A Shift in the Air (21 page)

Alone in the bedroom, Caitlin threw
open the window and sucked in a few breaths of fresh air. Dublin
smelled different than Seattle—fresher, saltier, and somehow
calmer. Though perhaps her history here had something to do with
that. “I can fight him.” Saying the words aloud gave them power.
She could escape him and take back her life—and then forge a new
one with Liam. Assuming he didn’t continue to be an ass. Damn
werewolves with their overprotective instincts.

Exhaustion muddled her thoughts. She
wanted Liam…needed him. But she also needed him to listen and trust
her. Giving up on answers for the night, Caitlin slipped between
the sheets and buried her face in Liam’s pillow.

“
Someday you’ll find the
one you’re meant to love and restore balance to your world.”
Her mother’s long-ago words, said in comfort to
the terrified eighteen-year-old girl who’d fled from Fergus’s
insanity, clawed their way free of her tangled memories. Balance.
What had she meant by balance?

Caitlin ached to speak to
her mother again. She had no one. Yes, Liam loved her and she loved
him, but she had no friends, no family.
I
miss you, mum.

The snick of the door woke her.
“Caitlin?”

She didn’t roll over to face him. “Is
Mara okay?”

After a rustle of clothing hitting the
floor, Liam pulled back the blankets and climbed into bed with her.
They lay back-to-back, not touching, and the pull to turn and wrap
her arms around him almost won out over her frustration. “She’s
well enough. Cade less so.”

“
If I can break Fergus’s
charm and take back my element, I can help Mara. I won’t give
up.”

In the semi-darkness, broken only by a
sliver of moonlight from a crack in the drapes, Liam turned over
and smoothed a hand down her arm. “Stay away from him, Caitlin. Let
me kill the bastard.”

“
I could say the same thing
to you. And I don’t want to kill him. He’s sick, Liam. Insane, yes.
But I don’t think he can help himself. Using my element hurts him.
I need to take my air back, and maybe then he’ll be the boy I once
knew.”

He jerked his hand away. “Do ya still
love him?”

Caitlin cringed at the ice in his
words. “No. I never loved him. Not like that. I cared for him, yes.
A teenage crush, a fondness. Once he took my air, he changed so
much, I didn’t even like him anymore.” She rolled over to meet his
hard stare. “I love you. Not him. But don’t I have a responsibility
to try to save him?”

“
And what if that
responsibility kills ya? What then? Ye’re not going to convince me
the arse should live. I’ll kill him. I’m a were—“

“
That’s not going to save
you, Liam. I stopped you with one of my charms a few days ago. And
I’m weak compared to Fergus. If he sets his sights on you, he’ll
make you slit your own throat as easy as that.” She snapped her
fingers for emphasis, and then stared up at the darkened antique
light hanging from the ceiling. “Don’t you see how foolish this is?
He knows you somehow. And he’s angry with you for…I don’t
know…stealing me away from him. He wanted to kill you before, and
we’d only kissed. Now? Knowing we’re lovers?”

“
Mates.”

“
Even worse.” He cringed at
her words. “I’m sorry, but you understand, yeah? He knows I love
you, and that’s going to make him even more dangerous.”

“
I won’t let ya face him
alone.”

She turned her head, saw the utter
anguish on his face, and wrapped her arms around him. “You don’t
have to. But you do need to trust me.”

***

The next morning, after a tense call
with Peter, they forced down some breakfast and headed for Doolin.
Peter had little new to report from Farren’s remaining pack mates.
The wolves railed against Cade’s order to remain inside so close to
the moon. Peter placated them by going into town and asking around
at the last pubs Farren had talked about. But other than an odd
run-in with a senile old man, he’d found nothing. Colin, the
injured beta wolf, still hadn’t woken.

The drive across the center of the
country passed in blurs of blues, greens, and grays, the vast
rolling hills, clear skies, and occasional rambling stone wall in
stark opposition to the tense mood filling the car.

With every passing mile, Caitlin’s
connection with Fergus pulled harder at her focus. The constant low
burn of her missing element turned into a roaring flame,
threatening to leave her nothing but a hollow shell by the time
they arrived in Doolin. Though dread loomed like a dark cloud,
fighting him in Dublin gave her a measure of hope.

What had Mara said? The Rohypnol kept
Fergus’s mania in check. Could they get more of the drug? Rohypnol
made users susceptible to suggestion. She’d gone to a seminar in
college on how to avoid date rape, and the instructor had warned
against leaving your drink unattended in bars. If they got enough
of the drug into Fergus, could she convince him to help her release
the charm?

Cade’s phone rang half an hour outside
of Doolin, and Peter’s tense voice rasped through the
speaker.

“
Colin’s awake. He’s
refusing to speak to anyone but Liam.”

“
Put him on. Liam’s right
here.”

“
In person. He’s locked
himself in one of the bedrooms, and unless you want me to break
down the door, he’s not coming out until he sees Liam. Fergus beat
the shit out of him and Farren outside of Lahinch. That’s all he’ll
say.”

“
Is Farren alive? Does
Fergus have her?” Liam’s knuckles whitened on the steering
wheel.

“
I don’t know. I asked.
That’s when he slammed the door in my face.”

“
Fuck. We’re close. Keep
tryin’, Peter. If ya get anything more out of him, call
me.”

Liam turned off the main highway onto
a narrow two-lane road. The few cars they met passed by with only
inches to spare, and low, meandering walls of mottled stones penned
them in.

Caitlin rested her hand on Liam’s
thigh, trying to comfort without offering empty words. When the
road straightened, he’d drop his hand and link their fingers,
squeezing tightly, or lift her hand to kiss her knuckles. Sadness
rolled off him in waves, each stronger than the last.

“
That’s Farren’s,” he said
and pointed. Ahead, an old castle, restored to the glory of a
long-forgotten time, towered against the graying skies.

Peter met them at the door, and the
next few minutes passed in a cacophony of protests, pleading
whines, and sharp words. Cade took control, ordering Farren’s
wolves to calm down, find rooms for them to stay in, and bring Liam
and Caitlin to see the beta, Colin.

He’d locked himself in one of the
upstairs bedrooms at the end of the hall, and Tierney led the way.
“I’d never seen a wolf so bloody,” he whispered. “We didn’t think
he’d survive.”

“
I thought shifting healed
you.” Caitlin tightened her grip on Liam’s hand.

“
Some injuries are too
severe. Or a wolf can be too weak to heal fully.”

“
Colin, Liam’s here. Let
him in,” Tierney said, pounding on the thick wood. The young wolf
stood almost as tall as Liam’s six-foot-four, though his lithe
frame packed little muscle.

The door swung open, and a haggard man
with shaggy brown hair, pale blue eyes, and a face full of bruises
stood before them. His boxers and t-shirt hung off of bony
shoulders and hips, and he glanced between the two wolves and
Caitlin. “Liam. Alone.”

“
Caitlin can help with the
pain, Colin,” Liam said. “And she knows Fergus. She
stays.”

With a muttered curse, Colin tried to
shut the door in their faces, but he stumbled and pitched sideways.
Liam caught him easily and half-carried him back to the bed in the
corner of the room.

Her charm settled over him, though
Colin struggled against the calm. “Get her the fuck away from me,”
he grunted. “She caused this, Liam. Ya need to have someone turn
her over to Fergus and run.”

She flinched. Of course he’d hate her.
He’d been tortured. Dark bruises stood stark against pale arms and
legs, and his right eye didn’t open the entire way. Still, she’d
help him if he’d let her. “You want to be in pain? That’s up to
you.”

“
Is Farren alive?” Liam
asked as he took a seat at the foot of the bed. Caitlin backed away
and curled her legs under her in a plush chair next to the
window.

Colin collapsed back against the
pillows and covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know. We went
to Hen and Boar in Lahinch. One of Farren’s contacts told her
Fergus frequented the place. No one would talk to us, but we stayed
until closin’ in case he showed. Before we reached the car,
something hit me from behind. I think the whole buildin’ came down
only steps from us. Farren screamed, and then I couldn’t breathe.
All of the air around me…gone. Fuck me, Liam, I tried to get to
her, but I passed out. When I came to, I hurt. Ribs, legs,
arms…he’d broken them all. I shifted, and then everythin’ gets
fuzzy. Images. I never had as much control over my wolf as you and
Farren did. But he tried to kill me. Said somethin’ about how he’d
kill everyone ya loved for what ya did to him.”

“
I’ve never met the arse.
How could I—“

“
Ya stole his love. He’s
obsessed with her. Kept mutterin’, ‘She’ll be sorry. When she comes
crawlin’ back, I’ll show her how much I need her. She’ll never
leave me again.’” Colin reached for a bottle of water next to the
bed, but his unsteady fingers couldn’t work the plastic
top.

“
Let me.” Liam handed him
the open bottle, then looked to Caitlin. In his gaze, she found
depths of sadness and guilt she’d never seen—except when she’d
looked in the mirror. “Did he say anything else?”

“
Nothin’ I could
understand. He kept popping pills. Two and three at a time. He’d
calm then, leave me alone for a few minutes, an hour or two, but
he’d come back more mental than ever.”

Caitlin wrapped her arms around
herself. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want anyone else to get
hurt.”

“
That’s rich.” Colin
grimaced as he tried to sit up straighter. “Farren’s probably dead,
ya know. All because she knew Liam.”

“
Easy, now. I know ye’re
hurting, but don’t disrespect my mate.” Liam glanced over at
Caitlin. “She didn’t ask for this.”

“
Neither did Farren. I
should’ve protected her, Liam. Instead, my alpha’s probably dead,
Brian’s missing, and I can barely walk. Ya need to leave the lass
and run back to the States as fast as ya can.”

“
He’s right.” Caitlin
didn’t want Liam to go and didn’t think he would, but with his
childhood friend on her side—despite his apparent hatred for
her—maybe Liam would listen. “I need to fight Fergus, but you don’t
have to. You could go home with Cade and Mara, and I’d find you
when this is over.”

“
We’ve had that discussion,
luv. I’m with you until the end. I know ye’re strong. But that
doesn’t mean ya don’t need help.” He pulled her up out of the chair
and wrapped his arms around her. “And the moon rises late
tonight.”

“
I had to try.”

“
He’ll kill both of ya.”
Colin pulled the blankets up over his legs and winced. “He’s too
damn strong.”

An idea tumbling around in her mind
broke free. “Wait. You said the pills calmed him.”

“
Yeah. For a bit, he’d be
almost sane. Even apologized to me once, I think. But they didn’t
last long. Time didn’t mean much to me there. I couldn’t see the
sun, and I passed out more than once.”

“
What are ya thinking,
luv?”

Caitlin pulled away and started to
pace in front of the window. Out behind Farren’s house, a wolf ran
circles around a large expanse of meadow. “The three years that I
spent in Dublin, when I thought—hoped—he’d died, he spent most of
that time in a mental institution. Presumably, they medicated him,
and that’s why I couldn’t feel his presence.”

“
What did they use? The
same thing the elders used on Mara?”

“
Yes, I think. The last day
before I went to the cliffs to ‘die,’ I found an empty
bottle.”

“
Whatever he’s takin’ now
doesn’t last long. Every time the pills wore off, he’d get meaner.”
Colin eyed a wrist that had turned several shades of purple. “But
he kept saying something about how he needed his pills. ‘Why won’t
they work?’ That sort of thing.”

“
If he’s trying to medicate
himself, if he
wants
to, then he knows he’s losing control. He’s actively
trying
to dampen his
power.”

“
So we could overdose him?
Or try to convince him to take enough Rohypnol to knock him out,
yeah? Werewolves burn through drugs and alcohol like nothing, but
do elementals?”

She raised a brow. “You mean you don’t
remember picking me up off the floor that first night?” His chuckle
teased a weak smile from her lips. “I’ve never taken anything
stronger than aspirin. But the elders drugged Mara. And knowing
that, I think…maybe.”

Colin sat up straighter. “He chewed
those pills like candy.”