Chapter 18

"Blue!" I bellowed, my voice reverberating off the red-brick street around us.

The moment I'd stepped through that gate, the fabric of the world had shifted, and I'd lost sight of everyone but Seth.

"Cal!" he tried, hurrying up the street and turning a corner.

I tried to force open a door to the nearest building which looked like a store, the name of it so faded and in a language so old that I couldn't even attempt to decipher it.

The door didn't give, even when I threw my shoulder against it with the full force of my Order strength.

"Fuck," I cursed, carving my fingers through my hair before unsheathing my sword. The glitter of Phoenix fire within the metal caught my eye and my teeth gritted in frustration at being parted from Darcy. Whatever hell awaited us within this place, it looked like I was going to be facing it with the mutt.

Seth came jogging back to me with a frown on his brow. "Can you try connecting to Caleb in that freaky mind way you can do sometimes?"

"I'll try," I muttered.

"Is it working?" He gripped my arm, and I pressed my lips together.

"Give me a damn second." I shut my eyes, releasing a slow breath and trying to reach for the part of me that was bound to my coven brother. It seemed to be linked to the bloodlust though, and with me so well fed now, I couldn't come close to forming the connection.

I sighed, opening my eyes and shaking my head, causing Seth to let out a low whine.

"We'll just keep moving. We're bound to find them eventually." I strode forward, my boots hitting the ground and barely making any noise in this strangely muffled place. It was like the air here was heavier too, a little harder to breathe.

Seth jogged to catch me and we took turns this way and that, walking down streets that all looked painfully the same as each other, offering no marking of how far we were progressing. Part of me feared we were going in circles, but I didn't want to put a voice to that thought, just making sure we didn't take too many rights or too many lefts in case we turned back on ourselves.

"I've seen that arch before," Seth groaned, pointing at the red stone archway that stood over this street.

I didn't like to admit it, but the mutt was right. Or it was damn similar to one we'd passed before. Fucking identical.

I glanced back the way we'd come, only more red brick streets awaiting us no matter which way we went.

"Right, fuck this," I said, my hand tightening on my sword. "Let's use air and get above the city. We'll be able to see our friends if we get high enough."

"Why didn't we try that sooner?" Seth sighed, opening his palms to cast air.

I did the same, sending myself flying up towards the open sky with hope blooming in my chest. Maybe the twins would be circling the skies and we could go straight to them.

The moment I made it to the rooftops, a powerful energy slammed into me and I was thrown to the street like I'd been punched by the fist of a star damned giant.

Seth came crashing down beside me, wheezing as the wind was knocked out of him. Before either of us got up, a rumbling sounded beneath us, the road trembling and quaking.

A hole opened up in the ground and Seth grabbed my arm as we fell through it, tumbling away into the dark. I flexed my fingers to cast air, but no magic came to me, a stifling sensation in my chest telling me some strange power had just locked it down.

I braced a second before I hit a hard surface and the light of the sky above was lost as the hole closed up, bricks shifting and twisting back into place, trapping us down here in the pitch black.

"Shit," Seth growled, his hand tightening on my arm and pulling me to my feet.

I held my sword higher, peering into the gloom, but even my heightened vision couldn't pick up a prick of light. There was another rumble of stone somewhere ahead and my grip firmed on the hilt of my weapon. If a monster came at us now, it was going to be one hell of a fight to kill it blind.

The rumbling stopped and a light appeared up ahead, a deep red glow beckoning us toward a narrow stone passage.

"I don't like the ominous vibe that path is giving," Seth muttered. "Creepy red glow in a creepy little passage that was opened up by some creepy old curse magic. Nah, I'm good right here."

"What choice do we have?" I hissed. "Without magic, there's no going back the way we came."

"I can still feel my Order at least," Seth said thoughtfully, and I nodded in agreement.

"I can move us fast if needed then," I said. "But I'm not going to run us down there. We could end up in the jaws of a beast for all I know."

"Alright, come on." Seth stepped forward. "You keep an eye out behind us in case anything creeps after us. I'll be the front eyes."

"Fine," I murmured, letting him take the lead and glancing over my shoulder, ready to slay any creature that might be lurking in the shadows.

We walked into the red glow of the tunnel, the walls either side of us all too close for my liking. There was no real smell here, no damp or mildew or dust. Like nothing so earthly could touch this place. It left me with an uncomfortable feeling stirring in my bones, and I had to wonder if it had been the best idea for us all to head to a cursed city that promised death. Still, I doubted this would be the worst thing we'd faced.

The corridor started climbing, stone steps rising beneath our feet until I was sure we must be at least level with the streets again. Though no windows gave us a view beyond the brick walls, this place a prison in its own right.

We finally stepped into a long chamber with simple wooden furniture and the eerie feeling of someone having just left the room. As if this place had frozen in time the moment the curse had taken root. Where were the bodies? The bones and lasting stench of death? It was almost as though the Fae in this city had ceased to exist. One moment here, the next gone. Was that fate still possible for those who walked within its walls? One that was creeping up on us with every passing second?

The grinding of stone came behind us and I wheeled around with a curse, the passage we'd come from closing up as if it had never been. I threw myself against the newly made bricks that had appeared in the exit, but the stone didn't even shudder from the force I used.

I twisted around with adrenaline brimming in my blood, hunting for another exit, but there was no other door, no window, nothing but two lone wooden chairs and the echo of long-lost souls.

Seth ran back to the wall that had closed over, kicking it hard then scraping his Phoenix flame gauntlets down it, but neither did any good. I threw my weight into it again, shoving it with all my strength, but not even a brick shifted out of place.

"What now?" Seth hissed, and his breath fogged before him, making me notice how cold it was in here.

"It's fucking freezing," I snarled, throwing my fist into the wall again, but even my Order strength couldn't penetrate the strange power of this city.

We worked around the walls, searching for a way forward, shoving the bricks, the floor, the ceiling. But we had no magic to aid us, and there wasn't a single fault in the walls of the stone chamber to break through physically.

Seth caught my eye as we gave up trying to tear our way free. Of all the Wolves in all the world, did I really have to get trapped with this one?

I turned from him, noticing a row of strange symbols on the walls and trying to decipher their meaning. Maybe there was an answer here that would help me escape. And the mutt, I guessed.

Seth drifted closer in my periphery, and I pointedly ignored him.

"What ya doing?" he whispered.

"Concentrating," I growled.

"On what?" he asked.

"Those." I jerked my chin at the symbols and he looked that way too, falling quiet. But stars forbid the Werewolf could stay quiet longer than a minute.

"What do they mean?" he questioned.

"Maybe they mean you're breathing in my personal space, Capella."

"Oh, don't Capella me. I'm not your student anymore. We've had a lot of quality time together since then, moon friend."

I ground my teeth, ignoring him. Don't kill the Wolf. Blue has a fondness for it. A misplaced fondness, but still.

"Do you know much about old symbols?" he asked.

"A little."

"How much is a little?"

"Just be quiet," I clipped.

He managed it for another ten seconds, but apparently he couldn't help himself. "I don't think these weird pictures are gonna help us." He wandered off to a corner of the room. "There's something else. Some…mystery."

"Sure. Well you go sniff your own ass in that corner and see if it helps then," I muttered.

He chuckled. "At least our banter will keep us amused while we're trapped together."

"It's not banter," I said, shaking my head.

"Sure it is. That's what we do. We have this back and forth. You pretend you hate me, and then I'm all adorable and you end up cracking a little smile, then we continue about our day. It's what moon friends do."

I rounded on him, my anger rising at this whole situation. I was separated from the others, from Blue, stuck with him here in some cursed room, and he was already irritating me beyond words. "That's not how it is. You're delusional. I have a select circle of friends, people who I would go to the ends of the earth for and you are not one of them, Seth Capella."

He frowned, a small whimper rising in his throat that did something to my heart. Like poke it with a rusty nail or some shit. "You don't mean that."

"I do," I growled. "Darcy might have forgiven you for all the shit you put us through, but I will never forget. And when I say you are not my friend, and you are certainly not my moon friend, I mean it to the depths of my star damned soul. Name one good thing you've done that should earn my forgiveness for that." The vitriolic words spilled from my lips, my rage over the past rising to the surface again, but it came with a slice of guilt I hadn't been expecting. Mostly I was just pissed off about this situation, but now that I had an outlet for my frustration, I was seizing it with both hands.

Seth stared at me like a faithful dog I'd just abandoned in the woods, and I worked hard not to let that expression affect me. I didn't know why he worked his way under my skin sometimes, but it was easy to recall the shit he'd done to my mate, and that put any soft feelings towards him right to bed.

"I saved your life," he blurted, raising a hand to point at me. "I came to that cave in Air Cove where you were lying in a pool of blood, and I saved your ass, Lance Orion. How's that for a good thing?"

"Darcy and Darius saved me that night," I grunted.

"What?!" he scoffed.

"You channelled Darcy's magic and she bought me enough time for Darius to arrive. So you were just…the syringe in that situation, siphoning her magic."

"You know what? You're a stubborn motherfucker," he stated. "And you and Darcy wouldn't even have gotten back together if it wasn't for me taunting you, sending you photos of us together, riling you up into a wild jealousy."

I scowled at him. "I'm supposed to thank you for that? For putting your hands all over my girl? For driving me insane when I couldn't have her?"

"Yes!" he barked. "Because you were just a pathetic little Power Shamed loser who was giving up on life, and I gave you reminders of what you had to fight for."

I shot toward him, my hand slamming against his chest and shoving him so he stumbled back into the wall. "You're so fucking arrogant. You think you can take credit for my relationship? Like you're some kind of relationship expert. You can't even admit your own feelings to Caleb. You just bitch and whine and expect your problems to go away without ever actually solving them."

"I've admitted all kinds of stuff to him, to you, to all of my friends. You're the one who isn't able to admit your feelings." He bared his teeth at me.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"You and me." He gestured between us. "You act like you don't care about me. That you'd happily see the back of me. But it's bullshit. Because you showed up for me when I needed you."

"When?" I tsked.

"You snuggled me, Lance. You snuggled me when I need snuggling the most," he said, eyebrows raised and triumph in his brown eyes.

I pressed my lips together, unable to deny that. "For Darcy. It's always for Darcy."

"Darcy wasn't there. She was off flapping around in the Palace of Flames. You didn't need to comfort me. You could have turned me away, and Darcy wouldn't have even known about it."

He had me cornered, and I didn't fucking like it. I turned away from him, striding back to the symbols and trying to focus on them instead. "Just stop talking."

"There you go again, trying to avoid it. Why can't you just admit that you like me?" Seth pushed.

"Because you don't get to hurt her and get away with it," I snarled, glaring at him over my shoulder, my muscles tensing for the fight I really wanted to have.

Seth's brows lowered. "Look, bro. I get it. Me and the other Heirs were assholes. But we were under so much pressure, you have no idea. And me and Darcy? We resolved that shit. We became friends – hell, better friends than I ever could have imagined being. And when you were in prison, I was there for her. Every day. I showed up, because she needed me and she was hurting, and I knew part of me was repenting for all the fucked up shit I did. But I just plain cared about her too. She reminded me of who I was without all the layers of politics and ruthless power claiming I'd been moulded for. And honestly, I've never felt more like myself since I let all that shit go. I know Darcy means the world to you because she pulled you from the dark, but she pulled me out too."

My chest tightened and I let silence take the place of my answer. It was too confronting. Because Darcy had relayed the very same thing to me. Seth, the piece of shit who had tormented us at Zodiac Academy, had shown up for her in ways I couldn't when I'd gone to prison. She'd been breaking, lost without me or her twin to turn to, and she'd found a Wolf at her door offering to ease her pain instead. The other Heirs had been there for her too, and they'd all bonded, but she had something special with Seth that I couldn't really deny when I examined it.

"So what are you doing?" I growled at Seth.

"Right now? I'm just wondering if it would be weird to lick my own balls. Like hypothetically, if I could get myself to bend that way and-"

"No, I mean with Caleb," I hissed.

"Oh…well I think I've got that under control." He gave me a mysterious look like he wanted me to press him for answers, but I wasn't the sort of guy who could be bothered to pander to that tiring game. He could either tell me or not. I didn't give a fuck. I mean, I wanted Caleb to be happy. And I really wanted Seth to stop bitching about his situation. But apart from that, it didn't matter to me.

"You need to sort your shit out. Our tomorrows aren't promised," I muttered, turning my attention to the symbols again. One seemed to be of a woman shouting, and another was covering her mouth. One was of a chest, and another perhaps a street…

"Gloomy motherfucker, aren't you?" Seth said. "I spoke to Leon, you know. He said you used to be happy. Now you only ever look happy when you're around Darcy. And Gabriel. And Darius. But the point is, you changed. You don't let people in so easily anymore, but once they're in, they're in for good. I'm different to who I used to be. And I'm trying to pay for my sins by being better every day. I hate that I let my parents control me once, I hate that I still feel their claws in me sometimes, and I hate that I know how easy it would be to switch it all off again if I had to. But I'm fighting for this new me because it's the one who's been buried and pushed out of me my whole life. The one I only ever showed to the Heirs before all of you came into my life. And you know why I want to be your friend so bad, Lance?"

"Why?" I grunted.

"Because I've tasted loneliness, I've felt the sting of knowing no one's coming to save you. And I know that you faced that too after what Lionel did to you. You grew bitter and hateful, and so did I. But that's why we're good for each other. In my family, we have a name for pack loyalty. We call it Wolf fidelity. It's my instinct to give that to you, and I don't just give it to anyone. All you have to do is forgive me for what I did to you, and we can have that."

"What you did to Darcy," I corrected. "I don't give a fuck about the rest of it. But you tried to break her."

"I know. But I didn't. And without what I did, she probably wouldn't have gotten so strong, risen up and become queen material."

"Are you trying to take credit for her ascension now?" I warned.

"Nahhh, just like sixty percent of it."

I scowled threateningly.

"Alright, like ten." He raised his hands in innocence.

"Mm."

"What am I gonna have to do to make you move past it?" he asked. "Whatever it is, I'll do it. Because you and me, we're meant to be moon friends. I feel it. Right here." He jabbed a thumb against his chest. "And that's the spot I feel all my moon inklings."

"You don't get moon inklings. And moon friends aren't a thing," I huffed in frustration, carving a hand over my face. We needed to be focusing on getting out of here, not discussing this trivial shit.

He hung his head with a little whine. "Okay, the truth is… I know moon friends aren't a thing. I know the moon hasn't chosen us to be friends. But everyone else is getting all these fancy bonds and maybe I'm a tiny bit jealous. But I feel something for you and it feels sort of moonish, so…"

He let that thought hang in the air, and I let it linger there.

I glanced around the space, a prickling feeling running over my skin. "Is it getting smaller in here?"

"No." Seth shrugged. "Same old four walls and no windows. But it's not smaller."

"Feels smaller," I muttered, my pulse rising a fraction. I needed to get out of here, back to Darcy and the others.

Seth started walking around the edge of the chamber again, running his hand over the red bricks. "There's got to be a secret button or something."

Goosebumps rose on my arms, and I could have sworn the temperature was still dropping. Ice crystals crept across the ceiling, and I cursed, my breath fogging before me.

Maybe dark magic was the answer to this.

I let my fangs extend, raising my arm and biting into my skin to draw blood. I smeared it onto the symbols, awaiting the call of the shadows, but nothing came in reply to my offering.

"No good?" Seth called.

"No. Maybe it needs the blood of an idiot. C'mere."

"Fuck you," he laughed.

The ice crystals continued to creep down the walls and a shiver tracked along my skin. I started checking the floor, hunting for any crack or marking that might offer a clue.

The cold was inching into my bones and from the way Seth was hugging his arms around his body, it was clear he was facing it too.

"It just k-keeps getting colder," he said through chattering teeth.

My breath hitched as I spotted tiny, scrawled writing on the floor, like someone had etched it into the stone.

"Frigus usque mane tolerandum est," I read aloud.

"What's that?" Seth rushed over, dropping to his knees beside me.

"It's in an old tongue," I said, recognising it.

"But you can read it right? Right?" Seth nudged me.

"Sort of…I think it means…you must endure the cold until dawn," I said.

"That's it? That'll open a door?" Seth said excitedly, though this was hardly something to get excited about. Dawn had to be several hours away, and the cold wasn't easing up. Plus, the others were out there facing the stars only knew what. A whole night in this city trapped in here with Seth was not the answer I wanted.

"We'll freeze to death first," I said, rubbing a hand over my chin in concern.

Seth leapt to his feet. "There you go, getting all gloomsday doomsday on me again. But you're in luck, Lance. Because you're stuck in here with a Werewolf, and if there's one thing Wolves know how to do best, it's getting cosy."

I pushed to my feet, rounding on him and finding him taking his sweater off.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I demanded.

He laid the sweater down on the floor, patting it and arranging it just so. "I'm making a bed for us."

"I don't plan on sleeping, and if I did, I would be doing it on my own bed," I said in annoyance.

"That's ridiculous. How will we snuggle if we're in separate beds?" He gave me a genuinely curious look, and I realised what he intended to do to make it through the night.

I swear I could hear the stars laughing at me, and I gritted my teeth against their taunting.

"You know the answer to that question, asshole."

"Look, snuggling is going to save our asses. And to be honest, I'm feeling somewhat unstable right now. My Wolf needs are demanding I have cuddles and an emotionally bonding conversation."

"Oh yeah? Well my Order needs demand I sit alone in silence." I moved to sit against the far wall, nowhere near his damn sweater bed.

Seth sat down, crossing his legs. "Okay, we can take turns. We'll sit in silence for an hour then we can snuggle for an hour and rotate? Cool? Cool."

"No that's not c-"

"Shhhh, your hour has started." He mimed zipping his own lips, and I leaned back against the wall. Far be it from me not to enjoy the quiet while it was offered.

I shut my eyes, trying to imagine myself in a wide-open space with endless fresh air, but it was hard to shake off the feeling of the close walls and the oppressive chamber I was really in. It was so fucking cold that my hands were getting numb and sitting still was only making it worse. We needed to heat up or we seriously weren't going to make it out of here.

Seth lasted probably around the twenty-minute mark before he spoke again. "That's gotta be an hour."

"Nowhere close."

He hugged his knees to his chest, shivering a little as his breath fogged from his lips. "I don't think we can do the silent stay-aparty thing much longer, Lance. I'm freezing my balls off."

He had a point. But dammit, why did I have to be the one to end up with him here?

I shoved to my feet, regretting every footstep I took in his direction, but what choice did we have? I wasn't going to die in here. And it wasn't like me and him hadn't…'snuggled' before. By the stars.

Seth perked up as I approached him, shifting sideways on his sweater and patting the small space beside him which was nowhere near big enough for me.

"Take your jacket off and put it here," he encouraged. "A lot of the cold comes through the floor. Oh shit, wait! I just had the best idea." He leapt to his feet as I pulled my jacket off, tossing it down aggressively. Item by item, he stripped out of his clothes, laying them on the floor to make a bed and rolling his boxers up into a pillow.

"There you go," he said brightly. "You can lay your head right there."

I gave the very naked Wolf a deadpan stare. "I'm not using your fucking boxers as a pillow."

"You're pretty fussy for a guy who's about to freeze to death."

"Why are you naked?" I gritted out.

"Because we still have our Order gifts." He grinned big.

"That's true," I said, my heart lifting. He could turn into a giant fluffy Wolf that couldn't talk. It was perfect.

"Get yourself cosy and I'll be your blanket," he said keenly. "You can get naked too if you want, and then you can make a thicker bed with your clothes."

"No, Seth, I will not be getting naked."

"Suit yourself. But don't forget that I'm your hero. And this will be the second time I saved your life."

"Debatable."

"Nah. Fact."

"Shift already, will you?" I insisted, and Seth let the shift take him, his body changing into that of a huge white Wolf.

He came bounding towards me, knocking me over with a big paw and I growled as I hit the floor, my head landing on the boxers-pillow.

"Argh – fuck." I plucked them up and tossed them away from me with a grimace.

Seth flattened me to the floor, knocking the breath from my lungs as the huge weight of him crushed me.

"Seth," I rasped, shoving him off me. He lay on his side, opening his big paws wide and gifting me the warmth of his chest.

I let out a long breath of resignation then shuffled into the arc of his body, his legs snaring me and pulling me into the white fuzz. Dammit, he was cosy. And at least like this, he wasn't half as annoying. The steady beat of his heart sounded through his chest, and I let the tension run out of my body. Somewhere, deep in the most bloodthirsty regions of my soul, I felt myself starting to let go of my grudge against the mutt. And maybe, just maybe, he was beginning to grow on me.