Chapter Thirty-Four

Reagan

 

“Congratulations, Reagan,” Rogda said and pulled me in for a long hug. She’d opted for a sun hat, and it was tilted towards her eye patch. “I had a good feeling about you.”

"Was that before or after I barged into the bathroom?" I asked, and she laughed.

“You are a dear, sweet girl,” she said and squeezed my hands. “You’ve made him so happy.”

“I hope as happy as he makes me,” I said and glanced over to where he was laughing with his four best friends, with Bix at his side and Gabriel on Tristan’s shoulders, while Drue hovered by Kal. He glanced over at me and winked. “Although I think I’m not doing too shabby in that regard.”

“Hey, Ma,” Niles said, coming over and dropping a kiss on her cheek. “Hi, Reagan.”

“Niles, hello,” I said warmly, happy to see the man who’d been helping my sister smile again.

“Are you all right?” Rogda asked, and I did a double-take, studying Niles more closely. The big man was gripping his drink tightly, and his shoulders were hunched.

“Yes, yes,” he said and tried to smile. “It’s just…” He glanced at me.

“Cassidy?” I asked.

“I don’t know where she is,” he said. “She got a message earlier, and I haven’t seen her since.”

“A message?” I asked. “From whom?”

“I don’t know,” Niles admitted. “But she was looking forward to today.”

Something itched in the back of my head, and I excused myself, going over to my mother. She was sipping wine, alight with joy on my father’s arm, and laughing with Jemma and Risa. Risa was teasing a burly, thick-necked man named Kyzen, who looked flushed.

Plucking at my mother’s elbow, I led her to a quiet corner, and she embraced me. “Oh, Reagan. I’m so, so happy for you. Oh, Jemma, Risa, and I have so many ideas for the wedding, and the dress—”

“That’s sweet, thank you,” I said. “Hey, have you seen Cassidy?”

“Cass?” Mom asked, her eyes bright and glancing around. She blinked, and suddenly her face changed subtly. “Not since this morning. She said she had an errand to run, but that she’d be back in plenty of time.” Her fingers wrapped around my wrist. “Is she not back?”

“Niles can’t find her, but maybe she got back late and is still getting ready,” I said. “Let me go check. Go back to the party.”

“No, Rea, let me go,” Mom said.

“Mom, please,” I said. “I needed to talk to her anyway.”

“If you’re sure…” my mother said, and I gave her a quick kiss, then squeezed her shoulders. "Reagan," she called, but I'd already darted away, intent on finding my sister.

It took me several minutes to make my way through the crowd of Winfyre folks, who were smiling, laughing, and toasting me, trying to pull me into conversations. I kept promising to talk to them later and hoped I’d remember whom I’d said what to.

Inside the house, the sounds of the party were muted and distant. I felt strangely cut off as I slipped upstairs, holding up my skirt and listening carefully. Cassidy had the attic to herself, and it was empty. Her bed was made, a dress tossed across it and shoes set up on the floor.

Something about it made my throat go tight, and I walked around, eyes flicking all over the place. The room looked lived in. Loved, even. It wasn't the barren space of months ago, with rumpled sheets and piles of clothes. It was neat, with flowers in the windows and clothes hung by color. Deep down, I knew she hadn’t run away.

So why did I suddenly have a terrible knot forming in my gut?

Going over to her desk, I jumped when I heard something behind me. Then Drue came in.

“Oh, Drue, hi,” I said, and she padded over to me. “You scared me.”

“Sorry, I saw you come up here.” Drue bit her lip. “Cassidy doesn’t mind if we come into her room, as long as we knock, and she’s here. She won’t like it if she finds us up here without permission.”

“I know. I didn’t mean to snoop—I just wanted to see where she was,” I said and held out my hand. “Come on, I need to go find Luke.”

Drue was looking around the room. “Wait, she’s not back yet?”

I took Drue’s shoulders and looked down at my cousin, who was far more poised and a little taller than she’d been while we’d been nomads in the woods, but still sweet and eager to please.

“You know where she is,” I said.

“Not exactly,” Drue said. “Only that she had to go meet someone.”

“Why?” I asked. “When?”

Drue shrugged. “This morning. And I don’t know, but she was worried, I think.”

“She didn’t tell you anything else?”

“Hey,” Luke said and knocked on the door. “Am I interrupting?”

“No,” I said and waved him in. Drue made a face. “Do you remember anything that could help me and Luke find her? Anything about who it was or what direction she went in?”

“Um, I think she said Will,” Drue said, and I froze, staring at her. “But I wasn’t supposed to say anything. Cass said she wanted to deal with it and find out what he wanted.”

“Rea?” Luke asked, and he led me to a chair. “What’s wrong? Who’s Will?”

“Will was Cassidy’s fiancé. How could he have gotten a message to her?” I asked. “Is he here in Winfyre? Could we find that out?”

Luke shook his head. “I doubt it’s him. Probably another Will.”

“Drue, was it Will Doherty?” I asked, and Drue shrugged. “Dammit, I’m telling you, it has to be.” Luke opened his mouth. “Yes, I know Will is a popular name.”

“No, Rea, you know that Cassidy asked me…” Luke trailed off as I whipped my head to his. “Or she hasn’t told you that yet.” I stared at him. “She wanted us to look into William Doherty. Make sure he’s okay.”

“Oh my God,” I murmured and put my face in my hands. “And you listened to her?”

“Rea, we haven’t found anything yet,” I said. “It was only the other day.”

“She said he was in trouble,” Drue spoke up, and we both looked up at her. “Bad dreams.”

Jumping to my feet, I rushed out the door and down the stairs, Luke and Drue following. Outside, I glanced around for Rogda or Niles. I spotted a few Orlovs down by the lake and rushed towards them. They gave me surprised looks as I stopped, panting for breath.

“My sister—her abilities—what are they?”

“We’re still trying to figure that out,” Niles said and held out a hand to steady me. “Why?”

“Any precognition? Dreams?” I asked and gripped his forearm. I was remembering the few times I’d strayed into that territory. Niles shrugged. “Please, if there’s a chance—”

“Of course there is,” Rogda said. “But it’s a fickle gift.”

“I think Cassidy might have convinced herself that Will was in danger,” I said. “And she left Winfyre to go see if he was okay.”

“Will who?” Niles growled.

“She got a message, Reagan,” Drue said stubbornly. “I saw it.”

"Do you remember if it was stamped with a color?" Luke asked, and Drue blinked at him. "C'mon, I know you can remember, little lion.”

Drue pinked with pleasure. “I think it was green.”

“From the gates?” I asked.

“Thanks, everyone,” Luke said and dragged me away. “Listen, why don’t you let me—”

“She’s in trouble,” I said and pressed a hand to my stomach. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to ruin this day, but I know. I just know. We have to go get her.”

“Luke.” Rett was there, and he gave me a smile that was a shade too reassuring. “Could you—”

“We know,” Luke said.

“About the Barrowmen?” Rett asked, perplexed, and I saw Luke’s face go taut with horror.

“What the hell are those?” I asked. “Excris?”

“Really annoying ones,” Rett said. “They’re at the gate. Want to talk.”

Luke’s shoulders rose, and he blew out a long breath. “Of course. Of all days.”

“I’m coming, too,” I said. “We have to find out about that message Cassidy received.”

“Cassidy received a message from the gates?” Rett asked. “That’s odd.”

“Exactly,” I said grimly.

 

Twenty minutes later, we were at the gates. I'd ridden there, while Luke and the others had shifted and flanked me. There were several shifters clustered between the trees, stiff-backed and vigilant. All of them relaxed as we Alphas strode forward. We'd left Tristan behind.

Jeques came jogging forward and bowed his head at me. “Hear congratulations are in order.” I smiled and nodded, but my eyes were darting to the barracks. Was Cassidy in there?

“What do they want?” Xander asked. “How did they get so close?”

“Think you better talk to ’em,” Jeques said, looking troubled. “And Luke, I think you should come, too.”

“All right,” Luke said and gripped my hand briefly. “Meet you in the barracks?”

“Sure,” I said and held up my skirt as I headed inside, the shadows and scent of sawdust overwhelming me. It was empty except for a young, bored shifter who had his leg propped up. I recognized him as Brinney, the mountain lion shifter who’d survived the Skrors’ attack all those weeks ago. He looked fine, except for a wrapped left leg.

“Can I help you?” he asked and then sat up. “Hey, you’re Reagan Grace. Second one today.”

“Second what?” I asked.

“Grace sister. I saw Cassidy earlier,” he said.

“What did she want?” I asked forcefully, and Brinney recoiled, shaking his head. “Listen, I know you probably don’t want to rat her out, but she’s missing. You have to tell me.”

“Oh, damn. Um, she wanted to know about some message that had come through, and where Osko’s Point was.” He sat up and tapped a folder. “And about this. New refugee.”

“Okso’s Point—is that inside Winfyre?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s like a mile that way,” Brinney said and jerked his thumb southwest. “Kind of out of the way, down near the border.” Now my eyes were on the file. “You wanna take a look?”

“I have a feeling I already know what happened,” I said and picked it up. My fingers gripped the edges and rattled it so badly, Brinney started up in alarm. “Dammit, Cassidy.”

The folder was for one Will Doherty, origin Seattle.

There was a copy of the message tucked inside, and the first line asked for her to meet him.

Whatever this was, it wasn’t the reunion my sister had dreamed of.