by Lori Drake
“I’ll say.” Kyle’s eyes darted in the direction Chris had come from. “This is private property. The road’s that way.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
“Thanks, man. My car broke down and I thought if I took a shortcut through that pasture…” Yeah, his excuse wasn’t getting any better. He stepped forward, closing a little more distance. All he had to do was keep Kyle distracted long enough for Joey and Ben to sneak up on him.
Kyle’s eyes narrowed. “Well, like I said. Road’s that way.”
Chris caught a flicker of movement in his periphery. He didn’t dare look that way, because he didn’t want to give his companions away. But he hoped it was them and not some other nasty surprise. “Great. Could I trouble you for a glass of water or something? I’ve been walking for a while.”
“No.” Kyle brought the knife out from behind his back, not necessarily brandishing it, but letting Chris see it. “Get lost.”
Chris stepped back and put his hands up. “Whoa there! Sorry, bro… I get it. I’m going.”
He caught a glimpse of something behind Kyle and glanced that way. Kyle spun, raising his knife defensively, but Joey’s foot connected with his wrist and he yelped in surprise. His fingers opened reflexively, and the knife thudded to the ground. Chris quickly closed the distance, wishing he had something, anything to hit the guy on the back of the head with. Instead, he wrapped an arm around Kyle’s neck, putting him in a rear choke. Kyle first flailed and then tried to pry Chris’s arm from around his neck without success.
Joey stooped to grab the knife. “May I suggest we take this inside?”
Ben tried the wood shop door. “Locked.”
Chris couldn’t see what Joey did with the knife, but Kyle went still suddenly. She searched his pockets, coming up with the keys and tossing them to Ben. Once they got the door open, Chris dragged Kyle into the room. Joey found a light switch, and the industrial overhead lights flickered to life. Chris blinked against the sudden harsh light and loosened his hold on Kyle enough to keep the guy from losing consciousness.
“What do you want?” Kyle said. “If it’s money, I don’t have— Wait. What’re you doing here?”
Chris surmised from the angle of his head that he was looking at Ben. He lifted a hand and wiggled his fingers in a wave.
“Just here to kick your ass and retrieve our friend,” Ben said. “Shouldn’t take long.”
Kyle sputtered like a landed fish, unable to formulate a response.
Joey touched the flat of the blade with a fingertip. “Well, at least it’s not silver.” She jammed it into the half-assembled bookcase hard enough to bury it to the hilt, then went looking for Maria.
“Over there,” Chris said, motioning toward the workbench with his head. Maria lay beneath it, not looking like she’d moved an inch since Chris had found her there on the astral plane.
Joey sank to her knees beside Maria, shaking her shoulder gently. There was no response. Joey touched her fingers to her neck and relaxed back on her heels with a sigh. “She’s alive, just out of it.”
“What’d you give her?” Chris demanded, his voice a low growl in Kyle’s ear. There was no answer, and a moment later the scent of urine tickled Chris’s nostrils. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” He loosed Kyle and shoved him away. The spineless wolf crumpled to the floor, cowering.
“What’s wrong?” Joey looked over at them.
“He pissed himself.” Ben’s nose wrinkled.
Joey stood and walked over to stand beside Chris. “Should we kill him?”
There was no way she was serious, but Kyle didn’t know that. Chris played along. “Hmm. He did kidnap our packmate.”
Kyle scrambled to his knees and prostrated himself at their feet. “N-no, p-p-please… it wasn’t my idea. I never wanted to hurt her. I was coming to let her go. I’ll tell you everything!”
Joey glanced at Chris, smiling faintly, then crouched in front of the cowering wolf. “Okay. I’m listening. Tell me everything.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with kidnapping her,” Kyle said, lifting his head to look up at Joey but not meeting her eyes. “I wouldn’t have, if I’d been given the choice. Owen didn’t tell me about it until it was done.”
Joey’s heart was already hardened against the fellow. He was going to have to work a lot harder for her sympathy. “There’s always a choice. You didn’t have to go along with it.”
Kyle wet his lips. “He threatened me. We have… history. He knows things. Things I don’t want anyone to know. Especially not Amanda.”
“Things like what happened to Meghan?” Chris asked. Joey glanced up at him questioningly, but he didn’t take his eyes off Kyle.
When Joey’s eyes returned to Kyle, his face had drained of color and his eyes were squeezed shut. “I never meant her any harm either. We were just going to rough her boyfriend up a bit, that’s what Owen said. But he got carried away, and the guy was human. Weak. There was so much blood. I can still see it like it was yesterday. Smell it. Hear Meghan screaming… Oh god, Meghan, I’m so sorry.” Tears slid down his face.
“Owen killed Paul Evans?” Joey asked, her eyes sliding toward Maria’s slumbering form.
Kyle nodded miserably, shoulders hunched, twenty-something years of guilt written all over his face. “I should’ve stopped him. I should’ve tried…”
“Why didn’t you?” Chris asked. It was a fair question.
“I dunno. I was shocked, I guess. And it happened so fast. And Owen… you have to understand. I never would’ve thought he was capable of—of—that. But he changed. Something inside him came unhinged when Meghan jilted him. Love makes us all crazy, I guess.”
Joey snorted. “There’s a difference between crazy and homicidal.”
“But back to the point,” Chris said. “Jilted? Owen and Meghan were a thing?”
Kyle bobbed his head again. “Owen always had a thing for her.”
“That’s different,” Joey said, “than the two of them having a thing. Was it one-sided?”
“Looking back… I dunno. But at the time, I was firmly Team Owen. My family moved to Cincinnati when I was six. Owen’s five years older than me. I grew up idolizing him. If he’d told me the sky was purple, I would’ve believed him. But that night, with Paul’s blood all over him, the wildness in his eyes… It was like looking at a stranger. He took off when it was done. I made sure Meghan got to the hospital, then made myself scarce too. Owen disappeared for six months, and when he came back, it was like nothing had ever happened. And that’s what he told me, when I tried to talk to him about it. ‘Nothing happened, Kyle. Nothing happened.’” He shook his head slowly. “But I saw a glimpse of that dark stranger in his eyes when he said it, you know? And I never saw it again until she showed up.” He pointed at Maria.
Joey pushed herself up to stand. “Well, thanks for the history lesson. It was quite illuminating. Chris, grab Maria and let’s get out of here.”
“Wait!” Kyle glanced between them, desperation in his eyes. “Take me with you. Give me sanctuary, please!”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” Joey said. “For your own safety, if nothing else. Because when Maria finds out you killed her parents, she’s going to want to put you down. And I can’t say that I’d be inclined to stop her.”
“Then I guess I’m as good as dead, because Owen’s going to kill me when he finds out I told you.”
“I fail to see how that’s our problem,” Joey said, while Chris headed over to pull Maria gently from under the table and gather her up in his strong arms. “But I’ll tell you what…”
Kyle sat up a little, hope in his eyes. “Please, just tell me what I can do. Anything.”
Joey studied his pale, tear-streaked face, feeling little sympathy for his plight. Contrite or not, he’d done a despicable thing and there was zero chance of her giving him sanctuary even if Maria didn’t kill him. Still, Joey didn’t plan to leave the area without dealing with Owen.
“Find evidence that
exonerates Maria for Lewis’s murder, and I’ll at least try to talk her out of killing you.”
Features pinched, Kyle glanced around between the three of them. “How do I do that?”
“Check Owen’s room for a bloody shirt,” Ben suggested.
“And a silver blade,” Joey added.
A soft groan came from Maria’s direction.
“She’s coming to,” Chris said.
Joey gave Kyle a significant look and motioned toward the door with her head. He scrambled to his feet and bolted for the door, disappearing out into the night.
“Are you sure letting him go is a good idea?” Chris asked. “What if he runs straight to Owen?”
“I don’t think he will. But it doesn’t really matter.”
“Why?” Chris shifted his hold on Maria as she stirred further.
Joey smiled grimly. “Because after we get Maria out of here, I’m coming back to settle the score with that gun-toting, cage-happy, backstabbing, murdering son of a bitch.”
“Hey,” Ben said. “No reason to bring his mom into this.”
26
Chris’s hope that Maria would remain under until they were safely away was swiftly squashed. She started fighting his hold on her before he got halfway to the door. She hadn’t opened her eyes yet, so it had to be instinctive. A moan escaped her as she struggled and squirmed in his arms. He tightened his hold, murmuring soothing words, but that only seemed to make her fight more.
“Hang on,” he said to the others, and stopped, taking a knee and easing her down to the floor. She writhed a bit more, groaning and struggling against nothing but the bindings on her wrists and ankles now.
Ben retrieved Kyle’s knife and brought it over to slice through the nylon ropes, freeing her.
“Maria.” Joey slapped Maria’s face lightly. “Maria! It’s just us, girl.”
Maria dragged her eyes open and looked up at the three familiar faces peering down at her, then relaxed with a sigh. “I had the weirdest dream,” she said, her speech slurred.
“Should’ve asked you-know-who what they dosed her with,” Ben said.
“Woulda, shoulda, coulda,” Joey muttered.
Chris took Maria’s hand gently in his. “If it was about being kidnapped and drugged, it wasn’t a dream. You need to wake up, or let me carry you so we can get out of here.”
Maria blinked a few times, slowly, forehead wrinkled. “Smells like… sawdust? Where am I? What happened?”
Joey slapped her cheek again, gently. “Already covered that, sweetie. Focus. Let Chris carry you, okay? He won’t drop you, I promise. If you want, you can go right back to sleep. We’ll wake you when we get home.”
“Home? Home sounds good.” Maria was still slurring her words, and her voice had a dreamlike quality to it.
“Whatever they gave her, it’s some strong shit,” Ben said, tossing the knife in the direction of the bench before pulling his phone out of his pocket and glancing at it. “Uh… we’ve gotta bounce. Max says the diversion was a no-go.”
“I figured as much when Kyle showed up.” Chris bent to pick up Maria, but she swatted weakly at his hands when he tried.
“Walk,” she said, as sternly as a half-awake woman could.
Chris sighed and met Joey’s eyes.
“Hard way it is,” she said.
They both grabbed a hand and helped Maria to her feet, but while she teetered there, Chris tucked a shoulder into her stomach and lifted her into a fireman’s hold.
“Hey!” Maria slapped at his back, but he barely felt it.
Ben was already at the door, holding it open. They hurried outside, coming face to face with the man of the hour. Owen. His nose was still puffy from the punch he’d taken earlier, eyes shadowed with bruising. Still, bile rose in Chris’s throat at the sight of him. On the upside, Owen appeared as surprised to see them as they were him, so it didn’t seem like Kyle had tipped him off.
Joey sprang into action, but Owen was quick on the draw. He whipped out his pistol and took a step back at the same time, keeping some distance.
“Stop right there!” he said.
Joey stopped in her tracks and raised her hands. Chris followed suit, though he kept one arm across Maria’s legs while she continued her feeble struggles. The last thing he needed to do was drop her and make a liar out of Joey.
“I’ve already been shot once tonight,” Ben said, striding forward. “If you think that little peashooter is going to stop us, you’ve got another thing coming.”
Owen held his ground and sighted down the barrel, training it on Ben. “If you think I didn’t load up with silver since then, you have another thing coming.”
Ben stopped advancing.
“Think coming,” Chris said. Everyone looked at him. “The saying, it’s supposed to be… You know what, never mind.”
Owen shook his head. “Put the girl down.”
“Yeah,” Maria slurred. “Put the girl down.”
“How do we know you’re not bluffing?” Joey asked.
Owen pointed the gun at Joey. “Want to find out?”
Joey’s hands inched a little higher. “No, thanks.”
Chris’s wolf howled in his head, not appreciating the threat to his mate. He held the animal at bay and eased Maria from his shoulder, setting her carefully on her feet.
She wavered, pressing a hand to her head. “Whoa, head rush.”
Chris held her up with an arm around her waist, for now. “What’s your plan, Owen? You can’t possibly shoot all three of us before one of us gets to you, and the noise of the gun is going to draw your pack out here to see what’s going on.”
“They’ll thank me for ending the monster that killed Lewis.” Owen’s eyes lingered on Maria.
Joey snorted. “If you wanted her dead, you had ample opportunity in the twelve hours you had her to yourself.” Still, she stepped in front of Maria for good measure.
Chris couldn’t decide if it made him want to kiss her or throw them both behind him. All his wolf wanted was blood, and it was getting harder to ignore.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Owen said. “I just came out here looking for Kyle, and instead I found the three of you, in the company of the wolf killer.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Maria said, slurring a little less. But still not quite in her right mind, apparently.
Chris put a finger to her lips. “Shh.”
She snapped at his finger, then giggled.
It was then that Chris decided he was better off letting her fall down than holding her up. He unwound his arm from around her waist and moved to stand beside Joey and Ben. The sound of a horse sneezing drifted on the wind from the direction of the barn. Behind them, Maria sank down to sit on the ground and imitated the noise, then giggled again.
“What the hell did you give her, anyway?” Ben asked. “And can I have some?”
Owen ignored him. “Step away from the girl. Slowly.”
The trio exchanged glances, then stepped forward as one.
Owen took a wary step back, his gun swinging between Ben and Chris as if he were uncertain who the biggest threat was. Chris was the tallest, but Ben had been an early aggressor despite being wounded. Owen seemed to have discounted Joey entirely, and that was his first mistake. The second was taking his eyes off Maria.
A soft pfft sounded, and Owen swatted at his neck. Joey charged, closing the eight-foot gap in a blur of motion. She batted Owen’s gun hand aside, but the gun went off anyway with a noisy bang that echoed in the night and a muzzle flash that ruined Chris’s night vision.
A sharp, stinging pain in his shoulder was Chris’s first hint that something was wrong. He did his best to ignore it as it blossomed into outright agony and ran to help Joey, who was grappling with Owen over the gun. The gun went off again, but this time the shot went wild, pinging off the workshop’s tin roof.
Dimly aware of Ben rushing to shield Maria, Chris flew at Owen in a running tackle, ending up ta
king both him and Joey down to the ground. He landed on his uninjured shoulder, but felt the jolt deep in the other nonetheless. Gritting his teeth, he worked to pin down Owen with his legs and good arm, but Owen writhed and bucked beneath them, dogging their efforts.
Joey bashed his gun hand against the ground once, twice, three times before his fingers opened and the gun thudded to the hard-packed dirt.
Chris’s shoulder was screaming by then, adrenaline the only thing that let him use that arm. He freed his left hand and reached for his shoulder. His fingers came away sticky with blood, and panic seized him as reality sank in. He’d been shot. With silver? No, it didn’t burn nearly enough to be silver. Owen had been bluffing, thank god.
“What were you going to do with her?” Joey’s eyes glittered darkly as she held the would-be Alpha down with one knee planted in his stomach and the opposite foot pinning his dominant hand. “Woo her? As you failed to woo her mother? Get some Stockholm syndrome going on?”
Owen bucked beneath her, eyes bulging in their sockets, but he couldn’t dislodge her or Chris, who held his other arm and shoulder down while blood streamed down his arm from the alarmingly painful bullet wound in his shoulder.
A choking noise came from their captive, and the smell of sizzling flesh tickled Chris’s nostrils. Frowning, he reached for Joey’s arm.
“Something’s wrong.”
“Everything about this is wrong!” Joey spat, still glaring down at Owen.
“No, I mean… do you smell that?”
Joey sniffed the air, then her head snapped toward Chris. She went rigid with alarm. “You’re bleeding!”
“Not that,” Chris said. “Something burning.”
Joey sniffed again, then leaned down and sniffed closer to Owen’s head. Behind them, Maria giggled again.
“It’s his neck,” Joey said. “There’s something… I can’t see it. Hold still, for fuck’s sake!”
Chris leaned down and peered at Owen’s neck, which was difficult, given that he was still writhing beneath them.
“Get it out!” Owen wheezed.
Chris called upon his wolf and grabbed Owen’s chin with his weak right hand, seeking his eyes and putting a bit of power into his command. “Be still.”
