“This is it,” I growl out, tightening my grip around the pendant.
Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum.
Ethan makes a strange howling noise and then drops to his belly with a whimper. His limbs twist and elongate in a fizzle of magic before the naked wolf is replaced by a very, very naked man.
“Holy fuck,” Ethan pants out, moving to his hands and knees. He bends his bald head and sucks in a deep breath. “My wolf was acting crazy. Bastard wouldn’t give me control until just now.”
“Which means Izzy is close,” I murmur, studying the factory with renewed interest.
The building stands like a ghost of its former self, a hulking structure of rusted steel and crumbling brick. The factory’s once pristine façade is now covered in layers of grime and peeling paint. The steel support beams have become corroded, their surfaces pocked with rust, and vines snake up the dilapidated walls, their tendrils creeping into cracks and crevices. The tall smokestacks, now dormant, rise like skeletal fingers, their tops faded and cracked. It’s apparent no one has been here in many, many years.
So where the fuck is Izzy?
Why did the witches bring her here?
“Do you have a phone?” Ethan’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts, and I turn to see him standing behind me, his hands awkwardly cupping his junk.
I roll my eyes but dig my burner phone out of my pocket. Snatching it from me, he takes a few steps away and dials someone. Every second that passes without anyone picking up causes the furrow in the center of Ethan’s forehead to deepen.
“No answer.” Ethan stares at the phone as if it personally betrayed him before handing it back to me.
I arch an eyebrow at him. “You gonna leave a message?”
“Hell no. What could I even say? That I’m traversing the forest with a vampire who’s in love with my fated mate and about to take on a coven of witches?” Ethan shakes his head. “Nope. Bad idea. Em would lose his shit, Ashton would have an aneurysm, and Reid would try to kill you…again.”
He scratches absently at his wrist, his gaze flickering around the factory. “Besides, they probably already figured out that the vamps were behind the attack.” He momentarily spears me with an unreadable look. “It wouldn’t be the best idea to be seen with you.”
I grunt and begin crossing through a pile of debris, heading towards the front entrance. “Didn’t have a choice.”
“The vamps didn’t? Oryoudidn’t?” Ethan manages to stay directly beside me as I duck beneath a hole in the chain-link fence.
“Ididn’t.” I have no idea about the others, but I’m assuming most of them were on board with the Elders’ plan.
There’s a beat of silence as Ethan seems to gather his thoughts before he tentatively asks, “They threatened her, didn’t they?”
I don’t bother responding, mainly because guilt niggles at me. How could I have been so blind? When Kain first reached out to me, I assumed the Hunters discovered my feelings for Izzy and wanted to use them against me. But this entire time, it was my so-called “family” who was pulling the strings. The vampires have only ever seen me as a tool to use and sharpen, to hone into the perfect weapon.
And after years of failed attempts, they finally discovered how to properly wield me.
All they needed to do was threaten Izzy. Gracie.
I should’ve been more goddamn careful. I tried my hardest to keep her off their radar, but nothing I did mattered.
“You really love her, don’t you?” Ethan whispers.
When I glance at him over my shoulder, his features are drawn taut, his eyes simmering with an unreadable emotion.
“She’s my entire world,” I respond tightly.
Ethan nods as if he expected as much. At first, I think he’s going to warn me away from her or go all macho-alpha on me, but he surprises me by smiling softly.
“Good.”
Did I hit my head at some point? Didhehit his head at some point? Did he really just say, “Good,” to the discovery that I’m in love with his mate?
“Good?” I stare at him incredulously, and a blush crawls up his neck and cheeks.
“I just meant that it’s good Izzy has people in her corner.” He shrugs a single shoulder and then scratches at the back of his neck. “I may not know you well, Grayson, or even like you, but Izzy does. And as long as you can protect her…”
