Page 30 of Pack Rage
Brother,I agreed.
With that thought, I felt whatever channel the witch had opened to my well of strength narrowing, the greasy feel of her magic almost entirely stripped away and replaced with the clean scent of blood, and a sudden sharp odor of ozone.
There was still a disgusting connection there, a residual hint of her evil where she’d touched me. But mostly all I felt now was my bond to Flor, and to… Luke. Though I could also feel Glen through both of them, and Finn through Flor. And one other, coiled like a sleeping asp among them all.
“It worked?” Finn murmured. The lights that had been sputtering went out again, and I answered in the quiet.
My own silver eyes were reflected in the blue ones that stared down at me now, and we both smiled, though my heart was racing. I’d just thought of something. We had a magical bond, not a natural mating one—not in the way of wolf shifters. I had been able to speak to Flor, and her to me. I was almost afraid to try, but I knew I might need this. We might need this.
Can you hear me?I thought.
Holy shit,he replied.I can.
While Luke kneeled with his face growing paler and his jaw hanging wide, I nodded to Finn, then pushed myself away from the floor. The magical drain on my power was mostly cut off, and the outward flow grew slower by the minute. If I focused on it, I could probably close it completely, but it wasn’t worth Elinadiscovering what we’d done. For now, I hoped she would just think she’d drained me more or less fully.
“It worked.” I stood, my legs unsteady.Shit.Maybe she’d taken more than I’d realized.
When I staggered, and would have fallen back down if Finn hadn’t caught me, I realized I may have overestimated my strength. “Come sit on my bed,” he said. “The camera in my room might still have audio, but not while the power’s off. You can rest there while we figure out what to do next.”
He helped me through to the darkened bedroom, but I nodded toward the sofa by the far wall. “I don’t need to sleep in your bed, Finn. I can lie there.”
Finn’s reply was bleak. “You can have my bed. I can’t sleep in it anymore. Haven’t since…”
I knew what he meant immediately, and knew I wouldn’t touch that bed either. “Since you were unfaithful. You hurt her, Finn. How could you?”
“I had no choi—” he began, but cut himself off. “No. That’s not true. I chose my sister. I chose to keep her safe, just like I’d done a hundred times before.”
“Except this time, it wasn’t only you that got hurt. Do you regret your choice?”
His shoulders slumped after he helped me sit on the sofa. “I regret my life, Brand. I told you before, back at Northern, that I didn’t want to be tied to Flor. Hell, I told Flor twice that she wasn’t my true mate, to her face. I was going to reject the bond, to save her.”
Luke and I both stopped breathing at that. I hadn’t known he’d gone that far.
“I couldn’t go through with it, couldn’t force myself to say it a third time. I was too much of a coward.” He let out a shaky breath. “I knew being connected to me wouldn’t be safe for her.Mother held my leash then, and still does. I’ll never be free of her until she’s dead.”
“Well, that’s not the worst way to start our plan,” Luke said softly as he sat beside me. Finn found a candle and a lighter, and in a moment, the small flame was flickering, casting light on our faces. He carried it to the far wall, turned the gas fireplace on, and lit it as Luke continued. “Your mother needs to die. There’s no way to keep our mate safe with her alive.” Finn merely nodded. “She’s obsessed with Flor. She was there, when I was suffering from mate sickness at Southern, months ago. Asking me questions, trying to force answers out of me. She did it again, on the trip here. Used her magic to force me to tell her all about Flor.”
My wolf bristled inside, and only the knowledge that Flor was far away from Eastern, surrounded by friends and some of my pack, eased the upwelling of fear and rage. “What did you tell that bitch?”
Finn answered for him, but his tone was almost amused. “Everything, apparently. Starting from the first day they met. Luke here went into excruciating detail.”
“I have plenty of practice keeping secrets, even when I’m being questioned under Alpha command. Her magic was even more painful, like scissors cutting at my mind. But I didn’t give up anything that would help that witch get her hands on Flor.”
“I believe you,” I said, when he hesitated.
Luke ducked his head. “I had a lot to say about Flor’s work in the kitchens, and, ah… the way her red hair shines in the sunlight. Her eyes and her gracefulness, that sort of thing. The bitch actually nodded off at one point.” He laughed quietly, remembering. “She already knew who Flor’s father was, though I tried to keep that from her. She asked a few questions about Flor’s mother, but I was able to change the subject and tell herabout how hurt Flor was when Lily was dumped outside the gates. She doesn’t know Lily’s still alive.”
Finn murmured, “Calvin Callaway is alive as well. They’re keeping him in the lower levels, in a nice room.” It was exactly as Sergeant had thought.
Luke seemed to know about his father already, since he didn’t react. “I have to kill him, if Grigor hasn’t already,” he said softly, as if to himself. “I need to get to him somehow.”
Finn sat beside him. “No one besides me will be allowed in or out of the lower levels, not while we’re on lockdown. Even if we could disable the locks somehow, there are guards armed with silver blades and bullets down there.”
Luke cursed. Finnick, though… Why was he smiling?
I asked, and he shrugged. “They’re trapped down there with the boogeyman. He may be weak, but he’s getting stronger by the hour.”
“Is he strong enough to kill the guards?”
