A slow grin spread across his face. “See. You can do it. See the future. We should start testing it out. We should—”
I tuned him out as I stared up at the stars. It was a clear night, and now that we were far away from the meeting—a quiet one, too. If I closed my eyes, I’d bet I could forget the last fifteen minutes had happened.
For about the millionth time, I wished Dastien were here.
Oh no. I had to get word to him. He had to know that the pack was in danger.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a cell that works?” I asked. Even if I couldn’t really talk to him, he needed to know that Mr. Hoel was here and working with Luciana.
“No service out here. And Luciana is the only one who knows how to turn our phone on. But…”
I knew it. He’d been holding out on me. “Please. Just this once. I need to talk to Dastien. He has to know what I just saw.”
“The only landline that’s always turned on is in Luciana’s house. She’s busy at the meeting and Daniel’s at our house—”
“You mean Daniel has a working phone?” And he hadn’t told me? He was so going to hear about this.
“And Internet. All of us have to ask permission before we make a call and she goes over the log on every phone bill.”
What was this? A fascist regime? No wonder they hadn’t told me about the phone. The more I learned about Luciana, the more I confirmed that she was a complete psychopath.
“I’ll be gone before she gets the next phone bill. You can put all the blame on me.”
He thought for a second, and I crossed my fingers. Short of leaving this compound, I wasn’t sure what to do. But getting word to Dastien was imperative.
“This way,” he said finally, and I let out a sigh of relief.
He paused in front of a white house four houses down and across the street from his own house. “I’m going to get you the portable from inside. Probably better if we stay out here in case she comes back.”
“Sure.” Even given the circumstances, I was nearly giddy with the thought of hearing Dastien’s voice.
Raphael reappeared a second later with the phone in his hand. “Be fast. I don’t know how much time we have before the meeting ends.”
I nodded. “I appreciate it.” I quickly dialed Dastien’s cell.
Meredith answered. “Dastien’s phone.”
Why did she have his phone? “Hey, it’s me.”
“Tessa?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my God. Hang on. I’ll get him. Just give me one second.” I heard doors slam as she moved through the building.
“What’s going on? How is he? Why do you have his phone?”
I heard her and Chris arguing but it was muffled, so I couldn’t hear what they were saying. A second later, Chris’ voice came on the phone. “Hey. So Dastien’s been a mess. He’s locked in the feral cages. We’re heading to them now. I’ll put you on speaker and hopefully he’ll change forms.”
My heart dropped. “What do you mean he’s in the cages?”
“The lack of the bond has been really hard on him. Just hang on a sec. Let me get him for you.”
The sound of doors clanging closed echoed through the phone.
“All right,” Chris said. “I’m putting you on speaker.”
“Dastien?” I said.
“Oh thank God,” Meredith murmured, her voice sounded tinny.
“Cherie.”
I gasped at the gravelly tone in his voice. “What’s going on? Why are you in the cages?”
He muttered something in French.
I really was going to have to learn his language. “English,” I said as I rubbed my forehead. There were too many things going wrong tonight.
He paused his ramblings and switched to something I could actually understand. “It’s hard for me, this distance thing,” Dastien said. “I was okay at first, but I just… I was going to break the deal—go get you—so Dr. Gonzales drugged me. I woke up here. It’s easier as the wolf…if I order something as a human, it’s hard for everyone. They have to obey… How are you?”
I winced. I was better than him, that was for sure. “I’m okay. Worried about you now.”
“How are they treating you? Are you eating enough?”
“I’m fine. I’m having some weird vision stuff though. I just wanted to talk to you. I don’t have long. The coven’s having a meeting and I’m using Luciana’s phone—the only one on the compound.”