by Mason Sabre
He scowled. “They want him because he is a half-breed?”
She snorted. “And I’d heard so much about the great Stephen Davies. Maybe the rumours were wrong.”
Stephen’s mind worked like a puzzle, trying all the pieces into place and then discarding the ones that didn’t fit. What did Patterson want with Phoenix? What did Phoenix have? It couldn’t be because of the dead Human boy a couple of years ago. Patterson had no idea that Phoenix had been the one to kill him. They had handed him Phoenix’s maker, who had the same tracer—or else, shifter DNA—as Phoenix, and so Patterson believed they had taken care of the culprit. The blood samples had been a match. Case closed.
“He wants him because he is a half-breed,” he said thinking aloud. “Because he is different. He was Human ...” Stephen’s mind went back to Patterson’s basement and the boxes. Suddenly the word Norton stood out like a fucking flag in the middle of an empty field.
“He is more powerful than you. More powerful than pures,” the witch said. “Why do you think they don’t allow you lot to mix your breeds? Could you imagine? A Human bred with an Other is one thing, but what if you had a mix? The fact that this half-breed made it and didn’t die shows them that it is possible. Something in the boy made him survive ... imagine the possibilities.”
He did. Phoenix was something new, something that no one had thought possible. But what if incongruent Others could in fact mix this way? That would scare the hell out of Humans because, while half-breeds had the best of both worlds, mix breeds would have power beyond belief.
Shit. Gemma and Cade. Did Patterson know she was pregnant? He wasn’t going to ask the witch and give it away. They wanted Phoenix because he could hold the strain. If he held the powers of both sides, what power would Gemma and Cade’s baby hold?
“Shit,” Stephen repeated aloud, turning to Raven. “We have to get to my sister.”
“What about the witch?”
“Bring her with us. If she tries anything, just put her out.” She glared at him, her eyes shooting daggers. He had no qualms about ending her life—sometimes shit just needed doing.
Before he realised what she was planning, the witch brought her knee up in the perfect way that women always managed to do, slamming her thigh between his legs and sending pain spearing through every inch of his body.
With a grunt, he let go of her and fell to his knees, cupping his brutalised manhood with both hands. “Bitch.”
She raced away from them, but Raven was on her fast, his strides bigger than hers. He leapt and tackled her down to the ground, rolling with her as he did so, so that she landed on top of him and his large frame didn’t crush her.
“Let me go,” she screamed, smashing her fists into his chest, but Raven grabbed her wrists and held them in one big hand, the other locked around her waist.
“Are you that stupid that you don’t realise we did not do this to Andy. They did,” Stephen croaked, still clutching where she had kneed him. “What do you think they are going to do when they get hold of you?”
“You are the one who is stupid,” she spat. “You just hand delivered them the half-breed.”
Chapter Nineteen
Cade leaned against the bars between his cage and Gemma’s, feeling her presence right behind him as she mirrored his stance. His chest rose and fell slowly, his breathing laboured. How long had they been here? His limbs ached and his bones were stiff, his body heavy, every movement slow and sluggish. His head thumped to the rhythm of his heartbeat, ready to explode.
He let his eyes stay closed, letting them think he was sleeping. It was easier that way. Humans and their all-so-powerful weapons. The silver they had shot him with made him burn hot on the inside, but his skin was ice-cold on the outside. Cade held onto Gemma’s hand through the bars behind him, keeping the touch hidden. The moment his senses told him he wasn’t being watched, and the guards’ presence felt a little further away, he peered through his lashes at his surroundings. It looked like they were in some kind of a converted barn or basement, but the loud bangs and crashes that echoed through the place made Cade approximate that the place had to be much larger and much deeper.
Three Humans were sitting in the corner of the room, eyes on the tiny screens there as they laughed and gibed at each other. As far as Cade could tell, the monitors were linked to security cameras that seemed to show different angles within a large warehouse, as well as the immediate area around the outside of the building. It didn’t show enough for him to have a clear idea of where the hell they were exactly, or why and who the hell had brought them here.
One of the men suddenly swore and the other two jumped up and raced out. Cade forced himself to stay put and not react. He didn’t want to call attention to the fact he was conscious. He felt Gemma grip his fingers and he gave her a reassuring squeeze in return, glad she was following his example and staying as quiet and motionless as possible.
Fuck, he hoped to god that it was Stephen who had somehow found them. He would have realised they were missing by now since it had to be hours from the time they had agreed to meet at the service station. Then again, if it was Stephen, it definitely wasn’t a good sign that these Human asshole guards had just spotted him on their screens, he thought with a curse.
Letting his eyes close again, Cade shut out the outside world, closing his ears and his mind to everything. He pictured a stark, white room, the one where he and Phoenix could go to and connect in their minds. He called out for the young wolf, asking him to respond, but it was like searching in the darkness for a speck of dust. Phoenix was nowhere to be seen.
A good few minutes passed with Cade deep in his mind, desperately searching and calling for the wolf, pushing himself beyond his limits despite the weakening effect of the silver coursing through his system.
The door to the room they were being held in suddenly burst open, and Cade felt Gemma jolt from behind him. He stroked a thumb over her knuckles in the hopes of calming her and she grasped his fingers more tightly. He swore inwardly. He hated feeling helpless when it came to protecting his mate—worse so when his mate was carrying his child.
“He’s still out of it? How much did you give him?” Cade recognised the voice immediately. Patterson was the key representative and alliance between Humans and Others. Power and money defined him, as well as his hate for Others and his belief that Humans were the superior race. Despite this, however, he had shown enough acumen so far as to know that starting a war with Others might not be the smartest move. Humans may vastly outnumber them and hold powerful weapons, but the strength and danger of an Other was not to be scoffed at or taken lightly. For every fifty Humans, one Other was needed to take them down.
Did Patterson have any idea he had just kidnapped the Other alpha’s daughter? Cade would bet his life he did—nothing would be accidental or pure luck with Patterson.
Something metal rattled against the bars. “Hey, wolf boy, wake up.”
Cade opened his eyes slowly and fixed them on the well-dressed diplomat. He looked out of place standing there with his expensive suit and shoes and groomed hair. Patterson moved in closer, but made sure to keep a safe distance from the cage. Perhaps he wasn’t a complete idiot. “With what right do you hold us prisoners here?”
Patterson gave a faint smile then inclined his head at him. “You are free to go,” he said smoothly, his face giving away nothing.
The Human next to him bashed his bat against the bars, the thud reverberating around the cage. “Hey, wolf boy, you can go,” he jeered, but Cade kept his eyes fixed firmly on Patterson. He didn’t for a minute trust Patterson or believe he had gone to all this trouble to catch them, just to let them go this easily again.
“I’ll leave it in your capable hands. Don’t screw it up,” said Patterson to his lackey and then turned and left the room without sparing Cade another glance. Cade got to his feet slowly, all his senses on high alert. He heard Gemma’s shaky breath as he rose, but he dared not take his eyes off Patterson’s mi
nions. Losing sight of a threat for even a second was never a wise thing to do—it could prove lethal.
“You’re letting us go?” Gemma breathed hopefully.
The Human scum laughed unpleasantly. “Your boyfriend can go, sweetheart,” he drawled, his eyes roving over her lasciviously, “but not you.” His grinned widely, showing off a set of yellow, crooked teeth. “You’ll stay here and keep me … company.”
Cade roared and hurled himself against the bars, his arms shooting out from between them and grabbing for the man. “You stay the fuck away from her,” he snarled.
The man sprang backwards and chuckled. “Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of her.” There were two men in the room. Cade could take them, silver bat or not, they’d have to kill him to get him to leave her there.
“How shall we do this?” one of the men asked. He had a deep accent, one that was from the east—not too bright then.
“Cade, just go,” Gemma beseeched him softly. “We have a better chance of making it if you are free. You can come find me. It’s no help to us if we are both stuck in here.” She spoke so quietly that only he could hear her words with his enhanced hearing. He inhaled deeply, then stepped back close to her again, snaking his hand through the bars and cupping her face in his hand. He didn’t know if he should tell her that they had no intention of setting him free. He stroked the smooth skin of her jaw with his thumb and she turned her cheek into his palm.
“I’m not leaving you, Gem. Don’t ask me to.” His hand fell from her face and he slumped to the ground weakly. He leaned against the bars, breathing heavily, his head slumping forward.
“Cade,” Gemma cried out in alarm, reaching through the bars for him.
“He’s been out of it for ages. I think you gave him too much of that shit.”
“If it was too much, he’d be dead,” the one with the deep accent said. He unhooked the keys from his jeans and cautiously opened the cage that Cade was in. He didn’t go all the way in, but extended the bat forward and prodded Cade. Cade murmured in response and pushed the bat away. The Human laughed. “He’s fucked, look at him. I say we just bag him and dump him like the others.”
Gemma gasped. “What do you mean? You said he’s free to go.” Her voice was bordering on hysterical.
The one behind had a gun out, ready and aimed at Cade. The Human with the bat inched in, little by little, ignoring Gemma’s cries and pleas as she clutched at Cade through the bars. “Please don’t hurt him,” she wailed. “I’ll do anything. Please. I’m begging you.”
“Let go of him,” he barked at her.
“No … please,” she begged him.
With a grunt, he stepped closer and tried to grab hold of her arm to yank it off Cade. Before he could so much as lay a finger on her, Cade’s arm had shot out and seized him by the throat. He got to his feet slowly, claws digging into the man’s flesh as he steadily squeezed and threatened to crush the man’s windpipe. The bat dropped to the floor with a thud as the man flailed weakly. Gurgling, his eyes grew wide in fear and terror as he stared into eyes that had gone wolf.
Shouts and blasphemies came from outside the cage, and the one holding the gun raised it and pointed it at Cade.
“You shoot me and your friend is dead,” Cade growled, his voice dangerously close to his animal. “My claw is the only thing keeping him from bleeding out. You shoot me and he’s fucked.”
The Human raised the gun higher, cupping his hands together to steady his shaking grasp. “Fuck … fuck …” he chanted. He slowly edged forward and grabbed the keys from the lock. “Leave them …” Cade demanded, but the man was already hastily backing away with them and heading for Gemma’s cage. It was Cade’s turn to swear now as he pushed the Human he had hold of forwards and advanced on the gun-toting one. He had found and unlocked Gemma’s cage before Cade could reach him, locking himself in with Gemma.
“What are you doing?” she sobbed as he aimed the gun at Gemma.
“Seems now we have a little bit of a problem here, wolf,” he said. “Let him go and she doesn’t get hurt.” When Cade didn’t move, he stepped forward and aimed the gun at Gemma’s head. “Down,” he barked at her, forcing her down onto her knees. His eyes flicked from her to Cade. Cade stayed where he was, at the gate with his claws still digging into the wheezing Human’s jugular.
Cade’s wolf bubbled at the surface like a raging bull waiting for the gate to open as the Human ran a knuckle along Gemma’s cheek. “You can kill him if you want, but you ain’t getting in here. All you can do is watch,” he sneered, licking his lips.
Cade roared, baring his teeth. “If you touch one fucking hair on her head, I’ll …”
The Human leaned in, ran his hand down to her collarbone. “You’ll do what?” Gemma’s features were tight with fear, and Cade knew her fear was mainly for him and their baby. She was afraid that the slightest wrong move would put the baby at risk, and that was enough for Cade to finally believe that she wanted this child just as much as he did.
“Let her go,” he ordered, his wolf going crazy inside.
“What do you think you can do other than watch me?” His hand opened around Gemma’s throat, and she lifted her hands to stop him. “Don’t even think about it,” he said to her. “Let go.”
“Fuck you,” she rasped. Furious, the Human brought his hand down across her face, smacking the butt of the gun into her cheekbone. She cried out and slumped to the ground.
“Gemma,” Cade called out.
“That is not how we play,” he said to her. “Now tell your wolf to back the fuck off.”
Gemma laughed. “Do you think that I can make him do anything?”
The Human leaned in closer, his face in Gemma’s as he sneered. “Maybe you can't, but perhaps this will.” He lowered the gun, not to her throat or her chest, but down to her abdomen. She inhaled shakily, terror in her eyes as he pushed the nozzle of the gun into her flesh. “Tell me, do you think an unborn baby can survive silver poisoning? Now tell the wolf to let go.”
She didn’t need to. Cade let go of the man and he fell to the ground clutching his neck and sucking in lungfuls of air. Cade held his arms up in the air as a show of surrender. “Okay, you win. Don’t hurt her,” he ground out.
The Human hollered for help and the door to the room opened and Cade waited for the inevitable. Something whacked him hard on the back of his head and Cade collapsed to the floor. The world went dark as someone pulled a sack over his head, yanking a cord around his throat and tightening it. So many hands, so much noise, so much shouting. His wolf was coming loose now—his hands shifted and he felt his bones move and start to realign. His growl echoed so loudly in the room that it was hard to hear anything above the sound.
He had to get to Gemma, to his mate, to his child.
“I’m fucking dying,” the Human Cade had held rasped.
“Hold your hand over it and apply pressure, you idiot,” someone else shouted.
Another blow to the gut knocked the wind out of Cade and made him double over, wheezing. Someone grabbed hold of his hands, pulling them behind his back and forcing them into an awkward, painful position. He fell to his side, grunting as someone bound his hands in that position, sending pain through his shoulders and his neck all at the same time. It felt like his arms were going to be ripped off. The wolf tried to come, tried to shift, but his arms were the wrong way and they would surely pull the wolf’s chest in half if he even tried to shift. Cade’s rib cage bulged, his sternum pressing tightly against his skin. Someone hit him again and he went down once more. Blow after blow came until he couldn’t feel them anymore. His skin felt numb, every ounce of pain that he felt blurred into nothing. His mind swam, drifted away to the white room. He could hear screaming, but it wasn’t his own, it was Gemma’s.
He tried to shout back, tried to speak, but his voice was gone, he couldn’t breathe. Hands pulled him to his feet and pushed him forwards, making him run. “Gem—,” he uttered through the cloth over his head.
She screamed his name back, guttural sounds filled with pain. His wolf howled, its cries desperate. He was pushed onto his side, onto something hard, but he was moving fast ... on wheels.
Cold air blew over his skin and the smell of something wet, damp and musty filled his senses. They were underground—somewhere dark and damp. But as they moved on, he picked up another scent, something familiar.
Phoenix …
All at once it was there, the scent, a piece of home in the place of horror and death. He tried to grasp onto it, but just as fast, the scent had gone and he struggled to make out if it was real, or just a passing memory.
The clank of a large, metal door opening, and then they were outside—the breeze was faster, colder against his skin. Whatever he was on, a trolley of some kind, stopped suddenly as it hit something, and then he was tilting, head first. He started to fall, and he instinctively pulled himself into a ball, not knowing where he would land. He held his breath, ready for impact.
He landed on his back, something smacking him hard and knocking the wind from him. It was cold … freezing.
He was in water.
He was tied up.
Water started to fill his mouth.
Chapter Twenty
Phoenix stayed in the car and watched as Stephen and Raven walked off into the sunset like heroes —something that he would never be. He watched them with a mixture of contempt, envy and fear. He would never be like them, and they would never treat him like one of them. Not fully. Not really. Not like he actually belonged and had a place in their world. He would always be the one left behind, the one seen as having a weakness because he had once been Human—the one who needed protecting.
He watched them wander off into the danger that was beyond those hedges. Would they even come back? They were the last threads of his life—he’d be left alone again, the outcast of two worlds, living in some kind of limbo and waiting to die or find his place. Whichever came first. It didn’t matter what he did or who he was. Would he ever fit in or be seen as something other than the little half-breed.
