Reawakened (Chronicles of Cas Book 1) (10 page)

"Remember," I spoke up. "We're just putting them in creature jail for right now. Don't wield to kill if you can help it."

Alec nodded my way. "Cas knows the targets. I respect her wishes. Everyone clear?"

A chorus of yeahs sprouted up around us. Jake looked at me and grinned. I couldn't help but smile back. I was going out with the Elite on a bag and tag mission. This was going to be so awesome.

Alec stood and the rest of the bag and tag group stood with him. I grabbed the weapons from the hall that I'd retrieved from the attic earlier. It was hard choosing ones that wouldn't injure. It wasn't usually a Guardian's way to aim to imprison. It was usually aim to kill. I grabbed some net launchers and some smoke rockets that would incapacitate them so some of the Wiccan Elite with us could run behind and spell them into immobility. I also grabbed the weyfinder. Alec was extremely impressed with it. He wanted to get his weapons specialist to take a look so he could get one for each Elite division. It would make hunting that much easier if you knew what you were hunting.

The bag and tag group jumped in my SUV and I drove us into the middle of town. Cop cars and sirens were everywhere. I pulled out my cell and called Mayor Hawthorn while I took a left down Washington and drove past City Hall.

"Guardian," he answered, his voice dripping with disapproval.

"Call your boys back. We're on the streets."

"Where to?"

"Pull them back across the river. We've got old town in good hands."

He hung up without another word. I threw my phone down in the cup holder. "I hate that guy."

A few Elite chuckled behind me. "Not feelin' the love, Guardian?"

"He's a sexist pig," I said, catching an Elite's eye in the rearview mirror.

He grabbed a hold of the back of my seat and leaned into the front. "You should go Elite. You'd get the respect you deserve." His smile twitched into a smirk. "Plus, you'd get to see my pretty face every day. You can't get much better than that."

"Pipe down, Sanders," Alec said. "Get your head in the mission. I'm going to need you all in."

"Just trying to do a little recruiting for you boss."

"I think you're doing some recruiting for yourself, Sanders," a voice said from the back. "Always thinking with your little head."

I laughed along with everybody else. I liked the camaraderie of the group. They were fighters, but they were also like family. Damen would love this. He would be eating this all up alongside me. When Green Eyes showed himself next, I'd ask him to look into where Damen was. Maybe he could find out for me so that when all this ended, I could immediately go out and get him back.

I pulled up next to the old Salem jail and jumped out. Feet stomped on the road and doors slammed. All the Elite huddled around me as I took out the weyfinder. It glowed several different colors and spun slowly. As we walked toward Howard Street Cemetery, the stone spun quicker.

"This way," I smiled, tucking the weyfinder into the back of my pants and pulling out my knife. I really just brought it in case of an emergency and it also worked well as an intimidation factor. The magical creatures around here knew about my dagger-wielding abilities from outsiders. I wasn't saying they'd be writing about me in the legend books, but...

The cemetery glowed in the light of the moon like something out of a horror novel. Some of the local Wiccans liked to go into the cemetery at night to perform rituals. I was on the lookout for any of my so-called friends. If I found one, I was going to beat the piss out of them until they gave me an answer as to why the hell they betrayed me. What could be more important than keeping the peace between the humans and the magical creatures?

I scanned the streets searching for something out of the ordinary. After hearing about the increase in violence all over town, I was hoping the tourists would be smart and keep indoors during the night. Then again, that was the appeal of Salem, the paranormal. The hint of something out of the ordinary at every turn. I could see the tourist companies in town turning it into a new attraction.

Distracted, I didn't hear the rustling that drew the attention of everyone else. Alec pulled me to a stop beside him. We crouched alongside a hill that sloped away from the cemetery. I scanned the grounds. Two people on the hallowed ground. Not unusual even though it was illegal to go into the cemetery after dark. The alert factor was the shifter stalking them.

Alec pointed at two Elite in the back and then motioned for them to circle around. The rest of us stayed hidden until we could see the other two in place. Like clockwork, they all descended on the shifter at once. Alec threw a spelled freeze grenade which stilled the shifter. The two that went around netted the shifter, while Jake threw up the found flare for the other crew.

The two bystanders hugged one another and started to run. I followed them, emptied a spelled dust Frankie gave me into my palm, and then blew it onto them once I got closer. They stopped running and tripping over gravestones. When I got in front of them, they were in a full on dazed state. "The police found you in the cemetery and kicked you out." I always felt all Obi-wan when I did this. "After that, you went back to your place and went to bed."

They would do whatever it was I told them to, and since this was going to be a long night for all of us, I figured the less residents and tourists on the streets, the better.

We reconvened on the other side of the cemetery and continued on. The night was nuts. We ended up splitting up into pairs to keep in front of the amount of activity going on. Jake and I paired up and headed toward Salem Common where we subdued a few more shifters, one fae, and a witch. Not any of the witches I wanted, but one that was about to spell a car accident for no reason except to just see violence. It was as if the magical creatures were feeding off it.

Jake and I came down by the harbor near House of Seven Gables and made our way toward Derby Wharf, our meet-up spot. Ahead of us, shouts turned into the telltale clinks of swords and electric tension in the air that yelled fae. I took off running and found two fae in the midst of a cunning fight. One would attack, and the other would use their power to disappear and reappear out of harm's way.

We stalked toward them, taking in the scene. Jake got his net launcher ready. The trick to this was to stay unseen so that we could catch the fae inside it. If they knew of our presence ahead of time, they would just blink out of sight and there was no finding them again unless they wanted to be found.

We crawled through the grass of the open area near the wharf, the harbor to our left with boats anchored in the ocean bobbing up and down with the slight waves. As we got closer, I recognized the light-haired fae. "Oh shit. That's Green Eyes."

Green Eyes turned his head in my direction, his expression puzzled. It left an opening. The other fae slashed down and caught Green Eyes in the shoulder with his short fae dagger.

"No," I screamed, as Jake launched the net.

The other faerie turned. When he saw us, he disappeared. The net had already been launched though. It caught him twenty feet in the air and he fell to the ground wrestling with the trap. Jake ran for that fae while I ran toward Green Eyes. His hand held his shoulder as teal blood gushed over his fingers and down his pale body. "Jesus, Cas," he snarled. "I had him."

I ripped the bottom of my shirt off and wrapped it around his shoulder. "What the hell are you doing fighting down by the wharf? What are you even doing here?"

Footsteps ran toward us. "Shit," Green Eyes cursed. "Got to go."

"Stop right there," Alec yelled.

Green Eyes dropped his head, mumbling another curse under his breath.

"What?" I asked. "Are you in some kind of trouble?" I shielded his body with mine. Green Eyes was undoubtedly the most trustful fae I'd ever met. If he needed help, I was going to give it to him.

Sanders chuckled.

Without looking at me, Green Eyes moved around me, showing himself.

Alec dropped his knife hand back to his side. "Troian? What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you with the Stonehenge crew?"

"Stonehenge?" I said. "Where my brother went?"

He ignored me again. "Yes, Commander."

Alec sheathed his knife with more force than necessary. "Goddamnit, Elite. What are you doing in Salem?"

A green flare sparked in the background, lighting up Green Eyes' face.

"You're an Elite?" When he didn't answer, I looked toward Jake. "He's an Elite?"

Jake shrugged. He walked toward me, but when he went to walk by Alec, Commander told him to get me out of there and back to the house.

"No," I said. "I want to know what's going on."

Jake frowned as he came toward me. "Come on, Cas."

"Hell no." I pulled away from his outstretched hand. "Is he a fucking Elite or not? That's all I want to know." None of their faces clued me in. I looked toward Green Eyes. "And why the hell did you come see me before anyone else?"

"Please stop talking," Green Eyes said. Alec looked like he was about to explode.

"No."

"Jake," Alec spat.

Jake's eyes pleaded with me. Please, he mouthed. "I'll find out what's going on and tell you later. Okay?"

"Fine." I pushed past all of them and started walking toward the house. Old Salem wasn't that big and I had considerably less gear on me than I did when we first started out. No need for my SUV right now.

The night air chilled me to my core, sprouting goosebumps all over my arms. At least being along gave me time to think. Why would Damen know an Elite? Why would a fae Elite owe Damen a favor? And they were both in Stonehenge? Was he there when Damen was taken? I shook my head in disbelief. Lies. I should've known that all faes were liars. It didn't matter if Green Eyes, oh wait, excuse me--Troian. It didn't matter if Troian had seemed like a good fae. He was still a douche like the rest of them.

A flash of light blinded me. All my senses screamed at once. I immediately reached for my Damascas, but hands paralyzed me. A sharp pain buckled me and I fell forward.

Then, black.

Chapter Sixteen

I came to in the dusty back office shit hole of the High Priestess's downtown store.

Anger swelled within me. My arms were tied behind my back with wire that cut into me every time I tried to move. Gigi sat across the room, her back against the wall. It was hard to read her expression, mostly because I didn't believe it. Witches bred fae, therefore, couldn't they be as cunning as fae. She looked sad.

I didn't know what pissed me off more. The fact that I was fucking trapped in this place, or the fact that Gigi looked sad about it.

After a while, I gave up fighting and listened to the other coven members talk around me. They wanted the amber stone back. I almost laughed. They trapped the one person in this place that could give them the amber stone. I was a Guardian and I wasn't magical. They had some plan about getting Jake to get it since they had to have a Salem Ley Line Guardian, or an ex-Salem Ley Line Guardian retrieve it. They must not have realized Jake was a shifter and therefore, incapable of retrieving the stone.

"Why?" I croaked out.

Gigi stiffened at the sound of my voice. The others ignored me.

I pulled myself into a sitting position, the wire cutting into the skin around my wrists. "Why?" I said, more power behind my voice. "What's so important about the amber stone?"

Zion scowled. "For the ley line, of course. Really. I can't believe you call yourself a Guardian."

I ground my teeth together to keep my mouth from getting me into more trouble than I already was. "The ley line is already on."

Her tinkling laugh sent steel through my veins. "Stupid girl. The ley line isn't completely open yet. It's only half open. Did you think because a small amount of the local magical beings were acting out that the whole thing was on high? Soon it will be much more than that. Creatures will come from all over to soak up the energy of our ley line. This is nothing compared to what's to come."

A chill went up my back. If the ley line was only on half power, she was right, full blast would be worse. Salem couldn't handle that. Our peaceful existence would disintegrate. "You get to live here in peace. Why would you want to turn the ley line on?"

"Why? Why does anyone do anything? For power, of course. It's time the magical beings take back Salem. To do that, we need the ley line open again and SPAWN gone." Realization dawned on my face. "Exactly, young Guardian. "We have your brother, too."

I glared at Gigi. My brother. She has my brother. I pulled at my restraints, only succeeding in cutting myself further. "Where is he?"

"Nowhere to concern yourself about now. If I were you, I'd be worried about what's going to happen to you."

"Then you're most definitely not me. Give me my brother, you bitch."

She walked toward me, finally giving me her full attention. "Foolish. Who do you think has the upper hand here, huh? I am so sick of the Guardians in this town acting like they're superior. Do you know who I am?"

"Head Bitch. Got it."

She sneered. Her disgusted snarl falling on every piece of me. "You're lucky I need you for the ceremony tomorrow night or I'd kill you right now."

"You're lucky my hands are tied or I'd gut you."

"Isn't it nice that I have the upper hand then? I think so."

"I think--"

The High Priestess reached her hand out toward me. It shook with power. My voice immediately died and then pain erupted all over. I screamed in silence, the internal agony too much to take. She laughed down at me as the wave of pain subsided. "I'm in charge."

I lay my head back down on the cool cement. I had no other option than to keep my mouth shut because the only thing I got from opening it was attacked, and some information that was of no use to me because I couldn't do anything with it. Who was I going to tell? If the Elite knew where I was, they'd be here by now, saving my ass.