Chapter 18

Chapter

Eighteen

Destin

M y house. We were staring at it when it had taken us days to come this far into the mountains. I took a step forward, and the ground seemed to pulse beneath my feet. I stumbled, catching myself on a nearby tree. "What the hell?"

Lana gaped. "Did the ground just move?"

I shook my head, trying to clear the fog. "Felt like it." I took another step, and this time, it was like the world morphed to meet me. I jolted again, but that time I was ready for it.

Lana put out her arms to keep her balance, then stepped up next to me. "It's like we're on a moving sidewalk."

I frowned. "A what?"

"You know, those things in airports? You stand on them, and they move you along?"

I shook my head. "Never been in an airport."

Lana blinked. "Seriously? Never?"

I didn't answer. I didn't need to.

Lana cleared her throat. "Okay, well, it's like that. But without the actual moving part." She took another step, and this time she didn't stumble.

"Makes perfect sense."

Lana elbowed me in the ribs. We took a step together. The ground seemed to stretch beneath us, like it was eager to carry us forward. It was disorienting but also exhilarating. In seconds we stood in front of my cabin, staring at the stacked wood pile.

I opened my mouth to say something, but she beat me to it. "We can go anywhere like this." She snapped her fingers. "We have to find Rowan and the others." Before I could argue, she grabbed my hand and started running.

"I still can't shift," she muttered as the world spun around us.

I'd already tried when that wolf had appeared. My wolf was aching to stretch his legs. We'd only been trapped here for what, thirty-six hours? It already felt like an eternity. Especially after last night . . .

My head swam with images. Flashes of Lana's skin, the memory of her breath. I wanted to drag her to a stop and have a repeat, but Lana was singularly focused on her friends.

I understood. Since we couldn't reach our packs, she hadn't been able to communicate with them. But verbal communication was the last thing on my mind right then.

Lana slowed, and I took in our surroundings as they settled. Power lines. Houses. We were standing in the middle of a road.

"This is Black Lake," she said. "Cmon."

We took a step, and we were in the town square. "Do you think they'll be here?"

"I have no idea," she murmured. Lana clenched her jaw, and my ribs cinched. She put on such a strong face, but I knew what was happening under the surface. She was nervous. Scared. Unsteady. I was the only one who knew those particular secrets, and it blew oxygen over the coals that were still simmering.

I felt everyone's emotions. This was nothing new. So why did it seem to matter so much that I felt hers?

Lana stopped next to what looked like a mechanic shop. She hesitated, then took one more step. I followed, and we passed through the walls.

"That's Tori, Mara, and Jasper," Lana whispered, though I was sure she could've shouted and it wouldn't have made a difference. The three shifters were in a tense conversation, and nothing we did seemed to impact the real world.

"You're sure?" Tori asked, her tone sharp.

Mara nodded, arms crossed over her chest. "Word came down from Blue Mountain. Shrikes were spotted just north of the river."

Jasper muttered a curse under his breath. "How close?"

"Close enough," Mara said grimly. "They're moving faster than we expected."

Tori ran a hand through her dark hair, frustration etched across her face. "We need a team on this. Now."

"Already stretched thin." Jasper's jaw was tight. "Rowan's gone north with the others. If we pull more wolves, we leave ourselves wide open."

Lana went rigid next to me. There it was again. Guilt. I was right there with her. We'd killed the shrikes that attacked us at the hostel. If there were more . . .

Mara exhaled. "We don't have a choice. If the shrikes are hunting, they won't stop at the river."

Jasper blew out a breath, his voice dropping lower. "It'll have to come from Chilliwack. They've got the numbers, barely."

Tori chewed her lower lip. "I agree. And if they hesitate?"

Jasper's eyes darkened. "Then I go myself. And you have to explain that to Blake."

Lana gripped my arm and pulled me out of the shop. "North. They're already gone."

We followed the road back the way we came, our steps eating up the distance in a matter of minutes. The buildings grew sparser, giving way to the natural landscape of northern British Columbia. I took a deep breath, the crisp air filling my lungs. I could almost taste the snow, and it was only September.

I felt a pull to the east. To my cabin, my territory. I needed to make sure those dark creatures weren't anywhere near the wolves there. But Lana was singularly focused, and I wasn't going to leave her side in this place.

A few moments later we were at a hotel. Lana hunted around, then nodded for us to continue. It didn't take long for me to realize where we were heading next, and soon we stood in front of it. The old building the alphas had used as their temporary headquarters. The place where they'd held me captive.

"They're here." Lana pointed at the door. It hadn't fully closed, not that we needed it to be unlocked. Again we stepped forward, passing through the walls like smoke.

"—don't see anything that would give that impression," Callista said, her voice tight with worry. "There's nothing up there." She had a tablet in her hand, and her fingers were flying over the screen.

"I don't give a damn if it's in the records," Rowan growled. "Kael, did he give you any idea where he was taking her?"

Us. They were talking about us.

Kael shook his head. "I'm sorry. We didn't know how long the scent would last."

Evelyn waved him off. "I'm glad you came when you did. It was hard enough to track you when it was fresh, and this . . ." She shook her head. "It's not the same. They're masking it differently."

Callista turned the tablet to face them. "This is her last known location. Her phone is dead, so I don't know . . . They might be somewhere else by now."

"Without her phone?" Evelyn looked skeptical. She blew out a breath, then motioned for the others to follow her. She walked straight toward us, and as I braced for her to pass through, she stopped. Her brow furrowed, and she lifted her nose into the air. Then she blinked and kept walking.

"Destin?" Lana kept her voice low. I turned to face her. "Let's go check on them."

"On who?"

"Your wolves."

My wolves. I bristled. "They're not?—"

"Right. I know." Lana gave me a look, then waited for me to take the lead.

We left the building, and the forest blurred past us. I couldn't explain how I knew where to go, but I felt it. Could sense it.

In seconds, we reached the clearing where the first cabin sat, its rough-hewn logs blending seamlessly with the surrounding forest. I slowed, then took a step so I could look through the windows.

The family was inside. Smiling. No sign of a disruption. I exhaled, my shoulder relaxing slightly. We did a loop of the perimeter in three steps. "Next."

We followed the same pattern with three more cabins and two yurts. Fine. they were all fine. But then as we approached the next cabin, my wolf perked up. I feel it, too, boy. Something felt off.

I couldn't put my finger on it until finally, I noticed the bare tree branches. No birds. They were gone.

"Destin—"

I held up a hand, and Lana silenced. I couldn't hear anything. Not a damn thing. I took her hand and pulled her another step, just like we'd looped around the other houses. That's when I saw it. High on the incline.

Bone Stalker.

Its gaunt, skeletal form slinking through the underbrush. Its bleached-white skin seemed to glow in the dim light, and those eyes.

There was movement inside the cabin. This one housed a lone she-wolf. I motioned for Lana to stay put, but she didn't listen. Of course she didn't listen. She stepped up next to me, her gaze hardening as she saw the creatures. "How can we stop it?"

I shook my head. "I don't know." We hadn't been able to touch our packs. We could move through walls. If I charged, I'd move right through the damn thing.

The Bone Stalker moved with an unnatural grace, its limbs bending at odd angles as it targeted the cabin.

I clenched my fists, my anger boiling over. I had to do something. "Your friend. I think she sensed something back there. Maybe that thing will, too." I pulled her forward until we stood right in it's path, then moved to the side, hoping it would catch our scent and change direction.

It didn't. Didn't even pause. That's when I launched myself forward and ended up flat on the unnatural forest floor so far away from Lana, she looked like she could fit in my hand. The Bone Stalker hadn't even felt me.

I pounded my fists against the ground, my knuckles screaming. Then I forced myself from the ground. I couldn't do it. Couldn't save her.

I stepped forward to find Lana, but blinked. Where had she gone?

There. Directly in front of the Bone Stalker. She had the dagger in her hand, and there, as she slashed forward, the world ahead rippled. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but I saw it. Like a shiver down someone's spine.

Lana's head shot up, searching for him. "Destin!"

He was already running, nearly slamming into her after two steps. "What did you do?"

Lana tried to catch her breath. "I don't know. I think the relic—maybe we can't pass through, but it can?"

Destin stared at the Bone Stalker still treading toward the cabin. "The dagger won't kill it."

Lana nodded. "I know. It slowed it down in the mountains, but it didn't stop. The best way to kill dark creatures is fire."

"But you don't have a fire relic."

Lana blinked. "I made the bed."

My brow pinched. "What?"

Her hands were moving in front of her, the dagger swinging. "I thought about it. I thought about how much I wanted—" She caught herself, swallowing hard. "I thought about it, and it was there. Maybe with the fire, it would be the same thing?"

Lana's cheeks flushed, but she closed her eyes, holding her arms out.

"Lana, what the hell are you doing?"

"I don't know!" she snapped. "Trying something."

I couldn't blame her for that, but the Bone Stalker was getting dangerously close to the cabin. "Lana?—"

"You said this place works on energy, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then teach me."

"Teach you what?"

Her eyes flew open. "How to feel it. How to move with it. Whatever the hell you were doing with the stones!"

I gaped at her. I was supposed to teach her in thirty seconds something I'd never even fully understood myself? I'm trying something. If she was willing, I could be, too.

I huffed out a breath, then reached out and took her hands. "Close your eyes." She did as I asked. "Imagine the earth beneath you. Feel its pulse, its rhythm." Her eyelids flickered. "Breathe."

I waited, not sure if she was feeling anything other than her own blood pumping through her veins. I pretended she could. "Good. Now, instead of fighting it, let it flow through you. Like a conduit."

She frowned. "A conduit?"

"Like a riverbed. The water flows through, but the riverbed doesn't try to control it. It guides it."

She nodded. "Okay, so I'm the riverbed."

"Yes. Now, focus on what you want to create. Fire. Heat. Let that intention guide the energy." Saying the words out loud made me nervous. It was one thing to admit I had the capability, another to admit what ran through my head. It sounded too mystical. Too . . . hippy-dippy. Even for those of us who knew magic existed.

Nothing happened.

Lana cursed. "This isn't working, Destin. I can't?—"

"Shh." I moved behind her, wrapping my hands over the front of her hips. "Don't force it. Let it flow." We didn't have much time. The Stalker was at the house. It was sniffing its way to the front steps.

She gritted her teeth. "I feel it. But it's not flowing. It's just . . . stuck."

That's when I closed my eyes. I ran my hand under the hem of her shirt, flattening it over her stomach. "Remember last night?"

"Mmm." Her breathing quickened.

"You wanted to be in control, and then—" My eyes snapped open at a sudden whoosh. A tendril of flame licked up from the ground in front of us. It wasn't like any fire I'd ever seen. It was pure, white-hot, with hints of blue at the tips."Holy shit, Lana. That was fast."

"Yeah, well." Lana exhaled, sinking into me for one more moment, then threw herself forward, carrying the flame with her.