by April Kelley
The dampness sank into the skin on his face, and for a moment all he wanted was to lay there. Then hands lifted his head. His cheek lay against soft material and fingers brushed away the hair covering his face.
Something wet splashed against his cheek, and he heard Jules sob and then scream at the same time the softness under his cheek disappeared.
Cobwebs clouded his mind, but that scream still managed to clear enough of them that Hacen knew he needed to stand up. He struggled to get his hand underneath him and when he finally managed the small rocks dug into the flesh of his palms. He shook off the fatigue, physically shaking his head, trying to clear his mind.
Jules screamed his name repeatedly. The sound of it echoed through the forest.
Hacen blinked and his vision cleared just enough that the red paint on the car became visible as well as the dark brown gravel beneath.
“He must love you, little human. He fights the spell like a champion. His love for you will make this more fun.” Nicolono’s sickness laced every single one of those words.
Hacen managed to get to his knees, but he had to brace against the road.
“Watch him struggle against all that power.” Every word Nicolono spoke turned Hacen’s stomach.
When Hacen lifted his head, Jules’ tear-stricken face swam in front of him. Nicolono had Jules pinned with an arm around the waist and his other hand around Jules’ throat.
Hacen’s teeth dropped, and he hissed. He struggled to get to his feet, but he eventually managed. “Release him.”
“I’m taking him back.”
Hacen stalked to them, hissing the whole time. The further he got from the car, the stronger he became, and the spell lifted. His nails grew, and he held them up. His brain shut off and all that remained was his base instincts. Hacen slashed at the air as he stalked his prey.
He was almost to them when Nicolono turned and ran. He was just a streak of light as if a constant source of moving lightening. Hacen took off after them without a thought.
As he ran, a shadow fell over him. He looked up to see three big dragons overhead. How they managed to keep up with his speed, he wasn’t sure, but they did.
He sniffed the air, trying to keep Jules’ scent fresh in his nostrils. He hit a wall after only about a mile and couldn’t smell anything at all, including the pine and dead leaves of the forest.
Hacen stopped suddenly and looked up, hoping the dragon shifters had a scent trail, but they only circled above.
One of them, a black dragon, dove down. When he landed, he shifted right before Hacen’s eyes, and Bennett stood only feet away. Hacen would have commented on the nakedness, but he didn’t have it in him. All he cared about was Jules and Tommy.
“Do you think it’s a warlock spell? No smell anywhere.”
Hacen nodded. “Hmm.”
“I knew something was fishy about those three fuckers coming to town when they did. Have you heard from Thomas?”
“He’s in trouble. It’s where we were headed when Nicolono appeared. There’s a spell on the fucking car. I can’t touch the thing without passing out.”
“You didn’t bond with them? Can you communicate with either of them?”
“I bonded with both of them, but they haven’t bonded with each other so no. No internal link.” Hacen sighed, shutting his eyes. “Fuck!”
A hand patted him on the back. “I get it, man. Lucas was kidnapped not that long ago by that asshole.”
Hacen opened his eyes and met Bennett’s gaze. He didn’t want to trust a bunch of shifters, but Bennett was a good guy. Not trusting him could mean his mates got hurt. “What the hell do I do?”
“Come back to the house. We’ll get a plan together.”
Chapter Eighteen
Hacen paced the floor of the kitchen while Lucas stood in the middle of the room, staring at the wall absently. The house held a hint of Jules’ scent. It set his emotions on edge.
“Can he hurry up?” His voice sounded harsh even to his own ears.
Lucas stood in the middle of the room with his eyes closed. When Hacen spoke, he opened his eyes long enough to glare. “Can you not break my concentration?”
Hacen grunted. In terms of an apology, that was all he’d give the witch.
When he turned, Ramsey stood in his way. Hacen stopped, and their gazes met. “What do you want to do?”
“Kill everyone who touches them?”
Ramsey didn’t even blink. “Can I make a suggestion?”
Hacen waved his hand in Lucas’ direction. “I have nothing but time.”
Lucas flipped him off. “I’m not a machine, you know. Jules is too far away for me to just connect on a whim.”
Ramsey pointed to Bennett. “Take him into the other room where it’s quiet.”
Bennett nodded at the same time he wrapped his arm around Lucas’ waist and guided him out. As he passed Hacen, he patted him on the back. “We’ll get them both back.”
Hacen stared after him. He never expected the level of support he was getting. He expected help with Jules. They loved him enough not to let Nicolono have him without a fight, but Thomas was another matter.
They owed Hacen nothing and yet he still stood in their kitchen.
Hacen met Ramsey’s gaze. “I’m out of my depth here. And I…I can’t think straight anyway. It’s best if I follow your lead.” Hacen pressed his hand over his heart and rubbed the spot in an attempt to relieve the pain. By the gods, he hoped he’d just made the right decision.
Ramsey nodded. “Given the spell a warlock placed on your car, I think we should get Thomas first. He might be the only one who can combat any spell Nicolono has either on Jules or around him.”
“Tommy’s surrounded by warlocks. How are we going to get through them?”
Jules’ mother held up her finger. “I have a solution for that. A spell that will cast a barrier around you. It should allow you to slip in unseen. Any warlock or witch worth their salt will know the spells in place. It should hold until you rescue Thomas. After that, I’m hoping he’ll be able to take over.”
He sucked in a breath at just the thought of Thomas not being able to help because that implied he’d be too injured or worse. “He’s still alive. They both are. I can feel them in my mind.” He wasn’t sure who he was talking to but saying the words aloud soothed the pain in his chest just a little.
Jules’ mother walked across the room and forced a hug on him. Hacen’s body stiffened, but the gesture was soothing. Leaning on someone else for emotional strength was a new feeling and uncomfortable. At least it was at first and then his body rebelled against his brain. One muscle at a time relaxed, and his arms came around her. He closed his eyes and let her strength seep into his pores. “Thank you.”
“It’s what family does, Hacen.”
“Your son said the same thing.”
“I don’t need to ask you which son. They’d all say it, including Jules. He might have come to me as an adult, but he’s no less mine” She pulled back and met his gaze, giving him a pointed look. “Do you understand?”
Hacen grunted. “I’m family. Tommy too.”
She patted his cheek and smiled. “Now, work on getting my boys back.”
His resolve to hate these shifters slipped a bit more.
Ramsey looked over at Fane, who sat on the kitchen’s central counter with his hands on his knees and his legs folded as if he were meditating. He was fully alert, though. Hacen noticed that as well as the intelligence in his eyes. “What do you think about creating a diversion?” Ramsey asking his mate’s opinion had another piece of trust popping into place.
“I’d go in with Mom’s spell. Take out a bunch of warlocks while you and Hacen go find Thomas.” Fane looked at the door Lucas had just disappeared behind. “We need to keep Lucas protected.”
Hacen hadn’t thought of that, but it made sense. “Maybe everyone should stay except us.”
“No. The evil vampire would expect us to keep Lucas in Saint Lakes.” Fane m
et his gaze. “We all go, including Lucas.”
Hacen shook his head. “Not everyone.” Penny was just a girl. She saw enough with the battle. “Penny needs to stay.”
“Agreed. Vaughan, Kristin, Josh, Shawn, and Rocky stay at Magnus’ cabin with Penny. Thomas’ magic protects it. The first place Nicolono will come looking is the house. After a few hours they should move locations. Kristin and Vaughan are good fighters. Rocky will lead them well.” Fane spoke as if his word was law.
“Sage?” Ramsey raised an eyebrow as if he thought Fane had forgotten about him.
“Sage is a snake shifter. He can get into small places if the need arises. He’s a stronger shifter than he knows. He’ll do well as long as Garridan stays close.”
Ramsey smiled. “Good plan, sweet.”
Fane nodded. “I know.”
Ramsey chuckled and closed the distance between himself and Fane. When Ramsey covered Fane’s ears with both of his hands, the gesture confused Hacen, but then Ramsey whistled so loudly it echoed through Hacen’s head.
Hacen hissed, but even he knew there wasn’t any genuine anger behind it.
Everyone in the family filed in the room before Ramsey could comment on Hacen’s challenging behavior. Hacen gave Ramsey his best apologetic look for the disrespectful hiss.
A corner of Ramsey's mouth turned up as if that was his way of apologizing as well and accepting Hacen’s all at the same time.
Ramsey turned, leaning against the counter to face everyone. Fane wrapped his legs around Ramsey’s waist and hung onto his neck piggyback style. “Okay. Here’s the plan. Rocky, Vaughan, and Kristin take Penny and Shawn to Magnus’ cabin. Everyone else gather the weapons you’ll need and squeeze into as few vehicles as possible.”
Lucas held up his hand as if he were in school. His brow wrinkled. “Um…First of all, I still can’t connect with Jules. I think they might have a spell on him or something. Secondly, do I honestly get to go and how come Shawn doesn’t.”
Shawn shook his head. “I’m good, man. Someone needs to stay just in case they need information off the computer.”
Hacen knew that wasn’t actually why Shawn wasn’t allowed to go. He strongly suspected Shawn’s lack of fighting skills made him a liability more than an asset. Fane leaving him out for that reason made more sense than gathering information although the latter was also a possibility and could be useful.
“But I honestly get to go?”
“Yep. We think Stavros won’t be expecting it if this is all a ploy.”
“And here I expected, ‘you’re so helpful, Lucas. We need you out there.’”
“Once you pay attention during training we’ll say that. Until then, you’ll take what you can get.” Fane said it like a reprimand and probably meant it that way, but the way he clung to Ramsey like a baby monkey made it hard to take him seriously.
Apparently, Lucas didn’t have that problem. “Yes, Sensei.”
Hacen was the first one to head out the door. Ramsey’s question stopped him, though. “What weapon do you need?”
“My bare hands.” He’d snap the neck of anyone who tried to stop him from getting to his mates or he’d die trying because living without them wasn’t an option.
“He’ll take a gun. It’ll kill faster.” He heard Fane say. Hacen didn’t argue because he made a good point.
Chapter Nineteen
There was a headache, and there was the thing pounding through Thomas’ head. It had a life of its own as it bulldozed its way around inside him. Someone groaned from somewhere in the room, but Thomas was afraid the thing that attacked his head would come out his eyes and attack the rest of him if he opened them even a crack.
“What the hell happened?” He heard Jory nearby, moaning out every word as if they were painful to say.
Someone touched his shoulder. “Where’s Patrick?”
“Sucking Ballard’s dick, most likely. I knew something was off with him lately.” Ekalis had woken up about ten minutes ago and seemed in less pain the longer he stayed upright.
Thomas almost regretted putting the protective spell on himself. It kept him conscious but fighting off the curse probably made the headache stronger.
“Is the redhead, okay?” It must be Jory’s hand on him as he sounded closer than Ekalis.
“He’s breathing but other than that I’m not sure.” Rubber scraped against cement as footsteps pounded through his head.
Thomas opened his eyes to see Ekalis’ long coat and his leather boots pass by him, pacing from a cement wall to metal bars. He tried to speak, but his voice wouldn’t work at first. He cleared the gunk out of his throat and tried again. “Headache.”
Jory patted him on the shoulders. “Yeah, same here. I can’t call the ancestors either.”
He had to take a moment to get used to the pain knifing through his brain before he sat up. Once he lifted his head off the cement floor, he realized how well he failed at that one thing.
He groaned and cursed under his breath as he put a hand to his forehead, trying to keep his brain from pounding out of his skull.
Thomas managed to get his arms underneath him, lifting his upper body. His head felt too heavy for his neck, but he still managed to sit up. “Shit.”
Ballard wasn’t strong enough for a spell to knock him out. “Is the spell Patrick’s?”
Ekalis nodded. “He targeted you. I’m surprised you’re still alive.”
He wouldn’t be if it weren’t for Jules’ warning.
Something blocked his magic. A wall raised between him and it. He imagined himself climbing the wall, but the height was too great. “Shit.” Thomas pounded the ground with his fist.
“Who would have the keys to the door?”
“Ballard’s second in command. He’s just as much of an asshole as Ballard himself. We don’t stand a chance at convincing him of anything.” Jory sat down on a small cot at the back of the cell.
“Convincing him isn’t what I had in mind.” The pain in his head faded with each minute that passed. And with it came a renewed determination to get out before Hacen and Jules came for him. Hacen wouldn’t accept help from the Somersets and he wouldn’t be able to keep Jules from coming with. Thomas had to get out of there before his mates got hurt.
Thomas stood and walked to the bars, taking in the surrounding area.
As prison systems went, the warlocks had a simple one. The whole prison slash lock up area was just one long hallway. Only a few cells on one side of the room and a brick wall on the other. The three of them were all alone. Why they put them in one cell when there were others empty was anyone’s guess, but they were probably better off together.
Thomas looked over to his right. Stairs led up. At the bottom of the stairs was a light over the doorway. It illuminated ten or so steps up. What lay beyond was cloaked in darkness.
Thomas might have grown up in the coven, but he hadn’t been privy to everything, the prison system was one. And he had been sixteen years old when they kicked him out. He was just a kid and didn’t need to know about the darker side of running a coven.
“Are we underneath Ballard’s house?” Ballard lived in town and the car ride from where they were attacked to the jail cell was a lot longer. Still, Thomas had to ask. It had been a while since living in the area and things change.
“No. It’s a bunker. You remember where the witch used to live.”
Thomas grunted. Miss Claudette had given them cookies and let them play with her goat, Sally. She lived a few miles out of town on a farm. The coven leader before Ballard had cared about people. Miss Claudette had been a welcome part of town.
Ballard had changed all that, including kicking the sweetest lady ever off her own property.
Thomas lost his train of thought when Lucas probed around in his mind. He welcomed the intrusion, opening himself up so Lucas could see. Thomas wondered how Lucas could project so far out and the question must have been strong enough to come through because Lucas put a picture of a car ful
l of Somersets. The vehicle also included Hacen and Lucas himself, but not Jules.
Thomas was a little embarrassed by the length of time it took him to process the picture fully. When he did, he cursed and pounded on the bars.
“Well, we’re in a bunker behind her old place.”
“Is there anyone nearby?”
“My guess is Ballard and his second are inside the house, but that’s quite a distance from here. You don’t want either one of them to come in here.”
Thomas shook his head. “No, I don’t. And that’s not why I asked. Rescue is on the way. I just want to let them know where we are and what to expect.”
He let Lucas know what little information he had.
“Unless they have warlocks or witches they won’t beat Ballard.” Jory was the one who spoke.
Thomas had the most powerful witch alive coming to his rescue, but Ballard fought dirty. Lucas was far too innocent to do well. Lucas might have had the element of surprise on his side if not for Nicolono working closely with Ballard. It was likely Nicolono had told of Lucas’ existence, and Ballard wasn’t stupid enough not to expect a rescue mission.
Lucas coming on the mission was surprising, even to Thomas. Maybe that’s why Ramsey or whoever decided to take Lucas with them. Lucas was less vulnerable, but he wouldn’t stay that way if he had to fight Ballard. He also wouldn’t be the first one to try. It would be everyone else before him.
Thomas sighed. The last thing he wanted was for someone to get hurt.
He projected out to Lucas, trying to tell him not to engage Ballard but he wasn’t sure if his message got through.
A rush of power slammed into him. For one moment, it consumed him. The world disappeared, and all that existed was him and the electricity flowing through his veins.
Take what you need. Break the spell that’s holding your magic hostage. Lucas’ voice came through as clear as if he stood in front of Thomas.
How Lucas did it, Thomas wasn’t sure. What Lucas shared with Thomas was probably just a fraction of what he had.
