by J. C. Diem
“Do you think they’re all victims of the coven?” Kala asked.
I nodded, still chilled. “They all matched the profile, so I guess they must be.”
“How are we supposed to find the source of their power if we don’t have any idea what it is or where it’s hidden?” Flynn said.
“I’ll have to do some more digging,” Mark decided. “There has to be something I can find to assist our search.”
I hoped so, because otherwise we could be here for a very long time. The full moon wasn’t far away now. None of us wanted to be stuck in Dawson’s Retreat when that happened. We’d have no choice but to head to our closest compound, wherever that was.
₪₪₪
Chapter Fourteen
We returned to the bed and breakfast following the same complicated route that we’d used to reach the cemetery. If we hadn’t had the GPS to guide us, we’d have become lost in the woods.
Edward was kind enough to bring us a pot of coffee when we gathered in the parlor. The other guests had dispersed and our team would have some much needed privacy to discuss our mission.
I followed the old man into the hall. Waiting until he’d almost reached his and Margaret’s private quarters at the back of the house, I caught his sleeve. I had a question for our host and I didn’t want anyone to overhear me.
He turned around with a smile, but it withered at my question. “What do you know about the little boy who haunts this house?” I asked.
Bushy gray eyebrows rose in surprise. “I know very little, I’m afraid. I might be old, but he died long before my birth.”
“There’s nothing you can tell me about him?” I was curious about the kid. It was disappointing that he couldn’t shed any light on how he’d died.
Edward hesitated then reluctantly told me what he knew. “I believe the child was illegitimate, which was quite a scandal back then, you understand.”
“Do you know how he died?”
“I am not sure of the actual cause,” he said with a grimace. “But rumor has it that his own mother was the culprit.”
Edward bid me goodnight then stepped into his inner sanctum and closed the door. Sorrow for the child welled within me and I glanced down when coldness made my hand ache. The boy stood beside me with his head bowed and his hand in mine. I couldn’t feel him, but the contact seemed to give him some comfort. “We’ll get justice for you,” I promised.
He lifted his head and smiled sadly, as if he wanted to believe me, but couldn’t quite manage it. I didn’t know why I made that promise. His mother would be long dead by now. I didn’t have the tools to resurrect her just so I could send her back to hell again.
Mark was busy with his tablet, searching for information about our targets when I returned to the parlor. Unlike my laptop, his tablet came equipped with the ability to access the PIA network from anywhere in the country. I’d left my computer beside Kala on the couch and he pointed at it. “I’ve found some interesting information on the coven. I’ve just sent it to your laptop.”
I placed the computer on the table and switched it on. I sat beside Kala and Flynn shifted his chair beside me so he could lean across and read the screen. Reece moved to stand directly behind me. His breath feathered my hair when he leaned in closer. His eyes were good enough to easily be able to read the ancient news article. He didn’t need to lean in and I sensed that he felt the need to be close. I was pretty sure it was because we were bonded rather than because he felt an irresistible attraction for me.
A copy of the photo on the wall upstairs came up on the screen. It was from an ancient newspaper article. The names of the six coven members were typed beneath the picture. The woman from the café was called Talitha and the man was Malachi. Neither had aged a day since the photo had been taken.
The other girls were called Ophelia and Eunice and the men were called Jeremiah and Jonathan. They all shared the same surname of Dawson, which meant that my guess was right. They were siblings, or at least close cousins.
“The coven founded Bradbury,” Kala read out loud in surprise.
“They also built this house,” Flynn said after scanning the article. He could read a lot faster than I could. “Why did they build this place on the outskirts of town?”
“They’d have used this place to practice their spells and to work their hexes in private,” Mark replied. It was rare when he didn’t have some kind of answer for our questions.
Kala put a hand on my arm when I shuddered at the thought that we were staying in the same house where evil magic had been conjured. “They performed their sacrifices here, didn’t they?”
“It’s very likely,” Mark said after a short pause. He wanted to spare me from any unpleasantness, but I was one of his agents now. It was important for me to learn the truth. Remaining ignorant of the horrible things that were out there and the atrocities that people were capable of wouldn’t help me to learn and grow.
“Why did they abandon this place?” Reece asked. “Why don’t they still use it to perform their dark rites?”
“Maybe they can’t now that they’ve set wards around the town,” Flynn guessed. “Their magic only seems to work within the boundaries of Bradbury.”
Mark nodded. “You’re probably right. While they needed privacy to practice and perfect their spells, they eventually had to move closer to the epicenter of town. They have to stay close to be able to keep the populace beneath their power.”
“We need to locate their homes and search for the talisman,” Reece said.
“That might not be so easy to do,” Mark warned us. “The coven owns nearly every home in town. It will be difficult to determine where they actually live.”
“Are you saying that everyone who lives in Bradbury is renting their homes?” I asked.
“Nearly. The coven is raking in millions of dollars each year,” Mark replied. “They own this town and everyone in it.” His pronouncement dampened our mood even further. “Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to assist you with the search. If I were to step across the town line again, the coven will undoubtedly become aware of my presence. I imagine they’d react swiftly and decisively.”
“We’ll have to go in on foot and avoid being spotted,” Reece said. With Mark out of the picture, he was in charge. He was comfortable and at ease with the role. As an alpha, he didn’t have any problems ordering the rest of us around. Kala and Flynn didn’t mind, but I wasn’t a fan of being told what to do. At least not by another shifter. It grated on me like fingernails on a chalkboard.
“Agent Levine,” Mark said when I frowned. “Do you have a problem?”
Kala leaned forward to study my face. “She doesn’t like the idea of Reece giving her orders.”
“Is that true?” Mark asked.
I shrugged in response and felt Reece draw away a little. “I’m not a huge fan, but I’ll follow my orders.”
“I almost wish you two hadn’t bonded,” he said. “This is going to make things very difficult if neither of you can establish dominance.”
“Dominance has already been established between us,” Reece said with supreme confidence.
My ire flared and I turned to face him. “Really? When exactly did this happen?”
He flashed a mental picture of when he’d taken my virginity and I’d been helplessly pinned beneath him. My face flushed crimson that his memory of that event had been restored and that he could recall it in such vivid detail. In retaliation, I flashed a picture of me riding him in the back of the car. I’d been in control then and he’d been the helpless one.
Cocking his head, Reece nodded grudgingly. “Hmm. You have a point.” Confused looks were exchanged by the others at our silent communication. “Maybe we haven’t quite worked out which of us is in charge yet,” Reece confessed.
Flynn had a simple solution to our problem. “Do you want to lead the team?” he asked me bluntly.
“No,” I replied immediately.
“Then it’s settled, Garrett is
in charge.”
Reece crossed his arms as he waited for me to acknowledge his leadership. “Fine,” I said. “You’re the boss and I’ll do whatever you say.”
Kala elbowed me in the ribs. “Don’t give Rex any ideas.” Her grin was sly and red stained my face again. Reece’s grin was lazy and bordering on triumphant. Being in charge was far more important to him than it was to me. I guessed I just wanted to be classed as an equal rather than someone to be subjugated to his will.
His smile faded as he picked up that thought. “You are my equal, Lexi,” he said. “But only one person can be the boss during our missions.”
If we’d been just a normal pack of shifters, he and I would be alpha mates and we’d have both ruled the pack. Instead, we were two lone werewolves, a cougar and a snake. Our job was to hunt down and eradicate evil creatures. It was a waste of time to squabble about it. “You’re right,” I said and dropped my eyes. “Sorry for being such a pain.”
Flynn patted me on the shoulder. “You can’t help challenging Reece’s authority. It’s part of being an alpha.”
Mark had taken in our exchange with interest. I wondered if he’d type up notes on what he’d witnessed since there was so little on file about our kind. “Now that that’s settled, I suggest you head out and try to locate the coven,” our boss ordered.
Kala and I already had Talitha and Malachi’s scent and we all knew what the coven members looked like. It would just be a matter of searching the town to find their houses. Instinct told me that we wouldn’t simply be able to walk up to the talisman and destroy it once we found it. A price would have to be paid first. The only question was which of us would be the one to pay it.
₪₪₪
Chapter Fifteen
With stealth in mind, we changed into black clothes and dark sneakers. Mine had once been white, but had faded to a dingy gray with age. They didn’t have any reflective patches and would be suitable for clandestine snooping.
We didn’t have a printer handy to reproduce copies of the town map. Mark cut the only map he had into quadrants. Reece chose the north section and assigned Kala to the east. Flynn had the south and I was given the west side.
I was a little surprised that Reece was willing to allow me to search alone. After a moment of concentration, I delved into his thoughts. I picked up his intention to allow me to gain valuable field experience. He was far from happy about the prospect of me going solo, but he couldn’t coddle me forever. He planned to keep watch over me through our bond.
Mark was grumpy about being left behind, but he kept his complaints to himself. He drew me aside before I could slip out through the backdoor. I’d put my hair up into a ponytail and I was aware of how young it made me look. “If you encounter any of the witches or warlocks, run,” he advised me quietly. “If you can’t run, shoot them. Don’t hesitate, just pull the trigger.”
Kala had another suggestion for me as she slipped past us. “If you can’t get to your gun in time, just rip their heads off with your bare hands. That works for me every time,” she said flippantly.
“How many heads has she ripped off?” I asked Mark.
“You don’t want to know,” he said heavily. “To this day, I don’t understand why shifters take so much pleasure in rending the limbs off their enemies.”
“Because it’s fun,” Kala called back over her shoulder as she reached the guys.
“Is it fun?” he asked me skeptically.
“I have no idea,” I shrugged. “I’ll let you know when I actually tear something off someone.” Horribly, a small part of me was looking forward to seeing if I could rend someone apart. I had yet to test my strength to its full capacity.
Leaving Mark behind, I joined the others. We sprinted along the side of the road towards Bradbury. We were ready to disappear into the trees if a car came along. My gun and spare ammunition were in the pockets of my cargo pants. My section of the map was in another. It was a cloudy night, but we had no need for flashlights even with the lack of moonlight. Our night vision made even the darkest of nights startlingly clear.
Reece decided to move to the center of town before splitting up. It was still early enough for people to be out and about. We ducked into the shadows before any pedestrians or motorists could spot us creeping through the streets.
Kate’s Kafé was our starting point. We gathered into a small circle in the alley behind the café. Reece checked his watch and the rest of us automatically copied him. “Give me an update every fifteen minutes, unless you find one of the Coven’s houses or run into trouble.”
“Righty-o, guvna,” Kala said in a truly awful English accent and saluted him mischievously. His stare wasn’t quite as withering as Mark’s and it did little to dampen her mood. She was just happy to finally be hunting our targets.
As we split up, we inserted the earpieces that would allow us to remain in constant contact. The town was small enough that the range almost stretched from one side to the other. If we did move out of range, we could always use our cell phones.
Nervous and excited to be on my own for once, I headed westward and stopped at the next street to consult my map. Being methodical was the only way I’d be able to search all of the buildings in my quadrant.
Flynn’s section bordered mine, but I didn’t see him as I neared the first house on my list. He had far more training with surveillance and covert tactics than I did. He was adept at staying out of sight.
Vaulting over the low fence, I entered the yard and snuck up to the window where I could hear a TV playing. A small family of two adults and one child were watching a sitcom. I mentally crossed the house off my list and continued on to the next one.
My excitement waned within the first twenty minutes of searching and I quickly became bored. I hated to admit it, but I could now identify with Kala’s lack of attention span when it came to this part of our job. Methodically searching every house in town was going to be a long, drawn out process.
Sidetracked by my increasing boredom, I forgot to check in with Reece the second time fifteen minutes came around. I was reminded of my lapse when he spoke. “Are you still alive, Lexi?” he asked. I shivered at hearing his voice in my ear. My body reacted as it always did, with a flare of heat.
“I’m alive,” I whispered back.
“Sheesh, don’t scare us like that,” Kala said. I was supposed to report in first. The others had been waiting for me to speak.
“I haven’t spotted any of the targets yet,” I reported, flushing in embarrassment for forgetting to update Reece.
Flynn snorted out a laugh. “You’re Philip Levine’s daughter alright,” he said. “No other girl your age would think of people as targets.”
“I don’t think of the coven as people at all,” I countered as I leaped over a six foot fence and landed in a crouch on the other side. Coming face to face with a Rottweiler, I froze. His hackles rose and he bared his teeth in an almost silent growl.
Before he could lunge forward and tear out my throat, my instincts kicked in. My upper lip lifted in response and my return growl was menacing. We had a staring match and I knew that if I blinked, I’d soon be sporting a fresh set of teeth marks somewhere on my body.
After a few long, intense moments, the Rottweiler whined in capitulation. He dropped down and rolled over to expose his belly. It might be a struggle to hold my own against Reece, but at least I could dominate a normal dog without too much trouble.
“What was that?” Kala asked.
“A Rottweiler just challenged me when I entered his yard,” I said.
“Who won?” Reece asked dryly.
“Me, of course.” I patted the dog on the belly and he instantly became my friend for life. He shadowed me as I crept up to the window and peered inside. A young couple sat at the dinner table eating a late meal. Neither of them were coven members.
With the dog still at my heels, I moved to the fence. He whined when he realized I was about to leave. “Good boy,” I said and gave him a f
inal pat on the head before jumping the fence into the neighboring yard. I had the strange feeling that the dog was bored and that he wanted someone to play with.
During my search, I learned that rabbits and guinea pigs were terrified of me. They went still and hunkered in their cages, desperately pretending they weren’t there until I moved away. Cats hissed in spite before fleeing. Dogs either challenged me or automatically accepted me as their superior. None tried to bite me, thankfully. Harming animals who were just trying to defend their property wasn’t on my agenda.
After roughly an hour of searching, Flynn spoke a couple of minutes before it was time to check in. I sensed Reece coming to full alert and I paused to listen in.
“I’ve found one of the warlocks.” Flynn spoke so quietly that I could barely hear him even with my enhanced senses. “It’s Jeremiah.”
Their names were archaic, which somehow made them even more sinister. They changed their names to more modern ones, but we were still referring to them with their original names. “He’s asleep on the couch and it doesn’t look like he’s going to wake up anytime soon.” Flynn debated for a few seconds then came to a decision. “I’m going in.”
As soon as he made that pronouncement, a ghost appeared in front of me. It was the handsome young man who had written the message on the bathroom mirror. He shook his head frantically. “Wait!” I said.
“Why?”
“What’s going on?” Kala said at the same time.
“One of the ghosts just appeared and he doesn’t want you to enter the house.” The ghost nodded and seemed relieved. “Can you show us where the coven lives?” I asked him. He nodded again and pointed in the direction of the B&B. “You want us to return to Dawson’s Retreat?” He nodded a third time. Flapping his hands at me, he was growing more frantic by the second. “Uh, I think we need to get out of here,” I warned the others.
Reece didn’t waste time asking me any questions. “Return to the B&B,” he ordered and I turned to run.
