Page 19 of Gift from the Stone

“As soon as we’re done with the motherfucker, he’s mine. I’ll drop him from a thousand feet in the air before catching him and tossing him around like a fucking play toy. Then I’m gonna set his ass on fire, barbeque him up real good before I chew him up and spit him out and do it all over again, and again, and again. Once I tear him limb from fucking limb, then and only then will I eat him.”

“No. No. I’ll tell you what you want to know.” Jarod screeches and my brothers all let out little chuckles, cutting off my murderous thoughts.

“You were thinking out loud.” Caspian smiles.

Whoopsie.

“Are Griffin and Abott in Elementra?” I growl, ready to go hunting.

“No, not right now. Last I heard, they were in the nonmagical realm, cleaning up the mess from Master Griffin’s initiation night. The man who died was from Elementra and played a role close to the Summum-Master.”

“Almost got it,” Tillman announces to all of us.

No more than a second after Tillman says it, Jarod lets out a bone-chilling scream and begins thrashing around in his seat as if he’s possessed. Caspian wraps him in his shadows to hold him still and starts peppering him with questions.

“How are they getting into this realm? Who’s the Summum-Master? Where are they hiding?” The only noise coming out of Jarod’s mouth is screams, painstaking, blood-curdling screams.

“Tillman, are you getting anything?” Caspian shouts, gripping Jarod’s face with his hands.

“No. His mind is scrambling,” Tillman grunts as he tries to hold on to the fabrics of Jarod’s memories.

Jarod finally falls still and looks around at all of us, settling his eyes on Caspian.

“He knows you’re looking and he knows you have the girl.”

His eyes roll to the back of his head, and he lets out one final scream, this one a mix of his voice and the howl of his wolf, his last command.

Caspian lets go of his face and takes several steps back, staring in amazed horror as the M on his chest begins to glow, leaving a hole big enough for his heart to fall right out and flop on the table in front of us. Jarod’s body slides out of the chair and hits the ground with a deafening thud.

The only noise to be heard in the room is the rhythmic beat of his heart attempting to pump blood that’s nowhere to be found. After what feels like forever, it falls still.

“What the hell just happened?” I ask.

“The lock on his mind must’ve been connected to the M. It’s more than a mark. It’s a rune.” Caspian sends a shadow tendril to poke the heart, then walks around to kneel beside Jarod, examining his body. “The Summum-Master has a way of ensuring if those in his inner circle get captured, they don’t betray him.”

“Shit.” I run my hands through my hair frustratedly, pissed I didn’t get to end this scumbag and that once again, they’re a step ahead of us.

“Let’s get to Gaster’s and inform him and Willow. Maybe they found something in their research today.” Corentin’s fingers are twitching with the strength it’s taking to hold his gift back and from withholding the desire to start shooting messages off to get a plan in place for what to do next. His mind’s probably playing one hundred different scenarios already.

Leaving the interrogation room, Corentin gives Codi and Blaze instructions to take Jarod’s body and heart to the research lab and have Jamie observe it. Sucks for them. That foul stench of the wolf’s blood is driving me nuts.

Reaching the transport zone, I’m jittery and vibrating with the need to see my little wanderer. Finding out that her piece of shit father and the other dead man are actively looking for her has my hackles up. Plus, it’s getting to be late afternoon, and this has been the longest I’ve spent away from her since she got back. I need my eyes on her and my hands roaming her body. Now.

“Is everyone ready?” I ask. At their nod, I transport us as one.

The smile I’m wearing in anticipation of seeing her drops as soon as we step out on the lawn. Lying on the ground, twenty or so feet in front of us, Willow’s spread out with Gaster kneeling beside her.

“Willow,” I shout, sprinting at full speed, covering the short distance between us. “What happened?” I yell at Gaster.

“I’m a badass, that’s what happened.” My little wanderer smiles up at me, pride shining in her tired eyes.

“Got to be honest, you’re not looking too badass right now,” Caspian says as he runs his shadows down her body.

“Don’t be fooled by my current state.” She laughs as she slowly lifts her hand to let his shadows swirl through her fingers.

“Will one of you please explain what happened? Now.” Corentin’s worry bleeds through his voice as he kneels beside me and gently grips Willow’s chin to get a better look at her.

“I’ve had a very eventful day. I learned the diversion and concealment spell. Then I created my own pocket dimension. I’m just a little drained and exhausted at the moment.” Despite her current sprawled out state, her face is the picture of calm and happiness. She looks… I don’t know, different. Peaceful. Stunning.

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