Berget stepped back and shook her head, drawing herself up, and every jealous thought I had evaporated. “You aren’t my mother. My mother would have loved Rylee when she was in her darkest moments. She would have stood by her and kept searching for me. You might be the person who gave birth to me, but it has always been Rylee who loved me best. She was the only one who never gave up on me.”

Amelia put a hand to her throat and her body shook. “I thought she killed you.” What I found interesting was that she didn’t say that she loved Berget, didn’t beg for forgiveness. No, she went right to me again.

Berget glared at her. “No, you just wanted someone to blame. Someone who didn’t look back at you in the mirror.”

With that, Berget turned her back on our mother and took my hand. “Don’t let her get to you. She’s wrong about everything.” Her eyes, though, were clouded. Hundreds of years of wisdom might have been stored in her head, but she was still a teenager, still trying to figure out life and the blows it handed us. Still fighting to keep control of herself.

My fingers tightened over hers. “Let’s go, everyone is waiting for us and we have shit to do.”

We left Amelia on the docks, on her knees watching her two children disown her as they walked out of her life for good.

“It was for her own good, and besides, she did deserve it,” Berget whispered to me as we crossed the Charlestown Bridge.

I nodded and brushed a lock of her hair back behind one ear. “I know.” The people we loved, they would be targets, and those we fought, like the black coven, would seek out those targets and use them against us.

The way back was uneventful.

Which was weird. I kept twitching, waiting for something to jump out at me, grab one of the kids, pull us down and try to kill us.

Call it history, but there weren’t many times lately that we’d been able to do anything without running into uglies.

When we got to the safe house, I turned to Frank. “You feeling up to it?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Frank stepped in front of us. “Where are we going?”

“London.”

He swallowed hard. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

I scrubbed my face. “Where can you get us?”

“Back to the farm. Maybe to New Mexico.” He blushed. “I’m sorry, I just need to rest for awhile.”

New Mexico was where Louisa and the other shamans were. Maybe we could rally them while we were there. “New Mexico. Louisa’s, if you can.”

I moved to his side to watch his face. Severe concentration and a bead of sweat were all he gave away as the veil sliced open. In the distance, I saw Louisa’s house lit up in the dark night. Looked like she was home, at least.

As we all stepped through the veil, Frank collapsed to his knees. Pamela and I dropped beside him. “Hey, you’ve overdone it.”

He nodded and I helped him stand, though he was wobbly. Pamela put a hand to his forehead and frowned. “I don’t think I can heal this. It’s fatigue, nothing more.”

“A night’s sleep should do it,” he mumbled.

If only we’d known we’d not even get that, we might have stayed in Boston.

Chapter 16

“STINKS LIKE BLOOD and shit,” Alex said as we drew close to Louisa’s house.

Seriously? “Everybody on their toes.” I went to draw one of my blades, forgetting that I’d lost both of them. There was a first time for everything, but did it have to be right then?

Erik took point and I let out slow breaths, taking my whip and uncoiling it. Had the ogres come after Louisa and the shamans?

“Smell any ogres, Alex?”

“Nope. Just wolves. And guardians.”

I frowned. “What wolves?”

“Boss’s pack.”

I shared a look with Erik, who just shook his head. “They should be in London.”

And you were supposed to be on your way to London too. Blaz’s voice rippled over me and I turned to the left, the direction he spoke from. That wasn’t really my main concern. “Where’s Liam?”

Alex let out a yip and then took off into the darkness.

“Alex, stop!” Which, of course, he didn’t listen to, not for one second. “Fuck!”

In the distance, there was a howl and then a small chorus of howls started up. I Tracked Liam and the tension flowed out of me. He was not far away, and better yet, he was not hurt. Or at least, not hurt like he had been.

“Rylee, what do we do?” Pamela asked me as she lifted her hands.

“It’s Liam. We’re okay.”

For the first time in what felt like days, I relaxed a little, knowing Liam wasn’t hurt.

Minutes passed and we waited while the pack and Liam slowly made their way to us. Liam walked next to a dark-haired man who hung from Liam’s side. Pamela rushed forward and put her hands on the man. He straightened up within seconds.

“Good job, witchy woman.” He gave her a wink and then lifted his eyes to take us all in. “Wolf, you going to introduce us?”

“Rylee, this is Coyote. He’s the last guardian alive around here.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. How could that be? What had happened to Bear? Liam didn’t elaborate, just headed straight for me. I didn’t hesitate, either. Too many close calls, who the hell cared what other people thought of what was going to be a seriously public display of affection?

A large wolf darted in between us and shifted. Beauty was really going to be a pain in the ass, one that I was about done with. “Out of my way, bitch.”

“Liam, love,” she purred. “Who does this human think she is to question me? Doesn’t she know who I am?”

Liam love? Oh, fuck no.

“Rylee, meet Beauty.” He flicked a hand at her, a twist to his lips like he’d bit on something sour.

I didn’t bother to even try to restrain myself. These were wolves after all, not some pansy-assed human. Mates were taken seriously. “We’ve met. Am I going to have to kill her, or is she going to play nice and acknowledge that I’m your mate?”

Beauty’s jaw dropped, though she caught herself quickly and within seconds charged me.

Mistake number one. My whip was in my hand and snapping toward her before she took two steps. A thin line of silver filament was threaded through the leather and as it curled around the naked flesh of her legs, she let out a scream.