Page 16 of Wolf Touched

We had one set of stairs left to go, but then my worst fear happened.

A door above us opened.

My heart hammered in my ears, distorting sounds.

“What in the goddess—” Supreme Priestess Olwyn’s voice cut off. She must have looked over the rail as we reached the door that led outside.

“You’re going to have to deal with the pain,” Rafferasped as he opened the door. “You deserve to feel it anyway after all the shit you pulled.”

As I ran out the door and the drizzle hit me in the face, I heard Supreme Priestess Olwyn say, “They’ve taken Dave and are running. Get the word out and stop them. I told you I should have—” The door to the apartments slammed shut, cutting off her last words as the four of us ran toward the vehicles.

It was past six thirty, and some students were out and about. A guy jogging on the road that circled the campus paused to watch us. I could only imagine how we looked to observers with Raffe carrying a man like a baby.

As we reached the edge of the women’s apartments, the double doors of the men’s apartments opened. Slade yelled, “Sky! What’s going on?”

My heart ached, and I couldn’t swallow around the lump lodged in my throat. Hearing his voice right after learning what he’d done to me made my mouth taste salty and bile churn in my stomach. I wasn’t sure what to say. It was clear what we were doing. But maybe that was the point—for him to see what we’d learned.

Where are you guys?I linked with Lucy and Josie. I didn’t see them, which meant they were likely still inside. Raffe had tied Octavia extremely well to the bed, so it wouldn’t be easy to free her.

We’re leaving the apartment. We’ll be down in a few minutes,Lucy replied.

Shit. We had to buy them time.

Forcing my legs to slow, I rolled my shoulders and pushed the hair out of my face. The rain was coming down harder, making it more difficult to see. I was about to tell a big ol’ fat lie, so I hoped like hell the coven memberscouldn’t smell it. The rain should keep the smell from reaching too far. “Hey, sorry. We’re in a hurry.”

“I can see that.” Slade chuckled, jogging toward me.

Two male coven members I’d never seen before were with him.

What the fuck are you doing?Raffe linked, his fear like a choke hold.

Keep going. Lucy and Josie aren’t here yet. I have to buy us time.I knew it wouldn’t go over well, but I was already stalling.

Slade stopped a few feet from me, his blond hair more of a medium brown in the precipitation. He shook his head, reminding me of a dog, and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Dave … he’s not doing well.” I chose my words carefully.

The nape of my neck tingled, which always happened when Raffe watched me from afar. I knew he was passing Dave off to one of the others and circling back to me. He wouldn’t leave me alone with a threat.

But that was the thing. The Veiled Circleneededme, so they wanted to play nice in the hope I’d turn against my mate.

“He’s still alive?” Slade’s eyes flicked to the retreating figures behind me. He pursed his lips. I used to think his reaction was over Dave’s well-being, but now I was certain it was consternation because the vampire was still breathing. How sad was that? What sort of people thought they should be in control when they didn’t value the lives of others? At least the wolf shifters weren’t killing other supernaturals just because someone had dirt on them.

“Yeah, he’s hanging on.” Raffe’s deep voice came from a few feet behind me. He took my hand and stood stiffly at my side.

A shiver from how raspy and low his voice was shot down my spine. “Is there something you need? We’re trying to get him help.”

“Help? He’s a supernatural. He can’t go anywhere.” Slade laughed forcefully. “Just take him back to his apartment. Mom wants to check on him. If anyone can help, it’s her.”

Shit. I hadn’t thought this through, but we couldn’t abandon Lucy and Josie. The Circle would use them as leverage over us, and I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to those two … and even Octavia. She might have been a shit biological mother, but that didn’t mean she deserved to die, especially not if I had a brother. I didn’t know anything about him, but no one deserved to lose their mom.

“He needs blood.” Raffe lifted his chin. “Lots of it. The best thing we can do is take him somewhere isolated and steal some bags. If he drinks from a human, he’ll kill them.”

Slade scowled. “He’s a vampire and none of your concern. He’s an EEU student, and Mom should be taking point on this. I don’t understand why you two are fighting against it. I honored your request to wait until this morning for Mom to come, and now you need to bring him back inside.”

This stall tactic wasn’t working. Josie and Lucy needed to come outnow.We’d done everything we could to give them time.

Time we’d officially run out of.

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