We hustle along at the same pace as yesterday, and it feels good to stretch those sore muscles again. Like yesterday, I’m warmed up and wishing I could come out of a layer or two in a short amount of time. However, I know better than to expose myself to this weather any more than I already am. Even sweating parts of me are freezing. Gah. I’m so tired of being cold. I long for a shower. A hot shower. A long, steaming hot shower. With all the soap and shampoo. Memories of Jo’s huge shower with all the jets and the built-in bench lining one wall that she frequently makes good use of puts me in a better mood and occupies my mind. That is, until I almost trip over a fallen limb and it startles me back into paying attention to where I’m placing my feet. My sore feet. These boots aren’t really made for running. It’s bright again today. For the most part we’re able to run in trees. When we stop for break in a sunny valley about midmorning, judging by the sun, Carmelo briefs us, Janelle standing beside him.

“As Janelle tells me, that,” he points to the peak looming over us, “is our destination.” He looks at Emma, Kate and me. “This is the end, but it’s also the hardest part. And we can’t take it slow. I’m going to push you because those people need our help ASAP. Now, say the word and we’ll make camp here for you, set you up as comfortably as we can, and send transport down to you as soon as we can secure it. That’s no shame in it and not one of us will think less of you.”

 

I shield my eyes and look up at the mountaintop, looming above the treeline. We’ve climbed some ridges and I’m sure a mountain or two, but this seems like mission impossible. I drop my hand and look at Kate, then Emma. They look as overwhelmed as I feel. But Emma shrugs a shoulder and Kate gives me a sort of grimacy smile. “If you’re game, we’re game,” she says.

 

I turn to Janelle and she holds up her hands like don’t look at me. I gaze back up and up at the peak and blow out my breath. Of course Jo would build her house on the top of Mt. Crumpit. Does that make us the Who’s? Oh, gods, I’m already so tired I’m punchy.

 

Crap. This is gonna suck. 

 

“Okay, we’re doing it. If we have to stop, we’ll just find a good spot to wait. But, look, we’ve come this far. We can’t give up now. No matter how high that peak is, we have to at least try.”

 

“Fair enough.” He scans his people. “Quick MREs and hydrate well. Then we climb.” He turns back to us. “Stretch while you can. I know you’re limbered up, but we’ve avoided the worst hiking up to now. Your legs will thank you for the stretches when we’re just vertical pushing.”

 

He was right. The stretching helps. But I was also right. It sucks. Every step is up. Straight up. Like a never ending staircase. My thighs hate me and the feeling is pretty mutual at this point. I just want to stop moving. Forever. I refuse to even glance behind me. I don’t even look up because I don’t want to know how much more I have to do this. I just keep my focus on making forward progress. Emma’s boyfriend Chris has become my personal trainer and I can hear his voice in my head, encouraging me to keep going. 

I’m sweating profusely under all these layers and every breath burns in my lungs. My breaths are shortening, too. I can’t seem to get enough oxygen. But all I keep thinking is the key to finding Jo is up there. Jo is waiting for me. Jo needs me. One step after another I keep going. 

And while most of our travel has been slogging through deep snow over rough terrain, this is so very different. I use tree trunks whenever I can to pull myself up or push myself off. But it’s not just deep snow and helpful tree trunks. There’s also snow-covered boulders to scrabble over and long stretches of just sheer climbing where it’s so steep my hands feverishly scramble around for something to hold onto I can use to help pull myself up. Sometimes a helpful hand is there. Sometimes I’m just on my own. Several times, multiple times, I’m sure I can’t go on. I know I have to stop. But then I think of Jo and I know I just can’t. Stopping now, when we’re so close, is more than I can do.

Len makes her way over to me after tending to Kate. “Time for another energy bar.” She hands it to me unwrapped. I don’t know where she keeps getting them, but it sure is helpful not to have to dig around in my pockets and try to strip the paper off, without stopping. The flip side is, we don’t even stop to eat or drink. I inhale the bar in three bites, and grab the thermos of still-warm water she hands me. She winks at me and climbs over to Emma. Emma devours her bar much the same way I did. We’ve become quite adept at this, I muse, still chewing the crunchy, gooey bar and trying to breathe around it. 

I don’t have any idea how I’m still on my feet. Still moving forward. More often than not, someone’s hand is there to help me over a rough spot, guiding my hand to a hold, giving me a pull or a push from behind. These wolves and Janelle are barely showing any wear and it kinda makes me mad. I use it to keep moving. For Jo. For Mac. For Chris.

The sunlight is nearly gone when we emerge from a clump of trees. I chance a look up and cannot believe my eyes. We just broke through the treeline. We’re almost there. For these last steep yards, someone climbs behind each of the three of us, quietly encouraging us on, helping when we need it, keeping us from tumbling backwards and becoming our own personal avalanche. 

“We should see Janelle or Marcos signaling to us soon. I sent them up for reconnaissance,” Carmelo tells us. “They’re scouting out any dangers. Make sure of what we’re walking into.” 

I keep my eyes fixated on the mountaintop, willing it to get closer. Pushing my body to just keep moving. Come hell or high water, I’m getting to the top. I will stand on top of this mountain. Or sit. Sitting would be better. For like a week. 

 

In front of me, Panda’s head jerks up. I follow her gaze but against the darkening sky all I can make out are the whites of someone’s eyes and their teeth. However, I’d know that voice anywhere.

“You guys need any help down there?”

“Dex! You’re alive!”

“Oh, you sure are a sight for sore eyes, Miss Libby. Emma, Kate, I’m so very glad to see you, too.”

“Dex,” Carmelo calls. “Glad to see you made it.”

“All thanks to you and your pack, Mr. Tambollini. I wouldn’t still be here if you hadn’t come along when you did. And why am I not a bit surprised to see the three of them right there with you?”

Carmelo shakes his head at us. “I’m sorry I ever underestimated the three of you. I’ve been told you are strong. But that’s a gross understatement. You women are made of iron. I’d be proud to have you on one of my teams.”

Emma, Kate and I exchange amazed glances. Kate coughs. “I don’t know, Alpha. I’m thinking we’re more like uru.”

Carmelo laughs. “Okay, I’ll buy that. The metal that makes Thor’s hammer definitely beats iron.”

The top just a few steps away, I laugh in between heaving breaths. “I can’t believe we have enough strength left to joke!”

Emma reaches the top first. She hugs Dex and looks back down on us. “Last one up’s a rotten egg!”

“Not included,” Kate and I yell at the same time. We crest the mountaintop arm-in-arm, laughing.

***

Jo’s “villa” is immense. It’s full on dark when we arrive at the house. Janelle directs each of us to different rooms. Kate gets the room Mac used, Emma gets the one Chris was in, and I’m in Jo’s personal suite. I had that long, steamy shower, and it washed away my tears. She’s everywhere evident in these rooms. They reflect her style, her clothes are in the closet and drawers, and her things and neatly stacked just where she left them. It’s weird being here, without her. 

The downstairs is a disaster area of broken furniture, busted walls, and so many glass and ceramic fragments, even after Dex and his crew had cleared a pathway for us, it still crunched under our snow boots as we made our way to the stairs. 

 

I’m amazed and delighted to see one dresser full of beautiful clothes for me and part of the closet is lined with pretty dresses. Still, I dig around until I find a pair of thick purple sweat pants and the softest gray sweatshirt I’ve ever felt. I step into a pair of warm, fuzzy slippers and thus armed, make my way to the upstairs lounge Dex told us about down the hall. 

 

Standing guard on either side of the doorway are two vampire. More bookend the windows around the room. I don’t recognize any of them, but they stand like sentinels, not making eye contact with anyone. I wish Nicolette was here. Thinking of her brings on a wave of grief that takes my breath for a second. Kate is already there, in penguin-dotted flannel pajamas with one of Mac’s white dress shirts for a robe. She’s curled up on one end of a cushy beige couch with her feet tucked up under her, looking so small and vulnerable as she feigns interest in whatever Panda is telling her. 

 

When I walk in, Panda switches from talking to Kate to talking to me. “This is some place.”

“Yes.” I’m too tired for this. Even though I’ve come to like Panda, it just seems unfair to have to do small talk right now. Thankfully, Panda seems to understand this and lapses into silence. I settle wearily onto the couch close enough to Kate we touch. I crave comfort. The hot water and a couple of NSAIDs helped. But I have a feeling if I slept for twenty-four hours straight it wouldn’t be enough. Emma follows Dex in. He’s laden down with a heavy tray filled with steaming dishes. 

 

“I heard how much you love rice and beans so…”

Emma slaps his arm playfully. “Don’t tease us, Dex, we aren’t up to fighting strength, yet.”

 

Emma collapses onto the couch and snuggles close to me while Dex laughs heartily. I missed that sound. He sets the tray on the coffee table and drags chairs into a rough circle around it. Then he starts loading plates and passing them out. Len comes in and helps him. By the time they get the last plate filled, the last wolf files in and claims a seat. 

 

Dex gives a few minutes to eat before he starts the briefing. I’m so glad because this just might be the best chicken I’ve ever eaten. And the fluffiest, butteriest potatoes. And the seasoning on those steamed vegetables. I find myself eating as fast as I can shovel it in before I realize what I’m doing. Emma’s cheeks are bulging, too. We shrug at each other. Kate puts down her fork and unfolds herself from the couch. She pads to the fireplace and bends to start a fire. Marcos sets his empty plate on the coffee table as he joins her, expertly arranging the wood and talking quietly with her. A minute later a fire blazes in the hearth and I smile at Kate. “Thanks.”

 

She places a hand on my shoulder. “It’s nothing, but I’m glad you enjoy it.” She sits back down beside me but only picks at her plate. “I guess I’m not as hungry as I thought.” Kate looks apologetically at me. 

 

I know what she means. After that first rush of tearing into it, I lost my appetite, too. I look over at Emma who has already set her half-finished plate on the coffee table. 

 

I run my fingers over my engagement ring. “Now that we’re here, I’m…”

 

“Yeah,” Emma says, “me, too.”

 

“Well, in that case,” Dex stands up. “I’d better fill you in on what I know.”

 

Carmelo nods. “That would be helpful, Dex. Thank you.”

 

“Don’t go thanking me yet. You may not be happy with what I have to say.” He runs his hand back and forth over his closely-barbered hair. “The best we can figure, about the same time our plane took off, someone here turned on our people. A lot of someones. We found evidence of tampering with the air ducts throughout the property so we think the wolves were pretty quickly put out of commission with some kind of inhaled drug. We also found big darts armed with syringes, like what veterinarians use on dangerous or large game. No idea what could have been in them, but we’re working on that.”

 

“Tranquilizers?” Panda asks.

 

“If they are, they’re nothing I’ve ever come across. We’re pretty hard to sedate. Our systems fight drugs of any kind.”

 

“Perhaps now would be a good time to fill Dex and his people in on what we know. Libby, would you like to start?” 

 

My fingers fiddling with my engagement ring, I nod at Carmelo. I’ve had a hard time leaving it alone since coming out of those thick gloves. “Yeah, okay.” I recount my dream walking, or corporeal astral projection as Emma calls it, once again. I describe the physical state Jo is in, how she’s chained to the stone wall and floor, and that they are all being held in the same place. Dex looks at me sharply when I mention Jo feeding from me and I don’t know how, I was very careful not to show my emotions around it, but he knows somehow what that experience was like for me. Later, please. I send to him. He offers a small nod, but his unhappy look tells me he’ll follow up later.

 

Emma takes up the conversational thread with our beliefs that it’s The Empress and our theory of why she attacked. 

 

When we finish, Dex paces a few times, thinking. “Okay, okay. The Empress fits. She has resources she can call on, even though she’s been in exile. She’s been alive so long she’s acquired plenty of vampire who owe her favors. A good number of them want to live in the old ways just as she does, though they hide it better or they’d be in exile, too. But she wasn’t invited to this summit, because she’s dangerous to any forward movement. Poisonous.”

 

“But if she found out about it, how would she be able to stay away?” Janelle asks. “She of all vampire would oppose a truce between our kinds.”

 

Carmelo shifts. “Who would have told her of it? Do you have a traitor in your midst?”

​

Dex shakes his head. “Hold on. This ain’t the time to point fingers. Any of the people we invited could have told her. I can name a handful who would have just for fun, just to see what she did.”

 

Carmelo nods sharply. “Good. So what’s next? What clues have you found about where she’s taken them?”

 

“All clues end at the hangar. She flew them out. Beyond that?” He tosses up his hands. “She didn’t file a flight plan. We’ve hit up all our contacts and no one’s reporting an unplanned fuel stop or unsanctioned landing. She knew what she was doing. This was flawlessly executed.”

Janelle swears under her breath. “They had to have made a mistake. Somewhere along the line. You can’t just disappear a dozen or so incapacitated people without somebody seeing something. We just haven’t found it, yet.”

 

“Almost like they’ve done this before,” Panda says. 

 

I stare at her. “Like, traffickers, you mean?”

 

“Yeah, or something close to that. She must have a network of paid people along the way. They could literally be anywhere in the world by now.”

I chew on my lip. The one detail I haven’t mentioned, I kept back because Jo and Louis made me swear ignorance, to protect my own life. They said not to even trust my body guards with my knowledge of how it would protect me from an attacking vampire. I always have a few chips of the stone on me, touching my skin. I carefully blank my mind and study my hands, afraid if I even look at Dex or Janelle they’ll be able to pluck the forbidden information from my mind. But I have to give them something. It might help us find the caves. “I remember one thing that was weird about where Jo is being held. The gray stone of the floor, the walls, were like striated with this shiny black rock.”

Panda frowns. “Black rock? Like obsidian?”

Janelle cocks her head at me. “You never mentioned any black rock before.”

I blink at her. “I, ah, must have forgotten.”

Emma looks at me quizzically. I shrug at her, keeping my face neutral. 

“Did you say The Empress lives in West Virginia? Could it be coal?” Marcos asks.

Geez. They aren’t getting it. I have to tell them. But how? I look up to find Dex frowning at me. I meet his eyes. “Miss Libby. You’re holding something back. I don’t know why, but their lives are in the balance here. If you know something, we need to know it, too.”

I swallow hard and take a deep breath. He’s right. I drop my eyes. Sorry Jo and Louis, I know I promised but... Here goes nothing. “Ah, it’s black tourmaline.” It’s all I can do to resist looking up at the pressure of eyes on me.

 

Carmelo breaks the tension. “So, okay. Black tourmaline. Where is that natively found?”

Len holds up her phone. “The Google says Maine, North Carolina, California, Michigan, and New York.”

 

“Damn. That takes out West Virginia and here in Colorado, then,” Marcos says. 

One of the wolves I haven’t met speaks up. “So does her holiness have ties to any of those states?”

I look hopefully around at the vampire, but no one seems to have a clue. If they do, they aren’t showing it. “Okay, if none of you know, who would?”

Janelle looks like she ate something bad. “Only one I can think of is that traitor. Beatrice.”

“Hold on, now. We don’t know for sure if she’s a traitor!” I protest. 

Janelle starts to say something in reply but Len beats her to the punch. “Why would you defend her? The way I heard it, she did a pretty piss poor job of protecting you.”

Dex hisses at Len, his eyes red and his fangs distended. And I jump to my feet, incensed this virtual stranger would have the audacity to bring something like that awful day up. It wasn’t Dex or Beatrice’s fault that I was kidnapped. “I’d like to see you get your legs chopped off and see how well you guard me then!”

Carmelo growls. He looks human, but a wolf’s growl comes out of his mouth. My hind brain tells me to back away now. But I cross my arms to give myself courage and have no intention of sitting before Kate tugs on my sweatshirt. I remember her intimate knowledge of wolf pack politics and shift my eyes from the Alpha’s. What am I doing? I can’t go toe to toe with a wolf. Any wolf. And as I look around the room at all the sentinel vampire who are now prepared to strike, I realize this could all go very badly, very quickly. Begrudgingly, I sink back to the couch, and Emma loops her arm through mine. She’s trembling, but she gives me a bolstering look. Kate shifts a little closer to me. When nothing more happens, I start to calm down. Then I look at Len and I get angry all over again. Bad dog, I think uncharitably, Bad dog! Janelle’s eyes twinkle with laughter though she still looks angry, but Dex’s usually expressive face is still as a statue. Oh, he won’t soon forget this. Len better watch her step around him for a while.

Len bows her head. “I apologize. I spoke without thinking.”

I don’t realize until Marcos relaxes that he was preparing to jump into action, too. Whew. I feel like we just dodged a bullet. “I think we could all benefit from dialing it back just a little. We’re all tense. Let’s remember who the enemy is.” He looks around the group. “This Beatrice. Anybody know where she is? How to get in touch with her?”

Dex shoots a sideways glance at Janelle. “I have a couple of leads I can follow. May take a day or more.” Janelle shakes her head at him and the intense look they share tells me they’re having a heated mind-to-mind conversation.

Carmelo crosses his arms. “In the meantime, we should take things methodically. We have the mountains of five states to check into. I’ve got contacts with packs in Michigan’s upper peninsula and in the far north of California. Those are the most likely places for caves. I can make a few calls, get some help with the search.”

“I know people in New York I can contact,” Dex says. “I just wish I knew for certain who we could trust.”

Janelle shakes her head at him. “You and I know a lot of the same people up there, Dex, but I think I might know someone that we can for sure depend on, if she’s still in the area. You try to find Beatrice. I’ll reach out to New York.”

“That leaves Maine and North Carolina,” Emma says. 

“Well, I for one can’t just sit here and wait,” Kate says. “Send me somewhere to look. Either state suits me.”

“Me, too,” I add. “No matter who is already in a place, we’re talking about huge areas to search. That’s a lot of manpower. The two of us,” Emma nudges me with her elbow. I grin at her. “The three of us can help out.” Mutiny is gaining steam on way too many faces. “Look, we might not be able to keep up with you, but I think we’ve more than proven we can hold our own. Let us help. Use us.”

Dex shakes his head. “Miss Libby, you make a strong argument, but—”

Len interrupts Dex, and it doesn’t do her any favors with him, though I certainly appreciate her words. “They’re right and we all know it. We’re short on manpower. We’re short on people we can trust. And these ladies are heartier than the average human by far. They’ve earned my vote.”

Marcos and Panda nod their agreement. 

Carmelo studies Dex and Janelle. “Maybe you better say what you’re thinking?”

Janelle shrugs and looks at the three of us. “What I’m thinking is that, yeah, y’all are tough, I’ll give you that. But you can’t go into this alone.” She looks around the room. “May I remind all of you that these people took down our most powerful allies? Jo had dozens of JN’s top security here. Where the hell are they? The Duncan pack Alpha, his Enforcer, Mac, and her Beta Steve. Jo, Niall, and at least a dozen of our closest allies and their entourage. All gone. How many were taken? How many were involved in the battle downstairs?” Her voice catches. “There are ash piles down there and we have no idea if they are friend or foe.”

I clap my hand over my mouth and Emma gasps. Ash piles? Oh, gods. Who died? “Janelle?”

She meets my eyes a second before looking down. “No, it’s not Aella. I’d know. She’s not doing well, but she’s alive.”

When my breath releases I realize I’d been holding it. “Okay. Okay.” I look around the room at all the tight eyes and jaws. “Look, I know you’re all stressed, worried, tired, and anxious to get going. We are too. Send us...somewhere,” I slant a glance at Janelle, “with back up. Or you better lock us up tight because I swear, we’ll pick a place and find our own way there without your help.”

Dex rests his elbows on his knees and drops his head. When he lifts his head, his face is resigned. “Okay. You’ve got your wish. Lord knows why she keeps doing it, but Jo entrusted your safety to me and I won’t let her down again if I can help it. And I know you. If you say you’ll go anyway, I know you will come hell or high water. So, I’ll have your back.”
I send Dex my private gratitude for his support mentally. Out loud I say, “Thank you, Dex. I know we’ll be in a much better position with your help.”

Janelle sighs. “Yeah, well, I guess since I’m your friend and all, I should have your back, too.”

“Gosh, thanks for the gushing enthusiasm, there,” Emma teases. 

Carmelo stands up. “Okay.” He shoves his hands in his jeans pockets and rocks back on his heels. “Welp, we’ll go to Maine, just because I reckon you ladies have had enough of deep snow and we thrive in it. That leaves North Carolina for you. Unless there’s anymore discussion to be had, I suggest we all get some sleep. Dex, you said you managed to get us some air transport?”

“Yes sir. I have two pilots flying in first thing tomorrow. They’ll take us wherever we ask, no questions asked.”

 

“They can be trusted?”

Dex shakes his head. “I sure as hell hope so.”​