“From what I hear, you’d be dead if your witch hadn’t cast her shield. She must have some powerful magic to stand up against the hellfire that melted the steel beams of this hotel.”
Just the memory of her magic made him shudder in a violent combination of pleasure, pride and an ugly craving for her blood that sickened him to his soul. But Eli was right, Risa was extraordinary, and yet so very fragile at the same time. “Ram and I would be for sure. Sutton has as much immortality as Wing Slayer can grant us, but there are things that can kill mated hunters.”
“Like the Immortal Death Dagger.”
“Exactly. But Quinn Young and his daggers are in Glassbreakers. Our problem is the spawn. Once he wakes, he can exterminate us with that hellfire.”
A hand landed on his shoulder. “Get mated, dude. Fast. It’s your best chance if we’re forced to fight a demon spawn.”
He turned toward Eli. “What about you? You need to find your soul mirror.”
Silence hung like a ticking bomb before Eli said, “Ginny’s father destroyed my connection with my soul mirror. For that alone, I’d kill him if I could. Savi’s alone out there. I was her lifeline and…Fuck.”
The growl in Eli’s voice raised the hairs on Linc’s arms. Sutton and Eli were the quietest, but there was a fierce and primal alpha creature in Eli, one they all recognized. “You met your soul mirror?” Linc couldn’t quite believe it since he’d never said a word before now.
“When she was six and crawled into my arms in the dream world.”
Christ, the raw possessiveness in Eli’s voice vibrated against the shield creating the illusion invisibility. And who the hell was Ginny’s father? They’d all been told not to ask, but Ginny was more than human. Since he couldn’t inquire about that, he focused on the other part of Eli’s revelation. “So you haven’t met your soul mirror in person? But in some dream?” How did that work? They had to touch the witch to find out if they were soul mirrors.
“Linc, Eli.” Ram’s commanding voice came through their Bluetooth, cutting off their conversation.
“Here,” Linc answered. “Go.”
“We got intel. Group of witches transported from California are being held in the fight club.”
Ice-cold rage seared his veins. “The club I fought in a couple days ago? We searched it earlier after seeing Baron. Archer’s not hibernating in there.”
“Same club. One of Baron’s men, Vice, is texting me and Baron from inside. He overheard that these are just a few of the witches rounded up and brought to Vegas.”
“They likely took the remaining witches to Archer, wherever that sick fuck is holed up.” Sutton’s voice came through the earpiece. “We won’t get to them in time. We need to rescue the ones we know about.”
“Exactly,” Ram said. “Meet us at the fight club.”
Linc broke into a run for the car, followed by Eli. In less than a minute, Linc peeled out, heading for the fight club.
Ram continued on with the intel. “According to Vice, the witches are chained in the main room, dragged one at a time into the cage for the rogues to fight over. Winner can either kill them in the cage or take them to a private room.” Ram took an audible breath. “Three dead witches so far.”
A wicked burn simmered in Linc’s veins, the craving sparking to life. The thought of all those witches in one place, enough powerful blood to…No. As he rounded a corner, he shook his head to clear the depraved craving. “What’s the plan?” Ram always had a plan.
“Baron’s going in the front to demand a chance in the cage to win one of the witches. That will help distract the rogue’s attention while we get inside to attack.”
“How many men in there?” Eli asked.
“Vice counted thirty.”
“Against us four,” Linc clarified.
“Six,” Ram corrected. “Baron and Vice will be there, and Baron has a half dozen more of his hunters on their way.”
“Okay, we just arrived. Parking a block away.” Once he and Eli were out of the car, Linc outlined the layout of the club from his memory. “The front is a big space with a cage surrounded on one side by tiers of benched seating. The other side is a gym area where I’m assuming the witches are chained up. There’s one hallway that leads to the back of the club. Opening off that are smaller training/sparring rooms, bathrooms, lockers rooms and a small kitchen area.”
“I’ll take the roof access to the locker rooms,” Ram said. “Once Baron goes in the front, we need to get in, clean house and get the girls out.”
“Agreed.” Linc and Eli covered the remaining distance to the club. “I’ll take the back door. Eli, use the side window by the gym. That should put you closest to the witches. Can you hold off the rogues?”
“I have my whip, gun, knife and a whole lot of fury. No one hurts a woman, human or witch, on my watch.”
Amen. Linc had seen what Eli could do with his whip. Terrifying and beautiful. Also hurt like a bitch, and Eli wasn’t shy about using the tail when he was pissed. So yeah, Eli would take care of the girls.
Leaving Linc free to do what he did best—kill. Once he reached the back of the club, he quietly tested the door. Unlocked. “Everyone in place?”
Several affirmatives assured him they were ready.
“Waiting for a text from Vice.” Ram’s voice came across the Bluetooth in a bare whisper. Rogues lost their souls when they killed a witch, but they retained their supersized hearing, sight, speed and strength.
Linc scanned the parking lot through the darkness. Even the streetlights were off. A generator hummed relentlessly, providing electricity to the club.
Where was Archer holed up? Had to be someplace they could take witches to him and slaughter them for their blood. Linc knew this town. They’d checked every damned place he could think of. So where?
“Baron’s in, go,” Ram ordered.
Freeing the blade strapped to one thigh, Linc opened the door to roaring voices, the sounds of flesh hitting flesh, and frightened, crying women. Keeping his shield around him, he focused on the long, dingy hallway, cement floors and a bulky man charging him. Clearly he’d seen the door open.
Letting his shield drop, Linc grabbed the guard, shoved his knife into his heart and twisted. After heaving the dead rogue in a storage closet, he pulled his shield around him again and moved silently down the hallway. The smell of copper and witch blood rode over the cement-deep scent of sweat, adrenaline and dead rodents.
He checked in a kitchen, sparring room, bathroom…Fuck. Blood was splattered over the puke-green tile, and on the floor lay a young witch’s body, her face contorted, eyes open and vacant. Too late. The smell of her dying blood seared his nose and throat. Backing out, he closed the door. He couldn’t help her. She belonged to her Ancestors in Summerland now. But hopefully he could save the others.
Their soft crying and chanting flowed down the hall like a river of horror and pain. Block it. Instead, he honed in on the sounds of fighting and the roars of the frenzied men. They were his target.
A sound froze him. The door to the locker rooms opened and closed. He saw nothing but smelled a tinge of electricity. Ram. “I’m here,” Linc whispered.
“Behind you,” Ram acknowledged. “Go.”
As Linc neared the front, conversations blasted down the hallway.
“I’ve got two thousand reasons why I’m next in the cage.” Baron’s voice rose over the din.
“Bullshit. I was here first,” another snarled. “I’m next in the cage.”
A shot exploded. Women screamed. Men roared. The noise was so loud, the building shook.
Linc materialized and raced out of the hallway into the gym area. He took in a half-dozen witches on their knees, hands cuffed behind them and attached to a thick chain bolted into the wall.
Eli yanked his knife out of a dead man, then spun. His whip lashed out, snapping around the wrist of another man approaching with a gun.
The weapon clattered to the ground.
Ram sprint
ed over to help guard the witches and kill their kidnappers.
Linc checked the rest of the room. Baron and another man fought a thick group of men, but the raised octagon cage grabbed Linc’s attention. Two hunters struggled on the mat, blood gushing out from various wounds. A bleeding witch huddled against the side of the cage.
The smell of her blood hit Linc so hard, he stumbled toward the octagon, gaze fixed on the witch. He didn’t care about her straight brown hair, torn clothes, desperate expression. Only the blood flowing from the cuts on her leg, arm and torso. He recognized the crosscuts—one leg, opposite arm and middle. The pain caused most witches to lose their ability to control their magic.
Crosscuts made them prey.
A sudden roar in the crowd jarred his concentration from the witch. The bigger hunter rose as the victor and honed in on the witch.
“No!” She jumped up and tried to run.
The man caught her hair, yanked her back and slashed his knife across her thigh.
Sutton materialized and gripped the cage door. “Locked, damn it!”
Linc fought the fog of craving and rushed forward, killing the two rogues attacking Sutton. The scent of blood and madness choked him. In a fast move, he ripped a couple small, thin knives from his calf holster and threw them dead center into the hearts of two more rogues.
The witch screamed.
Linc’s veins throbbed. Bloodlust burned his guts, sizzling his skin. Everything in him strained, desperate for the power-laden witch blood. He inhaled then froze at another scent infiltrating the air.
Sulfur.
That jarred him back to reality. Going utterly cold, he scanned the room. Earth witches didn’t smell like sulfur, demons did. Was Archer here after all?
A second later, Sutton snapped the lock on the cage and ripped it open.
But where was the source of the sulfur smell? Linc searched over the crowd, until he reached the highest bleacher.
“Oh fuck.”
“Archer?” Sutton asked Linc as he leapt into the cage, dragged the rogue off the witch and killed him.
“Quinn Young.” The dark-haired, dark-eyed leader of the rogues back in Glassbreakers. Linc stared at him, trying to process it. Young held the black immortal death dagger that gave him the ability to kill mated hunters. What the hell was he doing in Vegas? Young drew his arm back in a blur.
Sutton jumped down, the witch in his arms. “Shit.” He dived, slamming both him and the profusely bleeding witch on top of Linc.
Thrown back, he crashed to the floor. A second later, the fierce and wild power-kick of witch blood blew through him.
Fucking amazing!
Dimly aware that Sutton had gotten up, Linc wrapped his arms around the witch, turning her against the base of the cage.
His.
Chaos exploded around him.
* * *
After Linc left with the other hunters, Risa went to the infirmary to help Carla and Ginny. As the night wore on, she ached from exhaustion, and her head throbbed. They had three injured witches, one of them six months pregnant. The woman had lost a lot of blood, and both Risa and Carla were taking turns feeding her magic in the small private room to keep the baby alive while she healed.
Right now, Carla was helping the other two witches in the bigger, six-bed ward. The medical infirmary for the academy was well-equipped, even boasting of sleeping rooms if staff needed to stay in the building.
But witches were very different from mortals. Most had severe allergies to synthetic medications, so traditional medicine hurt more than helped. Risa looked over at the woman’s pale face. What was she, maybe thirty? By the time Sutton had brought her in, she’d been unconscious and barely breathing, with cuts everywhere. It’d been hideous. So much blood and horror.
But the baby hung in there.
“Risa.”
Jerking from her thoughts, she focused on Ginny. The young woman had been a powerhouse through the last hours, physically moving the injured witches, bringing Risa and Carla supplies, like healing herbs and poultices, before they could even ask. It was uncanny.
“Tea and a sandwich.” Ginny set the steaming mug on the table, picked the sandwich up off the plate and held it out. “It’s not great, but you can eat it one-handed.”
Gratefully, Risa took it without even bothering to look at what it was. The life-sustaining magic she provided for the baby required her to keep her hand on the mother. “Thank you, Ginny. You must be tired too.”
The girl sat on the bed. “Nah. I’m pretty strong.”
“I noticed. I couldn’t lift a six-month-pregnant woman.” But Ginny made it look easy. She bit into her sandwich. “Chicken salad?”
“Yep. Protein, calories and some herbs to help your magic and the pain.”
“There’s not much pain now.” Not like when repairing the cuts. Pushing in healing magic forced the pain out of the patient and into Risa. It’d been brutal, feeling every cut. But her chakras had managed to break it down and get rid of it pretty quickly. “She’s doing better. Her magic is getting strong enough to work with mine. How are the other two?”
“Awake. Scared. Carla’s calming them. They’re two friends who went shopping together and were walking to their car when they were snatched.”
“Thank God the guys found them.” They’d been cut but nowhere near as badly as the pregnant witch.
“One of the girls alerted the Circle Witches emergency system.”
“What’s that?”
“Circle Witches are an online group that witches belong to,” Ginny said. “I don’t know a lot, obviously, since I’m not a witch. But Sutton set up an alarm with cell phones, so a witch in trouble can alert the system. Sutton can track their phone through GPS and hopefully find them. Anyway, these women had time to send an emergency alert, and Sutton tracked their phones. The guys caught two rogues on the street transporting them.”
Risa dropped her legs, keeping her hand on her patient while leaning forward. “Where were they taking the witches? Maybe Kendall is there.”
Ginny touched her arm. “They don’t know. Eli, my brother, said the rogues died in the fight. But they’re all looking for your baby. Linc is determined to find her.”
Her flare of bright hope wilted, and exhaustion returned. Risa took another bite of the sandwich. “Have you known Linc long?”
“For almost a year. I work at Axel of Evil, the nightclub the guys all hang out at back in Glassbreakers. Linc is a handsome charmer on the surface, but beneath that, he’s deep and deadly.” She shook her head. “But most women don’t see that. All they want is the suave, charming gambler to take them on brag-worthy dates.” Ginny looked around the small room. “Like this academy. Linc never said a word to any of us about this place. A boarding school for lost kids.”
Risa dropped her gaze to her tea. “He deserves more than superficial dates who don’t take the time to know him.” Right, and you’re so much better. Lying to him, to all of them.
Ginny smiled. “He has you.”
Not wanting her regrets to show, Risa quickly checked the pregnant witch and could feel more of her magic, a very good sign. Shifting back to Ginny, she changed the subject. “So you and Ram? That’s complicated.”
“It’s impossible. I’m not what he needs, but I can’t leave him.”
The sadness in Ginny’s voice tore through Risa. “You love him.” Was love worth this?
“I’m going to end up causing his death. He needs his soul-mirror witch, not me.” Ginny closed her eyes, her hands fisting. “Maybe that’s what he wants. For me to feel that agony of knowing I killed the man I love.”
Confused, Risa asked, “Ram? If he loves you, he wouldn’t want you to suffer.” Right? It wasn’t like Risa had a good example of love.
Ginny opened her eyes, and for a second the murky hazel cleared to a blinding jewel green. “No. Not Ram. My sire.”
Sire? “Like your father?”
“Yep.” She sighed. “I’m forbidden from telli
ng you who, or what, he is.”
So she wasn’t mortal, or at least not entirely. As much as Risa wanted to know more about this mystery sire, she had to respect Ginny’s lines. “How did you and Ram get involved?”
“We were friends. I had learned to keep myself separate from everyone else, except with Eli.”
“Why?”
“Because I never knew when they’d be ripped away. My father wanted me to grow up feeling every human emotion possible. He often engineered things. For instance, if I had a best friend in second grade, she would get a new best friend and dump me. Another time, I was excited to get a white little dog, and he got sick and died. Just so I’d feel the loss.”
A wave of empathy compelled Risa to set down her tea and touch Ginny’s leg. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry. But then you met Ram?”
Her face softened. “Yeah. He’d come into the club after hours and we’d talk. Laugh. And I wanted him, desperately, but I knew that was what my father wanted, for me to have sex with a man I cared about.”
Risa pulled back. “That’s twisted. Almost as twisted as my father. Where are these insanely overprotective fathers everyone talks about? I sure haven’t met one.”
“Wait until you meet Key. His mate, Roxy, is close to six months pregnant, and believe me, he’s going to take insanely protective to a whole new level.” Warming to her topic, she went on, “And there’s Axel. He has a little sister, Hannah. She must be five or six now. Axel would kill or die for her. Oh, and Joe, he and Morgan have a son—”
Risa laughed, holding up her hand in surrender. “Okay, I get it. So how did you and Ram end up as more than friends?”
“My father threatened my brother—”
“Eli, right?” Trying to keep all the new people in her life straight required a flowchart. She’d seen the man with incredible light green eyes around the academy but hadn’t talked to him yet.
“Yep, Eli and I have the same mother, different fathers. Anyway, I had no choice. To protect Eli I seduced Ram. And now he loves me, and that love may kill him.”
Sudden sadness stole Risa’s breath, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She had no one. No parents; her baby hadn’t survived to be born; her one friend, Blythe, was dead; Kendall was in Archer’s clutches.
Caged Magic Page 18
