Page 41 of To Crave Truly

I stood there and let her words sink in. “You’re right.”

“I know.”

“But we still don’t really know why Mordecai let her go. There must be a reason.”

Cassian raised his eyebrow. “Or something he wants.”

My stomach dropped. “You don’t think he wants something from the vault?”

Only the most dangerous artifacts were stored down there. End of the world type things.

“She wouldn’t… would she?” Rae stuttered.

“She would if she thought it was the only way to save us,” Cassian growled.

“Alec! Come quick,” Fenris snapped over the comms.

Parking the conversation about Lori, I ran into the house and into the kitchen where I found Fenris frantically trying to save someone.

“Help me!” he shouted, quickly looking at me before applying pressure to a wound. A mage with runes matching those outside, sat propped up against a cupboard while his chest pulsed a steady flow of blood onto the floor beneath him.

I dropped to my knees and pushed my hands on top of the gaping hole in the guy’s chest. Eyes full of fear met mine and I knew this guy didn’t have long.

“Who are you working for?” I asked.

He grinned, his teeth stained with blood. “Ask me… another.”

“What are you doing with the witches?”

“F… Fuel.” His eyes rolled back into his head.

“Hey.” I slapped his face. “Stay with me. Fuel for what?”

“Fire. To burn… the… world.” His hands shot out and grabbed my wrists. His voice dropped, low and guttural. “The master will purify the earth. Blood will pour and bring forth new life born from darkness.”

“I’m losing him,” Fenris yelled. “We need to get him back to base.”

The mage laughed but it was a wet rasp, filled with blood. It poured down his chin as he laughed away his last breaths. “There’s no escape… no es…cape. She will… kill… all…”

Then he was gone.

“Dammit!” Fenris punched the cupboard next to him, splintering the wood.

“Hey! Calm down. The guy had half his chest missing, he was never going to make it. The fact that he was still alive now was a lucky thing for us.”

Fenris’ brown eyes sparked with his magic, and, for a moment, I thought he was going to lose it. I could feel the team behind me suddenly tense up as they braced for whatever Fenris was going to throw at us.

“This is bullshit,” he snapped. “We’re no closer to figuring this shit out, and our best lead just died.”

“I know,” I said calmly. “But getting angry isn’t going to solve anything.”

“We need to find the rest of this tribe.” Rae pointed at the symbol on the guy’s arm. It matched the severed limb I’d looked at earlier. It was an eye surrounded by the arcane symbols for the elements.

“Can you do that Fenris?” I asked. “Do you know who they are?”

His shoulders heaved as he breathed deeply. Iver was right, damn him. Fenris hadn’t been the same since coming back from the dead. And I’d been too blind to see it. He was becoming more unstable with each passing day, and I was starting to worry if there would come a day when he’d finally break.

“Yes,” he replied. “I know who they are. They call themselves The Wanderers. I’ll speak to my father, I’m sure he will know their last location.”

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