Shadow Kissed (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 4)

Savannah

I parked my Fury in the temporary parking outside of the Hall of Inquiry. We’d driven all night back to the dunes, where Jaxson had dropped Casey and me at our rides. We’d all headed to Magic Side as dawn started to creep above the horizon and made good time until we hit the outskirts of Chicago.

Already exhausted from the sleepless night, I was pretty sure the rush hour traffic had sucked the last breath of life from my soul. I texted Neve that I’d arrived, then took a sip of the Zinger I’d picked up on the way. My nerves didn’t need the buzz, but my tired body did.

Heaving myself up, I climbed out of my Fury and groaned as the aches and pains of driving crept down my spine and into my legs.

Jaxson pulled up in his truck behind me. I headed over and pounded on his door, and he rolled the window down. “I’m going to ditch the Soul Knife,” I said. “It shouldn’t take long.”

He nodded. “Need me to come in?”

“I’m not sure you’re allowed,” I replied, recalling our last encounter in the Hall of Inquiry. “Can I crash at your place after? I don’t think I’m in any state to deal with Aunt Laurel.”

A smile crept up at the corners of his mouth. “Of course. I’ll be here when you get back.”

I did my best to hide my reaction and walked away. “I need sleep, Jaxson.”

Neve waved from the stairs as I made my way across the square out front. The weathered stone of the neoclassical building matched the gray sky.

“Hey, there.” She pulled me into an embrace, then held me at arm’s length as she eyed me. “You look…”

“Like an exhausted mess?” I prompted. “I’ve been chasing shadows through the woods and driving all night.”

“Pretty much. I thought you’d take some time off after everything that happened at Bentham,” she said, laughing. “That place is a shitstorm magnet.”

I smiled dully. “Yeah, well, I’m not sure we solved anything at all. We defeated Dragan, but I’m pretty sure we woke a monster in the process.”

Neve glanced over as we climbed the steps to the brass doors. “What do you mean?”

My stomach suddenly clenched. How much should I tell her? Jaxson’s warning was still fresh in my mind. We thought Dragan would be the one to release the Dark God, so we took the bastard out. If the wrong person hears of this and puts two and two together, they might decide to do the same thing to Savy.

I hadn’t known Neve long, but I trusted her. As for the rest of the Order, however, I wasn’t sure. Even if they were well intentioned, the Hall of Inquiry probably leaked rumors like a rusty sieve. The wrong someone might hear, but I had to tell Neve something, even part of the truth.

I rubbed my tired eyes, hoping the Zinger would kick in. “The wolves have a legend of a Dark Wolf God that will bring devastation to our world. Well, I think killing Dragan woke him, and now everything is messed up.”

Neve stopped and put a hand on my shoulder. “First off, I know that tone of voice. Whatever is going on, don’t blame yourself for this. You stopped a catastrophe at Bentham. We saw the runes Dragan burned into the roof of the prison. By the looks of the spell, he was going to send the whole place, along with its magic, nuclear.”

I recalled Dragan’s words, shouted toward the sky: I have prepared your altar, great one! A sacrifice unlike any before.

Neve squeezed my shoulder gently. “That explosion would have hit the lakeshore with a tsunami, Savy. So whatever else happened, you stopped a lot of people from dying.”

Or had I just deferred their fate?

She released me and gave me a warm smile. “Cheer up. You’re not on your own. I’m here to help, and so is the Order. What can we do?”

Taking a deep breath, I said, “First, I need to get rid of the Soul Knife. I think it has a role to play, either in my hands or in someone else’s.”

“I see why you wanted to unload it so quickly. The good news is that Archmage DeLoren is waiting to take it and lock it in the Vault. But if there’s anything else you need, let us know.”

Could you lock me in there, too?

I held my tongue on that one.

Neve turned and headed up the last steps into the Hall of Inquiry with me right behind, and we pushed through the front door, avoiding a few officers on their way out.

The front room was bustling with employees arriving to work. Breaking out of the crowd, I followed Neve down a marble corridor to an open elevator.

I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from fidgeting as I watched the glowing numbers on the door descending…1, 0, B. “So, what exactly is the Vault?”

Neve flashed me a grin. “It’s a magically concealed labyrinth with hundreds of portals that lead to hidden rooms scattered around the world. It’s the best place to keep something safe and practically impregnable.”

The nerves fluttering in my chest eased a smidge. “Good.”

The sooner the cursed thing was locked away, the better.

Bing. The doors opened at level V. We followed the warmly lit corridor around several corners until we reached a heavy brass door.

I eyed the symbols engraved into the metal. Electric energy pulsed around us, and my skin prickled. “It’s beautiful.”

“And deadly. No touching,” a gruff voice sounded right behind us, and I jumped.

“Archmage DeLoren.” Neve smiled. “Nice to see you again. This is my friend Savy.”

The older man tilted his head slightly as his blue eyes narrowed in on me. “Detective Cross said that you are in possession of a cursed weapon that needs to be locked away?”

With difficulty, I stole my attention from his bushy, caterpillar-like eyebrows. “Uh, yes. The Soul Knife, which belonged to an Italian mage. I’ve been storing it in the ether for safekeeping, but I need to get rid of it. Someplace safe that no one can access.”

“A Soul Knife,” he grunted. “I haven’t seen one of those for ages. A particularly medieval and fiendish weapon. You can be assured that it will be safe in the Vault. It’s impregnable.’

Neve glanced at the weathered archmage, and something flashed across her face that caused his gaze to harden with an undercurrent of annoyance. What the hell was that about?

It didn’t matter. I held out my hand to call the knife, then hesitated. “Once it’s safe in the Vault, I won’t be able to summon it back, will I?”

The archmage furrowed his brow. “Once something is inside the Vault, it’s impervious to outside magic. No power on this Earth could summon it because it is no longer on this earth.”

The tension in my shoulders eased. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

I rubbed my palms on my jeans and focused my mind on the Soul Knife to summon it to me, imagining how it felt in my palm.

Nothing.

Pressing my lids shut, I dug deeper, recalling the patinaed bronze blade, the inscribed runes and raised ridge that cut down its center. My magic strained, and I tasted the knife’s signature—oaky and rich like wine on my tongue—but I couldn’t seem to draw the cursed thing from the ether.

I opened my eyes and growled in frustration.

DeLoren cocked one of his hoary eyebrows. “Is something wrong?”

“I can’t summon it,” I said in surprise.

“Have you summoned it before?” he asked, the slightest undercurrent of irritation in his voice.

I held out my hand again and gave a snarl of frustration when the knife didn’t appear. “I’ve done it dozens of times. Something’s wrong.”

“Hmm.” The archmage rubbed his beard thoughtfully. “Maybe your mind is unfocused. Let me see if I can help.”

Unfocused? I paused and shot him a piercing glare. I was exhausted and stressed. I hadn’t slept in a day, and the Dark God was looming over everything I did. So yeah, maybe I was unfocused.

Neve stepped up beside me and squeezed my shoulder. “Take a breath, Savy. You’ve been through a lot recently. You’ve got this.”

I inhaled deeply and nodded. “Okay. Let’s try again.”

DeLoren’s magic flared and enveloped me like a warm blanket, but I still couldn’t get a sense of it. I cleared my racing thoughts and focused on the Soul Knife. The heaviness of the blade in my hand. The coolness of the metal.

The sound of wheat blowing in the wind hummed in my ears. It was close.

And then, a cold weight tugged against my magic and sent a shiver down my spine as the wound on my shoulder ached. A deep voice rose in my mind: Why would you want to give up your claws, little wolf? We have so much work to do.

The Dark Wolf God.

Creeping terror clawed at my heart, and my eyes flew open.

“Shit,” I gasped, dragging my hand through my hair. Was he blocking my magic? Trying to control me?

Neve looked between DeLoren and me, worry in her eyes. “What happened?”

Jaxson’s warning to Casey burned in my mind: Tell no one until we understand what’s going on.

I could trust Neve, but the archmage? I didn’t know him. If they learned that the Dark God was trying to take control of me…

“I need some fresh air.” The walls of the corridor were constricting, and the magic pulsing off the Vault was making me nauseous. My head throbbed, and my heart began to race.

I didn’t pause to explain, but just bolted down the hall and punched the call button on the elevator a half dozen times.

You can’t run, little wolf. Sooner or later, you will submit to me, the Dark God said.

Terror coursed through my veins, and when the doors opened, I threw myself inside, jamming the starred button for the lobby. What am I going to do?

“Hey, wait up.” Neve slipped between the closing doors. “What’s going on, Savy? You’re freaking me out.”

Her signature filled the small space, and after a moment, it felt like I could breathe again. That the dark presence in my soul had lifted.

Her vivid eyes shone with concern, and she pulled the stop button on the elevator. “Talk to me.”

I swallowed hard, chest heaving. “He stopped me from releasing the Soul Knife.”

“Who?” she asked, eyes bright with concern.

I pressed myself against the back of the elevator. “The Dark Wolf God. I heard his voice. I think he wants to use me.”

“We should tell DeLoren.”

I grabbed her arm and whispered, “No! There are prophecies about the Dark God…and about me. If people misinterpret them, it could go really, really badly for me. I need to figure out what’s happening first.”

Neve’s expression turned grim. She nodded and released the stop button.

The elevator lurched up to the main floor, and the doors opened. She followed me across the foyer and out the front doors. The sky was still overcast, blotting out the fading sun. I slumped onto the stairs and stared out across the green expanse of the Midway. “Please don’t tell anyone yet.”

Neve sat down beside me and squeezed my hand. “I won’t say anything, and you can count on my help, one hundred percent. We’ll figure this out, gods and prophecies both. I know things probably feel wildly out of control right now—I’ve been there—but we’re all in charge of our own destinies, even though it may not feel like it at times.”

I nodded, but I wasn’t sure I believed it.

How did one fight one’s own destiny? More to the point, how did one defeat a god?

Kick ’em all in the nuts? Wolfie prompted, and I smiled softly. That had been my motto once, back when my biggest problems were a rundown car and customers skipping out on tabs. Problems that a Belmont girl could reasonably be expected to face.

Might still work, she suggested.

I closed my eyes and responded, I haven’t heard from you in a while

Things…have been different. Fading in and out. There are longer and longer gaps. I don’t know how to explain it, and it’s making me nervous.

“You and me both,” I muttered.

“What?” asked Neve.

I blushed. “Just talking to myself. Sorry.”

She leaned over and bumped my shoulder. “Don’t worry, we just have to work through the problem. Stop fretting over the big picture for a moment, or you’ll get overwhelmed. Something is clearly up with the weapon you have, so figuring that out is the first step. Perhaps it’s a curse. I know a diviner…”

Taking a deep breath, I stood. “You’re right, but I think I have to talk to my aunt. She helped me bind the knife in the first place. Maybe she can undo the spell.”

Neve smiled and rose as well. “Okay, then that’s step one.”

I slipped out my phone and pulled up Laurel’s number. My finger hovered over the screen, emotions thrashing inside me.

She’d bound my wolf. She hated my mate and my pack. But even though I’d hurt her deeply, she’d always been there to help. And I needed her help now, more than ever. Whatever it took, it was time to reconcile.