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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

T he cold pressure pulsed against my skin—sharp, familiar, and wrong. My breath hitched as I staggered forward a step, trying to fill my lungs once more.

Ryker placed his arm around my waist, anchoring me to him. What’s wrong?

“Why have we stopped?” Bruce frowned. “We don’t have time for lollygagging.”

If only that were the problem

“The rock is supposed to be here.” Ryker gestured with his free hand to the area. “But something is wrong with Ember.”

I inhaled, though it didn’t feel as if I should be able to with the pressure mounting over me. It’s a cloaking spell. There was no doubt in my mind. We were in the right space; they had just taken extra precautions.

“Maybe he’s confused.” Sun pursed her lips and closed her eyes in defeat. “We came all this way for nothing. ”

“No.” Cassi lifted a hand. “There’s something here.”

“Ember says she can feel cloaking magic.” Ryker’s arm tightened.

I slowly scanned the area, searching for something to stick out. I squinted at a patch of moss-covered earth with divots that looked as if something were lying on top of it. The others probably couldn’t see it, but a large, iridescent shadow sat right on top of it.

“It’s there,” I said, pointing at the spot. “I can see the shadow that hides it.”

Cassi slid off Kendric’s back and brushed some twigs from her body, though a few were still stuck in her hair. She walked in the direction of my gesture, and her eyes widened. “Yes, I feel it getting stronger.” She kept moving even when she was right on it.

“Stop.” I jerked forward, trying to reach he,r but it was too late.

Her shin hit the invisible rock, and she tripped over it and twisted her ankle. Her body hit the ground, and she whimpered before she could stop the noise.

Lovely. Gage appeared at my other side and panted. We already have enough stacked against us, so why not let our witch get injured?

I hurried toward her, and Bruce and Sun did the same. The problem was that they were heading straight to the rock as well.

“Stop,” I whispered sternly. “You need to head to the left to go around it. Follow my lead.” The last thing we needed was Sun and Bruce injured too. There was no telling what we were getting ourselves into, but I knew, without a doubt, that all the shifters needed to be ready and well to shift at a moment’s notice.

I dropped next to Cassi and touched her ankle.

She groaned and winced. “I think I sprained it.”

That’s a problem, Xander linked. Most of the time, sprains are worse than an actual break.

My heart thundered, and I could sense Ryker’s frustration, fear, and determination funneling through our bond, adding to mine.

Bruce knelt beside me as Sun walked around Cassi to her other side.

“I know you’re in pain and it hurts.” Her ankle was already swelling, and I hated what I was about to ask of her. “But you’re at the rock. Are you up for getting this over with before we get caught?”

She nodded and slowly moved her legs behind her so she could kneel. “I can. Just know if the witch cloaking the vampires and now this rock is truly on the vampire queen’s side, then…”

“They’ll know as soon as your magic connects,” I finished for her. I wanted to scream and throw a tantrum because, no matter what we tried to do to save innocent lives, we kept getting served cruel circumstances.

“Immediately,” she confirmed. Her eyes locked with mine.

“We’ve come too far to turn around now.” Ryker rubbed his eyes as his rage boiled into me. “We can’t just leave without trying. The grenade gave away that we’d left, so this may be the only chance we have to gain an advantage because I suspect they’ll soon double their guards.”

“Agreed,” Bruce said as he reached between Cassi and me. When his hand hit the shadow, he quit moving forward, and his mouth gaped while he shook his head. “That’s fucking disturbing. It’s like I’m not touching anything, and yet I can’t move anymore.”

Cassi braced her palms on her thighs, trembling slightly as the weight of our decision pressed in. “Once I get us in, the witch performing the cloaking spell will feel my energy. If she’s loyal to the vampire queen, she’ll alert them immediately.”

Silence descended once again, and even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

“So what you're saying is,” Bruce said grimly, “there’s no way we aren’t going to have a shit-ton of blood suckers upon us very soon.”

Cassi flinched. “Most likely.”

My stomach sank hard. I wasn’t up for another battle with vampires, but clearly Fate didn’t give a damn. It was going to happen, even if I asked her nicely not to plague us.

“If we all stay together, that will help, but we may emerge only to face a bunch of vampires ready to attack.” Cassi touched her ankle and jerked her hand away as her face twisted in agony. “Either way, this isn’t going to be easy.”

Fuck. I placed a hand over my heart. No matter what happened, we always seemed to wind up in worse situations than we expected.

“Can you spell the perimeter to at least give us a heads up?” Ryker nodded to the others. “So we aren’t walking in completely blind.”

“I… I can’t.” She pointed at her satchel, her ankle, and the rock they couldn’t see. “I don’t have enough supplies or energy. If I spell the area, I might not have enough to get the witch out. Our magic is fluid and connected with earth. It drains quickly and has to replenish to ensure we don’t cause unjust harm. Either way, all it would confirm is what area is being breached. It won’t give us an idea of numbers.”

“Then how is the witch cloaking everything?” Sun spread out her arms to her side. “She shouldn’t be able to continuously do any of this then. Shouldn’t she run out of power?”

“She has to be running thin. All of her energy is funneling into the cloaking. However, she’s cloaking the vampires only when needed, so that does help.” Cassi tried to stand but fell back on her ass with a thud . Her eyes glistened, but she stayed focused, though her voice trembled. “She can’t be doing any spells other than those, given how often she’s using her magic now.”

That had to count for something, but I wasn’t sure what. Acid churned in my stomach.

There were no good choices here, but an even more disturbing thought came to me. “And who's to say the witch tracking Ryker isn’t somehow tracking anyone else?”

“You’re right.” Bruce rubbed a hand down his face. “She could be able to track multiple people.”

“Which is even more reason not to abandon this plan.” The skin around Ryker’s eyes was taut. “Besides, Cassi can’t even walk now on her own.”

I stepped closer to Ryker, my fingers brushing his. The bond between us surged, fierce and steady.

Bruce exhaled slowly. “You’re right. When we go down there, everyone needs to keep their eyes sharp. Cloaked bastards won’t make a sound, but they’ll still disturb the area if we look hard enough. Cassi and Ember can’t scan everywhere for us.”

“Kendric, carry Cassi again. You’ll be in front with Gage right beside you.” Ryker then pointed at Xander. “Guard our backs. You and Gage can engage in battle the fastest since you’re in animal form and not carrying anyone.”

They moved silently, no questions or protests. This was war. There wasn’t room for second-guessing.

“Cassi and Ember should be in front at first so they both can scan the surroundings. Once we know more about the situation inside, one of them can fall back and help Gage watch the back.” Ryker’s jaw was tense, and his worry crashed into me like a tsunami. “I’ll stay behind them with Sun and Bruce between Gage and me.”

Everyone nodded but didn’t say a thing. We could pivot once we got inside and saw what we were up against.

Cassi took a shaky breath. “I’ll push my magic around all of us, but just know, if they have guards in place, they’ll know we’re here, and once I touch the rock with my magic activated, the witch responsible for the cloaking will know exactly where we are.”

Thank Fate, Briar wasn’t with us. I would never admit it to anyone, but right now, I was scared shitless.

“No hesitation. We get in, get the witch, and get the hell out.” Ryker removed his gun from its holster. He linked to me, I won’t let anything happen to you, and pushed his determination toward me.

Even when he was worried, he still took the time to comfort me. I love you.

I love you, and I will protect you until my last breath.

My heart felt so full from his love; I touched his arm, needing to feel him. The jolt shot between us as Cassi climbed on Xander’s back. As soon as she was settled, she leaned over Kendric, her hand hovering just above the shadow.

“Are you all ready?” Cassi asked, glancing over her shoulder at us.

No one responded because anything we said besides no would be a lie.

“Let’s go.” I nodded.

Wisps of shadows unfurled from Cassi’s body. She turned her head and focused. “When I touch it, we’ll fall through to the prison. The rock was meant to be a magical barrier and then it was cloaked. We’ll wind up inside.”

The dark tendrils of magic now circled our group, and cold pressure brushed against my arms, but nothing like the spell that cloaked the vampires.

And then Cassi touched the rock, and the sunny outside suddenly changed to pitch dark.

A suffocating stench hit us like a wall the moment we landed, heavy with rot and iron, piss and decay. I gagged, covering my nose with my elbow, but it did nothing. The air clung to my skin—humid and thick.

Ryker grabbed my hand again, grounding me as always, but even that didn’t take away the intense discomfort.

A low groan echoed from somewhere ahead, and then a whimper followed, not too far away.

Slowly, my wolf surged forward and helped my eyes adjust. And what I saw was worse than any horror movie.

Cages.

Dozens of them, stacked on both sides of a narrow dirt corridor, each one no larger than a dog kennel. Every cage appeared to be occupied.

Some witches slumped in back corners while others stared blankly ahead with vacant expressions.

One of the witches moaned when Cassi stepped forward, the faint sound snapping me back into motion.

“They’re afraid,” she said softly. “There’s no telling what’s been done to them.”

Ryker’s gun clicked softly as he lifted it, eyes scanning the far end. “No visible guards. Yet.”

Right. I needed to search for shadows. I examined the area, which forced me to study each witch. Some were young, some were old, but the one in the back right corner broke my heart even more—a child.

“No shadows as of now,” I muttered low, not wanting to frighten these witches more.

“I’ll look for the witch who spelled me,” Ryker rasped, moving to the first cage, examining the older woman.

My heart stopped. We were going to be in here longer than we should be.

Xander paced slowly behind us, and Kendric adjusted his gait as Cassi buried her head in his neck, no doubt trying to block the awful smell.

I took another step, scanning the darkness... and then I saw it.

A thread—faint and nearly invisible—linking Ryker’s chest to a corner of the room. It was stretched thin like a spider’s strand of silk soaked in shadows. A magical tether.

My blood turned to ice.

“I found her,” I whispered and took off walking.

Ryker’s pulse spiked as the bond between us sparked like a live wire. He rushed to my side as I passed Cassi and Kendric, needing to face the witch responsible for half of our problem.

We moved together, crossing the line of cages to the other end of the cells, and stopped at the one across from the young girl.

The woman appeared to be close to my age. She was chained to the wall. Her black, oily hair clung to her face, her skin pale, nearly blue. The thin, barely visible magical link came from inside her chest, where her witch magic must be stored, connecting the two of them.

She lifted her head, eyes dull and sunken—until they landed on Ryker. Then she flinched.

That isn’t her. Ryker shook his head. She was an old woman.

“I’m sor-ry…” Her voice cracked, so soft it was almost a ghost. “I didn’t have a choice.”

I see the thread. I blinked, trying to make sense of it. But we didn’t have time to hang out and talk about it.

Then we’ll figure it out later. “We’re getting you out of here,” Ryker growled. “Then we’ll get around to the spell you placed on me.”

Cold pressure built inside me. Faint but undeniable.

Cloaked vampires. They had to be coming. “We need to move . I sense something,” I rasped.

Ryker aimed his gun at the lock and fired. Bang! The shot echoed through the cavernous corridor like a thunderclap, and the cage door sprang open.

My ears rang. All around us, the other witches groaned, some flinching, some sobbing.

“Shit,” Ryker muttered, rushing to the witch’s side. He took the handle of his gun and hit the base of the chain that held her to the wall. Bruce rushed past me and started doing the same thing on the other side, though he and Ryker were pressed together in the small area. The witch’s arms released, and she collapsed against them, her frail body trembling.

Gage, come here, Ryker commanded. We need to put her on your back,

Without a moment’s hesitation, Gage backed into the small cage, half his body sticking out into the hallway. Bruce and Ryker lifted the witch and placed her on his back.

“Hold on the best you can,” Ryker whispered.

The witch whispered something, but even with wolf hearing, I couldn’t make out the words. Her arms moved around Gage’s chest like she was trying to hang on.

Gage ran down the hall to the exit with Sun, Cassie, Kendric, and Xander right behind them.

My gaze landed on the little girl. Her brown hair was matted, and her haunting clear blue eyes locked on me. She couldn’t be older than ten. Why the hell did they have her locked in here?

I swallowed as Bruce ran past me.

Ryker took my hand, tugging me to go with him, but I couldn’t.

My legs wouldn’t move. My body froze in refusal.