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Wyatt groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “Well, that doesn’t sound at all ominous. I know that look on your face. This little idea you have is going to put you in danger, isn’t it?”I shrugged helplessly. “I wouldn’t call it dangerous per se, but it might be risky.”“I can’t let the woman I love dive into something risky on her own. I guess I’m in this with you. Whatever it is.”My stomach gave a happy little flip, as it always did whenever Wyatt told me he loved me. The words came easily for him, like he’d been saying them his whole life.Grinning back at him, I reached forward and poked him in the stomach. “You know you love my little plans.”Wyatt groaned again, then laughed. “Yeah. We’ll see about that.”Chapter 8WyattThe next morning, I woke just as the artificial fae lights of Haven brightened in a sort of simulated sunrise and sunset the magic users of Haven had set up after Crew created the place. Kira lay curled against my side. As I looked down at her peaceful face,
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“I’m starving,” J.D. said with a heavy sigh. “I’m going to grab a bite and come back.” He looked through the bars at Leif. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?” he said to him.Leif, having calmed down again, nodded. “Okay. Yeah, you need to eat something. I’ll, uh…” He glanced around at the ten-by-ten cell. “I’ll be here, I guess.”“I’ll go with you,” Mika said to J.D. “Zoe, do you want me to bring you something back?”“Yes, please. Either oatmeal. Or oatmeal, or if there’s no other option, I’ll take the oatmeal.”Mika chuckled. “Good one. I’ll be back in a bit.”Leif walked to the lone bunk at the side of the cell and lay down, mumbling in that mad way of his.“So,” I said to Zoe, “how have things been going?”Zoe rolled her eyes. “Oof. This place has been busy since Mika showed up. After him, you guys got here, and then?” She blew out her cheeks and used her fingers to simulate a bomb exploding. “Full crazy ever since.”“Why was it busy when Mika got here?”“Oh, that,” she said, t
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When I mentioned all that, Kira acted like it didn’t matter. “I think she wants to do something about it, too,” she said. “Do you remember, right before she transported us to Zoe, she said something about meddling? I think that was her saying something was wrong on the island and she wanted to fix it.”“But like I said, how do we even go about finding her?”Kira sighed and glanced around to make sure no one could hear. “We’ll figure it out. Look, I know we’re going to help teach these people to fight, but if we go against Simon like we are now, with no backup, it’s going to be ugly. Lots of these people are going to die, and I don’t know if I can shoulder that kind of blame. I have to try.”Gods, this was a fucking dangerous idea. The Shadowkeeper could kill us all with a snap of her fingers. But the look on Kira’s face sealed it for me. She was right that we didn’t have a large enough force to go against Simon. Plus, as fired up as Kira was about this, there would be no stopping her.
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At the mouth of the cave, Zoe grabbed Kira and hugged her. “I’ll keep my mouth shut, but I’m only giving you guys a few hours. After that, I’m spilling the beans to Crew. Got it?”“Got it,” Kira said, extricating herself from the embrace. “We’ll be back soon. Promise.”Zoe went back down the tunnel, rearming the traps and wards as she went.“Where to first?” Kira asked.I pointed to the south, in the direction of the mansion. “I’m pretty sure I can find the waterfall where I first met her. I can’t think of a better place to start than there. We can try to catch her scent while we work our way toward the river.”“Okay. Lead the way.”The jungle was already roiling with noises, even as early as it was. The attack on Simon’s lab and the fall of the mansion had the creatures and beings of Bloodstone in a state of agitation. Kira and I spent the first twenty minutes of our trek hiding from passing beasts, one of which was another of Simon’s abominations: a weird combination of snake, bear,
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Seeing my face, Kira’s grin vanished. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.I gripped her forearm tight, a signal to stay quiet. My eyes darted around, panic welling up within me as I became sure the scent was what I thought it was. Kira’s eyes widened. She’d noticed it, too.Pressing my mouth to her ear, I spoke, my voice barely louder than the terror-filled breaths I was taking. “We have to run. It’s close.”Kira nodded. Holding up three fingers, I lowered them in a countdown. When my last finger lowered, we leaped up and rolled out from under our cover. An angry wet hiss came from behind us as a massive silver blade sliced through the palm fronds. The revenant stood, glaring at us from under its moth-eaten black hood, glowing red eyes pinning us in place.Lifting the scythe again, it opened its mouth, black tongue flicking over rotting gray teeth. We must have stumbled into the territory it had claimed for itself. We couldn’t fight it; Kira and I didn’t have the skills to do that. We’d ne
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“You’re talking about Simon Shingleman? The ‘mad one?’”“Hmm, is that what the hybrid calls himself? Very well.”As I looked at her, my mind whirred with everything I knew about the being standing before me. She’d always been a huge question mark on the show—only appearing at random intervals, sometimes years apart, always bestowing gifts or power and favors. There had even been a course in TO training—Unknown Beings and Their Histories—that had two full chapters devoted to her. From what I’d seen her do, she reminded me of some type of wraith. But wraiths had no scent, and no wraith could have taken down a revenant.My gut told me what she was, but the thought was too crazy to seem real. They were all known. None were hidden. Were they? Could she possibly be what I thought she was? And if so, how did no one know?“Are you a goddess?” I blurted.Wyatt glanced at me like I’d said the craziest thing ever.The Shadowkeeper, for her part, only gazed at me with an introspective look on her
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“What’s the plan, then?” Wyatt asked. “How will you help us?”Lucina smirked at him. “I’ll be there when you need me.”“What does—”Before Wyatt could finish his question, Lucina’s robe of shadow burst off her, and she devolved into a swarm of bats that rushed away into the jungle, leaving us alone.Wyatt stared off after the last of the bats and shook his head. “It fucking worked? How the hell did we do that? We have a goddess on our side now?”“I know,” I said, grinning like an idiot.As determined as I’d been to find her, I had assumed the Shadowkeeper would be much more difficult to entice into helping us. With her agreement, we were no longer hopelessly outmatched or stranded. We had a fighting chance now.“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I said. “I’m sure Zoe will try to stay close to the entrance to let us back in, but if we don’t hurry, someone will ask why she’s hanging around so long.”Hands clasped, Wyatt and I began the hike back to Haven. Lucina’s presence must have terr
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Once past the entry corridor, Zoe, Wyatt, and I and through the dirt tunnels to get to the medical area. As we entered the room, Abel looked up weakly. His face was deathly pale, and he looked like he could fall asleep at any moment. Still, he managed a smile when he saw us.“Hey, guys,” he said.Wyatt and I went to his bedside. “How are you feeling?” I asked.“Like I’ve been hit by a truck,” he said. He pinned me with his eyes. “Kira, thank you. They told me what happened. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you saved me. That…man.” Abel shuddered. “He’s a fucking monster. A psychopath. You have no clue how awful he is.”I actually had a pretty good idea, but I refrained from telling him that as I put my hand on his arm. “No problem. Hell, I owed you one for rescuing me from that basilisk.”“Abel, do you remember anything about what Simon did to you?” Wyatt asked.Abel flinched at hearing Simon’s name. “Not really. It’s all a big blur. I don’t even remember what happened in
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Who knew what the future held? Maybe things would look even more different in a few years. After all, look how much had changed in a few short months.I walked down to get a better view of everyone. So many familiar faces. Chelsey and Crew, of course. Mika, with Zoe snuggled right up against him. J.D. and Leif, holding hands. Leif’s body, face, and attitude were stronger and healthier than during our final days on Bloodstone Island. It had taken weeks of intensive work with spell casters, healers, and psychologists, but he’d fully recovered. No longer feral, he’d begun working with J.D. to form a nonprofit company to help shifters who were in danger of going feral or who had recently slipped over. He wanted to give everyone the same help he’d been given.Abel had come with his new girlfriend, the woman he’d always thought should have been his fated mate. My brother Kolton stood beside Eli, their hands clasped together. Eli was even more beautiful than before. After we’d revealed all t
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I needed to speak to Kira alone. Now that everything was wrapping up, I had to see how she was doing. Taking her hand, I led her back down the hallway to a private alcove. I kissed her, my lips lingering on hers for longer than necessary. All the stress of the last few days—hell, the last few weeks—finally felt like it was easing. Now we would have time to think and recover.“How are you?” I asked. “After what Simon did to you in there?”Watching her turn into a mindless animal had frightened me even more than when she’d attacked me. Seeing those soulless eyes glaring down at me while she snapped and growled had damn near broken my heart.Kira took a steadying breath and nodded. “For a minute or two there, I really thought I might kill you. I had no control. The idea of killing my own fated mate was horrifying. I don’t think I’ve ever been that terrified in my life. But it’s over.” That beautiful smile returned to her face. “Whatever Lucina did broke that spell. I don’t think I’ll eve
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The elevator trip was spent in silence, each of us basking in the other’s happiness and relief. Kira’s emotions bounced through my mind, and I was ecstatic that we hadn’t lost this deep, binding connection.At the ground floor, the doors slid open and we were met with two voices, one mewling and begging, the other pissed.“Told your ass not to run, didn’t I? And my name is fucking August, not Autumn!”What the hell was going on?“Please, you must let me go, you must. I have fans. Oh, gods, it hurts. What do you want? Money? I can get you girls. Boys, if that’s your speed? Whatever you want!”Von?I turned to look at Kira, and her eyes were as shocked as mine. We sprinted from the elevator and around the corner. Von was pinned to the wall with the broken leg of a chair. The makeshift stake pierced him in the shoulder rather than the heart. August stood before him, using a hand to hold the vampire’s head up. Seeing us coming down the hall, he let Von go, letting the host dangle six inch
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Movement caught my eye, and I glanced at our friends. August was talking hurriedly to Crew, who nodded and took over control of the camera. August then rushed over to take a seat at the table while Crew zoomed the camera in close to August’s face.“Good afternoon, world. I hope you enjoyed the latest episode of the new show, What the Fuck? I’m your host, August Evander.“Now that I have a captive audience, I have some cats—er, dogs—to let out of the bag. I’m sure you’ll all enjoy this. We all love dirt. Let’s spill the tea, shall we?”August rambled off the information he’d dug up, starting with Crew’s parents. He proceeded to discuss the Tranquility Council’s corruption, the assassinations carried out by Tranquility operatives, pay-offs, embezzling, blackmailing, paid-off judges, murders, and more. Nearly every alpha and beta from the upper packs were named in some dirty dealing or another.At first, we stood transfixed by August’s rapid-fire delivery, but eventually, the board membe
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Heline turned and registered the camera. A mix of emotions flashed across her face--confusion, understanding, shock, anger, fear, rage. Her face was even paler than before as she took in the truth. Millions had seen and listened to her admit to all she’d done.Behind me, Wyatt chuckled. “After all this, I can’t believe I’m happy to see a camera.”Heline’s eyes widened, and I thought she was going to unleash a tirade on us. But instead, she grinned and laughed along with Wyatt.“Yes, yes, yes, so funny,” she chuckled. “Of course I knew that camera was there. Do you really think the great Heline would let anything happen to her acolytes? I care deeply for them. I would never allow harm to come to them for something I allegedly did.”“Really?” I asked dryly.“I fully intended to make the fated mate pairings right again. I always did, my dear girl,” Heline added.The way she called me dear girl made my guts go watery and cold. The smile on her lips was no longer jovial. It looked like the
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Stop! Please no, don’t hurt him. Gods, please stop, I screamed out at myself from deep in my mental prison, but through my internal screams, I watched as the jaws that had once belonged to me snapped and bit at Wyatt. He managed to hold me back, his hands under my jaw, but I was strong and he’d been caught unaware. I couldn’t even hear his thoughts or emotions now. All I could see was the terror in his eyes as my teeth drew nearer his neck.“Enough!” a shout erupted from behind me.Even in the manic feral state of my body, whatever controlled me turned to see the mousy woman standing. She lifted her arms and a flash of magic shot forward, surrounding me in a net of darkness, the strands of it digging painfully into me. With a jerk of her hand, I was hauled away from Wyatt, leaving him blessedly safe.Inside the strange magical net, Simon’s influence melted away, the weird connection between us shattering. Suddenly, I was free. Freer than I’d felt since that night all those years ago.
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“I can’t die like this,” he gasped. “My fans. They’re watching. If I die on air, it will be appalling.”Ignoring Von’s pleas, Wyatt said, “Call for Heline, Von.”Von’s murmured begging ceased. “Excuse me?”“Of every person on this show, you’ve been around the longest. If anyone knows the moon goddess, it’s you. You see her at the end of every damned season. Call her. Tell her to get her ass down here. Now.”“But…but…but,” Von stammered. “My boy, I can’t simply call to a goddess—aah!” Von’s words cut off in a shriek as Wyatt dug the pencil in deeper.“Von,” Wyat said with a sad shake of his head, “I am not a fan of yours. Please don’t piss me off. I’ve staked enough vamps in my day to know exactly how scared you are of this pencil.”I couldn’t take my eyes off Von’s face. The sheer terror I saw there was both sad and cathartic. He’d put us through so much shit, had giggled, laughed, and applauded over it. Now he was getting a taste of the danger he loved—and it seemed he wasn’t a fan.
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Every time I tried to open my mouth, nothing came out. I must have looked guilty beyond belief. Wyatt turned toward me and saw the look of horror in my eyes. The fingers of his mind drifted into mine, and an instant later, he spun in his chair, angry eyes leveling on Simon.“He’s doing something to her,” Wyatt snapped.Simon adjusted his glasses and laughed. “Me? I’m doing nothing. Perhaps Ms. Durst is simply speechless with guilt for her crimes. Have you thought about that, Mr. Rivers?”Veins bulged at my neck as I tried to force words from my mouth, but it was like a brick wall had been built between my voice box and my mouth. I stared down at the table, at the pad of paper and sharpened pencil I had before me, trying to make sense of what was happening. Around the room, the other guests and board members glared at me with dark, accusing eyes.A hand touched my leg. Firm yet gentle, gripping my thigh. The fingers cool even through my pants. Von’s assistant. Surprised, I glanced down
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Chapter 25 Kira The hesitancy I felt as we walked toward the table nearly made me freeze in place, but I pushed forward. I would not let these assholes see me weak.Before each seat was a legal pad and pencil, as if they expected us to take notes or something. Wyatt took his seat, and I sat beside him, the mousy little assistant on my other side. The woman still hadn’t said a word, which didn’t surprise me. If I had to be around Von Thornton all day, I’d keep my mouth shut, too. The guy never seemed to stop talking. The poor woman had probably given up on speaking while at work.Simon’s eyes were still on me. Even without looking in his direction, I could feel them boring into me. In the deepest recesses of my mind, I could still catch small hints and whispers of his voice, calling to me. It was less like the connection Wyatt and I shared and more like a faint memory. Any hope I’d had that I’d imagi
