15. Elara

Elara and Kira head back to the dorms to regroup, unsure what to do next. Elara's explained it"s important that Excalibur is found. The problem is with Laith, a life is on the line. How does one choose between one life they"re close to and thousands of lives they've never met?

As they gather in Elara's room, Jordyn is there waiting for them. "Everyone's saying Laith's been kidnapped. What the hell is going on?" she asks, panic written all over her face. Laith is well-loved by everyone at college. Shy and sweet, always holding the door for people, him missing is having an impact. There are several people out in the hall, talking about it.

Kira shoves Jordyn and Elara inside Elara's dorm room. "We need privacy," Kira explains, taking charge.

Elara looks at her friend in a new light. Kira has always been quite the firecracker, but just moments ago, she was falling apart because the guy she"s practically been in love with since they got to college was taken right before her eyes. Now, here she is barking orders. Elara's grateful for her friends. Even though they"re not supernatural like her, she knows they"ll help her through this.

"Okay, what is it?" Jordyn asks. "How can I help?"

Kira explains the basics. The fact that they were supposed to be on a date, Laith showing up late, only to be almost immediately snatched by some man after being punched and thrown into a black van. She leaves out some of the supernatural stuff, though Elara's sure that Jordyn can glean, considering Kira asks for privacy, that it has something to do with them being wolves. Both Kira and Jordyn have taken the information about Elara being something other than human in stride, but Jordyn's been the most distanced about it, sometimes needing space.

Elara looks at her friend nervously, knowing she"s going to have to bare it all to allow her to help. Except why should her friend judge her now? She needs to stop second-guessing.

"We came back here to wait for Kade," she adds once Kira's done with her explanation. "He's going to help with the search."

"Like hell we are," Kira growls. "Kade will not be part of this. He could deliberately take us in the wrong direction."

Elara feels her face flush. "He wouldn't do that!"

"I saw him, Elara!" Kira says, her voice rising. "With my own eyes!"

Jordan blinks as she glances between them, clearly uncomfortable with the growing tension. Elara's phone begins to ring, interrupting. She picks it up and sees that it"s Denzel. Gritting her teeth, an icky feeling settles in her stomach. She remembers all the warnings Kade had given her. Has Denzel told anyone else in the pack that she hit him with a magic blast? And if the answer's yes, what will Denzel and the pack do about it? Is he really as much of a danger as Kade says?

Elara picks up the phone, knowing she has no choice. Denzel is her alpha either way because she made an oath. Plus, he needs to know about Laith. Maybe he can help. "Denzel," she says as calmly as she can, though she detects a shake at the end of the word.

"I"ve pacified the wolf packs right now, but you should know you"ll be called before the pack council," he responds, getting straight to the point. "You"ll be tested for any sign of evolution. You understand this is serious, right?"

Well, crap. Elara's guess is everyone does know now.

Going before the council doesn"t sound good, but also something she can't worry about right now.

"You should know that Laith's been abducted. I"m pretty sure it"s the doing of the shifters considering one of them pretended to be Kade, and I know for a fact that he wasn"t there," she interjects, needing to fit that in.

Kira crosses her arms and looks away.

Denzel snarls, his wolf coming through. "This is a declaration of war. Laith's part of Shadowgrace now, so they"re screwing with us too, no matter what the two of you are. I need to consult with the other wolves and see if they"ll help or not. Or at least help find him if only to bring him before the council too."

Elara grits her teeth, frustrated this is what it"s come to. She"s been trusting the wrong people, and she knows it. Not that she believes Denzel is a bad guy or wants to hurt her, but she should have thought more carefully about what she could be getting into by joining Shadowgrace. She mostly did it for Laith and his protection. But in doing so, she may have doomed them both.

"Thanks, Denzel, " she says with a sigh. He hangs up before saying anything else.

Elara turns to her friends. "Shadowgrace is going to do what they can."

Jordyn smiles tremulously. "That's a good thing."

"I trust them more than I trust Kade," Kira mutters.

Elara grits her teeth, but doesn't respond. There's no point defending Kade. Kira's going to have to see for herself he's not the bad guy here.

"There's something else," she says, resisting the urge to rub her forehead. She glances at Kira. "Kira knows because we"ve talked about it while she was waiting at the restaurant for the cops to let us go. Kade's told me Excalibur is connected to all of this. We need to find it."

"Excalibur," Jordyn says slowly, processing as she stares at the wall behind Elara. "As in the stories and legends about Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?"

Elara explains that there are certain descendants from special bloodlines, which is likely the reason she survived the changes to werewolf when others didn"t. Which would mean that Laith probably descends from one as well.

Jordyn blinks. "Wow."

Elara relays what else she's learned from Kade. The fact he"s a descendant of Merlin. And that Excalibur was split between the sword and the power and that Kade believes the shifters have gotten a hold of the amulet containing the power.

All the shifters need now is the sword and they'll be unstoppable.

A heavy silence descends in the room. Before she can say more, a soft, scuffling sound hits Elara's ears. She turns around to see a letter slip from under the door. "What the…" Rushing over, she swings it open, but nobody"s there.

Shutting the door, she tears open the note, frowning at the strange letters on the paper. She sits down next to Jordyn and shows her, who shrugs and shakes her head. Elara's just turning to Kira when her friend snatches it from her hands.

"That"s Elder Futhark, the language of the Norse. It"s very ancient, but I can decode it. My mother's into all this stuff and taught me a while back."

Kira begins scanning the note and Elara gives her a strange look. She hadn't realized Kira was learning any of the occult stuff from her mother.

"It's a ransom demand," Kira says, her hands tightening on the paper and making it crackle. "The people who have abducted Laith want Excalibur in return for his safe release."

The girls look at each other, a new shade of pale sweeping over their faces.

"I don"t know where Excalibur is," Elara says, like it's a confession. "Not even Kade knows where it is."

But without it, Laith"s not going to be released.

He'll be killed.

Elara gets up and starts pacing the floor, unsure of what to do or think. The sense of responsibility has never been heavier.

"You're Arthurian?" Jordyn asks out of left-field.

Elara looks at Jordan, who's looking at her with awe. Instead of the fear she"s had recently, she"s looking at her as if she"s some kind of lost princess.

Elara shrugs. "It"s possible that I"m Arthurian, but there"s another possibility. Morgana. I won"t know until I handle Excalibur, which brings us back to our problem."

Kira's staring at the wall, her gaze unfocused. Elara doesn't disturb her, even though she has no idea what her friend's thinking. It could be as simple as Kira's still being in shock about Laith.

Elara's phone rings again, flashing Denzel's name. Elara's stomach clenches. Why would he be ringing back so soon?

"I've been talking to the pack and there's something you should know," Denzel says with his usual forthrightness. "One of the pack betas has reported that Kade had an argument with Laith a couple of days ago. Kade threatened Laith against getting closer to you."

Elara's hand goes cold and numb and she instinctively clutches the phone a little tighter. Kade targeted Laith? Surely he can't say that was shifters, too…

"I know the shifters could be involved," Denzel continues as if he read her mind. "But Kade's a lone wolf and an abomination. So you might want to watch out there."

He hangs up, leaving Elara staring at the wall in the same way Kira was a moment ago. Her mind's spinning and her heart's stuttering. She trusted Denzel and she shouldn't have.

Now she thought she could trust Kade.

Kira stalks past her, her fury communicating she heard everything Denzel said. "I'm outta here," she snarls, slamming the door behind her.

Elara stands too, remembering to send Jordyn an apologetic smile before she also leaves. She needs to talk to Kade.

She needs to know who's telling the truth.