Vesik 04 - This Broken World Read Online Free Page A

his own.
    I nodded to him. “Taking up the Vik hairstyle, I see.”
    He ran a hand over his hair. “The old fang does have style. How’s he been? I haven’t spoken to him in a couple months.”
    “Better,” Foster said. He glided down the stairs and made a walking landing on the coffee table. “I think the time he spends in the archives with Zola has really helped him get over Devon’s betrayal.”
    Carter came down the stairs after Foster, a quiet whisper. Carter glanced around the room before moving past the table and lowering himself onto the couch.
    I stared at the golden werewolf and said, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
    Alan snorted and spat his water across the table. “Oh, oh shit.” He erupted into laughter.
    Hugh let out a slow breath and raised an eyebrow at me.
    “Boundless wit,” Carter said, his voice flat, but he didn’t completely hide his smile.
    I bit my lip and took a deep drink of water.
    Alan poked his thumb at the ceiling. “What’s with you and the vixen up there?”
    “Caroline,” Carter said. He was silent for a moment. “I failed her brother once. A very long time ago.”
    “Antietam,” Hugh said.
    The golden wolf nodded.
    “She never blamed you for his death.”
    “I should have been there,” Carter said.
    “You had your orders,” Hugh said. “We all did.”
    Carter crossed his arms. “A convenient excuse for letting our brothers die.”
    “We did not let them die. No one let them die.”
    “Antietam?” I said. “You were alive and fighting at Antietam?”
    “Some of us,” Carter said, his voice unusually quiet and even. “Some of us fought at Antietam. The rest of us died there.”
    Happy flopped his head across Carter’s lap. Carter frowned at the bear until Happy began shaking his head back and forth. “Okay, okay.” Carter unfolded his arms and began scratching the bear.
    “Where’s Maggie?” Alan asked. “I didn’t see her with the rest of the Ghost Pack.”
    “She’s with Zola and the fairies, in Falias.”
    “Really?” I asked.
    Carter nodded. “Glenn invited us. It’s probably what Hugh brought you down here to discuss.”
    I raised my eyebrows and slowly turned my head to Hugh. “Really?”
    Hugh formed a steeple with his fingers and nodded once. “He has granted us passage through the Warded Ways, into the heart of Falias.”
    “Really?” Foster said before I could say it.
    “Tonight was no mere scare tactic. War is upon us. No one has seen Ezekiel in three months. It has been six months since he issued his challenge.”
    “Meet me on the field of battle in Gettysburg.” A challenge I would not soon forget.
    “He will not stay quiet for long,” Hugh said. “It has been a month since the building collapses in Hagerstown.”
    “We have no proof that was him,” Carter said.
    “It wasn’t natural,” Alan said. “The local packs said there was a huge spike in ley line energy.” He pointed with one finger while he held his water bottle. “Caroline was one of them.”
    Vicky pulled her legs up onto the couch and curled up at my side. I put my arm around her, smiled, and looked back to Hugh.
    “We have to be ready. The packs are staying here for another day. We’re going to section off territory. The packs that can tolerate each other will be coordinating searches for Ezekiel.”
    “More likely they’ll be coordinating reaction parties,” Carter said, a small frown on his face.
    “If we don’t find him,” Hugh said, “he will find us. In either case, we will fall without allies.”
    “Shouldn’t we be focusing a search around Gettysburg?” I asked.
    Hugh shook his head slowly. “That would be far too predictable for Ezekiel. He will not set foot on that battlefield until we do.” He turned to me. “Zola left orders for you.”
    “Orders?” I said.
    “Yes, that is what she called them,” Hugh said. A small smile quirked his lips. “Would you prefer to hear them privately?”
    I immediately shook my