When she frowned, small cuts appeared across her cheeks, like her skin was so dry and fragile that she was literally starting to crumble away. I never even knew a wolf could…decay?She looked like she was in a state of decay.
“He left us down here for weeks,” she whispered, her head falling back in her weakness. “Left me here to watch my pack die after Soren’s death. Left me without food or water or hope. I have too much magic running through me now, and it’s breaking me apart. He wanted to figure out—” She coughed, her face pained. “—how long it took to break an omega, and if we were more responsive to magic than other designations.”
She managed to level her gaze back on me. “Spoiler alert…” Another cough. “…we can handle a lot of magic. We’re different to regular shifters as we already hold slices of magic, which is what makes us resistant to dominance. We’re closer to witches than any other designation.”
None as close as me.
“Why did you not succumb to death when Soren was killed,” Hunter asked, tucking the folder he’d brought out from the office under his arm. “If the rest of your pack died?”
Her face crumpled again, and this time Slade let out an irritated huff. “They broke my bond to them. They can do that, you know.” Talon had told me long ago, and all the files confirmed it.
“So, Fletcher used magic to break and create quintet bonds and scent matches?” Finley asked, clearly wanting her to confirm it.
Chelsea nodded, her movements slower. “Yes, if you know the right spells, you can do anything. It was another alliance between Fletcher and the witch. They had many.”
Hence why Jewels needed us to destroy him; she was bound and couldn’t kill him herself.
“There’s no way it would have worked on dragons,” Slade snarled, his face wreathed in shadows as he glared her down. “You can’t fake a true mate match with us. Our beasts would never be confused by magical manipulation.”
Chelsea coughed once more. “Hence why he needed to control Talon and try bonding him to Emme.”
Kellan leaned closer, his golden glow dulled by the green tinge to his skin. “Do you know how they simulate or break scent matches?” When I released a soft sound of distress, he looked straight at me. “We can never let that happen to our pack. No matter what.”
Chelsea’s head rolled forward as she fought for consciousness. “Fletcher’s research,” she whispered. “It’s in his research. But it takes magic and a specific spell.”
Those words took the last of her strength and she collapsed, her breathing so shallow it was clear she was on her way to joining the rest of the dead in this room.
“We’re leaving her down here, right?” Finley said, shooting her a glare. “Whatever magic is shattering her essence is going to take care of her soon enough.”
Slade leaned closer to give her a few seconds of his focus. “Yes, her lifeforce is fading. We couldn’t save her now even if we wanted to.”
She’d already watched her pack die around her, which felt like theworst torture to live through, so I was fine with a quick and easy death for her now.
“We need to find that research on pack bonds,” Hunter said to Slade. “It wasn’t in the filing cabinet.”
“It’ll be on the computer,” Slade confirmed. “There are thousands of files to go through though, so I’ll take it with us back to Golden Claw.”
Hunter nodded. “Okay, grab it now while the rest of us search for anything to track Jewels with. It didn’t feel like her magic in Chelsea, but she had to be part of these experiments.”
With that, all of us searched this level, and with each new discovery my stomach churned, until I barely held on to my gas station snacks. Those Skittles were going to come up in the sort of rainbow no one needed to see. I was doing okay until we opened an entire wing dedicated to torture, with many of the devices still holding decaying shifters.
Yep, could confirm that Skittles reappeared as a gross green sludge.
When I couldn’t take it any longer, I headed back to the main room, noticing Hunter standing by the cell with his mom in it. In his hand was the folder that he’d brought from the office.
“Hunter,” I said softly.
“My mom was an alpha,” he said monotonously. “According to the file, she finally had enough of his bullshit and fought back. He killed her for it. She became another one of his experiments.”
He handed me the folder and I flicked through it, noticing that his mom was beautiful, though even in a photo she appeared as cold as I’d expected.
“I’m so sorry you lost your family, Hunter,” I said, dropping the file to wrap my arms around him. “No one deserved to die like this, except for Fletcher.”
He returned my hug so hard that I gasped. Not from pain, but more surprise. “You’re my family,” he rasped, his voice suddenly filled with all the emotions. “I can’t let anything happen to you, Emmeline. I won’t survive it. The world is a better place without my parents in it, and I don’t mourn either of their deaths. But you…” His voice broke, and the pain in that strangled sound had me wanting to bawl.
But this wasn’t about me, and I would comfort my mate as he’d done for me so many times. “You will never lose me,” I said, keepingmy voice low and hopefully soothing. “I’m fighting to stay with you and our quintet with every part of myself.”
Our wolves howled together, and we didn’t pull apart until the rest of our pack returned. Empty-handed of course. Nothing here held enough magical resonance to track Jewels with.
