“What’s going on?” Reese asks suspiciously. She rubs her hands together while peering down the alley both ways. When Damien shuts the door behind him, she and Amelia rest against the bar’s brick outer wall. Sara remains with me, shoulder to shoulder, while Marian and Tabetha stand behind me.
I open my mouth to begin, but the door opens once more, startling the group. Rex apologizes as he and Cinder step out into the night.
“They took her,” I mutter, feeling as empty as I sound.
“Who?” Damien asks. “Jinx?”
I nod. “And before you nag,” I spare a glance at Sara, “She had already planned to go.”
Amelia pushes off the wall. “What are you talking about? Who has Jinx?”
“The Bane,” Rex says, crossing his arms in disapproval.
“And she went willingly?” Amelia squeals.
I scratch at my jaw then reveal to them everything that happened during the All Hallows’ Eve ritual. When I tell the pack I saw Allie, Cinder glances at his shoes to hide the emotions swimming inside him. She’s his sister, and she didn’t spare him a glance. I’ll have to explain it to him at some point. Her time had been precious, and just because she only talked to me doesn’t mean she doesn’t love him.
When I finish, complete with the way I’ll make Chip’s life a living hell for allowing all this from the beginning, the group blinks their wordless shock.
Damien’s fingers are curled into fists. With his witch costume, it’s hard to take him seriously. Travis and Trevor don’t seem surprised. They’ve smirked a few times at the genius of Jinx’s plan. But they’re not her mate. They don’t have fear coursing through their veins for her safety. Not in the way I do.
“That’s her plan?” Rex blurts. “To go in there with a fake necklace, let Wice believe she can undo her father’s curse while she figures out where he’s keeping everyone? And what? What happens when he finds out? He’s smart, Jacob. If he hasn’t figured it out already, I’ll be damned surprised.”
“Does she understand she just signed her own death warrant?” Reese barks. “Do you even know if she’s still alive?”
“Yes. I can feel her.” And I can. I can feel her annoyance. Sometimes she’s afraid or ridden with regret, but none of these emotions are strong enough to warrant a nearing death.
“For now,” Damien growls.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. Having them say out loud what my thoughts are already screaming at me about isn’t helping my wolf settle. I have a feeling he won’t settle until she’s safely back in my arms.
“She’s my mate. I trust her. I may not like it, but I trust her.”
Footsteps begin to slap against pavement. It’s coming from down the alley, and all of our attention swivels to it.
Through the mist, fog, and steam rising from the drains, figures approach. Three by my count, and shifters by scent. Everyone gathers behind me, and I nod at Damien to check the other entrance of the alley. He takes off at a soft jog, sticking close to the side of the buildings to avoid too much noise.
“He said we’d find you here,” one of the men declares. They pause under the shadow of a building. It obscures their features, but there’s no mistake. These are Bane shifters.
“Just as I knew you’d come,” I mumble, surveying the men and their stance. The three are large and hold themselves with grace and balance.
The guy in the middle sticks out a hairy hand with long and thick fingers. A ring circles one of those fingers, and it glints in the brief shaft of moonlight. “Give us the pendant, and we will leave you peacefully. No one else has to get involved in this.”
I laugh without humor. “I became involved when you stole my mate.” The men say nothing. They wait in the shadows, and I can feel them assessing the situation. Whether they came alone or not isn’t the problem. Whether Jinx is unharmed is.
“I’ll give you the necklace if you tell me one thing.” Again, they say nothing, so I press on. “Is Jinx unharmed?”
“If you truly are her mate, you would know,” he answers softly. I frown. Was that tone sympathy? Compassion, perhaps?
I blink, and my face rearranges to a blank expression. He doesn’t know our mating bond doesn’t work in the traditional fashion. The fact that he didn’t say otherwise gives me hope. She hasn’t told them, which means she’s had no reason to, which means she’s still okay.
With a heavy sigh, I dangle the necklace from my fingers, reach, and set it in his palm. His scent hits me then, a scent that’s indeed full of compassion, and I mark it – store it for later. We’ll meet again. Soon.
His fingers slowly curl around it, and he hisses a breath at the feeling of his pack’s wolves inside the carved pendant. “Thank you,” he whispers, a barely audible sound. And then, as one, they turn and stride down the alley.
My heart thunders in my chest as Damien returns. His witch’s dress sways in his haste.
“You just handed it over?” he demands angrily while I watch their silhouettes disappear around the corner.
“Yes,” I murmur, still confused about the shifter’s demeanor. Sympathy, compassion, and now gratitude? What the hell is going on at the Bane territory?
I turn to my pack and peer into Damien’s angry irises. “There were only three of them, Jacob. No one else. Why would you give over the only damn thing we had to get Jinx back?”
I sigh. I knew they were lying about bringing the others, but I would have handed it over anyway. I look to Marian and Tabetha, and we nod to each other, fully on the same page. I glance at the rest of the group, study how Cinder holds Sara protectively, how Amelia wrestles with the fairy wings, how Reese’s eyes glitter with confusion, and how Rex’s cheeks are flushed red. Trevor and Travis seem indifferent, showing a complete trust that sometimes makes me wonder how much I deserve it.
Sara exhales and explains on my behalf, “She wanted to wait until they had the real necklace so she would have the time she needed to find a way to free everyone else.”
“I understand why she did it.” Amelia takes off her fairy wings. “But now what? She returns their wolves and dies so the others can live?”
I shake my head. “Now, we gather our forces, go to the Bane’s land, and wait for the signal. Right?” Sara nods at my question. I place my hand on Rex’s shoulders. He’s angry with me; I can feel it through the pack bond, sense it through my own fingers. “We have to trust Jinx.”
I turn away from the group, fish my phone out of my pocket, and dial Evo Johnson’s number.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Jinx Whitethorn
“Someone’s coming,” Eliza Plaats whispers.
I look to the stairwell and frown. “How do you know?”
“I just do.” Delicate fingers wrap around the bars. “Quick, hand me the fake pendant.” I turn my frown to her. “The white wolf – I will bring her spirit to the Death Realm. There, she will have a home.”
Swallowing thickly, I nod and pass over the pendant. “Thank you.”
Her fingers curl around the necklace, and her closed fist disappears back into the pocket of darkness. “Listen to me, Jinx. You can do this –”