“Bullshit. Kate, don’t believe him.”
Keep coming, Kate—just a little farther.
She listened to Seb’s voice, since the riot seemed to be calming, or maybe it wasn’t, but she couldn’t stop now. She was in too deep.
* * *
Kate was leaving, against orders, and hell, he was being dragged along with her. Helplessly, because of their bond. Stray would never let that happen again. Not for anyone.
He tore his mind away from Kate’s and called, “Help me, Killian.”
He felt his brother reaching into his mind. It hurt like a headache from hell as he allowed his brother to manipulate his mind. He felt a tearing inside, like the bond with Kate was ripping apart, and no, he didn’t want that, not completely.
He stared at his brother as the realization of what Killian could do to him—for him—in this regard dawned on him. And then he shook his head no.
Kill understood, eased up so the bond was stretched, not broken. It was enough to stop him from walking behind Kate, although she continued along.
Stray turned to see Killian. His brother looked . . . different, like he was morphing into something other than himself. But then his entire body shook and Stray heard him tell Kate, Turn around and go back to Stray.
She stopped and dropped to her knees and he knew Killian was inside her mind as well. She cried out, “I can’t. This is the only way—”
“He’ll kill you, Kate. Look straight ahead at what’s waiting for you,” Kill told her even as she struggled to her feet.
Stray made the mistake of looking and saw Shimmin, waiting at the edge of the woods, holding a semiautomatic by his side . . . and a hypodermic needle tucked into his free fist.
Kate gasped and then she turned, hard, right into Stray. He grabbed her and ran with her, back into the crowd, toward Killian, as the humans around them began to close them in.
And the shaking began again.
* * *
Kate had closed her mind against Stray—and Stray only. He dropped away from following her; in essence, she was saving him.
But he’s bonded to you forever.
When she looked up again, she saw a man with dark hair and a fierce expression. Seb.
She stopped in front of him. “I’m here.”
“Good. Shut your mind to me—now.”
She did, and the silence was deafening. Wonderful. She waited to be taken away, to see Leo Shimmin, but none of that happened. Instead, Stray was tugging her and when she looked back, it wasn’t Seb who stood there, but Kill.
“How did he do that?” she asked.
“This isn’t the time or place to talk about any of this,” Stray told her. “Don’t do it again.”
But nothing had changed—nothing stopped. The earth still shook hard and people were screaming. Shots rang out and it felt like the world was ending.
I’m so much stronger than any of them. Don’t worry about Shimmin. I won’t let him hurt you. Go to him now.
Kate believed him because she had to stop this. And so she broke away from Stray’s grasp when he was distracted and she ran toward Shimmin, like Seb had directed. Stray’s voice came from behind her just as shots rang past her head.
“No!” she shouted, broke the contact with Seb at that moment when she realized everything had gone so very wrong.
In retrospect, it was the stupidest move ever. But her instinctive need to protect Stray and his kind overtook her. She’d never had anyone to care about that deeply, and now.
And now she’d killed him. And it didn’t matter that he couldn’t die, because she watched him collapse to the side, blood streaming from his chest. She opened her mouth in a silent scream. Tried to sink to her knees toward him, but someone pulled her up from behind.
Friend? Foe?
“Stray? Stray!” she called. And he opened his eyes, but they were cold. And for the first time, she totally understood the consequences of Stray being bound to her. “I’m so sorry. I just couldn’t be helpless anymore.”
“Don’t talk.” Don’t think. Do nothing until I have you in a safe place.
It was fair, and maybe more than she deserved.
Chapter 38
After he’d managed to give Kate an order, Stray went unconscious, although it wasn’t for long. Maybe he even died, but he never knew exactly what happened during that time. All he knew was that, for those brief moments, there was no pain, no nothing, except Brother Wolf’s short whine in his ear, because Brother did not want to end things this way.
Brother Wolf liked immortality. He’d found his mate and he wasn’t letting go. Stray wasn’t either.
It hurt like a motherfucker. Stray groaned inwardly as his inability to just lie down and die propelled him upright, despite the sucking chest wound.
At least he had all his limbs, because regeneration took a while and that was a real bitch and a half.
And, just like the last time he’d died, he saw his brother standing over him, watching with that look in his eyes.
Unlike last time, Stray now knew he meant no further harm. “I don’t want you to ever erase my memory of the familiar bond between me and Kate.”
Kill stared at him intensely. “You’re sure? I can fix it so even if she calls, you’ll never remember a thing about it. Your wolf will never be vulnerable to her again.”
“No. Leave my memory intact.” Stray took the knife strapped to his ankle and cut his palm. “Blood oath.”
“She tried to save you, no matter how badly it turned out. She’s good in my book.” Kill took the knife and did the same, grasped his brother’s hand so their blood mingled. “Blood oath. On my honor.”
“Thank you. Now get me back in there,” he growled.
“At least now you’ve got some fucking bite behind that bark,” Killian told him as he helped him stagger into the middle of the crowd. “Don’t worry about her. She’s out of here, safe and sound. Just worry about this.”
And for the next two hours, Stray did.
He and Kill took out dirty cops, weretrappers, outlaw Weres, and it was like blowing ash off a ledge. His conscience didn’t ache this time; his body and mind weren’t on autopilot, but rather, focused with the purpose of saving innocents, like he’d been charged with from birth.
* * *
Jinx didn’t need to hear or see the shot to know what happened. He doubled over as he felt a pain in his own chest, which always happened when one of the immortal Dires was mortally wounded. It was all he could do to not drop to the ground the way Stray had.
All the Dires would be affected and he hoped they were well protected, as he was.
For the first time, he realized he needed to be grateful to a goddamned vampire, even as Brother Wolf bucked that thought away.
It’s time to allow for new alliances, Brother. The future’s not pretty.
Brother Wolf howled and Jinx stumbled from the pain. Gasped for breath as Stray died and was reborn. It took only seconds—maybe a full minute, if that, but it wasn’t fun.
“Jinx, you all right?”
“Fine. Help me up.”
“Kill’s still going,” Jez said.
“Fucking skinwalker,” Jinx managed as the deadhead dragged him to his feet.
“Stray’s up too.”
Jinx looked out in the crowd that was starting to calm again. “Get the witch out of there before she hurts someone.”
“The twins have her. They’re bringing her this way.”
“That’s going to work out well. Tell them to take her to Vice,” Jinx said, taking his hold off Jez and holding on to the building instead.
Jez did as he asked but not before telling him, “I’ll meet you at the cemetery later.”
“Which one?”
“Pinewood,” Jez said as h
e left. Jinx waited to leave until he saw Kate safely with Vice. He didn’t allow a shift, and Brother Wolf calmed the farther they got from the violence.
The twins found him about an hour later outside Pinewood, Cain bounding up to him like nothing had happened, Cyd lagging behind him, watching both their sixes.
Dusk was coming. Jinx had come to despise the night as much as he loved it.
“Jinx, you all right?” Cain asked.
“I should be asking you that.”
Cyd sniffed the air. “I smell vamp.”
“I smell it too. He’s close.” Cain moved closer to Jinx as if protecting him and then stilled. “What the fuck, Jinx?”
Jinx ran a hand through his hair, his frustration peaking. He didn’t want to take it out on the twin—never did—but this was all bullshit. “I’ve been staying with Jez.”
“You got kicked out because you defied Rifter and you’re living with a vamp,” Cain mused. “How long was I out for?”
“Was the witch right about what’s happening with you?” Cyd asked.
“No. And yes. But mainly, no.”
“That’s reassuring,” Cyd said with a small frown marring his handsome face.
He ignored the wolf, instead tipped Cain’s chin to look his wolf in the eyes. “You all right? Seriously?”
“Shouldn’t have had the water at the station, but yeah, I’m all right. Angus saved my damned hide this time.”
“You don’t owe him shit,” Jinx told him.
“Let’s just run and hunt for the ghost army, all right?” Cain said in response.
“You start. I’ll join you in a minute,” he said, ignoring Brother Wolf’s aching need to shift and run immediately. He watched the twins strip and shift and bound away, and he ached inside, managed to call, “Don’t approach them—recon only.”
“Hey.” Vice clapped a hand on his shoulder, and Jinx whipped around, baring his canines.
“Who the fuck are you posturing for?” Vice shook his head. “The twins are going through a lot of shit. Don’t lock them out, hear?”
Jinx’s aggression waned. “I hear,” he echoed. “Where’s Kate?”
“Safe with Jez, coming up with some kind of spell. I guess he knows about that shit. He told me you needed help.”
Fucker. “I don’t. What do you think of Kill?”
“He’s kind of a dick.” Vice shrugged. “I think I like him.”
“His powers are intense.” Jinx stared at Vice. “If we didn’t trust Stray—”
“But we do,” Vice emphasized. “He’s brought Killian here to fight all this shit.”
Jinx flicked his eyes toward Vice’s. “Or to make the prophecy come true.”
“I know you’ve always been a suspicious son of a bitch—”
“But this time, I’m wrong?” Jinx prompted.
“What’s Kate talking about?” Vice asked instead. “Do you feel evil? You can’t stay possessed for long, so what the hell?”
“I’m not possessed.”
“Then what? You were in the cemetery all alone. I know you’re never supposed to do that, even if you are a big, bad wolf.”
“Just stay focused on keeping Rifter and Harm safe and alive.”
“I bet you never thought you’d say that about Harm.”
“Vice—”
“I know, you’re handling things. But you’re supposed to work Kate through this witch thing.”
“No more spells for me,” Jinx said, and Vice cocked a brow. “That’s all I’m saying.”
“Jinx—”
“I’m here to help, any way I can. But it’s better if I don’t get too close. Kate’s powers know what to do—she needs to be receptive to them.”
“And if she can’t convince or force Seb to give up his powers?”
Jinx stared up at the moon. “She doesn’t have a choice.”
“Well, actually, she does. That’s not her plan anymore. Instead, your twin wants you to work with her to defeat the ghost army. Says there’s no way she can beat Seb, so to forget about him and work with you.”
“First of all, that’s bullshit. She can’t work with the dead unless she goes dark herself. Rogue was born to talk to spirits—he’s the natural choice and that’s the whole goddamned reason we were looking for the witch in the first place. And how’s it supposed to work again, when she can’t be in the same room with me without screaming?” Jinx demanded.
“Don’t shoot the messenger, hear?” Vice took a long drag on the special hand-rolled cigarette, the blue smoke forming an incongruous halo around his head. As if he knew, Vice grinned sardonically. “I’ll be there to help. Stray too.”
“I’ll call you.” No confirmation. He couldn’t risk opening Vice up to purgatory. The Dires needed him and the others primed and ready to fight.
And just like Jinx wanted him to, Vice walked away. Jinx felt the hurt rolling off the wolf in waves and he wished he could do something to settle him down. But letting Vice go was for the best—for Vice, anyway, and that was all that mattered to Jinx at the moment.
* * *
When the twin Weres and Vice left her behind with the tall man named Jez, Kate quickly learned he wasn’t a man at all, not with those canines. They were sharper than a wolf’s, his eyes were different and he didn’t have the same scent.
“Vampire,” he said shortly, extending a hand to her.
“Witch. Correction—fucked-up witch.” She shook his hand and looked toward the crowd.
“You can cry about it or get on with creating the spell. You’ve got to convince everyone in this town that this was a fear-based reaction to an earthquake, not just the ones outside in this particular crowd.”
“I don’t have the book.” Stray had convinced her it was better to leave it in the Dire mansion, and she’d agreed.
“You don’t need the damned book, witch. It’s inside of you.”
She closed her eyes and heard Stray’s voice. I’m alive, Kate. Do your job.
She turned to the crowd and watched Killian and Stray continue to work their magic. Stray had closed his mind to her, and while she deserved it, that didn’t make it hurt any less.
And then she began to chant words she didn’t know, but they flowed out of her as easily as her native tongue. She began to sway, felt the vampire there to steady her and she continued until her mind told her it was done.
She opened her eyes and blinked. Dusk had come and gone and she had no idea how long she’d been casting the spell. It appeared to be working, but she refused to give voice to that hope and tempt the fates.
“What do I do now?” she asked of Jez.
“First you’ll go back with the Dires and Stray. Later you’ll go to the cemetery with Jinx,” Jez told her.
“I can’t be around him.”
“You can. You will.” Jez checked his phone and held it out to her. “It’s slowing down.”
She watched a news video that showed reports were coming in from all over New York that the mobs were caused in reaction to strange earthquakes. There were reports of people hurt, but no more mention of fights or rioting.
She turned back to Kill and Stray. “Their powers are that far-reaching?”
Jez wasn’t smiling when he said, “Your power, not theirs. Lucky you’re on their side.”
Chapter 39
When the dust settled and the humans appeared to be back under control, Liam ordered the Weres to scatter, lest they be called by the police or the local media to describe their experiences during the faux earthquakes.
Cain watched over his king with Cyd by his side as they regrouped in the woods for a few minutes.
“We’ve got to blend better. Become nearly invisible,” Liam lectured the group before he let them go. “We’ve got to go back to t
he old ways, because the outlaw ways will get us all killed.”
No one argued. Liam didn’t have all of them—not yet—but Cain knew it was only a matter of time before his king got control again.
But now . . .
Liam furrowed his brow. “I smell it too,” Cyd agreed as Cain also caught the scent of death.
“Let’s find it before the police or the trappers,” the young king said. The three Weres moved through the woods as one, unshifting and scenting until they came to the steep slope of the ravine that led to the river.
This time of year, it was nearly still, partly frozen. Icy limbs cracked around them, snow crushed under their heavy boots as they threaded down the slippery hill, the wolves in them helping them hold their footing easily enough.
The bodies were halfheartedly hidden, like it had been done quickly or the trappers had wanted these Weres to be found.
They were still in human form. Young—sixteen if they were a day. Cyd cursed and kicked the nearest tree. Liam moved forward with Cain as he bent to check the bodies.
“They haven’t been dead long. And two of them hadn’t even shifted,” Cain said. As the omega, he felt the emotions strongly. Maybe that was why Cain spent as much time with Vice as he could, because Vice and emotional swings went hand in hand.
“These are the Weres from Kansas. Their pack leader called me yesterday, said they insisted on coming to meet me. They wanted to fight for my cause—heard I was looking for new blood. They had their alpha’s blessing and I promised I’d teach them,” Liam explained, his voice guarded. “This can’t keep happening.”
“You do need new blood, Li. They were answering the call. They knew the dangers.” Cain picked up a body and walked him to the truck. Liam did the same. Once all three bodies were loaded into the back, Cyd called Rifter to report what happened.
“He wants us to stay put,” Cyd confirmed. “He’s not one hundred percent convinced it’s trappers.”
“Shit,” Liam muttered. And when Rifter pulled up, alone, about fifteen minutes later, he called, “Liam, you’re with me.”
“Now I get an escort?” Liam muttered.
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