Chapter Twenty-Eight

Laia

 

I love you, too.

Those words almost had me running back and kissing Rett, but somehow, I kept going.

Tears slipped free, and I smiled through them, charging through the woods. I didn’t know how to make it back to the main trail, so when I found a slim rope of a path heading north, I took it. At this point, all that mattered was putting distance between me and the augris.

Soon, all I could hear was the rasp of breath in my ears. I’d dug down and found the energy to push through the dizziness. But still, I felt like I was going too slowly. Finally, when I couldn’t run another step, I stopped, gripping a tree and panting.

I had come a mile or two, at least. The dizziness from on the island had faded somewhat, but the brand still ached. My mind kept flashing through what had just happened.

Rett on his knees, Jasper pinning me down, Sarrow sneering, the augris slipping into the trees, and the ring of Skrors aligned with Bloodfang.

Closing my eyes, I sagged against the tree and tried to even out my breath.

Something rustled in the woods behind me, and I spun, eyes darting around.

Rett? The Northbane?

More than ever, I wished I could shift. Clutching the crian shard, I debated staying or moving. When nothing appeared, I began to jog up the path, keeping an eye out. A prickle ran up my skin, and I began to move faster. The trail inclined, burning my calves and quads, then grew even steeper. I’d climbed a hill that led to a cliff with a staggering drop to the sea. I let out a cry of relief as I ran to its northern edge.

Ahead of me, I could see the outskirts of a settlement. Boats bobbed on the water, and smoke rose in the distance.

Veda.

I’d made it. I could have dropped to my knees with relief.

Turning, I expected to see smoke in the sky and blinked when I saw nothing but storm clouds and an arch of blue sky. No smoke. The augris must have hidden it.

No one is coming to help Rett. The trap was laid for us.

Shoving the crian shard into my bra, I rushed to the trees and began to collect a heap of sticks, as well as a handful of dry moss. I threw them into a pile, then hastily arranged them into crosses, glancing around me the whole time.

The wind was stiff up here, blowing wildly and then stopping. Every so often, a rumble of thunder shook across the distance, and I prayed that Rett had given them enough of a beating and was making his way to me. I wouldn’t let myself entertain any other idea.

Either way, I had to alert Veda. Rett thought Northbane were coming.

Stuffing the moss in between the piles of wood, I nodded and hopped back. Breathing hard, I fished out the crystal and picked up a nearby rock. Hoping that it wouldn’t make anything worse, I struck them together. A purple spark leaped off the crystal, and I fell back as flames roared up. Silver smoke curled into the sky, flickering crimson, and bright against the storm clouds.

Please let someone see that, I thought and scrambled to my feet. Racing to the cliff’s edge, I peered towards Veda, trying to see if there was any movement. Then I looked south.

Rett, where are you?

“That was stupid.”

I sucked in a breath and turned, watching as Sarrow and the augris appeared, along with six Skrors. They fanned out and blocked my exits, neatly trapping me between the blaze and the sea.

“Give us the shard, Laia,” the augris crooned, “and maybe I will remove that brand.”

As soon as the Excris spoke, my ankle began to throb with dull pain. So much for the hope that Jasper’s unbinding had meant my own. Suddenly, sharp fear pounded through me.

By losing, had he ensured that I would stay by his side?

“You’ve come to the end, Laia, and you’ve played your part so well,” Sarrow said, and I stared at him. His voice was an uncanny imitation of Orion’s, down to the oiliness. It was as though the Bloodfang leader was peering through Sarrow’s soul and using him as a mouthpiece. Half in horror, half in defiance, I didn’t move, and he sighed. “Augris, if you will.”

The beast flicked its fingers, and I let out a cry. Threading up through my fingers, over the back of my hand, and up my arm were the same markings as around my ankle. I went to drop the crystal and stopped, realizing what was happening.

“You think it was bad before, girl…” The augris chuckled. “Jasper chose well. This particular binding is more parasitic than most. Your fears, not his, now keep the brand in place.” Horror boiled in my gut. “Soon your world will be narrowed down to nothing but your misbegotten mate.”

“He isn’t my mate,” I said through gritted teeth, watching as the brand snaked up past my elbow. I slid my eyes backward, and my stomach dropped at the long distance down to the water. Spray leaped up, and I thought of the cliff I’d stopped at on the way to Winfyre, the friendly shifter who’d given me food, and, finally, fist-fighting my way into freedom.

Meeting Rett.

“All along, we wanted you to get to Winfyre, you know,” Sarrow said, and the knots in my stomach went tight. I knew it. “We wanted the Commands to know of the existence of the crian shards. To undo them, first with your cousin. Now, with your mate, the gentler of the Deacon boys. Until it has infected them all.”

“It won’t work,” I said, and my palm became slick on the shard.

I could hear the waves crashing below, calling to me. Save them. The wind began to rise, lifting my hair and feathering along my arms. It will be quick, it seemed to say.

“It has already begun,” Sarrow said, and his smile was Orion’s smile. Somehow, that bastard was using Sarrow as a puppet, peering at me through his eyes, yet safe, miles away. Coward. "How do you think we found you? Once there was a desire for the impossible, the shard sensed it and activated. It called to the augris, and we came.”

“But I didn’t…”

You are going to be okay.

Listen to me. No matter what, no matter how long it takes—we will find a cure.

Rett's words rang through my head, and I remembered the intensity that had come over him this morning, the way he'd kissed me and held me against him. The way his eyes had darted around while in the forest. How he'd talked about being so close to Veda.

“It’s been growing all week. And around midday, the augris felt the shard’s call,” Sarrow said, and his eyes were pitiless. “Clear as a bell. Not from you—you are right about that. But from Deacon. So desperate to protect his home and save you. But, Laia, we know only one of those is possible…”

I clenched the shard as the brand carved its way over my bicep and to my shoulder. Soon, it would loop around my throat and cut off my memories. All along, I’d known that finding a cure was nothing compared to the danger the shard posed to the Northbane.

It wasn’t that it would be wielded against them—but that they would want to wield it.

It would usurp their honor, twist their desires, and corrupt them. Already, it was singing a siren song to Rett. I had to get it away from him. I had to destroy it.

I’d thought Tristan could resist it long enough to destroy it. In spite of his arrogance about being a genius, he wasn’t one to be tempted by power. But maybe I was wrong.

Maybe no one, except someone who’d suffered as I had, could resist it.

And even I couldn’t stop the brand from unfurling across my skin, feeding on my fear.

“Once that brand is finished, we’ll send you straight into Veda. You’ll reunite with your cousin, Xander, and the rest. And you will use the shard on them to ensure their obsession.” Sarrow’s smile became cruel. “Anything to protect Winfyre, right?”

“You’d use their honor against them,” I said, and the brand edged up to my collarbone. “You make me sick, Orion.”

“So, you know it’s me,” Sarrow chuckled. “And you should know, it’s worked before. With that Sampson boy.”

Rett’s agonized look flashed into my mind, and my eyes closed. “I won’t let you.”

“Oh, the crian shard can do so much more than that,” the augris said. “It’s only just woken up. If it can call to an Alpha shifter and then to me, there’s no telling how its power will grow. Orion, you were right to have the girl bring it here, where it could feed on good men who fear for others.”

A shaking breath escaped me. “I think I always knew it would come to this.”

“Exactly. You don’t have a choice,” Sarrow said.

“Actually, I do,” I said.

Opening my eyes, I smirked at my enemies one last time. Then I stepped backward, off the cliff. The wind rose to meet me as I fell. 

I caught a glimpse of the twisted fury and shock on Sarrow’s face, on Orion’s face, as I plummeted towards the water. Air screamed by me, and the sky swung overhead.

I’d wanted to live. I’d wanted that life, that love, and my mate.

I’m sorry, Rett.

Love meant I’d do anything to keep him safe. If the shard was poisoning him, then this was the only way. I’d gladly give my life so he could live as the good man I’d fallen for. I wouldn’t let him become a prisoner of it as the Bloodfang Alphas had.

I should have told you I thought it would take a sacrifice to destroy this hellish thing.

A final breath blew out of me as I was about to hit the water. Then a crack of lightning exploded out of the sky, blinding me, and everything seemed to slow. When my eyes cleared, I had a brief glimpse of a wall of dark satin reaching for me.

Then nothing.