“Very nice, sweetheart.” Bannon was impressed. Galen had been able to identify the circle of witches before they’d even passed through the fog. Not only was the little man’s company welcomed, but things went so much faster with him there.
“Release them, Bannon.” Galen sounded panicked. “They know what’s going on. They’re chanting. Fuck, do it now!” Bannon closed his eyes and mentally wiped away his tentative hold on the witches’ minds. When he opened his eyes again, they were gone, and he let out a breath of relief. “How do ya keep doing that?”
“I have no idea. It’s definitely new. Maybe I can only do it in dreams, because I’ve definitely never heard people in my head before or been able to feel when they’re scared or angry.”
“It makes sense. Ya can manipulate your powers into whatever ya need inside the dream world. I’m not complainin’, because it’s provin’ right helpful.”
“Demons, but they feel more like Jory than the scary one from the last time.”
Bannon nodded when four men of average height and stature wandered in through the fog. They wouldn’t be a threat, and they weren’t who he was looking for, so he dismissed them.
“Shifter, shifter,” Galen continued on in a bored manner. “Sh—Faerie!”
Four of the biggest men Bannon had ever seen drifted toward the middle of the clearing, each staring around or gazing up at the moonlight. “Which one?” He imagined a faerie would be small and dainty, much like Galen’s friend, Kendall.
“That one,” Galen said, pointing toward the one standing the closet to him, “with the long dark hair.”
“Can ya hear him?”
Galen shook his head.
“Can ya speak to him?” Bannon tapped Galen’s temple to show that he didn’t want his mate to speak aloud.
“I’ll try.”
Whatever he was doing must have worked, because the man Bannon assumed to be Camdin whipped around to stare at them intently.
“That’s Camdin,” Galen confirmed. “He knows he’s in a dream, but other than that, he has no idea where he is in the real world. He wants to know if Layke is safe.” Galen relayed all of this to Bannon much like an interpreter would. “They’re keeping him drugged on shifter blood.” Galen looked up and wrinkled his nose at Bannon.
“Seriously? Your blood makes faeries sick?” Bannon shrugged. “I’ve never actually met a faerie. I couldn’t tell ya.”
“Okay, so what do we do now? How do we get him?”
“We need to know where he is.”
“I already told you that he doesn’t know.” Galen huffed in frustration. “This sucks. I mean, he’s right freakin’ there, but he’s not.
And how the hell did you ever do this without me?” Bannon chuckled and kissed the top of Galen’s head. “It was much harder, and a pain in my arse. Without your help, I set it up more like a club, and they had to each state their name and where they came from to get in.”
“Yeah, that sounds complicated and time-consuming,” Galen agreed. “So, what did you do if they didn’t know where they were?”
“I’m gonna need ya to wake up now, Galen.” Bannon knew what he had to do, but he wasn’t going to risk Galen to do it.
“Why? What are you doing?”
“I’m goin’ with him.”
“Like hell you are!” Galen spun around and narrowed his eyes.
“What if you get stuck? What if you can’t get out of his dream? I’m not going to let you do it.”
“I’ve done this before, a ghrá. I know what I’m doin’.” Bannon pushed the dark curls back from Galen’s face and kissed his forehead.
“Trust me.”
“You’ve called me that before. What does it mean?”
“My love,” Bannon whispered. “I’m not askin’ ya to feel the same, but I know my heart.”
“I thought I was your heart.” Galen’s eyes twinkled, and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“Aye, that ya are. And I always protect my heart, so I need to do this alone. Wake up now, Galen.”
His fierce little mate stared at him for a long time before he finally nodded and took a step back. “You come back to me, Bannon Murphy. I mean it.”
“It’s the only place I want to be.” Just like with the witches, Bannon closed his eyes and released Galen back into his own dream.
He hoped it was a happy one.
Then one by one, he released the other people standing in the clearing until only Camdin and himself remained. “I’m Bannon Murphy, and Elder Winters sent me to bring you back to Wyoming.”
“Layke is all right?” Camdin asked, and Bannon was surprised at how soft and musical his voice sounded. He’d expected a deep, booming baritone.
Bannon nodded in the affirmative. “Do ya know who is holding ya?”
Camdin shook his head. “I only know they’re shifters. I’m not even sure what kind.”
“How long have you been there?”
“I don’t know that, either, but I think not very long. I was with different shifters before them.”
“Why are they keeping ya, Camdin?” This line of questioning was going nowhere fast, but Bannon really didn’t want to travel into Camdin’s dream. “Elder Winters said ya were in hiding.”
“I was for a very long time. They found me, though. I’m sick, Mr. Murphy. I think I may be dying. I have something they want.”
“What do ya have, Camdin?” Bannon asked coaxingly.
“They have the key, but they can’t find the book. I won’t give them the book.”
A light flipped on, and Bannon almost choked on his tongue. “Ya have the Book of the Banished.”
“It is hidden well. They will never find it.”
“The key, Camdin? Who is the key?”
“Ah, so you know the legend.” The faerie nodded slowly in approval before doubling over in a coughing fit. “Lynk Braddock cannot know the book’s location,” he rasped when he could breathe again. “They have brought in vampires to try to compel the information from me. I’m growing weak, and I don’t know how much longer I can resist them, though.”
“What do shifters want with the book?”
“What everyone wants.” Camdin lifted his arms out to the side.
“Power. They think the witches will give them that power if they deliver the Relegatis.”
Bannon knew exactly which coven hoped to benefit from the deal.
Well, maybe not exactly, but he’d seen their faces when he’d sucked them into his dream.
“I’m going to help ya, but I need to know where the book is.” How long had he been guarding the book anyway? At some point Phillip McCarthy had to have possessed it to know the spells he’d cast in the cemetery, as well as binding himself to that wolf to insure he couldn’t be killed.
“I can’t tell you that, because our dreams are not safe. Free me from these shifters, and I can give you the book.” It wasn’t a demand so much as a plea.
“Do ya know Phillip McCarthy?”
Camdin’s face paled, and his lips pressed together in a thin line.
He shook his head quickly. Bannon didn’t think it was in denial, but in refusal to answer the question. That was all the answer he needed, though.
“Can ya tell me nothin’ of where you’re at?” Now that he knew witches were involved, the idea of venturing into Camdin’s dreams was even less appealing.
“It smells like blood, feces, and dead animals where we’re being held. The room is small, but I think the building must be much larger.
The voices echo when people talk. There’s no floor, only dirt. That’s all I can tell you.”
“Camdin, I’m going to send ya back now. Someone will be there soon. Is Lynk Braddock with ya?”
“Yes.”
Bannon bobbed his head. “Okay, then ya just sit tight.” Releasing his hold on Camdin, he slowly began collapsing his dream, reversing the steps he took to construct it. When he’d finished, he closed his eyes and basically willed himself awa
ke. He didn’t really know how any of it worked, but being able to wake himself at will was damn handy when things went wrong.
The fact that he knew where to begin looking for Camdin and Lynk was just sheer dumb luck. His Da had insisted the Murphy boys pulled their own weight, which meant Bannon had a job by the time he was fifteen. He’d hated every minute of that summer, but it was damn helpful now. So, silver lining and all that jazz.
Flipping back his eyelids, he yawned hugely and pushed his hair out of his face. Rolling his head to the side, he grinned when he found Galen staring back at him. “Hello, sweetheart.”
“You’re back,” Galen whispered. “I was worried.”
“Ah, now I’m fine. I told ya not to worry yourself.” He reached out and tapped the tip of Galen’s nose with his finger. “I think I know where he is. And guess what?”
“What?” Galen asked, playing along with a silly smile on his lips.
“Lynk Braddock is with him.”
“Score!” Galen did a little fist pump that made Bannon chuckle.
Sitting up straighter, he leaned up between the two front seats and cleared his throat. “We need to stop here.” Surprisingly, the wolves didn’t argue. Hell, the driver didn’t even find a parking lot. He simply pulled over to the side of the road. “Uh, thanks.”
“What are we doing? Where is he? How do we get there? Do we need backup?”
Bannon held his hands up to cut off Galen’s frantic questions.
“Easy, darlin’. I’m callin’ Torren now.” Pulling his cell phone out, he hit the speed dial and waited for the witch to answer. “I know where to look for Camdin,” he said by way of greeting when Torren answered.
“Tell me what you need,” Torren replied, all business.
“Raven and Demos by tomorrow night, and a list of slaughterhouses within a hundred mile radius of…” Bannon trailed off and looked out the window as if that would give him some idea.
“Where the bloody hell are we anyway?”
“I think the last sign said Carbondale,” the passenger answered.
Bannon thought his name might have been Scott, but he couldn’t remember. After seven days, anyone would think he’d know their names. It wasn’t like he didn’t care. The wolves just weren’t big into sharing.
“Within a hundred mile radius of Carbondale, Pennsylvania,” he repeated to Torren.
“Why the fuck do you need slaughterhouses, Murphy?” The smell of feces, blood, dead animals—dirty floors, cavernous rooms, and hollow walls—it all brought back memories from the summer he’d spent working that slaughterhouse in Limerick. “That’s where we’re goin’ to find them.”
Chapter Twelve
“Are you ready for this?” Raven asked.
Galen was ready for anything. He finally had his hotel room, a hot shower, and decent food. That hot shower had included a very gorgeous and naked shifter with dreamy green eyes, so he was pretty much feeling like he could take on the world.
He’d also had an epiphany. While he’d been sitting in the backseat of that hellish Tahoe watching Bannon sleep and worrying if he’d see him again, he’d also been damning himself for giving in and letting his mate send him away. Bannon knew what he was doing, so it would have made more sense for Galen to trek into Camdin’s dreams. Then if something went wrong, Bannon—hopefully—could have rescued his ass.
If something had gone wrong for Bannon, the man would have been on his own, because Galen didn’t have a clue how to rescue him.
And while he’d been thinking of that, he’d also realized that if his lover couldn’t save him, there was a very real possibility that he’d end up dead. The major epiphany was that he didn’t care. If it meant that Bannon would be safe, well, that was all that mattered.
He was chomping at the bit to share this new awakening with Bannon, but it just didn’t seem like a good time. They’d either been strategizing or sleeping. Neither presented the ideal opportunity for his declaration. There’d been the shower of course, but he didn’t really want to say the words for the first time with his lover’s cock buried in his ass. That just seemed kind of tacky.
“Galen? Are you ready, a ghrá?” Bannon touched his arm lightly, skimming his fingers over the skin and making it break out into goose bumps.
“What?” Galen shook himself and looked around the room at the other men. Crap! He’d completely missed the entire conversation.
“Where are we going?”
“Back the way you came,” Demos answered. “There’s a slaughterhouse just north of Carbondale that’s been shut down for a couple of months now. It’s the best place to start.”
“It’s just going to be us?” Galen didn’t know how many shifters there were, but he still assumed they’d be grossly outnumbered.
Bannon had said something about witches. What if the place had some kind of protection spell around it?
“He really does think of everything,” Raven complimented him when he addressed his concerns to the group. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time to wait for backup to get here.”
“There’s a good chance that the witches already know we’re here,” Demos added. “If they don’t, they will soon. We have to move now.”
“What about Raith and the little boy?” Galen knew it wasn’t really important to their current predicament, but he couldn’t get that little pixie out of his head.
“They have the little boy and arrested the alpha, beta, and two Enforcers,” one of the wolf-shifters, David, answered. Turned out they did have names, and after getting them out of the SUV, they weren’t really such bad guys.
It must have showed on his face because the other wolf, Scott, smiled at him and winked. “I’m sorry about what I said in the car. It was out of line, and I have no good excuse for it. You have a good mate there.”
“Thank you.” Galen glanced over at Bannon and felt his insides go all gooey. No one had to tell him that he had a winner.
“I’m sorry for being such a dick, too,” David added with a grin as he shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “We were having some personal issues before Blaise assigned us to this job. I guess you could say we weren’t exactly happy about taking this job, but we still shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
Galen waved him away. “I get it. I haven’t been the easiest to get along with, either. Eight days inside a car would do that to anyone, so you’re definitely forgiven.” They all shook hands, and even Bannon joined in with his own apology for decking Scott.
“So, what about the little boy?” Bannon asked once they all finished with their how-do-you-dos. It warmed Galen’s heart that his mate was taking the situation seriously. He also got the feeling that it was only because Bannon knew it was important to him. Who couldn’t love a guy like that?
“They don’t even know where to begin looking for the boy’s parents, so they’re taking him back to The Council,” Scott said.
“That’s all the information we have for now.”
“What about Raith Braddock?” Demos asked.
Both shifters shook their heads.
“They can’t locate him. Torren’s on his way, but it sounds like there’s some bad mojo going down in Missouri.” David rubbed at the back of his neck and sighed. “If they can’t find him by the time we’re done here, we’re supposed to drive you back to meet Torren.”
“Fine. Then let’s do this so I can get the hell back home,” Raven said as he pushed to his feet.
Galen agreed. It had only been eight days, but he was ready to get back to Wyoming. He missed his bed, his friends, and not being in constant fear that someone would try to exterminate them before they could reach their goal.
They were so close, too. Their enemies had already given them a two-for-one deal with Camdin and Lynk. If they were lucky, Torren would find his other damn brother on his own, and then they could all get on with their lives.
“Is there a possibility that we could die?” Demos shrugged unconcernedly. “Sure. There’s always that cha
nce when we go out on an assignment.” The way he said it sounded more like he was explaining to Galen the chances of them getting a flat tire on the way to a baseball game. Yeah, it could happen, and no one would ever see it coming.
It wasn’t the candlelight and soft music that Galen had imagined in his head, but knowing Bannon might not return, he wasn’t about to let him leave without getting one thing off his chest. “Can you guys give us a minute? We’ll meet you in the car.” Everyone mumbled their agreement and filed out of the room.
Galen watched them leave and waited for the door to close behind them before he turned to look up at his mate. “I need to tell you something.”
“What would that be?” Bannon didn’t look apprehensive in the least. Hell, his smile was so big, Galen feared it might split his face in two.
His heart hammered, his palms began to sweat, and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. “I…I…” He’d never uttered the words to another human being. Not his friends, his mother, or even Dallas Zeppler had been worthy of the words or the power within them.
Bannon was different, though. Bannon was everything. “I love you.” Once they’d passed through his lips, the words didn’t seem quite so scary anymore. In fact, Galen felt liberated, like he’d been carrying a big burden, and it had suddenly been lifted. “I’m never going to feel about someone else the way I feel about you. I’d willingly die for you, Bannon Murphy, because you’re the most important thing in my life.” Galen yelped when Bannon’s arms shot around him like steel bands, lifted him off his feet, and swung him around in circles. “Ah, ya make my heart pitter-patter, darlin’,” he teased. His lips found Galen’s, and they shared a brief but sensual kiss before Bannon set him on his feet and became serious.
Cupping Galen’s cheeks in both hands, he bent so that they were eye to eye. “I love you,” he said very clearly.
That was all he said, but really, what else was there? It was good enough for Galen, and he didn’t know if his heart rate would ever return to normal. If that was the price he paid for having the love of a man like Bannon, he’d gladly pay it. Hell, he’d take out a loan for it if he needed to.
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