He listened for another moment, nodding once before ending the call. He lowered the phone, his grip still iron-tight, and stared at the ground. His jaw worked as he processed whatever bombshell had just been dropped. Lorna waited, giving him the space he needed. She knew better than to push. He’d tell her everything once he’d processed it.
Finally, he looked up, his golden eyes locking onto hers. “That was Gwen.” His voice was low but steady. “One of the high fae. She, Maxim, Alice, Finn, Lizzy, and Cindy Morgan are trapped in the sprite realm. Fane and a group of the pack went after Celise, but they never returned.”
Lorna’s heart skipped a beat. “The unhinged sprite,” she whispered.
Boain nodded grimly. “The same. Gwen barely made it into the sprite realm before it was sealed. She tried getting into the fae and djinn realms first, but those were locked, too.”
Lorna’s mind raced, piecing together the fragments of information. “And the other US alphas you mentioned? They’re still in the human realm?”
Boain’s expression darkened. “Yes. I don’t know how much they know. I imagine that they certainly aren’t aware that a gypsy healer that was in bed with Celise caused all of this.”
Lorna’s breath caught. “Which healer would work with her?”
Boain’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Jewel Black, according to Gwen. But the details are scarce. If we can figure out where all of this went down, we might come across some witnesses. There are eyes everywhere. Peri’s favorites happen to be pixies.”
Lorna shook her head as disbelief washed over her. Jewel, a healer, siding with a sprite who’d embraced darkness? It seemed impossible. And yet…
“What are we going to do?” Lorna’s voice trembled slightly. She glanced over her shoulder toward the hybrids, their movements barely visible through the broken windows of the building. The task she and Boain had been given—to hunt and destroy these abominations—suddenly felt secondary to the storm brewing on the horizon.
Boain reached out, cupping her cheek with surprising gentleness. The contrast between his touch and the barely contained rage in his eyes was startling. “We’re going to do what we always do.” His determination bled through their bond. “Whatever it takes to protect our pack.”
He laced his fingers through hers, pulling her close as they turned to leave the alley. “I didn’t smell any fae near that group of hybrids,” he explained, his tone all business now. “So, let’s find another nest. If there’s a fae warrior anywhere nearby, we’ll find them. And then we’ll figure out how to fix this mess.”
Lorna nodded, her resolve hardening. The hybrids might be a problem, but the bigger threat was clear now. They had to get their pack and allies back. And she and Boain would face it together, no matter what it took.
* * *
Tyler paced from one end of the living room to the other, a steady growl building in his chest. The last thing on earth he’d expected to get was a phone call from a high fae telling him that Fane and his people were missing. In his long life he’d seen so much pain. He’d thought the worst of it was Vasile and Alina’s deaths, but if Fane died that might very well be the end of the Canis lupus. There would be no leader to keep the dominant males in check. Chaos would reign, and a war between supernaturals would take over the human realm.
Tyler’s phone rang, dragging him from his morbid thoughts. He snarled at the device he’d carelessly tossed onto the couch, as if it was the cause of all his worry. He snatched it up and tapped the screen. “What?”
“Nice to hear your voice, too, Tyler.” Jeff Stone’s deep, southern drawl came through the speaker, calm and measured as always. But Tyler didn’t miss the tension beneath it. The Texas alpha wasn’t one to mince words or make small talk, especially when something serious was afoot.
“Jeff.” Tyler scrubbed a hand down his face. He forced himself to take a breath, to loosen the tight coil of anger and worry in his chest. “What’s going on?” He glanced at the clock on the mantel and noted that it was midnight. “This isn’t exactly a social hour.”
“No, it’s not. I just got off the phone with one of my trackers. They’ve been poking around some of the supernatural hangouts in Houston, and I’m hearing things that aren’t sitting right with me.”
Tyler’s pacing stopped, and he turned to face the crackling fire in the hearth. The flames danced, casting shadows across the room, but the warmth did little to ease the chill creeping up his spine. Was there more going on than what he’d already learned? Could there possibly be something worse than the alpha of all alphas and his mate going missing? “What kind of things?” he demanded.
“Things like Fane’s pack being gone.” Jeff’s bluntness hit Tyler like a physical blow all over again. Why was hearing it spoken out loud so much worse than just knowing it in his mind? “Not just gone, Tyler. Disappeared. Vanished without a trace.”
Tyler’s grip on the phone tightened until the plastic casing creaked in protest. “I already know about Fane,” he ground out. “A high fae contacted me this morning. Said he and his group are missing. What else have you heard?”
There was a pause on Jeff’s end, the kind that made Tyler’s wolf bristle with impatience. “There’s talk of a sprite named Celise.” Jeff’s tone was grim. “She’s claiming to have something called theBook of the Dead.You ever heard of it?”
Tyler’s blood ran cold. He’d heard whispers of the book—ancient, forbidden, and dangerous beyond comprehension. It was the kind of thing that should’ve been locked away in the deepest, most unreachable part of the supernatural realms, never to see the light of day. The fact that anyone, let alone a sprite—who were known to still possess significant amounts of magic despite the waning power of the supernaturals—was claiming to possess it was a nightmare come to life.
“I’ve heard of it.” Tyler’s voice was low as a memory surfaced. “But it was supposed to have been destroyed after the witch, Desdemona, attempted to use it to open the gates of Hell.” Somewhere along the way in the past few years that information had been tucked away in Tyler’s mind, but now he remembered what Vasile had shared about the Warlock King, how he’d met Lilly, and what all had gone down with them.
Jeff let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, well, someone forgot to tell Celise that it was destroyed and what she has must be a shoddy imposter. Oh, except for the fact that the shoddy imposter is actually working. My trackers are hearing rumors that she’s wielding power over supernaturals. There’s a growing darkness, Tyler. Something’s stirring, and it’s got everyone, including me, on edge.”
Tyler’s wolf growled, the sound rumbling low in his chest.Darkness. The word echoed in his mind like a death knell. He thought of Fane and his comrades, of the high fae’s warning, and of the fragile Balance that kept the supernatural world from descending into chaos. If Celise truly had the Book of the Dead, otherwise known as theNushtonia, and was using it to amass power, then the Balance wasn’t just tipping; it was shattering.
“Have you seen this sprite?”
“Not yet,” Jeff admitted. “But my wolves are tracking her movements. She’s staying out of sight, but the news is spreading fast. If she’s got the book, Tyler, and it seems like she does, we’re all in trouble. You know what that kind of power can do.”
“I know.” Tyler’s jaw clenched. “And if she’s tied to this … whatever’s happening with Fane, then we’re already in deep. Too deep.”
