Untamed Fate (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 2)

Savannah

Cavra moved effortlessly through the dense forest into a brightly lit clearing. The folds of her long gown hugged her voluptuous curves, and her hips swayed gracefully. She was mesmerizing to watch, like her body was dancing even when she was standing still.

I could sense Jaxson’s vitriol toward her, but for some reason, I felt a glimmer of kinship.

“You ask a favor. What can you offer me in payment?” she enquired, twirling a strand of hair between her delicate fingers.

“We can pay in coin, but I’m guessing that’s not what you’re looking for,” Jaxson said roughly.

“Correct, wolf man. I live in a perfect dream. I have no need for currency.”

What could a vastly powerful maenad possibly want or need? Unease settled over me. “There must be something we can do for you. A favor for a favor?”

Tilting her head, Cavra considered my words with a glint in her green eyes. “Now, that is a more interesting proposal.”

Jaxson tensed, and I could sense his displeasure.

Cavra closed her eyes and stepped close to me, breathing in deeply and twisting her hand strangely in the air. My skin prickled as a cacophony of whispers filled the clearing, but I couldn’t see where they were coming from—the space was empty.

Jaxson clearly heard, too. He scanned the area, his muscles twitching in anticipation of an attack.

Suddenly, the murmurs went quiet as Cavra opened her eyes, and a wide grin spread across her sharp features. “My. Apparently, you are far more than you seem, Savannah—so much strength lurking in the shadows of your soul. I do believe there is something that you could do for me. In return, I will cast a blocking spell on my grimoire, and your sorcerer will not be able to ensnare any further victims.”

“And what about those who are already trapped? Will they wake up?” Jaxson all but growled.

“No, I’m afraid not. He has their minds sequestered in a place beyond my reach, and they will be trapped in their dreams until the sorcerer is killed or ends his spell. There’s nothing I can do about that.”

Disappointment tore at me, but at least we could prevent anyone else from getting hurt.

Then all we had to do was kill Kahanov.

I met Jaxson’s steely gaze and knew he was thinking the same thing.

“What is it you want us to do?” I asked.

Cavra had an unabashedly predatory look on her face, and worry spread through me like a sickness. I had a sinking suspicion that whatever she was going to ask, we wouldn’t escape unscarred.

“The payment I request is a bloodstone known as the heart of the forest. If you retrieve this for me, then I will cast the blocking spell.”

“What is it?” I asked, warily. “And why do you need us?”

Cavra was a being of immeasurable power. It had to be a suicide mission.

She lifted my chin with a claw. “So suspicious.”

Jaxson’s eyes dilated, but I met her gaze without flinching.

Her eyes flickered with desire. “The heart is located on a basalt pillar in the center of the Glen of Shadows, not far from here. It is the one place in the Vale that my magic is useless, and as such, I’ve never been able to reach it. You, on the other hand share a certain kinship with the darkness, if I’m not mistaken.”

I pulled the shadows around myself in answer, and she released my chin. “Good. It’s almost like the fates sent you to me.”

Even though I didn’t trust the fates for a second, shadows were at least one thing I could control. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad.

“A darkness inhabits the glen,” Cavra continued, “and if the shadows catch you, they’ll drag you down into the earth, where you will slowly be devoured.”

I was wrong. We were screwed.

Maybe we didn’t need to do this after all. Finding and killing Kahanov would solve all our problems. We could just skip Cavra and her forest of hungry shadows.

Jaxson was unusually quiet as he considered Cavra’s words, and then he spoke. “What happens if the bloodstone is taken?”

“The shadows will be dispelled and no harm will befall you, if that’s what you were wondering.”

I studied her face and scent, but her emotions were a blank slate, and I couldn’t tell if she was lying.

We shouldn’t trust her, my wolf said.

“I’ll go,” Jaxson said, turning to me. “Stay here and keep your eyes open.”

Irritation flashed through me at his protectiveness. “Like hell. I’m coming with.”

“She must go with you, or you will fail,” Cavra said quietly, though her words rang with stone-cold certainty.

For better or worse, this task fell to me.

Jaxson knotted his fists. “Together then.”

I crouched and tightened the laces on my tennies, wishing I’d worn my magic boots today. “Any pointers you want to give us so we don’t die?”

Cavra smiled down at me and raised her arm, pointing toward the forest to her right. A swarm of tiny lights shot from her palm and began winding their way through the dense trees. “Follow them. You’ll know when you’ve arrived. Move quickly. Don’t speak. And if the shadows envelop you, don’t look at them directly.”

How did you avoid looking at a shadow if it was surrounding you?

“Got it.” Standing, I pulled my hair into a ponytail as I took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do this, Jaxson.”

He glared at me, and I heard the rumble in his chest. “You lead. I don’t trust this place, and I’m not taking my eyes off you.”

Dread pooling in my belly, I took off after the lights as they disappeared into the trees. They reminded me of the lights in Alia’s apartment, but they seemed to be sentient, or at least under Cavra’s command.

Pretty little lights, leading us to our deaths.

We moved quickly, and my breathing became heavy. The forest was humid, and my shirt dampened with sweat. The whole place pulsed with a hypnotic drone that made me drowsy, despite the adrenaline pumping through me.

Every motion I made felt a little too slow. I ducked under a sheet of silvery moss that hung from a branch high above and tripped on a root. No—a rock.

Jaxson wrapped his arm around my waist, catching me before I faceplanted. “Keep your eyes on the ground.”

His deep voice dragged over my damp skin, and I couldn’t help the tingles that spread through me. Once I’d found my footing, he released his arm, though I could still feel the heat of his body behind me.

“Holy hell,” I whispered, taking in the sights ahead. The dilapidated ruins of what looked like ancient stone buildings rose from the jungle, partially covered by the dense vegetation. “What is this place?”

“Legends say that the Dreamlands have been populated by different species of Magica for millennia. This must be the remnants of one the Great Cities,” Jaxson said and softly pressed against my back. “Come on, let’s keep moving. We don’t want to be left behind.”

I nodded and caught up with the lights, which had kept on winding their way deeper into the trees. God, I hoped we could find our way back.

We circled around a giant bust of a humanoid creature with almond eyes lying half buried on its side.

Taken by its unique features, I slowly stepped around it, but Jaxson grabbed my arm and stopped me short. His hand cupped over my mouth as he towed me down behind the stone bust, gesturing with his chin to the bushes on our right.

Heart pounding, I searched the trees for any sign of what Jaxson had seen, but all I saw were the same strange birds from earlier. I glanced around at Jaxson, whose hand was still covering my mouth, and gave him my best what the fuck look.

His body stiffened, and his gaze was locked on something behind me. Slowly, I turned my head, focusing on the trees. Still, I saw nothing, but then the slightest movement caught my eye.

At first, it was too subtle to make out its form, but when it moved again, my brain finally processed what I was seeing: a squat, hunched body, no more than five feet tall, with arms that hung to the ground. As it moved, its skin shifted and blended with the foliage, making it virtually impossible to see. Where there should have been hands, there were two hooked, obsidian talons.

I jerked backward into Jaxson, stifling the squeak that tried to rip from my throat. My claws and muscles ached as my wolf jumped in my chest, but Jaxson pressed his magic into my back, and I relaxed slightly.

Shit, Cavra hadn’t said anything about these things. What else was lurking out here?

Movement to our left revealed a second creature rooting around under a rotten trunk. Something told me that that was what those hideous claws were for.

Jaxson slowly released his hand from my mouth and motioned for me to follow. We slipped back around the head of the ruined bust, keeping a wary eye on those things.

Apart from the shrill squawks of the birds and the skuttling of things in the underbrush, the jungle was quiet, which meant those creatures hadn’t seen us. Probably.

The glowing lights that had been guiding us were long gone, and there was no telling in which direction the bloodstone lay. Still, Jaxson pushed forward, and I followed wordlessly.

We continued in silence searching for any sign of the lights, but they were gone, and everything looked the same.

Panic began to fester inside me, and my skin chilled. As if sensing something, Jaxson paused mid-step. He cocked his head to the right, scanning the trees, and then he whispered, “Run.”

It took a second to register, but when he pushed me forward, I sprinted into the trees. Thunderous movement crashed behind me, and I stole a glance back, dread coiling in my stomach. Jaxson stood immobile, crouched with his claws out, ready. I spun behind a tree and peered around the side of the twisted trunk.

What was he doing? Why hadn’t he come with me?

Suddenly, a giant thing launched out of the trees and soared through the air toward Jaxson. Its skin kept shifting colors, and its two hooked talons glinted in the light that permeated from the leaves overhead.

Jaxson shot forward and ducked beneath the monster’s talons. In a flash, he’d grabbed the creature’s arm and twisted. There was a snap, and then Jaxson hurled the monster backward.

The beast landed nimbly and paused. As if sensing my presence, it bent its reptilian head and looked right at me. It tilted its neck back and barked like a goddamned velociraptor. Seconds later, a similar bark echoed through the jungle, followed by another.

“Run, Savannah!” Jaxson roared as he leapt out of the monster’s striking distance. “Get the damn stone. I’ll find you!”

With my gaze locked on the monster, I took a step backward and spun. But my foot caught on a root, and I tripped, landing hard on my palms.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

With my pulse pounding in my temples, I scrambled to my feet and sprinted away from Jaxson and that thing. More barking cut through the jungle, and the sound of something large moving through the trees toward me made my blood curdle. Was this a trap to lure us to our deaths?

No. I had the sense that if she had wanted to, Cavra could have killed us right there. I was certain she believed we had a chance.

But maybe just a slim one.

I skuttled behind a crumbled wall and listened. Apart from the pulse of the Dreamlands and my pounding heart, there was nothing nearby.

I wished that Sorsha had prepared us a little more for this. All she’d told us was that navigating the Dreamlands was more about your intent than geography.

Maybe that was something. Hope dwindling like sand in an hourglass, I squeezed my eyes shut.

I need to find the heart of the woods.

Repeating the thought over and over like a mantra, I opened my eyes and began moving forward with a pool of dread in my chest. Ducking under branches and moss, I scanned my surroundings for any sign of that damn basalt pillar with the bloodstone.

Nothing.

I pushed onward, scrambling around and over the ancient ruins that the jungle had claimed. Finally, as my mind grew numb from repeating the mantra, the lights from earlier appeared ahead.

I brushed an oversized palm leaf aside. The lights had stopped and were clustered and hovering around a pitch-black void in the trees.

The Glen of Shadows. It had to be, judging by the way the darkness leaked out of it like tendrils of smoke. I glanced behind me, praying that I’d see Jaxson, but he was nowhere.

“Crap,” I muttered, forcing my feet forward. I took several gasps, trying to get my breaths under control. I just had to go in, move quickly, and find the stone without looking at the shadows. Piece of cake.

I stopped just short of where the darkness started, and my skin tingled.

A chorus of faint whispers filtered out of the blackness: Join us. In the darkness, you will find your answers. Take what you want. You belong here. You are one of us.

Shit, I didn’t want to do this.

I don’t either, so now would be a great time to figure out how to get out of this, my wolf said.

I laughed. “I think we’re out of options.”

Well, glad you’re driving this time.

Although that wasn’t exactly a vote of confidence, warmth filled me. I wasn’t alone.

I bit my lip. I hope Jaxson is okay.

He’s fine. I’d know if he was hurt, my wolf said in my mind.

Would she? Why? There was so much I didn’t understand about werewolves.

I pushed the nagging thoughts out of my mind and steeled my courage. Then I stepped into the glen.