Page 3 of Cursed Magic (Rejected Fate Trilogy #2)

CHAPTER THREE

M y lungs forgot how to work as every ounce of strength left me. That reaction should have terrified me, but seeing Kendric’s vampire girlfriend, Raven, made me feel like we finally had allies we could trust.

Her long black hair floated behind her as she ran at vampire speed, her cognac eyes warm against her dark eyeliner. I could almost feel the concern flowing off her.

All that relief deserted me when Lucinda, Bella, and Martin—the vampire queen Ambrosia’s top three guards—appeared behind Raven with even more vampires following them. Those three would take the first opportunity to kill the six of us.

“Stay back!” Briar snarled and tensed, preparing to fight.

I almost corrected her, but the way the three guards’ eyes narrowed and their noses wrinkled with disgust had me second-guessing. The three of them could easily turn on Raven.

“We’re here to help.” Raven lifted a hand and stopped. “We know your sister and the Grimstone pack. ”

Briar’s strangled laugh had me jumping to my feet once again. Between maniacal peals of mirth, she croaked, “My sister would—”

“It’s true,” I rasped, the words feeling like sandpaper against my raw throat. “We’re staying with them.”

Briar’s head whipped in my direction, her color draining. She lifted both brows. “Are you serious right now?”

Hurt pierced my heart. My sister was looking at me like she didn’t recognize the person I was, and honestly, I couldn’t blame her. I didn’t feel much like myself anymore. The night our pack was murdered, something inside me had changed fundamentally because all I wanted to feel was anger. “The Grimstone pack found me and took care of me, and they trust these vampires. I didn’t know who was working with Reid and didn’t know which packs I could trust, so yes, I’ve been staying with the vampires.”

Xander exhaled, and his four wolf legs wobbled. I wasn’t sure how much longer he and Kendric could keep carrying Ryker.

From this angle, I could see Ryker’s pale face. His normally warm-brown scruff appeared black because of how much blood he’d lost, and the smell of copper hung heavy in the air. A panic-like pressure built in my chest. “We need to get to the vehicle and get Ryker mended before he loses more blood.”

I hadn’t realized how dire his situation was until this moment. He’d been moving well until we’d left the cabin… Had I known he needed immediate assistance, I would’ve handled the situation even more urgently.

Raven’s attention zoned in on Ryker, and her eyes widened. “I thought the strong smell of blood was coming from you.” She pointed at me.

Briar scoffed. “They could be watching us right now, and we wouldn’t know it. If we don’t move, we could all end up like him.” She bit her bottom lip and scanned the area.

She was right. Even though I was super relieved that Raven was here, that didn’t mean we were safe. “We need to get back to the vehicles and go.”

I didn’t feel that weird heaviness, nor did I hear footsteps running toward us, but that could change at any moment. Although, in fairness, I wasn’t sure if the damp, uncomfortable pressure I’d been feeling sporadically was caused by our attackers or if my mind was playing tricks on me.

“If it’s just the Shae pack, we’ll be fine.” Raven straightened her shoulders. “They won’t want to anger Queen Ambrosia by harming her people when we’re here just to check on her friends.”

“I wish it was the Shae pack, but it’s not.” We were wasting time standing here, and every second caused Xander, Kendric, and Gage to lose more of their strength and Ryker to creep closer to dying. “We can tell you everything back at the mansion.”

“If these are the people who attacked our nest, we shouldn’t leave.” Lucinda removed her sword from her side, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder.

We didn’t have time for this power play when the six of us were weak, hurting, and in need of healing. I inhaled deeply, taking a second to collect and calm myself. “If we could see them, then, yes, you’d have a point, despite your allies being severely injured and one important alpha near death.” I had no issue reminding them of who we were supposed to be to them, per the vampire queen. “But you won’t be able to see them—that’s how they’ve been able to kill entire packs and a huge nest in a busy town without anyone seeing them coming. If you want to stay, be my guest, but the six of us need to go somewhere safe before our attackers can finish what they started.”

I wasn’t sure how Kendric and the others would respond to my stepping up since Raven was more integrated into their group than I was. I wasn’t the leader, but Ryker was incapacitated, and I was the only alpha left standing…or near enough to standing.

When Gage took off with Briar toward the vehicle, some of my worry melted away. I should’ve known that the need to get Ryker medical attention would trump any other concerns. They’d lost almost their entire pack; they weren’t going to risk losing him unless something detrimental to our species was happening.

Kendric and Xander didn’t hesitate, still working together to carry Ryker, following after the two. Their gait was slower, revealing their fatigue but steady.

I picked up my own pace, and each time my body jarred, I could’ve sworn a knife stabbed me in the back. As I passed, the vampires scowled at me. All except one.

Raven pursed her red lips. “I’m heading back with the wolves. I agree with Lucinda that the rest of the vampires should remain and try to determine what happened here. Queen Ambrosia would want that. But if you get attacked and there is no way to win or protect yourself, retreat immediately.”

Curling a lip, Martin stared at Raven with dead eyes that somehow darkened even more with dislike. “I understand that Queen Ambrosia put you in charge of the alliance with these mutts, but that doesn’t include you making strategic decisions. Besides, twenty of our guards split off from us and are already in the pack neighborhood. We would never leave them behind.”

When I’d met the three guards when we first arrived at the vampires’ mansion, I hadn’t liked any of them. They’d made it clear that they weren’t happy about the alliance between Ryker and their queen. However, I hadn’t expected such animosity to be tossed Raven’s way when she was clearly favored and trusted by their queen.

Still, I would keep my nose out of their argument because getting involved would only cause more problems for the six of us—er—no…

Not the six of us.

Briar and me.

I couldn’t start thinking beyond Briar and myself. The Grimstones weren’t my pack or my responsibility. I had to get my sister away from all this chaos and keep her safe. I couldn’t lose her.

Yet, thinking about leaving Ryker and his pack made an uncomfortable knot settle in my stomach.

I couldn’t contend with that now. Not while everyone was tired, injured, and still at risk of being attacked at any second. I wasn’t even sure what had held our attackers back, and whatever it was couldn’t last forever.

I tried to pick up my pace as I passed the vampires, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. Stress, fighting, and injuries had taken their toll. The ground underneath me seemed to shift like there was an earthquake, but no one else seemed panicked.

If the shadows caught up with us now, I wasn’t sure I could fight them off. Whatever had happened back there to make them withdraw had been a gift from Fate, which made me nervous.

The bitch had never liked me—she had to be setting me up for an even worse scenario.

Keeping to a quick jog instead of the run I wanted, I continued toward the vehicle. The panting of Gage, Xander, and Kendric and the sounds of Briar’s footsteps drove me forward. We were making progress, and I needed to focus on that.

My shifter hearing perked up when I heard Raven clear her throat. “If you want to have a conversation about what duties you three are in charge of and what decisions I can make, now isn’t the time to discuss that, seeing as we both agree that you all need to remain here. We should take that up later, upon your return to the mansion, so we can include the queen herself in the conversation to ensure there are no misunderstandings on any of our parts. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Despite the exhaustion weighing down my body, I felt the corners of my lips turn slightly upward. Martin had intended to use his authority to put Raven in her place and embarrass her in front of the guards, but she had stood her ground firmly. Maybe it wasn’t just alpha wolf-shifter men who had the problem—maybe small-dick syndrome was an issue with men of all species.

There was a long pause until Bella huffed. “Fine. Until then, the three of us need to handle this situation.”

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I didn’t have the energy to spare, so I just kept moving forward.

A few minutes later, Raven caught up and kept pace beside me. I expected her to speak, but she didn’t. We ran through some trees running parallel with the road that formed the border between the territory of the Shae lands and the state park, which meant the vehicles were less than two hundred yards away, hidden by thick trees and brush.

I glanced at her and asked, “Is there something you want to say?”

She took a quick breath. “No. Why?”

“You can run a lot faster than I can, so I figured there’s a reason you’re staying behind with me.” Especially when Kendric was ahead of me, carrying Ryker.

She snorted, not sounding half the lady she appeared to be. “You won’t like the answer, so it’s probably best if I don’t tell you.” She arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

Disappointment made me falter. “You don’t trust me.” My wolf whimpered and snarled within.

We’d spent a decent amount of time together while I’d focused on Briar’s and my pack bond to locate my sister’s general vicinity before the alpha meeting the Blackwoods had called. We’d wanted to show up and shock them enough to trick whoever was holding Briar into giving himself away, and we’d accomplished that. I’d thought Raven and I had established some goodwill between us. Clearly, it had been one-sided.

“What?” Her jaw dropped as we made our way through the woods. “That’s not it at all. You look as if you could crash at any second, and I don’t want you to get any more injured than you already are.”

My head spun. I didn’t know whether to thank her or placate my wolf by telling Raven we were fine, so I did the worst possible thing and remained silent.

The oaks and pines around us thinned out, revealing the black SUV Ryker and I had driven here. The three cars the vampires had loaned Gage, Xander, and Kendric also sat untouched. They’d taken separate cars so they could scout out the three packs in this area and determine who was holding my sister. Of course it had been the pack that I’d least expected…one that my pack had spent time with occasionally.

Briar leaned against the black Ford Charger, taking deep breaths as Kendric and Xander lay on their bellies, keeping Ryker on their backs. I quickly noticed that one person was missing. “Where’s Gage?”

“I think he went to shift.” Briar gestured toward a sizable oak tree about fifty yards away.

As if Gage had timed it perfectly, he stepped around the tree in human form, dressed in a black shirt and jeans. “I figured we all need to shift to drive these vehicles back to the mansion.”

He was right. We couldn’t leave the cars here in case humans stumbled upon them. No vehicles were allowed off-road in the woods. The last thing we needed was human park rangers knocking on the door of a gigantic mansion full of vampires and asking questions.

But first things first. “I can drive the SUV. Let’s get Ryker in so we can get him some help.”

I jogged to the black Suburban and opened the back door.

“Uh, no. You won’t be driving.” Raven shook her head and moved to one side of Ryker. “You’re injured and lost a lot of blood.”

“She’s right.” Briar straightened as if trying to appear strong. “I’ll drive it.”

“You don’t know where the mansion is, and you’ve been held captive for over a week.” Raven karate-chopped the air. “I’ll be the one driving. Gage, I need you to help me get Ryker into the back seat, and then Briar can help Ember take care of him. Ember, recline the mid-row seat behind the driver’s back, and we can lay him down so he doesn’t fall over when we bring him to you.”

Equal parts gratitude and the desire to be the only one helping Ryker shot through me. I chose to focus on the part that meant I didn’t drop him and make his injuries worse. I did as she asked, climbing in and lowering the seatbacks even as my own back convulsed in agony.

In unison, Kendric and Xander stood and carried Ryker over to me with Raven on his uninjured side and Gage on the side with the knife. When they reached the door, I scooted back to guide Ryker in as the two of them worked together to lay him down in the seat.

As soon as Ryker was safely settled, Kendric and Xander ran off toward the trees, no doubt to shift and grab the clothes they’d surely stashed there when they’d met up to scout out the area together.

In the sudden quiet, I could hear Ryker’s vitals clearly. My heart crashed into my stomach.

His heartbeat was slowing.