Wolfsbane (31 page)

Connor, who’d been watching silently, uttered a sharp exclamation as the torn flesh of Ethan’s arm began to mend itself before our eyes. Shredded muscle rebuilt like new, skin closed up, completely free of scars. Ethan’s eyes remained closed. He was lost in the power of Sabine’s blood flowing through him.

When the wound had healed, she gripped his shoulder, leveraging her arm from his grasp.

“Easy there, tiger,” she murmured. “Or you’l make me faint.” Her voice brought Ethan back to the roof, the cold night, and five pairs of eyes locked on him.

He twisted away from Sabine, jumping to his feet, limbs shaking. “That . . .”

His face took on a haunted cast as he stared at her, backing away. The expression dissolved into a scowl. “I didn’t want that.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, shivering as a gust of icy wind rushed over her bare skin.

Ethan’s eyes were stil hard, but he shrugged off his leather duster and tossed it to her.

“I’m going to make sure there aren’t any wraiths finding their way up the fire escapes.”

Wraiths. Bryn whimpered. I glanced at her and saw that the pack, except Sabine, had reverted to wolf form. Nev and Mason pressed their muzzles against her, their own limbs trembling. I shuddered. It was too easy to imagine the torment that my packmates had been subjected to, the memories of fear and pain that would stay with them even though they were now free. I drew a slow breath, grasping for some way to ease my mind. We were lucky that only Guardians had ambushed us. We’d been able to fight them off.

Lucky . . .

“Al clear,” Ethan said, returning to our huddled group. “No one came after us. Is Adne ready to open the door now?”

“She is,” Adne said, returning from her solitude.

The tracks of tears stil glistened on her face. “Are you sure no one is fol owing us? They were outside before; that’s how I ended up here.”

“What happened?” Connor asked. “How did you get to us?”

“After you’d been gone about twenty minutes, there was a lot of activity on the street outside the club—cars pul ing up; I heard shouting and movement,” she said. “Dozens of Guardians went in through the side door. I worried I’d be spotted, so I closed the portal and opened a door to this roof. I waited until I realized you were in serious trouble.”

“What made you open the door inside Eden?”

Ethan asked.

“I watched the club from the edge of the roof,” she said. “The Guardians kept coming. There were so many of them, and so much time had passed. I knew you’d be trapped. I decided I had to risk it.”

“Thanks for that,” Ethan said. “We’d al be kibbles and bits if you’d played it safe.”

“Guardians don’t eat people,” I said, frowning. “We never eat people.”

“You know what I meant.” He grinned.

“I’m just glad I was paying attention when your brother described the prison,” Adne said, offering me a thin smile. “Those were the details I used to weave the door.”

“How do you do it?” Sabine asked, pul ing Ethan’s jacket tight around her body. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“Adne can use magic to connect one place to another,” I said, trying to make the explanation as simple as possible. “It’s how they travel.”

“Neat-o.” Nev had shifted into human form. “And the Keepers don’t just fol ow you?”

“The Keepers can’t create the doors,” I said quickly. “I’l explain that later.” I didn’t think now was the time to tel my packmates that the Searchers described our creation as a sin against nature. And I was distracted. Ethan’s words buzzed in my ears.

No one had come after us. Why? We were hidden, but not that wel . It would only make sense for the Keepers to comb the streets, even the rooftops, hunting us.

Fighting back more than a brush of nerves, I raised my voice. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense?” Connor asked.

“Our escape,” I said. “It was too easy.”

“Too easy?” Adne hissed. “My father is dead!”

Sorrow spil ed through me. I hung my head, thinking of Monroe, of Ren. Of how close a father had been to reclaiming his stolen son. I wondered if Bryn, Mason, Nev, and Sabine would carry the marks of torment like my brother. They seemed fine now, but would the adrenaline rush of freedom be sucked away by misery when they realized that nothing in their lives would ever be the same? Had we truly saved anyone? Regret drowned my unease, sending me into a spiral of despair.

Connor pressed his hand onto her shoulder.

“Hang on, Adne. I don’t think she means offense.

What are you talking about, Cal a?”

I shook my head, not wanting to dig myself into a deeper hole where I’d be suffocated by doubt and regret.

“No,” Ethan said. “Tel us. You know the Keepers.

What’s bothering you about this?”

The strength in his voice pul ed me out of self-pity.

I tried to remember who I was, or at least who I’d once been. A leader. A warrior.

“It was a trap,” I said.

“Obviously.” Ethan nodded, his eyes narrowing while I spoke. “And a pretty good one.”

“But not as good as it could have been,” I said slowly.

“Keep going,” he said.

“Wraiths,” I said simply.

Connor left Adne’s side and took a few steps toward me. “What about them?”

“Why weren’t there any wraiths?” I struggled to keep confidence in my voice despite the new, sickening fear that snaked through my gut.

No one answered, but everyone’s eyes were on me.

“Think about it,” I said. “They knew we were coming, but we only fought Guardians. I didn’t see any Keepers, and without Keepers there are no wraiths.”

“What are you getting at?” Ethan asked.

“Where were the Keepers?” I replied. “Why weren’t they part of the ambush?”

“Didn’t want to get their hands dirty,” Connor grumbled.

“No,” Ethan said, a shadow of concern passing over his face. “She’s got a point. Why wouldn’t they use their most effective weapon if they wanted to make sure we didn’t escape?”

“Maybe they were around but not in the building,”

Adne said, sweeping tears away with the back of her hand. “I’ve never opened an inside door before today. They could have been waiting for us to make a run for it once we left the club.”

“Maybe,” I said, but fear continued to swarm over my skin. “But then why aren’t they down there looking for us?”

No one answered.

“Wel , it’s not going to do us any good to wait here and find out,” Connor said. “Adne, open a door. Let’s get back to Denver.”

“Right,” Adne said. “Just do the job. Like nothing’s happened.”

She turned away from him, sulking. Not a good sign. My unease grew by the second. We needed to get out of here and Adne’s grief was slowing our escape. She might be gifted for her age, but she was stil young and now it showed. Connor grabbed her shoulders, whirling her to face him. He took her chin in his palm, leaning close to her.

“You’re not the only one who lost someone today, Adne,” he murmured, resting his forehead against hers. “I loved your father too. So did Ethan.”

I looked away, feeling uninvited into this intimate moment.

“But you’re the only one who can get us out of here,” I heard Connor say.

I cast a sidelong glance at them. Adne had pul ed away from him and was drawing the skeans from her belt.

“I know,” she said, and began to weave.

Bryn shifted forms and came to my side.

“That’s amazing,” she whispered, watching the door emerge from strands of light.

I nodded.

She took my hand. “I’m sorry I walked away from you, Cal a. There’s just so much that’s happened.”

“Don’t apologize,” I said. “It’s al my fault.”

“No, it’s not,” she said. I was surprised by the hard edge in her voice. “If the others stayed behind, they’re fools. And it isn’t your fault.”

“But Ren . . .” When he’d kissed me, I’d felt how much he stil wanted me, and from the way my blood had caught fire, I knew at least part of me stil ached for him. The knowledge caught me by surprise, stealing my breath as I relived those horrible first minutes in the cel with Ren. I could stil see the pain in his eyes when he’d thought he had no choice but to hurt me.

“No,” Bryn said, her voice plowing through my flurry of thoughts. “Cal a, I don’t know why you left Vail, but I can guess. Ansel and I were guessing a long time ago. I don’t blame you for fol owing your heart.”

“There’s more than that,” I said.

“I’m sure there is,” she said. “But even if there wasn’t, it wouldn’t make leaving wrong. And you stil wouldn’t be to blame for Ren’s choice. That’s al it is.

His choice.”

I looked at her, stung by the love in her eyes. The forgiveness.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“What in life is worth a sacrifice, if not love?” She smiled sadly.

“You sound like Ansel.”

“Like attracts like,” she said, and I flinched.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said quickly, not wanting to tel her I’d heard that said before. That Ren had spoken those very words to me, and in remembering them, I now realized it was his way of tel ing me that we were meant for each other. The memory smoldered in my chest like lit coals, burning out much too slowly.

“I can’t wait to see him.” I realized Bryn had been in the middle of a sentence.

“I’m sorry?” I said, shaking myself free of the past.

“Ansel,” she said. “He’s there, right? In Denver?”

“Yes,” I said. “But Bryn, he’s—” I stopped myself.

Maybe Ansel would change if Bryn were there to help him. I didn’t want to make her any more afraid than she already was.

“He’s waiting for you,” I said, and she smiled.

When the door was finished, I gazed at it, puzzled.

Something didn’t look right. I couldn’t see the room we’d come from. The image behind the portal was dark and hazy.

“Is that where we’re going?” Mason asked, also wary of the darkness that lay before us.

“Yes,” Adne said uneasily. “I’m not sure why it’s dark.”

“It’s not important,” Connor said. “Anyway, we don’t have a choice; we have to go back. If something’s wrong, we’l know when we get there.”

“Very reassuring,” I said. Bryn drew a quick, nervous breath and I squeezed her hand, sorry I’d said anything.

“But true,” Connor replied. “Ethan, lead the way.

Wolves, go right behind him and put on your game faces, just in case. Cal a, Adne, and I wil fol ow you and close the door as soon as we’re al through.”

“Game faces?” Bryn frowned.

“He wants you to change forms,” I said.

“Happily,” Nev said, and was a wolf in the next moment. Mason and Bryn both shifted. The three wolves circled one another, licking, nuzzling. Sabine was watching Ethan. She glanced at the other Guardians but didn’t shift.

Connor smiled sadly at me. “Go on, that’s where you belong.”

My fangs were already sharpening when I returned his smile. “Just don’t try to pet me.”

Welcome back, Calla.
Bryn licked my jaw.
We’ve
missed you.

Nev and Mason crowded in, pushing at me with their muzzles.

Are we okay?
I asked.

You tell us, you’re the alpha.
Nev nipped at my shoulder.
I figure if this is our pack now, we’d better
make the best of it.

I wagged my tail.
Fair enough.

Can we get out of here now?
Mason pawed at the ground.

I glanced at Connor, who watched me, a mixture of awe and curiosity playing over his face.

Sabine gazed at us, but she kept her distance, remaining in human form.

Ethan raised an eyebrow, glancing from her to our pack, as though her choice to stay away from us surprised him.

“Looks like we’re ready, Ethan,” Connor said. “You want to lead the way? Now that you’re a whole man again.”

“Go to hel ,” Ethan growled, blushing when he cast a sidelong glance at Sabine.

She was stil staring ahead, eyes distant, and she wrapped herself tighter in his jacket, shivering. I didn’t think it was from the cold.

“Why don’t you fol ow him, Sabine?” Connor said.

“Stick close together.”

She nodded, disappearing into the portal. My packmates rushed after her. I hesitated for a moment, watching them go, glancing back at the al ey that led to Eden. That place had changed everything. It had taken my brother’s soul, claimed Ren as its own, and become Monroe’s grave.

Instead of fol owing the pack, I returned to my human body and faced Connor. “What if—”

Connor shook his head. “No looking back.”

I was surprised when he stepped forward, pul ing me into an embrace.

“We al lost something today,” he whispered, resting his chin against the crown of my hair.

Adne watched us silently; tears standing in her eyes reflected the subtle, wavering gleam of the open door.

I nodded, leaning into him for a moment before I shifted into wolf form and leapt into the portal’s murky depths.

TWENTY-FOUR

A BLAST OF HEAT PUSHED
me back, throwing me toward the door from which I’d just emerged. For a moment I thought something had gone wrong with the portal and I was trapped between worlds, tumbling into oblivion, and would soon be burning alive. I couldn’t see. Thick smoke fil ed the air, stinging my eyes, fil ing my lungs. I shifted forms, wanting to cal out to the Searchers, but I dropped to my knees, coughing, grasping in front of me blindly.