Page 5 of Deadly Reckoning (Broken Ashes #7)

Neith

“W ell, we’re going to find out,” Raiden says.

I nod and push my way through the door. Like the outside, the inside of the house is in severe disrepair, but the place is absolutely fucking spotless, I mean, there isn’t a speck of dust anywhere, and the floors are immaculately clean.

The contrast between the broken doors and holes in the walls, and yet everything being almost sterile, is really strange.

I have a feeling that this was Rana’s doing.

“This way,” I say as soon as the door is closed behind us. My stomach churns, “I don’t like this place. It’s dark, his evil has seeped into everything.”

“I can feel it too,” Doc says with a grimace.

“I’m glad I unmade him, but again I really wish I had tortured him first,” River growls.

My footsteps pick up speed, and we come to a room that is very clearly an office, and it’s in complete disarray. There’s dust and dirt everywhere, plates with old food on them, and papers scattered on every available surface, including the floor. There’s also old blood splatter everywhere.

I’m guessing that Rana wasn’t allowed in here unless it was to be beaten.

“Help me move the desk?” I ask as my instincts ping.

Immediately, Reed and Griff pick it up like it weighs nothing and move it to the side, where it’s out of the way.

I start to kick the rug out of the way with my foot, since I really don’t want to fucking touch it, when it starts to roll up by itself.

Glancing at the guys questioningly, River is the one who responds, although all he does is shrug.

So, I’m guessing that he’s the one who is doing it.

The map is showing me that the wolf is underneath us, but it really fucking concerns me that Asher had no knowledge of a basement being here. He is the son of the original Alpha and Luna Regina, which means that this was the house that he grew up in.

“I think these floorboards have been pried up before,” Ransom says as he studies the floor.

“I would try to pry them up myself, but my telekinetic magic is pretty fickle, and I’m lucky that it did what I asked and rolled the rug up. I need to practice with it a bit more,” River explains, when I look at him.

I nod, “Fair enough. It looks like we’re opening it the old-fashioned way then.”

Using brute strength, the guys have the floorboards up in no time. Unsurprisingly, there is a set of wooden steps leading down.

“If Asher didn’t know that there was a basement here, then I would guess that Derek must have dug it out himself,” Raiden mutters.

A deafening and bone-shaking growl echoes from the depths of the basement.

My eyebrows hit my hairline, as a shiver runs down my spine.

Whoa.

Frowning, I say, “He’s still lower.”

The guys nod grimly, and we all head down the steps.

When we get to the room at the bottom, I can’t hide my look of horror.

It’s absolutely drenched with blood. The walls, ceiling, and floor are stained with old and new blood.

The room itself isn’t that big, and it’s been pretty crudely made.

The walls, ceiling, and floor are all covered with planks of wood, and then there’s a layer of clear plastic that covers it all, making the blood stains even more obvious and horrific.

As I look around, I notice that the shadows seem to be thicker in one of the corners, and as another growl rumbles through the walls, I realize that the wolf must be in that corner.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” River says, as we walk further into the room.

The wolf's growls get louder, more vicious.

“I thought you said that he was nearly dead?” Coen questions as we cautiously approach the corner.

“He is,” Griff replies with surprise.

“Should we be approaching the corner?” Raiden asks with a worried frown as he slows down.

I shake my head, my eyebrows drawing down as I study the map in my mind, “He’s not actually in the corner, he’s lower, there must be another level below us or a hole or something. I’m not sure, the map isn’t clear.”

The guys shoot me a confused look. I can’t say that I blame them. I’m confused myself.

Ransom holds his palm up and creates a small ball of light, which he floats into the corner of the room. When the light hits the shadows, they slink away from it in a way that makes them seem almost alive.

“That’s not normal,” I mutter.

“Definitely not,” Raiden replies, watching the shadows closely. “But Griff did say that he was guarded by spells. It must be one of them.”

Griff nods, “Most likely, be careful, from what I could gather, there were some really nasty ones guarding him.”

Ransom frowns, “It doesn’t seem like the shadows are a part of a spell, but I could be wrong.”

Another roar rumbles through the room, and instead of moving away from the corner and the terrifying sound, we move toward it.

With the help of Ransom’s light, it becomes clear what I meant when I said that he’s lower.

There’s a round opening on the floor covered by thick silver bars. That is something that the humans got right, and silver is toxic to wolves, which is why I own silver bullets for Betty. Although I suppose I don’t need to worry about buying bullets anymore because she just does it herself.

Not the time.

His growls have gotten more intense and louder the whole time we've been talking and approaching.

As we peer down into the hole, anger floods me.

This man is covered in deep slashes and bruises, his arm is bent the wrong way, and there is so much visible damage to him that I shudder to think what internal damage there is.

I have no idea how the hell he’s still alive, let alone upright and growling at us.

His eyes are his wolf’s, and his jaws are snapping at us despite being in human form. The growls that are coming from him are absolutely fucking terrifying.

“It’s okay, we’re going to get you out of here,” I say softly, and the growls briefly pause. “He’s dead, Derek is dead.”

The growl that he releases next is truly feral, and he reaches up to the bars, his fingers burning as he grips them, and continues to snap and growl.

“River, you need to use your alpha voice on him. He’s hurting himself, he’s being attacked by the spells, and he’s already so damaged I have no idea how much more he can actually take,” Ransom says urgently.

“But I couldn’t use it on Rana because her mind was too delicate,” River points out worriedly.

Griff’s eyes flash black, “He’s held onto his mind, you won’t break him by giving him an alpha command, but it is the only way that he’s going to get out of this alive. He needs to calm down, and since the only person who ever visits him is Derek, he won’t calm down by himself.”

River nods. His alpha command snaps out, “Enough. We’re here to help you, not to hurt you. I killed Derek and unmade his soul.”

I glance at him in surprise. He hasn’t told anyone else that, and there must be a reason why he’s told this wolf. His instincts must know something that we don’t.

The Voices stir, although they don’t say anything, and I have to assume it’s because my thoughts were on the right track.

“He’s dead?” the wolf asks, surprisingly coherently, his voice deep and rough.

River nods, “Yes. Will you let us help you?”

Defeat covers his expression as he leans back against the dirt-lined pit, “You can’t.

Only he can undo the spells on the pit. The witch who put them on was incredibly strong, and she layered hundreds of them on top of me and had them wrap all around the edges and underneath me just in case I tried to dig my way out.

Then the cunt added some bottled spells that he got from fuck knows where. ”

“You’re pretty coherent considering what you have been through,” Reed says, echoing my previous thoughts.

The guy smirks, and I have to admire the pure fucking strength that he must have in order to endure what he has and not have completely lost himself. His eyes are still his wolves though, and they haven’t changed back.

“I thought you were him, I know you’re not now,” he replies simply.

“Can’t fault that logic,” I agree, and he smirks again. “Alright, let's get you out of here.”

“You can’t,” he repeats simply.

“Right, Ransom, you start working on the spells. Let us know if you need anything from us. Doc, be prepared to heal him when he comes out. It looks like he’s going to need a lot. River, be on standby in case he freaks out again,” Evander orders.

“I’m not going to freak out again,” the guy says, sounding amused. “I know you’re not him now.”

I grin, “What’s your name?”

“Merrikh, what’s yours?” he asks, curiosity sparking in his wolf eyes.

“Neith, it’s weird, I know,” I reply. While I’m talking, Ransom’s magic swells, and he starts to work on the spells.

“No weirder than Merrikh,” he shrugs. His eyes suddenly widen, “Whoa, how the fuck are you doing that?”

I frown, entirely confused about what he’s talking about until Doc answers him.

“I have no idea. I wanted to start healing you, and my magic decided that it was a command,” Doc replies with a frown.

“You’re healing him without touching him?” Griff asks incredulously.

“And through several layers of spells,” Coen adds, with an impressed smile.

Doc shrugs, “Apparently. There’s a lot of damage. How are you even fucking standing?”

“I’m not, I’m leaning,” Merrikh retorts, and I snicker. He continues, “Pure fucking stubbornness?”

“However you’re doing it, it’s fucking impressive,” Raiden admits.

“It shouldn’t take much longer, maybe a couple more minutes, and I should be all done,” Doc frowns. “I can’t heal the scars, I’m so sorry. I keep trying, but it’s not letting me.”

Merrikh nods like he’s not surprised, “The blades were coated in something. He told me that nothing would heal them, and I told him that he could eat a pile of dicks.”

Again, he shocks a laugh out of me.