Chapter Twenty-Two
“Wait! What are you doing? We have to go back! We have to help him!” Brenna screamed as she opened her eyes.
Adalyn panted, trying to catch her breath. It felt as if she’d just run ten miles on fully human legs. “I need a minute.”
When she opened her eyes, she saw Wade kneeling before her. The panic and worry on his handsomely rugged face stole what little breath she had left. The concern he had for her appeared to be genuine, not something he could easily fake. Her eyes gravitated to his full lips and how badly she wanted to kiss them. How she wanted his strong arms wrapped tight around her, keeping her safe.
Her head swam. She fought against the darkness threatening to crash over her. She couldn’t pass out now. She had to go back.
She had to free her father.
The thought alone rocked her to her core. There wasn’t a damn thing she could do in astral form to rescue Bjorn. If she’d tried to reach for the bars to open the door, her hand would have slid right through the cold metal, much like a ghost.
Seeing him. Knowing what her mother had taken from her—from Rafe. From the entire pack. She felt the bile creeping up her throat. The need to be sick rose with each breath she heaved.
“Breathe, Adalyn,” Wade commanded.
She tried to twist her head from side to side, telling him no but the tiniest of motions made her stomach churn faster.
“Here. This should help.” Erin handed her a tiny vial filled with a gold liquid.
Adalyn didn’t bother to question the substance. She had learned to trust Erin’s instinct and her healing abilities. She popped the top of the vial and tossed it greedily into her waiting mouth. A quick swallow and the liquid seemed to work as it slid down her throat. At once, her energy returned, and she no longer felt like she would pass out at any second.
Tears burned her eyes when she found the courage to glance at Rafe and Grace. The hopeful look on Grace’s face, the anger Rafe didn’t bother to mask.
“Bjorn truly lives?” Grace reached for Rafe as the words flew from her mouth.
“Yes.” Adalyn’s knees buckled as she tried to stand. Wade’s arms encircled her, catching her before she hit the ground. She’d never felt more secure in her life and she hated that he made her feel that way, especially after everything that had happened between them. Wanting nothing more than to look into his eyes and judge the expression on his face, Adalyn opted instead for burying her face in his neck, hiding the need she had for him.
Would it be cold and uncaring? That would almost be somehow worse than if his expression mirrored hers and was filled with lust and desire.
Big mistake.
His woodsy scent hit her like a freight train, crashing into her. Once again, her legs threatened to give out. Her traitorous body reacted to him in a visceral way and she seemed helpless to stop it. One brush of her chest against his and her nipples hardened into tiny peaks. A swipe of his hand across her lower back sent a fresh wave of heat straight to her core. She bit back a groan that had tried to escape her mouth.
What was in the concoction Erin had given her?
Sweet Jesus, she could barely stand it. She should be thinking of her father and figuring out his escape. Not throwing Wade down on the floor in front of her family and having her wicked way with him.
She pushed away from Wade, hoping to disperse some of the need fogging her brain. She had to concentrate and clear her mind.
“I think we need to give Adalyn and Brenna a chance to regroup,” Wade said.
“Are you kidding? We need to know everything they saw. We need to know how to get in and out. Where Dad is being held. We have to get him out of there now!” Rafe paced back and forth.
“Mom, are you okay?” Erin fluttered over to a seated Brenna, checking her vitals every few seconds. “I don’t understand, she should have recovered by now. What happened to her in there?”
“I had to draw some of her energy to keep us shielded long enough to get out unseen.” Adalyn diverted her eyes away from Erin, ashamed to admit she had to rely on someone else’s power. That she hadn’t been strong enough.
“I’ll be fine. I just need to rest for a bit,” Brenna said.
“How much energy did you take?” Erin asked.
“More than I wanted to. When we found my dad, he was cloaked by majik, like Brenna thought. I had to break through the spell, which took more energy than I’d expected but it was the only way I could be certain we would see who was really being hidden. Plus, I had to keep us cloaked so we wouldn’t be detected. It wasn’t easy.”
Erin sighed. “Rafe, I know you don’t want to hear this, but Wade is right. We need to give them a little bit of time. Just a few hours.”
“Sweetie, we know he’s alive. Let them get some rest while we start coming up with a plan. Think about it—if that bitch wanted him dead, she would have killed him long ago. This is about something more than his death.” Grace sucked in a deep breath. “He’ll be safe enough for now.”
