20. Sam

Chapter twenty

Sam

I leave before anyone wakes up the next morning. I'm still tired from the last two nights. It took more out of me than I was expecting to heal Adam. Plus, I've used more magic over the past few weeks than I've used in years.

But I can't just wait around and hope that this issue with these mages will take care of itself. Sure, someone is trying to pit Elliot against me, but that's less important than the fact that someone else seems to be after Lucien and Adam.

I arrive at Pris' shop about half an hour after she usually opens. When Kieran ran into Adelaide up near Manchester, he said that she gave him a list of the places Tristan might be hiding. There's no proof, but I'm almost certain—and so is Kieran—that the vampire who was in charge of her and Tristan is behind this whole thing. It means there's a good chance Adelaide is the she the mage referred to before.

The one who said they're after the vampires.

Pris doesn't look all that surprised to see me. She's standing behind the counter, setting up for the day. Her eyebrows do rise as she takes me in, though. Yeah, I know. Not everyone might be able to see it, but she knows just how tired I am.

"You've seen better days," she says.

"Not recently." I stop at the other side of the counter and rest my arms on it. "I need something from you, if you still have it."

She pours coins from a bag into one of the small trays in the till.

"The list Adelaide gave to Kieran. He gave it to you, right? Do you still have it?"

"Of course I still have it." She opens another bag. "What are you planning to do with it?"

"I need to find out where these mages are hiding. I think they might be working with Adelaide. She might have given them those places to stay in."

Pris frowns. "Why would she do that? She knows Kieran had the list."

"I don't know that she has. But we have nothing else to go on. The only person who might have stolen my magic is the vampire. Why would he frame me if Elliot's working with his subordinate? I think Adelaide and her master might be more than willing to put their mages in harm's way."

Pris empties the final bag and closes the till drawer sharply. "You're not going alone."

It's not a question, but I nod anyway. Ophelia and Dante are as tired as I am, but they need to rest more. If their magic is depleted, there is nothing that can be done to fix it except time. I can pull what I need.

"Tell me you've at least told Kieran about this."

"He has enough to deal with right now."

The look Pris gives me tells me what she thinks of that. I get it, I do. It's how I felt when Kieran up and left after Tristan attacked him. Sure, I shouldn't be going into this alone.

What else can I do?

The vampires can only help at night. I don't trust the hunters. And Kieran… He's been through enough and he has his brother to look after.

I can take care of this. It's my problem to take care of.

"Please, Pris. Give me the list."

She sighs again before she goes into the back room of the shop, leaving me alone. I tap my fingers on the counter. Am I trying too hard to prove myself? Maybe. But if I catch one of these mages by surprise—even Elliot—I know I'll have the upper hand.

Pris comes back out with a folded piece of paper in her hand. I reach for it, but she snatches her hand back.

"Pris—"

"I'll give you this on one condition. You have to tell someone else where you're going."

I cross my arms over my chest. She meets my glare with her own.

"At least let Ophelia and Dante know."

I suppose I shouldn't keep them entirely in the dark. Not that I want them with me for this. Elliot's trained in combat and stronger than they are. I don't know how they'd counter the other mage and her weird magic.

"Can you call them? Tell them where the warehouse is, the one you told me I could train in. If I find anything, that's where I'll go."

It's not like I'm gonna take a dangerous mage back to the flat, after all. Drew's there. He's one of the last people I want to put in danger.

Pris nods and finally hands over the paper. I unfold it and scan the list of addresses. They're scattered all over the city, though I figure the ones owned by the clan—ones Pris has helpfully marked—I can probably count out.

"Be careful," Pris says.

I smile. "I always am."

The first two houses turn up nothing. They're far enough apart, too, that by the time I approach the third, it's dark and I feel like I've been running all over London.

Pris has definitely already called Ophelia and Dante, and I get the feeling she's been in touch with Kieran too. Ophelia's sent me a text every hour on the hour to remind me to let them know if I find anything.

Kieran called early this afternoon. He wants to be out here with me. Honestly, I'm surprised at his restraint. Maybe he's thinking the same thing I did—someone needs to keep Drew safe.

I shake my head. I've made it most of the day without lingering on thoughts of Adam and Drew on the sofa, or of the way Drew reacted when I pulled his hair. I know all that is something I have to deal with at some point.

But now… Now I turn a corner and feel the distinct strangeness of the female mage's magic.

There's no one else on this street. There's not a trace of anyone else's magic, either. I push down a flare of disappointment. I'd rather have found Elliot and know that the threat to myself is dealt with, but I'll take what I can get.

She's inside the house. I stand before it and wonder if she can feel my magic, too. Doubtful. I've had it pulled in tight all day, and I don't loosen my grip now. Sure, I'm more powerful than she is, but I'm not about to be reckless.

The curtains are drawn closed at the front, so I sneak around the back of the house. I can't see anything there, either. Night has only just fallen, and so I cross the road, sequestering myself in the shadows of another house. I don't think that she or the other mage—the one I killed—teleported themselves into that shop.

No, I'm pretty sure Elliot did that. Teleported himself and her out of there, too. If he's anywhere near as tired as I am, then it's unlikely he'll be bouncing around tonight.

Or at least, unlikely that he'll be bouncing around looking for a fight tonight.

I just need to get her out of this house.

An hour or so passes and the level of magic I can sense feels steady. I don't dare to feel out the edges because even if Elliot isn't here right now, she'll probably call him if she senses me nearby.

I could knock, I suppose. Could try to break in.

In the end, she takes the decision out of my hands. Lights turn off upstairs and one flicks on in the hall before the front door opens. She glances this way and that before she steps out of the house but doesn't see me across the road.

I frown. She's not well-trained at all. There are no wards on the house, and the glance she gives the street before she steps outside and locks the door behind her is cursory at best.

Whatever. That's not my problem. As she walks out onto the street, I pull tentatively at the magic surrounding me. It takes effort to slow the rush that wants to fill me, but she doesn't notice.

Not at first.

I see the moment she does. She's pulled out her phone, is scrolling as she walks, but then her head snaps up and her eyes go wide. Her magic flares when she realises what's happening, but by then it's too late.

I lash out with all the magic I've coiled up inside myself. It hits her before she can even think to counter it. I watch, never moving, as she falls to her knees, then crumples to the ground.

She's not dead.

Not yet.

I do my own check—looking this way and that, as well as reaching out with my magic—before I cross the road and stand by her side. Her breathing is deep and even, and I pick up her phone, switching it off before I put it in my pocket.

Ah. I may have run into a small problem. My warehouse is forty-five minutes from here, and that's me getting there, not me and an unconscious mage. Fuck.

I pull my own phone out of my pocket. I did say I would help the clan.

Lucien picks up on the second ring. "Sam? What is the matter?"

"I need to borrow a car."

To his credit, he doesn't ask why. "Where are you?"

I give him the address. The address of the warehouse, too. "I got one of the mages. I need to talk to her before Vasile or the hunters do."

"All right," Lucien says. "But you know I will tell Kieran about this."

Like I expect anything else. "Yeah, sure. That's fine. I just need to get her out of here before someone sees us."

"The car is on the way."

We hang up, and I drag the mage up so we're both sitting on one of the low garden walls. I lean her against me. No one has walked down this street since my arrival, despite the early evening hour, but I can't expect that luck to hold up until the car gets here.

It arrives around twenty minutes later, and the driver, a human, gets out and helps me put her in the back. There's no judgement in his expression and I wonder what, if anything, Lucien told him. When we set off, I text Ophelia and Dante to meet me at the warehouse. Dante isn't going to like this. What else can we do?

We pull up, and Ophelia is the first to help me get the mage out of the car. Once the door closes, the driver leaves, and Dante frowns at me.

"What are we going to do with her?"

"I need to get to the bottom of this," I say.

Ophelia, on the mage's other side, rolls her eyes. "Let's just get her in, shall we?"

It's quick work to modify the wards I set up around the warehouse and allow us all inside. I make sure they'll let Kieran, Lucien, and Adam in, too. Just in case.

We set her down in the centre of the room. There's no chair in here to sit her on or tie her to, but that's not really a worry.

"Was Elliot nearby?" Ophelia asks.

"No. I'm pretty sure they're all working with Adelaide, though."

Dante frowns. "Why? Because of the list?"

"Yeah. It leaves us with a bigger question."

"Why would the vampires be putting their mages in harm's way?" Ophelia asks.

I shrug. Maybe the vampire wants to paint me as a target to get me out of the way, but by setting Elliot against me, he's risking Elliot too. The other mages make even less sense. They aren't as powerful as me or Elliot, and though they may be able to kill a vampire, there are plenty of people who can do that.

Unless it's about their magic…

"So if Elliot wasn't with her, that means they've spread out," Ophelia says. "That makes sense, at least."

"But why are they after Lucien and Adam?" Dante asks. He leans back against the wall. "Is there something special about them?"

I shake my head. Not in a magical sense anyway. "Adam can sense magic," I say. "And Lucien and Kieran are mates. But there's nothing inherently different about them."

Ophelia frowns. "What was Adelaide after before?"

"I'm not certain." I shrug. "When Nora helped them break out of the clan house, Adelaide left. And she stayed gone. When she spoke to Kieran, she said she and her master were working on something up north." I rub the bridge of my nose. It all ties together somehow. I just don't get it yet.

"Okay," Ophelia says. "Are you gonna wake her up or what?"

Dante doesn't move from where he's standing against the wall. Ophelia watches, too, as I cross the warehouse floor and crouch next to the still unconscious mage. I flick my fingers, more habit than anything else, and the magic I used to keep her down begins to lift. She groans as she wakes. Her eyes flutter open, then widen when she sees me watching her.

Magic flares, but I push out with my own, effectively cutting her off. It's not something I'd be able to do with another person whose powers were exactly like mine. Hers aren't. Plus, she has no training. She scowls back when she realises she can't draw any more.

"Please!" she says. "I didn't—"

I think of Adam on his knees. The mage standing over him, he wasn't going to stop. And after he'd killed Adam, I'm certain he would have killed Lucien, too.

"I'm going to ask you questions," I say, "and you're going to answer them. Truthfully. Do you understand?"

She pales again, and I stand. Ophelia has her arms crossed over her chest, looking as fierce as I've ever seen her. Dante is still against the wall. His face is pale as the mage's, but when I jerk my head, telling him he can leave, he doesn't budge.

Before I can speak, I feel someone walk through my wards. No, not someone. Kieran. He pushes open the door to the warehouse and, if anything, the mage pales further.

"The wolves weren't supposed to know," she whispers, but I hear it all the same.

Kieran claps Dante's shoulder as he passes, and Ophelia nods at him in greeting. He comes to a stop beside me, eyeing the mage before he speaks.

"Can Moreau get more out of her than you can?"

Probably not. I shake my head.

"We should hand her over to the Council," Dante says.

"That'll just get her killed," Ophelia retorts. "It's not like they kept Nora safe."

"They didn't even get her last name," I say. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kieran look at me. Can he see my anger? Can he see how much I need to do this?

"I can do it," he says. "If that's what you need."

I look at him. The mage hasn't moved since he entered the room. I can feel every time she tries to reach her magic and comes up almost empty. Whatever's been done to her, she doesn't trust the power she was born with anymore.

It's almost sad. It would be sad if she hadn't tried to hurt me and people I care about.

"No," I say. "I've got this."

Kieran searches my face once more before he nods. "I'll be here if you need me."

He retreats, moving to stand next to Dante. Dante shakes his head when I look at him, but I know what I need to do.

Ophelia seems to know it as well. She's closer than the other two and doesn't move as I approach the mage, crouching beside her again.

"Did the vampires tell you who I am?" I ask.

Fear seeps into her dark eyes. She swallows hard before she nods.

"Did they tell you what I can do? What a Selkirk can do?"

She nods again.

"I'm going to bind your magic. I'm going to ask you questions. If you don't answer them, it will hurt."

She presses her lips together. For a second, I admire her stubbornness. And then I remember Adam again. I think of the fact that he's already in danger and that if Elliot knew what he meant to me or what Drew is beginning to mean to me, he'd try to hurt them too.

"Tell me where Elliot is."

She doesn't answer, and I reach out with the magic coiled up inside me, weaving a net to wrap around that inside of her. Binding magic doesn't have to hurt. Usually, it doesn't. But I suspect whatever's been done to her has made her even more sensitive to it.

I feel as Lucien arrives, but I never take my eyes from the mage. Her lips are pressed firmly together, arms wrapped around her middle as she does her best to keep herself silent. Ophelia moves closer on my left. She doesn't interfere, and I don't think she wants to. At some point, Dante makes a quiet sound, but I hear Kieran murmur to him, and I know he'll keep him safe.

From me.

She holds out as I bind the entirety of her magic, locking it down so tightly she'll never access it again. It's what I planned to do to Nora and Elliot's father. Nora's was a loose binding, designed to be removed if the hunters asked for it.

Still, her magic fights against it, bucking and flaring as I finally subdue it in the net of my own. When it's done, I'm breathing hard, and I eye what I've done, checking for any gaps or weaknesses.

"What did they do to your magic?" I growl. My voice comes out hoarse, like I've been shouting, though I haven't made a sound either. "I know you had some of your own. They did something to you."

She rests her head back on the cement floor, and the breath she sucks in is noisy, almost a sob. I feel a twinge of something—regret?—but it vanishes quickly. She's not a threat to Adam anymore. That's what I want.

"Fae blood," she croaks out, so quietly I almost don't hear.

"What?"

"He has… fae blood."

I go still for a second before I twist, looking up at Ophelia. Her eyes are wide, reflecting the confusion and horror I feel.

I look back at the others. Dante shakes his head, taking a step away from Kieran. Kieran, who understands it's bad but not why , and Lucien, whose expression is pinched.

"He gave you fae blood?" I ask the mage.

She nods, letting out a weak laugh. "We're witches. All of us. Not Elliot. He said… we needed to be stronger."

"Who? Elliot?"

"The vampire." She frowns. "I don't… I don't know his name. He's old. He told us to leave the wolves for him. Wants to kill them himself."

She lifts her head long enough to look past me, at Kieran. Clearly, he's one of the wolves in this scenario, but who's the other? Drew?

Adelaide told Kieran that they weren't after Drew. Why would that change?

"And the vampires? You and your friend were after them."

Her magic flares again inside the cage I've locked it in, and she grimaces. "Got to kill them. Make him weak. Destroy him."

"Destroy who?" She shakes her head weakly. She's in pain; that much is clear. What's clear, too, is that she's not far from passing out.

"He—" Her eyes roll back as she finally loses her grip on consciousness.

I mutter a curse and get to my feet. Ophelia is quick to support me when I sway, one hand on my elbow, and Kieran pushes away from the wall.

"We'll not get anything else from her until she's rested," I say. "And then she might not be inclined to talk at all."

Kieran nods. He looks at Lucien, who's moved to stand with us, too. Dante's eyes are still on the mage.

"I will call Naomi," Lucien says. "Should we have the hunters pick her up here?"

"There are wards," I reply. "Let's take her—"

Lucien's phone rings, and he frowns as he pulls it out of his pocket. He takes a step back to answer. "Hunter Moreau? What is—What?"

Whatever resonates down their bond has Kieran jerking towards him, colour draining from his face.

"I do not understand how—No, of course. I will be there soon. Yes. Goodbye."

Lucien lowers his phone from his ear. His gaze is distant and Kieran grabs at his free hand, clutching it tight.

"Lucien?" I don't need vampire hearing to know his heart is going fast; I see his pulse fluttering in the base of his throat. "What's happened?"

"It is Adam," Lucien says, and the haze seems to vanish all at once, replaced by panic and fear. "He has been taken before the Council. He has killed a chieftain."