He nods, then heads inside. After what feels like an eternity but in reality I know was only a couple of minutes, Garrett reappears in the doorway.
“There’s nobody here, but I did find this.” He holds up a black feather and, for the second time tonight, my world comes crashing down around me.
“The Raven. He has Selene.”
Garrett’s answering expression is grim. “Yes, but we can find her.”
“How did this happen? She was supposed to be safe. He was supposed to be after me! Why didn’t he take me?” I think back to the time I felt like someone was watching us walk to the diner for breakfast. It was him. The Raven saw me with Selene, and that’s why he took her. It’s my fault.
“Jared,” Garrett snaps. “Focus. You can use your insight powers to track them using the feather he left.”
“There’s a signature this time?”
“Yeah. Looks like the SIB’s theory that Raymond was cloaking him was right. Now he’s dead, the magic’s worn off. Huxley taught you how to track, right?”
“Yes, but I’m supposed to use a personal item or DNA. I don’t know if a bird feather will work—it’ll depend on how much leaving them behind means to him.”
“The feather’s not from a bird. This is a demon feather. Whoever The Raven is, he’s got wings.”
Hope dawns like the first rays of sunlight. “Give it to me.” I take the feather and close my eyes, focusing on my inner magic just like Huxley taught me. A faint tugging sensation starts just beneath my sternum. I lock eyes with Garrett. “I’ve got his signature. Let’s go.”
We race through town, the tugging in my chest growing stronger the closer we get to wherever The Raven’s holding Selene.
“We’re almost on pack land,” Garrett tells me, concern for his fellow shifters clear, but we don’t slow down.
Minutes later, a barn comes into view. For being in the middle of the countryside at night, it’s eerily quiet, like the creatures here can sense the evil lurking within the wooden structure.
“He’s in there.”
“I only sense two supernaturals—one demon, one witch—you?”
Switching my focus from the signature on the feather to the barn that’s seen better days, I wait a beat to be sure before replying. “Same. How do you want to do this?”
“We should call the SIB agents for backup.”
“Not a chance. He’s got Selene. I’m not waiting for them.”
“No!” Selene’s bloodcurdling scream travels through the night air, and I take off running towards the dilapidated structure.
Chapter 28
Selene
The first thing I notice is the cold. Something scratchy digging into my wrists. Rope? Wetness on my cheeks. I’ve been crying. Why?
Lifeless eyes. Tortoiseshell glasses lying broken on the floor. Jared. Dead.
My mate is dead.
Agony rips through my chest, and I bite back an anguished scream. I don’t know where I am, but I can sense I’m not alone. My captor doesn’t know I’ve regained consciousness. I can use that. The button that tore away in my struggle in still tucked into my fist, and I tighten my grip on it so it doesn’t fall to the floor and give away the fact I’m awake. As subtly as I can, I try to tug apart my bound wrists where they rest at the small of my back, but it’s no use. All pulling does is put more strain on my shoulders.
“I know you’re awake.”
There goes that plan. My eyelids snap open.
We’re in a barn. The state of disrepair tells me it’s not been in use for some time. I look down and see my ankles are bound to the legs of the chair I’m perched on. Movement captures myattention, my gaze falling on a demon dressed in a sharp black three-piece suit.
It’s the man from that day at Sweet Dreams, the one who was watching me. He’s The Raven. The fear demon who’s had the entire supernatural community on edge, worried his crimes would lead to humans discovering our existence. He’s older than I expected, fine lines etched into his ivory skin. Given how slowly supes age, he must be hundreds of years old. While his suit and shiny brogues look expensive, everything else about him is painfully average. He’s the kind of supe you’d pass on the street without a second glance. If it hadn’t been for his intense stare and creepy smile that day at Dove’s bakery, I’d have forgotten him completely.
