Sword of Inquest (La Patron's Sword Book 1)

by Addae, Sydney

  “What the fuck?” she said hoping Angus unlocked Hawke’s restraints from the computer.

  Greggor’s skin turned a darker shade of blue. Red streaks multiplied in the white of his eyes as they bulged. He jumped up and down like a toddler having a tantrum. He ran back to the table clenched his fist and punched Hawke in the stomach over and over again.

  Horrified at the sight, she hadn’t realized she moved until she saw Greggor slide across the floor and land into the glass wall. Pieces of glass rained all over him. A week ago, he would curl into a ball and send her dirty looks. Now he shook it off in a King Kong imitation and charged. She waited until he was close and leapt over his head. He hit the wall behind her but did not stay down. He sprung up and ran toward her. She had little room to maneuver and dropped to the floor in a split and punched him between his legs. He bent over and ran into the table. Pushing away, he punched Hawke again in the stomach and between his legs.

  Hawke’s growl of pain pierced her. She grabbed Greggor and punched him in the face. He spun and clipped her on the jaw. She flew backward and landed on the floor.

  Shaking her head to clear it, Greggor lifted her from the ground and threw her across the room. She hit the wall so hard, dark spots flew in front of her eyes. Gasping for air, she stood slowly. Greggor had grabbed Hawke’s balls and held them tight in his hands. The look of sheer maniacal delight in his gaze meant Hawke was in unspeakable pain. She tried to open their link to help but he refused. She ran, jumped and kicked Greggor in the chest. He stumbled back and fell on a metal chest. His loud scream of pain filled the room. She ignored him and went to Hawke.

  “How do I unlock you?” she asked walking on the other side of the table toward the computer.

  “Push the button on the table,” he hissed his face a mask of pain. His scrotum reddish blue and bruised with claw marks. “Son of a bitch,” she swore. Greggor tried to rip off Hawke’s balls. She pushed every button. The cuffs unlocked and Hawke rolled onto the floor holding his side, spitting up blood.

  Enraged, Asia jumped up on the exam table and then in front of Greggor.

  Brow furrowed, he looked at her and then down at Hawke and then back at her.

  “You visited any hookers lately? Beat them with your belt? Have they lied and said I love you?” She asked drawing his attention.

  Greggor’s face crumpled and then he screamed, arms outstretched he ran toward her. She sidestepped him. He followed, caught a part of her shirt, whirled her around and punched her in the face. She spun and hit the wall.

  He pulled her from behind and slammed her into the wall again smearing blood from her face against the glass.

  Asia’s vision dimmed. She shut down her links and centered into her quiet place. One, two, three, she counted in her mind to crystallize her focus. She spun and caught Greggor’s chin with the heel of her boot. He flew backward and crashed into some equipment.

  She glanced at Hawke, he stood slow and watched. Zeroing in on Greggor she targeted her next hits. When he stood, he looked at her and moved forward in slow degrees, no doubt weighing his next move.

  Like lightning he swung at her. She ducked feeling the breeze from the missed blow. She jumped and kicked him in the back knocking him headfirst into the concrete floor. The equipment moved from the force of his fall. Under normal conditions, hitting the ground as hard as he had would have split his skull open. Instead, Greggor leaned up on one arm and kicked back hitting her in the leg.

  “Either you finish him or I will. Angus is going to need us.”

  She glared at her mate who leaned against the exam table with his arms crossed. Greggor stood slower this time. His steps wobbled a bit before he straightened.

  Asia tested her right arm, and her legs. Hawke was right, she needed to finish this. “Greggor, you got a thing for me? You want some Hawke? I know you do. Come get your Hawke,” she taunted. With each sentence his face turned bluer. She knew the moment he snapped. His eyes turned pitch black and his snarl ended on a hiss.

  With clenched fists he stomped toward her and swung. She ducked and sidestepped him. He swung again, missed but continued moving. She jumped and kicked him in the chest. He flew back into the stone wall and this time she heard the crack of his skull.

  Eyes wild, he stood, roared and charged. Blood ran down the side of his face and back. She sidestepped and hit him beneath his chin with her right arm. His head snapped back and he slammed into the wall again. Another cracking sound resonated in the room.

  She waited.

  He raised his arm toward Hawke, opened his mouth and then slumped forward.

  Chapter 35

  Asia and Hawke left the lab heading for the communication center. Angus waved them in. “It worked? He was more confused?” Angus had entered the castle through the vents by merging with the materials and then dropped to the floor in the mechanical room. He changed his appearance to resemble Hawke. When he opened the door and headed upstairs, Greggor saw him on the monitors and thought Hawke escaped. He left the communications room to check on Hawke in the lab.

  They were prepared to take Greggor down if he went after Angus or she would take him out in the lab. Greggor chose the lab.

  “Yes, he’s down. Can we leave? Roderick is on his way.” Asia asked looking at the monitors. Two blue monsters, a couple of hybrids and a Hummer parked a distance from the castle.

  “Okay it doesn’t look like it,” she said swallowing a groan. She had burned a lot of energy on Greggor; her body throbbed with the need to rest.

  “I locked everything down but Boris keeps overriding my commands,” Angus said pressing keys.

  “Where’s the serum? Let’s tranq them,” Asia said looking at the beasts.

  “Those darts won’t penetrate the metal on the bluebirds. It will take out the hybrids.” Hawke grabbed a piece of paper and wrote. “Boris is listening. He cannot see but sound is always on.”

  Asia nodded and morphed into her male form. “Here’s a tranq gun, I’ll target them now and take them out.” She picked up the gun and left the room.

  “Did he move them?” She asked Hawke through their link.

  “Not yet… yes. The hybrids are moving toward the Hummer and the bluebirds are walking up the steps. Hold onto the gun in case they send the hybrids after the bluebirds enter.”

  “Okay.” Asia headed back to communications when she noticed Angus left with Hawke. The hybrids remained near the truck, she watched all the screens. One blanked.

  “Hawke, one monitor blinked and returned on line. I don’t sense anything extra but you may have more incoming. Boris is running the cams from wherever he is.”

  “Got it. We do this old school.” She heard the tearing of metal.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Taking a few seconds to pull the right cables and stop Boris’ remote control. It should buy a little time. Wherever he is operating he has to be connected to this building in some way. I am shutting one way down.”

  “Okay. You have incoming. Front door.”

  The front door opened and then shut. The growl of the blue bird ended on a screech. The sound filled the hall. The cameras went off line and then rebooted. She rescanned the area. Two hybrids had entered from the same door she had and were moving up the staircase.

  Tranq gun in hand she strode out the communications room, flattened against the wall and waited. Seconds ticked.

  Hawke and Angus looked at each other and morphed to their hybrids. Hawke would wait to see how many bluebirds showed up before he morphed into his largest hybrid. His body had taken a pummeling from Greggor; he had morphed to his wolf for a short period while Asia fought. But once she hit the wall and he saw blood, he returned to human, prepared to rip Greggor apart.

  But Asia did her own ripping apart, and Greggor lay dead. One bluebird growled and flew toward him. He ducked. It hit the wall. To the side Angus and the other beast fought.

  “Watch out for their claws, they are tipped in serum to weaken you,” he yell
ed to Angus and jumped out of the way of a claw swipe. The beast screamed its frustration as it skidded across the floor before stopping.

  Out the corner of his eye he watched a hybrid fall to the ground and knew his mate watched from a distance. The bluebird came at him again. This time he waited until the last moment, jumped and kicked it in the chin. The beast stumbled backward. Hawke lengthened his claws and swiped it across the face, tearing through skin and flesh. Unaffected the beast jumped up and punched him in the gut and then his chin. Hawke flew backward and hit the wall. Paintings and wall sconces fell to the floor, shattering. Before he could catch his breath the beast was on him. Hawke avoided being clawed by squeezing its hand, crushing the bone and rendering it useless. Next he broke the beast’s other arm leaving it dangling. He looked around the room for something to cut off the head and saw nothing.

  The beast ran toward him and swung. Hawke leaned back and the limbs swayed loosely. This inherent defect was another reason the bluebird were not ready for release. To put it out of its misery, Hawke punched in the neck and pulled out the spinal cord.

  He turned and two blue birds ran into the room. Angus had defeated the blue bird but lay on the ground bleeding. Hawke bulked to his largest size, grabbed the first beast and slammed it into the other. The loud sound of flesh hitting flesh resounded in the open area.

  He picked up one and then the other and slammed them together like a pair of cymbals. He sensed Asia’s distress. Something was wrong.

  “Asia?”

  He dropped the beasts. They jumped up and flew at him. He ducked and caught one, piercing its metal shield with his claws and hit it against the wall in rapid succession. The other beast went after Angus who tried to stand and fight. The beast Hawke held was a bloody pulp missing multiple body parts. Hawke ran in front of the other beast, deflecting it from attacking Angus and knocked it back. He threw the remains of the bluebird in his claws at the remaining beast. It ducked and flew toward him. Didn’t matter how fast they were, Hawke always heard them coming. He avoided the outstretched claws and kicked the beast in the stomach sending him flying in the opposite direction. Hawke ran to the downed bluebird and ripped out its spinal cord.

  He turned, looked at Angus as he returned to human. “Are you okay?”

  “Tired. Sick. Nauseous. All of the above. Silas is working on it, go find Asia. We had more company than we see.”

  Hawke nodded and didn’t bother with an explanation. He ran up the stairs in time to overhear a part of her conversation.

  Chapter 36

  Blow after blow, the fight with the blue birds continued. Asia listened and watched. The staircase door cracked open. She aimed the gun. The moment the first hybrid cleared the door she shot into the mass directly behind it and then shot the hybrid running across the floor. Both dropped to the ground.

  After checking to make sure they were out of it, she pulled the one in the staircase into the hall so she could see him. Next she shot them again before heading back to the communications room to see who else breached Angus’ security. Three full-bloods were on the roof. She recalled the security codes from before and entered a few key strokes. A light flashed on screen and then stabilized as the security system on the roof rebooted. Laser beams incinerated the full-bloods before they could escape.

  The Hummer moved closer to the castle. She checked all the monitors. One blanked and went dark. She had a blind spot. Where was it? She checked the gun and then scanned the building for intruders. Two hybrids had entered through Hawke’s lab and were making their way up the stairs. Boris must have opened the door. She grabbed the gun, and ran to a vantage point so she could see downstairs.

  The first hybrid walked out and ran across the floor. She shot him before he reached the fighters. The other hybrid ran behind the first. She aimed and fired, dropping him before he got far. The lift was moving. She ducked behind the wall, scanned for heartbeats and waited.

  The door opened and she heard footsteps. Tranq raised she aimed and shot the hybrid. A bullet hit her in the chest and she jerked backward, dropping the gun.

  “You were a disrespectful baggage,” Connall, from the Council, said pointing his gun on her. “You refused to answer the simplest questions and then leave.” He shot her in the leg.

  “Asia,” Hawke yelled through their link.

  “He shot me in the chest, and in the leg. The bullets are working their way out. It’s the guy from the Council. Strange, I thought it’d be Chacal.”

  “One second, let me finish this and I’ll be there.”

  “Get that system back online so we can finish here,” Connall said over his shoulder. A full-blood walked into the communications system and sat down.

  “They are trying to reboot the remote system.”

  “They can’t.”

  Connall, looked at the full-blood and then at her. “What is going on?”

  “Cables are missing.”

  “Which means?”

  “There’s no way to reconnect.”

  “Damn.” He pulled out his cell and tapped a few buttons. “The cables are gone, what next?”

  Asia closed her eyes and listened. Blood continued to leak from her chest and leg at a normal wolf pace.

  “There are four blue birds down there, the fight is almost over. I will take both men to Roderick’s lab. I want to know about the chips, why they stopped working.” He paused and looked at her.

  “Will do.”

  “Are you fighting two blue-birds? He’s counting on your losing.”

  “Down to one. Angus is hurt.”

  Shit. La Patron was going to be pissed.

  Connall stooped in front of her. “How did Angus do it? I just left Andrei, or what’s left of him. We were able to salvage some footage from the camera and he switched from man to man, killing them as he went along. He murdered an Alpha, his pack members and then burned down a legitimate business. As lead council member I assure you I completed a thorough investigation.” He smiled and she smelled his fear.

  What was he afraid of? Did he think she was Angus? Hmm.

  “If I touch you, will you take me over? Learn my secrets? How would you handle the darkness growing inside me every day?” He stared into her eyes and she sensed he wanted her to do as he described.

  “I made a mistake,” he whispered. “A big one. I wish I could change it but I cannot. It is too late. Maybe you can unravel it?”

  “He’s talking crazy.”

  “I know, I hear him.” She realized Hawke stood in the hall and had taken out the full-blood.

  “Angus?”

  “His Alpha is working on him. He’s out of it right now, he got swiped with a claw.”

  Connall touched her hand. Nothing happened. Frowning, he touched her again, squeezing her hand this time. He looked at her puzzled.

  Hawke removed the gun from his hand and assisted the man to his feet. Then he extended his hand to Asia.

  “He said you had magical powers that you could take away all of my problems,” Connall said searching her face.

  “I’m not Angus,” she said into the silence.

  “No? Where is he?”

  “Downstairs. He fought the bluebirds.”

  Connall’s eyes widened. “He took over a bluebird? They don’t think much.”

  “No. He fought the blue-birds.”

  “Why would he do that?” The council member asked. She wondered if he were on some type of drug.

  “So we could leave,” she said, watching him.

  Connall laughed. It was a dry mocking sound. “We are not leaving here.”

  Asia stilled. “Why do you say that?” She glanced at Hawke who walked to the monitor in the communication room.

  “We are destroying this building. It’s my last assignment as a Council member. To rid the Liege of Angus and Hawke if the beasts failed. Both are too dangerous outside of our control. If you would have listened to me the other day all of this could have been avoided.”

  Pissed, Asia st
epped closer to him and snarled. “How? How could this have been avoided?”

  “If you would have left town, left things alone as I suggested to Angus.”

  She snorted. “They never would have allowed Angus or Hawke to leave town.”

  He did not deny her claim.

  “We have other problems,” Hawke said tapping keys. “Boris has locked most of the system down. When I pulled the cable he was in the middle of something, it’s not aborted but it’s not completed. If I reconnect enough cables we might be able to get a door open to leave, but he could complete his plans. Right now, we are stuck. Everything is frozen.”

  Chapter 37

  Hawke stared at the configurations on each monitor following a series of steps Boris initiated. He noticed a common thread running through the base of the building, the newer section added to the castle. Green lights blinked at four of eight points. He searched his memory and did not recall the construction of the additional base with extra elements. Boris must have contracted someone on the side and snuck them into the building. That did not make sense. Hawke had access to the entire castle and installed cameras everywhere.

  “How does it look?” Asia asked.

  “Not good.”

  “Wrong answer. Why? What’s going on?” She stood behind him and kept an eye on Connall who sat on the floor with his eyes closed.

  “Flashing lights in the base exterior wall, the new section. I don’t know what they are, had no idea they were there.” He glanced at her. “Go check on Angus while I make sense of this.”

  She nodded. “Should I take him?” she tipped her chin toward the Council member.

  “Yes, he may want to unburden his conscience and say something to help discover the problem with the pups.”

  “Good forward thinking.” She touched his shoulder, and walked to the door. “Come with Connall.”

  The older man glared at her and didn’t respond. Hawke did not blame his mate for not addressing the traitor by his title.

  “Where?”