Magic Side: Wolf Bound Complete Series: Books 1-4, page 37
Amal smirked. “I won’t bite.”
Ignoring me, Savannah took her hand, and Amal pulled her up to the jetty with a swift tug.
“Let me guess, you’re a werewolf,” Savannah said to Amal.
“That’s right. The best kind, too.”
“Wolfborn, like Jaxson?”
“Gods, no.” Amal frowned. “I shapeshift into a wolf with magic, which means I can do it with my clothes on.”
Savannah looked her up and down. “I’ve seen some of Jaxson’s people do that. Does it work with guns, too?”
“Anything I’m carrying.”
“Yeah. That seems better than the other option with all the twisting and bones snapping.” Savannah gave me a wry smile. “If I had to be a werewolf, I think I know what I’d choose.”
She’d probably choose death. Her reproach for our kind was blatantly obvious.
The guards at the gate had been expecting us, but it took ten minutes of running background checks before they let us pass wearing visitor badges. Finally, they stepped aside and waved us into the highest-security prison in the US.
Half a dozen men and women in tactical uniforms were waiting to escort us. I heard the chatter in their earpieces as they led us down a bare concrete corridor lit by fluorescent bulbs—Level B is secure. Three-twenty-four has been subdued. Even with the spells and design of the prison, the guards here had their work cut out for them. Bentham held some of the world’s most dangerous Magica criminals.
We took an elevator ride down to Level E and were escorted past a dozen cells with iron doors. The guards stopped in front of a door with a glowing number 36 in a triangle.
Time to meet the Ripper.
Savannah’s shoulders tensed as she glanced toward cell 37, which had once held Kahanov. She held herself strong, but I could feel her unease and smell her rising trepidation. A desire to go to her rose in me, but I fought it down. She’d all but forced me into bringing her here. She could handle herself.
Savannah looked back to cell 36, jaw set. “Kahanov and the Ripper were neighbors.”
Neve nodded.
“Give this one a wide berth,” the guard said as he unlocked the door with an iron key once he finished dispelling the magic charms.
“Oh, the Ripper knows better than to pull any tricks,” Neve said as she stepped into the well-lit cell. The prisoner inside locked eyes with her and then scooted against the wall of open bars at the far end.
Beyond them was an empty circular space with an observation tower in the center that magically monitored all the cells that encircled it. The prison was a panopticon, more commonly known as the donut, for that reason.
“Stay back, you cursed woman!” the devil yelled.
I was glad to see him squirm. The Magic Side Gazette had nicknamed him the Ripper for the way he tore his victims’ bodies apart. The last person he’d murdered happened to be in the Dens, and though it wasn’t a pack member, it had happened in our territory.
I flexed my fists, and my knuckles cracked with the anticipation of breaking his nose.
“Quiet. We just want to talk,” Neve said coolly.
“Not with you in here.” His signature smelled like rotting corpses and tasted of tar, and his body quaked with fear.
Amal shot forward and had her claws at his throat before he could twitch a muscle. “Then you’ll talk to me. We’re looking for Kahanov. He got away with you and the others on the night of the twenty-third. Any idea where he might be?”
“You mean he’s still out there?” He let out a piercing cackle and clutched his sunken chest. “The fates must have smiled upon him, then, because that’s a surprise.”
“Oh, really? And why’s that?” Amal asked.
“Why would I give you information, filthy lycanthrope?” he snarled.
“Because if you don’t, I’ll ram my claws into your eyes and rip off your balls. Then I’ll have my friend Neve here suck the breath from your lungs.” Amal’s cheery voice betrayed the wrath she could unleash.
The devil’s eyes bulged, and he raised his hands in acquiescence. “There’s no need for violence. I’ll tell you what I know, but maybe you’ll put a word in with the guards on my behalf. I haven’t seen the sun in a month.”
“Maybe.” Amal stepped back and crouched in front of him. “Tell me about your escape.”
The Ripper’s catlike eyes flashed to me before settling on Amal. “Kahanov and I escaped together. But you already knew that.”
“How did you coordinate the escape? Were you two friends? Where did you intend to go?” she pressed.
“So many questions.” The Ripper smiled, but Amal’s claws extended, and he froze. “We weren’t friends, but he was my neighbor, and when you’re in this place long enough, you take what you can get. The plan was his. I helped him slip past the guards, and once we got free, we were supposed to meet up with the Viper. She was going to get us out of Magic Side.”
“The Viper?” Amal glanced back at me, but I hadn’t heard the name before.
“Can’t tell you anything about her. We never managed to meet up. Kahanov ditched me the second we reached the northern dock. So instead, I did what I do best.” A bloodthirsty grin spread across his face, and I couldn’t restrain myself any longer.
I stepped forward and punched him, careful not to break his jaw but ensuring I felt his nose crunch. He howled and clutched his bloody face.
As the Ripper’s cries subsided to the whimpers of a wounded beast, Amal gave me a sharp look, then folded her arms and continued her interrogation. “Where was the Viper going to take you?” Irritation colored her voice, but she kept her cool.
“Don’t. Know,” he replied, his answer distorted by the hand he used to stanch the bleeding. “Like I said, Kahanov ditched me, and I wasn’t privy to the details of his plan.”
“Is that all you have for us?”
The Ripper nodded but I sensed his lie, and my patience was running thin. I unleashed my alpha presence and let my claws extend. Amal tensed, and the devil shrank further into the corner, averting his eyes. “S-stop. I’ve told you everything.”
I took a step closer, and his skin turned ashen. “You were surprised that Kahanov was still on the run. Why was that?”
“B-because. He was half mad. I didn’t think he’d last long on the outside.” The devil’s voice trembled with fear, so I pulled back my power.
“Half mad how?”
“It started a few weeks before we escaped. His mood changed, and he became obsessed with the LaSalles. Like, deranged obsessed. He’d been here too long, and he finally broke.”
“Did he know the LaSalles personally?” Savannah asked, appearing by my side.
The Ripper dragged his eyes up her body and grinned, a terrible expression considering the condition of the rest of his face. “Don’t know, beautiful. He never spoke of them before he went nuts.”
“Then we’re done here.” The way the devil was looking at Savannah made me want to snap his neck, and it was all I could do to maintain control. I grabbed Savannah’s arm and towed her out of the cell.
“What are you doing, Jaxson?” she snarled as she tore free of my grasp.
I narrowed my eyes and stepped into her space. “I said we’re done. You shouldn’t be talking to that bastard. He’s a fucking monster that ripped women like you apart.”
She flinched like my words had slapped her face, and she crossed her arms. “So now what? We still don’t know where he is.”
I cocked my head as Amal’s voiced echoed into the hallway. She’d resumed her interrogation about how the escapees made their break.
I returned my attention to Savannah. “Amal and I are going to track down the Viper.”
“You and Amal? So you’re leaving me out of this again?”
I set my jaw and mirrored her crossed arms. “I have no idea who the Viper is, but if she’s working with monsters like the Ripper and Kahanov, then she’s probably a monster, too. The fact that he was able to coordinate with someone on the outside suggests Kahanov has connections in Magic Side. I’m not walking you into danger. So go home, sit tight. We’ll deal with him.”
“No.” She shoved me, but I didn’t budge, so she strode down the hall a few paces before turning back. “Why the hell are you so invested in protecting me? I’m a LaSalle, and you’ve made it clear you couldn’t care less for me.”
I slowly crossed the distance. “Because Kahanov is an asshole, and I’m not going to give him what he wants.”
She raised her chin defiantly. “Then maybe you should just toss me in his empty cell. I’d be nice and safe, and you’d know where I was.”
“Maybe I should.”
She bared her teeth, and the silence stretched between us. There was something about the fire in her eyes and the scent of her rage that made me want to slam her up against the wall and take her mouth with mine. She gently bit her healing lower lip, and I imagined what she might taste like. Pure fucking heaven with a bite of poison.
My wolf strained in my chest, and it was all I could do to steady my breathing and repress my desire. Why was I letting this unbearable woman get under my skin?
Amal emerged from the cell, and the guard slammed the door.
Savannah glanced at Amal and Neve talking, and then whispered, “If I have to cower in a cell, then you’re just handing Kahanov all the power. Please, let me help you hunt him down. Maybe it’s risky, but I need this, and I can help. You know I can.”
Her body trembled with repressed rage and frustration. I looked deep into her eyes, measuring her will. They flickered with something I couldn’t quite put my finger on at first—not hatred, nor desperation, nor fear.
I leaned closer and breathed in her scent, searching for answers. It always drove me wild, but even as desire overwhelmed my mind, a shock of recognition cut through the fog. I understood the emotion now—the call of the hunt. The compulsion to relentlessly chase. To tear down your prey. To take its life.
I knew that emotion well. It was strange from a sorcerer, but I could respect the need. It would also ensure that Savannah was under my watch.
Grinding my teeth, I relented. “Fine. Tomorr—"
A metallic thud echoed through the door of the cell beside us, and Savannah jumped at the noise.
The door to cell 35 was sealed with five arcane locks. Someone had posted a sign beside the window slit: Do not talk to the prisoner.
I stepped up to the door and slid the slit open. A shadow moved inside—a hulking figure, sitting in darkness. His signature resonated with power. Even through the magically sealed door, it vibrated the air around us. It felt like flames across my skin and smelled of fresh tobacco and amber.
“What do you want?” I growled.
His head turned slowly, and he spoke in a rough voice laced with danger. “If you’re looking for Kahanov, you’re not going to find him.”
“And why’s that?”
The inmate shifted, and his words echoed out of the shadow. “He was gone before he even escaped.”
7
Savannah
I spent the evening filling Casey in about our visit to the Ripper and complaining about thick-skulled werewolves. “I told you Jaxson was an ass,” was my cousin’s most frequent response.
At least Jaxson had agreed to let me help. For now. I was certain that at the slightest sign of peril, he’d try to stuff me in a box. What kind of monster would shove a woman into a jail cell just to protect her?
Screw werewolves.
By midnight I was out of complaints, and we were nearly out of whiskey, which was probably a bad sign for the morning.
I remorsefully dragged myself upstairs and into bed, but I tossed and turned. Nightmares flooded my mind.
I was alone in the twisting halls of Bentham. The lights flickered, and the sound of footsteps followed me around every bend.
The Ripper was coming.
I raced from level to level, but no matter how many stairways I descended, the glowing numbers of the cells stayed the same.
One door was always open. Number 37. Every time I checked, no one was inside.
I searched the empty cell. “Where are you, you fucker?” I screamed.
Kahanov’s breath traced over the back of my neck. “In your room, right beside you.”
Gasping, I sat up in bed, chest heaving. I pressed my eyes closed and tried to calm my breath, but when I opened them again, it was no better. I felt like I’d run a marathon, and sweat covered my skin.
Just a dream, I thought, slumping back down onto the soaked mattress. Another nightmare.
The echoes of the sorcerer’s voice in my mind made my skin prickle, and an ominous sensation of being watched crept along my spine.
Had the sorcerer been scrying on me?
I was wearing my charm, so he shouldn’t have been able to watch me. I went to touch my necklace, but my arm didn’t move. It was leaden and useless, like I’d been sleeping on it.
I looked frantically around the room. Dim light from the waning gibbous moon filtered through the curtains, casting soft shadows across the furniture. Something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then a slender shadow moved along the walls, and my stomach knotted as trepidation wound around my heart.
I told myself that it was just the shifting curtains or the branch of a tree outside…but then, with a soft, slow motion, the old rickety mattress sagged beside me. I tried to whip my head around to the right, but my body only moved as if pushing through molasses.
Deep dread squeezed my lungs and throat as I looked into the blurred, inky face of the intruder.
The faceless man.
He sat there beside me on my bed, head cocked curiously to the side.
I opened my mouth to scream, but he quickly placed a finger to my lips. “Come, now, we don’t want to wake anyone up. It’s the middle of the night.”
My cry burned in my lungs, but no sound came out, no matter how hard I pushed.
The blur followed his face, just like when I’d scried. But his appearance was different—his body distorted the air around him, stretching the shapes of everything like fabric pulled tight over an object beneath. It was as if, somehow, he were pushing his way through a picture of my room.
A familiar voice snarled in the back of my mind. Wake up!
Shit. It was still a dream.
I forced words out of my leaden lips. “I. Am. Still. Dreaming…You. Aren’t. Here.”
He brushed my hair from my shoulder and whispered, “Yes, Savannah. You’re dreaming. But your eyes are wide open because I want you to see what happens next. Don’t worry. Soon, you’ll be with me.”
Rage fogged the corners of my vision, and I pushed a hiss from my frozen lips. “Soon, you’ll be dead.”
His hand paused. “Oh, Savannah, you have such a penchant for irony.”
The faceless man rose, strode around the end of the bed, and examined the random sketches scattered over the furniture. “You do art things. How quaint.”
With his back turned, I felt his hold over me slip… just a little.
Although I couldn’t move my hands, I thrust spite-laden words from my mouth. “We’ll find you and kill you. We know who you are.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I doubt that. If you did, you wouldn’t have quite so much sass. But it’s no surprise you don’t know the truth. You don’t even know who you are, Savannah. And you can’t control your own body.”
The faceless man waved his hand, and my right arm threw off the covers of its own volition. Terror wound around my thundering heart. He gestured upward with his hands, as if coaxing a small child, and my legs slipped over the scratchy sheets and out of bed.
Wake up! the voice in my soul cried.
But instead, I stood, adorned only in my skimpy nightclothes. At least the sorcerer wasn’t looking.
“Are there any pictures of me?” he inquired, turning my way.
Fuck.
I nodded against my will.
He made little walking gestures with his fingers, and I staggered over to the desk with ungainly steps. My mind whirled. What was happening? Was I sleepwalking? Why could he control me?
“Show me what you’ve been working on,” the shadowy man purred.
Every nerve in my body screamed in protest, but I opened the drawer and pulled out the crumpled papers.
This can’t be happening.
I held out a fistful of the sketches I’d drawn of Jaxson. My heart leapt a little, glad that even out of my control, my body knew how to deliver a snappy fuck you.
The faceless man shook his head. “What rubbish. We know you can do better.”
He waved his hand, and I ripped them and tossed them in the trash. Resentment and regret drowning my thoughts, I pulled out the drawings I did of him.
“Much better. Spread them out.”
I did as he instructed.
“My, you are quite talented. But Savannah, you’ve got my face all wrong. You’ve just made a smudge. I think it’s time for you to see it for real.”
I gritted my teeth. “If I wanted to see an asshole, I’d just bend over in front of a mirror.”
He laughed. “So much fight. Such a strong soul. I doubt I’d have any chance of doing this if I didn’t have your blood. But I do, so let’s go.”
Shit. Those bastards had taken it when I was trapped in the sanitorium.
Kahanov waved to the bedroom door.
My neck burned, and my teeth ached. My heart had lost its rhythm and was pounding erratically in my breast. Despite my fury, despite my fear, I obeyed. Straining with every step, I walked over and undid the latch on the door.
The pained voice in my head whimpered, Wake up, Savy!
But I couldn’t. Sweat trickled down my spine as I opened the door and stared into the empty hall. I tried to shout, but my voice was locked again. But maybe Casey had heard my door. Maybe he would hear my footsteps or me talking to myself.
They were fool’s hopes. The house was silent except for my labored breathing.
The sorcerer laid a hand on my shoulder. “This is where I leave you. Your ride is waiting. Better go catch it.”
