Malakai (The Stone Society Book 13)

by Faith Gibson

  Before she could argue, Kai zipped away. She would never get used to his speed. A whoosh of air blew her hair around her shoulders. Josie grinned because that had been really fast, but when she turned around, the hair on her arms stood on end, and Josie knew whoever this was wasn’t one of their Clan. It took a few seconds to figure out why he looked familiar, but she recognized the male from Connor’s drawing.

  “It’s you.” Josie took a step back, but the male was there in an instant.

  “Don’t scream. I don’t want to hurt you.” His accent was thick, but she still understood him.

  Josie didn’t scream aloud, but what he couldn’t hear might save her life

  Kai! Drago’s here!

  Motherfucker!

  Josie cringed when the beast roared inside her head.

  I’m coming, Sunshine

  Drago gripped her arms, and Josie tried squirming away, but it was no use. He was too strong.

  “Let her go!” Kai demanded.

  Drago put Josie between himself and Kai. A sharp claw emerged from his fingertip and pressed into Josie’s neck. “Don’t come any closer, or I’ll slit her throat.”

  Josie’s heart thudded in her chest and roared in her ears. No, that was her mate yelling into the dark night. The trees behind Kai swayed unnaturally since there was only the barest of a breeze coming off the water.

  That’s our Clan you’re seeing

  Huh

  Josie focused, and there they all were. Kai’s brothers, his father, and Nikolas were all perched on tree branches.

  “You won’t get out of here alive,” Kai promised.

  “Then neither will your mate.”

  Josie, do you trust us?

  With my life.

  Close your eyes and don’t open them until I tell you to.

  Josie nodded, and the claw at her throat dug into her skin. Still, she closed her eyes and waited. She did trust Malakai and their beast, but she didn’t trust Drago. If she was going to die…

  I love you.

  Instead of Kai responding, several voices filled her head, chanting in what she knew was their native tongue. She didn’t understand the words, but she did understand their intent. They were guiding Kai. Adding their strength through the bond of the Sevens. As Josie’s body was wrapped in warmth, Drago cried out, “What the fuck?” and pushed her away with enough force to knock her down. Her eyes automatically opened, and all she could do was stare. Malakai had flames dancing along his palms. His outstretched wings were glowing orange and red. Drago was screaming, rolling in the sand, trying to extinguish the flames encircling his body. He struggled to his feet, the fire licking at his skin. He stumbled toward Josie, but the voices of the Sevens spoke to her. Push, Josie. Push back against Drago.

  Josie flung her hands out, not sure if that’s what they meant. Drago was almost to her when she shoved with her mind, the strength of the Sevens and her Gargoyle pushing with her. Drago flew backwards, landing hard on his back.

  The males who had been waiting in the trees were now standing stretched out at the water’s edge. Nikolas remained close to Josie, guarding her while Malakai focused on the enemy. Josie’s nightmare came rushing back, only it wasn’t her who couldn’t reach the water; it was Drago.

  Fetu tossed Malakai a sword, and the flames danced along the blade.

  “Don’t look,” Nikolas told her, but Josie was strong enough to witness her mate doing what he had to. Malakai looked at Josie, and she nodded once.

  Drago pushed himself off the sand, standing tall with his head high. “This isn’t over. I’m not the only one who wants revenge against—”

  Kai swung his brother’s sword, severing Drago’s head from his body. Josie watched in morbid fascination as the head rolled, sand mixing with the blood. Kai handed the weapon to Fetu then turned to her. She ran to her mate, launching herself at him. Kai caught her and buried his face in her neck.

  “I’m sorry, Sunshine. I never should have left you alone.”

  Josie kissed Kai’s temple and rubbed her hands across his shoulders. “Look at me,” she demanded.

  When he did, his eyes were tormented, but she wasn’t having it. Trying something she wasn’t sure would work, Josie pushed her love at him with her mind.

  Kai sucked in a breath. “Did you…?”

  “Yes, I did. Now you listen to me, Mate. Your strength saved me. You saved me. Yes, Drago got close, but it happened as it was supposed to. Connor saw it. I saw it when you were dying. Not exactly as it happened, but when I was delirious with fever, I dreamed of this moment. I have a feeling it was what your mama saw too. But the thing is, none of us realized we would have the Sevens guiding us.”

  The beach was filled with both Clans, and when Lani approached, Kai set Josie on her feet and pulled her back to his chest. Lani placed a hand on Josie’s cheek. “Did you say the Sevens?”

  “Yes, ma’am. In the beginning, they were chanting. Then they spoke to me.”

  “That’s incredible. In all my years, I’ve never heard them.”

  “Have you ever needed them?” Josie asked.

  Lani tilted her head, thinking. “No, I don’t suppose I have.”

  “Then you should count yourself blessed.” Josie smiled up at Kai. “I know I do.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Remy was in the breakroom getting Rain some juice when Frey called. Julian had figured out Lachlan was the one hacking into the computer. Knowing Lachlan had the ability to take a jet out of the sky had Remy heading back to his office to check on his son. The sight of Aldredge on the floor unmoving had Remy panicking. “Rain?” Remy stepped over the downed Gargoyle and opened his office door. He never should have come back to work. He should have taken his son and disappeared. “Rain, Buddy?” Remy was supposed to be putting Lachlan back in his cell, but first he had to find his son. “Rain!”

  Carter ran into the office where Remy had set up a safe place for Rain to play while Remy did his job. Deacon had stopped by earlier but had gone to pick up Sabrina from the hospital, leaving Remy in charge. He should have sent Rain with Connor and Amelia, but they had been on the jet that went down. At least they were alive.

  “What’s going on? Who is Rain, and why is there a downed Goyle?”

  “Rain is my son. He knows not to leave this room. Aldredge was guarding the door.”

  “You get on the comms and tell the guards to look for him. I’ll search the monitors.”

  “How do you know how to do that?” Remy asked.

  “Lachlan had them pulled up earlier. He can… Fuck!” Carter took off running, and Remy followed, already knowing what he’d find. When they reached the conference room, it was empty.

  “Hunter!” Carter yelled for his twin.

  Remy ran to the control room and slammed open the door. “Lock it down!” Caleb didn’t hesitate to do as commanded. Remy pressed the button on his comm and said, “The building is under lockdown. Rain is missing, and Lachlan Rokesby has escaped. Check every inch of this building. Those of you covering the Basement use precaution. Rokesby might be planning to turn the Unholy loose.” When he turned back to Caleb, Remy instructed, “Get on the monitors and rewind the feed half an hour. That’s the timeframe between the last time I saw both Lachlan and Rain.” Remy couldn’t lose his son. Not again.

  All the guards knew Rain. Every one of them had pledged their loyalty to Remy and his son.

  “There!” Caleb said. Remy turned to look at the security feed. What he saw didn’t make sense. Carter left the conference room, and less than a minute later, Lachlan and Hunter had words. Lachlan was visibly shaken at whatever Hunter said. When Hunter’s back was to Lachlan, he snapped Hunter’s neck. It wouldn’t kill the Goyle, but it would take a while for Hunter to recover. Lachlan left the room. Caleb pressed some buttons on the keyboard, and the feed changed to the area around Remy’s office. Lachlan snuck up behind Aldredge and twisted his neck as well. Lachlan opened the office door, but he didn’t enter it. Instead, he ran to
the door at the back of the building leading outside. Caleb changed cameras, and they watched Lachlan phase, launching himself into the sky.

  “Shit! If he didn’t take Rain, where is he?”

  “I’ll check all the monitors. You go check the office again Lachlan didn’t take him,” Caleb said.

  Remy retraced his steps back toward the office. When he got there, he still didn’t see his son. “Oh, Rain.”

  The blanket piled in the corner moved, and Remy rushed across the room. When he pulled the cover back, Rain was curled up in a ball. “Rain!”

  His son blinked his eyes open. “Daddy?”

  “Yes. Oh, thank the gods.”

  “I was taking a nap.” Rain yawned, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles. His son always slept hard, so that explained why he hadn’t answered the first time.

  “Yes, you were.” Remy thanked the gods his boy was there and unharmed. Remy pulled Rain into his arms, and in that moment, he knew he had a decision to make about their future. First, he had to let Frey know Lachlan had escaped.

  Malakai was reeling from killing Drago. It wasn’t because he’d taken the male’s life; Drago had threatened Josie. No, it was the way the fire had coursed through his body so easily. How he had instinctually known the flames would surround his mate without harming her. How the voices of the Sevens had guided Josie too. When they spoke to her, Kai heard their voices in his own head. He had always considered the connection to those who had come before him to be a curse, but now he got it. It truly was the blessing his beast claimed it was. That was another thing he’d always pondered; how could something so much a part of him have different thoughts and ideas? Malakai was Gargoyle. They were one and the same, yet the beast inside clearly understood things on a deeper level.

  “Kai? Are you okay?” Nikolas asked.

  “Yes, why?”

  “I said your name a few times. I’m thinking if Drago was here, it’s possible Hagen is too.”

  Kai’s family was gathered around, probably worried about his state of mind. They were a peaceful Clan for the most part, and taking a life, no matter the reason, left its mark. “Unless they came in on one of the boats last night and waited around until this morning to attack, I’d guess Drago came alone. It’s possible Hagen is on one of the other islands. Should we be worried about him?”

  Nikolas shrugged. “Not worried, but he was complicit in Drago’s plans. He’s the one who sabotaged the security gates so the Unholy could attack.”

  “I’ll make some calls,” Ranger offered. “If he’s at a hotel, we will make sure he doesn’t leave.”

  “I’ll reach out to Frey and see how he wants to handle the human if we find him,” Nik said. He walked over to where Sophia was waiting with the other mates. Kai leaned forward, inhaling Josie’s hair while reaching out to gauge her emotions.

  I’m fine, my love.

  Kai smiled against the back of her head while offering up a prayer of thanks to the gods and Sevens for making sure she was fine.

  “Cool trick with the fire, Uso.” Fetu was examining his sword. “Not a mark on it.”

  “Or Josie. That scared the shit out of me,” Sefina said.

  Josie leaned her head back against Kai’s chest. “I was in no danger from Kai’s flame. It was like being surrounded by a warm embrace. Now Drago’s claw?” Josie shivered.

  Lani trailed a finger over Josie’s throat. “Amazing. Not even a scratch.”

  Ariki wrapped his arm around his mate’s shoulder. “That’s the power of the Sevens. Josie is more resilient because of the bond.”

  “While I appreciate the sentiment, I never want to test that theory again.” Kai had never been as scared as he was when he saw Drago’s grip on Josie’s neck. He looked over to where someone had covered Drago’s body. It had been his kill, therefore, he felt responsible for dealing with the corpse. “Mama, please take Josie to the house. There’s something I need to take care of.”

  Kai kissed his mate’s temple. I won’t be long, Sunshine. She smiled up at him before linking her arm through Lani’s.

  Ariki motioned for everyone to disperse, telling the brothers, “I think we could use some coffee and food.”

  The six males waited until everyone was through the trees. Each of his brothers gripped arms with Kai as a sign of respect. It had been a good kill, if there was such a thing. Once he was alone, Malakai gathered Drago’s head and body and walked into the water. Using his shifter strength, he swam into the depths of the Pacific and released his Clan’s enemy. He returned to the surface and tread water as he looked toward the sun. “Thank you,” he whispered to the bright ball of fire. A pod of dolphins appeared from behind, each of them whistling. “Well, come on then.” Kai took off through the water toward the island, the dolphins racing alongside. When the water was shallow enough for him to stand, the pod clicked at him before heading back out. Standing in the waves, Malakai watched them jump high, arcing, and splashing back down. His soul was lighter when he made his way onto the beach. He had needed that connection with the mammals. As he was turning, he noticed something in the water – turtles. Thinking about Josie’s tattoo, he ran through the woods to find his mate.

  Kai didn’t need shifter abilities to hear his families. Kids were squealing as they chased Molly around his parents’ yard. The Stone mates were scattered throughout his family, chatting and laughing. Kai drank in the sight of his mate smiling at something his mama said to her. He could have eavesdropped, but he allowed them their privacy. When it looked like they were finished with their conversation, he jogged up to Josie and tossed her over his shoulder.

  “What are you doing?” she squealed and laughed as he ran back to the water.

  “Hoping to show you something.” Sure enough, the turtles were still out there. “Look.” Kai set Josie on her feet and pointed.

  “Oh, my god.” Josie, not caring she was in her lavalava, took off into the water. She jumped as the waves threatened, so Kai swam out to her and picked her up. When they got close, Kai stopped, letting his mate enjoy the creatures. They stayed in the water until the turtles eventually swam off. Josie grabbed Kai’s cheeks and smashed a kiss to his lips. “Thank you, Love.”

  “You’re welcome, Sunshine.” Kai carried her to the house so they both could change into dry clothes, and then they returned to his parents’ house. Josie took off toward Katherine, so Kai made his way to where Ranger and Nikolas were standing off to the side, deep in conversation.

  “The human is at the Apia Lodge. Fetu and Hoani are headed there now.” Nikolas raked a hand through his hair. “Frey wants us to bring him to New Atlanta. He’s going to reunite Hagen and Kallisto. A life sentence in the Pen is more than the kid deserves, if you ask me.”

  Ranger clapped Nikolas on the shoulder. “No, Uso. Taking away someone’s freedom is worse than death.”

  “What’s the plan? Is it safe to go home?” Kai asked Nik.

  “Not sure it’ll ever be safe as long as the Unholy are out there, but yeah, we’re going home. I’m going to get Henry situated with Julian. Together, they should be able to track down all of Drago’s assets if we don’t get the information out of Hagen first. Isabelle and Dante will carry on with antiserum, and the rest of us will hunt Unholy while figuring out next steps with our homes. But we have another problem on our hands. After Lachlan escaped, someone was still using the computer. At least that’s what Hunter thinks.”

  “And It wasn’t Julian?”

  “No. He…” Nikolas looked around. “Hey, Henry. Got a second?”

  Henry walked over. “Sure. What’s up?”

  “I need you to do something.” Nikolas explained the situation, and Henry growled. “I’m on it.”

  Kai and Nikolas followed Henry to his house. The younger Goyle was silent as he worked. It took him half an hour, but he crowed, “Got ya.”

  “What? Who is it?” Nik asked.

  “Someone almost as good as me. I’ve never seen this level of redirects before, but whoeve
r this is was making it look like he was using the same IP address as Lachlan. He’s… Shit, Uso. Even I can’t figure out where he’s working from, but I can tell you it wasn’t Lachlan.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive. Look here.” Henry pointed to the monitor. Kai didn’t bother looking because coding might as well have been Egyptian hieroglyphs, but Nikolas had some knowledge, having worked alongside Julian for so long.

  “I’ll be damned. While I’m glad we weren’t wrong to trust Lachlan, the male still escaped, plus we now have an unknown enemy.”

  “And I’ll not stop until I figure out who he is,” Henry said fiercely.

  “I believe you. But I hope you’ll wait until we get to New Atlanta. I want you working at the lab so Julian can take a break. Get his head back on straight.”

  “Whatever you want. Kili and I will pack our things and come with you. I’m not taking my equipment. I’m leaving all this for Timoh, so we’ll be ready to go when you are.”

  Kai gave his nephew a one-armed embrace. “Good work.”

  As the three of them were walking back to join the others, Nik asked, “Are you and Josie coming with, or are you hanging out here a while?”

  “We’re coming with you. I love my family, but Josie’s missing her own mother. We can come back here to visit soon.”

  Nikolas clapped Kai on the shoulder. “I’m ready to be home. I have a baby on the way, and no offense to your family, but I’d rather Lydia be born in New Atlanta. Speaking of pregnant mates, I’m going to go sit with mine.”

  Kai felt the smallest pang of jealousy. He was ready to hear two heartbeats coming from Josie’s body. But first, they had a house to rebuild and a training center to open.

  Josie’s apartment felt small and suffocating after being on the island. She was already looking forward to going back and visiting when they could enjoy themselves without looking over their shoulders. Kai’s brothers had gone to the hotel and grabbed Hagen right as he was getting ready to leave. Drago’s assistant was taken to the Pen to live out the rest of his life for conspiring with Drago.