Fates Entwined

44

"The structure is made of solid brick and only has one entrance, along with multiple large windows that could be breached," the scout said. "I counted at least five vampires in the surrounding area, but there could be more."

"Good work," Cannon said.

"He's in there," I said, my skin tingling with anticipation. "I can feel it."

"How do you want to proceed?" Cannon asked.

"Have one group take out all the vampires surrounding the structure. Make it noisy so it draws out any more in the area or inside the structure. With that attack as a distraction, Debra and I will sneak inside and rescue Jordan."

Cannon nodded. "I'll send two wolves with you as backup."

"Good, but tell them to leave Roxandra to me."

"Understood."

He gave a signal to the rest of the warriors behind us, and everyone began shedding their clothes, including Cannon and Debra. Within seconds, there were a dozen red wolves quietly fanning out through the woods toward the vampires, whose scents were easily detected by our sensitive noses. I took off my own clothes as well and tried to use my gift to make everyone invisible, but of course it didn't work. No moon magic in Solundra.

Debra's red wolf moved alongside me, along with two others I didn't know, and we crept through the forest together, making no sound at all. We stopped behind some thick ferns at the edge of the clearing, where I spotted the brick cabin where Jordan had to be held. There were tall windows on either side of the door that shone with light, but I would need to get closer to see what was inside.

Suddenly the other Leos throughout the forest let out their trademark roar, which made enemies either panic or flee in terror, before the sounds of fighting broke out. As snarls and growls filled the air, I sent out another prayer to Helios to watch over his favorite pack.

Two Sun Witches in orange robes burst out of the front door, scanning the forest.

Charge, I told the other Leos by my side, and they split up and attacked without question. The witches threw fireballs at them, but the flames washed right over them. Leos were immune to fire, after all. Before the two witches could cast another spell my two wolves were on them, tearing out their throats without mercy, while Debra and I were rushing into the house to find Roxandra—and Jordan.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The cabin seemed to consist of one large room, and I spotted Roxandra immediately as I dashed inside. She stood over a small cauldron, which I didn't know witches actually used, and was stirring some kind of bubbling potion in it. On the other side of her were two small beds, with Jordan in one, and an older woman who looked vaguely familiar in the other—both of them unconscious and bleeding from large gashes in their arms. The woman wore an old-fashioned cloth dress with moons on the hem, and Kaden and Ayla’s words drifted to the front of my mind. They’d been worried about a missing Moon Witch—Maricar—and hoped she hadn’t gotten lost in the woods. Now I realized she’d been kidn*pped by Roxandra and had been in Solundra this whole time. But why?

As Debra and I raced into the room, Roxandra spun toward us, clutching a golden chalice in one hand that glowed slightly. Blood sloshed out of it and dripped on the floor, and the scent of my mate's blood made me see red. She'd hurt him, and now she was going to pay.

I lunged straight for Roxandra, knocking the chalice out of her hands with my teeth. It fell to the floor and the golden light dimmed as blood spilled everywhere.

“Hello, little moon wolf,” she said, and kicked me. I tried to dodge, but she was so damn fast. Her kick caught me square in the chest and I went sprawling. How was she so strong? I got up and snarled at Roxandra, preparing to launch myself at her again.

She raised her hands and shot fire at me so quickly there was no way for me to dodge. I flinched and closed my eyes as the flames hit me...and did nothing.

"What—" Roxandra started, before hitting me with more fire. I stalked toward her with a wolfish grin on my face as the flames rolled off my back. Fire couldn't hurt me anymore.

I was a Leo now.

That had been Jordan's idea, and this time, I'd agreed. He'd secretly made me a member of his pack, making me the true alpha female, even if no one knew about it yet. And the look on Roxandra's face made it all worth it.

I snapped at Roxandra while she was still caught off guard by my sudden immunity to her fire magic, and managed to catch her arm with my teeth. She screamed and flashed bright white light in my eyes, which made me flinch back. I let her go and she darted away, still impossibly fast.

"You can't beat me," she said. "Even if you're immune to fire now, I've been using vampire blood to make myself stronger and faster."

Behind her, I spotted Debra back in human form, using sun magic to heal Jordan. All I had to do was keep Roxandra distracted a little longer so Debra could get him out of here. I growled low in my throat, my ears twitching, and bared my teeth in a challenge. Roxandra grabbed a silver dagger off the table and raised it as I approached.

“Jordan is mine,” Roxandra snarled as she lunged for me with the knife, but I easily dodged out of the way. “And he was mine long before you got him in your bed.”

If looks could kill, I would have turned her into a big pile of ashes. I snapped at her leg, catching just a bit of her calf and a big chunk of fabric. Her red robe ripped from ankle to knee, and exposed her bleeding calf underneath. Her knife scraped along my back, but I twisted before it did any real damage, and then slammed her against the wall with my side.