I jump at the rich baritone in my head.
What the fuck?
Did the wolf just…speak to me?
Telepathically?
“Izzy?” Christian whispers.
Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the wolf turns. With effortless grace, it slips back into the darkness, leaving only the ghost of its gaze lingering in my mind.
“Izzy?” Christian repeats.
“Is that the wolf that trapped you here?” I ask, balling my hands into fists.
“Izzy, don’t?—”
But I pay his warning no heed as I take off in the direction of the wolf, the darkness enveloping me instantly. I’ll find the damn wolf and demand he free Christian. I won’t take no for an answer.
Each step is purposeful as I wade farther and farther into the darkness.
Where the fuck did the little shit go?
It’s so dark. Too dark. I can’t even see my hands in front of my face, let alone a wolf with fur as black as pitch.
Just one step at a time, Izzy. One step at a time.
One step?—
The wolf bounds in front of me, comes to a stop, and rests on his hind legs. Once again, he tilts his head to the side, regarding me curiously. I open my mouth, but before I can get a word out, the world around me shimmers and then crumbles.
A mournful howl is the last thing I hear as I jerk upright in bed, back in my dorm at the covenstead. Sweat plasters my golden curls to my head, and the blankets are tangled around my legs.
What the fuck just happened?
What type of dreamwasthat?
My heart pounds erratically in my chest as I force myself to lie back down, to stare up at the ceiling.
Something about that dream…
Well…
Is it strange to say it didn’t feel like a dream? The desperation in Christian’s eyes, the resignation, tugs at something deep within me.
Is it possible that I somehow…visited Christian’s mind? No. That’s insane, isn’t it?
Though can anything be any more insane than what I’ve already had to deal with?
I settle back into bed, but sleep doesn’t claim me. Not this time. Instead, I toss and turn and think of a haunted man with piercing blue eyes and the wolf who locked him away.
Twenty-Two
GRAYSON
The necklace leads me through the forest and straight to an abandoned factory.
Ethan, who has been trotting along beside me, practically rams into my back legs as I halt.
