by Tami Lund
“Good for nothing?” she muttered. “I just fixed you, asshole.”
“Excuse me?”
Alexa looked up and up and up, at the tall, masculine figure of Reid Hennigan, Finn’s brother. The one Carley had taken as a lover.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “Talking to myself.”
Reid offered his hand and she allowed him to help her to her feet.
“You okay? Did you hurt yourself?”
Alexa shook her head. “Some stupid lightbearer needed healing, only he didn’t have the decency to ask. He just took it, and took a little too much.”
Reid looked surprised by that comment. “I thought you had to give it willingly?”
“That’s our magic in general, like Olivia and her pup. Healing magic is more…automatic. Usually, we just touch someone with an injury, and the healing starts of its own accord.” She bent and brushed at her wet knees. “Is Carley with you?” she asked casually.
Reid’s eyes widened. “No. Why do you ask?”
Alexa flushed. “I just—I guess—” She cleared her throat. “I think I may have overstepped my boundaries.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Alexa gave him a quizzical look. “Well, I saw Carley up at the beach house, and you’re down here…So I assumed she would be with you. Last week, it seemed like you two were practically inseparable,” she said with a shrug.
A peculiar look crawled across his face before he said, “No, she isn’t with me.” And then he turned and strode away, toward the beach and away from the face of the cliff.
*
What the hell was Carley doing here? Surely she hadn’t come back looking for him? How the hell did she know he was here? He hadn’t told her where he was going. Had she simply assumed, or was she back for an entirely different reason?
Was she back because she really did intend to go back to her mate?
The idea was preposterous, of course, but that didn’t stop his overactive imagination from determining as much. She’d lied about having a mate at all, so why not lie about how she felt about him? For all Reid knew, she’d simply wanted a little strange for a while, and had every intention of going back to the man all along.
He walked to the water’s edge and stood there, looking out over the blue-green depths of Lake Michigan. Chunks of ice floated in the water, and a few brave seagulls perched on the handy rafts, letting the waves take them where they would.
There was an idea, he mused. Shift into a bird and let the wind take him where it would. Start over. Someplace else. Someplace new. Someplace where he didn’t know a damn person. Carley had the right of it, when she told him, when they first met, that she wanted nothing to do with any other magical beings. Wasn’t that why he had been in Chicago in the first place? Because he wanted to get away from the pack? He never imagined he’d meet a lightbearer, and he surely never imagined he’d fall in love with her.
Nor had he imagined she would be mated to another, he reminded himself sourly. He shook his head in disgust. He really should—
The sound caught his attention a scant moment too late. Before he had time to turn around, he was hit from behind, hard enough that it felt as if his skull was being cracked in two. His body pitched forward as the chilly waves of Lake Michigan rushed to meet him, just before the darkness washed over him and he felt nothing at all.
*
Carley was heading out the front door of the beach house when she ran into Cecilia.
“Carley,” Cecilia said in surprise. “You’re back. Have you talked to Reid, then?”
Carley blinked in surprise. “Reid? Why do you ask?”
Cecilia mirrored her surprised look. “Well, because he’s here too,” she explained.
“He is?” Carley couldn’t be more shocked. Reid was here? In the coterie? But what was he doing here? She seized the front of Cecilia’s shirt.
“He’s in danger, Cecilia.”
Cecilia glanced over her shoulder, as if she expected danger to materialize there. She then whipped her head back around and gave Carley a wide-eyed look. “How so?”
“Miguel,” Carley said, determined to be honest and forthcoming. Finally. “He means to kill Reid.”
“Oh no,” Cecilia said, and then she breathed a sigh of relief. “Miguel isn’t here, Carley.”
“I know. He was in Chicago a few days ago. I came back to prepare for his return.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But I’ll come up with something. I—I injured him when I saw him last. I believe he’ll come back, looking for a healer. And I plan to be waiting. I’m going to—to—” She stuttered to a stop.
“To what?” Cecilia pressed.
“If he’s dead,” Carley whispered, “I won’t be mated anymore.”
“Oh, Carley,” Cecilia said as she covered her mouth with her hands. “You can’t possibly intend to…”
“I have to do something,” she said with new determination. “I can’t let him hurt Reid. Even if Reid won’t ever take me back, I can’t do that. I have to stop him, Cecilia.”
“We should tell Tanner.”
“This is my problem, Cecilia. I brought this on myself—and Reid. I need to fix it. I need to make it right.”
“Fine. But I’m going with you.”
“No way. I’m not taking the chance. Finn would kill me.”
“You said yourself that Miguel is in Chicago. And Tanner had the coterie searched after Reid returned. They found a cave in the woods, just over there.” She pointed at the thick stand of trees two hundred yards north of the beach house. “He’s been living there, I guess, all this time.”
Carley glanced to the north. “That explains how he knew I was here last week,” she murmured thoughtfully. “Well, let’s start there. Let’s go see this cave.”
“What are we looking for?”
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll know it when we find it.”
The two women left the house and trudged through spongy, dormant grass, heading toward the nearby woods. They were at the edge of the line of trees when Carley had the most unusual feeling wash over her. She came to a stuttering halt. Cecilia gave her a curious look.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. I feel…strange. Like a rush of apprehension and then…nothing.” She frowned. What did it mean? She’d been conscious of her ability to sense Reid’s emotions for some time now. Was that it? Where those his emotions? What was he apprehensive about?
“I think Reid just discovered I’m here,” she said grimly, as realization dawned.
“Oh, Carley,” Cecilia said unhappily.
They continued on to the cave. It was dark and dank and clearly had been lived in recently. It smelled strongly of unwashed person and clothing. Miguel, it appeared, was a lousy housekeeper.
“I can’t believe he lived like this,” Carley murmured as she crawled around the cave. It was just large enough for she and Cecilia to move about on their hands and knees, but not to stand erect. “He’s normally as obsessive as Reid.”
“All shifters are like that, I think,” Cecilia replied.
“Yes, but Miguel isn’t a shifter.”
“And neither are his intentions remotely pure. Look.” Cecilia picked up a small notepad that was partially tucked underneath the pile of musty, old blankets Miguel had been using as a bed. She flipped it open and read a passage.
“The Chosen One knew the truth, better than any of the rest of us. And I could have saved him. If my bitch mate hadn’t interfered, I would have been there, and I could have saved him. But she didn’t care. She wanted him dead. She killed him. I wish she’d died when I pushed over down the stairs that day. But she didn’t. I have to kill her. She deserves it. She killed my dreams.”
Cecilia lifted her horror filled gaze to look at Carley. “He pushed you down the stairs?”
Carley nodded.
“Is that why you left?”
“I was af
raid he would try to finish the job, once he realized I didn’t die.” She waved at the notebook. “I guess my fears were justified.”
“I wish you had said something, had gone to Tanner. He would have protected you.”
Had she taken that route, she might not have ever met Reid, might not have fallen in love, might not have lost that love. At the moment, the way her heart felt as though it was literally broken, she couldn’t say which would have been the better choice.
“I was pregnant too,” she admitted. “But I lost it in the fall.” Tears pricked her eyes and she tried to blink them away.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Cecilia whispered as she gathered Carley in her arms and hugged her tightly.
“It’s okay now,” Carley said as she swiped at the tears. “I mean, I was growing excited over the idea of having a babe, but it was definitely clouded by the fact that it was Miguel’s child.”
Cecilia nodded her understanding. “How did you interfere and keep him from protecting the Chosen One?”
Carley shrugged. “I’m not sure, other than because I didn’t actually believe all that propaganda he fed his followers. That night—the night he pushed me down the stairs—the Chosen One came to our house. He touched me—my head. I think he somehow read my thoughts or something. I don’t know. Whatever he saw there, he decided that Miguel needed to stay behind to watch me, instead of go with the rest to go after the shifters or whatever they intended to do.”
“They came after me,” Cecilia said grimly. “The Chosen One was actually my brother, Cedric, who we all thought died a decade ago.” She looked down at the words scrawled across the pages of the notebook.
“He faked his own death, then spent the next ten years recruiting followers, lightbearers who would never dream of allowing shifters into the coterie. Then, when Olivia mated with Tanner, and I started hanging out with Finn and the other shifters, he became furious because he and my parents had been unable to turn me to their way of thinking. The night Miguel pushed you off the cliff, Cedric and his followers came to the beach house to kill me, just because he hated me. He also planned to kill the king and queen and Olivia so that he could take over as our ruler.
“That had been his initial plan, according to the followers who have been rehabilitated. He wanted to be king. Figured he should have been next in line, since Olivia wasn’t male. Us bringing shifters into the coterie exacerbated his hatred. Gave it more focus, I suppose.”
Carley ran a hand through her hair. “That certainly explains why Miguel wants to kill Reid now.”
All of a sudden, she felt a strange sensation in her mind. Like…pain. Far-off pain, as if she was feeling it secondhand. A memory, of sorts.
“Reid!”
Cecilia jumped, bumped her head on the cave ceiling, and dropped the notebook. “What?”
“Reid!” Carley cried again as she scurried for the entrance to the cave. “He has Reid!”
*
“Wake up, damn it!”
Miguel slapped the shifter with the belt again. There was a satisfying snapping noise as the leather hit already puckered and scarred skin. Who knew whipping someone would feel so damn good? Whoever had done it to this guy before knew. His back was a tangled mess of puckered, ruined flesh. This wasn’t this shifter’s first go-round with a leather belt.
He lifted his arm and brought the belt down again. This time, the flesh broke and blood began to ooze. The shifter finally stirred, too, groaning loudly as he was pulled back into consciousness.
“That’s it,” Miguel chortled. “Wake up for me. I want you to feel it. I want you to feel the pain, shifter. And I want you to know why you’re feeling the pain.” He smacked the shifter with the belt again. “Yeah,” he said with enthusiasm as the shifter’s body jerked when the belt broke skin again.
“Yeah.”
*
Shit. It was happening again. Quentin? No—Quentin was dead.
But Reid was being whipped again. The feeling was unmistakable. His arms and legs were tied, he was on his stomach, and he came awake to the feel of leather biting into his skin—again.
This time, though, his head ached too. The last thing he remembered was standing on the beach, looking out over the water, and contemplating flying away somewhere. Anywhere.
And then he heard a sound, but before he could turn around, he was hit from behind and knocked out cold. Now, he was trussed up like a slaughtered deer. What the hell?
Leather bit into his flesh again, bringing with it the sting of pain and the memories of the last time, and he gritted his teeth to keep from crying out, as his body jerked from the impact.
“Wake up. I want you to feel it. I want you to feel the pain, shifter. And I want you to know why you’re feeling the pain.”
That wasn’t Quentin’s voice. Who the hell was it? Reid finally forced his eyes open and turned his head to the side.
“Yeah. There you are. You awake, shifter?”
Lightbearer. But not one he recognized. What the hell was going on? He tried to pull on his shifter magic but nothing happened. The lightbearer had warded the straps around his arms and legs.
The man lifted his arm and slapped him with the belt again. Must be his belt. Reid hadn’t worn a belt since the last time he was whipped.
“Who?” he mumbled.
The man laughed. “Who am I? You don’t know? You’ve been fucking my mate. How long have you been fucking her? Do you know who I am now?”
“Miguel,” Reid croaked. A woman. It always came back to a damned woman. He shook his head, tried to fight the radiating waves of pain.
“You guessed it, shifter. Too bad my bitch mate isn’t here. I’d sure like her to witness this. She ruined my life. I wish she could watch while I ruin yours.”
Despite everything, Reid was glad the man didn’t know Carley was indeed in the coterie, right now. If he did…He shuddered at the thought. The last thing he wanted was for her to see him like this.
“I wish I had one of those devices, like the humans have, that records things,” Miguel said as he delivered another smack with the belt. Blood flew from Reid’s back and splattered across Miguel’s face. He wiped it away and scowled.
The sound of a door slamming against a wall rent the air. Miguel’s head whipped around as he stared at the entrance to the bedroom where he had Reid trussed up.
Carley burst through the doorway. “Reid!” she shrieked, and she charged at Miguel, grabbed the belt and jerked it from his hand. He was so surprised by her actions that he didn’t even fight her. But his shock was momentary.
“You bitch. I’m gonna kill you.” He stalked toward her, fury blazing in his eyes. Reid watched, helpless, unable to do a damn thing to help her. He struggled against the bindings, but he couldn’t break free.
When Miguel lunged, Carley moved out of the way, turning at the last minute and giving him a push from behind that sent him stumbling headfirst into the wall.
“Thank the lights for Vivian,” she muttered. Reid guessed the human woman had taught her those moves. He was impressed, despite himself.
Cecilia darted into the room, and he watched her eyes widened as she took in the bloody mess on his back. She rushed across the room and used her magic to untie his limbs. He groaned, tried to roll over onto his back, and hissed in pain before pushing himself into a seated position. His head swam, and he fought back nausea.
“Stop moving,” she commanded.
“Help her,” Reid responded.
Miguel grabbed Carley by the hair and flung her into the wall. Reid roared as the magic of the shift took over his limbs.
“Carley!” Cecilia screamed, and she ran and then leaped, landing on Miguel’s back. She reached around and scrabbled at his disfigured face with her hands. He shrieked and bucked her off his back. She crashed to the ground with a resounding thud.
Miguel turned his focus to Carley, reaching for her, even as Reid, in panther form, sprang, leaping toward him. Before he made impact, Carley swung her a
rm, landing a punch to Miguel’s face. The impact flung him to the side and Reid missed him, skidding into the wall instead. When he turned around, he watched as Carley grabbed Miguel’s shoulders and lifted her knee, hitting him hard, right where it would hurt the most. He fell to the floor like a sack of flour, howling in rage and pain. Reid shifted back into human form and groaned as he collapsed onto the floor, a few feet away from Miguel.
Carley scrabbled across the floor to Cecilia, who waved her away. “Go,” she said. “Help Reid.”
She came to him, although she hesitated a foot away. He reached for the shirt that Miguel had taken off his body and tried to hide his ruined back, but she grabbed it and pulled it back over his head. “Stop. That will only make it worse.”
“Give me the goddamned shirt, Carley,” he said with a growl. “I don’t want anyone to see this.”
“Why not? It’s not like you did it to yourself.”
“No,” he said. “You did.”
She gasped, reeling from his comment. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. He heard it in her voice. She really was. And it wasn’t even her fault. She hadn’t been wielding the leather belt. He needed to be man enough to say so, to take back his scathing comment, to quit being an ass and forgive her. He needed—
Her eyes suddenly widened, and at the same time, the tip of a sword poked through her body, just above her right hip.
“No!”
She made a gurgling noise as her gaze dropped to look at the offending instrument. Blood pooled around the wound, slid down to the tip of the sword, and dripped onto the floor.
“No!”
Someone was shouting, begging, maybe sobbing. It took Reid long seconds to realize it was him. She fell forward, into his arms, and her eyes fluttered into the back of her head as a trickle of blood slithered out of the side of her mouth.
“No!”
He held her tightly, conscious of the blade still sticking from her body. He was afraid to pull it out, afraid to cause her more injury and blood loss.
“Carley, baby, talk to me. Stay with me. We’ll get you help, sweetheart. Carley?”
Cecilia clamored to her feet and rushed from the room. Reid sat on the floor and rocked Carley like a child, having no idea if she was even conscious enough to hear him as he told her how much he loved her and didn’t want her to die, and that they would work through this, somehow. Some way.
