Page 60 of Protecting The Gray Wolf
Magic! He should have thought of it before now, but he’d been so concerned about her physical survival he’d forgotten about Luna’s earlier claim about Solange being able to physically manipulate her. Reaching out, he grabbed his cell phone from the bedside table and punched in a number. “Come on. Come on.”
After two rings, a mechanical voice informed him the number was no longer in service. “Fuck!” Onyx had gotten rid of her phone. Not that he blamed her. After helping them, she was on Solange’s shit list. He punched in another number.
“How may I be of assistance?” The broker sounded as calm and cool as always.
He thought about outing him as the mercenary, but since he needed the man’s help, he decided to keep that tidbit to himself. It went against every instinct to trust an outsider with secrets, but the man had already proven his worth. As a wolf and the infamous broker, he likely had more contacts that Kade could ever dream of. “Do you know a trustworthy mage?”
Dead silence. “That’s an unusual request.” Suspicion tinged his voice.
“I think magic is the reason Luna isn’t waking up. Even with my senses, I can barely smell it, but it’s there. I know of a mage who helped us with a tracking spell, but her number is no longer working.”
Again, there was a long pause. “Hold the line.” The thirty seconds he waited seemed more like thirty minutes. With each passing moment, his worry mounted until the broker finally returned. “The number for my contact is no longer in service.”
What were the odds they both knew the same mage? Good, apparently. Onyx had dropped off the grid. “Thanks for trying.”
“I’ll look, but it’s unlikely I’ll be able to track my contact anytime soon.”
Ending the call, Kade tossed his phone away and turned back to Luna. “Open those beautiful gray eyes.”
His wolf chuffed inside him, agitated. He froze and listened, but there was no one around. What did his wolf want? “I’m an idiot.” The lack of food, coupled with worry and exhaustion, had impaired his thinking. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he closed his eyes. If she wouldn’t come to him, he’d go to her in her dreams. “I’m coming, sweetheart.” Adrenaline pumped through his veins, but he took several deep breaths and relaxed every muscle in his body. Then he began to count backward from a thousand. At eight hundred and sixty-five, he faded…
The landscape was nothing like the lush mountain terrain where they’d met before. It was desolate, barren, more a desert wasteland. There was no sun or moon to light the way. Everything was shades of gray. A few scrubby plants clung to life, but even they seemed to be dying. The taint of magic was thick. It permeated everything, as if intent on destroying every last thing.
Rage and fear battled inside him. He harnessed both, using them to fuel his determination. She was still alive and trapped somewhere in here. All he had to do was find her. Listening intently, he narrowed his gaze and peered through the gloom. No birds sang, no animals moved about, and not even the air stirred. Turning in a circle, he gave his wolf full control, allowing instinct to guide him.
Cautiously, he went to the right. A large boulder appeared out of nowhere. Snarling, he scaled it easily, going up and over and landing softly on the balls of his feet. Wary of new obstacles, he continued.
She’s already dead.The taunt was followed by a woman’s laughter. Solange. Somehow, she’d managed to find her way into their private domain. His growl was so low it made no audible sound but shook the ground beneath his feet. This might be residual magic or real time. It was impossible to tell. Either way, its purpose was to stop him and kill Luna.
He’d see her in Hell first. Ignoring her lies, he continued his search. Whispers came out of the sea of gray.It’s too late. You failed her. She’s lost forever.Despair threatened to drive him to his knees, even as he fought against it. If Luna died, he’d likely be locked inside this hellish dreamscape, his body alive but in a coma.
That was the purpose, yet another trap to capture him without needing steel cages. If he pulled out, he could save himself before it was too late.
Give up his mate? Never! Yet that’s exactly what he’d have to do…after he saved her. Being with him was too dangerous. If it wasn’t Solange, it would be some disgruntled werewolf hoping to make a name by killing Kade.
As long as he was the lone wolf, he and anyone associated with him were targets. He could handle himself, but Luna was human. Solange was right about one thing—Luna was his greatest weakness. But the mage had miscalculated. Luna was also his biggest strength.
Crouching down, he sniffed the air. The magic wasn’t as thick closer to the ground. Closing his eyes, he reached out to Luna. “Where are you?” His head swung around. Had he heard something? He listened again. Was it a heartbeat or the sound of his own beating in his ears?
He took off running. A forest of thorny trees twice his height shoved up out of the parched earth, blocking his path. On a roar, he manifested claws and charged. Branches slapped at his skin, thick thorns spearing into him as he hacked away, tearing at his flesh. As quickly as he destroyed them, more grew up to replace them. They also closed in around him, circling him, threatening to crush him.
Blood and sweat flowed as he pushed his body to its limits and beyond. His muscles burned, but the urge to fight, to find and rescue his mate, never dimmed. Solange had manipulated Luna in some way to gain a foothold, but this was their place. She might have power, but so did he. It was time to flex his mental abilities.
Thick vines shoved up from the ground, wrapped around the trunks of the thorny trees, and yanked, dragging them back into the ground. A path cleared in front of him. He raced toward the light at the end, leaping toward his destination. Landing on the balls of his feet, he rolled out of the way as a thick branch slammed down where he’d been. The vines held them back, for now, but that might not last.
Sprinting, he raced forward, sure of his destination. Luna was lying on her side in the dirt at the base of a wall. Several bricks lay on the ground beside her. Shit, had she built it to keep the magic out? Sweeping in, he grabbed the bricks and slammed them back into place. A roar of feminine anger echoed around him. Behind him, the murderous trees shriveled and died, crumbling to ash. The fix was temporary. It wouldn’t hold against the fury of Solange.
Falling to his knees, he lifted Luna into his arms. Her head lolled to one side. He held her to his heart and pressed his lips against her forehead. “Luna, I’m here.”
…
A voice seeped into her consciousness, shoving away the dark cobwebs entangling her. Her wall hadn’t held. Every time a brick had fallen, she’d replaced it until she’d collapsed from exhaustion. Sticky dark tendrils had slithered through the cracks, wrapping around her, chaining her as easily as thick shackles.
She was dying. Solange was slowly draining the very will from her body, stealing the brightness of her soul, using it to feed her own life force.
“Open your eyes, sweetheart.”
A tear slipped from beneath her eyelid and slid down her cheek. She shook her head, refusing to believe. So many times she’d thought she’d heard Kade talking to her, begging her to open her eyes. Each time she had, he hadn’t been there, and another spark of hope died. This time he sounded closer. She’d swear she could feel the heat from his skin, the brush of his lips against her face.
