Sasha didn't know what she wanted to do anymore. She really wanted to stab the djinn in the gut with a spoon, but she also wanted to just get the hell out of dodge. She hadn't anticipated that the outcome would be most likely death, if anything, she was expecting to just get answers, even possibly a cure, and return to Adeline. Adeline would've been healed, and Sasha would've been able to take a break from being an Oracle and go see her brother and his new husband. The main reason she agreed to come over to the East Coast wasn't that she felt compelled to help Adeline- she barely knew the girl, but she wanted to see her brother for the first time in almost two years. The Oracle part of her had made her help the she-wolf, but the human, most dominant part of her had come to see the only family member that still loved and wanted her, other than Desmond. She had been on the East Coast for over three weeks now and still hadn't seen Keifer.

'We'll see him soon, Sasha.' Desmond said.

She nodded. 'Yes... soon. But we need to sort all of this together before we can see him. When I finally visit him, I don't want our visit shadowed by anything. I want to enjoy my time with him.'

Desmond's love for her flowed through the bond, covering her in warmth and understanding. Sasha knew that her mate understood her need to see her brother, but she also understood that seeing her with Keifer would hurt him; it would bring back memories of his own brother. But Desmond would put up with the pain for her, he would walk through the fires of Hell for her.

'I'm alright,' Desmond reassured her, but she could sense the sorrow seeping from his beautiful soul.

Sasha squeezed his hand lovingly, her bright eyes whispering silent words of understanding and love. His hand squeezed hers back.

"How do we find the welder?" Alexandra asked, her voice thick with emotion.

Razbin reclined back on his sofa, his long legs stretching out before him. Golden brown fingers curled in the arms of the sofa, perfectly filed nails tapping against the leather. Razbin was a cat that had the mouse by its tail, dangling it over an open mouth filled with razor-sharp incisors. He could use them however he wanted; Alexandra would do anything to help her daughter, and he knew that. He could ask the she-wolf to do anything, and she would do it, just to help her pup. He was a cat that knew how to play the mouse.

"Every jungle has a snake," was all Razbin said.

Every jungle has a snake.

Every jungle has a snake.

What the Hell?

"Why is it so difficult to just give a straightforward answer?" Sasha hissed, her golden eyes glaring at the smirking djinn.

"It is actually quite straightforward," Razbin's nails bit into the leather. "You just need to put the thing inside of your skull to use, and actually think about it for a moment. Bizzare, isn't it?"

Before the Oracle could say anything more, Desmond spoke up. "Traitor. It's a traitor."

Razbin nodded. "Very good. I thought for a moment there none of you would actually get it. I suppose I didn't wait long enough to let your mortal brains process it. You mortals just cannot compete with my intelligence."

"Dick." Was all Sasha said, but right next to her, Alexandra snarled a curse.

Sasha hoped that Razbin never crossed paths with a pack of wolves. With his big mouth and over-inflated head, he wasn't going to have a very good experience. The wolves would probably get a few good bites and scratches before he fled, but something told her that he wouldn't flee... he would fight. Razbin's pride and ego wouldn't let him run and hide.

Traitor.

Someone had betrayed Adeline and her family.

Someone had taken it upon themselves to hurt the Manson family; they had cursed their only pup, subjecting her to a life full of pain, anger, and guilt.

But why?

As far as she knew, the Manson family never bothered anyone. Dillon and Alexandra were fair leaders, they didn't abuse their power, nor did they abuse their pack. Why would someone want to hurt them?

It just didn't make sense.

"Who could do that?" Alexandra asked herself. Her dark eyes were unfocused and her lips were pulled into a tight line across her face.

"The Rage Curse can't be wielded by just anyone. Only very powerful Brujas can cast it, and even then, it's not a guaranteed success." Razbin cocked his head. "Did you or your mate piss off any high Brujas? Perhaps a High Priestess, maybe even a Matron?"

Alexandra pulled out of her mind, but now that the shock had taken hold, her wolf was on the forefront. Elongated canines pressed down on her bottom lip and eyes glowing onyx with emotion, letting everyone in the tower know that she was close to shifting. It didn't help when coarse grey fur sprouted along her tan arms.

"Us wolves do not associate with witches." Her voice was rough and gravelly.

Apparently, Razbin wasn't concerned about the Luna's lack of control, because he chose to challenge her statement. "But haven't there been wolves that found their mates among the Brujas? If I remember correctly, the union of a wolf and a Bruja is more powerful than a wolf union."

"If I remember correctly," Alexandra sneered. "There hasn't been a Bruja-Wolf mating in over forty years. The chances of one now, is next to nothing."

"Razbin," Desmond muttered, drawing the djinn's attention. "Answer her questions before her wolf takes over and guts you. It's not wise to prod a wolf, let alone a wolf struggling for control."

The patient referee. That's what Sasha's mate was.

For the first time in many, many years, the djinn chose to shut his mouth.

That must be a new record!

Alexandra cleared her throat. "So... a witch cast the curse?" Her voice was more human, but an undertone of anger still lingered.

"Yes, and no. Yes, a Bruja most definitely welded the curse, but she probably didn't cast it herself. She most likely sold it to the Underground Market, and then it was sold to the highest bidder." The djinn explained. "High-quality curses and spells can go for a lot of money, so whoever bought the curse possesses a large sum of currency."

"That could be anyone!" Sasha growled; Desmond placed a gentle hand on her thigh to comfort her. The Oracle magic was spinning inside of her head, demanding her to place her fingers on the djinn's temples and search his mind. She pushed down the magic's demands; the last thing she wanted to do was search Razbin's mind. Sasha did not want to see what was hidden in the endless depths of his mind.

"I suggest you interview every wealthy pack member, and then, if caution arises, have Sasha search their minds. Look into past relationships and current ones." Razbin said cooly. Sasha looked up into his eyes and sucked in a breath as the amber orbs stared right back at her.

A growl emitted from Alexandra right before she jerked up to her feet. The Luna's body was trembling and the fur growing from her body bristled.

"We need to leave. Now." Was all the Luna said. Urgency laced her animalistic voice, causing the hair on Sasha's arms to rise. Something wasn't right.

Something was happening, but Sasha didn't know what.

Sensing the emotions rolling off of Alexandra, the djinn sat up straighter in his leather chair and extended a hand engulfed in white light towards them.

Sasha lost her ability to move. She couldn't even move her eyes, the only part of her that moved was the rise and fall of her chest. The burst of growls on either side of her told her that the wolves too had lost their ability to move.

"There is a "hell" is hello, "good" in goodbye, "lie" in believe, "over" in lover, "end" in friend, and an "if" in life," Razbin said, his amber eyes meeting Desmond's, Sasha's, and then Alexandra's.

"Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't." Razbin's voice was nothing more than a whisper. Darkness spread before her eyes, and the ground was ripped out from under her.

????

Razbin watched as the wolves and the Oracle disappeared into thin air. Emotions swirled around the room, blurring his eyes with colors of green, blue, purple and red. Lots and lots of red.

Lifting his hand to the breast pocket of his jacket, he let out a heavy breath when he felt the outline of the necklace.

Heaving himself up to his feet, Razbin looked around the tiny room that had been his haven for many, many centuries. He loved his isolated life. He didn't have a neighbor, not that there could ever be one; his realm only listened to him and could open up and swallow a person if they were there illegally.

Well... it used to be able too.

Pulling the necklace from his pocket, he pooled the chain into the palm of his left hand. The cool metal felt great against his flesh; it gave him a shred of hope; a sliver of possibility. This very necklace could be the difference between his demise or his return to power.

Focusing on the metal in his palm, Razbin pictured the magic seeping from the she-wolf. He could taste the magic, even with the minute amount of it. Every creature that had ever moved possessed magic, some more than others, but the Lupis species obtained a very small amount for a supernatural species, just barely surpassing a human.

Razbin's vision dimmed until his tower was nothing more than shadows and greys.

The chain and the crescent moon burned into his flesh, but he still searched through the years of magic. This necklace had pressed against flesh for over two generation, the magic of the Adams family was permanently engraved into the smooth moon and gentle links of metal. He sifted through different traces of magic, pushing aside the independent ones that didn't call to his soul.

Razbin felt his stomach tighten as dread turned its ugly head. Pushing aside more and more magic, he was reaching the oldest trace of it- the last trace of it. The last scent of magic was so old that he had a hard time prying it from the metal and into his power. The faint taste of metal bloomed over his tongue.

Nothing.

He had felt nothing for the independent magics. Razbin's search had, yet again, ended in failure. No one in the Adams, nor the Manson line held his missing shard; no one in the two bloodlines could complete him and restore his dying realm. He was running out of time; soon, his magic would curl in on itself, and everything he had worked for, everything he had sacrificed to get where he was now, would be gone. The Sapientiae Realm would go up in flames, taking the djinn of Wisdom with it.

Where is she? He wondered. Where is my queen, my savior?

Where is my soulmate?