Justice for Violet

by Maia Dylan

  “Puh-lease. That man would never allow one of his pride to take a chemical cocktail and then take a bullet to see if it worked. Was it you that got to shoot him? You do realize that it should have been me. I was the one that broke down the compounds on Santiago’s bullets and it was me that worked out the correct steroid and desmopressin levels to get your blood clotting in order to counteract his shitty bullets. I should have been the one to shoot him.”

  Violet heard a male voice in the background, but couldn’t make out what they said. Mason laughed again down the phone. “Kieran is close enough to have heard what you said and he’s afraid where you might have actually placed that bullet.”

  “In his ass of course,” Violet sing-songed back.

  This time there was a distinct feline growl in the background and that she heard perfectly. “Before you get yourself into even more trouble with my Alpha, my love, I will tell you that your little chemical cocktail worked perfectly. He bled a little more than we normally would have, but he is healing as we speak. Jacob is distributing the rest of the stuff you gave us to the other pride members who came out to watch.”

  Violet grinned. “Wait, you all went out into the woods to watch a lion get shot? What is it a slow day in the pride house today or what?”

  “Probably had more to do with the money we all had on whether Kieran could control his animal enough not to strike back at the lucky bastard who did get to shoot him.”

  “And? Don’t stop there. The anticipation is killing me.”

  “Well, I’m still alive and talking to you on the phone, so it worked out.”

  Violet giggled, a sound she had never heard from herself a week ago, before she’d met her two leopards that now meant more to her than she ever thought anyone would. “Although I’m glad you’re okay, kitty cat, I do have to protest the fact that you got to shoot Alpha Kitty and I didn’t.”

  The vibration at her wrist signaled she had a message, and she frowned when she read the origin. Josie Cadman was messaging her again, and that could mean more of Santiago’s men or Diablo’s gang were heading back into her neighborhood. Violet stood up from her couch and headed for her study.

  “How far away are you?”

  “About an hour from you,” Mason answered immediately, no thread of the humor from moments before in his tone. “We’re not far from the pride house. Why, what’s going on?”

  Violet sat at her desk and fired up her computer. “It could be nothing, but Josie is reaching out again.” She clicked on the message icon that flashed in the corner of her screen.

  “Isabella,” Violet gasped at the sound of her father calling her name. “I know it’s you.” Her entire body turned cold, her heart pounded within her chest and she started to shake uncontrollably. “There is no deeper betrayal than that of a daughter who turns on her own father. The thought that it is you behind this IEH simply turns my stomach. Everything you are, everything you have become is because of me. I helped bring you into this world, and by God, I am going to be the hand of vengeance that takes you out of it!

  “I want what’s owed me. You have stolen millions from me over the years, and I know you’ve made even more with what you stole. You will come to me, and you will transfer everything you have back to me. With interest. I have the woman you were expecting to hear from. We are in the warehouse built over the house I thought we’d killed you in. You have forty-five minutes from the time I send this message to get here otherwise I will turn her over to my men and let them do with her what they will. Then, once she is all healed up again, I am sure I will find a willing buyer for her. She’s young and spirited. I bet she’ll like it.” Violet heard Josie cry out in pain in the background. “You know exactly how that feels now don’t you, figlia? If you do not come, no matter, it is only matter of time until I find you. I know that you have been working with that fucking abomination and his pride.” Santiago practically spat that word, his distaste and hatred obvious in his tone. “I am looking forward to ending those demons in a very bloody way soon. And of course I am anxious for our reunion. I know it was you that has killed many of my men, and I must say that perhaps I misjudged you. Perhaps you are more like your father than I thought. Now, come to me, you little bitch.”

  The message ended, and Violet checked the date code on the message. Seven-sixteen PM. A quick look at the clock in the corner told her she only had forty minutes left.

  “Violet!” She jolted at the sound of Mason’s voice coming from the forgotten phone still clutched in her hand. “We’re already on our way, love. Wait for us. We’ll go together.”

  Violet heard the noise in the background and knew Mason was running through the forest. He was an hour away. If they broke every speed limit between her and the pride house then they might make it in time, but there were no guarantees. She stood up, embracing the ice that still flowed through her, and walked toward her elevator.

  “Mason, you know I have to go.” She pressed the button on the lift doors. “It’s what us good Samaritans do.”

  “Fuck, Violet, please just wait!” Mason was yelling and running at the same time. Violet could hear the growls and roars of his pride that obviously ran with him.

  “I can’t wait. Don’t come here when you get into the city. Find me in the warehouse district, on Lake Street,” Violet took a deep breath. “I love you, Mason, you and Jacob. No matter what, I need you to know that.” Her voice broke on her last word.

  “Goddamn it, Violet, I love you, too.” Violet heard the desperation in his tone, and knew the growl of pain that sounded somewhere near him had to be Jacob. She hoped he’d heard her.

  “I would have loved being your mate in truth,” she whispered then disconnected the phone, turning it off immediately. She stepped into the lift and pressed her hand against the wall. By the time the doors opened into her lab, she was completely under control. Well, if she ignored the single tear that fell unchecked down her cheek. And she was determined to do just that.

  ****

  “I would have loved being your mate in truth.”

  Jacob felt like he was being shredded from the inside out as his mind replayed those words over and over. She was everything he had ever hoped for in the woman the Fates had deemed them worthy of. To hear the sadness in her tone, and the goddamn fear he knew she would be horrified to know he’d caught to, slew him. He pushed his leopard even faster through the forest, the trees blurring as he ran past them. Mason ran beside him having shifted as soon as the phone call had ended.

  He slid to a halt when they reached the jeeps, and he shifted, the change painful as his leopard fought it for the first time. Both animal and man wanted to be there for their mate. Jacob reached for the driver’s side door handle of the closest jeep, but when he opened the door, Kieran climbed into the seat.

  “Oh hell, no,” Jacob snarled, reaching a hand out with the intention of ripping his Alpha from the seat, but was stopped by a quick sharp jab to the nose. “What the fuck, Kieran! My mate is heading into danger, and you drive like you’re driving Miss Daisy. Get the fuck out of the seat.”

  Kieran’s growl was filled with dominance, but in his panic and fear for his mate, Jacob withstood dropping to his knee, but he did tilt his head in submission. “We need to get there in once fucking piece, Jacob. Now, get your ass in the car, put the fucking shorts on that are back there, and then hold the hell on.”

  “Damn it all to hell,” Mason growled as he clambered into front passenger seat of the jeep, and Jacob flung himself into the back seat. “You think she’ll go or will she do the smart thing and keep her ass safe until we can reach her?”

  True to his word, Kieran slammed the jeep into gear, and left the parking lot in a hail of gravel and dust. “I don’t know her as well as the two of you, but I am going to choose option number one. Your mate feels guilty for what her father has done in the past few years. If there is a chance, no matter how slight, that she might be able to save one person from him, then yeah, my guess she is heading in
his direction as we speak.”

  Jacob was so damn anxious to get there it felt like a thousand tiny explosions were going off under his skin. “He only gave her forty-five minutes. We have less than thirty minutes to get to Lake Street. Can we make it?”

  The jeep took a corner on what felt like two wheels and Kieran accelerated out of the corner like he was driving Formula One. The other two jeeps filled with feline shifters fell a little behind. “We’ll be cutting it close.”

  Mason cursed. “We are at least forty minutes out, Alpha.”

  “Bullshit,” Kieran snapped, pulling as much speed from the jeep. “I have never let one of my pride down, and I sure as fuck do not mean to start today. I’ll have us there in thirty.”

  Jacob hung on as tight as he could to the “oh shit” bar above his head, and prayed as hard as he could.

  Chapter Twelve

  Violet’s stomach turned at the sound of flesh meeting flesh followed by Josie’s whimpering sobs. All of it was coming from somewhere inside one of the sectioned off areas of the warehouse. The facility was large, and the ground floor had been partitioned to enable multiple uses of the space with walls and large double door openings, but no ceilings over the area. A series of catwalks bisected the building from one end to the other.

  She had entered through one of the windows on the second floor, guessing that Santiago would have all the ground floor entrances covered. She crept along a catwalk near the roof of the warehouse, trying as desperately as possible to stick to the shadows.

  She came to the part of the catwalk that looked down over the area her father stood, watching as one of his men slapped the young woman around. Josie was tied to a chair and had no hope of blocking or hiding from the punishing slaps, and from how swollen and bloody her face was, they had been doing it for a while. A quick glance around the area told her there were four of her father’s guards in the room with her father, and two standing on the other side of the entry.

  “How does it feel to know that you are about to die?” Her father’s voice came from below her, and it was filled with a smug satisfaction. “Many people often wonder what it will feel like to die, when will the reaper come for them and where in their life will they be. Now, you have the answer to all but one of those questions.”

  “But I don’t want to know the answer to any of those questions!” Josie cried out, her voice trembling.

  Santiago made a scoffing noise. “Bullshit! Everybody wants to know the answer to that question. It is the very unknown that is faced by all species. When will I die?”

  “Hopefully today, you narcissistic motherfucking son of a bitch!” Josie screamed back, and even from where Violet stood at least twenty feet away from her, she could see the hate burning bright in the young woman’s eyes. “You and your filth disgust me. You think just because you have money and power that you can buy yourselves respect and honor. Well, wise up and smell the fucking coffee, you dumbass. Fear is not respect. Power is not honor. And I may not live to see the day when some lucky bastard ends your pitiful life, but I can assure you that I will be cheering that person on all the way from heaven. I’ll be popping popcorn and waiting as you descend to the depths of hell to be ass-fucked by the devil himself!”

  Violet blinked and a slow smile formed. She had only known Josie a short time, and in those months, if anyone had asked Violet to give them a word that described her, she would have had to say timid. Where this eyes blazing, mouth like a sailor on shore leave, spitfire came from, Violet couldn’t tell, but she liked it!

  When Santiago backhanded Josie this time, the whimper she gave was more a growl of hatred, and she spat blood in his direction.

  Good girl!

  Santiago cursed and reached for a handkerchief. “Spit at me all you want, bitch. My clients prefer a little fire with their purchase. They will soon break you of that and we may start early with that if my disloyal daughter is not here in the next three minutes.”

  Violet closed her eyes for a moment, knowing that as soon as she slid down the ladder beside her, and entered into the pit of snakes below, she would be forfeiting her life. And up until meeting Jacob and Mason that might not have been as horrific a thought as it was now. She let memories of their brief time together filter through her mind, remembering what it was to be held by them, to laugh with them, and to be loved by them.

  She loved them with everything in her, and she knew they loved her right back. All three of them had spoken the words, and Violet knew that it didn’t matter that they weren’t mates in the true sense of the word. The connection between them was such that if the situations were reversed and they were facing their own end, she would likely follow them into the next life, unprepared to brave the future of this one without them. Oh, she would hang on a little longer and wait until she have wrought justice on anyone who dared to take her mates from her, but she would follow them eventually.

  They were her mates.

  Violet felt a sudden sharp pain in her chest, a burning sensation that seemed to escalate in intensity until her eyes watered and she had to take shallow breaths to keep from crying out. Then just as quickly as it came, it disappeared, and she knew it had happened. The mating bond between her and her leopards had snapped into place. Just as they had explained, in the moment when she accepted what they were to her, and she to them, the connection between them would be forged.

  She panted for breath for a moment longer, her palm pressed to where the ache in her chest had been. She could feel the connection taking hold within her. She sensed Jacob and Mason’s joy that the bond had snapped into place, but she also felt their fear for her, their determination to get to her in time, and their trepidation that they might be too late. Although the feelings that came to her were most definitely shared by both men, she sensed Mason’s ice cold determination, and Jacob’s heated rage, and she knew she would always feel their emotions separately along the bond. Violet tried to send them her love as well as her plea that they forgive her for making this decision. She could only hope that somehow they understood that she was doing what she had to, and there was no other choice. Not for her.

  They would find each other in the next life, and every one after it. Of that she had no doubt. Feeling the sands of time slipping way too damn fast, Violet opened her eyes, turned and grabbed the handles of the ladder that ran from the catwalk to the floor below. The bottom of the ladder would put her only fifteen feet from where Santiago stood over Josie. She placed her feet on either side and slid down the rails of the ladder to the floor.

  “Well now, it looks like you started the party without me.” She spoke as she turned to face the man who had sired her, and leaned back against the ladder. She kept her eyes on Santiago and ignored the other men in the room who all raised semi-automatic weapons in her direction.

  Santiago grinned as folded his arms across his chest and stared at her. “I never said she’d be unharmed when you got here, just that she would be alive. For now at least.”

  Violet stared at the man who had been responsible for every fucked up nightmare and fear she had. The irony was she felt no real emotion looking at the man now. Sure he looked the same, just slightly rounder and greyer, but the hard, evil stare was still there, as was the disapproving scowl when he looked at her. But something had changed in the twelve years since she’d stood before the man, and it was obvious to her what it was. She was no longer that scared little girl anymore.

  Violet grinned as she pushed to stand upright and moved away from the ladder. “That’s true, you didn’t, and even if you had promised, I wouldn’t have believed you. I reckon it would be too hard for a lying sack of shit like yourself to actually keep your word. Hell, the ground might even open up and swallow you whole. No doubt the hordes in hell would welcome the return of their brother from another mother.” She shot a quick glance at Josie. “The ass-fucking would no doubt start soon after.”

  Josie huffed a tired laugh. “Then hell, you had better get me out of this chair so I can
get to popping us that popcorn.”

  Totally ignoring Josie, Santiago’s eyes narrowed on Violet, and she smiled sweetly, reveling in the flush of anger that rose in his face. “It would appear my sniveling little bitch has found a backbone. When you were a child, you never would have said such things to your father. You would have been more likely to stand in the corner and cry. But look at you now. I know that you’ve killed, and you’ve fought to fuck up my business dealings all around the world, and for the first time in my life I have never been prouder of you, Isabella.”

  “Aw, isn’t that sweet.” Violet folded her arms, slipping two of her shock buttons from the specially designed compartment in the arms of her fight suit and palming them. “The irony is, if I had known my successful attempts to take business from you and make you look like a horse’s ass to the international business community would actually make you proud of me, I might have actually thought twice about it!”

  “Shut your mouth, whore!” One of her father’s guards jumped to his defense and stepped forward, his hand moving up with the intent of back handing her across the face. Violet waited until his arm was swinging toward her before she spun into him, putting her back to his chest, and slapping both of her shock buttons on his thighs. She felt him jolt behind her before she turned quickly to drive the elbow of her right arm into his temple.

  Without so much as a groan, the man slid to the floor, and Violet spun low, on the balls of her feet, waiting to see if any of the others came at her.

  Santiago’s smile broadened. “Look at that. You moved without telegraphing your intention. You have learned a lot in the last twelve years.”

  Violet shrugged and straightened, moving back slightly to give herself some room. “So, you wanted me here, and I came. Are you going to let Josie go? I’m pretty sure the answer is no.” Violet winced at being so blunt. “Yeah, sorry, Josie, but Santiago never had any intention of letting you go. You were just the bait to get me here.”