Compelled (26 page)

I was beyond eager to ask the wizards for answers on how to save Thorn, but Royse convinced me to rest for a few hours.

Chapter 25

I woke up a few hours after I collapsed into a bed at the lake house. The sounds of snoring came from every corner. On the other side of the queen-sized bed, Royse had claimed a spot. While I had curled in comfortably on my side, she had spread out with limbs extended in all directions. I couldn’t help smiling as I took her palm off the side of my face. She stirred a bit and turned on her right side.

What I didn’t expect to see when I got up was someone blocking the doorway. I almost gasped, but then had to keep myself from laughing out loud. Vasili had taken a spot on the cold wooden floor, his head on one of the pillows he must have stolen from the bed.

Royse’s cousin was no doubt protecting our purity by keeping the upstarts out of the room.

So how the hell could I get out? I checked the window. It opened with a loud yawn, but Royse and Vasili didn’t move. Man, they were out. Even the cool breeze in the room didn’t stop Royse from snoring her heart out. After putting on my shoes, I climbed out and leapt to the ground.

I wanted my backpack. So, I went back inside to find quite the sight: a cluster of werewolves sleeping on the floor in the middle of the sitting room. The couches had been pushed to the wall along with any end tables and the space had turned into a communal sleeping area. My backpack had been used as a pillow, too.

With a few gentle yanks, I managed to get Gostislav to give it up. With a sigh, I left the lake house and made my way down the road toward town.

Before I’d fallen into a tired stupor, Royse had told me to go to a small restaurant at mid-day in Ostahkov. A place called Minas.

The walk into town was nice. Ostahkov felt like a small lake town you’d find in Minnesota or Wisconsin. I strolled along the never-ending road through town and welcomed the time alone to gather my thoughts after such a crazy night. A crisp, yet pleasant breeze from the lake flowed through my hair. Eventually, I reached a small mom-and-pop restaurant with a light blue sign labeled Minas.

An older woman greeted me at the door. “Are you Natalya?”

I nodded. “Something smells good.”

The inside of the restaurant was well-cleaned with bright counters and personalized decorations.

“You have friends here.” She led me to a private dining area full of people off the main dining room.

A single free seat must have been left for me. I immediately recognized Dr. Frank among the folks waiting. Most of them must’ve been wizards.

Tamara was here, too. She’d survived.

“You made it, Natalya,” Dr. Frank said with a smile. “Are you hungry?”

No one had a plate in front of them. Only hot drinks. “I’m starving, but you know what I want. And I want that more than food right now.”

Dr. Frank was the only man smiling at the table. Tamara had a slight smile, while Zoya, at her side, grinned brightly. Luda wasn’t here though.

“I know what you want, Natalya,” one man from the end of the table declared. “But we don’t know if we should give it to you.” He had a stern expression that didn’t match his dark suit and short white hair. He had the kind of face I’d call handsome if he weren’t frowning.

“Dr. Frank said your elders would consider it. Do you wizards have no honor? What about saving a life?” I asked him.

“There are always consequences to what we do, Natalya,” Dr. Frank said softly. “To undo what others have done.”

I fought the urge to stab my fingernails into my palms. “If I had to take down all of you at this table to find the answers, I would. I’ve fought a darkling, I’ve carried spellcasters in my body across hundreds of miles to help your cause, and I killed Cato. This is the final step, and whatever excuses you have frankly don’t mean
shit
to me.” On any other day, I would’ve kept my manners and refrained from swearing, but screw it. I’d been pushed into a corner, and I was damn tired.

“Gustav convinced us otherwise,” the man said stiffly while looking in Dr. Frank’s direction. “He said you’ve had a lot of personal growth on this journey. That you’ve done everything in your power, and, like any heroine, should receive a reward for your sacrifice.”

My chest tightened and tears welled in my eyes. I wanted to look at my doctor, but I couldn’t.

“How about we get to the secret then,” the man in white began, a look of reluctance on his face.

“Wait! Shouldn’t this be private?” I glanced at Tamara.

“We have other arrangements with her. She already knows the secret and has taken actions to help those in need in her family.”

Tamara smiled, briefly touching the strawberry mark on her face wistfully. Had that mark been a curse of some kind? I still wondered about that. She appeared the same, though, yet at her side Zoya beamed. The young woman stole a glance at the man beside her. A man with black hair and brown eyes. They had similar facial features… The scent was different, yet the undertones the same.

My mouth dropped open wide when he blinked at me. “Luda?”

The man chuckled and I immediately recognized the grin. “Yes, Natalya, it’s me.”

“But how?”

“A few years ago, I was cursed,” he replied. “All this time our grandmother has been working diligently to lift it.”

My mouth bobbed up and down like a fool. So that was why Tamara wanted to learn how to remove curses. Maybe it was even the reason she wanted to tap into the magic of a captured fairy. “So why didn’t you tell me you were a dude? Why didn’t you tell Tyler?”
Awkward.

“We were forbidden to talk about it or Lukas would’ve died,” Zoya said. “Those were the terms of Cato’s curse.”

 
“All that time…” I managed. “He was behind it all.”

“It’s all right now,” he said. It was rather hard to look at him now. I missed the sweet woman I thought of as a sister.

The wizard who must’ve been their leader, rose from the end of the table. He walked up to me and leaned down. “Are you ready, Natalya?”

“I’ve been ready for so long.” My heartbeat quickened as his breath fanned my neck and his sweet cinnamon-like scent filled the space around us.

He whispered into my ear and I burned every word into my mind. I tattooed and stamped it so that I’d never forget. When he finished, he rose with a smile and then every wizard vanished into light except Dr. Frank.

“Where did they go?” I asked.

“There is still business to handle in the area,” Dr. Frank said. “It’s also time for you to go, Nat.”

I sighed. Thorn needed me now. “Do you know…” my breath caught in my throat. “If Thorn is still alive?”

He shook his head slowly. “No, I don’t. You’ll have to discover that on your own, but the least I can do is get you back to him quickly.”

“Thank you.” I stood, then turned to the three people still at the table.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay and eat,” I said. God knew I was ready to take down a deer.

“I’d be mad if you did stay,” Zoya said, wiping away a tear that fell. “Hurry back to him.”

“Is Tyler still here?” I asked her.

“We’ll take good care of him,” Lukas reassured me. He looked at his sister. “Or should I say my sister will take care of him?”

Zoya blushed before she ran to me to offer a hug. “Until we meet again.”

“Until we meet again,” I repeated. My gaze flicked to Tamara.

“I don’t want any sad words, girl.” She chaffed. “Our paths will cross again someday, whether we’re exchanging spells or standing back-to-back in battle.”

I nodded. “Please extend my apologies to the acolytes, Royse, Vasili, and the others.”

“No worries.” The older woman sniffed but she didn’t cry. “They have their own path to follow as well, their own journeys they must fulfill, as do you. Hurry to your mate.”
 

I could have sworn, as Dr. Frank took my hand and we vanished into a blink of light, that a proud smile broke out on Tamara’s face.

Chapter 26

Teleporting with an experienced wizard like Dr. Frank was a much smoother ride compared to other times. We materialized, on the ground like we should, in front of a small seafood restaurant in Finland.

“I thought wizards could only go so far?” I asked him.

He chuckled. “They can’t, but a good friend loaned me a gift for such a purpose today.”

By this point, I knew the power needed for such a jump of hundreds of miles. “Oh, thank you.”

“It was my pleasure.” He gave me a stern expression. “I expect you to contact Dr. Chainey while I’m away and make an appointment. You only have to share what you feel comfortable sharing, but I want you to do it. You’ve been through a lot since your last therapy session, a lot more than even most werewolves endure.”

Reluctantly, I nodded. I’d have dreams for weeks about darklings, warlocks riding water demons, and the ravages of war. In particular, the dead. Having someone to talk to might be a good thing.

“Now you go find Thorn,” he said. “I’ve kept you long enough.”

“Thanks again, Dr. Frank.”

“You’re more than welcome. Good luck, Natalya.”

And then I was alone again.

Finding Thorn shouldn’t be too hard. I followed my nose through town until I returned to Jorge’s house.

No one answered when I knocked, so I took a chance and the front door was unlocked.

“Thorn?” My stomach went queasy and I tried to quash the feeling. Any minute now, Thorn would show up and I’d feel stupid for getting worried.

The front porch appeared empty and beyond that all the bedrooms. All of the beds had been made and none of them smelled like my husband. My heart sank further and further as I went from room to room, hunting and searching. Drawing my nose along counters, checking light switches. The sob in the back of my throat turned to a whine.

I tried to call his number on my cellphone, but the line went directly to voice message.

Don’t give up, yet.
I went outside, not caring if I left the door open. One step onto the porch and I caught his faint scent from one of the cushioned seats. He’d sat there. I pressed my hands against the seat as if that would make him appear.

“Thorn, where are you?” A faint crunch when I pressed down drew my attention. Tucked between the seat and the cushion was a single piece of paper.

My hand shook as I read it.

A weak wolf never dies with the pack. Take heart in this decision, my love. Don’t you dare let this bring you down. Protect the South Toms River Pack. I’ll always love you.

And that was it.

He’d gone off to die alone.

The note floated out of my hand with the next cold breeze. My mouth hung open as my chest swelled with overwhelming pain. I couldn’t stop the long moan from deep inside me.

My body collapsed on the wood floor. My eyes shut tight. So tight pain spread across my forehead until I gasped for breath. I couldn’t breathe anymore.

What are you doing?
Something whispered inside me.

Dying.

After everything you’ve been through, you’re gonna just give up like this? Where is the woman who crossed thousands of miles?

Dying.

Where is the woman who fought for the rank of alpha female?

Dying.

What about the scent on the paper? How
strong
was it?

My head shot up and I opened my eyes. No more than ten feet away the note clung to one of the worn brown porch posts.

Strength surged through me and I ran to the piece of paper. I drew it to my face and inhaled. His scent was there. It hadn’t been
days
since he wrote this. Maybe a day or even a few hours. The ink also wasn’t light, but dark as if someone had recently written it.

I glanced around, managing to wipe the stream of tears from my face. There weren’t any tracks in the ground. There had been rainfall recently, and any scents he had around the house had been washed away.

There had to be a way. Had to be.

I tried to figure out what to do. At my hip, I checked the goblin blade. It was silent. Nothing more than a piece of metal suitable for opening envelopes.

“C’mon,” I begged it. “Don’t you want to help me? For goodness sake, you fried darklings and fucking warlocks, but when I need to find
one
man you’re just gonna sit there and do nothing?” I sighed. “My heart is what needs help this time.”

The goblin blade still didn’t move. Stupid blade.

I pressed my hand to the ground. There was nothing other than the faint pull from the jump point I discovered not long ago that took me to the acolytes. I didn’t have the kind of spell to find Thorn. I was stuck. Anger welled inside me, pulsing through me, until my vision threatened to go red, but I managed to hold it in.

Think, damn it, think.

I stripped off my clothing. Not caring if a Finn saw me getting naked. I tucked my clothes into the backpack and left the pack on the porch. I didn’t care if anyone found it.

Then I allowed the change to take me. It had been a while since I’d shifted. The last time had been the full moon at Tamara’s farm. This time I hurried through the process, not suppressing the cry I made as my back snapped forward and my snout extended from my face. Rushing such a thing would be like trying to rush childbirth my grandma would say. Nature took the time it needed to take a caterpillar from a worm to a butterfly.

Pain pulsed through me, sparking every nerve-ending from my clawed fingertips to every hair follicle that sprouted dark hair on my limbs. But I rode through it, pushing the process harder. There was no time. No time left.

The world exploded with new sights and smells as I finished the transformation. I tried to run, but I collapsed on the ground not far from where I started. A few long minutes later, I got up and searched. Feeling exhausted could come later. I ran my nose along the note and circled the house twice.

On the third try, I caught the scent. It was so faint. A piece of him the rain couldn’t wash away.

The trail led north. I sprinted into the forest as fast as my body could take it. Only stopping once in a while to check for the scent along the trail. I bounded around pine trees, jumping over dead trunks and rocks. For a moment, I lost his scent when I crossed a small brook, but footprints in the mud offered a new path. After a mile, snow began to patch the landscape, but a few places under the tall, thick trees offered shelter. A flash of red, his coat, up ahead made me race faster.