Page 36 of Black Hand
“When they kept me in the cages, they took my blood.” Swallowing thickly, I tried speaking faster in hopes that not all the memories would return. “When I was too weak to stay awake and feel my suffering, they’d force blood down my throat, but just enough to keep me aware of what was happening. Johnathan is nothing if not cunning. If the pendant is somehow connected to me and my blood along with my gift … well, he would’ve dug out that information a long time ago.”
“He has that much pull in the Syndicate?”
I snorted at Dominic’s question. “He is so slimy and manipulative that if you need to find any information, you should go to him. He would sell his own soul to gain an advantage.” My lips pressed into a thin line and I stared at my feet. “I wish you caught him that night.”
“There will be time yet,” he muttered but paused when I kept twitching my shoulders. “What’s wrong.” My heart skipped a beat when his fingers found a loose strand that escaped my ponytail and tucked it behind my ear.
“I’m not sure.” Clearing my throat, I tried controlling my breathing, but nothing was helping. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
“Did it work?” Alice croaked from the couch and she lifted on her elbows. “Did you take it off?”
When she saw us standing in the middle of the circle, she jumped to her feet, though she was swaying slightly. I tensed to jump and catch her if she dropped, but I shouldn’t have worried. Teetering like she was drunk and pushing the wolf to the side, she stumbled toward us, both arms outstretched and her glasses barely hanging on for dear life to the tip of her nose.
“Well?” she mumbled, but her voice trailed off when the morning light coming through the window slowly started disappearing. “What the hell is that?”
All three of us watched darkness overtake the bright blue sky, as if someone was erasing the day and replacing it with night so dark it was pitch black. The breath got stuck in my throat.
“Alice, get here,” I shouted, and she didn’t need to be told twice.
Before I could reach out, she bolted and dove head-first for us. The top of her head hit the invisible barrier, which sent her sprawling back like a starfish on the floor. A whimpered “Ouch” was the only sound after all the air exited her lungs with a loud whooshing grunt. Luckily her feet were close to the outside of the salt circle, so I grabbed her ankles and yanked her in with us. By this point, everything was covered in dark shadows.
“Witches,” Dominic spat from above me while I crouched to check the back of Alice’s head.
“What’s going on? Doggy! Doggy come here.” Alice shouted frantically trying to get the wolf shifter to join us, but I had no time to worry about getting him to safety too.
The entire world exploded around us.
20
An inferno opened where the small house once stood, the flames licking whatever was left from the outside walls. The roof caved in raining on us, and I only had enough time to tug Alice under my body. If my bones broke, they would heal. Hers might be the end of her. The ground was rattling erratically, so I had to brace on my elbows and knees or I would’ve rolled away from her. Grateful when nothing dropped on top of us to crush us, I dared to glance up and see how the barrier was holding, happiness floating through me that it was strong enough to protect us.
My eyes locked on intense green ones.
Dominic was poised above me and Alice bearing the brunt of the fallen roof on his shoulders. His neck and shoulders strained, and his jaw was clenched so tight I was shocked I couldn’t hear his teeth breaking. Flames were nearing his body, crawling fast up the wooden pieces and reaching for him. Panic propelled me faster than I’d ever moved before. Jumping to my feet, I took half of the roof on my own shoulders to give him a break.
“Alice, I need you to come and stand next to me.” I grunted the words before shrinking into myself to stay away from the fire that looked ready to devour us. “Alice!” I snapped when she kept cowering on the floor sobbing about the dead wolf shifter and how it was her fault he died.
“Brooklyn, what is happening?” she whimpered after a while but obeyed, thankfully.
“Nothing, it’s fine,” I tried to reassure her. “We’re fine.”
But we weren’t and we were not going to be. Alice knew it too, because she was looking at me like I’d lost my mind. I, on the other hand, struggled to accept the fact that Dominic was protecting me with his own body. Shifters didn’t do that. Not even for their own.Unless it’s a mate or a youngling.A voice in my mind snickered, but I shoved that stupidity away.
“The rest of the house is going to collapse any minute.” Dominic’s deep voice was calm as if he’d accepted our fate.
I didn’t.
“They want me.” His gaze narrowed, but I continued. “If I agree to go to the Council, most of them will leave to bring me to justice. “Whoever is left, you’ll be able to handle on your own, just please promise me you’ll take Alice with you.”
“No.” There was no room for argument in that one word.
“Dominic, be reasonable.” Praying to whoever listened, I hoped beyond hope that he would do as I asked. “They could’ve killed me but sent me to the cages instead. They also kept me close after I escaped that hell. If what we were saying is true, they’ll keep me alive. You’ll be able to find me, but only if you are alive.” I didn’t know if he would want to go looking for me, but the realization that I wanted him to hit me like a battering ram.
“We will go together,” he stubbornly snarled, while Alice was clutching me for dear life.
“We are surrounded. You can feel them as well as I can. Go.” I hissed when flames skittered across the back of my hand that was holding the roof. “Go!”
“Stubborn female,” he barked through a tight jaw. “Let go on three?” I gave him a nod and blinked back tears.
