Wolf Dream (19 page)

“Luna, tell Hela that we found Jarak.”

Nothing.

“Luna,”
I said again. My heart raced. I felt out but couldn’t feel her. It felt like a part of my soul was ripped from my chest. I looked at Ian. His jaw was clenched and he grabbed my hand, squeezing tight. He must have felt my detachment. “Dregan?” I dared to whisper. Again, like with Luna, there was nothing.

Our wolves were gone. I wasn’t sure how, but they were. Then I raced over to Jarak. He was barely breathing, just a slow
ragged rise to his chest giving a sign of life. Dark circles were under his eyes; he tried to open them but failed.

Ian dropped to his knees. I gave him a questioning stare. “
We need to help him,” he whispered.

“
Maz,” Jarak tried to talk.

Instantly I understood.
Without our wolves we’d die. I needed to find Maztic. Looking at the window, I began formulating a plan. I darted over to it and opened it, letting in a swift draft of warm air. I looked at Ian and he nodded at me, almost giving me the permission to leave without him. Quickly, I jumped outside, my feet hitting the thick grass. Thankfully Jarak’s room was on the first floor. Luna was beside me instantly.

“Es, it’s bad
. I couldn’t help you. Just like your dreams when I couldn’t reach you.” Luna’s voice was panicked. “We found Maztic, but he’s not good.”

I nodded my head.
“I know, Jarak isn’t good either. Get my dad, I need some help.”

She disappeared
, leaving me to sit under the window where Ian and Jarak were dying. My dad and mom came around the corner of the house where they waited for us, watching as lookouts.

“What’s going on? What do you need?” My dad was so quiet I had to strain to hear him.

I relayed what I needed to Luna, who could talk to Hela and then in turn to my dad. It was a game of telephone, but I couldn’t chance Nicholas overhearing me and ruining our chance to save Jarak—especially with Ian inside with him.

A hand grasped the window
sill, making me jump. Ian was crawling outside. My dad showed up just in time to help him get the rest of the way out. Dregan was next to Ian before I could blink. Ian slumped down in the grass with his back against the siding.

“
I could feel my energy draining so I left.” Ian took a deep breath. Dregan pushed his muzzle under Ian’s hand.

I glanced at
Dad. I still hadn’t gotten a response to my plan. He held his breath for a moment then nodded. My heart rejoiced that he wasn’t going to argue with me about it. He was going to go with Ian to get Maztic, and my mom and I would crawl back through the window to get Jarak. We were the ones who wouldn’t get weak inside the house. At least, I hoped I wouldn’t considering I was only half guardian, or maybe it would take me longer to feel the effects.

The guys took off and I crawled back through the window quietly. I turned to help my mom, but she was already through. We both raced over to Jarak.
Mom glanced at me with wide eyes and I knew what she thought. I wasn’t sure how he was still alive either.

I picked up his legs and she took his upper half, grabbing
underneath his shoulders. He was heavy, but it was his floppy body that made it hard to carry him to the window. I heard a voice in the hall and froze. I didn’t start breathing again until I heard footsteps leaving the direction of Jarak’s room. We made it to the window where my dad and Ian were ready and waiting to help.

Carefully and as quietly as we could, we got Jarak outside. My mom jumped out first. I placed my foot in the windowsill when Jarak’s door slammed wide open.
I pushed myself forward, not wanting to see who was behind me, but they grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back in the room.

I spun out of their grasp and shot a stream of electricity at whoever it was. Ian jumped back through the window at the same time, barreling into the woman I just shocked.
I ran over to them; Ian pinned her down. My mouth hung open. It was Meadow.

While she was far from dead, she was still having a hard time breathing. “You won’t make it out of here alive.” She let out a raspy chuckle.

“Neither will you,” Ian said as he pulled out a small zippered pouch from his back pocket. He never ceased to amaze me, always prepared for everything. I really needed to learn all his little tricks. “This will be more fun that just stabbing you. Although, we’ll still have to take your head, just in case. I don’t want you coming back from the dead. I’ve been saving these for a raining day, and after seeing my brother like that, I’d say it’s pouring.”

He unzipped the pouch and I was surprised at what I saw. Five tiny vials filled with sparkling red fluid were care
fully held in rows by elastic straps. There was another zipped area with mesh netting that held syringes.

“Where did you get those?”

He bobbed his head as he pulled out a vial and needle. “I, uh, I dated a girl who worked at the B.O.M.B. a long time ago and I kinda, you know, took some.”

I smirked at him. “Well, that explains why you have a bag of illegal potions.”

Meadow’s head lifted to see what Ian had, her eyes widening. “You’re just bluffing. Things like that are impossible to steal; otherwise I’d have killed you all by now.”

Ian tapped the syringe after filling it with the liquid. “You sure? Cause,
that’s what these are. You know, I’ve never used these, but I’ve heard they just get more potent over time, kinda like wine.”

She opened her mouth to scream but I was quicker and placed my hand over her
mouth. “Hurry, Ian, before she lets everyone else in the house know we’re here.”

“I know,” he said as he stuck her arm with the needle.

My heart thumped wildly in my chest, caused by a mixture of adrenaline and watching Meadow’s body slowing become limp. A part of me wanted to stop Ian, but I knew it had to be done. My stomach flipped as I watched her take her last breath.

Life definitely hasn’t been the way I thought it would be growing up. Even though we had our differences, Meadow and I loved each other at one time.
Maybe a part of me still did; at least, I loved the memory of who she was before my life flipped upside down. A tear slipped down my face. I closed my eyes and thought back to her funeral. The one she had when I thought she was dead and this life was nothing more than a fairytale.

I remembered how the pink roses draped over the casket. How I wished more than anything
that I could hear her voice, feel her arms wrap around me and embrace me, or that she was still alive. I swallowed hard. That day changed my life.

I opened my eyes and watched Ian removed the needle. It was hard to understand the irony of the situation.
It wasn’t too long ago that I wished she was alive, only to find out she was, but she’d die unless I turned her into a crossbreed, and now I had to kill her. I had to remind myself that she wasn’t the same. She was darker, inhuman, and she wanted me dead.

I sucked in a deep breath and stood up.
“We better go before someone else finds us. Without Luna and Dregan we won’t be able to keep our strength.”

He nodded and stood
also, zipping his pouch and returning it to his back pocket just as Nicholas barged in the room. He sent Ian flying with a single force of magic. The window shut before my mom or dad could get in. Nicholas kept his hand out, holding Ian down to the ground. I raised my hand and sent a ball of fire at Nicholas. It bounced off him and died out before hitting the floor. I ran to him, jumped on his back, and tried to take him down.

Nicholas laughed. “You poor thing, I’m too strong for you. You can’t kill me, that was part of my deal with the Death Keeper. I wanted your magic to be useless on me.”

Nicholas lowered his hand, so I let him go and dropped down by Ian. He was breathing but not moving. “What did you do to him?”

“Oh, that? Another part of my deal
. I think you’ve heard of it, Wolfing. Not that I have to use that on him in this house. Without your wolves, you all are just like the rest of us.”

For crying out loud, how deep did that deal go? “You only have one soul to sell
, Nicholas, how did you get so much out of the deal?”

He laughed louder. “I didn’t just sell mine.”

“What are you talking about? You can’t sell someone else’s soul!”

I hated how I felt. My whole body ached and was heavy—not to mention hollow from not being connected to Luna.

“That’s the beauty, I didn’t have to. I just had to lead someone, anyone, to the Death Keeper. It appears that he was lonely and wanted a companion. I didn’t know it would be so easy to get your friend to be that person, but hey, I’m not complaining.”

I jumped up and pushed him. “You
’re such an asshole! I hate you!”

“We both knew your days were numbered, at least now you’ll be able to see your friend when you die.”

He was so sick. Everything about him was evil. He grasped my arm roughly and pulled me from the room. The last thing I saw was Ian struggling to get up. The door slammed shut and my heart sank with the sound.

My powers had no effect on Nicholas, but I still had the vial Davin gave me. I wanted to laugh. So that was why he gave it to me. He knew I wouldn’t be able to kill Nicholas alone. He must really want Nicholas dead, but then again, he said his deal with Ailaina was off if I died.

I had to almost jog to keep up with Nicholas as he continued to pull me along. He opened a door to a room on the other side of the house and pushed me inside. I landed on my knees on the red carpet. A raspy cackle sounded and I looked up to see the most hideous woman watching me. Her eyes were solid black, but I swore she could see into my soul. Her skin rolled and her body shifted instead of having fluid motions. She must be the demon.

“I’d like you to meet Maluse. She’s helping me learn some new magic.”

I stood up slowly. “You mean dark magic.”

Nicholas shrugged. “Magic is magic. It makes no difference to me whether it’s light or dark, black
, or white.”

Okay, I had to think. I had enough in my vial to kill Nicholas, but what about the demon lady? How could I defend myself against her? My heart raced so fast my fingers tingled. I didn’t have enough energy to fight against dark magic. Heck I didn’t even know if I’d ever be able to fight against it.

“Es!” I could hear my dad yelling for me. Oh no. He can’t be here, Nicholas will kill him.

Nicholas gave a wicked grin. “I think the party is starting,
and it seems we have more guests. What kind of host would I be if I let them amble through the halls with no direction?” He turned and left me alone with Maluse.

“I have orders from the Death Keeper not to kill you.”

I could breathe again. Thank goodness Davin really cared.

She moved a little closer. “But I have never listened to orders.”

And all hope died. I wondered if I was up to testing out her magic to mine. I could already feel a strain on my energy by being separated from Luna and using so much magic, but I had to try. In one motion, I raised my hands and let the sizzling energy shoot out from them. It connected with her, but all she did was laugh. I didn’t let up.

She walked toward me and my legs turned to
Jello. My magic wasn’t affecting her either. She cackled again. “You stupid witch. Don’t you know that you feed a demon’s energy with your magic?”

I dropped my hands. So I just made her stronger and me weaker. Yeah, that was great. The door opened, slamming against the wall. My dad ran in, crashing into Maluse.
“Es, get out of here! The others need you,” he yelled as he wrestled Maluse to the ground. 

They scuffled for
a moment before I realized Nicholas never came back with my dad. I ran from the room out into the hall. I took off toward the front door, but remembered Ian was still in the house somewhere.

I jogged back to the room, but this time t
he door was locked. I ran into it with my shoulder, trying to break it open. After three times I could hear Ian hollering for me to stand back. His foot came through the wood door and I helped by kicking out the rest, just big enough for me to crawl through.

I ran into his arms. “We need to hurry, I don’t know where Nicholas is at.”

We went to the window and after finding it locked, broke the glass out. Ian was pale. I knew that Nicholas zapped most of his strength earlier. “Go, you need to get outside with Dregan.”

“Not without you. I tried to break the door down and get to you, I swear.”

“I know, it’s okay. Just go. My magic has no affect on Nicholas and I didn’t have time to use the vial.”

“What vial might that be?” Nicholas entered the room
, stepping over Meadow’s dead body.

“Just go
, Ian,” I pleaded.

He shook his head.
“No.”

Nicholas grinned. “Isn’t that sweet. He’s willing to die for love.”

“You don’t want him, you want me.”

“What is this? He’d rather die than leave, you’d rather sacrifice yourself to save him… Interesting. I knew you two were an item, but I didn’t realize you bonded. That whole guardian forever together thing isn’t for me. I’m glad I don’t have to spend eternity with just one person. Oh wait, you won’t have to
either.” He walked to Ian. “Because she’ll be dead. You can thank me later.”