Kissed by Krista Street

Chapter 8

~ WYATT ~

A cold northern wind blew around us as we crouched at the edge of the Derian Forest. A hundred yards ahead, the cave entrance waited at the base of a mountain.

The Elixias Mountain range rose ominously, its peaks swirling in the clouds which drifted in front of the three moons. Snow blanketed the highest tips, yet here at the base, late autumn weather still prevailed.

Northern fae flower species sprouted among the short grass in the field, their little buds of purple and black reminding me of night and frost.

The forest’s dark trees rustled in the breeze, their bright leaves shining like silver in the moonlight. I eyed them warily. The elf lord could control trees, and right now, we were surrounded by them.

Bavar crouched at my side. We’d staked out the area earlier and were now ready to attack.

Behind us, three full SF squads waited. Twenty-five SF members made up our team.

Like me, Bavar was too invested in this assignment to sit on the sidelines, even though the rest of Squad Three was on a mandatory break after the attack at Shrouding Estate.

That also meant the squads at our backs were all fresh and ready to fight. We’d placed them strategically so they had the best view of the cave entrance, scree field, and forest.

“The so-called sacred circle obviously feels safe up here, since they haven’t cloaked their scents.” I growled. “Smug bastards.”

“Indeed,” Bavar replied quietly. “But we’ll still need to move quickly, and you’ll have to lead.”

“There’s no way I wouldn’t be leading this.” My wolf was itching to run free again. Ever since we’d picked up Avery’s scent near the cave’s entrance when Bavar and I had scoped the place out, he’d been fighting to break free. Bloodlust clouded his mind, and he wanted nothing more than to rip Lord Godasara to shreds.

“Are we ready?” I asked curtly.

“Almost.” Bavar shifted, tapping something on his tablet. “Wes received the information the Bulgarian libraries had on the cave system. He’s now scouring the SF database for additional info. The more intel we have, the better. I’m expecting a reply from him within a few minutes, but if they don’t find anything new, we’ll be relying on you and the other wolves to track their exact location.”

I grunted as hot blood pumped through my veins. “I won’t have any problem doing that.”

Avery’s and Lord Godasara’s scents were all over the cave’s entrance, along with the warlocks’ odors. Lucky for us, they hadn’t bothered with their cloaking spells, which meant they didn’t think anyone knew they were up here.

My fingers curled into the dirt beneath me, my fingernails already turned into claws.

“Ah, here’s his reply.” Bavar tapped his screen again. Magic shimmered from the device, cloaking its glow so anyone who happened to look upon us wouldn’t see the tablet being used.

“Anything?” I asked.

“Yes, the maps are downloading now.”

Our wristbands vibrated when the download was complete. I pulled it up, my eyes scanning the intricate channels. A route had already been mapped out for us. In lightning speed, I memorized the twists and turns, remembering which forks led to what. They snaked downward, deep into the ground below the mountain. Large chambers waited near the bottom of the tunnels.

I pointed to a series of natural occurring indentations. “That’s most likely where she’s being held. Those would be easy to block off to become cells.”

“Agreed,” Bavar replied.

I whipped my suit off until my naked body gleamed in the moonlight. “So it’s agreed that you’ll stay out here with Squad Seventeen to cover us should any of the circle escape and try to ambush us when we exit?”

He gave a curt nod. “We’ll have your back.”

“Squads Five and Twenty-seven,” I called over my shoulder. “We’re moving out. Cloaking spell, now.”

The two witches in our group activated the spell. A shimmering dome descended over us.

The squads and I emerged swiftly from the trees. I shifted mid-run, the other wolves in the squads doing the same. We moved so quickly we turned into a blur.

Within seconds, we were at the base of the mountain, the gaping entrance to the cave waiting. Inky darkness greeted us, but Avery’s scent called to me. It was so much stronger here.

My wolf whined, his paws slapping silently against the rock as we entered the cave and loped through the tunnels. Nothing greeted us. Nobody stood watch. No warlocks patrolled the ground.

They’d either grown complacent or they knew something we didn’t.

My mate’s scent grew denser the deeper we moved into the tunnels. I could only hope we weren’t too late.

Squads Five and Twenty-seven followed behind me, the fairies and other wolves keeping my pace. The tunnels sloped downward as the humidity in the air increased.

The squads’ sorcerers and witches brought up the rear but still moved quickly using a combination of levitation spells and propulsion blasts from their SF suits. We all kept together.

A snarl rumbled in my wolf’s chest as we wove deeper into the caves, moving steadily downward. Seconds turned into minutes. Down and down we went.

Avery’s scent grew riper, and my wolf’s eyes illuminated the dark cave systems, automatically grabbing any light in the air and projecting it so I could see.

A few fairy lights had been left alight. They grew more abundant the deeper we went.

A whimper worked its way up my wolf’s throat. Avery’s scent was so rich now it smelled as if I were in a lilac field.

Trickling water danced down the walls, and my wolf’s ears pricked forward as our frantic run slowed. We were close to where they kept her. I could sense it.

The squads moved silently, our feet and paws like one. Years of honed practice infiltrated our movements.

I ground to a halt when we reached a fully lit chamber. Silence greeted us.

My ears pricked again, searching for heartbeats.

My wolf found none.

An anxious whine erupted from his throat. My human mind, which was still functioning parallel to his, revved into full panic mode. Avery wasn’t here. She wasn’t fucking here.

But I could scent her. She’d been here recently.

My nose met the cave’s floor and began sniffing. My wolf broke into a jog, then a run, tracking my mate’s scent through more dizzying twists and turns.

Within seconds, we were moving upward again.

“There’s another exit!” Major Reichman, Squad Twenty-seven’s commander, seethed from behind me. “Dammit! How did we not have that on the map?”

Anxiety laced through my wolf’s senses as his movements picked up. Avery had been here. But now she was gone. She’d been moved again. She was no longer here.

Oh Gods. No. What if they’d moved her to a second location? How would we find her if they’d portal transferred her elsewhere? We only had this one location. The seer hadn’t seen anything else, and the libraries had provided no further guidance.

“We’ll find her, brother.”

Major Reichman’s comment cut through my senses like a knife, and with a jarring realization, I became aware of the high-pitched whine that had been emanating from my wolf.

“So there are two entrances.” Major Reichman moved beside me, still running as I tracked our way through the tunnels. “But that wasn’t in the information from the Bulgarian libraries or the SF database. We obviously need to update our maps.”

She continued to sprint, easily keeping up with my wolf. Standing a foot shorter than me in my human form, with short hair and a pixie-like face, one could easily overlook her. But her small size was deceiving. Many had underestimated her because of her diminutive stature and feminine looks, but the female vampire was entirely lethal.

“Strengthen the cloaking spell!” she commanded to the witches at the back who controlled it.

The hazy dome shimmered as we moved swiftly toward the surface. We didn’t have backup out here if the warlocks were waiting. Shit.

Avery’s scent grew stronger the closer we got to the cave’s second entrance. I could barely keep control of my wolf’s mind. He was nearly psychotic with need to find her.

Fresh air flowed through the tunnel, prickling my senses. Moonlight beams appeared next.

The cave’s hidden second entrance appeared.

“Fan out,” Major Reichman commanded.

Under the witches’ cloaking spell, with weapons raised, we departed the cave in formation.

But the elf lord, warlocks, and Avery weren’t here either.

The Derian Forest waited. Moonlight shone through the trees, and something flickered in the distance. I slowed, taking in the forested land north of the mountain, as my wolf chuffed with the need to keep running, but that flickering light drew my attention again.

My wolf’s hackles rose as I assessed what looked to be a glowing fire pit about half a mile away.

Something wasn’t right. There wasn’t supposed to be anybody around here to light a fire. Not a single soul resided in these woods, nor were there any nearby villages. Bavar and I had thoroughly staked out this entire landscape before the three squads were called in.

I ground to a halt, dirt kicking up around my wolf’s paws as everyone’s movements stopped around me. Major Reichman paused at my side.

My wolf whined, inclining his head toward the flickering light.

“I see it.” She cocked her head. “It looks like a fire.”

I shifted in an explosion of magic until I was in human form again, not caring about my nakedness, then held out my hand to her. “Ocular lens.”

She whipped it out of her pocket and handed it to me. The device was a tiny circular lens the sorcerers had created. They were lightweight, indestructible, and allowed one to zoom in to an area with 1000x focus.

“Why the hell would someone be lighting a fire all the way out here?” I brought the lens to my eye. “And more importantly, where did they come from?”

I zoomed in on the area.

A large fire rose from a pit in the earth. Around it, robed men stood, their hands joined as they formed a perfect circle. My blood ran cold. “Shit. All of the warlocks are there.” I took in the surrounding area. “But I don’t see the elf lord or Avery—”

Avery’s body lay motionless on the ground.

“She’s there! They left the cave system right from beneath our nose.”

“Fucking hell,” Major Reichman muttered. She tapped her comm device. “Major Fieldstone? Get Squad Seventeen here now. We found Avery. They’re not in the caves. They’ve taken her to the north side of the mountain.”

I kept the lens on my eye, tracking the lord’s and warlocks’ activities. My wolf growled inside me, urging me to shift again and protect our mate. Nostrils flaring, I forced myself to take deep, even breaths as I willed myself to stay in control and not to lose it.

But fuck, it was hard. Everything in me screamed to go now and save Avery, but at this moment the elf lord and warlocks were oblivious to our impending attack, and it needed to stay that way. One wrong move could cost my mate her life, and we would be at our strongest if all of us were present when we attacked.

“ETA?” I asked Major Reichman.

She tapped her wristband. “Less than ten minutes. They’re moving fast.”

“We move fast and hard when Squad Seventeen arrives. Are the cloaking spells going to hold?” I barked at the witches.

The two witches from Squad Five were working together. They wove their hands through the air. The cloaking spell brightened. “Yes, sir,” one of them replied.

My gaze shifted back to where Avery was, and I lifted the lens again.

Lord Godasara stood over her. His hood dropped back, revealing his hideous face and huge pointed ears. I cocked my head. His lips were moving, but he was too far away for me to hear what was being said. He and the warlocks were chanting in unison.

My gaze narrowed.

The lord moved closer to Avery and placed his hands over her body, hovering them above her chest.

“He’s doing something.” I grew rigid, then rose to my full height, knowing we were too far away for them to see. I watched for a moment longer, then a chill raced down my spine. “It’s a ritual. The fire, the joined hands, the chanting . . . they’re doing a fucking ritual. We move now.”

Major Reichman shook her head. “We wait for Squad Seventeen to arrive.”

“We don’t have time to wait for backup!” I snarled. “If they finish that ritual, it could be too late!”

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath. “You’re right. Okay, Ranger, Lopez, McConnel, Abara . . .”

She began issuing orders to her squad as I shifted instantaneously again. My wolf emerged in an explosion of vengeance.

“Change of plan,” Major Reichman said into her device to Bavar. “We’re attacking now. They’re doing a ritual on Avery. Move as fast as you can.”

“Dammit!” came Bavar’s reply. “We’ll be there in five minutes.”

I growled and nudged the vampire commander’s hand. I knew for at least a few minutes we wouldn’t outnumber the warlocks and elf. We’d just have to move fast and quietly to catch them unaware and hope that Bavar was able to mobilize the other squad behind us quick enough.

“Go!” Major Reichman ordered.

We flew from the mountain in a burst of speed, moving silently and unseen under a strong cloaking spell.

The wolves, fairies, Major Reichman, and I flew to the front of the group. The six remaining SF members of witches, sorcerers, and a half-demon fell behind us.

Cold air whipped across my face. I held onto control of my wolf’s mind just enough to keep him from doing anything rash. I’d never had to restrain him like this before during an assignment, but then again, I’d never had my mate at the center of an assignment before either. He was straining to break free of me as bloodlust again threatened to consume him, but I controlled him tightly.

Despite that, blood still pounded through his ears as the ground thundered beneath his paws. In less than a minute, we’d covered the ground to Avery’s captors and their pit, and we broke into a circle around them, moving slower as our training kicked into action. Our cloaking spell still hid us, and our presence seemed to be undetected by them, which meant that they hadn’t bothered with enchantments around their perimeter which would have alerted them to our approach.

As before, they weren’t bothering to hide themselves, which meant they were incredibly arrogant, or simply so powerful they didn’t need to.

A low growl rumbled in my wolf’s belly, but I stopped him from letting it reach his throat.

The warlocks continued chanting, their words a low hum as they spoke in an ancient tongue. The hoods of their robes hid their faces, but I imagined that their eyes were closed. They all appeared completely lost to whatever dark magic they were weaving.

The elf lord stayed positioned over Avery, his eyes closed as his large ears rose above his head. Potent energy shot from his hands in an explosion of sparks, and Avery’s body abruptly shuddered. Her back arched, her lips parted, but no sound came from her.

Rage exploded inside me as Squads Five and Twenty-seven moved into place.

Magical scents flooded my wolf’s nose. Interweaving fragrances of magic and spells assaulted him, but it was enough to give us a clue as to what was happening.

It wasn’t a binding spell that trapped Avery, something else did. Its oily scent reminded me of sulfur mixed with heady Russian sage. It stung my wolf’s nose it was so strong.

A flash of a memory reached me, that scent triggering the moment the lord had abducted her. Just before he’d taken Avery, the elf lord had placed his fingers on her neck, muttering a spell. Before they’d disappeared, the same scent had come from his magic.

It was extremely powerful magic. I knew that much.

When the last squad member slipped into place, I was about to issue the order to attack, using the comm device attached to my wolf’s leg which was woven with spells that allowed telepathic communication, when a Squad Five member’s message abruptly came through.

We have another victim at three o’clock. They’re under a sheet. Species and gender unknown. But they’re breathing. I just saw movement from the chest area.

My wolf paused, the words to attack dying in my mind. His lips curled back to reveal his lengthy canines as he struggled to resist my domination and attack regardless.

I held onto my wolf enough to reply, Do we know it’s a victim and not one of them? It could be a volunteer for this ritual.

A pause that felt longer than a millennium passed before the SF member replied. I don’t know for certain, sir. I just know we have another body on this side that’s covered in a sheet. They appear alive.

Something scratched at my mind, something that felt a lot like guilt, but I shoved it down. We didn’t know if the figure under the sheet was another victim or one of them, and right now, all that mattered was Avery. I needed every inch of manpower to get her out.

Then we focus on Avery and Avery only.

Another pause came and went before the SF member replied. Yes, sir. Attack at once?

Yes. On my mark. My wolf crouched lower as I sent out the signal to those around us. Everyone readied. We would attack fast and hard, catching the warlocks and the lord entirely unaware.

A signal came from Bavar just as I reached the end of my countdown. They were two minutes behind us.

Two, one, I communicated. Now!

In an explosion of magic and weapons, we leapt toward the sacred circle.