Page 46 of Fire Bound

He holds his hands up in surrender. “Okay, jeez. I’m still trying to figure out how all of this works. Pruitt and Ryker are the alphas, so information is supposed to be brought to them, but I’m not a member of the pack. Technically, I don’t have to tell them jack shit. Right?” The more he rambles, the closer he is to being punched in the throat. “But I like to think that you and I have become friends, or we’re well on our way to being friends, and I feel like I should tell you. It is about Jax after all and he’s your…Jax.”

“Whisper,” I warn when he doesn’t immediately continue. At the mention of Jax’s name, I’m freezing in place as alarm bells start to go off in my head. What could the hacker possibly know about Jax?

“Last night a grave was robbed in Seattle,” he finally admits after an annoyingly long pause. “I did some digging and that black circle that Jax warned us about? There was one around this grave.”

“Kaius.”

Whisper nods his head in confirmation. “Unless there’s another necromancer out there raising the dead.”

“There isn’t,” I confirm. The only other one we know of is Winslow, and she’s only half. Her powers aren’t like Kaius’s. “He’s in Seattle.”

“As of eight hours ago, he was.”

“Eight hours? Why are you just telling me thisnow?” That’s eight hours the necromancer has to get away from us again.

“Because Jax threatened me with an extensive amount of bodily harm if I told anyone else.” Whisper rolls up the sleeve of his oversized and ripped-up sweater. Dark bruising wraps around his thin, pale forearm. The marks are clearly fingerprints.Jax’s fingerprints.“I don’t know a lot about this world yet, but from what I know about these guys, Jax is going to need backup. If I’m right, he’ll be thankful I told you because he lived, or it won’t matter because he’ll be dead. After eight hours of agonizing over what I should do, I decided I’m okay with either of those outcomes. Obviously, I’d prefer the first one, but I’d rather not have a pissed-off demon on my ass.”

I feel my eyes shifting into their glowing wolf forms as my animal side surges forward. “Would you rather have a pissed-off wolf shifter? Because if something happens and I could have been there with him hours ago, I’m going to shred your body into pieces and then post it on your fuckingblog.”

“My blog? What the hell do I look like? A bored soccer mom who ignores that her husband is having an affair by writing up muffin recipes and DIY shiplap projects? I think the fuck not,” he sniffs like he’s offended. “I have a message board that can only be found on the dark web. It’sdifferent.”

I stand there imagining what it would be like to string him up like a pinata and beat him with a stick for a second before announcing, “I’m going after him. I need to get to Seattle.”

If this is our only chance to get to Kaius, we can’t risk Jax being there alone, and I can’t risk something happening to Jax. I didn’t go through six months of hell for him to be so cavalier with the life I risked everything for.

For reasons I’ll never be able to understand, I need that jerk to stay alive. I need it more than I need air.

“Do you want me to find you a flight?” Whisper offers. “If I had time, I’d prefer to get you an alias to travel under just in case Sterling is monitoring things like that. Ideally, it would be better if you could drive, but I don’t think we have time for that.”

“I have a way there,” I assure him. “Or I think I do. I just have to go ask my sister-in-law if it’s okay.” Whisper looks at me with a confused look. “Remember all that money you helped steal from Winslow’s adoptive dad? She bought a plane with it.”

Now I have to find a way to ask her if I can borrow it. It’s a lot like asking someone if you can borrow their car, only it’s a fewmilliondollars more expensive. Easy-peasy.

Winslow wasthe easiest one to win over. I’d barely finished explaining myself before she was on the phone calling the pilot and crew to get the plane ready. The rest of my family, however, weren’t as easily persuaded, it wasn’t until I reminded them that they were better off here, they reluctantly agreed.

Ryker and Pru can’t leave because they’re the alphas. Pru argued at first, but when she was not so gently reminded by her mate she’s carrying achild, she conceded. Ranger won’t leave Winslow here alone. Isabeau offered to go with me, but if Sterling shows up while she’s away, the pack won’t be as strong without her here. The pack needs both Isabeau and Ransom here to keep them safe.

As I wait for the small crew to finish getting the plane ready, Winnie and Whisper stand on the small tarmac with me. Ranger waits by the car in the distance, his vigilant eyes scanning the area around us just in case.

While Whisper is busy typing away at one of the three phones he carries around with him, Winslow cocks her head and stares at me. “What?” I ask, feeling self-conscious.

“You seem… lighter.” She waves her hand around my frame. “Not quite yet yourself, but you’re getting there.”

“I’ve… uh…” I clear my throat nervously as I try to find the words. “Well, it turns out that every one of those self-help books is right. Keeping secrets and shoving feelings down will help for a minute, but not in the long run.”

Winslow laughs softly. “I could have told you that months ago, but it wouldn’t have mattered. You weren’t ready to listen or let go. You needed time to figure it out on your own. I didn’t know I was ready to tell my secrets until I met Ranger. At the time I thought admitting my past to him was the worst thing that could have happened, but it turned out to be the best. I’ve never feltfreerthan I did after he knew everything. Every dark detail I told him was a weight off my chest. So, if you’ve relieved some of your own weight, I’m happy for you.” She grins at me. “Plus, I’m excited to have you back because Beau doesn’t always understand my jokes and she really takes the fun out of it when I have to explain them to her. A hamster would understand a knock-knock joke better than her.”

“I’m trying to get back to normal,” I tell her. “Or at least I’m trying to figure out what my new normal is.”

“Good.” Behind us, the door of the black jet opens and a short staircase is released. “So, if you do find my sperm donor, kick him in the nuts for me.” A gleeful look lights up her face. The intensity of it is almost terrifying. “Or better yet, cut them off and bring them home for me in a doggie bag.”

“You’re more bloodthirsty than we give you credit for,” I observe as I stare down the tiny witch. “Ilikeit.”

She shrugs innocently before leaning up and kissing me on the cheek beforeskippingaway to her waiting mate.

Shaking my head I look at Whisper who has finally put away his phone. He’s traded his usual pair of glasses for a pair of comically large black sunglasses with silver studs on the side. “Are you hiding from the paparazzi?”

“Several governments, actually,” he answers without skipping a beat. He takes a phone out of his pocket and hands it to me. “Use this to contact us. I’ve put software on it that makes it untraceable. I’ve also put the addresses you need to go check out when you get there.”

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