I’m grateful for something to do to distract me from my worries about my sisters. Inaction is making me restless, spurred on by my wolf. She hasn’t stopped pacing. Her agitation tightens my muscles until my skin feels stretched uncomfortably tight. She’s not happy to be sitting out when she’s ready to fight anyone who dares threaten her pack.
We’re strong, she seethes. We should fight.
Part of me agrees. I promised Caden, but I don’t want him fighting on his own, either.
Blowing out a breath, I step out back on Liam’s deck to set Jade’s protective barrier. A twig snaps to my left and a figure hobbles out, tripping against me when she tries to take the steps to the deck two at a time. I stiffen, then relax when she makes it to me without setting off Jade’s spell.
“Avery?”
Sylvie clings to me desperately. I help her up.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. Saw you from where I was hiding. I—I ran. I couldn’t stand it no more. Cormac, he, he—” She breaks off with a gasping sob. “He’s so cruel. I’m sorry. So sorry. I should’ve listened. You said you’d help me.”
My gaze narrows at the way her fear smells. It’s making my wolf gag, shaking her head to dispel it. It’s off, overpoweringly foul and bitter, but there’s something else, a sour note underneath the stink of terror. She’s lying to me.
“Sylvie,” I snap. “Where are my sisters? Do you know?”
“I do, I do.” She pulls at my clothes, encouraging me to move. “I can take you to them. Come with me now. I’ll show you.”
She’s insistent. Too insistent. I want to rescue my sisters and get them to safety, but there’s no way I can do it on my own.
“They sent you to lure me into a trap.”
The cold accusation makes her flinch. Real tears well in her eyes. She doesn’t bother denying it.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I have to do whatever they tell me to. If I don’t obey, Cormac hurts me.”
“It doesn’t matter. Come with me.” I drag her inside, grip firm around her frail wrist. “They know we’re here. They sent her as bait to trap me.”
Liam unfolds his arms with a growl, hauling Sylvie off her feet by the collar of her jacket. She wails, kicking her legs.
“Stop,” I order. “She’s not important right now. I’m going to get my sisters.”
He grits his teeth, setting her down. “No. Caden gave me an order to stay put and keep you safe.”
“And I’m telling you I’m not staying put and waiting for him to handle this.” I bare my teeth. “I’m Alpha female. Either you’re with me or you’re not.”
“I’m with you,” Callie says.
“Me too,” Taryn chimes in.
Liam sighs, outnumbered by three willful females. “Fine. Only because I know if I refuse you’re going to do something anyway. If we’re doing this, let’s be smart about it.”
“Tell me where my sisters really are,” I growl. “Are they with everyone else?”
Sylvie cowers. I signal Liam with a glance. His violent rumble makes her balk and bare her neck.
“They’re not,” she stammers. “I bring their food. They’re being guarded in a basement. It’s a cabin near the back of the compound. There’s a hatch to it from the outside.”
My stomach clenches. If Caden’s taking Lorne on, he won’t know where they are. I have to get them out of there.
“You’re not going run back to give us away,” I say. “I’d rather keep you here.”
“No, no. I’ll help. A distraction—You need a distraction, yes? I’ll bring some food for the guards,” Sylvie promises.
“I’ll help keep you properly motivated,” Jade interjects. “Just in case.”
She whispers an incantation, fingers tracing a sigil in the air I’m only able to make out faintly. Sylvie sways against Liam, eyes going glassy and unfocused for a moment.
Liam grunts. “What the hell did you do to her?”
“She’ll seem like she’s sleepwalking until I release her,” Jade explains. “She won’t cause any problems.”
I give her a grateful nod. Sylvie blinks, her demeanor serene.
“Let’s go.”
We leave Liam’s cabin, sneaking through the packlands. We avoid the few scouts we encounter by following Liam’s direction to stay downwind. I spot larkspur growing on a hillside, gathering as much of it as I can.
“We can take out whoever’s guarding the basement with this. If we slip it into the food Sylvie gives them, it’ll be easier to overpower them.”
“What does it do?” Callie leans in to sniff it.
“Careful. We have to ingest it for it to have an effect on us, but larkspur is toxic. When they eat it, they’ll lose control of their motor functions.”
Jade gives me an approving once over. “You’ve learned well.”
Sylvie takes us around the outer stone wall Cormac built around his compound years ago. She shows us a part covered by a blanket of ivy overgrowth where there are footholds. Liam climbs up first, checking if the coast is clear before hoisting us up one by one.
“Take us to the basement,” I order.
Sylvie leads the way. The cabin she stops at isn’t much bigger than my cottage, the wooden logs suffering from dry rot. I send Sylvie for food while we hide out of sight. The guards watching the basement hatch are playing cards. One groans, complaining that his partner is cheating.
“Can you cast the same spell on the guards?” Liam asks Jade.
“I need to be able to touch their aura to cast it. They’re too far away,” she says. “I’ll do it when we’re closer.”
When Sylvie returns with two bowls of stew, I break up the larkspur flowers and grind the rest of the plant with two rocks, mixing all of it into their food.
“Lunchtime already?” The lankier guard pats his stomach as Sylvie approaches. “I could eat.”
“Stew again,” the other says with a sigh. “Don’t you know how to cook anything else?”
Sylvie shakes her head. “Stew is what Cormac likes.”
They exchange a look at her dreamy tone, shrugging. My heart doesn’t stop thudding until they’ve taken a few bites of food.
“Is yours, like, really spicy?” asks the lanky one.
The other one shrugs. “Kinda. My throat burns. I like it, though.”
I hold my breath. The poison’s taking effect. It doesn’t take long for one to start coughing and gagging. They both pass out, slumping off their chairs. Sylvie stands off to the side peacefully.
“Now,” Liam urges.
We rush to the basement hatch. Callie picks up the padlock while Jade casts a spell on the guards.
“Check one of them for a key,” she says.
“On it.” Taryn pats them down, deftly finding it looped around one of the guards’ necks on a length of twine. “Here.”
“How long will that keep them out?” Liam toes the closest guard.
“Long enough with Avery’s poison. As long as I need with my spell,” Jade answers.
Relief spirals through me when Callie gets the door unlocked. I race down the steps into the dank, dark basement. The girls are huddled on a cot shoved into a corner.
“Avery!” Lena covers her mouth to keep her voice down. “You came for us.”
My sisters rush me. I catch them both in a tight hug.
“Of course I came for you. I’d never leave you behind. Did they hurt you?”
“No,” Beatrix answers. “They just tried to scare us.”
“Dane said really mean things.” Lena whimpers into my neck. “Like how he wanted to make us his personal maids.”
A growl flies out of me. I’ll cut off his tongue.
“Let’s get out of here.” I take my sisters’ hands and hurry to the steps up to the hatch.