Book 3, Chapter 7

If the ceiling had allowed me to stand up, I would have. Instead, I roll to my knees, my heart pounding, all but literally wringing my hands. Pointed rocks dig into my shins but I don’t pay them any attention. I turn to Carmelo. “What does he mean no one has heard from Jo? It’s been days! What about Niall? Chris? Mac? At least tell me someone is out there looking for them!” Marco doesn’t move but he tenses like he’s ready to defend his Alpha. I know I should back down, but these wolves need to give me something. Anything. Still, I prudently shift my gaze to his shoulder. “Please. Please tell me what’s going on.”

Kate scoots up beside me, closely followed by Emma. Kate’s voice is low but intense. “All three of us have someone at that summit who is important to us. We’re not challenging you or anything you’ve done. We’re just asking for more information.”
Kate’s diplomatic words seem to be helping. Marcos relaxes again. On the other hand, Len doesn’t move but where she had been relaxed, she now looks a little too laid back. Even I can see how deliberately she’s draped. She’s ready to jump to her Alpha’s aid in a heartbeat. Even her voice sounds deliberately lazy. “How about everyone dials it back just a notch?

We’re all on the same side here, we all have skin in the game. We’re anxious about the outcome of that summit.” She catches something in Carmelo’s gaze and nods. “It’s no secret we’ll all benefit from an alliance between us and vampire.”

Her eyes return to us. “And we aren’t the only ones. Most packs have a truce of sorts with the vamp in their areas, but want to really work together instead of staying busy covering one another’s tracks.”

Marcos shifts, drawing my eye to him. “We’ve been looking for you, ever since we got the prophecy. You were our mission.”

He looks at Carmelo who nods at him. Marcos meets my eyes. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t have ears in other places. The timeline we’ve been able to piece together is that first Jo, Niall, and a few of their allies went missing from the summit.

Then there was some kind of skirmish involving the members of the Duncan pack and a few invited guests. We aren’t clear who was on what side. In all of the confusion, some people vacated the villa. Our contacts are still sorting out who simply went home and who is actually missing. There were close to a hundred individuals to be accounted for and many of them traveled a long way.”

With every detail I take in, my heart sinks further. Who is strong enough to take Jo and Niall and their allies? Where are they?

Carmelo frowns and I read sympathy in his gaze. “If any one of you were mated, we’d have a much easier time of finding them. But don’t think we won’t do everything in our power to look for them now. We found you. Once we get you to safety, we can focus on finding them.”

I’d sunk back to the floor when he started talking, but that last bit has me pushing back up to my knees. “No. No, sir. Absolutely not. You take me,” Emma and Kate both make protesting noises and I hastily change my wording. And when I see him want to object, I press my advantage. “No! We’re going with you. It’s not negotiable. We may not be officially mated, but make no mistake, Jo, Mac, Chris – they are ours. And we will find them. All of them.”

Marco slow claps. “Nice speech. Truly.” I glare at him, but he’s unrepentant. “Jo’s villa is a solid two days march from here. Three if we get more weather. You ladies are barely in any shape to even make it out of this den to use the bathroom. Days on the run without sufficient supplies are to blame, but the fact remains, you simply aren’t in shape for that. It’s not a criticism. And you,” He points to me. “You’re lucky you had that nice ski coat to protect you from the owner of this den, but she managed to tear it up so well it can’t even keep you warm in here.” I grudgingly admit he’s right. Everyone else is warm enough to take down their hoods, but I’m still freezing. He tips his head to Emma. “You need help doing most things because your arm is killing you. If you could have taken the last couple of days to rest it, it would probably be in fine shape now. But you didn’t. Couldn’t. So you’re still a wing down.” Lastly he indicates Kate, but his whole countenance changes.

Just like the Carmelo’s did when he first came in and she asked about Mac staying with them. Now I realize I saw similar reactions from Steve and Jimmy whenever they talked to Kate, which I attributed to their having grown up together, not something to do with Kate’s status in the pack. Now, watching Marcos interact with Kate with the same respectful, gentle deference, I wonder if I had those interactions all wrong. “And you, Kate. Physically, you seem like you’re in the best shape of all of them, but you aren’t doing well, are you?”

Emma and I both look at Kate in alarm. I’ve been so self-focused I haven’t noticed anything else. But now that I really look at Kate, my gut clenches. She doesn’t look good. It’s in her eyes. She hurts. At some point, I’ve lost track of when, we all used snow to try to clean the blood off of one another’s faces. Then I promptly forgot about everyone problems but mine. And the hood drawn tight against the frigid air covered most of her face. Now it’s painfully obvious that lump on the side of Kate’s temple doesn’t appear to have diminished. Like at all. And that whole side of her face looks kind of green. And suddenly I remember watching her in front of me, lurching unsteadily through the snow, as though she couldn’t quite keep her balance. And when she produced the flame, I never saw her actually looking at it. Is she light-sensitive? Is that was why she had her eyes closed and was frowning? I thought she just needed to focus really hard, because we’re all exhausted, but...I touch her arm. “Kate?”

She shrugs, her eyes apologetic. “My head hurts. A lot.” Her fingertips explore the knot. “More than this thing, though it’s tender. I have a pretty awful headache. Like nonstop.”

Emma frowns. “Why didn’t you tell us, Kate?”

Kate scoffs but then winces and cups her palm on her head. “Seriously? What could you have done? We were all just trying to survive. And we did. But Marcos is right. We’re not in fighting shape now, Libby. None of us are.”

No. We aren’t. Here I am again, the weakling human, needing help. I think about Louis, the vampire who’s like a father to Jo and has used his medical degree to stitch me back together more than once, fussing with Charlene in a mix of French and English about the chocolate-to-milk ratio needed to make a rich enough chocolate milk. On his heels a vision of Niall pops into my head, rolling up his sleeve, a look on his usually frightening face that manages to be both cocky and amused as he teases Jo mercilessly. And I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before this moment. I wish Emma had the power to mind-read. But I hold her gaze and send a deliberate message to someone who can. Time after time, vampire have told me I’m a clear broadcaster. I hope she’s close enough to catch my words.

Inspired by hope, I smile at Emma and turn to Kate. “We did survive, Kate. And right now, the only thing any of us need to focus on is taking care of one another.” I turn back to Emma. “Because regardless of the cost, that’s what friends do for each other, right?”

Emma grasps my proffered hand and squeezes it. “Right.” 

Kate nods slowly. “Right.”

They may not know exactly what I have in mind, and I’m not exactly sure how they’ll feel about it, but it feels amazing to have hope again. To be able to feel like I will see Jo again. Be in her arms, feel her lips on mine. I am hers and she is mine.

And I’m not giving up.

I’m so grateful for these friends. It’s time to take care of someone other than myself. “Do y’all have any ibuprofen or something for Kate’s headache and Emma’s arm? And Marcos, since you so kindly pointed it out, I’m going to venture out and find myself a nice wide tree trunk.”

While Len shakes out pills for Emma and Kate to swallow with more of that yummy hot chocolate, Janelle very kindly stands under the crevice and helps me stay on my feet when I jump down. Immediately, my teeth start chattering, a testament to how much warmer the den has become. I make my way through the densely packed trees in the dim light. I realize I don’t know if it’s morning or evening, much less which day it is. I do what I need to do as quickly as I can. It’s awkward as heck and nearly impossible to do efficiently short of someone helping or stripping. Neither of which are things I plan to do. And shivering hard enough to rattle my teeth only serves to complicate matters. I stalk back toward the den, muttering to myself about how nice it would be to see Mr. Enforcer Marcos put all this winter ski crap on and try to go to the bathroom. Yeah, I’d pay money to see that.

I veer over to her when I see Janelle motion to me. I don’t see any of the wolf-shifters around, but that doesn’t mean they can’t hear us. In this forest, they could be hidden behind any tree trunk just like I was a few minutes ago. That’s why Janelle speaks in a barely-there voice. Still, the sarcasm is rich. “I see you haven’t changed.”

I don’t take the bait. Do you know where Dex went?

Her eyes dance, but she lets it go and answers me. “My best guess is he’s gone for backup to help Jo.”

That’s what I’m thinking, too. I squint at her. So what do you think about my idea?

“I’m surprised it took you so long, honestly. But look, even if I do it, it’s going to take more than healing. We need supplies. The four of us aren’t enough to face whoever took our people. Besides, they’re still right about you not having a good enough coat. Look at you. You’re shaking so hard you can’t see straight.”

Yeah, I know. I think at her. But short of taking someone else’s coat, I don’t know what to do about it.

“Good thing I have this.” Janelle reaches behind the tree we’re leaning against and pulls out a heavy black coat.

I can’t hide my shock. Or delight. Oh, to be cozy warm in a good coat against this wind. Where on earth did you find this? 

Janelle flashes her teeth. “They brought a couple with them, but I heard them say they weren’t going to give one to you until they’d convinced all of you to head to safety. They’re prepared to pack you up and carry you if they have to. So, I took it upon myself to relieve them of one of their fine coats.”

Janelle, this is perfect! It’s all I can do not to grab the coat and put it on. But from what Janelle said, our rescuers have no intention of helping us. Yet. Okay, first things first. Let’s get Kate and Emma healed. Then we’ll tackle the issue of convincing them to help us.

“What about you, Libby? Remember, you can’t lie to me. It’s not my gift, but you hurt enough even I can sense it.”

Really? I check in with my body. And it occurs to me that I don’t live with chronic pain any longer. I’d gotten so used to a certain level of constant pain, that I’d compartmentalized what I was feeling. Suddenly my whole body feels bruised, but especially my left side. How about that? Okay. But only after you take care of Kate and Emma.

Janelle huffs. “I’m not short on it, you know. I can spare a bit more blood than that.”

But I’m adamant. I won’t be healed first when my friends are so much worse off. Promise me. Heal them. Then we’ll see about me.

Janelle throws up her arms in surrender. “Fine, fine. I promise. Sheesh, you’re worse than Aella sometimes, you know that?”

And just like that the wind is taken out of my sails. I spin around and look at her in horror. “Oh, gods, Janelle. I’m so sorry! Aella had to have been with Jo! All this time I’ve been so self-absorbed and never even—” Janelle lays a gentle finger over my lips. 

“Stop. Of course you were self-absorbed. You were trying to survive. And you’re getting married soon. And claimed. Trust me, I know that’s all you can think about. Libby, I know you’re my friend. I know how you feel about my Aella, too. Believe me, I’d know if she was dead. She isn’t. It’s good. We’re good.” She laughs at the look on my face and answers my question before I can ask. “And, yeah, I can promise you that, too.”

It’s so hard to walk away from that coat. Hard not to be mad at the wolves for keeping it from me. And I hate sneaking around like this. The pack saved our lives. They want to protect us. I get that. I really do. But I’ve been fighting this very thing from well-meaning vampire since I first met Jo. I won’t be coddled. And thanks to Mr. O’Shea’s boon, I’m not the same old fragile, broken human I was. 

No matter how bare-bones, just having the framework of a plan bolsters me. Nothing else matters. I won’t let anyone prevent me from doing anything I can to help Jo. She wouldn’t let anything or anyone stop her if she knew I was in danger. Now that I’ve gotten some food and rest, I can think clearly. The only way Jo wasn’t the one to find us, isn’t already here herself, is if she can’t be. The other benefit of eating and sleeping – I’m listening to what my inner voice has been saying. That voice - my instincts - scream that the love of my life needs help. I need to trust them. They haven’t steered me wrong. I don’t know how or what I can do that Jo can’t, but I will do for Jo what she would do for me. I will find her and do anything I can to save her. I won’t let Jo down.