Purity (29 page)

“Where. Is. Perdita?” I called out again, and both Joey and Nathan shrank back at the sound of my voice. “Don’t let go,” I demanded, and they gripped my shoulders harder as if they couldn’t refuse my command.

The crystal moved again, and the candles extinguished themselves. The breeze died, and the burning in my eyes cooled. I breathed deeply, trying to centre myself, find my footing, but all I was aware of was the pure ecstasy of the power I held in my hands.

“Holy crap,” I whispered, seeing the terrified faces around me. “That felt amazing!”

I wanted to do more, to test myself, stretch this newfound power, but I shook myself out of that frame of mind. We weren’t finished yet. I peered at the map. “It’s in the middle of the mountains, the middle of nowhere. How do we even get there?”

Stephen pushed me out of the way, the quickest to recover. His reaction to everything had surprised me. He wanted his daughter back—he didn’t care what he had to believe to do it. “Look, the quickest way will be through Newtownmountkennedy. We can drive along this road, and eventually…” He glanced up at Nathan. “You’ll be able to cut through here. It’ll be a long run.”

“Quickest one of my life,” Nathan promised.

“Ryan can track her from this,” I whispered.

“What the hell is going on?” Tammie said. “What just happened?”

“Oh, I’ve no idea, love, but let them go,” Perdita’s gran said impatiently. “Hurry now. Hurry.” She ushered Nathan, Stephen, and me through the door, but Joey called my name, and I hesitated.

“I don’t want to know,” he said firmly.

I nodded my understanding.

We headed back home with news. I prayed I had done the right thing. Prayed I wasn’t too late.

Perdita

I sat next to the door and waited for it to open, more nauseated with every tremble of my body. When Martha came in and saw me there, she kicked me aside, but I didn’t make a sound. I glanced at the girls, who stared at each other in silence.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I asked Martha loudly. “I saw you before, giving Vin ideas. What’s your problem?”

Martha flew across the room and grabbed my throat. “What’s my problem?” she hissed, leaning over me as her nails lengthened. “Lia Evans is my problem. I’ve been under her shadow my entire life. His wolf doesn’t recognise me as mate. Recognises her, doesn’t it? Couldn’t have a child, so she went and had two healthy wolf boys. He’s sent the strong wolves, the ones who could rival him one day, after her family, and when it all goes wrong, when somebody dies, he kills our wolves without hesitation. Sent my nephew after
her
daughter-in-law. Tore out his throat in front of everyone to prove a point when she died. He’s dragged us from forgotten hole to forgotten hole, each one worse than the last, all in an attempt to soothe his rotten soul. All for
her
. That one ruined my pack, ruined all of us, and I’m going to destroy everything she’s ever done. That includes ripping apart your lover boy.”

I choked out a sound, barely able to breathe. Her nails dug deeper into my skin, her fingers putting more pressure on my throat, and I struggled to grip the sharp-edged rock I had hidden in my shoe the last time we had been taken outside to pee. I had bruised the sole of my foot, but I had gotten away with it, and that rock was my only hope.

In an instant it was gone, falling away from the tips of my useless fingers. An odd sound rang in my ears, and the hands on my neck loosened. Martha collapsed on top of me, and I pushed her away in disgust.

“Thought it looked like you needed a hand,” Rachel said, panting heavily, the bloody rock still clutched in her fingers.

“I told you to run,” I scolded as she let the rock fall. “Come on, before she wakes up.”

We ran to the door, but a werewolf stood in our way.

“Micah,” Rachel said softly, pleadingly.

He stared back at her for too many heartbeats. “Let’s go,” he said. “This way. Come on.”

I ran after them, unable to believe our luck. He led us behind the shed and made us crouch as he checked for guards, but everyone was too busy getting ready to even think about us. We were Martha’s responsibility. She should have been able to handle a few human girls.

We ran and were soon covered by trees. Not long after, we heard a howl, and Micah looked over his shoulder in concern. “They’ve noticed,” he said, and he hesitated.

“Run, you idiot!” I cried out, but I tripped and tumbled down a hill, thorny plants and bushes scratching at my skin as I fell.

The others came scrambling down after me, but when I tried to put weight on my stupid ankle, I collapsed to the ground.

I shook my head, trying not to cry with fear and frustration. “Go,” I urged. “I can’t move. Go and run for help. Try to find someone. Quickly! Get out of here and don’t come back!”

“We can’t leave her,” Meg protested.

But Micah grabbed her arm and pushed her on. “She’s right. We can get help.” He nodded at me, and they ran.

I was left to crawl along the forest floor, afraid to stop for too long. I heard wolves running in the distance, and I froze, waiting for them to find me. They ran past, probably on the trail of the others. I hoped Micah could get them away. I hoped…

Two figures burst through the trees, and my heart leapt into my chest until I recognised their faces.

“Ryan!” I cried. “The girls, they’re with another wolf. He’s helping them, so don’t kill him.” I pointed in the way they had gone. “Quickly, you can catch up to them. But hurry because the others are after them.”

He ripped his clothes apart and shifted into wolf form. He let loose an angry howl and raced away.

Nathan knelt before me, his face a mixture of a million emotions. He ran his hands frantically down my arms as if trying to fix me somehow.

“You’re late again,” I teased in hopes of calming his obvious distress.

He held my hands. “It’s the very last time, I swear.”

There was another howl in the distance, and his grip tightened.

“We need to get you out of here,” he said. “There’s a car waiting for you.”

“I seriously do not have a problem with that, but I kinda need a hand. I twisted my ankle or something.”

He nodded, and I put my arms around his shoulders to help myself up, but he pressed his face against my neck, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe.

“Hey,” I said. “It’s okay. I’m fine, Nathan.”

“I love you, Perdita. Don’t… don’t do this to me again, please.”

A weird rush of warmth ran through my body, but I pushed him away. “Really, Nathan? Now? Now’s the time to say that?”

He saw my grin and spluttered out a laugh. “Sorry, I’m just… sorry. We have to hurry, I know.”

“Help me up, please.”

He lifted me to my feet easily, supporting me when I couldn’t stand by myself. I pulled myself closer to him, fully aware of how badly I stank, but not really caring anymore. I held on to him, gazing into his brown eyes, seeing his worry and concern.

“Nathan, I love you, too. But they’re after us, so let’s get out of here.”

He grinned and stood there staring at me with a massive smile on his face until I elbowed him.

“Sorry,” he said, still grinning. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Put your arm around my shoulders. Try not to put too much weight on your foot.”

“How did you find us?” I asked as we half-hopped back the way he had come.

“Amelia. Magic. Ryan tracked you to Vin’s camp, but I caught your scent going in the other direction so we followed it. We thought we were going to have to break you out. Never really thought you’d have already escaped.”

“Got bored.”

He laughed again, lifting me in his arms. It was all very damsel in distress, and I put up a little fuss.

“Get over it,” he said. “This will go quicker if you aren’t limping. We just need you to get to the jeep, and then your dad will drive you to safety.”

“Wait, what? Dad’s here?”

“A lot’s changed,” he said.

I clung to him, praying he wouldn’t fall, but we made better time with him doing the running, despite how heavy his breathing had become.

“Someone’s behind us,” he said after a minute. “Try to look less vulnerable.”

I made a face.

“Also, I’m going to get naked now. Try not to get too excited.”

I grinned despite the breathtaking fear. It was just him and a limping me. How could we do this?

He shifted and howled, readying himself for battle, and I inched away. I heard the wolf before I saw her, but I knew it was Martha. She would never let me go, and I recognised the same evil gaze in her eyes. She was the one pulling Vin’s strings. She was worse than he was.

Martha rushed at me, jaws moving soundlessly, and Nathan took his chance to attack. She never reached me, and I couldn’t help giving her a smug smile as he dragged her back with vicious tugs. I managed to get a solid kick at her head with my good foot as payback for all of the times she had hit me, for all of the times she had egged Vin on and made everything worse.

They fought hard, but he gained ground on her easily. His control was stronger than his anger, and a bitter rage was all Martha had. Beaten, she limped away, and he let her. I was proud of him for staying calm, no matter what she deserved.

But a naked figure strolled through the woods, laughing. “There you are, Martha. Did you really think I would let you away with it all?” He kicked her foot, then glanced at Nathan with surprise. “Are you actually trying to show her mercy, boy?” he asked, and he stomped on her back as he sauntered by. The bones cracked noisily, and she lay whimpering.

Lay dying.

“So this is your boy,” Vin said to me. “He would have given you a healthy strapping wolf to mother if he had lived long enough. Keep your eyes open, my dear. I want you to see the end. All of us will see the end today.”

Nathan growled ferociously, keeping himself between Vin and me. He ran at Vin, but the older wolf had phased and leapt out of the way before Nathan reached him.

Vin glanced at me, his tongue hanging out as if he were laughing. I backed away farther, unable to watch the madness in his eyes. Nathan would have to kill him. This wolf wanted to die. Deep down, he was eager to meet death. Until that happened, he would keep killing, leaving a trail of destruction in his path.

They fought, rolling around, snapping and attacking with deadly seriousness. It was intense, the scariest battle yet, but Nathan kept his cool long enough to draw first blood.

My heart thudded in my chest so loudly that I never heard the second wolf approach.

Jakob Evans knocked his own grandson out of the way in his attempt to get to Vin. Nathan snarled, but he backed away.

Nathan came over to sit with me as Jakob and Vin tried to destroy each other. They fought for Lia, fought for everyone who had died, and when Vin ran off on three legs, Jakob followed without so much as a glance at us.

I ran my hands along Nathan’s fur, checking frantically, but he was okay. At least on the surface. The same couldn’t be said for Martha. We stayed there, not knowing what to do, until Jeremy came along two minutes later and put her out of her misery. At least, I thought he was being merciful.

Nathan turned his back and shifted again. He was shaking, covered in dried blood, and I could hear in his voice that he was upset.

“Opa’s gone after Vin,” was all he said to Jeremy, who then sped off after his grandfather. To help him or stop him, I had no idea.

Nathan helped me limp away because I refused to let him carry me after fighting.

“I’ll leave you with your dad,” he said. “Get home, listen to whatever your dad says to tell the police, and I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”

“You’re going back?”

He shrugged. “I have to, Perdita. This isn’t over.”

“That was…”

“I know.” He kissed my cheek and rested his forehead against mine, yet another shudder running through him. “I know, but it’s all happening in the other direction. I’ll be back.”

“Swear.”

He smiled. “I swear to you, I will come back.”