Wrath

“That would explain a lot,” Blossom said. “But he’s a pretty powerful warlock.”

“He’s too powerful.” Charlotte sighed, as though she wanted to believe the possibility, but couldn’t bring herself to allow our hopes to live on. “She wouldn’t be able to force a stone in him. He’d have to want it.”

“And he’d never want it,” Vanessa added, her voice glum, full of defeat. “He’d never allow anyone to control him like that. Not after what Kali did to Martin. Whatever he’s doing, he’s doing it on his own volition.”

Charlotte’s narrowed eyes studied the vampire closely. I didn’t have to hear her thoughts to see her suspicion about how Vanessa would know this about Owen. Char didn’t know the two had had some kind of weird relationship.

“I have to agree,” Char finally said. “Owen’s too stubborn and thick-headed to allow it.”

“So you think he willingly did this?” I asked. “And worked with Victor?”

Vanessa blew out a breath. “I don’t know about Victor. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what he said and what he didn’t. On the one hand, he flat-out said he was there, and he made a point of you seeing the scars Sasha would have left.”

“But he also made a point of showing Owen dropping the dagger next to Sasha and taking Dorian,” I reminded her.

“Right. But on the other hand, if he’d had anything to do with taking your son—the big trophy besides you and Tristan—he’d have been bragging all over hell and back about it. We’d have never heard the end of it.” She wrinkled her nose with disgust. “Then again, Victor’s not as stupid as I’ve always made him sound. He’s a pain in the ass and a spoiled brat who always gets to do whatever he wants, which usually consists of parties and girls. Lucas trusts him for a reason, though, and now that things are getting serious, he probably is, too. He said all kinds of things, but there was a lot he didn’t say, and any of it could be lies anyway. He could be covering something much bigger, for all we know.”

“That’s comforting,” Blossom muttered.

“Bottom line,” Tristan determined, “both said Kali has Dorian, and Owen is probably with them.”

“We need to find him,” I said. “Them. All of them. Dorian, Owen, and Kali. I owe the faeries anyway.”

I snorted. How ironic. I supposedly owed them because I asked them to help Owen. And now he was on my shit list, too.

“It’s time to head out,” I said.

“Are we still going north?” Blossom asked.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. A full day had passed since we’d done the spell. “We should try again. The direction might have changed by now.”

Charlotte’s brows lifted as she cocked her head.

“Blossom worked a tracking spell yesterday,” I explained to all of them. “We didn’t get a lock on Dorian, but we did feel a push that he’s north of here.”

“Did Sophia or Ms. Katerina have anything to say about it?” Charlotte asked.

I frowned as I debated what to tell her, unsure of how she’d react to our plan. Surely she’d want to pursue her son and the sorceress who destroyed her family, but would she go against Mom and Rina’s orders? I knew it wouldn’t be the first time she ignored the Council—there was a reason she and Mom were such good friends—but our orders weren’t only from the Council.

Tristan must have decided the best solution was to tell her because he opened his mouth before I did.

“They haven’t given us a specific direction or area, but our primary mission is to do conversions and build our army. We’re not officially authorized to find Dorian,” he finished, and everyone in the room frowned, including Charlotte.

“That could possibly change if they know Kali has him,” Char suggested.

“Possibly,” Tristan said, “but bringing it to their attention could just as easily cause them to give us more specific orders. Orders that won’t help us and could actually hinder us. I think it’s best that we stick with the plan Alexis and I have already started.”

“Which is?” Sheree asked.

I recited what I’d basically told Mom. “We agree to uphold our purpose of protecting the Normans and converting those who have been infected, allowing us to build an army that we know will be needed.” I paused as everyone nodded, though their mouths twisted in a grimace or a scowl. “But at the same time, we’ll be searching for Dorian. Unless Blossom and I find something different when we’re done here, that means going north, even if it doesn’t make sense for our mission of conversions.”

“And it looks as though we’ll be searching for Kali if we’re to find Dorian,” Tristan said.

“We aren’t certain she has him,” Vanessa said and then added, “though it seems pretty likely.”

“She probably does.” I sighed. “All evidence seems to be pointing that way.”

Blossom and Sheree agreed. We all looked to Charlotte.

“As much as it pisses me off because it means my son was involved, I have to agree,” she said. “I’m not sure of her motive, but based on what she did to all of us with the Tristan fiasco, I’d say it has something to do with gaining power among the Daemoni. She’s capable of anything.”

“She’s extremely powerful,” Vanessa agreed.

“And dangerous,” Tristan added. “So if you don’t feel comfortable with our covert mission or going up against Kali, now’s your chance to speak up.”

Everybody stared at us. Nobody spoke up.

“So everyone agrees?” I asked, specifically looking at Charlotte. “We do our conversions while we seek out Dorian, regardless of where that takes us. And even if it means taking on Kali . . . and maybe Owen, too.”

“Agreed,” Blossom and Sheree said at the same time.

Vanessa made a face, but she nodded. “I’m with you, little sister.”

We all looked at Charlotte again, and her sapphire eyes skimmed over everybody’s faces before ending at mine. She gave me a single nod.

“I’ll kill that sorceress bitch,” she said. “For everything she’s done to my family. And to yours.”

“Not if I get to her first,” I replied, and my mouth tugged up with a small smile of relief that we had a real team and a plan.

Chapter 6

Charlotte, Sheree, and Vanessa returned to their preparations for our departure, while Tristan, Blossom, and I flashed to our house. As I walked into Dorian’s room, I couldn’t believe three days had gone by, and we were still here and not out there looking for him. We’d hopefully have a definite direction to head within an hour or two, but before we could get started, my phone rang. I sighed when I looked at the screen, but I couldn’t ignore the call. I’d been waiting for it.

“Do I need to remind you of your priorities?” Mom asked, her voice curt.

“We already have one convert,” I answered, and I told her about Sonya. Mom gasped at the story about the faerie stone they’d used in the vampire and said she’d warn the Council about this happening again. She didn’t react to the part about Owen’s involvement, though.

“What’s next?” she asked brusquely.

“We’re putting our team together and getting the colony settled. We’ll be taking off tonight, I hope.”

“And where do you plan on going?”

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. “We were just about to figure that out but . . . maybe north?”

I purposefully made it a question, hoping she’d give us her blessing to move completely out of the area. No such luck.

“Why would you do that?” Her tone told me she already knew the answer. She’d obviously been keeping her sense of truth focused on my actions. But how could she be so coldhearted? “Alexis, there are people who need you—”

“Dorian needs me.”