by Sydney Addae
“Will do.” She watched her uncle from her peripheral vision. The man had something in his hand and tried to work it behind her back. “What do you think that is?” she asked Hawke.
“Not sure, stop him and knock him out. If you get the numbers down to just Francesco, I’d feel a lot better.”
She moved quickly, picked Wulfgar up and shook him hard. A metal device and wire fell from his pocket. He growled and dropped fang. She looked at him and threw him down the tunnel into the wall. His head and back made a loud thwacking sound. He slid down the wall and rolled to the side.
Miriam dove for the device.
Asia kicked it aside and then stepped on her hand. Miriam screamed as Asia ground her boot into the woman’s fingers, breaking bones. She lifted her foot and slammed it down again on Miriam’s hand. The woman passed out.
“Go ahead, Francesco,” Amynta said, staring at him. He looked at Wulfgar and Miriam and shook his head.
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I apologize,” Asia said, sounding unapologetic.
“Seriously, that device controls the room your mate is locked in. Without it that door won’t open and they will suffocate. We planned to use that as a bargaining tool, to get you to make a deal. But now they are trapped.”
Asia’s heart plummeted.
“Right. Now tell me what happened,” Amynta said. “Why did you pick up my daughter from Konstantin?”
“Tell Hawke what happened, I don’t believe Francesco for a moment. If anything, he would continue with the threat,” Amynta told Asia.
Hearing that made her feel better. She picked up the device and contacted Hawke.
“Sounds like he was trying to set an explosive or something, but you stopped it. Good job. Put it in your pocket for now, see if you can find the door again.”
Francesco watched her move toward the wall. Closing her eyes, she drew on old, rusty memories when she ran up and down this corridor looking for places to hide or play. Not all of her memories were bad, there had been some good ones. This room had been her main place to go when she needed to be alone to think of her mam. How she’d missed them in those days and prayed mam or Konstantin would come for her. She’d been homesick and tired of hiding her feelings, so she’d come to this place and disappear for short periods until it was time to eat or sleep.
Her fingertips slid lower, she could see her long ponytail swinging as she touched the wall right here. The door clicked open.
“Impressive,” Francesco said, watching the three men walk out and face him. “I can’t believe you remembered.”
Asia stared at him and then looked behind them. Wulfgar had revived and left. Miriam remained on the ground.
“We need to find Wulfgar,” Asia told Hawke. A few moments later Damian turned and walked toward the opposite end of the corridor.
“Put her in that room and close her inside. I’ve had enough of the spoiled princess for one day,” Asia said.
Hawke lifted Miriam, and placed her in the small room he had just vacated. Asia closed the door.
Barticus walked to Francesco and lifted him by his lapels. “I’m Lord Tre Barticus, this is my mate, Amynta, and my daughter, Asia. I understand you took exception to me claiming my mate and messing up your plans. And because of that, you stole my daughter, kept her in this hellhole below while we searched everywhere above. Then you gave her to the Liege to exploit.” He shook Francesco so hard the man’s teeth chattered.
“No, you have it wrong. Asia is special. One day we were having a meeting down here and she fell down those stairs. Broke her right arm and leg. She cried for a few minutes while I tended her and then it re-knitted, corrected itself, just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “A few of my friends saw and couldn’t believe it. I allowed them to run tests on her to see why. I mean I heard you were involved with some type of god, but I didn’t believe it. Not until the tests came back.”
Barticus’ hand tightened around Francesco’s neck. “You used my daughter as a damn guinea pig.”
Francesco tried to break free but was no match for the Alpha.
“Put him down right now or I swear to god I’ll blow up this tunnel, we’ll all die, right here,” Wulfgar said, looking both ways in the tunnel but remaining still. He held up a small detonation device and waved it high. “Put him down now or I’ll kill your precious bitch. If it weren’t for her, Wulfrik would be alive, and Francesco would love me.”
“You’ve got to be joking,” Amynta said. “I already told you he killed Wulfrik. This bastard only loves himself. I bet he has a back-up plan for this. Do you think he would meet my mate after what he did to our daughter and expect either one of us would allow him to live? He knows we are going to kill him for what he did.”
“He didn’t do it, I did,” Wulfgar yelled. The right side of his green jumpsuit had a long tear, with huge dirt spots on his leg and clothes. His hair had remained shellacked in place through the entire ordeal.
“Asia doesn’t remember you.” Amynta said, taking a step forward.
“She was a baby, of course she doesn’t remember.”
“No, she was five and she remembers Francesco and those who cared for her in my absence. Where were you when she was here?”
“I was at the other house.” Wulfgar raised his hand, pointing straight as if they knew where they were.
Asia wasn’t sure how she felt about Wulfgar. He wasn’t that much older than her, ten or twelve years, maybe. He’d seen war and death, and it had left him emotionally crippled. Francesco used him to orchestrate this entire event, causing the younger man to deal with his remaining family members in spite of his rocky feelings. Wulfgar didn’t want to lead, he wanted acceptance and love. She wasn’t sure he would get that with Francesco. The man had too many layers hiding his core.
“He didn’t want me to see her, said I’d get emotional, said I was weak.” His eyes narrowed as he looked in Francesco’s direction. Barticus had loosened his grip so the man could breathe, but couldn’t break free.
“Well, look who’s saving your ass now,” Wulfgar yelled at Francesco, and then pushed a button on a handheld device.
The tunnel vibrated.
Wulfgar fell and then ran up the stairs.
“We need to leave,” Hawke said, ushering Asia and Amynta toward the stairs. The door slammed shut at the top and they heard the sound of metal scraping the door. Barticus held onto Francesco as they changed directions and ran down the corridor.
“Where’s Damian?” Asia asked Hawke.
“Headed this way, he thinks he found a way out.” The tunnel curved. They stumbled as the ground shook. Damian met them at the bend and waved them forward. They picked up speed. At the end there were two doors.
Both locked.
Barticus checked Francesco for keys and handed the bunch to Hawke. The fifth key opened a door, but it appeared to be storage. They unlocked the other door and it was filled with cleaning supplies.
Asia stepped into the first room, moved a few things out the way, and saw another door. “This way.”
That door opened into a stairwell. They walked upstairs and at the end, entered the office building from yesterday. The full-bloods remained in stasis as they passed and walked up another set of stairs.
The ground shook but they were too far away to feel the full impact. Barticus sat Francesco in a chair and scanned him for weapons and explosives. When he found neither, he stripped the man of his clothes, and then secured him to a chair in the same conference room where they’d seen the videos of Asia yesterday.
“Bring me some water,” Barticus said, standing over the man. Damian handed him two cups of cold water from the cooler. Barticus tossed both on Francesco’s face. He gasped and turned his face to avoid the water.
“Wake up,” Barticus said, watching Francesco with his arms crossed.
Francesco mumbled as his head flopped to the side.
Barticus held out his hand for another cup. Damian placed it in his
hand and he tossed it in Francesco’s face.
“Stop that.”
“Wake up, you wanted to meet me, let’s talk,” Barticus said.
Francesco frowned. “What happened? Didn’t he blow the tunnel?”
“Yes, yes he did. I believe I heard something a few moments ago,” Barticus said.
“But…why?” Francesco’s frown deepened. “Why are you here and not down there?”
Barticus laughed. “Was that the plan? Your revenge on me for winning the girl? For having the perfect daughter? Kill all of us?”
Francesco shook his head and looked around. His eyes widened. “How did we get here? This isn’t…” he stared at Barticus. “Where’s Wulfgar? What have you done with him?”
“No. It’s not like that,” Asia said, standing next to her sire. “You tell us what we want to know and then we’ll tell you what we did with him.”
Francesco tried to move his arms, when he couldn’t he sighed and closed his eyes. His chin dropped to his chest and for a few moments the room was silent.
Francesco cleared his throat but didn’t lift his head or open his eyes. “I knew Konstantin. We were colleagues of a sort, same social class, similar interests. I heard he started a roundtable to support… others, and went to talk with him about it. The first two days he was too busy to speak with me. While waiting I met members of his group, interesting bunch. The third day, he made time, we talked a while. His plans sounded great, plus he put thousands of pounds behind his efforts. I was onboard, until you knocked on the door.” He opened his eyes and tipped his head toward Amynta. “He stepped out the room but I heard bits of the conversation.” He looked at her. “I recognized you immediately and thought how fitting it would be to turn you in for the ransom.” He smiled at her.
“Be glad you didn’t,” Barticus said with a feral grin.
Francesco ignored him. “Konstantin invited me to stay a few days, sit in on the meetings. The planning sessions were intense, but I could tell the others lacked his enthusiasm. Energized and eager to participate, I returned home and discussed what I saw with Wulfgar. Amynta’s name came up and he wanted to see for himself. No matter what I said, he remained determined. When we returned we found Konstantin dying. Nikolas had died a few hours before from a fight. I introduced him to Wulfgar and convinced him to turn the care of the babe over to her uncle. He gave Wulfgar a letter explaining what happened, some money to assist in finding you, kissed the child and sent us away. By the time I reached home, he had died.”
“Why didn’t you contact me or Amynta? You knew we searched for her,” Barticus growled.
“Why should I? Your mate ran away from you, as far as I knew, you were her enemy.” Francesco met his glare.
“Maybe at first, but later we made it clear we both searched for our child. Why did you hide her? Did you hate her that much?” Barticus asked.
“Yes,” Francesco yelled, leaning forward trying to break free. Veins popped out on his forehead. His face turned red as he bared his teeth. “I hated her with a passion that drove me every day the sun rose. Both of you, I hated you both. Your greed robbed me and my people, brought a curse on us.”
“No,” Amynta said. “The curse of no king past the age of eighteen was payment for murdering the Alpha of the White Wolf Clan. You brought that on your people.”
“He cheated me. Took our money and told me to find Barticus and get you back myself. Claimed he wanted no part of that. That old fool. All I wanted was access to the land, he knew that, but said I had to marry you first.”
“So you killed him and Wulfrik when he tried to stop you,” Asia said. “What did you use? Something from the men at the roundtable? Is that when you joined the Liege? Or were you a member before that?”
Asia sensed Hawke’s surprise.
Francesco stared at her for a few moments and then looked away.
“You stood on the balcony and taped the crowning ceremony, the citizens of Lyrill took your device, passed it around. Did you upload the fake version to the news media, blaming the American military for the dead soldiers?” Asia said watching him closely.
No one spoke, but their collective attention focused on Francesco.
“Wonder if the original is on one of these disks in that drawer,” Asia said. “There are some men at the Pentagon who’d be interested in what you’ve been doing.”
Damian opened the drawer and rifled through the tapes. He held one up.
“Take all of those, we’ll give them to the La Patron,” Asia said, watching Francesco’s eyes narrow as he watched Damian take years of research and place them in a plastic canister.
“Do you love Wulfgar?” Asia asked.
Francesco looked at her with a raised brow. “Why do you ask?”
“Is he a member of the Liege?”
Francesco shrugged.
“A Liege member living in Lyrill, never saw that one coming.” She looked at Hawke. “Please inform La Patron we found another one.”
Hawke nodded.
“Are there many more of them?” Barticus asked Asia.
“Roderick and Lancaster for sure, although Lancaster’s a joke,” she said. “He killed another Liege member.” She looked at Damian, apologizing with her gaze.
He nodded, understanding what she was baiting the man.
“They kill their own?” Barticus asked.
“Well, I killed Griffith,” Asia said, watching Francesco’s jaw tighten.
Amynta patted her on the shoulder. “Good girl, you have Alpha written all over you.”
“Did anyone move Miriam out of the corridor? Before the explosion?” Damian asked. They all turned and looked at Francesco.
His jaw clenched tight. His nostrils flared and he struggled against the restraints. “Let me out of this… let me go. You left her back there? Do you know what will happen when her father finds out?”
“That you used her greed or love for her people to trap us? That she all but prostituted herself to get Damian alone to drug him, and what?” Asia said, recalling what Hawke told her about Damian’s recent escapades. “Were you going to send him back to Lancaster? Or try to reprogram him yourself? Do they work for you? Or do you work for them?” she pressed.
“If she was in that tunnel when Wulfgar blew it… there’s no place on this earth you’ll be safe from her father’s wrath.”
“You’ll be too busy dealing with Alpha Barticus, Asia’s father and the Alpha Bitch of the White Wolf Clan’s wrath to be concerned with anyone else’s wrath,” Amynta said in a low voice, staring at Francesco. She looked at Asia. “Do you have any more questions?”
Asia opened her mouth and then closed it as she came to a jarring realization. She had a fairly normal beginning. During her early childhood she had been loved and happy. The Liege robbed her of those memories to protect Francesco, who was one of them.
“No,” Asia said in wonder. “I’m blessed by the Goddess with a wonderful mate, pups and parents. I cannot ask for more.” She looked at Francesco, recalling him when she was so much younger. He didn’t hurt her, not physically at least. But there had been a coldness about him that scared her. Seeing him sit like this seemed off. She wondered what his next move would be.
Moving close, she placed her hand on his shoulder and activated her chameleon. Rifling through his memories she saw Lancaster, Gordon, Griffith, Lord Roderick, and two others she’d seen in passing over the years, but did not know they were Liege Lords. As she searched his memories for information on the Liege, she allowed Hawke to delve with her so they could report their findings to La Patron. They discovered locations, funding sources, deliveries, clients, and the names of agents in the field.
Francesco had been very active in the organization and gave her to the Liege when she turned ten. He’d been honest about her breaking limbs, which had been the starting point. Over the years, he had been out-voted and swept aside when it came to her treatment. She sensed he never meant things to go as far as they had. Francesco was a tired old
man, ready to die. Unfortunately for him, her parents had no intentions of letting that happen quickly.
“Let’s go, Hawke, Damian.” Asia removed her hand and turned to leave her father and mother to extract their vengeance. They walked down the hall and turned to leave the building when they heard footsteps. The door opened and five full-blood soldiers walked out and stood in front of them. Three of the full-bloods walked toward the conference room.
“These the ones you re-programmed?” she asked Hawke when the full-bloods didn’t attack.
“Yes, they won’t ever attack any of us.”
“Wulfgar?” Asia called and waited for the man to show his face. A few minutes later, he entered the open area.
“This is over. Francesco will not walk out of there alive. If you want to live you’ll leave this place. Leave the continent where my sire can’t find you.” She looked at his stunned expression.
“What? You’re surrounded. Three fighters went to bring Francesco out. How can you say he won’t live?”
“Because I know my parents, and you know Hawke and I have destroyed more full-bloods than this.” She looked at him. “Are you a member of the Liege?”
A loud crash sounded, he turned and looked at the conference room. “He told you about that? He said no one could know.”
“How long were you members?” she asked, her heart hurt. Her duty was clear, the Liege had to be destroyed.
“Not me, him. But they’re having problems, in the middle of something. We planned to leave when you showed up. They know you’re here and that you and Hawke are mates.” She couldn’t tell if it bothered him or not. The man flipped from caring person to vicious predator in seconds. Another loud crash. He looked toward the conference room and then at the full-bloods standing around them.
“Attack,” Wulfgar yelled, waving his hands at the fighters. “Attack.” They remained still. “Why aren’t you obeying me?” He strode forward, placed his hands on his hips and met the blank stare of the full-bloods.
“Think we should take a look inside the conference room?” Hawke tipped his head in that direction.
