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Kira explains the basics. The fact that they were supposed to be on a date, Laith showing up late, only to be almost immediately snatched by some man after being punched and thrown into a black van. She leaves out some of the supernatural stuff, though Elara’s sure that Jordyn can glean, considering Kira asks for privacy, that it has something to do with them being wolves. Both Kira and Jordyn have taken the information about Elara being something other than human in stride, but Jordyn’s been the most distanced about it, sometimes needing space.
Elara looks at her friend nervously, knowing she's going to have to bare it all to allow her to help. Except why should her friend judge her now? She needs to stop second-guessing.
"We came back here to wait for Kade," she adds once Kira’s done with her explanation. “He’s going to help with the search.”
“Like hell we are,” Kira growls. “Kade will not be part of this. He could deliberately take us in the wrong direction.”
Elara feels her face flush. “He wouldn’t do that!”
“I saw him, Elara!” Kira says, her voice rising. “With my own eyes!”
Jordan blinks as she glances between them, clearly uncomfortable with the growing tension. Elara’s phone begins to ring, interrupting. She picks it up and sees that it's Denzel. Gritting her teeth, an icky feeling settles in her stomach. She remembers all the warnings Kade had given her. Has Denzel told anyone else in the pack that she hit him with a magic blast? And if the answer’s yes, what will Denzel and the pack do about it? Is he really as much of a danger as Kade says?
Elara picks up the phone, knowing she has no choice. Denzel is her alpha either way because she made an oath. Plus, he needs to know about Laith. Maybe he can help. "Denzel," she says as calmly as she can, though she detects a shake at the end of the word.
"I've pacified the wolf packs right now, but you should know you'll be called before the pack council,” he responds, getting straight to the point. “You'll be tested for any sign of evolution. You understand this is serious, right?"
Well, crap. Elara’s guess is everyone does know now.
Going before the council doesn't sound good, but also something she can’t worry about right now.
"You should know that Laith’s been abducted. I'm pretty sure it's the doing of the shifters considering one of them pretended to be Kade, and I know for a fact that he wasn't there," she interjects, needing to fit that in.
Kira crosses her arms and looks away.
Denzel snarls, his wolf coming through. "This is a declaration of war. Laith’s part of Shadowgrace now, so they're screwing with us too, no matter what the two of you are. I need to consult with the other wolves and see if they'll help or not. Or at least help find him if only to bring him before the council too."
Elara grits her teeth, frustrated this is what it's come to. She's been trusting the wrong people, and she knows it. Not that she believes Denzel is a bad guy or wants to hurt her, but she should have thought more carefully about what she could be getting into by joining Shadowgrace. She mostly did it for Laith and his protection. But in doing so, she may have doomed them both.
"Thanks, Denzel, " she says with a sigh. He hangs up before saying anything else.
Elara turns to her friends. “Shadowgrace is going to do what they can.”
Jordyn smiles tremulously. “That’s a good thing.”
“I trust them more than I trust Kade,” Kira mutters.
Elara grits her teeth, but doesn’t respond. There’s no point defending Kade. Kira’s going to have to see for herself he’s not the bad guy here.
“There’s something else,” she says, resisting the urge to rub her forehead. She glances at Kira. “Kira knows because we've talked about it while she was waiting at the restaurant for the cops to let us go. Kade’s told me Excalibur is connected to all of this. We need to find it."
"Excalibur," Jordyn says slowly, processing as she stares at the wall behind Elara. "As in the stories and legends about Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?"
Elara explains that there are certain descendants from special bloodlines, which is likely the reason she survived the changes to werewolf when others didn't. Which would mean that Laith probably descends from one as well.
Jordyn blinks. “Wow.”
Elara relays what else she’s learned from Kade. The fact he's a descendant of Merlin. And that Excalibur was split between the sword and the power and that Kade believes the shifters have gotten a hold of the amulet containing the power.
All the shifters need now is the sword and they’ll be unstoppable.
A heavy silence descends in the room. Before she can say more, a soft, scuffling sound hits Elara’s ears. She turns around to see a letter slip from under the door. “What the…” Rushing over, she swings it open, but nobody's there.
Shutting the door, she tears open the note, frowning at the strange letters on the paper. She sits down next to Jordyn and shows her, who shrugs and shakes her head. Elara’s just turning to Kira when her friend snatches it from her hands.
"That's Elder Futhark, the language of the Norse. It's very ancient, but I can decode it. My mother’s into all this stuff and taught me a while back."
Kira begins scanning the note and Elara gives her a strange look. She hadn’t realized Kira was learning any of the occult stuff from her mother.
