Page 67 of Chasing Stripes (Enchanted Falls #3)

SIXTY-SEVEN

B artek woke suddenly hours later, instantly alert. Something had disturbed his sleep—a sound, a scent, or perhaps just the primal instinct of a predator sensing danger. The space beside him in the bed lay empty, the sheets still warm from Artemis’s body.

“Artemis?” he called softly, reaching across the mattress.

No answer came. The golden connection indicated Artemis was somewhere distant, the pull creating an almost physical ache in his chest.

Bartek leaped from the bed, tiger senses extending to their limits. The house remained eerily silent—none of the usual small sounds of a family at rest. No creaking floorboards, no distant snoring from Hudson, no midnight wanderings from the twins.

“Artemis!” he called more loudly, stalking toward the balcony.

The twins appeared suddenly at his bedroom door, their matching faces pinched with fear.

“Outside,” Jade whispered, pointing toward the forest. “The bad shadows made your gold string hurt.”

The gold string—they could see the soul-tether. Bartek hadn’t realized the connection was visible to others, but children’s magic perception often surpassed adults’.

He grabbed pants and shoved his feet into boots, not bothering with a shirt. The golden marks covering his torso and arms glowed brighter as adrenaline surged through his system. One glance out the window confirmed his fears—the protective wards around the property had been breached. Magical barriers designed to keep intruders out hung in tatters, their ethereal structure visible to his enhanced sight.

“Stay here,” he ordered the twins, heading for the door.

“No!” they cried in unison, small faces stubborn. “We help Aunt Artemis!”

Bartek growled in frustration but had no time to argue. He activated the pride’s emergency alert system with a quick gesture over the carved panel near his door, then focused on the soul-tether pulling him toward the forest.

Outside in the moonlit yard, strange symbols had been burned into the grass—circular patterns surrounding runic characters Bartek didn’t recognize. The acrid smell of magical burning stung his nostrils.

With the twins trailing behind despite his warnings to stay, Bartek followed the painful pull into the forest.

He turned to his nieces. “Do not follow me. Alpha order.”

Their dual frowns told him they would not disobey his order. He hoped.

Golden light extended from his chest like a taut cord, leading him deeper among the trees.

In a small clearing not far from the pride house, he found her. Artemis stood rigidly in the center of another burned circle, surrounded by five hooded figures. Her nightgown billowed in an unnatural breeze, and her eyes stared blankly ahead—evidence of some compulsion magic keeping her immobile.

The golden tether between them stretched visibly across the clearing, connecting Bartek’s chest to hers. One of the hooded figures held what appeared to be an ancient knife against the magical connection, testing its resistance.

“Subject demonstrates extraordinary bond strength,” the figure dictated in a clinical tone. “Recommend additional suppression measures for the extraction ceremony.”

Cold fury rose within Bartek, his tiger surging to the surface. Before he could charge forward, a blast of golden light exploded from Artemis—more powerful than anything he’d witnessed from her before. Her eyes cleared, fury replacing the blank stare as her own magic broke through whatever had been constraining her.

“Get away from my mate!” she commanded, her voice carrying otherworldly power.

Beside him, the twins shifted partially—tiny claws and fangs appearing as they growled in unison, the sound incongruously fierce coming from such small forms.

“Impressive, little baker,” the figure said, voice distorted. “The Collector will be pleased with your development.”

The leader slashed at the visible tether with the knife.

Both Artemis and Bartek cried out in agony as the blade made contact—not severing the bond but wounding it. The golden connection between them flickered dangerously before stabilizing, a dark spot appearing where the knife had struck like ink dropped into clear water.

As the attackers fled, pride members arrived in response to the alert, led by Hudson and Gloria. Bartek barely registered their presence, his focus entirely on Artemis. He stumbled to her, gathering her in his arms, his body trembling with rage and residual pain.

“What happened?” he demanded, scanning her for injuries.

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head in confusion. “I remember waking up feeling drawn outside like something was calling me. Then nothing until I saw you in the clearing.”