Chapter 23

MISTY

Adam grabbed my arm, and we sprinted down the street, our footsteps echoing off the pavement. Tears streamed down my face, blurring my vision.

The mix of fear, anger, and betrayal was overwhelming. I understood Lloyd’s reasoning and the cold logic behind his decision, but it didn’t stop the pain.

I wanted to turn back, run to him, scream, and ask why he hadn’t warned me—I thought we’d figure things out together.

We turned left into a street where the houses looked the same, and cars were parked on the side of the road.

“It’s the white VW,” Adam panted. The lights flashed about ten yards away as he unlocked it. “Hurry.”

Clutching the bag of crystals tightly, I ran faster when a wolf leapt directly onto the VW’s roof, its claws scraping against the metal with a sharp screech. “Get behind me,” he said. The wolf growled aggressively, but Adam didn’t shift.

“You think what he’s doing is right?” he shouted.

I didn’t have time to analyze what he said, and my head snapped to the side as a wolf launched himself at me, his eyes glinting with a predatory intensity. Without a moment’s thought, I swung the bag of crystals, my grip tightening around the straps.

The weight of the crystals inside gave the swing momentum, and it connected with the wolf’s snout with a satisfying crunch.

The force of the blow changed his trajectory mid-air, sending him off course. He hit the pavement with a yelp, skidding to a halt a few feet away.

The wolf struggled to get back on its feet, shaking its head as if to clear the stars from its vision. My heart pounded in my chest, adrenaline surging through my veins.

The wolf on the roof jumped on the hood, baring his fangs and growling menacingly. And still, Adam didn’t shift. What was he waiting for?

I held the crystals like a weapon, feeling their weight and power in my hands. I widened my stance, keeping a keen eye on the wolf who had attacked me. He was disoriented, swinging his head from side to side, trying to shake off the blow.

Suddenly, the wolf, perched on the hood, lunged at us. Instinctively, I pushed Adam sideways and swung the bag of crystals again, hitting the wolf’s head dead-on. His jaws snapped shut with a resounding click, and he howled in agony.

“Run!” I screamed, and we bolted toward the car. I yanked the door open, slid in, and slammed it shut. Adam scrambled in, but his door was still ajar.

“Close the door!” I shouted, but he seemed to have opened it with such force that he had to lean out to grab the handle.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a third wolf flying through the air, aiming to land right inside the car. Time seemed to slow down as I watched those snapping jaws get closer. Why was Adam so slow?

A strange sensation coursed through me as if every nerve in my body was electrified. My vision sharpened, and everything moved in slow motion. Fire ran up my spine, heating every part of me.

“NO!” I shouted as my arm shot up, palm out.

The wolf howled in pain as he collided with an invisible barrier head-first and slid to the ground, unconscious.

Adam didn’t waste a second. He yanked his door closed, started the car, and we drove off with a jerk, the engine revving as he accelerated.

We left the wolves behind, but the memory of their attack and the strange power that had surged through me lingered.

“Was that you?” he asked, a stunned expression on his face.

Was it?

~“It was,”~ Cammy shouted. ~“I felt the spark, but it was much stronger this time.”~

I was hesitant to admit it. “I don’t know, maybe…”

“Fucking amazing,” Adam muttered, his eyes glued to the road ahead. The car sped through the streets, way over the speed limit, darting left and right in a frantic attempt to put as much distance between us and the wolves as possible.

We were in a built-up area, and the tight turns and narrow roads added to the tension.

“I hope you know where you’re going?” I asked, gripping the edge of my seat as he ran a stop sign. The adrenaline from the recent attack was still coursing through my veins, making it hard to think clearly.

“The fuck away from here,” he replied, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel. “I was hoping you had a rendezvous point.”

A sinking feeling hit me. We should have planned better and had a backup planؘ—a place to regroup.

I glanced back, half-expecting to see the wolves still on our tail. We’d hit a country road without streetlights, the dark absolute. In the distance, I could see buildings and city lights.

“We need to find somewhere safe to hide, regroup, and figure out our next move,” I said.

Adam nodded, his focus never wavering from the road. “I’ll keep driving until you come up with something. I think we’ve lost them.”

Great—he was depending on me… A sudden realization hit me. The phone! “Give me your phone. They can track us through it,” I said urgently, my voice tight with worry.

“I already destroyed the SIM card earlier,” Adam replied, casting me a smug look that momentarily eased my anxiety.

“We didn’t plan on a rendezvous point,” I continued, feeling the weight of our oversight. “Are we still in linking range?”

He nodded. “Yeah, and will be for a while.”

I was about to link Lloyd when a terrifying thought struck me. “That means Axel can give you an alpha command.”

Adam’s expression turned serious. “No, I took wolfsbane, which is why I couldn’t beat that asshole, Tiemen, at the gate.”

“That was risky,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “We could have been killed.”

Adam’s jaw tightened; his eyes fixed on the road ahead. “I know,” he admitted. “But it was the only way to ensure King Axel couldn’t control me.”

The gravity of his words sank in. He had taken an awful risk by using wolfsbane, but it explained why he hadn’t shifted.

Lloyd was invulnerable, and I knew he’d be okay, but I had a feeling those warriors would report what happened to Axel, and then he’d know I was a witch.

I had to warn Lloyd and everyone else. Axel would come after me with a vengeance, putting everyone in danger.

We drove in silence for a moment, the weight of the situation pressing down on me—the enormity of the task ahead. I really was clueless and was way out of my depth.

~“Lloyd? We got away but were attacked, and I think I came into my powers… Axel will know when the warriors report in,”~ I linked him, refraining from rebuking him even though I wanted to.

He didn’t respond, but he might still be defending the gate.

What to do? Should I call Chelsea or my mom? I knew Chelsea’s number but not my mom’s.

“I need to make a call. Any chance of a phone box?” I asked, my throat bone dry.

Adam grinned. “I’ve only seen those in movies, but we won’t need one. I put the new SIM card in my phone after I spoke to Lloyd.”

Honestly, why were males so bad at communicating? He leaned back, dug his phone out of his pocket, and handed it to me. It had face recognition…

I sighed. “I need your face.”

“Yeah, sorry, switch on the light and hold the phone up,” he instructed.

I glanced at the speedometer; we were still over the speed limit.

“Slow down a little. I don’t want to die in a car crash,” I said dryly.

He slowed down, and I switched on the light and held the phone up. He grabbed my wrist and pulled it closer, and my gaze snapped to the road automatically.

“Okay, it’s unlocked,” he confirmed, switching off the light and accelerating.

I punched in Chelsea’s number and nervously pushed the green phone button, all sorts of stupid thoughts going through my mind. The call went to voicemail, and my worst fears were realized.

~“Send a text,”~ Cammy advised.

~“Good idea.”~

Biting my lip, I considered what message I could send. If they had been caught, I might give away our location.

I started typing, then deleted it.

I wasn’t keen on using Tanner’s sexting code—it was just so iffy.

“What’s the problem?” Adam asked.

“I want to send a text, but if they’ve been caught, it will be a number the palace can trace. I’m trying to think of a text that will sound like…not me, but Chelsea will know it’s me.”

That sounded utterly dumb, and even if it didn’t sound like me—if they were caught, I was sure Axel would check every number.

“Well, you’ve already called, so they’ll have the number…,” Adam said with a shrug. “If worst comes to worst, we’ll ditch this SIM card too.”

“You’re right. Maybe she didn’t answer because she doesn’t know the number.”

I typed ~Call me, Skank ~and pressed send, watching if it was delivered. Two ticks confirmed it was, and I held my breath until they turned blue.

The phone rang, and I answered but didn’t say hello, waiting to see who spoke. If she didn’t answer, I’d have to act quickly.

“Misty?” Chelsea whispered.

I closed my eyes and exhaled sharply. “Thank Goddess it’s you. I was so worried you’d been caught,” I said, my voice breaking.

“It was close, but Frieda warned us, and we got away. Goddess, it was so stressful. Hang on, I’m putting you on speaker.”

I did the same so Adam could hear.

“What happened, Misty?” Tanner asked.

“Axel found the phone you left in the chamber when he fitted lights, and your number was the only one listed, so he knew it was you. He also fitted a sensor to the wood panel and knew the minute I opened it and locked me in,” I explained.

“Fucking sly bastard! Is Lloyd with you? How did you get out? Did you break the curse?” Tanner fired questions at me.

“No, Lloyd isn’t with me. He stayed behind because he said he couldn’t resist an alpha command.” My voice broke, and there was silence for a moment. “I don’t think I broke the curse, but the crystals lit up like stars.”

“How did you get out of the chamber then?” Tanner asked.

“We waited for Axel to pay me another visit and locked him in.”

Tanner chuckled softly. “He couldn’t have been happy about that. Thank Goddess Lloyd is invulnerable because he’ll pay the price. Have you linked him?”

“Yes, but no response. I think he’s still preventing any wolves from following us,” I explained. If possible, I wanted to stay within linking range.

“By the way, Adam is with me.”

“Hi, Tanner,” Adam said, sounding stressed.

There was a pregnant silence before Tanner shouted. “Adam? Little Adam who only just qualified as a warrior?”

Adam went blood red. “That was six months ago. And I’m seventeen, not little,” he defended.

Oh hell, did he even have a driver’s license?

“And he took wolfsbane so Axel can’t link him, and I had to fight off the three warriors on my own, but if it weren’t for Adam, I’d have been caught,” I added, watching Adam turn an even deeper shade of red.

An errant thought went through my mind. Why couldn’t we give Lloyd Wolfsbane? If Axel couldn’t link him, his allegiance to the monarchy might be rendered null and void.

“She didn’t need my help. She has…,” he trailed off, glancing at me as if asking for permission.

“She has?” Tanner repeated.

“I think I came into my powers and created a type of invisible barrier, but now Axel knows, and I’ve put everyone in danger,” I explained. “Where can we meet?”

“Wow,” Chelsea said. “That’s amazing.”

There was a moment of silence, as though everyone needed time to process the information. I felt no different, still struggling to believe I was a witch.

“Are you sure you aren’t being followed?” Tanner asked.

“Pretty sure,” Adam said, looking in the rearview mirror.

“Okay. I’ll send you the coordinates.”

“And it’s not nearly as nice as the beach house,” Chelsea added querulously.

I grinned. There weren’t many places that would beat the beach house’s luxurious setting. “I’m just glad you’re safe and alive.”

I cut the call and waited for the coordinates to come through.

“I desperately need something to drink and eat,” I told him, incredulous that I’d lasted this long.

“Of course, sorry, I completely forgot.” He pulled off on the side of the road and retrieved a cooler from the trunk. “Compliments of Frieda. I wouldn’t have thought of it myself,” he said, dropping it on my lap.