by K. N. Banet
“You aren’t,” the deep voiced male said. “It’s why I didn’t kill her. If their entire fucking family has that ability, we have to expose them. Wolf magic in the leading werecat family? Why haven’t they shared that with the rest of us? We could take the wolves down and finally reclaim our place as the most powerful supernatural species.”
“And get out from under the thumb of the Tribunal,” the southern male growled in satisfaction. “Fucking entire thing was just created by Hasan to secure his own power.”
“And to stop a war one of his friends started,” a female added softly. “Either way, we have her, and now, we can move on to phase two.”
My stomach rolled, and my chest tightened as that voice registered.
Lani is one of them. She’s betrayed me and helped them. Why?
The hurt was nearly too much. I wanted to get up and see her, ask why she would do this to me, but I resisted. I needed every advantage I could get, which meant I needed them to keep talking. I needed to know what the fuck was going on and how to use it to my advantage.
“Lani, love, what do you recommend when Jacky wakes up?”
“Promise not to kill her little human girl or her werewolves,” my friend answered. “She’ll give you the fucking world for them, I bet.”
“I want the wolves,” the obvious leader replied. “We can promise the little human girl will be unharmed and take her in once all of this is all over. No reason to leave a kid an orphan.”
“When was the last time you raised a child?” Lani asked.
“Four hundred years ago, not too long. I’ll manage, or one of you can take her. Lani, you’ve met her, haven’t you?”
“I’ve seen her. During the Trial over a year ago. I could point her out in a crowd.”
“Maybe you can take her.”
I heard the annoyed sigh and knew Lani didn’t agree. The very idea that they were talking about who was going to take my Carey pissed me off. It was almost too good of them and also the cruelest thing they could do.
And the leader wanted my wolves. Another problem, but it made me grateful I’d sent Heath and Landon out of my territory to protect everyone.
“You know what I’m surprised by?” another female spoke up. “She didn’t call any of her siblings. We were certain she would get backup from at least one or two of them if we ramped it up and made her scared. She was the only werecat in her territory.”
“Do you think they abandoned her?” a third male asked quietly. I could barely hear him.
“Possibly, or she didn’t tell them what was going on. Whatever the reason, she was there alone, and we have to make do. Hopefully, Hasan gives enough of a shit about her to bend.”
Hasan. My werecat father was going to lose his fucking mind when he caught wind of this.
I looked around the room as the group talking above me fell silent. With the silence, I took a moment to consider my surroundings again, wondering if there was anything that could help me through this.
Looking up, I saw a very tiny window, too small for me to get out, even in human form.
The basement was an effective prison, and I didn’t see myself getting out any time soon.
I huffed a werecat sigh and began to Change, my body screaming in pain as it slowly happened. The gashes and punctures all over me opened and bled as new scabs had to form through the Change.
I panted once I was in human form. I heard footsteps above me and the thudding of a group jogging down the stairs. The door opened, and I caught a blurry look at the stairs beyond—a way out. I just had to get through that door, up the stairs, and out of whatever building I was in.
“Look who’s awake,” a tall man said with a smile. He was white, most likely of European heritage. How long he’d been in the United States, I didn’t know. “Jacky Leon, daughter of Hasan.”
“Jacqueline, daughter of Hasan,” I corrected, moving to sit at the back of my cage, not taking my eyes off him. “Jacky is the nickname I prefer, though, so if you could keep using it, I would be grateful.”
“She wakes up with a fuckin’ attitude,” the southern male said, moving to stand on the older male’s right. Lani stood behind both of them. I could see her between their shoulders, her eyes hard. “Thought we would have taught her a lesson last night.”
I didn’t pay him any mind nor the male leader, staring at Lani, making my intent very clear. I knew she was there, and I was pissed. If anyone paid for this, it would be her.
The leader stepped into my line of sight, blocking my view of Lani.
“We’re going to talk,” he said with a smile. “We have your phone. We need the passcode.”
“Why?” I knew the chances of leaving alive were slim.
“Tell me, or we kill the girl.”
“Her name is Carey Everson, and she’s human. You also have no idea where she is, and you won’t get that information out of me because I don’t know where she is.” I bared my teeth. “And if you think what you’ve already done is bad, I fucking dare you to drag the werewolves into this by killing an innocent twelve-year-old human.”
“Don’t test me,” he growled softly, coming to the cage, the smile never leaving. “I’ve lived thousands of years and dealt with more powerful werecats than you, and have succeeded every time. I’ll find little Carey, and I’ll flay her alive if I have to.”
“You’ll never find my girl. Answer the damn question. Why do you want the passcode for my cellphone?” The fact that it still worked after my crawling around in a creek was amazing. I sure as fuck wasn’t comfortable with them getting their hands on it.
They could use it to text everyone and bring them into my territory, a perfect trap. Heath and Landon were safe wherever they were, but I had to remain strong, or they would accidentally give themselves away.
They could also use it to convince my family everything was okay. It wouldn’t last nearly as long. A family meeting would be called, and if I didn’t show up, they would know something was off, but it could take days for any of them to get to Texas and figure out what was going on. I could be long dead by then.
I could be dead in the next ten minutes if I didn’t figure out what to do.
“We need to contact some people,” he answered, eyeing my face.
“Figured. You’re not getting it from me,” I said, keeping my teeth bared, a warning that if any of them came into the cage with me, it was going to be a fight.
“If you don’t give us any information, you’re worthless. If you’re worthless, you die,” he said patiently. “I’ll give you some time to decide whether or not you want to be worthless.” He turned away and walked out of the room, the other two werecats falling in around him. Three had visited me, one of them fucking Lani, and there were still four in the building or nearby who were a part of this.
There was an agenda here, and I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was. Wanting the wolves and talking about defeating the werewolves for good was a sign they were pretty fucking pissed at me. At the same time, they were pissed none of my siblings were in my territory to help me, pointing to hating my family. The leader was old, really old, and that pointed to him knowing Hasan personally. There weren’t many werecats, and the oldest of our kind tended to know each other from ancient times. There was no way that one didn’t know my werecat father.
“You didn’t even introduce yourself!” I yelled.
I heard one of them come back down the steps and watched him come through the door.
“You may call me Mikkel, son of Ishkur.” He turned and left again. At least I had a name now. One thing Hasan never told me was anything about other specific werecats. Whatever secrets or histories he knew about other werecats, he’d kept to himself, and I had always respected that.
Now, I was in a cage, wondering who my enemies were. I had no way of knowing who else was helping with this, and why Mikkel was the leader. I had no idea what sort of reputation any of them had. In a sad way, I knew more about werewolves than I did about ot
her werecats. At least when it came to knowing who was who.
I looked over my injuries to understand exactly how fucked I was. My left leg was more torn up than the right, taking the brunt of the damage and covered in bruises. My shoulders were stiff, and I could feel where one of them had bitten me.
Beyond the notable, deep bites, I had myriad scratches on my chest, abdomen, back, and sides. Most were shallow in my human form, but I knew they had probably looked severe in my feline form. Luckily, claws between werecats didn’t amount to much damage unless one of the cats was gutted. There was no ignoring the black and blue patchy network of bruises. They would slow me down just as effectively as the bleeding injuries. Remembering how I was hit across the face a couple of times, I knew my face probably wasn’t much better, but without a mirror, there was no way for me to see.
I gingerly touched my nose and was relieved to feel it hadn’t been broken, and neither had my jaw. No teeth were missing, something that would carry over between forms if it was the correct tooth.
All in all, I could have come out worse. Like dead. I could be dead right now. That’s a plus.
I needed to stretch my aching muscles, so I began to pace, letting my legs loosen up. I gently stretched my arms over my head, ignoring the pulsing ache of pain in my shoulders. I needed to be ready to run the moment I had the chance. It could be hours, days, or even weeks, but I couldn’t allow myself to grow complacent. I had to stay strong. That’s what Hasan would want. He would want me to stay strong, so I could help any potential rescuer.
I wasn’t hopeful for a rescue, but I had to believe. I had to believe my family would try to find me because the likelihood I would get out on my own was slim.
I have to try. I have to at least try.
15
Chapter Fifteen
It felt like hours later when I heard footsteps coming back down. No one above had spoken loud enough for me to hear, which meant they knew the walls and floors were thin.
I was surprised to see Lani come through the door with a bowl.
“We’re not going to starve you,” she said politely, refusing to look me in the eye. She put the bowl down on the other side of the cage. “Come get it.” Stepping back, she finally looked at me and winced.
“Yeah, I probably don’t look very good,” I said with an angry, mean smile. I didn’t think I was a hateful person, but at that moment, I fucking hated her. “Probably look better than that werecat I killed, though.”
“Her name was—”
“I don’t fucking care,” I growled, walking forward slowly. I didn’t reach for the food as I sniffed the air and caught the distinct smell of drugs in it. “She invaded my territory with the explicit wish to hurt or kill me. You captured me, so I’m going to assume that was the objective.” I reached out and flipped the bowl, spilling the rice and meat everywhere. “I don’t care about her fucking name, and I won’t eat a god damn thing you give me. Try harder.”
Lani looked at the bowl of food I spilled and sighed, kneeling to clean it up and put it back within my reach.
“You’ll eat, or we’ll dart you. One will fill your belly, the other will just knock you out. Your pick.”
“Why are you doing this?” I demanded. “I thought you were loyal to Hasan. I thought…” I thought you were my friend, or at least not my enemy.
“I’m tired,” she answered. “For six years, I knew you with no idea where you came from or how you became a werecat. For over six years, you lied to me.”
“Then kill me for it. Why all of this?”
“You…you showed a wild disrespect for the way things are done.” Lani gave me a pained, angry look. “You neglected to have any connection or responsibilities to other werecats. You took in werewolves. You laughed in the face of everything we are and our history. I tried so hard to forget about it and forget about you. Forget about how I thought I’d made a positive impact on your life, thinking no one taught you very well, and I had. And then you…”
“Yeah…”
“Yeah. Then Hasan, instead of punishing you, he gave you power,” she growled. “Because you’re one of his precious fucking children. You, the one werecat who has never paid any mind to what’s going on outside your little territory.”
“That’s not true. I went to Washington…”
“You went because you felt guilty,” she snarled. “You went because you were trying to clean up your mess for your own reasons, not because you cared at all for Gaia and Titan.”
“They weren’t my fault,” I whispered. “The vampires killed them.”
“Yes. Vampires. You, the Seattle pack, and fucking Heath Everson defeated the vampires while the mighty Jabari was laid down by a simple car accident,” she sneered. “The great and powerful family of werecats who rule our kind, now resorting to the help of werewolves who would see us dead if they could.” She pushed the bowl closer, and this time, I grabbed it.
Word travels in the supernatural world. I knew that. Everyone knew that. Werecats, for how isolated we are, gossiped like old humans with nothing better to do. Of course, she would know about all the little details of the events in Washington. It wasn’t like it was ever a secret.
“There’s nothing wrong with change. There’s nothing wrong with becoming allies with someone who should be an enemy. So what if Heath Everson is a werewolf? He was once human, just like me and you. He’s a good man, and he helped me keep Jabari alive. You would have been laid out by that car accident too.”
“The werecats here with me? We would have gone into that nest to kill all of them from the start. A strong showing for the deaths of two old werecats who deserved more from their leaders.” Lani shook her head at me. “It started with Liza. You know her name, right?”
“Yes.”
“A weakling. A peaceful, quiet little female who was easily taken advantage of and killed by a pack of werewolves. And what does Hasan do? He doesn’t even avenge his own daughter. He disappears and abandons us for a century while his children are left in charge, and that was fine. But when he finally came back, it was for you. You, the most irresponsible, arrogant, little werecat anyone has ever heard of. You’re barely over a decade as a werecat, and you thought you could enforce werecat Law? Is Hasan so arrogant to think we would be okay with that? You love the enemy more than you love your own kind!”
“The pack killed those responsible to appease Hasan,” I reminded her. The hatred I heard in her words rocked me to my core. “And I was just doing what was right.”
“What was right was to let the werewolves clean up their own messes.”
“By Law, I was on Duty—”
“And we plan on getting rid of that Law. Hasan allows other species to use us to protect their own. We get hurt and die because of them, and for what? So the Tribunal will think we’re controlled? So we don’t look like a threat to the other supernatural species?” Lani took a deep breath. “Mikkel came to me shortly after the Washington incident. I was so ready to congratulate you for stepping in and working with your family and taking your place, but then he and I talked. Mikkel has been my lover on and off for a couple of centuries now, and he made some good points.”
“Lani…”
“Why do our people have to die for them?” she asked softly. “Because Hasan decided so to keep some other species happy? Is that what peace is worth? And in the end, when he finally stands up to the very Law he helped write, it’s not for any of the werecats around the world who have been loyal to him for thousands of years. It’s for the daughter who willfully knew she was breaking those Laws. His children killed werecats for centuries to defend them, then he proved himself to be the ultimate hypocrite.”
“What are you saying?”
“You thought I was loyal to Hasan? You’re right, I was, but that loyalty had been stretched thin. The declaration of you holding any kind of power you don’t deserve finally snapped it. It’s time for your family’s nepotism to end.”
“There’s nothing I could do,
is there?”
“Tell us where your werewolves are so we can kill them. That could possibly save you from death. You’ll never be important the way Hasan wanted to make you, but you might live a long time. Maybe.”
“When are you going to kill me?” I wasn’t going to entertain giving up Heath and his family. Once again, I was grateful I had no idea where they had gone into hiding.
“I can’t tell you that,” she answered, stepping back from the cage now. “Just give us what we want, Jacky.”
“You know, Hasan Changed me without my permission.” I was angry, and a plan formulated. It wouldn’t help me escape, but it might make me feel better. “I was dying from a car accident, bleeding out, barely conscious. My human fiancé was dying right next to me. His name was Shane. I woke up a werecat, and he never woke up at all. Hasan never wants to tell me why he let Shane die and not me.” I dropped the bowl again and grabbed the bars, leaning forward on them. “I’ve had years of going back and forth on whether I loved or hated the man for that, but I never considered betraying him. I was never that stupid.”
Lani’s eyes went wide as I spoke, and I saw the hurt and anger on her own face at the last things I said to her.
“Then you’re a coward,” she hissed.
“Maybe I am,” I whispered. “But I’m alive, and he gave me that when he didn’t have to. Just like he gave it to all of you by fighting so hard to end the werewolf and werecat war. You’re throwing it back in his face.”
“He’s a self-serving tyrant,” she snapped at me, coming close to the cage.
I took my chance, grabbing the front of her shirt and yanking her into the bars. The force of her face meeting the metal would have broken a human. She screamed and pulled away, holding her face. Footsteps moved around upstairs, and I stepped back from the bars before they arrived, some of my anger subdued now.
The plan worked. Seeing Lani scream in pain made me feel a little better, and a belly full of guilt quickly followed.
