My paws pounded the ground, and my men ran behind me as I followed the sickly smell of death and dark magic.
‘Any word on Nai?’ I asked Noble.
‘No, brother, I’m sorry. After we detain Kalama, I’ll go to the mortal portal and see if her aunt is working again. I’ll try to pry some more information.’
A small measure of relief wormed through me. At least, we were doing something.
I tracked the scent of decay, blood, and rotten flesh to the base of the north cliffs above Dark Row and pulled to a stop as the scent became overwhelming. I lifted my snout from the ground to lessen the smell as I slipped into the thick tree line. The underbrush was smashed and broken, and there were clear tracks where a body had been dragged. My heart squeezed with guilt, but my nostrils flared in anger. I hated that one of my own went out like this.
When I reached the base of a large oak, I saw Kirkland, or rather what was left of him. His entire form was a shriveled husk, lying in a collapsed guard uniform; his skin was mottled and putrid.
I wrinkled my nose at the stench.
Blood magic. Death. Wolf. And another smell … like carrion times a million.
How had it taken only seconds for the blood mage to do that?
I tipped my head back and howled long and deep. I was angry. Beyond angry. My uncle left me a legit shit storm as an inheritance. And totally unprepared. Worse than that was the sinking feeling of despair hanging in my chest. I wanted my fated mate with me, by my side to help me figure this mess out. Regardless of what Justice said, Nai didn’t make me weaker; she made me stronger.
There was something I’d intended to do the first day as king, but I’d put it off because I wanted her with me for this historic moment. However, I couldn’t wait any longer. Now that the blood mages, aka vampires, were back, I needed to unite our people before we were picked off and washed out.
Turning, I spun and headed for the dock.
‘Justice? You ready?’
‘I’m on my way to the dock now.’
I pushed harder into the run with my guards following behind me.
‘Noble,’ I said, scouting the area with the other wolves as we ran back to Dark Row. ‘Prepare to send out thousands of invitations.’
My brother’s energy bristled before he responded. ‘Invitations for what?’
I sent out my next thought to both Noble and Justice. ‘I’ll officially declare the island to be Shifter Island once again. Every single shifter animal needs to come home.’
I felt the rightness at my decision echoed in my siblings’ thoughts.
‘We’ll be reunited as shifters again,’ I declared.
Then I sent my thoughts out to the other wolves. ‘Go get Kirkland’s body and bring it home so we can give him a proper burial.’ They nodded, and I met each set of eyes. ‘Be careful. The vampires are back, and they’ve left the cliffs to hunt. Stay together.’
‘Yes, Alpha,’ they responded in unison, but one of them whined.
‘What?’ I demanded.
‘Keep alpha safe.’
I considered his foresight for only a heartbeat. The reality was that as soon as they shifted into their human form, they’d be at risk. ‘No. I’ll run to the boat and be fine. You need to stay together.’
I waited until all four wolves took off. Then, I ran toward the dock.
‘Rage?’ Noble spoke through our bond, and his voice sounded weary. ‘I’m… I have some bad news.’
More bad news?
‘What is it now?’ I asked, racing through the wilderness of Mageville. My thoughts jumped ahead to the other task I’d asked Noble to do, and I tacked on an additional question. ‘And did you get Kalama detained? I—’
‘That’s just it,’ he replied. ‘She’s gone.’
Shock punched me in the gut, and I stumbled on my run through the burnt remnants of Dark Row. ‘What do you mean, she’s gone?’
I regained my footing and picked up my pace, full-on sprinting in my hurry to get back to the boat and Shifter Island.
‘Is the portal door open?’ I asked. ‘Can you get into High Mage Island?’
I wrestled with the barrage of thoughts: how was I supposed to go get Nai back, draft the invitations and send those out, not to mention the logistics of where to put everyone…?
No … everything else would wait for Nai. She would always be my top priority.
‘The door is closed, bro. There’s no handle or knob… and I can’t push it open. But it no longer shocks when I touch it.’
Mother effin’ Mage!
Did she somehow find a way around my words? I remembered my oath and snarled. She’d taken off the protection spell but didn’t open the damn door!
‘Send out as many guards as we can spare to look for Kalama,’ I snapped. ‘I want her—’
‘I’m already on it,’ Noble said with a sigh. ‘I’m sorry.’
Fuming, I nevertheless shot back the truth. ‘It’s not your fault.’
It was mine. And Kalama’s.
I growled as I burst through the trees. Just south of the dock, I shifted into my human form with a bellow of frustration.
Justice ran toward me, slowing his pace as I strode forward, cursing with every step.
My blood boiled, and I met Justice’s worried gaze and snarled. “That witch!”
How could I have trusted her? I went over my oath, wondering how I’d screwed up with my wording. She shouldn’t have been able to leave without removing all the damn wards.
“What’s wrong?” Justice asked, matching my rapid stride, step for step.
I shook my head, grinding my teeth together to keep from vomiting vitriolic wrath onto my brothers. None of this was their fault.
My pulse roared in my ears; every beat of my heart was fuel for my fury. Fur bristled along my skin, and I struggled to hold on to my form. There was nothing my wolf could do right now anyway.
Sucking in one deep breath after another, I said nothing until we were both in the boat and away from shore.
“She’s gone,” I said, glaring at our island.
Justice cocked his head to the side, and his worried expression spoke volumes. “Kalama?”
I nodded, but even then, my thoughts went to Nai. She was gone, too.
“Then, the wards are gone, right?” he asked.
I told him what Noble had said and then asked him what he’d learned from the female mage.
“Are you sure you want to hear it right now?” Justice asked.
Glaring at him, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Somehow, I don’t think there’s going to be a better time than now.”
He gave me the rundown as we crossed the waters: blood mages were just as powerful as the high mages, except they were the masters of blood magic—aka dark magic—which was why Dark Row was called Dark Row.
Most of the blood mages had been killed during the war hundreds of years ago, but the High Mage Council had left a few females alive, Surlama and Kalama being two of them. When Kalama was caught hunting on Alpha Island, Declan, with help from at least one of the high mages, bound her magic and forced her into servitude, something my uncle was apparently quite fond of doing.
Blood mages could boost their magic by consuming blood as well as using magical blood in their spells.