The way back down the mountain was not nearly as difficult as the trek upward. Not only did the downward sloping terrain provide easier travel, but the urge to follow the key to the mage seemed to make me more driven. I used my magic to help warm myself as I had done deep in the long-forgotten Scottish ruins.
We spent another night under the rattling canopy, though this time there was no fire to flee from. As we reached the base of the mountain the following day, the pale light of morning still clung to the gray branches and brittle brown grass.
“Too bad we don’t have the horses here.” I wouldn’t have minded getting off my feet for a bit. Perhaps Aileen would allow us a brief rest at her bed and breakfast. A hot cup of tea in that cozy living room sounded amazing.
“I’m not big on horses.” Kael slung my bag over his shoulder after offering to carry it for a while. “They sense the predator in me.”
I’d thought as much after watching the horse on the way up dancing beneath him.
Even without the horses, we made fairly good time, and by mid-morning, the bed and breakfast came into sight. Our pace quickened, but as we neared the quaint cottage, Kael stopped abruptly. Though he was in his human form, something about the lowering of his chin and the raise of his shoulders made it look like his hackles were raised.
“What is it?” I asked as he handed me back my bag. I took my knife from it.
“I’m not sure.” Kael’s nostrils flared. “Something smells wrong.”
Before I could ask him more, he was shifting. The jaguar stood beside me as I walked to the cottage. I knocked on the door and was met with silence.
“Aileen?” I called .
Nothing.
Unease unfurled in the pit of my stomach as I eased the door open. I barely made it over the threshold before a deep rumble rolled through Kael’s chest. He continued forward, but I froze.
Blood was everywhere.
It was splattered across the walls, staining the rugs, and peppered across the blue and white throw pillows on the fat sofa. A tray was upended near my feet, the tea cups broken and tea soaking into the worn rug.
I squeezed my eyes shut. A vision. It had to be another vision.
When I opened my eyes again, I found the jaguar, Kael, stepping carefully around the dark crimson stains. He sniffed, tail twitching in agitation, as he moved stealthily throughout the cottage. I watched from where I stood, holding out hope that Aileen and her sisters were all right.
After several minutes, I went outside, unable to bear the sight of the blood and the crushing guilt it brought. It had to have been the mage’s doing, or those under his influence, as the man outside of Cordelia’s shop had been.
If we hadn’t come here in the first place…
I jumped at a sudden touch on my leg. Aileen’s striped cat—Nutmeg, I thought her name was—bumped her head against me. She sat on her haunches and meowed shrilly, obviously distressed. Kael joined me then, clothed and human. He crouched to rub a knuckle on the cat’s cheek as he reached up to hand me a small piece of paper.
The paper was torn on one edge, as if it had been ripped from the writer. The scrawls were messy, hastily written. A few droplets of blood had stained the white paper. Only three words were written.
ind the mage.
The first part of the first word was missing.
Kael straightened beside me. “Find the mage.” His voice was rough but subdued. “There was no sign of the witches other than the blood.”
I nodded and stuck the piece of paper in my pocket. Find the mage. It made sense, and the most logical explanation was that Aileen or one of the other sisters had written that demand. It was, after all, the most imperative task of my life at the moment.
But why write me a note for the obvious?
As we headed toward town with hopes that a bus would happen our way, I couldn’t help but feel that wasn’t what was written on the note.
Bind the mage.
As I thought the words, the sensation leading me to the dark mage gave a tug, as if it was in agreement.
Sacrifice to surrender. Blood to bind.
The image that had flashed before my eyes within the druids’ chamber came back to mind. The mage had to be bound...but sacrifice?
I kept up a steady pace behind Kael as my thoughts whirred. I could never bring myself to sacrifice anyone, let alone the multiple people it had seemed to take in the vision. Would it be worth it, though, to stop the mage? Would a sacrifice of ten, twenty, thirty people be worth it to stop the mage from growing in power and unleashing himself on hundreds or thousands of people?
I blew out a sharp breath, as if I could dispel the dark thought through my lips.
“Are you okay?”
Kael had stopped in front of me, and only his hand on my shoulder stopped me from running into him.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I can tell when you’re lying.”
I glared up at him. “How could you possibly know whether I am lying or not? ”
Was it some kind of shifter instinct? Could he smell the lie on my tongue?
Kael’s gaze narrowed slightly as he studied me. “When you lie, your nostrils flare out just a bit, as if pulling in extra oxygen will bring truth to your words.”
“How did you notice something like that?” I stepped around him, and he kept pace with me. He must watch me more than I thought.
The shifter laughed, an earthy, rich sound. It was something I was starting to enjoy. I wished he would laugh more often.
“Reading people is my job.”
Right. PITO agent. Not a special interest in me .
I shifted my attention to a stone as I kicked it and watched it roll to the edge of the road.
“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he pressed.
I rolled my eyes. Stubborn shifter. What was I supposed to say? Sorry, but I need to sacrifice innocents if we plan to stop the mage from wreaking havoc on Earth? The honorable agent would refuse. I would refuse, or at least, I wanted to refuse. The human in me fought against the idea of sacrificing lives, but that ancient, magic-wreathed being inside of me whispered that sometimes a heavy price must be paid.
Sacrifices may stop the mage, but what would it cost me, in the end?
Guilt over the witch sisters’ deaths sank into my bones. Lives were lost because I had found a key, but it still wasn’t the largest part of the truth, or the worries, gnawing on my mind.
“It’s my fault they’re dead.”
“Livvie.”
My steps faltered at the nickname, and I brought my gaze to Kael’s earnest face. He frowned as he slowly brought a hand to my shoulder and squeezed. “It wasn’t your fault. They knew the risks of holding such information. The mage, or those working for him, would have gotten to them regardless. ”
I hated the pity on his face, but a small part of me also wished he would wrap those strong arms around me and hold me until the worry and guilt was squeezed right out of me.
“There’s a bus,” I said, stepping away from his touch. What in the world was getting into me? That fae guy back in the Pinnacle club had been right: Kael Rivera was my type. But that didn’t mean I had time to entertain such thoughts.
Kael broke his stare and waved his hands at the upcoming bus. It merely let out a squeaky honk as it rumbled by. So much for getting a ride back to town. I was muttering insults about the rudeness of people when Kael grabbed my hand and started yanking me down the road.