Vivian Cole is close to starting her junior year of college. She's out for one last run in her home state of Louisiana when everything changes for her.
Saul Moses is the Alpha of a dying pack in Alaska. When on business in the South, he encounters...
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"What the fuck is going on here?" My voice is more panicked than I thought it'd be. I don't care about Cain's life—I don't—but it surprises me that Saul is about to plunge a fucking dagger into his chest.
"Vivian?" The look on Saul's face doesn't absolve him of guilt, either. He looks...cagey. Like he's been caught doing something that he shouldn't be. "I thought you went upstairs—"
"Well, you thought wrong bucko—"
"You really need to nail that window shut," Heidi jumps in, which earns her a glare from me.
"You really need to shut your fucking mouth, bitch," I snipe back. Surprisingly, she doesn't say anything, or even make a face at me, in retaliation. The knife is still pressed haphazardly against the skin above Cain's heart and I raise an eyebrow.
"What the fuck are you doing, Saul? I thought you said you didn't do human sacrifices?"
"We don't," Christian cuts in. I hadn't noticed him on the other side of the table, arranging bowls of herbs and crystals in a specific pattern. He dips his fingers in some liquid and runs them across a few different stones before lighting the contents of one bowl afire. The smoke that pools is thick, white, and smells of sage. He wafts it through the room with his hands and I crinkle my nose at the smell.
"What are you doing?" I ask again, but I'm met with silence.
"Give me the knife," Christian says and Saul easily relinquishes it. Good—someone to put a stop to this madness. But he doesn't stow it away like I thought. No, he holds it over the flame, heats the metal, as he mixes something in another bowl. A low incantation pours from his lips, but he's whispering so I can't quite make it out.
When I look back to Cain, I notice his bare chest has a streak of red sliding down his chest and over his abs. He cut him? I don't see any sign of it on the blade, but I guess that's part of the spell?
Finally, Christian hands the other bowl to Cain who chugs the contents without question. Has he done this before?
"Okay, Saul," Christian says, his spell complete. "It's ready."
Without any more preamble, Saul takes the dagger from the flames, its edge glinting and glowing, and plunges it directly into Cain's heart.
I don't realize that I'm screaming until Christian's behind me, holding a hand over my mouth. "He's fine—" He tries to tell me, but I don't believe him. How can I? They just fucking stabbed him! "Look," He orders, but I ignore him. That is, until I can't. Until curiosity gets the best of me, and I begin to wonder why he hasn't crumpled to a heap, why he isn't dead on the floor yet.
Saul's still holding the dagger in place, his eyes glazed over in a purple haze. Cain's look the same, and it's as if they're locked in some trance together. "W-What—What's going on?" I mumble once Christian's released me, fear and intrigue welling up inside me simultaneously.
