As they stepped from the empty house, Santiago briefly wondered if this was to be the beginning of the end of the Council. Cronin had broken Council laws by taking the druid and her mother, but he’d just crossed an irreparable line by taking an alpha’s mate, if it was as Santiago suspected and that was what the foolish grand wizard had done.
Curling his lip, Santiago moped slightly. If Conall didn’t have the right to spill Cronin’s blood, he would gladly kill the bastard. He might have still considered it if he’d found Cronin before Conall, but now, that was impossible. Pack law demanded that in any case where a female was taken, her mate receive satisfaction. Cronin was as good as gift-wrapped for Conall.
As Conall sprinted through trees, his pack easily keeping up with him, a naked Dominic and similarly outfitted Drako came to stand beside Santiago.
“What’s happening?” Dominic enquired, staring at Conall’s retreating frame. His pack members were quick at his heels.
“Gentlemen,” Santiago began, drawing himself up to his full height, and cracking his neck loudly. He looked to Dominic and then Drako. Both brothers stared at him curiously. Smiling coldly, he declared, “We’re going to war.”
Chapter Seventeen
Cassie awoke to a vicious pain in the side of her head.
She opened her eyes and immediately closed them. The pain only intensified. She blinked once, twice, and finally, squinted against the soft yellow light. Her vision was blurred, but she could make out objects, shapes. She lay prone in some type of reclined leather covered chair, the golden chains that Cronin had used still securing her, this time to the chair’s handle. Looking up, she saw three dark circles. She squinted and noticed the circles seemed very familiar. Her location seemed familiar, but her mind just couldn’t grasp why. Sighing, Cassie closed her eyes once more.
Where am I? Even as she asked that question, she remembered her mental conversation with Vivienne, Maximilian Cronin was trying to manipulate her sister to come for them.
Her eyes flew open. Had Vivienne listened to him? She hoped not. Cassie tried to push herself up, and only then did she realize that not only was she chained to the chair, she was strapped down. She blinked. No, not strapped down. It was a seatbelt. She lifted her eyes to the dark circles once more, and with her clearer vision, noticed they were an air conditioning portal, a light bulb, and what looked like a button. The sound in the background was that of an engine.
I’m on a plane. Even as that information settled, more questions came. What the hell was she doing on a plane? She lifted her head as far as she could, and looked around. She was alone. Where was her mother? Had they done anything to Evelyn while she’d been out?
As panic set in, she willed herself to calm down. She thought of clear, sunny skies, the great outdoors, anything to calm her nerves. She was doing fine. Her heart rate grew steady, her breathing normalizing, when a vision of Alexander Petraeus came to her. He seemed to be looking in on her, his face an impassive mask, pale eyes unreadable. Cassie’s opened her eyes instantly. He was standing before her. She blinked, and then blinked again. He was still there, staring down at her with an unreadable expression on his face.
Calm was a thing of the past.
***
After thanking Rafael for the ride, Vivienne had made her way into the airport and frozen. She was slowly beginning to recognize she hadn’t quite thought her plan through. What was she to do now? He’d told her to meet him at the airport, but the airport was huge. Did he mean departures or arrivals? Would he think she hadn’t shown up, and would he then kill her family?
She spun around, her eyes searching for—she didn’t exactly know who or what—but as she stood there, looking around the Departures section for anything that would alert her of Maximilian Cronin, and her family, she noticed that there were men, many men, dressed in all-over black, at different points in the wing. Feeling her hackles rise, she drew in a deep breath, scenting that they were witches.
Unsure of what she was expected to do, she remained where she was, her senses on the alert, her powers swarming just below the surface of her skin. One of the men approached her. Like the trackers she’d seen before, he was dressed in all black. The only difference was that his face was visible.
“Where’s my mother? My sister?” she asked as soon as he was close enough to hear her clearly.
“Follow me.” He did not wait for her nod or answer, but turned and began heading for the exit.
Vivienne easily kept up with his purposeful stride. “Where are we going?”