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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Blake
When I reappear on the front doorstep of MacPherson House, I’m swarmed by people within moments. Nessa and Ainsley come rushing out the front door, exclaiming over Luciana’s recovery, Devon lands beside me in a flare of wings, and Colin and Daniel materialize a moment later, their eyes gone wolf as if ready for battle.
“We felt your despair,” Colin says. Magic swirls around him, and his wolf growls, sending a puff of white into the wintry sky. “What’s happened?”
“Darkness has taken Tamsin.” I cast my gaze over them all. “Nessa, please take Luciana inside. I’m going to summon the clans.”
Luciana spins to face me. “I am not going to sit on the sidelines when my sister is in danger.” She still looks pale and weak on her feet, but her expression is fierce.
Nessa steps up and takes her gently by the shoulders. “And Blake wouldn’t dream of asking such a thing. But come and rest until the time comes. I’ll make you a potion to help you regain your strength.”
The older woman shoots me a stern look just to make sure I understand her point is not arguable. Then she turns and escorts Luciana into the house. Devon follows them, no doubt to assist in her treatment. Night has fully fallen now, and warm golden light from within the house illuminates those that still huddle outside.
“I’ll gather the witches,” Ainsley says. “What’s the plan?”
I nod. “At dawn, we will face Darkness in the hills beyond House Blackstock, in the Valley of Souls.” I point past both Tamsin’s house and my own. “The magic of the Highland clans will be strongest there, at the site where the witches and warlocks have performed countless rituals since people inhabited these lands.”
“How will you draw Darkness there?” Daniel asks.
“I’m going to steal Tamsin back from her.” My jaw clenches. “She’ll no doubt follow right on my heels. And when she does, we’ll be waiting for her.”
Colin’s hazel eyes flicker. “You know where she’s taken Tamsin, then?”
“No,” I say with a growl, “And it doesn’t matter. My wolf will find her. She is my mate, and there’s nowhere Darkness can hide her that I cannot follow.”
Colin and Daniel both nod. “Anything else?” Colin asks.
“Aengus has betrayed us,” I say. “He’s working with Darkness. I want you two to find him while I summon the warlock clans. I will deal with him when all of this is over.”
I look at each of them in turn. “Let’s regroup here at midnight.”
***
The moon is high in the sky when I return to MacPherson House. I pause for a moment outside, looking up at the celestial orb. It’s a symbol of magic and power vital to both wolves and witches. Is Tamsin able to see the moon wherever she is right now? Does she feel the connection between us through its soft glow?
I hate that some of the last words between us were an argument. I’d been stupid and started a fight, just when things were finally going well. Then we’d had rough, angry sex, and I’d told her she was stubborn and imperious. I doubt she would have spoken to me at all this morning if she hadn’t needed an outlet for her magic.
Everything inside of me is burning, clawing, screaming with impatience. I want to go to her now. I’d wanted to follow her the moment Darkness took her. It’s a good thing Luciana had been there, and Tamsin’s final words to me had been to take care of her. If not for that tether to reality, I might have followed my rage and impulse. And I know now that would have just led to the death of us both.
Even now, as I hear the buzz and bustle of dozens of witches inside the old stone house, and with an equal number of warlocks waiting back at House Blackstock, I’m not sure it will be enough. How does one defeat Darkness? Is it even possible?
I don’t want to lead the Highland clans to their deaths. But I know that beyond the threat to Tamsin, Darkness has even more sinister plans in place that will affect the entire supernatural community. Leaving her at large puts not only the clans at risk, but it leaves all of us exposed. I remember the haunted look in Tamsin’s eyes as she described the hundred or so supernaturals in the lab in Costa Rica, all plucked from their lives because of this evil hag.
We have to make a stand.
Taking a deep breath, I head inside to check on Luciana and the others. I find them in the dining room, where, to my shock, a faerie, a vampire, and a tiger shifter are all sitting on hospital beds where demons were before.
I swing my gaze from Luciana to Devon, who is standing at her side. “How?”
“It was Luciana’s idea,” Devon says, smiling at the witch. “She suggested I go back to the hospital to see if I could find more of the serum Tamsin created to cure her. And there was plenty.”
“We will join you in the battle tomorrow,” the shifter says. She crosses her tattooed arms over her chest and the other two nod.
I worry that the four of them, who have been in comas for at least a few weeks, won’t be ready for the battle. But I would never try to deprive anyone of their right for revenge. Darkness had made them helpless, tortured them, and altered the course of their lives forever. The choice is theirs and theirs alone.
And revenge is something very much on my agenda at the moment, too.
