“To be powerful and yet utterly helpless to save the one person in your life that you would do anything to protect is the worst kind of hell.” ~Fane
“We have bad news and we have worse news,” Peri said as she and Alston appeared back in the Romanian pack mansion.
“We only have thirty minutes left. At this point, the only bad news is no news,” Fane said.
“Good point,” Peri conceded. “We know where he is keeping the girls.”
“Where?” Decebel snapped as he stepped away from the wall where he had been silently brooding.
Peri’s eyes cut to where Vasile stood. Her heart broke for the Alpha knowing that what she was about to tell him would not mean anything for at least a few seconds and then the memories would all come rushing back and so would the guilt. She especially was to blame and she dreaded seeing the accusations and betrayal that she knew would stare out at her from his piercing blue eyes.
“The dark forest in the fae realm,” she blurted out not taking her eyes from Vasile’s.
“Where?” Costin asked obviously as confused as the rest of them.
Adam was the first to remember. “No,” he whispered in utter horror. “How does he even know if it? How did he remember it?” Adam realized then that Peri and Alston shouldn’t have remembered it either.
“Archives,” Alston answered Adam’s unasked question. “We made sure it was documented before we set the spell for everyone to forget. We should always be able to remember our past. We must learn from it or be doomed to repeat it.”
“Why on earth would you think it was your right to take away a memory from the rest of us?” Vasile asked as his own memories resurfaced along with anger. “Those memories, those painful times that happened to each of us are ours. You aren’t God to have the right to play with our free will.”
“We didn’t want anyone to be able to return to the dark forest, Vasile. That land is tainted with so much evil; the power left over is enough to cause some serious danger.” Alston said as he tried to justify what they had done.
“And how did that work out for you?" Fane asked. “Did taking away the memory of that place make it cease to exist? Did it protect it from evil people using it?”
“For centuries, yes, it did,” Peri snarled.
“Stop!” Cypher yelled, “We don’t have time for your anger and explanations. We have twenty minutes to get to this dark forest and time is ticking. Peri can you flash us there?”
“Yes.”
“Now, who is with me?” Cypher glanced from person to person waiting.
“I will stand with you,” Vasile said immediately.
“I will also.” Decebel stepped forward.
“You know I’m in.” Costin smiled wickedly.
“It goes without saying, I will stand with you,” Fane said.
“I will stand with you,” Ainsel squeaked. He looked at their surprised faces. “I’ve been stupid in the past, choosing the wrong side, I won’t make that mistake again.”
“I will go,” Thead said next.
“I will stand with you and be honored to fight alongside you,” Thalion spoke up and Cyn stood next to him.
“I will always stand on the side of good,” Sorin spoke up.
“I go where my Alpha and pack mates go,” Skender said.
“The council will always stand with the wolves,” Alston looked at Cypher. “And now also with the warlocks.”
“You know I’m going because you fools wouldn’t last a minute without me,” Peri told them.
Cypher faced the group willing to stand up to his corrupt brother and felt pride and loyalty swell in his chest. “No matter how many enemies we fight, no matter how many times we prevail, evil will always exist in this world and our own worlds, because there will always be some who choose to put themselves before everyone and anyone. But just like evil, there will always be good, as well. There will always be some who will seek justice and desire to see all beings free to live in a world not corrupted by malice. We will always be a part of those who stand on the side of righteousness. We must because we hold too much power to ever let it be used to harm others. When darkness falls as it has today, we must stand. We must stand for those who cannot and for those who would stand with us if they knew the battle before us. Not too long ago we fought for the packs. We fought for unity and for healing. We fought to protect the world from an ancient evil. Today we fight to bring back the ones who bring light to our dark lives. Today we will prevail. There is no other acceptable outcome. Stand with me and together we will bring back the females who have given us life when we were all so close to death.”
Vasile reached forward and clasped forearms with Cypher. “We will prevail.”
“I completely appreciate the Braveheart moment, and utterly hate that we do not have blue war paint to put on our faces, but we must go, NOW.” Peri reached out both of her arms. “All those who can, hold onto my arms, the rest of you grab Alston, Adam, or Cyn.”
One by one, the fae left with members of their party attached to their arms. Now that the dark forest was once again clear in their minds, the fae would have no problems flashing there. Whether they flashed anywhere close to where Reyaz wanted them was a different story.
“Do you sense them anywhere?” Reyaz asked Lorelle as the stood in the forest waiting for Cypher and the wolves to show up. They had less than five minutes before the hunt was to begin and he was anxious for them to get started.
Lorelle turned her head to the right and tilted it as if listening for something. “Gotchya,” she murmured. Without another word, she grabbed Reyazs’ arm, though she loathed touching him, and flashed to where she had felt her sister just arrive.
They appeared directly in the center of the group. Reyaz smiled as he looked around at the grim faces. “So glad you were able to make it on time.”
Decebel’s head snapped up at the sound of the voice and he lunged forward with a growl that promised death.
“Save your energy, Alpha,” Reyaz huffed as he flicked his hand at Decebel and pushed him to the ground. “You will have your time to throw a fit and act like the furry beast that you are.”
“We’re here, brother. Get on with your games,” Cypher spoke up.
“How long has it been, brother?” Reyaz asked regally. “How long since you betrayed me?”
Cypher shook his head. “I did nothing of the sort and we have been over this a hundred times, so unless you have a new argument let’s not rehash. Let us just get on with this hunt so that we can save our females.”
Reyaz frowned, unhappy about Cypher’s unwillingness to engage in the argument. “Fine. It is good that you brought the wolves; their noses will come in handy. You will not hear your mates because of the spell that I have put on them. Once you have found the first two females you will not be able to move on until you have rescued one of them. You needn't wonder when the hunt will be concluded. I have a wonderful grand finale planned.” His eyes landed on Decebel and the Alpha visibly tensed.
Peri looked at her sister and for an instant her heart ached for her, but then she remembered all the terrible things she had done. “How did you remember the forest?”
“Reyaz needed a place for his hunt, so I did some searching in the archives. You can only imagine my surprise when I ran across this little tidbit. I couldn’t believe how well that spell had worked. None of us remembered in the slightest about this place.” She turned to Vasile then and a knowing smile appeared. “There is a surprise here that I think you most of all will appreciate.”
“Happy hunting,” Reyaz said and then he and Lorelle were gone.
“Am I the only one who wants to see that mofo’s head on a spike?” Peri grumbled.
“I’ll cut it off, if you’ll hold him down,” Adam said.
Peri smiled at him and then turned to Vasile, “Do your wolf thing and sniff out our girls.”
“Keep your eyes open and pay attention. There is no telling what Reyaz might have planned for us,” Vasile told the group.
“I suggest we stay in our human forms if at all possible,” Decebel added.
Vasile nodded his agreement. Then without another word, he headed off into the forest. It was Fane who picked up the first scent. He let out a low growl and his eyes began to glow wolf blue. “Jacquelyn,” his voice rumbled as he spoke her name.
“Which way Fane,” Vasile asked.
Fane pointed and then took off at a dead sprint.
“Crap,” Peri yelled. “Didn’t someone warn the crazy wolf about running off halfcocked into a freaking dark forest?”
They all took off after Fane. Decebel motioned for them to spread out.
Fane felt his gut tighten as he ran. He could smell her and it broke something inside of him. It had been so long since he’d seen her and so long since he’d held her, and he was desperate for the sight of her. His legs pushed hard and his arms pumped at his side. He felt the warm wind on his face and the sting of branches as they whipped at his skin as he flew past. He welcomed the pain of the slapping branches because it proved to him that he was alive. When he saw her standing there surrounded by trees, hair wild, and skin flushed, he could have sworn that he had died. She was alive and in one piece!
“Jacquelyn!” He bellowed and felt his chest tighten with emotions so strong they threatened to crush him under their weight. He watched as her head turned and her eyes met his. Her face lit into a smile and it was so beautiful, so heart stoppingly beautiful that he just wanted to bask in its glory. She started towards him but then something caught her eye because she turned her head and he saw her eyes widen with fear. When she looked back at him she started shaking her head frantically. She flung her arms at him telling him to go back but there was no way in hell he was leaving now that he’d found her.
Jacque couldn’t believe what she was seeing. First she had been shocked to see Fane, and then she saw the others running with him and knowing they were rescued had been enough to nearly have her jumping up and down doing some wild, crazy, soul bearing dance, but then she had seen something that made her heart stop.
She didn’t know how to describe them, but zombies was the first word to come to mind. Their skin was pale and bluish, tinged as if they had been deprived of oxygen, for like, ever. Their eyes were glassy and lined with red blood vessels. The only thing that differed from their T.V. counterparts was that these zombies were not stiff and sluggish. These zombies were swift and precise in their attack, which Jacque took to mean that they were definitely being controlled and that dark magic was involved. They looked like the dead brought to life, and as stupid as that sounded, she was a freaking werewolf so, really, how far of a stretch was it for zombies to be real? There were hundreds of them, maybe even more. Her eyes flew to the group of men running towards them hell bent on saving them and she didn’t see how they could defeat such a huge army. She started waving at them to turn back but it just made them run faster: damn stubborn werewolves, and fae, and warlocks, and what the crap she thought as she saw the pixie king jumping from tree to tree like Tarzan. She also saw another male that she recognized as a troll, though she didn’t know who he was since she’d only met one troll so far in her, what appeared to be, short life.
She turned to tell Alina to help her and her eyes widened as she saw Lorelle standing off to the side with Alina. Lorelle was speaking calmly to Alina and no matter how hard Jacque tried to listen, she couldn’t hear a thing. She watched as Alina’s eyes went cold and her jaw tensed as Lorelle handed her something wrapped up in a cloth. Alina slipped it into the back of her pants under her shirt. She gave Lorelle one last look before she turned to Jacque and started walking towards her.
“What was that about?” Jacque asked her. She started to ask her about whatever it was that Lorelle had handed her but then decided if Alina wanted her to know then she would tell her.
Alina’s eyes locked onto the scene beyond Jacque as she answered, “Just Lorelle being Lorelle.”
“A bitch?” Jacque growled.
“Jacque, we’re female wolves; let’s not give her such a compliment.”
Jacque felt the grin spread across her face. Man, she had the coolest mother-in-law.
“Now, shall we go help our men?” Alina motioned towards the males who were now in battle with the zombies.
“I’ve been itching for a good fight,” Jacque said as she popped her knuckles.
“Looks like we’ve got one.”
They both took off at a run. Just when they had nearly reached the battle and were about to phase, they both bounced off an invisible barrier with a thud. Jacque fell back and landed hard on her butt. Her teeth jarred together as she stiffened her neck to keep her head from slinging back and crashing into the hard ground.
“DAMMIT!” she screamed as she slammed her hand onto the ground. Anger flooded her veins as she saw her mate fight off the zombie looking creatures and all she could do was watch.
Vasile saw Alina running towards him and then hit a barrier like the one he had seen Peri use. She fell back, but then quickly stood to her feet so he knew she was alright. He turned his head away just in time to duck as one of the creatures swung out an arm. In its grasp, a wicked dagger suddenly appeared. Vasile could smell the black magic rolling off of the creatures and he had to fight back the nausea. In his long life he had never seen creatures such as these, but much was possible when dealing with ancient dark magic, such as that found in this forest. And all of it was destructive and evil. He and the others continued to fight the creatures. One after another realizing that severing their spinal columns seemed to be the quickest way to keep them down.
Jacque stood next to Alina, rocking from side to side on the balls of her feet. She was itching to get in there and hit a few of those nasty looking zombies, but instead she settled for yelling instructions at the males, as if they needed it.
“Costin, behind you, turn around, turn around now!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. She watched in awe as he spun around with the grace of a dancer ducking at the same time and landing a blow to the being’s stomach. When it doubled over, Costin grabbed its head and twisted, snapping it with no effort at all. The zombie fell to the ground. Costin turned and looked at her, giving her one of his dimple grins and a thumbs up. He jumped back into the fray and Jacque turned her attention back to Fane. He was in battle with two of the zombies, both wielding wicked looking knives. She noticed that Fane’s claws had lengthened and looked every bit as deadly as the knives. He swung around and his claws ripped across the face of one of the creatures. Then he whipped back around the other direction, making the same slashes across the second of his enemies. He danced back from their blades and then closed in again. Instead of blood running down from the wounds, the zombies oozed a black liquid that reminded Jacque of old motor oil. She cringed as some of the liquid splashed onto Fane as he got in another quick slash. She had a feeling he was toying with the things, expelling some pent up aggression. “Finish them Fane and move on!” she hollered at him. She saw a quirk of his lips that told her he found her amusing. Butthead she thought and then felt a pang of frustration over the fact that he couldn’t hear her thoughts. She watched as he deftly relieved one of the zombies of its weapon and then used it to behead them both.
Jacque threw a fist in the air with a whoop, “That’s my man!” Fane moved on to the next opponent and, one after another, he slaughtered them. But where one fell, another took its place.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of light. When she turned, she saw Peri flinging out her power, one shot after another, taking out creature after creature. Alston, Adam, and Cyn were all doing the same thing. She looked up and saw Thalion, the elf prince, shoot arrows so quickly that she didn’t even see when he reached for the next one. He hit the zombies one after another with such precision that one creature fell for each arrow he loosed. Jacque just knew that at any second they would get the upper hand. At any second, they would defeat the evil beings and she and Alina would be rescued and free to move forward with the males to find the other girls. But she was a fool to think it because out of the forest more and more zombies arrived.
“What the hell! Someone throw them a bone, jeez,” she snarled. She looked over at Alina who looked every bit as concerned as she felt.
Alina’s eyes never left the man who held her heart, her mate who was fighting with everything he had to save her, and yet she knew it was in vain. Reyaz had made sure of it. She wanted to run into his arms to tell him how much she loved him, how amazing he was, and how she treasured every single moment of their time together. As if he heard her, he turned and looked at her. His eyes pierced her heart just as they had the first time he had ever looked at her all those decades ago. She pleaded with her eyes for him to understand and begged him to not be angry with her because she didn’t know what other option she had. She wouldn’t stand there and let her mate, or the others she considered hers, die. She wouldn’t let the life Jacque and Fane deserved be taken from them at so young an age, not when she had the power to stop it.
She reached behind her and pulled the wrapped object from under her shirt. Her hands trembled as she held it and began unwrapping it. When the fabric fell to the ground, all that was left in her hand was a long, deadly dagger. She looked up and again her eyes met her mate’s. His eyes widened as they glanced down to what she held and then back up to her face. He saw it then, and saw the determination in her to do what was necessary. She heard Jacque’s voice from beside her but didn’t look away from Vasile.
“I love you,” she whispered. She watched her name form on his lips and thought of all the times he had said her name, and of all the times he had caressed her face and stared into her eyes and made her feel like the most beautiful woman on earth. He began running towards her, pushing past anything that got in his way. She heard his roar and felt his power and it gave her the strength to do what she had to. Lorelle’s words ran through her mind as she grasped the dagger firmly in her hands and held it above her heart.
“A sacrifice must be made. One of you must willingly give yourself for the life of the other. A life for a life, it is your choice. But the battle will continue until the last of your hunting party falls or until the sacrifice is given.”
With one final look at her mate she raised the dagger higher and then plunged it into her heart. She felt the dark magic dissipate and the barrier drop. She felt his arms around her as she fell to the ground and heard his voice in her ear as he begged her not to leave him. He loved her, he said over and over, and he needed her. He was so strong and he didn’t even know it. She tried to move her lips to tell him, but she couldn’t. Her long life was over and she hoped that those she loved would be safe now. With that thought she let go and let the darkness of death take her.