Snakeroot

  Ren laughed. “If that’s the way you’re going to play it.”

  “What does he mean?” Chase asked, but Logan held up his hand to silence the other Keeper.

  Pondering his next move, Logan didn’t take his eyes off Ren, wary of any signs of imminent danger. On the one hand, Logan couldn’t risk Chase and Audrey seeing his confidence waver—he had to at least give the appearance of being in control of this situation. The problem remained that Logan had no idea why Ren had appeared in the glen. He needed to play this scene as if he held a winning hand, when in truth he was bluffing.

  Lifting his chin, Logan said to the wolf, “You know why you’re here.”

  Still smiling derisively, Ren nodded.

  “How do I reach him?” Logan asked, frustrated but not yet disheartened.

  At last, Ren’s smile vanished. His eyes fixed on Logan’s, reassessing the situation.

  “I don’t want to ask again.” Logan squared his shoulders as his confidence reasserted itself. He didn’t even flinch when Ren snarled at him.

  “I’m the first step,” Ren answered. “But placing a single stone won’t build the bridge you need to reach the Nether.”

  “What are you?” Chase blurted out.

  Ren snarled again and Chase took a step back.

  “Don’t frighten my friends.” Logan shook his head. “Answer his question.”

  Ren’s jaw tightened with resentment, but he told Chase, “I’m the intercessor.”

  Logan had to swallow a sigh of immense relief. Chase and Audrey could ask the questions Logan could not. And it was becoming clear that when the spell had brought Ren to Logan, it also forced the wolf to obey him. Now they were getting somewhere.

  “What’s an intercessor?” Audrey crept up to stand just behind Logan’s shoulder. She peered at Ren, curiosity mingling with her fear.

  “I can commune with both realms,” Ren said. “This one and the Nether.”

  “How?” Chase sounded skeptical. He watched the wolf as though he expected Ren to shift forms and attack them at any moment.

  Logan couldn’t blame Chase for his apprehension—after all, when Ren had first materialized in the glen, Logan’s mind had filled with visions of Sabine ripping out his father’s throat without warning in Rowan Estate’s library. For so many nights after that fateful day, Logan’s nightmares had been of running through the forests surrounding Rowan Estate, pursued by a pack of howling Guardians.

  But those were bad dreams, figments of Logan’s imagination. And Logan had been witness to something else that day in the library. Ren’s death. Renier Laroche, alpha male of the Haldis pack, had been killed by his “father,” Emile. If Ren was dead, he couldn’t hurt them. At least Logan hoped not.

  Addressing Chase, Ren said, “I’m a spirit. Spirits can move between planes.”

  Chase mustered the courage to step past Logan and give Ren a closer examination. He began to reach his hand out, but then paused.

  With a sigh, Ren said, “Just get it over with.”

  Chase cautiously stretched his hand out as if to touch the Guardian, but at the point where his fingers should have made contact with flesh, Chase’s hand passed through Ren’s body as if it were made of air. Delighted with this new discovery, Chase laughed and began to wave his hands through Ren’s non-corporeal shape.

  “Do you mind?” Ren bared his teeth at Chase. Even lacking substance, the sight of a wolf’s sharp canines was enough to send Chase stumbling back.

  “You’re a ghost?” Audrey asked in fascination. “Seriously?”

  “I’m not a ghost,” Ren growled at her. “I’m a restless spirit.”

  “Same difference,” Audrey huffed.

  “No,” Ren replied. “It’s actually very different.”

  Audrey sounded petulant. “What do you mean?”

  “Ghosts remain tethered to the world of the living because they can’t let go of something or someone from their past.” Ren’s tone made it plain that he was very much wishing he was still flesh and bone, just so he could attack Audrey. “That’s why ghosts are known for haunting. They stay attached to either a person or a place.”

  “And restless spirits?” Chase prompted.

  “Spirits are caught between planes of existence due to the nature of their death,” Ren answered. A hint of sadness crept into his voice. “Death that is violent enough to alter the soul so that it can’t continue on to wherever most spirits go—like a train that’s jumped off the tracks. Instead, spirits exist in the spaces between worlds.”

  “And you can move between worlds at will?” Logan asked. “All worlds?”

  Ren shook his head. “Only those worlds that had purchase on me when I was alive, but because I’m a Guardian, I had ties to this world and to the Nether. That’s why I’m a conduit between those realms.”

  “And that’s why you had to answer my summons,” Logan continued. The pieces were falling into place now. “Because you’re also tied to me.”

  “Unfortunately,” Ren answered with a wry smile.

  Logan ignored the insult. All that mattered was that Ren had to obey him; Logan didn’t care if the wolf was happy about it.

  “Have you been to the Nether?” Audrey asked, a little breathless.

  “No.” Ren’s frown carried a growl with it. “Why would I go there?”

  “Because you can,” Chase said.

  “Have you forgotten what lives in the Nether?” Ren shot back. “Monsters. That’s a world of pain and nightmares.”

  “But you’re one of those monsters,” Logan said quietly. “Or have you forgotten?”

  “I am what you made me,” Ren replied.

  Audrey pursed her lips, assessing Ren. “If you haven’t been hopping between realms, what have you been doing?”

  “Watching,” Ren said curtly.

  “Watching who?” Audrey asked, but Ren snarled at her.

  “Enough.” Logan folded his arms over his chest. “Now tell me what I want to know.”

  “Is this really what you want, Logan?” Ren said. “You have a chance to begin again. If you start down this path, there’ll be no turning back. By staying hidden, you’ve stayed safe. You won’t be able to hide away anymore. And once the Searchers learn what you’re up to, they’ll come after you.”

  Logan felt Chase and Audrey tense up beside him.

  “I didn’t summon you here to be my life coach, Renier,” Logan said. “So stop trying to give me advice.”

  Ren bristled, but said, “All right. If you want to speak with him, you have to get back what you lost.”

  “What kind of riddle is that?” Chase complained. “Is he talking about our power? Because that’s some kind of messed-up circular logic. Of course we have to get back what we lost, but we can’t use the power we lost to get it back.”

  “Do you have other minions?” Ren asked, casting a reproachful glance at Chase. “Because these two are idiots.”

  “We are not his minions,” Audrey objected.

  Logan swallowed his laugh, noting that she hadn’t bothered to tell Ren that they also weren’t idiots.

  “They’re just out of practice,” Logan answered Ren, then said to Chase, “He’s not talking about our power.”

  “What else did we lose?” Audrey asked, suddenly panicked. Logan knew her mind had gone straight to her bank accounts.

  “Not we,” Logan told her. “He’s talking about me. Something I lost.”

  Ren smiled and nodded.

  “What did you lose?” Chase frowned at Logan.

  Logan rolled his head from side to side. His neck had begun to pinch with frustration. “A box.”

  Ren nodded again.

  “And do you know where it is now?” Chase asked.

  “Approximately.” Logan could feel a headache coming on. Those damned useless thieves he’d hired had bungled the job. How was he supposed to get back to Rowan Estate now? The Searchers doubtless had increased their security so as to prevent any further encroachments.


  He looked at Ren. “So you’ve been watching?”

  Ren returned Logan’s gaze warily. “Yes.”

  “I can guess who,” Logan continued. “Given that seeing your former packmates frolicking through the mountains probably cuts too close to be pleasant.”

  Ren’s stare filled with a hate so visceral that Logan faltered, but Chase spoke up.

  “Who else would he be watching?”

  Recovering his composure, Logan answered, “His sister.”

  “His sister?” Audrey asked.

  “She’s a Searcher,” Logan continued, regaining confidence by the second.

  “Wait, what?” Chase shook his head. “How is that possible?”

  “It’s a long, torrid story.” Logan smiled at Audrey. “I’ll tell you later. You’ll love it.”

  “I can hardly wait,” Audrey replied. Now confident that the wolf couldn’t attack her, she was eyeing Ren with renewed fascination. “He’s a very handsome Guardian, isn’t he?”

  “He’s a ghost, Audrey,” Chase reminded her. “You can’t take him to bed.”

  “That’s a shame,” Audrey sighed. “I’m so bored.”

  Ren had gone very still, his eyes distant and his body stiff as he waited for Logan’s next command.

  Logan glanced at Audrey. “Don’t worry. You’re going to be far too busy very soon to be bored. In fact, I’d wager that your life is about to be more exciting than you’d ever imagined it could be.”

  Audrey gave a nervous little laugh, looking to Chase for reassurance.

  Her brother simply shrugged. “I could use a little excitement. There’s only so much fun to be had in Montauk, especially in the winter.”

  “Good,” Logan said to him, then looked at Ren. “You’re going to keep watching, but with purpose.”

  Ren tilted his head. “How so?”

  “Find out where the box is,” Logan told the Guardian. “I need to know how it’s been secured so we can strategize about recovering it.”

  “It’s not secured,” Ren answered.

  “You already know where it is?” Logan frowned at Ren, who nodded.

  “It was never secured because when it was found, one Searcher decided to keep it.”

  “Who?” Logan asked, though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

  “The person you’ve already guessed I’m watching.” Ren sighed, looking away from Logan. “My sister.”

  PURGATORY. THAT has to be it. I’ve somehow landed in my very own penalty box from hell.

  Ren wasn’t sure what he’d done so terribly wrong to merit an afterlife wherein he had to do Logan Bane’s bidding, but that was the reality Ren currently faced.

  He’d been skulking around Rowan Estate when a bizarre, rather unpleasant sensation had gripped him. He felt a sharp tug, like someone had tied a rope around his waist and pulled hard. The hedges and marble sculptures of the garden had blurred and Ren found himself standing face-to-face with Logan Bane.

  The experience had been revelatory. Until now, Ren had been stumbling through his new world as a spirit, improvising, discovering how things worked through trial and error. But from the moment he appeared in front of Logan, Ren’s mind had cleared and he could see himself and his place in the world in a way that felt as if someone had taken a blindfold from his eyes.

  Ren had thought he was a ghost, but now he knew he was a spirit. He’d thought himself aimless. Instead he discovered he was a messenger.

  And with each question that Logan asked, and that Ren didn’t expect to be able to answer, the knowledge had simply appeared. It was as though Logan’s summoning of Ren created a conduit to the great unknown, filling in many of the blanks about Ren’s state of being and the invisible world of which he was a new resident. The downside was that Ren was beholden to Logan to ask the questions. When Ren tried to delve into the mysteries that conversing with Logan revealed, he ran into a wall, unable to get any further than where previous dialogue had taken them.

  As much as he hated the idea of being dependent on Logan Bane for anything, a part of Ren wanted to hang around Logan some more just so he could learn about the rules of his current existence.

  That was, until he’d heard her cries as clearly as if she’d been standing beside him.

  Adne. Something was terribly wrong and Adne was in danger.

  Ren was back on the grounds of Rowan Estate before he even thought to worry that Logan might now have him on some kind of mystical leash that would render him unable to move through the world as he’d become accustomed. The thought that his comings and goings probably had some kind of catch flashed through Ren’s mind, but was driven away by the scent of blood and smoke.

  Adne’s blood.

  Ren lifted his muzzle and howled his rage at the night sky. In the distance the pack echoed his call. Their voices so familiar to Ren, he never could have failed to recognize the sound.

  Coincidence. It had to be. They hadn’t been able to hear him before. Why would that have changed?

  The other wolves continued to sing a battle song to Ren as he dashed across the snowy ground. At first Ren didn’t see Adne, only a huddled shape on the ground over which a tall shadow loomed. As Ren drew closer, the shadow became defined and Ren saw that it was a man. A man he knew.

  Startled, Ren skidded to a halt, but he didn’t stop snarling.

  Bosque Mar turned. “Good evening, Renier.”

  Ren wanted to lunge at the Harbinger and close his jaws around the Nether lord’s neck, but he couldn’t seem to move.

  “Don’t tax yourself, young wolf,” Bosque said. “You are here because I willed it to be so, and you cannot destroy that which created you.”

  Bosque’s words only confused Ren, but he stopped growling and shifted forms.

  “What are you doing to my sister?”

  “Just talking.” Bosque glanced at Adne. She lay prone in the snow. And while Ren could still smell her blood and singed flesh, she didn’t appear to be harmed in any way.

  Despite her lack of visible injuries, Ren said, “Talking doesn’t usually involve bleeding.”

  “You speak of things you can’t begin to understand,” Bosque told Ren. “I don’t wish to hurt Ariadne. Quite the opposite.”

  “Leave her alone.” Ren didn’t care what Bosque had to say about his intentions or Ren’s inability to attack him. He took a menacing step toward the Harbinger.

  Bosque laughed quietly. “Your loyalty to her is remarkable, considering how very recently you learned that you share blood. As to your . . . request, you presume to know what’s best for your sister. You don’t.”

  “And you think you know anything about her?” Ren asked.

  “I know more than you ever could,” Bosque replied. “I’ve walked between worlds for eons. You’ve only just begun. Make yourself useful. Show loyalty to me as you do to your sister and I will teach you great things.”

  He stepped away from Adne and gestured for Ren to approach her. “My business here is finished. I’ll leave you to see to her.”

  Ren almost objected. How could he offer any help to Adne? He couldn’t touch her. He couldn’t call out for help.

  Bosque was gone before Ren could say anything, but the Harbinger’s absence brought nothing but relief. Whatever danger Adne might be in now, Ren had no doubt that Bosque posed a far greater threat.

  Kneeling in the snow beside Adne, Ren reached out to take her hand. As he expected, his fingers passed through hers as if he wasn’t there.

  I’m not here. Not really. I’m a restless spirit who walks between worlds. And according to Bosque, I’m a worthless novice at that.

  The sudden, creeping feeling that he was being watched took hold of Ren. Frowning, he turned and saw shadows milling about in the forest at the edge of the gardens. A single shape broke from the group and came toward him, passing out of the woods and into the open.

  A wolf. A brown wolf with green eyes.

  Shay approached cautiously, his ears pinned back and hi
s fur bristling. Ren shifted forms and Shay stopped. His defensive posture eased and he regarded the charcoal wolf with interest.

  Reaching out with his mind, Ren hoped that Shay could still communicate the way Guardians had.

  Shay, I need you to help Adne. Bosque did something to her.

  The other wolf continued to watch Ren, ears flicking in curiosity, but Shay’s voice never sounded in Ren’s mind.

  He’s a wolf now, Ren reminded himself. Not a Guardian. I don’t know how it is that the pack came at my call, but they’re still wolves.

  Ren padded around Adne, whining to share his anxiety. Shay joined Ren at Adne’s side. The brown wolf sniffed at Adne’s limp form and nudged her with his muzzle. Adne gave no sign of response.

  Shay whined again. He looked at Ren and then at the towering outline of the mansion.

  Yes, Ren thought. He can take her to shelter. Or at least to a place where someone is more likely to find her.

  Ren barked at Shay, then pawed at Adne, showing the brown wolf the way his paw passed through Adne’s body without effect. Shay snarled and whined. Barking once more, Ren trotted around Adne and then barked at the mansion.

  If holding his breath would have meant anything, Ren would have done it as he waited for Shay’s next move. The brown wolf closed in on Adne, bent his head, and carefully grasped her shoulder in his jaws. With slow, steady progress Shay dragged Adne through the garden. Ren followed behind them, encouraging Shay to continue despite the wolf’s clear discomfort at being in such close proximity to human habitation. Adne’s body made furrows in the snow beside Shay’s paw prints.

  When they drew close to the mansion, Ren bounded ahead, guiding Shay to the servants’ entrance at the rear of the structure. Shay had just released Adne when Ren heard voices. A Searcher patrol was approaching.

  Shay heard them too and immediately wheeled around, bolting away from the mansion and back through the garden. Ren watched him go but didn’t attempt to follow. He belonged here, with Adne. Once Shay rejoined the pack, they’d return to the mountainside.

  Ren waited for the patrol to discover Adne, and when they did, he followed them inside. He listened as the healers from Eydis discussed Adne’s condition. He stayed with her until he felt certain that no serious damage had been done to her. The situation perplexed the Searchers as much as it did Ren. Adne was unconscious but otherwise seemed fine. Despite the cold, she didn’t even show signs of exposure. Of course, the Searchers were also buzzing about the wolf tracks they found in the garden, but those weren’t a mystery to Ren.