Bloodrose (25 page)

“Such a frail girl. Not much of a wolf either.” Efron shook his head slowly in mock regret. “One day after you’d left, we found her hanging from a tree outside the Bane compound. Only one day.”

His gaze slid over Sabine, his smile razor sharp. She didn’t flinch; instead she murmured, “Cosette was always weak.”

“Indeed.” Efron stretched his hand to Sabine. She took his fingers, letting him pull her up. “Welcome home, my dear.”

“Thank you.” She bowed her head.

“Can we move this along?” Connor suddenly bellowed, shoving Logan to his knees. “This one smells like his own piss.”

Efron glared at him. “If you’ve harmed my son . . .”

“No permanent damage has been done,” Anika said. “I assure you.”

“Give him to us,” Efron said, though he kept his hold on Sabine. “Now.”

“Not before we have the wolf,” Anika replied.

“Emile.” Efron jerked his chin toward Connor.

With a sweep of his arm, Emile lifted me onto my feet and had me stumbling toward the Searchers. At the same time, Connor kicked Logan, who began to scramble through the snow, Connor behind him. We stopped less than a foot apart.

Emile grinned at Connor. “Well, well. I haven’t seen you since a minute before I made meat out of your leader.”

“I won’t forget to show my thanks for that,” Connor said.

“I look forward to it,” Emile said.

Connor grabbed Logan by the shoulders, thrusting the Keeper out in front of him. “Let’s just do this.”

“Happily,” Emile snarled, tightening his grip on my waist. “Sorry we didn’t have more time to chat, Calla.”

I glared at him. “Go to hell.”

Despite my outrage, my heart was pounding as I glanced over my shoulder at Sabine. We couldn’t leave her here. We just couldn’t. Then I was being shoved forward and I saw Logan tumbling past me. I threw Connor a pleading look as Emile let me go.

Connor shouted before I could catch my breath, and in the next moment I was in the Searcher’s arms and we were running through the snow toward the other side of the meadow. Light blazed ahead of us as a portal opened and I heard voices calling my name.

The Banes were already lunging after us, but the Searchers had anticipated Keeper treachery. Crossbows twanged as Connor pulled me into the shimmering doorway with Anika at our side, calling orders even as we ran from the snow-filled meadow. I twisted in his arms, looking for Sabine. Just as the portal’s light poured over me, I met her gaze and thought I saw her smile.

“WE HAVE TO GO BACK!”
I shrieked at Connor, who struggled to hold me as Adne closed the door.

“What did they do to you? Have you lost your mind?” Connor shouted as I thrashed against him. “Why the hell would we go back there? And by the way, that’s some thanks for the rescue!”

“You left Sabine!” Tears were running down my cheeks and I couldn’t stop them. I was too angry and too afraid for what would happen to her.

Connor rolled his eyes. “We didn’t leave her.” He shoved me away with a grunt.

“It’s part of the plan, Calla,” Adne said gently.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Connor glared at me.

“The plan?” I forced myself to take a breath, shuddering out my wild emotions.

“Like I said.” Connor laughed. “No confidence in us at all.”

“We needed someone who could watch the Keepers and communicate with the Guardians,” Adne said.

“And Sabine was your best choice?” I couldn’t quite keep the anger out of my voice. “Do you know what she’s been through?”

“It was Sabine’s idea,” Anika answered, giving me a measured gaze.

I opened and closed my mouth again, unable to reply. Sabine came up with this plan?

“And it was a good plan,” Anika said. “We need her help. She’s the best link between Keepers and Guardians we have.”

“You didn’t worry that Efron wouldn’t take the bait?” I asked, feeling a bit unsteady in the current of this information.

“Logan was sure he would,” Connor said. “Something about pride being his father’s greatest weakness, Sabine as an Achilles’ heel, blah, blah, more metaphors.”

“Fine.” I bared my fangs at Connor. “But how does Ethan feel about all of this?”

“He only agreed if we let him go too.”

I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. “Ethan is in Vail?”

“Yep,” Connor said. “He insisted.”

“But they’ll kill him.”

“God, Connor.” Adne glared at him. “Don’t say it like that.”

Connor grinned. “But it’s so much more fun when she looks like she’s going to throw up.”

She ignored him, turning to me. “Calla, Ethan isn’t with the Keepers. He and Nev are with Tom Shaw.”

“At the Burnout?” I asked.

“He built what’s pretty much a bunker under that bar,” Connor said. “We’ve used it as a safe house from time to time. Nev and Ethan are staying there, coordinating intelligence coming in from the Guardians through Sabine and Logan. Logan’s keeping tabs on his father and the other Keepers. Sabine is lining up allies among the Banes and hopefully getting your father to do the same with the Nightshades. We’re using them to set up the final offensive on Rowan Estate.”

I swallowed the hard lump that formed in my throat. “When is the attack?”

“If we pick up this last piece,” Adne said quietly, “we attack at midnight.”

“That soon?” I asked.

“Well, considering we’ve jumped a few times zones, it’s actually already in the past.” Connor wiggled his eyebrows at me.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I’d assumed Connor had dragged me through a portal back to the Academy. But we weren’t in the Searchers’ building. It had been afternoon when we’d left the mountain meadow. Now we were outside and it was dark, but not night. The air was full of the promise of dawn. Hushed pink light crept upward into deep gray sky.

“We’re in New Zealand,” Adne said. “Where it’s already tomorrow morning.”

“But when we get back to Vail for the attack, it will still be midnight yesterday,” Connor said.

“You’re giving me a headache,” I said.

“It’s what he does best.” Adne grinned.

“Let’s be on our way.” Anika started walking. “The others are waiting.”

“Where are they?” I asked as my mind began to settle.

“They’re at the boat,” Adne said.

“Another boat?” I groaned.

“Different sort of trip this time,” Connor said. “No swim at the end.”

He led us into the brightening morning, pushing through a forest unlike any I’d seen. The ground beneath my feet was rough, broken rocks that seemed to be halfway to becoming sand. Trees with spiky limbs and thick leaves stretched over us, complemented by dense brush, tightly packed along the forest floor.

When the path opened up, the trees thinning to slope down onto a wide beach, I heard two familiar voices shout at once.

“Calla!”

Ren and Shay were both staring at me. They were sitting back to back. And they were tied up.

I stared at them. “What the—”

Mason, who’d been circling the captive boys as a wolf, shifted forms.

“Thank God!” He ran to me, catching me in a tight embrace. “It is so good to see you.”

“You too.” I hugged him and then pointed to Ren and Shay, who were now squirming against their restraints. “What’s going on?”

“We had to tie them up,” Adne said.

“And I had to guard them,” Mason said. “Even after creating the most intricate knots known to mankind. I even bit Shay once.”

“I wasn’t being that difficult,” Shay said.

“Yes, you were.”

“Why did you have to tie them up?” I asked, watching as Connor drew a knife and began to saw through the ropes holding Shay and Ren together.

“You didn’t have to tie us up!” Shay shrugged the frayed ropes off.

“Yes, we did!” Adne’s hands were on her hips. “You would have torn right through that portal to get to her. You were both acting like morons.”

“She’s right,” Ren said. “They probably did have to tie us up.”

Shay grinned.

“Shut up!” Adne glared at Ren. “You’re still on my list of people I’m angry with. Don’t think you’ll get off it by agreeing with me.”

Ren gave Connor a sidelong glance. “She keeps a list, huh?”

“Don’t worry,” Connor said. “I’ve been on it for years.”

“I heard that.” Adne’s voice jumped up a couple of octaves.

“I’m sure you did, gorgeous.” Connor jumped back, having cut through the rope, as Shay and Ren both leapt up and rushed at me.

I took a few steps back, anticipating a tackle. But they both pulled up just short, breathing hard, glancing from each other to me.

“Hey,” I said, unsure what to do. I wished they would both just hug me, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

“Hey,” Ren said, folding his arms over his chest. “Sorry we couldn’t come save you ourselves.” I could see his pulse jumping at his throat.

Shay looked just as uncomfortable, giving Ren an uneasy smile. “Not that we didn’t want to. Hence the being tied up.” He raked a hand through his windblown hair. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “The wraith was awful. But it was over pretty quickly. At least from my perspective. After I passed out, I don’t remember much. I woke up in my room. Lumine was there.”

“What happened?” Ren asked.

“They asked questions I didn’t answer,” I said. “Then came the trade. I wasn’t there long.”

“But you were back in Vail?” Shay asked.

“Yes.” I shivered at the memory of my room, of Lumine pretending to be my mother. “I saw my dad, though. I think he could help us.”

“That’s the point of having Ethan and Sabine working in Vail,” Connor said. “Let’s hope they can make that connection.”

“We’ll send a dispatch to Ethan and Tom,” Anika said. “It’s good that you could speak with your father, Calla.”

I nodded, wondering if my father really could bring the Nightshades over to our side.

“Open a door, Adne,” Anika continued. “It’s time for me to update the Guides and set the stage for tonight.”

“Tell them to cross their fingers and toes,” Connor said.

Adne began to weave, the threads from her skean mirroring the light of dawn that spilled from the shoreline up into the forest where we stood. Ren stood close to his sister, entranced by her work.

“So Pyralis is here?” I asked Connor, drawing him away from the others.

“It’s out there.” He pointed to the silhouette of an island in the distance. “That’s Whakaari.”

“And we’re going there now?” I glanced at my companions. Our group had shrunk. Ethan, Sabine, and Nev were in Vail. Silas was gone. “Just us? We don’t get reinforcements?”

“We don’t know what’s out there.” Connor’s jaw clenched. “We wanted to risk as few as possible.”

“That’s reassuring.” I tried to laugh, but it came out like my voice cracking.

“We’ll manage.” Shay rested his fingers lightly on my arm. The gentle touch warmed my cold skin.

“We’d better,” Connor said. “This is it. Last stop on the big ride.”

“You know where it is on the island?” I asked.

“We know where the entrance to the chamber is,” Connor replied. “Our best guess is that the blade is somewhere inside the volcano.”

“Wait . . . volcano?” I could feel my eyes bulge.

Shay nodded. “There are lots of active volcanoes in New Zealand. Look.” He pointed at the sky above the island. A plume of ash rose steadily into the clouds.

Mason came up beside me and slid his arm around my shoulders. “I didn’t believe it when they first told me either.”

“We’re going into a volcano,” I said, shoulders slumping. “That’s . . . that’s just fantastic.”

“What’s a volcano compared to a mutant spider? Or piranha vampire bats?” Shay grinned at us. “Come on, it’s an adventure. Besides, tourists go out there all the time. The volcano can’t be that dangerous.”

“I’m guessing the tourists aren’t trying to steal a forbidden object out from under the noses of evil witches.”

“Not unless they’ve paid for the deluxe package,” Shay replied solemnly.

I stared at him for a moment before I began to laugh.

“You’re crazy, man,” Mason said, but he was laughing too.

“What did I miss?” Adne asked as she and Ren joined us. I turned to see the portal was gone, along with Anika.

“Only Shay’s twisted sense of humor,” Connor replied. “Let’s get to the boat.”

Mason, Adne, Connor, and I clambered into the boat while Shay and Ren shoved it off the beach into the water. Connor gunned the motor, sending us bouncing over the waves toward Whakaari.

“So where does Logan fit in to this plan?” I shouted over the roar of the motor and crash of waves.

“We need Logan on the inside.” Adne shielded her eyes as the sun crested the horizon. “He’ll be pivotal when Shay gets to the Rift.”