The Gathering (21 page)

“I almost didn’t.” He raised his hand, the
back of one finger brushing her cheek. “Chad insisted on coming
along or I would have been here sooner.”

Her eyes widened. “Chad knows?”

“He does now. Although I’m sure he’s
regretting that decision.”

“So someone knows you’re here?”

“Yes. Gavin and Dillon were waiting by the
main road with the others. I’m sure they’re planning a way to get
us out of here as we speak.”

“Why didn’t they come in with you?”

“I didn’t give them a choice.” He looked
around their empty cell before returning his gaze to her. “I didn’t
want them hurt. Besides, I knew if something went wrong, they could
get us out of here. They can’t do that if we were all locked up.
They are more useful to me on the outside.”

He looked across the room and Rayna turned
her head, seeing Sabriel sliding down the wall. He moved as if he
were still in pain. She glanced at Garrett before crossing the pit
and kneeling down in front of him. “Are you okay?” He smiled but
Rayna could tell it was forced.

“Yes. I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t look as if he would be. What little
light coming into the pit lit his face and showed the bruises there
growing blacker, his skin swelling. Blood still oozed from his
bottom lip and a line of crimson trickled down from his left
ear.

They’d beaten him to the point a normal human
wouldn’t have survived it. Rayna stared at him as questions rattled
through her head. “Why did they do this?”

“Throw us in here?” he rasped, taking a sharp
breath he probably didn’t need.

“No. Try to beat the life out of you.”

He chuckled and winced, his arm winding
around his waist. He leaned back against the wall and looked up at
her through blood-shot eyes. “I was misguided enough to think they
would tell me what I needed to know once everything was said and
done.”

“And what is it you need to know?” she asked.
“Is this the same thing you were helping them for?”

“Yes.” He glanced over at Garrett before
turning his attention back to her.

“Tell me what it is you’re after, Sabriel.
What was worth my life to you?”

He was quiet for so long, Rayna didn’t think
he was going to answer. “They have someone important to me. Took
her and hid her. I was told I’d have her back once I delivered you
to Victor.”

Garrett’s voice echoed through the small room
when he said, “You are the one who took Rayna?”

Turning to face him, Rayna knew things were
about to get ugly. She stood and placed herself in front of Sabriel
as Garrett crossed the room. His lips were curled back, his teeth
bared. The look in his eyes should have scared her but she knew he
wouldn’t hurt her. The same couldn’t be said for Sabriel.

“I did what I had to,” Sabriel said from
behind her. “She hasn’t been harmed.”

“Not yet she hasn’t.”

Rayna reached up and laid her hand on
Garrett’s chest when he growled, the hatred in his eyes causing her
pulse to race. “Just hear him out, Garrett.”

“He took you from our home,” he said, those
eerie amber eyes glowing in the dark. “From me. Nothing he can say
will excuse that.”

Sabriel groaned and wheezed out a forced
breath. “I did what I must. What I would do again to find her.”

“Find who?” Rayna asked.

He shifted, repositioning himself on the hard
floor. He stared up at them before sighing. “Lydia.”

* * * *

“She said that?” Bryce asked. “She said Rayna
would be dead?”

“Yes. I think she’s the reason Rayna
disappeared.”

Bryce leaned back in his seat and turned to
look at those hovering near the door. He spotted Lydia on the
stairs, staring at him.

The desire to go to her was intense. He
wasn’t sure how to shake whatever it was she was doing to him. This
connection, she claimed, was the cause of it. Whatever the
connection was.

Jacob coughed and he turned his attention
back to him. His eyes looked heavy and Bryce knew rest would be the
best thing for him. Looking toward Charlotte, he motioned her
forward and asked her to see that one of the bedrooms was aired out
for him.

When he looked back down at Jacob, he leaned
toward him, lowered his voice and asked, “When you were in the
mine, did Caleb ever mention the vampire he had chained to the
wall?”

Jacob’s eyes widened a bit. “That was a
vampire?”

“You didn’t see her?”

“No,” Jacob said. “I heard her though. We all
did. I thought it was an animal.” He tried to sit up but winced and
lay back down. “Why would Caleb have a vampire?”

“Good question,” Bryce said. “She doesn’t
know why she was there either.”

“Where is she now?”

Bryce glanced back at the stairs but Lydia
was gone. “Here. We found her a week ago.”

“She hasn’t said anything?”

“Not much. Just that she went to sleep in her
bed and woke up chained to a wall.”

“Garrett didn’t mention her.”

“Well, he’s been a little pre-occupied
lately.” Jacob nodded and closed his eyes. Bryce knew asking him
everything he needed to know now wouldn’t result in the answers he
wanted.

Standing, he looked at the wolves Jacob had
brought with him. They were still hovering around the door, looking
frightened and wary.

What was he supposed to do with them? What
would Garrett do?

Moving across the room, he stopped by Danny,
the man he’d talked to in front of the house. “Let’s go have a
little chat.”

He walked out into the foyer before
continuing down the hall. He didn’t look to see if the man was
following him or not. Once he reached the office, he entered and
waited for Danny, closing the door behind them.

Danny was thin, his clothes filthy and frayed
around the edges. His hair was unkempt and it didn’t take much to
realize that the wolves who depended on Carmen weren’t being
treated well.

Bryce sighed and moved to the desk, taking
the chair behind it and motioning to the other for Danny. “Carmen
left you to fend for yourselves, I assume?”

Danny nodded his head. “Yeah. She didn’t even
tell us if she’d be back. She just… left.”

Why am I not surprised? “And what do you want
from us?” Bryce asked, ignoring his thoughts about Carmen.

Danny lowered his head, staring at his shoes
for long moments before raising his eyes again. “Jacob said Garrett
would protect us.”

Bryce knew that answer was coming before he’d
even asked it. It didn’t take seventeen people to carry one injured
man. What remained of Carmen’s pack had come for one reason and one
reason only. Asylum. They wanted protection.

Glancing at the phone, Bryce wondered if he
should try to get in touch with Garrett and dismissed the notion as
quickly as it came. If Garrett never returned, someone had to lead
this pack and being second in command that position was left for
him until someone challenged him for it. Taking a deep breath, he
let it out slowly before looking Danny in the eye. “I don’t have
room for all of you upstairs. All the beds are taken.”

“I understand.” Danny stood, gave Bryce a
forced smile. “I appreciate you telling me to my face instead of
just turning us out without a word.”

Bryce stood, raising an eyebrow at the man.
“I didn’t say I was turning you out.” Danny stilled, his gaze
penetrating. Walking around the edge of the desk, Bryce stopped on
the other side and crossed his arms over his chest. “There’s a
basement here in the house. It’s not the best of accommodations but
the floor is clean and it’s dry. Your group can stay down there
until Garrett gets back and we figure out what to do with you.”

Danny looked at him slightly wide-eyed before
giving him a genuine smile. “We’ll take it. We’ve slept on the
forest floor for months now. The basement will feel like the Ritz.
As long as Carmen can’t come marching back in to issue orders,
we’ll be fine.”

“She won’t be getting back inside the house.
You don’t have to worry about that.”

“And your pack leader won’t have a problem
with us being here?”

Bryce grinned. “I didn’t say that. He’ll
probably have a hell of a lot to say about it but Rayna will calm
him down. She always does.”

Rayna knew she looked as shocked as she felt.
The way Sabriel was staring at her confirmed it. When Garrett
walked around her and faced Sabriel, she finally found air enough
to speak. “Lydia… the Collective took someone from you named
Lydia?” She glanced at Garrett and knew he was thinking the same
thing.

“Yes. Lydia is my sister.” Sabriel shifted
again, groaned before finding a more comfortable position. “She’s
my natural born sister,” he said, smiling. “She was turned a few
years after I was. I kept a close watch on her after my death and
one night, she disappeared. When I finally found her and realized
what happened, I made myself known to her. She’s been with me ever
since.”

“And the Collective took her?” Garrett
asked.

“Yes. I wasn’t completely on board with their
plans to start with.” He glanced at Rayna and smiled wearily before
continuing. “Apparently my reluctance was a hindrance to the other
leaders. They needed me to convince the other vampire’s to
cooperate and taking Lydia was the way they insured I played
along.”

“And what exactly were you told to do?” Rayna
asked.

Sabriel looked up, glanced quickly at
Garrett, before returning his gaze to his feet. “I was to see that
Malcolm’s plan went accordingly by any means I saw fit.”

“Meaning?”

Another quick glance at Garrett from Sabriel
and Rayna could guess what he meant. The way he looked at her at
times and the feelings he was able to produce in her were telling
enough.

“That doesn’t matter now,” Sabriel said. “I
refused to do anything else for them and as you can see, they
weren’t very happy about that.”

Rayna watched Sabriel close his eyes, his
face battered black and blue. He was still handsome, as beaten as
he was, and the urge to tend him was strong. She didn’t dare with
Garrett in the room. Lord knew what a pissed off jealous werewolf
would do.

She turned to Garrett and nodded her head
toward Sabriel.

Garrett sighed. “Tell him.”

She smiled. “Sabriel, I know where Lydia is.”
He opened his eyes and stared at her. “She’s in Wolf’s Creek.
Garrett found her a few days ago. Caleb had her chained up in the
mine.”

Sabriel tried to stand. Garrett put a hand on
his shoulder, holding him down. “She’s fine,” Rayna said, trying to
reassure him. “She’s safe.”

“Bryce is tending to her.” Garrett released
Sabriel’s shoulder. “She’s being cared for and should be back to
normal in no time.”

“Normal?” Worry lines stretched across
Sabriel’s face. “What’s wrong with her?”

Rayna looked at the worried expression on
Sabriel’s face and tried to reassure him. “Nothing that won’t heal.
As soon as we get out of here, we’ll go get her.”

Sabriel looked as if he wanted to say
something more but didn’t. He stared at them both for long moments
before nodding his head and settling back against the wall. “How do
you suppose we get out of here?”

Rayna looked to Garrett. She didn’t have a
clue what to do but knew her mate did. He turned to her and the
look in his eyes told her he’d do whatever it took to keep her
safe.

“We do nothing at the moment.” Garrett
glanced up at the grate covering the entrance of the pit. “We’re
not entirely alone.” Shadows along the walls proved someone was
there. Waiting. Watching. “Now, we wait. The others will come for
us.”

Sabriel sighed before settling back against
the wall and closing his eyes. “I hope you’re right.”

Rayna gave him one last look before turning
and walking back across the room.

There wasn’t anything inside the pit except
the dirty stone that made up the walls and floor. Sitting down
wasn’t a pleasant thought but standing all night wasn’t either.

Garrett crossed the room, to the corner
farthest from the door, and sat down before looking at her. When he
reached out one clawed hand to her, she smiled.

He settled her on his lap when she reached
him and for the first time in days, she knew she could sleep
without having to keep one eye open. Assuming she could sleep. Fear
of what Victor was going to do wasn’t far from her mind. Garrett
being there made it less frightening but the danger was still
there.

More so now that Garrett was there. What was
Victor going to do with him? The answer to that question whispered
itself to her and she snuggled closer to him. She wouldn’t think
about that. She’d force that wolf hiding under her flesh out if her
worst fears came to pass. Garrett was willing to risk his life to
save her and she’d do the same.

“Stop worrying,” Garrett whispered.

Rayna smiled. “How do you know I’m
worrying?”

“I know you.” He lowered his head, rubbing
his face into her hair. “I’ll not let them hurt you.”

“I know you won’t.” Rayna wrapped her arms
around him, rested her cheek against his chest and tried to relax.
Regardless of what was to come, they needed rest. Come morning,
their future would be decided.

* * * *

Lydia was bathed in moonlight. The shimmering
blue haze caressed her limbs and caused the light to throw
iridescent sparkles throughout her hair. The borrowed gown she wore
fluttered in the breeze; the material all but transparent in the
brightly lit glow of the moon and her body was outlined for him in
delicious detail. Every curve and swell highlighted for his
personal perusal. Bryce’s pulse leaped as he stared at her,
watching the wind catch the ends of her hair and twirl the strands
around her shoulders.