Chapter Twenty-Seven

Rett

 

I had to buy as much time as possible.

Who knew this fool would give me the perfect opportunity?

Jasper Levy, I thought with contempt. All your men are occupied, watching us and not their backs. You have no idea what is coming.

Underestimating the Northbane will be your last mistake.

As soon as I’d reconciled myself with the fact that Laia had been captured, I’d come up with a dozen different plans to get her out of here. The fact that she’d gotten captured at all was another matter, and one I planned on giving her a good talking to about later, once we’d put this behind us.

But when I’d realized that Jasper was responsible for the brand, and that the augris was here—along with Sarrow, Skrors, and Bloodfang—the Combat provided the perfect means of keeping them all in one place. Worst case, if it all went to hell, I’d get Laia out of here.

In the meantime, I wouldn’t mind distracting them with the raging mate routine and pummeling Jasper Levy into the ground. Not that the raging was that hard. I’d seen the way Laia had looked at Jasper, the way her body had caved in, and her eyes had lost all their light.

Circling him now, my lip curled. You’re going to pay for every time she had to look over her shoulder. For every bad dream. For every time she second-guessed herself.

My heart swelled a little, though, thinking of her bravery. How she’d stood up for herself and declared her feelings in bold, brazen Llary fashion. I love him.

God, I love you, too, Laia. I couldn’t wait to tell her, although I knew she had to be furious with me right now. Hmm, join the club, firecracker.

Now we had to wait and see who would shift first. It was a gamble. On the one hand, you could knock down your opponent easily in his human form. Perhaps even end it quickly.

On the other, he could get behind you due to his smaller size, then shift and attack your blind spot. I had a feeling Jasper would go first, though.

Come on, I goaded him in my head. Attack first. Be the ridiculous idea of an Alpha the Bloodfang has concocted for you.

Jasper lashed out and leaped, shifting in midair. Taking a reckless chance, I dove forward, rolling, and shifted as I came up. He was turning, and I swiped out, hitting his back leg. There was a roar of pain, and his claws caught my shoulder.

We’d both drawn blood.

For a brief moment, we backed off, then we clashed together again.

Xander had been right to let it be well-known that Dominance Combat wasn’t allowed in Winfyre. Jasper had underestimated how well I would fight like this.

He was panting already, falling back and snapping as I shoved him back, trying to wrestle and pin him. I would give him this—Jasper was incredibly strong. But he relied too much on brute attacks and wasted energy all over the place. There was no finesse, no patience or plan.

You’re going to lose.

As Jasper rushed me, I threw my shoulder into his chest. He soared over me, landing on his side, and I pounced. As I was holding him on the ground, Jasper’s claws flashed out and caught my leg.

Our roars shook the clearing as we tussled. There was a brief moment when there was an opening, and I could have cut his throat. But I hesitated, thinking that Laia wouldn’t want that.

Jasper head-butted me, and I fell back, shaking my head. I looked up, barely in time to see the white form charging at me and meet him as we both reared up.

We grappled, twisting out of reach of jaws and claws, then I threw Jasper down on the ground. He landed heavily on his side, and the trees seemed to quake. His men muttered as the white lion staggered to his feet.

Stay down, idiot, I thought. It’s over.

Again, Jasper rolled over and rushed me. Again, I knocked him down. Easily.

I’d honestly thought he’d give me more of a fight.

When Jasper got to his feet, I charged him and drove him back, knocking him from side to side. His body heaved with each breath, legs trembling to keep him upright. As he went to get up, I leaped and pinned him down. I’d had enough. Jasper thrashed and growled, trying to get free.

Finally, he went still, and I stepped back.

Jasper leaped up, and I tensed. But he staggered forward, shifting back and forth, then back again. His face was bruised and bloody, his skin flushed, and his clothes dirty with sweat. I felt a tinge of surprise. I’d never seen a shifter struggle to hold their form like that unless they were a rookie.

I shifted back as well and folded my arms. “Do you concede, Levy?”

“I-I lost,” he muttered, looking down at his hands and curling them into fists.

“Yes. And you leave. Now,” I said. “Once you take that heinous brand off Laia.”

The man looked up, and my arms loosened, falling to my sides. The look in Jasper’s eyes was different—even the way he moved. Maybe I’d knocked some sense into him. Jasper went to say something to me and stopped, his face working. I watched him glance at Laia, then away.

I followed his gaze and relaxed when I saw Laia standing there, wide-eyed, her hands over her mouth. But the rest of the Bloodfang were restless, talking amongst themselves and throwing ugly looks. The augris and Sarrow were nowhere to be seen.

“Don’t you dare renege on our deal,” I said to Jasper in a low, dangerous tone.

“No,” Jasper said, his voice lower and more human. “No, Laia should—” He stopped abruptly and waved a hand. “Davenport, bring her here. Augris, I have need of you.”

Laia rushed forward ahead of Davenport, her eyes dancing, and I walked forward. Catching her against me, I breathed in her scent and let my fingers trace through the softness of her hair. Her body shook as she clung to me and shook her head.

“What were you thinking?” she asked in a gasping breath. “You idiot. You could have died.”

I laughed against her hair and then whispered, “Buying time.”

Pulling back, Laia gave me a look that said she understood and turned sharply to Jasper. It was hard to let go of her, and I hovered close by as she glared at him. Then I watched as her head tilted, the look on her face softening as she clearly saw the same change I did.

Before, I couldn’t place it, but now I saw it as Laia did. Jasper’s stony look had been replaced by one of remorse. Under the battered visage, he looked, oddly enough, human.

“Jaz?” The name seemed to fall from Laia’s lips. “Will you take this thing off me already?”

Jasper gave her a half-grimace, half-smile, then glanced at Davenport. “Go get the augris.” The man nodded and moved away, while Jasper took a tentative step closer. “You need to get out of here.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “Both of you.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Laia asked.

“Redemption, or a stab at it,” Jasper said.

“A trick,” Laia said.

“No way I could pull one over on you, Llary,” Jasper said, and his voice shook.

“You already did,” Laia said, and he flinched. “Why are you acting like this?”

Out of curiosity, I sniffed the air and noted that the man’s scent had changed. “Laia, it's no act," I said in a low voice and looked around again. No Northbane had come yet, to my great consternation. We couldn't afford to waste any more time. "He might be better, but we need to go.”

Laia was still staring at Jasper, and I saw something dawn on her. “What did you do?”

“Something I can’t undo,” he answered. “But I can help you, at least.”

A cold hand gripped mine as Laia steadied herself. “I wasn’t the first…” Her eyes closed when Jasper shook his head and patted his chest. “You were.”

“All the Alphas were. The brand was hidden, just below our hearts.”

“What did Orion bind to you?”

Jasper swallowed and looked around at his men. “I asked for only two things. Never to lose.” His face tightened. “And never to lose you.” His chest heaved. “Orion didn’t want to let me do that, said that two could cancel each other out, and to only concern myself with the first.

“But I insisted. And after, I…it’s like I’d been locked behind glass. Nothing fazed me. I only saw the way to win, the way to keep you alive.” He covered his eyes with his hand. “So, I said, after you tried to escape, ‘Let’s use the crian shard on her—one day she’ll be my wife and bear more Alphas.’ It was prudent.”

“That bastard,” Laia said quietly. “I warned you.”

Jasper’s hand fell. “You did.”

“I’m not sure I can forgive you,” Laia said.

“I’m not sure I want you to,” Jasper said. “I’m not sure I can forgive myself. You were right to fear me. I gave in to every ugly, shadowy part of myself.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out the shard.

“When did you…?”

Jasper tried to smile, but it was like his face wasn’t used to it. “You know Tristan taught me a few things. Thought I should keep it close.” Laia’s fists curled at her chest as he tried to hand it over. “Please, take this. Destroy it.” He looked at me. “Protect her.”

Laia accepted it without a word. I eyed Jasper. I was still trying to catch up on what had happened. And while I wasn’t a hundred percent certain of what I’d pieced together, it seemed apparent that the crian shard had the ability to manifest something ugly in shifters.

We need to get it to the Coven, and soon. Laia was right. Why did we wait?

Laia turned to look at me, then glanced over her shoulder, and stark horror fell over her face. She shoved at me and leaped around me at the same time. I staggered, confused, and there was a blur of motion, then the heavy crash of a body onto the ground.

“Jaz.”

The white lion was panting on the ground, blood spreading from the injury on his side. How had he shifted again? I went to shift myself, when Jasper shifted back and shook his head.

“Go,” he roared.

Sarrow was striding forward, the augris at his side and Skrors flanking him. There were a handful of shifters behind him, but other shifters had run up to help Jasper.

“The unmatched white lion,” Sarrow sneered. “Finally lost one.”

The shifters closed ranks, and I tugged Laia back. “We have to go—”

“But shouldn’t we…?” she asked, and I resolutely shook my head, even though my conscience was in turmoil. I wasn’t one to leave kin behind. “You’re right. Come on, he’s buying us time.”

I nodded, and we raced into the woods as the Bloodfang and Skrors crashed, howls and roars echoing through the woods. I was slower, due to my fight with Jasper, and Laia seemed to be struggling, too. Before I could ask her, we reached the cove and flew down the incline.

The waves were crashing onto the beach, and the wind was whipping wildly. Looking southwest, I saw that a storm was building up in the sky, throwing shadows across everything. It hung low, and lightning flicked out in bright bursts over the water.

“Damn, that is the last thing we need,” I muttered as Laia and I raced down, getting into a boat. Already, I could hear pursuit, and an arrow whizzed by my ear.

“Rett, come on,” she said, and I shoved us off, paddling furiously. We shot across the inlet, Laia gripping the sides of the boat and white to the lips.

“How did they catch you?” I asked.

“I went down to the shore to check on you. I was afraid,” Laia said and hugged her elbows. “I’m sorry. They came out of nowhere and overpowered me.”

“Were they waiting for us?” I was furious with myself and her. “How did they know to be here, waiting?”

“I think it’s the shard,” Laia said. “Although I can’t be sure…”

“And this thing—it’s some kind of magic lamp?” I asked. “Why didn’t you say anything before?” Maybe even use it to our advantage? Then I put a hand to my head. “What am I thinking? Using it?”

“That’s why. Because it’s dangerous. It’s too tempting—I’ve seen what it does to shifters. Even in the right hands, it’s too powerful. Whatever the crian shard is, I have a feeling it is not supposed to be on our side of the Rift. It’s poisonous.”

“Still…” I said. “What if you used it for something pure—like curing diseases?”

“There’s always a catch, Rett,” Laia said quietly. “Isn’t what just happened proof enough?” Her hazel eyes were glassy as they met mine. “Aren’t I?”

“How many more does Orion have?” I asked.

“I don’t know. As of right now, only those Excris demons know how to wield them." She looked beyond me and drew in a breath. "They're coming."

“We’ll head north. Help has to be on its way,” I said. I wished we could have kept to the boat, but the waves were getting too intense. We’d capsize if we stayed out here.

At the shore, we leaped out, and I turned back. The Skrors were almost halfway across, while several shifters had opted to swim. Those were almost here.

“Laia, run,” I ordered, backing up. “Go north. Stick to the trail, and run like hell.”

“But—”

“Laia Llary, if you love me, you will go now,” I barked out. “You know I can hold off these scumbags. I’ll be fine. You can’t fight. Go.”

“Rett, I—” Laia started to say.

The first of the wolf shifters were almost at the beach. “Laia, go.” She hesitated, then ran, and I watched her go, my heart aching. She’d said it first after all.

So I yelled after her, just in case, “By the way, I love you, too.”