"I can't believe Timothy has us all the way in Canada," Stefan Keen grimaces, his body swaying with the van as it drives over every bump and groove in the road. "Fucking Canada of all places."
The man next to him, Oggy Forps, shrugs and leans against the seat. "He's fucking mental. And why the hell is he taking orders from some chick. We don't even know her and I bet he lied about her being some type of hunter."
Stefan scoffs. "Don't even get me started on the bossy bitch. Aye, she makes me want to drill my head into the ground like an ostrich."
The two laugh, mumbling about how crazy each would look with their heads in the ground. The other passengers refrain from humoring them, discouraged looks on their faces. Normal clothes clad their body, making it seem as if they're going on a fun weekend road trip. It's far from that though.
The van becomes quiet as Stefan and Oggy stop talking. A chill now encompasses the atmosphere, sadness seeping out of every single warrior in the van. Stiff shoulders slump every once in a while, discouraged glances being made often. Hands are restless as they push through thick and thin locks of hair. None of them look the least bit happy or excited.
Not when they're on their way to capture their alpha.
"No," I whisper, finally realizing that this is not good. These are warriors from my pack and they're coming to retrieve us.
How can they possibly be here so fast? It's impossible when I was just a fly on the wall for Ameri and Timothy's conversation. This would mean they've had the plan to come here for a while. That's not right because they couldn't know about Canada.
Dream, I'm dreaming. Squeezing the skin of my arm between two fingers, I wait for my body to be pulled to consciousness. Shutting my eyes, I stand by for the familiarity of waking up. I've only passed out about a thousand times now, so this should be the easy part. But when I open my eyes, I'm still in the van. My body still shakes and slides from the movement.
"Wake up!" I shriek. "Just wake up."
Closing my eyes again, I take deep breaths. Approaching this with a calm head is what I need to do. Panicking won't get me anywhere and I can feel my passageways starting to constrict.
"Wake up." My tone is softer this time, more of a plea for my subconscious to comply and give me this one wish.
When I open my eyes, I'm laying on Cytherea's couch. Two mates sit in front of me, their gazes guilty as they stare away from each other. Rory twiddles his thumbs then lifts a hand to wipe at a stray tear. Alexei sits calm and still, but I notice how tense she is. Her hands are clenched in her lap, veins peeking through.
As I sit up, their heads move in my direction. Rory's eyes are even more red than I thought and his face is slick with tears. He's the first to come over to me, his hands pressed together in a pleading gesture. Sitting himself on the couch, he lays down, forcing his head into my lap. His face presses into my stomach, causing his nose to slightly tickle me as he burrows against me.
I press a hand to his head, brushing his hair away. "It's not your fault," I start, "it's neither of your faults."
Alexei scoffs and shakes her head. Crossing her arms, she cautiously makes her way over to me. I'd have to be blind to not notice her hesitance to come over. She stops in front of me and her next actions surprise me completely. Taking my face into her hands, she kisses me. It's like she sucks the air out of my body, out of my being. Our affection has been limited because of the situation we're in, but this couldn't have happened at a more perfect time.
"Don't," Alexei pauses, pulling her face away from mine. "Don't do that again."
Giddiness seeps from my pores and I giggle at her command. "It's normal now, isn't it? All I ever do is faint, I think that's what I do most of the time."
Alexei shakes her head and settles on the couch next to me. "Not like that. We didn't know what that was, but it was different."
"What do you mean?"
"Sophia-Grace." She stares at me, green eyes wide and concerned. This is a new side to Alexei, a side that shows her compassion. "You've been unconscious for days now."
My body stills as I process her words. It's never happened before where I was asleep for days on end. Something about Elysium must've changed that. Normally, I return from that world easily, after a few hours tops. Thinking about paradise causes my heart to constrict painfully. Recalling the way that angel died, it makes horrible tremors run through my entire being.
"We haven't seen Cytherea in days, not since you came back from your trip," Alexei continues. She grabs my hand and brings it up to her lips to give a kiss. "I can't sense her anywhere."
The mention of Cytherea reminds me that there's a group of warriors on their way. They could be anywhere at the moment. For all I know, they could be sitting outside waiting for any sign of life or movement. Turning my gaze to the walls of the cottage, I zero in on the scratches and dents. My sudden remembrance of the destroyed place makes the beat up couch uncomfortable now. The fabric tickles my bare legs, itching them uncomfortably.
"They know we're here and I have a feeling a certain redhead disclosed our location." My voice comes out slow and soft, treading lightly to not set the vampire off. She has a history with Cytherea so this won't be easy to take in.
Alexei doesn't say anything. Her hand drops mine to rub at her jaw. "You think Cytherea is betraying us?"
My answer is a nod. "My... brother told me not to trust anyone except my mates, you guys." I look down at Rory who has fallen asleep in my lap.
"And you can just trust a stranger?"
Furrowing my eyebrows, I look over to her and frown. "He's my family, my brother. How could you ask me that?"
"I'm not trying to invalidate whatever familial ties you feel for this guy, but he could have fed you a bunch of lies." She raises her hands, as if to defend herself for an attack. "Everything could be a figment of your imagination.
I'm taken aback by her words. Dropping my mouth in disbelief, I roll my eyes and shake my head. "Yet you want me to trust this woman who is clearly in love with you?"
"That's not what this is about." She sighs. "All I'm saying is that this guy you've met may not be real at all. How much do you trust yourself after everything you've been through?"
Anger fills me with every word she speaks. Her blatant disregard of my feelings hurts. It's a complete one-eighty from how compassionate and soft she was just a moment ago. Now she's hard and disrespectful as if she doesn't care.
"How could you say that?" I scoff and carefully start pushing Rory off of me so I can stand. "You're spewing a bunch of shit, Alexei. Why?"
She crosses her arms and relaxes back into the couch. "I don't know what you're talking about. Each thing I questioned has been logical so I don't know why this is so upsetting to you." She shrugs, dismissing my feelings completely.
This isn't right, she's not right. Biting my lip, I look down at the destroyed coffee table. Shards of wood and broken glass line the floor. It's a wonder I haven't stepped on any. Following the trail of fragments, I stop on the herbs that are strewn around in disarray. Something clicks as I stare at the flakes of whatever plant that is.
"This isn't you," I mutter to myself before looking at Alexei again. "This isn't you!"
My legs work faster than my mind as I walk towards her. This time I feel shards digging into my feet painfully, but I pay that no mind. Climbing on top of her, I grab her face and force her head up. Upon meeting her emerald eyes, I notice her pupils are dilated, appearing as if she's taken some drug.
"Alexei, I need you to snap out of whatever spell you're under," I command, my voice stern and powerful. "Someone has put a spell on you and I need you to ignore whatever it's making you do." It's making her act like a bitch, but I choose not to say that.
"There's no spell on me," she spits, grabbing my hips. Her attempts at pushing me off don't work. Not when I wrap my arms around her neck, hugging her to me. "Get off of me, faux she-wolf."
Faux she-wolf? The only person I can think of who called me that is Cytherea. Before she pulled a disappearing act, she must've slipped both Rory and Alexei something. That's why they fought the way they did. Rory is normally so calm, I've never seen him lose his temper like that except for when Stephanie was about to kill me. And as far as I know, Alexei keeps track of her emotions. This means that Cytherea still has control over both of them.
I glance down at Rory, suddenly weary of his unconscious nature. This could be a side effect of whatever potion she cast on my mates.
"You think you've won?" I ask, dropping my tone until my voice is low. "You think I'm going to let you betray us with no consequences?" Turning my stare back to Alexei, I drill her eyes with mine.
"What—"
"You don't get to speak, Cytherea. What, can you see things through Alexei's eyes now? Too scared to face us after your betrayal?" A humorless laugh bubbles up out of me. "What did you want, hm? You expected Rory and Alexei to kill each other from the looks of it. Well, it didn't work."
Alexei, or Cytherea, scoffs. "That's because you're a demon. Whatever you did... you're not of this plain."
"Well, you're right about that. Soon, you won't be part of this world either."
"Oh?" She makes Alexei quirk an eyebrow, amusement shining in her eyes. "And why is that?"
Shrugging off her mocking tone, I stare deep into those of my mate. "I'm going to kill you and send you to a place you'll never be able to escape from. You're going to hell, but where you'll be... it's far more worse than the stories told by humans and supernatural creatures. Your body is going to rot for an eternity, feeling the burn of betrayal and fire every time you breathe."
Each word is a promise.