by Sydney Addae
Angus prayed to the Goddess to strengthen him to do what was right. The Wolf Nation needed Silas more than Shyla needed him. Intellectually he knew that, but his beast couldn’t, wouldn’t, accept the thought of Shyla with another. The conflict between his beast and human nature, in addition to the intolerable pain, threatened to drive him crazy.
A door opened. Angus groaned at the spike of pain as his flesh healed.
“Time for the first challenge,” Nicromja said.
Whatever held Angus to the floor pulled him up and he got a look at his challenger. How in the name of the Goddess would he fight this beast which was a cross between a hog with long tusks and a wolf?
Was this beast a product of the experiments that had created Angus’ dog, Byte? The Liege had left the dog behind in an abandoned lab Angus and his friend Chacal had searched. The dog decided Angus could keep him and refused to leave. These days Byte watched Silas’ pups rather than wait for bits of Angus’ time.
“The rules are simple. This fight is to the death for the honor of fighting as my champion,” Nicromja said. “As a bonus, the winner receives this lovely full-blood as his bride.”
Horror slammed into Angus as a picture of Shyla rose on the wall. He searched the room for the altar where she had lain and didn’t see it. His beast growled in anger trying to shift to search for her. Nicromja’s glee filled the room as he took a seat on the dais.
The pork filled beast snorted as it looked at Shyla. “Tasty.” Its long tongue ran across thin strips which could be its mouth while gazing at the picture. Saliva glistened from its tusks as it turned dark beady eyes that seemed small in its oversized head, toward Angus.
“Die.” For a large beast, it moved fast as it ran forward. Inhaling, Angus realized this creature was more animal than human. Angus shifted to his hybrid, which matched the creature’s size, side stepped and plowed his fist beneath the chin, sending it flying back toward the statue. Its head slammed into the tip of the statue’s oversized penis and cracked open.
“No question that was easy, that’s why I allowed it to go first. Can you imagine a pig-wolf as my champion?” Nicromja asked in a mocking tone. “No, that would never do.” A door opened and a tall, lumbering, hairy beast with blue mottled skin walked in.
Angus frowned. A bluebird? Here? Where had they found the Liege’s creation? Angus thought with the Liege out of commission, they’d seen the last of this nasty beast. They were hyper-fast, difficult to kill, and the tips of the claws were poisoned. Angus glanced at Nicromja. The psychopath wore a welcoming smile as he looked the blue goon up and down. He was enjoying this.
“I will tell you what I told the last challenger.” Nicromja pointed to the pig-wolf’s carcass on the floor and repeated the rules.
Angus hadn’t realized bluebirds thought independently of their masters. The creature looked at Shyla’s image, his cock rose and leaked drops onto the floor. The pungent smell of lust rose in the air. Angus had no time to channel his anger, he morphed to his largest size and grabbed the bluebird by the neck as it attacked. Hawke had made it clear there was only one way to kill these beasts.
The bluebird tried to break free and bit Angus. Enraged by the threat to his mate, Angus ignored the scratches against his toughened skin, clawed into the chest of the bluebird and snatched out its heart. He held the darkened organ in the palm of his hand for a few seconds as blood gushed out the cavity of the creature onto the floor.
“What will you do now?” Nicromja mocked, standing near the splattering mess, but not one drop marred his image.
Eyes narrowed, Angus tossed the bluebird into the statue. The sound of impact boomed in the room. Angus tossed the heart at Nicromja’s feet, morphed to human, and washed his hands in the water-filled basin.
Nicromja clapped. “Still more human than beast. Good. Past experience says that’s important, otherwise, you lose focus and will be easily defeated. Yes, this time I will win.” He watched as Angus took a sip of water from the basin and wiped his mouth with the back of his arm. “The poison from the bluebird does not affect you?”
Unwilling to share the fact he’d eaten a root for months that made him immune to the poison, Angus shrugged.
“Hmmm, this is better than I thought. Let’s see how you do against this challenger.” The door opened. A full-blood female, dressed in black, who looked suspiciously like Melange, strolled in.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, stopping when their gazes met.
“Kidnapped my mate and brought me here. You?”
She nodded. “Renee is here somewhere.” She paused. “I thought I’d be fighting Silas, that’s a no-win situation.”
“He’s the Goddess’ champion,” Angus said.
Her face tightened. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
“Enough talking,” Nicromja yelled. Images of Renee and Shyla rose on the walls as Nicromja repeated the rules.
“Will you take care of her?” Melange asked, twisting her hair into a knot while staring at the pictures.
“I cannot fight my Alpha,” Angus said in a low voice. “Take care of Shyla.”
“No. If Silas destroys me, it will break my love’s heart and damage her relationship with Jasmine. It’ll be too much for her. We must end this now. Silas will care for them both.”
“Silence!” Nicromja knocked both of them down and pinned them to the floor. “You don’t negotiate defeat,” he yelled. “My champion will not lose to the Goddess, not this time, not ever again.”
Red, yellow and blue flames engulfed Angus and Melange. The stench of burning flesh rose sharply, stinging his nostrils. Unrelenting heat burned the flesh from Angus’ skin. Intense pain shot through his body as he roasted without relief.
Hatred, deep like a river, rose like the phoenix as he gazed toward the dais. Calling on his beast to conserve their energy, Angus stopped struggling against the fire and focused on his service to his Alpha and the Goddess. Moments later, peace overtook him and the fire no longer mattered. Live or die, his commitment was absolute.
“No! No! No!” Nicromja lifted Angus and tossed him against the wall. Boom! He bounced off and fell to the floor. Within seconds, Nicromja lifted him and shook him like a rag doll. “You have agreed to be my champion and you shall,” he growled.
The glow from Nicromja’s eyes momentarily blinded Angus. Closing his eyes, he inhaled and then released his breath slowly. Every inch of his body hurt, the fire had been brutal in that it did not burn anything except the skin. Because his body constantly healed, it made the pain of repeated loss that much worse.
“Rest, both of you. In a few hours, you will both meet the Goddess’ champion or your mates will be given to the bluebirds for service.”
A growl rose from Angus’ lips at the threat.
“Save your anger for the battle. Show me how much or little your mate means to you then.” Nicromja disappeared.
Melange lay on the floor. Smoke rose from her skin. “How did you break it?” She whispered, trying to rise but failing.
“I focused on the Goddess and my Alpha. My commitment to them. Purpose, it brought me peace.” A few moments later, she stood. He reached out a hand to steady her. “Okay?”
She released a breath and opened her eyes. “What the fuck’s going on?”
Angus shared what he knew.
“Jasmine does not know Renee is missing,” Melange said slowly. “What do you think will happen when she finds out?”
He shook his head. “She knows I’m missing, if Silas is missing as well, she may be on the verge of a melt-down. When she and Victoria learns Renee’s involved… I can’t imagine things will ever be the same.”
CHAPTER 22
Jasmine left the kids in the nursery with their nurses to finish homework and play. It had been difficult to pretend everything was okay. Every day after school she listened as each child, including Sarita, talked about their day. Today, listening to them laugh and speak happily about little thin
gs, or friendships gone bad or good, reminded Jasmine what was at stake. Not just her kids, but every child in the Nation’s life could be uprooted or changed if Silas lost the challenge.
But at what cost? Killing his brother? Her heart dropped at the thought. Moving quickly, she returned to the conference room they used as a command center. “I haven’t heard from Asia yet, have you?” She pointed at Hawke.
“Not yet, Mistress.” Hawke moved the platters from lunch onto the side table clearing a space in front of her.
“I need Wernher to tell me where the temple is,” Jasmine said to no one in particular. “I’m not losing my man or my brother. Get me that information,” she snapped.
“I’ve looked into Wernher’s bank statements and if he’s financing something overseas, he’s not doing it from this account. Jacques is using his connections to search for off-shore accounts,” Hawke said.
“Good.” Stomach tied in knots, she paced in front of the table. “Thanks,” she said.
Hawke nodded.
“Mistress?”
Jasmine leaned against the wall in relief. “Tell me you have a name, address, something we can give Barticus.”
“I have news,” Asia said. “May I connect with Hawke and Amynta as well?”
Jasmine exhaled and glanced at Hawke typing on a keyboard at the table. “No. Tell me everything first. Then I’ll decide what to share.”
“Yes, Ma’am, of course. I am hiding in the basement of the house, it was well guarded. Bradford Wernher is here, upstairs, dying. He’s in an advanced stage of cancer. I went in as his nurse, but I didn’t need her memories to see the man is suffering.”
At that moment, Jasmine had nothing to give anyone involved with the challenge. She remained silent waiting for Asia to give her the information she needed to bring her man home and stop this crap from happening again.
“His memories are murky from the drugs. His eldest son handles the estate now and he wasn’t here. He’s out of the country.”
“Where?” Jasmine snapped.
“No one knows. I’ve searched the memories of all five people here and none of them know about Nicromja or the son’s trip. But I discovered something else,” Asia paused. “Melange was taken for the challenge.”
Initially, the words meant nothing, until it hit. Jasmine slid down the wall to catch her breath. “Mistress?”
“Tell me,” Jasmine squeezed out the words.
“The old man knew Melange, or he’d seen her work before and instructed his son to have her picked up. But nothing more than that.”
“If they took Melange, do they have Renee?” Jasmine whispered. She sensed the silence in the room, the heavy weight of every gaze on her face. She couldn’t have held her head up if she wanted. Not my sister and my brother, her heart cried. Incredible pain threatened to break her mind. Silas? Her heart cried. I need you.
“There’s no indication here of that, however given the way this has worked so far, I think it’s likely,” Asia said. “What would you like me to do now?”
Jasmine’s head throbbed with horrific scenes of Silas fighting Melange and Renee and Angus. She wanted to scream at the Goddess and these assholes for playing with other people’s lives. Her chest hurt. It hurt to breathe.
“Silas,” she called to the echo chamber in her heart, wishing as never before to hear his voice. To lean on his strength and his wisdom.
“The information I need is in that house, somewhere, Asia. Find it.”
There was a discernible pause. “Yes, Ma’am.”
Jasmine disconnected and held her head in her palm. “Renee, I’m so sorry.”
Arms wrapped around her shoulders. The comforting scent of vanilla and peaches reached inside her chest and eased her troubled spirit. “Mama.”
“It’s okay, baby,” Victoria whispered as she sat on the floor next to Jasmine and held her in her arms for a few seconds.
“They took Renee,” Jasmine said brokenly.
Victoria’s hand stopped rubbing Jasmine’s back for a fraction of a second before continuing. Victoria gasped and held onto Jasmine. They sat quietly for a few moments.
“Jacques says Renee’s not answering and hasn’t been to her class in two days. How did I not know that?” Victoria whispered.
“Don’t.” Jasmine leaned away and stared at Victoria. “Don’t do that, it’s not healthy.” She wiped the tears from her mom’s eyes.
“No matter how old my children are, it hurts like fire when they’re in trouble.” Victoria held up her hand, stopping Jasmine from speaking. “But now isn’t the time to think about it, we need to get through this, find Silas, Angus, Renee, and Melange and bring them home.”
Jasmine swallowed hard and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
“If you need my energy to help do whatever you do, take it. Jacques will cover me,” Victoria said.
“What?”
Victoria repeated her offer.
A kernel of an idea popped in her thoughts. Asia mentioned earlier that she try and find Shyla through their previous mental link. Silas had promised to help her try, but with everything going on, she forgot. Standing slowly, hope and doubts plagued her like a saint and sinner at an all you can eat buffet. Could she do it? What if she made a mistake and went too fast or too slow? What choice did she have? With Renee and Melange now in the mix, Jasmine’s back was against the wall. She refused to lose all of her family like this, not when there might be a chance.
“Mom, I’ve got to get up, there’s something I haven’t done yet.” She waited for Victoria to lean aside and stood. Wiping her palms against her arms, she tried to recall how she’d found Shyla out of a sea of voices.
“Can I help?” Victoria asked.
Just as Jasmine thought to brush her off she read the need to do something, anything, in her mom’s eyes and realized Victoria was hurting the same as Jasmine. “Yeah, come with me.” Holding hands, she and her mom left the conference room without answering questions or making any comments. Jasmine couldn’t talk about it. Not yet.
They rode the elevator to Jasmine’s office. Vanessa stood in the hall as if she was lost. When she saw Jasmine, she smiled and walked toward them.
“Come with me,” Jasmine said, without breaking stride. Seconds later, the three women were in her office. Jasmine locked her inner office door and paced in front of her desk for a few seconds. She looked at her mom and then Vanessa.
“I’m going to try something I’ve only done once.” She debated whether to explain how she had taken over Shyla’s body to defeat Brenda, an out of control breeder who’d tried to recruit Vanessa against her will a few months ago. The expectant gazes on both women’s faces made her decide against it.
“Okay,” Victoria said. “How can I help?”
Jasmine smiled at her mom’s unwavering support. They didn’t always see eye to eye on some things, but in the end, her mom always had her back and that knowledge went a long way in soothing her fears.
“I’ll let you know in a bit.” Jasmine closed her eyes and thought of Shyla. Unfortunately, images of Renee, Silas, Melange, and Angus interfered with her focus. “Damn,” she muttered, realizing this would be harder than she thought. Again, she tried to picture the librarian in her mind and failed. Releasing a long sigh, she rubbed the ache forming in the front of her head.
“What are you trying to do?” Victoria asked.
“Contact Shyla.”
“What?” Vanessa said. “Can you do that?”
“If she’s trying to do it, she can do it,” Victoria said, rubbing Jasmine’s back.
“I didn’t mean to question.” Vanessa said. “How can you contact someone you don’t know, is what I meant.”
“She’s pack.”
“But there are so many of them. How can you find her?” Vanessa asked, her tone a mixture of hope and doubt.
“Basically, I focus on the person and call them to me. But right now, I can’t get an image of her in my mind.” Jasmine rubbed her fo
rehead.
“Wait, I have some pictures of her and a few videos we took on my cell. Will those help?” Vanessa asked as she walked to the door.
“Yes, it should,” Jasmine said, eager for any help she could get. “I need to connect with Shyla.” Once the words left her mouth, she looked at her mom. “When I said that just now, something clicked. This is it, what I need to do.”
“Great, baby. I knew you’d figure it out,” Victoria said. “Vanessa can help you. Jacques said her energy is strong. I’ll stay out of the way while you do what you need to do. If you need me, I’ll be here.”
Grateful her mom understood she needed Vanessa’s help instead of hers, Jasmine kissed her mom’s cheek. “I love you.”
Victoria wiped the tear from her eye and nodded. “I know, sweetie. Now get my sons back home before dinner.”
Vanessa walked into the room holding a bag. “Didn’t know how much you’d need. As you can see, I have a lot of stuff.” She held up the bag. Jasmine gestured to Victoria to help go through everything. “Here’s the self-videos we took.” Vanessa handed Jasmine the cell phone and she watched the beautiful, intelligent full-blood talk, laugh, and enjoy life. If Jasmine had to choose a mate for Angus, Shyla would definitely have been in the running. With each picture and each frame of video she watched, Jasmine’s anger over Shyla’s situation grew.
“No one should be separated from their mate or used as a remote to make a mate follow instructions,” she murmured. “Shyla needs a den.” Jasmine continued looking at pictures and forming an idea of Shyla in her mind. With half of the pictures still on the desk, Jasmine closed her eyes. “Shyla come to me.” With laser focus, Jasmine searched for the full-blood she’d bonded with before.
When Jasmine sensed a weak response, she zeroed in. “Shyla?”
“Who… who…?”
“La Patroness. Are you well?”
“La Patroness?”
“Yes, answer me.”
“Tired. Can’t break it.”
“I am going to merge with you.” Jasmine didn’t wait for an agreement, she eased in slowly. “This is different, what happened?” Jasmine sensed a heavy layer burdening the female that hadn’t been there before.
