Chapter 231

Heather

We weren’t ten feet from the cabin when Brent came running out of the front door, holding his cellphone. “I’m putting you on speaker. Heather and Xander just got here.”

“Hey!” Adrian’s voice came through the line. “I’ve got a situation on la Alquelarre’s land.”

I looked at Brent, but he shook his head. Which meant it wasn’t the demon that attacked. “What’s going on?”

“There’s some guy here asking for you,” Adrian said.

“A demon?”

“No. Definitely not a demon.” He sounded pretty firm about that.

“A witch?” I asked.

“I don’t think so.” His voice pitched up, which meant it could be a witch.

“Fey?” Xander asked.

“Maybe? Honestly, I’m not sure what he is, but says he’s got information for you about the demon that attacked you last night. He says it’s urgent.”

This could be a trap, but I think we have to go. Any information could be a huge help. Brent said through the bond.

Agreed. Was I nervous? Sure. Especially after last night, but if this guy had information for me—even if he was only going to spout out a ton of lies—I had to go.

I chucked my backpack in the general direction of our front porch. “You coming with?” I asked Xander.

“Yeah.” He rubbed a hand along his beard. “Guess I should, just in case.”

“We’ll be there in twenty to twenty-five,” Brent said.

“Make it quicker. I don’t know how long this guy will wait, and he just saved our asses.”

“On it.” Brent hung up the phone, and tucked it into his pocket as he leapt off of the porch.

As we sprinted back through the woods to the parking lot, I couldn’t believe I was about to willingly go to la Aquelarre’s land at night. It seemed pretty convenient that this person showed up right when we got home. But I had to trust Adrian to know an enemy when he saw it. If this guy was out to hurt me, none of the Cazadores would have wasted the time on a phone call, especially not my friend.

Even knowing that, I hoped we weren’t racing into some kind of a trap. Because that would seriously suck.

The car rattled as we passed over the cattle guard and onto la Aquelarre’s land. Now that the compound was abandoned, Claudia had changed the wards. The only ones left in place were specifically set for humans, instead of the old one for all non-coven members. The headlights on the SUV lit the road between houses. Brent flipped on the brights and a shiver ran up my spine.

I was wrong. St. Francis’s wasn’t a ghost town. The witches compound was. Grass had sprouted on the dirt road that separated the two rows of burned-down houses.

A few support beams had survived the fire, but most of the buildings were just concrete foundations covered in ash and rubble. Only Raphael, Claudia, Shane, and Beth were left from this coven, and I highly doubted they’d want to rebuild here. I knew I wouldn’t. Too much evil history had seeped deep into the soil. There wasn’t enough sage on the earth to cleanse it.

Brent had parked by a few other black SUVs, but no one was in sight. “Where’s Adrian?” I asked as the three of us got out. I didn’t want to be here for one more second than we had to be tonight. I planned to dig around in Luciana’s stuff to see if any of her magic had survived and was causing all the demon attacks, but I was waiting to do that under the noonday sun.

“That way.” He pointed toward the woods. “He said they were about fifty yards east of the cars.”

The scent of sulfur was light at first, but the farther into the woods we went, the stronger it got.

“Anyone else have a bad feeling about this?” Xander said, and I almost laughed.

Bad feeling? I had a terrible feeling about it. Whatever we were about to meet knew me by name and Adrian wasn’t sure what the hell he was, aside from not being a demon. That left a whole lot of unknowns.

A twig snapped maybe fifteen feet ahead of me. I froze. Someone was walking towards us. They took a few more steps and the moonlight hit his face.

Adrian.

His short black hair glistened with sweat, even in the cold night. His shoulders were hunched, making him look shorter than his six feet. He was wearing a pair of generic sweats that he must’ve grabbed them from the Cazadores’ stash after shifting back. Whatever Adrian had just been through, it had to have been a tough fight.

“Are you okay?” I said as he strode to me.

“Okay-ish.” He pulled me in for a quick, one-armed hug. “I’m sorry to drag you out here the second you got back. We were on our nightly demon sweep, but this time there were a lot more demons. It was going to be a bloodbath, but this guy showed up. Saved our asses and then asked to talk to you. He wanted me to put in a good word for him. I guess he thought you’d blow him off without it. Anyway, guy saved our butts. So, would you mind talking with him?” The way Adrian was asking, thick with unspoken apology, made me wonder what the other shoe was and when exactly it was going to drop.

“That’s why I’m here.”

“The only thing is…he kind of knows things.”

I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that. “What do you mean? Like he can read minds.”

“Yeah. I think?” He crossed his arms. “He says that he’s got a beef with Astaroth, and—”

“Wait. Who’s Astaroth?” This conversation was getting frustrating. It felt like Adrian was burying the lead.

Adrian shrugged. “Apparently, a demon none of us ever want to meet, but this guy said you met Astaroth last night. I figured that was why you pulled all that power through the packs?”

“It is.” The demon in the black abyss. Astaroth. His name felt right, somewhere deep in my gut.

If we could trust this guy, then I was about to be a step ahead. Or at the very least, not so many steps behind.

Before I could think too hard about what I was doing, I quickly followed the trail of sulfur deeper into the woods. When I saw a group of people standing around, I paused.

The earth was scorched in spots all over the small clearing between the trees. Each spot marked a demon killed. Broken branches and debris littered the dirt. I was almost sorry to have missed the fight. Actually getting to fight an opponent, instead of getting magically and psychically attacked, would’ve been a nice reprieve.

A few Cazadores were off to the side, talking quietly amongst themselves. They looked like they’d been through it. Blood dripped down one Cazadores’ arm. He was going to need some holy water. Fast.

Five more Cazadores were standing around a guy who was leaning against a tree. None of them were saying anything. But the Cazadores—all in their black sweats—were giving the man some serious side-eye.

I stepped forward, and the Cazadores who’d been talking came over to us. Brent spoke to them but I tuned them out. My focus was on the guy in a white V-neck, leaning lazily against the tree. His relaxed stance gave off the impression that he wasn’t intimidated at all being surrounded by a group of Weres. He looked to be maybe in his mid-twenties, but I couldn’t assume anything. Donovan looked about twenty-five, and I knew he was much older than that.

Coming here, I didn’t know what to expect. We’d rushed over here so quickly, I hadn’t really thought it through, but I didn’t expect him. The man was beautiful. Like stepped-out-of-a-magazine beautiful. His long, white-blond hair brushed his shoulders. His brows were dark and furrowed. Deep-set pale blue eyes caught the moonlight, glowing just enough to hint at his supernatural nature, but his face was soft. Sweet. Almost cherubic.

He wore relaxed fit, light washed jeans, and his white shirt didn’t have a speck of blood on it. Even after saving Adrian and the others from a horde of demons.

If we were anywhere else I would’ve thought he was just a pretty face or a model, but something was seriously off with him. Why was he so freaking handsome? And where the hell were his shoes?

As if he could read that thought, a smirk spread across his face.

I wasn’t sure if he was reading my mind like Adrian suggested or just something in my expression, but either way, I built up my mental barrier and tried to school my features into a calm mask. “You wanted to talk to me?”

He stepped toward me, and I could feel Brent’s heat as he came to stand right behind me.

“I’m not going to hurt her.” The man’s voice sent tingles down my spine.

The Cazadores stepped back, giving us room. Clearly they trusted him, but my mate was having the opposite reaction.

What did he just do to you? Brent said, but his words barely registered.

I don’t know, but there’s something magical about his voice. “What are you?” I asked. It came off as rude, but I didn’t mean it that way. I had to know what—or who—I was dealing with. Especially if he was using magic on me.

“A friend.”

“If we’re going to be friends, then I need to know—what are you?”

“You werewolves are always big on scent. Come closer.” He held out his arm. “Take a good whiff. Let’s see if you can make a guess.”

I started to step toward him, but Brent grabbed my wrist. No.

I’ll be fine. The words came out before I could think too much about it. My wrist slipped from Brent’s hold as I stepped toward him, closed my eyes, and breathed in.