Feno could see the uncertainty in Willow’s eyes. He loved that even when she was unsure, she would try anything to fight to get her grandmother back. He watched as her eyes flickered back and forth from the book and the shifter.

“I’m ready,” she announced. The uncertainty disappeared, and in its place, determination set in. She stood and grabbed her bag that was on the ground and rummaged through it. “I need him awake.”

He moved over to the shifter and knelt on the ground next to him. Placing his hand on the shifter’s filthy hair, he pushed his energy into him, causing his eyes to fly open with a howl.

“Shut up,” Feno snapped as Willow moved beside him. She leaned over the shifter and placed her hand on his forehead.

“What the hell?” the shifter screamed and bucked, knocking her hand from his head. Vander dropped down on the ground on the other side of the shifter and pushed his body back down, holding him in place.

She replaced her hand on his forehead and began to chant in a language that Feno had never heard of.

Electricity filled the air, and he knew that she was pulling her powers from the moon. Her hair began to float in the air as a gentle breeze began to flow around them.

“Stop!” the shifter pleaded before his body went rigid. Feno’s eyes flew to the shifter’s face and found the whites of his eyes staring back at him.

Silence surrounded them. Feno looked up at Willow, whose eyes were the same as the shifter’s.

“Holy shit. She’s doing it,” Jodos breathed. The three dragons were captivated by the strength and power of the little witch.

Something in Feno’s chest pushed him to Willow.

Go to her.

See what she sees.

He crept over to Willow.

“What are you doing?” Vander asked through their mental link, as if he didn’t want to interrupt Willow.

“I need to see what she sees,” he replied as he arrived at her side.

“Are you sure that’s safe?” Jodos chimed in, joining the unspoken conversation.

“My powers will aid her,” he said, reaching a hand out to her. Doubt crept into his mind for a brief moment before his fingers connected with her arm.

Feno glanced around and found himself no longer in his back yard. He was unfamiliar with the lay of the land. He growled deep in his throat as he took in a path that led directly up a hill and disappeared into a wooded area.

Where in the hell was he?

He sniffed deeply, but there was no smell.

How can there be no smell? Standing outside and near the woods, there should be millions of smells in the air from nature alone.

He thought back to before when he appeared here, and remembered touching Willow while she was working a spell on the shifter.

This was the shifter’s memory.

Where was Willow?

He moved forward and stalked toward the path. She arrived a few minutes before him, so she couldn’t be that far ahead of him. He picked up his speed and jogged along the path, his dragon needing to find Willow and keep her safe.

The sounds of growls in the distance caught his ear. Even being in a memory, he wasn’t sure what could happen. He prayed, nothing, but he didn’t want to chance anything.

His dragon was on alert as they pushed farther into the woods, where a rustle caused him to slow down.

“Feno?” Willow’s incredulous voice reached him. He moved off the path and into the thick brush to find her standing with her eyes wide, watching him approach. She rushed into his open arms.

He closed his eyes briefly as he folded his arms around her. Even in the shifter’s memory, her curvy body felt good against his.

“How did you get here?” she asked, pulling back to look up at him.

“I touched your arm, and that’s the last thing I remember.”

“This is crazy,” she muttered as she pulled back from him. “We’re in the shifter’s mind. From what I can tell, it’s just on replay. No one will be able to see or hear us while we observe what happened.”

He nodded as he looked around. The sounds of growling off in the distance was increasing. He grabbed her hand and entwined their fingers together as he led the way.

“Let’s go. I don’t know how long we’ll be here,” he said. “Good job reaching his memories on your first try.”

“Thanks. I never thought I would have my first lesson of dark magic without my grandmother by my side, but it was her who told me that you were coming back home, and that I would need to use it.”

“You spoke to your grandmother? Again?” He paused as he looked to her.

“Before you arrived, I tried to reach out to her the way I did before, but this time without you. The moon was strong enough to help me. It wasn’t as strong as when you and I did it together, but I was able to reach her. We need to hurry and find her. They’re keeping her away from the elements, and I’m sure you know what will happen to a witch if she can’t be one with nature.”

He nodded his head. A witch would wither away and die without being able to draw her powers from the natural elements. Almost as if she were being starved.

They came to a clearing where the growls were the loudest. He turned to her and raised his finger to his lips, not wanting to chance anyone hearing them.

He moved the brush and saw that they were outside a natural cave on the side of a hill. A bonfire was in the middle of the area, providing light.

Shifters.

Rogues.

Scattered around the fire were shifters in their human forms, and some in their animal. The rogues were almost like savages. No training. They didn’t belong to a pack, and surely didn’t follow any of the lycan laws that were set.

His eyes narrowed on a few shifted wolves circling each other, as if they were about to spar or fight. He didn’t know which, but honestly, there was no telling. Rogue shifters always fought for the spot of strongest male. Even though they did not belong to a pack, their alpha nature would come forth and demand to be identified as the strongest rogue.

“Do you see her?” Willow crept around him, her body sliding against his as she ducked underneath his arm. She nestled her body in front of his so that she could see.

“I don’t see any signs of her.” He looked around and saw the shifter they held captive come through the brush on the other side of the clearing. He walked alongside another man, taller and lankier than him.

The leader.

Feno could tell by the way the man carried himself, that he was the one leading the rogues. He memorized the man’s face, for he knew that he would be seeing him again.

“Where are they going?” Willow murmured.

The two men headed toward the cave.

“We need to get closer,” he announced, but Willow was already moving. He cursed at her boldness as he strode across the clearing, easily catching up to her as they walked around the fighting wolves and directly toward the cave.

Not one’s eye turned to them as they made their way to where the shifter and the leader disappeared. He moved his body in front of hers as they stood at the mouth of the cave.

“Stay behind me,” he murmured, entwining their fingers together. He didn’t wait for her response as he pulled her behind him.

He wished he would be able to have his sense of smell while in the memory. That would help him locate where they were.

The cave was dark, but his shifter eyes allowed him to see as they moved farther into it. The sounds of voices echoed through the air.

“You won’t get away with this,” Delia threatened.

“Shut your mouth, witch,” a voice growled low. The leader. “I’m getting paid good money to move you, but not enough to kill ya!”

Willow’s hand tightened around his. It was a good thing that the shifter had standards, Feno thought sarcastically. The people paying him must not want her dead. But why would she need to be out of the way, only to be given a chance to let her come back?

“My granddaughter will—”

“I said shut up!” the leader screamed.

They finally came into view of Delia and the two shifters. The elder witch sat on the dirty ground, her arms tied behind her back. She was disheveled in appearance, but Feno could see the defiance in the set of her jaw as she glared at the shifters.

“I don’t give a damn about your granddaughter. Without you around, she’ll be banned from your coven, and it will be ruled by the person who should have been in control.”

Feno growled, his dragon begging to go after the leader. Willow moved to his side so that she could see around him. A gasp escaped her as she took in her grandmother’s appearance.

Soon, he promised his beast. Soon.

“Well, her mate will rain down the fires of hell on you for what you have done,” Delia promised. The witch shifted her eyes toward them, and Feno would have sworn that a flicker of recognition flared in her eyes before she turned back to the shifter.

“What are you looking at over there?” the shifter demanded, glancing their way for a brief moment before turning back to her. “There ain’t nothing over there but darkness and rocks.”

Delia saw them.

Feno was sure of it.