The Half-Breed Who Found His Other Half (13 page)

Chantay still couldn’t determine what made Annabelle push him into such a promise, but he had no intention of playing this game. “I get it. You don’t like me, but just so you know, I’m not going anywhere.”

Or rather, he wasn’t leaving the Cunningham mansion because he had no intention of being in Annabelle’s company for one moment longer. He turned on his heel and burst out of Annabelle’s quarters, walking as quickly as possible to wherever his steps were leading him. He ended up on the balcony where they’d been standing when Isaac had first told him they were mates. Just moments after that, Chantay had been attacked, but he’d recovered because of Isaac mating him.

Chantay leaned against the banister, clutching the edges in frustration and pain. His vision blurred with tears as he scanned the horizon. He believed that Annabelle had told him the truth, at least with regards to the success of the rescue operation. But he still felt so very helpless, so useless and unable to help his mate.

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He didn’t know how long he waited there when he finally heard footsteps behind him. He knew who it was even without looking back, so he was not surprised when he heard Prince Winter’s voice.

“Hey,” Winter greeted him in a soft voice. “I heard about what happened.”

Chantay wiped his eye discreetly, uncomfortable with allowing anyone, let alone his prince, to see him cry. “Isaac will be all right,”

he replied. “I believe that.”

Winter joined him next to the banister and took his hand. “Yes, he will. I promise you, Chantay, I will do everything in my power to help your mate. If we have to, we’ll take him to the island and the Silver Pool. We’ll find a way.”

Chantay struggled to give Winter a smile. He knew this invitation was not one to offer lightly. In many ways, the island home to Sidhe royalty was off-limits to outsiders. Other species were only allowed in extreme circumstances, like it had been in the case of Shea, Preston and Layton’s son. He was glad Winter had extended the same courtesy to Isaac, more so since he suspected Isaac might end up needing it.

“Thank you, my prince,” he whispered.

Winter nudged him with his shoulder. “I told you a million times.

Call me Winter.”

In spite of the urge, Chantay remained quiet, his mind no longer on his prince. Instead, he thought as hard as he could at his mate, trying to access their strained bond.
“Please, Isaac,”
he sent.
“I love
you. Come back to me.”

* * * *

For Isaac, there was something both heavenly and painful in hearing Chantay’s voice in his mind. A part of him, the one that remained rational, was well aware that in his current condition, his mate might reject him. Hell, Isaac didn’t want Chantay to be straddled
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with a creature like him. But even if he could take that decision, he had no idea how to communicate it.

Currently, he was being carried in the back of a helicopter, covered by several blankets. Isaac suspected that the blankets might not be for his own protection, but rather, to keep the other occupants of the aircraft from being subjected to the sight of him. A couple of soldiers were huddled together across him while his father sat next to him.

The elder wolf had not left Isaac’s side since retrieving Brody. As far as Isaac could tell, his brother’s injuries were severe, but with treatment, they could eventually be healed. Isaac’s problem, however, wasn’t so easily fixed. The spell had drawn out something that had already been there, twisted his existing half-breed nature into something that should never have seen the light of day. What kind of power could heal something like that?

“I can free you,”
a voice trickled into his mind, blurring the last dulcet tones of Chantay’s declaration.
“I can let you out of your
shackles, if you do me one favor.”

Isaac blinked and suddenly found himself in a place he couldn’t quite identify. It looked a little like a forest, one on Soren’s pack land, where he’d grown up, but at the same time, it was different. Too dark.

Too ominous. The shadows of the trees seemed to extend clawed fingers at him.

“You do have a flair for the dramatic,” the same voice said. Isaac turned, half expecting a certain child to appear out of the forest.

Instead, he saw a tall, dark-haired man leaning against the trunk of an oak tree. Isaac would have even dared to say he was handsome had his eyes not held the pure glow of evil.

“Who the hell are you?” Isaac asked.

“Come now,” the strange man said. “We’ve already been through this once. Don’t make me introduce myself again.”

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Isaac might not know the face of the man, but that tone, that voice, they were unmistakable. “Tyrell. No, this isn’t possible. You’re not really here.” Wherever here was.

Tyrell chuckled. “Of course I am. What do you think is keeping you trapped in your new, less-than-attractive shape? Yes, it’s me.”

But the Tyrell Isaac had met looked like a child, not a man. This made no sense, and Isaac couldn’t help but take one step back, more confused than ever. To his shock, the trees behind him seemed to have disappeared and he found himself at the very edge of a bottomless ravine.

“What the fuck is going on?” he shouted, trying to expel the invasive presence from his mind. “Why do you look different?”

“If you must know,” Tyrell said as he took a step forward, “this body suffered an unpleasant accident. As such, I transferred my soul into the body of child member of the coven.”

Isaac was sickened by the mere notion. “A child? What about the boy?”

Tyrell waved a hand dismissively. “A mere casualty of war. His parents agreed to give me this shell, and the disappearance of his soul, while unfortunate, is on the hands of the people who caused my original accident.” He shrugged and smiled unpleasantly at Isaac.

“And I’m only telling you this for one reason, my dear Isaac. You can’t defeat me. I’m even beyond death.”

Isaac didn’t speak. He couldn’t seem to come up with a reply. He had no idea what Tyrell even wanted from him, why he’d been chosen out of the group to be tortured and destroyed.

“Let’s stop playing games,” Tyrell said. “Are you ready to hear my proposal?”

“You’re the one toying with me,” Isaac shot back. “Just say what you have to say.”

Tyrell snickered. “Ever the rebel. Very good. It’s quite easy, really. You need to do one simple task for me and you’ll be free. You
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can return to your previous form and be with your mate. Happy end for all.”

“A task,” Isaac repeated, hating himself for even considering it.

“What task?”

“Winter Tomacelli will likely show up to heal you. All of his guards, and probably the Cunninghams as well, will consider you too weak and pitiable to be dangerous. When the moment is right, you will tear Winter’s throat out and kill him.”

Only the knowledge of the ravine beyond kept Isaac from recoiling. “What the fuck? You’re crazy. I can’t do that.”

“You can and you will. Otherwise, you might not like the consequences of your refusal.”

As if on cue, Chantay’s voice came again, distant, almost inaudible.
“Please, Isaac. Don’t leave me.”

“Isn’t that sweet?” Tyrell chuckled. “Your mate seems to require your presence.”

Isaac gritted his teeth as fury and despair coursed through him.

Normally, he would never consider such a thing. But in the ravine below, he saw something dark. He saw two shadows, that of a huge wolf and a ram just as big fighting. He feared that he might not have a choice.

Chantay’s gentle warmth reached out to him again, and Isaac wanted nothing more than to be with his mate. But how could he ever look into Chantay’s eyes if he agreed to Tyrell’s offer? Right now, he was a monster only on the outside. Should he kill Winter, he’d be one on the inside as well.

Decision made, Isaac shook his head. “No. I won’t play along with your plans. You might have ruined my life, but you won’t ruin theirs as well.”

Besides, Isaac still had hope in his bond with Chantay. The half fae had reached out to him somehow, and no matter what Tyrell said, Isaac knew warlocks couldn’t control everything. The mate bond had broken one of Tyrell’s spells before. It could do so again.

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Tyrell released a heavy sigh. “Ah, well. I can’t say I’m surprised.

You’re not quite as stupid as others of your kind. But no matter. It’s not up to you anymore.”

Before Isaac knew what was going on, Tyrell shot forward and pushed him into the abyss. Isaac cried out, reaching out, trying to grasp one thread of sanity that would keep him from falling. He had no escape, though, and Tyrell’s laughter followed him as he collapsed into the darkness of his own cursed mind.

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Chantay rubbed his arms, shivering as he waited next to the helipad. By his side, Winter gave him a concerned look. “They’ll be here any moment now.”

Of that, Chantay had no doubt. However, he feared what the helicopter would bring when it finally landed. He’d sensed something incredibly unsettling earlier, and he was very afraid for his mate. Not only that, but the look on Annabelle’s face wasn’t very encouraging.

She also waited for the aircraft, but she kept her distance from him, almost like she expected him to renege on his promise and make a run for it.

“She doesn’t understand how you feel,” Alexis whispered in Chantay’s ear. The incubus also had a person he loved coming in.

Their brother, Rhys, had also been found, and Rhys’s safety was the only good thing about the whole fiasco.

“She’s not even trying to,” Chantay answered. “I don’t know why.

Her mating was just as controversial, or even more so.”

A ewe marrying the wolf elder? What could be more shocking than that? Compared to her and Elder Wade, Isaac and Chantay were a great fit.

But in the end, the prejudice of Isaac’s parents mattered very little.

There were bigger problems to deal with. Chantay didn’t even know how he was still hanging on and hadn’t collapsed like Carson and Shiloh had done earlier. It might have been because he sensed Isaac’s dire need for him.

At last, Chantay heard a helicopter approach in the distance. He watched anxiously as the aircraft came into view. Finally, it reached
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the landing pad and descended. No sooner had the helicopter hit ground than Chantay rushed forward, ignoring the rush of wind coming from the still-moving blades. Winter stopped him, placing an arm on his shoulder. “We’ll get to him. Remember? I promised.”

Chantay waited a couple of more seconds, until at last, the helicopter door opened. Elder Wade came out, carrying a body covered in several blankets. At first, Chantay couldn’t distinguish much of the form in the werewolf’s arms, but something told him it was Isaac.

He stepped forward, intercepting the werewolf elder. As he did so, however, he got a better look at Kevin Wade’s charge. Shock and horror coursed through him. He’d expected something bad, but nothing quite like this.

“What did they do to him?” he asked in a choked whisper.

“I don’t know,” the elder answered, “but when I find the guilty ones, they’re going to wish they’d never been born.”

In his anger, Chantay would have told the werewolf he should just look in the mirror to see the person to blame for Isaac’s predicament.

However, he held his tongue, focusing on Isaac instead.

“We should get him into the clinic,” he suggested, unable to keep the tremor from his voice. “Winter said he’d look him over.”

The elder wolf nodded, and they headed toward the mansion. A few more helicopters followed the first one, presumably holding the rest of the freed men. Chantay knew Rhys was in one of those aircrafts, but he’d been told his half brother was okay. His focus was completely on Isaac now, and he trailed after the elder as Kevin Wade carried Isaac into the house. Isaac’s mother followed behind him, unable to keep her sobs in check.

Winter led them toward the medical area and found a private room for Isaac. All throughout the trip, strange sounds kept coming from Isaac, like growls and whimpers crossed with odd “baah” sounds. As a half-breed, Chantay understood all too well the horror of what Isaac
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was going through. His incubus instincts screamed with Isaac’s pain, but he kept going, realizing he had to be strong for his mate’s sake.

As Elder Wade placed Isaac on the bed, the blankets were removed, and Chantay could finally see the full extent of the damage.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, he caressed the fur-fleece on Isaac’s twisted body. It was hard to describe what it was, really, as even the feel of it was different than normal.

But Chantay didn’t care. Somewhere within that husk of a creature, Isaac still existed. There had to be a way to draw him out.

“Please let me check him over,” Winter said. “Take one step back.

I need space to work.”

Chantay reluctantly obeyed and allowed Elder Wade to pull him away from Isaac’s bed. Annabelle joined them quietly, her gaze still on her son. Meanwhile, Corbin stood next to his mate, not looking very pleased with Winter’s decision. Chantay could only imagine that Winter was taking quite risk in looking into this. After all, the Sidhe prince was pregnant, and any strain could potentially harm the baby.

But of course, Winter knew that as well as Chantay, and as such, waited for a few more healers to show up. Thankfully, they didn’t delay in arriving and made their appearance just moments after Winter had gestured Chantay and Elder Wade away.

With rapt attention, Chantay watched as the Sidhe began working their magic on Isaac. He held his breath, waiting impatiently for his lover to turn back into his normal form. His entire being hurt at Isaac’s pain, their bond urging him to reach out for Isaac and simply touch him. It was with great difficulty that he held back, permitting the healers to do their job.