A heartbeat after Lu stumbled out of the truck and ripped off the hood, Tatiana materialized from nowhere. She hadn't driven to the camp with Lu and the betas, which was good, considering what Lu did next.
She'd never been a violent person—quite the opposite, really—but her rage was honed into something volcanic as she lashed out at the demon-witch.
When she rallied her power, magic snapped through the air like the strike of a match. Warmth flooded the campsite in a thick wave as Lu focused her anger directly onto Tatiana.
With a gasp, the demon-witch crashed to her knees and bellowed in pain. Blood trickled from her eyes, nose, and ears. A whirlwind gathered around them as Volkari rushed out of their tents or trailers, sleepy and disoriented. Car alarms went off. Flames engulfed a nearby tree. The earth rumbled underfoot.
Lu held out her arms and drew from every invisible current of magic that made itself known. She hurled it at Tatiana. Not a precise, thought-out spell with a chant or ritual. Not a curse with objects and gloomy weather to secure it. It was raw, untamed power, unseen and unheard.
"You gave me your word that she wouldn't be harmed!" Lu screamed. "And you wonder why we think you're savages!"
She stood above Tatiana's seizing body. Those uncanny, blue eyes rolled back into her skull, and the blackened veins webbing out beneath her skin could only be described as death.
"I will never help you," Lu went on. "Any of you! So enjoy your curse, enjoy being hunted and slaughtered for the rest of your miserable lives. And you can all blame her"—a finger pointed at Tatiana—"and your alpha for torturing Nika Dimitrovich!"
The onlookers ranged every shape, size, color, and age. But the expressions they wore were one and the same. Fear—that was fear clouding their eyes, freezing their movements. Fear and awe.
Lu's skin was glowing, her halo amplified in a violent burst of bronze. Her silver hair whipped relentlessly in the wind, and she could have sworn she heard a high-pitched chorus of angels.
The momentary distraction was enough to ruin her declaration.
A pair of arms captured her, pulling her against a solid body. "Stop!" Dante hissed.
She ignored him, thrashing against his grip as orbs of light bloomed in her palms. She didn't even notice it until a Volkari cried out in agony. Lu followed the sound, finding a man swathed in ethereal light. Burning light.
While others rushed to his aid, Lu raised her hand to Dante's face. "Release me, or I'll turn you to ash."
"And that would give everyone a very good reason to kill you." She breathed through her nose, heart slamming her ribs like a battering ram. Dante lowered his voice. "Please. For both of our sakes."
She craned her neck to glimpse him. The handsomeness, the rust-colored eyes, the burnt sienna skin. A predator packaged like a present.
But he was right. Lu's survival depended on her cooperation. So she inhaled deeply, reining in her surging emotions along with the magic.
When the only trace of it was the moans of her victims, Dante set her down, whispering, "Let's go." He nudged her toward the trailer-prison. "Tell me everything."
Recoiling from his touch, Lu allowed him to escort her away from the crowd. Behind them, Alpha Capello was shouting at Tatiana for taking Lu to the cave, and at his own betas for helping. Clearly, he'd known about the plan to torture Nika, and he'd intended to hide it from Lu so she'd behave.
What didn't make sense was why he cared about Asteroth in the first place. Or had he agreed to the heinous idea to appease Tatiana?
When she and Dante stepped inside the trailer, he shut the door and whispered, "What do you mean, torture?"
Lu studied him for a long moment. He almost seemed confused, perhaps a little worried. "Don't pretend like you didn't know," she snapped.
Dante gaped. "Did they hurt Nika?"
"You're one of Capello's betas. His nephew. I'm not buying the innocent act."
"Is she gonna be okay?" His voice was a mere scratch.
Lu was stunned. Surely, he was pretending. "You expect me to believe he didn't tell you about this?"
"My uncle hasn't been telling me anything lately."
Lu squinted. "Why?"
With a sigh, he sat at the small dining table, his forehead sinking into his hands. "Before I stole Konstantin's journal, before we kidnapped you, I spent a lot of time around Konstantin Academy. Studying the terrain, the campus, the people."
As Lu hesitantly sat across from him, Dante gazed out the window, toward the moon and stars, or perhaps the nothingness in between.
"I remember the first time I saw her," he said, so quietly that she had to lean closer to listen. "A snowstorm had come the night before, and her hair looked like a flame caught in the wind. She was sitting on a stone ledge that overlooked the valley. The whole school should have been asleep, but Nika watched the sunrise instead. The sun washed over her face, and she seemed so peaceful, so . . . free. Like she didn't belong in your world, didn't want to belong.
"I started watching her more closely. I saw her get bullied by other novices, and it took everything in me not to rip those pricks apart. I saw teachers give her poor grades, not because she was a bad student, but because she was a halfblood."
Dante's lips curled back in disgust as he added, "I saw her with Miles. Kissing. Touching. F—"
"I got it," Lu said hastily, raising a hand for him to stop. He met her gaze, eyes softening.
"Nika wasn't lying, you know. He really did tell her that he loved her. She was upset, ran down to the dorm cabins. I couldn't stop myself from approaching. I wanted to see her up close for once, wanted her to know my name."
"So that's why you asked for directions to the library." Lu couldn't stop the wry laugh that escaped her. "You have a crush on Nika."
Anger flashed through his features. "It isn't a crush."
Lu cocked an eyebrow. "So you love her, then?"
His silence was cryptic. She didn't know if it was a confession, or a sign of uncertainty. Perhaps it was something else entirely.
"Alpha sensed that my feelings had been compromised after I asked him not to go through with the abduction. I could see how close you were, how much Nika cared for you. But he threatened to annex me from the pack if I didn't obey him. I did the best I could, Lu. Spared her life that night. It might not have seemed like it, but I was trying to help you. All of you."
Lu thought back to the night of the kidnapping. Dante had been trying to contain the situation, keep it from getting messy. But Nika had a flair for dramatics, especially when it came to protecting Lu.
"Ever since then, Capello hasn't been sharing things with me." Dante held out his palms in supplication. "You've gotta believe me. If I'd known they would torture—" He sucked in a breath. "I would've stopped them."
Lu gnawed on her lip. She didn't know if she believed this story, as endearing as it seemed. But one thing was certain—she needed an ally. Perhaps she could make use of Dante Azzara.
So she said, "If you want to prove to me that you really care about Nika, then go find her. Bring her home and make sure she lives."
Dante blinked. "How—"
"Tatiana is holding her in a cave. It's not far. Can you track Nika's scent?"
"Maybe."
"Do it. Get her out of that cave, bring her as close to headquarters as possible."
"But what if someone sees me? The Ministry will have my head."
"If you love her, you'd be willing to risk it."
Dante furrowed his brow in thought. Then he nodded and stood up. But before exiting the trailer, he glanced over his shoulder.
"You have to understand what it's like to be a Volkari in this world," he said without making eye contact. "We're sick of being inferior, of being labeled as animals. And this curse is killing us. Literally. Most of us only want to live in comfort and freedom with our families. Capello is a radical, but the wolves follow him because he's promising to break the curse. After that, they'll be gone." A pause. "Just . . . think about that, before you decide not to help us."