3. Three

Deep within the heart of the magical forest that surrounds the academy stands the ridiculous fucking structure we've dubbed Rebel Castle.

Only E.F. members with high enough clearance and who've been personally interrogated by our Nexus are allowed knowledge of where this location is. Much like the academy, the wards that surround the structure hide its view from nosy little shits and are enchanted to confuse anyone who comes too close.

Some strong enough, especially shifters with higher senses than most gifted, can smell the enchantments and fight through them, like Jarod's stupid fucking wolf.

Sneering at the massive stone castle, I can't help the bitterness I feel every time I come here. I'm not nearly as dark as Caspian in my beliefs of how the prisoners should be treated, but I can't help but think they get far better treatment than they deserve for the crimes they've committed.

Far removed are the once dark and cold traditional dungeons where being cut off from the elements would eventually leave you an empty shell of a person. Now, they have comfy little cells, with a bed, a toilet, lighting, three meals a day, and even a small, enchanted window that gives the illusion of the outside world.

It's bullshit. They should be tortured and then eaten.

Walking through the halls, the cell doors are made of two-way crystalline panels infused with blocking enchantments that cut off the prisoners' access to their gifts and elements as soon as they pass through the invisible barrier. Once they're in, a locking enchantment snaps in place.

Dickheads can't get out unless one of us lets them out.

I easily get a sense of who here is nothing but the Mastery's bitches and those who play a more involved role in this group. The people who are nothing but pawns are sniffling, shaking, scared weasels, screaming and begging for mercy as we walk past them.

The others, like the little shits we brought back from the mission where we rescued Tillman and Caspian, are calm, stoic, some even getting a workout in. Those are the trained soldiers. Those are the ones we'd get the most valuable information from.

"Are we only dealing with Jarod today or are we gonna hit more while we're here?" I know we have a job to get done, but I want my little wanderer. We've only been gone long enough for us to go to the academy, gear up, then get out here, but I'm ready to go home and gather my girl in my arms.

"She's going to be fine. Gaster has a whole day planned out for them." Tillman looks at me in understanding, but that doesn't help. I know she'll be fine. I'm not fine.

We continue through the labyrinth of cells before reaching the end of the hall where Codi and Blaze, two Palace E.F. members, stand in front of the interrogation room, waiting for our arrival.

"Any news?" Corentin questions as a way of hello. Ass.

"No, sir. Most are grunts and don't know anything of any use, but after checking everyone on your orders, we've found fifteen others who bear the mark on their chests. The ones who don't, I believe were in a recruitment stage," Codi reports.

With those numbers, that means that only a handful of the guards we brought back from our rescue mission were fully fledged Mastery members.

"Bring those to us one by one. We'll start with them and end with the wolf," Corentin orders as we file into the interrogation room.

We spend hours working through the first fourteen who come through. All are lower-level soldiers who know fuck all nothing about the inside operations and were only responsible for kidnapping and then transporting hostages to whatever location they'd been given. They're never given the same location twice, and there are multiple stopping points from the start to the final destination. Just like my smart as shit little wanderer thought.

If they aren't shifters, I can't force the locations out of them, but Tillman can see into their minds and he's making a mental list of those locations, no doubt already planning missions to infiltrate to see if there's any activity still there.

As Blaze brings the fifteenth rebel in, Caspian suddenly pushes off the wall and begins beating into the guy before he's even secured in his chair. I let out a booming laugh as Corentin and Tillman jump into action, pulling Caspian off the chump before he can kill him.

"Caspian, what the hell?" Although Corentin's words are firm, I see the sly smile on his lips. He doesn't give a fuck if Caspian beat this scum to death. He just wants answers first.

"This is one of the fuckers who tried to torture me for answers. I didn't realize any of you survived." Caspian's eyes hold a dark promise, letting everyone know that this is borrowed time, and he'll be joining his buddies soon.

"You ripped my brother to pieces, you sick bastard."

Spit and blood fly from his mouth as he bucks, attempting to break his restraints and attack. Caspian doesn't respond, but he graces him with a sweet and dreamy, sadistic smile, like he's reminiscing about doing just that. I laugh at the horror-stricken look on the guy's face as Corentin and Tillman shake their heads.

"Answer our questions, and maybe your fate won't be so gruesome. How does that sound?" Corentin asks, picking an imaginary piece of lint off his suit.

"What do you want to know?" How quickly they all cave when given the choice not to be ripped apart.

"Let's start off easy. Who are you, your gift, and element?" Corentin asks.

"Henry. Shield. Earth." He answers, clipped.

"A shield, a strong shield at that. Pretty convenient gift for this line of work," I say after I push my magic out toward his, getting a feel for his power's resistance.

"Who was the man who gave you and the others orders to get information from me?" Caspian asks.

Henry doesn't answer, just stares. Disdain and disgust bleed from his eyes.

"He's calling him the Deinde-Master. So we can assume he's running the show," Tillman chimes in, informing us of what's running through little Henry's thoughts. "Ah, nope, another above him. Summum-Master."

"Mind reader. Should've known." Henry snarls. "We aren't given their names, just titles. We don't know anything about them. We're nowhere near high enough in ranking to be privy to that information."

We had assumed there was a ranking system in place seeing as some knew nothing, while some knew things of value.

"What's your ranking?" Corentin asks.

"My Nexus were enforcers. We got the information we needed from certain hostages who caught the eye of the Masters."

"How do you become a Master? How many Masters are there?" I fire off.

"Work your way through the ranks, doing as you're told. And I have no clue, a good bit, but we only dealt with one of the Deinde-Masters. Only one Summum-Master." Tillman stares into Henry's eyes for a moment before nodding at us.

"There's nothing else of value in his mind. They spent most of their time torturing and killing innocent people and turning over those with powerful potential, all for the hope of moving higher through the ranks."

That's all the permission Caspian needs. His shadows lash out, wrapping around ol' Henry like an angry serpent ready to squeeze the life out of its prey. He smiles sweetly, telling Henry to tell his brother hey for him, then rips him to pieces.

I jump back to avoid the glob of guts that splatters on the ground a few feet in front of me, scrunching my nose up at how messy he made that.

"Seriously? You couldn't have done something less messy?"

"Get it cleaned up so we can bring Jarod in. I'm ready to get back to Willow. We've been here far longer than I planned to be away from her." At Corentin's mention of Willow, Tillman instantly opens a hole in the stone and Caspian uses his water to collect the gory body parts scattered about and wash them away. I guess after hours of being away, we're all feeling the pressure of getting back to our Primary.

"Bring him in," Tillman orders Codi and Blaze.

A few minutes later, they walk in, dragging a sleeping Jarod. Looking at Codi, he shrugs his shoulder. "He didn't fall for the whole you answer the questions, you've got a chance to be released bullshit."

Codi's a Sleeper. He can put you right to sleep just by laying a hand on you. We tried it on me once to see if he could put me out. It took three minutes of him touching me before I felt anything, but instead of falling asleep, I was drunk off delirium until I finally fell asleep hours later. It was wild.

"Wake him up. Let's get this over with," Caspian orders.

Codi puts his hand on Jarod's neck then takes a step back, prepared for him to wake up and attack, but Caspian has his hands and legs encased in ice before his eyes even open. As soon as he takes in his surroundings, eyes on me, he lets out a deep, challenging growl.

I laugh at his attempt to intimidate me, leaving an amused smile on my face as I let the sound fade. My dragon, on the other hand, wants to bite his head off for disrespecting us.

"I'm feeling generous today, pup. Would you rather be forced to answer our questions by dominance or have your mind scrambled? Your choice." His growl is menacing, taking the ultimate offense to my insult.

"Let's start off small. Why's your M different than the others we've seen? The others are thinly scarred white M's while yours looks more like a brand," I ask, sugary sweet, as Tillman nudges me, passing me his communicator.

He has some sort of block on his mind. It'll take me a minute to break through. Get him talking.

"I'm growing impatient, Jar-bear. Talk," I command, shoving my dominance at him.

"My mark grows with my loyalty," he growls out.

"Are you a Master? Or just an errand boy?"

"I'm a Master."

"Well, well, well. We've learned today that it's required of you to work your way through the ranks to become a Master. You inherited the Terravile pack from your father when he retired, so I assume you didn't have to work your way up through the Mastery but was raised by another Master, so you inherited that position as well. Am I correct? And is all your pack aligned with them or aware of your involvement with them?" Corentin asks.

"Yes, I inherited the position. And no, they're not all aware," Jarod vaguely replies, sweat falling down his face from his attempt to fight my dominance off.

"Explain your role as a Master. What do you do?" Caspian has a calculating look in his eye that tells me he's got the next ten questions all lined up depending on the answers Jarod gives. So I focus on forcing the answers out rather than questioning him.

"Recruit and train shifters. And scout potential areas for powerfully gifted."

"We haven't checked up on the Terravile wolf pack in quite some time. I'm sure the pack's not solely wolves anymore. Do all the newly recruited shifters end up on your pack lands?" Caspian follows up. I can see in Jarod's eyes he's preparing to tell the truth just enough to satisfy the dominance forcing him to do so.

"Quit being vague. You're only making this harder for yourself and delaying the inevitable." My voice is deep as I bring my dragon to the surface, over this roundabout conversation. I'm trying to give Tillman time to do his thing in Jarod's mind, but my patience is at its peak.

"Yes, all the shifters I find and recruit come to the pack lands for training and their trials. Those in the pack who are unaware of the Mastery believe it's a way to build our strengths and alliances, ensuring we stay the most powerful community of shifters in Terian. This way the Mastery and my pack are protected by numbers and strength. It's been this way for years, even under my father's lead, although it was a better kept secret. The numbers are too high now to hide all the shifters from the wolves."

"So you're working against and with the Mastery, protecting your own ass. Interesting," Corentin replies boredly. "Tell me what you know about Willow."

Jarod's features etch into sinister satisfaction. His eyes, once masked with rage at being forced to comply, now gleam with predatory triumph. "Ahh yes, the beautiful air elemental. Master Griffin has talked in great detail about her and that tight little pus—"

Pitch-black darkness engulfs the room. The kind of darkness they warned us away from when we were children, told us this is where the evil of our world lives, covers Jarod. We can hear the wolf's muffled screaming through the tendrils of Caspian's shadows and we watch as his body flails around, searching for a way out.

"Finish that sentence," Caspian dares, low and deadly after he calls his shadows back from Jarod's head.

The pup's throat bobs as he swallows, staring at Caspian like he's his biggest nightmare come to life. "Ma-Master Griffin and Master Abott are looking for her. She killed another Master and severely hurt multiple others. She's property of the brotherhood, and she has a price to pay."

"She's no one's property. She did what she had to do to survive," I yell as my anger takes hold.

"As soon as we're done with the motherfucker, he's mine. I'll drop him from a thousand feet in the air before catching him and tossing him around like a fucking play toy. Then I'm gonna set his ass on fire, barbeque him up real good before I chew him up and spit him out and do it all over again, and again, and again. Once I tear him limb from fucking limb, then and only then will I eat him."

"No. No. I'll tell you what you want to know." Jarod screeches and my brothers all let out little chuckles, cutting off my murderous thoughts.

"You were thinking out loud." Caspian smiles.

Whoopsie.

"Are Griffin and Abott in Elementra?" I growl, ready to go hunting.

"No, not right now. Last I heard, they were in the nonmagical realm, cleaning up the mess from Master Griffin's initiation night. The man who died was from Elementra and played a role close to the Summum-Master."

"Almost got it," Tillman announces to all of us.

No more than a second after Tillman says it, Jarod lets out a bone-chilling scream and begins thrashing around in his seat as if he's possessed. Caspian wraps him in his shadows to hold him still and starts peppering him with questions.

"How are they getting into this realm? Who's the Summum-Master? Where are they hiding?" The only noise coming out of Jarod's mouth is screams, painstaking, blood-curdling screams.

"Tillman, are you getting anything?" Caspian shouts, gripping Jarod's face with his hands.

"No. His mind is scrambling," Tillman grunts as he tries to hold on to the fabrics of Jarod's memories.

Jarod finally falls still and looks around at all of us, settling his eyes on Caspian.

"He knows you're looking and he knows you have the girl."

His eyes roll to the back of his head, and he lets out one final scream, this one a mix of his voice and the howl of his wolf, his last command.

Caspian lets go of his face and takes several steps back, staring in amazed horror as the M on his chest begins to glow, leaving a hole big enough for his heart to fall right out and flop on the table in front of us. Jarod's body slides out of the chair and hits the ground with a deafening thud.

The only noise to be heard in the room is the rhythmic beat of his heart attempting to pump blood that's nowhere to be found. After what feels like forever, it falls still.

"What the hell just happened?" I ask.

"The lock on his mind must've been connected to the M. It's more than a mark. It's a rune." Caspian sends a shadow tendril to poke the heart, then walks around to kneel beside Jarod, examining his body. "The Summum-Master has a way of ensuring if those in his inner circle get captured, they don't betray him."

"Shit." I run my hands through my hair frustratedly, pissed I didn't get to end this scumbag and that once again, they're a step ahead of us.

"Let's get to Gaster's and inform him and Willow. Maybe they found something in their research today." Corentin's fingers are twitching with the strength it's taking to hold his gift back and from withholding the desire to start shooting messages off to get a plan in place for what to do next. His mind's probably playing one hundred different scenarios already.

Leaving the interrogation room, Corentin gives Codi and Blaze instructions to take Jarod's body and heart to the research lab and have Jamie observe it. Sucks for them. That foul stench of the wolf's blood is driving me nuts.

Reaching the transport zone, I'm jittery and vibrating with the need to see my little wanderer. Finding out that her piece of shit father and the other dead man are actively looking for her has my hackles up. Plus, it's getting to be late afternoon, and this has been the longest I've spent away from her since she got back. I need my eyes on her and my hands roaming her body. Now.

"Is everyone ready?" I ask. At their nod, I transport us as one.

The smile I'm wearing in anticipation of seeing her drops as soon as we step out on the lawn. Lying on the ground, twenty or so feet in front of us, Willow's spread out with Gaster kneeling beside her.

"Willow," I shout, sprinting at full speed, covering the short distance between us. "What happened?" I yell at Gaster.

"I'm a badass, that's what happened." My little wanderer smiles up at me, pride shining in her tired eyes.

"Got to be honest, you're not looking too badass right now," Caspian says as he runs his shadows down her body.

"Don't be fooled by my current state." She laughs as she slowly lifts her hand to let his shadows swirl through her fingers.

"Will one of you please explain what happened? Now." Corentin's worry bleeds through his voice as he kneels beside me and gently grips Willow's chin to get a better look at her.

"I've had a very eventful day. I learned the diversion and concealment spell. Then I created my own pocket dimension. I'm just a little drained and exhausted at the moment." Despite her current sprawled out state, her face is the picture of calm and happiness. She looks… I don't know, different. Peaceful. Stunning.

"I've always known you were a badass, little wanderer," I whisper against her lips.

Then I steal her smile as I devour her mouth with mine, swallowing down her sweet moans. I pour myself into that brief kiss, letting her know I think she's a fucking goddess amongst men.

"Wait, don't pull away. That made me feel so much better," she says, reaching her arms out to me, but I don't get the chance to lean back into her as Tillman picks her up and places her in his lap.

"So, little warrior, you were out here creating new worlds, huh?" he asks, his eyes masking his pride.

"A pocket dimension. I haven't worked my way up to worlds yet." She downplays her accomplishment with her teasing tone, but I can see her glowing under Tillman, yearning for his praise. I'll have to have a talk with him about how much his approval means to her.

Dickhead better start telling her more how proud he is of her.

"I'm so proud of you, Will," he parrots my thoughts and Willow beams, pulling his face down to hers to capture his lips in a hungry kiss. The dick has the nerve to glance up at me and wink.

Asshole.

"Are you okay?" Corentin asks, snatching her out of Tillman's embrace the second they break apart.

"I'm starting to feel better, but I think another kiss would help." She smiles at him coyly, biting her bottom lip. Heat flares in his eyes as he tilts her chin up.

"Anything you need, princess."

I'm rock hard watching my little wanderer shower her Nexus in affectionate kisses. I'm royally screwed if she lets us take her at the same time. She's so responsive to every little touch, I bet she's soaked right now. The thought has a heated growl slipping past my lips, gaining everyone's attention.

"Maybe we should get Willow inside on the couch and we can discuss how today went," Gaster says from a few feet away, giving us the illusion of privacy and we all let out a small chuckle at Willow's mortified gasp.

Corentin stands with her in his arms, preparing to walk toward Gaster's cottage, when Caspian steps in front of them, reaching out to take her from him. Me and Tillman freeze, staring at the exchange happening in front of us. She doesn't move either. She's never the one to initiate any touching with him because she knows he may react badly to it, but he's getting more open with approaching her.

I watch silently, statue still, as Caspian bends his head to Willow's ear, whispering so low we can't hear his words. When he pulls his head back up, she hesitantly reaches her hand up to his face and trails her fingers down slowly. And I hold my breath.

"What the hell was that?" I quietly ask Tillman as Caspian smirks down at her and begins walking back toward the cottage.

"That's her saving him. One day at a time."

"Hold on. You're telling me his heart just fell out of his chest?"

I imagined this playing out a lot differently. Instead of the stricken, horror-filled looks and gasp, Willow looks contemplative, like what we just told her made complete sense. "It has to do with the dagger. There are no coincidences."

"I agree. It more than likely isn't the same dagger being used for the whole society, but the dagger and gem have something to do with it." Gaster strokes his beard and nods.

"Today while we were looking for some evidence on the Mastery, I told Gaster that I thought the red inside of the gem on the end of the dagger my father used was moving like liquid. The thought's been nagging me, so I asked if anyone practiced blood magic here. You all just confirmed our theory…sort of," she tells us with a bright, wide smile.

She's so perfect.

"Caspian, you believe the M doesn't just represent Mastery, but it serves as some kind of rune to bind the followers to the Summum-Master, correct?" Gaster asks.

"Yes. I don't see how else the rune would know to kill the individual talking unless the mind's been compromised. It happened within seconds of Tillman removing the block," Caspian confirms.

"But it didn't happen to the others that you interrogated, nor did they have mental blocks. So it only has to do with the Summum-Master, or they all would've died when you began the interrogations, and they started talking. The binding on their mind must happen as the rune grows. The higher they move up the ranks…"

"The more access they get to the Summum-Master, so it's a layer of protection." Caspian summarizes for her. I can't help but smirk. I knew the two of them would figure this shit out together.

"So what do we do next?" I ask.

Pulling her into my lap, I press my face into her neck, breathing in her scent. My lips against her neck cause chill bumps to litter her skin, so I call my element to the surface and run my hands down her arm to chase them away, smiling triumphantly as she squirms.

"Tillman, Caspian, and I are going to go to the research lab and see if Jamie was able to find anything out from Jarod's body. But I think our next step is to plan a trip to Terravile. We'll have some time to get a mission together while they start their Alpha trials," Corentin declares.

"What are Alpha trials?" Willow asks.

"In the shifter community, if the current Alpha dies or retires, their heir will take over. Since Jarod didn't have any heirs, the strongest wolves in the community will participate in a trial for the position. They'll go through a series of things, much like what Tillman had to do for his position, to prove their strength and ability to run a pack that large and partially corrupt," I explain in a quick breakdown of shifter culture.

Suddenly, Willow gasps and stiffens.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" I try to turn her toward me, but she's frozen, unmoving. "Someone answer me."

"Her stone must be showing her something." Corentin kneels in front of her, about to place his hand on her knee, when Gaster snaps.

"Don't touch her. You'll break her concentration. That isn't a memory from her stone. Her eyes don't change like that when she sees a memory."

We all glare at him, our eyes ordering him to give us more information than that, but he has his undivided attention on Willow. Hopping out of his chair, he rushes over to her bag and rummages around, grabbing her journal and a pen. Then he stands beside her like he's preparing for her to do something.

"Gaster, what's going—"

Eyes still unfocused, Willow begins reaching her hands out in front of her, feeling the empty space. Gaster places the pen in Willow's left hand and gently leads it down to where he's opened her journal on the table. Frantically, she begins scribbling a name over and over.

Lyker Quinn. Lyker Quinn. Lyker Quinn.

"Why is she writing Lyker's name?" I growl.

"I don't know. He just transferred back not too long ago," Tillman comments just as Willow takes another gasping breath.

"Lyker Quinn has to enter into the Terravile pack Alpha trials," she rushes out before leaning to the side and throwing up.

"Oh no. I'll get the towels," Gaster shouts as he runs out of the living room.

"I'm so sorry. Did I get any on you? Fuck, that's so gross and embarrassing." She lays her head in her hands and groans.

"No, nothing got on me. I'm more worried about you and what just happened," I grunt, holding her hair back from her face and rubbing circles on her back.

"Here, drink. Caspian, a hand with cleanup, please," Gaster instructs before turning around and closing Willow's journal, putting it back in her bag.

"Gaster, what's going on?" Corentin asks impatiently.

"We've all seen how someone looks when they have a vision. Unlike the normal white cloudy void, your eyes, Willow, turned silverish purple, like a mixture of your normal color and your stone. Though your eyes were different, that was most certainly a vision. I believe your gift may be the sight, child. This was a lot subtler than I imagined your gift would emerge," he says as he sits in front of her, observing her features.

"The sight? Like I'm going to randomly see the future, and have to scribble out what I see? Are you serious?" Willow screeches with wide, worried eyes.

"No, you won't. It's usually just the first few visions but maybe this isn't your gift. Maybe it's something else. We're going to keep that possibility open. What did you see, princess?" Corentin gently grips her chin, turning her head to look at him. He's freaking out. This is the last damn thing he wants to be her gift.

"I…" she trails off, tears welling up.

"She can't tell us. It'll change the outcome." Caspian fills in her silence.

"I saw many different things happen, but they all started the same, and I saw what would happen if I told you all. I'm assuming those are different paths, right?" she asks quietly.

"Yes, child. Many times, with the sight, you'll see many paths that can be taken or avoided. If the course is set in stone, you'll see just the one scenario," Gaster explains.

"I'm so sorry. I've told you what I can then. He and his Nexus need to leave tomorrow. Please know, I'd tell you everything if I could. I'm so sorry, Corentin," she says gently, cupping his cheek.

"I know you would, baby. It's okay. I'm not sure if this is truly your gift emerging. At least I hope it's not your gift. I'm hoping this is just some variation of what your stone usually does. Having the sight is a very mentally draining gift to have, keeping all those secrets in, knowing what could happen if you slip, is a very lonely feeling and I'd never wish that on you. But we'll be here for you no matter what, and we'll always be understanding. I promise," he swears, peeling her hand off his face and laying a kiss in the middle of her palm.

I wholeheartedly agree with Corentin. Being a seer is not only extremely rare but lonely beyond belief. Only being able to give bits and pieces of information, letting everyone else do what they will with it. And you know whether they made the wrong decision, but there's nothing you can do about it. It's a burden and responsibility I don't want my Primary to face.

"The guys will take care of Lyker when they go to the academy tonight. Let's go get you some dinner, little wanderer."