Chapter 27

Under the cover of darkness, I crept through the Black Forest with the stealth of a jungle cat. There was far too much unrest in the town for me to remain blind to the goings-on simply to avoid being spotted. And after what Masterson had said during our session yesterday, I did not think any of us could afford to bury our heads in the sand.

I was my father's son, and one thing had become increasingly obvious over the last several days.

War was coming, whether we were ready for it or not.

The knowledge didn't scare me. I was the firstborn son of Odin's chosen warrior. The call to battle sang in my veins and a killing field would always feel like home to me.

What did concern me was what could happen to my mate.

I heard the voices in the distance before I saw the glow of their torches through the trees. The townspeople had gathered, and by their angry tones, they weren't having a party.

"What are we waiting for? The beast is out there, killing whoever he comes into contact with."

"If we don't stop him, no one will!"

"Do you have your weapons, lads?"

Weapons? I crept closer, needing to see them with my own eyes, and sure enough, a crowd of what had to be over a hundred people was gathered around the statue of The Hag, literal flaming torches in their hands along with blades, pitchforks, guns, wooden stakes, and who knew what else.

"My Jeremy spent the better part of the last two weeks melting every piece of silver in town to make us bullets."

"They should go right through any shifter we encounter and do a fair bit of damage to the vampires."

"Well done, lad," the first man said, clapping Jeremy on the shoulder. Whoever he was, he seemed like the leader of this little uprising. I took special note of him, knowing it would come in handy when I hunted him down later.

"When do we attack? They're stronger before dawn, aren't they?"

"We should burn the place to the ground. Not even the strongest of them can survive fire. Lock them all inside and torch the estate."

"No! We draw them out and make sure they're truly dead. Cut off their heads, stick them on pikes. A warning to any other creatures threatening our safety."

My fingers turned to claws, the razor-sharp points pricking my palms and drawing my attention back to myself. I'd been growling, my inner monster instinctively reacting to their increasingly bloodthirsty threats.

"They are protecting the Ripper and continue to let him terrorize our town. Who's to say they haven't been sending him out to pick us off one by one so they can take over?"

"I saw him only last week. His eyes were fathomless black pits, like a shark. The only reason he didn't kill me was because I played dead."

I snorted quietly. The only reason I didn't kill him was because I wasn't a cold-blooded killer. Freya's heaving bosom, fear could do a lot of damage to people's psyches.

"Is it really wise to attack Blackwood? These creatures are there because they're out of control."

Finally, a voice of reason. It wasn't hard to spot the woman in the crowd. She clutched a toddler to her, the youngster sucking its thumb as it looked around with wide, terrified eyes.

"If we do nothing, more of us will die."

"If we go against them, many of us will die tonight. Who will raise our children? Who will be left to pick up the pieces? If we leave them alone, there's still a chance?—"

The leader cut her off. He made a slashing motion with his arm, making the fire of his torch cut through the crowd.

"If you're not with us, you're against us! So whose side are you on?"

"They've passed the point of no return, lad. Best you and yours get clear of that mob."

I flinched at the raspy voice that hit my ears from behind me. Turning around, I found myself face-to-face with the nearly solid spectral form of Adonis D. Edman.

"And go where? The wards are still up and holding us hostage."

"Are they?" he mused, something about the way he stared at me making me think he knew something I didn't. "I guess it'll be your funeral, then. I'll gather a welcoming party for you."

"We can fight them off. They may have weapons, but we are stronger."

Adonis shook his head. "There are more coming. Hundreds, in fact. They'll arrive shortly, and from the way they've been talking, they plan to raze Blackwood to the ground."

"They can try," I snarled, welcoming the rush of bloodlust.

I have never run from a fight, no matter how badly the odds were stacked against me. Today would not be the day I broke that streak.

Adonis's gaze shifted past me, his expression not changing so much as intensifying. It reminded me of an animal who'd sensed a predator in its midst. "These woods are crowded tonight. Best you make haste if you're intending to deliver a warning."

"Tonight, we kill the beasts who threaten our town!"

"Kill the beasts!"

It was harder than it should have been to force myself to move away from the threat. A fight like this is what I'd been created for, but if I stayed, there was a chance Dahlia might get caught unaware, and putting my mate at risk was quite possibly the only thing that could short-circuit my wiring. I'd fight to the death, but protecting her would always be my priority.

I'd only made it a handful of steps at most before another figure came into view. Suddenly Adonis's parting words made more sense.

"A word, Viking. If you please."

"Aren't you a little overdressed for a romp through the woods?" I asked the blond man. He was dressed head to toe in leather and looked as though he was prepped and ready for a photo shoot on the back of a motorbike.

"Oh, father above, do I really have to do this again? I thought your brother would have clued you in to who I am by now." The man rolled his eyes up to the heavens and sighed before pinning his now glowing stare on me. "I am Gabriel, Messenger of God. I come to deliver unto you a"—he heaved another sigh—"message."

Alek had told me about Gabriel, actually. He'd made a point to mention what an overbearing arse he was.

"I'm a little busy at the moment. It'll have to wait."

"I'm afraid it can't. It's rather urgent. A matter of life and death, if you will."

"Isn't it always? My mate is in danger. These people are champing at the bit to kill us all. I need to return to her."

"You need to listen to me." He stopped me with a surprisingly strong hand on my shoulder.

I growled in warning, unable to control myself. "Unhand me, angel."

Now was a terrible time to try to hold any sort of rational conversation with me. My beast was at the surface, foaming at the mouth to be unleashed. The only thing keeping him remotely at bay was our joint need to return to Dahlia. But even that thread was fraying fast, my ability to keep him in check nothing compared to what it had been even a week ago.

"I can see this curse is weighing on you, Tor. You're carrying a burden never meant for you."

"And I can see you have a real hard-on for leather, even though you'd look more at home in a toga."

Gabriel didn't take the bait. Instead he continued on, his palm still resting on my shoulder. "You were meant to be a prince. A hero. Not this... beast. Your destiny was warped by a cruel twist of fate."

"Your point?"

"I can repair your path. Set you on the right one again. Lift your curse and give you back the version of yourself you've always known. You're destined to be a hero, not a villain, Tor."

"And you'll do all this out of the goodness of your heart."

"It's the way it should be."

"No. I don't believe you. You have an ulterior motive. This is going to cost me something, likely something I don't want to give."

I might be more monster than man, but I was no fool. If an offer sounded too good to be true, it always was.

"If you don't take my offer, you'll lose everything. What does it matter that you'll have to give something up?"

"It matters because there are certain things that I value above all else. Including myself. I will gladly suffer on their behalf."

Gabriel rocked back on his heels as he considered my statement, then took a steadying breath before locking eyes with me once more. "Dahlia will not survive this. You lose her either way, Tor. But if you take my offer and leave her here, at least you will have your family."

My patience was waning, and if he'd thought mentioning Dahlia would soften me to his cause, he clearly didn't understand who and what I was. If anything, it had the opposite effect. Grasping him by the wrist, I flung his hand off me, my growls building in intensity as my body swelled in size.

"I will never leave her. She. Is. Mine."

"Yes, yes. That is what you all say. It doesn't change the facts."

"Which are?"

"The world is ending because of her. Because of your connection. Break it, and you can save everyone."

"Never."

Dahlia was my reason for existing. She was the only one who'd helped me claw my way back to the forefront of my mind after my curse took hold. Without her I was nothing, my life without meaning. What did I care of the world and the others in it? She was my world. My thoughts flashed to my brother and his mate, my father and mother. They would all do the same thing. They'd choose each other. Not the title of hero. Not a metaphorical crown.

"She is my K?rasta, and I'll kill anyone who tries to take her from me. Even you, angel."

The angel in question heaved a resigned sigh. "I was afraid you'd say that. For what it's worth, you're making a mistake."

"Yes, well, it's my mistake to make, isn't it? That's what free will means, right?"

He sighed again. "Unfortunately for me and the rest of the world, yes. That it does."

Before I could respond, he vanished with nothing more than a shift in the air that made my ears pop.

No matter. I had to get back to my mate and see her safe. Surely there was some kind of underground bunker on the property where I could hide her away until the worst was over. She wouldn't like it, but that didn't matter when her safety was in question.

Running full tilt through the brush, I ate up the distance between me and the gates of Blackwood with long strides. The noise of the growing army of villagers had been a faint murmur in my ears while Gabriel tried to sway me to leave, but now that I had reached the tall fence and was farther from them, the only sign of the war party was the glow of their torches in the distance. It wouldn't be long now. They were coming. We had to be ready.

I pushed myself harder, bracing to jump the fence when the snap of a branch had me spinning around, fully prepared to attack.

"Ouch, shit! Stupid trees. Get off me!"

That voice was far too familiar. What in Loki's shrunken ballsack was Kiki doing in the woods outside of Blackwood?

I hadn't had a chance to process her appearance before Kiki's eyes landed on me and she let out an ungodly shriek.

"Ohmigod, don't kill me!" she screamed, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Peace, Kiki. It's me, Tor. The Viking?"

Her entire body seemed to relax. "Well, duh. Of course you are. I was more worried that you didn't recognize me. With the claws and the teeth and the grrrr of it all."

"The grr of it all?" I sighed, fighting the urge to squeeze the bridge of my nose. I did not have time for this woman and her brand of logic.

"Well, you're a world champion growler, aren't you? I bet you don't even realize you're doing it. I dated a guy one time who moaned while he ate. No idea he was making a fucking sound, but there we were, eating at Maggiano's in Philly, and he was moaning like a whore."

"Kiki." I couldn't let her continue rambling. Not when the threat of the townsfolk was looming. "We can continue this conversation once we're on the grounds. Things are... uneasy in Briarglen."

"Oh, right! That's exactly why I was skulking through the woods. My Uber driver dropped me off on the outskirts of town, and I had to hoof it through a really ugly group of people. At first I just thought it was some sort of protest gone awry, but then I heard the chant. It seemed like a good idea not to mention where I was going because they are really upset with you guys."

"Why are you here?" I asked, taking her bag automatically when she handed it to me.

"To rescue Dahlia, obviously."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"Is that doubt I sense in your tone, mister?"

There was no safe answer to this question. I recognized the verbal trap from a mile away.

"Let's just say I know a guy who knows a guy. And by guy, I mean shmampire. Oh wait, I don't have to speak in code anymore."

That was supposed to be a code?

"Vampire," she corrected. "And by vampire, I mean I'm close personal friends with Cashel Blackthorne now. He's none too happy that Blackwood is keeping his sister against her will. Apparently his brother really didn't know Blackwood was spelled to be a prison. They really thought they were protecting her."

While she was talking, she'd moved to stand in front of the stone wall encircling Blackwood's perimeter. When I didn't immediately do what she wanted, she glanced back at me. "Well?"

From the way her arms were up in the air and she was wiggling her fingers, I gathered that she was demanding I help give her a boost. I hoped she had good upper body strength, because I could only throw her so hard before she ended up hurt.

With my hands around her hips, I tossed her in the air, shouting, "Grab the bars and pull yourself over. I'll catch you on the other side!"

I hurled her bag up and over, ignoring her cry of protest, before I took a few steps back and then ran for the wall, easily scaling the rock and landing gracefully on the other side. Kiki was still clutching the iron railing at the top, her mouth hanging open as she stared at me.

"I always thought you had to shout parkour before you did it."

I smirked. "I'll keep that in mind for next time. Now, jump. I'll catch you."

"Talk about a trust fall," she groused, but I had to hand it to her; she didn't waste any time doing as she was told.

I caught her easily, her little ‘oof' as she made impact with my body the only sign that it wasn't as easy for her.

"Fancy meeting you here," she said with a forced smile as I helped her get her weight under her.

I didn't bother coming up with a reply, using the moment instead to pick up her bag and sling it over my shoulder. She didn't seem to mind carrying on a one-sided conversation, because she just kept going.

"Oh great, more trees," she said with a wary huff, her eyes scanning Blackwood's side of the forest.

"Blackwood is hidden for a reas—" My words died on my tongue as a harsh tug on my awareness stole my breath.

No. This wasn't my awareness. This was my bond with Dahlia, the one reinforced by Kai's tattoo. Something was wrong. Fear and urgency pulled at me, calling me to my mate.

The sensation was followed by her voice in my mind. "I need you. Meet me in my room. Hurry."

The urgency I'd felt before was nothing compared to what was clawing at me now.

"Come on," I snarled, hoisting Kiki over my other shoulder and not giving her a chance to protest.

"You know I never wanted to examine your ass this closely, right? I can walk and appreciate it from a distance, big guy."

I ignored her, racing through the woods and back to the woman I never should have left.

I could only pray I wouldn't be too late.