Amber Flame (The Flame Series Book 4) (20 page)

She turned to him and caressed his face. Looking up at him, she telepathed,
My worries about Harley aren’t important right now. All that matters is that you bond with your pack. Okay?

It wasn’t the response he wanted, but it gave him enough space to shift gears and head with her in Harley’s direction.

Fergus kept his arm around Mary as they drew close to Harley. In a low voice, Fergus asked, “How the hell did Sydon conceal a witch’s spell in his gladiator briefs and who brought it to him?”

“We don’t know yet. I have Ryan and a couple of his men working on it, but the best we can figure is that Sydon had someone on the inside.”

“Which means we have a traitor.”

“It looks that way, but I know all our wolves and not one comes to mind who isn’t loyal to you.”

He felt Mary tremble next to him, but he ignored her reaction. Harley couldn’t be the one. Even his newly forming fae senses told him that Harley was speaking the truth. So, how could Mary be right about him? It didn’t make sense.

Harley continued, “We’re interviewing every wolf who had contact with Sydon since he was locked up last night. I’ll let you know when we find something.”

“Good. Stay on it.”

Harley stared at Fergus for a long moment, then his lips curved.

“What?” Fergus asked.

“You’re back.” Harley nodded several times. “Dammit, you’re back.” He patted Fergus once on the shoulder, then whirled and took off with several of the Gordion security force, levitating to the north entrance.

Fergus glanced around at the remaining guards and those members of his pack who hadn’t left yet. “Thank you, all of you. How about we head back to the compound?”

A cheer went up.

Fergus drew Mary tighter to his side.
Let me fly you back, okay?

She smiled, leaned up and kissed him. “Whatever you want.”

~ ~ ~

Mary felt relieved and exhilarated at the same time. Though she was a little overwhelmed that Fergus had come within a leaf’s width of getting struck down again, she reveled in the fact that Sydon was gone and the pack had been legally restored to Fergus.

Being that close to Harley had caused her to stumble mentally, however. The moment she’d seen him, the same terrible sensation returned, that his loyalty was completely divided and had been for a long time. Yet she’d felt no dissimulation in Harley as he’d spoken to Fergus, something she couldn’t explain.

Harley exuded a solid, even unshakeable alignment with Fergus. Yet she knew something was terribly wrong. Was it possible a witch was involved and somehow interfering with the Gordion Pack? It seemed unlikely, since dark witches loathed the wolves of Savage. Their enmity was one of the most intense in Five Bridges. And yet Sydon had employed a dark witch spell which meant there might be a connection.

But she couldn’t have said anything to Fergus about Harley when he was greeting everyone, even when he spoke with Harley. His priority right now was reestablishing himself as alpha to his pack. So, she’d held back and kept her difficult fae reactions to herself. The trembling, however, she’d been unable to help.

She felt Fergus’s focus move outward, and knew he was embracing his pack. His scent bore a layer of tenderness not there before because he’d been severed from the Gordion wolves for the past two nights. But the subtle smell was there, like the wind in the pine trees: Fergus’s alpha wolfness to his pack.

He’d also wanted to fly her to the Gordion Compound, even though she was fully capable now of taking herself into the air. Truth? She wanted to be physically close to him.

Once secured against his side and poised on his bare foot, he took her high above the pine forest, heading east. He still wore the amber cloak wrapped around him, with his arm pinned to her waist.

His voice penetrated her mind.
I wouldn’t be here but for you. Thank you, again, Mary. A thousand times. I’m overwhelmed by what you’ve done for me and for my pack.

She leaned her head against his shoulder, her hand pressed to his chest.
I wish Sydon was gone for good.

I know. I don’t think any of the alphas will have peace until he’s been run to earth. He’s dangerous. What I don’t know is the price he paid for that dark spell.

I hadn’t thought of that,
Mary said.
He must have made a promise of some kind because I’ve never seen that level of spell-craft before, at least not in Revel. Have you seen anything like it here in Savage?

No, I haven’t. But I’m aware of the prices paid for spells of that kind. Exorbitant. How could Sydon have afforded it?

Has to be the cartels. They gain if he moves into power. He’s already made it clear he’ll sacrifice everyone in his pack to do the bidding of the drug lords.
Even hearing these words telepathically distressed Mary. She knew the cartels had been involved in Sydon’s attempted takeover. And Sydon had already shown what his ambitions would mean for any pack he tried to engulf.

As Fergus made his descent toward the Gordion Compound, Mary was surprised to see dozens of wolves lined up at the entrance, many levitating.

“They’re welcoming you home. Fergus, are you sure I should even be with you right now? Because this is for you, their alpha.”

He squeezed her waist. “That’s where you’re wrong. Can’t you feel it, the pack’s desire to thank you for all that you’ve done? By now, they know it was you who kept me from receiving a killing portion of the dark spell. This greeting is as much for you as for me. So, embrace it.”

He flew lower toward his people so that soon he was within handshaking distance, even while levitating.

Applause resounded into the warm June night air. Mary’s cheeks warmed up as she saw the appreciation on many of the wolves’ faces. Several reached out and touched her as she moved by. Each time contact was made, she felt a warmth flow through her that was all wolf and very much a pack sensation.

Fergus dropped them slowly down to the stone entrance to walk the rest of the way. More of the pack was lined up to welcome Fergus home.

As soon as she crossed the threshold into the main entrance, like Warren’s compound, she could see through to the back gathering area. Hundreds were assembled for Fergus’s return, maybe the entire pack, starting out front, then ranging along both sides of the massive entry hall, and finally grouped in the large patio area out back.

Harley and his team were in the center of the large foyer where a three-tiered fountain flowed. One of Harley’s team, Ryan, called out, “We have a celebration planned in the communal area. There will be three shifts so we can include everyone. We have champagne on ice and plenty of beer. We’re firing up the barbecues as we speak and two of the Savage packs are sending extra meat over to help us celebrate. And, best of all, Councilor Dean called to let you know the council has approved your default dominance win.”

Another cheer went up, traveling through all the wolves present.

Mary worked hard to avoid eye-contact with Harley and instead focused her attention on Fergus. But the pull was there, a concern Harley was a linchpin for Sydon in some inexplicable way.

She stuck close to Fergus, which wasn’t hard to do since his arm never left her waist. Though, after the first shift was called down to the second level dining area, Harley made sure Fergus was given some time to shower and dress.

Mary went with him to his master bedroom, where she found her flight bag. She suspected Fergus’s wolves, who had provided meatloaf and wine the night before, must have packed up her things from the den and brought them to the compound.

She was about to pick it up, when she realized Fergus had grown very quiet. Reaching out with her fae senses and seeing that he was staring at his bed, she realized he was remembering what Sydon had done here.

Fergus’s wolves, thank God, had already cleaned up the space.

“Even though this is a different bed, I don’t want to be in this room,” he said. “Sydon shot up all three of those women with amber flame.”

Mary knew what it meant to have a flame drug forced into her system. The withdrawal process had required days in order to completely get the highly addictive substance out of her body. And even then, she’d had regular treatments for residual reactions to the drug.

His voice was low as he said, “They’ll need therapy as well.”

She drew close and took his hand. “Do you have another place where we can stay?”

He inclined his head in a northerly direction. “A guest suite just down the hall. We’ll go there now to get cleaned up because I don’t want either of us in this room as it is. I’ll want it gutted before I return.”

She understood completely. She could recall the horror she’d felt when she’d first seen the three female wolves chained to the bed. She remembered Fergus’s order to burn the bed, which she suspected had already been done. But the space felt evil to her as well.

When he gathered up his clothes, and picked up Mary’s flight bag, she left the room with him.

He immediately summoned his housekeeper and issued orders that after he and Mary had used the guest suite to change clothes, he wanted the rest of his belongings moved temporarily to the guest bedroom.

His housekeeper wore a solemn expression as she said, “I’ll put everything in motion right away.”

A half hour later, Mary still wore her jeans, black t-shirt and the thin silver belt, but Fergus had showered and changed into a new set of leathers and a t-shirt bearing the amber logo patch of the Gordion pack. With his arm once more around her waist, he led her to the soundproof communal dining area where the first shift of wolves was howling, noisy and exuberant with celebration. They’d finished their meal, but had waited to greet their alpha before turning the space over to the second shift.

He took her first to the head table where she sat while he made a speech, thanking everyone for their support. Afterward, she watched him do the same thing Warren had done at his compound. Fergus made his way from table-to-table and wolf-to-wolf, making contact with each person in his pack.

Much later and well into the third-shift celebration, Mary was woozy from too much champagne. She sat in the same place, at the head table and had been visited by most all of the Gordion wolves. She was pretty sure it would take a full day of self-healing for her fingers to recover from so much hand-shaking.

How did you know about the spell?

The sound of Sharon’s voice in her head forced Mary to sit up a little straighter and look around.

Sharon floated in the air off to Mary’s left as though reclining on her side. Her elbow appeared to be resting on something solid as she supported her head in her palm. It was all posturing of course. A ghost didn’t exactly have a head to put anywhere.

But Mary gave her credit for attitude.

She rose from her chair and moved to stand beside Sharon.
So, you’re back. Are you here to celebrate Fergus’s reinstatement?

When Sharon didn’t answer her, Mary turned to look at her, but Sharon didn’t seem happy.
What’s wrong?
Mary asked.
I thought you’d be pleased.

Sharon shifted to look at her, then moved to a sitting position. She now appeared as though perched on top of a wall, her legs dangling over.
How did you know about the spell, Mary?

Of all the things Sharon could have addressed, Mary was surprised she would want to talk about the spell.
For whatever reason, my fae senses were on high alert. The moment we left the tunnel, I knew something was wrong.

Well, what you did was brilliant. I followed you in the dreamglide and saw what you saw. Sydon is a real piece of work, isn’t he?

Undoubtedly a psychopath.

Sharon grew quiet. Mary turned to watch her, wondering why she was back this time. Sharon’s gaze followed Fergus almost exclusively.

What you are thinking about?
Mary asked.

Sharon released a ghostly sigh.
I never knew how to love this man. He was always a mystery to me even when we were human. But it seems so easy for you, and that makes me a little sad, even pissed off.

How can you possibly be mad about something like that?
Mary asked.
I always had the impression, especially by way of a few dead-talkers I know, that the afterlife is meant for letting go, for different kinds of atonement, but mostly for moving on. So, what are you here for, Sharon?

She huffed another ghostly sigh.
To help you and Fergus make this transition.

Mary’s faeness fired up once more.
Wait a minute,
she said
. This is about Sydon, isn’t it? He’s why you’re here.

To some degree, yes,
Sharon responded.
And also about the witch who gave him the spell. You’re on the right track there, which is what I came to tell you. But Mary, things are going to get rough. You’ll need to be brave, I mean really brave. And now, I have to go.

As quickly as she’d come, Sharon was gone.

Mary felt deeply unsettled by what Sharon had just told her. She’d confirmed her suspicions that a witch was involved more extensively than just selling a dark spell to Sydon. But she had no idea what to do about it.

She needed more information and though she tried to call Sharon back, the ghost remained stubbornly unreachable.

Fergus greeted the last of his pack members and finally headed in her direction. His leathers and snug black t-shirt were a great look for him. The fabric showed off his thick pecs and trim waist. His hair hung in a mass as it always did, and as was his habit, he’d created Sharon’s intricate braid after he’d showered.

CHAPTER NINE

MARY PUT HER hand over her mouth and giggled just as Lydia had. The room was full of flowers and lit candles, at least a dozen. The fragrances had her wolf-nose wrinkling and she loved it. The bed had been turned down with pink rose petals scattered over white sheets. Champagne sat chilling in an ice bucket beside a pair of flutes.

“They did this for us?” she asked, moving into the room and turning in a full circle to take it all in.

“The women wanted to show their appreciation for all that you’ve done. This is for you, Mary, which is the least you deserve.”