Chapter Three – Cade

The degetty was a big male, his face that of a young man, his body that of a bodybuilder on steroids, too muscled to be natural. Unfortunately, that was not where unnatural finished. The degetty’s green eyes flashed as it swiped at Seth, sending him sprawling across the ground. Isaac leapt to Eva’s defense, dodging the degetty as his hands balled into fists and lashed out at the bear.

Cade’s anger grew, and he almost lost control in his need to protect his mom, who had her sword drawn and was frantically looking for an opening so she could plunge the blade into the degetty’s heart. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would knock him off balance long enough to either chop his head off, or allow Tally to cast the spell to send him back to the Underworld.

Even as he moved, Cade could sense the witch drawing the power of the heavens and earth to her. She had to open a portal, one that would suck in this demon, taking him back to where he belonged.

The degetty sensed it too, his body turning lightning fast, and then he pounced, knocking Cade out of the way as he moved. The blow contained such incredible power, Cade knew instantly that there was no way Tally was sending this one back anywhere.

Cade dragged himself to his feet, a quick glance telling him the two other bears were down and his mom was advancing with her sword drawn, but it was too late, the degetty was bearing down on Tally.

“Zinan,” Eva yelled, and the degetty faltered, turning back to face Cade’s mom. “I’m the one you came for. Let’s settle this. Here. Now.”

The degetty swung back toward Tally, who was seconds away from completing the spell. With one blow across her face, the degetty sent her flying into a tree, her head cracking sickeningly on its trunk. Torn, Cade hesitated—did he rescue his mom, or help Tally?

“Get Tally up,” Eva yelled, her sword flashing in the light of the moon as she danced expertly across the forest floor, driving the degetty away from Cade and Tally. Then another bear joined the fray, Kurt. He was older, slower than the younger bears, but still as deadly.

Slowly, Seth and Isaac pulled themselves back onto four paws and launched themselves at the degetty, circling around it, each of them snapping at it with their teeth and slashing with their claws.

Cade shifted in one fluid movement to land by Tally’s unconscious body. He couldn’t see any blood, but he could smell it and taste it on his tongue. He probed the back of her head with his fingers until he found the source, and let out a sigh of relief. It was a small graze; the lump under it gave him more concern, but he had to get her to wake up, they needed her. He needed her.

“Tally. Tally, come on, you have to wake up.” He hooked his hands under her arms and hoisted her to her feet, her body small and frail in his large hands. “Tally. Tally, love, you have to wake up.” Her eyelids fluttered open, but her eyes were out of focus. “Damn it, Tally. We need you.”

His words penetrated her brain, and he felt the rush of power circling her as she muttered, “Wake.” Instantly, she was awake and moving. “Can they hold him while I recast the spell?”

Cade shook his head. “Even if they can, I don’t think you are strong enough to send him down.”

“I can do it,” Tally said, offended.

“Tally. I’m not saying you are weak, I’m saying the degetty is too strong.” Cade placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. “We’re going to have to take its head off, which means you need to get somewhere safe.”

“No,” Tally said firmly. They both knew a cornered degetty was like a rabid animal fighting for its life.

“Tally, that’s an order.”

Her face was mutinous. “If it’s that strong, you are going to get hurt. You said you needed me.”

“We can handle it,” Cade said, but the fight behind him was not going well, and all they were trying to do was contain the thing. It was trying to get to Eva, most likely to get the sword from her. Cade drew his knife. “Go.”

“No.” Tally shook her head and held the Druid Box out in front of her and began to utter words he didn’t understand. All of Tally’s spells were said in English, that was the way of the Wiccan, but this, he didn’t need to understand the words to know this was druid magic.

“Tally. What are you doing?” Cade yelled.

Tally didn’t answer, she was too intent on gathering energy to her; he could feel himself giving her a small amount of his own life force, just like everything else around them. Her voice rose, commanding, and the degetty stopped fighting, turning to look at her. Intense hatred covered its face and then its body grew less dense, as if it were being erased.

Tally repeated the same words, over and over, her voice stronger, firmer with each repetition, and then the Druid Box flashed bright green, and the space where the degetty had stood only moments before was empty. “Quae,” she finished.

“Fuck,” Cade said with vehemence. “What have you done, Tally?”

“Saved your necks,” she said quickly, and put the Druid Box into her mom’s spell bag.

“That was druid magic.”

“Congratulations,” she said sarcastically, but the edge was gone from her voice: she was afraid. Of what? Her own power, or the consequences this would have for them all? Tally was a Wiccan; if she had druid powers, she had to have druid blood in her veins. The question was—whose druid blood?

“We’ll talk about this later,” Cade said, going to his mom and pulling her into a bear hug. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she nodded, breathless but unscathed, which was more than could be said for Seth and Isaac.

“Son,” Kurt said, shifting back to his human form and kneeling by the side of Isaac, who was still in bear form and bleeding from a nasty cut on his shoulder. The flesh was split open. He needed to be treated. “Tally. Can you?”

“Sure,” Tally said, sitting down and opening up the spell bag. Inside were hex bags and potions, something for every occasion. Taking out a small vial, she popped it open and tipped it on the wound, then she placed her hand over it and called on the Elements to help her heal the wound. “There. Give it a few minutes before he shifts.”

Tally then turned to Seth, who had shifted back to his human form, but was sitting nursing his arm. “Damn thing was trying to take our legs out from under us.”

“Hold still. I don’t think it’s dislocated.” She looked up at Cade with an expression that said it was. He let go of Eva, who crouched down by the side of Seth.

“Oh, shit,” he said.

“Who is my brave boy?” Eva asked, cradling his head as if he were still a child, rather than a full-grown man of twenty-three. But when Cade helped Tally put the shoulder back in place, he cried out as if he was a child.

“Fuck!”

“Language,” Eva said, holding him against her chest, tears coming down her face.

“We all OK?” Cade asked.

“Yep. Live to fight another day,” Isaac said. He had shifted back into his human form, and Kurt was applying a bandage to the cut on his shoulder with the help of Tally.

“You knew his name?” Cade asked his mom, looking across the forest to see if he could see Kell. This was going to be hard to contain, if they had witnesses in the three young drunks.

“Yes.”

“And?” Cade pressed for information. Eva might be his mom but that did not give her the right to withhold important information from the rest of the squad, especially if it concerned a degetty.

His mom moved away from the group, her arms hugging her body. “Mom?” Seth asked gently.

“His name is Zinan. He attacked me the day I met your father.”

Cade closed his eyes, understanding his mom’s reaction. Anything that reminded her of their father inflicted pain. “I remember you telling us the story. About the Dragon’s Tear.”

Eva turned around quickly. “Yes. The degetty belonged to Gareth Hollingsworth. As far as I know, he sold Zinan to the highest bidder.”

“And you think that’s is how Zinan ended up in the Druid Box?” Cade asked.

“Makes sense.” Eva shivered. “Gareth was young, inexperienced. His father helped him pull Zinan from the Underworld. Gareth wasn’t a strong enough druid to do it alone. My guess is he didn’t unbind him properly before he put him in the box.”

“Gareth set the degetty on you all those years ago, and there’s what? A residual memory?”

“Something like that,” Eva shrugged. “Whatever it is, we need to give the Druid Box to Lucas and get him to send it back to where it belongs.”

“We can talk about that later,” Kurt said, getting up and helping Isaac to his feet. “Right now, we all need to get home.”

“Where the hell is Kell?” Cade asked, scanning the forest.

“Call his cell. I’ll help get Seth and Isaac back to the Land Rover.” Kurt put Isaac’s arm around his shoulder and they limped away.

Cade pulled out his cell and scrolled through to find Kell’s number. He pressed dial and listened to the phone ringing out. Kell wasn’t answering. “Damn it.”

Cade entered the forest heading toward the last spot he’d seen Kell. There was no one there. He stopped and listened. No sound of voices, or movement. Where the hell was he?

Deciding to double back and meet up with the rest of the squad, he jogged through the forest, the pent-up tension inside him setting his temper on edge. This whole night had been one serious cock-up. Not only was there a chance they would have to do some damage limitation on the three drunks, there was also the issue of Tally and her ability to activate the Druid Box. They were only supposed to work for those who had druid blood in their veins. If the Council found out about this, there would be too many questions. But how was he supposed to keep it quiet?

“Hey, is Kell here?” Cade asked as he reached the others.

“No.” Eva pointed across the street. “That’s his car, though, isn’t it?”

Cade crossed the street and peered in through the window. The car was immaculate, as if it had been driven out of a showroom. Cade circled the car, his fingertips trailing across the paintwork. Recently washed and polished. It gave nothing away.

“Hey, grunt, if you are looking to steal my car, you shouldn’t be so obvious about it.” Kell’s voice rang out from up the road.

“We thought you’d been eaten by a bear,” Seth called as he was loaded into the back of the Land Rover.

“Funny.” Kell reached Cade and stood with his hands on his hips. “We need to talk.”

“Sure.” Cade swiveled around. “You get on home.”

“What about you?” Kurt asked.

“I’ll either get a ride with Kell, or I’ll run home. I need to work through a few things in my head.”

“OK, but take care,” Eva said.

“I will, Mom.” He lifted his hand and waved to them.

“How old are you?” Kell asked quietly. “And you still have to answer to your mommy.”

“Do you want to say it loud enough for her to hear?” Cade asked. “You know she can still whoop your arse.”

“I do,” Kell admitted. “A formidable woman, especially when her family is in danger.”

“Are we in danger?” Cade asked as the Land Rover drove off taking his squad home.

“Maybe.” Kell’s eyes narrowed. “There was another one.”

“A what?” Cade asked, sure he had misheard Kell.

He pressed his lips together, and shook his head. “I can’t be certain. But I was sure when you were fighting that one… I saw green eyes. In the trees.” He pointed back to where they had fought Zinan.

“Damn it, why didn’t you say?”

“Because your squad was in no fit state to track it, and I didn’t want you going off on your own. Your family has enough missing members…” Kell paused, allowing Cade a glimpse of his true emotions, something he rarely did. Cold Kell was the Night Hunter’s nickname among both his own people and the Others. “And anyway, once you caught that one, it disappeared. I might not even have seen one.” Kell shook his head, looking uncertain.

Out of everyone Cade knew, Kell was usually the most self-assured, not counting Tally. Kell’s self-assuredness came from years in the service of Night Hunters. He was the best, having given up all chance of a personal life to keep the human race safe from Others and, more recently, Templars.

“I’ll come back out tomorrow and have a sniff around. I think we’ve raised enough suspicion for now. What happened to the witnesses?” Cade asked.

“What witnesses?” Kell asked in return.

“The ones you were talking to. In the trees.” Cade’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

“I told them they had better get home before I hauled them down to the police station for interrogation,” Kell said bluntly.

“Interrogation for what?” Cade asked.

“Wasting police time. I told them they must have taken something along with alcohol if they thought a man had come out of a box.” He unlocked his car and got in.

“You told them they imagined the whole thing?” Cade asked.

“They were in the forest with a gun, trying to take a pop at anything that moved. It was time to put an end to it.”

“You really do care, don’t you, Kell?”

“I care about how much paperwork I would have to do if they shot a bear,” Kell answered. “Get in. I still have a long night ahead of me.”

“Sorry for the detour,” Cade said. “Although you can drop me off a couple of miles from home. I wouldn’t mind a run. I’d run from here, but I don’t want to leave the others alone too long.”

“They can cope without you for an hour or two,” Kell said, pulling out onto the empty road, the car’s headlights illuminating the way, although Cade did not miss the sidelong look Kell gave to the forest.

“You really saw something?” Cade asked quietly.

Kell shrugged. “I’ve been in this game long enough, that if I’m not careful, I see things in the dark that aren’t there. I sometimes envy normal humans who have no idea what goes on around them.”

“I know what you mean,” Cade said.

“No, you don’t,” Kell answered. “For one thing you have this whole mating bond thing to look forward to. And for another, you get to change into a bear.”

“I thought Night Hunters were supposed to abhor shifters.”

Kell nodded. “So did I. But since I met your family… It changed me.” He glanced sideways at Cade. “That is on a need-to-know basis.”

Cade nodded. “And no one else needs to know.”

“You got it.”

“Here will do,” Cade said, and Kell slowed the car, pulling up on the side of the road. If he took a direct route, Cade would be home in twenty minutes.

“Promise me you are going to run home to Mommy, and not go looking for a stray degetty on your own.”

“I give you my word. Unless that thing is heading for my family. Or Tally.”

“She’s some kid,” Kell said. “So much like her mom.”

“Yeah,” Cade said sadly. “I never knew Helena … before.”

“She was a wicked witch,” Kell said fondly. “If I could find out how, or what, is affecting her, I’d destroy it.”

“We’ve thought of everything.”

“And?” Kell asked, stopping the car so that Cade could get out.

“She’s bound, by someone, or something, but hell if we can break it.”

“Even Lucas?” Kell asked.

“Our fearsome leader tells us there is nothing he can do. It’s a private matter, not one that involves the Council.”

“You think he knows something and isn’t telling?” Kell asked.

“That is the question,” Cade said. He was out of the car, eager to run. “See you around, Kell.”

“You too, Cade.”

Cade tapped the roof of the car, and Kell drove away, leaving him all alone in the forest. He stood and watched until the taillights of the car had completely vanished, and then he took a deep draw of the forest air and exhaled sharply.

He repeated the action, this time letting the air tantalize his taste buds. There was something out here. Something different.

Shifting into his bear, he decided he was going to find out what. It was a compulsion, as if he was hypnotized, or drugged. He had to follow the scent.

His bear agreed.