by A. Mashburn
Archer was alert in his mind as Jade approached the door that shook with the force of Jayce’s roars. He could feel the fresh mark in the crook of his shoulder and knew that the keen eyes of his brother would not miss it.
Jade raised his hand to knock and the door swung open. “Where the fuck have you been?” Jayce’s merged form raged.
“Brother—” Jade began but was cut off by a swift jab to the jaw. He stumbled back and glared at his brother. “Brother,” he started again, “I was with Scarlett. She aided in my healing, just as you instructed, which is why I’m standing before you,” he tried to keep his voice calm and his heart steady.
However, there was nothing he could do to stop his brother from noticing the mark on his neck. Sure enough, Jayce’s dual-colored gaze zeroed in on the spot. He stumbled back with shock as his eyes flashed between red, black and green—he was trying to gain control.
“You’ve found your mate—” Jayce clenched the sides of his head. “Fuck!” he roared.
Jade could see the struggle his brother was having; two separate forces were vying for control. Talon, likely to kill him for a betrayal he never committed and Nyx, well, with Nyx, it would depend on how his mood was. Ultimately, Jade hoped that Nyx would be happy for Archer; they were brothers after all.
Jayce’s form stilled and as he and Jade glared at each other, Jade saw the blood-red eyes of Talon staring back at him through his brother’s face. A feral roar ripped from Jayce’s throat as he lunged towards Jade, red eyes blazing with unbridled savagery.
“Fucking hell,” Jade swore as he sidestepped and pushed Talon's feral form into the wall as he hissed angrily.
“Jayce control him—Nyx, please fight. One of you two needs to get a hold of Talon before he does something you both will regret,” Jade roared as Archer clawed for release. “Fuck, the two of you need to get it together.” Talon barreled toward him again; this time, Jade stilled and allowed the vampiric part of his brother to barricade him against the wall.
“Traitor,” Talon seethed.
“No, Talon—a mate is not something that you can even begin to understand.” Jade could feel Archer as he tried to take control, his rage boiled just beneath the surface. Jade was near twice the width of his brother and a head taller—he could quickly subdue him with brute strength; that was the last route he wished to take, though. He was loyal to Jayce, no matter how fucked in the head he was because of those Goddess damned Hunters. “Please Jayce-Nyx, I beg of you to understand,” he tried to appeal to his brother’s humanity and his wolf’s loyalty because, Goddess knows, trying to reason with a fucking vampire was useless.
“I will kill her—your loyalty will not be divided,” Talon screeched as he pulled his clawed hand back to strike Jade.
At that, Archer snapped and burst forward from his confinement within Jade’s mind. I’m sorry brother but you will not harm my mate, Archer roared through the mind link. He pushed against Talon’s body and caught his clawed hand mid-air. I do not wish to harm you but if you don’t get this feral monster under control, I will have no choice but to put—you—down!
Talon bared his fangs and gnashed his teeth towards Jade’s throat. He was thrashing, kicking, biting and scratching in an attempt to be released from Jade’s firm grasp. “I will kill her; her blood will fill my belly and she will bleed into the void,” Talon laughed, screaming maniacally.
Jade shook Jayce’s body violently. “Get control, there are two of you and one of him. He is a parasite feeding off your soul, Jayce—fight him.” Jade slammed Jayce’s body into the wall, savagely knocking Jayce’s head against the solid wood beam. Jade watched as Jayce’s all-consuming leer flickered from red to black then finally, mercifully, to the green he’d known since they were kids.
“Knock me out, brother,” Jayce gasped. “No—” The red of Talon’s eyes returned, then flashed to green again as Jayce begged his brother, “Knock me out, kill me or lock me up; if you don’t she will die.”
Jade’s heart raced but he grabbed a wooden club from the wall and with a sickening crack it connected with his eldest brother’s temple. Jade watched as Jayce’s body crumpled to the floor.
Jayce peered up at his little brother with his lifeless eyes at half-mast. “Thank—you,” he croaked as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he lost consciousness.
Jade cursed and roared as he turned around and flipped the giant desk out of the large bay window of Jayce’s office. He watched as the wooden piece rotated in the air and crashed to the ground splintering in various directions mirroring his current state of emotions. His heart was heavy as his chest heaved with anguish and rage. He turned again to his brother’s limp body, which now laid in a pool of blood on the floor. Jade had to get him to the cellar so he could talk to him without the worry of harm. He leaned down and picked up Jayce’s body, hoisting him over his broad shoulders and stomped down the hall.
Along the way, several shifters gaped at him but said nothing as they watched him as he lumbered through the pack house. As he passed by Laria’s room, the door swung open and she rushed out. “Jade, what happened?” she yelled.
“I found my fucking mate,” he ground out through clenched teeth.
She gasped, “Oh, no, where are you taking him?”
“The cellars,” he replied giving her a side eye.
She shook her head in angst. “That won’t be enough, Jade; he needs to go to the cage. The blessed wood combined with the silver will weaken Talon enough for him to be in his right mind. Anywhere else and you’d still be fighting with the madness he holds within.”
Jade grunted but changed direction with Laria hot on his heels. “Lar, this is beyond fucked up. If it weren’t for those Hunters, I wouldn’t have to choose between my mate’s safety or his. We would be celebrating, not trying to prevent a funeral.”
Neither spoke the rest of the way and when they reached the cell, Jade placed his brother’s body on the cot. He took one last look at his brother’s body, walked out and closed the door as Laria locked it.
Laria shuddered as she gazed upon her lover. “Like this, he looks like the old him; I’m sorry, Jade. This should be the happiest moment in you and your mate’s long lives—I’m so sorry,” she sobbed as tears streamed down her face.
He let out a sigh, engulfed her with his big arms, and held his would-be sister-in-law. “Hey, this is hard on all of us, right? We just need to find a way to fix this.”
She stiffened and sniffled, “He wants that, you know; we spoke of it the other night. After Talon had his session with Rebecca, Jayce said since the Hunters knew how to infuse him with Talon’s essence, then there must be a way to reverse it. I think that’s the only way for me, your mate and everyone else to truly be safe from him.”
Jade thought on that for a moment before he responded. He’d never considered there would be a solution, much less a way to remove Talon permanently. “Well, then, I suppose we have to go after the Hunters, don’t we?”
She nodded her head in agreement. “We will need help and inside information.” Laria began to pace as she contemplated her choices. “I can mask my scent and appear wholly human—it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve flown under the radar at the Hunters’ compound.”
Jade swiped his hand through the air. “No.”
“Think about it; I’m the only person who can do it. I’ll need to run away—I must convince the Hunters that I have a grudge against your kind. I can find out if there’s a way to reverse this mess,” she tried to plead with Jade to understand.
“Laria, he would never put you at risk, you know this. The answer is no; that’s final.”
“Just promise me you’ll think about it.”
“I won’t.”
She let out a frustrated groan, “The two of you are so damned stubborn.” She tugged at her long hair in angst. “I am going to get food for him. Go see your mate and let her know you’re okay. I’ll call you when he wakes up.”
With that, Jade walked ou
t of the room with no good news to give to Scarlett. “Just fucking great,” he muttered.
Laria knew that leaving was the right decision, she just had to convince Rebecca of the same. She walked back to the room and found her reclining on the chaise lounge in the corner by the window.
“Rebecca, how fare thee today?”
Rebecca looked up from her book as she peered at her friend. “We are in the confines of our room my friend, what is on your mind? You know you don’t have to talk to me with such formality here.” She smiled kindly at Laria.
Laria squared her shoulders and closed her eyes as she tried to compose herself. “It’s Jayce, Talon’s getting to be too much for him and Nyx to control. The sessions you’ve agreed to are becoming more and more frequent and as much as I know that you’ve enjoyed them, I also know it worries you, too. He’s getting more violent as the days pass and becoming a danger to everyone around him, us included. Jade found his mate and Talon would’ve killed her if he wasn’t stuffed in the cage at the moment.”
“The arrangement we have suits me just fine,” Rebecca insisted. “You get the side of him that you love and I get Talon; it works.”
“You mean to tell me you wish to stay here, locked away as a means to an end? What about your mate? Do you not wish to find him?”
Rebecca turned away from Laria with a look of profound sadness etched on her beautiful face. “Jayce saved me from the compound; I owe him my life. It just so happens that Talon is a bonus to that. Although, I do have to admit, he’s a menace to the world and becoming a danger to everyone in the castle, even myself. What are you suggesting?”
“I need you to cover for me, create a diversion so I can escape here.”
Rebecca looked stunned and arched one perfect eyebrow at her. “You wish to leave him?”
“Rebecca, that’s the last thing I want but it’s all I have. I’m the only one with connections to the Hunters. If I can get my brother to believe I escaped and I want nothing more than revenge, I may be able to get intel on how to remove Talon from Jayce. Then my friend, you will no longer be a prisoner here, you’ll be free to find your mate. You have more than paid your debt to him and deserve happiness.” Laria silently prayed Rebecca would understand.
To everyone around the castle, she was Rebecca’s pet but behind closed doors they were friends. They each played a role in keeping Jayce’s multiple personalities in check and bonded over a shared love and respect for the man beneath the fury.
“Laria, your brother could kill you and if Jayce lost you, he would never come back from that. Let me go, they can capture me and try to remove my vampiric nature. Maybe if I know how they intend to do that, then we can use that same procedure on Jayce and remove Talon.”
“But how would you get the information back to us? There has to be another way.” The girls were silent for a moment before a thought struck them both. They looked at each other and Laria asked, “Are you sure?”
Rebecca inclined her head. “Yes, I will be your in. You will poison me, weaken me and give me to them on a silver platter.”
Laria had tears in her eyes as she choked out, “You don’t deserve this.”
“A life for a life my friend. He saved mine, it is only right that I be willing to sacrifice the life he so freely gave me. Empty handed, your brother has just your word, but with me as your sacrifice, you will have the chance to observe. Together we will find out what we can and if you can get me out, then do it. If you cannot, so be it.” There was resignation in her eyes and a strength to her voice that brought Laria to tears. She threw her arms around Rebecca and the girls clung to each other for a moment before separating. “Together?” Rebecca asked.
“Together,” Laria vowed and began packing a bag. “Are you going to pack?”
“If I am to be a captive, my dear friend, I need nothing more than the clothes on my back. It wouldn’t be believable if I arrived with my bags in hand, would it?”
Leaving the castle was the easy part, knowing what the hell to tell Scarlett was another story. Jade shifted into Archer and ran the rest of the way to his home. As he approached, he saw Gideon up front and he could sense Scott and Malcolm in the back. Archer’s large body pushed past Gideon as he dipped his head in greeting.
Scarlett? Jade called for his mate through the mind link and he heard a rush of footsteps towards the door. Scarlett stood in the doorway a moment later and threw her arms around the scruff of his neck. She buried her face in his fur and he could feel the frantic beating of her heart against his chest. It’s alright, darling; it’s okay.
Why are you still in Archer’s form? she asked.
I just needed to run for a while; things didn’t exactly go well.
I’ve got bags packed already, are you sure about this? These men would follow you through hellfire if you asked them to but is it fair of us to ask?
Jade shifted so that everyone could hear the discussion. “We aren’t leaving right now,” he informed them as he proceeded to explain what happened with Jayce and where he was being kept.
Scarlett was more than a little livid at the situation they were in. “This is our home, Jade. If we don’t have to leave, I’d rather not. But we cannot let Laria go into the Hunters’ domain. That’s a suicide mission and Jayce would never allow that. You know what he went through there; do you really think that he could forgive himself if Laria suffered the same fate just to try to save him?”
“No, he wouldn’t, which is why we need to find another way. I still need to go back to talk to him later. Laria will be calling me when he can think rationally. This was a shock to him as much as it was for me. The difference is that I don’t have two beasts vying for control in my head.”
Jade sat back in his chair and explained, “He knows I’ve found my mate but I don’t think he’s put two and two together to realize it’s you. You’ve been his trainee for years—the only one he’s personally taken under his wing. I’m hoping that when he realizes that I mated with someone loyal to him, he will be okay.”
Gideon scoffed in the back. When Jade looked in his direction, he saw that Gideon was leaning against the door jamb with his arms crossed.
“Anything to add, Gid?” Jade asked.
“If it was just Nyx and Jayce, there’s no question, he’d be thrilled, man. But, since the Hunters, Nyx is half-feral and growing more temperamental by the day. We weren’t meant to become hybrids like that—he was experimented on and tortured for months. During a normal hybrid transition, it’s a fifty-fifty shot at having to be put down. I’ve known you and your brothers since we were kids. I hate this shit, but if Talon is not removed from him—” He shook his head and looked at the ceiling.
Jade growled at his long-time friend, anger at the truth filling him, “I get the picture loud and clear.”
Jade leaned over as he placed his head in his hands. Gideon wasn’t wrong; Nyx was a strong wolf, so he’d held it together for Jayce but how long would he be able to keep his sanity with the constant torture of Talon in his mind? Vampires and wolves were natural enemies and to share the same mind successfully was rarely heard of. It was a no-win situation. Regardless of what they did, his brother and Nyx would be forever changed by what happened to them in the hands of the Hunters.
His shoulders hunched over in defeat and he felt Scarlett’s hand rub his back. “Hey,” she cooed, “it’s going to be okay. I know it feels like an impossible situation, but he’s strong and so is his wolf. Laria said that he wants to fight and we have to support him on that. It just means we need more information on the process and once we have that, maybe we can reverse it.”
“He could die, Scar. He damn near died there at that Goddess damned compound the first time.”
“Dying while trying to do the right thing, is better than him hating himself for killing someone he loves and going mad because of it; then one of us having to put him down,” Gideon chimed in.
Jade leaned back in the chair and groaned while wiping his hands down his fac
e, “Fucking hell—you’re right; I can’t get his face out of my head. He begged me to put him down or lock him up.”
Scarlett squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. “Then we need to do all we can to make it right.”
He wrapped his big palm over her hand on his shoulder and looked up. He noticed her eyes were wide and her eyebrows raised as if trying to convey a message. Did you forget we could link? He smirked as he spoke in her mind.
She jumped a little and grinned, Yep, she thought back. I think I know what to do to get the information you need, but you’re not going to like it.
He squinted up at her. What?
She took a deep breath as she tried to find the right words. There’s no easy way to say this, but I need to go back to the site where you rescued him. Once I’m there, I can see if I get a vision.
He sprung up out of the chair and looked at her like she’d lost her ever-loving mind. “Fucking-A Scarlett—no. Are you crazy? No, you're not doing that.”
“Seriously, Jade, stop with the over-protective bullshit. There’s no reason for me not to.”
“There’s plenty of reasons not to,” he roared as he grasped her shoulders. “You’re my mate, damn it. I won’t let you put yourself in danger for anyone; not even him.”
Malcolm cleared his throat and they both glared at him. “Care to let us in on what’s going on?” He motioned to himself and the other two soldiers.
Jade pinched the bridge of his nose and began to pace. “She wants to go back to the compound where we found Jayce.”
“What, why?” Scott and Gideon asked at the same time.
“She thinks that she can find out where to go from there,” Jade replied evasively. He didn’t want anyone to know of her visions. He looked to the three men in front of him; he knew they were all loyal to a fault and he would trust them with his own life—but could he trust them with his mate’s?
“You’re being evasive,” Gideon pointed out. “What can she do that we can’t? Why does she feel like it has to be her specifically?”
