Chapter 103: Chapter 103
Katie POV
Rhiannon storms down the hallway, her eyes wild and bewildered. His face is distorted in anger. Something terrible must have happened.
“The ritual is off!” she yells when she sees me. “Your memories are gone forever, thanks to one of Gabriela’s disgusting dogs.”
“What happened?” I ask. She looks sick, almost green in the face, and unsteady on her feet.
“Someone ransacked my spell supplies,” she barks out a mirthless laugh. “Ingredients I worked a lifetime to gather. Destroyed in one night.”
“This is why I hate werewolves.” Her voice is manic and high-pitched.
I close my eyes and sigh inwardly. I know I am being selfish, but how will I get my memories back now? I look at Mason, but he only stares ahead with a stoic expression.
“What’s happening?” Kane and Axel sprint down the hall, with Gabriela trailing behind them.
They run up to Rhiannon, and I instinctively step back. Now that I know their plan, I am not interested in being anywhere near them.
“You!” Rhiannon screams, shoving a shaking finger toward Kane and Axel. “You’re the ones who destroyed everything!”
“Whoa, whoa,” Kane says. “Destroyed what?”
“Very funny.” Rhiannon laughs hysterically, but she clearly does not find it funny. “I know what you’ve done. Is this why you came here?”
She lunges at Kane, her long, red nails stretched out in front of her. Kane steps back, his face wrinkling in confusion, and she misses him by a few inches.
“We honestly don’t know what you’re talking about,” Axel says.
I look at Axel and Kane. As attractive as they are, they are lousy poker players. They wear their emotions on their sleeves. I might not know them well, but I know they are not lying.
“Rhiannon,” I say quickly. “They’re telling the truth, it wasn’t them.”
“Who else?” She swings around to face me. “You?”
“Hell no,” I protest. “Why would I ruin the chance to get my memories back?”
“And it wasn’t him,” I point to Mason. “He was with me and Braden.”
“Well, somebody did it!” She shrieks.
“Maybe one of your people did it,” Axel suggests.
“In all my years, none of my people has done anything like this,” she yells.
“This has to be one of you,” she says wickedly, narrowing her eyes. Her eyes flash with an eerie light. Is she about to do magic? “Maybe this will teach you not to touch a witch’s shit again.”
She raises her hands high in the air, and a crackle of electricity jumps between them.
“No!” Gabriela cries, diving at Rhiannon and knocking her to the ground. Her head hits the floor with a smack and slumps to the side.
“What the fuck?” Kane says. “Did you kill her?”
“No,” Gabriela blinks hard, kneeling beside Rhiannon and feels for a pulse. “But she’s knocked out cold. And we can’t be here when she wakes up.”
Mason takes my hand and slowly pulls me away. Slowly, we back away. I do not know why, but it feels like the right thing to do. We already have a potentially dead vampire on our hands. We cannot afford an unconscious witch as well.
“Where’s Katie and Mason?” I hear Kane asks, his voice filled with concern.
“Axel,” Gabriela orders. “Grab Mason, we’re taking him to the Council. Kane, get Katie and Stella and take them home.”
Her words send icy tendrils down my spine. Mason was right. They really were going to force him to hand himself over to the Council and take me back to the mansion.
“Run,” Mason whispers urgently. “Run to your room, get Stella, and get out of here. I’ll keep them occupied for as long as I can.”
“What about you?” I ask, concerned.
“Worry about Stella,” he orders. “Not about me.”
I look into Mason’s eyes and realise that his concern is about me and Stella, and us alone. If he had a hidden agenda, it is no longer relevant.
“Okay,” I nod, but secretly vow that I will not allow him to be thrown at the Council’s mercy. He stuck his neck out for me; I will do the same.
I nod, run to my room and slam the door behind me. I latch the lock and sprint to Braden’s bedside.
“Elara?” Braden asks, looking at me confused.
“You need to drink my blood,” I say hurriedly. “Now.”
Saving Braden also means saving Mason and keeping the peace. On the plus side, I get my friend back. Also, I am not stupid. The chances of us getting out of here are slim. The place is swarming with witches.
“We talked about it,” Braden picks up his head and winces in pain. “I’m not doing that; I refuse to hurt you.”
A body slams into the door. Shit. They are here for me.
“You have to, Braden,” I say hastily. “You can stop, I know you can.”
“I don’t trust myself,” he croaks. “Please don’t make me do this.”
On the other side of the door, I can hear the scratching and snarling.
“Axel and Kane have shifted,” I say. “We don’t have time to argue.”
Another huge slam, and the door starts to splinter.
Fuck this, I decide. If Braden does not want to bite me, then I will make him. I close my eyes, extend my fangs and bite my arm until blood blooms from the bite.
“Come on, Braden,” I say, holding my arm to Braden’s face. I make a fist and pump, so the blood flows faster. Satisfied, I watch as his nostrils flare and his fangs drop.
Another slam of the door, and I look up worriedly. It will not hold much longer.
“Drink,” I command. And this time he does.
His fangs sink into my skin like a dozen silver daggers. The pain momentarily blinds me, but then a different picture swims into my field of vision, and then another, and another.
Me with my sister, Selena, and Dad.
Me hanging out with Mindy.
Me being mated to Kane and Axel.
The memories are flooding back in lightning-fast flashes, one right after the other. Suddenly, a sharp, searing pain shoots up my arm, and my eyes fly open. I am still in the room with Braden, and he is still drinking my blood.
“Braden, you should stop,” I say weakly. The room is spinning now, and I am fighting to keep my eyes open. “Braden, please ...”
A great crash echoes around the room, and wolves are snarling. The sound must have startled Braden out of his blood stupor because he finally pulls away from my arm with a great rip of my flesh. I scream as another stab of intense pain rips its way up my arm.
I collapse onto the floor and watch as Kane and Axel snap and growl at Braden, who is covered in my blood.
“My mate,” Lily scratches ferociously at my insides.
“I’m sorry, Katie,” Braden says, truly apologetically. “You need to shift. You need to heal.”
I let go and allow Lily to take over, my eyes rolling back in my head as my body shifts, and then everything goes black.
