Page 40 of A Deeper Blue
“I’m making them pay,” she said.
“No, Azure,” called Scarlet. “No, you’re not supposed to. Revenge is against the rules. You said!”
Azure laughed. Her power was causing environmental disturbances. A tiny tornado formed around her, whipping her hair into a frenzy. “Rules? They don’t care about rules. Why should I?”
She gathered power into a glowing ball around the blade and pulled back her hand.
“Azure!” Scarlet yelled, but it was too late.
Azure threw the blade, and it hurtled down the road. She felt every twist and bend of the blade as it moved through space, seeking out those who had attempted to harm her man. She felt the moment it sliced into his skin. She felt it as it passed through his spinal column, severing the nerves and bone. She knew that a red spatter of blood now coated his black hair. She felt it as the knife blade turned and gave the same treatment to the others with him. And she felt the deep well of regret that told her she’d done the wrong thing.
She had not acted in defense of life. She had not acted out of love. She had acted out of hate. The repercussion on the spell boomed back along the road, and she followed it through every twist and turn, until it barreling down the road toward her. Scarlet stepped in front of her, and Azure nearly laughed. The only person this was going to hurt was Azure. Then the world went black.
Episode 19
Breakfast
Rafe
Rafe woke up staring at the ceiling of his old bedroom, and for a long moment, he couldn’t remember how old he was or any recent events. It seemed like he’d always been here under the wooden beams with the smell of cooking meat and wolves floating through the air. There was a soft twitch at his side, and he looked over and saw Azure. His first instinct was to wake her with a kiss, but as he leaned in closer, he saw that her eyes had dark circles under them and paused.
She’d had her hands inside him, red up to the elbows in his blood. He tried to remember what had happened next. There had been another girl and a wolf? He looked down at his side. A polite, thin scar was all that remained of his injury. Whatever she’d done, it had worked, but his love looked tired. He gently kissed her forehead and slipped out of bed.
Rafe stumbled down the stairs and found a strange wolf in the kitchen. He was making eggs. How much had the pack changed while he’d been gone? This one didn’t even smell right. The man looked up and smiled at him. He was young, dark-haired. Definitely not one of the gray wolves of Oregon. He was a lot younger than Rafe. Probably on his first lifetime with the humans.
“We met?” asked Rafe. He felt disoriented. He was quite clear about the smell of the uncooked meat coming from the container on the counter, but everything after that was confusing.
“I’m not sure that was meeting,” said the man. “Want eggs? I’m Liam Grayson from the New York pack. I’m mated to Scarlet Lucas.”
Those were the polite facts to announce when meeting another wolf—it gave everyone a chance to evaluate any connections and avoid conflict. Rafe dredged up his recollection of the pack lists kept by his father in big books in the Hall. Grayson was the family name of the New York pack—that made him a direct heir to the alpha, although inheriting pack leadership was never certain—and he was with Azure’s sister. That made Liam family to Rafe. That was a big thought that Rafe wasn’t entirely prepared for before breakfast.
“There’s sausage,” said Liam, looking like he knew that this conversation was straining Rafe’s resources. He nudged a low glass container on the counter closer to Rafe.
“Sausage!”
Liam chuckled. “Yeah, that always makes me feel better. Someone said it was elk and free-range cattle. I’m not sure what that means for taste.”
“Good?” asked Rafe, already reaching for the container.
“Smells good. Don’t eat it all. I want some in my eggs.”
Rafe hesitated, trying not to whine as he weighed the pros and cons of cooking, civilization, and dunking his face into a container of raw meat. Liam wouldn’t judge him for not cooking it, but going face first was a definite pup move. He should probably try not to completely embarrass Azure.
“Give me two minutes, and I’ll have it cooked,” Liam offered. Liam was being very sympathetic and informal. That meant that Liam had already worked through the six degrees of pack separation and decided that he and Rafe were at minimum extended family. Rafe wasn’t used to that, and he was surprised by how much he’d missed that feeling of informality.
“Hard,” said Rafe, tearing himself away from the container and turning his back to Liam and the food. He distracted his stomach by going to the coffee pot. Someone else had taken over making coffee while he’d been gone—it smelled drinkable. The cupboard above it held cups. Rafe opened it and stared at all the mugs before picking up his father’s handmade green-glazed mug. It was practically tankard-sized and had a large handle meant to accommodate large hands. Rafe remembered hoisting it as a child and thinking that when he would know he was a grown-up when he could lift it with one hand. He poured the coffee, added cream and a dash of sugar, and then slid his hand through the handle. It fit perfectly. Rafe carried it to the table and sat down.
True to his word, Liam had a plate in front of him within a few minutes, and Rafe was able to shove a fork full in his face. He chewed and exhaled a long sigh of relief. Liam rumbled his agreement, chewing his own food.
“Azure OK?” asked Liam around a mouthful of food. “Scarlet was pissed I wouldn’t let her barge in.”
“Sleeping,” said Rafe. “Seemed fine. What the fuck happened?”
Liam chewed and then swallowed. “I am unclear of the details. Scarlet says Azure broke her oath as a witch and was punished. That sounded…” Liam trailed off with a low rumbling growl of disapproval. Rafe added his own in agreement.
“What did she do?” Rafe asked before taking another bite.
Liam looked sideways at him and finished another bite before answering. “She took the knife blade out of you, and she threw it.”
