13. Elara

Stunned, Elara sits in her car, unable to make herself move. Her chest feels heavy, and she's not sure if it's the absence of Kade after another blazing kiss, or the information she learned only moments before.

She left the hidden lab not long after. She'd run through the woods, struggling to make sense of it all. Everything Kade told her sounds too impossible to be true, but so is being a werewolf.

And she's experienced that firsthand.

As she rests her head back against the seat, she admits learning Merlin created werewolves isn't what her mind had focused on. It had largely been absorbed by one name. One person. One wolf.

Kade.

It's time to admit she has feelings for him. Strong feelings. Deep feelings.

Feelings that make as much sense as any of this, yet are the ones that feel the truest. The most right.

The one thing she can depend on in the world that's making less and less sense.

Elara's phone rings and she picks it up, seeing it"s Kira.

"Elara!" Her friend's voice is panicked, and she's instantly on full alert, turning her car on.

"Kira? What's happened?"

"It"s Laith," she croaks.

Elara"s chest clenches at the sound of his name. Laith, the boy she turned, the guy she's supposed to be protecting in the same way Kade's been protecting and watching over her. Does this mean Laith's descended from one of the families, too?

"What about him?" Elara asks. "Where is he?"

"He's been abducted."

Elara's stomach somehow simultaneously bottoms out and shoots straight up her throat. "Tell me where you are. I'm coming."

Kira rattles off an address, a restaurant downtown. Elara finds the location odd, but it doesn"t really matter. What does is getting to her friend and figuring out what happened.

And then what to do.

Kade's warning about Shadowgrace and Denzel rises in Elara's mind, making her wonder if she can call on them to help or if it"s a bad idea. Kade seems to think they can"t be trusted, and then Denzel was rattled by her show of magic. But who else is going to help find Laith and bring him back safely?

Don"t get ahead of yourself, Elara chides as she goes far above the speed limit and hopes there aren't any cops around. Luck seems to be on her side, even as she bites her lip knowing her parents would never approve. But it"s clearly an emergency.

When she pulls up to the restaurant, there are three cop cars to the side questioning a young woman who looks vaguely familiar. Though, Elara can"t put her finger on where from. A distraught Kira is leaning up against the side of the building, a small blanket wrapped around her shoulders as mascara runs down her splotchy face.

Elara parks and practically runs to her friend, open arms offering her comfort. Cars honk as she disregards any traffic.

"Kira!" she calls out, colliding with her. The two girls hug, sliding down to the ground and sitting. Then, as Elara pulls away, she notes the nice clothes Kira's wearing.

"What happened?" Elara asks, wanting to get to the bottom of it and spring into action. Her heart is racing, adrenaline pumping through her, ready to send her in any direction at a moment"s notice. Her wolf is there with her, under the surface, giving her strength and a newfound confidence they'll save Laith, whatever he's gotten himself into.

"Laith finally invited me on a date, and we booked a reservation here." Kira points to the restaurant at her back, one of the most popular in town for nice dates.

"I showed up, and he wasn"t here. I thought he was just late. I was a little annoyed, but whatever. So, I waited out here for him. It was like forever. When he finally did show up with no explanation about why he was late, some goons came and pushed him into a van. They drove off before I could even raise my voice."

Kira chokes on a sob, and Elara pulls her close again. "What the hell?" she says, mostly to herself, gritting her teeth. She isn"t usually much for cursing, but lately, she's found herself doing it a lot. Insanity like what's going on in her life does that to people, she supposes.

Elara shakes her head. "I don"t understand what anyone would want with him. I mean, we know what he is, but I don"t get why they would..."

"Shh," Kira urges, pointing to the cops swarming the place and starting to tape it off as a crime scene. Although Elara doubts there will be much evidence for them to find. It all happened so fast. Laith never even went into the restaurant.

"Who's she?" Elara asks, pointing to the blonde girl talking to the police.

"Oh, that"s Arielle. She"s a senior."

As Kira explains, the girl finishes and walks over, her face wrinkled with worry.

"Arielle, this is my best friend, Elara. Elara, this is Arielle."

The two girls nod at each other as Arielle offers her hand to help both of them up. "The police are doing everything they can," she says to Kira before turning to Elara. "I heard her scream and came to see what was going on. I watched the van drive away, nothing special. I"m sure there are a ton of vans just like it. I've met Kira before, so I stayed with her."

Elara nods, grateful Kira hadn"t been facing the initial shock of this all alone.

Kira lets out a strangled sort of sound, and Arielle rubs her shoulder. "Think positive thoughts, okay? Someone will find him. I"ll help however I can."

Arielle's gaze falls on Elara, and it"s intense, much more than she would expect from some mutual friend of Kira"s. Her gaze lingers, and the sensation makes Elara queasy.

Arielle"s hand flies to her head with a hiss.

"Are you okay?" Kira asks, her voice thick.

Arielle nods, looking away from Elara. "It's begun," she whispers.

Elara frowns as she opens her mouth to ask what she means, but Arielle turns abruptly away. With rapid steps, she leaves with no other explanation.

Elara gives her friend a confused look, even as her stomach somersaults. Those were the words Kade used a lifetime ago, when she was attacked. By him. She shakes her head. They can talk about the weird girl later and how Arielle could be linked to all this. Right now, the priority has to be finding Laith.

"I don"t understand who could have done this," Elara says. "Did you see anything?"

Kira nods. "I got a good look at one of the men who grabbed Laith. The one who first punched him before they got him inside the van." She tenses. "You"re not going to like it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elara asks, wondering if they should go ahead and get out of there. The whole restaurant is being marked off as a crime scene, and the police don"t seem interested in questioning Kira any further.

"The face I saw was Kade, Elara," Kira says softly.

Elara shakes her head. She'd finished talking to him not long before she got the call from Kira. "I"m sorry, but that"s impossible. Not unless he can be in two places at once. I was just with Kade. Nowhere near there."

"Could Kade have done some kind of magic to pull it off?" Kira asks, now frowning as she wipes at her cheek, leaving a smudge of bruised mascara.

It's Elara's turn to tense. Sure, Kade's been suspicious in the past, with the stalking and turning her, but he carries those actions like a wound. He wouldn't hurt Laith. It wouldn"t do him any good to harm a fellow werewolf. That would go against everything he's working toward.

"No, Kade would never do that. I refuse to believe he'd be any part of Laith"s abduction. It must be the work of shifters. You know I"ve told you before that Denzel and the pack told me about them. They can change shapes. Not the same way that we can." Elara points to herself, referring to wolves. "They"re the ones who"ve been causing all that chaos in town. And that ritual in the woods."

Kira's gaze lets Elara know she's still skeptical.

"They've escalated their work here. This is bigger than any of this."

"All I know is Laith's life is in danger," Kira says, now starting to look angry.

Elara stumbles backward, bracing herself against the side of the building. It"s her turn to be distraught. The only reason Laith's in this danger at all is because he"s a werewolf. And the only reason he"s a werewolf is because Elara couldn"t control her turning. She couldn"t control herself as a wolf. She dragged Laith into this. It's all her fault. It will always be her fault.

She never thought she would have related to Kade at all, but she"s starting to see how he could have gotten himself into the mess he"s in, having been responsible for so many deaths. She hates to admit it, but she's made the same mistake.

"Look, prejudices don"t matter right now," Elara says, straightening. "Suspicions don"t either. The point is, we need to find Laith fast."

Kira nods in agreement. "Except nobody has any leads. The van didn"t have a license plate. So, there"s no tracking that way. The only thing I can think of is to follow Kade. Maybe he"ll lead us to wherever Laith is."

Elara doesn"t like Kira's obsession with Kade being the culprit, but they don"t have time to fight. Laith needs to be found. So, Elara's best solution is to call Kade. She can see why there"s a trust problem. Kade might not be responsible for Laith, but he has been responsible for several lives.

"I can"t let him get arrested for something he"s had no hand in. Look, I"m just going to call him and ask him point blank. He"s told me awful things he"s done. He won"t lie to me."

Elara bites her lip, pulling out her phone. He can"t have gotten too far. Luckily, he picks up. "What is it, Elara?"

His voice is panicked. See, he"s worried about her. It"s a genuine tone. He can"t feel that way about her and then having been involved with kidnapping a friend.

"Laith's been kidnapped. I need to know if you had anything to do with it."

"Anything to do with it?" Kade takes offense to the suggestion so Elara explains exactly why they think it could be him—the fact Kira witnessed someone who looks exactly like him pushing Laith into a van.

Kade growls over the receiver. "This is trouble. You know that. But it also means they"ll be coming for you next. I bet they"re trying to determine who among us is worthy of Excalibur. We need to find it and fast."

Elara nods, understanding what he"s saying. If everything he"s told her is true, then that could be exactly what the shifters are after. They must have everything that"s needed to figure it out. But what happens when they find that Laith isn't the one? He"ll be used as a means to their ends. They have to get to him quickly. But Elara doesn"t know which to focus on first. Find Excalibur first or to follow what little trail there is of Laith.

She turns to Kira desperately, unsure which path they should choose or if they should split up. She hates the idea of leaving her friend undefended. Still, as they"re running out of time Elara has to decide.

Which one comes first?