by J. E. Cluney
I was seriously going to fuck someone up once I got out of these chains. Too bad they were charmed chains. Iron chains.
Double whammy there considering iron was already a weakness of mine.
“I’m sorry man,” Jackson sighed, his cuffs jingling as he repositioned himself.
“Why? Because no one tortured you too?” I grumbled. He’d just had to watch me get tortured. Apparently a reminder to him of his duty. Whatever.
“I just…” Jackson trailed off, and I managed to look at him through blurry eyes. Yep. They’d tossed the holy water in my eyes too. That was going to take a little longer to recover from.
But I knew what he meant. He was sorry because I was going to die here. I’d already assessed the likelihood of that.
My only regret would be not killing Sean and a bunch more of these hunters.
And Savage.
Spending more time with her, listening to her sweet, beautiful voice.
Seeing that sassy smile as she kicked our asses.
Who doesn't love a strong, independent woman?
And where was she?
If they didn’t have her, someone did. I hadn’t really had the chance to think about who while I was being tortured.
But I was leaning towards a Collector. It would explain the magic that took Damien down.
It had been a fear of the twins for some time. Because they too were sought after by Collectors. Me? I passed fairly well as just a demon, so they hadn’t caught wind of me, and Wesley? They’d have a field day with him.
“How are we going to get out of this one?” Jackson growled softly.
“By shutting up and letting me think,” I mumbled.
“And that’ll help how?” Jackson sighed in frustration.
I closed my eyes, reaching out with my mind. All the hunters in the building were protected against possession, either by tattoos or amulets. Whatever took their fancy.
But if I could focus and push my limits hard, just maybe…
A door unbolted overhead, and I groaned in despair.
So much for trying to find a way out.
Sean appeared at the foot of the steps, and I wondered if I had the energy in me to capture him in a leg-lock and break his neck.
A little difficult since my legs had been chained up since I kicked Thomas. Still, I liked the idea of crushing his windpipe.
“Food,” Sean grinned as he held a plate in his hand.
“You shouldn’t have,” I smirked, and Sean barely gave me a glance as he walked over to Jackson.
He stumbled and then clearly made it obvious he was faking a trip as he dropped the plate on the floor beside Jackson. It smashed and sent corn, peas and some mince all over the floor.
“Oops, so sorry. It’s hard to see down here,” Sean said sarcastically. “Eat up, dickhead.”
I just watched as Jackson glared daggers at him as he strode out, pleased with himself.
Once the door bolted shut again overhead, I looked over at Jackson with a sly smile.
“What?” he frowned.
“I just can’t wait to kill him. I’m just trying to decide how I’ll do it,” I mused as I tried to ignore the burning throughout my body and the ache in my arms.
“No big loss anyway, he’s fucked up a ton of hunts for other hunters,” Jackson muttered as he glanced around him. I could tell he was trying to look for a way to get free, but the broken plate and food was of no help. He was cuffed, if it had been rope, then maybe he’d have been in luck.
“I’m sorry they got you,” Jackson sighed in defeat when he realized there was no way out.
“Not your fault. I’m more worried about Sav,” I frowned.
“Why?” Jackson asked. “Didn’t the winged guys get her out?”
“No, they didn’t,” I murmured, making sure no one could overhear us. Not that it would do anything for them anyway. Could I have told them about Collectors in the torture session? Maybe, but I was a proud bastard, so I fought them the whole way.
“Then where would she be?” Jackson asked as he stared longingly at the plate of food. Was Sean meant to feed him since he was cuffed? Guess he didn’t care.
“I’m thinking a Collector. There was magic in the area, I thought it was strange, but now it makes sense,” I murmured as I shifted my body restlessly. Despite the burning and aching all over, my body was growing stiff being strung up. I needed to stay ready for an escape.
“Collector?” Jackson looked even more confused.
Strange, I wasn’t sure if a hunter would know about them or not. Apparently not.
“Collectors are usually supes that collect other supes. Like a zookeeper with a special zoo,” I explained.
Jackson’s face twisted into a scowl at this.
“Sav would never be someone’s pet,” he spat.
“She was yours, wasn’t she?” I said, and the dark look he gave me did nothing to faze me.
“She wasn’t a pet, she was family,” he mumbled.
“Not to your father,” I stated.
“He loved her like a daughter. At least, I thought he did. He taught us both to drive, taught us both to ride a motorbike, and she bought that Ninja as soon as she had saved up enough. She even attended school, and he took her to prom night. I didn’t tell him she screwed the prom king that night despite his girlfriend winning prom queen,” Jackson snickered. “She always had a crazy sex drive.”
“She’s a kitsune,” I said, as if that was the simple answer. It kinda was.
“Yeah, well, she sure as hell learned quickly how to fight. Once she hit puberty, I could never beat her in a spar. She got stronger, more deadly, and dad was so proud of her,” Jackson’s smile faltered. “At least, I thought he was. It was all an act.”
“She has a beautiful voice, I got her a guitar to play after she mentioned it. Caught her singing,” I smiled softly. Her voice made me freeze, needing to listen to those perfect notes.
“Yeah, she used to take part in plays and stuff, but we moved around so much while we were young. Dad didn’t get a house until we were in late teens. He figured we didn’t need to be on the run anymore. He wasn’t hunting much anymore, he had us doing it mostly,” Jackson sighed.
“What happened to your mother?” I asked, curious about how she was never mentioned.
“Died when I was young, murdered by a shifter,” Jackson shrugged, but his jaw hardened as he said it.
Was that the truth though? If Thomas had lied to Sav about her family, was he lying to Jackson too?
I didn’t bother to voice my opinion as Jackson began telling me more about Sav and their childhood. Imagining her in some of the stories was enough to distract me a little from my injuries.
I just hoped to hell she was okay and that the others had gotten her back.
6
I awoke, groaning as the room swayed as I attempted to sit up.
“Careful,” a soft voice whispered as they pushed me back on the bed.
The ugly stone ceiling came into focus, and then I saw the metal bars.
They surrounded me.
I sat up quickly, ignoring the throbbing in my head and Izzy’s protests.
“Looks like you’re in the cage now, you shouldn’t fight them, it just makes it harder,” Lucy sighed as she tapped a finger on the metal bars as she stood off to the side.
“Well we don’t all want to cuddle up to them like you, you’re just a pet,” Izzy spat.
“At least I get taken care of, I get clothes,” Lucy shot back with a twisted smile.
Izzy rolled her eyes as she focused back on me.
I looked down and groaned when I discovered I’d been stripped down to just my lacy panties and black bra.
Great.
Now I was even more determined to kick someone’s ass.
“Lucy is a pet to the Collector, he still tries to breed her with his top men, but if she complies, they take her away once its done so she doesn’t have to stay with them. Not all the male kitsunes are nice. Th
ere is one, Nate, he helped me fight him. I’m scared I won’t be able to fight the next guy. Samson and my other mates showed me how to fight, but I’m not as strong as they are,” Izzy sighed as she pulled her knees up to her chest beside me on the bed.
“I just fought Nate too, he was different. Didn’t want to be part of it,” I said as I massaged my neck in an attempt to relieve the headache in the base of my skull.
“Many don’t want to be here. But some of the male kitsunes have been here a while and take their frustrations out on the females. There’ve been the odd few females who haven’t come back here. Whether that’s because they conceived or something else, I don’t know,” Izzy sighed.
“How many are there?” I asked as I glanced around at the other cells. Including us three, there were six in total. Two in another cell together, and a third on her own.
“There was eight of us when I first came here a few weeks ago. As for the guys… Lucy says there’s about five of them. They get caged separately,” Izzy murmured.
“They fight too much if they’re put in together. Apparently having us together is better for our health,” Lucy sighed.
“Lucy is barely ever in here. I think they just stuck her in here today to help you adjust. They think she’ll have the effect of transitioning you into one of their puppets,” Izzy growled.
“You do what you gotta do to survive,” Lucy shrugged.
“What special privileges do you get?” I asked, curious as to what made her special. Was it because she wasn’t defiant like the rest of us?
“Better food, clothes. My own bed. I have my own room too, they only sometimes stick me out here with you guys. I guess Izzy’s right, they hope I’ll rub off on you,” she said sweetly.
“And what do you do for this?” I asked carefully despite Izzy’s obvious uneasiness with it all.
“Dance for him in the cage up with his guests, sleep with whoever wants a kitsune for the night. It’s a lavish lifestyle compared to this,” Lucy turned her nose up at Izzy.
The light went off in my mind right then, and I cocked my head at her.
“It does sound good,” I agreed, and Izzy rounded on me with a harsh look.
She may be faithful to her mates, but I wanted out.
One of us had to get everyone out of here.
“It is good, if you’re willing to prove your worth, then maybe he’ll give you a chance to be one of his ‘special’ girls,” Lucy purred.
“Okay,” I murmured as I looked around the dingy, dark room. “It’d be better than this.”
“That’s the spirit!” Lucy clapped her hands together. “Let me see what they think when they come pick me up. I’ll see if I can get them to give you a shot,” she said with a wink.
I just smiled warmly at her, like I was grateful.
“I just need to rest my head, that tranq has made me not too hot,” I said as I lay back on the bed, all the while Izzy was glaring at me, having lost whatever respect she’d had for me.
If only I could explain it to her.
We needed out.
And if playing pretty was the way out, I’d do it. I was not going to be someone’s little pet.
But I sure as hell wasn’t going to be a caged animal either.
7
Wesley.
“Dominic?” Mr Oxley called out as he entered the kitchen with the three of us in tow.
Dominic was pottering around the kitchen with flour all over his shirt and an absolute mess in the kitchen.
I just gaped at the chaotic sight. Dominic was never messy. He was always so big on keeping things spotless and tidy. This was way out of place for him.
“Dominic?” Mr Oxley called out again as he strode into the kitchen.
Dominic finally heard him, his eyes flicking up in our direction.
But they were glassed over and unseeing as his hands continued to work on some cake batter that really didn’t look like it was right.
“What the hell is wrong with him?” Damien growled.
“Magic,” Mr Oxley growled. “Dominic Reynolds, what are you doing?”
“Cake, it’s time for a cake to celebrate,” Dom grinned, his short brown hair a mess.
“Celebrate what?” Mr Oxley pushed.
“To celebrate,” Dominic whispered as he began humming and moving erratically around the kitchen. The tune he was humming was just as chaotic and all over the place. One second it was something slow and soft, then high-pitched and crazy.
“He’s been spelled,” Leon murmured as we watched our witch companion shoot around the kitchen like a madman.
“We need to lift this magic and find out what’s going on. I have a feeling Dominic will know where Savage is being kept. But someone has manipulated him with magic. Dominic is strong, so this must be powerful magic,” Mr Oxley said as he pushed his glasses up his nose.
Dom twirled around the kitchen island with the bowl of batter, grinning maniacally as he knocked some glasses off the counter.
They smashed onto the hardwood flooring, and I cringed as he stepped onto the shards of glass in bare feet.
“Oh, what a mess,” he cooed as his face dropped.
“Jesus,” Damien muttered as blood trickled out from below his feet.
“Wesley, we need to restrain him and get that tended to. I have a contact I can call to help us with this. Leon, help Wesley with him,” Mr Oxley instructed as he turned on his heel and left the room.
I just stared in shock as Dominic looked sadly down at his bloody feet.
Guess I had to restrain him.
Great.
“Dom, don’t you think you should sit down so we can clean that up?” I suggested as I took a step forward.
“No, no, no, we need to celebrate,” his face lit up again, those glazed over eyes widening as he looked around the kitchen. “We need wine!”
“No we don’t!” I growled as I launched at him as he drew near. How I intended to restrain him was beyond me at this moment.
“Don’t get kinky with me, I’m Tristan’s,” Dom laughed as he clicked his fingers.
I cursed as I shot up in the air, my ass floating over my head.
Goddamn witch.
I looked over to Leon and Damien for help.
Leon sighed and rolled his eyes as he left Damien leaning against the fridge to attempt to catch our witch friend.
“Tristan needs help Dom, we need to help him. Can you just sit down so we can figure that out?” Leon tried to coax him to sit at the small dining table in the room.
“Tristan will be fine. They weren’t after Tristan,” Dominic shook his head.
My eyes shot to Damien, who looked ready to tear the witch apart.
He did know what was going on. So we needed answers, now.
“Well, how about I get you all cleaned up for the party then?” Leon decided to roll with the celebration theme.
“Oh gurl, I got my clothes all ready,” he said coyly as he waved his hand at him.
Ugh.
Fine. Next attempt.
Despite floating in mid air, I shot out a strand of flames in an attempt to wrangle the teetering witch.
He just grinned up at me and waved my flames off.
That was why Mr Oxley had chosen him to be our care taker all those years ago. A witch who could handle us.
I hated him right now.
“Why are you trying to ruin the party?” Dominic pouted.
“Dom, come ‘ere,” Damien called out as Leon stalked after him.
“Why?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Tristan had a secret he wanted me to tell you,” Damien said with an eye roll.
Dominic lurched towards him with a crazy smile. To be quite frank, he was utterly terrifying like this.
“What was it?” he asked giddily as he halted a few feet from Damien, his bowl and whisk still in hand.
“It’s a secret, I need to whisper it,” Damien said softly as he cupped his mouth.
Dom gave both Leon and I a
n intrigued look before slinking forward.
God, what magic was this that made him so crazy and stupid?
He leaned in as Damien bent forward to whisper.
I just watched in mild satisfaction as Damien brought his other hand up and punched him square in the face.
Too bad it also sent me crashing to the floor.
I yelped as my hip caught the side of the island and I held it as the pain shot through me momentarily.
“There, now we can restrain the annoying prick,” Damien muttered as he leaned back on the counter with a wince.
Leon just grumbled as he dragged an unconscious Dominic over to the table as I climbed to my feet.
“I’ll go find the magic dampening cuffs,” I muttered as I limped past Damien.
They’d be in the weapons room somewhere, and I knew we’d need them before the shithead woke up.
We needed him to help us find Sav. Not knowing what had happened to my little vixen was playing hard on my mind. I didn’t want to think about if she was hurt, or worse.
I gritted my teeth as my hip protested angrily.
We’d get answers from Dominic. We had to.
And if he made it difficult, I guess I’d light his arm on fire.
There was no fucking with my mate like that. The last few hours had proved to me just how much she’d come to mean to me now.
As much as it was difficult for us all to admit, we needed her. She was a part of us all, bound to us.
And we’d do anything to get her back.
8
Tristan.
I glanced over at Jackson, who had fallen into an uncomfortable sleep still cuffed to the rail on the wall.
I was still hanging from the ceiling, my injuries slowly healing with each passing minute.
Too bad I needed to pee. Fuck.
And my mind was whirling with worry about Sav. Where was she? Was she okay?
I was playing out a million scenarios in my mind of her being captured and hurt by a Collector.
My only comfort was that Collectors liked to have their zoo alive. No dead specimens.
So I had to focus on that.
The house above had gone quiet some time ago, and the moonlight seeped in through the tiny window high in the basement wall.
