Ryan
I watch the last group of warriors from Silverhide disappear into the night, a few Endovian warriors following them. The forest that wraps around Endova is alive with action–howling, people calling out Logan and Maeve’s names.
All over the Deadlands, people and wolves are searching for our missing children and the witch that stole Kenna’s child from her arms. It’s only a matter of time before we find them, I’m sure. Kyra won’t live to see morning if I have any say in it.
I failed my pack as an Alpha tonight. I didn’t see the signs in front me that we had an enemy in our midst. James is back in Silverhide cleaning up the mess she made. Cole is tending to the wounded, while I’m here in Endova gathering more troops, and my wife is… somewhere else.
My gaze sweeps over the darkened forest. There’s only a few hours left until daylight. I think of my daughter and my little cousins, hopefully tucked up tight with Freya and Mercy watching over them.
Will those kids ever know a moment's peace in this life? Or are we destined to chaos? It feels like it sometimes. It’s been one thing after another for years–the Draven coven, the Kane sympathizers, Arcane Umbra and their war that took the lives of my grandparents.
I came to Silverhide to start over, to build a safe, prosperous life for my pack after years of bullying and violence against us in Crescent Falls, only to fall right back into it with no respite in sight.
A shimmer of power skirts across the star filled sky, and I straighten. I breathe deeply in relief as black mist funnels nearby, dissipating to reveal my uncle, the man I’ve been waiting on for hours.
Ryatt’s wearing a black cloak as he steps forward, pulling down his hood. His eyes are sharp and silver in the moonlight and set with vengeance as he approaches me, glancing around to ensure we’re alone.
“Took you long enough,” I murmur, crossing my arms over my chest. “Where’s Kenna and Evander?”
“Evander dispatched the Ghost army. They’ll be arriving in the Deadlands within the next few hours so be prepared for their presence.” I roll my lower lip between my teeth as he continues, “Kenna is back in Silverhide gathering Brie and Aris. She’s taking them to Moonrise for their own safety.”
“Silverhide is safe.”
Ryatt nods, but the words don’t feel that true right now. “No one in Moonrise is familiar with anyone named Kyra, but it’s possible that’s not her real name. Ella has the Mystics working on this as we speak.” He exhales, his eyes holding on the dark woods. “A witch with the knowledge of how to bind a soul to create a hellhound would have studied the dark arts, which is strictly prohibited practice unless they’re chosen to study dark alchemy, and those graduates are closely monitored for the course of their careers and lives.”
“Kenna studied the dark arts.”
“Yes, she did.” He sighs, turning to face me. “Your father and Sydney are sending a task force through the borders to the Roguelands to assist with the search, and I’ve placed wards over the Roguelands and Moonrise, but I need your permission to do the same here.”
I furrow my brows. “Why would you need my permission?”
There’s an unfamiliar gleam in my uncle's eyes as he smirks, turning back to the woods. “Because you and I are equals now, Ryan. Two Alpha Kings.”
“You have far more political influence than I ever will.”
“That’ll change… within the next two decades, when Maeve takes her throne.”
“Aunt Ella will step down?”
“Of course, that’s been the plan since shortly after Maeve’s birth, and we became aware of what she was.” He doesn’t add if she’s found, which is my biggest concern right now. Instead, he complains, “I’ve been accused of creating a political monopoly by placing you here. I don’t care, honestly. Eastonia is safest with our family on each throne. I tried to convince Cole to rethink giving up Tarsian, but he was adamant that he had to step down.” He grinds his teeth. “Tarsian will be a problem again, I guarantee it, and as Alpha King of the Deadlands with your mate as your commander, you’re going to be put in a position that’ll give you more power over my territory in the Roguelands as the years pass, and my powers diminish. Maeve will need you.”
“And what happens if we can’t find her?”
He shakes his head. “It’s likely that the witch had no idea what Maeve’s capable of. I don’t know what the witch wants with her, but Maeve is prone to fits of… fire and other violence, so it’s only a matter of time–”
My chest snaps in two. I grunt, gasping for breath as I bend, fighting against a pain I can’t even begin to put into words. Ryatt’s alarmed voice fades as blood rushes through my ears, pounding in tune with my rapid heartbeat.
“Ryan? Ryan–”
At first I think I’ve been attacked, assaulted in some way. That my back must be flayed open and my ribs have been torn from my body, but my hand flies over my chest. I’m whole. I’m in one piece but… the mate bond…
“Aviva!?” I scream into the night, taking several rapid breaths before shouting her name repeatedly like she’s close enough to hear.
Ryatt grips my shoulder, leaning in and shaking me violently. “What’s wrong, Ryan?”
“My mate–she’s hurt–I can feel it–”
“Where is she?”
“In the forest somewhere–they were looking for Logan. He ran off–”
“The boy from Emberfyll?”
I can barely form a rational thought. I can hear her crying out for me through the bond. She’s in pain. She’s drowning and can’t find her way out of wherever she is and…
I fall to my hands and knees, closing my eyes and yanking on our bond. Ryatt kneels beside me, frantically grabbing the back of my neck. “Where is she, Ryan?”
“I’m trying,” I pant, pulling on the threads binding us. Something’s wrong. Something’s horribly wrong, and I… I know where she is. I’m not sure how, but…
Cole's voice rips through the mind-link in a shout that splits my head in two, confirming my worst fears. ‘Misty’s in trouble. Aviva–’
“They found the forge,” I shudder, panting rapidly. “It’s thirty miles west of here. Take me there.”
Ryatt looks stunned, but his eyes narrow as he grips my shoulder. My world goes dark as his powers consume us.
* * *
“Misty!” Cole shouts, pulling on a shirt from a clothing stash left near the hole we dragged the girls out of less than a week ago when they first found the forge. He paces the massive crater still spreading throughout the clearing, frantically looking down at the buried temple.
I can see where they tried to climb down, where they fell and then entered the temple. But my eyes are locked on the pair of shoes and the pile of ash in the center of the hole.
Ryatt licks his lips, his eyes scanning the temple below. “They’re in there?”
“They have to be.” I take a deep breath, debating my options. Ryatt could easily just use his powers to teleport us down there, but before he can act, Cole leaps. I shout his name, but it’s too late.
He lands with a crunch, grunting in pain as he rolls to a stop.
“Goddess, Cole!” I snarl.
“My mate’s in there,” he shouts, heated. “I’m not waiting.”
“Just wait–”
He steps into the temple and disappears into the inky black darkness.
“Fuck,” I shout, turning to Ryatt. “Take me down there.”
“You have to jump down like he did. My powers are… weak here.” Ryatt looks concerned as he scopes out the crater, shaking his head. “Why didn’t you tell me about this place?”
“We’ve had a lot going on,” I sneer then turn back to the crater, saying a quick prayer to the Goddess for a soft landing, and jump.
I land feet first, thankfully, with Ryatt following close behind. Even my wolf powers are dim here, like whatever’s inside is sucking the life out of all of us.
I race inside, Ryatt hot on my heels, and quickly catch up to Cole. He’s shouting Misty’s name over and over again, but when we reach a wide, spiral staircase, we pick up Misty and Aviva’s scents. They mingle with the sharp smell of sulfur and something else–something that vividly reminds me of Maatua.
I jog after Cole, fighting past the pain in my chest. He shouts in alarm and grabs me before I topple over the edge of a hole in the stone floor.
I look down at the space. Faint light drifts toward us, bouncing off what looks like mirrors, but I realize they’re large crystal formations.
“Cole?” Misty shouts, sniffling.
Cole pants with relief as he rests his hands on his knees. “Misty, how do we get down there?”
“I don’t know,” she cries out.
“Where’s Aviva?” I shout down to her. I can barely see her outline in the darkness, but she raises a hand, her powers burning to life but flickering as they illuminate something out of my wildest dreams or darkest nightmares.
On my other side, Ryatt sucks in a breath. “Gods above.”
The forge is a huge pool of gurgling water. It roars, sending an echo through the cavern below.
A sinking feeling of dread settles in my stomach. “Where’s my wife?”
Misty’s face twists with grief. “She–she fell in.”
“She fell in?” I say, unsure if the words even leave my tongue. My heart snaps in my chest, and before I can’t think, I jump.
I crash to the ground, my body cracking and groaning in protest as I stand and bolt toward the edge of the forge.
I have sudden vivid memories of the waterfall in Maatua. The water smells the same. The air feels the same here, if that’s possible.
But everything else is all wrong.
I ignore Misty’s scream of alarm as I race toward the forge. I hear Cole and Ryatt drop into the cavern behind me, Cole’s voice lifts in mingled concern and relief as he grabs Misty off the ground and hauls her upright.
Ryatt tells me to stop.
I can’t. Not now that I’m at the water’s edge, looking down in the shining depths for any sign of my wife. I can still feel her. Our bond is still intact. She’s alive.
I back up a few feet with every intention of jumping in, but a blinding light explodes from the water, knocking me backward.
Water rushes us, pushing us back against the walls of the cavern and then retreats like it has its own tide. The water rushes back into the forge, but the light grows stronger. Misty throws her powers at it, but they’re absorbed instantly.
Somewhere in the distant recesses of my mind, I feel… I feel an odd sensation. Flashes of memories that don’t belong to me rush through my head. I can’t make sense of anything I’m seeing. Battles rage. A small, delicate house with flowers in the front in the center of an ancient metropolis with towers that spiral to the sky. Fire and death. Blood coated stone pathways. A child running toward me with his arms wide open as I pass through a gate, looking past the boy toward a woman leaning on the doorway.
She’s not familiar to me, but I know her.
My wife. My mate.
I snap back to reality the second the light fades, and the forge settles. Eerie silence floods the cavern before Misty begins to whimper Aviva’s name.
My heart thuds once, twice, three times… then stops when a hand breeches the water and wraps around the edge of the forge.
Unruly, wet red curls float on the water's surface before Aviva pulls herself from the forge, gasping, her eyes glowing a soft amber in the faint light reflecting off the water and crystal ceiling above it.
I try to move, but I’m frozen with shock as she pulls herself over the edge of the forge and lands on her stomach, choking and sputtering.
Voices skitter through the air, like a hundred people are talking at the same time. Aviva pulls herself to her feet, panting, pushing her hair away from her face but tattoos that burn a bright gold pepper her arms and legs, spreading beneath the soaking wet Endovian hunting dress she’s still wearing.
My mate went into the forge.
I’m not sure she’s still the woman I know, looking right at me, power glowing in her eyes.