“Aaargh.” Jason rolled over and grabbed his head.
“Yeah, whatever that bastard hit us with wasn’t soft and cuddly.” Silas dabbed a sore spot on his temple, and his finger came away bloody.
“Where the hell are we?”
“I have no idea, but based on the foliage, I’d say somewhere in the southeast. Maybe the Carolinas? It’s been years since I’ve been anywhere near here. I could be wrong.” Silas looked up, searching for the sun. “What time do you think it is?”
“No idea. My phone’s gone.”
“Mine too.”
“What do you want to bet that he moved us so that Grateful and Polina couldn’t track our location?” Jason furrowed his brow. “They will be able to find us eventually, though, right?”
“Oh, you missed the part where Polina told me that Grateful went into labor. It’s just Polina and Logan helping us.”
“Oookay. But Polina’s a powerful Hecate too. She’s got us covered, right? She can find us with that magic mirror thing she has.”
“I hope so, but we’re out of her jurisdiction. If she’s able to find us, she’ll have to get the permission of the local Hecate to retrieve us. That’ll take time.” The sun was barely over the tops of the trees to his left. Assuming that was east, he’d guess it was nine or ten o’clock.
“Alex knew what he was doing,” Jason said. “He rigged that entire situation to ensure we brought him exactly what he wanted.”
“We should’ve killed Nickelova while we had the chance.”
“And put Laina at risk? We didn’t have a choice. He’s been pulling our strings for weeks.”
Cautiously, Silas placed a hand on one of the bars and hoisted himself to standing. “The cage doesn’t appear to be enchanted. My hand isn’t burned or anything.”
“That’s a relief,” Jason said sarcastically. “Too bad it’s a cage built for an elephant. Geez, this is overkill, even for Alex.” He tugged at the bars to demonstrate they were unbendable.
“Maybe we can break the lock?” Silas inspected the periphery of the cage looking for a door. There was none.
“No lock. No door.” Jason tipped his head back. “We can try to climb, but the bars above us don’t look any weaker.”
“Dig?” Silas jammed a hand into the dirt. The ground was rock hard under the moss, and his attempts resulted in nothing more than a scraped hand. He kicked the dirt with the heel of his boot, but the packed earth might as well have been concrete. Jason wasn’t faring any better. “Without a tool to power through this stuff, it might take us two days.”
“We don’t have two days.”
“We shift tonight. Our wolves will be able to dig out in no time.”
“At the same time as Alex is here performing his ritual? That seems convenient,” Jason said.
“What are the chances he didn’t think of the burrowing?”
“Zero. He’s a wolf like us. He knows we can dig.
“There must be something about the dirt, an enchantment to keep us from going under,” Silas said. “If there isn’t, then he’s counting on us getting out for some reason.”
“Another trap,” Jason said with a groan. He paced the length of the cage, looking more and more like an animal. “We need a plan. Think, Silas.”
Silas searched the surrounding area, focusing on a clearing of trees behind the cage. “There’s something here.” Jason crossed the cage to get a better look. In the center of the clearing were three intertwining circles of irregularly sized rocks. At the front of the rock formation, stood a stone altar, overgrown with moss and vines. The entire scene looked like a horror movie set.
“Three beings to sacrifice, three circles,” Jason said.
“Nickelova, a demon, and a vampire.” Silas leaned his forehead against the bars, willing his brain to come up with a solution.
“Where’s he getting the demon?” Jason asked.
“The bones he stole from our crime scene. Plus, Julius said he was missing a vampire from his coven.”
