Cade flinched at the word “mate” and dropped his head into his hands. “I’ve lost her. I can’t feel her anymore. She could already be dead and I wouldn’t know.”
“IfIwere one of the most powerful group of witches in existence and didn’t have a way to hide my kidnapping victims, I’d be pretty damn ashamed of myself,” Livie said sharply. “Now put on that robe and come upstairs. Peter apparently found a mate during all this fuckery. According to Caitlin, the Thirteen branded her, chained her up somewhere, and probably tortured her. I’d say the chances of her knowingsomethingthat can help us find Mara are pretty high.”
After a beat, when he didn’t react to anything she’d said, Livie stomped closer and let her wolf rise to the surface. Her blue eyes burned so bright, she swore the dark little corner lit up, and when she growled at Cade, she did it with enough anger that any self-respecting alpha would react on instinct to put her in her place.
But Cade just sat there, not looking at her, his muscles rigid, his hands bloodied and bruised from what she imagined had been almost thirty-six hours of pure rage and despair.
So she sank down next to him and put her arm around his shoulders. He flinched and tried to pull away, but she caught the hitch in his breath. “You’ve known me since I was sixteen, bossman. Seen me at my best. And my worst. Hell, you half raised me. And I understand. What you’re feeling? Serena’s the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to me, with Shawn a close second.” She leaned her head a little closer and lowered her voice. “I’d say don’t tell him to spare his ego, but he feels the same way.”
Nothing. Not even a huff at her mate’s expense.
“You have to come back, Cade. We need you.Maraneeds you.”
Whether it was her use of his first name—something sheneverdid, though she couldn’t say why—or hearing her say “Mara,” her words finally sunk in, and Cade started shaking. First a highly controlled tremble, then almost violent, body-wracking sobs.
“Let it out, bossman,” she said quietly. “We’ll find her. Or we’ll all die trying.”
* * *
Peter
The quiet knock roused him, but thankfully, Sameen didn’t stir. She’d managed another half cup of tea and a few crackers, but she’d been so upset after telling him how she lost her sight, she’d practically passed out as soon as he’d tucked her back into bed and wrapped his arms around her.
His mate trusted him. That alone was a miracle after all she’d been through. But it was more than that. She curled against him, almost desperate in the way she held onto his hands. He’d found some eye ointment in the first aid kit that promised to soothe irritation and corneal abrasions, and he’d carefully tipped her head back and applied a line to each of her lower lids before she slept. Maybe it would help? They needed Christine. The pack’s healer was still in Seattle, and more than once Peter thought about calling her.
“Peter?” Caitlin whispered as she poked her head in. “Livie’s here. Downstairs with Cade. It’s almost sundown. Regulus should be above ground in an hour or so.”
He glanced at his mate, her face relaxed in a way he hadn’t seen since he’d discovered her naked and terrified, hiding behind a bush. “You need to know what happened to Sameen.”
“Has she told ya’ anythin’?” Another door in the mansion slammed, and the noise startled Sameen awake.
“Peter? Who’s here?” she asked, tensing.
“Just Caitlin. It’s all right.” He helped her sit up, and she blinked hard as she turned towards the door. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. There’s so much I need to tell you still, but we’re out of time.”
“Time? Are you...leaving?” Her voice was so much stronger than it had been earlier, and it did things to him he wasn’t prepared for. Like made his cock press painfully against the zipper of his jeans.
“No,” he growled. Fuck. He had to get himself under control. His mate didn’t deserve any of this. Not his bad temper, not his inability to see to her needs, and definitely not her position as some pawn in the Thirteen’s deadly games. He looked to Caitlin for help, and the air elemental cleared her throat.
“Sameen? I think you met Liam—or Liam’s wolf—early this mornin’? I’m his mate. We need yer help. Everythin’ ya’ can tell us about the Thirteen and how to find them. It’s close to nightfall, and the vampire helping us wants to go back to the compound we destroyed to see if we can find any other clues about where they might have taken Mara. She’s our alpha’s mate, and she’s pregnant. Ye’re the only one who’s seen the Thirteen—who’s spoken to them—in decades besides Regulus.”
Peter tightened his embrace when Sameen sucked in a sharp breath.
“They never let me speak.” She touched her throat, gently, and shook her head. “I never saw anything beyond the first cell they locked me in. After that…my eyes…I couldn’t see anything else.”
Caitlin frowned, falling silent for so long, Sameen started to fidget with the blanket she clutched to her chest and Peter called Caitlin’s name.
“Somethin’ one of the practitioners said when we were in the dungeon. I had to use a compulsion charm on her.” With a shudder, Caitlin continued. ”They’re vile, but damn hard to fight—even for a witch.” Starting to pace, she ran a hand through her hair. “I kept askin’ her where Mara was and how we could find her, and right before she...died—I think she took her own life rather than let us kill her—she said, ‘The voice of one who cannot speak and the sight of one who has never seen will find the blood of the stone. Without those, ye’re doomed to fail, and the elemental will be ours forever.’”
“You think Sameen’s the one who can’t speak and hasn’t seen?” Peter asked.
“If the prophecy fits,” Farren said from the doorway.
Sameen swiveled her head between Peter and Caitlin, panic stiffening her muscles. “Peter? Is that someone else?”
“Farren. She’s alpha of the Doolin pack.” He straightened his shoulders, letting his wolf rise to the surface where he knew the beast would flare in his eyes. “Are we having a fucking party in here? You realize Sameen can’t see you, right? Maybe knock first? Or at least don’t all come barging into my bedroom unannounced?”
“My own room’s right across the hall, ya’ arse. I heard what Caitlin said. If this woman is truly yer mate, she’s goin’ to have to get used to—”
