Ascended (War of the Covens 3)

At her continued silence, Lucien pushed, “Please, Marion …”

“I have to go,” she blurted, and as suddenly as she had appeared, she was gone.

Ryder looked over at him. “Do you think she’ll check it out?”

Marita was still Head of the Coven, and despite the controversy over her imprisonment of the Council, a majority of the Daylights at the Center still seemed to trust her. It didn’t help matters that she’d won them a number of great victories over the last few months (all of which were Caia’s doing, but most Daylights didn’t know that). She was a powerful being, and one with a hell of a lot of support. It would be foolish to go against her. Especially a Daylight. She could see the treachery coming in the trace if she thought to look. And he was guessing Marita was keeping a close eye on the major players, including her very own sister.

Lucien dropped to the floor, pressing his back against the wall. “I don’t know. Marion is a brave woman, but sometimes going into battle is easier than facing the awful truth.”

Life as a lykan was growing increasingly dull. For instance, there were very few ways to express yourself—there really was only so much growling and snapping you could do. Jaeden huffed and once more circled her mother’s legs. She felt the stroke of her mom’s fingers through her fur and relaxed a little. Yes. She needed to relax so she could come up with a plan. Her wolf eyes took in the pack, excluding all six of the pack children who’d been taken. She growled again, worrying over the fate of her beautiful, innocent niece, Jaela, and Jaela’s three cousins.

Sebastian’s parents sat in the corner clinging to one another, the remainder of their family—Seana and Sunday—also taken, leaving them momentarily childless. A sort of numbness seemed to have descended over them, and Jaeden let out a small howl in sympathy. Her mother’s hand swept through her coat again and she trembled, trying to rein in her anxiety. She had to think. Think.

The pack was stuck inside Lucien’s house, with a spell around it keeping them trapped inside. She could smell five magiks surrounding the house. There had been more when they first came. Marita used her opportunity well, descending on her and Ryder’s mating celebrations as soon she realized Caia wasn’t going to come so easily.

Caia, she whined. She could still smell her blood on the car outside. What had happened to her friend? And it was bad enough being parted from Ryder, their night stolen from them, but for the pack to lose their Alpha … on top of having the children taken and not knowing why (although she had the unsettling feeling it had something to do with the lab Caia said she’d found). The pack was shaken. Frightened. Desolate, without the guidance of their young leader, and in no frame of mind to take on the Head of the Coven.

They all feared the worst, but Jae would know if something had happened to Ryder. He was going to be okay. He and Lucien were together, looking out for one another. Still … she would feel a lot better if she had some kind of plan to get him back.

Hmm.

Jaeden padded away from her mother and wandered into the kitchen. A magik stood on the porch, but he was a few meters from the kitchen doors.

She was fast. Perhaps not as fast as Caia and Lucien, but fast enough to get past the magik.

Plus, it wasn’t like he could do anything to her while she was in lykan form. Her head swiveled and she gazed toward the hallway. She wished she could tell her parents where she was going.

Bracing herself mentally, she hopped up onto the kitchen table, backing toward the near edge.

One. Two. Three.

She sped along the long wooden tabletop and as she neared the end of its length, she leapt, pushing her wolf body with enough force to smash through the glass of the kitchen door. Ignoring the fragments that sliced through her skin and clung to her pelt, Jaeden shot down the porch and into the woods, delighting in the outraged shouts of the magik behind her.

Five minutes into the forest, she felt guilty leaving the pack when she was their only defense, but she needed to get to Vil and Laila. Three heads were better than her lousy one, especially when it was clouded with fury and fear.

She followed the woods along the highway. Then there was the difficult task of keeping out of sight as she made her way through town. Garbage cans and cars came in handy, but when she turned up a back alleyway a few blocks from Ryder’s apartment building, she surprised a drunk who mistook her for a dog. He kept scrambling at her and even managed to grab her tail. With a huff of unease, Jaeden swiped at his trouser leg, creating shallow scratches across his skin. He howled as though he had been shredded, and Jae used the moment to bounce off the wall and soar behind him, dropping to the ground with ease before running out the other end of the alley.