“Logan chased the wolf away?” Phillip asked, suspicion flared in his voice.

  “Logan killed the wolf, got me out of the trap, and then threw a flyer like the one you had at me. Except that one was my request to move the fight to tomorrow.” I glanced at the rising sun in the window. “Today,” I amended.

  Both of them stared at me with open mouths and eyes that hardened into slits of vengeance.

  “I guess I passed out, and he took me into the lake to wash the cut.” I wiped my mouth and looked down at my ankle as a tear escaped. “I’m sure my bone was crushed before I passed out, but it wasn’t when I woke.” I met Phillip’s gaze. “Logan tore his wrist open and fed me some of his blood.”

  “He didn’t just let you die?” William asked with saucer-like eyes.

  “No. I think his blood pulled me from the brink of death. He said he thought I had stopped breathing, and he knew enough about vampires to make an educated guess as to what might help.”

  Phillip poured a vial into a small bowl of powder. It smoked and after a few stirs, he scooped a putty-like mixture out, smearing it all around my leg. It burned like a bitch, but then the pain numbed. He wrapped gauze around it and looked up at me. “He probably did save you from dying and wasting one of your lives.” He closed up his little shop of horrors and stood to wash his hands in the sink.

  “The cops caught us at the beach, too.”

  His gaze turned to mine, and he cocked an eyebrow.

  “And they called an ambulance and a forensics team.”

  He let out a small laugh. “Is that how you got back?”

  “No. I wiped their memory of us and then sent them away. I conjured a car to get us back.” I left out the extra-curricular activities. I don’t think either Phillip or William would appreciate the fact that Logan took any liberties with me while I was injured and vulnerable.

  But I couldn’t get the way his hands and mouth worked my body out of my mind. I wondered just how good he would feel inside me.

  My heart plummeted at the thought. I would never know what that bliss would be like with Logan, and suddenly I wanted to know. My throat tightened again, and I took a deep breath, glancing down at Phillip’s patch job.

  “Do I have time to get a couple hours of sleep?”

  Phillip glanced at his watch and nodded. “You’ve got two and a half hours before you have to be in the arena.” He squeezed my arm. “Get some sleep. We’ll find whoever put that trap out for you, and I promise, they will pay.”

  I crossed out of my bathroom, set my alarm, and then slid under the covers while William and Phillip left me to get some sleep. I had napped in the car, but that wouldn’t be enough to give me the energy I needed to fight Logan.

  I closed my eyes and his face appeared, his rapture as I serviced him. His groan of satisfaction and the raggedness of his breath as he spoke my name echoed in my ears with such reverence that my heart thundered in my chest.

  I growled low in my throat and covered my head with my pillow.

  I could not get the man out of my mind, and from the throb in my shoulder, I wasn’t the only one who was having a tough time washing my brain of tonight.

  His reactions echoed inside me, and I wondered whether he felt my tumultuous emotions as acutely as I felt his. I ran my fingers over his mark. I had yet to accept it, so perhaps my feelings were muted. I could only hope that was the case because his were beating a path right to my heart. I couldn’t afford that. Not with what we would be forced to face in a few hours.

  Without a concession, the pack would expect a fight to the death. And both of us had our reasons to hold onto the position. I’d suggest co-leading, but I read the pack law. There was no precedent for it and with how the council dissed me, I knew they’d never let me lead without killing my opponent. Even then, it might still be an uphill battle.

  They thought the way Logan’s father thought: I was tainted blood and had no rights in the pack. Even though my alpha powers left them all cowering, they probably assumed it was supercharged with my other gifts.

  I rolled out from under the pillow and onto my back, threading my hands through my hair. Why the hell had I let him into my heart?

  I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, focusing on the numbers as they counted down the minutes until my eyes grew heavy and my thoughts turned as thick as mud.

  Chapter 11

  MORNING CAME FASTER THAN I wanted, but at least I was able to get a little shut-eye. Albeit out of pure exhaustion, but still, sleep just the same. And it was blessedly dreamless.

  The knock on the door pulled me out of the stupor I had drifted into after slamming the damn snooze button.

  “I’m awake,” I muttered, but I certainly didn’t sound it.

  The door opened, and William stepped in. He did that nervous thing, biting his lower lip like he had something to say.

  I forced myself to sit up and give him my attention.

  “He’s got a mean right hook,” he said softly. “Watch out for it. Otherwise, you’ll see stars.” He bit his lip again and stared at the floor. When he finally looked up, there were tears in his eyes. “I don’t want to lose you, Sissy.”

  William using the nickname he called me for years tightened my throat.

  “You won’t.” One way or another, I’d be back. Whether I was the alpha or not was another story. “I’ll come back, if only to keep you from doing something else stupid.”

  He let out a chuckle, but the tear that escaped the corner of his eye was enough to get me up and moving toward him. I wrapped my arms around him. I knew his fear. Being alone so close to our father’s death—it was what had fed my anger the night he suggested he take on the fight in place of me. Deep down, I was just as scared of being the only one left standing.

  “I promise,” I whispered in his ear, and he nodded, squeezing me before he tore out of my grip to leave me to dress for battle.

  I showered and unraveled the soaking bandages from my leg and stared at the unmarred skin. Whatever Phillip had packed it with last night had worked miracles. I took the time to braid my hair the same way I had before. I knew before the match was over, the sophisticated rebel look I sported would be ruined, but I wanted the entrance with my mother’s bo in hand. I pulled her ornate bo down from where it was displayed.

  I had only twirled it once and then my father had yelled at me to put it back. The grip was perfect, as well as the balance. And the painted phoenix wrapping around the staff was flawless. Phillip had made it for her before I was born as a way to keep her in fighting shape. The shaft didn’t have a ding on it, as if he had painted it with a little of his magic. I hoped I did it justice today, even though I had no enthusiasm for beating Logan to death.

  I stared at my reflection in the mirror on the back of my bedroom door and sighed. I straightened my shoulders, steeling my emotions. I’d feel every ounce of the pain I delivered, and I dreaded it.

  My only consolation: Logan would experience the same slow torture.

  I stopped in the living room, where Phillip stood with William. “I’ll try to do you proud.”

  Phillip crossed to me and took me by the shoulders. “You will always make me proud, no matter what. I love you like you were my own child.” He pulled me in and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. “We’ll come once the match has started. That way your brother can go unnoticed until after it’s over and you claim your birthright.” He smiled a tight smile and stepped away, nodding toward the door.

  “Just don’t hurt Logan. Okay?” I met his gaze. “No matter what happens, you are not to rip his soul from him. Understand?”

  Phillip took a deep inhale and gave me a quick nod. “I won’t.”

  His word was as good as a promise. I gave my brother a wave and headed out the door into the bright morning sunshine. Like the other day, the streets were nearly barren, but not completely. This time, there were some last-minute runners racing toward the stadium to get a seat. The eagerness in their trot soured my empty stomach. They were excited to see outright murder.

  I shook the thought out of my head and shut down any connections to the pack until all I could feel was Logan. His anguish nearly doubled me over, but I kept moving toward the arena, twirling the bo in my hands to secure the barrier inside me that I’d need to survive this ordeal.

  I stopped outside the same door I had ripped open a few days ago and took a deep breath before I marched inside.

  Logan leaned against the barrier at the far side of the ring. When our eyes met, he straightened. Even from this distance, I could see the deep breath he took in and the purse of his lips as he blew it out. His stomach plummeted.

  I let a smile tilt my lips and shrugged a shoulder at his reaction. He was hoping I wouldn’t show, and he’d win the position by default.

  The stadium fell quiet as I climbed down the stairs and entered the dirt ring. It had been raked, so my brother’s blood wasn’t visible, but I could still smell his death.

  I crossed to the center and faced the council.

  Alec stood as Logan stepped into the space next to me. I glanced at Logan, and our eyes met. Stubborn resolve reflected in his eyes, and I gulped my surprise, turning back to Alec as heat painted my cheeks.

  “Erica, no magic can be used in this ring. None of your special abilities have any place in this fight. And shifting for you is prohibited.” He glanced between the two of us with a sour look on his face, as if the sight of us standing so close together bothered him. “Begin.”

  Logan turned to me and bowed, eyeing me from behind his thick eyelashes. “Nice bo,” he said.

  “It was my mother’s.” I bowed as well, telling myself this was just an intense sparring match. I stepped back first, twirling my bo at my side.

  We circled, sizing each other up, but all my mind kept conjuring up was the way his hands felt on my body.

  His cheeks turned pink, and his lips twitched as if he were in my head. And then he lunged at me, nearly ripping the bo from my grip. But I had a solid hold on the wood, and I used it, clocking him in the ribs as I dodged the fist aimed for my face.

  Pain flared in my side, and he hissed as he spun away, holding his ribs.

  I reset my stance, wary of him. I passed the bo from hand to hand, spinning it in front of me, blocking him. He watched my hands and then after a few circles, he spun, kicking out. He hit the bo, knocking it out of my hands, and sent it sailing to the side of the arena.

  Gasps echoed, and my heartbeat ramped up with his triumphant smile. He went on the offensive, and I parried and blocked his attempts until he huffed and stepped back. Frustration filled his eyes at his inability to tag me.

  I didn’t wait for him to recover. I went on the offensive with a growl. He deflected my first punch, but my second was straight on and hit him in his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him, and my breath whooshed out as though I had been hit. But that was my only true hit. He parried and executed counter moves like a pro fighter. Each connection of skin and bone, each blocked kick, each parried punch resounded in my bones. Feeling each deflection of his nearly overwhelmed me.

  The crowd started chanting: “Kill. Kill. Kill.” It was enough to make my stomach clench in disgust. I met Logan’s gaze and saw the same distaste reflected in his blue irises. But that didn’t stop him from sending a right hook my way. The one my brother warned me about. I tried to move out of the way, but it connected with my cheekbone by my ear.

  I stumbled back, but he was on me in an instant. He spun me around, pulling my back to his chest as he wrapped his arm around my throat and squeezed.

  The crowd went wild.

  “Concede,” he whispered in my ear.

  I elbowed him in the stomach, stomped on his foot, and grabbed his arm, turning in to his elbow before I twisted in his grip and flipped him onto the ground. Except he pulled me down with him and rolled me underneath him.

  He gripped my throat tight, and his eyes begged me not to let this continue.

  I pulled the same thing he had done in my house and ended up on top of him with my hands around his throat. “You concede, you stubborn ass.”

  He actually laughed up at me, and I squeezed his throat harder, feeling the ghost pressure on my larynx. I pressed my thighs tight to his sides. That was when I felt his arousal beneath me.

  “Only if you ride me like that for the rest of your life.”

  His whispered offer threw me for a loop. I cocked an eyebrow at him and shot to my feet. Giving him enough room to recover while I digested his words.

  The crowd silenced at my actions. I relented when I could have ended him.

  “Are you serious, or was that just another underhanded maneuver of yours to knock me off-balance?”

  “Kill her!” his father yelled from the sidelines.

  Logan’s gaze flitted in his direction, and his features hardened. When he looked back at me, I couldn’t read him. He pointed to the space in front of him. “Come here and find out.”

  I blinked at him and then moved my gaze to where the door to the arena was. Phillip stood, shaking his head. Will stood next to him, doing the same.

  “You come here.” I pointed in front of me, unwilling to step into a trap.

  His lip tilted. “Meet in the middle then.” He took a step forward with his back to the council, and a rumbling of confusion layered over the crowd.

  I took a step toward him as well. The crowd silenced around us as I stared into his eyes. We kept this up until he stood before me. He cupped both sides of my head.

  “Snap the witch’s neck, you imbecile!” his father yelled, and a few in the crowd joined him.

  Logan’s hands tightened on my face, and something flashed in his eyes. His jaw tightened and for a moment, I had the fleeting regret that he was going to follow the crowd’s cheers.

  But then he dipped his head, covering my lips with his.

  That irresistible buzz hit when he kissed me and sent my heart thumping in anticipation. Whispers of “What are you doing?” came from behind us but I was so caught up in Logan’s kiss that I never considered they were for anyone but us. Then Logan gasped and pushed me away, staring at me as if I had betrayed him.

  A wet sound followed, and he dropped to his knees and then to the ground. Pain gripped my back, and a flash of metal caught the corner of my eye, followed by pain in my chest.

  “That’s for all the times you and your father shot me down.”

  My gaze jumped to the owner of the blade sticking in my chest. Alec glared at me, his face a mask of hatred and bitterness.

  “You should have died last night at the lake,” he growled under his breath with feral hatred.

  Logan’s mark burned, and his death rattled through me like a Category 4 hurricane, demanding vengeance. My legs buckled, and I fell to my knees with the blade still in my chest.

  Over the ripple of noise in the crowd, I thought I heard Phillip and William cry out.

  Alec reached for a sword at his hip, and the ugly truth ripped through my anguish.

  Alec wanted to be the alpha. He wanted it after his father passed, but his father had handed the reins back to my dad, where they rightfully belonged. I remembered Alec being all mopey for a while and then he started making passes at me. I had never been interested in Alec Johnson. He was my friend by way of family gatherings and nothing more. He had been a trusted advisor to my father and a leader on the council, and he set me up for this fight, believing without my powers, I’d be easily killed. When he saw Logan’s interest in me, he attempted to murder me. He baited me, and I fell for it all. The bastard.

  All because he didn’t have the balls to step in the ring and fight for the alpha position himself. His intention all along was to steal the position out from under both of us.

  Fury burnt through me. I bellowed with the power of it, and fire leapt from me like the hand of justice, engulfing Alec before he could get his sword free. He screamed as my fire devoured him and then, before he went quiet, his essence was ripped from his body and flew through the crowd.

  Phillip, my soul-eating guardian, devoured that asshole, striking down his chance at any sort of afterlife.

  My gaze fell on Logan as the noise from the crowd wavered in my ears. The weight of his death hit, sending pain from his mark right to the center of my pierced heart. My death wasn’t so far behind, and I crawled to him, turning him onto his back as a sob ripped through me.

  Calls of necromancer and witch broke through my sorrow as Phillip and William stepped onto the arena floor to keep the crowd from stampeding into the ring to pull me to pieces. I think Phillip threatened to kill everyone in the crowd if they dare took a step inside the fighting ring.

  I focused on Logan. His expression of betrayal was still present in his dead eyes. I pressed my lips to his as my tears spilled onto his skin.

  I prayed it was enough to bring him back. I prayed I was strong enough to survive true death, too.

  “Please come back to me,” I whispered, and then, with a guttural roar, I yanked the knife from my flesh. Agony gripped my taxed heart. The blade dropped from my grip, and I fell forward, draped over Logan. Phillip stood between me and the crowd, with swords embellished with silver held in each hand.

  My breath pulled in and hissed out once. And then the noise faded, along with the light.

  BLACKNESS SURROUNDED ME. IN the distance, a pinpoint of a light shimmered. As it got closer, it enlarged into a flaming bird so beautiful that my heart ached. Love radiated from it in a familiar way and when it landed before me and morphed into my mother, I let out a sob.

  She pulled me into her arms and kissed my temple. “Hey, baby girl,” she whispered as she stepped away and took a good look at me.

  “I’m dead?” I thought I knew the answer.

  She wavered her hand back and forth. “You’re in what I learned to call the in between. It’s not your time yet, but I’m going to give you a little advice. You have a finite number of lives.” She bopped my nose. “Keep them closely guarded, because not only is your ability to rise from the ashes finite, when you bring others back to life, that also reduces the number of times you can be resurrected.” Thunder rumbled around us, and she laughed and leaned closer. “I didn’t know that last part until I got here.”

 

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