’ve tried calling them,” Guin said, wiping tears from her face. “Sol and Orion, too.”

“I sent some people after them,” Kodiak said. “We’ll tell Orion and Sol to cut their trip short, to come back where it’s safe. We’ll need their strength. We can’t do this shorthanded.”

“And what about this?” I gestured to the bloody field. “What happens here?”

Kodiak shook his head and sighed. “We’ll have to burn it.”

Grief wrapped around my heart and yanked.

Burn it.

My compassion for the animals warred with the knowledge that we’d lost a fortune in one night.

Our entire yield, everything we’d worked so hard to grow and maintain, all gone.

And what was worse? These creatures had met such a vicious end.

They deserved to live a happy life. They deserved to meet death humanely. Not this. Never like this.

I wrapped my arms around myself and walked next to my sister, steadily making our way to what remained of our home. But I couldn’t go back in there, not even to get my stuff.

“We’ll have someone clean the house,” Kodiak said. “You both can stay with us for the time being.”

“And what about the Scorpions?” Guin asked, her stoic voice unnerving with its intensity. Her rage simmered under the surface, radiating through the family bond, fueling my internal fire. “We can’t let this stand.”

“Of course we can’t,” Kodiak countered. “But we just came out of the moon. Half my pack is still sleeping off the hangover, and we’re never as weak as we are right now. The shift’s magic has retreated. We need to rest and recoup our strength.”

“Rest and recoup?” Guin balked, her outrage now finally boiling over.“We need to find them. We need to tear Marx’s head off and mount it out front as a warning.”

Rationally, she must have understood that his plan made the most sense. But in her wrath, logic had taken a backseat. I didn’t blame her.

In fact, I agreed with her.

“And I can’t put my pack in danger,” he said. “I understand your anger. Believe me, if anyone does, it’s me. But I won’t act until there’s a plan.”

Guin squared her jaw and stared him down. I didn’t know much about pack politics, but the thought of doing that to someone as big and powerful as Kodiak made me shiver. She didn’t even blink.

“What if it was your livelihood, huh? Your family at risk?”

“Your sister married my second, my VP. It is my family at risk.” He glared down at her, unflinching, daring her to do anything about it.

“I’ve already told you the plan. We’ll regroup.

We’ll call in your siblings and keep them safe.

I’ve got my best trackers out in the woods, looking for any sign of where they went. That’s all I can do right now.”

“I’ll check the security feeds,” Mill added. “See what we missed. I don’t know how they got through without alerting Channing and the crew."

“One of our packmates, Nora, recently mated a fairy, Aoife,” Kodiak added. “They live on the outskirts, out near Preston. They might have caught wind of any new vampires in the area.”

A fairy? What good would a fairy do?

Again, I wasn’t thinking clearly, not nearly enough to understand that fairies even existed.

Guin clenched her eyes shut, more tears streaming down her cheeks.

But I’d hit my breaking point. Between the shame rolling off Mill and the inferno deep in my gut, I couldn’t handle it anymore. My cup had officially runneth over.

“That’s not acceptable,” I said, clenching my hands into fists, digging my nails into my palms to keep myself grounded. “We need to do something. Now. Before they strike again.”

Kodiak focused on me, his eyes nearly obsidian, the pupils blown so wide. “And what would you suggest? That we tear off half-cocked to God knows where? We haven’t found their nest, and until we have intel and backup, we don’t know which direction to go. We’re not strong enough yet.”

It sent me over the edge. Enraged by what I’d witnessed and worried about my family, I launched at him, shoving at his chest and shoulders, punching whatever I could find.

He was six-five and all muscle, so it was like hitting a brick wall, but I didn’t care.

I screamed and kicked until strong arms wrapped around my middle and yanked me back.

Mill.

“Let me go!” I scratched at his wrists, wiggling to get free.

“I understand you’re upset,” Kodiak said, his features dripping into a cool, calm level-headedness that infuriated me even more. How could he be so apathetic? How could he?—

“Baby, it’s okay,” Mill cooed in my ear, and even though he’d broken my spirit earlier, the sound of it softened me. I relaxed into him, sobbing and wilting under his restraint. “This is a disaster, but we’ll get them. I swear it. I swear.”

“I’m not saying we won’t go after them,” Kodiak said. “Just give me time. Give yourself time. Nothing worthwhile was ever done with an emotional head.”

“See that it happens,” Guin said, standing between me and the alpha. “Or I’ll take things into my own hands, Kodiak. I swear that to you.”

“I have no doubt you will,” he said, turning to leave us there in the clearing. Columba went after him, and I sagged in Mill’s hold, my legs unable to hold me up anymore. Deep, heavy cries poured out of my chest.

Ellen.

The workers.

The animals.

My house. My safe haven.

All of it gone.

Digging my palms into my eyes, I let myself dissolve into the overwhelming grief of the morning.

My body was exhausted from my first change, my mind reeling after the morning spent with Vermillion, and now this.

It was too much for me to keep inside. Mill held me through it, even after Guin kissed me on the head and walked after the rest of the pack.

“I’ve got you,” Mill cooed. “You’re okay. Let it all out.”

As angry as I was with him, I rested my head on his shoulder and gave over to the rumbling anguish inside. Eventually, he picked me up and carried me back to the SUV, placing me in the backseat so he could hold me while Poe drove us to the homestead.