by Kallysten
Not that he wanted her to follow him, of course not. He’d known from the start it would be better this way. He just hadn’t realized his mate would agree so easily.
Back on the road, he tried to put her out of his mind, but it wasn’t easy when he was all too aware it was her bike he was riding. Never mind the mate thing; was she really going to let him get away with such a sweet ride? She’d seemed almost offended when he’d offered to buy it from her, so why would she let it go so easily now? It didn’t make much sense.
Another full day of riding brought him no answers. As evening fell, he drove into the city he’d called home for almost two years. It felt odd to be back, but he didn’t allow himself any kind of nostalgia. He’d been captured in this place before. Betrayed and captured. The almost-shoulder length hair and goatee he’d sported back then were gone, which was as good a disguise as he could have right now, but he doubted it would be enough. He’d have to be quick, there was no other option. Get in, get even, get out. And then figure out where to go for some much needed rest.
And no, that ‘Sanctuary’ place wasn’t an option. Not when he was likely to run across Ladybird there.
Through small streets and narrow alleys he knew as well as the back of his hand, he drove to the commercial district close to the center of the city where the Gang of Nine had their shop. The name was right there on the awning, and if asked about it they explained it was a reference to the fact that the nine of them were co-owners of the bike and auto repair shop. What few people knew was that they were not a ‘gang,’ but a wolf pack hiding in plain sight.
He parked the bike in a one-way alley across from the shop and hid in the shadows behind a dumpster, looking out toward the shop. It closed at nine in the evening, which meant that right now the interior was brightly lit and visible through the bay windows. There were only three cars and two bikes inside as far as Idris could see; slow business, it seemed. Which would mean the whole pack might not be present. Not a surprise, but it would have been altogether easier if he could have killed them all in one go.
Even Ivy? a treacherous little voice asked at the back of his mind. Could you really kill Ivy that easily?
He wanted to believe he would, but before he could convince himself of that fact a voice rose just inches from him.
“So, what are we looking at exactly?”
He practically jumped out of his skin as he turned to find Ladybird standing near him and peering toward the shop like he was. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming. Surely she was just a product of his imagination. She couldn’t be there. Except that she was. He stomped on the part of him that wanted to wrap her in his arms and steal her breath with a kiss. They couldn’t have that. One night had been too risky already.
She was back in her ‘stealth’ gear, wearing black from the tip of her boots to the hood wrapped around her hair and leaving only her face exposed. He hadn’t heard her approach at all. What on Earth was wrong with him? And how had she found him anyway?
“How did you get here?” he demanded in a harsh whisper.
She gave a little shrug and said nonchalantly, “Phoenix, remember? I can fly.”
Could she? He’d never given her abilities much thought beyond what she had cared to show him. In his experience, some paras were touchy when asked what they could do, and it was safer not to ask directly and simply observe.
“How did you find me?”
He’d checked the bike a second time for tracking devices and still found nothing. It wasn’t merely his curiosity asking now. If she could find him that easily, who else might come after him?
“Trade secrets,” she said, but this time her aloofness wasn’t enough.
Walking closer, he loomed over her until his body was only an inch away from touching hers. Everything inside him cried out for her, but he kept a tight control on himself and asked in a growl, “I said, how did you find me?”
Her expression, from relaxed and slightly amused, turned to something more neutral. When her hand rose toward him, he started pulling back, but she didn’t let him draw away and sneaked a hand in his pants front pocket. She soon pulled out the motorcycle’s key and, holding it by the leather cord, dangled it between them.
Except, it wasn’t a leather cord anymore. Under his eyes, the thin strip of leather shimmered and changed, until it had become a long golden feather looped onto itself.
“Let me guess,” he said dryly. “That’s one of your feathers?”
She nodded. “It’s part of me, and I can track it down anywhere. Usually it means I can find it around the house when I misplace it, but it’s come in pretty handy to track down a thief.” After a beat, she added, more quietly now, “Why did you leave?”
She sounded hurt more than accusing, and Idris looked away, turning his attention back to the repair shop.
“Idris? Why did you leave?” she repeated, resting a light hand on his arm.
A dozen flippant answers rose to Idris’ lips, but when he glanced at her, all of it faded away. He didn’t want to lie to her, and he didn’t want to hurt her, be it with words or with his body. He shook his head and indicated the shop.
“I’ve told you before. I’ve spent five months dreaming of my revenge. And now I’m going to get it.”
“Your revenge, right.” The steely edge to her words warned that she’d demand a better answer soon. “Let’s go see about that, then.”
Before he could ask what she meant, she started taking long strides toward the repair shop. She was halfway across the street before he managed to shake off his shock to run after her.
“Ladybird!” he hissed. When she ignored him, he used her name for the first time. It felt odd, passing his lips after so many years of trying not to think about it. “Violet! What the hell are you doing?”
All she did was turn to wink at him. She was almost at the door. He ran faster, but didn’t catch her before she’d entered the shop. He caught the swinging door as it was closing and could hear her ask in a calm voice, “Hello. Could you point me toward the person in charge of betraying other paras to the UIPP?”
Utter silence enveloped the shop.
Mad. She was completely mad. She was going to get herself killed in there!
Hurrying inside, Idris pushed back the sense of nostalgia washing over him. He’d worked in the shop for over two years, the longest job he’d ever held. The people here had been his friends, and in Ivy’s case, his lover. The shop had been a kind of home. And now, all he could think of was to burn the place down, along with everything—and everyone—it held.
It was Ivy who stood behind the counter, staring at Ladybird as though she’d just sprouted horns and a forked tongue.
“What—” she started saying, but fell silent again when her gaze turned to Idris as he approached them. Her eyes widened and her face split into a wide grin that was all too familiar.
“James!” she shrieked. “Oh my God, you’re back!”
The next second, she leaped over the counter and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and planting her mouth firmly upon his. Of all the reactions he’d planned for when he imagined confronting her and her pack members, this wasn’t one he’d envisioned. He returned neither the embrace nor the kiss and she pulled back after a second or two, her expression now a little confused. Behind her, Ladybird had crossed her arms under her breasts and looked absolutely murderous.
So, she had a jealous streak, Idris noted absently. Good to know.
“James! It really is you!” Jonas was coming forward with a smile as wide as his sister’s. He cleaned off his hands with a rag before holding out the right one to Idris. “We were worried about you, man.”
Even as Idris hesitated about whether to take his hand, Ladybird cleared her throat and came to stand at his side. In the same calm voice she’d used when talking about betrayal, she asked the very same thing Idris was wondering about. They looked genuinely pleased to see him. Why would they be if they had a guilty conscience?
; “So, these are the people who sold you off? They don’t look very remorseful, do they?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
It was quite possible that Violet was wrong.
She wasn’t so arrogant as to believe herself infallible, and she wasn’t so naive that she thought every para on Earth was a good person and every regular human an evil one. She’d heard of paras turning in other paras to protect themselves or their families, but every time it had been a stranger that was betrayed to the authorities.
From what she could guess, Idris had lived with this pack for a while. And the fact that they were wolf shifters had an impact on the situation as well. There were all kinds of paras in Sanctuary. All kinds of shifters, too. From growing up among all of these different people, Violet had learned that wolf clans were more protective than most of those they brought into their lives. Judging by how Idris was being welcomed back, he definitely qualified as honorary pack member.
So while it was possible Violet was wrong, she’d pluck her own feathers if she was.
“Sold you off?” the woman repeated, her voice shrill and shocked.
The man at her side—there was a slight resemblance, and Violet would have bet they were related even if she hadn’t known they belonged to a wolf pack—looked even more offended, his hardening gaze going from Violet to Idris.
“I’m not sure what we’re being accused of,” he said, finally lowering the hand Idris hadn’t shaken, “but I do know I’m not liking what I’m hearing.”
Six more people were approaching, two women and four men, all of them sporting the lean but muscular look of wolf shifters in their human form. Violet noticed that Idris eyed them warily; heat was coming off him in regular waves. Was he still intending to take his revenge? If that was his decision, she’d help him. She shifted a little, hyperaware of the small gun she carried at the small of her back under her feathers. She’d use it on paras if she needed to, but right now she’d be more inclined to talk and figure out if the wolves were lying.
“I was taken by the authorities five months ago,” Idris said, addressing the man; he seemed to be the alpha of the pack. “I heard them talk when they were taking me to jail. They were saying what a nice catch their pet wolf had given them this time.”
The alpha’s expression darkened, his brow furrowing and his fists closing. He still didn’t like what he was hearing, that much was clear.
“You were in jail all this time?” the woman asked, covering her mouth with her hand. “We didn’t know. We thought you just decided to leave after we broke up.”
“Without any of my stuff?” Idris shot back. “Without my freaking bike?”
If possible, the alpha’s features hardened yet a little more.
“That’s the thing that convinced us you were gone,” he all but growled. “All your things disappeared when you did. You really didn’t take any of it?”
Idris barked out a bitter laugh. “I was taken off the street when I was walking to the corner store and brought straight to jail with nothing more than the clothes on my back. You’re telling me my bike and my stuff aren’t here?”
The alpha didn’t reply right away. Instead, he turned to face his people, who had assembled in a silent half-circle behind him.
“If your things disappeared from here,” he said in a quiet but dangerous voice, “it means one of us knew to make it all disappear when you were taken.”
His people met his scrutiny head on, without looking away or flinching. Either one of them was a very good liar, Violet thought, or—
“Where’s Don?” the alpha barked suddenly. “Lou, wasn’t he working with you?”
“He was,” one of the men answered, frowning as he looked around. “When we heard Ivy call out we came forward. He was right by my side.”
“Looks to me this Don doesn’t have a clear conscience,” Violet said, earning herself a nasty glare from the alpha.
“Whoever you are, you have no business putting your nose in our affairs,” he growled at her. “If you can’t be quiet—”
Bristling, Idris took a half-step forward to stand directly between the alpha and her.
“Watch how you talk to my mate,” he said in a low, dangerous tone of voice.
Heat burst through Violet, and not all of it came from Idris. He’d seemed less than happy with their connection so far, but the word ‘mate’ had passed his lips easily enough when he felt she needed defending. The fact that she could take care of herself aside, she was surprised to realize she didn’t mind the quasi-Neanderthal display as long as it showed he accepted her for what she was.
The woman who’d thrown herself into his arms earlier—Ivy, was it?—blinked several times before giving Violet a once-over look that felt less than flattering. She’d had a thing with Idris, no doubt about it. Violet looked back at her flatly. She wasn’t one for possessive displays like the one Idris had just offered, but this was her tattoo mate standing at her side. No halfway civilized person would try to come between two people marked with each other’s names. Whatever Ivy saw in her, she gave the slightest nod of her head.
The alpha meanwhile seemed nonplussed.
“Mate or not, I don’t appreciate—”
Whatever it was he didn’t appreciate, he didn’t get to say. A megaphone-amplified voice suddenly filled the shop even as powerful lights were turned on outside and directed toward the large bay windows that made up the front of the shop. Everything was suddenly so bright that they all reflexively tried to shield their eyes and stepped back from the windows.
“Attention. Per order of the Unit for Investigation of Paranormal Persons, all persons within this building will surrender peacefully and submit themselves for questioning. Do not, I repeat do not attempt to run or attack, do not shift to your animal forms, do not resist arrest or you will be fired upon. You have one minute to come out.”
“You brought them here!” the alpha growled, pointing a finger at Idris’ chest. “We’ve stayed safe all these years and you, you escaped from wherever and led them straight to us!”
“Don’t be stupid, Jonas,” Idris hissed. “They know you guys are shifters. If all they’d done was follow me, they wouldn’t know about you. But if Don called them to save his skin…”
“We don’t have time for this,” Violet said urgently. “What’s your escape plan?”
Jonas crossed his arms and didn’t reply. She returned his stare without wavering. Was he really going to try to pretend they didn’t have a plan for situations such as this? She refused to believe any para could be so foolish that they wouldn’t be ready to get on the run.
“The back alley,” Ivy answered instead. “There’s a back door and an opening to the storm drain.”
“But Don knows about that,” one of the male wolves—Lou, was it?—pointed out. “I’d bet anything they’ll be waiting for us there.”
Violet would have bet the same thing. She looked at Idris, considering. Just from being near him, she could tell his power was close to the surface. Heat radiated from him as though from a furnace, and sweat was pearling up on the brows of the closest wolves. Idris had intended to use this power against the wolf clan… but he might just save them instead.
“I’m guessing whatever hiding place you’ve got is also compromised,” she said quickly to the alpha, and through him to the group. “Listen to this number and memorize it.”
She gave them Millie’s number, repeating it twice. She saw two of them nodding once, indicating they had it. Between all of them, surely they’d remember it.
“Here’s the plan. The two of us are going to create a diversion. While we get those assholes’ attention, you lot shift and run for it. Separate right away, lose anyone who might be following you, and reunite somewhere safe. Somewhere Don would not think of. Is there a place like that?”
She looked at Ivy for an answer, since she’d replied before, but Jonas decided to get his head out of his ass and join in.
“The old drive-in on Memphis,” he said curtly
, turning to look at the members of his pack. “Stay in pairs, no one should go alone.”
“When you’re reunited,” Violet went on, “find a phone and call the number. Tell the woman who’ll answer that Ladybird vouched for you to get to Sanctuary. She’ll help you get away.”
“We can take care of ourselves,” Jonas said, bristling. “We don’t need your help or—”
“Would you rather end up in jail?” Idris interrupted him. “Been there, done that, I don’t recommend it to anyone. Except for Don maybe.”
The savageness in these last few words was palpable. Before anyone could reply, a call came in from the megaphone.
“Last chance to surrender with your hands in the air. You have ten seconds.”
“So, distraction?” Idris asked.
“Nine. Eight.”
“Fire, what else?” Violet said. “As bright, as big as you can. I’ll stay close and cover you.”
She wished she could have held his hand but she figured he’d need it to exert his power. She took hold of his jacket so she could extend her feathers over him. If the UIPP fired—when they fired—she’d keep him safe. But the wolves would have to be on their own.
“Four.”
“Get ready to shift and run like hell while they’re blinded,” she told the wolves, turning her face away from the window to protect her vision somewhat. “On one!”
“Two. One—”
Any other time, she’d have marveled at Idris’ power—at how fast he could activate it, at the strength and scope of the fire he could summon with barely any warning. Right now however, she needed to focus. They would only have one chance to get out of here unscathed.
The power of the fire erupting out of Idris’ hands shattered all the bay windows outward, showering the UIPP cars and the officers who’d taken cover behind them in broken glass. Shouts came in from the street. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl.
The wolves shifted into massive, powerful beasts, and they were ready to leap forward. Violet had extended her feathers over Idris, covering him fully except for a narrow strip for his eyes. Nothing would penetrate her feathers.
