Nikolas did not try to talk to me as we sped back to New Hastings. I wrapped my arms around his body and clung to him as I tortured myself with images of Roland dying before I reached him. My visor was wet with tears by the time we hit the Knolls.

Brendan’s farm had always been the hub of activity for the family so I knew that’s where we would find Roland. The house was lit up and the driveway packed with vehicles when we got there. What if we were too late?

Nikolas drove the motorcycle along the edge of the driveway, taking me right to the front door where a dozen or so people milled around the step. Roland’s cousin Francis was there along with the two men who had shown up after the crocotta attack. I leapt off the bike and tossed the helmet aside as I ran up to them.

“Haven’t you done enough?” Francis demanded angrily, blocking my way to the door. “You are not welcome here.”

I had no defense because he was right. This was my fault. But Roland was my best friend and I would be damned if I’d let anyone keep me from him, especially now.

“I have to see him.” I started to push my way through but one of the other men held me back with one hand. I twisted, trying to break his grip. “Let me go!”

“Take your hand off her,” said a voice so frigid that the air around us seemed to drop several degrees. Nikolas walked up behind me and the man’s hand fell from my arm but he did not move out of my way. The tension on the porch was palpable as the werewolves faced the Mohiri warrior.

The door opened and Brendan appeared holding a tobacco pipe. “What’s going on here?” he growled and everyone on the porch fell silent.

“Brendan.” I used the distraction to slip between Francis and the man who had stopped me. “Please, I need to see Roland!”

He laid a large hand gently on my shoulder and shook his head. “I know how much you care about him but you can’t go in there right now. It’s not safe.”

“Not safe?”

“The silver went in too deep. It’s too close to his heart and we can’t get to it. He’s half mad with the pain and he doesn’t know anyone right now. He’d tear you apart.”

At that moment, an agonized howl split the air and I gasped at the pain I heard in it.

“He can’t heal,” Brendan explained gruffly. He coughed and his eyes glistened. “A couple of hours at the most.”

“No!” I pushed past him and he did not try to stop me. “Roland is not going to die!”

The house was full of people, most of whom I recognized from my time spent out in the Knolls with Roland and Peter. Some looked at me in confusion as I barreled past them and others sent me openly hostile stares. I ignored them all and shoved my way through them until I saw Judith step out of a room at the end of the hall. She carried herself with strength but her face was lined with grief.

I went to her, expecting her to throw me out of the house. Not that I wouldn’t deserve it. But I was willing to risk her rejection if there was the smallest chance I could help Roland.

“Sara, you shouldn’t be here,” she said in a choked voice. “Roland wouldn’t want you to see him like this.”

“I have to see him, Judith. I can help him.”

“Oh, honey.” She pulled me into a tight hug and I let her, sensing that she needed it. “I know it’s hard to accept but there’s nothing we can do for him now.”

“But I can. I really can. Just let me try,” I begged.

“This is no place for you, Sara,” Maxwell said from behind me and I could hear censure mingled with sorrow in his voice. “There is nothing you can do in there but cause yourself more grief. You should leave.”

I spun to face him. “No, goddamnit!” My voice rose above the din and people started to turn our way. It was the first time I’d ever raised my voice to Maxwell, but right now I didn’t care if he was the damn alpha of a werewolf pack. “I’m not going anywhere until I see Roland!”

I grabbed Judith’s hand and stared into her reddened eyes, willing her to believe me. “We can’t give up on him without doing everything we can. I can help him.”

“Sara –”

From inside the room a werewolf let out a long painful cry. I laid my hand on the door and felt the agonizing waves of pain on the other side. “Please,” I begged Judith.

Judith looked at Maxwell then nodded at me. I reached for the doorknob.

“What’s going on?” someone asked behind us. “What is she doing?”

I opened the door. “Whatever it takes.”

I walked into the room and let out a strangled cry when I saw the creature foaming at the mouth and thrashing wildly in the corner. The room had been hastily stripped of its bed and there was only a mattress on the floor. Thick chains ran from loops embedded in the floor to manacles on the werewolf’s wrists and ankles. I shuddered to think that they had a room already set up to deal with something like this.

The wolf’s fur was matted in places and still wet with blood and there was blood on the walls, mattress and floor. It was impossible to believe that this savage creature was my best friend.

“Roland?” I called softly and the wolf began to snarl and strain at the chains. Someone yanked me out of the room and I turned to see Nikolas.

I held up my hand. “It’s alright. I just tamed two hellhounds, remember?”

Whispers started in the crowd behind us. Nikolas reluctantly let me go and I went into the room again. I sat on the floor like I had in the cellar earlier tonight and opened myself to let the warm energy fill the room. I forced myself to relax then I began to talk to him in the same soothing tone I’d used on the hellhounds. I had doubted myself when I first tried to tame the dogs but now I knew what I could do. A crazed werewolf could not be much different than a pair of monstrous hellhounds.