CHAPTER 14
Jasper
Stracey, Callum, Ashley, and I drove out to a small barn about a mile from where the entrance to the mountains is. We exit our vehicle quietly and help Stracey set up. She’s probably the calmest of us all. I’m a bag of nerves. My heart is pounding in my chest at the thought of Stracey being hurt in all of this. The only other time I felt this anxious was when Markus and Lisa were stuck in the forest, surrounded by her father and his witch. No one could get through the forcefield around them. They had to use everything they could to get out alive. That had to be one of the worst moments of my life. I can’t go through that again. I need to clear my head and focus on the task at hand.
“Ready?” Ashley kneels down beside Stracey and places her hand on her shoulder.
“As I’ll ever be. Keep back.” She clears her space and takes a few deep breaths then kneels. “Goddess Gaia, I call upon you. Grant me the sight through my charmed mirror with thy blessing. I wish to see into the camp surrounding the Meadow Mountains in all its glory. Grant me my wish. So mote be.”
I take a step forward. Stracey’s head jerks from side to side a few times. Her body is tense. Her shoulders square. She isn’t my relaxed girl anymore.
Ashley takes a step in at the other side, and her eyebrows raise, a look of concern etched over her features. We’re both unsure of what we should do. Stracey made me promise not to do anything where magic is concerned, but I can’t stand by and watch her head thrashing around. It’s like she’s being tortured, but she can’t scream out.
“Strace. Can you hear me?” I lift my hand to touch her shoulder, but I stop when her body stills. Her head falls down to her chest and her body moves quickly, pushing me aside to expel everything from her stomach. I move quickly to grab her hair from her neck. My hand instantly runs up and down her spine to comfort her.
“Is she okay? Was that supposed to happen?” Callum asks.
“Babe.” I lift her chin when she sits back on her heels. She’s shaking. Her skin is pale and clammy to touch. “Stracey, you’re scaring the shit out of me. What happened?”
“Girls… lots of girls. Oh God, Jasper. We need to help them. Now!” She jumps to her feet and stumbles over my boots. I catch her and bring her eyes to focus on me. I can hear her heart beating erratically.
“We’ll help them. First you need to tell me what you saw.”
“It was horrible. They’re all naked. Cut. Bleeding. Scared. I felt all their pain and emotion. Some of them are laying in their own blood and urine. They’re being caged and treated like wild animals.” She sobs into my chest. My arms wrap around her to ease her pain.
“Let’s get back to Lelland’s. We’ll make a plan of action. I think we’ve heard enough for the time being.”
Whatever we’re going to walk into, we sure need to have our wits about us.
***
Callum pulls up outside Lelland’s house, and before I can move, Ashley is opening my door to help me get Stracey out. She’s still shaking, but she has a little more colour in her cheeks.
“What happened?” Lelland came to meet us at the door.
“Can we get some sweet tea?” Ashley asks before I can engage my mouth and brain.
“Sure. Come through to the study. It’s warmer.” Lelland ushers us in and I sit Stracey down before joining her. Her hands rest in her lap, and I cover them with mine.
“What happened?” Lelland asks.
“Jasper?” I turn my head to the door to see Kevin pacing.
“What is it?” I stand, taking Stracey’s hands with me. I’ve never seen Kevin like this before, even when he should have been panicked over his sister’s kidnap. “Kev. Talk to me.”
My stern voice breaks Stracey out of her trance and she tilts her head to Kevin as well.
“I feel something. I’m not sure what. Ten minutes ago it started. I’m fighting to keep control. My wolf wants to overtake.”
Stracey stands on shaky legs and walks over to stand in front of the troubled teen. One hand rests on his heart while the other rests on his cheek. “Calm,” she whispers.
“What did you do?” asks Kevin nervously.
“I just calmed your heart down. About ten minutes ago, I saw…” she trails off and looks away from Kevin.
“You saw what, Stracey?” I can see Kevin getting anxious again, so I move to his side. “Stracey, what did you see? Tell me!”
“Girls. Lots of girls. They were in bad shape. Real bad shape. Some were possibly even dead. If they weren’t, they might as well be.”
“What does this have to do with the way I’m feeling?” Kevin pulls at his hair and moves away from us, pacing the length of the room.
“Could it be…?” Lavina stops and lifts her hand to rub her temple. We stare at her and wait for her to finish. “Could it be that Kevin’s wolf is on edge because his wolf senses his mate in need? She could be close by.”
The room falls silent. No one, not even Kevin, says a word. The colour drains from his face and he stands still. “It’s possible,” I say. “You need to keep calm until we figure all of this out. If your mate is near, we’ll find her.”
“Do you hear yourselves? We’re here to rescue girls from a pack of filthy fucking mutts! We’re not here to find me a mate.”
“I think we need to charge in there. There’s enough of us to take them on. We can’t keep skirting around the issue.” Ashley steps forward. “I can’t stand by and let this happen for one more day. You heard Stracey. Even if we get any kids out of there, they’ll possibly never be the same again.”
“I agree.” Stracey stands beside Ashley and faces me, Lelland, and Lavina. I can’t believe I’m hearing any of this. It’s a fucking suicide mission.
“Sorry, boss.” Callum steps beside Ashley and shakes his head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with the ladies. We’re all more than capable of doing this. We attack just before sunrise. They’ll be expecting us at night. If anything, morning will knock them off kilter.”
“I didn’t agree with Ash before, but I do now. We didn’t know what we faced before. We have an idea now.” Lavina steps away from me and Lelland. Before long, Kevin joins them, leaving Lelland and me on our own.
I turn away from the gathered huddle and look out of the window. I know Callum is speaking sense, but it just doesn’t sit right with me. Any one of us could lose our lives. We all have something to lose.
My pocket vibrates. I retrieve my phone and see Markus’ name flash against the screen. My heart rate picks up immediately, because he would never call me on a mission unless it was important.
I answer quickly. “What’s wrong, son?”
“Dad. Thank God. Are you and Kevin okay?” Markus’s voice is shaky, and I know he’s worried about something.
“Yes, why? What’s going on?”
“Lisa just had one of those crazy visions she’s been having lately. It was Kevin and some other wolf shifter. They were captured in some cave. Does this ring any truth?”
I turn to face Kevin and the others. “Yes. No. It doesn’t mean anything. But I think I know why Lisa had that vision. Kevin is with me now. He’s safe and well. We’re dealing with a mission at the moment and a cave may be involved.”
“Can Lisa speak with him to put her mind at rest? She’s been freaking out since she woke up.”
“Sure.” I hold out the phone to Kevin and he takes it. He looks confused as his brows dip. “Hello…”
I walk away to give Kevin some privacy. I lift my hands in the air and shake my head. “You win. We go in at dawn.”
“What did Lisa see, Jazz?” Stracey steps back into my space and takes my hand.
“We need to be alert. She saw Kevin in some cave with another wolf shifter. I didn’t get much detail, but she needs to speak with him to calm her nerves.” I side step Stracey. “Lelland, we know Lisa’s visions are accurate. I won’t let any of my family suffer at the hands of these bastards that get some kind of kick out of torturing poor, innocent young girls.”
“Okay. Let’s get together in two hours and make some plans. Take this time to eat, relax, and compose yourselves. We’ll win this fight if it’s the last thing I ever have to do.”
That’s what concerns me. If it isn’t one of us that loses our lives, it will certainly be one of our allies. None of which is alright with me.