“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?”
“The bones he stole from our crime scene.Plus Julius said he was missing a vampire from his coven.”
“Fuck.What do you think the altar is for?”
“No idea.But the spells inThe Book of Flesh and Bonealways require a blood sacrifice.Maybe he intends to kill them one by one.”
“On the upside, Laina isn’t here.Maybe he let her go.”
Silas gripped the bars until his knuckles turned white.He hoped what Jason said was possible, but nothing about his experience with Alex suggested he’d have any compassion for Laina.
“Do you think Meredith is helping her mother?”Jason asked.
Only his brother would know how to poke the sore spot in his soul with such precision.Silas shrugged his shoulders and let out a deep breath.“The last thing she said to me was that there was something she had to do, but I think she knew her mom was involved.That goop that happened when her mom shifted, that was in Soleil’s room.Meredith was trying to show it to me, and then she was gone.”
“So maybe she was just trying to save her mom.”
“Maybe.”
Jason paced the length of the cage again.“What would her motivation be to help Alex?”
Silas tipped his head slightly.“Maybe Meredith and her mother felt abandoned by the pack after what happened with Alex.Or maybe it’s metaphysical.When Alex killed their alpha, it’s possible they bonded to him in an irrevocable way.”
“Possible but unlikely since Olivia isn’t a werewolf.Olivia looked like she was drugged.Probably sulfralite.Maybe Meredith was too.”
“Could be.I want to believe there’s a logical explanation.”
“Yeah.There is.If you love her, have faith in that.”
“As a detective, I have to accept the possibility that she planned this the entire time and wanted to be involved in every step of this case because she was using me.”
Jason punched his shoulder, hard.
“Oww!What was that for?”
“For swimming back out to the island of Silas without proof that your mate betrayed you.It’s equally possible that there’s been a horrible misunderstanding brought on by the orchestrations of a madman.”
Silas gave Jason a reluctant nod.He wanted that to be true, wanted it with every fiber of his being.To think that the first person he’d let in since his parents were killed was someone working with their murderer was too painful to entertain.But no matter if she meant to hurt him or not, she’d chosen to run instead of telling him the truth.If she wasn’t guilty of something, if she had nothing to hide, she would have stayed.But he couldn’t be distracted with all that now.“Back to the problem at hand.How do we get out of here?”
“Help me try to bend the bars.Maybe we can do it if we work together.”Jason used both hands to pull one bar while Silas pulled the other.He ground his heels in and grunted with the effort.But even with all their weight and strength behind the effort, the bars didn’t budge.“What now?”
“I’m thinking.”Silas sat down in the middle of the cage and rubbed his aching head.
“I can’t believe this is happening.I finally get my life together, finally find true love with Selene, and what happens?Alex.It’s always fucking Alex.”Jason rested his head on his fists.
Silas could relate.He’d thought for sure Meredith wastheone person he could trust.He also thought he’d easily be able to apprehend Alex in the rogue wolf’s weakened state.But neither of those things panned out.Life was strange.There were things he could count on: himself, his family, the pack, the phases of the moon.Everything else was merely a shot in the dark.No matter how sure he was that he was aiming in the right direction, there was always the chance his shot would hit nothing at all.
He inspected the bars above their heads again.He’d climb up and test every one for weakness.He wasn’t hopeful he’d find a way out, but it would give him something to do.
