Outcast (Hunter: A Thieves Series Book 4)

by Lexi Blake

  I tried to get the window open. It wouldn’t budge.

  Eddie looked over his shoulder. Even in the low light of the cabin, I could see his coloring was off. “Do not try, mistress. Hold on.”

  He put his hands on Lee’s shoulders and suddenly they were inside. I did not want them inside. I did not want them here at all.

  “There are wards on the doors to keep you in. They’ve warded this place in a way that should keep Masters Gray and Casey from being able to leave. And wolves. I believe they warded to keep you in as well,” Eddie said. “I suppose they didn’t expect my particular magic, so I can manage to get in and out, as can Master Lee, but I cannot transport long distances. I’m weak. I might be able to manage one more, but my strength is waning. The poison she put into my system should have killed me. I’m not sure it still won’t.”

  Lee looked way healthier than the rest of us, but he wouldn’t once the witches came for Gray. Had Eddie been at full strength, I would have had him carry us all away.

  Would I? No. I would have him get Gray out of here and then Casey and I would find a way to save the rest. Trent was still out there. Liv was out there. God, Trent was being tortured and I didn’t know how much he could take.

  My lungs felt tight, my mind not capable of handling the horror that was happening all around me.

  Blood. Blood was the answer. “If you take Casey’s blood, will that help heal you? And how the hell are you both even awake?”

  Casey laughed, but it was a bitter sound. “This was why Meredith spent all that time on supernatural creatures. She was learning how to kill them. She’s got a notebook and it’s full of things I thought were trivial like the median weight of trolls and vampires and every creature you could think of. She said she was making a formulary, a book where she would know the antidotes for various poisons, but she was trying to become an expert at using them.”

  Eddie nodded. “I believe Master Casey is correct. But I am twenty percent larger than a normal satan. We are small but tough. It’s why she didn’t simply slaughter me the way she did my poor brownies. There are very few poisons that can kill a satan, and the dosage must be correct. I woke up and realized Master Lee had been drugged. He was breathing, but I didn’t know how long he had. Humans can be fragile.”

  “He took all of Dad’s blood we had left and injected it into me,” Lee said. “It woke me up real fast. Kelsey, I was going to call Dad, but Meredith did something to our place. We can’t get anything to work.”

  “I believe it was one of the witches.” Eddie had a hand on his chest as though he ached. “There’s some kind of a spell across much of the woods. I believe it’s meant to isolate us. No communications. I could try to find the edges of it, but there are still natural wolves out there and they seem confused.”

  “You said Fen controlled them.” Casey shifted, his fangs out, and he hissed when his skin smoked. “He probably can’t while he’s sleeping, or the nature of his sleep cut the connection. They won’t know what to do. I’m surprised they’re alive.”

  “They’re tougher than the brownies. And shooting them before Meredith took us out would have thrown up all kinds of alarms.” I had to admit, she was a thoroughly organized revenge seeker. “With Fen sedated, the wolves likely came out from under his control and ran away.”

  “There were many in the woods when Master Lee and I escaped,” Eddie explained. “Like I said, they seem confused, but not aggressive.”

  “Why the hell didn’t you escape through the secret way out?” I asked, and there was a bite to the question.

  “Because I can help,” Lee shot back. “I was thinking about something you said.”

  “Meredith had the witches close off all of our exits except the one that led to the woods,” Eddie explained. “And Master Lee can be persuasive.”

  Master Lee likely took off running through the woods until he’d found us. He was smart and there had been no reason for Lord Sloane and his cronies to hide their tracks. Eddie had probably struggled to keep up. I had no idea how long it had been since we’d been taken, but at some point Donovan was going to be told we’d called and when he couldn’t get hold of us, he had to wonder. Right?

  Or I could go with the best plan I had. Get Eddie healthy as hell.

  “Come on. We’re going to get some vamp blood into you and you can transport Gray and Lee to the king.” I had a hand on his arm.

  He stepped back. “Oh, no, mistress. No. Vampire blood does not heal a satan. It is exactly what Meredith used on me and why I am so sick. It doesn’t work because of my nature. Though I am happy as a butler, I am technically still a satan, and nothing can be allowed to sway my judgement except the truth.”

  Gray groaned a little as he tried to sit up and failed. “You can judge a contract? You can settle a dispute? Because my father is cheating me out of years on the Earth plane. Years I am owed.”

  I quickly brought the little demon up to speed on what we knew about Lord Sloane’s plans.

  He nodded as he listened. “But Lord Sloane seeks to suppress your soul, not destroy it.” His eyes rolled in the back of his head. From what I remembered from my Demons for Dummies class, this was how a satan gained access to a contract. Their brains could connect to a repository of them, and he could read any contract a demon had ever written. “This was a well composed contract. For him, not you. For you, it’s quite terrible. Has he physically done anything to you?”

  “He broke my fucking back,” Gray admitted.

  “He did that himself?” Eddie asked.

  Gray shook his head. “The witches did it. But at his command. Except, of course, he didn’t verbally say anything, and the witches won’t give him up.”

  “I’ll testify against him,” I offered. “I’ll say whatever I need to say.”

  “In a contract judgement, Eddie can tell a lie from the truth,” Casey explained. “He needs one of Lord Sloane’s conspirators to expose him. Otherwise, technically Lord Sloane isn’t doing anything wrong per the legacy contract. If the witches are successful, Lord Nemcox’s soul will take root and he shall have control over the body. He will then choose to descend. That is allowed per the contract.”

  It was stupid. “The truth is right there, Eddie.”

  His eyes looked old and weary in that moment. “I am a judge. I am not the jury and I do not seek out justice. If I am asked and the case is brought before me, I can judge, but I have rules and if there is no true eyewitness, there’s nothing I can do unless Lord Sloane admits his sins.”

  “I think I know what to do,” Lee said, tugging at my sleeve.

  “I need to get some of Casey’s blood into Gray,” I said. “Even a little will bolster him. Will it touching your claws hurt you?”

  “I can stand the pain, mistress,” Eddie said.

  “You have to hurry,” Casey said. “I can hear them. They’re getting ready. They think they’ve broken Trent down and Fen is still sleeping. They want to hurry and kill him before he can wake up. They’re afraid of Fen. Liv…Liv is in such pain. I can feel it. We have to save her. She’s never felt anything like this, Kelsey.”

  “I’ll work fast,” I promised. If they sent my stepfather in here to get us, he wouldn’t be able to sense that Eddie and Lee were here. Neither would Meredith or the witches. “Eddie, you and Lee find a place to hide. I think there’s a closet in the back. At least there’s a door to something. Hide there and when you get a chance, get him out of here. If there’s any way you can find Donovan, do it.”

  “Kelsey, I think I know what to do,” Lee was insisting as I brought Eddie to Casey.

  “You will hide. That’s what you’ll do,” I replied, not looking back. I had no idea how much time we had. I needed to give Gray whatever shot I could to survive this. His injuries were grave and what I was about to do wouldn’t heal him, but it might give him a shot at fighting whatever spell they were about to put on him. Technically, they couldn’t expel his soul the way they had my she-wolf. They had to suppress his so
ul and his soul could fight. They’d done their best to weaken him, but I was going to give him some strength the only way I could.

  “How are you going to…” Casey nodded suddenly as though he knew what I had to do. “Well, I never thought we’d get this close. My neck is the best place. You’ll get the most out of me if you cut my jugular.”

  “I’m sorry.” I hated what I had to do, but he would heal and quickly.

  “Just promise me you’ll respect me in the morning.” He leaned his head over. “This is going to get messy. Put your mouth over it as quickly as you can. Fill it up. It should be enough. And hey, it might get so slippery I can slide out of these chains.”

  I nodded to Eddie and got in close. I’m not a queasy person and this wouldn’t be my first vamp blood. Marcus and I would share blood every time we made love. Since we’d broken up, I had a little king’s blood in my coffee every day. But this was the first time I’d tried this and with a friend. I prayed it didn’t weaken Casey further.

  “What are you going to do?” Lee asked, standing way too close.

  I was about to tell him to get back when Eddie’s claw moved across Casey’s throat and I had to forget about anything but getting that blood in my mouth. Despite the spray of warm blood that hit my face, I managed to cover his neck with my mouth.

  A shudder went through Casey.

  “Take as much as you need,” he whispered. “Take it all if it means you save Liv.”

  I let that curing blood fill my mouth. It’s harder than you think to not swallow. It’s instinctive, and my body was used to vampire blood. The temptation to take a few swallows for myself was great, but I couldn’t be selfish. I’d had a dose of king’s blood this morning and that would have to do.

  “That’s so gross,” Lee said. “But it could help.”

  I closed my lips and moved toward Gray, but not before I saw Eddie’s skin blistering from where the blood had hit him. Lee had gotten a nice coating of it, too. I prayed this worked, prayed it gave Gray any chance of a fight.

  He looked up at me and I’d never seen his eyes so desolate. He was alone in the world family wise, and I realized how hard that must be. Trent was alone, too. He was having his body slowly weakened by pain and torture, and his mother and brother were likely watching. His “pack” was cheering them on as they dealt my wolf the blows that would lead to his death.

  If we survived, I would never leave them. I would share my family with them. I would build a new pack, one for us, one no one could break. I would love them and support them and be more.

  Even without my wolf.

  I got to my knees and leaned over, putting my hands on either side of his face. I kissed him, letting the blood flow from my mouth to his. It wasn’t our neatest kiss, but then our love story hadn’t been neat and tidy. It had always been bloody and hard fought. I kissed him even after he’d taken the blood. I kissed him like it was the last time. All the love between us was in that kiss, and my mind played through our time together.

  It had been the best time of my life. Meeting Gray had changed me in inexplicable ways. He’d met me when I was low and his love had seemed impossible, but he’d lifted me up and sacrificed for me. He’d shown me how to love selflessly.

  I vowed that I wouldn’t give in to the despair. It was easy because it felt natural. My human soul had given in often before I’d realized the wolf could make me strong. I had to be strong without her. I had to honor what she’d given me and be the alpha bitch.

  “I love you,” I said as I kissed him one last time.

  “I love you, too, Kelsey mine,” he whispered. “And tell Trent I’m sorry. If I don’t make it out of here whole, tell him he’s my…” His lips curled up. “I was going to say brother, but I’ll be honest, I don’t think we were ever going to be brothers. I think we were going to be something different. He’s right. I’m fighting to be normal, but I swear I want the life we could have had. I want you and Trent, and I want to raise that crazy wolf kid. I love you. Tell him I think I would have loved him, too. Being around Meredith, that part of Nemcox poisoned me. I don’t want to come back and have him…god, Kelsey, I can’t leave you both like this.”

  I looked into his violet eyes. “Then don’t. Don’t leave us. Survive any way you can.”

  “I know how to save us,” Lee said, and he wasn’t whispering this time.

  I stood up and turned to him. “You’re going to hide.”

  “No, I’m not.” His eyes had gone stubborn. “And you can’t make me. I’m going to find Fen’s dad. I’m going to find him and I’m going to bring him here and everything will go crazy and then maybe we’ll have a chance.”

  My jaw kind of dropped because everything fell into place. The primal was strong. He would have a chance against even a Hell lord.

  “It could work,” Casey said. He was covered in his own blood. It dripped down, coating the silver chains, but at least his throat had closed. “Chaos. We need a little chaos.”

  “But where is Fen’s father?” We couldn’t run around the woods all night.

  “I think he’s in the caves we got close to that first day,” Gray said and his color was already better. “You remember? The ones where Trent was disturbed because the bats wouldn’t come out?”

  “Bats respond to primals.” Lee moved to the door. “And he’ll definitely respond to all this blood. And I’ve got king’s blood in me, Kelsey. I’m full of it. I can feel it inside me. It’s weird and cool. The primal will recognize it.”

  Blood informs blood.

  It might not have been what Gray meant. Those words might not have anything at all to do with the situation at hand, but it would work. It had to.

  “Eddie, is there any way you can get me to the caves Gray’s talking about?” I wasn’t about to send Lee out there, king’s blood running through his veins or not. He would hide and I would bring the primal here. I would let the primal do what primals did best—tear apart everything he could get his hands on.

  Somewhere in all that chaos, I would try to save my lovers and my friends.

  If I stabbed Meredith, that would be a bonus.

  Eddie’s shoulders went back. His skin was still blistered and welted where the vampire blood had touched it. I couldn’t imagine what it had done to his insides when Meredith had injected it straight into his bloodstream.

  But not enough because he’d been born a freak, and that one mistake of DNA had saved him.

  It might have saved all of us.

  Even the terrible things that happen, the ones we think ruin us, can turn on a dime and be our salvations.

  They’d warded against wolves. They’d broken Gray and wrapped Casey up. They’d been certain Eddie was dead.

  They’d taken my wolf and now the wards would recognize me as human. If they hadn’t taken her from me, I would be stuck. Eddie wouldn’t be able to transport me. If they hadn’t taken her, I wouldn’t have a chance at all.

  “Yes, mistress,” Eddie said resolutely. “I will get us there. I do not know if I can run afterward.”

  I got to one knee. “Then you’ll hide and we’ll come for you.”

  “Run to the south when you can,” Casey said. “I was awake when they dragged us here. We’re about a half mile north of the tent.”

  Gray’s hand came up and I could see he was stronger than he’d been, though he still couldn’t seem to move his legs. “That puts the caves less than a quarter of a mile from here. He’s not far away, baby. He should be awake any minute. He’ll come looking for his son. It’s what he’s been doing. He might not understand, but he’s trying to find Fen. You won’t be able to smell him. He’s got that spell on him to hide him from wolves.”

  But I wasn’t a wolf anymore. I squeezed his hand. I couldn’t take any chances. I needed that chaos and I needed it now. Just the fact that I would be gone when they came back for Gray could give us an advantage. “I’ll be okay. I don’t need my nose. I’ll find him and I’ll come back for you.”

  Eddie m
oved to the center of the room. “We should hurry. They’ll be here soon. Master Lee, please hide. They cannot leave you alive if they think you’ll tell your father. The only reason they left you before was they didn’t think you knew anything. You must hide.”

  “Hide,” I ordered him, reaching out a hand to Eddie. I felt a rush of energy as Eddie started to transport us.

  “No,” Lee said right before he leapt toward us and his arms went around Eddie.

  I screamed out as the world shifted.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Lee!” My shout rang out in the quiet of the woods.

  In the near total silence of the woods. I took a deep breath and prayed the wolves of Lupus Solum were too busy to hear my cries.

  I stepped back from Eddie and realized how wrong the woods felt. Nothing seemed to move, as though every creature who dwelled here knew an apex predator was near and they were all hiding, praying he wouldn’t find them.

  Eddie was looking around the woods, too. His voice was hushed. “It’s here, mistress. I can feel it. It’s here and it’s awake.”

  We had to remember that it had been a mistake that caused Christopher Miller to kill. If he hadn’t been attempting to protect his family with the spell meant to hide them all, the king would have felt his rising and been there. He would have been standing over Miller when he turned and no one would have died. “He’s salvageable, Eddie. He’s not an it.”

  “He’s Fen’s dad,” Lee said.

  But if Eddie was taking this too seriously, Lee wasn’t taking the primal seriously enough. “You get yourself someplace safe right now. Eddie, is there any way you can get him out of here?”

  Eddie took a deep breath. “I cannot transport, mistress. Not for another few minutes. My body must recharge.”

  Lee’s eyes shone in the moonlight and he managed to whisper. “You need me. All vampires recognize king’s blood. It’s why Dad uses it to turn them and give them control. I know all about vampires. Dad said I should be the vampire expert and Rhys could learn about the Fae. I know he did that because the Fae hate me, but I can use it now.”