Bloodrose

  It was working. The bats couldn’t track so many of us, moving so quickly. And when the swarm did fix its hunt on one of our number, we were fast enough to get into the water before they could do too much damage.

  Another splash echoed through the cavern. Sabine was in the water, taking bats with her—a lot more of the creatures clung to her than had to Nev. They were getting better at focusing on one of us at a time. I felt the rush of wind again. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder to know the swarm had targeted me. The first bat landed on my spine; its teeth cutting across my back was light as a pinprick, but the feeling of its tiny tongue lapping up my blood almost made me stumble. Another bat clung to me. Then another.

  Calla! Ren’s shout filled my head. There are too many on you; get in the water now!

  I didn’t want to know how many was too many. But I could feel their weight on my back and my blood leaking from dozens of minuscule cuts. I wheeled and flung myself into the water. The force of my leap slammed my chest hard into the surface, knocking the breath from my lungs. The bats struggled to free themselves from my fur and take flight before the water captured them. I shifted forms, trying to put in my mouthpiece and get air. My heart was pounding, but I forced myself to be still, drinking in the silence of submersion. Beneath the surface everything was dark, though my eyes were open. I felt as if I were floating in empty space rather than underwater. I was desperate to get back into the fight, but I had to be steady first. When I was sure I had my breath back, I swam to the shore, shifting, and burst back into the fray.

  But there was no fray. The rest of my pack stood still, ears flicking back and forth, watching the ceiling.

  The bats had vanished.

  What happened? I padded to Ren’s side.

  They left. He pawed the ground in agitation. The cavern shook and they all flew out of the opening to the cave.

  The cavern shook? I hadn’t felt anything underwater.

  Just a little. Sabine was licking a cut on Nev’s shoulder.

  Mason and I exchanged a look. His tongue lolled out in a wolf grin. He’s got it. Shay found Eydis.

  How do you know? Ren’s ears flicked back and forth when he turned toward Mason.

  The cave shook in Switzerland. I nipped at Mason’s shoulder playfully. Go, Shay!

  Right. Ren remained tense. But why would that make the bats leave?

  I bristled. Let’s get back to the others.

  We had started toward the alcove when the cavern rumbled again. The earth rolled under my paws, throwing me onto my side. The water’s surface began to stir, spilling over the edge of the shore. Soon it looked like a boiling cauldron.

  What’s happening? Mason called to us.

  I could hear the Searchers shouting, but I couldn’t make out their words over the roar of water pouring into the cavern. Scrambling to my feet, I started to run toward their voices. My paws were splashing through ankle-deep water. It should have been impossible. Water coming through that tiny cleft in the rock we’d had to worm through couldn’t be this forceful. But somehow it was. Water that had been at my knees was already at my waist and rising, forcing me to swim. The cave shuddered again. Slabs of stone dropped from the ceiling.

  I could see Connor waving to us. Adne was beside him, fumbling with her scuba gear while Gabriel tried to help her. Ethan began swimming toward us.

  Where was Shay? I couldn’t spot him among them.

  “We have to get out of here!” Connor shouted.

  The water was at my neck, but I’d almost reached them. A deafening roar filled the cave and then the ocean was crashing around us, roiling, hitting us with the force of a tidal wave. We were thrown apart.

  I slammed into the cavern wall. My instincts screamed at me to swim up and find a way to surface, but whatever rational cells were left in my body stopped me. There wasn’t a way to surface, not anymore. The cavern was flooding with a speed that could only be credited to magic. Was it a final trap left by the Keepers or just a result of Shay claiming the water hilt? Whatever the cause, I knew my salvation lay in working with the water, not against it.

  I shifted forms and shoved my mouthpiece in, knowing that I had to find Shay. He’d left his tank behind when he went after Eydis. He’d drown without an air source. I struggled against the new currents that swirled through the water, grabbing a single fin before it could float past me. Even the help of one fin would be better than trying to swim without them.

  I worked my way toward the gleaming tones of the alcove, which wavered now that they were submerged. A flicker above me drew my gaze. I saw kicking feet. Shay was pushing himself toward the surface. Without a tank he had no other options. My fin gave me extra speed as I went after him.

  When I grabbed his ankle, he jerked around, ready to strike at me. I pulled him down, taking my mouthpiece out and pushing it onto his lips. I held his shoulders, trying to remember Gabriel’s instructions. I had the tank, so I was in charge of the breaths. Keeping my eyes on Shay’s lungs, I counted: one breath, two breaths. He nodded at me. I took the mouthpiece from him and took my two breaths. We began to swim slowly toward the spot where I’d last seen the Searchers.

  Shay pointed ahead. A light shimmered in the water—golden against the turquoise currents—a tall, narrow slab of light.

  Adne’s door. She’d opened a door underwater. Shay squeezed my arm and we swam faster. Adne was hovering near the portal. She had her tank and mask on, and when she caught sight of us, she began waving frantically. But she wasn’t waving at us, she was pointing to something behind us. I flipped around and though I didn’t have a mouthpiece in, or air to waste, I screamed.

  Gabriel was swimming toward us and the portal, but he wasn’t alone. He was dragging something with him. The limp body of a wolf.

  Nev wasn’t struggling to swim or free himself from Gabriel’s arms. He wasn’t moving at all.

  Shay shoved the mouthpiece between my lips with a shake of his head. Gabriel swam past us, dragging Nev with him into the portal. We swam after him, pushing through the shimmering passage and landing in a muddy puddle on the jungle floor.

  “No!” Mason was kneeling over Nev. “Please, Nev!”

  “Get out of the way!” Gabriel pushed Mason aside.

  Mason snarled. He shifted forms, ready to lunge at Gabriel. Connor jumped between them.

  “Wait!” Connor shouted. “Give him a minute. He’s a dive instructor, remember? He’s certified in CPR.”

  Mason stalked back and forth whining as Gabriel pushed on Nev’s chest and breathed into his muzzle.

  Breathe, Nev. Breathe.

  Someone took my hand. I leaned into Ren, beyond grateful that he was here and alive. But when I looked up at him, I saw how pale he was as he watched Gabriel trying to bring Nev back to us.

  Adne fell onto the ground beside me. “Tell me we saved him,” she gasped.

  Even as she spoke, Nev’s jaws opened and water spewed out of his mouth. He coughed and shook his head, rolling onto his stomach with a whimper.

  Mason yelped, scrambling close to Nev and covering his face and muzzle with licks. They both shifted to human form, clinging to each other fiercely.

  Sabine sobbed while Ethan held her. Ren squeezed my hand before going to Nev and hugging him.

  “Thank God,” Connor murmured. “Nice work, Gabriel.”

  “A wolf.” Gabriel grinned. “CPR on a wolf. That’s a first for me.”

  “All I can taste is fish.” Nev groaned, coughing up yet more water. “I will never eat fish for as long as I live.”

  “Shut up,” Mason said. “Just shut up.” And he kissed Nev again.

  FIFTEEN

  WE TRUDGED THROUGH the jungle, sodden and dripping. The joy of saving Nev and retrieving Eydis were muted by losing Silas. As we came around the bend in the trail where the forest dropped down toward the sea, the dive shop peeked out through the cover of branches.

  “There’s Inez waiting on the deck,” Gabriel said. “She’s got those mother-hen
instincts big-time.”

  Inez’s back was to us; she was lounging on a deck chair. Miguel was sitting in the shadow cast by the dive shop’s eaves. Two more chairs were pulled up between Miguel and Inez. A woman in a bikini stretched languidly in one. Next to her, a man in an open linen shirt and khaki shorts laughed, threading his fingers through hers.

  “Who are they?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “I didn’t think we had any dive groups scheduled for today.”

  He picked up his pace, not running, but taking swift strides toward the figures on the deck. The woman in the bikini saw him and began to wave. Her companion stood up, pushing back his sunglasses.

  Ren’s nose crinkled up. “Hang on.... Do you smell that?”

  “Yeah . . . shit,” Nev snarled, glancing at the thick jungle that surrounded us.

  “You smell shit?” Ethan asked. “Thanks for sharing.”

  “No,” Nev said. “We smell cats.”

  I sniffed the air. They were right. It was subtle but definitely there. An acrid scent like burning silk and dried sage. A growl rose in my throat.

  Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Las sombras . . . no!”

  “Gabriel, wait!” Ethan shouted. But the other man was bolting toward the hideout, yelling.

  “Inez! Miguel!” Neither of the Searchers on the deck moved.

  It happened in the space of a blink. Gabriel had just reached the deck and it dropped onto him—a shape descending like an ebony cloak. The panther screamed as it leapt from its hiding place on the other side of the roof. Then it was on Gabriel, who was screaming when the cat’s claws sank into his shoulders. His cry cut off abruptly when its jaws locked around his neck and twisted sharply, breaking the bones.

  “Damn it!” Ethan glared as the panther darted off the deck and into the jungle’s shadows.

  I waited for the woman on the deck to scream. But she rolled over, laughing. Her oiled, golden skin blurred into a sleek coat. The man beside her took two huge bounds and leapt, hitting the roof in cat form. They vanished into the dark vines just as the other panther had. Hisses and wicked purring filled the branches above us, drowning the air with their menacing sounds.

  How many are up there?

  The Guardians had all shifted form. Our pack huddled up, glancing into the forest canopy. But the cats seemed to be invisible, slinking among the branches, remaining out of sight.

  “We’ve got to get out from under them,” Connor said. “Stay close. Head for the house. We need a defensible position we can hold while Adne weaves a door.”

  Ethan took point, Sabine and Nev beside him, while Mason, Shay, and Ren stayed closed to Adne. I hung back with Connor, watching the trees as our group slowly moved forward.

  We were ready when the next panther leapt. Its scream became a grunt when Ethan hurled his tank at it, catching the beast fully in the chest. It hit the ground, struggling to catch its breath. Mason and Ren took advantage of its momentary disorientation, charging the cat. It lashed out at them with its claws, but Mason held its attention while Ren tore at its flank with his teeth. When it finally turned to scream at Ren, Mason went for the kill, lunging at the cat’s throat and crushing its windpipe.

  The trees came alive with rage-filled screams, and las sombras rained down on us in a torrent of sleek midnight fur and razor-sharp claws.

  “Run!” Connor shouted.

  Ethan took off toward the house with wolves at his heels. Connor cried out as a panther sprang on him, knocking him to his knees. I snarled and threw myself at the cat, forcing it to release Connor for the sake of fighting me. The force of my blow sent us rolling onto the beach. Our bodies were twisted around each other as we wrestled in the sand. I yelped when the panther’s claws sank into my back but answered immediately with my own ferocious bites into its chest. The cat screamed, rolling away from me. I scrambled to my feet, squaring off against it as I tried to brace myself in the soft sand. It hissed at me, bright green eyes filled with rage . . . and intelligence.

  My heart skipped a beat. A Guardian—the cats were like us, slaves to the Keepers. For a moment I wanted to reach out, to see if I could somehow make a connection to this unwanted enemy. But such a thought belonged only to me. The cat bunched up and leapt at me. I went flat, rolling over on my back so the panther sailed past me. I kept tumbling until I was right-side up and without hesitation lunged at the cat’s unprotected back, tearing into its flesh. The cat screamed and bucked, trying to get away from my ripping teeth. But I was unrelenting; its blood—invisible against its black coat—stained the beach sand crimson. Desperate, the cat reared up and tipped over backward. I leapt off before it could crash down on top of me. Free of attack, the panther didn’t turn to face me again. Instead it bolted for the cover of the jungle.

  “Calla!” Connor was waving at me. The others had made it to the deck. I shook sand from my coat and ran for the hideout.

  You okay? Ren came to meet me. You’re bleeding.

  The cuts aren’t deep. I nipped at his flank. We’ll deal with it once we’re out of here.

  Ethan was at the door, flinging it open. Sabine and Nev bolted inside. I looked over my shoulder as I ran toward the house. The jungle had become still. No cats pursued us.

  They aren’t giving chase. Ren snarled, sharing my anxiety.

  I know. I bared my teeth at him. That can’t be good.

  Connor swore as we passed the still forms of Inez and Miguel on the deck. They’d been propped up, throats torn out, and they stared at us with unseeing eyes.

  “I swear I’m getting payback for this,” Connor said, slamming the door behind us. The Guardians stalked around the Searchers, bristling and snarling. Something was very, very wrong.

  “Start weaving, Adne,” Connor said quietly. “As fast as you can.”

  She nodded, moving toward the entrance to the kitchen to give herself more space. She had just pulled out her skeans when I caught the scent. It wasn’t las sombras but another, even more acrid odor. Like that of the panthers, it was burning and too sharp, but the cats had smelled unusual, new. This scent was old. One I knew all too well. A raw scent of boiling pitch and singed hair.

  I was already moving when I saw the inky, formless creature looming behind Adne.

  Calla! Shay’s cry of alarm sounded in my mind, but I had no choice. I couldn’t think or Adne would die. If she died, everyone died.

  “Adne, run!” I’d shifted forms, barreling toward her with all the speed I had.

  She turned to face me, startled. Confusion locked her in place.

  “Connor! Ethan!” I kept running. “Get everyone away from here. Run now!”

  I stretched out my arms, grabbing Adne at the waist. As I pivoted around, I threw her across the room, hoping Connor would be ready to catch her.

  “No!” I heard Shay’s desperate yell at the same moment Ren howled.

  I closed my eyes and let the wraith engulf me.

  Pain.

  As the darkness rolled over my skin, it felt like a thousand small, white-hot hooks had lodged in my flesh. They slowly began to pull, tearing skin from muscle. I was screaming, but I couldn’t hear anything. Not even the sound of my own agony. I was being torn apart. I was on fire.

  And then there was nothing.

  PART III

  FIRE

  SIXTEEN

  I WOKE WITH A START, gasping for breath.

  Outside the window a blizzard raged. Sleet and snow, sharp as darts, careened from clouds to earth. My eyelids drooped as I tried to sort through my dim memories. Warm breeze. The smell of salt air kissed by lemons.

  Now I was surrounded by familiar scents. The must of dog-eared paperbacks, the dull bite of sharpened pencils, and the crispness of denim. I sat up, looking around.

  I was in bed. In my room.

  Goose bumps crawled up my arms.

  I was in Vail. A scream got caught trying to explode from my lungs, as if it had been choked off by an invisible hand.

  I’m
home. What do I have to be afraid of?

  “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

  My mother was sitting in a chair near my dresser. My father stood at her shoulders, looking oddly stiff.

  “Mom?” My voice cracked. I tried to move again, but my limbs tingled. They felt so heavy.

  “Of course it’s me,” she said, while I stared at her.

  Something inside me was sobbing. Why does seeing my mom make me sad?

  “We thought you might sleep all day.” Her teeth were very bright when she smiled. “Didn’t we, Stephen?”

  My father nodded. Something in his eyes made fear curl at the base of my spine. He was too alert. The Nightshade alpha was bristling, ready to attack.

  Distant voices echoed in the recesses of my mind.

  “There is no Nightshade alpha.”

  “Ansel?” I murmured.

  A flash of pain tried to split open my skull. I bent forward, cradling my head in my hands.

  “Your brother is patrolling with Mason,” my mother said. “He’ll be back soon. Don’t worry.”

  I nodded. That made sense. Why did my head hurt so much?

  My father’s brow furrowed. “Are you in pain?”

  “Stephen.” My mother’s eyes rolled up at her mate; a warning flashed within them. “Don’t coddle her. She is an alpha, after all.”

  “Of course, m—Naomi,” he said. His hands gripped the back of her chair.

  “I think I might be sick,” I said. “My head hurts.”

  “We’ll get you some aspirin in a second, sweetie,” my mother said. “But you drifted off before you finished telling us about your adventure.”

  “My adventure?” I peered at her.

  “Yes,” she said. “You were just telling us about all the places you’ve been. You were traveling with friends. Remember how that was your gift from the Keepers after the Union? All the places you’ve seen?”

  She smiled. A wave of ease washed over me, making my limbs heavier, but bliss coursed through my veins. “All the places I’ve seen.”