“I know,” he answered out loud. “And Idounderstand that. But please, talk to me. Don’t have those thoughts and not share them with me. We bear this together. That’s how true mates are meant to be.”
She nodded and willed herself not to shed any tears. Not yet. There was too much to figure out to give in to an emotional breakdown right now. There was no way in any version of hell that she was going back to that room and allow them to stick that sadistic machine back on her. They were going to get out of this compound, come hell or highwater.
Sally looked back at Titus. “I love you, and I’m proud of you. You’ve been so strong through all of this.”
“I cried,” Titus admitted, and her heart broke a little more. “I missed you.”
“Awe, baby.” Sally pulled him into her arms. “I missed you, too. Always.”
She held him as her eyes met Costin’s, and she saw that the glow had faded a bit. He simply stared at her, as though he was afraid if he looked away, she would disappear. It reminded her of the way he’d stared at her when she’d first come home from Ocean Side, and it made her stomach turn. Sally didn’t want to retain any memories from that time, but she also knew she would be a fool to attempt to forget the past. The past was something that should be learned from, no matter how horrific, rather than erased. It was a part of her. It made her stronger, even as it made her feel vulnerable.
There was a knock on the wall, a patterned knock, and she couldn’t help but smile. Titus scurried from her arms and over to the wall and began knocking back. Sally’s eyes widened as she looked at her mate. “You taught him morse code?”
Costin shrugged as he reached out and ran a finger down her cheek. “It kept us both occupied. Jen is a good friend.”
Sally smiled. She realized from the emotions coming through their bond that Jen was a big reason Costin was sitting across from her, sane instead of feral. “She’s a damn good friend.”
“Aunt Jen said someone better tell her what the hell is going on,” Titus said in his sternest voice, as if he felt the need to speak on her behalf rather than just relay her message.
Costin grabbed Sally’s hand as he stood and pulled her up. He walked over to the wall, with her in tow, and began knocking a response. “I’m telling her you’re back, safe and sound.” He paused and stared down at her. “Relatively safe and sound,” he corrected.
There was more knocking from the other side, and Titus gasped. He shook his little head. “I can’t repeat that. I already got in trouble for using those words.”
Sally smiled, and it felt so freaking good. “It’s probably best to never repeat anything Aunt Jen says.”
Titus grinned. “That’s the same thing daddy said.”
“What did she say?” Sally asked. “And censor it, please.”
Costin pulled her closer to him. She knew he wasn’t going to be able to stop touching her. It was his wolf’s way of reconnecting and reassuring itself that she was truly safe. Sally would not complain. “She said she’s going to barbeque Alston’s aaas—er, butt, on a spit and then watch as the vultures eat his bal—uh, I mean … male reproductive organs.”
Sally’s eyes widened. “Wow, just when I don’t think she can get any more creative.”
“Oh, she’s been quite creative lately,” Costin assured her.
“Tell her that we’re getting out of this joint,” Sally said.“There’s no way I’m letting Alston take me from you two again,”she finished through their bond.
“It was bad, wasn’t it?”His voice sounded so broken but also full of rage.
“We will deal with it, but right now we have to put our heads together and figure out how to escape. We’re freaking supernatural beings. There has to be a way for us to get out.”
Costin nodded, his jaw tight with determination. “You’re right, Sally mine. We’re going to figure this out.” He began knocking a message to Jen, and a moment later they heard a scream, but not one of terror. This was a victory cry and then an ear-piercing howl.
Titus threw his head back and let out his own wolf howl. Though it was definitely puppy-like, it was not a little boy’s voice making the sound. It was a beast. Costin joined the cry, and then Sally heard another howl that she knew to be Jacque’s.
Hope flared inside of Sally. They could do this. They’d overcome impossible odds again and again. And they would do it one more time.
* * *
“I’ve tried contacting her,but there’s something blocking me.”
Vasile kept his wolf’s need to growl his frustration in check as he nodded to Cyn. She had been checking in with Vasile daily for the past five days while they tried to gather more information on the Order before meeting with all their other allies in the sprite realm. “It’s not your fault. Sometimes, as supernaturals, we forget that we aren’t all powerful. We have limitations. That doesn’t make us weak,” Vasile said.
“But what does it mean?” Wadim asked. Their pack historian, usually levelheaded, was irritable and short tempered. Vasile understood why. Wadim felt like he was letting their pack down because he couldn’t find the information they needed, and he was frustrated. Even after reaching out to the other packs to check their archives they still hadn’t found anything that might give them an inkling as to why the Order needed a gypsy healer or why they wanted to enslave the human population. Power, yes, that was a strong motivator to a select few with that kind of evil inside of them. But the Order was proving itself to be much larger than Vasile had realized. It had somehow been secretly thriving for all this time, and for some reason, the Order had decided now was the time to come out of hiding and take over the world. There had to be something they were missing.
“It means we need to trust that Peri is fine and doing what she needs to do,” Vasile explained, keeping his tone even. “Volcan is a threat, and she has been given charge over the five new healers that he’s attempting to capture. She told me she might have to leave. Did I expect it to be in the middle of a battle? No. But that is likely not something she could control. As for not being able to contact her…” He shook his head. “I don’t think something has happened to her. Remember she’s mated to my brother. He would come to me, and if she died, he would also, and I would know.”
Wadim appeared to calm slightly after Vasile’s explanation. Alina walkedover to Wadim and wrapped her arms around him. It was a motherly hug, one he knew she needed to give because she saw all of their younger pack members as her own children. She felt responsible for their emotional well-being in the same way Vasile felt responsible for their physical well-being.
