16. Kade

Kade's been preparing for this moment since he found out who he is. This is the first time he's ever been so close to the prophecy being fulfilled.

Yet so close to ruining everything he's fought and sacrificed for.

His mouth twists as bitterness stains his tongue. The fact the crone warned him there would be all obstacles is a truth he could've done without. Dead, turned wolves, shifters pretending to have his face, and a girl he's fallen for even though he knew better than to get too close, yet had to somehow protect, are just a few of the obstacles he faced.

Falling in love with Elara has turned out to be the one he can't overcome.

Doesn't want to.

As Guy just discovered.

Guilt flashes through Kade, hot and searing. He should've known it would come to this. After all, this isn't the first time he's defied Guy in the name of protecting Elara. It's just that this is the first time Guy knows about it…

Pressing his fingers into his temples hard enough to hurt, Kade pushes all that away. He may have no idea where he fits in all of this anymore, but he does know one thing. He has to find Excalibur.

Elara's life depends on it.

And now, Laith's does, too.

About to shift so he can better use his senses, Kade stops dead in his tracks. The sounds of yelling, dogs, and the blinding of flashlights at the opposite edge of the forest catches his attention. His first instinct is to shift and run, but then he registers police through a break in the trees. They'd see him shift, and that would never go over well. He's surrounded.

Is it meant to be a distraction? Or did Elara not believe him about not being involved in kidnapping Laith?

"Put your hands up and remain still, boy!" one of the cops holding a dog back from biting Kade shouts as the animal snarls. "We have you surrounded. You"re under arrest."

Kade clenches his jaw. This is not what he needs right now. It's dangerous for all of them.

"Kade?"

Elara's voice makes him freeze, fear icing his veins for the first time. She doesn"t need to be involved in this, especially right now.

His breath catches. Or is she the reason they"re all here?

Kade"s question is quickly answered as two of the officers turn their guns on her. "Who are you? Stay back. This guy is under arrest."

Her eyes go wide, and she puts her hands up. Kade does the same, and two officers come to cuff his wrists behind his back. There"s no fight in him. Kade might have, had Elara not come along. He isn"t about to endanger her, though.

"Stay away," Kade begs, his eyes boring into hers as the police lead them out of the forest and toward their vehicles.

"Wait, what"s going on?" she asks, shaking her head.

Kade should've known better, of course she's not going to listen to him. Although luckily, she sounds innocent.

Which she is, but if this has to do with Laith, they could easily believe her to be an accomplice. Right now, if Kade's not out there searching for Excalibur, he needs her to do it, so she needs to remain free. Hopefully, she gets the memo.

"How do you know this boy?" one of the cops approaches her to ask, looking her up and down like she might have a weapon or something on her. Ridiculous. This small town has had issues before, but the men and women in Mercy City aren't the bad guys.

Kade almost laughs at the thought, knowing he's the bad guy. They just got him for the wrong crime.

Elara's eyes dart to Kade's for just a second, and he hopes she lies. "He"s a new friend from college. I was coming to hang out, and then I saw all of this. Am I in danger? Is he in danger?" she asks, clearly playing a part.

Kade lets out a sigh of relief as he"s put into the back of the cop car waiting for him. Even as they shut the door, he tries to watch her through the window, his position incredibly uncomfortable with his hands behind him pushing into the seat.

The cops that mean to take Kade into the station open their doors, but the driver just stands there, probably waiting for the rest of the team. It allows Kade to hear exactly what they"re telling Elara.

"He"s being apprehended as a suspect for masquerading murders as animal attacks. I"m sure you"ve heard about them on the news. He"s also under suspicion for an abduction. The missing boy's name is Laith. Maybe you know him if the two of you go to college together."

Kade can barely see Elara's face, but it's as if he can feel her emotions. She"s reeling at what they"re saying. They"ve somehow linked him to all the other attacks.

He hangs his head, knowing this is an arrest he deserves. He may not have done anything to Laith, not directly, but all of the attacks that were animals were him. Him following orders to try and turn the right people into wolves. He'd been so certain he was choosing the right ones, yet every single one of them had died. The ritualistic sacrifices he tried to stop, but the police won"t care. Those good deeds don"t outweigh the dead he's left in his tracks.

Kade may be a descendant of Merlin with very powerful magic, but he"s still a guy who's been doing this since he was a teenager. Covering up deaths isn't his strong suit. It was only a matter of time before he was going to get caught.

"You think he"s responsible for all that?" Kade hears Elara ask in a tiny voice.

"Yes, it"s probably a good thing I interrupted whatever little tryst this was." The cop pauses, making a move through the grass to come back to the vehicles. "Wait, don"t I know you? I remember when you went missing. You"re that Elara girl, right?"

She must confirm in some way because he continues.

"Well, this boy might be responsible for that, too. There"s evidence implicating him everywhere, girl. DNA found at multiple crime scenes. You should go home and thank your lucky stars you"re here and alive."

The cop who's driving Kade gets back into the vehicle and the doors start shutting around him. He can no longer hear anything outside as the engine starts, but he looks out the window one more time, watching as Elara bites her lip in the cutest way. Only, her nerves aren't so cute. Kade can"t tell if she"s scared for him or of him.

He's silent on the short trip to the station. Mercy City is small, the county jail sits at the back of the main police precinct, so the drive isn't long. He's led inside, his head still down, his fight all gone. He could best any of them, guns and all, but inside of a building, facing more than a dozen cops, he doesn't stand a chance without exposing exactly who and what he is. Which will get him in a worse place and could endanger Elara and the others even more.

The lab with its wealth of information and secret experiments flash through his mind and he shivers. No, that would be the worst possible scenario, and he knows it.

Another reason he's not calling Guy. Who knows what the man who's been a father to him is going to think. Or do.

So Kade gets booked, his fingerprints permanently in the system, and they explain what he's being charged with.

Kidnapping, assault, conspiracy to commit a crime, conspiracy to cover up a murder, tampering with evidence. The list goes on, but thus far, nothing directly links him to committing the murders, though it's clear the cops all believe he did it. They look at him as if their glares can incinerate him in a plume of smoke.

They throw him into a cell alone, his hands now cuffed in front instead of behind. He grips the bars uselessly, thinking of Elara.

How is he going to protect her now?