Page 42 of Forsaken Fate

“Great,” I muttered. “The perfect place to hide a body.”

I went around the building. There was nothing but woods back there. I knew from my GPS the lake itself was about two miles to the north of me. Beyond that was virtually untouched forest and natural wetlands. Four thousand acres of it. All formerly belonging to Theodore Dorran Sr.’s pack. His family’s hunting grounds going back two centuries. The Dorran pack had been one of the most powerful in the country a long time ago. Now Theo wanted it all back.

Grayson would never let it happen. If he wasn’t strong enough to take Theo out himself, he would align himself with other packs. All for the promise of a piece of this land. He would parcel it off bit by bit.

It made me sick. But it couldn’t be my problem. Not today.

The wind shifted. Though it was mid-day, the sky began to go dark. The temperature dropped. I looked behind me. The sky in the direction of the rest stop and the highway still looked clear. It was as if a black cloud was only following me.

Lightning cracked right in front of me. I jumped. The smell of ozone surrounded me.

“Hello?” I called out. Though my heart raced a mile a minute, I couldn’t show outward fear. I knew how this was supposed to work.

“I’m here,” I said. “Charlie sent me. My name is Brynna. I think you know who I am.”

All of a sudden, a small tornado appeared out of nowhere, right in front of me. It knocked me to the ground and ripped up a skinny birch tree to the left of me.

“I know who you are,” a female voice said. She was everywhere and nowhere. The world spun. I couldn’t get my bearings. I couldn’t breathe.

Then a white, bony hand reached out of thin air and pulled me back to my feet.

She was old. Gray eyes. Swirling white hair. She wore a long blue robe with gold tassels tying it in front.

“Sorry for the show,” she said.

“I don’t care,” I said. “Can you help me? Can you reach him?”

The mage held out her hand, palm up. “That depends. What do you have for me?”

I reached into my bag and pulled out two solid gold bars and put them in her outstretched hand. She clutched them to her chest then tucked them into the folds of her robe.

“You’d better sit down for this,” she said. “And you better do exactly what I say if you want to make it back in one piece, honey. I’m only doing this because we were old friends once upon a time and you look a lot like him.”

“Thank you. I’ll do whatever you say.” Tears filled my eyes. It had been so long since I’d been allowed to see the one man I knew loved me for who I really was.”

“All right,” she said as I sat down cross-legged on the ground. She joined me. She took my hands in hers and then the world fell completely away.

CHAPTER 17

Theo

At quarter to ten, I’d given up hope that Brynna would show tonight. I hated admitting even to myself how crushed I was by it. She was all I could think about. Worse than not having her was the idea that she’d stayed away because of Grayson, if that’s what it was. My phone rang and my shoulders tightened when I saw the caller ID.

Grayson. Was she with him? I accepted the call.

“You have an offer to make me?” I said by way of answer.

Grayson let out a forced laugh. “You’re something else, Theo.”

“Is that a no?” I said. “Cuz I’m tired. It’s past my bedtime.”

“Rrright.” Grayson’s tone was odd, like he had an audience. Was Brynna with him?

“Say hello to Brynna for me,” I said. “Tell her I’m sorry for cutting dinner short last night.”

“You can tell her yourself the next time you see her,” Grayson said. “I’m in Manhattan. She stayed home.”

Good. And fuck. Why wasn’t she here?

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