“A group of shifters who weren’t happy with the auction wanted to make sure that they would never have to face an army of Pyte-created vampires, set it on fire while we were getting the children out. We managed to push them back, but they kept coming. We almost didn’t make it to you, but Cuddles gave us a hand and bought us some time so that we could grab you both,” Jacob said, sighing heavily as he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “They managed to grab Indie. We’ve been looking for her, but so far, nothing. Ethan’s searching for her. We would have figured out that she was missing sooner, but with everything going on we didn’t realize that she was gone until we were getting everyone out of the mansion. It was really fucking close, Kale.”
“What happened?” Kale asked, giving up on trying to stand up and dropped back against the pillows with a sigh.
“Andrew Vane showed up at your house with four Occultus demons. They shot you and injected Ashley with human blood mixed with a shitload of narcotics to keep her from doing anything more than wish for a quick death,” Jacob said, gesturing to the cup of blood on the nightstand.
“I will fucking kill the little bastard,” Kale bit out as he reluctantly grabbed the cup, knowing that he really didn’t have much of a choice.
“You already did,” Jacob said, sounding amused as he watched Kale force himself to drink blood. “You ripped his throat out. You really don’t remember anything that happened?”
“No, so keep talking,” Kale said, gesturing for him to get on with it as he continued drinking the blood and nearly fucking moaned. God, it was good, he thought even as he couldn’t help but wonder if he could still eat food.
“Apparently, Andrew’s father made a deal with whoever this asshole Magnus is, to turn you over in exchange for getting the bounty on his son’s head removed. When they found out about Ashley and what she could do, his father realized that he could have that heir that he’d always dreamed of and made a separate deal with Magnus for Ashley. The dumb bastard had absolutely no idea that his father sold him out until Logan showed up,” Jacob explained, sending a cold chill down his spine.
“Logan was there?” Kale asked, slowly lowering the cup as a chill worked its way up his spine, knowing exactly how far Logan was willing to go to make him pay.
“He made his own deal with the demons and gave them Andrew to bargain with, but unfortunately, the little prick realized that his father had sold him out and managed to take them by surprise. He doubled back and shot you again in a desperate attempt to get Ashley, but he only managed to piss her off. She broke every bone in his hand, completely crushed it,” Jacob said with a wistful sigh. “I taught her everything she knows.”
“How many times was I shot?” Kale asked, glancing down at his stomach only to find smooth skin.
“Around eight or nine times, I think,” Jacob said, shrugging it off.
“Silver?” Kale asked, wondering how that was even possible.
“You’re a stubborn bastard,” Jacob said, nodding solemnly as he gestured for Kale to continue drinking.
“How many of them were from Logan?” Kale asked before finishing off the rest of the blood.
“None,” Jacob said, making him frown as he added, “He saved your life and probably your little girl’s.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Kale demanded because if there was one thing that he knew, it was that Logan would never do anything to help him.
“Well, after Izzy showed up and-”
“Izzy showed up?” Kale asked, wondering why he wasn’t surprised that the little pain in the ass would do something that dangerous.
Sighing heavily, Jacob said, “I’m really going to need you to try to keep up here.”
“And I’m going to need you to tell me why I can hear everyone fucking breathing in the house,” Kale snapped as the sounds bombarding his head slowly began to separate and became clearer. He’d always had good hearing, but nothing like this. He shouldn’t be able to hear anything past this floor.
“I’m getting to that part.”
“Get there faster,” Kale said, only to wince when someone shut a door on the first floor, sending sharp pain through his head.
“Izzy realized that the network was down and decided to go make sure that you were both okay. While you and Logan were yelling at each other, she took it upon herself to remove your chains and help Ashley, and of course, the leech was helpless to stop her since he has a soft spot for the little pain in the ass. When he realized that Izzy was pregnant, he-”
“Izzy’s pregnant?” Kale asked only to sigh when Jacob waved that off as though that was a given.
“Anyway, he decided to hold off on his plans in order to get her out of there. Then, he realized just how sick Ashley was and was helping her when Andrew came back and shot you. He ended up taking a bullet meant for Ashley and stopped the little prick from killing Izzy. After you tore Andrew’s throat out, Logan told her what she needed to do to save your life. Once Christofer showed up, he disappeared, and we brought everyone here. Drew bought the mansion years ago and had it renovated for his Pack, but they had no interest in embracing that part of Pack life or leaving Boston.”
“She changed me,” Kale said as the realization that he’d been turned into the very thing that he hated most in this world sank in and-
He would never have to worry about not being able to protect his family, he realized only to glare when Jacob said, “You’re still an asshole if that helps?”
“And she knew that I was shot with silver?” Kale asked as something occurred to him. The last time that he was shot, it had only been one bullet and the demon blood had sealed it, stopping the silver from spreading to his blood, but eight bullets would have made his blood very dangerous for her.
“I’m pretty sure that she did.”
“And she still drank my blood, knowing what silver could do to her?” Kale asked, needing to be sure of something.
“She didn’t have a choice,” Jacob said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal.
Nodding slowly, Kale guessed, “And I told her not to do it?”
“I thought you didn’t remember what happened?”
“I don’t, but that’s not going to stop me from spanking her ass.”
Chapter 77
“This is delicious,” Ashley said with a hopeful smile as the large Sentinel sitting across from her bit out, “Very delicious,” as he dutifully sipped his pretend tea from the tiny plastic Disney princess teacup that his little girl shoved in his hands a minute ago.
“This is nice,” Ashley murmured, taking a sip of her imaginary tea as Chris continued glaring at her before she decided to shift her attention to Ephraim, who looked amused by this whole thing. That was quickly followed by shifting her attention to her brother, who had her swallowing hard when she saw the look of determination on his face. “Isn’t this nice?”
“You’re not getting out of this,” Chris, who’d spent the last month trying to drag her away from Kale’s side so that he could teach her how to fight, said with a look that told her that it would probably be in her best interest to keep this tea party going for as long as humanly possible.
“Drink, Daddy,” Jessica demanded as she reached over and pushed her father’s hand until he did what he was told, his glare never leaving Ashley as he did it.
“I told you to run,” Marc said with a pitying look that wasn’t really helpful at the moment, so Ashley shifted her attention to Madison, hoping that she would be able to talk Chris into leaving her alone only to find Ephraim’s mate sending her a sympathetic wince as she said, “You really should have run.”
Since that wasn’t exactly helpful, Ashley continued to force that smile that was really starting to hurt as she said, “And miss this wonderful tea party? Not a chance.”
“This isn’t going to end well for you,” Danni said, not bothering to look up as she smiled down at the sleeping baby boy in her arms.
“Would it help if I told you that I don’t
want to learn how to fight?” Ashley asked with a hopeful smile, only to feel her shoulders drop when they all said, “No.”
“Why can’t he teach me?” Ashley asked, pointing towards little CJ, who was fast asleep in his mother’s arms while his brother and sister napped on the blanket behind them.
“This is just so sad,” Izzy murmured, smiling when one of Ephraim’s little boys offered to share an imaginary cookie with her.
“We should probably wait until Kale wakes up then,” Ashley said, noting the way that everyone’s gaze turned sympathetic before she focused back on the tiny teacup in her hand, telling herself that he was fine, but…
He should have opened his eyes by now.
It had been a month, and so far, nothing. Kale hadn’t done anything more than scare the hell out of her. He should have opened his eyes after a week like Cloe did after Christofer changed her, but Kale was stubborn. A few years ago, Kale had given Ephraim’s son, Joshua, blood after he’d been shot, which would have probably been enough to save him if Ephraim hadn’t done the same thing. Their blood had mixed and changed the once easy-going man who’d been well on his way to becoming a doctor into a very dangerous man and she was terrified that the same thing was going to happen to Kale.
She couldn’t lose him, Ashley thought as she found herself staring down at the beautiful ring on her finger while she tried to tell herself that everything was going to be fine, but it was becoming harder to lie to herself. She just…
She missed her cranky shifter.
“He’s going to be fine,” Marc said softly, reaching over to take her hand in his.
“I know,” Ashley said, forcing that smile, only to go still when she heard it.
Swallowing hard, her gaze shifted to Christofer to find her brother smiling as he said, “Sounds like he’s awake.”
Nodding numbly, Ashley quickly finished off her imaginary tea, murmured, “Thank you for having me,” and handed her teacup off to Marc before getting to her feet and quickly made her way across the gym and-
Winced when Chris called after her. “We’ll finish this later!”
Telling herself that Kale would protect her from the large Sentinel determined to make her cry, Ashley quickly made her way into the foyer, down the back hallway and up the back stairs to the third floor of the large seventeenth-century mansion that Drew had renovated a few years ago and quickly made her way to the room where she’d spent the past month watching over Kale.
He was fine, Ashley told herself, only to slow down when a thought occurred to her, something that she’d been trying not to think about since she woke up. What if he hated her for doing this to him? He hated Pytes, hated everything about them, and now, she’d turned him into the same monster that killed his family. What if he couldn’t forgive her? No matter what, she couldn’t regret doing it, not when it meant saving his life. She just…she couldn’t live without him. She-
“Mo ghrá.”
-couldn’t move fast enough when she heard the two little words that she’d been waiting a month to hear. She quickly made her way down the hallway and into their room and when she saw him sitting up in bed, watching her through bright red eyes, she couldn’t get to him fast enough.
“Uh, Ashley,” Jacob said, trying to get her attention, but she barely heard him as she climbed onto the bed and made her way onto Kale’s lap so that she could cup his handsome face in her hands and kiss him.
“I missed you so much,” Ashley said, kissing his lips, his chin, his cheek, and his forehead. “You have no idea how much I missed you,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and held him tightly as she closed her eyes as she slowly exhaled, relieved that he was okay.
That led to her frowning when she realized that Kale wasn’t wrapping his arms around her. Of course, Jacob muttering, “This isn’t going to end well,” didn’t exactly help. Swallowing hard, she opened her eyes as she sat back and-
“I-I should probably go back downstairs to get my ass kicked,” she somehow managed to get out as she watched Kale’s eyes flash from red to silver to an incredibly beautiful shimmering green that nearly took her breath away before landing back on red again as he said, “Get. Out.”
Deciding that was an excellent idea, Ashley moved to climb off his lap only to have Kale put an end to all of her hopes and dreams when his hands found her hips, keeping her right where she was as he continued to glare at her, and wow, did he look pissed.
“Do you have something to tell me, mo ghrá?” Kale drawled, sounding bored as he leaned back against the headboard.
“I missed you?” Ashley said with a hopeful smile, trying not to panic when Jacob abandoned her.
“You said that already,” Kale murmured, reaching up to push a strand of her hair back behind her ear.
“And I really meant it,” she said, nodding solemnly.
“What else?” he asked, dropping his hand back to her hip.
“Chris found the junk food stash that Izzy hid under the bed. She tried convincing him that it was mine, but he didn’t believe her,” Ashley said, deciding that rambling incoherently was her best bet at the moment. “For some reason, that led to a lecture about the negative effects that sugar and processed food were having on his goddaughter, which of course, led to him shoving junk food at me and mumbling apologies incoherently when I started crying,” Ashley admitted with a heartfelt sigh before adding, “I don’t think he’ll be making that mistake again,” when he continued glaring at her.
“Marc’s been crashing with us since waking up to find Jessica standing over him with a pair of safety scissors and a fresh bottle of glitter. She seems really determined to break him. I found her standing over him this morning with a bottle of fingerpaint. I probably should have put a stop to it, but she just looked so excited to find out what he looked like with purple hair. I have to admit, she did good work,” Ashley said, hoping for a smile only to keep going when he continued glaring.
“What else?” Kale asked as his hands absently caressed her thighs as she worried her bottom lip, wondering how much she should tell him.
“They still can’t find Indie. Ethan is searching for her, but so far, no one is talking. He came back last night and questioned Michael, but the Sentinel refused to talk. The demons that held us hostage that night, on the other hand, are demanding to see you, but Christofer is refusing to let them in. Apparently, Cuddles took them by surprise when they were dragging Andrew through the woods. That’s how he escaped. By the time that they managed to double-back to the house, I was already well on my way to becoming a pile of ash,” Ashley said, only to decide that a change in topic was in order when his eyes flashed brighter.
That, and she really didn’t like to think about what happened after she drank his blood when it was laced with silver. She hadn’t been sure what to expect, but nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared her for the pain that followed her into the black void. It had been excruciating and-
No, she wasn’t going to think about it.
“Speaking of Cuddles…” Ashley said, deciding that a change in topic was in order here, “John found out from the shifters that the Council placed at the house that Cuddles is a frequent visitor. They quickly learned to keep frosting on hand if they don’t want him to follow them when they went on patrol.”
“Do they know about you?” Kale asked quietly, making her frown.
“The Council?” she asked only to sigh when he nodded. “Yes, but Ephraim made it clear that they were to keep their distance and just in case they misheard him, Christofer and Caine made it clear that I was off-limits. I’m pretty sure that Jacob and Chris threatened them as well, but whenever I ask them about it, they get this terrifying look on their faces as though they’re already imagining doing it.”
“They haven’t tried coming here?” Kale asked, reaching up to trace her jaw with his fingertips.
“Eric showed up last week to talk to me,” Ashley admitted with a wince as she watched his eyes flash silver again.
/> “What did he want?”
“Well, he wanted to take Michael, but Ephraim is refusing to release him. I’m not really sure what he wanted to talk to me about since I was hiding under the bed when he came,” she admitted with a sheepish smile that had his lips twitching.
“And what’s this that I hear about you crushing a shifter’s hand?”
“I put the shifter and Pyte skills that I told you about to good use,” Ashley said, earning a chuckle as Kale gave her one of those smiles that she adored as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.
“Did you make him cry?” he asked with a teasing smile.
Nodding solemnly, she said, “I believe I saw his eyes tear up before you ripped his throat out.”
“Good girl,” Kale said, smiling approvingly against her lips as his hand found the soft curve of her belly and gently caressed it. “And Aine?”
“Would really appreciate it if you didn’t scare me like that again,” Ashley said as Kale pulled away so that he could press his lips against her forehead.
“I’ll do my best,” he promised her as she worried her bottom lip, afraid to ask, but she had to know.
“Are you mad at me for changing you?” Ashley asked, watching his gaze soften as he looked at her.
“No,” Kale said as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, “I could never be mad at you for doing that.”
“Why not?” Ashley asked as she found herself following Kale as he leaned back against the pillows.
“Because it means that I’m never going to have to let you go.”
Epilogue
One Month Later…
Manhattan, New York
“I don’t fucking care!” Vane shouted, telling himself that this wasn’t happening. Not now, not after everything that he did to make sure that this worked. He’d called in every favor that he had, bargained with fucking demons, spent months putting this plan together, and sacrificed his son.
Unstoppable Page 43
