CAGED (Mackenzie Grey #2)

by Karina Espinosa

  “Sit, sit,” he urged.

  “Okay Lucian, you’re acting weirder than normal. What gives?”

  He gave me a toothy smile. It would have grossed me out, but living with Roman had weaned me off that discomfort.

  “Quick lesson: Alphas have a marvelous ability to communicate with their Pack whenever they’re hurt, in need of help, or over-the-moon with joy; but it is mostly used when they’re in peril, and only Pack members can hear the call,” Lucian started.

  “Oh yeah, Sebastian did that the other day.”

  “Fantastic! You already know what I speak of, yes?”

  “Yeah. It’s their own personal bat signal,” I laughed and Roman snickered beside me.

  “Well Pet, congratulations because you have your own bat signal as well.”

  I was still laughing with Rome when I almost choked. “What?”

  Lucian’s dark eyes gleamed with mischief. “The night of your captivity, you called out to us. To Sebastian, the Cadwells, Roman, and I—Amy even heard your howl. The last time I had felt that sense of fear had been many centuries ago, when I was still human. You projected your emotions to us, and we felt it down to our bones, Pet. No one other than an Alpha has that ability, and no other species besides wolves have ever heard it.”

  That coincided with the few fragments of memory I did have. I remembered howling in pain, desperation, but I didn’t think I’d called out to my friends. I wasn’t even an Alpha.

  “It must be a mistake, I don’t have the ability to do that,” I said, reassuring myself more than anything.

  “No mistake, Pet. Do not underestimate your abilities. You’re far more gifted than you give yourself credit for.”

  “So what? Let’s say I did pull it off, it doesn’t matter. It was probably a one-time deal because that situation won’t ever happen again,” I shrugged as best I could.

  “But if you could? Do it again, I mean,” he said as he leaned forward in his chair.

  “What are you talking about?” Roman asked. “I get this is a cool discovery and all, but why do I get the feeling you’re planning something?”

  “Excusez moi,” Lucian blanched as he put a hand to his chest in mock horror. “I merely ask because this would be an excellent ability to hone. Especially if you could reach out to anybody, not just your loved ones.”

  “Loved ones?” I smirked. “Is that what you’re calling yourself?”

  “Of course,” he deadpanned. “I’m like your British Uncle Lucian,” he suggested. “Yes, I like the ring of that.”

  “More like that weird uncle at family reunions you try to avoid,” I said.

  He scoffed. “Why must you always rain on my parade, Pet?”

  “My bad,” I laughed as I took stock of the library and its overflowing bookshelves. “Hey do you have a lighter?” I thought, off chance.

  “A lighter?” Lucian gasped. “I’m a vampire, do you think I’d have such a deadly weapon in my possession?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I do.”

  He sighed. “Second drawer to the left in my desk.”

  I chuckled. “You vamps have this weird obsession with death, it’s predictable.” And it was exactly what I needed for what had to be done next. I stood and opened the drawer where the lighter was being held. It was a sterling silver Zippo lighter that was heavy in my hand. “Thanks!” I yelled to him.

  He waved me off. “Go. I do not wish to speak to you anymore.” Lucian shooed us away.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “What’s on your mind, Ace?” Roman asked as he rested his chin on the back of the pew I laid on. “You didn’t come here to take a nap on the most uncomfortable benches known to man.”

  “How do you know I didn’t? This could be—”

  “From the girl who got pissed when I didn’t buy a pillow top mattress? Yeah, try again, Ace,” he smirked.

  I sat up. “Seriously though, who in their right mind doesn’t buy pillow top?”

  He sighed. “A lot of people! Okay we’re getting off track, nice try. Now tell me why you’re here.”

  “I just needed a break, that’s all,” I murmured as I laid back down and continued to watch the bats that hung from the ceiling. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

  “Of course I am, but you’ve had an eventful few days. You should be resting.”

  “Isn’t that what I’m doing?”

  “Don’t be a smartass, Ace,” he said.

  “Fine. You want to know why I’m here? It’s because of them,” I pointed to the ceiling with my good arm. “Are those vampires?”

  Roman looked up at the cathedral and broke into a fit of laughter. “Are you serious? You think we turn into bats?”

  “I’ve come to realize that anything is possible.”

  “Well no, we don’t. Stop watching crappy vampire movies. Now will you tell me why you’re here?”

  I peered up at Rome with a sly smile. “I need a favor, partner.”

  “Anything, Ace.”

  I nodded and sat up. “I want to go after Logan. Tonight.”

  Roman’s face reminded me of the time he ran out of A-positive blood bags, his favorite—like the Anti-Christ had come and it was the end of the world. If he could have gotten paler than he already was, I wouldn’t have been surprised.

  “Are you insane?”

  “Not more than usual, no.” I played with the strands of my hair, checking for split ends. If I pretended to be cool, calm, and collected, maybe he wouldn’t notice my desperate need for revenge.

  “You can’t go after him, Ace. He’s long gone by now anyway.” His hazel eyes pleaded with me to see reason, but all I saw was red.

  “Am I supposed to let him go,” I snapped my fingers. “Just like that. The man who…who attacked me? Just let him get away with it? That doesn’t even sound like something I am capable of.”

  “You have to be. He will kill you, and if by some miracle he doesn’t, you will start a war that the Lycans will be left to clean up,” he said, his voice as quiet as death.

  “I’m a Lone-Wolf, I’ll deal with it.”

  He laughed. “They won’t care! I’m not stupid, Ace. If I see how protective the Alpha and Beta of the Brooklyn Pack are with you, so does everyone else. Chicago will declare war on them just by association. Is that what you want to do to your…friends?”

  The emphasis wasn’t lost on me. I hadn’t been forth-coming with Roman about my past. I’d mentioned James, but never Bash or Jonah. It felt more private and not something to gossip about, but having kept my mouth shut was making me feel like I’d kept a dirty little secret from him. That had never been my intention because I never thought I would be back here.

  “They’re just friends,” I tried to convince him, but I didn’t even believe it.

  “Friends like us?” he arched a brow and smirked. “Aren’t you the friendly type.”

  My face reddened, not in embarrassment but with anger. How dare he shame me in that way? What we had was not exclusive, and I never said a word when he’d flirt with other women. He wasn’t my boyfriend—he’d made that clear to me more than once.

  “Fuck you, Roman,” I stood from the bench. “The nerve of you, I’ve never slept with either of them. And if you think so low of me, then why have you been slumming it?”

  “That came out wrong, I’m—”

  “Damn right it did, but you know what? Forget it. You don’t have to worry about this friend any longer,” I said as I backed out of the pews. “Why don’t you head back to Cali, and keep fucking your way through eternity. I don’t need a babysitter.”

  “Ace!” he called out as I sped walked to the exit. “Mackenzie!” he yelled my government name for the first time ever and I almost tripped over myself. Either way, I wasn’t turning around.

  I knew my relationships with Bash and Jonah were tricky—there was obvious attraction on both spectrums, but I wouldn’t let anyone shame me of those feelings. I wasn’t sleeping around and I didn’t plan on doing that either. />
  My own power had been challenged this week, I wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from me again. And the only way I knew how to make sure it didn’t—was to eliminate the threat.

  I ran down the cathedral steps and hailed the first cab back to Brooklyn. I knew what I needed to do, and I wasn’t going to do it alone.

  ***

  The taxi sped away as I stood on the sidewalk across the street from the warehouse. I wouldn’t be going inside. I knew if I did, someone would try to talk me out of what I needed to do. Amy’s beseeching eyes couldn’t dissuade me from this—and if Lucian was right, then I could do this again.

  I glanced around the empty streets of Dumbo to make sure no one was around. My wolf was inside, tormented from the violation we’d endured and I had to soothe her. Remind myself that we were strong, and it would never happen again. I would make sure of it.

  Transforming into a half shift was easy as my wolf begged to go for a run, but she’d have to wait until the full moon. We had other things to take care of. I crouched on one knee, closed my eyes, and thought of Blu, Rachel, and all of the other Lunas within the warehouse that felt powerless and wanted to be set free. I reached for their presence inside as if a tether connected us all, and when I felt them at my fingertips, I raised myself up at the sky and howled.

  Adrenaline coursed through me, the anticipation of tearing into the man that had injected fear into my veins and was making me doubt everything about myself. I waited as one by one, Lunas came out searching for the one who called them. About a dozen female wolves crowded the streets of Dumbo as they looked to one another trying to understand what was happening.

  “Kenzie?” Blu called out from within the crowd. “What’s going on?” her wide eyes glanced around, not believing what I’d just done.

  “I can’t sit back any longer,” I declared. “At first I believed what I had been told—that I was privileged because of my lineage—I wasn’t the same as the rest of you,” I paused, taking in their captivated expressions. “That moment passed when I discovered I wasn’t any different. Who I am, where I originate from means nothing. I may have the blood of a king, but I have the heart of a slave. And I refuse to be caged any longer.”

  The whispers in the crowd grew as realization dawned on them.

  “Mackenzie, we spoke of this already,” Rachel whispered as she moved up to the front. Her disfiguration another reminder of Logan’s misogyny.

  “We did,” I nodded. “You told me Lunas wouldn’t fight because they had much to lose. But we have everything to lose if we don’t! Fight to live! We are not fragile beings who should be condemned to glass houses. We are predators, we are wolves—it’s about time we start acting like it. Does your freedom mean anything to you?”

  I saw the spark in their eyes as they ignited with a fire deeply rooted within them. The want to speak up and speak out. The right to be an equal.

  “I am proof that every single one of you has the power to fight—only question is—will you?”

  Rachel turned to the Lunas, but didn’t say a word. She let them deliberate with one another and observed as each one came to the conclusion I knew they would.

  “Yes,” I heard the answers being echoed around me. More and more of them cheered as they realized they could be more than a maid and breeder. That they were capable of so much, all they needed was a reminder of what they could do as a group.

  Rachel turned to me when they came to a consensus, I couldn’t get a read if she was against the decision or not.

  “What’s your plan?” she asked.

  “My plan is to send a message to the Lycans. We are no longer going to fear and be put down. We’re going to behead the snake once and for all,” I declared as I ripped off my sling—ignoring the stab of pain. “We’re going to kill the Alpha of the Chicago Pack.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  I had dispersed two teams to find a trail on Logan above ground as I took my team back down to the subway lines. Blu was part of my group and I felt her nervous energy crackle beside me. I reached down for the lid of a pothole that led to the labyrinth of New York City’s underground. As the first one to drop down, my combat boots landed with a loud splash when I hit water. With a raised hand, I helped each of the Lunas climb down. While the rest of the group situated themselves, I pulled Blu to the side.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. She needed to be all in or nothing. I couldn’t have her tagging along scared shitless. That indecisiveness would get her killed.

  “Are you sure this is something we should be doing, Kenz. There has to be a better way.”

  “What? You want to talk it out with The Summit and hope that they’ll change laws that have been in effect for centuries? Let’s get real, Blu.”

  She huffed. “That’s not what I meant, but going against The Summit isn’t an easy feat.”

  “You’d be one to know,” one of the Lunas snickered behind us.

  I stopped and whirled on her. “What is that supposed to mean?” Blu kept quiet beside me.

  The Luna who had made the remark was a petite little thing with dark hair, and big doe eyes. They widened further as she took in my demeanor. I was pissed and didn’t need bickering, back-stabbing girls to add to my shit list.

  “I didn’t mean anything by it,” the Luna said. “It’s just, this isn’t Blu’s first time rebelling.”

  “So?” I asked. I remembered Blu had mentioned to me when I first met her that escaping the warehouse wasn’t her first rodeo. But she never expanded on it and I didn’t push.

  “Nothing,” the Luna murmured as she looked away.

  “Alright then,” I said. “Keep your ears open, and nose alert. He wouldn’t have left, not until he finished what he came for. Let’s bring the party to him,” I growled as I ran forward, deeper into the sewer.

  After many twists and turns, we found ourselves in the abandoned train tracks I had been kept in. Discarded cans of food littered the ground, overturned crates, and claw marks lined the walls, making my skin crawl. There weren’t any bodies, but the smell of blood was strong. I could taste the metallic odor.

  “Their scent is gone,” Blu commented. “It would be stupid of him to stay.”

  I scrunched my mouth to the side. “I don’t know. Logan seems like a prideful man. Leaving without his prize doesn’t seem like something he would do.”

  “How can you be sure, Kenz?”

  “I just know!” I bellowed. My gut told me I was right. I had no proof to go by, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was still lingering around. He wouldn’t go back to Chicago in defeat. That didn’t seem like his style. The toxic sewer gases masked their scents, so he wouldn’t be going topside for fear of being tracked. He had to still be down here. If only…

  “Anyone have a cell phone?” I asked the group. “Who has service down here?”

  They all shook their heads when checking their phones. I snatched the phone of the Luna who mouthed off earlier and went looking for another manhole nearby. The Lunas followed behind me once I found one. I climbed up to the top and slowly slid the lid off—making sure I wasn’t opening one in the middle of the street. The late evening moonlight filtered in and I checked the phone—two bars of service.

  “Yes,” I whispered as I dialed the number to 1PP. “Detective Garrett Michaels please,” I asked once the operator answered. It rang and rang until the call was transferred to his cell phone. That was the beauty about Michaels—he was a workaholic. All of his desk calls always transferred to his mobile device when he wasn’t in the office.

  “Michaels,” his gruff voice answered.

  I took a deep breath. “Did you mean what you said about coming to you if I ever needed help?”

  “Grey?” Sirens blared in the background and I had to pull the device away for a moment, the sound too loud in my ear.

  “The one and only.”

  There was a pause. I had almost thought he’d hung up, when I heard him clear his throat. “What do you need?�
��

  I relaxed against the ladder I held on to. “I need you to send me the subway blueprints for Brooklyn.”

  “The what!”

  I shut my eyes. “Please, Michaels. I wouldn’t ask if this weren’t life or death. I really need them.”

  “I need more than that, Grey. You’re asking me to break the law.”

  “Am I talking to Garrett or Detective Michaels—I can’t be speaking to the latter,” I muttered into the phone line. If I was going to divulge anything, I couldn’t be speaking to law enforcement, I needed to be speaking to a friend.

  “Depends. Are you breaking the law?”

  “Aside from roaming the tunnels, no.”

  He sighed. “You’re talking to Garrett.”

  I sagged with relief. “I need to find somewhere that someone could be hiding down here. Some secret nook that no one is aware of.”

  “Do you know how many abandoned subway lines there are in New York City?” he said. “Hold on, I’m walking to my desk.”

  “I know but, there can’t be that many in Brooklyn, can there?”

  “We’ll see,” he murmured. I could hear him typing away on his computer. In the meantime I looked down and saw the Lunas waiting for me. I covered the mouth piece of my phone and whistled at them. “Get in contact with the others, tell them to come down and to bring a container of gasoline.” Blu nodded and started to look for phone service.

  “Alright Grey, there is an unused tunnel under Nevins Street Station—it’s beneath the 4 and 5 train. There’s even an abandoned cart down there,” he said.

  “Can you do me one more favor?” I winced when I heard him smack his lips.

  “I expect you to tell me exactly what you’re up to, Grey, when you’re down,” he demanded.

  “Promise,” I said and I was surprised that I meant it. Would it be so bad to tell Garrett the truth? Maybe.

  “Fine. What else?”

  “Can you track this phone and tell me how to get there?”

  He sighed but I heard him typing again. After a few more minutes, he found my location.

  “Okay, head south until Fulton and make a left. It should take you straight there.”