Violet!
Her head fell to the left, listening as if someone had called her name, but the room was empty. It was a sure sign she was going insane. Her mind was turning against her, before her body shut down forever.
Violet?
This time, the male voice was softer, more tentative. And familiar. Her brain cells worked overtime until the voice resonated once more in her skull.
Violet, darling witch, I feel you. Answer me.
Finn. And she felt as if he was taunting her, that annoying smile in his voice that always made her want to punch him present in his words.
Violet reached toward this unexpected lifeline.
Finn… I’m dying.
No, you are not, witchy witch. I’ll find you. All you have to do is stay alive. Shouldn’t be that difficult.
Again, he used that irritating tone as if she were a stubborn child, but she ignored it as the sands of time slipped through her fingers.
Finn, tell Valeria and Sera that I love them, that I’m so sorry…
No! I won’t allow you to say something that stupid.
That made her smile once more.
As if you could ever order me around, vampire. I’m dying. And if you’re not a figment of my imagination, just relay that message. My last testament. Please.
There was a pause, and she thought the tenuous link between them had broken.
I won’t allow it.
Again, through the connection, she could feel his determination, although Violet knew her body wouldn’t survive the next few hours.
Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Finn. After all, I’m only an annoying witch. You won’t miss me that much.
Another pause.
You mean more to me than you think.
It was cryptic, and before she could wrap her mind around it, footsteps announced the return of her tormentor. When the door opened, and light blinded her vision, Violet couldn’t do anything more than scream as fear pulled her into hell.
Chapter 3
Finn felt like he was being dragged down into the bowels of misery when all he heard was Violet’s scream, and once more he was in a world of agony and pain.
And then it stopped. It was so sudden, Finn felt unsteady until he got his own emotions back under control. Only then did he open his eyes.
Sanctuary’s forest was eerily silent and dark. Still sitting in the stream, ignoring the cold, Finn tried to reach Violet again, but it was as if that door had closed.
Reaching deep down inside his dead soul, he managed to ignore the inner turmoil to stand and act. Leaving the cold stream, Finn headed toward Sanctuary.
Soren stood at the edge of the forest with clothes in his hands. “I didn’t think you’d like your junk flinging around for everybody to see.”
Finn didn’t speak and covered himself quickly, glad the clothes fitted so he was decent by human standards. With that bothersome task out of the way, Finn looked for his car before remembering Soren had taken it to Sanctuary.
Soren caught his elbow. “Hey, stand still for a moment and talk to me. Do you know where Violet is?”
That simple question halted his forward movement. “I talked to her a few minutes ago. She’s scared and in pain. An incredible amount of pain. Just before the link was shut down…” Finn closed his fist at the memory, taking a deep breath before answering his old friend. “She’s expecting to die today, Soren. I could feel it in her words. She even asked me to tell Valeria and Sera that she loved them. That she was sorry.”
Soren growled deep in response. “Any clue where she is?”
“No. No visual. I don’t think she knows herself.” As he said the words, Finn felt even more helpless. “Just before the contact was broken, Violet was screaming. I don’t know if we have time for me to try and reach her again.”
With a nod, the weredragon headed for the big house. “I think we need a little more than time to find her.”
Finn followed, even though everything in him wanted to get behind the wheel and start searching. It was a dumb move, but Violet hunted him. She was only a witch, albeit a likable and entertaining one, but why did he care so much about her? His reaction was incomprehensible. The only sensible thing to do would be to tell the people—her friends—inside what he knew, and for him to step away and leave them with the task of rescuing her.
His logical mind was adamant, but his feet only brought him closer to the house.
Violet’s friends were gathered in the kitchen. Valeria came to him first. Strong and powerful in her own right, the half-witch, half-weredragon, who’d saved his life a few years ago, appeared pale and anxious.
“Finn! You said Violet has been taken, that she’s in danger! What’s going on?”
Asher, the Alpha werewolf and Master of Sanctuary, stepped close behind his mate and wrapped an arm around Valeria. “We didn’t know Violet was missing, only that she’d gone on one of her research missions.”
Blond and delicate, Sera stood at the end of the table. Ian, a werewolf and Asher’s second-in-command, stood next to her. He was head-over-heels in love with Sera and overprotective of his mate as usual. When Sera stepped toward him, the dark-haired werewolf followed.
“I tried a spell to contact her, but she’s not answering. I don’t understand as our bond is usually strong.”
Finn opened his mouth to explain what he’d experienced but knew what he was about to reveal would not appease their fears. He took a deep breath before beginning. As he spoke, he saw the four of them grow restless and worried.
“If she’s not responding to us reaching out to her, if none of our spells are working, what are we going to do to find her?”
However, despite Valeria’s question, Finn had one of his own, one just as worrying. “Who was after her? Any ideas? That information might give us a
