Ascended (War of the Covens 3)

“They’re magiks,” Jae spat. “Magiks who started this stupid war in the first place!”

“No!” Caia hissed. “They just had the unfortunate luck of being their descendants.”

“Caia, please,” Alexa implored. “We’ll come. We’ll help. The last thing I said to my dad was that just because he wasn’t brave enough to fight didn’t mean I wasn’t,” she choked. “How could that be the last thing I said to him? I have to do something. Help me do this.”

Caia shook her head, her ears filling with their grief-stricken pleas.

“Girls.” Reuben stood slowly, quieting their demands. Caia trembled at the ruthless aspect of his face.

“What?” she whispered, her heart thudding in her chest.

“You’re going to do this for them, Caia—no, don’t shake your head. You’re going to do this or the haven I promised for the pack and the assurance that I will manipulate every member of the pack’s trace so that Marita can’t find them will be null and void.”

Bastard. Is he really … that bastard!

Her chest tightened. Her fingers curled. Her teeth sharpened. “Are you blackmailing me?”

“Yes. Do it, and I’ll protect the pack. Don’t … and I leave them here to rot.”

There was no time for thought of repercussions. Caia lunged for him. Her claws unleashed as she swiped for him. A band of restraint enveloped her waist, and she struggled and twisted in Alexa and Jaeden’s secure hold.

“Tut-tut, Caia.” The vampyre smiled humorlessly at her. “You need to control that temper.”

Her tongue had gone thick with humiliated rage. It took her a moment to speak. “I was actually beginning to trust you, you son of a bitch!”

“I’m doing what needs to be done.” He shrugged unapologetically. “I’ve never pretended to do anything else.”

Remember, Caia, you can’t hurt him. Take a deep breath. Control your animalistic urge to hunt and kill the wily fox.

She let her body relax, breathing deeply in an effort to cool her temper.

“Caia, please,” Jae whispered, slowly letting go of her. “You have to do this for us.”

“What if I can’t?”

“At least try,” Alexa snapped. “For the pack.”

Gradually, as the implications of Reuben’s threat settled in, along with Jae’s and Alexa’s beseeching, Caia nodded. “OK,” she croaked. “I’ll do it. Under one condition.”

Alexa nodded. “Anything.”

“It goes no further than this room that I was blackmailed into this.”

Jaeden frowned. “Why?” She glanced anxiously at Reuben.

She thought of her mate and his reaction to her decision. There was a huge possibility he wouldn’t speak to her ever again. Still … she loved him, so … “Lucien already feels terrible that he wasn’t here to protect the pack. Telling him about Reuben’s ultimatum will only make him feel worse.”

Reuben smirked. “So gallant and self-sacrificing of you, Caia.”

“Bite me, asshole.”

Jaeden shook her head. “Seriously, Caia … he might not understand like we do. He’ll be mad at you.”

“Then he’ll be mad at me.”

With that, Jaeden hugged her tight and whispered a thank-you into her ear.

Caia trembled and walked away from the cremation sight, glad Jason had cloaked the smell of her pack’s burning bodies. She didn’t think she’d be able to cope otherwise. So deaf to the world, she wasn’t even aware of Alexa and Jaeden on either side of her until Lucien’s hand clamped down on her shoulder, opening up her senses again.

“Jae, Alexa, can you give us a moment? And Jae, Ryder wants a word.”

Jaeden grunted and walked away, her hand clasped in Alexa’s. Caia watched them, thinking how sad it was that death had been the one to create a friendship between the two young women.

“Caia.” Lucien sighed. She snuggled into his chest as his arm slid over her shoulders, drawing her into his heat. “How are you holding up?”

Not good. You see, I have to kill seven people in a few days or the pack will be under constant threat of attack from Marita. You want to help me kill the blackmailer instead?

She didn’t say that. She mumbled incoherently and tightened her grip on him. “How are you?” she whispered.

He dropped a soft kiss on her head, and she heard the tears in his voice as he replied, “Ask me that question later.”

They walked in silence, holding on to one another until they came out of the woods and rounded the house. Six cars were parked around the driveway as well as three moving vans. A lot of stuff had to be left or thrown away. Lucien kissed her again and moved unhurriedly toward one of the vans as if encumbered by a heavy weight. Ryder pressed keys into his hand and nodded toward the other moving vehicle. Magnus was supposed to be riding with Lucien in one of the vans.

Caia shook her head as if she were conversing with them. No. She would ride with Lucien, not Magnus. Part of her bargain with Reuben was a haven for the pack. Apparently, a twenty-four-hundred-year-old vampyre tended to collect real estate. He owned a large hotel in the middle of nowhere the next state over. It hadn’t been in operation for ten years, but he’d paid a couple of magiks to clean it up for the pack. They could use it for as long as they needed (as long as Caia kept to the bargain). The drive was a good few hours. And it was quite possibly going to be the last few hours that Lucien respected her. She strode toward Magnus and her mate.