On Wicked Ground (Solsti Prophecy Book 4) (36 page)

“A vampire.” Kai finished. “Phone confirms it.”

“Elegia?” Brooke met Nicole’s eyes, which showed as much terror as she felt.

“Oh my god.” Nicole looked at Rosa. “She wants you so bad that she’d come here personally?”

“She’s alone,” Kai murmured. “Unless she’s cloaking someone.”

“What should we do?” Brooke asked.

“She wants me. I’ll go in.” Rosa’s tone was resolute.

“Not by yourself!” Nicole whisper-yelled.

“I know a few tricks, child.” Rosa gave her a knowing look.

“I don’t like this,” Brooke said. “We’re going with you. You helped us when you didn’t have to. Now it’s our turn.”

“Very well,” the witch said. “In we go.”

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-N
INE

A
LINA
STOOD
IN
THE
SHADOWS
near the elevator. It was much easier to hide now that the lights had gone out. The whole place was lit in eerie orange flashes. It made the marble look slick and scary, like they were in a desert of flame colored rocks.

Oh gods. Caine had said
it
. The words she had been dreading. The sincerity in his voice had cut her as thoroughly as a dagger, shredding her soul with guilt worse than anything she’d ever known.

I don’t love him, I don’t love him,
she chanted over and over. The squeezing feeling in her chest turned into a dull, pulsing throb and she fought to compartmentalize her wild emotion. She wasn’t about to get herself killed before this big battle even started. She had a purpose, and that was to help eliminate Elegia.

But gods, the way he had said those three words. His dark eyes had glowed with the fierceness of his feelings, and she didn’t doubt him for a second. But she also couldn’t bear to hurt him.

Which was exactly what she had done. Her own heart caved in, like a wrecking ball was deliberately destroying what was left of her inside, leaving anger and anguish in its wake.

Running away? How cowardly was that? There was nowhere he couldn’t find her.

Alina made a small sound of frustration when she really wanted to scream. Scream at everyone she saw, then run into Caine’s arms and wish she were anyone but her cursed self.

“Alina?” Caine’s voice reached her, soft now instead of the bellow he’d let loose a minute ago. “I know you’re here. I can smell you and, anyway, you just sounded like you wanted to kick the shit out of something,”

Fine
. With a sigh, she dropped her shadows. He stalked into the circular area where she stood. Each step brought him closer, each footfall punctuated by orange flashes. He stopped in front of her but made no move to touch her. That hurt, because she wanted him to as much as she didn’t want him to. And another feeling cut through…he wanted, needed, to touch her. Somehow, she knew that contact with her soothed him. That didn’t make sense and yet, it was as true as these walls were smooth cold marble.

“I don’t know what the hell happened back there. And I want you to talk to me. This conversation isn’t over. But right now we have a job to do. You and me.” He stared down at her, arms folded, muscles rippling through his biceps. “No more hiding. My orders are to keep an eye on you. If not me, then one of your sisters. Understand?”

She nodded. His voice held no trace of hurt. He was all business, with a dash of anger. And that was good, right? If he was angry, he couldn’t hate her. If he was in warrior mode, they’d be better off in the mess coming up.

If he can do this, I can do this, dammit. If he can lock his feelings away, so can I. “Show me where to go.”

He nodded. “Let’s go out back.”

They rode down the elevator in silence. What could she say?
I don’t love you, I don’t love you
, played in her mind like a desperate mantra as she stared at her feet. Maybe if she repeated it enough, it would stick.

After all, deception was part of her job.

If she could fool the whole world as well as she could hide herself in shadows, she surely could convince her heart and her brain. It was like playing any role, only this time the part she was playing was her own life.

Finally the doors opened into the first floor rotunda. For the first time that Alina had seen, Ana wasn’t at her huge desk. Fleetingly, Alina hoped the fae was secure in some super secret command center. Probably still handling the flow of calls and information.

Caine took Alina’s hand and led her through one of the sleek halls. In a minute they were at the rear door. “Here we go.” He held the door for her.

Alina’s eyes widened as she took in the training yard. Hundreds of Watchers streamed by, more than she realized were here at HQ, their faces set in stoic purpose. “Do all these Watchers live here?” she asked.

“No. Arawn called them in. Whoever didn’t have access to a transportation amulet got picked up by one of us from here.”

“Wow.” She stared in awe at the fighters. Mostly men but a fair amount of females were present. They all wore black fatigues and black T-shirts. And the weapons. Gods, it was like a walking, living armory all around her.

She turned to Caine. “You don’t have as many weapons. You—”

“I do, Boots. All hidden. A couple extras for you too.” He winked at her, and for a moment she could almost believe they hadn’t just had the most awkward conversation of their lives.

“Oh. Um, thanks.” She lengthened her stride to keep up with him. “Why is this called Operation Sunrise?”

“Elegia’s a full vampire. We’ll engage her, and if by some crazy stroke of luck she’s still standing at dawn, the sun will take care of her. But it won’t come to that.” His mouth tightened in a determined line.

“Alina!” Gin’s voice cut across the waves of warriors.

Alina turned to see her sister and Mathias approaching. The Hunter had a fierce scowl on his face, and Gin looked…guilty?

“What is it?” Alina asked, reaching for her sister’s hand.

“I kinda had to tell him where our sisters are.” she jerked her head toward Mathias. “He knew we did something. Plus, he could smell that they and their mates weren’t in the building.”

Alina’s eyes widened.
Wow, if you guys have kids, they won’t be able to pull anything over on their dad.
But she kept that thought to herself. “Oh.” She winced.

“What’s going on?” Caine asked.

“Um…” Alina bit her lip.

“Guess who’s
not here
?” Mathias glared.

Caine glanced around. “Who?”

Mathias pinched the bridge of his nose. “The other two Solsti.”

“They had to help Rosa,” Gin blurted.

“They’re coming back,” Alina said at the same time.

“Not here? What the fuck?” Caine frowned. “You planned this?”

“No, we didn’t plan anything. Brooke had a dream and…and they had to go help Rosa. She was in trouble. Rilan and Whysper couldn’t get in touch with her.”

Caine scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Not here. Great. They better get their asses back before Elegia shows up. And before Arawn finds out.”

“This has the potential to be really bad.” Mathias propped his hands on his hips. “I respect the witch and I know she’s become an ally, but shit. This is it. Go time.”

“They’ll be back.” Gin’s tone was resolute.

“They better.” Mathias looked at his mate and shook his head, but then drew her close and kissed her. His voice softened as he murmured, “This is it, Ginger.”

And this is it for me as well
. If her sisters didn’t help Rosa, then all hopes of finding a way around the curse, the price that was demanded of her, was lost.

“They will.” Alina met Gin’s gaze. “It’s a sister thing. They’ll finish what they started. They won’t leave us in a bad spot.”

A crackle shot through the air then, like a charge of static electricity. “That’s our cue,” Caine said.

“What was that?” Alina asked.

“Consider it a magic, silent alert call. Come here.” He led her along the field, past the painted circles where he and Mathias had sparred. Past the dirt ring where she’d made her first targets. They walked through the battalions of Lash demons, all either hunkered down or striding somewhere with determined, almost excited looks on their faces.

Gin and Mathias followed. In minutes, they had reached the wavy barrier that guarded the perimeter of HQ. “We stay here for now.” Caine looked around. “If your sisters were here, they’d be instructed to do the same.”

“So, we’re just supposed to sit back and wait?” Gin asked, her face somewhere between confusion and indignation.

“At first, yes.” Mathias sifted his hands through her hair. “After the first wave engages, then we’ll see what we’re dealing with, and figure out what you girls should do.”

“But we know she kidnapped every type of creature,” Alina said. “Shouldn’t we get ready to target their vulnerabilities?”

“We want to see what techniques they use,” Caine explained. “Will they use spells or just come out of a portal, swinging like crazy?”

“Hmm, I guess that makes sense.” Gin looked up at Mathias. “You guys are the warriors. I’m just a scientist.”

The Hunter’s eyes flared with possession as he cupped her jaw. “A sexy scientist armed with her own personal Zippo.”

Alina couldn’t suppress a smile at the tenderness between the two of them. And despite the fact that she may never have a mate, she was glad her sisters did. She felt the heat of Caine’s eyes on her and dared not look at him. She’d bet her lock picks that he was thinking about the subject of mates too. And she couldn’t go there, not now. Not ever.

Caine and Mathias brought the girls to the designated spot behind an earthen berm. Before they could settle in, Arawn stalked toward them as he made his last minute check of the area.

“Hunter!” Arawn’s voice roared.

Mathias and Caine exchanged a look, then jogged over to their boss.

“Where in the fuck are the other Solsti?” he snarled.

“Unknown, sir,” Mathias said. “At some point after the alarm was triggered, they left the grounds to look for Rosa.”

“Rosa.” Arawn practically spat the word. “Two of them run after one witch while we face an entire fucking army?”

“I wasn’t included in the discussion, sir,” Mathias said.

“I should hope the fuck not,” Arawn yelled, then turned to look at the many Watchers preparing for battle. “Shit.” He raked a hand through his hair. “We proceed without them. We have no other choice. We haven’t had the Solsti battle with us before, and we’re still here.”

Caine and Mathias stood silent.

“Get with your females. Keep them back until we need them or until they have a good, unobstructed shot at something. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Caine and Mathias said in unison.

Arawn stalked away. Mathias rubbed his jaw. “That could have gone worse.”

Caine snorted. “It can always be worse, my friend. Let’s get back to—”

“Hold up, man.” Mathias’s tone was heavy.

“What?” Caine snapped the word out, not wanting to be away from Alina and still wondering what the fuck was going on with her. Not that he could ask her about it in the middle of the coming shit storm.

“Gin, uh, shared some girl stuff with me. About Alina.”

Caine’s eyes narrowed. “Girl stuff? And you feel like telling me this now?”

“It’s about how she got healed. And yeah, I’m telling you now because their sisters are missing and we don’t know what the fuck is going to happen here.”

Caine shook his head, his irritation morphing into confused dread. “Okay. This better be good.”

Mathias took a breath. “Seems like Whysper’s spell revealed a detail that Alina chose to keep to herself. When the earth healed her heart, it…” He shook his head. “It put a claim on her heart.”

He stared at the Hunter like he’d just belted out a show tune. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Caine’s muscles screamed to punch something.

“She can’t give her heart away.”

“What?” He shook his head, the words bouncing like random ping pong balls in his mind. They were there, but wouldn’t line up to make any sense. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“She can’t fall in love.” Mathias’s eyes flared, as if he didn’t like this any more than Caine. “She just can’t.”

No. No fucking way.
“And who in the hell is going to stop her? You sure you’re sober? Cause this is the craziest shit I’ve heard from you, ever.”

“I wish I was wasted, man. But this is real. Every word.” Mathias laid a hand on Caine’s shoulder. “If she falls in love, the earth will reclaim her. It will take her back, and no one knows how or what will happen to her after that.”

Caine opened his mouth but had no words. He stared at his friend, not wanting to believe the words. Not wanting to comprehend the awful truth of Alina’s reality. “Whysper discovered this?” he finally managed to say.

Mathias nodded. “I’m sorry, man.”

“I don’t need your pity,” Caine growled, shaking off Mathias’s hand.

Mathias propped his hands on his hips. “I just wanted you to know. Gin did too. I can tell you and Alina are…close, and it’s more than seasonal. And if anything happens out here, then you should know what’s behind whatever she might say or not say. What she might do or not do. Gin said she’s pretty upset about it. Thinks she has no choice but to be alone all her life.”

Caine dropped his chin to his chest. Alina’s earlier words rushed into his mind with startling clarity.
I can’t do this
. No wonder she hadn’t wanted to talk about it. He blew out a breath, knowing that whatever was coming, they both needed to focus. “Shit. This is seriously fucked up.”

They walked back to Alina and Gin, huddled side by side in a half crouch, whispering. Gin caught sight of them first, a smile breaking through her worry when she caught her mate’s eye.

Caine’s heart squeezed at the emotion that threatened to burst forth. He had always regarded mate bonds as something amazing, mystical, and powerful. Something he hoped to have one day. And now the one female he wanted to bind himself to was unable to reciprocate. Her beautiful, vibrant life, which had been saved and restored, which he had thought might be meant for him, instead served as a cruel denial to them both.