Wild Wolf (Darkmore Penitentiary Book 4)

The night was balmy, the moon hanging low over the ocean and the repetitive lapping of the waves against the boat sounding like the hands of a clock ticking down. Ahead of us, where we expected Grimolda Isle to be, there was nothing but darkness, and yet we remained on course.

My skin prickled as we moved across the ocean, the night full of whispers and secrets. Ahead of us, the world grew even darker, the waves themselves fading into a black so impenetrable that it seemed unnatural.

“That’s one hell of a concealment spell,” Cain muttered at my side, my red hair blowing over my face in response to the wind caused by his sudden arrival.

“I guess they don’t want to be found,” I agreed, my eyes sweeping from one edge of that impenetrable darkness to the other as I tried to figure out the scale of the hidden island ahead of us.

“This thing isn’t going to be pretty,” Cain said, his hand curling around the wooden rail that lined the deck of the boat. His black shirt was unbuttoned at his throat and I moved closer to him, hooking my fingers through another button and pulling that free too, revealing more of his muscled chest.

“Pretty never suited me anyway,” I purred, my finger roaming down to his next button before I withdrew it, leaving him swallowing thickly and forcing his eyes back out over the water.

All of the fear I’d been filled with, the angst, pain and pure terror was slipping away at last. I was a creature born for the fight and now that we were drawing closer to it, I finally found my pulse settling, that deadly calm which I knew so well falling over me.

This wouldn’t work if we lost our heads. So mine was going to stay screwed on tight.

“When we dock you’ll come with me,” I told Cain. “We’re going to slip right into the heart of that place and figure out where Roary is. As soon as we have a lock on him, Sin and Ethan will cause a distraction. Between my moon gifts and your speed, we should be able to get Roary out before they even realise what’s happening.”

“You’re assuming we’ll be able to find him easily,” Cain replied. “What if he’s locked up tight somewhere – what if he isn’t here at all?”

“He’s here,” I replied firmly. “I can feel it.”

Cain arched a brow but didn’t seem inclined to disagree with me. Perhaps he was finally done underestimating me and what I was capable of. Besides, I was confident in my assessment of what we were about to face because the moon was urging me on and she was the one who had given me Roary in the first place, so I trusted her help in our reunion.

The darkness grew before us until I couldn’t see beyond it without turning to face the rear of our small vessel.

“Into the dark we go,” Ethan murmured, moving to stand on my other side, his fingers twining with mine.

“Oh how I thrive in the unseen places,” Sin purred.

A dark smile captured my lips, the invisible wind tangling with my hair as our little boat sailed into the pitch black and enveloped us entirely.

“By the stars,” Hastings gasped from somewhere behind me. “Oh sweet starlight please deliver us from this hellish nothing.”

Whether the stars had granted his wish or fate simply chose that moment to deliver us from the dark, I wasn’t sure, but the boat slipped through that void of nothingness and blinding light burned it away.

I lifted a hand to shield my eyes, squinting against the flare of two huge bonfires that were blazing on the beach ahead of us. I blinked while my sight adjusted, taking in the packed harbour and the wooden walkway beyond it which led to the beach and the gated citadel beyond.

A wall of wooden posts topped with sharp points spanned the beach in both directions, punctured only by the huge gate in its centre where a group of savage-looking Fae stood guard.

The scent of smoke filled the air, mixing with the salt of the sea and an underlying scent of decay.

“Here,” I said, taking the vials of jazzy eyes from my pocket and handing one to each of our group. I’d explained the use of it to all of them already and I hoped we wouldn’t end up in need of it, but I figured it never hurt to have a solid backup plan.

“How long until I can start killing things?” Sin asked me sweetly as our boat moved closer to the doc. He had changed his appearance again, now looking like a ripped Harpy with bronze wings and chin length auburn hair. It was a little unsettling to be addressing the face of a stranger but when I looked into his eyes, I could still see the man I knew so well peering back out at me.

“I’ll give you a signal once we’ve located Roary. Until then, behave yourself, monster of mine,” I warned him.

“Just call me good boy until further notice,” Sin replied with a wicked grin and Cain snorted irritably.

I picked up my pack, carefully positioning it on my back and steeling myself for what would come next.

The boat jolted beneath us and I gripped the rail, looking down into the water as we were jerked forward and spotting a pair of Shark Shifters hauling us along at speed.

Ethan moved to look down into the water with me, but we remained silent now that we were so close to prying ears.

The Sharks dragged our boat into a position along the dock and I led the group as I disembarked onto the boardwalk.

Several leering goons watched us as we passed but I ignored them, striding straight towards the gates without so much as glancing in their direction.

Three sets of heavy footsteps echoed mine, a fourth stumbling along at a hurried pace at the back of the group. My jaw ticked. Hastings might have been a bad call for this job. He was eager and determined to find himself a new place now that he had abandoned Darkmore for good, but I was doubtful that he was cut out for a life of crime. Ethan had promised to keep an eye on him though, and I doubted he could cause too much trouble for us. So long as he didn’t blow our cover before we made it inside.

We approached the gates together, the leering guards all turning their focus on our group as we passed between them.

I kept my gaze fixed on the big bastardo blocking the way on and ignored the rest. He was a Minotaur, not in his fully shifted form but his horns were on show, one of them cracked and broken at the tip, the other stained in what appeared to be blood. He had a large nose ring and a face tattoo of a charging bull beneath his right eye. Very intimidating, I was sure. For any other stronzo that was.

I held out my invite with an irritable sigh, casting a glance at Cain as he moved to stand at my side.

The Minotaur inspected the thick card, turning it in the light and casting some spell over it which I assumed was to assess it for authenticity.

I wondered whether there was anything about it which marked it as Pike’s. News of her death was widespread after all and if they could tell this had been hers then we might have to fight our way in from the offset.

Luckily for the Minotaur and his buddies, that wasn’t the case.

“Bidding is about to start if you’re here for the auction,” he grunted at me, waving us past him. “You’re cutting it damn fine.”

“Thanks for the tip, udders,” I replied, sweeping past him, climbing a hill through the jungle and leading our group into the compound at its peak.

A dirt pathway opened up ahead of us, a crowd milling around a marketplace which took up the space, selling illegal wares and trading in dark curses. I could hear an auctioneer calling out in the distance, already taking bids on something but I had no interest in whatever that might be.

I eyed a stall filled with shrieking slifian horn crabs and took in the goat-like creature standing stoically behind them. It watched me with a knowing glint in its eyes, fire kindling around its pale lips.

Wordlessly, I cut a path between the stalls, ignoring the yells from traders offering all manner of ill-conceived and outlawed merchandise. Ethan hissed a command at Hastings to stop gawping like a virgin bride and I glanced over my shoulder at them with a firm look.

“Time to split up,” I murmured as we approached a stone archway carved with vicious effigies of the star signs, the ferocious looking Leo symbol part way through ripping the head from a poor Fae who had crossed its path.

“And then I can-” Sin began excitedly but I caught the front of his shirt in my fist, yanking him to me and speaking so close to his lips that we were almost kissing.

“You will wait,” I reminded him, staring into green eyes which weren’t his at all.

He stretched his Harpy wings in protest then sighed, nodding once. “I’ll wait, wild girl,” he swore, tilting his chin to kiss me but I stepped back before he could.

“I’ll taste your lips when they’re your own again, Wilder,” I told him. “Until then, behave.”

He painted a cross over his heart and I looked to Ethan who nodded his own understanding. I was leaving him in charge and though I doubted he would be able to do much to rein Sin in, I was hoping he would at least stand a chance of keeping him in check until the time to act had come.

I clapped Hastings on the arm bracingly then turned to Cain and gave him a wicked smile.

“Come on, amore mio,” I purred. “Make sure these stronzos know who owns me.”

He blinked at me, taking in my command, the corner of his mouth twitching before he drew me under his arm and walked us through the stone archway ahead of the others.

I didn’t look back to see when they peeled away from us into the depths of the crowd.

Cain kept me close and led me into the heart of this place of sin and seduction, the scent of death and pain coiling around us like a drug. It was loud in here, cries of excitement and terror mingling as one while Fae danced the line of debauchery and devilry so finely that it laced the air with its toxicity.

We passed fighting pits where blood stained the walls and brothels promising every kind of fucked up fantasy known to Fae, but we didn’t pause at any of them.

The moon was calling me onwards, right into the heart of this place of broken lies and I was going to keep moving to the song of its call until my feet led me right to the man I loved.