Alpha Unleashed (20 page)

He shook his head. “No.”

Maybe I was being too sensitive, but I really felt like I'd said something to hurt him. “But you walked away…”

“You don't understand Luciana and why she's doing this.”

“No.” I shook my head slowly. “I don't. At first, I thought it was about the wolves, but now… I don't know why she's doing any of it. What's the point of attacking humans in San Antonio? It makes no sense.” I blew out a breath. “Do you have any thoughts?”

“A few.”

I motioned my arms wide. “Please. Anything could help.”

He pulled a stool over, and sat down. “Sorry. I don't have all my energy back yet.”

That sucked. I'd only recovered quickly from being drained because I was a Were.

“The thing you have to understand about Luciana is that she's not a strong witch—not on her own—and she never was. Yet, she was next in line for the coven because of her visions. She saw the future in her dreams, but it was always vague. Dream visions are never all that reliable. The waking ones get you closer to the truth.” I briefly wondered if what I'd seen counted as a dream vision or a waking one, but Raphael kept taking before I could process. “Luciana kept seeing visions of war. She talked about them all the time. How she saw the wolves fighting us. She never saw the setting. She never knew the context. But she started gearing up for war.”

I knew some of this already—about her weak visions—but hearing it now that I'd experienced the vaguer side of the future, it was as if the proverbial lightbulb had been lit.

“We weren't going to fight you,” Dastien said.

“Now that I know you and I've been around the pack, I figured as much, but before, we didn't know. Some of us thought she was being crazy and ignored her, but not everyone did. Those who believed her thought war was coming and started making preparations.” Raphael leaned against the table for support. “Looking back, it seems obvious. For all I know, what she saw was the coven attacking the pack, not the other way around.”

“Which has already happened.” More than once.

“Exactly. The vision she was so afraid of could've easily been about the night that Daniel died.” Raphael shuddered, and I wondered if he was remembering the attack. “But the vision consumed her. She became obsessed with it. Only it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. A few years ago, she changed. She did something and the light in her eyes was just gone. I don't know what it was—”

“I do,” Claudia said. “She got some kind of charm or artifact from my ex-fiancé. His coven had something evil, and they were protecting it. Luciana only married me off so she could get access to that object, although she never planned to really let me go.”

“
That's
why?” Raphael sounded shocked.

“You didn't know this?” I asked. They were twins. I thought they shared everything.

“No. It's news to me.” Raphael crossed his arms as he glared at his sister. The look on his face told me that he wasn't least bit pleased by it either.

“I found out in Peru,” Claudia said. “It's a long story. None of that matters right now. All I know is that he exchanged something for me, and whatever it was, it was bad. Really evil.”

“That's messed up,” I said.

“No kidding,” Shane said. “How did your parents let that happen?”

She shrugged. “They were gone.”

“Right.” Shane winced. “I'm sorry. Stupid question.”

“It's alright,” Claudia said. “The point is, that was what changed Luciana. I won't—can't—defend her at this point, but after casting so much black magic… I just wonder how much of the original Luciana is left.”

I didn't like where this was going. I'd seen visions of Luciana calling out to Satan and just by the look of her craft room, she'd been doing those kinds of spells for years. It wasn't a stretch to imagine that power consuming her. But she'd been in control in my nightmare vision, standing over that hell mouth…

Tapping on the table as I thought, I kept going back to Raphael's words. Now that the witches I trusted most were back on campus, it was time to get their opinions on what I'd seen. Dastien tensed beside me before I even opened my mouth. “I've
seen
some things… Before we go any further, I think you should know what we might be up against. I'm starting to think this might be bigger than just her vendetta against the pack.”

“What did you see?” Raphael asked.

I told them every detail I could remember, only leaving out the fey guy. I had a feeling that would set Cosette off again, and we needed to stay focused.

When I was done, I sat at a stool. “So, we're in for quite a fight. Unless you think we can change it?”

“Yes… And no.” Raphael was being completely annoying with his ambiguous answer.

“What do you mean?” I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice, but didn't do an awesome job of it.

“It means we'll probably end up in that church, but how we get there and the outcome could vary,” Claudia said.

Dastien grasped my shoulder so hard it hurt. “See. I told you.”

Raphael nodded. “The future is never set in stone. Destiny might put you in that spot, but it's up to you to choose what you do when you get there.”

“Okay.” I took a few breaths as that sank in. “Okay. So, we'll probably get to that point, but we can change things once we're there. So, we make that happen.”

At least there was hope.

“We will definitely try to make sure that your vision ends a different way. But to do that, we need to be even more prepared, and we have to figure out where she's hiding out.” Claudia sat up tall on her stool. “I tried to scry for Luciana, but I'm coming up with nothing. She must be somewhere that's heavily warded, so we'll have to find her some other way. In the meantime, we should start brewing potions to fight against her demons. From what I know, the veils between this world and the next are thinnest between three and four in the morning.”

Wait. That actually lined up with what'd been happening. “That's when the demon killed those families last night. And when the demon crossed over in Luciana's house. But I thought it was because the cop crossed the circle?”

Shane shrugged. “Could've been a happy coincidence. Or the demon could've been waiting there since the night before. I don't know what spells she used.”

Right. None of us did. “Why that time in particular?”

“It's the witching hour. Not that I appreciate the name. But that's when ghosts, demons, and black magic are the strongest. So we need to be ready by that time tonight in case she's up to something tonight.” Claudia motioned to the objects in front of her. “I'm not sure how to use all this, so there are no dumb ideas. And the books you brought back will certainly help. If any of them talk about summoning, then maybe we can use the spells to reverse-engineer some counters.”

I cracked my knuckles. “I'm so in for this. I'm tired of doing nothing. Let's take her down.”

“Agreed,” Raphael said.

We divvied up the books and artifacts. Dastien and Adrian started digging into the spell books while the
brujos
started pulling supplies and equipment from the storage closet.

We were done sitting around, waiting for Luciana to come to us.

For once, we were going after
her
.

And when the time came for us to meet in that church, I
would
be ready. I'd finally take Luciana down.

Because there was no way I was letting that vision play out. I had a future I wanted, and by God, I was going to fucking get it.

Chapter Nineteen

It took six steady, brutal hours of mixing and baking and cross-checking spell books, but we ended up with ten variations of potions, each vial labeled with a number so we could weed out the ineffective ones. I'd suggested we modify my original potion using with holy water and the saint's hand, but Claudia had plussed it. She said holy oil would work much better than water. She disappeared for an hour and came back with this oil that smelled like heaven.

We took a break for dinner, while the potions cooled in the lab, and decided the only way to test them was to try them out. Luciana had released demons last night, so chances were she might do the same tonight.

Mr. Dawson hadn't liked it, but he also hadn't been able to come up with a decent argument against it. If Luciana summoned any demons tonight, we were the best equipped to fight them. That was saying something about how unprepared we all were, but the fact remained the same. We couldn't stand idly by while humans were slaughtered again.

So we dressed all in black, and jumped into two of the huge black SUVs reserved for the Cazadores. We didn't have a destination in mind, but headed toward San Antonio and hoped that I'd at least get a feeling if I drove.

We ended up wandering aimlessly for hours. I tried to relax and keep my mind open, but nothing was coming.

I drove one car. Dastien sat in the passenger seat, and Chris, Shane, and Adrian were in back. Donovan drove the other car with Meredith, Cosette, Raphael, Claudia, and Lucas.

It was three in the morning. If something was going to happen, it was going to be soon.

“I'm starving,” Chris said from the backseat. “We should definitely stop at Whataburger.”

“How can you be hungry again?” Shane said. “You packed a lunch. How much can one Were eat?”

“More than you'd think,” I said.

“Where does it all go?” he asked.

“If you figure it out, let me know.” I took a turn down a residential street, weaving through the blocks. All the house lights were out, which was to be expected at this time of night. We hadn't come across many people. It seemed like the locals were taking my warning seriously.

I drove slowly, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. If something was going to happen, I wasn't getting any visions. At least not yet. The windows were rolled down so we could listen—and smell—for trouble. It was a little chilly, but nothing that a sweatshirt couldn't handle.

“Food,” Chris moaned from the backseat.

I would've rolled my eyes at him, but I was starting to get hungry too. “If we don't see anything in the next hour, we'll go to Whataburger.”

“Do you see that?” Adrian tapped the window.

I sped up, catching movement down the block, but laughed as we pulled closer. Two kids a little younger than me were making out on the lawn. A bike lay on its side on the pavement in front of them. The skunkish smell of pot drifted through the open window.

Teenagers…
I said to Dastien.

You only just turned eighteen.

But I feel at least thirty. I feel like I get extra maturity points for all the shit I've gone through.

True.

The girl started to push at the guy with a whimper, and I almost got out of the car.

“Might want to head inside,” Dastien called before I could do anything. “It's not safe out here.”

They jumped and broke away from each other. The guy shot us a dirty look. “Fuck off.”

Dastien flicked on the dome light, and they froze.

The girl grabbed the guy's arm. “She's that werewolf from the news.”

“Just your friendly neighborhood werewolves.” I motioned to the house. “Go home. Being outside at this hour isn't safe.” And not just because of Luciana and her demons. Nothing good happened at three in the morning.

“Of course. Thanks.” The girl seemed more than grateful.

The boy grabbed his bike and took off, and I waited as she scrambled up the lawn and went inside. She waved from the door.

This was good. I'd actually helped someone tonight, and that felt damned good. I waved and went back to coasting down the street. “Well, that was fun.” Donovan had stopped behind us, but he followed as I turned down another street of sleepy houses.

Shane grunted. “Focus on your abilities. You have to harness them to find where the action will be tonight.”

“What do you think I've been doing?”

“Nothing useful,” Shane muttered.

I jerked the car to a stop, and twisted to look at hm. “Not cool. And you've got years of
brujo
practice on me. Where are all your brilliant suggestions?”

He stared at the ceiling for a second before meeting my gaze. “Sorry. It's not your fault. I'm just feeling antsy.”

“I know it's been a really shit week, but let's try to hold it together.” I hit the gas and tried to take my own advice. A note of sympathy passed through the bond and I glanced at Dastien.
You've been awfully quiet.

I'm not sure how to help,
Dastien said.

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel.
Yeah, me neither.
If we were close to Luciana, I wasn't sensing anything. No magic. The night was quiet.
Maybe she's still laying low.

No. She's got power to spare. She's not going to sit quietly by. Not anymore.
He was quiet for a second, but I could feel his thoughts, like gears turning, clicking by as he saw them and dismissed the ones he deemed unworthy.
She's already started trying to make us look bad. I doubt anything's stopping her from doing more of that.

If she's feeling vindictive…
I chewed on my lip. Who was I kidding. It was Luciana. She was always feeling vindictive.
She'll try to get us where it'd hurt the most.

But St. Ailbe's is too well protected. Everyone's already on alert.

Exactly.
I was missing something. Something big. Last night, she'd let her demons tear through a few residential neighborhoods. Eight families were dead before the sun rose. She'd made the point that she could get the humans where they slept. They weren't safe in their own beds.

I thought of those families, and hurt for them. I couldn't imagine the pain their loved ones were in. If something like that happened to my—