Wild Flame by Donna Grant Page A

Vincent and Lincoln die.”
    “I was willing to die!”  
    Christian briefly closed his eyes after his outburst and got a handle on his emotions. He pushed past Davena and jogged up the stairs.
    “She did it because she loved you,” Davena called after him.
    He didn’t stop, though her words sent a slice of pain through him. Christian yanked open drawers and tossed clothes on the bed. Then he found his backpack and stuffed the clothes inside along with several knives.
    Slinging the pack over one shoulder, Christian exited his room and descended the stairs. He paused at the bottom when he spotted his brothers, their women, Kane, and Riley.
    He dropped the pack when Riley walked to him. They embraced. Christian held her tight as she sniffed.  
    “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
    Christian closed his eyes. He couldn’t talk even if he wanted to. The pain was too raw.
    Riley leaned back and held his face between her hands. “We were about to go out looking for you.”
    “I know the bayou like the back of my hand.”
    Linc stepped forward. “That’s not what she meant. We’re not worried about you out there. We have an idea.”
    “Riley’s idea, actually,” Vincent said.
    Riley beamed. It was only because of his sister that he didn’t walk out right then. He hadn’t realized just how much her absence affected them all until she was back in the house.
    “Tell me,” he urged her.
    Riley took his hand and led him into the study. She gave him a little shove to sit on the sofa while the others filed in.
    “We’ve all been looking for a way to get Ivy back,” she began.
    Christian leaned his forearms on his thighs and dropped his head. “She’s gone.”
    “We’re not ready to give up,” Beau said. “I can’t believe you are.”
    Christian slowly turned his head to spear his brother with a furious look. “There’s no getting anyone back after the Hounds have taken them.”
    “That’s what we thought, as well,” Kane said.
    Christian refused to allow hope in. He had yet to come to terms with Ivy being gone. The idea that there was a chance he might get her back was too much to bear.  
    “I lost her once. I can’t do it a second time.”
    Riley sat beside him and draped an arm across his shoulders. “All I’m asking is that you listen to what we’ve put together. After that, the decision will be yours.”
    He looked into Riley’s blue eyes and couldn’t say no. “I’ll listen.”
    “Good.” She got to her feet. “When Vin, Linc, and Beau didn’t find anything here, we started doing our own search in New Orleans.”
    Kane grinned. “Except ours wasn’t in books.”
    “Right,” Riley smiled as the two looked at each other like conspirators. “We each went to a faction and gathered all the information they had on Hell Hounds.”
    “As well as what happens if the person who sold their soul dies before the debt is paid,” Kane added.
    Ava jumped in then. “While they did that, I called in a favor to a Medical Examiner friend and had them look over Ivy’s mother’s autopsy. There was a high content of licorice root in her system. It can be used for herbal remedies and in tea, but when not used properly, it can cause heart failure. So, our guess was right. She committed suicide.”
    “Meanwhile, our cousins were putting all their findings together,” Lincoln said.
    Riley nodded vigorously. “That’s when we began to realize that they had one common theme.”
    “The Hell Hounds have never been stopped by a cloaking spell,” Davena said.
    Christian frowned as he considered what he had been told. “Then where did the Hounds go for those few days?”
    “That was my question,” Olivia said.
    Christian shook his head. “This doesn’t make any sense. They wouldn’t just stop coming for Ivy.”
    “True,” Vincent said. “We looked at the date Ivy was last released from the hospital and never returned. The ten year anniversary was over two months ago.”
    “If they had come for