Chapter 100

Logan

I didn’t want to see anyone that day. Not Scott. Not Alex. The only one I wanted to see was her, but I knew that it was unlikely. And even if she did seek me out, I suspected it would bring nothing good.

So I wallowed in my solitude, trying to find comfort in it. I needed time and space to think things through, after all. I needed to plan how I would work to get Evelyn back.

But of course, this reprieve didn’t last for long.

Scott wasn’t the type to wait for an invitation. He showed up just before sundown, standing in my doorway with a tight smile that told me whatever he had to say wasn’t going to be good.

I sighed, allowing him my full attention. If he truly brought bad news with him, I had no qualms about using him as a conduit for my anger.

“I think I know where Emma’s hiding,” he said without preamble.

My muscles tensed. The name alone was enough to set me bristling. “If this is another rumor—”

“It’s not,” Scott interrupted. “I’ve got a location. A real one. If we move now, we might actually catch her before she skips town again.”

I stood straighter, thinking about what Evelyn had said earlier. She had claimed that there was no chance for us as long as Emma continued to wander this earth, posing a threat to us. If Scott spoke truly, then this was my chance to get her back.

I should have questioned him more. I knew that there were more organized, safe ways to go about proceeding forward. But just then, I didn’t care. The thought of Emma still out there, free to twist Evelyn’s perception of me and hang over her head, gnawed at me so deeply that I caved without pressure.

“Fine,” I said. “Lead the way.”

We rode for over an hour. Scott took me beyond the city, where the fields sprawled languidly as we wound out into the countryside. With time, the trees grew thicker and the air felt heavier. When Scott pulled onto a narrow dirt road, the last of the daylight was bleeding out of the sky. An old farmhouse loomed ahead, its roof sagging, windows boarded in places, and paint peeling like sunburnt skin.

“This is it,” Scott said, pulling his horse to a stop.

My senses flared as I stared at the dilapidated building. It looked like it hadn’t been inhabited in years, maybe even decades. The wind carried only the damp scent of rotting wood and old hay. No trace of Emma. No trace of anyone.

“You’re sure?” I asked, glancing back at him.

Scott’s smile was tight, almost apologetic. “Positive.”

We dismounted, and I followed Scott into the barn. The sun was nearly below the horizon, casting our surroundings in an increasingly steely hue. The floorboards groaned under my boots as I stepped inside. The place was hollow, stripped of anything worth taking. Just shadows and dust remained.

It looked utterly vacant. I stepped ahead of Scott, searching the barren space. Perhaps she was hidden beneath the warped floorboards. She certainly had no place to hide in all of this ample vacancy.

I was halfway across the room when I heard the slam of the door behind me.

“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded, spinning around. But Scott was gone.

Scott’s voice came muffled through the wood of the locked door. “Sorry, Logan. But you really should’ve stayed out of this. Exiling me was a mistake.”

Then there was the sound of metal sliding into place. I tensed. A lock. Then there was a faint scraping outside.

“What’s going on?” I demanded.

In answer, the sharp, acrid scent of gasoline hit me.

My wolf snarled in warning. I threw myself against the unyielding door desperately.

“Scott!” I roared, slamming my shoulder into the door again. Still, it didn’t budge. A second later, the crackle of a match could be heard.

The reality of it all hit me. He was going to burn me alive.

“Goodbye, Logan,” Scott said. “I think we are finally even for exiling me now. I’ll see you on the other side.”

I grit my teeth against a myriad of retorts. Right now. I had to think. I had to survive.

The flames caught fast. The old wood lit like it had been waiting decades for a moment to finally surrender. Smoke poured in thick waves, burning my throat, searing my lungs, and blurring my eyes.

Desperately, I shifted, claws digging into the floorboard furiously fast and tearing fruitlessly at the boarded windows. But the heat pushed me back, flames licking higher, and no opening was created.

The smoke was disorienting, curling in my head, muddying my instincts. My heartbeat thundered against my skull, roaring like the fire in my ears. Every breath was a fight.

And then, through the haze, I saw her.

Evelyn.

But not Evelyn as she’d been the last time we spoke. No, this was the ethereal memory I had of her from long ago, before we had even known each other’s names. This was the Evelyn from my dreams.

The girl in white.

Her hair spilled over her shoulders, unbound and silky. Everything about her seemed so warm and awash in comfort. She lifted a hand, beckoning.

“Logan,” she said, her voice clear as if the fire wasn’t roaring around us. “This way.”

It didn’t matter that it was impossible. I knew that she wasn’t truly there, that she wasn’t real. I likely was losing my mind to the smoke inhalation, but not even that gave me pause. My body moved anyway, staggering after her toward the front of the house.

She stopped by the main doorway, looking back with the faintest smile. Then she was gone, vanishing like she was made of smoke too. In her place, the flames had thinned just enough for me to see the latch on the door. It had melted in the heat from the flames.

I lunged against it, forcing my weight to slam into the weakened door frame. Wood splintered, made brittle and weak from the fire, and light burst through. I stumbled out into the cool evening air, collapsing on the grass as I choked on the fresh breath forcibly filling my lungs. My chest heaved, each breath ripping through me.

I rolled onto my back, staring up at the darkening sky. I had just enough time to feel gratitude for Evelyn’s assistance in my escape when unconsciousness pulled me under.

When I woke, my head was pounding, and each breath felt painful. And above me, a feminine face was eclipsing the night sky, blocking my view.

For a heartbeat, I thought maybe Evelyn had really come for me after all. Maybe it hadn’t just been her memory that had pulled me out. But as the faces came into focus, my stomach dropped. It wasn’t Evelyn kneeling beside me.

It was Emma.

And she wasn’t alone. Three unfamiliar women stood behind her, all with the feral, sharp-eyed look of rogues who had seen too much of this world.

“Well, well,” Emma purred, brushing a lock of hair from my face with a loving caress that made me recoil. “Looks like you finally found your way home to me.”