Savannah
Jaxson parked out front of the big red house that had become like my second home—or at least, it had been before I’d almost killed Laurel in front of Casey.
Jaxson turned off the truck and looked over at me. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
I wiped my sweaty palms on my bloodstained jeans and sucked in a breath. “It’s the only way we can be sure that Dragan stays dead.”
The front door opened, and Laurel stepped out onto the porch, concern cutting her face.
“Do you want me to come in with you?” he asked.
Jaxson’s signature pressed into me, and my nerves settled. Dried blood streaked his skin and beard, and I couldn’t help the pangs of desire that rang through my body. He was savage and lethal, and maybe it was the aftershocks of near death, but at that moment, I wanted all of him. First, however, I needed to settle the score with Dragan.
“I’ve got this one.” Scooping up the black pouch with the talisman, I squeezed Jax’s hand and carefully slid out of the cab. We’d picked up a couple of Alia’s healing potions from Sam on the drive over, but my body still felt bruised and broken.
Laurel went rigid as she took in my form, which I’m sure was a sight. My clothes were torn and caked with blood—my own and others’—and my hair was a wild mess.
“Are you injured? Do you need one of Pete’s healing potions?” she asked calmly, though I could sense her fear and concern. She glared at Jaxson, who’d stayed in the truck, as she opened the front door and ushered me inside.
I recalled how Casey had protested about Uncle Pete’s potions after he’d busted his ankle at the Magic Moon Motel, and a sharp pain lanced my heart. “No, I’m good, but thanks. Is Casey here?”
She slid the locks on the door into place and turned to me. “He’s not.”
The pained expression on her face told me everything she couldn’t, and a lump of sorrow rose in my throat.
“What can I do for you?” she asked.
Pushing aside my grief for my cousin, I opened my palm, revealing the black linen pouch. “We got him.”
The weight of those three words finally settled over me.
Laurel sucked in a sharp breath and pressed her hand to the base of her throat. “My gods, you did it. How?”
“Thanks to you, we tracked down the art dealer and retrieved Dragan’s finger. A contact at the Order used it to make a talisman, and…well, long story short, we got the asshole.” I fought back the horrors that bombarded my mind: Alejandro, the vampires, Bentham, the Crusher squeezing my skull… I swallowed hard. “Now I need to destroy this thing. For good. I was hoping we could let the Sphere of Devouring put an end to this madness.”
Laurel reached out to touch me, but I flinched, and she dropped her hand to her side. “You’ve been through so much, Savannah. Too much for one soul to bear, and I’m so sorry for that. Let’s get rid of Victor Dragan for good. Come on.”
I followed her into the drawing room and took a seat on the antique red couch, where all of this had started. I no longer was the same naïve girl. I had blood on my hands and darkness inside of me now. Would I ever be whole again?
Laurel retrieved the wooden platter that held the Sphere of Devouring and set it down on the coffee table in front of me. I recognized the nine-pointed star and ring of runes. Once, they’d seemed alien, but now they were familiar.
She pulled away the velvet cloth that was draped over the sphere, revealing the floating black orb. Worried that somehow, after all of this, Dragan might find a way to escape, I clutched the cursed talisman tightly as Laurel traced her fingers across the runes. They glowed blue, and then the magic of the sphere exploded around us.
Vertigo turned my stomach, and I braced my free hand on the couch. But this time, I didn’t feel like I was falling into an abyss.
“Ready?” Laurel asked, seemingly unfazed by the energy whipping off the orb like a million magic lightning bugs pulsing at once.
“What do I do?” The last time the sphere and I had interacted hadn’t ended well, and I didn’t want it devouring my magic along with Dragan’s.
Laurel watched me closely, her expression serious. “Offer the talisman to it but be clear with your intentions. The Sphere will try to take whatever magic it can, including your own. Let it know what it may and may not take.”
My heart thrummed against my chest as my stomach knotted.
Don’t get us killed, Wolfie said.
I opened the pouch and slid the talisman into my palm. It was warm to the touch and gave off a pulsing green glow that felt wrong. I looked to the Sphere of Devouring, unsure of exactly what to say but certain that it had to be precise.
“I offer you this talisman that is holding the soul and magic of Victor Dragan. You may only take it, and nothing more.” I glanced at Laurel, and she nodded.
“Goodbye, Dragan,” I whispered. The instant I moved my hand that was holding the talisman, a force pulled it toward the sphere.
“Do not touch the sphere!” Laurel said. “Use your magic to counter its force.”
I gasped and pulled back, my fist inches from the black orb of devouring. My muscles ached, and my arm felt like it was being torn from its socket, but I couldn’t open my fist to release the talisman.
Help me, Wolfie.
My strength isn’t what you need. Call your magic, she answered anxiously.
My arm was shaking from the strain, but I closed my eyes and focused on drawing my magic. It came forth easily, like the sphere was drawing it out. Cool waves of energy flowed through me, and I opened my eyes. Shadows coalesced around me, and a dark tendril snaked around my arm, enveloping my clenched fist.
Release it, said the oddly familiar voice I couldn’t quite place.
The force that was tugging me lessened, and all the tension in my body released.
This was it.
I opened my fingers, and the talisman flew into the black orb. Gone. An explosion of energy cascaded from the orb, knocking Laurel and me back, and shaking the house. In seconds, it was over, and everything was still.
Tension twisted in my stomach, and I looked to my aunt. “Did it work?”
Laurel leaned forward and swept her hand over the runes, and the magic in the air extinguished as each of the glowing blue symbols faded. She covered the Sphere of Devouring with the velvet cloth and gazed up at me with a broad smile. “You did it, Savy. You succeeded where we all failed. You destroyed Dragan. For good.”
The wound on my shoulder burned. I glanced around the room but saw nothing. An uneasy heaviness hung in the air, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. “Are you sure?”
“You saw it for yourself. The sphere devoured the talisman. Whatever goes into the orb is destroyed. Dragan is gone, my dear. You can rest easy.”
“Right.” I stood and rubbed my hands on my jeans, feeling unsure of what to do next. “Thanks. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
Laurel stepped around the coffee table and pulled me into an embrace. I recoiled, but there was nowhere to go—she had me pinned.
“I’m so proud of you, honey. I know you’re still upset, but know that we love you and that you always have a place here.” She released me and left the room.
My aunt was offering me an olive branch. Could I forgive her?
Maybe if you forgive her, Casey would forgive you, my wolf said.
Maybe Casey and I both needed some time to come around. I sighed and headed to the front door.
“Savannah, wait.” Laurel strode down the hall toward me and pressed something into my palm.
A small key.
I glanced up at her. “What’s this for?”
She shrugged. “Your mother sent it many years back. She never said what it was for, just asked that I keep it safe for her. I never looked into it, but I suppose with everything that’s happened…maybe you should.”
Another mystery, but maybe one that would yield some answers. “Thanks. For everything.”
I could feel my voice tightening, so I spun and unlocked the front door, and stepped outside. Laurel waited for a second, but then the door closed, and I heard the locks slide into place. I sighed in relief. I couldn’t believe it was all over.
Jaxson was still in the truck. I rubbed the wound on my shoulder, which was beginning to really ache, and headed down the front steps. I’d need to figure out what was going on with it and how to get that missing piece of my soul back befo—
A thunderclap reverberated through the heavens, and I stumbled on the lawn before looking up.
Chills skated over my skin, and my breath stilled as a deep dread settled in my gut.
The sky had darkened, and enormous thunderheads roiled above. As I watched, the clouds gradually resolved into the shape of a wolf. Its face had no eyes, but I could feel it watching me, and I shivered as memories flooded back.
Several weeks ago, when I’d sleepwalked down the stairs into the clutches of the Noctith demon, I’d seen that same form in the dark clouds rising in the starlit sky. In that moment, a voice had spoken in my mind, a voice that shook my thoughts and being to my very core: I will free you, if you free me.
It hadn’t been the voice of my wolf, but of someone else. The same voice I’d heard but couldn’t place just moments ago in Laurel’s drawing room, urging me to destroy the talisman. The same voice I’d heard when I’d attacked Laurel days ago.
Oh, my God.
Your sacrifice is accepted, little wolf, the voice boomed. Together, we will bring darkness upon the world.
“No!” I choked out as understanding dawned like a thousand puzzle pieces falling into place.
That voice…it had been the Dark Wolf God speaking to me all along. Urging me to do his bidding. He’d released my wolf. Laurel didn’t understand how it had been possible, but now it all made sense.
No, no, no.
Jaxson must have seen me freaking out, because he was out of his truck and striding toward me. I doubled over, panting heavily as his arms wrapped around me, pulling me to his chest. “What happened?”
The clouds overhead dissipated, revealing a bright blue sky. I shook my head and twisted from his grip. “What was the prophecy?”
Jaxson paused and frowned. “What’s going on, Savy?”
“Tell me what the prophecy said, Jaxson.”
Confusion tugged at his features, and his muscles tensed. “That Dragan would bring back the Dark Wolf God.”
I dug my claws into his arm and burned my words into him with my eyes. “No. Exactly what the prophecy said.”
He studied me with concern. But it was the dread and fear enveloping him that sank my heart. How had I missed it before?
“Please.”
A darkness settled over him, and his voice turned cold and detached. “A twin-soul will come to power. They will be the harbinger of destruction. When the moon has turned her back, they will make a sacrifice before the Dark God, and in seven days, he will walk the earth once more, spreading madness among the living. The twin-soul will steal the wolves from every werewolf who resists them and will leave your people weak before the Dark God.”
The world spun as the weight of his words sank into my soul. By trapping Dragan and delivering the talisman to the Sphere of Devouring, had I completed the ritual and released the Dark Wolf God? Had he been playing me like a puppet the whole time?
Nausea overwhelmed me, and I stumbled as my knees grew weak.
Jaxson grabbed me and held me upright. “Savy, what happened?”
I began to tremble. Dragan’s words played on repeat in my mind: If they knew what you truly were, they’d kill you where you stand, Savannah Caine. They’d kill you without a second’s hesitation.
We’ve got to flee. We’ve got to get out of here, I thought to my wolf.
My heart was beating so fast I thought it would explode. I pulled out of Jaxson’s arms and backed away, but he grabbed my shoulders. “Where are you going? Tell me what’s wrong.”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
He tightened his grip. “It’s me, Savy. You can tell me anything.”
Could I tell him that his mate was the one responsible for releasing the Dark God? That she was the one who would destroy his pack? The pack meant more to Jaxson than anything, even me.
I went limp in his grasp, despair taking my will to fight.
Jaxson’s eyes were dark with concern. “Tell me what the hell’s going on.”
With no courage left in my soul, I whispered, “He’s free.”
I had to warn him, after all.
Jaxson’s brow furrowed, but the way his body tensed indicated he knew who I was referring to.
Tears flooded my eyes, and my trembles became quakes. “The Dark Wolf God is free. And I released him.”
Jaxson froze, and I struggled out of his arms, taking several steps back. “Dragan completed the ritual, but I gave the final sacrifice by destroying the talisman. The Dark Wolf God just told me that my sacrifice has been accepted.”
“I don’t—”
“Dragan was the sacrifice! The prophecy was never about him. It was about me. I’m the twin-soul, Jaxson. I’m the harbinger of destruction. Because of me, he’ll return.”
Jaxson didn’t move, but his emotions bombarded me, one after the other. Fear. Anger. Disappointment. And rage.
I felt my heart cracking. I had to protect him. Protect the pack.
“No.” He looked up at me with a piercing gaze that made my knees quake. “We’ll stop it.”
“Jaxson. The prophecy says that I will steal your pack’s wolves and leave them weak when he returns. I have the fucking Soul Knife, for God’s sake. It’s me.”
“Not my pack, our pack,” he growled. “And you would never—”
“Of course I wouldn’t. But he’s a god—what if he takes control of me? Dragan nearly possessed me. It won’t be a problem for a god. What happens if he makes me cut everybody’s souls out? If it comes down to me or the pack, who will you choose?”
He didn’t speak, and I saw the agony in his eyes.
“That’s right. You’ll choose the pack, and you should. I’m a LaSalle, Jaxson, not one of you anymore. You have to let me go before I destroy us all.” Tears pooled in the corners of my eyes, but I fought them back as I inched away from him.
He was on me so fast, my heart didn’t have a chance to beat. While he’d held me firmly before, he was ruthless now, and he sank his claws into my wrists. When he spoke, however, it wasn’t with a savage growl, but with quiet, calm strength. “No. You’re mine. You are not leaving.”
My magic coursed through me, frigid like melting snow. Shadows coalesced at my feet, waiting for my command. How had it all come to this?
Run! Wolfie said, sorrow and anguish in her voice.
Tears spilling down my cheeks, I raised my palms toward Jaxson and released a clap of magic. He flew backward, landing hard on the sidewalk.
He was on his feet in a heartbeat and striding toward me, anger and worry on his face. I drew the shadows around him, blocking his vision.
“Savannah, what are you doing?” Fear tinged his voice as he searched for me.
I swallowed hard, trying to keep from sobbing. “Leaving. I’ll find a way to stop this, but I won’t risk the lives of you and the pack. I’m sorry. Goodbye, Jaxson.”
A cry tore from my throat as I turned and ran.
Yet it was Jaxson’s roar that demolished the remaining pieces of my heart. My feet pounded against the pavement, and though every fiber of my being screamed to turn back, I couldn’t.
I had to leave, to buy Wolfie and me some time, while I figured out a way to stop the Dark Wolf God from returning.
