by Kali Argent
Rhys snorted. “You wouldn’t be wrong.”
“Sorry to break up the testosterone party, but I need to speak with Rhys.” Dressed in a black T-shirt depicting a cuddly, cartoon lion and a pair of black sweats with the legs hiked up just below her knees, Thea leveled him with a glare that would have made weaker men tremble. “It’s later.”
Nodding at the sympathetic look from the other males, Rhys followed Thea past the waterfall to a rock outcropping in the corner of the enclosure. With a grace he could never hope to imitate, she lowered herself to the ground, crisscrossing her legs, and folded her hands in her lap. She didn’t speak, not until he’d seated himself as well, and when she did, it wasn’t at all what he’d expected.
“Can we talk here? Are they listening?”
“There are cameras mounted on the retaining wall, but no audio.”
“Good.” Inching closer, she reached across the distance and took his hands in the darkness. “I realize that I may have jumped to conclusions and overreacted, but I’m ready to listen. No judgment. I just want the truth.”
She had every right to her anger and suspicion. Had their situations been reversed, he couldn’t say how he’d have reacted, but he doubted it would have been much different. He didn’t even know where to start trying to unravel the mess they’d found themselves in, so he started with something easy.
“I didn’t mean to deceive you, but I couldn’t risk anyone overhearing.”
“I kind of came to that conclusion on my own, hence the apology.”
“You didn’t apologize.”
A smile crept into her voice. “Don’t push it, wolf. Now, tell me about your…association with the pack.”
He’d been born into the St. Louis pack thirty-two years ago during a hot, humid night in late July. His father had liked to tell the story of his early arrival—a full three weeks early—and how he’d been forced to deliver Rhys right on the living room floor of his family’s modest, two-bedroom home in the suburbs.
He hadn’t spent much time with the pack during his childhood other than Gatherings on the full moon. As he’d entered his teenage years, he’d found the structure and community a reprieve from the constant secrecy he had to maintain with his human friends. Within the pack, he could be himself, and he didn’t have to hide or lie, so when he’d been offered a position as an enforcer, he’d readily accepted, much to his mother’s dismay.
“Why didn’t she want you to be an enforcer?” Thea asked, interrupting his narrative.
“It’s kind of like the mob. Once you’re in, you’re in for life.” He waited a moment for his mate to digest the information before continuing. “For what it’s worth, they weren’t always like this. The pack, I mean. They were a little rough around the edges, especially during the full moon, but for the most part, they were good people.”
Thea sighed, a soft sound that reverberated off the stone walls. “The wolves I’ve met, even before the Purge, were always volatile and quick to anger. I’ll admit, they scared me when I was little.”
“I felt the same way about vampires.” He laughed a little. “I guess it’s true we fear what we don’t understand.”
“Okay, so if the pack was comprised of essentially good people, why was your mom so worried?”
“Like I said, you don’t just walk away from the pack, especially not the inner circle. She wanted more for me.”
Looking back, he could admit he’d become an enforcer for all the wrong reasons. He’d been twenty-two and consumed with rage and guilt after the death of his father. Devon Lockwood had been the toughest son of a bitch he’d ever known, but even he couldn’t outrun a bullet.
The night Hunters had entered his father’s mechanic shop, both his parents had been working late—his father refurbishing a Mustang a customer had salvaged from the bottom of the river, and his mother updating the software on their outdated computer system. Jenna Lockwood didn’t have a mean bone in her body, but when the humans had crashed into the garage with their rifles and handguns, she hadn’t hesitated to defend her mate. Sadly, his parents had been outnumbered, and in the end, his father had died protecting the woman he loved.
Rhys should have been there. His father had asked him to be there. He’d been young, though, stubborn and impetuous, and instead, he’d blown his parents off for some stupid fraternity party. So wrapped up in himself, he hadn’t even heard the news until the next morning. Three days later, he’d dropped out of college, moved back home, and had become a dedicated member of the pack.
He hadn’t sought justice. He’d wanted revenge.
Thea listened silently, offering neither platitudes or judgments. When he paused to calm the residual anger brought on by the memories, she only squeezed his hands again and waited. Rhys appreciated her quiet support much more than he would have her pity.
“Brick took over the pack about a year before the Purge.” Bricksten Chase despised humans, and over time, he’d conditioned his enforcers to feel the same. “The Gallows started after the virus, but before that, there were cage matches every full moon. Wolves who were suspected of sympathizing with humans were forced to fight to the death. If a pack member was discovered to be mated to a human…” He trailed off, bile rising in his throat. “Well, let’s just say death would have been kinder.”
“When did the Gallows start?”
“Not until this past Spring.” Winter had been brutal. The overcast skies and falling temperatures had added to the growing depression amongst the wolves. That, coupled with sheer boredom, had led them down a dangerous and irrevocable path. “By March, we’d lost over half the pack.”
“They changed,” Thea deduced. “They went Ravager.” She made a strange noise in the back of throat, and her hands clenched around his fingers. “So, your alpha thought killing innocent people was the way to handle that?”
“I can’t begin to explain his reasoning, and there wasn’t anyone to stop him. He decided since the Coalition wouldn’t recognize werewolves on their council, the pack would leave the ARC and live by their own laws.”
“You were Coalition?”
“Sergeant.”
Thea sighed. “Great.”
He didn’t understand her reaction at first, but it didn’t take him long to puzzle it out. “Corporal?”
“Try to pull rank on me,” she challenged, but her threat lacked heat. “Okay, so your alpha went crazy, formed his own government, and started murdering people. How did you end up sitting here in a cage with me?”
“The pack officially left the Coalition in March. Not long after that, the enforcers started abducting travelers. Just humans at first, but then shifters and vampires, too.” He’d come across a group of humans while he’d been on patrol, but he hadn’t been able the stomach the thought of delivering them to the pack. “Everyone was scared and hungry, some were injured. I didn’t know where I was taking them, but I knew I had to get them out of the city.”
Just off the interstate, past the city limits, he’d happened upon an abandoned truck stop. He’d sent two of the males into the convenience store to search for food and supplies while he’d attempted to hotwire one of the three SUVs in the parking lot. Within minutes, they’d been surrounded by soldiers bearing the mark of the Coalition, demanding to know who they were and how they’d come to be there. An hour later, his small group of humans were clothed, fed, and given medical attention, and he’d been initiated into the Revenant.
He’d tried to give her privacy, but he’d caught a glimpse of the tattoo on her right hip while she showered, a mirror image to his own. “The pack already knows,” he continued, “so there’s no point in being quiet about it.” Life had been hell for him because of that tattoo, and he didn’t wish his existence on anyone. “I’m guessing Zerrik is Revenant also. Cade?”
Thea shook her head, causing her waterfall of ebony hair to bounce around her face. “Just me and Zerrik.”
Fuck, it seemed so obvious now Thea was ashamed that she hadn’t considered th
e possibility of Rhys being Revenant before. She thought back to Rhys’ reaction when she’d asked him about his involvement with the pack. He hadn’t been surprised or even angry. He hadn’t tried to lie or justify his actions, not the way a guilty person would. If anything, he’d seemed anxious and more worried about her than himself.
The alpha had wanted her to suspect Rhys, to distrust him and condemn him, and she hadn’t disappointed. He’d warned them that someone was always watching. Then he’d orchestrated the perfect confrontation between her and Rhys in hopes he would reveal his secrets to salvage her trust. Alpha Chase had manipulated them both, and Thea felt little more than disgust that she had let him.
“You stayed,” Thea whispered, realization dawning. “You stayed to take down the pack.”
“The Revenant needed someone on the inside to feed them information about security, surveillance, and routines. Clearly, I was the most logical choice.”
Being captured and held prisoner in no way benefited the operation, which meant something had gone wrong. “Someone found out.”
Rhys nodded. “One of the enforcers followed me and reported it to the alpha. The next thing we knew, the place was swarming with werewolves. They didn’t just kill the humans, they slaughtered them. Six innocent people who hadn’t done anything wrong except dare to hope for a better life.”
“The other guards?” She wasn’t unfazed by the loss of life, but she couldn’t do anything to help those poor people now.
“Four had left the bunker to lead a group of humans to the next checkpoint. Four others were out on a supply run.” His breath stuttered, and he pulled one hand out of her grip to rub it over his face. “The pack took the rest of us after they killed the refugees.”
If felt insensitive to say aloud, but she was surprised the pack hadn’t killed him along with the humans. From what she’d learned about Alpha Chase, he wouldn’t have tolerated such a betrayal. “And you’ve been a prisoner here ever since?”
His laughter was dark, cold, and lacking all humor. “Yes, but this isn’t the worst of my punishment. That would be too merciful.”
She couldn’t imagine anything worse than being repeatedly hunted by Ravagers, but before she could ask him to elaborate, a shrill, terrified scream cut through the night and bounced off stones around her. Though four other women had been brought in with the prisoners, she’d know that scream anywhere.
“Abby.”
Thea’s leg had fallen asleep while they’d been talking, and pinpricks tingled through her calf as she hurried out of the alcove. More screams accompanied Abby’s, intermingled with shouts, growls, and a single, keening screech. The campfire came into view as she passed the waterfall, the scene before her complete bedlam.
The human male with the thick glasses sprawled across the sodden ground, his lenses cracked, and two bleeding punctures in his neck. One of the other males had climbed into one of the trees, shouting curses down at the Ravager who swiped at him from below. Zerrik engaged a female vampire, his movements quick and fluid as he twisted behind her, clenched her head, and jerked it to the side. She toppled to the ground, unmoving.
“The full moon isn’t until tomorrow,” she shouted over the chaos. “What the hell is going on?”
“Retaliation,” Rhys answered, catching a male vampire in the chin with a right hook.
Bending at the waist when a male Ravager lunged at her, Thea pushed up with her legs, sending the beast sailing over her back to land several feet away in a grouping of jagged rocks. “Kara?”
“Kara.” Rhys whipped toward her, his eyes flashing with menace. “Duck.”
She didn’t need to be told twice and crouched just as another female vampire leapt through the air toward her. Rhys caught the female by the throat, lifting her off her feet before slamming her back to the ground with a sickening crunch.
On her feet again, Thea raced through the enclosure, dodging Ravagers and hungry vampires as she searched for her friends.
“I’m good,” Zerrik called, winding his arms around a Ravager’s neck and twisting. “Find Abby.”
Leaping over one of the narrow streams that ran through the enclosure, Thea sprinted toward the retaining wall, following the sounds of feminine screams. Abby swayed on a frayed rope that hung from a long, thick tree limb, clinging to it for dear life as a beefy, male vampire with matted hair and crazed eyes jerked on her ankle.
“Abby, hold on!” Thea called, turning on a burst of speed.
She wasn’t fast enough. Another hard tug on her leg, and Abby crashed to the ground, screaming as the vampire converged on her. With a growl, he pinned her in the mud, striking quickly to embed his fangs into the side of her neck. Her small fists beat against his back, and her feet kicked against the ground, but she couldn’t budge him.
Fear twisted in Thea’s gut, and she tucked her arms close to her side, pushing her body to its limits. In her heart, though, she knew she wouldn’t make it in time. Even as she thought it, another human female rushed forward, armed with nothing more than a stick.
“Hey, bloodsucker!”
Distracted, the vampire lifted his head from Abby’s neck and snarled. With a swing worthy of the pros, the female cracked the broken branch across the vampire’s face, effectively knocking him off Abby and onto his back in a puddle of rain water. Without hesitation, the unknown woman fell on top of him, spearing him with the broken branch and jerking it upward to find his heart.
Scrambling off the vampire, she hurried over to Abby and patted her cheeks lightly. “Hey, are you okay? Can you say something?”
“Stop hitting me,” Abby moaned.
Thea slowed, approaching the newcomer with a healthy dose of caution. “That was impressive.”
Tossing her long, black hair out of her face, the female shoved to her feet and offered Thea a bloodied hand. “Kamara Yamashito.” She nodded sideways at Abby. “Friend of yours?”
Thea nodded. Not many humans could take on a vampire, let alone a starved, crazed vampire the size of a tank. “Where the hell did you learn to do that?”
“I was a detective before the world went to shit.”
“Huh.” Thea thought it over for a moment and snorted. “With who? Scully and Mulder?”
Kamara smirked. “NYPD, actually. Narcotics.”
“Don’t mind me,” Abby interrupted. “I’ll just lay here and bleed.”
Arching an eyebrow, Kamara jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “The screaming stopped. You should go see if anyone else needs help. I’ve got Barbie.”
Thea couldn’t stop the laughter that burst from her lips. “I like you, Detective. I hope you don’t die.”
The female winked. “Likewise.”
Marching back toward the campfire, Thea winced at the number of bodies that littered the ground. She counted four humans, at least one shifter, and half a dozen Ravagers and vampires. The survivors huddled around the fire in their blankets as Cade and Zerrik moved among them, checking injuries and offering a measure of comfort. She applauded their efforts, but these civilians had every right to be afraid. Hell, she was scared. They’d just gotten a taste of the Gallows on a much smaller scale, and still so many had died. She couldn’t see how anyone would survive the full moon.
Standing near one of the large boulders, Rhys lifted his hand in the air when he spotted her. Thea waved back and started jogging. She’d made it only a couple of steps when a female Ravager crept out from behind the boulder, her dark hair wet and sticking to her face. Veins snaked across her ivory skin, and a flowery dress caked with mud hung off her shoulders, the fabric shredded in several places. No whites showed in her eyes, as if the pupils had bled out to the corners, and firelight reflected in the onyx as she prowled toward Rhys.
Before Thea could shout a warning, the Ravager pounced, landing on Rhys back with a terrible screech. She pulled his hair and clawed at his shoulders, but he only held her mouth away from his neck instead of actually fighting back. Thea had no such reservations.
&
nbsp; With a running leap, she tackled them both to the ground, disengaging the Ravager and rolling with her through the wet grass. The female had a rusted collar around her neck, the lock so corroded it had begun to turn green. When she thrashed her head back and forth, Thea could see the red abrasions on her throat from the shackle, and while she felt sorry for the person the Ravager had been, the female before her had been reduced to nothing more than a mindless savage.
Pressing her knee into the Ravager’s back, Thea gripped a handful of her greasy hair, jerking her head up from the ground, and gripped her chin. Before she could end the monster, however, Rhys scrambled forward on his hands and knees, his eyes wide and slightly deranged.
“No! Thea, don’t!”
“Why the hell not?” she demanded, wrestling to keep the female under control.
His shoulders rounded, and his expression turned tormented. “Because she’s my mother.”
CHAPTER SIX
That night, Thea slept fitfully, her dreams haunted by the dead.
Hearing Rhys’ plea for his mother’s life, she’d reluctantly incapacitated the female with a chokehold instead. Shortly after, enforcers arrived to remove her, along with the lifeless bodies that littered the enclosure.
Rhys hadn’t said a word since.
The remaining captives had gathered around the crackling fire, sleeping in turns in case of another attack. Rhys, however, sat the edge of their group, his back against the cracked trunk of a dead tree and his head bowed. Zerrik and Cade had both tried to engage him without success.
They’d all lost someone in the Purge or in the months that followed, but not the way Rhys had. Nothing anyone could say would ease his suffering, and Thea didn’t even know where to begin. He’d told her his captivity and participation in the Gallows hadn’t been the alpha’s only means of punishment. At the time, she hadn’t been able to think of anything worse, couldn’t have imagined what would be crueler.
Now, she knew…and wished she didn’t.
