Savage Heart

by J. E. Cluney

  His eyes were flicking between Damien and I, and I knew he was worried now.

  Good, he should be.

  I felt my demon side come forth, my eyes shrouding over as I projected myself into him.

  Gavin screamed mentally as I took over his body, staring at my own body through his eyes. I dug around in his mind, sifting through the kitsune fights he’d witnessed at the Collector’s mansion. My blood boiled when I stopped on a fight between Sav and a brute of a kitsune.

  ‘Find the Collector,’ Damien growled into my mind.

  Right. Stay on task.

  I focused on his memories of the Collector, and scowled when I found what I was looking for.

  I pulled myself from his mind once I saw what I needed, socking him right in the jaw to make myself feel better.

  ’What’d you find?’ Leon asked from the other room.

  I sighed as I shot Damien a despairing look. He hadn’t seen what I’d seen or heard from his mind.

  I left the bathroom, clenching my hands, wanting to go back and knock him senseless to simmer down this rage and frustration.

  Too bad the others needed to know.

  “And?” Wes asked as soon as I stepped into their room.

  “Declan is still alive, in a way. He stored a piece of his soul in his golem, which is still on the move. He’s gathering his followers to orchestrate an attack on the institute. He wants to kill Sav and all of us from what I can gather,” I relayed, the anger boiling in me. That wicked Warlock. Of course he wasn’t dead.

  “Fucking asshole,” Nate hissed. I could sense his fear about the whole thing. He’d been a prisoner far longer than Sav, and he had no desire to become one again.

  Although from Gavin’s mind, that was far from what the Collector wanted with us now.

  Sav’s jaw clenched at this, and I saw the fury and worry flashing in those stunning blue eyes.

  “Hey, we won’t let anything happen to you,” Leon said softly as he sat down beside Sav and stroked her hair.

  I snickered at her mental thought about how we didn’t do much to stop it last time. We were useless, but at least we’d rescued her.

  “Mr Oxley won’t let him get to us,” Wesley said firmly.

  “Mr Oxley needed help taking him down last time, and he’s a dragon,” Sav grumbled.

  “Yes, but Declan isn’t fully alive anymore. Only a piece of his soul is,” I reiterated. Surely that meant he was much weaker, otherwise he’d have made a move by now.

  “So what now?” Nate asked as he glanced around at us.

  “We hand over Gavin and head home. We deal with this once we’re there,” Leon stated.

  As if on cue, my phone sounded off, and I sighed at my father’s caller ID. He was not going to be happy about this.

  “Hey dad, thanks for calling back,” I answered, the room falling silent around me.

  “What’s wrong?” he got straight to the point.

  “Well, we caught Gavin, we’ve got him here until the handover at four in the morning. But Sav had a nightmare,” I explained, feeling a bit silly for wording it like that.

  “It wasn’t just a nightmare, was it?” he sighed knowingly. He knew I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t something more than that.

  “No. It had Declan Barivian in it. He wants to kill her, and she woke up with bruises where he grabbed her in the dream,” I explained.

  The sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone made me glance at my adopted brothers.

  “There’s more, isn’t there?” he growled softly, and I could just see him massaging the bridge of his nose in frustration and distress.

  “We thought Gavin might know something, and he did. Declan put a piece of his soul into his golem, and he’s gathering his followers to orchestrate an attack on the institute,” I informed him.

  There was silence on the other end for a few moments, and I clenched my jaw.

  I knew he was seething at this information.

  “No one will bring any harm to this institute. Sav will be safe if she returns home,” he said, his voice cold and emotionless.

  He was beyond pissed.

  I knew that from the tone, but he was masking it well.

  “Did you find out anything else from Gavin in relation to the Collector?” he asked, his voice low.

  “No, that’s all.”

  “Okay. Hand him over and come home. I’ll look into this more,” he growled.

  “Will do,” I answered.

  The phone clicked off, and I sighed.

  “He’s pissed, isn’t he?” Damien growled.

  “Yep, don’t blame him. Especially since he was once a prisoner of that Warlock himself,” I sighed. He hadn’t told us much about that since the big fight.

  Not that we’d really asked. We liked to let him have his privacy, especially since he gave us all a home.

  “So, what now?” Wes asked, and I sent them our father’s instructions mentally. Hand over the bounty and return home.

  “That’s three hours away, what do we do until then?” Nate asked as he glanced over at Sav. I knew what he was thinking.

  Sav wouldn’t want to go back to sleep, and if the Collector could get to her through her dreams, then we didn’t want her to either.

  “Well, guess we’ll have to occupy ourselves in another manner. Who’s up for a game?” I suggested, trying to think of a game to play.

  “As long as it’s not scrabble,” Sav snorted, and we all cracked into grins.

  5

  “So, Declan is alive, sort of,” I sighed as I leaned against the Jeep.

  The early morning sky was still dark, and I gazed around the area. We’d pulled over on the side of the highway where we were set to meet the Council pick-up people. We were ten minutes early, but they were normally always on time.

  “Weird. Warlocks and their magic. Guess we’ll have to find another way to kill him,” Damien muttered, clearly pissed about this news.

  I knew he was worried about me, they all were, of the bad memories and fear it would bring me.

  Fear.

  I wasn’t horribly afraid, but I wasn’t stupid enough not to be a little worried about all this.

  Especially if he could get inside my mind when I slept.

  That did scare me a little. But he clearly couldn’t kill me that way, otherwise he would’ve done so.

  That was my only consolation in this.

  “Hey, everything will be okay,” Wesley said as he stepped closer, giving me a thin-lipped smile.

  “Hope so,” I murmured.

  “We should just let the Council handle him, surely they can finish off what Sav started?” Nate said as Leon stood out before us with Gavin, cuffed and gagged.

  “Dad texted me, he’s alerted the Council and they’re going to try to deal with it themselves. But considering they didn’t handle him before all this, I’m not sure they’ll do it now. They’re clearly afraid of him,” Tristan shared.

  “But he’s not as strong now, right?” Wes said, his voice hesitating.

  “No idea really,” Tristan shrugged. “Don’t know a lot about this stuff. Dominic might know. Or Dad. We’ll ask when we get home.”

  Hell, even my own parents might know something.

  Izzy.

  Fear snaked into me at the thought of her, and I stepped away from Wes as I dialed my father.

  Amazingly, he picked up.

  “Hey, early morning call, everything okay?” Soren asked, worry lacing his voice.

  “Not exactly,” I admitted.

  Fucking Warlock. I’d end him once and for all if I got the chance. Fucking asshole, ruining lives like that.

  Of course he wouldn’t just die.

  I explained to him the situation, and he was going to call Samson and alert them too, bring them all together.

  “Tell them I only saw plans of him wanting to get you, not them, so they should be fine,” Tristan added.

  Thanks. Wonderful.

  I relayed it to Soren,
who still wanted to be on guard anyway, although he was now more worried about me.

  “I’ll be fine, trust me. We’ve got this. Besides, who knows when he plans to attack. We have no idea. We can’t let this worry stop us from living our lives,” I stated. I wasn’t going to hide away because of something that may or may not happen.

  Although I’d have to find a way to keep him out of my head, that was for sure.

  “Well, we’re here if you need us. We’re more than happy to come to you. Maybe we should just do that, bring everyone there, just to be safe,” he mused.

  “And have everyone in one spot if he does attack? No, you guys are better off there. I’ll keep you updated on anything else we learn though,” I said.

  He sighed in defeat. “Just take care of yourself Sav. Warlocks are powerful, as I’m sure you know, even if he’s not fully alive. Don’t underestimate him.”

  “I won’t,” I said firmly. I knew just how strong that ass was.

  “Okay, I love you, Sav. We all do,” he said, his voice taking on a tender tone.

  I softened at the words.

  All those years ago, Thomas had never told me he loved me. Guess that made sense now, since I wasn’t his, but a supe.

  But hearing it now, from my true father, made a soft pang hit my chest.

  “Love you too, all of you. Take care,” I said softly before hanging up.

  I sighed as I turned back to my boys, rolling my eyes at their soft looks as they felt my odd pang of love.

  “I’m glad you have your family,” Nate smiled as he stepped over to wrap an arm around me.

  “How are yours going?” I asked.

  He’d contacted them once he was free and told them of everything. Their initial shock and despair had turned to joy at learning he’d found a kitsune mate.

  We’d eventually travel across the country and meet them, but there was no rush.

  They were just happy he was safe now, and they’d fussed over him with a number of calls since then.

  We all fell silent as headlights lit us up as black SUV pulled off the highway to join us.

  It was always a black SUV. How many crime movies had they watched?

  I folded my arms as the cool early morning air nipped at my skin.

  I pulled my leather jacket tighter around me, but Wes stepped over, sliding his arm in under my jacket and around my waist.

  I sighed as his touch warmed me instantly.

  I gave him a grateful smile, and he just winked at me.

  “Gavin Brummer,” the man said as he stepped out of the driver’s side of the vehicle, the engine still running. He wore a black suit with a grey tie, and looked very clean and business-like, with sharp facial features that made me think of Death from Supernatural. Not as old though.

  I needed to rewatch that with the guys, see what their thoughts were on it.

  Surprisingly, some elements are fairly accurate, like the demon stuff,’ Tristan answered for me.

  How interesting.

  Another man stepped out from the passenger side of the SUV, folding his hands before him and looking very professional in his black suit, although he was built like a tank.

  Body guard? No, probably just part of the Council crew too.

  They were just drivers, the jockeys that moved the bounties and dished out the pay.

  “This is him,” Leon nodded as he shoved the weretiger forward.

  The man checked his phone, the screen lighting up in the early morning darkness.

  He clicked his tongue, flicking his gaze from Gavin and to his phone before nodding.

  “Yep, matches the photo,” he said before glancing over at his companion.

  His bulky companion nodded before turning back and leaning into the passenger side of the car before pulling out a paper bag.

  Not as shady and awesome as a briefcase, but whatever.

  Pay was pay.

  The handover was made, and Leon took the bag, checking the money within before nodding and stepping away as the two men loaded up Gavin.

  “What do they want him for?” I asked.

  Normally we didn’t bother asking questions, as we trusted Mr Oxley, and he normally gave us an idea. But the Council were rather quiet on this one.

  “That’s of no concern to you. The Council will deal with him,” the first man said before climbing back into the SUV after giving us a curt nod.

  Right, we were just tools to them. A means to an end.

  I just rolled my eyes.

  ‘Probably the same reason we discovered. To do with Declan. Hence why it’s all hush hush,’ Tristan murmured into my mind.

  Probably. They were apparently going to try to handle this according to Mr Oxley. Perhaps they just needed to find out more about his condition. How powerful he really was now.

  ‘Makes me wonder if the men he was meeting with were more followers. Should’ve taken some of them and questioned them,’ Leon sighed in frustration with himself.

  ‘No way we could’ve known,’ Wes reassured him.

  He was right. We were just following our orders. Although, it would’ve been good to see if they’d known anything.

  Too late now.

  The SUV pulled away, and we clambered back into the Jeep and small Chrysler sedan.

  I rode in the Jeep with Leon, Damien, and Tristan, while Wes and Nate took the sedan.

  Those two had grown closer over the past few weeks, both loving to play various consoles together, including DS’s and switches.

  Apparently they were both avid Pokemon fans.

  Hadn’t taken Nate to be that sort of guy, but he liked it, along with photography apparently.

  My phone vibrated, and I checked it, smiling softly at the early morning text from Jackson.

  He’d taken up working out in the morning at this ungodly hour to stay fit, and Thomas had finally gotten over his mental breakdown about supes.

  Leon had started visiting them, teaching them about rogues since Thomas didn’t know what else he could do with himself.

  He seemed remorseful now, and had refused to reach out to me in any way, which suited me fine.

  I did feel a little bad for him.

  He’d grown up with these beliefs, having been raised in a hunting family himself before raising us. It was all he knew, and then to have it torn open and the truth revealed had broken him for a while.

  He’d learned Jackson’s mom had been killed by a rogue as well from what the evidence pointed at. It made the most sense.

  I was glad he was learning the truth and being shown everything by Leon, who was the only one willing to help him and Jackson.

  Not that he told them much about himself and angels. They were always good, so no need to know how to hunt or kill them.

  Angels, I still couldn’t wrap my head around that, even though demons were real. Heaven and hell.

  What were they like? Could angels come and go just like demons could? Although how demons left hell wasn’t easy anyway. They either had to be summoned or snuck through a back door out of hell. It was no easy feat. Hence why they were a little rarer than other supes.

  Jackson had told me Thomas was beating himself up over everything, but thankfully they’d both learned most of their hunts were probably rogues anyway, thank God.

  Jackson had this whole new plan to try to open the eyes of all the hunters around them.

  I wished him the best of luck with that, and hoped he stayed safe.

  I had serious doubts about it, but he was determined to make sure no more innocent supes were killed.

  It would be a difficult, uphill battle for sure, but if he wanted to make that his life mission, I wasn’t going to stop him.

  I just wanted him to be safe.

  I did wonder if Thomas would one day talk to me again, but I also knew it would never be the same.

  He probably knew that too, hence why he hadn’t bothered reaching out.

  Would he apologize if he did?

  And would I accept it?
/>   No idea.

  ‘You’ve got a lot on your mind,’ Leon murmured.

  ‘Well, I’d rather think about that than Declan,’ I sent back.

  I reread the message from Jackson.

  They’d discovered a rogue werewolf and were going to hunt it today. Leon had given them the all clear to go ahead with it.

  Jackson had taken to running potential hunts by him just to double-check.

  I shot back a text telling him to be careful and to let me know how the hunt went.

  At least Leon believed the relationship between Jackson and Thomas was slowly repairing over time.

  Good.

  They needed each other. They were all they had.

  I glanced around at my mates.

  I had a family, and a big one.

  And I was beyond grateful for them.

  6

  I blinked sleepily as we drew up to the gates of the institute.

  God, I was tired. I’d only gotten a few hours sleep, but I wasn’t willing to go to sleep anytime soon.

  I didn’t want that freak of a Warlock in my head again anytime soon.

  “Mr Oxley will be able to help with that, I’m sure,” Leon assured me.

  I hoped so, because not sleeping wasn’t possible.

  I yawned and stretched as we drew up to the front, and we all clambered out as Dominic came down the front steps to greet us.

  “I’ve got breakfast made,” he declared once Tristan had sauntered over to give him a welcoming kiss on the cheek.

  Nate had found it odd that I allowed him to continue this bizarre relationship with Dominic.

  Tristan was still mine, and he would do anything for me. But Dominic was his first love, and I was more than willing to share him.

  Especially since they all shared me.

  Besides, Dominic was growing on me. Ever since he’d felt so guilty for the whole Warlock thing, he’d stopped being so butt-hurt about our mated status.

  He had accepted it as best he could, and he and Tristan were doing well alongside our relationship.

  “Thank God, I’m starving,” Wesley stated dramatically.

  I just rolled my eyes at his dramatic flair as he jabbed me in the ribs on the way past.

  I’d get him back for that.

  ‘Don’t make me set your vag on fire again,’ he threatened jokingly, and I groaned softly.