Hunted (War of the Covens 1)

“Now, Luc—”

Scratch, scrape, scratch. Lucien’s ears pricked at the eerie noise. “Shh.”

“What?” She frowned.

Lucien shushed her again and listened. There it was—a scraping noise coming from the front of the store. He strode out of the workshop and stopped.

“What is it?” Marion whispered.

Lucien sniffed, puzzled. “Caia?”

The scratching sounded again, followed by a whine, and Lucien raced to pull open the store’s front door. He watched in silent horror as a blond wolf limped inside and collapsed, leaving a trail of blood in her wake.

“Oh my goddess.” Marion fell to her knees beside her as Lucian stood staring numbly at the sight of his mate bleeding to death on the floor.

“Caia?” he whispered.

“It’s her belly.” Marion’s lips trembled as she looked up at him, her hands covered in Caia’s blood. “She’s lost a lot of blood.”

The copper smell pounded his nostrils like punches knocking him out of his daze.

“Caia.” He threw himself down next to her and looked into green eyes that gazed up at him in fear. She whined, and he ran a comforting hand down her bloodied blond coat, noting a strange black dried blood around her muzzle.

“What happened to her?” he choked, anger building the tempo of his heart.

“Lucien, stay calm,” Marion ordered. “Her wound is bad, but it’s healing as we speak.” She stopped and looked up. “Saffron!”

Suddenly, the faerie was in the store looking nonplussed, until she took in Caia. “Oh my.”

“Saffron, I need you to follow Caia’s trail of blood and see if you can find out what’s happened here.”

The faerie nodded and disappeared.

Lucien looked down at his hands, now coated in Caia’s blood, and clenched them into fists. “This is her uncle, isn’t it?”

Marion flinched at the lykan in his voice. “I told you to stay calm. She needs you to stay calm while I salt the wound closed.”

He nodded and stroked Caia’s head. She whined again and stared up at him, and all his anger toward her fell away.

“Caia.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear while he continued to stroke her soothingly, “It’s okay, querida. You’re going to be okay.”

She snarled and flinched as Marion literally poured some kind of salt onto her wound, and Lucien had to hold her down so she didn’t snap her jaws at the witch. He hummed low in his throat to calm her and watched in amazement as the salt glowed like fire on a stick of dynamite before it burned out, leaving a closed wound behind.

He frowned, realizing Caia had stilled beneath him.

“Caia.” He shook her head until Marion placed a hand on his forearm.

“She’s passed out. She’s fine.”

His heart beat ferociously. “She better be,” he threatened.

Marion chuckled. “Why, just five minutes ago, I thought you couldn’t care less about her?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Do you have a blanket?”

Lucien shook his head in answer, not taking his eyes off Caia. A blanket suddenly appeared over her small furry self.

“It’s for when she comes around. She’ll need to change to get proper rest.”

Lucien choked again, not wanting to think about what Caia had just gone through. And he hadn’t been there to protect her. “What do you think happened?”

“Saffron will fill us in, but … I can feel something unfamiliar in her energy.”

“Unfamiliar?”

“Daemon.” Saffron strode through the door, a grimace on her face. “Daemon,” she repeated and then looked down thoughtfully at Caia. “Is she okay?”

“She will be. What do you mean daemon?”

Saffron glanced between them. “The blood led to the mall parking lot. There I found Caia’s car obliterated and turned on its side. It was cast in magik, Caia’s magik, so I’m guessing she used it as a weapon. Smart girl.”

Lucien couldn’t process that. Caia had used her car as a weapon? He looked back down at her in awe. Who was this young woman? “That doesn’t explain how you know it was a daemon.”

Saffron actually looked gleeful. “I found a decapitated daemon several yards from the car. He had a spiked chain coated in Caia’s blood, so I’m guessing that’s how she was wounded. She must’ve changed into lykan to heal and then tore off his head. I’m impressed.” She chuckled. “That girl has serious attitude.”

Marion was smiling as well. Lucien wanted to kill them both. Caia had just been attacked by a daemon, for Gaia’s sake!

“Well,” Marion said briskly, catching his murderous look, “I better head out and clean up the mess. You two get Caia back to the house.”

The throbbing pain in her stomach woke her with a start. It felt like her lower belly was on fire.

“Ow.” She trembled, opening her eyes and reaching for where it hurt, but just as quickly as she moved, her hands were clasped tightly away from her torso.

“Caia, don’t.”

“Lucien?” She winced at the pain. “It hurts.”

“I know, querida, I know. Marion will be back anytime now. I’m sure she can take care of the pain.”