Elias snarled, fingers curling into fists. I walked to stand next to him.
“We’ll get her back,” I said.
“Damn straight,” Elias snarled back, eyes burning with unbridled fury. “And I’m going to make that wraith pay for this.”
He spun on his heels and marched back down the mountain, heading toward town to come up with a plan to rescue his mate.
Chapter 21 - Rachel
I paced back and forth in my living room. The guard Sam had ordered to keep tabs on me regardless of whether I wanted him to or not had ordered me to stay indoors, and had been doing laps around the house in wolf form for over an hour. Something had happened, something other than just the wraith coming to the oasis, and he refused to tell me despite my repeated requests for him to do so.
Whatever had happened, it was bad. I couldn’t calm my anxious nerves. In my mind, I could see Sam dead on the ground. He would never meet his unborn child. I would never get the chance to bicker with him again or feel his arms around me.
He’s all right, I told myself.You would sense it through the bond if he weren’t.
That might be true, but I still couldn’t shake that dread. And when I felt a jolt of rage and shock through that bond, I knew something bad had happened. Not knowing precisely what it was made it nearly unbearable.
I should still be annoyed with him for the constant hovering and bodyguards, but that irritation had flown out the window when I realized he might be in danger. Despite everything, I still cared about Sam. I appreciated that he wasn’t protecting me because he thought I was weak, but because he didn’t want to worry about me being hurt. He had still encouraged me to learn how to protect myself, and he had done his best to take care of me, even if it had been ill-advised. He was stubborn and hardheaded, but he did try to do what he thought was best. No matter what, I couldn’t stand the idea of him getting hurt.
As I wore holes in the carpet from walking back and forth, my ears pricked. Someone was outside. A moment later, the door opened. I spun around just in time to see Sam limping through the door, exhaustion radiating off him with every step. A cut ran along his hairline, dried blood crusting around it, but he was alive. The relief washing over me at seeing him safe evaporated almost instantly when I saw the somber expression on his face.
“What happened?” I asked. Even if I was still mad, I had been out of my mind with worry ever since I heard the alarms go off in town. My hand reached up to his cheek, running my thumb along the jagged cut there.
Instead of answering, he caught my hand, bringing it to his lips, as if that was all he had wanted to do for hours. He pulled me against him, still not saying anything, as his hands went to my back, pulling me against him. He buried his head in my hair. I could smell the stench of blood and dirt on him, but I didn’t care. I breathed it in, letting it remind me that he was alive. He was all right.
After a moment, I pulled away. My stomach lurched when he pinned me with that intense stare. My heart pounded as I took in the anger and frustration wafting off him.
“What happened?” I repeated. “I know about the wraith, but then the guy outside told me not to leave, and I had no idea why. He said something else had happened and that I needed to stay in place.”
He let out a deep breath. “Sorry,” he said. “He should have told you so you wouldn’t worry, but things happened fast, and we got caught off-guard. I should have called, too. But…”
The expression on his face chilled me, and I knew that, whatever had happened, it was bad. I stayed silent, knowing thathe would tell me what was going on when he was ready. My stomach lurched with dread as I waited for him to tell me what was really going on.
“The wraith attacked the oasis,” he said. “But it was a trap.”
Fear gripped me, freezing me in place as I stared up at him. “What sort of trap? Did it kill a lot of people?”
Sam’s lips thinned, and he glanced away.
“It’s almost worse than that. Emma’s missing,” he said. “The wraith took her.”
My hands flew to my mouth despite myself, certain I had misheard him. There was no way that the wraith had taken Emma. It didn’t seem real. It couldn’t be real.
“Is she…” I trailed off, unable to actually make myself say the words.
“We don’t know, but we think she’s alive,” Sam said. “The wraith could have just had its demons kill her then and there. It wants her.”
“How are Grace and Elias?” I asked, once I had gotten over the initial shock.
He let out a huff as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Both are worried, but Elias is already getting moving. He’s setting up a team to go after the wraith. It doesn’t know it, but we found its lair earlier, so we know where to go. That thing isn’t going to know what hit it.”
Unease gripped my insides as the words sank in. Frowning, I studied Sam.
“What are you going to do once you get there?” I asked. “Emma is the only one who can use magic. You guys aren’t going to be able to beat it.”
“We’re not trying to,” Sam growled. “This is an extraction mission.”
I shook my head, trying to articulate my thoughts. “It’s going to know you’re coming. For all you know, this could be a trap.”
