I wrapped my hands around her shoulders. Beneath my gloves, beneath her human skin and muscle and bone, I felt the hum of her magic, electric and warm, scented with lavender and lilac and something new I didn’t quite recognize.
But there was no time to waste.
“Gray, I need to know where—”
“Raven’s Cape! He’s—” She cut off abruptly, her eyes wide, her face twisting in abject pain. The gruesome, tortured sound that escaped her lips nearly brought me to my knees.
“Gray!” Desperately I reached for her, but it was too late. Just as swiftly as she’d arrived, my Shadowborn vanished into the mist, leaving me with nothing but the memory of her hair blowing in the breeze and the heartbreaking echo of her final scream.
Thirty-Three
RONAN
I was fuckinggutted.
The woman I loved had been taken. The best friend I’d give my own life for had been taken. And all we had were a bunch of stale breadcrumb clues left by a madman, the trail quickly running cold. I was running on fumes, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.
“I’m not picking anything up here but shifters,” Emilio finally said. “My sister’s team must’ve done quite a number on the place.”
We’d arrived in Raven’s Cape last night. Driving around town in a nondescript rental van we’d picked up in Blackmoon Bay, we’d done a general sweep of the area, trying get the lay of the land and make some kind of plan.
This morning, Emilio and I had left Darius in a dark motel to wait out the sun while we headed over to William Landes’ place.
Apparently, it was a wasted trip.
“This is bullshit,” I said, slamming a fist through the living room wall. “We’re chasing a ghost.”
“We just got here,” Emilio said. “We need to be methodical about this.”
“Yoube methodical. I need to do something.”
“Do what, exactly?” he asked.
I shoved a hand through my hair, ignoring the sting in my now-bleeding knuckles. “I don’t know. Put myself out there. Let him know I’m here.”
“You mean, use yourself as bait?” Emilio shook his shaggy black head. “Not happening.”
“We’re out of time and up against a wall and the whole place is on fire. So unless you’ve got a better idea, Alvarez, this is our plan B.”
He eyed me warily, the skin around his mouth drawn tight. I’d never seen him look so tired.
In a voice heavy with defeat, he said, “I hate every fucking thing about this, Ronan.”
“You and me both, brother.” I clamped a hand over his shoulder. “But we can’t let our girl die in there. And Asher needs our—”
“Shh!” Emilio’s ears cocked back just a half-second before I heard the footsteps, too.
Unfortunately, it was a half-second too late for both of us.
“Hands where I can see them, boys,” a woman’s voice said from behind us, clear and commanding and absolutelynotfucking around. Her accent was Argentine, and though I hadn’t turned around to look at her yet, I knew her hair was jet black, her skin golden and smooth, her brown eyes soft and expressive.
Just like her brother’s.
“Both of you,” she barked. “Back up slowly, and keep those hands up high.”
We did as she ordered.
When she finally permitted us to turn around, I nearly gasped. I felt like I’d been yanked twenty years into the past, right back to the last time I’d seen her. The last time Emilio had seen her.
