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“Cory, don’t,” Evie said as I grabbed the syringe.
“Do it. This time, I won’t hesitate to hurt her the way I did when I had you cornered in that hall of mirrors.”
“That was you?” Evie gasped, and I remembered that time when I was thirteen. We’d sneaked into the haunted house Mom and Evergreen were creating for us in an old building. We were having fun until we got lost in the hall of mirrors, and a man with a hoodie and a gun began terrorizing us.
“Of course it was. I followed you guys all the time, trying to find Cory alone to get my revenge on him. He had the life that belonged to me while I was stuck trying to help Mom make ends meet working in the pack house as a maid instead of being luna. I wanted to kill him at first. But then you came into my life and didn’t care that I wasn’t an alpha. I took you from him, and that was enough punishment because you were a bigger prize than being alpha,” he explained softly, lost in his memory and I got ready to attack, but then his face turned hard, and he gripped her tighter.
“I waited for you, Evie. You said it wasn’t the right time, with you studying and me stuck here. I knew you’d come back to me, and you did come back to me, but then he took you from me.” The way this man was talking, angry then sweet then angry again, was giving me whiplash. He was so unstable. How did no one ever notice? Paolo was an elite warrior. His size and ability had put him into the group of warriors chosen to assist in the missions to find Uncle Helios’ siblings, and that realization made me believe that he was involved through the entire thing, making him the most dangerous man to my family.
“You’re the one that told everyone where we would search for Uncle Helios’ siblings. You’re the reason we were always ambushed,” I accused.
“No. I only told my mother where I was going before I left. It took me a while to realize she passed the information over to Nick so they could get there first. I just wanted to be a good warrior. Someone Evie would be proud to call a mate.” Evie huffed, and Paolo growled, gripping her harder.
“Do it, or she gets it,” Paolo warned, bringing a second syringe out of his pocket and putting it to her neck.
I looked over at Evie and decided. Without any hesitation, I plunged the needle into my neck and felt the burning poison spreading from the injection site. I fell to my knees, trying not to cry out from the excruciating pain. My body was on fire, and I could barely take a breath from the way my lungs were seizing.
Through my blurry vision, I saw the other needle land before me, and I managed to look up.
“Next one,” Paolo instructed, a malicious glint in his eyes.
“No!” Evie cried out, struggling against him, trying to get to me. I heard more than saw her whimper when Paolo’s grip on her throat tightened.
“Do it!” Paolo snarled.
I focused my vision and shaky hands on grabbing hold of the syringe. I missed the first time, making Paolo laugh. I managed to wrap my hand around the syringe on the second attempt and keeping Evie’s safety at the forefront of my mind, I plunged it into my thigh.
I couldn’t hold myself up anymore. I writhed on the ground as I felt the wolfsbane spreading through my already-burning body. A scream left my throat, and I felt tears leaving my eyes. I felt like I was dying. My body was on fire; Tenoch was already unconscious, and I envied the relief that must bring him. I didn’t want to black out; I needed to see Evie getting away, but I could do nothing to help her when Paolo struck Evie on the temple with his fist to keep her from struggling, and she blacked out. Something thudded to the ground beside them as he lifted her into his arms. My world finally went black as I watched Paolo putting Evie gently into his car, taking my world with him.
“Cory, I need you to wake up for a few minutes, sweetheart.” The voice wasn’t one I recognized, but it soothed some of the pain I could feel running through my body.
I opened my eyes. I was lying behind the back of the restaurant, but the world around me looked strange. It was nighttime now, and everything around me looked like it had melted away, barring the restaurant and the area around it. Blackness and stars was all I could see surrounding me.
“Cory, pay attention. We don’t have a lot of time.”
With a groan, I turned my body until I was looking up at the most ethereal woman I’d ever seen in my life. Her skin was dark and flawless, her hair so black it blended into the background and so long that it pooled at her feet. I felt the same warmth emanating from her kind face that I had when I heard her voice.
There was something familiar about her. Something in my soul that felt like it recognized her and cherished her. Just looking at her soothed some of the pain I felt from the effects of the wolfsbane coursing through my body.
“Who are you?” I managed to rasp, then tried to stand but stumbled, falling on my ass. “Where’s Evie?”
“She’s near you. Sort of,” she answered.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“You’re in the trunk of a car, bound and gagged, unconscious and fairly close to death. That’s the only reason I managed to reach out.”
“I’m dying?” I asked, swallowing down my grief. I was going to be leaving Evie alone to raise our pup. I would never meet them or have a future with my mate.
“Close to dying,” she corrected and looked off into the distance a bit. “No one knows I’m here, Cory, and it needs to stay that way. I’m not supposed to interfere with my family. There are rules. My children are supposed to have free will, and my family is off-limits when it comes to interfering. If the others found out...”
“Did you visit Molly? Is Evie really pregnant?” I asked instead because she said she didn’t have a lot of time and was rambling. I also knew who I was talking to now, and as much wonder and reverence as I wanted to feel standing, or rather sitting, in front of our moon goddess, my mate was more important to me than decorum.
“Yes, and yes. It was a one-time thing. I pulled a favor to do it. I knew what Evie would do, and I also knew what Paolo’s intention would be if he got her alone. I needed you to stop her from getting injected with wolfsbane. Her wolf doesn’t know about the pregnancy yet. She wouldn’t know she needed to protect the pups from the poison, and outside of Kara, I can’t communicate with my wolves once they have been born with their human. How’s that going for you, by the way? I tried to remove the pain while we’re here, but you’re sweating.”
“My whole body is burning.” I shrugged. I still felt like I was dying, but I wasn’t wasting this opportunity. “What do I need to know?”
“You need to embrace your gift. Evie is right, Cory. You weren’t given a useless gift. Its offensive capabilities are almost limitless.” I nodded, swallowing a groan of pain. I didn’t know what she meant, but I’d figure it out. I’d do whatever it took to keep Evie safe.
