by Kim Fox
“What can I do?” Ryder asked as he ran over, awaiting orders from his alpha.
Grant put a hand on the back of Ryder’s neck and pulled him in close. “Go get Bryce. There’s a small chance the kid is still alive. But be careful, there are soldiers all over the place down there.”
“I’m on it.” Ryder sprinted away and disappeared over the edge as he raced down the fire escape.
Grant turned and ran to the open door.
“Where are you going?” Tempest asked.
“I have to get Amélie. She’s still inside.”
“Take this,” Tempest said, throwing him the wand.
Grant caught it, turned back to the open door that led into the building, and raced in to find his girl.
Chapter Fifteen
Amélie
There was terror in Elodie’s eyes as she looked at Amélie, silently begging her to do something. General Hunt was squeezing her arm while he dug a gun into her ribs.
He had taken Elodie and Amélie’s mother into his office. Just them, Amélie, and about a dozen guards who were all pointing machine guns at Amélie’s forehead.
“I warned you when we first met,” General Hunt said as he glared at her. “I’m not the type of man you should be testing.”
“I’m still on your side,” Amélie said, her voice rushing out in a panic. “This was all part of my plan. You wanted me to bring you the wand and it’s here. It’s on the roof.”
General Hunt wasn’t convinced. “Being used to slaughter my men.”
“Let my mother and sister go and I’ll retrieve it for you.”
He laughed, but was clearly not amused. “So you can escape with your friends? And with my wand? Do I look like a fool to you?”
“Look, General,” she said. Her heart was racing so fast. “I’m working undercover. They think I’m their friend, but I’m still working for you. I’ve infiltrated their crew!”
“You’ve made a mess of my facility,” he said, narrowing his eyes on her. “The prisoners have been released and are in open riot with my guards. I watched you release them through the security cameras.”
Câlisse. Amélie hadn’t thought about those. He probably saw her releasing every single one of the captured families.
She squeezed her eyes closed as her mind raced. “I did what you wanted. I brought the wand to you.”
“I want it in my hand.”
“Just let them go and I’ll get it,” Amélie begged. She was getting desperate now. A guard was holding her mother, and Elodie looked terrified with General Hunt’s gun digging into her ribs.
He looked conflicted as he stared her down. Amélie knew that he wanted the wand more than anything, but he didn’t trust her to come back. Probably because she wouldn’t have.
Once her family was free from his grasp, she would take them as far away as she could, as quickly as she could.
“I want that wand,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “I don’t care about losing this facility. I have dozens around the country like this, filled with prisoners that keep my shifter army in line. I want that magic. It’s much more valuable to me.”
“What do you want with it?” Amélie asked, not knowing if she really wanted to know the answer to that scary question.
General Hunt’s eyes lit up as he grinned. “I’ll be able to study it, examine it, and replicate it. Magic is just a form of energy that we don’t understand. Yet. But with that wand, I’ll be able to learn how to create it and harness it at will. We’ll have the most powerful army in the world.”
“For what?” Amélie asked with a heavy breath. “To kill people. To enslave them?”
“To protect them,” the General snapped back. “From monsters like you who can turn into killer beasts. When I was a young marine, I saw how our enemies used your kind. It took one shifter and his polar bear to tear through my crew. He ripped through them like a wolf through kittens. There was nothing we could do against these creatures. We fired bullets at them and they laughed as their bodies spit them back out.”
“That’s not all shifters,” Amélie said. “The men on the roof… They’re good men!”
“It doesn’t matter,” General Hunt said coldly. “The enemies have them and so must we. This has to be done.”
“But you’re kidnapping children, innocent families… how can that be right?”
The General shrugged. “What’s the lives of a few hundred when the lives of hundreds of millions are on the line? That’s what you civilians never understand. The end always justifies the means.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Amélie said, glaring back at him. “You’re wrong. It’s easy to say when you’re not on the side that’s suffering.”
“Oh, I’ve suffered,” General Hunt said, getting a hard look in his eye as he glared at her from across the desk. “You have no idea what your kind has taken from me.”
“Probably not as much as you’ve taken from us,” she fired back.
His face stilled as he watched her. “I’m not going to stand here and argue all day. I want that wand now.”
“Let them go and I’ll get it for you,” Amélie answered.
“I have a better idea,” General Hunt said as he raised the gun and pressed it against her mother’s temple. “I’ll kill your mother and if you don’t put that wand on my desk in the next five minutes, I’ll kill your sister.”
“No,” Elodie gasped as her eyes filled with tears.
Amélie’s mother was so brave. She just mouthed an ‘I love you’ to Amélie as she stood proud and straight.
“Wait!” Amélie shouted as General Hunt cocked the gun, ready to shoot.
Just as his arm swung back down to fire the bullet that was promised to Amélie’s mother, Grant burst into the room with the wand. He fired a stream of magic or energy or whatever the hell it was at the guards who were swinging their guns around to shoot him.
The magic zapped out and seized General Hunt just in time, freezing him as he lifted off the ground. His body was stiff, his eyes were wide with panic, and the gun was still in his hand, but it was trapped by his side and he was unable to move it.
Amélie went cold with dread as she watched the dozen or so guards all turn and lift their machine guns, pointing it right at Grant who was busy with the wand and was a sitting duck in the middle of the room. He was already covered in dried blood and her mind raced with worry as she wondered what happened to him. He seemed to be moving alright—maybe it wasn’t his blood.
She leapt forward, jumping off the desk and letting her panther come as she flew through the air. The livid animal burst out of her right before she landed on the first guard. Her panther took him down, slamming his head into the ground and knocking him unconscious as shots rang out all around her, turning the General’s office into a battlefield.
Bullets ripped through Grant’s body as Amélie leapt from one soldier to the next, quickly disposing of each of them. Even Elodie picked up a gun and smashed it over the head of one of the soldiers, dropping him to the ground.
Soon, the twelve guards were neutralized by Amélie’s panther. They were all lying on the ground, unconscious or holding their bloody wounds.
She looked through her panther’s eyes and saw Grant resting on his knees, his body peppered with bullet holes. There was a determination in his face as he held up his shaking arm, still holding the General in the magical hold.
Amélie pulled her panther back in and ran to him once she reemerged in her human form. “Are you okay?” she asked in a breathless voice as she dropped to her knees beside him.
One, two, three, four… She could count at least nine bullets in his torso. Who knew how many were in his arms and legs?
Grant took a deep breath and then grimaced as he climbed to his feet, bravely ignoring the tremendous amount of pain he must have been in. Amélie’s heart swelled as she watched him. He risked everything for her. His friends, his life, his freedom…
She looked down at the tattoo on her wrist, Apr
ès moi, le déluge, and ran her finger over it as if she was erasing it. It was wrong.
Everything wasn’t on her shoulders. It wasn’t all up to her.
She was no longer alone in this. She had new friends to rely on now, and she had Grant.
Her love for him filled every inch of her body from her fingertips to her toes as she grabbed his arm and helped him up. She knew in that moment that she could no longer deny her feelings for him. She loved him. With everything that she had.
He turned to her and when their eyes met, a new force took over both of them.
Grant’s body shook like an invisible force had seized his soul. Amélie only had a moment to wonder what was wrong before the same force gripped her as well.
She sucked in a breath as her vision faded to black, darkening the office and everyone in it until everything was swallowed in the darkness. All that she could see was Grant in full stunning light against a black backdrop as their souls melded as one.
The whites of Grant’s eyes were clouded with a black cloud. He was experiencing the same crushing pull that she was. The same hooks that were sunk into her were sunk into him as well.
Her breathing stopped as heat flooded through her, glowing through her body. Burning bliss. Smoldering joy.
The pull was single-minded and unbending in its force. Like two unstoppable magnets, their souls joined for the rest of eternity as their animals bonded together.
She was his and he was hers.
Amélie gasped when the force released her and she could finally breathe again.
It was the best moment of her life.
Until the crushing reality came back to life all around her. Bonding to her mate did not change the fact that her mother and sister were still in danger, as were they.
General Hunt was still frozen in the air, but this place could be swarming with hundreds of more soldiers any second now.
“Let him go, Grant,” Amélie said as she softly put her hand on her mate’s arm.
Grant reluctantly released the magical hold on the General and lowered the wand.
“Wow!” General Hunt said with a gasp as he dropped down to his feet. He put a hand on the desk and leaned over, throwing up several times before standing back up with a grin on his face. “I need that weapon.”
“You’re not getting your hands on it,” Amélie snapped back. “Your days of tormenting and controlling us are done. Put your hands up and step away from my sister.”
“I don’t think so.” He dropped to his knees and a deafening gunshot boomed through the air as the back of his desk exploded.
Shards of the desk slammed into Amélie’s legs as General Hunt popped back up with a shotgun in his hands. It had been hiding under the desk and now he had it pointed at Amélie’s mother. He quickly stepped behind her, shielding himself with her body as he pointed the double barrel at the back of her head.
“Run!” her mother begged as he dragged her backward. The General reached back and pulled one of the leather-bound books on his bookshelf and the entire thing swung to the side, revealing a secret staircase that surely led to an escape.
“Hand me the wand,” he shouted as he dragged her mother into the stairwell.
Grant took a step forward to give it to him.
“No,” General Hunt snapped. “Not you. Give it to Amélie. I know she won’t try anything funny, because she knows I won’t hesitate to pull this trigger. Right?”
Amélie gulped as she turned to Grant. “Take it,” he said, handing the wand to her. “Family is more important than any objects or wands or ranches. I see that now.”
“Thank you,” she whispered as she took the wand.
“Slowly,” General Hunt warned as she walked over. “Turn it around.”
Amélie turned the wand around until the handle was facing him and the tip was facing her body.
The General reached out a greedy hand for it, but she pulled it back as he tried to grab it. “Let my mother go first.”
“Fine,” he answered, “but you’re taking her place.”
“No, Amélie!” her mother screamed with a look of horror on her face. “Just take Elodie and run. Please!”
Amélie raised her hands over her head and walked backwards until she was in reach of the General. He grabbed a fistful of her blonde hair and yanked her back, pressing the cold metal barrels of the shotgun to the back of her head as he shoved her mother away.
“Keep your hands where I can see them,” he warned as he reached up and grabbed the wand from her grasp. He stuffed it into his jacket and then pulled her hair, backing up into the hidden stairwell with her as a shield.
Amélie and Grant never took their eyes off of each other. This was it. She had a gun to her head and was out of options. Once the door closed in front of her, General Hunt would take her down the stairwell and escape with her. She’d still be his prisoner but at least Grant would help her mother and sister escape.
At least they would be safe.
Tears sprung to her eyes at the thought of never seeing her mate again. Just when she found him, just when their lives should have been starting, it was over. They were being separated and she knew that General Hunt would take her somewhere where Grant would never find her.
They had shared so much in the short time they were together. Laughter and smiles, heartfelt talks and even their bodies. She remembered the day he shared a family secret with her and the joy on his face when she finally turned her finger into a claw.
Her eyes widened as it dawned on her. The claw!
She looked down at her finger and concentrated on it just like Grant had shown her. Like magic, her finger morphed into a long black claw that was sharper than any knife.
General Hunt yanked her into the hidden stairwell and reached out for the button on the wall to close the door. Amélie dropped down and spun to the side, slicing the claw across the General’s stomach, slashing his stomach open as the gun went off over her head.
Grant rushed forward as the General reached over and slammed his palm on the button, closing the door.
Amélie’s ears rang violently as she kicked him hard, sending him flying down the stairs in a backwards summersault. She leapt forward right as the door was sliding closed, getting out just in time.
Grant ran to the bookshelf and started yanking books out, trying to open the door.
“It’s this one,” Elodie said, running over to help. She grabbed the book that the General had used to open the hidden door, but it wouldn’t budge.
“He probably locked it from the other side,” Amélie said, trying to pry it open. The General was hurt and vulnerable on the other side of the door. They might not get another chance like this to finish him off.
Nothing they did could open the door and once the unconscious guards on the floor started groaning and waking up, they knew it was time to leave.
Amélie grabbed Elodie’s hand, Grant grabbed her mother’s, and the four of them ran back up to the roof.
Chapter Sixteen
Grant
“What happened?” Amélie asked when they stepped onto the roof and saw the horrific scene waiting before them. Logan was sitting in a pool of his own blood, but at least he was sitting up now and looking like he was going to recover okay. His left arm was gone for good, but at least he wasn’t going to lose his life.
As for Bryce… well, Grant wanted to hear back from Ryder before assuming the worst. He couldn’t get the image of him opening his eyes out of his head. Shifters do amazing things all of the time—his own words that he had said to Amélie. Could Bryce really have survived a fall like that?
Tempest had her arms wrapped around Mack’s trembling shoulders as he let out long deep sobs. “He was like a son to me,” he whimpered.
“What happened out here?” Amélie repeated as she looked around in shock. “Where are Hardy and DeMarcus and the rest of the crew?”
“They woke up and left,” Tempest said. “We got to get the hell out of here, Grant. We’re in
no position to fight and there’s backup on the way. I’m sure of it.”
“We’re going,” Grant said, rushing over to help Logan up. “Tempest bring Mack down. Hopefully, Ryder will be at the trucks with Bryce’s body.”
“Bryce’s body?” Amélie said in a shaky voice as she walked over. Her face was losing all of its color as it dawned on her. “Is he…?”
“I don’t know,” Grant said as he wrapped Logan’s remaining arm around his own neck. “I’m going to hoist you up now, buddy. Let’s go slow.”
“What do you mean?” Amélie said, not letting it go. “He…”
“He fell off the building,” Grant said, feeling a heaviness settle into his chest. His eyelids felt hot and his throat burned as he choked the tears that were trying to get out.
Amélie’s hand flew to her mouth and she gasped. “He’s dead?”
“There’s nothing we can do about it now,” Grant said as he slowly lifted Logan to his feet. “Get your mother and your sister down safely.”
Amélie hesitated for a moment and then raced away, guiding her family to the fire escape.
Logan grunted in Grant’s ear as they began the slow walk to the fire escape. “Let’s go, Tempest,” he hollered as they arrived.
“We have to go now, Mack,” she whispered as she rubbed the broken shifter’s muscular back. “It’s going to be okay.”
With a few more kind words, she managed to get him to stand up and shuffle to the fire escape. Logan was in too much pain and his legs were still weak from all of the blood he lost, so Grant picked him up and carried him on his shoulder the entire way down.
He put him on his feet when they arrived on the pavement below. Amélie was staying busy. She was with the security guard from the gate, helping the prisoners and families pile into some military-issued trucks. Truck by truck, they peeled out of the facility, escaping with their lives.
“This one is ours,” Amélie said, slapping the brand new black pickup truck. Grant helped Logan inside, and Elodie and Amélie’s mother hopped in next.
