13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Greg came back carrying some of my clothes, looking concerned. ‘I can't get a hold of your parents,' he admitted, holding the clothes out to me. ‘But I spoke to the brethren guard and they haven't seen any signs of interference from outside.'

I took the clothes from him and shoved them on. My mouth was suddenly dry. ‘Let's go.'

He nodded. ‘I'll get the car and bring it around.' As he moved off, Tristan, Archie and Liam ran to join him. I saw Greg give them a sharp nod, and the four most powerful men in my pack moved off together.

Ben and Noah came over. ‘What the hell happened?' Ben's eyes were wide in horror at the sight of the burning man on our lawn.

‘We were attacked,' I said grimly. ‘By the Domini. I'm getting really sick of them. '

Ben paled. ‘They're the ones that attacked me, right?' I nodded. ‘Mum and Dad?' he demanded desperately, suddenly panicking.

‘Their guards say they're fine but they're not answering their phones. We're going to see them, just to be sure they're okay.'

‘I'm coming,' Ben asserted.

I nodded, not having the patience or inclination to argue. He deserved to know his parents were okay too, and that was the sort of thing that you needed to see with your own eyes.

David was looking at his hard work quite literally going up in flames; as the pack gardener, it must have been killing him. There was nothing I could do to save it because the damage was very much done, but maybe I could minimise the impact of the fire.

I reached out to Terrance. Can you absorb the flames again like you did before? Can you call the fire from the rose bushes and the gardens?

Of course, Terrance promised. Allow me, Your Highness.

I moved closer to the fire to make it easier for him to do his thing. He called the fire to us and the inferno sprang forward like a puppy eager to please its master. The heat rolled up and into us, and inside me Esme gave a happy noise as she basked in the warmth of the fire .

Terrance summoned the flames around us one by one. When he was done I felt uncomfortably warm, like I'd spent too long in a sauna, but that was the only side effect and it seemed a small price to pay to have extinguished the fire and kept the mansion that bit safer. We had runes, of course, but they'd been circumvented in the past. I pushed thoughts of Mrs Dawes from my mind.

Without the dancing flames in the way, I surveyed the devastation. The rose garden was destroyed but it was the lawn that drew everyone's eye. The fires there had not been set at random. Now that the flames were extinguished, a message was sprawled across my verdant grass in charcoal and cinder: Burn, Bitch .

Terrific: I did so love it when my enemies conveyed their messages in unusual forms. Dead bodies, flames, carrier pigeon – I ask you, what was wrong with an email? They needed to enter the modern age. But at least they'd inserted the comma correctly and I appreciated that.

Jacob and Sara landed next to me with a whump. ‘We failed you,' Jacob said stiffly.

‘We fucked up,' Sara said firmly, with a harsh glare at Jacob for trying to downplay their part in it.

‘The birds alerted me. It's fine.'

‘Birds are not an adequate alarm system,' Sara bitched.

‘Better than the Dark Seraph, it seems,' I shot back then regretted it instantly. ‘Sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm tired. This is stressful. I'm not ungrateful for your assistance to date – you haven't dropped the ball once, and as soon as you do I'm a bitch. We all make mistakes. It's fine.'

‘It's not fine,' Jacob said. ‘And I don't think it was a mistake, either.'

‘Someone brought us up some food,' Sara told me. ‘It tasted great but we all felt tired afterwards. Too tired. We should have realised.'

‘Mack didn't fall asleep,' Jacob added, ‘but he didn't eat as much as the rest of us. I think the adrenaline has washed it out of my system, but someone definitely tried to drug us.'

‘Fuck. Who brought you the food?' I pinched the bridge of my nose.

‘That chap over there.' Jacob pointed to David.

No. Way.

I walked over to the skeletons of the rose bushes and patted David on the shoulder. ‘I'm sorry about your gardens,' I said softly.

He looked at me stricken, tears in his eyes. ‘I'm sorry, too,' he said dully.

I squeezed his shoulder. ‘It can be replanted. Replaced.'

He sighed. ‘I've learned too late in life that not everything is replaceable, but I appreciate your words of comfort, Alpha, more than I can say.' He shook his head. ‘Everything I've worked so hard for has gone up in smoke.'

‘I'm sorry. Look, I have a strange question. The food you brought to the seraphs – where did you get it?'

He looked confused. ‘From the kitchens, of course. It was already on the side with a note that said it was for the dark seraph.'

‘Was anyone there when you picked it up?'

He shook his head. ‘No. I would have chatted with Finley or Noah if they were there, but no one was about.'

‘Right. And who told you to deliver the food?'

He looked at me blankly. ‘I'm sorry, Alpha, wasn't it you?' He frowned. ‘With all that's gone on I really can't remember, but I'm sure it was you. Or Liam. Or was it Manners?' His frown deepened. ‘Tristan?'

I dredged a smile onto my face. ‘It's okay, don't worry about it.' I patted his shoulder. He had bigger things to concern him, like the death of all the plants he'd put his heart and soul into cultivating. ‘Go on now.' I shooed him away,

He gave a wan smile and walked away down the gravel path. As I watched him go, my heart ached for him. David was all too often seen as an outsider within the pack, so someone had used him as a patsy. His forgetfulness could be genuine or it could be potion induced. One thing was for sure: the Domini in our midst was laughing at us.

I froze as I spied Daniella. She reached out to David and he let her hug him. I smiled to myself. Maybe something good would come out of this god-awful mess; there was nothing like a sprinkling of disaster or a brush with death to remind you of what was important in life. Nothing was more important than family – and my guts were in knots about mine. I had to see if they were okay. What was keeping Greg?

As if I'd summoned him with my thoughts, Greg drew up in a black Range Rover; behind him in another vehicle were Tristan, Liam and Archie. It looked like we were rolling out convoy style. I turned to Ben. ‘That's our ride.'

He nodded, looking sick with worry. Next to him, Noah squared his shoulders. ‘I'm coming with you.' He paused. ‘If I may.'

I quirked an eyebrow before I managed to stifle my surprise. Noah had turned a bit agoraphobic after he'd lost Roan, and anything that made him willing to move off pack lands was a plus in my book. I didn't want him hamstrung for the rest of his life. ‘Sure,' I said, before Ben could turn him down. ‘Climb in. '

They climbed into the back of Greg's car. The dark seraph were conferring then one of them, Mack, took to the skies above us; the rest stayed with the mansion.

The fire-elemental's attack had been swift, but it was disappointing that the seraph hadn't alerted us to it or stopped it. The guilt and chagrin on their faces told me that they felt the same. From their vantage point, maybe they hadn't been able to see the relevant part of the gardens. I tried to let any blame go.

As we drove away I saw that my guests had gathered, summoned by the rumpus. Elliott's arms were folded, his body language closed and pissed off. Uh-oh. What were the chances that the alpha had seen my passionate embrace with Greg after I'd survived the little fireball?

I met his gaze as we drove past. His eyes were hard and cold, and they spelled trouble.