Forbidden Instinct

by Cassandra Chandler

“We want you to shift the company’s resources into Research and Development,” Miranda said.

  Morrison’s brow furrowed. “What kind of R&D are we talking about?”

  “The kind that kills things like Forester,” she said.

  Her voice was like steel. A frisson of pleasure shot down Darren’s spine from the sound.

  “I thought you were calling in a favor,” Morrison said. “If you know how to kill him, I’ll gladly help.”

  “Good. Because this is only the beginning.” Miranda nodded curtly, a General marshaling her resources. “We’re going to need holding cells that can contain powerful beings. Cells lined with iron and silver to start. And we’ll need weapons and armor to support the fairy-fighting community that already exists.”

  “Fairy fighters?” Morrison let out a harsh laugh and shook his head. “If I hadn’t seen with my own eyes…”

  “You did see it,” Darren said. “And if you ever need a reminder, I’m right here.”

  Morrison’s heartbeat picked up and his scent shifted with the sharp tang of fear. Morrison might say he was ready to die, but on some level, he would fight it. That was good. From what Miranda had said, they needed him. Not just his resources, but his commitment.

  Morrison cleared his throat. “Is that all?”

  “No,” Darren said. “I want an apology.”

  “I’m genuinely sorry we framed you—”

  “Not for me. For Miranda. You almost killed her with that stunt you pulled to get me away from the package.”

  Morrison actually paled. His lips pulled into a tight line.

  “That wasn’t supposed to happen. I was going to pull into the intersection and let somebody hit the passenger’s side of the SUV. You came out of nowhere.”

  “It was me or a family in a minivan,” Miranda said. “A family that would have been killed.”

  “Christ.” Morrison ran a shaking hand over his head. “Edith was set on getting this done. I hadn’t driven anything other than the company cars in so long. The brakes and the response were—”

  He shook his head. “That’s just a lame-assed excuse. We never meant for anyone to be hurt. I am truly sorry for putting you and others in danger.”

  “I accept your apology,” Miranda said. “And I apologize in advance for doing the same to you. You’re going to be working with very dangerous individuals. Both as targets and as colleagues.”

  “I can handle myself,” he said.

  She smiled. “I know. Forewarned is forearmed. I’ll take care of the warnings. You take care of the armaments. Deal?”

  He let out a snort. “Deal. But you need to go after Forester first.”

  “You don’t choose our targets,” Darren said. “Miranda does.”

  If they were going to stave off the apocalypse, they needed to follow her visions.

  Morrison shook his head. “I’m not talking about revenge. Yeah, it kills me that he’s walking—or teleporting—around out there. But he’s also plotting, regrouping, getting ready to strike. I heard what he said about Miranda. He’s going to come for her, and soon. You need to take the fight to him, strike while he’s still weakened.”

  Shit. That made a lot of sense. Morrison was going to be a better ally than Darren thought.

  “He’s right.” Miranda’s gaze was unfocused. He’d seen that look before when she was thinking things through or concentrating on a vision.

  “Do you know where we can find Forester?” Darren said.

  “No idea.” Morrison shrugged. “The only place we ever met him was that damned park.”

  “We don’t need to find him,” Miranda said. “He’ll find us.”

  Darren didn’t like the sound of that. But Miranda was smiling.

  “We can use the coin to lure him into a trap,” she said. “If we take it out of the iron box, he’ll come to it, like he did before.”

  “We don’t know that for sure,” Darren said.

  “It’s the best chance we have.”

  “If you can draw him out, that means you pick the terrain for battle,” Morrison said. “You can choose a location that gives you an advantage. But I’m going to need time to develop weapons for you.”

  “I’m all the weapon she needs.” Darren relaxed his hold on his change a bit. He felt his teeth lengthen, his skin prickle. Most gratifying of all, he saw Morrison’s eyes grow wide and his mouth fall open.

  “Darren, stop showing off,” Miranda said.

  Darren took a deep breath and willed the change to recede. It was getting easier, not harder. Maybe it was because the moon wasn’t out. Maybe it was because he had spent the entire night making love to Miranda bathed in its glow.

  “If Forester hadn’t had home field advantage...” Morrison shook his head. “Things might have ended differently.”

  “They’ll end differently this time.” Forester’s immortality would end the next time Darren saw him.

  “I just wish I could be there when it happens,” Morrison said.

  Darren didn’t doubt it. He wanted to rip Forester’s head off for threatening Miranda. Forester had killed Mrs. Ford—the woman Morrison loved.

  Darren actually started to feel sorry for the guy. It was a hell of a lot better than murderous rage.

  “Could you give us a moment, Mr. Morrison?” Miranda asked. “I need to speak with Darren in private.”

  Morrison nodded. “Sure.”

  He kept his distance as he headed out the door, closing it behind him.

  As soon as he was gone, Miranda said, “The Red Thread. That’s where we should spring the trap. We make sure Jack’s friends aren’t around, load ourselves up with skillets, and—”

  Darren’s skin started to crawl again and his shoulders bunched. “Hang on. You’re not going to be anywhere near where this goes down.”

  She glared at him with an unmistakable challenge. Even in her frail human form, she was willing to take him on. Part of him wanted to lock her up somewhere to keep her safe. Another part wanted to bend her over the desk.

  “You need me there to help you come back from the change,” she said.

  Darren stepped closer, towering over her. “I’m better at controlling it. I was able to come back after fighting with Shade.”

  She wasn’t impressed by his posturing at all. “I still helped. Besides, we don’t know what sort of spells are on that coin. When we’re done using it, we need to put it back in the iron box, and you can’t touch it.”

  “Jack can help me.”

  “Jack is still considering killing you.”

  “I can take him.”

  “He’s our ally. You might kill him accidentally or he might kill you on purpose. He’s an experienced werewolf hunter. And he’s my friend. He’s the closest thing I’ve had to family since my mom died.”

  Shit.

  Okay, fighting Jack was definitely a bad idea. But so was having Miranda on site when they lured in Forester.

  As if she could read his thoughts, she said, “Forester doesn’t want to kill me. He wants to capture me. I have faith in you. You won’t let that happen.”

  “It’s too much of a risk.”

  “And it’s my risk to take.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, visibly calming herself down. “This is turning into a pivotal moment in our relationship, Darren. I know your instinct is to protect me. But you have to let me make my own decisions. If you can’t do that, if we can’t be partners in this—”

  “I get it,” he said.

  He couldn’t let her finish her sentence. Couldn’t even think it. To lose her over this would be…something he couldn’t handle.

  And she was right. She had risked her life before to protect people. Given what she’d seen—the apocalypse they had to fight, together—she would probably have to do so again. She’d choose to do so. It was part of why he loved her. He had to be strong enough to live with the fear that came along with it.

  “Let’s call Jack and set it up,” he said.

  Chap
ter Twenty-Five

  Walking back into The Red Thread was surreal. The place looked the same, smelled the same, but everything was slightly off.

  Miranda had spent so many hours there, thinking she had the world mostly figured out—especially with her powers giving her an edge. She’d had no idea what the world was really like.

  The silver bell above their head rang frantically as Darren followed her inside. Jack limped out from the kitchen. He was wiping his hands on a towel. He tossed it on the counter as he approached them. When he was close enough, he reached up and touched the bell, silencing it.

  In his deep voice, he said, “Welcome to The Red Thread.”

  “Thanks for having us.” Darren smirked at him.

  “You said you needed to talk,” Jack said.

  “Could we sit down?” Miranda had noticed Jack wince when he’d turned off his alarm system. She wanted him to rest if he could.

  “Yeah.” He turned around and led them to the back room again.

  The smashed furniture had been cleared and a collapsible card table sat in the middle of the room. The cabinets along the counter were gone, along with all the weapons that had been on the walls.

  “What happened?” Miranda said.

  “Forester happened.” Jack shook his head. “A fairy found our base. We had to move it.”

  “The energy’s gone too,” Darren said. He sniffed the air.

  “We left the bells in place for now and are going to plant a booby trap for any fairies that might come poking around.” He smiled at Darren. “I recommend you find another establishment to patronize.”

  “Wait, are you shutting down The Red Thread?” Miranda’s chest constricted and her stomach lurched.

  The Red Thread wasn’t just where she worked. It had been like a second home to her for years. And if Jack was leaving it behind, did that mean he was leaving her too?

  She knew she had another family to go to now, even though it hadn’t quite formed yet. But Jack was family, too. She didn’t want to lose him.

  “It’s too dangerous to stay,” he said. “I’m a sitting duck now that the Forester knows where I am.”

  Miranda was desperate to give Jack a reason to stay.

  “Forester doesn’t seem the type to share information,” she said. “If anything, he’ll come back by himself and try to capture or kill you.”

  Jack nodded. “I agree. That doesn’t make it any less dangerous to stick around.”

  “But we came here to kill him,” she said.

  Jack’s eyebrows hiked up his forehead. “You have my attention.”

  “Please, sit.” Miranda pulled out a chair for him. He sighed and sat down, then she and Darren joined him at the rickety table.

  “I’m listening,” Jack said.

  “We have a plan to lure Forester here.” Miranda took the iron box out of her purse and set it on the center of the table. “We’re going to open the box.”

  Jack glanced at the box. “You think he’ll show up again when the coin comes back on his radar?”

  “Fairies are vindictive,” she said. “After what we did to his pocket of Faerie, I think he’ll come to kill us the moment he knows where we are.”

  Jack picked up the box and turned it over in his hands. “You’re probably right. But he’ll be at full strength. If you didn’t kill him, he’ll be healed by now.”

  “That’s okay,” Darren said. “I’m pretty close to full strength at this point, too.”

  Jack was quiet for a few moments as he stared at Darren. “You look like you’re holding up pretty well.”

  “I am.”

  “Looks can be deceiving,” Jack said.

  Miranda shook her head. “I thought we were past this. Darren is in control. I just watched him kick a vampire’s butt, then back off from the fight and turn himself back, almost entirely on his own.”

  “A vampire?” Jack’s brow furrowed.

  “It was a long night.” Miranda felt a blush creep over her face.

  “Apparently so.” He stared at her neck, which was probably covered in love bites. At least they weren’t vampire bites.

  Miranda quickly went on. “The vampire is one of the Knights of Antares, and he’s an ally now. He has a safe room where Darren can spend his first full moon.”

  Jack let out a chuff of air. “There are no Knights, Miranda. They’re a legend, like I said. And if that guy was a vampire, he’s yet another fey being. He’ll say anything to get you to lower your guard. You can’t trust them.”

  “I can and I do,” she said. “I’m going to have to if we’re going to make it through this apocalypse. And if you’re going to help me, you have to come around on this point.”

  He shook his head.

  “I’m going to turn,” she said.

  Jack’s dark eyes locked on hers.

  She went on when he said nothing. “I’ve seen it in my visions. I’m joining Darren’s pack within the next few months.”

  The lines at the corners of Jack’s eyes deepened. Moments stretched on.

  “Why not sooner?” Jack’s voice sounded thin.

  “I’m not sure,” she said. “I have a feeling there’s something I have to do first as a human. I’m trusting my instincts, like you told me to.”

  Jack kept staring at her. She reached under the table and rested her hand on Darren’s thigh.

  Her mouth went dry and she had to swallow before she could force out the words, “Will you still trust me after I’ve turned?”

  “Honestly?” Jack said. “I don’t know. But I won’t be around to find out.”

  “What?” Her heart was pounding in her throat.

  “When I said we were relocating, I meant in another city,” he said. “You were right about the Fairy Court setting up shop in Olympus. My old team and I talked it over and agree that this place is a lost cause. It’s too dangerous to stay.”

  Darren let out a huff of breath. “How can you just leave?”

  “Because we’ve been doing this for a long time,” Jack said. “We’ve seen… Things I wish I could un-see a thousand times over. We’ve lost too many of our people already. And all of that was nothing compared to what’s coming. This new Fairy Lord is behind some of the worst catastrophes in human history.”

  “Then it’s even more likely that he’s the one behind the impending apocalypse,” Miranda said. “I need your help to stop it.”

  “This guy might be the thing behind what happened to Pompeii.” Jack’s voice had a frustrated edge to it that she’d never heard before. “Now, he’s gathering all kinds of fey to his banner—not just High Court Sidhe, like elves. He’s bringing in the Low Court. Vampires, werewolves, ghouls—created fey that are usually left to their own devices. He’s gathering them together and leading them in numbers that we’ve never had to face before. How are we supposed to stand against that?”

  She shook her head. Losing the fairy fighters she hadn’t met yet didn’t bother her that much. Losing Jack? That was a blow.

  “There isn’t going to be a safe place on the entire planet when this guy is done with it,” she said. “What part of apocalypse are you not understanding?”

  “Have you had another vision about it?” Jack asked.

  She shook her head. “The details are still fuzzy. It’s like the exact path to that future hasn’t been decided. But I’m clear on one thing. There will be nothing left when this guy is done. It’s like he wants to stamp out every living thing on the planet. Why would he do that?”

  “Immortality lasts a long time,” Jack said. “This guy has been around forever as far as we can tell. Fairies get bored, and the most entertaining thing for them is watching others suffer.”

  “But if he kills everyone, won’t it be even worse for him?” Darren said.

  Jack shook his head. “You can’t attribute reason to an irrational being. Fairies have minds that are alien to us—especially the High Court.”

  “That’s all the more reason for us to figure out a way to
stop him,” Miranda said.

  “Look, I believe in your visions. My colleagues…” Jack shrugged.

  “The battlefield has changed,” Darren said. “And there’s more change coming.”

  “We don’t stand a chance—” Jack began.

  Miranda finished for him. “If you run. You don’t stand a chance if you run. But if you stay, we can work together.”

  “If your human friends want to run, that’s fine,” Darren said. “But Miranda needs you. You’ve been like family to her.”

  He wasn’t wrong. The thought of losing Jack was almost more than she could bear. She’d been anchoring Darren to his humanity through his change. Jack would absolutely an anchor for her as well. She needed that foundation. She needed him.

  Growing desperate, she said, “Have you ever once fought with a werewolf instead of against one?”

  That caught Jack’s attention. He stared at Darren for a while.

  “I can’t say I have.”

  Miranda felt hope flutter in her chest. “Give it a try. We can take down Forester together, then you can decide what kind of chance you think we stand against the Fairy Court that’s in town.”

  Jack let out a rumble that almost sounded like one of Darren’s growls. “I would really like to see that Forester taken down.”

  Darren grinned at him. “It can be a parting gift—or an incentive to stay.”

  “We’re going to need some iron,” Jack said. “Skillets are in the kitchen.”

  Miranda closed her eyes and let out a huge breath. She was sure Jack would stay after they defeated Forester. She just had to be sure they won.

  “When is the best time to lure him here?” she asked. “Will Darren be stronger at night?”

  “Darren will be stronger the closer we get to the full moon—but also less in control,” Jack said. “At least, that’s what I’ve always been led to believe. But Forester will be weaker during the day.”

  “Then let’s get to work.” Darren stood up and looked around. “Do you still have those guns handy?”

  “I kept a few around,” Jack said.

  Miranda wanted to give Jack more to think about while convincing him to stay. “The new head of Ford Security is working on R&D for us and will be coming up with better weapons to use against the fey.”