Cutting Ties

by C. M. Torrens

  Her front paws gave out under her first, and the rest of her followed as the drug ripped through her. The last thing she saw was Nicky’s pale face inches from hers before consciousness slipped away.

  DANTE FROZE and winced as the weave vibrated. Nicky. He was hurt. Badly.

  He stood in the middle of the cave’s makeshift common room and stared off into space, trying to get a better sense of River, but she was in the middle of battle.

  “Shit,” Dante whispered, and he felt River begin to fade into unconsciousness. He held his breath, waiting. He paced back and forth a long moment before he finally breathed again.

  They hadn’t been killed. He wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t about to curse a gift. He moved quickly to the back of the cave where he had his maps set up and circled the area River and Nicky were taken captive. They were still in Colorado, the northwest tip, but he wouldn’t be able to get a firm lock on them until they woke up. If he was there, it would be a different story, but finding it on a map was almost impossible when his people were unconscious.

  “They’re alive,” Jesse whispered, moving behind him.

  A warm kiss touched the back of his shoulder, and Jesse slid his strong arms around his waist.

  He leaned back into Jesse and looked over his shoulder at him. “For how long?”

  “Have faith,” he whispered.

  Dante pulled away and ran his hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh. “In what, love? The world is crumbling as we stand around and do nothing.”

  Jesse caught his arm and pulled him back into his embrace. “We aren’t doing nothing. You aren’t doing nothing.”

  “You’re right. I’m running around and getting no closer to anything important. Might as well be going in circles. All the energy and no new ground covered.”

  Jesse rubbed his shoulders, trying to ease the tension from him. The hard muscles refused to relent under the kneading. Dante closed his eyes and tried to force himself to relax, but his mind kept turning things over and over—

  Jesse bit into his shoulder, and he sucked in a quick breath. Dark thoughts disappeared, and a much more interesting one drifted through his head, which was Jesse’s way of getting him to stop stressing.

  Hazel eyes glinted in the dim light, filled with mischief, and a wicked smile played on Jesse’s lips.

  “You’re terrible,” Dante said, but he couldn’t help but smile back.

  Jesse grinned. “I am. Terrible. Horrible, even.”

  A low grumble rippled from Jesse’s chest, a playful challenge Dante had a very hard time resisting. Instinct screamed that he had to meet it.

  Another bite at his shoulder, hard enough to break the skin.

  Dante rumbled a low growl in response and spun. Grabbing Jesse, he shoved him hard against the wall of the cave. “One day, my love, you are going to push things too far.”

  “You’d never hurt me,” Jesse whispered and chuckled. “Well, not to the point where it’s no longer fun.”

  Dante pinned Jesse’s arms over his head and let his eyes wander over his broad chest. He could almost stay like this forever.

  “Kiss me,” Jesse whispered.

  “You’re a demanding pet,” Dante told him and kissed him.

  Jesse’s lips were warm and welcoming, and the heat between them began to build. Dante pressed his lips to Jesse’s ear. “The hunter thinks you’re very attractive.”

  Jesse chuckled. “I know.”

  “You like the way he looks at you?”

  “I like the way you look at me. Hunters are just creepy.”

  Dante released his wrists, and Jesse slid his arms around Dante’s neck. “Does he make you jealous?”

  “No, love,” Dante whispered. “I know I have your heart.”

  “You do.” Jesse grinned and kissed him.

  Dante kissed him back, letting himself get lost in the moment.

  His phone rang, and he pulled away. Dante hesitated and glanced at the phone. “It’s Angel. I’ve got to answer this.”

  Jesse’s face went blank. “All right,” he whispered and started to leave the room.

  “I’ll be to bed soon, okay?” Dante assured him.

  Jesse looked about to say something but shook his head, smiled, and kissed him again. “All right.”

  It was only a couple of hours before dawn when he finally made it to bed. Most of the pack was sleeping, but he could tell Jesse was awake, even if his lover’s back was to him.

  Dante slipped into bed and wrapped himself around Jesse. He kissed the spot between Jesse’s shoulder blades and rested his head against Jesse’s shoulder.

  “Are you okay?” Dante whispered. The sense from him was restless and edgy, and he wondered if he had slept at all.

  “I keep having these dreams. Horrible dreams.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Jesse shook his head and turned to face him. “No.”

  Dante stroked his cheek and propped himself up on his elbow. He guided his fingers across Jesse’s chest and paused to linger on a nipple. “I’m sure I could find a way to make you forget the dark dreams.”

  Jesse smiled, but it faded quickly. “Dante… if something happens—”

  “Nothing is going to happen.”

  Jesse caught Dante’s face in his hands. “Listen to me, okay? Remember always that we were happy once. You can always go back to that.”

  Dante kissed him into silence. “It was just a bad dream,” he whispered. “Come here.”

  Moving slowly, he took his time, washing away Jesse’s fears along with his own until all they were thinking about was each other and this moment.

  28. August

  RIVER WOKE slowly, her body aching and mind fuzzy. She was lying in the back of a van, chained to a bolt in the floor. Nicky lay beside her. He wasn’t chained, but he was unconscious. Someone had made an attempt to bind the claw marks that had opened up his stomach and back, but hadn’t done a good job at it. Lloyd was unconscious and chained as well on the other side of the van.

  She moved slowly to Nicky’s side and checked the wound. He was in seriously bad shape. Without Dante and Andrew, she wasn’t sure he could recover. An attempt had been made to bind her wounds as well. She stroked Nicky’s cheek and laid her head on his chest. The van wasn’t moving and didn’t have any windows to see outside either. The sound of movement rustled around outside, and River put herself in front of Nicky. There wasn’t enough room on the chain to reach the back doors. She peered through the small holes in the panel van, trying to see out while she was still aware enough for Dante to locate her.

  Footsteps shuffled around the back of the van before the doors opened.

  The eyes of a beast looked back at her. His face was slightly muzzled, but not as bad as the others she had seen. His body was hairy, but more like a hairy human, and his finger bones had grown out of his hands instead of real claws.

  “Let us go. My brother needs our alpha,” River said.

  The creature glanced at Nicky. “He won’t live.”

  River looked at him with a silent plea. “If you let us go, he might. Please.”

  “If I let you go, you’ll kill me.”

  She bit her lip, trying to find a way to convince him to let them go. “Look, I won’t kill you. I swear. Just let us go. Please. I don’t want my brother to die. Please.”

  The hybrid glared at her and tugged on Lloyd’s chains to be sure they were snug.

  “If my brother dies, my alpha will find and kill you,” River snapped.

  “I think he would try to do that anyway,” the hybrid said. “I have to take you to my alpha.”

  River swallowed nervously. “Please don’t. Your alpha will kill us.”

  “No, you’ll simply wish he did.”

  “Please, you don’t understand,” River said.

  The hybrid huffed, raised his gun, and shot her again with the tranquilizer. She cursed and scrambled to dislodge the dart. The van door slammed shut, and she struggled to s
tay conscious.

  Her body was growing heavy, and she could hear the hybrid move around the front of the van. A large sheet of metal separated the front and back of the van. She pounded on the metal before unconsciousness finally overcame her and she slumped to the van floor.

  She woke to Lloyd shaking her shoulder.

  “River?”

  “Mmm,” she said, not really able to form a sentence yet. She was still groggy from the sedative, and it was a struggle to keep her eyes open. She touched the weave, and Dante responded immediately.

  A sudden wave of despair hit her, and she blinked back tears.

  “We’ll be okay, River,” Lloyd soothed. “Are you hurt?”

  She didn’t really know.

  “Drugged.” The word came out slurred and slow. She choked on grief as she looked at Nicky, still and lifeless beside her. His breath was so shallow and weak it hardly registered. Dante’s sense wrapped around them as he tried to comfort her.

  He didn’t know where they were. She struggled to wake up so he could find them. He needed to find them. Find the nest.

  She reached for Lloyd. “Help me so he can find us. Dante needs to find us.”

  Lloyd nodded quickly. “What do you need?”

  “Don’t let me… don’t let me sleep.”

  The world spun, and she felt herself sinking again. Lloyd shook her again, bringing her back out of the drowning gray of unconsciousness.

  “River. River, wake up.”

  She forced her eyes open. “Where are we?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She clawed at the metal floor, trying to get her arms under her. Dante fed her more energy, and it chased some of the fuzziness out of her head.

  “I can do this,” she whispered to herself.

  She fought to grab the weave and hold it. Her mind wanted to keep slipping away. She felt Dante’s sense rush through her and find them like a beacon. She wasn’t sure how long she could hold on, but she fought to keep the link as long as she could.

  Lloyd wrestled to break his chains. He was saying something about hers being rusty, but she barely registered his words.

  Her whole body shook with the effort, and Lloyd worked to break her loose from the chains holding her.

  The van pulled off the highway and bounced along a dirt road before coming to a stop. Dozens of voices drifted past, and the scent of hybrid was overwhelming.

  “It’s like a hybrid gathering out there,” Lloyd whispered, and the bolt holding her chain broke loose.

  The scent shattered her concentration, but it was enough. Lloyd caught her before she fell and shook her again.

  “You need to get out of here, okay?” Lloyd told her. “Creation only knows what they’ll do to an alpha female from Dante’s pack. You have got to get out of here.”

  Her fear spiked as she tried to keep her emotions under control. She might be free, but there was no way to shift while collared. It was a big collar, but she wasn’t nearly skilled enough to do something like that and not end up seriously damaged or dead. Dante was the fastest and most controlled person she’d ever seen shift, and she wasn’t even sure if he’d risk it.

  She stared down at Nicky and winced. If she left him, he was as good as dead.

  Lloyd shook her again. “Did you hear me?”

  River nodded. “Yes.”

  “Okay. When the door opens, we’ll pretend we’re still unconscious. When they come in, I’ll grab the hybrid and you run. Do you understand?”

  River scrubbed her hands over her face, fighting the sedative still making her head fuzzy and body sluggish.

  She lay down with Lloyd and forced herself to breathe and stay awake. The van door opened and the vehicle rocked as a hybrid climbed inside the van.

  Lloyd jumped up and grabbed the hybrid, dropping him to the ground. River leaped to her feet and raced for the door.

  A tall figure moved, blocking the back door, and she gasped as she found herself looking at Dante’s twin. They looked so much alike, it was shocking. His face was leaner and marred with vicious scars along one side and down his neck. His eyes were cold and dark, and he was a good bit taller than Dante, leaner, not as compact.

  “August,” she breathed, scrambling as far back from him as possible.

  A dark smile twitched across his lips. “I’ve been waiting a long to meet one of Dante’s Pack. Imagine my surprise to have my hybrids bring you to me. What will he do, I wonder. Such big decisions he’ll have soon.”

  Her stomach twisted, and her heart raced. There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to go… but maybe through.

  Before she could second-guess the decision, she launched herself at August, hoping to get past him. She lashed out with her claws, but he was so fast he grabbed her and threw her to the ground outside the van. She hit the ground hard and gasped for air. Hybrids surrounded her, and she trembled as August snatched her up from the ground and slammed her into the side of the van.

  Lloyd was shouting, and a whimper of pain escaped her.

  “You’re coming with me, little one,” he said.

  29. River

  DANTE SAT up in the pack bed and stared off into space for a long moment. His sense rushed to life as River woke, still groggy. She was struggling to grab his sense and hold on.

  He climbed out of bed and hurried toward the back room where the map was. “Where are you?” he whispered.

  He closed his eyes and pressed his head to the map, concentrating on River. They had seriously drugged her. She was having a hard time staying awake and aware. He tried to reach for her several times, but she slipped away.

  “Come on, River. You can do this. Where are you?” Dante said.

  He felt her reach for him and hold on tight. He jerked his head up and let his eyes go glassy, feeling where she was bit by bit. He ran his hand over the map, tracing the path she had come inch by inch. He stopped and focused on the patch of land. Montana, south of Helena, near Billings.

  “I’m coming,” he said.

  Her hold faltered, and a minute later, raw fear. He could almost hear the word form in her head. August.

  “Fuck,” Dante hissed.

  He winced as pain ripped through River, and he tried to take away some of it, but a few seconds later, consciousness slipped away from her.

  He grabbed his phone and called Angel. “I know where they are. And they’re close to the nest.”

  Angel’s voice was groggy with sleep. “Okay. Get hold of the darklings. I’ll gather the packs. Where are we going?”

  “Montana, Billings. Have you heard anything from Madison in Helena?”

  “No. And little wonder if they’re that close to the nest.”

  “I’m hoping to get a better location soon. That’s just general. It’s close. I… can’t make any promises.”

  “I understand. I hope your people can hold on a little longer.”

  Dante nodded. “Me too. How many do you think you can get?”

  Angel was silent a moment. “Six for sure. I’m going to hope for ten, but don’t count on it.”

  “All right. I’ll see what I can do on my end.” Dante hung up and began calling the numbers he had for Odin. He hadn’t heard from the Nephilim since the attacks, but getting calls in and out was difficult still.

  Odin’s son Velasco was the last number on his list and the only one he seemed to get through.

  “Velasco, this is Alpha Dante. I need to speak to your father.”

  Velasco hummed. “Well, he should have been there by now. He said he was going to check in on Alpha Angel and then you. Phones are still twitchy in many places.”

  “Damn,” Dante said. “I know the area where the nest is. Is there any way you can start trying to gather some Nephilim?”

  “Where?”

  “Montana, around Billings. I’m hoping to have the area pinned down better soon.”

  “All right. I’ll tell Aalise. No one listens to me. She’s got our father’s venom and can make threats that she can actually fol
low through with.”

  “Have her call me then when she has some numbers.”

  “Sure thing.”

  LAZARUS STOOD very still. It was all he could do to keep from pacing, and Angel was doing enough of that for both of them. His older brother paced like a madman as he spoke rapidly to alpha after alpha. Convincing them to leave their packs without heavies at such a vulnerable time was difficult, but Angel was pulling off minor miracles. He had promised Dante six; what he managed to pull in was eight. That didn’t include the numbers the darklings would bring. Eight alphas with at least three heavies each… it was still long odds. The big packs were likely to add a few more to the number, but still, that was maybe thirty shifters all together. He really hoped the darklings pulled through and doubled their number.

  “I’m going to leave you here this time,” Angel told him.

  Lazarus spun around to look at him. “What? No.”

  Angel blinked at him with surprise. “Excuse me?”

  Lazarus frowned and took a deep breath. He couldn’t remember the last time he had told Angel no. Not since they were youths, probably. “I’m going,” he said softly.

  Angel stared hard at him. “You overheard Dante, didn’t you?”

  “That’s not the reason why—”

  “Don’t lie to me, Laz!” Angel snapped.

  “Yes, I heard that River is away from his pack, and yes, that is part of the reason I want to go, but not all of the reason. You need me with you. No one else is as skilled as I am, Angel. And I want to see you come home in one piece. Besides, if you don’t take me, what will the other alphas who have brought their best think? That you didn’t trust we could win this war? We have to win this battle. We have to. There’s no other choice. You can’t afford to leave me behind like Dante can’t afford to leave Trevor behind.”

  Angel took a heavy breath and rubbed his hand over his face. “Let’s get to bed. We’ll need it.”

  Lazarus nodded and followed Angel down into the pack’s secondary home that consisted of a bunker-like basement under the ruins of an old adobe house in the middle of the desert.