Opening up her bag, she began to dig into its pockets. Finding what she needed, she pulled out the three long plastic tubes that she had been given only days ago.
Nate had returned. “What’s that for?” he asked as he walked into the room.
“These vials are blood from the night human I met at Triclan City.”
“Arianna Grace,” Jared named the famous night human.
Nate seemed to be surprised by that fact.
“She said I’d need three of these, one for each of us, and that her blood has healing properties,” Cassie explained. “I thought it was to heal you guys after you got hurt somehow, but I had a vision earlier that showed me what they’re for.”
Nate glanced between Jared and Cassie. Jared stared at the tube. He knew exactly what the blood would do. Cassie knew, too. Her vision was right about using it.
“It will give him back his panther,” Cassie said to Nate, not dropping her gaze from Jared. “And we need your panther in order to do this.”
Jared looked up. He knew what her vision was before, and that she was correct in what the blood would do. The small vial of a few drops of blood would bring back the animal his father had taken from him.
“How do you know what we need?” Nate asked.
“I saw in my vision that the witch circles are protected by spells which can’t be crossed by humans. In your animal forms, the spells won’t work on you. If we go to get Whitney, then you both need to be animals.”
Jared took the blood from Cassie as she explained.
The truth of their problem was a big one to take in. Everything led back to Jack. Cassie was able to go back far enough to see that he led Whitney away from everyone when the coven was trying to strip Cassie of her power. He also had picked up the spells from the coven to use for himself, not to break them as he said he was doing. Probing further led her to see that Jack had taken the missing witches and found out that Whitney’s family was what he was looking for. The only thing Cassie couldn’t see was what the spell was that he was trying to perform. Every future she saw led to him being defeated.
Cassie handed over the second tube of blood to Nate.
“I think we each need one,” she told Nate. He nodded, taking it without question.
Cassie sat for the next couple hours with both guys, going over every detail from her vision. It was strange how easy it was to answer questions, but not be able to show them. The one image left in her mind she wasn’t going to show anyone. She was going to make sure it didn’t happen. Nate wasn’t going to die protecting everyone.
“And you’re sure we need to do this alone?” Jared asked Cassie.
“I’m sure,” Cassie replied. There was never another person in the vision, no matter how many times she ran through it. It was Jared, Nate, and Cassie against her cousin.
“Then I guess it is time to get back with my animal,” Jared replied.
Smiling, Cassie nodded. She was prepared this time for what was going to come. She stepped back next to Nate, who was just about to pull her from Jared.
“This might hurt a bit,” Nate told her.
Cassie smiled. “Yep. I know that. I’ve already seen this once before.”
Jared grinned and popped the tube into his mouth. Crunching down on the blood didn’t take a second for the effects to kick in. Cassie closed her eyes and took deep breaths, feeling Jared’s pain as if her own. The effects of the change slowly took over Jared’s body, and it was done when the pain was gone. In front of her stood a cat as black as night.
Cassie looked at the hazel cat eyes that stared back at her.
“You said you didn’t miss it, but you must have been lying, huh?” Cassie reached out a hand and petted the slick head of the panther. He was large, almost as large as Nate, but he was leaner at the same time. Jared was built for speed and stealth while Nate as an animal was full power.
‘Can I talk to you alone?’ Jared asked.
“Can you meet us downstairs?” Cassie asked Nate in turn.
Nate nodded to Jared and walked out of her room.
‘I saw what’s supposed to happen,’ Jared told Cassie, his cat body moving closer to her. His movements were slow, like he was stretching muscles he hadn’t used in years.
Cassie bit her lip, attempting to not cry. Nate would be right upstairs if he thought Jared was making her cry.
‘When the time comes, we will change that future,’ Jared told Cassie. ‘I know how to do it. We will save your friend, and we will all walk away alive. I promise you this much.’
Reaching down to pet his head, Cassie smiled. It was just too tempting to touch him.
‘The seer told me that sometimes you can’t change the future. Maybe this is one of those times,’ Cassie told Jared her worst fear.
‘We already changed the future. That’s what your gift is about. Being able to change things to keep them right. Nate isn’t supposed to die. He never was in any vision you or anyone else has had. He’s a good leader and will be what the skinwalkers need. Fate wouldn’t let him die. They show you the future to change that. Trust me. I know this supernatural world better than you do since you’ve been sitting in timeout for eight years.’
Cassie swatted his large, black, furry head.
‘Timeout. Ha ha. How long have you been waiting to use that one?’
Jared laughed, and it came out as a rumble. Lowering his head, he pushed her toward the door.
Cassie stopped before leaving the room. ‘But what if I’m not strong enough to stop him?’ That was her second fear behind letting Nate die.
‘Jack is strong. Don’t get me wrong. And he probably set up like a dozen traps that only he can jump in and out of. But he isn’t invincible, and he isn’t you. Cas, you’ve never seen how special you are. I see it each time I look at you, I always have. I know you don’t want to tell Nate, but I know what you are. You aren’t just some witchling girl. Heck, you aren’t even just a seer. You have night human blood flowing through you. You’re different than all the rest and much more than Jack could ever imagine. Don’t doubt you can stand up to him and win. Plus, do you think we’d walk into battle beside you if we thought you’d lose?’
‘Um, yes. You guys are my mates. I don’t think you could stay away even if you wanted to.’
Panther Jared laughed again. ‘Okay. Yeah, we’d still be right there with you. But you won’t lose to him. You’re a better witch, and fate is cheering for you. So let’s go change everything back to how it’s meant to end up.’
Cassie walked down the stairs in front of Jared.
‘I like kitty Jared. I think your IQ went up at least ten points when you become four-legged.’
Jared bumped her off the last stair as his response.
“Time to go do this?” Cassie asked as she walked into the living room.
She paused. Nate was standing there in his tiger form, his bright blue eyes gleaming as he waited. Cassie looked behind her, and in the hallway was Jared in his night cat form. She shook her head at the both of them.
“If you had asked me a month ago at school, what the best solution is when fighting another witch who already cast circles of power and is sacrificing people for some unknown reason, I’d have never said, ‘you should get yourself a tiger and a panther and attack.’”
The forest was darker than the night before, even though it was supposed to be a full moon. The clouds covering the sky kept the moonlight to a minimum, which worked to Jared’s advantage greatly. He blended right into the night. Luckily, Cassie was dressed in all black and was almost as hidden as Jared. Nate didn’t need to blend in as he led the way to the circles. When Cassie found Whitney, Nate could trace her with his alpha blood.
Cassie had to ride on the back of Jared as they moved around surveying the circles so that she didn’t set off any spells. Jared’s night vision as a panther was perfect. Nate was just as good as he moved alongside them
Whitney was in the middle tied to her brother like Cassie had seen in her
vision. Her parents and the extra man were all tied up to posts with their heads drooping. They looked like they were completely passed out. Whitney seemed to be the only one awake.
Cassie climbed off Jared and crouched down to the ground. She could sense magic everywhere, but they still didn’t see Jack.
‘I don’t see him,’ Jared told Cassie. She still didn’t move.
Nate stood and sniffed the air.
‘I don’t smell him, either,’ Nate said through the bond.
Her chance to save her friend wasn’t going to be around all day. She needed to act now to get to her and get her out. Cassie crept forward.
‘You guys keep a lookout. I’m going to get closer and make sure the spells won’t catch you in them.’
‘Be careful,’ they replied in unison.
‘You guys, too.’
Cassie held her breath and slowly made it to the circles. Keeping away from the two next to her, Cassie made her way near her friend. Whitney’s eyes were open, and she noticed Cassie. She tried to talk through the gag in her mouth, but Cassie put up a finger to tell her friend to hush. Whitney shook her head no, but Cassie didn’t stop moving forward. Pausing at the edge of the nearest circle, Cassie looked at the formation. There were three stones, and they all held the same slight glow as the coven’s circle that Jack had reset for Cassie.
‘I’m going to break the circle for her mom and this guy next to me,’ Cassie explained to the guys. ‘I won’t be able to get next to Whitney because I’m human, but can one of you grab her, and the other Sam to get them out of there? Just knock the stone we talked about and the circle will be broken. We’ll come back for the adults once we get these two out of there.’
Cassie touched the nearest stone with her toe, and the whole circle around Whitney’s mother vanished. Quickly, she hurried over to the second circle and touched the second stone. There was only one more spell set around Whitney, but that was enough for Nate and Jared to get in and take them away. If Nate went in first to break the spells he would have died, but now that future was changed.
Cassie turned in the darkness to the thump behind her and froze in her tracks. Jack was standing there as he magically appeared and set a stone on the ground. The magic pulsed around her, and she was frozen in her spot.
“How nice of you to join me, dear cousin. You did such a wonderful job of realizing which circles to break,” Jack said as he clapped his hands. “You might want to warn your tiger that this spell is linked to me. If I die, then the spell will crush you in it.”
Jack turned and smiled behind himself into the night.
“I know he’s out there. All my wards kept anything that wasn’t an animal from walking this way. That’s how you got in, right? On the back of your tiger?” Jack seemed to have it all figured out. “I kind of needed it to be warded like that to keep all those witches out. They just wouldn’t leave me alone. I mean, I get it. Magic draws me places, too … but witches are annoyingly curious. Thankfully I was able to lose Ryder on the way out here. He just doesn’t have the stomach for what I’m about to do.”
“Which would be?” Cassie asked as she assessed the situation. In her vision, she hadn’t been trapped. Nate had been dead, and Cassie had attacked Jack. That was one thing he didn’t expect, that Cassie would fight back.
“The great Than should show himself,” Jack warned.
Cassie’s skin began to burn, and she let out a yelp in surprise. Jack was activating something in the circle that was holding her.
Tiger Nate walked out of the woods in front of Jack. He wasn’t about to change forms and was best equipped to fight Jack as his tiger self.
“Now, if you’d tell your other mate to make his way here. It seems I need something from him. If he follows the blood trail of his father, he’ll make it past the wards fine,” Jack explained, keeping an eye on Nate.
Nate didn’t move as they waited for Jared to appear. Jared walked through the woods and now was easy to see. He was in his half form, which looked very much like the wendigo he would change into before he got his panther back.
“It seems you’re brighter than anyone ever gave you credit for,” Jack said to Jared as he came into view. “And stay over there. No closer to the tiger.”
“What are you up to now?” Jared asked Jack quietly. He might have seemed calm on the outside, but Cassie could feel the anger building beneath the surface. Nate’s anger at the situation was also there, but he was calmer in assessing the situation.
Jack tossed a rope over to Jared.
“You think I’m dumb enough to tell you? Tie yourself up and don’t think of trying anything. Those are laced with a potion that kills humans.”
Jared wrapped it around his hands loosely.
“Want to come here and tighten it for me?” Jared asked. The deadly gleam in his eyes said everything. Cassie would normally not advise anyone to get near Jared at the moment, but she’d be more than willing to shove Jack there if she could move.
“Not really,” Jack replied.
The ropes began to automatically tighten around his wrists.
“See, I don’t really need you alive. I need your blood, and this is perfect for that.”
Jared didn’t hesitate to change into his animal form. The surprise was enough to catch Jack off balance, and the guys both planned to use that to their advantage. But before they could move, Cassie willed the stones that were keeping her trapped around Jack. He was frozen in place and couldn’t jump in or out of his own spell.
Whitney screamed from behind Cassie. The shifting of the circle didn’t free her. Cassie glanced back at her friend. A piece of moonlight was shining down on her friend and her brother. Whitney let out another scream. Cassie had no idea what spell had been set, but it was working or at least doing something.
“We have to save her,” Cassie said, turning back to her friend who was now curled into the fetal position as she whimpered. The moonbeam was hidden behind the clouds.
Jack grinned from his prison.
“Don’t worry. Everything has been set in motion. I just needed a bit more alpha blood to speed it up. Ben was strong enough as a former alpha to set up the spell, but I was hoping to speed it along with Jared’s blood. Either way, it doesn’t matter. As soon as the moon joins us for the night, you won’t be able to stop me.”
“I need to look into his eyes to see what he’s done,” Cassie told Jared and Nate.
Jack laughed more.
“You can’t stop it, cousin. It is already set. I’ve killed the mother, wendigo father, and skinwalker father of this lovely mixed family. It shouldn’t be long before the skinwalker son is dead, too. Now I was surprised that Whitney has held on the longest. I always figured as girly as she was that she would be the first to go.”
Cassie walked to the edge of the circle and stared at her cousin. No one could pay her enough to want to delve into his mind, but she needed to see how to undo what he did to Whitney. There was still a chance to save her. She looked into his eyes and easily saw his past, and exactly what he had done to everyone. He really had killed the parents already. They weren’t just passed out. Cassie pulled out of her cousin’s mind as soon as she had enough to get Whitney safe.
‘We have to get Whitney and Sam out of the circle and to the trees. The moon activates the spell, and without the moon, they’ll be safe until I can get the coven to help me.’
The spell Jack had set was more complicated than anything the coven had ever taught Cassie. She wasn’t sure anyone in the coven could help, but she was going to try.
Jared turned back into his half night human form. ‘The witch barrier is taken down, right?’ he asked.
‘Yes. We should be able to move her,’ Cassie replied.
Nate followed Jared to Whitney and Sam. Reaching down, Jared took the smaller Sam and placed him on Nate. Cassie walked beside Nate as he made his way over to the trees and helped slide the younger boy off him. After picking Whitney up in his arms like she weighed nothing,
Jared walked her into the woods and set her beside her brother.
‘What do we do with him?’ Cassie asked. Jack was still frozen in his own spell, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t last forever. He was busy making some sort of counter spell.
Half-man, half-beast Jared shrugged. ‘He’s mine to deal with,’ he walked back over to Jack.
Jack stopped his muttering.
“Has my wonderful alpha come to spank me for being such a bad boy?” Jack said to Jared. “I’ve been such a bad boy.” He gave a fake pout that still held a smile at the edges of his face.
“Did you kill my father?” Jared asked.
“Your father, his father, my father—dads can be overrated, especially mine. I did a favor for all three of us.”
Yep, Jack was completely wicked. Cassie had no clue how he could pass for being nice since he seemed to be pure evil.
Jared’s hand shot through the spell and around Jack’s neck.
Cassie watched everything in slow motion. Jack’s hand came up at the same time as Jared grabbed him. He had a small knife that he stabbed into Jared as Jared used his other hand to pierce right through Jack. Jack looked completely stunned by Jared’s actions, but then smiled.
“Thanks for activating my spell, too bad I won’t be around to see what it’s like. Don’t let that power to go waste. You have much potential as a wendigo alpha. I can feel the hatred pour off you. It really is great to just let go. So beautiful.”
Jared pulled his arm back, and Jack slumped to the ground.
Cassie moved to run over and check Jared. The cut was superficial at the most. There was no way Jack could actually hurt the night human alpha, but there was a lot of magic swirling around them. Jared needed to move and move quickly.
“Stop,” Jared said to Cassie.
Nate reached up and grabbed her around the waist as he was back in his human form.
“Don’t come any closer. Something is happening …”
Cassie watched the magic continue to swirl. Moonlight glowed down on Jared, just touching his foot. Pain rippled through Cassie when Jared felt it. He looked down at Cassie’s dead cousin at his feet. He touched the blood to his finger and tasted it. Another shudder of pain ripped through him as the faint moonlight grew brighter.