I awoke to the sound of a banging metal pot and the smell of coffee.
Coffee.
My eyelids snapped open to see Walsh pouring thick black liquid into three steaming mugs. Then he poured some powdered cream and sugar packets into all of them.
“You have coffee!” I sat up and reached my hands out greedily for a mug.
He chuckled and I could see why Sage found him handsome. He was good looking in that rugged, I-don’t-talk-and-I-look-like-an-axe-murderer way.
“I like to be prepared,” was all he said, and handed me a mug.
Sage walked out of the bathroom then wearing tight yoga pants and a white t-shirt with no bra. Her red hair was pulled high into a messy topknot and she held a toothbrush in her hand. She was effortlessly beautiful, and I didn’t miss how his eyes raked over her body as she spoke.
“Walsh is a prepper. He’s probably got a sewing kit in his pack.”
Walsh scowled at her. “I do. Because sewing kits are useful in emergencies.”
Sage grinned, looking way too beautiful for this hour. “The next time I have an emergency button that needs mending, I’ll run right over.” She reached out and grabbed her mug from him and took a sip.
He chuckled. “You haven’t gone through senior year survival training yet. You’ll see. That shit will break you.”
Sage looked slightly terrified, but brushed it off.
“Senior year survival training?” I asked.
Walsh flicked his gaze to me. “When you become Sawyer’s wife, they’ll make you take it too. Throw you into the woods with a backpack and make you live off the land and find your way home.”
“Okay…” I looked at Sage, worried for her, and now for myself, although that was quite similar to what I was doing now. It was not lost on me how casually everyone assumed I was going to become Sawyer’s wife. I mean… he had to ask me and I had to say yes. Which I totally obviously would after some hardcore groveling for wearing that stupid necklace and picking Meredith.
Walsh shrugged. “Clearly it’s come in handy, so we have to prepare for anything.”
“The Paladins do it too, I heard,” Sage piped in, and my entire body froze.
“Do what?” My breath was barely a whisper.
“Their alphas go off into the woods on a survival trip or something. I heard my dad talk about it once,” she said.
This was what my mom must have been talking about when Run disappeared when he was seventeen and she didn’t see him for four years. It couldn’t have been a four-year survival trip… right?
Walsh stood, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “I’m gonna take a two-second shower. Be ready to start walking when I get out. I want to cover the entire territory today if we can. I’m going to try to get us some horses.”
Then he disappeared into the bathroom and I spun on Sage.
“Tell me everything,” I whispered.
She grinned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I smacked her arm. “Come on. I’ve been shot and nearly eaten by a dark fey, you owe me something happy. I saw you two kissing.” I raised one eyebrow.
She peered over her coffee cup at the closed shower door and gave me a smirk. “It’s been a tense couple days trying to find you. We spent one night cutting across the Wild Lands and it was so freezing we had to share a sleeping bag to keep warm.”
I pumped my fist in the air. “Yes.”
She burst into peals of laughter. “The chemistry is there, but I feel like when we get back to Wolf City he’ll go back to being my cousin’s lead guard and my fellow coworker and we won’t be anything romantic.”
I frowned. “Is it against the rules or something? To date someone on your own security team.”
She shook her head. “It’s against his rules.”
Just then the door handle turned and we both quieted.
Walsh stepped out of the bathroom with slicked-back wet hair. Damn, he wasn’t kidding about the two-second shower. He turned and looked at me. “Demi, I’d like you to travel today with your wolf out. I think it’s safer for many reasons.”
Many reasons…
“Okay.” At the mere thought, my wolf surged to the surface and climbed out of my skin, solidifying beside me.
“That will never not be cool… and weird,” Sage commented, and I just smiled, reaching out to pet my wolf behind the ears.
“How’s your shoulder?” Walsh knelt beside me and I turned to give him my back.
“It actually feels a ton better.” It wasn’t a hundred percent, but didn’t feel like it did last night.
He poked it a few times and there was a deep throb like you’d have with a bad bruise, but nothing sharp and horrible. “Looks good. No infection, and it’s closing up. Those stitches will dissolve on their own.”
Sage slipped on her walking boots and started to tighten the straps on her pack. “One of the deer furs has blood on it so we had to burn it, but I found this.” Sage handed me a long black cloak.
I took it, nodding my thanks. “I’ll just freshen up and be right out.”
After going pee and brushing my teeth with a toothbrush Sawyer had packed for me, I draped the long black cloak over my shoulders and slipped into my new Converse shoes.
‘These shoes are too clean. I feel bad wearing them,’ I told Sawyer.
I felt him stir through our bond, but he didn’t respond. He was probably still sleeping.
I stepped out of the bathroom and Walsh helped secure my pack in a way that didn’t press on my healing shoulder. He’d slung one strap over my good shoulder and then tied the rest around my waist.
“You still have that fey blade from last night?” he asked. “I saw you keep it.”
I nodded and tapped my pack.
“Good. It might come in handy,” was all he said. With that, we doused our fire and bid our little cabin goodbye. Walsh handed us each rations for breakfast that were dismal compared to how hungry I was, but I didn’t want to complain, so I thanked him and ate the peanut butter crackers.
“Why don’t we just cut back through the Wild Lands?” I asked. If they’d done it before, maybe it wasn’t as dangerous as I thought.
Walsh and Sage both shared a look before he shook his head. “Let’s just say our time there was not as quiet as we hoped, and we definitely alerted them to our presence. They will have the borders locked down and heavily guarded.”
Damn.
“Can we get a car?” I hadn’t walked this much in my life. I just wanted to be back with my mom and Raven and Sawyer.
Walsh nodded. “They use cars in Light Fey City. I can boost us one when we get there.”
Boost one… AKA steal. Whatever got us home quicker, I would turn the other cheek, but that meant we had to get through Dark Fey Territory first.
“So we’ll try to get horses while here?” Sage asked him. He nodded, pulling a laminated map from inside of his deer skin cloak. When he opened it in front of us, I gasped. It was like the map Marmal had given me but… so much more detailed and modern. It looked like it had been ink jet printed and then laminated; it had little icons for major buildings. He pointed to a little barn icon inside of Dark Fey Territory. “Our insider said this area has animals for purchase. A man named Trip runs the trades.”
Trip? Sounded shady. Like a fey drug dealer or something.
Sage looked skeptical. “A dark fey is going to sell us three horses?”
Walsh placed the map back in his jacket pocket. “A man named Trip does some illegal animal trading and will do whatever we want for the right price.”
The words, illegal animal trading made my skin crawl. I loved animals, more than people, and if this bastard had a little pet monkey in a cage or something I was totes breaking it free.
“You think that’s where they got the bear?” Sage looked at the three long gashes on her arm, which were healing nicely, and Walsh nodded once.
My wolf was walking apace beside us, and Walsh glanced at her now. “All dark fey seem to have a familiar or animal that they magically bind themselves to in an effort to be more powerful, or on even playing ground with our kind. Like you, Demi, they walk beside their animals yet share one mind.”
Whoa. That gave me a wild idea… maybe the Paladin magic wasn’t witch in nature… maybe it was dark fey. I shivered at the thought and shoved it deep down inside of me, but said nothing.
“What insider?” I asked Walsh, “You said before an insider helped you with this map.”
Walsh sighed. “Few people pass through these lands and live to tell about it. Eugene did, early on in his years as an alpha guard. He’s been really helpful with the knowledge we will need to make it home.”
Sage stopped, a seeming light bulb moment hitting her. “Sawyer… his kidnapping… when he was young. I remember Eugene was the one that brought him back. The dark fey took him! Not the Paladin?”
Walsh looked at Sage and I, seemingly to calculate how much he should say. “It’s classified.”
Sage frowned and my heart sank. Did someone lie and tell everyone in Wolf City that the Paladins had kidnapped Sawyer when in reality it was the dark fey? That was messed up. Poor Sawyer. Being kidnapped at five years old was old enough to remember… what kind of scars did Sawyer carry from that?
“No offense, but why didn’t Eugene come with you?” I missed the big guy hulking around campus.
Walsh and Sage shared another look. “He’s currently fighting for his life in the ICU. How much has Sawyer told you about the fight that went down?”
I stumbled over my feet and nearly fell. Fighting for his life! “The fight with the vampires and Locke? Not much.”
Walsh walked a few paces before looking back at me. “When we crossed the border to look for you in Vampire City, they were ready. They had Locke there as witness that we were trespassing.”
I stepped over a fallen log and growled. “Even though I told Sawyer the vampires took me?”
Sage sighed. “How is Sawyer going to explain that you guys can talk into each other’s minds? No one believed him. Said he was trying to mess with the murder investigation and that you ran off because you were upset he picked Meredith.”
Anger surged up inside of me. “Wait, so no one believes I was kidnapped? They all think I ran away?”
Sage rubbed the back of her neck. “You packed a bag, you took your phone, people saw you running through campus crying.”
Fuck, I had no idea that Sawyer was the only one who believed me.
“Your testimony is the only thing that can prove the vampires kidnapped you,” Sage said.
My mind spun. “So… what happened when Locke wouldn’t let Sawyer look for me?” I chewed my lip thinking of what Sawyer told me about killing Locke.
Walsh gave me a side glance and a maniacal grin pulled at his face. “I’ve never seen Sawyer so badass.”
Sage reached out and smacked his chest. “That was scary. He almost died.”
My heart beat wildly as Walsh chuckled. “He wiped the floor with that fey.”
We’d reached a really thick area of trees and went single file to get through them. “What happened? Tell me about the fight,” I pressed.
I hated not being there with Sawyer, but I knew from seeing him kill Butcher that he was an amazing fighter.
A half smirk pulled at the corner of Sage’s mouth. “The second Locke said that Sawyer would legally be unable to search the building for you, he wolfed out.”
Walsh growled. “Locke went nuts, like a crazed dark fey his eyes turned black and he snapped, attacking Sawyer.”
Oh my gosh. “What else happened!” I rushed to keep up with them as we traipsed through the thick trees. There was an opening ahead, and Walsh stopped and faced me.
His eyes were threaded with yellow. “He grabbed Sawyer’s wolf by the neck and lifted him into the air, told his father that if any of us made one more move it would be an act of war.”
My hands went to my face, covering my mouth.
Sage grinned. “So Sawyer bit his hand and tore it clean off.”
My mouth went dry. Holy shit, that man had a temper.
Walsh nodded. “And everything erupted into chaos. Sawyer killed Locke, but we had to retreat. There were too many of them and we weren’t prepared. Eugene protected the alpha with his life, as is his duty, and here we are.”
Oh no. So they tried to hurt Sawyer’s dad too? Poor Eugene.
All of this… because of me. Shame burned my cheeks as I thought about what would have happened if I hadn’t run off, if I—
“Stop it.” Sage pointed a finger at me. “The vampires have been doing this for years. My uncle is just too soft. Sawyer won’t stand for it. It’s been a long time coming. It’s time someone stood up to their corruption and evil deeds.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. Hard to think of it that way but—
We heard voices just up ahead as Walsh put his finger to his lips in a sign of quiet.
The voices were speaking a weird language I didn’t know, and I reached out and brushed my fingers over the top of my wolf’s head to calm her.
Walsh silently pulled out his map, pointed to the barn, and then up ahead to the clearing with a thumbs-up.
The barn was just up ahead.
When the voice passed, Walsh looked at Sage and I, chewing his lip as if wrestling with what to do.
“Don’t even think about going in there alone!” Sage whisper-screamed.
He sighed. “I don’t want you guys to get hurt if things go south.”
Sage growled, “I’m not a fragile princess in need of saving.” Her teeth gritted together as her jaw clenched. Then she pointed to me. “She’s more powerful than both of us combined. Her wolf can walk through walls. So don’t start with me.”
He blanched at the knowledge my wolf could do that and gave her an appraising look, which she returned with a wolfish grin.
“Fine. But if things go south, run,” he agreed.
“Not on your life.” Sage put a hand on her hip.
I nodded to my wolf and tapped my chest. “I should probably have her join me.”
“No.” Walsh reached out and stopped me. “I had you keep her out for a reason. If you were to get angry or need to fight, and they saw her come out of you, they would know what you are.”
Truth.
“But if we walk in with a wolf, they will definitely know we are from Wolf City,” I said.
Walsh nodded. “They’ll be able to smell it either way. Better we look like four wolf shifters than two werewolves and one…” He looked at me. “Split shifter?”
I shrugged. “Better than demon.”
Sage nodded. “You’re right. Own what we are and say we’re on the run? We were banished?”
Walsh shook his head. “You will say nothing. I will do the talking. I’m hoping to flash enough gold at this guy that he doesn’t even blink at my request for transport animals.”
Sage crossed her arms and glared at him, but nodded. It was clear he outranked her or whatever.
He handed Sage the map. “In case we get separated.” And then he pulled his sword and lay it on the ground, covering it with leaves. “Hide the weapons. Eugene said they take them and don’t give them back.”
Great. I reached down, scraped some of the fallen leaves and dirt away, and then deposited the shotgun Marmal had given me and the fey blade, covering it. I’d grown fond of the weapon and hoped it wouldn’t be stolen while we were in this place.
Walsh looked at me. “Your name is Jessica. Understood?”
Okay, wow, so we were really paranoid. I nodded.
After that, we stepped out into the clearing and my eyes immediately were drawn to a giant pole barn. It was huge, must have been two hundred feet long by a hundred feet wide. Maybe for racing animals or keeping them in there or something. There was a chimney at the top that spewed dark smoke, and the scent that hit my nose was so confusing I actually scrunched up my face.
Fox, beaver, bear, tiger, rat, and magic. So much magic…
This place was crawling with magic and smelled like a zoo. A crazy combination for sure. As we approached, my eyes ran over a large dude about Eugene’s size. He stood like a sentinel at the front of two large double doors; his forehead and nose were troll-like, as were the tiny delicate tusks that protruded from his cheeks, but he had slightly pointy ears and black eyes. He didn’t look a full-blown fey; they were tall and willowy and had really pointy ears. He was somewhere between a troll and a fey.
“Ithaki,” Sage whispered to me and my eyes widened.
Shit. I hoped he didn’t know who I was from the day Sawyer killed their leader.
What was an Ithaki doing in Dark Fey Territory? A troll fey one no less? Did he live here? I was slightly horrified and intrigued by this.
The man inhaled through his nose and growled. “Wolf.”
Walsh produced a small gold coin from his pocket, legit gold, and handed it to the man. “I need to speak with Trip.”
The man looked at us like we were the scum of the earth, his eyes even roaming over my wolf before he looked back at Walsh and tapped his palm.
Walsh produced another gold coin and it clinked with the first one. The giant put them in his pocket and stepped aside, allowing us entry into the building. We walked past him quickly and into a barrage of sounds and smells.
A stone sank in my gut as my eyes ran across the hundreds of cages that lined the far walls of the large barn. Racoons, foxes, dogs, cats, every kind of animal you could think of. I tucked into Walsh’s side as my wolf pressed against my other side and Sage brought up the rear. Seeing so many caged and mistreated animals had us all shrinking together in our own little pack. I skidded to a stop, causing Sage to run into my back as my eyes stopped on a stall that was barred like a jail cell. Thick iron bars went from the floor to the ceiling, encasing the most magnificent creature I’d ever seen.
“Is that…?” My mouth dropped open. The most beautiful pearl colored dragon stood in the center of the cell, her turquoise eyes tracking me as I tried to walk closer to her. Walsh’s hand snaked out and grasped my upper arm as he yanked me back. I could tell by Sage’s wide eyes that she also didn’t think dragons existed before this very moment.
I started to look at the other cages and stalls more closely now. Horses, buffalo, every animal looked “normal” but they all smelled of magic.
“Holy drago—”
Walsh shushed me, forcing us to all start moving again and I had to bite my tongue from freaking out.
“Mods,” Sage whispered to me as we followed Walsh deeper into the center of the room, where some crowd was shouting and chanting.
“Mods?” I looked confused.
She gestured to the animals in the other cages. “Modified animals. They’re given magic powers before they’re bound to the fey. They probably use the dragon to do it.”
Holy shifter.
I looked back at the dragon, sad to see the brokenness in her eyes, the same brokenness I once recognized in Sawyer and in myself. My wolf whimpered and I knew exactly what she meant. The cages were too small and all of the animals looked mistreated. This place was a nightmare and I’d wished we’d never come.
One by one, the crowd of people parted, craning their necks to stare at us, nostrils flaring. The room was ninety percent made up of dark fey with long, inky-black hair and sharp pointy ears. But I also spotted trolls, vampires, and a few witches. This was clearly some kind of black-market trading post that was open to all races… except for ours. Wolves stuck together mostly. Pack over everything else. I pulled the hood higher over my face and remembered my name was Jessica.
Walsh boldly walked us through the crowd until I saw why there was crowd at all. In the center of the barn was a… fighting ring. A cage sat in the middle of the room and my stomach sank when I saw the dead form of a fey man lying in the center of it. A giant troll loomed over him, snarling, black blood dripping from his mouth.
The crowd erupted into cheers just as a dark fey man in a sleek charcoal suit turned to look at us. His eyes flicked quickly from Walsh, to Sage, to me, before lingering on my wolf.
He simply nodded his head to the back of the barn and then walked away.
Walsh gave us a distressing look and we followed.
This had to be Trip, and luring us into a back corner of the barn wasn’t my idea of safe and fun. We passed more cages, and I did spot a small lemur, causing a whimper to die in my throat. I’d always wanted a pet monkey. I told my mom when I was twelve that if she didn’t get me one, I’d run away. She didn’t get me one, and I never ran away, but dammit I’d wanted to. Now I realized the irony here, that a pet monkey would have been stolen from their parents and kept in a cage just like this one.
When we reached the corner of the barn, the man opened a hidden door in the wall and stepped inside. Walsh hesitated a moment and gave me a look. It was a look that said, If we get jumped, I need you to be a badass and flex those freaky powers. I nodded. I didn’t yet know the full extent of my powers, but I could feel my wolf thrumming with anticipation. Walsh stepped through the door first and looked left and right quickly, before moving more fully inside. We followed him in and I left the door open for easy escape.
The office was tiny, which was made all the more uncomfortable by the fact that the man at the desk lit up a giant cigar, puffing a few times before it started smoking. Behind him stood two giant troll-fey Ithaki. The two huge dudes stood over seven feet tall and had scars all over their faces. One of them who had a dyed purple mohawk had a seriously broken nose; it bulged and protruded oddly. They were ugly as sin, but looked like his most prized fighters.
The man, Trip I assumed, had paper-thin white skin, peppered with black veins. His long dark hair hung halfway down his back and my gaze flew to his black-painted fingernails. This guy was like an emo goth dark fey. Quite a character.
“What can I do for you fine wolves?” he purred.
I didn’t like or trust him.
“You Trip?” Walsh asked.
The man just nodded, once.
Walsh produced a small bag of gold coins, palming them and holding them out to Trip. “I need a horse and carriage or any other type of animal that can get me across the fey realm quickly.”
Trip grinned and I tried not to wince at his yellow tobacco-stained teeth. He took the gold from Walsh, peeked inside the velvet bag and chuckled. “This isn’t enough for what you want.”
Walsh growled. “That’s more than enough.”
Trip stood, inhaling a deep drag of his cigar, and puffed it out in Walsh’s face. “Before the war, yes. But this morning I got an order from the dark fey king to deliver all of my riding animals and carriages to prepare for war.”
Holy shit. Prepare for war? With us?
I kept my face a mask of calm as Trip looked at me, gaze narrowing as he tried to peer inside of my pulled-up hood. “She looks a bit familiar,” he commented, and I had to refrain from lowering my head to hide because that would be shady.
Walsh stepped in front of me, ignoring his comment.
He pointed to the gold. “There must be something you can give me for this.”
Trip sneered, looking Walsh up and down like he was a specimen. “What are four pretty little wolves doing so far from home anyway? Dodging the war?” His gaze turned skeptical.
Had a full-on war broken out or just this little tiff with the vampires? Now I was nervous. I’d need to check in with Sawyer when I had time.
Walsh nodded. “Can you help us?”
He looked back at his two troll guards, who nodded. Turning back to face Walsh, he clasped his hands together. “I’ll give you one horse and buggy if you win your fight.”
I saw Sage tighten next to me at the same time that I did.
“Fight?” Sage growled.
The man’s gaze snapped to hers and he grinned. “We haven’t had a female fighter in ages. Would love if—”
“No.” Walsh’s command was laced with his wolf, and even though I wasn’t facing him, I knew his eyes would be yellow.
Trip grinned as Walsh dropped his deer skin and pulled off his shirt, showcasing a lean, muscular back full of small scars.
“I’ll fight. Then you give us the horse and carriage. Do I have your word?”
Trip’s upper lip curled at that and I wondered if there was something to a fey giving you his word, because he seemed reluctant to do so.
“If you win your fight, you have my word that you may leave with the horse and carriage I assign you.”
Walsh looked at me and Sage. “Say it again and include them.”
Trip chortled. “Smart boy. If you win your fight, you have my word that you may leave with these three lovely ladies and the horse and carriage I assign you.”
Walsh nodded, seemingly satisfied with that and it took me a moment to realize the three ladies included my wolf. He thought she was a werewolf in wolf form. Good.
I could tell from the look on Sage’s face that she wanted to beg Walsh not to fight, but she kept quiet as we left the office.
“You can warm up over there.” Trip indicated to a corner of the room and we all followed his gaze. My stomach dropped when I noticed the wolf inside of the cage near a red foam practice mat. She was panting, licking at an injured paw and whimpering. I inhaled deeply and smelled a female Paladin wolf. She had an earthy smell, like Arrow, wolf shifter but also uniquely Paladin, I could smell the human on her too.
There was no way we could leave her here.
Walsh met my gaze and shook his head, knowing what I was thinking.
“We’ll be taking her too. Name your price,” I told Trip as he turned to walk away. The Paladin wolf must have heard that, because her yellow eyes snapped up to meet mine and I held her gaze for a long moment.
He spun on his heel and followed my line of sight to the Paladin wolf and then grinned. Those yellow stained teeth made me shudder.
Walsh’s hand snaked out and gripped my upper arm. “No.”
I met his yellow gaze. “Yes,” I growled.
“She’s not one of us,” he snipped back to me, barely a whisper.
I yanked my arm from his, feeling too conflicted to explain. “I’m not leaving without her. You saw how the Paladin man tried to save me after my fall. This is fucked up.” I pointed to the cage.
Walsh’s face fell then, and he swallowed hard. There was a human in there, a shifter, not just an animal. He was there when I fell, he knew the Paladin man tried to help me.
“That pretty thing will get me a fair price at market. She can birth future Ithaki,” Trip told us.
What? They had an Ithaki breeding program? I shivered and my wolf peeled back her lips and snarled at the man.
‘Let me fight for her,’ my wolf said, and I nodded immediately.
“My little sister here will fight you for her,” I said, gesturing to my wolf and figuring the sister thing made the most sense.
Trip looked at me like I was insane, before he and his henchmen burst into laughter. “You think that little pup can stand against one of my fighters?”
I opened my mouth to speak and Walsh growled, shutting me up. “We will fight doubles. Me and the wolf against two of your strongest men. If we win, we get to leave with the horse, carriage, and the Paladin wolf.”
Trips eyes glittered. “A doubles fight?” He looked at his guards, who nodded once.
“The crowd will love it.” He rubbed his chin. “Alright, you have a deal. You have my word that if you win this fight, you, the ladies, and the Paladin wolf are free to go on my horse and carriage.”
Walsh nodded and Trip turned and left just like that. When Trip was gone, Walsh rounded on me as Sage tucked in closer to my side. “Are you crazy? You probably just got us both killed. Now I’m going to have to fight two of them while protecting you!” he growled.
I scowled at him. “Are you saying my wolf is useless?”
She growled to let him know how much she resented that thought.
He softened, his shoulders slumping. “No, but she’s not trained. Sage would have been a better bet, and all of your powers are tied up in your human form. This could be a total disaster.”
I frowned. Was he right? I mean, I could walk through walls, but that wasn’t going to do me any good here. Not to mention it would get my special gifts outed.
Sage gave me a sidelong glance. “Why on earth would you stick up for a Paladin wolf? They are responsible for the constant attacks on Wolf City and my family.”
She didn’t even know about the curse. If she did, she would feel even worse about the Paladins, but I didn’t know those Paladins. I couldn’t lie any longer and I didn’t want to. They had the wrong idea about the Paladins and I wanted to set them straight.
“Because I’m one of them. A Paladin.” I held my chin high as Sage’s eyes went wide and Walsh’s lips turned into a frown of confusion.
Nothing like dropping a truth bomb right before a fight to your death.
