“Let’s go boys,” Tilly grabbed her shovel from Drake and led the way to the backyard. She went around the side of the house, feeling a distorted sense of déjà vu. This wasn’t the first time she came here to dig, but it was probably going to be her last.
“Alright, Drake, start here,” Tilly stomped her foot on the grass, “it’s a book about yay big,” she held her hands up to show the size. “Baz, you dig right over there. It’s a stone, so you’ll have to dig wide to prevent chipping it. It’s about the size of a bowling ball.”
Tilly was on a mission now. They had a lot to dig up and the sooner she got out of here, the better. She didn’t want to be reminded of her old life, it would make her miss people she would never see again.
“Come over here, Foxy Boy, and dig this spot,” she pointed at a pavestone surrounded in gravel. “It’s a bag with runes. Had to bury it where the earth didn’t grant it too much power, which is why it’s under the rocks.”
Lastly, she turned to Bishop, “Over here, Hound Dog.” She only stepped back about four paces from where Valor was now digging, “This is where there’s a wooden box filled with stones. The box isn’t special, just something I had lying around, so if you bust it, that’s okay. So long as there are thirteen stones inside, you’re good.”
Once her Hounds were busy digging, she picked a fresh spot and got to work unearthing another of her stolen prizes. This is going to take all night, she thought. Tilly had spent most of her life collecting objects of magic, old tomes, and other artifacts. And her mother’s collection was buried here too.
A week after her mother died, Tilly collected all her mom’s books and stones and scrolls before her father could do anything with them. That night, under a cold late winter sky, Tilly snuck out of her house and buried her mother’s things by herself. It felt like she was burying her mother all over again. And with every scoop of her shovel, Tilly’s hate grew bigger and bigger.
She hated that her father hadn’t believed her mom about the curse. She’d hated that he was already gone again and left two kids at home with a nanny they barely knew. Hated that it was cold out. Hated that the roses had thorns. Hated that her mother died and had failed to save her two daughters from the same fate.
Over the years, this backyard became a graveyard of hate and failure. Tilly never needed markers to remind her where she buried her secrets. Her memory was a vault filled with snapshots of each stolen good and failed attempt. It just happened to work in her favor that her father never sold the house. If he had, Tilly couldn’t imagine what she would have done. The ground was tainted and soiled with disease – not all magic was good, and the more desperate Tilly got, the darker her objects of power became.
It’s why she dragged her feet about selling it after her father died, and why there was no way she would allow her sister to buy it. Tilly feared the very ground Vivian walked on would suck the good from her.
The tip of her shovel hit something solid. With a few slams of her boot down on the shovel’s edge, Tilly wedged it deeper and pried the Japanese puzzle box out.
“Done over here, lass,” Valor placed his findings on the patio.
“Okay. Stop, turn and go three paces right and five forward. You’ll find another book there.”
Valor nodded and did as she commanded.
“Next,” Drake and Sebastian placed their stuff next to Valor’s. Tilly gave both of them new places to dig and showed Bishop another as well.
It took about three hours to dig everything up. She hadn’t buried anything too deep since she was always in a hurry and never wanted to get caught. They put everything in black trash bags and loaded the trucks up.
Tilly was covered in dirt and sweat. The humid summer night did nothing good for her hair either. When she turned to look back at the house one last time, she sighed. Snip. Now that she’d cleared it of all stolen goods, she would never need to return.
A large presence approached from behind. “Are ye alright, mo leannan?”
“Yeah,” she leaned into Valor. “I’m fine.”
“You sure that’s not code for sad, Goldilocks?”
“I’m fine. Really, Drake.”
“It’s okay if you’re not, you know,” Bishop joined the group.
Sebastian was the last to come over. “Yeah, Tills. Letting go isn’t easy.”
“No, really, I’m fine. This place doesn’t hold a lot of meaning to me. Not like it did for Viv. And now that I’ve got the backyard emptied out, I’m really ready to release this place and everything else from my first life.”
“Woman, I can’t believe you stole this much,” Bishop kissed her head.
“Thief,” Drake practically purred.
Sebastian looked at the huge pile of bags in the back of Drake’s pick-up truck, “Why’d you bury it all?”
“I stole most of it. It wasn’t like I could return it when I was done. And most of the people I stole from weren’t collectors so much as practitioners, and none of them should have this stuff. They didn’t buy them for historical appreciation or religious reasons, they had them to use and manipulate. Like me. I was no better, really, but at least my sins were for a good cause.”
God, that sounded so fucking lame. Tilly tilted her head up to the sky and tried to figure out a better way to explain her side. But she didn’t get a chance. “What the fuck?” Someone was in the house, staring at her from her old bedroom window.
The Hounds looked up to where she pointed.
“Holy shit,” Bishop gasped, “That’s Katie! That’s my Katie!” He tore off.
“That’s not Katie,” Drake growled. “It’s the girl from the catacombs. Bishop, NO!”
Chapter 23
Bishop prepared to rip the front door off its hinges to get into that house. His daughter was in there. His baby girl had no reason to leave her bright warm spot in the great beyond, but damned if he was going to let her get away without seeing her one last time.
Bam! His foot hit the door, busting it down.
Get up the steps! Find Katie! Nothing else mattered. Nothing else registered.
“Katie!” He took the steps so fast, he fell twice before he made it to the top. “Katie!”
Hands gripping the railing, he looked around to get his bearings. She was at the front window. The one – ah! There! – Bishop ran around and entered a bedroom. “Katie! Where are you?”
Something big shoved into his back before yanking him away.
Bishop. Saw. Red.
He fought for all he was worth to get out of the vice grip he’d been put in. “It’s not her, damnit!”
“Let me go! She’s here! I saw her!” Bishop bit down on Valor’s arm and drew blood.
Valor didn’t let go, he doubled down. Bishop barked angrily and fought harder to get free. “FUCK, BISHOP!” Valor lifted him off the ground and body slammed him into the wall. “It’s not her, Hound! Your Katie isna here!”
Bishop’s back and head hit the wall, causing stars to burst in his vision. Then he tried to fight harder. It was no use though. Valor wasn’t going to let him go. It infuriated Bishop to no end.
“Let me go!” Bishop wheezed. Even locked down by Valor, he kept looking around the room for his baby girl. She was nowhere to be seen. It made him feel crazy and devastated. He saw her. His saw his little girl stand at the window. She was standing right there!
Valor locked Bishop’s arms behind his back and restrained him. Ever see a pit bull yanking his leash so tight it almost chokes him and he doesn't give a fuck about anything but the mission he's on? That was Bishop now. His hackles were up. He scented the air and even though he was restricted and had limited freedom, his alpha led him around the room so he could see that his Katie wasn't there.
They walked around the lavender painted room with its plain bedding and bare walls. Not that Bishop noticed any of the details on how the room was decorated, all he focused on was finding his daughter. He saw her so many times in his dreams, and recently he'd been seeing her when he
was wide awake.
Either she was haunting him or he was insane.
Please, don't let me be crazy. Bishop wouldn't be fit to be in the pack if he lost his mind. No other pack would want to take him in, either. And he’d not only lose his Hounds, he’d lose his woman and everything that was worth living for.
"Please," his one-worded plea came out strangled. Bishop's body tilted forward, his arms screaming in protest while Valor held him tight and continued to escort him around the room.
Katie wasn't there. Not a scent. Not a trace. Not a chance.
Bishop's eyes darted around the room and he even looked under the bed. Nothing. No one. A terrible hollow feeling swallowed him. Bishop was all too familiar with this complete obliteration of his heart. He felt it every time he had to accept the fact that he'd never see his daughter again.
Was she alone? Was she happy? Was she safe?
He asked Lucifer those questions many times and Satan would always respond with, "What do you think?"
That wasn't a fucking answer. Not the one Bishop needed. Not the one that would fill the gaping hole in his heart.
No one should suffer losing a child. No child should die by the hands of their mother, either. Katie was so innocent. So sweet. She didn't deserve the end she got.
So many innocents... so few Hounds to protect them.
Reality cracked Bishop in the spine and he bent backwards, letting a terrible howl rip from his throat as he tipped his head to the heavens.
This release was not new. This restraint by Valor wasn't either. God, how many times have they been down this road? Bishop's guilt haunted him with or without the ghost of his daughter to back it up. He should have chosen a better woman to love and to have children with. He should have known something was wrong that day. Right? Right? Bishop slumped, his body turning to jelly and he leaned back onto Valor and whimpered.
"I've got ye," his alpha whispered.
"I'm never going to see her again," Bishop choked on his heartache. "Why do I keep seeing her like this?"
"I doona ken, Hound."
Maybe it was because he missed her so much his eyes played tricks on him. But... "I saw someone. I swear I saw a kid up here. Tilly... she saw someone too, didn't she?" Wasn't she the one who said something that made Bishop look up at the window? Fuck, he couldn’t think straight.
"Aye," Valor's tone was clipped. "Let's go down to the rest of them. Get your blade out and ready."
"Why?"
Valor finally released Bishop and scowled. "In your haste to get to Katie, ye missed the corpse dangling from a rope on the first floor."
Tilly struggled to figure out if this was a dream or not. Liam, her only sort of friend who called it quits with knowing her a few weeks ago, was dangling from a noose in her foyer. Above them, Bishop was tearing Tilly's old bedroom apart, looking for his dead daughter and when he howled, it made Tilly’s belly drop to her toes.
A girl stood under Liam’s body, holding his foot and staring at Drake.
"Hey," Drake used his quiet, soft voice. "Remember me?" He took a cautious step forward towards the girl.
She was the same one they saw in the catacombs. The one who helped them get out of there.
Why was she here? And who had killed Liam? Her? Himself? Someone else?
This wasn't a suicide. Tilly refused to believe Liam would take his life. Not now… This was a set-up. A trick. And most likely a trap.
Tilly wanted to yank him back. This girl was with the bad guy. She might have helped them get out of the catacombs, but she didn’t help the twins much while they were trapped and hurting in the torture room.
And why the fuck was she here? Was she alone?
The girl kept her eyes on Drake for a heartbeat longer before swinging them over to Sebastian next. Her face hardened. She took a step back.
In her peripheral vision, Tilly saw Valor and Bishop approach.
Tilly didn't want to spook the girl. They needed to know why she was here and what the fuck happened to Liam. When the child looked over at the approaching Hounds, she hissed. Hair falling in her face like a dark curtain, she shrank back a little more.
Bishop dropped to his knees, unable to tear his gaze away from her. "Hey, sweetheart," he said in a painfully sweet tone. "What's your name?"
"She's mute," Drake said in an equally soft voice. "Her tongue was cut out."
One of the men made a disturbing growly noise. It made the girl flinch. She grabbed Liam's ankle and tugged him a little. Liam's body swayed as he dangled from the crystal chandelier. His eyes were partly open. He'd been dead a while. The smell was horrible.
"There's no fluids," Valor said.
"What do you mean?" Tilly talked through the side of her mouth while everyone continued to stare at the girl.
"Surely at this stage, his body would be leaking out," Valor explained. "Not to mention ye usually lose control of your bodily functions after you’ve been hung. He's pristine."
Tilly tried to ignore the fact that she was staring at her friend and instead looked at the body in a more removed point of view. Liam smelled like rot but his skin was perfectly intact. No blue tinge. No fluids. Tilly narrowed in on his eyes. They weren't foggy and lifeless. They were black.
"It's a trap," someone said.
Drake reached his hand out and tried to coax the girl to come closer. "Come with me, we can help you."
The child's eyes grew wide with fear. She opened her mouth, then shut it.
"Please," Drake tried again, "We can protect you."
She swallowed, her eyes filling with tears. Then she gripped Liam's leg and yanked on it harder. The crystals in the chandelier chimed and clinked as Liam's body swayed more.
The hair on the back of Tilly's neck stood on end when the girl looked right at her and said, "Don't. Go."
"Jesus," Sebastian whispered.
"I thought ye said she was mute, D."
"She was!" Drake stood and took a step back. "Her twin. You're... her sister." The girl nodded. "But, you had your neck snapped. You were fucking dead."
"We all are," the child said in a raspy voice.
"Who did this?" Tilly took a step forward, fear making her bold instead of cautious. "Who killed Liam?"
"He likes them that way."
"Who?"
"Don't. Go."
"WHO!"
The girl started to yank harder on Liam's leg. She mewled as she tried over and over to pull him down. The rope creaked, the chandelier sang, the world twisted. With a frightening shriek, the girl's head snapped back and her hands flew out to her side. She jerked violently, twitching and convulsing like she was being electrocuted.
"Stop this! Stop it!" Bishop roared. He tried to go after her, but Valor ripped him back and out of the way.
The girl's body froze, her head tilting until her ear touched her shoulder and her eyes turned a brilliant white. A grown woman's voice came out of her mouth, "Valor, RUN!"
Valor reared back, "Chloe?"
Chloe? Who the hell was Chloe? Tilly couldn't wrap her head around this much crazy.
"There's no time to explain. Get out of there, Valor!"
Drake rushed forward to grab the girl, but the child stepped back. "She's not what you think. I can't hold her much longer. Get out and leave her."
"But—”
"LEAVE!" Chloe's voice morphed and the girl started shaking again, spit and foam bubbled out of her mouth while she fought to regain control of her form. The child tugged on Liam again and that's when Tilly's eyes sailed back up to her friend. Ice cold dread filled her veins. Liam was staring at her.
"Go," he croaked around the noose’s tight hold.
The girl squeaked and clutched his shoe.
Tilly's feet were nailed to the floor. Chaos seemed to erupt all around her and then she was flying backwards out of the door. It wasn't until she was in the truck that Tilly realized she'd been carried out of there by Valor. He practically tossed her into the back of the truck and Drake's engine w
as the first noise that registered. Valor started his truck up seconds later and they were hightailing it out of there. How the fuck did this happen? Wait. What the fuck just happened?
"I don't understand," Tilly's voice sounded distant. "I... I don't understand this."
Valor's cell phone rang and he swerved on the road while trying to dig it out of his pocket. "We're out!" he barked.
Tilly had no clue what was being said on the other end of the line. Her hearing was too fuzzy. Her vision started to blur, too. She closed her eyes and tears fell. Poor Liam. She was to blame for this. For his death.
He always said she'd get him in big trouble with her crazy ass schemes. Tilly would joke and say she’d always make it worth his while and swore to pay whatever bonds and lawyer fees he incurred if he was ever caught so long as he kept their arrangement a secret.
Never did she think he'd die.
Why didn't she add that to the list of possibilities? Because she was a selfish horrible person, that's why. And now Liam was dead because of her.
Valor looked back in his rearview mirror, his intense blue gaze pinning her immobile. "Aye, we'll be there." He hung up his phone and dropped it on the passenger seat. "We're going to meet Chloe on neutral ground."
"Who's Chloe?" And why wasn't Bishop speaking? The Hound was pale and staring straight ahead with an angry scowl on his face.
"She's a Medium, lass."
"Is that all she is?" Because Mediums can't possess the dead, which was what that girl was. Dead. A goddamned zombie or something. Tilly’s head started throbbing. She couldn't grasp any of this.
"That's all I thought she was," Valor growled. "Now I'm not sure of anything." He looked back again, this time at Bishop, "How are ye, Hound?"
Bishop flicked his gaze to Valor. "Fine." Then he went back to staring out the window. "I'm sorry for your friend, Sweetness." Bishop blindly reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.
"He spoke," Tilly said.
Valor looked in the rearview again. "What?"
"What?"
Tilly's brow furrowed. "Didn't you hear him? He said, Go."
Hard to Kill (Hell Hounds Harem Book 6) Page 20
