Chapter 117: A Question of Trust

Jiro POV

The clear, wavy mist separated them from their loved ones. Jiro wondered if it was from the rising waters of the river. He'd never seen this particular river, Kyon's favorite, flood like this, even during the worst storms. 

The Dark Goddess evidently decided that torturing Ravyn and Jude didn't work. Her next move: Destroy them. Crush them completely.

He tried to smell them and use Garnet's advanced witch senses to locate them. Smell didn't work–too many scents, confusing his nose. Garnet's witch sight worked better. He picked up on Ravyn and Jude, trapped in the flood. Their life signs were weak. But still, they were alive.

"We definitely have a situation," he stated. "They're caught in THAT." He pointed to the raging, churning white water. "I don't know how it's not flooding everything in its path, but maybe it hasn't gotten to that level yet."

"It doesn't matter." Garnet's lips and her knuckles were white and taut. "We have to help them, not just stand around here! It's like she's got them in a rock crusher!"

"And then added a flood," Jiro growled. 

Cyran shifted into wolf form, trying to communicate with Jude. He shifted back, frustrated. "He's in human form. I can't reach him." He howled, loudly.

Jiro and the other shifters all let out howls, but the roar of the water drowned them out.

"We have to do something," Jiro called out. "Teleporting, maybe?"

"We could just swim through that mist," Naomi said. "Take our chances. Strength in numbers. We could form a chain and rescue them."

"Or levitate them out," Garnet added.

Mage Pascalline, who'd teleported to join them, bringing the three wise women and Azandra, gazed through the veil of mist. "It might be difficult to grab them at first, but we have to try."

Cyran looked at Jiro and Garnet. "You're the Alpha and Luna–you make the call."

"Not of Evenhide," Jiro said. "The highest ranking person here is Azandra as the healer and the beta's mate. Oh, and Tulaska is."

"No time to waste," Azandra said bluntly, and Tulaska agreed. 

They all marched towards the barrier, with Jiro shifting to wolf form. He'd always been a strong swimmer, even though Patch was better. He felt his brother shift. So much the better. Patch was practically born in the water. 

"STOP!"

Hades stood in front of them. Even in Melisande's washed-out form, he could still cut an impressive figure. He made good use of Melisande's elegant long neck and graceful, lean body.

Patch growled. Cyran's eyes flashed, and he smelled wounded. "HADES. If this is a trick–"

"You fools, don't you know a trap when you see it?" Hades asked.

Anneliese folded her arms. "Oh, we do, trust me."

"Then don't you SMELL one, those of you who claim to be wolves?" Hades asked, ignoring the barb.

Jiro sniffed … and gagged at the odor.

He smelled a scent like a sweet Venus flytrap, whose only purpose was to look and smell innocent so that it could trap insects.

The Dark Goddess' hand had created such a deceptive trap. A veil of mist rising off the water. With four intelligence professionals and several witches, they never sensed it.

Hades did.

That made him a powerful secret weapon. No wonder the Dark Goddess wanted him back–or at least didn't want him to join her enemies.

"The barrier is cursed," Hades explained. "I can feel the curse. Ask yourself, why hasn't Ravyn teleported through, or walked through? Maybe she can't. The Dark Goddess loves using our strengths against us. And Jude would hardly leave her–she's his mate."

Naomi sucked air through her teeth. "What a diabolical trap." She looked at Hades with grudging admiration. "We should have figured it out ourselves."

"Yes," Hades said. "You've been fighting her, all of you, for three years. You successfully saw right through her schemes on Abandonnado Island." His eyes lingered on Cyran. "Maybe you, Cyran–"

"We can discuss our past at another time," Cyran said, tensing.

Hades' eyes were not unkind. "It's your past with the Dark Goddess. Maybe she's worn you down. Maybe she's so overwhelmed you that you're numb to her."

"Or maybe she's just learned new tricks, instead of the same old ones," Cyran snarled. "You have to admit, this is new. In any case, now that we know about this barrier, do we just walk across it?"

Hades shook his head. "I wouldn't recommend it. I suggest we combine our powers and demolish the Dark Goddess' wall. After all, I owe Ravyn and Jude. And I'd like to pay my debt."

Jiro exchanged glances with everyone. Should they trust Hades?

He did know the Dark Goddess better than any of them, even Cyran, ever would. 

Talon Blackthorn's eyes narrowed. "I've dealt with all kinds of criminals. Even employed them."

"I've worked for them," Kelara added.

"I think this man, whatever his crimes, is, once again, telling the truth," Talon asserted.

Patch nodded. "He has no reason to lie this time."

Garnet smiled wryly. "I hate to admit it, but I'm embracing Hades' plan." She raised her moonstone-topped staff and blasted the wall with a pale beam of light.

Cyran made the beam of light bigger. Then Anneliese, Pascalline, Talon, Kelara, even William. 

Finally, they waited for Hades to join in.

* * * * *

Hades POV

They believed him. After putting up a fuss and nearly endangering themselves, his new allies believed him. Cyran, despite his conflicted eyes, didn't reject him.

His magic had been black and silver, or purple and red. 

Now, his energy beam was pure red, like a Crimsontail. It made the energy blast crackle as the spells battered the barrier.

The misty veil stayed intact, mocking them. The Dark Goddess wasn't going to be defeated so easily.

He thought of Ravyn and Jude. He'd never paid them much attention beyond Ravyn being Lilia's mother and Jude being an annoying crony of Dane's, But now, images of Ravyn's and Jude's love story flooded his mind, because like Kelara, he had the gift of sight. Not as pure as hers. The Dark Goddess' mysteriousness clouded his abilities.

He saw Jude sleepwalking, caught in a nightmare. He glimpsed Ravyn's nightmare–shattered crystals, dead wolves and family members, and the Dark Goddess mocking her.

He saw these two fighting the mate pull out of fear of offending their families. 

He saw the tenderness in their kisses, both in a bedroom and in a tent during a sandstorm.

He saw Jude standing by Ravyn while she lectured Daxius in the Great Hall, probably in Cresta House, because it didn't look like Sinsworth House. Jude looked like the powerful Alpha he was. And Ravyn … well, you couldn't mistake her for anything else but a pack Luna. How had those Crestas missed that?

Then the images of Jude claiming Ravyn … Ravyn submitting to Jude … the two declaring their love.

Of course, he remembered working with Jude on the island, and the way Jude fought his attempts to guilt Jude into submitting to him. That left a sour taste in his mouth.

He could see Jude's love for Ravyn in his fake submission, pretending to help "Melisande," and that cleansed the bitterness away. 

It also made his magic pack a punch, and the veil wavered. 

"It's working," Hades said in glee.

"But will it work in time?" Cyran asked.

Fenrir's guts, he hated Cyran sounding worried. Hated it. He never realized how much he cared for the boy until now.

"Keep going," he shouted. "Don't stop. Don't ever stop. She's weakening."

He could feel the fiend lurking nearby, stewing in her bitterness. Attempting to pour darkness on him. He ignored her.

"What's that I hear?" Jiro queried. "Is it Hades switching to the right side?"

The veil rippled to the left of the energy blast, and Hades saw two wolf shapes emerge from a gap, wriggling through, charging with all the power and strength and vitality of the wolf.

Two wolves. One unmistakably Jude Faolan, a large, fluffy black wolf with a fringe of silver covering his paws. The other was a pale golden she-wolf, sleek and elegant. The gold was several shades darker than Ravyn's hair. Hades grinned at the transformation, knowing immediately who the wolf was.

Jiro gasped, stunned, "Jude? RAVYN?"