by Lia Davis
He sauntered forward, not affected in the slightest. "I don’t think so, pup."
"How are you resisting her?" Voss widened his stance, ready to lunge at his father, but I put my hand on his arm.
His dad knew all his moves. He’d trained him. "Wait." We’d have to do this together. If he had a deep-seated need to commit patricide, he could deliver the killing blow.
He snarled but heeded my advice as Jillian moved instead. Her focus was entirely on Emerson as she stepped cautiously forward.
Don’t pay attention to the ground, you’ll just trip. I knew she couldn’t hear me, but I hoped my shouted thoughts influenced her to trust her instincts.
Emerson’s lips curled up into what was probably supposed to be a smile. He wanted to fight her. My wolf smelled his insanity and itched to rip out his throat. Watching the cruel, crazy man stalk toward the woman I loved was a lesson in how disciplined I was. I wanted to throw myself in front of her, and my wolf wanted it even more.
But I didn’t, and to his credit, neither did Voss. She had become our High Alpha and sometimes that meant letting her handle her own shit.
Even if her shit was ours, too.
Emerson moved fast, a simple cuff to the side of her head. He was testing her to see how good she was. She chuckled as she easily swayed around his arm.
Her teasing laughs infuriated him. He advanced, fists fully closed. Voss took two steps forward, and I followed. Neither of us was having an easy time letting her take him on.
Emerson moved faster this time, his fist heading directly for her face. She jumped back, but no laughter bubbled from her lips. Her face turned deadly serious, and her entire stance changed.
I'd fought with Jillian since she was eight. Her father had allowed her to begin her training early. It had been important to him that she be ready to take on anyone that might want to hurt her. I knew her body—knew it inside and out, but I recognized her stances as easily as if it were my muscles tensing and preparing to strike.
She was going on the offensive.
Sure enough, her fists flew, peppering Emerson with hits that should've taken him down, or at the least should've caused him to double over.
She got in a few good strikes before he reacted, but then he blocked her strikes with apparent ease. "How is he doing that?" I kept my voice low. I knew they could hear me, but I didn't want to distract Jillian.
"He's never been that strong." Voss didn't bother lowering his voice. He was beyond pissed. "Stop," he called. "Enough."
Jillian sprang back without looking toward us. "What?"
Emerson ignored her and turned his attention to his son. "It's too late, Voss. You made your decision. Do you think you can change my mind now?"
"Why are you so strong?" I asked him, ignoring his tirade at his son.
He, in turn, ignored me. "I tried to raise you to be the man you should be. I tried to teach you."
"Why are you so strong?" Voss ignored his father's words and repeated my question.
Emerson laughed, ignoring me and Jillian, and continued his slow progression toward Voss. Jillian met my eyes, and I knew without speaking what we needed to do. We flanked Emerson and attacked at the same time. Voss must've seen our intent, because he moved when we did.
My confidence soared. I was positive Emerson was being smug, but the next thing I knew, I was lying on my ass in the dirt. Jillian hadn't fared quite as bad, she'd ducked and rolled away from Emerson, but Voss was taking a full force beating from Emerson. In seconds.
Voss was formidable. He was one of the strongest lycans I'd ever known, and one of the best trained. But when it came to his father, he always held back. His moves were predictable and a split second too slow. I never understood why, but then I'd never had cause to fight my father.
Jillian emitted a shrieking growl that caused Emerson to pause his attack on his son to look at her. Hell, Voss and I did, too. I'd never heard a noise quite like it.
My jaw dropped as I stared at my mate. Wherever Kane and Trinity were, they were missing a lycan shifting without the aid of a full moon.
7
Kane
Working with the lycan pack had proved beneficial, but when it came down to fighting a vampire, I had to fight alone. I knew Trinity would come for me. When my mates moved forward to confront Emerson, I focused my energies and moved as quickly as I could.
My instincts kept me fast and quiet in the woods. I needed to draw my former best friend away from my mates so that they could dispatch Emerson without distraction. We'd not been fighting together long enough to take on two foes of the strength and skill of Emerson and Trinity. One day, we would be able to do so seamlessly, but until then, they needed to do what they'd been doing for years.
"He's my mate." Trinity's smooth voice floated through the trees around me. I'd stopped high in a tulip tree, watching and listening for her to appear.
"That's unfortunate." She already knew where I was, or she wouldn't be talking to me. She'd likely already studied the immediate area and terrain, prepared for the possibility of our appearance. "He's disgusting. And old."
"I know." Her voice was defeated. "I can't stop it any more than you can." She'd completely given in to him.
"When did you change?" I moved no part of my body but my mouth as I spoke, just in case she really didn't know exactly where I was. "Were you always deranged, or did a switch flip for you at some point?"
"I'm not deranged. I want to rid the world of the unnatural creations, the same ones that killed my parents. The same ones that have plagued our existence for hundreds of years. They were made from a curse. They don't belong on this Earth."
"Neither do we." The father of our entire race ruled the Kingdom of Hell. We belonged there with him, if it came right down to it.
"We've walked these lands for millennia longer than the lycans. Yet still we hide in the shadows, feed in secret." Trinity’s tone took on a deep, lethal sound to it.
"Are you ready to fight yet? You know how I feel about this." We belonged in the shadows, it was our own kingdom, and there was nothing wrong with that.
"We could rule the coven together. It's not too late." She sounded hopeful, but she was so far in her delusion I didn't know if she'd ever come out of it.
"Trinity. You're mated to a lycan. And so am I. Did you already forget that?"
Her voice, which had been reaching me from a relatively safe distance, suddenly sounded much closer. "He has to live, and he has to fuck. He doesn't have to lead."
I bolted from the tree. She sounded close enough to bite the back of my neck, and I wouldn’t put it past her to do so. Jumping to the next tree, I whirled in midair then landed, perfectly balanced, on the thick branch. She wasn't there.
"If I wanted to take you out, I would." She'd switched to a whisper, and I couldn't tell exactly where her voice was coming from.
"You won't convince me, Trinity." I let out a snarl. "This ends today."
Voss
My body tried to heal itself as I twitched on the forest floor, hoping my mate and best friend weren't being beaten to a pulp by my father. He'd attacked me and hadn't held back a bit. For the first time, I was pretty sure. Whenever we'd fought or sparred before, he'd always been able to disarm me, but this time, he'd destroyed me. If he hadn't been distracted, he would've killed me.
The swelling around my eyes shrank enough that I could open them, finally. My ribs popped as I forced myself to roll over, moaning. I couldn't wait to see what happened, what had pulled him away.
Jillian.
Jillian had pulled him away. She stood before me, completely shifted into her wolf, her teeth sunk into my father's side, viciously ripping back and forth as he punched her anywhere he could reach. "How in the hell?"
Quin hovered around them, trying to get a punch in at my father, but having a hard time as hard and fast as Jillian was moving. When he heard my voice, he ran over to me. "Are you okay? Healing?"
"Yeah." My entire body was one big throb,
but it was quickly getting better. Quin helped me up, essentially lifting me to my feet.
Jillian let out a yelp and went flying as my father finally got his feet positioned right and kicked her in the stomach. Quin surged toward her, burying his hands in her fur. I stumbled forward, one hand across my stomach. My ribs were still broken and taking too long to heal.
My father turned away from my mates, probably searching for me.
He found me.
I reached forward and gripped his throat, then pulled as hard as I could. All the anger, the years of abuse. The belittlement. Every kick, punch, and shove.
All of it manifested into one enormous yank, and I ripped my father’s throat from his neck. His face registered pure shock, his brain computing what happened before the blood flowing from the gaping wound on his neck even hit the ground.
He gasped as he tried to say my name but couldn’t. His vocal cords were gone.
The man who probably killed my mother sank to his knees, his fingers probing the place where the front of his neck used to be. I threw the wad of skin and meat on the ground in disgust. "You deserve worse," I whispered as the light faded from his eyes.
With a gasping breath, I turned away and let him die without any comfort.
A scream ripped through the pure mountain air. I jerked toward the forest where the sound originated. "Trinity."
Birds flew from the trees first. Then came small animals. Squirrels, rabbits, and even a family of deer ran past us. A sound like an elephant running came toward us through the trees.
Trinity stumbled into the clearing, slamming into a tree, which cracked and leaned to the right. She launched off of it and was beside me in a split second, staring down at Emerson.
Kane appeared right behind her, though he managed to do it without knocking over any trees or scaring any local wildlife.
She screamed again, a tortured sound full of agony. Dropping down beside him, she reached out as if to gather him in her arms, but at the last minute she stopped and put them on her knees.
Kane put his hand on my shoulder. "You okay?"
"I feel light. Like I’ve lost two hundred pounds."
Quin joined us, standing close to me on the opposite side of Kane.
"Trinity." Kane motioned for us to back up. "It’s time for you to surrender."
We circled her and Emerson’s body, staying just out of her immediate reach. Jillian growled, still in wolf form.
I tilted my head toward Quin. "How’d that happen?"
"Not a clue, man. No fucking idea."
Jillian let out a chuff. I was pretty sure she was trying to tell me to focus.
"Sorry, we can figure it out later."
"I’m going to drain all four of you, then bathe in your blood while your corpses burn." The timbre of Trinity’s voice hit me at my core. She slowly stood, facing me. Her eyes were red, full of blood. Did vampires cry tears? I’d have to ask Kane.
She snarled, hands curled into claws. I hadn’t known they could make their hands sort of shift either. "Hey, guys? Something isn’t right. How is she this powerful in broad daylight?"
Her snarl turned to a smile. She advanced on me, laughing low in her chest. "I’ll enjoy killing you for him."
She used her vampire speed to advance on me, but I anticipated she’d move that fast. It was too quick for me to be able to see which hand or foot she’d be using. Luckily for me, I had a vampire in my corner too. When her fist connected with my chest, Kane grabbed it just in time to stop it from completely crushing my sternum.
Quin and Jillian joined the fray and Trinity threw all three of them off as I ran for her. As soon as I was in range, I slid, like a baseball player, into her feet, hoping to knock her on her ass.
The bitch jumped over me, giving Kane time to attack again.
"She’s too strong." Kane barely dodged her blows. "Stay back. She can crush you."
I hated to not attack, but he was right. She was stronger than any wolf or vampire I’d ever seen or heard about. "How is she this strong?" I yelled across the fight to Quin. He’d ended up on the opposite side of Trinity and Kane.
Jillian darted forward and landed a fast bite on Trinity’s leg then retreated. Unfortunately, it only enraged her more. She let out another inhuman scream and Kane went flying. Quin and I ran forward at the same time, Jillian joining us.
I got a fist to the chin for my trouble. Jillian latched on but couldn’t keep her jaw closed around Trinity’s arm. She landed beside Kane, who was shaking it off and turning to run back at Trinity.
This continued for several minutes until Trinity apparently tired of toying with us, because that’s exactly what she was doing. Somehow, she was stronger than all of us. We were like pups at the Academy, attacking the trainer at their first lesson.
When she’d had enough, she grabbed Kane by the throat the same way I’d grabbed my father. She obviously had a flair for the dramatics, because she lifted him high into the air. If he moved, her hand would clench shut and rip out his throat. It probably wouldn’t kill him, but it would definitely incapacitate him.
Everyone froze, waiting to see her next move. Jillian growled, her wolf ready to kill.
Kane
"Well, that’s enough of that." A strong male voice behind me caused Trinity to drop me. I landed nimbly on my feet and watched her face pale as she stared at whoever stood behind me.
She dropped to her knees, head bowed, both hands on the ground.
"You’ve been a naughty girl, Trinity."
The voice cut me. I knew two things to be true. I’d never heard that voice before in my life, yet it was as familiar to me as my own. I turned to face the man slowly, almost certain of who he was.
I was right. "Hey, Dad."
He beamed at me. "Son."
My mom stood beside him in a tailored suit, looking like some sort of svelte lawyer or something. "Mom."
"Hello, darling. Kane, this is your father. Lucian, this is Kane."
He gave her a fond look, his blue eyes twinkling. "We know each other, Lil. My son could never see me and not know me."
"I thought an official introduction was warranted." She straightened her coat, a little miffed.
With a sidelong glance at Jillian, I walked over and pressed a soft kiss on Mom’s cheek. "Missed you."
Her face softened, as I’d known it would. She was tough, hard as nails. But after she’d come to save me the last time, I had a hunch she’d discovered how much she missed having her son around once she was away from me.
Back straight, jaw stiff, I turned and faced my father for the first time.
"I’m proud of you, son." His eyes were the same purplish blue of my own. I had my mom’s hair, thick and black. My father’s head was covered in hair so blonde it was almost white. His jaw reminded me of my own, as well as the high cheekbones.
How in the world could he have possibly been proud of me? I’d made a total mess of things. Trinity would’ve ripped my throat out if he hadn’t appeared. "For what?"
My father cocked his head to the side and looked behind me as I heard shuffling. "This is my new daughter?"
I turned to see Jillian had shifted back and wore Quin’s shirt. He was big enough that it managed to cover all the bits I wouldn’t want my dad to see live in person.
"Hello." Jillian’s voice was soft and demure, a tone I’d never heard from her. I arched one eyebrow at her.
"To answer your question, I am proud of you because you did the best you could for the circumstances. Trinity has been playing a dangerous game." Lucifer—Lucian, as my mother called him—let out a sigh and glared at Trinity.
I turned to look at her, and she’d lowered herself closer to the ground. "I was trying to cleanse the world, master." She sounded pathetic, her voice high and whiny.
"Do not speak." My mother snarled her petite nose at Trinity. "I raised you. I loved you. I groomed you to lead the coven. Even if Kane hadn’t chosen you as his mate, you could’ve been a person of importance, of
power. Instead, you summoned a demon and drank his blood. You know this is forbidden."
My jaw dropped. No wonder she was so damn strong.
"It took me a while to figure it out." Dad motioned toward the cabin. "Shall we?" Trinity rose, head down, and walked in front of us.
We followed my father and mother into the tiny cabin. He paused beside Emerson’s body and tutted his tongue. "Such a waste."
Voss and I exchanged a look of pure confusion, but continued, following them into the tiny building. A man lay on the bed. He looked peaceful, asleep.
My father walked to the bed and brushed the man’s brown hair away from his face. "My legion has a fairly relaxed structure. Their job is to tempt humans, mainly. Occasionally I assign other tasks. They don’t have to check in, report for duty, or otherwise account for themselves unless I need them to do a specific task. We have plenty of humans in Hell to serve us. My demonic children have their freedom."
When he looked up at me, his face was tortured. "It doesn’t happen often that one of my children goes missing. They’re stronger than any other creatures, including you and my vampires."
"How’d they get him, then?"
The man in the bed opened his eyes. "This cabin is built on a ley line."
I looked at Voss. "You knew that?"
He shook his head. "I didn’t even know the cabin was still here."
"You don’t look like a demon," Jillian said cheekily from behind me. I stifled a chuckle.
The demon smiled at her, all charm. "You don’t look like a lycan."
I looked to see her reaction. She smiled and inclined her head once. "Noted." She liked him. Hell, I did, too. Demons were really fucking dangerous that way.
"Still doesn’t explain how they trapped you."
The demon signed and rolled his eyes upward. We all followed his line of sight and saw a pentagram with a bunch of sigils around it. It was drawn in a dark gray chalk, so it wasn’t immediately noticeable.
