Page 82 of WitchCurse

There had been lots of rumbling from the pack about the wolves that had been in this area before Liam’s pack, going mad. Long before Sebastian arrived and found a scattered batch hiding out,eating people, there had been rumors. The fae perched on their land would give good reason for the insanity, and the number of werewolves turnedHuntbeast. But why here? Had they somehow known Sebastian would arrive? Or even longer, that Liam would be sent here to await him? How would they know?

My stomach flipped over. Was Wesley feeding them information? He was a seer after all. If that was the case, it was likely they wouldn’t give up when they caged Kiran again. He was a means to an end, not an end goal. Which meant they planned to use Kiran’s power to subdue Sebastian? Maybe even force him to use Ari’s power to create a new world for the fae?

To think, a year ago, I had no idea any of this crap existed. Now I was trying to unravel enough of this knot to ruin the plans of beings likely centuries older than I would ever be. A daunting task for a broken wolf.

Not broken,Nick whispered through my mind, rousing enough to swat away the nightmare, and that was fine. I was already at the doorstep of whomever it led to, and it still glowed.Come back.

But I was really close. If I had to kill the fae lord first, so be it. One less tie, as this constant suction on Kiran couldn’t continue. I needed to get past this stupid wall.

Sebastian had alook awayspell he had used from time to time. This reminded me of that. And his spells had always been more solid when tied to actual places or things, like his car at one point, his camper, the pack house, the pack lands. Was that how the fae were functioning in this world? Like Nick had shaped the camper to be a sort of mini realm leading to magical rooms, was some mortal dwelling hiding here in plain sight?

I paused to stare at the place I knew the barrier was, latching onto the edge of Kiran’s power, like I had a handful of times trying to decipher his curses. It was a brightening and clarifying of my vision. The wall rippled, crawling with magic, but it was a wall. A large building, like a warehouse or something? I tried to think of where I was, southeast? Not as close as I first thought. MyHuntincarnation able to travel a longer distance than the wolf.

Now I traversed the wall, searching for an opening. I could now see a physical building tied to all that magic, an anchor for the court maybe? The bond draining Kiran disappeared through the barrier without challenge, but I couldn’t see a way inside. No doors or windows. What the ever-living fuck was this place? Maybe an old military base?

I huffed in frustration; the wall too solid for me to tear down even as the massive monster I was in that moment. I tried, but neither my claws nor my bulk did any damage. But I could see the tie, flickering this way and that, like some strange energy coil illuminated in a video game, and me without a tutorial.

Footsteps made me freeze. I glanced back and found the Stag there, Wesley. He didn’t look good, more like someone had used him for a punching bag. Zephyr maybe? I narrowed my gaze at his bruised and bloody face wondering why he hadn’t run from the abuse. He was the Stag, legend said he could run forever and never be caught. So, who was pulling the Stag’s strings and keeping him ground underfoot? He approached slowly, unafraid, his expression resigned, tired, like he’d been fighting a long time, or maybe running.

“Kitsunes always fuck it up,” he grumbled and reached in front of me, not to touch the wall and open a way like I had hoped, but he wrapped his fingers around the strand I’d been following, and tugged.

The horror of that touch rang through me like a doom bell tolling. It took only seconds for darkness to swirl around us and theHuntbegan to form as if coalescing from shadows themselves.

I snarled at Wesley, ready to snap him in half, but he stepped out of reach as the wall slid away to reveal not only an opening, but a presence so large and terrifying that even my wolf demanded we bow. I fought the desire, grinding my teeth and digging in my claws. She wasn’t anything like the memories Kiran had from his youth. Not beautiful or flawless, but a monster with dead skin and strands of ice for hair. How he ever thought she was his mother had to be a miracle or the biggest lie of all lies.

I briefly recalled reading that not only was she queen of ice and darkness, but of nightmares. Was this her tie to Kiran? Had she been using this drain his entire life to torment and exhaust him, and to hide the truth that he wasn’t hers? She truly was a monster in all ways. Her smile was full of far too many teeth, and I felt the bonds of theHuntbeasts around me tighten, wrapping me up rather than letting me tug on their control, until they began to widen, cutting off my air, and smothering the human presence inside. Like being bound up in bandages, or mummified, the bonds covered everything in darkness. My wolf raged, tried to break free, yank us away as the ice took control, but the world inside my head went completely black, as if a candle had been snuffed out in a windowless room. A familiar nightmare rose inside of me, a place of pain and a memory so sharp it had sundered me from my wolf.

I blinked through the dark for a moment, hoping for something to clarify as my vision adjusted, but there was nothing but darkness, and seconds later terror.

* * *

Kiran

He was there one moment and gone the next. I gasped. I’d been floating in the warmth, curled in Nick’s arms as I listened sleepily to him ask Toby to return. Nightmares came and went, as was often my lot when I slept. Memories of being caged or a fierce battle I thought I’d lose, but they weren’t all encompassing in that moment. Nestled in Nick’s arms, he acted as a shield.

Something tugged on the bond tying us to Toby. Like they were trying to take it from me? Was that possible? But it didn’t snap and his touch on the edge of my mind vanished into terror and darkness. Someone hurting the wolf? There wasn’t much that Toby feared.

“Kiran?” Nick said, his tone panicked.

I tried to follow the tie, sending energy and magic down the line in case Toby needed help, but it hit a wall. I gasped as that wave of power was ripped away. Drain intensifying, until I was blinking through stars trying to breathe. Were they using the wolf to tear more energy from me?

“Kiran?” Nick called again, shaking me.

It took a lot of energy to open my eyes. “We have to retrieve the wolf.” Or sever the tie to him, which would mean death for Toby. I really didn’t want that. Not only was he smart, and quick to learn with magic, my bondmate liked him.

“You like him too, when you’re not a stubborn asshole,” Nick growled at me, yanking me up, and shoving energy into me from our protected sanctuary. I blinked back tears as the room blazed around us with light, and the energy raged a fire in my bones. It wouldn’t take long before the fae wrenched that from me too.

I leaned against Nick, calling to my magic to give me shield like it had of old, and felt the familiar sensation of it wrap around me. Thegodkillersword appeared, but I passed it to Nick. He’d spent a lot of time learning to wield that monster, and I would rather rip apart the fae with tooth and claw. There was something very satisfying about their blood running through my fingers, and I looked forward to the sensation.

Nick crafted his armor using my magic much like he used to in Underhill, which made me smile in memory. It had been a long time since we battled side by side, my strength fading fast in our early days together. The small amount of power and magic we had hidden in the sanctuary wouldn’t last long. But I could feel the direction that the wolf had been taken, the bond not severed as they used it to lure me to them.

We both knew exactly what this was, and I met Nick’s gaze, steady enough with my own, wishing I had time to issue a word of apology to the alpha and the little fox. But I had to retrieve my wolf, and suspected it would be the end of all of us. I prayed it was not the end of this world too.

I paused to touch Nick’s face, partially covered beneath an armored helm, he was still beautiful. “It was an honor to have you as a scion, my friend, my love, my Nick.”

He sighed. “Leave it to you to wax poetic before we die.”

I snorted a laugh, thinking the end would finally come, giddy with joy, which was better than frozen in fear, that last blaze of glory. Would Liam and Sebastian be strong enough to save the wolf and Nick? But I would burn it all down to take out the fae…my mother. I had so many questions about that. Nick’s thoughts filling the bond, but he swatted them aside.