Page 49 of Eternal Light (Fated in the Stars #5)

Fate’s Web (Grayson)

The Buick speeds past the long queue of luxury cars, their gleaming exteriors testimony to drivers and passengers with more money than sense. He catches sight of Nix’s hand pressed against the glass, a small smile lifting his lips.

The Plain sparks steadily in his chest as the other half of his soul passes out of sight around a curve in the road.

Now that he’s let it run free, his magic isn’t bucking and twinging in pain.

Instead, it bridges the distance, steady in the knowledge that Grayson and Nix don’t need immediate proximity to feel the bond.

It gives Grayson the boost he needs, both physically and emotionally, to face Withers.

If they can find the bastard.

Rowan takes his hand, squeezing it for reassurance, whether it’s for himself or for Grayson isn’t clear.

“They’ll be okay. Carnell won’t know what hit him.”

Rowan uses his other hand to draw a finger under his chin and across his throat.

“He’s as good as dead. Withers, too.”

“Rowan.” Jay’s voice cuts through, quiet but with a warning.

Grayson glances at their leader and knows exactly what’s coming. Jay isn’t one to condone murder lightly, no matter how justified. Even with the horrors Carnell and Withers have unleashed, Jay will shoulder the burden of every life lost tonight.

He always carries the burdens of his decisions, carrying the weight of judge, jury, and executioner like a chain he can’t lay down.

“Gideon isn’t taking this lightly, and neither should we,” Finn says, as Jay pulls the Buick over into the dark shadows along the high wall of Carnell’s compound. “Taking a life, no matter how it might be deserved, is no small thing.”

Moonlight illuminates the car’s interior, making it easier to see his mates’ somber faces.

Jay unbuckles his seatbelt so he can turn in his seat.

“Finn is right. We are no better than Carnell if we don’t at least make the effort to detain Withers for trial.”

Suitably chastened, Rowan shifts uncomfortably in his seat, his gaze flickering downward.

“Yeah, okay,” he mutters, his voice quieter now. “But Withers has it coming. We still don’t know where Winnie and her brother are. You heard Gray today, the bastard is still sucking souls dry. He won’t stop unless we stop him.”

It’s true. Warden Paulis had finally confirmed that they’d exhausted their search for the siblings in the early hours of the morning.

Leo thinks Withers has moved them to wherever his big plans are about to take place.

It’s also likely that he won’t be far from Carnell for at least part of the evening.

It’s a dance of chance, a delicate set of steps, each dependent on the last, balanced between Carnell’s madness and Withers’s evil.

“We have to find him first without showing our hand,” Jay says with a frown. “Grayson, do you think he’s here?”

Grayson feels The Plain jump in his soul, the magic anticipating Jay’s question before he’s even fully put his mind to it. The surge of power is as easy as breathing now that he’s letting it flow through him.

Focusing on The Plain deep within him, he can follow it in every direction—sees it stretch off to the south, where he can feel Nix glowing bright.

“If he’s using it, he’s not drawing on it with any real power. Maybe he’s waiting on me?”

Being tracked like prey does not sit well with Grayson’s Wolf.

Rowan’s wolf-magic flares beside him, flashing briefly before his mate gets it under control again.

“Still pisses me off that he can find us anywhere he damn well pleases,” Jay growls, then opens the Buick’s door, exiting and slamming it shut so hard the vehicle shudders at the impact.

Finn watches as their leader crosses to the fifteen-foot-high fence alongside the road before meeting Grayson’s eyes.

“I believe in you, Gray. Just…don’t do anything crazy.”

They exit the vehicle and watch as Jay jumps, catching the uppermost railing of the wrought-iron fence before swinging up and over, using formidable upper body strength to land on the other side.

Turning to Rowan, who looks ready to follow suit, Finn sighs.

“And if you could not do anything really crazy, I’d be grateful.”

With a wink and a dangerous smirk, the young alpha follows Jay up and over the fence, leaving Grayson and Finn at the bottom.

“Why do I bother?” he murmurs, hesitating. “How do I even do this? I’m not a mountain goat. Shit.”

It takes nothing but a thought to call The Plain to him, the air around Grayson coalescing into a wave of pressure that lifts his feet off the floor.

“Want a lift?”

It’s thrilling to see Finn’s jaw drop at the spectacle.

Grayson isn’t sure if Finn is going to take his chances and climb, but soon enough, he’s got an armful of sweet-smelling mate.

He won’t mention the squeak his mate makes as they clear the top of the fence and float down the other side.

Rowan stands with his nose in the air, his shoes lying on their sides, abandoned in the dirt.

“You can fly?” Jay asks incredulously.

“Well, it’s more like hovering with different densities of air pressure. It’ll never be far or very fast. It’s more efficient if I teleport.”

“Like you did to save Rowan yesterday?” Finn asks while Rowan growls at the reminder of his fiery fall.

“I would have landed on my feet,” he grouses, kicking his shoe. The wolf’s magic flares at the knock to his ego, but he wrangles it under control just as quickly.

Jay had asked Rowan to remain in his person-form for as long as possible before they’d even left the cottage, given that a giant red wolf would surely draw more attention than four men on the grounds.

“Sure you would have, Blaze Lightyear,” Grayson mutters, determining that the insult might be worth the potential punch to the face.

“Go fuck yourself, Aladdin.”

“I’ll fuck you—”

“Would you two idiots—” Finn growls.

Smirking, Grayson mutters an insincere, “Sorry,” but still grins.

Rowan just sticks his tongue out, and doesn’t that make Gray want to suck on it? Another thing he can lay at Withers’s door.

“Let’s just go,” Jay says, but he stops, looking from face to face before adding, “Remember, he’s got nothing to lose, and we don’t know what he’s capable of…don’t do anything stupid.”

The last is directed at Rowan—and, surprisingly, at him.

They’d parked along the north side of the compound, so they stick to the tree line that circles Carnell’s property line, hoping they’ll be able to come upon a delivery entrance or less-populated area where guests haven’t wandered.

The ridiculous castle wall does little to shield the massive amount of light coming from the other side, shooting beacons into the night sky. It’s not enough to break the pitch darkness of the lawns, but even from a distance of several hundred yards, Grayson can hear the din of voices.

They don’t see any of the security Gideon had warned about. The vast expanses of lawns are blessedly empty of humans with guns.

“Do you hear that?” Rowan tilts his head.

Jay nods. “It’s the Gulf,” he says, picking up his pace. “Who builds a fucking wall around a beach house?”

Makes no sense to Grayson, but it’s probably out of paranoia about intruders bent on murdering him. The irony of that thought is not lost on him.

“How are we getting inside?” Finn asks, pointing up to the top of the wall. “That wall must be sixty feet high.”

Jay must have the same thought because he stops suddenly.

They’ve gone as far as they can. The beach is right there, over yet another fence, the moon shining brightly on the water, and the scent of brine sharp in Grayson’s nose.

“Hey, is that a door set in the wall?” Rowan points across the lawn to where a wide door is set at the base of the stone wall. There’s a small light fixture at the top and a flashing red light from a security panel on its right.

Jay’s teeth flash white in the dim light.

“Good eyes, Ro. If we can crack the keypad, we’re in. I’ll do some recon and be back. Stay. Here.” He points at Rowan before disappearing into the dark.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Were sight makes it easy for him to track the shadow of his mate across the hundred yards of lawn.

“What’s that dark stretch, do you think?” Rowan asks, taking a few steps closer to see for himself before Finn gets a firm hold on the back of his shirt.

“Stay here, he said. I don’t know…it’s sucking up all the light…”

“Maybe it’s a gateway to Hell,” Rowan muses.

Jay’s voice reaches them seconds before he does. “It’s a twenty-foot moat, and it’s full of fucking alligators.”

“You have got to be kidding,” Finn breathes. “What’s stopping them from getting out of the moat?”

“Not a damn thing, which I think is the point. Saw two huge ones in the grass on the way back.” He points over his shoulder, where Grayson can now see two gigantic dark shapes shifting on the grass.

“But the good news is, I think there’s a drawbridge that slides out from under the door.

Bad news is there’s no control panel on this side, so it’s probably triggered with remote control access.

We’ll have to go back the way we came. There’s nowhere to land on the other side, even if we could jump it. ”

And then climb the sixty feet to the top.

“I could try to teleport, blow the pad out, and then teleport back.” Grayson lets a small burst of electricity snap between his fingers. It illuminates his mates’ faces, all wearing various expressions of frustration.

“No. There’s nowhere for you to land on the other side.” Jay shakes his head.

“I could try to teleport to the top of the wall and see if I can find a way in for you…”

“That’s a bad idea. You’d be alone, and we don’t know what kind of security is waiting. We stick together,” Finn insists, arms crossed over his chest.

Jay rubs his hand over the back of his neck. “Besides, it’s too high. You said you’re not even getting half that yet, let alone vertically. No. We think of something else.”