Oberon obeyed without hesitation. This was her world and she was in total control.
Chapter 27 - Beautiful Evil
Gideon threw the coveralls into the incinerator. The drying blood bubbled and blackened as the flames consumed the heavy material.
“HE WAS THE WRONG ONE.” Ealund spoke quietly from behind.
A chill crawled up Gideon’s spine and terror prickled like a thousand tiny bugs crawling beneath his skin. He didn’t want to turn, but had to. Tears spilled from his eyes.
“I couldn’t wait for the bear, it was getting late.”
“AND STILL YOU FAILED ME,” Ealund said, waving his hand across his body.
Gideon flew across the room and slammed into the wall. With each death, Ealund had grown stronger. Gideon had considered stopping, but it was too late. After Carin’s death, Ealund’s fury had been terrifying to behold. She was to serve the Dark Brethren and they’d been cheated out of a recruit. Even though Gideon wasn’t responsible, he bore the brunt of Ealund’s enraged frustration with a pain so excruciating, he broke into a sweat just remembering it.
“I’m sorry, my lord,” Gideon said, climbing to his feet. “I was interrupted.”
“YOU COULD’VE DEALT WITH THE DOG.” Ealund sneered. “INSTEAD YOU RAN AND CHEATED ME OF MY SACRIFICE.”
“He was too powerful for me. I’ve seen him before; I would’ve been caught or worse, and you’d have no more tributes.”
The vaporous form threw back its head and cold, dark laughter shattered the last of Gideon’s nerve. “DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE?”
“I . . .” Gideon closed his open mouth. That’s exactly what he’d thought. Now he felt cheated. He’d been promised greatness. “Then let others serve you, lord, if I am unworthy.”
“AH, BUT IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY.” Ealund lifted his ghostly hand, pressure coiled inside Gideon’s heart and tightened. “YOUR WORK IS UNFINISHED AND I NEED YOUR SACRIFICES. FEEL MY GROWING POWER.”
Gideon’s fingers scrabbled at his chest, trying to release the force squeezing his heart before it exploded. Ealund’s smile twisted in macabre delight. The pressure forced all the air from Gideon’s lungs; his temples thudded from the lack of oxygen, and his terror.
“NOW”—Ealund opened the fingers of his fist and then clenched them tighter. “NOW YOU MUST MAKE THE SACRIFICE. WE’VE TALKED OF IT. YOU KNOW WHOM I WANT. BRING THEM TO THE SACRED PLACE.”
“Please, don’t make me—”
“YOU WILL DO THIS.” Ealund tightened his fist again.
Gideon felt his eyes would burst from their sockets at any moment. He nodded.
“GOOD.” Ealund dropped his hand. “WHEN YOU DO THIS, I WILL FREE YOU FROM YOUR PRISON FOREVER.”
Gideon fell forward on his hands and knees, gasping for breath. He looked up, but Ealund was gone. A giddy wave of nausea swept over him and he rolled over onto his back. He wanted to get back to his cell, where he was safe. He didn’t even know if he wanted freedom anymore.
Chapter 28 - Agent Down
Bianca brought the towels and a kettle while they waited for Oberon to get back. Kitt dipped the cloth in the warm water and wiped it over Tones’s torso. Aeternus blood didn’t clot like human blood and came off easily.
Oberon returned a few minutes later with a tight roll of clean, white cloth.
She unwrapped the bundle to reveal surgical instruments. “The chest wound is deep and isn’t healing as fast as it should, due to the silver blade lodged in the back of his neck. I must remove it carefully or it might kill him.” Kitt looked up at Oberon. “I’ll roll him onto his side; I need you to hold his head.”
Like all the others, the blade was lodged perfectly between the C6 and C7 vertebrae. She had to remove it in one piece. If even a tiny sliver broke off and entered his bloodstream, it could prove fatal.
“Hold his head still,” she ordered.
Oberon braced his massive hands on either side of Tones’s head as she picked up her instruments and went to work.
She cut the skin and peeled it back, then cut through the tissue. Tones screamed. There was nothing she could give him, nothing to deaden the pain. She just had to try to work as fast as possible.
As the edge of the blade became visible, she picked up the forceps and carefully worked it loose. Once the silver metal was out, the wound closed and began healing completely. Oberon carefully turned him onto his back. The broken rib cage bones reconstructed and the chest wound started knitting.
Tones began to move. Oberon helped him to sit. Though he was still very shaken, he tried to stand, but his legs collapsed underneath him. Oberon caught him before he fell and held him while Kitt lifted his face and looked into his eyes.
“You’re in an Aeternus form of shock. You need fresh blood and lots of rest.” She turned to Oberon. “Set him up in a room here where I can watch him.”
Tones looked around with haunted eyes. It was more than physical injuries that plagued him. While his body healed, it was going to take a while for the psychological scars to disappear. Beside all that, the killer was still out there. Maybe she could get Antoinette to have a word with him.
“I’m fine to—”
Kitt held up a hand to stop him. “I insist. It’s going to be a few days to make sure that nothing happened when I removed the blade.”
“Do what the bloody doctor tells you,” Oberon growled.
She looked up at him. Now the danger was over, he could give in to his angry fear.
“But my cats,” Tones frowned. “Who will feed Millie and Casper?”
“I’ll go get them. A couple more animals around here aren’t going to make much of a difference.” Oberon scowled.
Kitt smiled. He really could be thoughtful when he tried.
“But”—he pointed at Tones—“the first cat shit I stand in comes out of your hide.”
“They’re house-trained, Captain,” Tones said with a gratified smile.
The phone rang and Bianca picked it up.
“They’d better be,” the ursian grumbled as he started to stalk away, saying, “Where the hell is Cody?”
“He’s upstairs calming things down,” Bianca quickly replied as she was covering the mouthpiece and holding out the phone. “And Agent Roberts would like a word.”
“Tell him to go fuck himself.” Oberon crashed out of the room like a receding storm.
“I’m sorry Agent Roberts, Captain DuPrie is unavailable right now. May I take a message or have him return your call at a later time?” The pale witch winced and held the phone away from her ear.
Raven came in showered and changed. The memory of him covered in so much blood made Kitt’s heart skip another beat. The thought of losing him . . . it was too much.
Kitt placed a hand on his arm. “Can you help Tones to one of the rooms? He needs blood. I’ll prepare some from his stash in the fridge, but I’ll have to get Antoinette to organize a donor for a fresh supply.”
“I have a card in my jacket,” Tones said as Raven moved under his arm to help him to stand. “They’re my regular suppliers. Then I can be sure I have proper vegan blood.”
“Okay, go lie down and don’t worry; we have it under control.” Kitt turned to Bianca. “Do you know where Antoinette is?”
“I’ll try her cell,” the witch said. “Oberon is pretty pissed—he must like Tones a lot.”
“Yeah,” Kitt said. “They’ve always been pretty tight.”
Kitt stopped at Tones’s desk to pick up his cup. Lying on top of some other papers was a close-up print of the back of a male hand wearing a ring, pouring something into a cocktail that looked like the one she’d been drinking at the bar. The ring had her family symbol and a distinctive birthmark marred the skin near his wrist.
She slipped the picture into her jeans pocket and pulled her shirt down over the pants. In the kitchen she pulled out the special warmer Tones kept in the cupboard and filled it up with water. She grabbed one of the bottles from the fridge and put i
t in the warmer, then snuck another look at the print. It had something to do with her poisoning.
She tucked the print back into her pants and twisted the bottle sitting in the warmer. Microwaving tended to destroy the cells, breaking them down, making it useless to the Aeternus. This way warmed it slowly while still maintaining the structural integrity of the blood cells.
The drink would tide him over for now, but he needed fresh blood from a living source for faster, more complete healing. The Aeternus would remain weak for several days while enzymes rebuilt his body.
The timer on the warmer finally chimed. She lifted the bottle from the warm water and filled his cup. She met Raven coming down the hall.
Kitt placed a hand on his arm. “Thanks for your help.”
“What else could I have done?”
“You could have left him and gone after the murderer.” The thought terrified her. What if Raven had caught him and gotten hurt himself, or even killed?
She took a mental breath. “What room is he in?”
“The third on the right.”
“I’ll come find you as soon as I’ve seen to Tones,” she said.
He leaned forward and kissed her softly, his lips barely brushing hers. “I’ll be waiting,” he said as he drew back.
The dark smolder in his eyes set her blood racing. Again, she realized, it was too late to guard her heart against him—she was going to lose herself in those eyes. But first she had a patient to attend to.
“Come in,” Tones answered to her soft knock.
She handed him the warm mug as she sat on the side of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Woozy, a little shaken, and”—he dropped his eyes—“a lot scared.”
“Do you want to tell me about it?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Not yet. Oberon will want to question me later and I don’t think I can tell it twice.”
Hmm, Oberon had the tact of a sledgehammer; she might talk to him about that.
“How ’bout we talk about this instead?” Kitt pulled the photograph from her pants and handed it to him.
He took the picture and his eyes widened. “Where did you get this?”
“From your desk.”
“Shit,” he spat. “He’s going to kill me.”
“Who is?” she asked.
“Oberon.” He sighed. “You weren’t supposed to see this. You or Raven.”
She stood, no longer able to sit still. The cold stone of dread lodged in the pit of her stomach. “What do you know?”
“Nothing.” He tried to bluff her, but she stared him down and he finally threw up his hand. “Okay. Not a lot, though.”
“Tell me what you do know.” She sat back down on the bed.
“All we know is that this guy paid the ursians to approach you and then poured the poison into your drink while everyone was distracted.”
She stood again. “I thought it was just a mistake, the heavy hand of an inexperienced barman.”
Suddenly there was no air left in the room. The walls seemed to close in on her. Who would want her dead? Who would rather not have to deal with her existence, enough to hire someone to poison her?
Her father.
With her gone, he wouldn’t have to face the embarrassment of letting her back into the Pride. And he would have complete control over her daughters. Did I embarrass him that much?
Yes. Yes, she did.
She had openly opposed him once, but only once, when she refused to marry Leon. He had banished her then. But she’d followed all the rules to gain reinstatement into the Pride in the proper manner; and later she hadn’t opposed her brother’s guardianship over her children, even though it almost killed her to know they were with him.
The anger boiled over. “Is there anything else?”
He shook his head. It was too much. Kitt snatched back the print and raced from the room and out of the Bunker. When she reached her car, she began searching the pockets of her jeans for the keys.
Shit. She’d left them behind.
The lights of the now-familiar black SUV flicked on. She ran toward it, yanked the back passenger door. “Take me to my father.”
***
Jericho pulled up at the front gates of Nathan’s house. If Tyrone had moved his base to Nathan’s house, it meant he must be worried about security. Maybe it had something to do with the twins’ bodyguard detail.
“My father has changed his mind about returning home, I take it.”
“The Alpha has decided to remain in the city indefinitely,” the driver said.
When the SUV stopped in front of the house, she leapt out without waiting for someone to open the door for her. She found her father in the large formal sitting room.
He had guests.
Corey O’Shea, gangster and known drug lord. His longhaired personal bodyguard and brother, Seamus, stood behind him and Tyrone with hands clasped low in front of his ankle-length black leather coat. Rumor had it that Seamus O’Shea was also his brother’s assassin-for-hire. One look at his cold eyes and Kitt could definitely believe that.
“I need to talk to you. Alone,” she said to her father.
Tyrone refused to look at her. “I’m busy. You’ll have to wait.”
“NO. NOW!” She dropped the print on the coffee table in front of him.
Chapter 29 - Can’t Pick Your Family
Raven lay on his bed looking up at the ceiling while he waited for Kitt to return to the room. Where could she be? It’d been over an hour.
“Shit.” He climbed off the bed and opened the door.
“What did she say?” Oberon’s raised voice bounced down the corridor from Tones’s room.
“I didn’t know she’d left the building,” Tones said.
She? Raven’s heart stilled in his chest, then started with a sluggish ker-thump. Were they talking about Kitt?
He hurried down the hall and slid to a halt just inside the door. “What’s happened?”
Oberon ran a massive hand over his dreadlocked head. “Kitt went off after she discovered a picture we took from the surveillance video.”
“What picture?” Raven growled. They had information they hadn’t told him about?
Oberon looked at him, his brow knotted mid-forehead. “The one with a hand wearing a Jordan Pride ring.”
Her family? Why would they want to kill her?
If Tyrone found out about his and Kitt’s past or present relationship, or worse—the twins, they could all be in danger. And now Kitt had stormed into the lion’s den.
Raven knew that’s where she’d be. “We must go after her.”
“I know,” Oberon said. “I’m just working out how to approach it.”
“Work it out on the way,” Raven said. “She’s in danger.”
That seemed to polarize the ursian. He nodded his large head. “Okay, but you can’t come.”
“Like hell, I can’t,” Raven said.
“Are you insane?” Oberon scowled down at him.
“After this it won’t matter, because—”
Raven woke in his room to his head pounding and jaw aching, and sat bolt upright.
Kitt.
Oberon must’ve slugged him good. He leapt off the thin mattress and raced into his bathroom. The cover over the airshaft didn’t give way on the first tug. He changed his angle and pulled harder, but it still didn’t budge.
“I wouldn’t bother if I was you,” a feminine voice said from behind.
Bianca Sin was leaning against the doorframe with arms crossed and an amused expression. “He said it’s for your own good. It’s too dangerous to let you go after Kitt. You’ll be dead before you get near her.”
He looked closer at the screws. They weren’t just glued-on heads, but brand-new shiny screws, firmly fastened.
“FUCK!” he yelled and slammed the grate with both hands.
“That won’t help either.” The pale witch smiled. “He also said to tell you to review and weigh up the mission risks like you
used to do in the old days, and also that you should know, Tyrone would never order his daughter’s death.
Raven climbed down from the toilet. “He’s right.” He clasped his hands together and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He’d been too angry and frightened for his family’s safety to think straight.
“So he found out my secret escape route?” Raven reached up to scratch a tickle on the side of his neck and touched something foreign.
No, he couldn’t have. Raven stood and looked in the mirror. A braided leather cord surrounded his neck, clasped with a tiny combination lock.
He did. Oberon had fitted him with a change inhibitor. While he wore the leather-encased silver cord, Raven couldn’t take wolf form.
“Fuck! FUCK!”
Tyrone picked up the picture and glanced at it before raising his eyes to meet hers. “Corey, can you give me a few moments with my daughter?”
She sucked back her breath and stilled. He’d referred to her as his daughter.
The drug lord raised an eyebrow and stood, rebuttoning his expensive suit jacket. “Of course. Family always comes first.” He nodded to his brother and they both left the room.
“I want privacy,” Kitt said when Tyrone’s bodyguards made no move to leave. “Complete privacy.”
Her father turned and waved his men out.
“What’s this?” he asked, holding up the picture.
“The other night, someone tried to poison me. And this is what was caught on camera.”
“There must be some mistake.” He stood. “Someone set this up. Why would any Jordan harm you?”
“I was hoping you’d tell me.” Her anger bubbled just below the surface, but she kept it in check. “Maybe it would make it easier if I was out of the way—after all, you didn’t even acknowledge your own son’s death.”
“Do you really think that little of me that you would even consider I would put your mother through that again?” His face crumpled, and he fell back onto the sofa. “You saw her. She was devastated when Dylan died. One visit from you and she is already talking more like herself. How do you think she would handle your death?”
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