by Kasi Blake
Oberon screamed in rage a split second before popping up next to Jersey. “Impossible,” Oberon said. “I didn’t summon you.”
“The tides have changed, and I am no longer a servant.” Jersey lifted a golden object high above his head. “I believe you’ve been looking for this.”
“My scepter.” Oberon shouted, “You stole my scepter?”
“Isobel.” Jersey chuckled. “That little minx can steal anything.”
Trick raised his head with a great deal of effort. The scepter in Jersey’s hand shimmered with power that radiated through Trick, and he wondered what it would feel like to hold it. The magic hummed and buzzed through his body even though he was nowhere near the object. He wanted it. The scepter drew him with a magnetic force that was hard to resist.
Hands lifted him up. The second guy half-carried, half-dragged Trick to the white door. Trick didn’t look at him. He was too busy watching the interaction between the faerie king and the werewolf. Were they about to battle?
Maybe he’d get lucky, and they would kill each other.
“The scepter belongs to me now,” Jersey said. “You can’t touch me while it’s in my possession, and we both know it. My powers have grown substantially. Perhaps I’m not at your level yet, but I will be soon. There isn’t anything you can do to stop me.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Oberon said.
Jersey pointed the scepter at the faerie king. “I command you to become Sebastian Marx.”
Oberon screamed. “NO!”
“I command you to forget you are Oberon. Remember only what Bash remembers. That’s who you are. You are a hunter named Sebastian Marx.”
The young man with dark hair crossed the threshold with Trick. They went from a dark jungle to a well-lit parking lot in a split-second. Before the other side vanished, Trick saw Oberon fall to his knees. Eyes blank, the faerie king looked lost.
The doorway closed. The young man helping him dropped onto the soft grass next to the lot. Trick landed beside him. Gasping for breath, the other guy collapsed onto his back.
“Give it a second,” the young man said. “You’ll start healing in a minute or two.”
Trick swallowed. Blood dripped down his throat, gagging him. He dug his fingers into the soft earth and forced words from his mouth. “Who are you?”
The dark-haired young man sat up and smiled down at him. “I’m Jack Creed. I’m your brother.”
Darkness sucked Trick under. He didn’t have time to react to the stunning news. Maybe he was dreaming. Maybe he was dead. For now, he needed rest.
♫
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Holding Out For a Hero
The first thing that registered in Trick’s mind upon waking was that he was in a car traveling at high speed. The hum of the engine soothed his frayed nerves, and the gentle motion of the car tried to rock him back to sleep against his will. He searched his mind, knowing there was something important he needed to remember.
“You awake?” Jack kept his eyes on the road, but a smile formed beneath his nose. It was Ian Carver’s nose, because he was Ian Carver’s son. “How do you feel? Have you healed yet?”
“Getting there.”
Trick struggled to sit up, and he peered out the windshield, trying to recognize a landmark, anything familiar. Rain pelted the glass. Still night, the headlights lit up the road and foliage on both sides. That was it. They were traveling along a winding road that wrapped around hills like a snake.
“How long was I out?” Trick asked.
“Almost an hour.”
“You saved my life,” Trick said. “Thanks.”
“Most of the credit goes to Jersey,” Jack said. “I had no idea I had another brother. Jersey shows up at my house with this wild story. I wouldn’t have believed him if my wife hadn’t verified it. You met Silver.”
“Yeah.” Did Jack know everything about their meeting? Trick didn’t want to bust Silver if she hadn’t told him, but he didn’t want to start his relationship with his brother with a lie either. “She didn’t think it would be a good idea for us to meet.”
“Over-protective,” Jack said with a wistful smile. “That’s my wife. I’m hoping she doesn’t put our child in bubble wrap.” He lifted a hand off the steering wheel as he pushed dark bangs out of his eyes. “She’s not wrong though. We went through a lot, almost died on multiple occasions. She doesn’t want me to get sucked into this whole Oberon deal.”
Trick agreed with that to a point. Problem was, he needed help with the faerie king. It wasn’t his fault Oberon wanted him dead. He hadn’t asked to be born with faerie magic in his blood. “Is it true you were there when the faerie king’s son died?” Trick asked.
“I was.”
“Can you give me any hints on how to get rid of Oberon?” Trick shifted in his seat and let a groan slip past his lips. Healing magic was working in his body, but he wasn’t his old self again yet. “How do you kill an immortal being?”
Jack made a face. “Wish I knew.”
“Jersey told me Oberon has to keep his word when he makes a vow or he dies. I know he has ridiculous powers like killing by popping his neck, and he can bring people back to life.” Trick sighed. “What about Jersey Clifford? Whose side is he on?”
“His own.”
“He keeps trying to make me read.”
Jack chuckled. “He does love a good book. When it comes to Jersey, use him if you can. I did. Just don’t trust him. If he finds an angle, he’ll work it even if it means killing you in the process.”
Trick grunted, well aware of the werewolf’s tendency to put his own survival above everything and everyone. Sleepy, he went down once again. Maybe he’d heal faster if he was unconscious. That was the hope.
♫
“Trick?” Jack said. “Wake up. We’re almost there.”
Trick pried his heavy eyelids open. His mind was in a fog. He turned his head and gazed out the side window. Still dark. They turned off at the next exit. Jack drove them to a broken down motel miles from the nearest town, the kind that charged by the hour for certain clientele. They pulled into the parking lot and went around back. Jack seemed to know exactly where he was going. Maybe the guy already had a room. Maybe that was why they didn’t stop at the office.
Jack parked the car.
The rain was pouring now, giving them almost zero visibility through the windshield. Trick leaned forward. One of the doors opened, and a girl waved at them.
His eyes narrowed on the girl. “Is that...?”
“She sent you a text,” Jack said. “You were out cold so I answered for you. She insisted on meeting us here. Hope that’s okay.”
The car stopped, and she rushed forward to help him.
He realized she was the one all along, the girl he was meant to be with. He loved her. He loved her with all his heart.
She opened the door and helped him get out. He slung an arm around her shoulders. Together, they walked to the motel room door. He made a mental note to tell her that his love for her was real and would last forever. He was as sure of that as he was that Oberon would hunt him until one of them died.
“You coming inside?” Trick asked his brother.
“If you want... I can stay a few minutes. I promised Silver I’d come straight home after the rescue.”
Trick held his arm out, and Jack ducked under it. The two of them helped him into the motel room. A multitude of questions filled Trick’s mind to bursting. Finally, he could get some answers about his father. There was so much he wanted to know. He’d worry about Oberon later.
They went inside and closed the door.
♫
Epilogue
Jersey
“I cannot believe it worked,” Isobel said. “You defeated Oberon. Why aren’t we celebrating? We should be cracking open a bottle of Champagne.”
She half-twirled, half-danced around his den.
“You are too optimistic,” Jersey said. “I took a huge risk tonight. If I was p
laying chess, you could say I left my queen unprotected to make a bold move that would either bring me victory or hand my opponent the win.”
She blinked brown eyes in confusion. “What are you saying? Oberon is gone forever, isn’t he? You locked him inside of Bash’s memories so he doesn’t know who he really is anymore.”
“Do you know nothing of faerie lore?” Jersey sank into the chair behind his desk. “Every curse has to have a way out, a key that unlocks it from within. Oberon will eventually resurface. He could come to his senses in two thousand years or in two days.”
The blood drained from Isobel’s face. “So it isn’t over? Oberon will kill us both. He’ll blame me too even though I didn’t have anything to do with this stupid plan.”
“Give yourself some credit.” Jersey grinned. “You did steal the scepter from him and hand it to me.”
“The moron left it sitting in his jeep with the Sugar Bomb. What did he expect?”
“Perhaps he was anxious to reach Trick’s house and force him into a battle tonight.”
Jersey left his desk to meet Isobel in the center of the room.
“Yeah,” Isobel said. “Or maybe he left it with the Bomb on purpose so that neither of them would have an added magical advantage.”
“Perhaps. Whatever the reason, it was a monumental mistake.” Jersey held the scepter between them so they could both gaze at it, awestruck by the potential power. “As long as I have this, Oberon cannot touch us.”
Isobel reached out to touch the source of Oberon’s magic, but Jersey pulled it back. She glared at him and asked, “What do we do in his absence?”
“I will continue to work on my blood experiment. It’s good that it successfully resurrected Trick’s brother, but healing mortals is not my intention.”
“What are you doing with the blood?” She tucked hair behind her ear. “I don’t understand how it’s going to help us beat Oberon.”
“I am convinced that in the right combination the werewolf killer’s blood and the blood I got from that faerie we have in the basement will be able to cure any supernatural being of their immortality.”
“Are you saying you can—”
“Make Oberon human?” Jersey grinned from ear to ear. “Yes. I just need to get the ratios right before Oberon finds a way to murder us in our sleep.”
Isobel did not return his smile.
He shrugged and went down to what he thought of as his basement. In reality it was a mansion beneath a humble house on the outskirts of town, a mansion constructed in part by magic. He liked to think of it as his Fortress of Solitude. It was empty at the moment, but soon the place would be filled with mindless servants: wraiths. He couldn’t wait to get started on that little project.
<<<<>>>>
Do you hate cliffhangers? Read on to see what happens, but remember this is a first draft and has not yet been edited.
If you’d rather wait for the next book, stop here.
Sneak Peek: 4-Ever Hidden
“Trick?” Jack said. “Wake up. We’re almost there.”
Trick pried his heavy eyelids open. His mind was in a fog. He turned his head and gazed out the side window. Still dark out. They turned off at the next exit. Jack drove them to a broken down motel miles from the nearest town, the kind that charged by the hour for certain clientele. They pulled into the parking lot and went around back. Jack seemed to know exactly where he was going. Maybe he’d already gotten them a room. Maybe that was why they didn’t stop at the office.
Jack parked the car.
She came out in the rain without a jacket and ran straight to the passenger side. The sight of her filled his heart to overflowing with emotions he hadn’t know existed. In that moment he realized he was in love with her. It seemed obvious now, and he didn’t understand why it had taken so long to piece it together. She was the girl he wanted; she was the girl he loved.
His eyes narrowed on the girl waiting for them. “Is that…?”
“She sent you a text,” Jack said. “You were out cold, so I answered for you. She insisted on meeting us here. Hope that’s okay.”
He realized she was the one all along, the girl he was meant to be with. He loved her. He loved her with all his heart.
Scarlet. The girl with the ridiculous bushy hair that shimmered like gold in the sunlight and refused to be tamed; his best friend with a bad attitude to match his own; the hunter he had trained and worked beside for years. Why had it taken so long for him to realize he couldn’t live without her?
She opened the passenger side door. Her eyes flooded with tears when she saw his torn and bloody clothing, not to mention his face. At least the taste of blood was fading. He was on his way to being healed. She reached for him with trembling hands and helped him exit the car. Jack was there in an instant. He maneuvered himself under Trick’s other arm. They walked slow even though rain was pouring down on their heads.
“It looks worse than it is,” Trick said. “Feeling better already.”
Her arms looped around his waist, and she squeezed him until he grunted in protest. His insides were still a broken mess. She immediately jumped away from him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
“No worries.” He grinned at her. “I’m tough. Remember?”
Scarlet rolled her eyes.
A tremor shook through her slender frame, and concern for her made him forget everything else. He put too much weight on his injured leg. Pain shot up from ankle to thigh, and he bit his lower lip to keep a yelp! inside. He leaned more on Jack to compensate. His brother didn’t let on, so Scarlet had no idea how close Trick was to collapsing.
She had left the motel room door open. She raced ahead and lined up pillows against the headboard as Jack helped Trick inside. Jack half-carried Trick to the bed. Grateful for the chance to rest, Trick went down on the mattress.
Jack lifted Trick’s legs onto the bed.
Trick used his arms to pull himself back enough so his upper body could relax against the pillows. Finally, he was able to focus his attention on his brother. Silver hadn’t been kidding when she’d said they looked alike. They weren’t twins, but anyone seeing them on the street would peg them for brothers. Their hair was the same dark brown, and they had similar facial features. They also shared the same height and build.
“Will you stay with us?” Trick asked his brother.
“If you want… I can stay a few minutes. I promised Silver I would return home right away. She’ll be anxious.”
Scarlet sat next to him, anxious expression. “Can I get you anything? Water? Food?”
“Thanks for the rescue,” Trick said to his brother. He shook his head at Scarlet, and she settled into the background. “Tell me again how it happened. I was kind of out of it when you told me earlier.”
Jack sat on the edge of the other bed while Scarlet hovered. “Jersey showed up at my house with this crazy story about a brother I didn’t know I had and how he was about to be killed by the king of faeries. I thought he was messing with me at first. Jersey loves to play games.”
“Yeah,” Trick said with a grim twist to his mouth. “I’ve noticed.”
“Then Silver told me about you, how she’d met you and warned you to stay away from me.” Jack got up and began to pace as if he couldn’t stay still a second longer. Another thing they had in common. “I still can’t believe she hid you from me.”
“She was scared,” Trick said. “I get it.”
Jack sighed. “She and I had a bad habit in the past of keeping secrets from each other. I thought we were over that.”
“I like her,” Trick said. “And I didn’t take it personally. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to meet you or not anyway. So many things have happened in my life that… Dad dumped me on strangers. He disappeared from my life. I hated him for it. Then I found out he didn’t come back for me cause he died. I didn’t know about you until Cowboy told me.”
Jack snorted. “Cowboy. Wow. It is so weird that you know him,
that you’re hanging with him.” He gestured to Trick. “And you’re a vampire now. It’s like you’re living my old life.”
The statement turned Trick’s stomach and set a rock in there. He wasn’t living anyone else’s life. The choices he’d made were his own, but he didn’t want to argue. There were other things they needed to talk about, important things.
“What can you tell me about our dad?” Trick asked.
Jack shrugged. “You knew him better than I did. I was raised by John Creed. Ian Carver showed up as a teacher in my school and didn’t even tell me who he was. I overheard the truth while standing by Vanessa Reign’s kitchen window. After that he hung around a bit, stayed in the house with me when Billy turned into a werewolf.” He paused and a strange expression shadowed his face. “You heard about Billy, right?”
Trick nodded. “He died. That’s all I know.”
“He was a good kid,” Jack said. “I’m sorry you’ll never get to meet him.”
“Me too.” Trick prodded, “But what about Dad? Did he ever tell you he was sorry for dumping you on another man to raise? Did he ever mention me?”
“No to both. Sorry. He and I didn’t get along very well. In fact, he wanted to kill me even though I wasn’t a vampire anymore. He really hated them.”
“All vampires are monsters,” Trick said, repeating his father’s mantra. “And all monsters should die.”
Jack snorted. “Yep. That was him all right.” He paused for a moment and glanced at Scarlet before asking, “Is it true he used to take you hunting when you were just a kid?”
“How do you know about that?” Trick stiffened. “Who told you?”
“Your girlfriend.”
It took a moment for Trick to realize his brother was talking about Scarlet. Apparently, the two of them had had quite a conversation while he was out cold. He wondered what else she’d shared with Jack. When he looked at her, he found her face downcast so he couldn’t see her eyes.
“Dad couldn’t exactly leave me with a sitter,” Trick said. “He had me lock myself in the car when he battled monsters.”
