Page 142 of Sapphire Flame
Renee had told her to address her deepest fear and it was that if she loved Grant, she’d lose him. But something told her that in leaving him as she had, she’d put him in jeopardy.
Her wolf rose to all fours.
“So, I’m on the right track?”
Her wolf yipped once more.
She could feel it now, the call from a distance. Would Renee finally come to her and explain everything to her?
Natalie thought not. This was on her, to figure things out, and to make her next move.
She’d adamantly opposed searching out her own future. But right now, she needed information.
Everything about heralterlife coalesced in this moment as though events had been building for six years precisely to this pinnacle. She revered what was happening and gave it a place of importance she’d been unwilling to before.
She was part of great events now. She’d risen out of her simple life of making a living by showing others the future to one of binding herself to the alpha of the Meldorin Pack.
She closed her eyes and in the sanctity of the chapel opened her heart and her mind to the near future, to her place in the Meldorin Pack, to her bond with Grant. She had a job to do, a critical one, that meant as it had from the beginning to help her man stay alive in a world dominated by unworthy creatures like Kryder.
For the first time, the future parted before her without a single twinge of pain. All the muscles down her back were relaxed.
But as she focused on Grant, a wave of dread rolled over her long before the images arrived. She could have retreated, but the time for backing away had passed.
She ordered the future to come to her now.
What arrived was the reason for the dread. She saw Grant bound and bloody, hanging from chains.
She could have shut it down, but she wanted more information.
She rolled the future back, closer to the present.
Within the vision, Kryder shouted. “Where is she? Natalie is mine. Find her. Summon her. Bring her to me or I swear to God you’ll both die before the night is out.”
Grant lifted his face to Kryder and met the monster’s gaze stare for stare. “The real question is why can’t you see her for yourself? But I believe I know why? You’ve lost the power the pack gave you.”
“Much good that same power is doing you.” Kryder lifted his fist and punched Grant with a hard left.
Blood flew in an arc as Grant’s head snapped back and to the side.
Natalie forced herself to keep going. She needed to see where he was. Within the vision, she panned back. The location was unfamiliar, but several of the guards in the room had blue flames climbing their necks and cheeks. She also recognized the blue trimmed black tanks from The Sapphire Club.
The problem was she had no idea where this room was located within the club’s multi-level, underground building.
A simple idea came to her.
~ ~ ~
Grant’s joints were on fire from hanging suspended for hours. Every few minutes, two of Kryder’s guards would pull on his legs until he was howling in agony. Sweat poured down his body in rivers. Blood oozed from a dozen stab wounds and an equal number of bites. Kryder liked to shift and tear chunks of flesh from his body.
“I’ll leave you for now to think about saving your ass. I need Natalie. Even if you die here tonight, Grant, I’ll find her.”
He heard the door shut and breathed a sigh. He was losing blood, a lot of it. He wasn’t sure how much longer he had.
His thoughts turned to Natalie.
He felt like a fool on all fronts. The profound euphoria he’d experienced during the process of becoming alpha to the Meldorin Pack, had blinded him to a host of realities.
Earlier, some time while he’d been showering, his sense of duty toward his wolves had settled within him in a profound way. The problem was, he’d acted as though Natalie had never entered his life, as though she had no value to him. Despite that her assertive nature had given him a clear path plus any number of enhanced abilities, he’d easily shunted her aside in the name of responsibility.
