“What is it, Eva? What is it that you’re not telling us? Something else happened to you when you died. More than what you told us.”
“I told you everything you need to know.”
He leaned in, his violet eyes darkening in annoyance. “Everything we need to know? See, the others may not pick up on your word play—hell, maybe they do but they’re burying their heads in the sand—but that isn’t who I am. I don’t run away from my problems. I don’t turn my back on the hard decisions, and I absolutely abhor secrets, especially when my instincts are screaming at me that something bad is on the horizon. So, please, do me the courtesy of not lying to me.”
His candid words, the resolution in his eyes, and the fact that I just … I needed someone to know, to understand and feel the pain with me, even if just for a moment, loosened my tongue.
“I have to leave.” The words fell from my lips in a tumble.
“What?” He shook his head. “Not until you tell me—“
“No, Elias. I have to leave. After this is over. I have to leave.”
He stared at me for a long beat. “Faerie … You have to go to Faerie?”
I nodded. “I’m not me anymore. I’m the Hunt. That is who I am, who I’ll be, and it means leaving the mortal realm behind for good. Cernunnos told me I’d change, that without a mortal soul I’d stop feeling things the way I do, and … Yeah. My place is in Faerie with the Hunt.”
His grip on me tightened. “No. I won’t accept that. They won’t accept it. There has to be a way for you to stay. We’ll find it.”
No, they wouldn’t, but they’d spend every ounce of energy they had trying, worrying, and hurting. Then they’d try to come with me, and I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t let them watch me turn into someone else. It was why I hadn’t said anything. It was why I’d decided to leave it till the last minute to drop the bombshell, so it wouldn’t give them time to get worked up. There’d only be time to say goodbye.
A simple plan.
It would work.
But not if Elias knew. Not if he looked at me like that. Like I was dying all over again.
He released me and straightened. “There is always a solution, and we’ll find it. We’ll find it together.”
I bridged the distance between us and reached up to cradle his face in my hands. Power reached out of my fingers and seeped into his mind to latch on to the memory of what I’d just told him.
He frowned. “Eva? We have to find …” He blinked slow and confused.
“You need to find some lamps we can use in the lounge.” I pushed up on tiptoe and pressed my lips to his for a moment, reveling in the curve of his mouth against mine.
Still taller than me. Huh.
I released him and pulled open the door. “Come on, the others will be waiting.”
Elias had found a couple of lamps and positioned them around the lounge. Logan and Ash had pushed back the sofas and Sage had laid out several mattresses to make one big bed. Blankets and pillows had been arranged, and I sat in the middle of it all, ready for them to join me.
Ash was the first to climb onto the makeshift bed and settle beside me.
“Like hell,” Logan muttered before taking the spot on the other side of me. Sage chuckled and lay by my feet. Elias finished adjusting the lamp and then took a spot by Sage.
Jace scratched the back of his neck. “I guess I should leave you guys …”
His heartbeat was accelerated, the tips of his ears pink. In this new form, it was impossible to miss the signs I’d neglected to see as a mortal. My chest heated. Jace could have been more. We were on the friendship path that could have become more … given time.
But there was no more time.
“Get over here.” I beckoned to him.
He swallowed hard and then took the spot beside Ash.
The door opened, and Noah padded in. His feet were bare, and he was rocking PJ bottoms and a vest. I stared at him a moment too long because he’d dyed his hair silver in preparation to play Malcolm, and damn if it didn’t make him look even more striking.
Noah shut the door and arched a brow. “Is this a private party?”
I locked gazes with him, noting the flutter in his pulse … not for me, no, not yet, but for the guys. He sensed something was off, but didn’t know what, so he was here to watch over them, just as he’d always done. Unlike the others, he didn’t trust me implicitly, because he wasn’t in love with me.
“Yeah, it’s a private party,” Logan said.
Ash tensed beside me and Sage sat up and turned to look at Noah, his eyes an inferno in his head. They’d push him out if I asked. They’d force him to leave and that knowledge sent a sadistic thrill through me. No. Not through me, through the Hunt. I closed my eyes and pushed back its influence. Noah was the glue that would hold them together when I was gone.
I snuggled into Logan. “Noah can stay.”
Logan relaxed, and Sage lay back down. The guys settled into place, and Noah took the spot farthest from me, but I felt his gaze on my face long after I’d fallen asleep cocooned by my guys.
My dreams were of lips and hands and tongues. I dreamed of Elias inside me, of Jace’s mouth on mine. Of Ash’s calloused hands roaming over my new body, and I dreamed of Logan’s hand fisting my hair and yanking it back while he claimed me from behind. I dreamed of Noah watching while he touched himself and of Sage’s tongue on my most intimate places.
God, how I dreamed.
I woke to butterfly kisses and hands trailing up my bare thighs. Wait. I’d gone to sleep wearing my joggers. My eyes snapped open to pale gray irises. Ash’s smile was lazy and sated. He nuzzled my ear and then withdrew. Logan’s arm was around my waist, heavy with sleep, but Sage was propped up at the foot of the makeshift bed, his gaze hooded. The air reeked of sex.
I’d dreamed …
Jace moaned in his sleep and rolled onto his back. His chest was bare, lithe and firm and silken … It had been silken beneath my fingers. Elias and Noah were nowhere to be seen.
I sat up and pushed my hair out of my face. “I had this really vivid dream.”
Sage’s lips twitched. “I think we all did, Eva.”
Logan’s grip on me tightened, and he pulled me down to his chest. Had I …? With them all?
“Sage, what happened, exactly?”
He ran a large hand over the top of his head. “You want details?”
Logan chuckled. “It was a dream, Eva. A fucking awesome dream and you pulled us all into it.”
“Somehow, some way, your dream filtered into ours and they all merged.”
“A collective dream?”
The door opened and Elias and Noah entered carrying trays of steaming mugs. Coffee, my savior. Noah arched a knowing brow and then placed the trays on the coffee table that had been pushed against the far wall.
I’d had sex with them all. All except Noah, but fuck, he’d watched. In my dream. In our dream. We’d been together, and it had felt … perfect. But it was over, and after the takeover, my time here would be up.
Best not to cling now. Best to get up and get on with it. The warmth infusing my limbs seeped away. I extricated myself from Logan and stood up.
“I’m going to shower and change. Grab your weapons, and I’ll meet you in the lab in an hour.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Alpha X
I watch as the liege paces the foot of the boardroom. My back is to the wall and my attention is fixed straight ahead, but my excellent peripheral vision allows me a one-hundred-eighty-degree scope on either side. My creator has promised me upgrades soon that will enable me to see behind me. It will make me a more efficient bodyguard to the liege.
The scent of fear is strong in the room; the other Vladul reek of it.
They sit, straight-backed and alert, waiting for the liege to make his wishes known. My liege’s excitement is a potent aroma that almost overshadows the fear in the chamber.
“We have all but eliminated our opposition,” the li
ege says. “Fang broods have been wiped out. The last Claw camp has fallen, and we even found and wiped out a djinn camp.”
My mind flickers with images for a moment. Fire and blood and a face … Gray eyes. My cheek twitches and the images shut off, leaving only the room and the liege’s voice.
“But there are other camps. I am sure of it. Hidden from us. Camps we must find and eliminate using our state-of-the-art weaponry.” His gaze settles on me, and the fear in the room spikes.
“Solutions. I need fast solutions. A way to pinpoint these hidden camps. Scouts are out of the question. I will not lose any more Vladul. Our numbers must remain strong.”
“Um, my liege, why not send the weapons as scouts?”
His lips curled. “Because they’re weapons, not scouts, you fool. Weapons are deployed when we have a target and not before.”
A slender, frightened-looking female at the back raised her hand. “Um, we could use the drones.”
“Drones?”
“We have a hangar filled with drones. I … I suppose we could program them to do sweeps across the island.”
The liege’s mouth tightens. “And I’m only just hearing about this now, why?”
Silence.
He shakes his head. “Do it. Do it now.”
He storms from the room, and I follow because he is my priority. His safety is always my priority.
Chapter Twenty-Two
We stood on the rise, staring down at the sprawling facility below us, a ragtag group of preternatural creatures and a freshly minted god with salvation in her hands. The horn was warm beneath my fingers and snugly tucked into my belt for now. But the impatience, the agitation, seeped off it and colored my mind.
Just a few more minutes. Soon you will feast.
The Hunt calmed, and my mind was clear once again. I turned to the group, to Sage, Logan, and Ash. To Jace, Kira and her guys, and finally to Elias and Noah—the players that would get our foot through the door. All the guys except Noah had shaved their heads—a vital tactic for the mission. Logan’s cheekbones could have cut glass. Ash looked thuggishly beautiful and Jace’s deep blue eyes stood out starkly with no mop of dark hair to dilute their effects.
“Let’s go over the plan one last time …”
Elias drove the white van toward the gates to the facility. We huddled in the back, wrists bound in knots that could be easily slipped out of. Noah huddled under a cloak, hiding his neatly pressed clothes, chosen by Elias to mimic what Malcolm would wear. He was phase two of our plan.
The van ground to a halt. The driver’s side door opened, and we waited. A moment later the door closed again, the engine started, and we were on the move. We must be heading through the gates then. Good. Another minute dragged by and the van came to a halt once more.
The door opened and then there was silence.
I exchanged glances with Ash and Sage; Logan’s attention was fixed on the sliding doors and Jace had his head down. Kira and her guys radiated tension. Everything depended on Elias getting us through those doors, because although the Hunt may be able to ride through walls, we needed to be inside to be able to get to the hangar where the drones were kept and to be able to get to the prisoners.
The crunch of boots was followed by the scrape and slide of the door. Sunlight flooded into the back of the van.
“I told you what I was fucking transporting,” Elias snapped. “Now open the garage doors so I can get the cargo inside.” His tone was imperious and scathing. Totally unlike anything I’d ever heard. My chest swelled with pride.
“I apologize, sir, just following protocol.”
“Hmmm. Just open the damn doors.”
The sliding doors slammed shut. Elias climbed back into the driver seat, and we were moving once more.
In. We were in. Fucking hell.
The van stopped, engine idling for a long beat before cutting off. The door slid open, and Elias came into view.
“They’re coming. Noah, be ready.”
Noah nodded before shrinking into the shadows at the back of the van. Logan cracked his neck, ready for the show.
“Out. Get out!” Elias snapped, and his face smoothed to something cruel and haughty.
Ash stepped out first, then Jace. Boot falls rounded the van just as Logan stepped out. He deliberately slammed into Jace, who rounded on him in anger.
“Watch it, you fucking twat.”
“Fuck you!” Logan growled. “It’s your fault we’re here.”
Kira and her guys spilled out, blocking the van door from view as the Vladul guards appeared. I stumbled out, keeping my hood up to cover my hair and face, but all eyes were on the feuding Fangs. Logan shoved Jace with his shoulder and Jace head-butted him, and then the Claws jumped in.
“Enough. Stop them!” Elias ordered the guards.
Two of the four guards obeyed, rushing forward to break up the fight, which wasn’t much of a fight considering the guys had their wrists tied. But still, it was enough of a distraction, even for the guards standing by, enough to allow Noah to slip out of the vehicle, sans cloak, and re-emerge from the other side of the van.
“And what do we have here?” Noah said in his usual clipped tone. A tone that, according to Elias, was naturally Malcolm. Not that the plebs got to speak to him often.
Logan and Jace struggled for a moment longer and then calmed down.
The guards stood to attention.
Elias turned to Noah. “My liege. I intercepted these miscreants attempting to steal one of our vans. At least I believe it’s one of our vehicles. Not that it matters now. It belongs to us, as do they.”
“Indeed.” Noah strolled over to the guards and held out his hand. “Your batons, please,” he asked the nearest two.
The guards looked up in surprise but didn’t hesitate to hand over their weapons. Noah turned them over in his hands. “Turn around, please.” This time there was more than a little doubt on their faces, but all four did as told.
Noah shook his head in despair and then brought the batons up, one in each hand, and smashed them against the guards’ skulls. They went down hard. The other two made to turn around but Noah knocked them down quickly too.
“Phase one complete,” Elias said.
Logan, Ash, Jace, and Sage stripped the guards and pulled on the uniforms. Although the Vladul were large, the uniforms were still tight on my guys.
“Shit.” Logan adjusted his a bit. “There’s gonna be some serious chafing.”
Ash rolled his eyes.
Kira and the Claws hogtied the guards and bound their mouths before shoving them into the back of the van.
“Noah, you take Logan, Ash, and the Claws with you and get to the cattle floor.” My lips curled slightly as I said the words.
“Sage, be careful.”
He nodded, his jaw hard as he focused on his mission: to get to the section on Elias’s map marked “Containment.” Elias was certain this was where they held their supernatural prisoners. We’d all studied the schematics, and I was certain Noah had them memorized. We had copies anyway, tucked into our pockets in case we needed them.
“Elias and Jace will head to the lab and then locate the drone hangar with me.”
We’d decided on this split because the cattle floor was heavily guarded, but Elias had explained that the guards were low-level personnel. Noah had the same genes as Malcolm. His palm print would gain him access, and even if it didn’t, he could claim a malfunction and get the guards to let him in. After that, it would be a case of dispatching the guards and herding the humans out.
We’d get the cure synthesized using Elias’s friend Deana, but getting to the drones was a different story. Elias didn’t even know where the hangar was. We’d need to access the central hub of the Foundation, a level where Malcolm’s minions ruled. That was where the Hunt came in. They’d clear a path, keep the Vladul off our backs, and allow us time to locate the hangar and get to it. The Hunt would be deployed last, in an area filled with the Vladul who would
never turn against Malcolm. Elias’s rebel group was on hand if needed, but if the Hunt was riding, it was best we keep them away. The plan was as tight as we’d been able to make it. It was now or never.
I pulled my cloak tighter about me and caressed the horn at my waist. “Let’s get this done.”
The route to the lab was unobstructed. We came across two white-coated Vladul who barely gave us a glance. Elias was like a shield that deflected attention. Jace was in guard’s fare, and I’d pulled back my hood to uncover my silver hair, so much like the Vladul that I blended in perfectly.
“Down here,” Elias said.
The corridors were clinically clean and bright. A place where humans had created monsters until the monsters had taken over.
“Let me do the talking,” Elias said.
There was something in his tone that set off alarm bells. “What aren’t you telling me, Elias?”
He paused outside the lab doors, a myriad of emotions crossing his face. “Deana is the head scientist here … I think she may be the one who worked on your friend. On Tobias.”
“She did that to him? Turned him into … into that thing?” Volcanic rage surged up inside me, choking me and making my eyes burn with the need to maim.
“Eva.” He grabbed my shoulders. “No.”
“He’s right.” Jace’s tone was low. “We need her to synthesize the cure. But once she’s done, I’ll hold her down and you can tear off her head.”
Elias looked at him in shock, and I couldn’t help the smile that curled my lips. It was cruel and filled with malice, and like fuck if I cared.
Elias released me, peeling his fingers from my shoulders carefully. “Kill her if you want,” he said. “But she’s a victim like the rest of them. A pawn, a prisoner having to dance to Malcolm’s tune. Kill her if you want, but it won’t bring your friend back.”
He was right, of course, and the malevolent urge died. My fingers grazed the horn, and I shook my head. This was the Hunt. Their hunger and need. I needed to rein it in and stay in control.
For the Reign Page 16
