by Cecilia Lane
“I’m sorry, okay? I’m fucking sorry for everything I did! Do you want me to get down on my knees and beg you for forgiveness?” She fisted her hands in her lap. “I know what I did was wrong. I was scared, just like you said. I wanted to run. And Jamin, that fucking asshole, gave me an out when I was at my weakest. I didn’t want to be trapped here or a jail cell and all I had to do was give him some information. I didn’t think he could do anything with it, as you made it perfectly clear that humans weren’t able to get inside.”
“Pure humans. Pure humans can’t get inside without a guide. One drop of blood from our kind would have let him in. But oh, wait, he was a damn fae all along!”
“And I had no idea! I know nothing about your world!”
“We took you in,” he said over her. “We gave you shelter when you wouldn’t even tell us what happened on that road. When you agreed to stay, you were plotting our attack. How many people could have died because of the information you gave?
“You should have come to me. If not right away, then after the explosion. We could have locked the enclave down, posted more patrols, anything instead of welcoming that little weasel into our territory. Even with him here, knowing what he did, you stayed silent. So yes, I’m fucking pissed. Because you didn’t trust me. Because you were afraid of me. I don’t know which is worse.” He gripped the steering wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white. “But mostly, I can’t fucking stand the thought of losing you.”
She inhaled sharply and stared for a second out the window. She kept her voice low when she finally spoke again. “I messed up. I keep making the same mistakes and trusting the wrong people. I want to fix what I’ve done and I don’t want to hurt anyone else. Just tell me how I can help and I’ll accept punishment for the rest of it after.”
Callum was quiet for the rest of the drive, but the harshness of the air inside his truck faded. From the hard lines of his body and the tenseness in his forearms, his anger hadn’t dissipated one bit.
Her nails bit into her palms in an attempt to stop fidgeting. The air was easier to breathe, but the unease in her middle was maddening. She didn’t know what the night would bring her. A jail cell? Death? She didn’t think the last one if he was so concerned with losing her. But she’d hurt him and his people, and wound up with a bear ready to burst out of her skin at some indeterminate time in the future. Her life would never be the same.
She just wished she knew what role Callum would play in it. Judge and jury? Warden? Lover?
He pulled to a stop behind a trio of police cars, all with lights flashing. Pairs of officers were knocking on doors of the guest houses no bigger than tiny cabins.
Callum was out of the truck and opening her door in a flash that she could track. She hopped out next to him and started toward the activity, but he slammed the door shut and pushed her back against the cold metal.
“Fuck Jamin coming into my town and trying to fuck over my people. Fuck Bruce for trying to claim you and for turning you.” His eyes glowed gold, and he fisted his hand in her hair. He tilted her head and brought his lips down to hers.
Leah shivered at the first hard brush of his tongue against her lips. Tingles spread from her mouth all the way down to her toes. She swayed into him, her soft curves pressing against the solid planes of his body.
Something rose up inside her. Her, but more than, too. Something entirely unfamiliar and the same all at once. She didn’t know what to make of it, but it was there at the back of her mind and it stared hard at Callum.
He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers. “You’re mine. You belong with me. Being a pawn in someone else’s game is over. You have my protection. As your alpha and, if you still want me after we have it out over whatever happens tonight, as your mate.”
His last word filled her with something indescribable and perfect. It was like seeing daylight after a lifetime of dark terror. The heavens opened above her after nearly drowning from rain.
And a teensy, tiny ripple of a growl rumbled in her chest.
Callum grinned against her lips. A deeper noise rattled out of him and he pressed her hand to the center of his chest. “That’s sexy as fuck.”
Leah fluttered her other hand over her throat. “Is that my...?”
“Your bear, yes. She’s getting stronger already.” The gold of his eyes disappeared and turned serious. “Come on. Let’s get tonight over with and then we see where we stand.”
Cole, Nolan, and Hudson parted when she and Callum strode around the truck and into the scene. A man she vaguely knew from serving him at the bar gave Callum a tight smile. “I hear you finally took alpha tonight. Sorry about needing to put down one of your own.”
“It’s fine,” Callum said gruffly. “Had to be done. He wouldn’t be talked down.”
Judah offered a solemn nod. “Never gets easier, trust me.”
“What did you find?”
Judah straightened his shoulders. “The patrol car was found about a quarter mile from here, both officers unconscious and unable to remember their names. No one was here to greet us. None of the houses we’ve entered held anyone inside. This is the last one to check before we start digging around, but our fae visitors have vanished.”
“Let’s go, then. I doubt we’ll find anyone else.”
A sharp whistle from Judah rounded up a team, and he approached the door. Three sharp cracks on the wood announced his intention to get inside. “Bearden Police Department, open up!”
Silence answered them.
Judah pounded again and repeated his introduction. Once again, no answer came. He nodded to one of his men and a set of keys appeared. The correct key was found after a quick jangle, then the door swung wide open on an empty room.
Leah followed behind Judah, three other officers, and Callum. Some deep instinct wanted her to stay close to his side. And with a plethora of huge men with the ability to throw her into jail surrounding her, she wasn’t going to fight the feeling.
A murmur hit her ears so loudly that she covered them with her hands. Only Callum took any notice; the rest were staring at the closet.
Callum grimaced. “Should have warned you. Your senses will come in before you shift. It might be a little overwhelming until they settle.”
“It’s like the worst hangover I’ve ever experienced,” she whispered.
“You can wait outside.”
She shook her head and pointed to the closet. “Something’s in there.”
She needn’t have said anything. The police officers were preparing to open the door. They crowded around each other with guns or claws drawn. Leah knew they weren’t playing. They’d use everything in their arsenal to subdue an attack if it came to fighting.
The door stuck in its tracks, but the murmuring from inside grew louder. The officer assigned with opening the closet growled a curse, then shoved the door aside, pulling it out of the track. It swung freely to the side and a small man plopped onto the ground at his feet.
“Ehh mm ooooh!” the man mumbled around the gag in his mouth.
Judah hauled him into a seated position and ripped the duct tape from around his mouth, then pulled a washcloth from between his lips.
“Quincy Quickfeather,” Callum said and gestured to the man. “Leader of the fae delegation.”
Quincy scowled. “Thank you for the rescue, gentlemen, but you must see to your own safety. My compatriots are not well, and I fear they mean you harm.”
His pronouncement set off many loaded looks and uneasy shifting with the other officers. Judah and Callum both passed eyes over them, to each other, then back to Quincy.
“Slow down. Why were you trapped here and where are the rest of your delegation?” Judah asked.
“We do not have time for this! You must find them!” Quincy struggled against the bonds around his feet and hands.
Judah scowled. “Sir, I’ll be the judge of that. You need to tell me what’s going on, from the very beginning.”
“Jamin. H
e killed our queen.” Quincy huffed and made even that look beautiful. “He turned our people’s hearts against her, and then murdered her in her sleep.”
Callum growled at the name and Leah reached forward. The noise quieted as soon as her fingers touched his skin. Truthfully, the touch calmed her, too.
Callum glanced at her, then stared holes into Quincy. “And you? Did he turn your heart?”
“Not me. Never me.” Quincy shook his head. “There are a few of us who haven’t turned as dark as our brethren. It was for them that I came to you. I wanted to get the measure and aid of Bearden to put a stop to the coup before it infected us all.”
“Seems a little late for that.” One of Judah’s officers snorted.
“We fae are creatures of folly.” Quincy’s shrug was sad and apologetic. “We love the feeling of coming together. I do not think many of my brothers and sisters are truly dark at their centers but have become caught up in the moment. They can still be saved if the rotted head is removed.”
“And that’s Jamin.”
“Oui. Yes!” Quincy nodded vigorously. “He has been overtaken with this desire to rip the veil open once more and find a way to our home. But even our queen found his ideas to be disaster! He wants to gather all the fae and all our objects of magic, and then force his way through to a paradise for our people.”
Leah studied her feet. Jamin’s plans involved the Broken. Judah and Callum glanced toward one another again, which she was sure Quincy didn’t miss. Callum told her before that the sleeping figures under town hall were unconscious with the aid of fae magic. And then there were Jamin’s questions. He wanted her to find anything odd. What would be odder to a human than men and women still and lifeless underneath a building?
Jamin had plans within plans, and none of them would do the world any good. He needed to be stopped.
“But he found out what you really wanted and then locked you away. Couldn’t you just, I don’t know,” Callum waved his hands at the binds holding Quincy still, “magic your way out of this?”
Quincy scowled and shook his hands. His eyes flashed with anger, but only resignation entered his voice. “Iron. He bound me with iron. One of the few weaknesses of my people. Much like silver is for yours.”
Judah jerked his chin and pulled Callum to just outside the door. Leah followed, unsure of where she belonged. When Callum didn’t object to her standing with him, Judah spoke. “How do you want to play this?”
“Jamin absolutely must be found.” Callum slashed his eyes to Leah, then back to Judah. “He was responsible for the explosion.”
“Shit.” Judah rubbed a hand through his hair, then stilled. “I’ll put the call out for my best trackers to get their asses out of bed. Let’s get this one back to the station.”
“You have the Strathorns at your disposal. We’ll follow you to the station and help where we can.”
Judah nodded, then stepped back into the cabin. “You’re not under arrest. For now. But until we find Jamin and the others, the safest place for you is back at our police station.”
Leah shivered. She didn’t think there was any such thing as a safe place while Jamin roamed the night.
Chapter 23
Leah cautiously stepped into the police station. Judah and Callum held Quincy locked between them. Two of the three patrol teams followed behind her. Behind the officers came the rest of the Strathorn clan. They threw sidelong glances everywhere and didn’t quiet their muttering about the inefficiency of police dogs.
Leah worked to keep the smile off her face. The rivalry between firemen and police extended even to towns protected by magic, it appeared.
The station was in a well-organized chaos. Men and women rushed to and fro, gathering together and coordinating for the manhunt. Still more people streamed in after their little party. Some rubbed sleep from their eyes while others clutched cups that smelled like coffee. Everyone was prepared for a long night.
Callum and Judah settled Quincy in one of two open-air cells. The other was occupied by a man sprawled across the bench along the back wall, still sleeping through all the activity.
Leah opened her mouth to ask what the next step would be. Then the ground rumbled and shook the building.
There was a beat where everyone froze into place. The first shrill ring of a telephone pushed everyone back into activity. More phones demanded attention, and officers rushed to answer. Still, others made their way to the closest window to check outside.
Judah and Callum shoved their way forward and pushed aside the blinds on the nearest window. Leah squeezed past them to see what drew their attention.
Pillars of flame shot into the air. One, two, three, she craned her neck to see a fourth at the edge of the window’s frame. Two were the normal yellow and orange she expected of fire, but the others took on shades of purple and green.
“That’s them, isn’t it?” Leah asked. She raised her hand to her throat and tried to quell her panic. The pillars looked to be spaced evenly throughout her field of vision. She dreaded taking a step outside. Jamin could have the entire town surrounded.
Callum whirled and found his brother in the crowd. “Cole, get the clan back to the firehouse. Help the vamps contain those fires. We don’t need anything spreading.”
Judah shouted similar orders to his men. “Get your asses in gear, you sons of dogs! I want everyone up and helping. Get them on the phone, drag them out of bed. Everyone reports for duty. Now!”
Callum strode through the rushing crowd and Leah followed close behind. There was far too much activity and she didn’t want to be anywhere but his side. The instinct to remain close was too strong to ignore.
“Quincy!” Callum wrapped his hands around the bars of the cell. “Tell me, what does Jamin want with Bearden? Why did he come here?”
Quincy tried to look everywhere but at Callum. “I told you. He wants fae magic back in fae hands. He knew where to find this enclave and so started his crusade here.”
Callum swore and locked eyes with Judah. “The Broken. That’s the only thing close to fae magic we have here.”
“That’s good, isn’t it? We know where they can be found. Hell, we even have tunnels here for the vamps. We can use those to swarm them from all sides.”
Callum rubbed a hand over his head. “Not exactly. I had them moved for the duration of the investigation and repairs.”
“You didn’t think to mention that to the rest of us? All the leaders sat in front of you and you lied to our faces?” Red crept up Judah’s neck and he scowled.
“Because I didn’t know who to trust! Anyone could have set that device!”
“Hey!” Leah pushed between the men, placing hands on each of their chests to shove them apart. “We can fight about this later. Who else knew where they were moved?”
Neither man budged, but Callum dragged his eyes down to where she touched Judah. A growl rattled in his chest and vibrated up her arm. Okay, no touching. She snatched her hand away from Judah and Callum immediately quieted.
“Bruce, Cole, and Hudson,” he said. A muscle in his jaw ticked with the grinding of his teeth.
It was almost sad to see how easily they’d all been manipulated. Jamin played on Bruce’s desire for power. She’d stepped into a rivalry between Callum and the man, and Jamin just pushed him until he acted out, no doubt after getting the information he wanted.
“All right, genius. Where did you decide to move our most valuable assets?” Judah growled.
“Down to the reservoir. Single door at the base, single hatch on the walkway, key code access, with thick walls all around. Seemed a bit safer than the building with half the town crawling all over it and a giant hole in the side,” Callum snapped. His eyes flashed gold with his irritation and Leah wanted to smack them both.
Callum shook himself and folded his arms across his chest. “We’re hunting tonight. We need to take out the fae before they take the Broken and leave us exposed.” He jerked his chin toward the back of the station
and a hub of activity. “You got weapons I can use tonight or do I need to make a stop home?”
“We don’t have any iron,” Judah explained, but he was already dodging his officers and moving toward the weapons locker.
“Doesn’t matter.” Callum shrugged. “They can’t heal as fast as we can.”
Judah gave him a mad grin and popped the lock on the mounted gun safe.
“I’m going with you.” The words were out of her mouth before she had a chance to test them in her head. They felt right and true. Bearden was under attack and she needed to help.
Callum already defended her to the death, and she was prepared to do the same for him. Jamin needed to be brought to justice.
Sometimes justice and safety came with a price. Sometimes life demanded a roll in the dirt and maybe it didn’t always lead to ruination. A rabid animal couldn’t be allowed to live and infect others. She’d killed to protect her mother, and she spent years thinking she was tainted because of it. But maybe the truth was somewhere closer to the side of strength than weakness. It took a strong person to stand up and defend the ones who couldn’t fight for themselves.
And she was ready to do it again. For Callum. For Bearden. For a mate and a home.
Callum stared at her like she’d gone insane. “You are not. You’re going to stay here where it’s safe.”
She reached past him into the gun locker and wrapped her hand around a rifle. She checked the sight and quickly loaded it. “Like I said, the one good thing my father ever did was teach me how to shoot. I’m going with you or we test just how good you heal with a bullet through the shoulder.”
He huffed a laugh, shook his head, then sighed. “You’re not joking, are you?”
“Not a chance. I told you before, I can take care of myself. That includes fighting off douchebag exes and their brainwashed magical companions.”
“Let’s go already,” Judah grumbled. “You can mate her after we put those assholes down.”
Judah whistled as soon as they were loaded up and near the front door. Everyone in the station ceased moving, and all eyes focused on him. “Listen up! Seems like our fae guests have gone dark and want to rip us all new assholes! They’re here to take our Broken and leave us exposed to the rest of the world. We cannot allow them to succeed.”
