by T. J. Finn
Three of Corbin’s men jumped from the porch and two of them grabbed his arms. Claire began to struggle again as the men tightened their hold on Finn. “Claire stop!” He cried out to her and saw Corbin give him a bloody smile.
“Yes, Claire stop.” He raised the gun and hit her head with it and Finn growled loud as her body went limp. The last of Corbin’s men on the porch caught her before she fell to the porch as Corbin wiped his nose with his arm and looked at the blood.
“Fucking bitch. You’ll pay for that.” Corbin looked at Finn then at Claire’s jeep behind him. “Tie her up and strap her in the passenger side of the jeep. I’ll take that down to Magic.” His man nodded then looked at Finn who was starting to fight and struggle against the others.
“What about him boss?” Corbin’s eyes went to Finn and he sneered. “Skin him and make it as painful as you can. I want his pelt.”
The man holding Claire nodded and lifted her to carry her down to the jeep and opened the passenger door and sat her inside. Taking out a couple of zip ties from his pocket, he tied her hands together then strapped the seatbelt in around her as Corbin walked around to the driver’s side. “I’ll see you down south. Once you’re finished with him, I want the whole team down there. Magic is a town with several kinds of shifters. I’ll make a killing down there.”
Corbin laughed at his own joke as he slipped behind the wheel of Claire’s jeep and started it. His man nodded and stepped out of the way as Corbin pulled away from the house. Finn threw his head back a roared out his anger as he fought like a man possessed against the ones holding him.
He heard someone scream “Hold him!” then he was free from them, turning to face the four of them. The sound of a gun echoed in the air and a bullet landed close to his feet. Taking a quick look behind him, he saw the shooter in the upstairs window. Turning back to the others as they attacked again, he jumped back from them and finally, he shifted.
Finn’s wolf stood tall and strong, his lips curled back in a snarl and snapping his jaws. The animal was huge with the rare silvery blue fur that shone bright in the sun. Gold eyes watched the men rushing toward him as he fell back on his haunches waiting to attack. These men had hurt and taken his mate. They would die for that.
Finn took the first man down as his paws landed on his chest and his teeth sank into his neck. Pulling up, he ripped the man’s throat out as another tried to grab him. Finn turned his head in time and sank his teeth into the man’s wrist, shaking him like a rag doll. He shredded the skin on the man’s arms by the time he let go then turned to face the other two. Finn had managed to stay out of range of the man upstair and back away as the other two advanced on his.
“Here doggy.” One man started to call out to him as if he were calling his trained pet and Finn snarled and growled. He’d show him doggy.
“Remember we need to catch him and skin while he’s still in his wolf form. If he dies he’ll shift back to a man and we’ll never get it.”
That was all Finn needed to hear. His wolf sprang again catching another man by the neck. The man’s screams turned into gurgles as Finn lifted his head and looked at the other two. They looked at him, then at each other, and ran. He heard the back door open and slam close somewhere then saw the man from upstairs following the other two across the pastures.
Finn didn’t pursue although his wanted to. He was hungry for their blood for hurting their mate. Finn finally convinced his wolf that they would have their revenge but they required for get to Claire first. He shifted back to a man and took in the sun, blood and sweat covering his naked body. Finn looked over and saw his shredded clothes then at the man down at his feet. Walking over to his clothes, he found Claire’s cell phone. He had grabbed it on his way out of the motel room after he’d found her note.
Quickly dialing his brother, he held the phone against his ear with his shoulder as he pulled the clothes off the dead man. “Finn?”
The sound of Sean’s voice on the other end nearly had Finn dropping to his knees. He was tired, he was hurt but he knew he needed to stay strong for Claire. “Yeah Sean it's me.”
“Where are you? I have this witch standing here, demanding to speak to Claire or she’ll turn me into a rabbit.” Finn frowned in confusion. “Tell me she’s with you man. She’s already done it once when she came to my hotel room and demanded to know where Claire was.”
Finn’s lips twisted a little as he pulled on the dead man’s jeans and remembered how Claire had turned him into a Shih Tzu when he’d been shot. Did all the women in Magic turn their men into small furry animals? “Put Lacey on the…” He trailed off when heard his brother arguing with a female then the sound of the phone been shuffled around.
“Where is Claire?” Finn took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his chest tightening at the vision of what Claire looked like when Corbin had knocked her out.
“Corbin has her. She tried to trick him or something.” He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. “Hell, I don’t even know what she was trying to do. All I know is he knocked her out, put her in her jeep and is heading your way.”
“He’s in Fred?” Finn cringed at the name.
“Yes.”
“Good. Fred will keep her safe and they’re heading here?”
“What do you mean Fred will keep her safe?” Finn straightened, confused at what Lacey had said. “Fred is her jeep. They’re in her jeep.”
“Yes, I know. Fred will protect her. We did some magical alterations to Fred before she left. She didn’t want to but it was the only way her family and friends would let her leave and live alone like she does. He will do what he can to protect her and bring her home safe and sound. Have faith.”
Finn’s world seemed to spin around him as a sense of vertigo hit him. He closed his eyes and hung his head. They magically altered the jeep to keep Claire safe? No wonder she wouldn’t let anyone else drive it. He had known other witches before but none that he supposed were natural witches. Those were few and far between but it seems not in Magic. That town seemed to be filled with them.
“Alright I’ll…” The word stuck in his throat and he had to swallow before he could continue. “I’ll have faIll. Let Sean know I’m on my way. I’ll call when I get there.”
Finn ended the call and slipped the phone into the pocket of the jeans he wore and finished taking the dead man’s shirt and shoes to finish dressing. He swung his leg over his bike and looked in the direction the other men had run. If he had time he’d hunt them down, as it was, Corbin had a head start and he had to get going. But he wouldn’t let the others live. As soon as he took out Corbin, he’d hunt every single one of the members of Corbin’s organization and kill them.
Chapter 15 - Claire
“Ouch!” Claire frowned her head once more hitting something hard. Slowly, she tried opening her eyes. Bright sunlight drilled her directly in the eyes, forcing her to close them again, the pain in her head, drawing a hiss from her lips.
“Wake up sleeping beauty. We’re almost there.”
Blinking several times Claire once more tried opening her eyes. The bright light had her squinting as she straightened in her seat. Turning her head, fully expecting to see Finn sitting in the driver’s seat, she scrambled against the door trying to get as far away from Corbin as she could. “Where’s Finn?”
“He’s either dead or will be. I left him in Colorado with my men. You and I have a date in Magic.”
Claire’s eyes burned from unshed tears as anguish and anger welled up inside her. Nausea from before hit her full force, causing her to close her eyes while she tried willing herself not to get sick. Finn couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t. The last thing she remembered was being on the porch of the ranch house. Corbin had a gun to her head and his men were advancing on Finn, then there was blinding pain, followed by nothingness.
“You hit me?” She went to raise her hands to feel her head and saw that they had been zipped tied together in front of her. Rubbing the side of her head,
she felt the knot his blow had left. The bastard! She probably had a concussion, which would account for how badly her head hurt.
“I did what I had to do.” He turned and gave her a look of admiration and... what was she seeing in his eyes? Attraction? Desire? Ewww! Claire swallowed hard, sooo trying hard not to get sick.
“Why are you doing this Corbin? I don’t understand. The shifters you capture would have to be alive when you start to skin them because if they were dead they’d shift back to human.”
“We’re humane when we do it. We make sure they are sedated but you have to be quick and precise or they might shift during the procedure.”
Now Claire really was going to be sick. She squeezed her eyes shut taking a quick breath. In through her nose, out through her mouth, trying to stop the churning of her stomach. “Are you going to be sick?”
Claire didn’t speak but only nodded, not opening her eyes. She felt the jeep jerk to the right then roll to a stop. The driver’s side door opened and closed then her door opened, big hands grabbing her and dragging her out of the jeep. The minute her feet hit solid ground, she dropped to her knees and threw up. She was surprised she had anything left in her stomach after the way she’d gotten sick at the bar. When she was finished, Corbin gave her a moment before roughly hauling her back to her feet.
“Let’s go. I want to be there before nightfall.” He drug her back to the jeep. Lifting her into the seat, he buckled her seatbelt and slammed her door closed.
Claire watched him walking around to the driver side and she looked at the dashboard. “Fred. Fred, I need you.” Corbin climbed into the driver's seat before she knew if the jeep had heard her.
Before she’d left Magic, Lacey had come over and the two of them had worked a spell on her beautiful jeep. They’d made sure that only she could drive it for any length of time and the engine would shut off if she wasn’t the one driving. She was surprised they had gotten as far as they had. Perhaps Fred had known she was unconscious. Claire shook her head. She wasn't sure. She’d never had anyone else drive him before.
It was a stroke of luck for Claire that Corbin drove in silence, not looking at her and concentrated on the road. She saw the sign for Roswell and glanced at Corbin. They were only 30 miles outside of Roswell which meant they were getting closer to Magic and she needed to form a plan. Again, she wasn’t sure why the spell wasn’t working on Fred but she couldn't wait for him to kick it into gear.
Looking down at her hands, Claire glanced sideways at Corbin, thankful that he wasn’t paying attention. She focused on the zip tie holding her hands together. Whatever genius decided that a zip tie would stop a witch like her from escaping had made a big mistake. She snuck another sideways glance at Corbin, then back to the zip ties. Giving her wrists an almost imperceivable shake, the ties fell away from her wrists. She still kept her hands clasped together, not ready for Corbin to find out she was free just yet.
A red flashing light drew Claire’s attention to the dashboard and her lips twitched. Finally. She acted like she was trying to get comfortable in her seat, shifting to the right slightly while keeping her eyes on Corbin. Slowly she moved one hand to the door handle. The moment Fred did his thing, she would open her door and jump out. Hopefully the jeep would have slowed enough by then so she wouldn’t hurt herself in the landing. She definitely didn’t relish jumping out of a moving vehicle on a desert highway in the middle of nowhere.
Fred suddenly skidded to a stop, practically throwing them both into the dashboard. Their seatbelts were the only thing that kept them from getting hurt. Claire scrambled to unhook her seatbelt and grab the door handle at the same time but Corbin was faster. She cried out when he grabbed her wrist, his grip tight and painful on her delicate bones. Cold metal was suddenly pressed against the side of her head again and she stopped moving.
“What the hell did you do to the jeep?” Corbin spoke through clenched teeth, pressing the gun harder against her head. “Tell me!”
Claire swallowed hard and looked at the dashboard. Her voice trembled as she spoke and shrugged. “Its a spell. It will shut off and not start if I’m not driving it.”
Corbin cursed and unbuckled his seatbelt, the gun dropping a little away from Claire’s head. That was all she needed. Bringing her fist back she knocked his hand away then grabbed for the door again, scrambling out of the jeep. A bullet hit the ground next to her feet and she nearly stumbled and fell. Looking up, Corbin was walking around the jeep, the gun trained to her head.
Claire’s muscles tightened, her body going into flight-or-fight response, and she watched him advancing toward her. She tucked her chin, her eyes never leaving his and she gathered her magic within her. Feeling the familiar tingle along her skin, a sign that her magic was building, she gave him a hard look.
“You’re never going to get away with any of this Corbin. You are going down and I am the one that’s going bring you down”
Corbin laughed as he approached her. “I already have gotten away with all of this. Do you not realize that? Your boyfriend is dead and you will be soon as well. I never leave witnesses. Besides, once I sell O’Riley’s pelt on the black market I just may retire. It will be worth thousands.”
Keep him talking Claire.
She nearly jerked at the voice in her head but somehow managed to stayed calm, risting the urge to look around. That had been Lacey’s voice and she was close. Hopefully she brought her husband Frost. Hell, hopefully they brought the whole town. She’d love for Corbin to meet Sheriff Theo in his full dragon glory or even better, the twins Jonah and Joseph. She could certainly use their mischief and magic right now to help defeat Corbin.
Claire slowly raised her hands, magic tingling in her fingers as she did. “It’s over, you know that don’t you, Corbin?”
“It’s far from over. I’ve been doing this a long time. In fact, did O’Riley tell you that I was the one who killed his momma? It was her pelt that started it all. It made me rich overnight and it was the beginning of a very profitable business.”
His confession felt like a hard punch to the throat, taking her breath away. Finn had mentioned it a little, but hadn’t gone into details. He probably hadn’t even known that his mother was Corbin’s first kill. Claire’s lips pulled back in a snarl as rage burned inside of her. This man had taken so much from so many people and she had to be the one to end it.
We see you.
Lacey’s voice echoed in her head again but Claire ignored it. With a flick of her wrist the gun started to heat up in Corbin’s hand, turning red, burning his skin as he held it. When the heat finally registered, he yelled, cursing as he dropped the gun to look at his hand. Claire advanced on him, raising her hand again and with a flick of her wrist he went flying back against Fred.
“You denied a little boy of his mother, scaring him for life and setting him on a path of revenge. Who died and made you God?”
Corbin pushed away from the jeep, his eyes boring into her. She grabbed her head, crying out when it felt like hot pokers were stabbing into her brain. Tears sprang to her eyes and she nearly doubled over from the pain. Pushing it all down, she straightened to the best of her ability and started twirling her hand watching a dirt tornado start to form between her and Corbin. Dust and debris started flying around them and she pushed the whirling dirt devil at Corbin. The white-hot pain came again and she lost control of the spell, dropping her to her knees.
“You can’t defeat me Claire! Your mind is too fragile. I’m not even breaking a sweat here. Getting into your mind is as easy as slipping a key into a lock and clicking it open.”
Claire grabbed her head again, screaming from the pain. It felt like her skull was cracking open from the inside out and her brain was on fire. Corbin moved toward her, the closer he got the more pain she felt.
Slowly she stood, her legs wobbling but they held her up. Rage continued to swell within her, taking shallow breaths, her chest burning from the effort. Holding up her hand, Claire started to close he
r fingers as if she were squeezing a lemon. Corbin stopped in his tracks and grabbed at his throat, clawing at his skin as he tried to gasp for breath.
“I can defeat you, Corbin.” She could hear several vehicles sliding to a stop and car doors opening. “I can defeat you because I have Magic in my blood.” Closing her hand, she watched as his eyes seemed to bulge and his face went red. He dropped to his knees, still clawing at his skin, blood flowing down his neck from the gouges he’d dug into his skin. Looking up at her in disbelief, she watched as his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell forward.
Since the goal wasn’t to kill him, Claire opened her hand, releasing the pressure on his throat. She knew he had passed out from lack of air, which had been her plan. This way Sheriff Theo could take him into custody without getting hurt. The voices hit her then, invading her mind all at once. She grabbed her head, closing her eyes trying to slam some sort of shield back into place.
Claire heard the sound of running feet as she stumbled, her foot catching on a rock, causing her to fall backwards. Strong hands caught her. When she opened her eyes a little, her heart seemed to skip a beat.
Beautiful gold rimmed eyes looked down at her as Finn dropped to the ground, slowly helping her lay down. He gathered her into his arms, trying his best to shut out the voices in her head. The last thing she remembered before everything went black was Finn caressing her cheek as his lips brushed against hers. Was it real or was she dreaming? She didn’t know and before she could figure it out she had passed out.
Chapter 16 - Finn
Finn sat next to the bed where Claire lay sleeping, her face was nearly pure white and she had dark circles under her eyes. He used his wolf’s hearing so that he could listen to the rhythmic beating of her heart and the soft, steady breathing. He hadn’t left her side since they had brought her back to her parents’ house except to eat with her family, meet with his brother Sean, and talk to Sheriff Theo about Corbin.
