by Billi Jean
“Not a man, a monster,” Joey clarified.
The humans, silent until now, shifted on their feet, and Grayson folded his arms over his chest. “What man?”
“Not one of yours, but if that’s why you’re here still, you might be out of luck. Try looking in Russia,” Jaxon offered. Through their link, his humour blossomed bright, but she shook her head at him. He admired the humans, and she supposed that was good, otherwise both men might not be standing.
“Jaxon means that when we were spun out of that warehouse”—she waited until Grayson nodded—“some of the changelings went with us to a place in Russia. The changelings, for the most part, left us after we got out of there.”
Silence filled the lab and Aubrey stepped closer. A look of concern filled her small face. “We need to confine this, now. I dinnae know about these changelings, but this, this is evil and evil such as this calls to other wickedness. ’Tis a thing of destruction, seeking out to kill, and I dinnae think it cares who it kills, as long as it tastes death.”
Jaxon nodded. “Do it.”
Aubrey glanced at him then down at the satchel.
“Do you need to see it?” he asked.
“Nay, nay, I dinnae want to see it, being this close is bad enough,” she murmured. She stepped forward until she nearly touched the satchel, and lifted her hands over it. Joey stared at her hands, shocked to see light blue swirls, looking like tattoos, bleeding outward from under her skin. The marks didn’t simply appear though, they linked and moved under Aubrey’s skin. When Joey glanced at her face, the same marks darkened her forehead, and on both her temples.
Jaxon lifted a dark eyebrow, still not completely sure the witch knew what she was doing, Joey could sense.
“What are those marks?”
“Pictish markings, I think. I’m old, but not that old.”
“Funny, very funny. But the Picts, they were around when the Romans were…right?”
“Yeah, around then. The Jade Coven, Hunter’s coven, traces its roots to that time, I believe. Aidan would know more about this, but you kinda pissed him off when you dissed him.”
“I did not!”
“I loved how you dissed him.”
“Jaxon, focus.”
“I can concentrate on you, the room and the witch all at the same time.”
She ignored how sexy that was, and focused back on Aubrey. The language Aubrey used sounded musical, but the words weren’t familiar. Aubrey’s brow furrowed as she chanted, clearly working on whatever it was she did to the knife.
Hunter stood at her side, watching as well, but Agni had moved away to lean against a wall, appearing bored with it all. The two humans stood on alert, and the blond seemed to be trying hard not to stare at Hunter. Joey frowned at that, but Aubrey made a louder sound, and suddenly the bag began to glow with interlocking swirls of blue, growing tighter and tighter, like a snake winding tight around something. Darkness, though, began to ooze outward and Aubrey’s chant grew louder, sharper in response.
“Step back,” Hunter said to the human men. “You’re too close to her.”
Grayson frowned and the blond zeroed in on Hunter, then Aubrey, but took several steps back.
“You’re interfering with her spell, you know?” Hunter snapped at Grayson. “Step back, over there.”
Grayson examined Aubrey’s face, then her and Jaxon, but stepped back a few feet to join his teammate.
Joey jerked her attention back to Aubrey when her voice snapped with command and a bright blast of blue light shot out at the satchel. When Joey could see again, the satchel looked the same, but she sensed nothing, not a hint of the unease she’d experienced before, which freaked her out.
“Now that it’s contained, or whatever, I can feel how disgusting it was, Jaxon. What does that mean?”
Jaxon stared at her, then glared at Agni. “Did it harm Joey, having her so near this? Is it harming her?”
“Nay, it will nae harm ye unless ye slice yourself on the blade. But ’tis evil, verra, verra evil. Be certain what you do with this is only for good.”
“We plan to kill Gerald with it, is that good?” Joey asked, stepping forward and gripping the witch’s hand.
Aubrey canted her head to the side and narrowed her dark eyes. The blue tattoos had disappeared from her temples, but this close Joey could see the light outline of them embedded in her skin, like pale silver circles.
“Aye, killing that monster with his own blade is good, verra good.”
Joey exhaled in relief.
“But first, ye will have to get close enough with that”—she gestured to the blade—“to pierce his heart.”
“Shit,” Jaxon breathed at the same time she did.
“I want answers, Jaxon. Where is Evan? Can we look for him, or will Gerald come after us right now?”
“I doubt he will come so soon. We only just got the blade, and now it’s contained.”
“What does that mean, exactly, ‘contained’?”
“What exactly have you done to the blade?” Jaxon asked Aubrey, sounding a bit surly, she thought.
Aubrey must have thought so too, because she raised her dark eyebrows and folded her arms, looking like Jaxon had just earned a scolding. Clearly, he didn’t intimidate the witch.
“It means that the evil is contained in that pack. Take it out and the containment I placed on it no longer protects you.”
“What? So he can still sense it?” Jaxon demanded.
“It calls him, right?” Joey demanded right on top of Jaxon.
Aubrey turned thoughtful, and dropped her arms to start pacing the small open space left by the destruction. She tugged her hair over her shoulder and fiddled with it as she walked, muttering something to herself.
“What is—?”
“Shh, give her a second,” Hunter said, cutting her off. “She’s kinda…getting used to this era, okay?”
“Used to this era?” Joey asked, frowning at Aubrey. She caught Grayson watching Aubrey too, and noticed he didn’t take his eyes off the witch. The other human seemed to be scanning the room constantly, but Grayson’s gaze remained glued on Aubrey. So much so that when she halted and swung around with a smile, he jerked the assault weapon he held across his hips upwards in a warding gesture.
“I can do this as well. I didnae think of this, but it can be done.”
“Can be? Why didn’t you do that to begin with?” Jaxon demanded.
“Look, we’ve been here a bit too long as it is,” Agni added. He turned to Aubrey. “Can you do it or not?”
She tossed her hair aside and stood taller. Joey hid a grin. She did that, tried to look taller, but Aubrey was the same height as her, maybe a half inch taller, but still only five foot two or two and a half.
“No one told me they wanted me to cloak this blade, did they? Next time, I suggest you’re clear with your wishes, eh?” She turned to Jaxon and dismissed Agni that easily. “This will be easy, but you must remember, if it comes out of this satchel, it will be visible to him. It will draw him, like it does now, nay?”
“Shit.” Joey moved closer to Jaxon and took his hand. “Yeah, we got that. Best do the spell now. We’ve been here too long already, and it’s been out of hell for too long, right?” Panic pinched her heart, but Jaxon tightened his hand on her, instead of doing what she wanted to do which was throw the thing in the fire and get as far from it as she could.
“Aye.” Aubrey grinned and nodded. She was a beautiful girl, Joey thought. So far, all the immortals she’d met were, though. Aubrey didn’t appear to think much of her looks though, dressed in a shabby sweater, jeans tucked casually into low hiking boots and her dark hair all long, tousled curls like she’d hit the door not even bothering to comb it. She looked like the type of girl not to take the time to think about her looks—with that added benefit of looking gorgeous in anything.
“Not as gorgeous as you in anything and nothing.”
“Oh, are you spying on me?”
“And your
mind is fascinating. Concentrate on the here and now.”
“I am…trying.”
Aubrey began a chant again, this time low and slow, mixing it up with measured, steady circles with her hands. No light appeared until with a sharp word, a flash of blue outlined her tattoos and shot from her hand to hit the bag. Slowly, as Joey watched, the light dissolved into the leather.
“There, that should work for now,” Aubrey said with a sigh. “Just keep it close, unless you have a safe place in your home.”
“Thank you,” Joey said, and reached out to squeeze Aubrey’s cold hand. “We really do appreciate it, it’s just so much is happening, and so fast.”
“Aye, evil builds slowly but, ’tis like a storm when it finally hits.”
“True, and that’s exactly how staying here feels…like a storm is brewing overhead and we’re stuck in the eye,” Joey cautioned.
“Agreed. It has been too long since we landed. Agni, we need to hit it, and soon.” Jaxon hitched his thumb at the humans.
“Wait.” Joey pressed a hand to his stomach to stop him. “What about Evan? We need to find my friend, right?”
Jaxon nodded tightly. “Hunter, do you know? Did you come here after?”
Hunter shook her head at the destruction. “I came here, and yeah, it was like this, torn up bad, but no sign of…Evan.”
“So you think that was Evan busting out of that box, and if so, where is he?” Joey demanded.
Hunter flipped her pink hair off her forehead. “I’m guessing so, Joey. I’m sorry, but…he might not be your friend any longer. This is nothing I’ve ever seen before, or…sensed before. This isn’t a changeling. Whoever did this walked out of here for one, and on two feet.”
Joey dug her nails into her palm and tried to keep calm. Next to her, Jaxon sent a burst of strength, but she still felt like flying apart. So, he wasn’t a changeling. What was he then?
“It does feel odd, different,” Jaxon agreed. He shared what he’d sensed when he’d entered the room with Joey—not the same thing he sensed when he knew Death Stalkers were near, but not something he’d sense if another, less dangerous immortal neared him. Worse, not what he got from the changelings either.
“I agree. Whatever broke out of that box wasn’t like the changelings,” Agni said.
“So, the question remains, what was it, and what to do with these two?” Jax asked, jerking his chin at the humans.
“Make that six, there’s four more bagged and tagged in a van in the parking lot. How could you not sense them? I mean, they were right there,” Hunter said, gesturing to the doors leading to the back parking lot.
“Look, I don’t care if the entire Army Reserves is out there, we are concerned with Evan, my friend, remember? If he’s now…something other than human, I want to help him, if we can. So, if it was him, how do we find him?” Joey asked.
Hunter exhaled, and she and Aubrey shared a look that seemed to spur Hunter into motion. She tapped her fingers on the counter she leaned on and blew out another long breath.
“Okay, chica, let me think, so Evan…yes, he could have done this. If he did, and he follows the patterns of the others, well, others not like us, he will head back to where they…er…worked on him.”
“What? Worked on him?” Joey demanded.
The humans shifted their feet, and finally Grayson shouldered his weapon. He slashed his hand through the air when Jaxon opened his mouth, and Joey almost grinned when Jaxon snapped it closed.
“Look, we want in on this, and we’re not taking no for an answer. We lost men in that warehouse. If you’re headed back there, so are we,” Grayson said, indicating the man next to him.
Jaxon folded his arms over his chest and gave Grayson that arrogant stare she knew got Jaxon almost anything he wanted. “Dude, you are good, I’ll give you that, but unless you want to bark for the rest of your life, I suggest you forget about us. In fact, Hunter, hit them with some magic—you know, erase their memory and all that voodoo.”
Hunter stared at Jaxon, then at her. “Catch that dude. He thinks I’m Mary Freaking Poppins. I don’t whack memories, but Aubrey can.”
“What? I willnae do tha’ to them!” Aubrey backed away and gave Hunter a fierce glare.
“Right, calm down, mini-magic. We don’t whack memories, and we need to move. This place is getting full, and I want to check out the warehouse before we call it a night.” Agni jerked his chin towards the humans. “I suggest you stay here, but if that’s not your speed, you can provide a distraction at the warehouse, but I’m warning you now.” He walked closer to Grayson and murmured, “I heard we saved your ass once. Don’t expect a repeat performance.”
Grayson nodded curtly then turned to Jaxon. “Agreed. Just tell the witch to let my men out of the van.”
Jaxon cracked a grin and winked at her. “Yeah, I got the pull around here, huh?”
“Oh, yeah, you’re the bomb, Big J,” Hunter said, laughing and heading out with Aubrey and Agni a step behind her.
“Big J?” Joey asked, seeing the flush darken Jax’s neck. “Should I know?”
“Just a cover once, at that club.”
She knew he meant where she’d been hurt, but she also knew that was where she’d found him, with women all over him. Funny, though, she thought, there wasn’t an ounce of jealousy now at the memory, only amusement. “With women, huh?” She tugged him down by his ear so she could kiss him.
“You’re the only one now. Let’s not forget that, shall we?”
“How could I?” she whispered.
He closed his eyes and touched their foreheads in an intimate moment.
“Can I shift us there?”
He lifted an arrogant eyebrow, but his lips quirked in a grin as he rose to his full height. “Of course. Outside the warehouse, not inside, though.”
“Got it,” she said, excitement building in her stomach. She noticed the two men were examining the room, speaking quietly as they moved a few things aside with their feet.
“All right, catch you boys there, and look, try not to piss the witches off, man,” Jaxon called.
Grayson shot his friend a look, but walked over to Jaxon with a tight smile. “Got that memo.”
“Good, best advice a man can have,” Jaxon said and turned to her. “Let’s get this over with.”
She pulled the image of the huge warehouse to mind, using Jax’s memory as well as hers to make it solid. He gave her a mental go-ahead and she pushed with her mind to be there. She stumbled when they landed, but Jax easily caught her in his arms.
“Fucking proud as shit of you, woman.” He kissed her soundly and smacked her on the butt.
“Hey!”
“Sorry, just damn, you rock my world, Joey, completely.”
She grinned at him and soaked in his strength, letting him know silently how much she needed him.
“You have me. Use me as much as you need.”
Jaxon hugged her tight, letting her soak up his strength through their bond and through the heat from his bigger body. Joey rested her cheek against his heart.
“I need you. I’m scared. More scared this time, I think because I know what we’re up against.”
“We’ll go in, check things out and go home, to your granddad’s farm if you’d like,” he said. He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Either way, lean on me, darlin’, I’ll be here for you.”
“I know, my love. I always do, can’t you tell?”
He nodded with a big smirk. “Yes. Now, let’s go finish this, wildcat.”
She wrapped her arms around him again for a brief, too-short hug.
For a moment, she barely registered the sharp pain shooting down Jax’s back. As soon as she did, Jaxon closed their connection, spun her behind him and faced off with a sword in his fist. Jaxon struck out at something then froze. When she ducked under his arm to see what they faced, she froze as well.
They’d found Evan.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The moon shon
e bright and full over the weeded, deserted landscape, giving an eerie backdrop to the creature facing them. It was Joey’s friend, or at one time, had been her friend, Jaxon thought. Now, crouched ten feet from them, all Jaxon could sense was chaos. The man was gone and in place of the man, an animal—beast really—faced them.
Evan wore jeans, torn and dirty with bloodstains, old and new, on the front all the way to the pair of old, broken-in boots. Dark stains also lined his chest. What looked like gunshot wounds marked his left shoulder The wind blew his short blond hair off his brow, and Jaxon spotted more blood in a nasty gash along his forehead. His eyes were dark, almost completely black, with very little white showing, as if someone had taken his pupils and irises and increased their size to encompass his entire eye. The effect was oddly primitive, as if by taking out the whites of his eyes, they’d removed his humanity.
Rising slowly from his crouch, Jax noted the way Evan hunched over, reminding him of a weightlifter too tired to hold up his own massive muscles.
“It’s Evan, isn’t?” he asked Joey.
She nodded. “Yes, I think it is,” she whispered. Her words seem to inflame Evan, and Jaxon moved them subtly backward.
“What is he?” she asked.
Jax shook his head and urged her to the left, out of his way if he had to engage the man—beast. Agni and Hunter arrived with Aubrey, landing silently out of sight, probably because Agni had misted in before and warned the witches to take care. Even though Evan couldn’t possibly see them, he snarled louder, revealing massive fangs, much bigger and longer than a vampire’s and thicker than a Lykae’s.
Evan spun to face the newcomers, then launched himself on the side of the warehouse, used a pipe to catch himself and crawled like Spiderman up the wall and landed on the roof with another impressive jump.
“Hell, that is…” Hunter broke off with a hiss when Evan roared from on top of the roof.
“Evan,” Joey confirmed. “What do we do now?”
Jaxon caught Agni’s gaze. What did they do now? Capture him? Kill him? Agni glanced at the man-turned-beast, then at Joey, and his frown grew, but gave him a ‘whatever you want’ shrug.
