by Jools Louise
“Cullen can’t take on Ghost,” Oliver said, wringing his hands. Since Pace had yet to finish off with the crime scene, they couldn’t get into the restaurant. Slade, Oliver, Shark, and Cullen had been standing around, waiting patiently, since they didn’t want to take the chance of running into Crash. Drew was helping Ryder with some computer stuff and had stayed.
“He shifted,” Slade said, sighing. “After what’s happened to Fly and Noah, I think it’s tipped Cullen over the edge. He looked furiously angry.”
“I heard him muttering something about going for the jugular,” Shark said quietly, his eyes shadowed with worry. “I hope he doesn’t find Ghost. Cullen’s probably doing exactly what Ghost wants him to do.”
“And we can’t leave town with that psycho ex-lover of yours still not caught,” Pace growled.
“We should maybe check on the bed-and-breakfast again,” Slade suggested. “It’s been fairly quiet so far…a little too quiet. Crash could still go after Mystery, who’s holed up in there, under guard. And nobody’s answering the phone over there. It doesn’t feel right.”
“Why don’t we all go and check?” Oliver said to Pace. “If Slade went with us, we’d be okay, I’m sure. Maybe they need some help with the invalids.”
Slade looked dubious, but nodded. “I know you’re worried,” he said. “They’re your friends. If Crash is about, and watching us, it may draw him out into the open.”
“That’s a dangerous plan,” Pace warned.
Slade grinned with vicious amusement. “It’ll be far more dangerous for Crash, if we meet up,” he said, smirking.
“Allow me to walk with you,” Mazy said. “I have to deliver these goods to Mason anyway. He needed more mushrooms for the breakfasts, apparently. He said those wolf shifters are hungry critters, obsessed with the things.”
“Mushrooms?” Slade asked, moving toward the escalator, Oliver and Shark in tow.
“Are they okay?” Oliver asked. “Ronan and his mates lost their two friends when the hotel was destroyed. They’ve been so depressed, not leaving their rooms at the guest house.”
“They were walking about the other morning,” Mazy said, sounding puzzled. “I saw them, talking to a woman. She resembled that cheetah female, Meredith, but I knew Meredith was elsewhere, since I’d only just spoken to her, and the other woman was dressed differently. I was taking my daily constitutional. She looked angry, but he wasn’t afraid of her. Was that Morag?”
Pace and John came running over. “You saw Morag, talking to Ronan? Why didn’t you say anything?” Pace asked, obviously frustrated.
“I didn’t think much of it,” Mazy admitted. “I was just pleased that Ronan was outside. Like you said, Oliver, they haven’t been out much since the hotel was damaged, and I kind of thought that the woman must be Meredith, and got changed.”
“I don’t like the sound of this,” Pace said, frowning. “If that was Morag, what was she talking to Ronan for?” he added.
“Ronan said he invited Ghost to stay with them,” Shark interjected thoughtfully. “Fly said he was distraught, blaming himself for what happened to his mates.”
“Ronan was in the mine with you guys, wasn’t he?” Pace asked, frowning.
“Yeah, he and the wolf shifters pissed Daniel off somehow and were thrown down there with us. They didn’t appear until much later, though, but they’d been badly hurt by Daniel’s thugs,” Oliver said. “They used to argue a lot, though, among themselves. Reece and Chad seemed to be out of favor for some reason. But they made up, once we were rescued.”
“Is it possible that Ronan is working for Flashpoint?” Slade suggested slowly. “I don’t know much about him, never met him. But if he’s walking and talking after interacting with Morag, then it doesn’t appear he’s her enemy. Which means he’s no friend of ours. Two of his pack were killed in that explosion, when he and his two betas were conveniently out of the building, at just the right moment.”
“He’s also the one who claimed that Morag had phoned down for something extra for her breakfast, about ten minutes before the explosion,” Pace said. “Except it was the shrink who was traveling with them who perished. Again, a little convenient that Morag managed to escape.”
“He would have had access to Fly and Noah’s apartment, as well,” Shark said, sounding sick. “When Morag first came to Sage, Fly said someone let her into his complex. The same complex the wolf shifters stayed at before the hotel was finished. Ronan would still have access codes, possibly, or at least known how to gain entry. He had a couple of friends still living there.”
“Let me get some deputies together,” Pace said, palming his phone. “This could get ugly. How long since you were sent out for groceries, Mazy?”
She shrugged. “About half an hour ago,” she guessed.
“Crash used to love mushrooms,” Oliver said slowly, as though just remembering.
He and Shark exchanged a frightened look. “Crash is at the bed-and-breakfast,” Shark said fearfully.
“But where’s Alfie and the others?” Pace asked. “Who asked you to get the mushrooms, Mazy?”
“Ronan,” she said, thinking hard. “He said that Mason was fresh out and needed them for a guest who was late getting up. He was outside the guest house. I didn’t see his friends.”
“Shit,” John cursed. “What the hell is happening? This is disturbing. Ronan is on the edge as it is. Perhaps he’s tipped right over it. Grief does strange things to a person.” John cursed again. “You stay here, Pace. If my brother and his mates are in trouble, I need to take care of this. Mazy, you may be needed to help here if this is some kind of a trick. Whack anyone who looks suspicious.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” she retorted, sweeping into a mocking bow. He rolled his eyes at her.
“Come on, let’s take care of these assholes,” John said fiercely.
Slade clapped a hand on his back. “I knew I’d like you,” he grinned.
“They’d better not have hurt anyone else,” Oliver said, baring his fangs. “Or I’ll turn them into mincemeat.”
Slade smiled at them. “I’ll hold ’em down,” he said, racing down the escalator to the ground floor, and then out through the security door.
Chapter Six
Fly groaned softly, desperate to get free, to no avail. Whatever drug they’d used, it was effective, because he’d lost his cheetah. A shifter could feel his animal inside him, a constant presence that was both comforting and powerful. When that animal was silent, it was as terrifying as anything could be. Fly hated what Morag had done to him. Who the fuck did she think she was? He couldn’t believe she could do this to her own nephew.
He snarled, which would normally have his fangs descending, but even that part of him was denied. Morag was a dead woman walking.
“Fly?” he heard and tensed, hearing a soft, childish whisper. “It’s us, Fly. Blue, and Murray, and Candy. We’re here to rescue you.”
Oh, God, could this day get any worse. Now he had mini critters rescuing his helpless, naked ass. The shame!
Fly could only turn his eyes to the side and watched as three mini fuzz butts, stark naked after shifting, apparently, picked the lock on the door to the small cabin where he was being held and scurried toward him. How the hell had they learned that? He would be having a long talk with all their fathers, just as soon as he got home. If he ever got there. Three mini critters, and him, against the derangement of Ghost and Morag, were not great odds to surviving the next few minutes.
“Here, let me help,” Murray hissed, his nimble fingers making short work of Fly’s bindings, Blue assisting on the other side. Fly wondered when they’d learned how to pick padlocks, but decided it was probably safer not to know. These kids were definitely not the usual variety. Candy was looking out, keeping watch for them.
“Damn, Fly, someone did a hack job on your hair, dude,” Blue said, eyeing Fly’s patchy buzz cut with awe.
Fly’s lip trembled, and he fought not to cry in front of the kids. T
hey had to escape before Morag returned, or she’d kill the lot of them without a qualm. But, damn, even the children thought his hair was awful.
“It’s okay, it’ll grow back,” Murray said kindly, patting his shoulder. “You don’t look any worse than Daddy Cameron first thing in a morning, before he’s adjusted his weave.”
Fly bit back a laugh at that, his mouth dry as sand as the gag was removed. “Water?” he rasped.
“Not sure that’s a good idea, given they just drugged you and scalped you,” Blue said sagely, his blue eyes twinkling with unholy glee at the situation. “We don’t know what’s in that bottle. It could be acid for all you know. Better wait until we get you out of here. There’s a stream nearby.”
“You’re…finding this…funny?” Fly gasped out, eyeing him with horrified amazement.
“Oh, yeah,” Murray drawled, undoing the final clasp on Fly’s ankle restraints. “This is much better than math.”
“You shouldn’t…skip lessons,” Fly chided, licking his lips, then shook himself. “Enough…talk…we need…to get out…of here…”
“Well, duh,” Candy said, rolling her eyes. “We’ll shift into our lion forms in a minute and then guide you home.”
Fly shot her a puzzled look. “What other form do you have?”
They giggled. “We’re the flying squad,” Blue chuckled.
“Oh God,” Fly said, closing his eyes. “You’re like Freddy? The town will never recover.”
They all laughed at his dramatics. “Dude, you need to cut down on the caffeine,” Murray retorted, grinning. “It’s affected your nerves, like, so bad.”
“Someone’s coming,” Candy hissed, and they immediately shifted and hid under the gurney, fuzzy butts facing outward.
Fly rolled his eyes. So much for the rescue.
Morag entered, eyeing him angrily. “How the fuck did you get out of those restraints?” she asked, looking around the hut. He moved to stand in front of the gurney, trying to hide his rescuers.
“Magic,” he sneered, glaring right back.
She lashed out, claws extended, which he managed to avoid, wincing as they raked his bare shoulder. Without thinking, he slammed his fist under the tray she carried, upending it all over her. Slop flew everywhere, steaming hot, scalding her as she screamed furiously.
“You fucking brat,” she snarled, lashing out again. This time she cut into his face, scoring furrows into his skin. He winced at the fire that erupted in his cheek, but stood his ground with fierce determination. This bitch wasn’t going to get her claws into anyone else.
He couldn’t hope to take her on in human form, and with the children hiding right there within striking distance, Fly had to use some advice he’d heard Noah use. Surprise was his best weapon, and he had to go for her jugular. She deserved to get a taste of her own medicine.
He lifted his knee, right into her crotch, vicious and as powerful as he could. She folded, and he gripped her throat in his clenched fist, turning her head to the side, wanting to crush the life out of her, wanting to take a bite out of her, even if he only had his blunt, human teeth.
“What the fuck?” That was Ghost, the paraplegic with more lives than a cat, skidding into the cabin on his motorized chair. Fly groaned. He couldn’t outfight both of them, even if Ghost was wheelchair bound. “Morag, I told you not to mess with him,” Ghost shouted.
She struggled to free herself, choking, but Fly held on, his years as a masseur giving him a healthy grip.
“What are those little bastards doing here?” Ghost asked, pointing to the gurney.
“They’re mine,” David said, his mate, Sketch, right behind him, and Freddy and his mate, Evan, in tow.
“Fuck,” Ghost screamed, lifting his fist, which held a Glock 9-millimeter pistol.
Before he could fire, David and Evan shifted and tore into him, reducing him to shredded suet in seconds, his wheelchair clattering to the floor as they pounced. The gun fired harmlessly into the wall of the cabin before falling to the ground, Ghost’s screams fading to silence as he gurgled his last breath.
Sketch leaped forward, kicked the firearm to the side, and grabbed Morag in a headlock, while Freddy reached for a syringe that had been on Morag’s tray. She screeched even louder, shifting before Freddy could inject her, racing out of the cabin.
They heard more yelling and ran after her to see her twin, Meredith attacking Morag. In their animal forms, the battle was vicious and ruthless, fur flying everywhere, as their teeth and claws battled for purchase, lashing out with brutal efficiency.
The fight was over before it had really begun, and Morag was reduced to a bloody heap, dead at their feet within seconds.
Fly took one look at all the gore, finally registering it after his adrenalin crashed, and fell into a dead faint.
* * * *
“Blue, Candy, Murray, I know you’re in there. You’d better march right on out. We need to get you home,” David ordered as his mate, Sketch, lifted Fly gently into the SUV they’d driven to the cabin. After getting coordinates from Freddy, who’d followed the little darlings when they’d taken off after Ghost’s vehicle, they’d had to haul ass to get here so quickly, before anything fatal happened to the children. Meredith had joined them just before they’d set off, terrified for her son. Since she had a vested interest, they’d had to let her come along.
There were two men lying on the ground beside the SUV that Ghost had commandeered. The two girls that Ghost had kidnapped were standing beside them, smug grins on their faces.
“Carmen, Felicia, good job,” David said proudly. “You took care of them before we could get here.”
“No probs, sir,” Felicia replied, high-fiving her classmate. “Carmen here distracted them while I got free, and then we both went for them. They’re alive, but will be regretting bullying two little girls.”
“You’ve been taking those self-defense classes in town, haven’t you?” Freddy asked. “I think I may have to join one. That’s pretty good work.”
“Thanks,” Carmen said, preening, her long black hair falling down her back in a thick cloud of curls. Her eyes were a startling green.
“Yeah, Mazy and those bears really know how to kick ass,” Felicia added, grinning at her friend. “Meredith’s been helping, too. We managed to text her when we saw Ghost and these two at the school. We didn’t have much choice but to go with them, since they cornered us when we were heading for the cafeteria. They threatened to start shooting folks if we didn’t go with them.”
“I don’t suppose you found out what their game plan was? Before you kicked their asses?” David asked. “We didn’t wait long enough to make conversation before taking down Ghost and Morag.”
Carmen shrugged. “We heard Ghost talking about getting revenge, finally. Not sure what that meant. He apparently had a few scores to settle.”
“That could mean anything,” Sketch said, frowning thoughtfully. “The guy seemed to have a grudge against most people, from what I remember.”
“We know that Ghost wanted to make a statement, to show everyone he was all-powerful in front of his Flashpoint bosses,” Evan said, coming around from behind one of the SUVs, where he’d gone to change into pants and a sweatshirt. He tossed clothing at David, too. “When the fuzz butts come out of hiding, I have clothes for them, too.”
“We can always fly back,” Blue said, peering out the door of the cabin.
“No, you can’t,” David said, fixing him with a stern look. “All three of you can get your butts out of there and into some clothes. Then I’m taking you back to your dad. Cameron can deal with you all until your other dads arrive.”
Blue looked down at his bare toes, his lower lip quivering. “We were just trying to help,” he said, sniffing. “We found Fly, didn’t we? Otherwise that nasty old witch would have hurt him even more. Did you see what she did to his poor hair?”
David bit back a smile at Blue’s sulky demeanor. The boy wasn’t wrong, but David needed to maintain discipli
ne. Blue’s dads, Murphy and Aiden, had their hands full with this one. Their other children had settled down, but Blue was one of the ringleaders when trouble was at hand.
“You could have helped by telling Freddy what you were doing, who could then have called for backup, and you wouldn’t have had to see what you did,” David said gently.
“You really tore into Ghost,” Blue said, trembling now, averting his gaze from Morag’s corpse.
“He couldn’t be allowed to live and continue what he was doing,” Evan said, walking to the cabin and kneeling in front of Blue. Hugging the boy, he handed him some clothes. “Get dressed, then we’ll take you home.” He grinned. “You’ll be lucky if Aiden doesn’t strap you to your classroom chairs, after this.” Then he leaned closer. “Good job, though,” he whispered. “You saved Fly.”
David cleared his throat. “Thanks, Evan,” he said dryly. “They do not need any more encouragement to get into mischief.” Then he relented a little. “You’re as fearless as anyone I’ve known, but you won’t always have us as backup,” he said, speaking to all three as Candy and Murray came to stand behind their friend. “I think you might benefit from some self-defense classes, as well. Just in case.”
The three children exchanged glances, grinning widely. “Cool. We get to kick ass, too.”
“Not if your dads decide to ground you for the rest of your lives,” Freddy said drolly, smirking at their shocked looks. “You were told to stay put, but instead you took off, got into danger, and then ended up witnessing a very nasty fight scene. I’m so glad I live in town, as an adult,” he drawled. “You guys?” He shook his head sadly. “I don’t imagine you’ll be allowed out of their sight for months.”
All three ducked their heads dejectedly, and then began clambering into their clothes.
“Your consolation is that John is in town, and Murphy’s away in Washington, DC, heading up a series of high-level meetings,” Sketch said.
“Daddy John’s back?” Murray squealed, ecstatic now.
