Fates Entwined

22

“Miles Crenshaw."

Jordan looked up at me. “One of the younger males who was on patrol outside the wards yesterday." He spoke back into the phone. “Who was he paired up with?”

“Dustin Haller,” Cannon said. “He won’t stop talking about how Miles went behind a tree to pee, and then he was just gone."

“What’s the location?”

"I'll send it to your phone now."

"We'll be right there."

Jordan jumped into the car and started it without another word, and I hurried to keep up with him. As the tires peeled off, he stared at the road, his eyes blazing with fury and fear. I could only imagine how he must be feeling, knowing people in his pack were being taken right under his nose, especially when he'd tried so hard to make them feel safe and secure.

I reached out and took his hand. “We’re going to find him. I promise."

Jordan blinked at me like he was confused. Then he squeezed my hand once before letting it go. He didn't say a single word during the entire trip, which was short because he drove like a Sun Witch was chasing us.

When we arrived at the place where Miles had vanished, I spotted a young man sitting in the dirt with his head in his hands. An older man with a shaved head and a dark beard stood near a tree, and he waved at us when we stopped.

As soon as we got out of the car, the younger guy raised his head from his hands. “I’m so sorry,” Dustin said. “It’s my fault. I took my eye off of Miles for a second, and he disappeared.”

Jordan patted him on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault. You did the right thing by calling us right away.”

"Thanks for coming so quickly," the man with the beard said to us. He held out a large hand to me. "I'm Cannon."

"Stella. Nice to meet you."

"I already scouted the area," he told us. "Miles's scent is here, but then it just vanishes. There's no way to follow it."

"Any trace of the Sun Witches?" Jordan asked.

Cannon spread his hands. "Not that I can tell, but I'm not an expert on that."

"Let me try." I muttered a few words in ancient Greek and gestured around us in every direction. Over by a nearby tree, presumably the one Miles went to pee behind, red sparkles appeared in the air, hovering in place. "There."

Jordan walked over and inhaled sharply. His shoulders stiffened and he let out a low growl. "Roxandra."

"Are you sure?" I asked. The scent was so faint I couldn't detect it, not in my human form anyway, but Jordan's senses were sharper than mine.

“Trust me,” Jordan said with a scowl. “I’d recognize her scent anywhere.”

I nodded. "Can you follow it?"

He tore off his clothes without hesitation and I tried very hard not to stare at his naked body, but damn. All those muscles. That ass. Seriously, Stella, this is not the time.

He shifted into a huge red wolf that looked golden under the light of the midday sun and raised his black nose into the air. He padded around the tree and then out into the dirt a few feet away, but after a few minutes, he returned and shifted back. "Her scent is here, and that's it. Like she popped into existence, grabbed him, and vanished again."

"She might have taken him to Solundra," I said, biting my lip. If that was the case, there was no way we'd be able to find her. "But maybe she returned to Earth in another spot. I might be able to cast a spell that will track her down."

Jordan dragged his shirt back over his head. “Do it."

I focused on the shimmering red traces of her magic that still hung in the air and cast my own magic out at it while uttering a few words in ancient Greek. Normally I liked to track things with my ears, nose, and eyes, but that wouldn't work in this situation. My own silvery magic wrapped around the red sparkles and then took off like a shooting star, heading north. I could still sense it though, like an invisible beacon leading me forward through the desert and then underground.

“I know where they are." I kicked off my shoes and started to remove the rest of my clothes. “Follow me. It’ll be easier in wolf form.”

Jordan told Cannon to wait here with Dustin, then tore off his shirt again. We shifted together, my black wolf about half the size of his red one. A pang went through me as I remembered the last time we'd been wolves together, but I pushed it aside and took off at a run. Jordan followed me without hesitation, and we headed for some rocks in the distance, barely visible against the sun-bleached desert. If my magic was correct, Roxandra should be in a cave there...and we were ready to face her.

CHAPTER TWELVE

As we ventured into the cave, the walls seemed to close in around me, their jagged edges reaching out like gnarled fingers to ensnare me in their grasp. This cave was a lot smaller than the last one we'd been in and the air was cool and musty, filled with the earthy scent of damp rock and ancient minerals. I crept through the darkness with Jordan beside me, and even though I'd made us invisible, we were both careful to make sure our footsteps were silent. Every instinct urged me to turn around and flee, but my magic had led me here, and there was no turning back now. Especially once Jordan inhaled sharply and let out a low growl. I didn't need to be able to speak with him to know what he meant. Roxandra was here.