“I understand,” I tell her quietly. “I’ll do as he says. But before I do, I can remove that collar for you.”
Her eyes brighten in understanding, and I draw my scribe, tracing sigil after sigil in the air, completing the spell I’ve seen Ian perform dozens of times. The collar unlatches with a click that startles the young healer.
“Oh, saints, miss. I had no choice! That alpha is insane. Dangerous. Please, please do as he says.”
I take the collar from her with a resolute nod. “I plan to. Go now and find Douglas from Pack Leclerc. Let him know what’s happened. He’ll ensure you’re kept safe.”
She nods her thanks and dashes from the ladies’ room.
I’m gathering my thoughts and making my plan when Marcus steps into the bathroom. “Sweet-tart, are you all right?”
I’m not, especially given what I’m about to do.
“I’m so sorry, Marcus,” I tell him, before raising my scribe and casting the strongest stunning spell I’m capable of.
Marcus slumps, sliding down one of the stall doors until he hits the floor, his frozen expression one of betrayal. I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep breath to work up the courage, and then tuck the note into his hand and set the collar on his lap.
I have no choice. I have to get Andrew Radcliffe and Blair away from the hospital. I’ll go wherever I have to with him, do whatever he asks, if it means I can keep the people in this hospital safe. My pack, my mate’s family. Saints,myfamily now.
I spared Andrew Radcliffe’s pitiful, saints-forsaken life. I caused this, all this pain and suffering. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for the people in the waiting room down the hall, and I have to do this. For them, for Marcus’ mom in another ward, for the young healer woman that ran, scared, from this bathroom. For every patient, doctor and healer in this hospital.
I have no choice but to obey.
CHAPTER44
Iduck out of the ladies’ room and slip down the stairs instead of risking the elevator. I don’t know how long it’ll take for Cassian and Simon to return from the cafeteria, and if I see them, I’ll break. I’ll tell them everything, and Cassian will try to do something heroic.
It’s too much of a risk.
I take the stairs all the way to the parking garage and duck out into the streets of downtown Fairhaven and realize that, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I’m alone. I don’t think I’ve been out of my home without an escort since my designation revealed. Since enrolling at Fairhaven Academy, Marcus has always been my dutiful shadow, and in the rare cases when Marcus isn’t with me, one of my men usually is. Over my summers and holiday breaks, I’ve always had a chaperone.
I feel oddly exposed as I cross the street, the back of my neck pricking with awareness. Or is it dread that settles low in my belly? I shiver, though the day is warm for March, and hasten my steps. I don’t know how long it took the omega healer to deliver the note to me, or how much time I have before Blair levels the hospital, so by the time I turn the final corner toward the hotel, I’m practically jogging.
I shove through the revolving doors and meet Rad’s eyes. He glances at his watch and gives me a smug smirk. The expression is even uglier on his bruised, battered face. It’s clear he hasn’t seen a healer since Ian hexed him, since my mate and I both punched him. He’s bruised where Ian gave him a black eye, the blue-black fading to purple and green, and his lip is split from where I’d hit him in the mouth. When his smile widens, I see that he’s still missing the tooth I knocked out.
“So, my belovedcanobey,” he sneers.
He snaps his fingers for me like I’m an animal, a pet, but I go to him dutifully. Rad holds his hand out, palm up, and I unhook the tracker necklace I always wear and hand it over, followed by my phone and scribe. He throws my tracker and scribe into the trash can by the hotel’s revolving door, then grabs me by the back of my neck, his fingers curling around my throat.
He pushes me forward toward the hotel’s underground parking garage. The moment we’re in the shaded concrete structure, he tosses Blair my phone. She drops it and blows it to bits before it even hits the pavement. Rad gives me a shove, and I stumble toward a sleek black town car. He twirls his finger and I turn.
“Hands behind your back, beloved. You must earn my trust after everything you’ve done.”
I grit my teeth but put my hands behind my back and let him bind them with a spell. He shoves me into the back of the town car and slides in beside me, pressing his thigh against mine. This close, his scent is cloying, and it takes every ounce of my will to keep from gagging.
Blair slips behind the wheel and pulls out into the downtown Fairhaven traffic, and I behave. I barely breathe until we clear the city limits, leaving the hospital safe and still standing behind us.
I sit, pretending to stew, glaring down at my lap. I’m wedged in the backseat at an odd angle, unable to lean back against the seat, but that suits my purpose just fine. I’m able to duck my head, hiding what I’m doing from the alpha beside me.
I reach out with my affinity, and I dig, pushing past his surface thoughts until I’m deep within his mind, searching it for anything I can find out about Baphomet’s Prince. Rad said that if he didn’t break me, the mysterious leader of the Soldiers of Saint Aldous would, and I need to know everything I can if I’m going to prevent that, if I’m going to bring him down.
When I get nowhere, I grit my teeth and put the full force of my affinity behind a single command. “Tell me who Baphomet’s Prince is.”
Blair’s eyes go wide in the rear-view mirror, but Rad’s go blank.
“Baphomet’s Prince is the foretold savior that will lead the Soldiers of Saint Aldous to victory.”
I exert more of my control over him. “Who is he?”
