Escape (Elite Supernatural Trackers Book 3)

by Heather Renee

  After getting dried off and dressed, I sat with Nixie on the bed and held her up to my face. “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

  “Which part?”

  I grinned, hoping to cheer her up by starting with the easy stuff. “How about when you were high as fuck on that magic gas. Do you remember that?”

  She groaned. “Not voluntarily. Whatever Raymond put in that shit was potent.”

  “You were at least able to open the portal before passing out, so that was helpful, and you woke up at the right time. For all of us.”

  She grimaced. “What if he doesn’t make it?”

  “He’s going to make it. Mason is too bullheaded to give up that easily. Especially when he figures out a certain fairy has some pretty big feelings for him.” She didn’t deny it, so I kept going. “Does he already know?”

  “He’s the one who told me after I insisted that I hated him.” She sighed.

  “Love and hate are very similar emotions in a lot of ways.”

  “Yeah, and it’s fucking frustrating. I don’t like it.”

  I stroked her wing. “You’re going to be okay, and so is Mason. How about we go check on him so I can figure out what we need to do? Luca saw the front of this place. It might not be safe anymore. Plus, I don’t know if you saw Jenna or not, but she might need a friend, too.”

  “She totally vamped out, and it was fucking awesome.” Nixie’s smile grew, and I was glad that at least the incident had been good for something.

  “Yeah, let’s try not to mention it around her for a little while. Have some sensitivity to the newborn, maybe?”

  Nixie nodded, but I didn’t believe her and accepted the fact that there was nothing I could do if the fairy decided to be a pain in the ass. She was who she was.

  As we headed up the stairs to rejoin the others, I paused and brought her level to my face. “If you really want to make something work with Mason, we’ll figure out a way. I mean, you were able to make yourself big when you were pretending to be Jaxon for a short time.”

  “But I’d have to give up everything that I am in order to do that, and as much as he’s unfortunately grown on me, I’m not willing to do that for anyone.”

  And now I understood why she’d been so moody the last several days. She knew how to solve her problem, but the cost was too much. There had to be another way, and when we didn’t have psycho bloodsuckers after us, I’d help her figure it out.

  Entering into the kitchen, I saw Blake first getting blood for Jenna. “Is she okay?”

  “Not really, but I’m keeping her calm and sleepy. If I lift it even a little, she bursts into tears, and I can’t fucking take it. Her hurt… it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.” He squeezed the jar of blood until the glass made a cracking sound. “I better get this to her.”

  “Tell her nobody here judges her. Those urges…none of us know what that’s like, but we get it. It could have happened to anyone,” I said.

  “I did, but she doesn’t believe me.” The sadness pouring from him was breaking my heart.

  “She will, in time.”

  Moving past, we continued into the living room. Mason was prone on the couch with Jaxon kneeling beside him. Nixie flew to the fae, and Jaxon came to me.

  “Is she better now?” he asked, and I nodded. “What about you? What happened with Luca?”

  I told him everything that went on after they went through the portal, and his grip on my hips tightened painfully.

  “I’m going to kill the bastard,” he ground out.

  Turning to Zeke, I said, “He saw the front of this place. How likely is it that they’ll find us?”

  “It’s not something they can find on the internet. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. The better question is what are we going to do about all of these people in my house?”

  Ethan, Gabe, and Owen. I’d completely forgotten about them. “Where are they?”

  “Owen is cleaning up downstairs,” Zeke began to answer but was interrupted.

  “And we’re right here,” Gabe announced, coming from the upstairs.

  Twisting out of Jaxon’s hold, I ran toward them, hugging Gabe first, then Ethan. They’d both lost weight and seemed to have been used as punching bags, likely on more than one occasion, but they were both smiling, which made me happy.

  “I’m so glad you two are alright. Come, sit. Let’s talk.”

  An hour later, everyone was caught up, and the main part of the house was overflowing with people, which was causing Zeke to be extra pissy.

  “I have a cabin in Colorado. More than a few of you need to head there. My shield is good, but there is a lot of power under this roof right now, and I don’t want to push any more limits than we have to.”

  “We can go,” Jenna said first. “Might be good to get some space.”

  She’d rejoined us about a half-hour before, seeming better but not quite sure of herself. After losing control like she had, it would take a lot of self-love to get her back to where she’d been with the acceptance of this new life.

  Blake leaned closer to her. “Are you sure?”

  “I wouldn’t have said so if I wasn’t.”

  I nudged Ethan. “I’m sorry, but you and Gabe should go as well, and even Deacon. None of you are healed up enough to fight, and the cabin should be safer given I won’t be there.”

  He winced at the soft touch I’d made on his ribs. “I’d like to argue with you, but I don’t have the energy. If shit hasn’t hit the fan before we’re back to normal, we’ll join you then.”

  “And we’ll gladly have you,” I replied.

  “What about Mason?” Spencer asked.

  Mason still hadn’t woken, but his pulse was strong. We had high hopes he was going to wake, but the when was still unknown. We needed Nixie with us, and I knew she’d want to be where Mason was, so I answered before anyone could.

  “He won’t take up much room just lounging around. We’ll put him in his room upstairs for now.”

  That left me, Jaxon, Spencer, Mason, Nixie, Owen, and Zeke staying in one place, and the rest headed to the cabin.

  “It must be like three in the morning. Why don’t we all get some sleep, and we’ll sort things out tomorrow?” Jaxon suggested, and I wasn’t going to argue. As soon as he mentioned sleep, I was already yawning and feeling my eyes get droopy.

  We hadn’t sorted out how we were going to move forward with the Luccovinos, but a few hours of sleep would do us all a lot of good and shouldn’t make that much of a difference. Hopefully.

  Chapter 19

  Sleep was something I was beginning to live without. The stress of everything happening around us had my mind constantly pacing inside my head, and I couldn’t manage to turn it off unless I was being distracted by Jaxon.

  Unfortunately, with a crowded house, that wasn’t going to happen.

  So, I crawled out of bed only a few hours after I’d settled under the covers and headed upstairs. The last time I’d devoured coffee had been about a day ago and that was much too long. I needed my liquid gold to clear my head and calm my nerves.

  The kitchen was already occupied when I entered, but I didn’t mind. It was just the person I wanted to see.

  “Good morning,” I mumbled as I reached for the cups.

  “Is it, though?” Jenna responded.

  “Only you can decide that, I guess.”

  She didn’t respond at first, and I was hoping my words would find a way to resonate with her. I had to learn them the hard way, and I hoped like hell maybe she could learn from my mistakes. She didn’t need to hate the world for things that happened like I had for so long.

  “It’s good that we’re leaving, right?” she finally asked after I was seated next to her with two cups of coffee in front of me.

  “I think so. You’re going to turn out to be a badass vamp one day, but you need to crawl before you run. Joining us in a fight against the most powerful beings amongst our kind probably isn’t the best choi
ce for on-the-job training.”

  She grinned, seeming to need my reassurances, and I was glad to give them. Us girls had to stick together with the Fabled Fuckers around us.

  “About yesterday,” Jenna added.

  “That was nothing. Honestly, the fact you hadn’t done it sooner is beyond impressive. You’ll likely do much worse before you get better control. Just remember, none of us are going to judge you for it. Well, so long as it’s only Zeke you attack, and not any of us,” I teased, probably too soon, but she laughed anyway.

  My coffee was gone by the time we finished chatting and Jenna headed back to her room, likely to wake Blake. The sun was already shining through the windows, so I headed to the deck and kicked my feet up on the table, taking a few minutes to myself.

  Zeke’s fortress was stunning. I hadn’t thought of myself as a rural-living type of girl, but hearing nothing other than birds and running water was pretty damn nice. I could see this in my future instead of the big city life I’d thought was where I belonged.

  The sliding door opened, and a shadow fell over the table, but I didn’t bother to glance up as he took a seat.

  “Good morning, Ethan.”

  He tipped his head to me, and we sat in silence until he was ready to speak. I knew Ethan’s trust issues, and if he wanted to say something, then he would.

  Finally, he turned toward me. “Why did you come back for us?”

  “Because I told you I would get the two of you out of there. When I knew your decision to stay had been based on false information, I had to follow through on my promise.”

  It was all the truth. We would have done it even if Owen hadn’t been there as well. Even if we hadn’t had Zeke’s help.

  “Thank you,” he whispered.

  A few months ago, I would have only looked out for myself, but I wasn’t that same girl thanks to the kindness of Anthony and the bonds I’d forged with the Fabled Four. Even though some days it was terrifying as fuck to care so much, I never planned on going back to only looking out for the wellbeing of myself.

  Spencer opened the door. “It’s almost time to go. Do you have everything you need?”

  Ethan nodded. “I didn’t come with anything other than the clothes on my back.”

  “We’ll help you start over.” I reached a hand to him, hoping he’d accept the assistance.

  He only smiled and then stood, heading back into the house.

  I glanced up at Spence. “Any word on Mason?”

  His eyes darkened and body tensed. “No changes yet, but he’s still stable at least. If he’s not awake by tomorrow, then we’ll try some other methods.”

  I shuddered, not only because I was worried about Mason, but Spencer could be a scary fucker when he wanted to be, or even when he wasn’t trying.

  Following him inside, I filled my cup again with coffee before heading toward the living room to say goodbye to the others.

  I’d yet to actually talk with Deacon, but he was never much of a talker, so I didn’t take it personally when he barely glanced my way. Though, his face was still severely swollen, and he possibly couldn’t even see I stood off to the side.

  Jaxon came up beside me. “I don’t like waking up alone.”

  “My mind wouldn’t shut off, and I came up here for some alone time with my first love.”

  He glared at me, and I raised my coffee cup to make sure he got my point, but still, he didn’t seem to find my statement as hilarious as I did.

  Jenna came back down, this time with Blake behind her, and everyone said their goodbyes. We didn’t make a big deal about it, sticking with the hope that this would all be over within the next day or two depending on how our planning session went. Zeke better have a lot of information for us, or else it was time the rest of us continued on our own.

  After the others were gone, we settled in at the table, and I took a seat next to Jaxon. It was weird not having Mason and Nixie with us, but I knew she wasn’t fond of leaving his side for any amount of time.

  Zeke sat at the head of the table on my opposite side, and Owen was across from me. The normal smirk I’d associated with him was long gone, and in his place was a beaten, but furious, shifter. He certainly had a lot of explaining to do for all the times I had been so sure he was hitting on me, but at the moment, he only had eyes for the sorcerer next to him.

  Once Spencer joined us, our group was as complete as it was going to get. “So, what’s the plan of attack?” I asked.

  “Attack first, ask questions later,” Nixie’s voice sounded from behind me.

  The fairy flew next to my head, dropped a circular device onto the table, pressed a button and then was gone again. We all glanced at each other, confused as well. Then, her voice sounded again.

  “It’s called an intercom, you idiots. Now, our plan is to attack. Clear and simple. We go in with all magic on full blast, take the parasites out, and call it good. Anyone object? Please do, because I’m itching for a fight.”

  Ahh, there was my girl.

  “It’s not that simple,” Zeke began, but he was cut off.

  “Listen, son of a douche. I know you don’t know me, but I’ve been around for a few centuries. I know how these people work. They can only be beat by brute force. So, if you want to go about it any other way, then maybe the rest of us need to move the fuck on.”

  I could picture her fluttering around, hands flailing in the air as she ranted. The image made me grin, mostly because I agreed. I didn’t know enough about the Luccovinos, but a bully was a bully. They were all the same, some just more powerful than the others.

  Zeke glared at the intercom. “Yes, brute force as you put it is necessary when we act, but choosing when and where we do so is of the utmost importance as well. I have been working alongside this family for years now. They are always five steps further in their plans than anyone else thinks.”

  Nixie huffed. “And that’s exactly why we need to just show up and start beating the shit out of them.”

  Spencer leaned closer to the speaker. “You both have a point. Now, we will take all opinions into consideration. Though, I agree with Nixie that we need to act quickly. The longer we wait, the higher chance that they will find us, and we will have a better chance of winning if we’re on the offense.”

  Zeke scoffed. “Nobody is going to find us here.”

  “What he means is that his shields are the strongest any of you have ever encountered. It’s part of why the vamps kept him around for so long,” Owen piped in.

  “Yeah, and what is your role in all of this? Why were you at the prison?” Jaxon asked the questions we’d all been curious about.

  “He was helping me, and that’s all you need to know,” Zeke answered defensively.

  Owen grabbed his hand. “Zeke asked me to check in on Cara when he’d heard his dad bragging about her. Especially as more information surfaced and we learned you four had let her in. From all we knew, you guys were on Team Gillian. The plan was to step in and give Cara an out, but she wouldn’t take it, and I stuck around purely out of curiosity.”

  “Meaning you flirted with me to get under their skin in a weird attempt to get closer to us even though someone with my genitalia clearly doesn’t do it for you?” I couldn’t help myself. I had to say something.

  He winked, or at least attempted to with his two black eyes. “It was fun while it lasted and helped to pass the time. It’s not like you would have trusted me any more if I’d told you I was gay.”

  Well, I might have, but it probably wouldn’t have made a difference to the guys.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket, but when I glanced at it and saw the number was private, I ignored it. “With all of that being said, how do you propose we move forward? Obviously, we have to wait for Mason to wake.”

  The fucker had better open his emerald eyes soon. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him.

  “Nixie, any changes?” Jaxon asked, but she didn’t answer. We all glanced at each other as my phone rang again.
r />   “What?” I snapped as I answered.

  “The cabin was compromised. Get there now before they kill your friends,” Greggor’s voice was on the other line, but it ended before I could ask more questions.

  “Zeke, we need to go to your cabin now. Like, right the fuck now.”

  He took me seriously and immediately stood while everyone else waited for me to elaborate. I wasn’t sure how to say the words. I didn’t want to say them. If they were all dead…

  “The fight might have come to us. Be prepared,” was all I offered as Zeke finished opening the portal.

  On the other side, the cabin was on fire, vamps were tag-teaming Ethan in his bear form, and another was holding Gabe by the back of his head, blood dripping from the parasite’s chin.

  I let out a battle cry as I charged forward, but I was too late to save my friend. The vampire tossed Gabe’s lifeless body onto the ground. “You ready to be dessert, sweetheart?”

  My hands were already filled with magic, and I didn’t stop moving until I was close enough to pounce on the fucker who had killed my friend. My friend who hadn’t even been free a full day and deserved so much more than the cards he’d been dealt.

  When I connected with the bloodsucker, electricity arced from every surface of my exposed skin, and I fried the piece of shit into burnt toast. It was brutal and rash and purely emotional, but I’d been pushed too many times, and seeing Gabe’s lifeless eyes staring up into the nothingness sent me over the edge.

  My name was being called, but I didn’t stop until the vamp dissipated into dust through my fingertips.

  When I turned around, I was ready to kill a dozen more just the same, and I hoped there was a Luccovino somewhere near, but there was nothing left other than my friends and a new addition.

  One I was ready to tear into shreds.

  Chapter 20

  Blake’s roar stopped me in my tracks, and instead of ripping Greggor a new asshole for being five minutes too late in his arrival, I gave my friend my full attention.