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“Do you feel her?” I croaked, looking at the enchantress without slowing down. Sunlight glistened brightly, but it didn’t diminish the blinking neon of the sign that called to me, beckoning me forward.
“No…” Cirilla mumbled, slowing down. I knew why she was faltering. It was for the same reason I surged forward with such force, refusing to succumb to the urge to turn and retreat to the SUV.
“Jace…” Saint had already fully stopped on the road, not caring that all eyes were on us.
But I couldn’t stop. Elix had been in here. I smelled her, the linger of her succulent scent underlying, even though something else was there, overpowering it and growing stronger as I entered the lobby of the dingy motel.
A bearded clerk barely looked up at first when I entered, his eyes glued to the tablet in his hands. “Sorry, no rooms available.”
“There are for me,” I replied shortly.
His brow raised, and he smirked, looking up, doing a double take when he saw me.
“A-Alpha!” he sputtered, jumping out of his seat, his complexion going opaque.
“What room is my fiancée in?” I demanded, not in the mood for fawning. His eyes bugged, and realization flooded his face.
“I-I don’t know—” Before he could finish his sentence, I’d busted down the office door, my fangs elongated as the shirt on my back began to rip away, making room for my massive lupine back muscles.
“The pretty one,” he gasped, cowering in terror.
“You didn’t clue in before?” I snarled, baring my teeth. The desire to shift into my wolf form and sink my teeth into his neck overwhelmed me. Saint’s hand fell on my shoulder, stopping me.
“I-I’m sorry, Alpha,” he stammered. “I-I didn’t… I should have… I wasn’t thinking…”
“Clearly. Where is she?”
As if he’d lost his voice, he pointed a shaking finger toward the unlit staircase to the right of him, backing away with his hands up.
“Stay with him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid,” I barked at my guard.
“I’d rather go with you, Alpha—” The guard faltered when he caught my scathing look, and I whipped my head back toward the clerk.
“Which room?”
“Two-oh-six.”
Without wasting another second, I raced up the steps, Cirilla calling after me. “STOP!”
But I didn’t heed her advice. I knew why she wanted me to slow down, to wait and rethink my hasty actions, but I refused. I could smell the dark energy encompassing me, thicker and heavier, with every footfall closer to the second floor. The lingering but fading smell of sulfur alarmed me to no end, my instincts correct. No wonder Cirilla was trying to slow me down.
“JACE!” the enchantress yelled, but I didn’t listen. I rushed the last few steps toward the closed door of room two-oh-six and kicked it open, not bothering with the knob at all.
“Elix!” I called, sweat breaking out over my brow.
But even before my eyes settled, I already knew.
“Where the hell is she?” Saint panted, joining my side at the busted doorframe. I shook my head, stumbling across the threshold to pick up her backpack. All of her belongings were there, including her wallet and identification, but Elix was nowhere to be found.
All that remained of her was the overpowering stench of dark magic and the sick feeling that she was in terrible danger now.
Chapter 3
Elix
Little whispers filled my ears, titters like birds, and I struggled to open my eyes as wafts of cinnamon filled my nose. Pleasant scents flooded my senses, one after the other. My nerves remained raw and fraught, my inner voice screaming against all the niceties surrounding me. It wasn’t right. Even in the haze of my semi-consciousness, I could tell that—even before the lyrical voice came at me. I wasn’t where I was supposed to be—wherever that was.
“Elix,” the singsong sweetness cooed at me. “Elix, wake up…”
