Chapter 186-2
“You think that now, when I’m so close, I’m going to have regrets?” she asked coldly. “I have spent decades planning for this. I have thought of every angle. Every moment. There is nothing that you can say to deter me. This is what is best for the mountain, and I am willing to make any and every
sacrifice.”
Nearing me, she whipped out a syringe and plunged the needle into my arm. For a second, I thought she was injecting me with something, but she simply withdrew blood. Then, without another word, she left the room and slammed the door,
The chains were coated in iron and salt. They didn’t burn, but all my attempts at unlocking them were futile. Alone, I called on my wolf. She rose up inside. The shift was awkward given that I couldn’t drop to all fours, but the chains fell off me and I shook. Shifting back to human, I tried the door to the hall, but it was locked, just as I suspected.
The adjoining door was another story, and when I opened the door, I was horrified by what I saw. Finn was slumped over, blood pouring from open wounds. His face was so swollen that his eyes weren’t even open.
“Finn,” I whispered. His chains were tighter, forcing him to stand, so I knew he wasn’t unconscious. “Finn, you have to shift so I can get you out of these chains.”
His mouth worked for a few seconds before it finally opened. “Can’t. Spelled.”
I put my hands on the chains and smiled at him even though he couldn’t see it. “Try again.”
I could feel the magic of the cuffs draining, and I sat there in silence for several agonizing minutes while Finn found the strength to shift. When the chains slipped off him, his wolf fell to the floor, and I put my hands on him and went to work. Injury by injury, I used my magic to heal him, and finally, his wolf lifted his head, and he stared up at me.
“We were always coming to this moment,” I told him as I leaned against the brick wall and stroked the top of his head. “My parents. Evalina. The healer. My mate. Even Morven. Everyone did whatever they could to keep this moment from happening, but I think the paths were always going to intertwine. We were always coming here.”
Swallowing in an attempt to moisturize my dry mouth, I struggled not to cry. “I can feel Troy. He always breaks through every barrier I put up. He made it to the coven, and he’s hurting so much right now. All I can think about is that second that I don’t feel him anymore. When he’s dead
because he tried to save me.”
Knocking my head back, I gazed up at the ceiling and frowned. Finn’s room had a window in it. It
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was so close to the ceiling that we were probably in some sort of basement area. The window
was too small for even my wolf to shimmy out, but I wanted to see what was on the other side
Unfortunately, now was not the time to see if I could levitate myself with my magic, so I stood and
eyed the chains. Finn’s wolf moved his head to watch me, and I pointed at the window. There was
a small table in the room, but it was bolted to the floor. The chains were mounted about two feet
beneath the window. I could climb up and try to reach the window sill to grip myself.
In my weakened state, I wouldn’t be able to hold myself up for very long, but it was worth a shot.
Finn started to shift as I gripped the chains and started to climb. My muscles screamed as I
braced my feet against the stone wall and used them to propel myself up. By the time I reached
the top, Finn had fully shifted, and I was out of breath.
“One way to subvert Claudine would be to fall to your death before she could use you,” he said in a
weak voice. Clearly I hadn’t been able to heal him fully, and I glanced down at him.
“I don’t think the fall would kill me, but it is an idea.”
Below me, he scowled, and I took a couple more steps and tested my foot hold. I had maybe an
inch or two to brace my foot for the jump.
Not great, but it was the best I had. Luckily, the sill was deep. Gritting my teeth, I pushed off and
grunted. I couldn’t quite get my forearms on the sill, but I did catch the edge with my hands. Quickly, I grabbed on and scrambled my way up until I could pull my elbows up and brace my weight against the wall.
“Fuck,” Finn hissed. “Are you all right?”
Panting, I cleared my throat. “Peachy.”
The window was caked with dirt. Carefully, I used my hand to clean it. “We are definitely in a
basement, and there is a lot of activity outside. It looks like we’re sitting on a huge field before the
edge of a wooded area. They’re… they’re building a ritual circle.”
Witches. When I focused, I could see their magical auras. There had to be a dozen of them.
Movement on the edge of the woods caught my attention, and I looked over as wolves spilled out
from the woods. Dozens and dozens.
In horror, I squeaked and scrambled back, forgetting that I was hovering the air. Immediately, I fell.
“Kiana!” Finn’s hands circled around my waist, and we both stumbled to the ground. I landed on
him and quickly rolled off him.
“Are you all right?”
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“I mean, I’m still better than I was ten minutes ago. What did you see?” Grimacing, he sat up and
winced in pain.
“Wolves. Goddess, those are mutated wolves,” I muttered as the horror washed over me all over
again. “Claudine used the serum on her own pack.”
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