Hunter paced in front of the door. She’d been fighting with herself for the past ten minutes. She knew it was late, knew she shouldn’t even be where she was, or do what she was about to. But damn it, she didn’t know what else to do! She stopped pacing and lifted her hand to knock. The door opened before she could touch it.“Took you long enough.” Isis said. She stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come in.”“I’m sorry, I’m not even sure…”“Yes, you are.” Isis said. “You don’t strike me as a liar. Just tell me what you want.”“I’m sorry.” Hunter shook her head and lifted a hand to grab at her hair. “I’m going to go.” She turned and reached for the door Isis closed behind her.“Hunter, don’t be stupid. We both know what you need. And I’m a witch, I’m used to this.” Isis shrugged and Hunter, looking over her shoulder, saw the casual gesture for what it was, a barrier, a thin disguise to the hurt. “Just tell me what you want me to do, and if I can, I’ll help you. And don’t say sorry a
She was dreaming. Amber knew she was dreaming. It was a familiar dream. One she’d had since Ava had taken her that long time ago. But unlike that time, no one came for her, no one rescued her, and she had to watch Taylor die, before Ava killed her. She wanted to wake herself up. Wanted to make herself open her eyes, but she couldn’t, she had to face it, go through it. So, she let it unfold, and hoped that this time it would go quickly. Warm arms wrapped around her and a soft whisper in her ear brought her back. She felt the dream leave her, felt her body relax and knew she was safe, Sam was with her, Sam was holding her, soothing her. The kiss was slow, deep, and warmed her from the inside. The cold the dream had caused, evaporating into thin air as Sam kissed her, touched her body. She moaned, and turned to the body next to hers. She answered the call with her own body, her own hands, touching and stroking them. Sam rolled them over and Amber was on top, their bodies meshed, fit perf
Gem woke slowly. She felt like a heavy blanket had been thrown over her and she pushed at it, trying to break through the fog. She felt fury rise inside her as she realized that Paine must have drugged her. Why? She knew they were close to Silver Moon, the cave they were hiding in, which was on the lake that ran through the compound. And she’d seen the smoke from the fires when they’d eaten. The blood! Gem realized that was what must have been drugged. It was the only thing she had to eat. Or drink. She gathered her strength and sat up. Her legs weren’t tied up, but her hands still were. Paine had obviously thought that the drug would keep her down. She looked around and realized she was alone in the cave. She pushed harder at the fog, and tried to stand. She immediately dropped to one knee and swore as pain rocked her leg. All she had to do was get up, get enough strength to run, and she’d be out of the mad woman’s grasp. And she could lead Hunter and the rest to her hide out. She to
Tris watched Mya stride into the clearing, her long legs ate up the distance between them, and their eyes stayed locked. She’d never understood what people meant when they said they could see anger emanating from someone. But she did now. She would swear at that moment she could reach out and touch the cloak of anger around Mya. She stood and blocked her way. Not sure why, or where the courage came from, but knowing that she needed to protect Taylor. A second too late she realized her mistake. She had no right to step between Mya and Taylor. And she had no right to assume that Mya would hurt Taylor. She felt Mya’s fists curl in front of the shirt, she didn’t fight it, she went with the momentum and landed with a huff on the grass as Mya lifted and threw her off the porch. She rolled to her feet, shaking off the tufts of grass and lifted her hands as Mya stepped towards her. “Hold up! Wait!” Tris stepped back as Mya stalked her.“Don’t you ever, step between me and what’s mine again!”
Hunter paced her room. She could feel Gem’s pain. It tore through her at intervals. Intervals, that had become shorter and shorter. Wherever she was, she was running out of time. Nothing had ever scared her as much as this. Not even when Gem had left her on their wedding night. She’d known then that one day she would get Gem back. Now, it was so hard to keep the hope inside her alive when she knew how much pain Gem was suffering. How much more could she endure? Yes, she was a vampire, yes, she was resilient, but everyone had a limit. What she’d learnt about the ruffian woman, Paine, she scoffed, fitting. What she’d learnt, was that the longer Gem stayed with her, the less chance they had of getting her back. She’d roused the witches and Alex, but she waited, stalled really. Because she was afraid of hope. Afraid to go down and be told that Gem could not be found. That Isis and Morgan can’t track Paine.She picked up her glass of scotch and took a sip. She realized it was empty and thr
“Enough!” Mya pushed Sam out of her way and shoved at Hunter. “She’s had enough.”“Stay back, we’ve almost got it.”“Damn it Hunter, don’t make me hurt you!”“Get her out of here Sam,” Hunter growled.“Don’t touch her!” Taylor stepped between Sam and Mya. “Amber, look at her, she’s had enough, they’ll kill her!”“She’s a wolf, she’ll be fine.” Sam snapped.“Then put Amber in that chair and after hours of this, tell me the same?” Mya snapped. “Oh, wait, Amber could probably go for days. How about, Addi?”“Mya!” Taylor pulled her back and stepped back in front of her. “She’s exhausted, we all are. She needs a longer break than she had.” Taylor touched Sam’s arm, who shook from anger. “Look at her, look at the person you’re using and see what’s happening. Is it worth hurting her like that? Are we going to stoop to Paine’s levels to find her?”“If I damned well have to, yes!” Hunter snapped. “Get out of here if you can’t handle it!” “Mya, we need to find the location, we’re…”“Sam, pleas
Addi knew they’d get in trouble if her mom knew where she and Dylan were. But Dylan had asked her to go for a run and then they’d just sat at the lake, watching the water. She knew they should be heading back, but being with Dylan like this was great, and she felt a bit guilty that she was happy Pax couldn’t come with them. They had asked him, obviously. But he’d had chores, so she and Dylan had come out on their own.“Are you nervous?” Dylan asked.“Yes. My mom would be pissed if she knew we’d gone running alone.”“I know, mine too.” Dylan shrugged. “I wanted to spend some time with you, you know, alone.” She smiled sweetly. “Pax is always around. I like him, but I like it when we have time alone.”“Me too,” Addi said.“Can I tell you something, but like a secret?” Dylan asked. She fidgeted with the grass they were sitting on and shifted uncomfortably. “I haven’t told mom yet either.”“Sure, okay?” Addi tilted her head and felt Trixie shuffle on her shoulder. Obviously listening. She
Taylor ran a hand gently over Tris’s face. She’d cleaned up her face but her clothes were still covered in blood. Taylor looked around the room and found the closet they kept the spare clothes in for injured wolves and went over to pull their pants and a shirt out. She stood for a second debating with herself about what she was about to do. In the end she shrugged and set the clothes down next to the bed. She bent over Tris and pulled the blood-soaked shirt from her pants, then lifted it up and over her head. Tris’s eyes fluttered open and a tiny grin lit up her face.“Not how I imagined this to go.” She mumbled.“Me neither.” Taylor winked and smiled. “But we have to work with what we have.” She reached for the cloth she’d used to clean Tris’ face and after giving it a rince, started wiping down Tris’ arms and then moved to her chest.“I… You don’t have to…” She shut her mouth when Taylor shot her a withering glare.“Can you sit up?”“Yes.” She tried to pull herself up, but had to ho