this,” I replied.
“Fair point again, werecat.”
We walked closer and I took a good sniff. Metal. Lots of metal. This wasn’t a house being built, but something that was bigger, that needed the steel support. I saw the walls were nearly finished and the windows were in. A new office building being built? I didn’t know, but it wasn’t a wooden house. I could have done some structural damage to one of those, maybe in a desperation move.
This was like a fortress, and we were walking directly into it.
Heath grabbed the door and held it for me. I obliged, going first and sniffing around.
“Magic. I smell magic,” I told him. I couldn’t get a response from him, leading him through the building to a large center room.
I froze midstep as I saw what and who was in the room.
Two cages, both holding adult male werewolves in their human forms. One I didn’t recognize, but the other…
“Landon,” Heath breathed out behind me.
“This isn’t good,” I said quickly. “Richard contacted Carey and said they were okay. I swear it. I don’t know how he ended up here.”
He touched my back lightly, walking around me. It was reassuring. I could feel a pulse of that feeling run through me, which confused me more, but also pleased me. Its source wasn’t from me, that was certain. He’d given me that emotion.
“Father?” Landon looked up, his eyes going wide. “Father! It’s Richard. He’s working with Emma and Dean.”
“What?” Heath stopped. “No. They’ve…they’ve…”
“The magic we smell,” I reminded him. “There’s only one real magic user in play.”
“I’m surprised, Heath,” a woman called out, stepping through a door in the back. “You’re a smart man. You have to be, to live as long as you have, and yet you didn’t figure it out when you walked through the door...”
Heath stiffened. “Let them go. And where’s my daughter, Emma?”
“You’re not going to ask why?” Emma stopped where the light could hit her. Behind her entered two more men and Carey.
I made some sort of noise. I was unable to resist it. I lowered to my belly, inching closer, and did it again, hoping to catch Carey’s attention.
She was scared. So scared. The scent of her fear washed the room and turned my vision red, fueling a deep, unsettling rage.
“Daddy?” she said softly. “Daddy!” She tried to run for him, but Richard held her back, no matter how hard she struggled.
“Carey. Darling.” Heath sounded a little broken there for a second too. “I brought someone to take you away from this.” He gestured to me as I continued to inch closer.
“Jacky? Jacky, I thought you were dead! I thought they killed you!” She started to cry.
My heart broke a bit.
Yeah, kid. Me too. I didn’t use my new ability to communicate, though. As much as I wanted to talk to her, I didn’t want her to accidentally give it away.
“Stop, little sis,” one of the wolves snapped. “We don’t cry in front of our father.”
“She can cry if she wants,” Heath growled. “Maybe you should just let her and Jacky go. Then we can finish this.”
“I’m amazed you refuse to ask why,” Emma said, curious and unalarmed by anything going on. She was confident she was leaving this building with the win. “Heath.”
“I can ask why after my daughter has left,” he answered. “Tywin and Landon with her.”
“You always did love them more than me,” Richard snarled.
“That’s a lie, and we both know it. How dare you accuse me of that? You’re my oldest son. My closest friend—”
“And yet I’ve been passed over at every opportunity when you need someone! Every position of power in the pack has been given to everyone else. You couldn’t even make me your replacement. I’m your son, and yet have gotten nothing but a middle-pack position and your errands.” He held up Carey’s arm. “And then I became your babysitter when Carey showed up.”
I snarled, drawing his attention.
“You even got a werecat for that now,” he sneered. “You want her, kitty? Take her.” He shoved Carey, who cried out as she fell.
I jumped forward, but I couldn’t catch her. She landed wrong and my sensitive ears heard her wrist break. She cried out louder, holding her hand close to her. When I was within range, I gingerly grabbed her pants and pulled her back towards Heath, my eyes never leaving the wolves or the half-witch. I stood over her, protecting her with my body as she sobbed over her broken wrist.
“I’ll kill you for