Page 4 of Deadly Reckoning (Broken Ashes #7)

“Okay, that’s something, that means that he’s down somewhere,” Raiden says, sounding puzzled as he tries to work out where it could be.

“It also means that Derek had a witch working for him at some point,” I point out with a sneer.

“We can tell Asher, he will probably know who it was,” River replies. “Right now though, we need to focus on finding the wolf.”

“They didn’t mention that anyone else was missing, so they must all just assume that he’s dead,” Coen points out.

“He should be,” Griff says grimly. “The things that Derek put him through, he should have died years ago, but he’s a fucking fighter. He gave Derek shit every single time that Derek visited, and even got a few good swipes in at him. He’s strong, far stronger than he should be.”

“That seems to be a theme at the moment,” I comment, with my eyebrows raised as I think about Rana.

She feels important, but I couldn’t tell you in what way. I do know that just like Navy, she feels like someone with whom I could genuinely be friends.

“How do we find him?” Doc asks, worry clouding his expression.

Now that we know about the wolf, I desperately want to help him, and we’re just wasting time standing around and talking right now.

“If you could tell me a bit more about him, or where he is, I can probably try to locate him. It works better if I know for certain what I’m looking for or who exactly I’m looking for.

So if it’s an escape that I need a map to, then I will find it.

The group of women and children was easy to find because it was a group of them, wolves specifically, but trying to locate one wolf that is down will be tricky unless I have a little more information. ”

Raiden looks extremely intrigued by my explanation, but obviously decides to keep his questions to himself for the moment, and I smile.

Griff nods and then tries to describe both the wolf and where he’s being kept in as much detail as he possibly can.

I nod and smile, “Okay, give me a second, and I’ll see if my magic will locate him.”

The guys stay silent.

My magic is coming to me quicker and quicker, because this time I don’t even have to specifically ask it with intentional words in my mind like I have been doing. The map is already forming in my mind as soon as I finish my sentence.

I frown, “He’s back in the direction of the pack house. Fuck, I think he might be in the pack house.”

“That would actually make sense. Everyone hated Derek. No one would spend more time than they had to in there, if they were even allowed in,” Evander says, looking disgusted.

“And Rana might not have even known that he was in there. She hadn’t just pushed her feelings away, she had literally severed her connection to her wolf and herself.

She had cocooned her soul in her wolf and magic, and then severed the connection.

She had been that way for longer than the five years that she’s been here, too,” Doc explains.

“She wouldn’t have even really been aware of anything other than the hell that she was living in.

She was in the most extreme case of survival mode that I have ever even heard of, and I have never seen someone be able to protect their soul like she did. She was literally a shell.”

I know that there’s a time crunch, but holy fuck.

“You healed that connection?” Raiden says, shock coating his tone.

We know that Doc did because she can now shift, and she’s not blank like she was when we first met her, although if what Doc says is correct, then that blankness would make a lot of sense. Those flickers were slivers of her soul trying to reconnect, somehow understanding that it was safe to do so.

I know that.

How?

Fuck knows. I’m not questioning shit anymore. I’m just going with it.

Doc nods, “Yeah. Apparently, it’s not just the physical things that I can heal anymore. I don’t think I could do it again. I think it might have been a one-time thing, but I don’t know for certain.”

“Fucking hell, man,” Coen says. “That’s insane.”

“On so many levels,” River adds.

Evander’s eyes narrow slightly. “There are a lot of changes going on with our magic. We can figure it out later. For now, let’s go and save that wolf.”

“Neith, lead the way,” Griff says. “We’re right behind you.”

I nod and instantly take off, once again following the map in my mind. It doesn’t take us too long to get back to the main part of the pack lands where the house is, and we garner quite a bit of attention running in like we do.

“What’s going on?” Asher asks worriedly, immediately alert as his smile falls.

“We have a bit of a situation,” River starts.

Griff interrupts him before he can say anything else, “You all need to stay out here.”

River doesn’t even hesitate or question Griff. He just nods and says to Asher, “Stay out here, and we should have it sorted. We’ll fill you in when we can.”

Asher nods. I can tell that he wants to ask questions, but River has more than gained his trust at this point, so he lets it go.

“Alright, if you need help, then let me know,” Asher offers.

“We will,” River nods.

Something prompts me to ask, “Where is the access to the basement?”

Asher frowns, “There isn’t a basement.”

I nod, “Sorry, my bad.”

He looks at me like I’m nuts, but doesn’t say anything and goes back to helping his wolves.

“Why did you ask him that?” Coen asks me curiously when he’s out of earshot.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think the information is important, or at least it will be?” I reply with a questioning tone. “Maybe the wolf is in the basement, Griff did say that he was down. It’s possible that Asher doesn’t know there is a basement.”