I glanced at War, and he only nodded, taking a sip from his own glass. The dark liquid coated his lips a bit more thickly than wine would have. He licked it clean a moment later. “I thought you were on the side of the law now,Mr. Executioner?”
He rolled his eyes as Thane choked on his swallow of wine. “She’s got you there, brother.”
War ignored him. “I’m old enough to toe the line without stepping over it; unlike Thane, I try not to fuck around.”
Thane scoffed. “You mean you’re boring and predictable?”
“No, I’m smart.” War shot back, a thick, dark brow raised at the warlock. “The police and the army are two different entities, Trix. It’s not like the old days before the sanctuaries. The army protects the people, but the police run the streets. Corruption is literally embedded in every aspect of police training. At least for the human ones. They’re trained to distrust Darklings because of how powerful we are compared to them.”
I sighed, placing my elbows on the wooden countertop and placing my face in my hands. My eyes were growing heavy with the need to sleep, and any minute now, I was going to crash. “I’ll never understand why there has to be a divide in the first place.” I looked up at the two brothers. “Maybe Estelle was onto something.” Silence fell heavily between the three of us as the weight of what I just said settled. “I’m not saying I agree with her methods, obviously, but maybe having more hybrids out there wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”
In the end, that was Estelle’s goal. To create a master species. Taking the strongest traits from each species and meshing them into one single person. Serenity was proof that it could work.
“Ignore me,” I said with a groan, shoving myself off the barstool. “Where’s Gareth? I need to see him.” I sniffed the air, but the smoke from the fire was too much and masked everything else.
“He’s been out there all day,” War said. He strode to the far window and peered out into the darkening forest. “We'll coax him back to the cabin tomorrow, but for now, let’s let him work things out on his own.”
“Is he alright?” I asked tentatively. I couldn’t see much outside the window save for a dark line of tall pines that opened into an endlessly roaming sea of green and shadows.
War’s brows dipped, and he rubbed the back of his neck with his palm as he faced me again. “I don’t know.” I was glad he didn’t bother placating me with empty words.
“The bathroom is just there,” Thane said, coming up behind me and nudging me toward the only door in the cabin. “I took the liberty of packing your belongings; I hope you don’t mind. You've got a fresh set of jammies waiting for you if you'd like to get cleaned up.”
I peered up at him, my lips twisting into a smirk as I raised a single brow. “Jammies?” His electric-blue eyes narrowed, and he gave me a playful little zap of magic as he touched my belly that had me yelping and hopping away. I laughed, raising my hands and backing away. “Alright,jammiesit is.”
4
The guys gaveme the bed to myself. It was warm in the cabin but not stifling. I slept on and off for an hour or two, but eventually, a rustle or a clunk from the forest beyond would wake me in a cold sweat.
This time, it wasn’t a noise that jarred me from my nightmares. It was the soft brush of thick fur against my bare legs. I blinked sleep from my eyes, trying to gather myself and remember exactly where I was and why. The room was empty, the only light coming in from the window being beams of moonlight casting the room in a blue glow. The fireplace was almost embers now.
Hot breath puffed across my thigh, and my entire body went utterly still. But it only lasted a moment before a familiar scent hit me.
Gareth.
I peered down my body, noting the way I’d haphazardly shucked the heavy quilt off of me sometime in the night. It was replaced by a massive russet-brown wolfthe size of a fucking horse. Yep, it was Gareth alright. He was draped over me like a lapdog, his breathing slow and deep.
Despite the fact that he was so heavy that I couldn’t move without waking him, I managed to smile down at him. Reaching out, I brushed my fingers through his thick fur. Slowly. Carefully. I paused as he grunted in his sleep. Holding my breath, I waited for him to jolt awake and probably growl or snap his teeth in my face for touching him. But that never happened. A slow purr filled the room, and caused my body to vibrate.
I continued to pet him, my eyes straying back to the window. I peered up at the moon, wondering if Selene herself was watching over him tonight. If she’d somehow brought him back here, knowing that I'd do whatever I could to make sure he knew he was safe. It was a promise I made to myself there and then. This wolf. This bodyguard. This pain in my fucking ass would never know another day of pain at my hands.
“It’s the first time he’s stopped moving since you were taken,” Thane whispered. He and War were seated in individual armchairs in the dark. Thane swirled his hand in the air, blue magic crackling at his fingertips, before leaping toward the fireplace. The logs lit, casting the room in a dull glow.
War ran a palm over his tired face. There were dark circles under his eyes, making me wonder if either of them had gotten any rest. “He must have run the perimeter a thousand times in the last twenty-four hours. Maybe that’s a good thing.”
“I need to talk to my cousin,” I whispered, knowing both of them could hear me. Gareth stirred slightly, but only nuzzled closer to me. My fingers sifted through his fur softly, trying to keep him calm and relaxed.
“She’s supposed to—” Thane started to say, but I shook my head, cutting him off.
"No, not Serenity.” I met his eyes. “I want to talk to Sean. Maybe he knows something that can help Gareth. After we were rescued from the holding facilities, Sean had trouble staying in his human form, too. It took months for him to hold it long enough to remember how to function.”
Remembering my cousin that way was still physically painful. There were nights when the entire pack would fall silent as Sean’s howls of pain and anguish filled the air. The pack doctor and his amazing mate, Kate, tried to help him. They worked with Sean day and night for nearly a year, and he still struggled sometimes.
Things were better now. Not perfect, but manageable. Sean had his own little cabin on pack lands to himself, but nobody saw much of him. Gone was the outgoing, bubbly cousin I grew up with. In his place was a hardened, jaded man who’d seen the worst of humanity and managed to live through the aftermath. If anyone could help Gareth through this, I’d bet it was Sean.
War nodded, a contemplative look on his strong, handsome face. His beard had grown thicker over the days since I’d seen him, as if he’d stopped grooming it. “We have a satellite phone that’s untraceable. You can call Sean in the morning if you want, but it has to be brief. We can’t take any chances with Estelle on the loose.”
Just the thought had my stomach bottoming out. “There’s no reason she’d come after me, right? I mean, I was just one of hundreds of stolen Darklings.” Even as the words spilled out, I could anticipate the response.
