“Rose.” The shorter of the sisters stepped forward. Liza, if Rose remembered correctly. “We’re sorry it has to be this way. But we will release you as soon as you give up An Breitheamh. I don’t know what nonsense Fionn Mór has filled your he—”
“Let me stop you right there.” Rose took a breath. Forcing words out past the agony was difficult. “I know who you are and what you really want. I will not be swayed. And I will never give you that dagger.”
“She needs more time,” Lori Blackwood offered quietly. “A day in those iron cuffs should be enough to convince her to change her mind.”
“And if not?” Layton asked.
“Then two days. If not that, then three. But she won’t be able to take it much longer than that.”
“What if he comes for her?” Liza queried, sounding almost worried.
“He won’t risk it.” Layton shook his head. “The other two are still out there. He won’t waste time on one who’s lost to him.”
Oh, how wrong you are, you stupid little prick.
“I still say it was moronic bringing the wolf,” Liza snapped.
“She was once fae. None of us know how this spell works exactly, but the same blood runs through her veins as it did before that son of a bitch bit her. She’s insurance.”
“She’s also a declaration of war with the packs.”
“Liza, the packs won’t go to war over one little bitch. Fionn was just trying to scare us into playing nice. The problem with playing nice is that you end up chasing what you want for fucking years—and getting nowhere.” Layton strode toward a door to Rose’s left. “We’re not our father, sitting idly by. Our coven has been working on opening that gate for centuries. When we do it, we won’t have to worry about the packs. We’ll be living like gods.”
Oh, great, so she was dealing with a totally sane person, then.
Rose whimpered as soon as the door closed behind the siblings.
“Hey, hang in there, okay?”
It took great effort, but she lifted her head to look at the corner of the room. The woman wore a sympathetic expression, despite the strain on her pretty features. No, not pretty. Beautiful. The brunette was stunning, even in pain.
And she was in pain.
Rose could see the bloody hole in her pale green sweater. “Are you okay?”
The woman stretched out her long jeans-clad legs and winced as the movement jarred her wounded shoulder. “The bastards shot me with a silver bullet.” She wrenched at the short manacles that kept her from reaching above her waist. “If I don’t get to it soon …”
Shit.
“Who are you?”
“Thea MacLennan.”
Holy double shit.
Rose groaned. “I know”—she panted—“I know who you are. God, what are you doing here?”
“My mate and I have been trying to track down a girl I met in Prague seven months ago. We lost her in Munich, but we got word the Blackwoods were hunting her too. They were easier to follow. When we followed them to the west coast of Galway, we had no clue what they were doing here.” She rested her head against the concrete wall and squeezed her eyes closed. “We were trying to stay low key, which is hard to do in tiny coastal villages and even harder when your mate looks like mine. He’s going to be so pissed.”
“He’s a pack alpha, right?”
Thea nodded. “Conall. Alpha of Pack MacLennan.”
“He turned you. Saved your life when you got a dagger in the heart?”
Thea’s nostrils flared. “How do you know this about me when I don’t know a thing about you?”
“Niamh, the girl you were looking for, she knows you’re searching. She’s not happy about it. Wants you to live your life in peace now that you can.” Talking was distracting her from the fire in her arms. “You should, Thea. As soon as you’re out of here, go back to Scotland. This shit is over for you. It’s not your fight anymore.”
“Well, I don’t see it that way. I’m trying to protect Niamh. And now you. If you want, once we’re out of here, I can bite you. It’s a risk, but it means you don’t have to worry about causing an apocalypse or … have to live forever.”
Rose chuckled unhappily. “I hate to break it to you, gorgeous, but I like the idea of forever. Even if I didn’t, that’s not how it works. You survived the werewolf bite because your mate bit you. Only a mate can turn