For a second, she thought she saw a flicker of compassion in her mother's eyes, but it soon clouded over. "Do not defy the Master, Cady. It will only bring you more pain."
"Daric!" Stefan commanded. "Take your bride-to-be back to her room and lock her up. Make sure she's secure. Tomorrow, we'll have you mated and you'll produce your firstborn, my heir."
"Yes, Master."
***
Numbness followed the pain that spread through Cady's body. She followed Daric like a mindless zombie as he pulled her up and led her out of the ballroom. His grip was strong, yet gentle on her arm, and he even walked slowly and took shorter steps to accommodate her smaller stride.
When they reached her room, she was about to yank open the door when he grabbed her shoulder, turning her to face him.
"Would it be so bad, little one? To make love to me?" he asked, a finger tracing her jaw. "I could bring you pleasure and not pain. I do not and have never hurt women...in that way. I do not want to start now."
"Then don't do this, please," she cried. "Because I won't go to your bed willingly."
"I must do this," he stated. "But you don't have to resist me. That will make it at least...tolerable and the Master will leave us alone. And maybe someday, it could also be pleasurable for you." His hand went lower, to her collarbones and down over her breasts, tracing the curves ever so lightly.
She looked into his eyes, his handsome face. Daric was sinfully attractive and he looked like he belonged on an underwear ad in Times Square. A lot of women would be fighting for a chance to climb into bed with him. But something about his touch made her recoil. Wrenching away from him, she ran into her room, straight into the bathroom, and lost her breakfast into the cold, porcelain bowl.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"Thanks dude!" Alynna said brightly into the phone as she watched the video she had just downloaded. "I owe you a million! No, seriously, do you want a million dollars? Hahahaha...I can check my couch cushions! Alright, just your usual fee then, but I'll be sending over a bonus!" When she hung up the phone, Alynna screamed in happiness.
"Sweetheart!" Alex burst into the room, his face panicked. "Who's in here? What happened!"
Alynna launched herself into her husband's arms, toppling him over until they were rolling on the ground. She leaned down and planted a long, passionate kiss on his lips. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry I've been acting so mean and moody!"
Alex laughed. "It's ok, baby, shhh...." He pulled her head to her chest. "Now, tell me what happened."
"I've found it! Not just that, but I've found three things that clears Cady!"
"Really?" Alex sat up, nearly knocking over Alynna. "Show me!"
"I will! But we need to go get Jade and get this to Grant, now! Cady may be in danger!"
***
Grant sat across from Liam Henney, trying to concentrate on what he was trying to say. He nodded and smiled, but really, none of the words were processing in his brain. He was worried about that call to the Lycan Council he would have to make as soon as the San Francisco Alpha left. He could feel Nick, who stood in his usual corner, even more tense than himself. The usually well kempt Beta was looking worse for wear, with dark circles under his eyes and his normally clean-shaven face showing some stubble.
"So as you can see, we'll ready to move into clinical trials sooner than expected-"
"GRANT!" a voice boomed from the door of his office as it burst open. Three figures strode in, the one leading them was a bundle of energy Grant recognized as his sister. "I need to see you now! You haven't made that call to the Lycan High Council yet, haven't you? I found it! Cady is innocent and she's in danger! Dr. Cross here will--Oh hey Liam," she greeted sheepishly. "I didn't know you were still here."
"Grant couldn't see me yesterday, but he said this morning would be good," Liam's brows knitted. "What's this about Ms. Gray? And the High Council?"
Grant slapped his forehead. "Can't this wait?"
"No!" Alynna dropped her laptop in front of Grant. "I'm sorry for bursting in, Liam, but this is life and death. Maybe you should go...uh, this is Lycan business."
Liam crossed his arms. "If this involves the Lycans and the High Council, then I'm obligated to know this."
The other Alpha groaned. "He's right. And now he'll have to report whatever we talk about here, Alynna, and I won't be able to protect anyone," he said meaningfully to his sister.
"You don't have to protect her from the High Council anymore!" Alynna said in an excited voice. She noticed that Nick moved closer to them. "Alright Liam, if you need to know, then here's the short version: the explosion at Fenrir wasn't from a leaky gas line. Someone planted a magical bomb in our office and made it look like it was Cady, but she's innocent! Really she is! Dr. Cross, please show Grant what you found."
The young scientist came forward. "Primul, I've been doing some research about how magic affects technology. See, the way that magic affects the electromagnetic fields have always been a source of-"
"Jade, please," Grant cleared his throat. "Can we skip the science speak?"
"Er, right. Yes, let me move on," Jade opened the laptop Alynna had placed on his table. "Now, only a real witch will be able to tell for sure, but I believe, with about 80% certainty that these tapes have been affected by glamour magic. You can see how bright and clear her face is. Now, I was able to dig up some videos from past investigations where witches used glamour," she pulled up a different file. "See in this convenience store robbery? It's from a few years ago, back before any such research was started. According to my sources, the perpetrator was a warlock. He put glamour on his face to make it seem like he was a rival warlock. However, once other witches and warlocks saw the footage, they immediately recognized the spell." She put the two pieces of footage side by side. "See? Same clear face, despite all other faces being fuzzy and that slight glow around the edge?"
"We know she's working with witches," Grant reasoned. "Of course they would use some type of magic."
"That's not all, I have three more pieces of evidence to prove she's innocent!" Alynna took some papers she had printed out and handed them to Grant. "I had some of my hacker friends check out Cady's keycard. They said that on the surface, it certainly looked like it was her card used to enter the building, but it was obviously spoofed!"
"Spoofed?"
"Someone made a copy of the card and then used it to enter Fenrir." She pointed to the paper. "I had our IT guys double AND triple check it! They confirmed it was definitely a spoofed card! They said something about the codes being different, but something that would only be picked up if we were looking for it."
"So she made a copy and gave it to someone. What are your other pieces of evidence?" This time, it was Nick who spoke up.
Alynna looked at the Beta's face, which looked conflicted. Good, she thought. I hope he grovels and begs her for forgiveness. But that would have to wait, since they needed to get Cady back first. "Well, here's footage my hacker friends...er...acquired from The Met, at the same time Cady was on tape at Blood Moon." She clicked on play, and it showed Cady as she walked into the museum, paid for ticket and began to walk through the rooms. "The Met was having one of their late hours, and she didn't leave until they closed at 10 pm." She scrolled the video forward, which indeed showed Cady walking out the door at 10:05pm.
"So Cady-"
"I'm not done," Alynna interrupted him. "There's one more, one reason why I believe Cady is in danger. That she didn't run away, but taken by force. Wait." She took a deep breath and pulled up another video. This time, it looked like CCTV footage from a gas station. "My friends...well, they're pretty good at what they do. Their services, which aren't always on the right side of the law, cost a fortune, but well worth it. They have some pretty sophisticated facial recognition software and I paid them to search for any signs of Cady in the Tri-state area. Here's what they found."
The footage showed a blue sedan pulling into the gas station and a tall, blonde man getting out of the driv
er's side. They could barely see the two other figures in the car. Suddenly, the rear passenger door flew open and one of the figures came running out. It was Cady, really Cady this time. Her face in the video wasn't unusually clear, but she was wearing the same clothes from the morning of the attack. She sprung from the car and ran off camera, but a few seconds later, the blond man came out of the store and raised his hand. Suddenly, Cady came flying back into the frame, her body pinned on the body of the car. The blonde man came at her, his hands raised at her. The look on the redhead's face was that of pure terror.
"If they've hurt her, I swear to god," Nick growled furiously, his pupils turning into narrow slits. "I'll wipe every damn one of them off the face of the earth!"
"Nick, stand down," Grant put a hand on his Beta's arm. "Well, it's obvious now. Cady was set up to take the fall for this. Thank you, Alynna, for believing in her." His sister beamed.
"The High Council will still have to be informed," Liam warned them. "They will not take an attack, especially one by witches, lightly."
"They will be informed," Grant agreed. "But we will also let them know Cady was framed."
"And now we need to get her back," Nick gnashed his teeth. "Whatever it takes."
"We will," the Alpha agreed. "Let's get to work. Alynna, what do you need? Can your hacker friends help us again? I don't care what it costs, just have them see if they can find traces of that car or of Cady." He turned to Nick, who sat on a chair, his body deflated and hands fisted tightly. "We won't stop until we find her."
***
Nick looked around Cady's apartment, watching as Alynna and Alex poured through her personal things, looking for anything that could help them find where the witches could have taken her. He could hardly believe it was just two days ago they made love on her bed and he was ready to give everything up for her. Anguish tore through him as he recalled how cruel he was later that evening, using her and then saying those things, using every single word to cut her down and hurt her. Her face when he called her a whore was etched into his mind, haunting him. And he did it on purpose, trying to break her and hurt her as deeply as he had been hurt by her supposed betrayal.
"Nothing here," Alynna said as she exited the room. She eyed Nick slyly. "You naughty boy," she wagged a finger at Nick.
"What?" Alex asked as he came back from the kitchen.
"Nick-boy," Alynna tutted. "Who else would those tighty-whities in the bathroom belong to? I always knew you were a briefs and not boxers kind of guy! And, breakfast for two, her bed all unmade and," she sniffed at him. "Your scent definitely all over her bed. You've been keeping a secret from us. It wasn't just that one night, was it?"
"Are you happy? Satisfied to know that you're right?" Nick asked sardonically.
"Hey, hey," Alynna's voice turned light. "I'm teasing ok? And it was about time! Sheesh! I was getting sick of the two of you giving each other cow eyes all the freakin' time you were in the same room! I honestly didn't know if you two were going to start making out any second. And how the hell did you last a decade without jumping her bones or gouging your eyes out in frustration? Heck, I'd tap that! I'm just happy for you, ok?"
"How could you be joking at time like this?" Nick ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated manner.
"Because, Nicky-boy," She took him by the arm and sat him on the couch. "We are going to find Cady, rescue her, and you will get down on your knees, grovel for forgiveness, declare your everlasting love to her, and she'll fall into her arms, right?" She patted his arm. "I totally shipped you guys from the beginning!"
Nick looked dejected. "She won't take me back, if she was smart," he frowned. "The things I said to her...did to her that night...uncalled for and cruel." He stood up and walked over the one of the shelves of personal trinkets Cady liked. He stared at one of the pictures, the one of her and Luther at her graduation, her smile bright and her father standing proudly beside her. "I appreciate the thought, Alynna, and I know we'll find her. But whether she 'falls into my arms' is another matter."
"Is that the reason for your glum face?" she asked. "Well, I know Cady. She'll forgive you for anything, if you just ask."
"Right, well," he gave the place one last look. "If we can't find anything here, we may as well go back to Fenrir."
The trio left the apartment and back to the garage. They climbed into Nick's car and drove back to Fenrir.
They went straight to Grant's office, and to their surprise, there was someone waiting there. It was Vasili Vrost.
"Nikolai!" Vasili called as soon as they entered. "Where have you been? Why haven't you been answering your phone? I've been worried sick! I was on my way to London when this happened and then I see the news as I got there! I flew back as soon as I could!"
"I'm sorry, Grandfather," Nick hugged the older man. "I've been busy. Apologies for worrying you."
The older man sighed. "This...things like this are dangerous! I know they are part of your job, but if something happened to you..."
"I'm fine, Grandfather," Nick reasoned. "Please...we have business to attend to, urgent business." He began to lead Vasili to the door.
"Nikolai, let go of me!" The older Lycan jerked his hand away. "I will not be ignored! You didn't like Madison, you didn't like Constanza, and now you are in danger! I insist you start courting the next eligible mate I send your way!"
"Grandfather," Nick's voice lowered. "This isn't the time!" He glanced at everyone in the room - Grant, Liam, Alynna, Alex, and Dr. Cross. They stood, rooted in their spots, afraid to move as they watched the scene unfold.
"No, now is the time! What is this business you are going about? I demand to know!"
"We are under attack, Vasili," Grant revealed. "I just got off the phone with the Lycan High Council."
"Attack? By whom?"
"Witches, possibly," Alynna offered.
"Witches!" Vasili's eyes widened. "No!"
"Yes, I'm afraid it's true," Grant said with a nod. "We are under attack and they've taken one of our own. Ms. Gray. They're holding her somewhere and we mean to get her back."
"I forbid it!" Vasili shouted at his grandson. "You will not risk your life and face the witches for that human! I told you to stay away from her! Ms. Gray is not vital to our kind and you should let the witches have her if that's what they want!"
"Grandfather!" Nick roared at the old man, his face fierce. "You will not insult Cady and certainly not in this room! No!" he cut him off when Vasili opened his mouth. "You will speak no further of her, nor say her name, understood?"
Vasili's face grew red with anger. "You will never see the Hudson mansion again. I will give it and everything to your cousin. Every chair, every plate, every vase in the house will belong to him."
Nick looked defiantly at this grandfather. "Good. He can have it. I don't want it, I never wanted any of it!" Vasili's face turned into an ugly mask of hate.
"You will regret this, Nikolai!"
As he turned to leave, Nick called out to him one last time. "Grandfather," Vasili stopped, but didn't look back. "I only hope someday you can put this all aside and realize why I need to do this." There was only silence as the older Lycan left.
The Beta collapsed on a nearby couch. Grant was already handing him a drink. "I'm sorry, Nick,"
"I'm sorry too," he took a sip. "I'm sorry I let him go too far."
"Enough dramatics," Alynna declared. "If we're gonna go find and rescue Cady, we need to start getting to work. Now."
The tension slowly eased out of the room and everyone sat down and found a chair as they gathered together.
"Any traces of that car?" Liam asked.
Alynna shook her head. "Stolen plate, for sure. They're smart. But we do know that the gas station was somewhere upstate, near the Connecticut border. Unfortunately, after that we haven't found traces of it at all. It's all backroads and single-lane highways out there, no traffic cams or CCTVs."
Nick ran his hand through his hair in frustration, "How else can w
e find her? Or find out who took her?"
A loud thump from the outside made everyone freeze, and then the large, heavy doors of Grant's office swung open, slamming against the walls.
"We may be able to help."
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nick felt the blood freeze in his veins and his knees buckled slightly. Beside him, he could hear Alynna's cry.
"Cady?!" Alynna shook her head. "No, wait..."
The Beta could understand why the young Lycan thought she was seeing her friend standing in front of them. The woman who stood off to the side was almost a carbon copy of Cady. However, it took him only a second to realize that she wasn't his Cady. No, this woman was probably a decade younger, a few inches taller, and her hair was more strawberry blonde than red, her eyes light green instead of indigo blue.
There were two other women who came in with her. On the other side of the Cady-clone was a much older woman with white hair dressed in loose-fitting robes. In the middle was stunning redhead with blazing green eyes, wearing a white coat and white leather boots. While the younger woman looked like Cady 10 years ago, she could be Cady's twin a decade or so from now.
"I'm sorry, Alpha," the woman in the middle nodded to Grant. "I've been trying to reach you since the explosion. Your security and gatekeepers are top-notch."
"But no match for you, apparently," Grant quipped. "Witch."
"Yes, well, we were desperate," the woman explained. "And er...sorry about your admin. He'll be fine, he'll wake up feeling fresh as a daisy...in a few hours."
"I told you that was too much beech root in the potion!" the old crone beside them cackled.
"I'm still learning potions mixing, Estella," the younger Cady-clone retorted.
"Good thing you're a blessed witch then," Estella shot back.
Blood Moon: Book 2 of the True Mates Series: A Werewolf Shifter Paranormal Romance Page 16
