24. Kade

"Cowards," Kira grinds through gritted teeth. "They refused to stay with us now they've seen what Elara can do. Even though she just saved their asses."

"We don't need them," Kade growls, even though he's also furious that Denzel just tucked his tail in and ran. "I have some clothes nearby. Once we're dressed, we find Chad and his shifters."

And stop whatever he and Ebony have planned.

With a last look at Elara, wearing only an oversized t-shirt that brushes her thighs, he breaks into a run. Kade races through the woods, now being lit with the break of day. He's hidden clothes all over these woods, just in case. He quickly smells the closest stash and gathers a pile of clothes he tucked into a tree stump where a tree had rotted and fallen nearly a year ago, leaving behind only scars.

He pulls on a black tee and a pair of jeans, hoping Elara can at least tie the sweatpants tight enough to stay on. Images of her lean legs rise, unbidden, and he pushes them away. It wasn"t the first time he saw her that way and probably won"t be the last. It"s only natural for wolves.

It's just that Elara is…more.

He rushes back, hating the idea of leaving her without him even for a moment, finding Dinah standing beside her. Kira's a few feet away, Laith's chains now sitting in her hands as he rubs his wrists. Frowning at Dinah—the witch he's still not sure they can trust—he tosses the gray sweatpants to Elara.

"Thanks," Elara says in a small voice, pulling the pants on. She straightens, somehow looking vulnerable and strong all at once.

Kade approaches her, ignoring Dinah. "Are you ready?"

Elara gazes up at him. "Yes," she says as she shakes her head.

Impossibly, a smile tugs at his lips. "I won't let anyone hurt you," he vows, the words a truth that's etched into his marrow.

Elara's hand brushes his. "And I won't let anyone hurt you," she promises back.

The words rock him. Warm him. Send his world off kilter.

No one has ever sworn to protect him. Not with the same depth of honesty shimmering in their eyes.

Kade allows himself the briefest of kisses. A soft caress of lips on lips. A touch he's not entitled to. A touch he treasures, cherishes, tucks away into the folds of his memory in case it's the last he'll steal.

"Let's go," Dinah says grimly.

She breaks into a run and they follow. Kade. Elara. Laith. And Kira. A small group of souls linked by the legend of Excalibur itself.

Dinah weaves through the deepness of the woods, surefooted and fast. Kade counts the steps, tracking east and west and then north as they weave a strange pattern only she seems to know. He narrows his eyes at Dinah"s form but says nothing.

He hopes everyone's ready for what could be an ambush.

When the opening of a cave appears ahead, Kade tenses. Taking Elara toward it goes against every instinct but he doesn't slow. Elara's strong. Stronger than she or anyone else realizes. His role is letting her see that.

No matter how freaking hard that is.

They slow as they reach the cave. Everything is still. Everything is silent. Every fiber of Kade's being is coiled and ready to spring. Prepared to protect Elara. He sniffs the air—soil, vegetation, the faint hint of vermin and bats.

Dinah enters the cave and nothing happens. No army of shifters. No explosions of magic.

Kade follows, Elara right behind him. Kira and Laith step beneath the shadowy lip.

Bats drop from the ceiling. Rats scuttle toward them. They all morph into humans as they surround Kade and the others. There's no time to react. There's little they can do. Rough hands grab them, yanking them further into the cave.

They were ambushed.

Kade yanks against the hard fingers clamped around his arms and the tip of a knife presses into his side. He calms, conscious he needs to choose his moment to retaliate. He tries to look back and catch Dinah's eye, but he's jerked forward. Did the witch plan this, or is she as surprised as they are?

They're dragged into an antechamber where Kade's roughly shoved against a boulder. Elara's dragged to the opposite side, the others spread out. Everyone has several shifters surrounding them. They're not taking any chances.

Two torches blaze merrily at the front of the antechamber, Chad and Ebony standing proudly between. Chad has red marks around his neck from Elara's veins, but it's Ebony who's grinning the widest. She looks completely unharmed.

She turns her triumphant gaze to Kira's, who's pinned against the cave wall. "You have much potential, my dear, but still so much to learn. I knew what I was facing when you tried to use fire to defeat me."

Kade takes stock of everything. The number of shifters. The single exit into the main cave. The likelihood this is going to be a bloodbath.

"Your ability to wield fire with such accomplishment points to one thing," Ebony continues in her smooth as velvet voice. "You're descended from a very special bloodline."

Kira raises her chin as she glares back at Ebony. "Yes, I"m Arthurian as well. A descendant of Morgana."

Elara"s gasp echoes through the cave, and Kade resists the urge to shove away the shifters surrounding him, knife or no knife. Their survival depends on careful thinking. Elara glances at Laith and Kade realizes she's wondering who he's descended from. If she's Arthur's lineage, then what is Laith?

"I wouldn't if I were you," Ebony says, stalking over to Elara and grabbing her chin condescendingly. "I'd suggest not using magic. I'm quite adept at turning it against you," she warns. Yet, her tone is still deep and soft, the menace powered by the knowledge she's already survived Kira's fiery onslaught. "Good girl," Ebony murmurs.

She turns away and Kade registers Elara's shoulders sagging. She can't see a way out of this, either. Her eyes lift to Dinah and Kade wants to scream at her not to trust the witch.

As if to prove him, Dinah looks away, her lip curled in disgust.

Ebony walks to a small patch of protruding rocks, a pile of dirt sitting in the center. Kade would bet his blood it's grave dirt. A powerful element for any spell, especially the kind to call a spirit from the dead. She kneels down beside it, an object in her hand—the talisman.

Round and silver, it's engraved with a triple moon symbol. Intricate etchings surround it, glowing softly with an ethereal light. Ebony holds it high above her head as she chants. The Latin words grow with each utterance, swelling with the power she's calling to her.

Her voice rises. Energy crackles around her.

There's a crack. A blinding flash of light. A hideous scream.

The blaze dims, revealing Ebony lying on the ground, lifeless. A tendril of smoke rises from her mouth, the smell of singed flesh in the air.

"Ebony!" Chad screams, running toward her. He rolls her onto her back, choking on a sob. "She's dead!"

Kade is frozen, trying to understand what just happened. The spell backfired. It killed the dark witch.

Dinah laughs darkly, shaking off the stunned shifters who were holding her. "Hecate"s talisman, like the sword Excalibur, can only be handled by someone worthy. The talisman is made of the same element Excalibur is forged from. The same metal that was found in Mount Olympus, right under Zeus" palace—aurelium."

"Why have you done, Dinah?" Elara demands.

Kade's afraid he already knows the answer.

Dinah smiles as she stalks forward. She stops, gazing down at Chad as he kneels beside his dead sister. "Hecate"s talisman can only be handled by someone worthy. And that"s not Ebony." She points at Elara. "But she can."

Elara gasps. Kade growls, his wolf begging to be unleashed. His hands turn to claws, ready to attack, but the shifters move in. Two shove him against the rock, one presses the knife harder into his side, drawing blood. The fourth presses another against his throat.

"No!" he says, but it"s drowned out by Elara's screams as shifters drag her closer to the stone circle, the knees of her sweatpants threatening to tear against the jagged rocks and hard dirt.

Dinah arches a brow at Chad. "I thought you wanted my mother resurrected?"

Chad grins, then allows Dinah to help him up. He leans down and pries the talisman from the corpse of his now dead sister, then drags her body to the side. Returning, he places it in Elara's and forces her fingers to close around it.

Laith tries to lunge, much like Kade, and for once, their purposes and minds are aligned. But the shifters hold him still. Kira screams in frustration.

"You need to stop fighting this," Dinah warns. "Or it won"t end well for Elara."

Kade clenches his hands; he was right not to trust the bitch. Impotent fury throbs through him, desperate for an outlet.

Dinah must sense his anger, because she turns her smug smile to him. "Oh, and Kade, your first lesson is to always trust your gut instinct."