Ascended (War of the Covens 3)

It was only as he turned to look down at Jaeden that Caia remembered her. Jae was hacking up the blood of her own victim, and Caia knew all too well how disgusting the taste and feel of death was.

“What now?” Caia gestured a little shakily to them. “Marita wouldn’t have felt the attack but won’t she feel their deaths? Won’t it be like … white noise?” She felt a little stupid for not having thought that part through … more than a little stupid, really.

Reuben’s lips twisted as if he was insulted by the mere suggestion he would’ve been idiotic enough to not have thought out every second of the attack. “The manipulation can last past death as long as something of their physical body remains.”

She shook her head in amazement. “If Marita ever knew of your existence, you would be enemy number one, you know that, right?”

He snorted. “Caia, she does know of my existence. She would just prefer to believe I am merely a legend, a myth … makes it easier to sleep at night.”

“If you’re so powerful, why didn’t you take over years ago?”

Reuben laughed, his eyes glittering darkly. “This really isn’t the time for that discussion. But the short answer is … I’m just not interested.”

Laughing, Caia strode past him, stroking her fingers through Jae’s pelt in comfort as she walked into the house.

“Caia!” Magnus yelled. He’d obviously detected her scent amid the sounds of the disturbance outside. The thundering of feet could be heard from all over the house as people rushed to the entrance.

Magnus was the first to reach her, and she was dragged into a crushing hug. She felt his lips in her hair and the shudder of his relief, and as she breathed in his familiar scent, Caia felt a rush of painful affection. Marion. She’d been one of Magnus’s closest friends. Caia would have to break the news to him.

“Uncle Magnus.” She burrowed deeper into his chest.

The exclamations of the pack got louder when Jaeden and Reuben entered. Caia managed to pull back from her uncle’s tight grip to see Dimitri and Julia hovering over Jaeden, aghast at the blood on her muzzle. Christian and Lucia stood close by, clinging to one another, grief over the kidnap of their toddler tightening their features.

“Caia!” She felt herself being yanked out of Magnus’s arms and into Irini’s. At the feel of her sister-in-law’s trembling, Caia felt a rush of emotion she wasn’t expecting. All the years Irini had looked after her, Caia had wondered if the lykan had resented her existence. But her tight hug, and the way she pulled back to brush the hair from Caia’s face, told her something she had missed all this time. Irini cared for her, truly and deeply. She smiled tremulously, not sure if she could handle any more sentimental outbursts.

“We were so worried,” Irini whispered, her eyes bright with unshed tears. Aidan stood by her side, his hand on her shoulder. “Lucien was … I’ve never seen him so …”

Caia blanched. “He must be thinking the worst.”

“Caia, he’s been taken,” Aidan announced, causing the riot in the hallway to dissipate. “So have Ryder and the children—”

“I know.” She nodded, turning to look at them all.

She didn’t have a chance to say anything more before she Ella embraced her. “Caia, I am so sorry.” The words tumbled out of Lucien’s mother’s mouth in an incredible flood of remorse. “You were right about Marita and everything and we—”

“Yeah, we’re so sorry—”

“Can you—”

Feelings and apologies engulfed her as the pack urged her to forgive them for not believing her about Marita. She tried shushing them but to no avail. They were determined to have their say, and they were far louder than she was.

“Quiet.” The vampyre didn’t raise his voice, but the pack puttered to a stop and stared sullenly at him.

“You remember Reuben?” she asked wryly.

He nodded hello.

“I know about the kidnapping.” Caia turned to the pack. “I know about everything.”

8

Alpha

As Magnus excused himself, Caia’s eyes followed his tall figure as it lurched out of the kitchen and onto the porch, disappearing into the yard and then the woods. Ella and the pack stared after him solemnly while Caia fought the Marion-shaped lump of grief at the back of her throat. At the sound of Magnus’s harsh howl in the distance, she stumbled back from the gathering and hurried upstairs, into the room she shared with Lucien.

Spotting Lucien’s shirt strewn across the sofa in the corner, Caia rushed for it, pressing the fabric to her face so his scent flooded her nostrils. She promptly burst into harrowing sobs and collapsed on the sofa. As she struggled to breathe through the burning agony, she wished more than anything Lucien were here, to help her through this. There had always been the chance that once her war with Marita had begun, Caia would have lost Marion anyway. But at least she would’ve been alive and thriving, helping to keep the coven tempered with her goodness. Now, to exist in a world where there was no Marion was to exist in a world without light. And more than ever, Caia needed that light.