The cave had widened out into a sort of natural room. Cal was sitting on a rock, head hanging down, but as soon as he stepped into the subdued yellow light of several glow sticks, she seemed to sense him and raised her head to lock eyes with him.
“Raven?” she whispered, disbelief and ecstatic relief vying for dominance in her expression.
“You came!” she said louder, then she was on her feet, running to fling herself into his arms. She buried her face in his chest.
“Hey, baby-girl.” He circled his arms around her and kissed the top of her head like when she was a little girl. Trembling, she hugged him closer.
He raised his gaze to meet several astonished faces. Including Kitt’s.
Twenty minutes after dropping Raven off, Antoinette pulled up outside the warehouse where Tripper kept his van. Something wasn’t right. Nothing seemed out of place, but a sixth sense warned her to be cautious. She slid open her cell and typed in the quick dial key with her thumb.
The phone went straight to voicemail. “Tones. I’ve just arrived at Tripper’s and it’s too quiet. It may be nothing, but just in case.”
She slipped the phone back into her black cargo pants pocket and popped the trunk. Antoinette slipped the katanas out of their cases before closing the lid softly. She bent to check the laces on her combat boots and glanced at the door, hoping Tripper would appear.
He didn’t.
Then she realized what was bugging her. No music.
It was far too quiet.
The scent of blood and death hung heavy inside the warehouse. Dog lay on his rug, stone still and she sighed. Poor old thing. But as she approached, he raised his head with a soft whimper and came awkwardly to his feet to meet her.
She didn’t need her Aeternus abilities to sense the old dog was scared. His tail was drawn up close between his legs, his body tensed, and his eyes had a long, nervous cast. She crouched beside him. He placed his jaw over her shoulder, hugging her in his own doggy way. As she patted his back, she projected a little calmness toward him to give him some comfort and examined the vast empty warehouse through narrowed eyes.
Tripper’s system of perimeter cameras and alarms in the surrounding area would have warned him she was here. But where was he?
She followed the scent of blood. It was dead blood, carrion. The sticky pool was congealed under the stuffed leather chair facing the wrong way.
She stood, scratching the dog behind the ear, steeling herself to look at the body she could smell in the chair. A body that shouldn’t be here—a body that didn’t belong.
She walked around to the front and glanced down. Blood covered the chest from the wound in the throat and long hair was stuck in the tacky mess.
What is the body of a fang-whore doing here, and where is Tripper?
The scent of living blood came from close by. She reached behind and unsheathed one of the swords. The smell of stale dope smoke and the sound of his heart beating triple time came from up ahead and she followed it.
Tripper lay huddled near some old warehouse rubble. He shook with a fevered chill, tears marking clean tracks down his filthy face and crimson-caked mouth.
Her heart sank.
His face crumpled into a fresh flood of tears when he saw her, and she bent to help him stand.
“They made me do it,” he babbled, coming up on shaky legs.
“I know,” she said.
Tripper’s fingers bit into her shoulders. “I didn’t want to, but J.J. forced me.”
“I know.” She closed her eyes, not wanting to see his pain. Her heart grew heavy. She liked Tripper; really liked him.
More tears spilled from his eyes and down his cheeks. “He made me watch first, watch him feed on that poor girl, ripping at her throat like an animal.”
Antoinette glanced at the body of the fang-whore in the chair.
“Please.” He clutched the front of her T-shirt. “Don’t let me be like that.”
“You know what I have to do,” she said.
He nodded jerkily and pulled her close so his mouth touched her ear. “Someone will be in contact to take my place. It’s all been arranged.”
He dropped to his knees in front of her, his shoulders shaking with his sobs as he fell onto his elbows and bent his forehead to the floor. Antoinette’s eyes were dry as she moved behind him. She couldn’t cry any more. But in her heart, the tears fell.
It had to be done. She knew it.
The katana grew heavy.
Tripper sat back on his calves and wiped his face on the cuff of his long-sleeve heavy metal shirt, then he nodded. “Do it,” he said, the tremor gone from his voice.
“Tripper, I . . .” Antoinette was at a loss for words.
“It worked out for you, Antoinette, and I’m glad. But I don’t want to end up like J.J. This is my only option.” He turned and looked over his shoulder. “Make it quick and make it clean.”
“Okay,” she said firmly.
He looked straight ahead, puffing out his chest and straightening his shoulders.
With a heavy heart, Antoinette held the sword in front of her.
And sliced cleanly.
His head fell to the floor. Quick and painless—at least she hoped it was. Antoinette collapsed to her knees beside his prone decapitated body.
“Goodbye, Tripper,” she whispered, watching the blood pooling on the filthy floor.
The dull thud sounded behind her, followed by a slow steady rhythmic applause.
Chapter 32 - The Belly of the Beast
He’d come.
For them.
For his daughters.
For their daughters.
The knowledge hit hard. Why hadn’t she been on his side, the side that shared their children? She wouldn’t send him away—and the decision would cut her off from the Pride forever.
Raven had every right to be here and she would stand by him. Both relief and fear washed over her, and a thick tension choked her. The closed-in space of the cave made it worse. Raven stroked Cal’s hair and locked eyes with Kitt over their daughter’s head. Leon and the Tiger Twins rushed forward. Kitt put herself between her family and the Pride.
“STOP!” her father roared.
Kitt expected to see surprise and shock, but there was none. Leon, however, was another matter. His hands balled into tight fists at his side, teeth bared, and shoulders hunched.
“Matokwe!” he hissed through gritted teeth. His hatred for them was well known. It was rumored the Matokwe Pack had started the fire that consumed the Pantella Pride. But it was never proven.
Tyrone held up his hand, silencing him. “We can use his tracking skills.”
“We can’t trust this dog,” Leon spat.
Tyrone and Kitt stared at each other from across the floor, before his gaze flicked to Cal wrapped in Raven’s comfort.
Tyrone knew—everything. Kitt could tell by the way he watched Cal and Raven.
“Dylan told you,” she said.
He didn’t answer. There was no need—his posture said it all.
Kitt glanced back over her shoulder at the movement. Oberon closed in behind Raven, lending his support and declaring his allegiance.
“I see you forgot this,” the ursian whispered as he removed the inhibitor chain.
“Thanks,” Raven said and pushed Cal gently into the bear’s arms, then went to stand beside Kitt.
A warmth began to bloom in her chest at his nearness. She’d never felt more right standing beside him than at this moment. The three brothers advanced, crowding forward.
Tyrone waved off his men. “I said, leave him.”
The Tiger Twins stepped back but Leon continued. Raven pushed her behind him as the lion came to a stop so close that Kitt could smell his breath.
Her stomach rolled, and she shot her father a pleading look. “We don’t have time for this. We need to find Seph.”
“Leon, stand down,” Tyrone growled and jerked his head at the other two.
Jericho moved
forward and clutched the lion’s shoulder. Leon’s eyes dropped to where Raven’s other hand rested protectively against Kitt’s hip.
“So,” he hissed at her. “You would lie with this dog.”
Cal pulled out of Oberon’s hold and wrapped her arms around Raven’s waist and Kitt joined her. Still her father didn’t look surprised.
“You knew he fathered your grandchildren,” she said flatly. “And you still put a price on his head.”
“Of course I did,” Tyrone said, looking from Raven to Kitt. “It was expected. The Pride council had convicted the Matokwe for murdering your husband. Dylan told me it was very unlikely anyone would ever collect.” He shrugged. “But it didn’t matter to me either way. It was just the dog who slept with my daughter.”
Leon’s face fell, then split into a nasty caricature of a smile. “You may have had her, but I had her first.”
Oberon reached out and yanked Raven back, holding him firm so he couldn’t reach the grinning lion. She stood in front of him, her hands on Raven’s chest. He trembled under her palms, his face a mask of rage as he looked down at her. “So he’s the one?”
She’d never revealed it was Leon who robbed her of her innocence because Raven would have killed him. “It’s not important. Seph is the only thing that matters now.”
Leon leapt and slammed his fist into the side of Raven’s chin, rocking back his head and knocking Kitt on her ass. She looked up shocked as he closed in again. The twins moved quickly and hauled their brother back.
Oberon slowly removed his long leather jacket, then unbuckled his belt. Kitt flicked her gaze to him and the ursian winked, and she knew if Raven needed it, Oberon would come down on his side.
“Stop this,” Cal cried, lifting trembling hands to her face. “Please, we have to help her.”
Everyone stopped.
Cal ran to her father again and Raven stroked her hair, kissing the top of her head. “It’s all right, baby.”
“Can you find her, wolf?” Tyrone asked.
Raven glanced at Cal and peeled off his shirt. “I have to.”
Tyrone looked at Cal. “Can you sense her yet?”
The girl tilted her head and closed her eyes. “She’s still unconscious, but this is definitely the right way.”
Raven said, “Some of the scents are confused, but they definitely came this way. The killer’s is the strongest.”
Oberon slapped him on the shoulder. “Then let’s not waste any more time.”
Kitt gripped her father’s arm. “Thank you.”
Then a piercing scream shattered the cave space, sending a spike of panic shooting down her backbone.
***
Antoinette turned to find J.J. pounding his hands together in mocking applause.
“Touching, very touching,” the dreniac sneered.
Antoinette didn’t even bother with any of the several curses that sprang to the tip of her tongue. She wanted to tear him limb from limb with her bare hands. But before she could reach him, someone stepped into her path and threw her backward into the faded green van.
She climbed from the caved-in metal side and fell forward onto her hands and knees in the glass sprayed across the floor from the blown out windows. A female Aeternus in heavy makeup, big hair, and spandex—like a rock queen gone mad—stood beside J.J. The same insane slant to the eyes Antoinette had only ever seen in one other—Dante Rubins.
Her hand came up to stroke J.J.’s shoulder. Antoinette shook some of the glass shards out of her hair and glared at them from under her lashes before climbing to her feet. Blood stained the ground from the cuts to her palms and knees. Her sword had landed not far from Marvella, who smiled as she brought her foot down heavily, snapping the blade.
“You’re lucky that wasn’t my favorite, bitch,” Antoinette hissed.
Marvella turned to J.J. and ran her tongue up the side of his face, then looked at Antoinette. “Bring me her head, lover.”
“My pleasure.” J.J. grabbed the insane female around the waist and bent to kiss her throat. She threw back her head and let him, a throaty laugh echoing in the cavernous warehouse.
Antoinette feared the impact against the van had broken her other sword and she drew it with trepidation. But the blade slid out of the sheath with little resistance and she held it before her.
J.J. seemed more like a typical dreniac than last time she’d encountered him. Dark circles surrounded his bloodshot eyes, and his hands shook as he picked up a length of metal pipe. Marvella placed her hand on his shoulder and offered her wrist. He glanced at her before dropping the pipe again and taking it, biting deep.
She wasn’t about to be polite, and she attacked while they were busy. The female saw her coming and leapt backward. J.J.’s fangs, still embedded in her wrist, ripped the flesh to the bone, covering him in her dark blood as he fell back. Antoinette’s blade missed him by a fraction of a hair.
The bleeding dreniac snatched up the metal pipe on his way down and raised it to block Antoinette’s next strike.
“Kill her slowly,” Marvella spat from where she clung to the railing edge of the mezzanine overlooking the warehouse floor. “Make it really hurt.”
“Come down here and do your own dirty work, bitch,” Antoinette said.
The metal pipe J.J. wielded slammed onto her wrist, knocking away the katana. Antoinette had broken the first rule of self-preservation—never turn your back on the enemy. She’d let her emotions get the better of her.
Stupid, stupid rookie mistake.
She ducked as he swung at her head, then she propelled up and smashed her elbow into his nose. Marvella dropped from above and slammed her across the face with the back of her hand. Antoinette countered with a foot to the chest, sending the insane Aeternus into a jumbled pile of old cardboard cartons, tubes, and sacks.
She dived for her sword, but J.J. beat her to it and kicked it out of her reach before diving for it himself.
She grabbed his foot and yanked him back just as his fingers touched the blade. He turned and drove his boot into her face. Stars exploded behind her eyes, clearing in time to see him picking up her sword and turning around. Antoinette started to rise when Marvella grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her side.
“Cut the bitch,” the female screeched at J.J. “And make her bleed.”
J.J. approached slowly, savoring her predicament. Gone was the twitchiness, gone were the red-ringed eyes. Now he stood steady and focused. It must have something to do with the blood Marvella had given him. Maybe that’s how she kept control of her pets.
He grinned as he closed in. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”
Marvella’s grip was crushing. Antoinette threw her head back, but the smooching crunch of her skull connecting with Marvella’s nose never happened. Instead, she only hit thin air.
The Aeternus female chuckled in her ear. “You’re not the only one who knows a few tricks.”
Then J.J. lunged forward with the sword.
Chapter 33 - Sisterly Love
Cal screamed again, turning Kitt’s blood to ice. She dropped to gather her daughter in her arms as the others came over, forming a ghostly ring of yellow glow-stick light round them.
“Ssh-sh-shhh,” Raven whispered, meeting Kitt’s eyes. “I’m here, baby-girl.”
Cal stopped immediately and looked up at her father. “It’s dark. I can’t see . . . we can’t see—” Cal sucked in her breath. “We can’t fight him, can’t change. He’s . . . he’s . . . he’s coming.”
Without a word, Raven transformed and raced away down the tunnel to the left, his shredded clothing scattered in his wake.
Tyrone took Raven’s place at her side. “And your uncle Nathan, where’s he?”
“I don’t know,” Cal sobbed. “He was there, but now . . .”
Kitt watched her father’s eyes turn almost black with rage and fear. He stripped down to his Abeolite, changed into his large black-panther form and set off after Raven with the tiger brothers a
nd Leon following.
“It’s okay, Cal,” Oberon soothed as he squatted beside her and Kitt, placing a hand on the trembling girl’s shoulder. “Tell her we’re coming.”
“Please hurry.” Kitt instinctively knew it was Seph’s voice, not Cal’s. “He’s too strong.”
Oberon stood up. “Can you manage to change? You’ll travel faster.”
Cal sniffed back her tears and nodded.
“But how will we find them?” asked Kitt. “Raven’s already gone.”
Cal looked up at her. “I can use wolf form. My senses are better for tracking.”
“Do it,” Kitt said. She’d worry about her father finding out later, if she had to.
Cal transformed.
“Wait.” Oberon crossed to the backpack he’d been carrying earlier and took out a fresh glow stick. He snapped and shook it into the yellow neon glow and tied it around Cal’s neck. Enough light for her to see and lead them. Then he picked up the flashlight he’d dropped on the ground when things had gotten ugly.
“Does that feel okay?” he asked the wolf.
She moved her head and made a small noise. Like the rest, Kitt stripped down to her Abeolite and transformed.
Oberon tied another glow stick around her neck too. “I’ll stay human and carry the pack. I’ll keep up better this way.”
They moved through the cave system and came to another cavern junction with three different exits.
Oberon shone the flashlight down each way and breathed in deep.
“Which way now?” he asked, looking between the two caves. “Both seem to have recent scent trails.”
Cal sniffed around, going a short way into each tunnel, her long thick tail hovering just above the ground. Suddenly she raced toward the back wall and jumped up several small ledges to a ridge about fifteen feet above them. She looked down and yapped, then seemingly disappeared into the rock face. Kitt followed.
Raven had definitely come this way. As she crawled through on all fours, Kitt could smell the occasional hit of his lingering warm scent where he’d brushed the walls on his way through. It was a tight fit in some places. Oberon may have trouble.
Confirming her thoughts, she heard a male grunting and cursing as he tried to squeeze through what was little more than a fissure between rock.
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