Outcast (Hunter: A Thieves Series Book 4)

by Lexi Blake

  “Meredith?” Quinn sounded shocked. “She needs blood.”

  “No, Papa.” Lee’s jaw had gone tight, his eyes filled with rage. “She caused all of this. Eddie told me when he woke me up. She’s the one who shot me.”

  “What?” Quinn shook his head and seemed to need to catch his breath. “I am so confused. I don’t even understand why you’re here, Lee. I need to know what the hell is happening. Where is Eddie? Is Liv okay?”

  Casey stood holding her, and she was so still.

  “Liv is still recovering. I’m taking her back to the cabin. I’m going to clean us both up. She doesn’t need to wake up covered in blood. Scream if things go to hell again,” Casey said before turning back to the cabin.

  “We’re all okay.” Lee had been smart enough to drop the rifle when his fathers had shown up. “I was hiding most of the time. Like Kelsey told me to.”

  Quinn shook his head. “I’m very confused at why you’re here in the first place.”

  I was going to let Lee handle that one. I needed to see if Meredith was still alive so I could kill her if she was. I wished Liv was awake because I wanted to know if I murdered the host, what that would do to the piece of Nemcox’s soul. I had to hope it died, too. I also had to wonder how many people he’d made this deal with and if Gray would ever be free of his brother.

  But Liv was still sleeping in Casey’s arms as I approached the companion.

  Eddie walked up as I was kneeling down. The small demon limped, but otherwise looked remarkably good for having been poisoned and in a fight with a primal. He looked around and was satisfied with the living bodies. He seemed to be catching his breath. “She is alive but fading quickly. Did the primal drain her? She would have glowed like the sun to him.”

  I hadn’t thought about it. I hadn’t considered the fact that she was a companion and I’d basically sicced a crazed vampire on her. It wouldn’t have changed my plan. She’d set this all in motion, but it had to have been her darkest fear, and I felt something for her. We never know how we’ll handle pain, hurt or true tragedy. She’d been through something most people will never experience. She’d lost her identity, her freedom, her very will to another creature. She’d been at his mercy and he’d had none. That kind of trauma inevitably changes the victim. Some of us turn in on ourselves. Some of us come out stronger, more ready to be compassionate to others. Some of us twist into something ugly, something hard.

  She’d had a life and love ahead of her that day so long ago in Las Vegas. If they’d simply chosen another hotel or if she’d stayed in her room fifteen minutes more or left early, she could be married with kids, living a life in suburbia.

  We never know what life will bring us. She’d done terrible things to me and mine, and sitting there looking down at her, I realized I could be her. That old phrase “there but for the grace of God go I” really means I was lucky.

  Jacob suddenly stood looking over us and another chill went through me because it meant this moment was important. This might be the reason he’d come. He hadn’t shown up to watch the fight.

  He’d come to watch what I did with a fallen enemy. This moment was pivotal.

  “Do you need a knife, mistress?” Eddie asked.

  Meredith’s eyes fluttered open. Her skin was pale against the darkened grass.

  “No.” It’s funny how easy it is to choose sometimes. I could send her to jail. I could judge her. I could not kill her when she was vulnerable.

  I am not an executioner.

  “I need blood,” I said quietly. “When the king’s finished with his ritual, if he wouldn’t mind. I can’t ask Casey.”

  Her eyes flared and she shook her head. “No. No. It’s too much and I’m done. I can hear him. That’s the funny thing. I can hear my fiancé. He’s calling for me, but he says I have something left to do.”

  An apology? I hadn’t killed her. Did I have to forgive her?

  “It’s okay.” She’d nearly killed us all, but I reached for her hand because in some ways she was like the primal. She had toxin in her veins and hadn’t known how to deal with all that poison.

  Meredith stared up at me. “You’re not bad, Owens. You know that, right? You’re one of the good ones. You’ll take the kid? You’ll give him a good life? I hate what I almost did to that kid. There was a voice inside me. It wouldn’t let me stop.”

  I nodded. “I promise. Stay, Meredith. You don’t have to die.”

  “But that’s what he wants.” The words came out in breathy gasps, as though each one was a force of will. “That voice is ordering me to take the blood, to live. So he can live. I’m going to take him with me, Kelsey. I can feel his desperation. He wants me to let him go, but I won’t do it.”

  “Nemcox dies with you?”

  She nodded. “He won’t hurt his brother again.” Her eyes drifted up to where Eddie stood. “Lord Sloane did it.”

  I looked up and Jacob was gone. He’d seen what he’d needed to see. The course was set, and I realized we could win. We would win.

  Eddie knelt down and he lost that almost manic charm he had. He was still, his body small but powerful. He placed a hand on Meredith’s head. “Do you wish to give testimony, child?”

  She nodded. “I do. Take the memories. See what Lord Sloane had planned.”

  Eddie’s eyes rolled in the back of his head and the world seemed to stop for a moment. I looked back and Gray was standing behind me, Trent at his side. I noticed Trent had picked up Fen and the boy was asleep in his arms.

  Quinn stood with his hand on Lee. “Can Eddie judge a contract?”

  Gray nodded. “He can. It’s his nature. Just because his family kicked him out didn’t mean they got to keep his gifts.”

  An outcast. We were all outcasts at one time or another, every single one of us who stood on that bloody field. And I’d learned even outcasts can make a family if we care about each other enough.

  Eddie’s eyes were normal again. “Your Highness, the companion would like to speak to you before she goes.”

  I hadn’t noticed that Donovan had joined us. He walked up, nodding my way. “The primal is resting. He doesn’t need to be fed again tonight. He’s full up. He’s going to the caves, and later we’ll discuss his situation.” He looked down and got to one knee. “My god, Meredith. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

  She coughed weakly. “No. I was angry with you. Forgot how to be me. I forgive you.”

  Donovan took her hand and brought it to his chest. “Thank you.”

  “Forgive me?” She was weakening further.

  “You are forgiven,” the king pronounced.

  “Tell Casey, I’m sorry. And Liv,” she said. “Tell her she can get it back. She just has to be patient.” Her eyes went glassy. “I’m sorry it took me this long, my love.”

  She was talking to someone we couldn’t see, and it was good to know there was something beyond, some other place. Her lips curled up and she died.

  Eddie brought himself to his full height. “Your Highness, my work is not done this evening.”

  “I don’t understand anything that’s happening,” Donovan said. “But I trust you, my friend. Do what you need to do.”

  Eddie’s horns lengthened and he moved to the center of the circle the witches had prepared. “I call upon Abuzalnaxil, Lord of Deception, Prince of the House of Corruption, commonly known on this plane as Lord Sloane, I call upon you to stand before me and be judged.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Donovan asked with a gasp.

  Quinn moved to his partner, his hand in Lee’s. “I think this is going to be an interesting story.”

  “I think we’re about to get rid of Lord Sloane,” Lee said.

  I got to my feet and slipped my hand into Gray’s. “Are you okay?”

  He took a steadying breath. “Yes, and by yes I mean I feel like shit on the outside. I swear I can feel my spine still healing. But inside, god, Kelsey mine, I feel like me again.” He wrapped an arm around me. “No matter w
hat happens. I’m okay. And if this doesn’t work…”

  “It’s going to work,” Trent said.

  “But if it doesn’t, know that I won’t give up,” Gray vowed. He put his free hand on Fen’s sleeping head. “We’re a family. I’ll never give that up.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief and then gagged a little because Lord Sloane popped into existence in front of Eddie, and I was pretty sure it hadn’t been his idea because the whole place stunk of brimstone.

  Lord Sloane had changed clothes. It was probably easy on the Hell plane. Most likely time had passed there. The Earth plane’s time isn’t in synch with the Hell plane’s clock. Lord Sloane had only been gone here for a few mere moments, but it could have been days in his palace, days spent figuring his way out of this situation.

  He frowned at Eddie. “You dare call me? You are not worthy to judge me.” He turned and saw us standing there. For a moment his eyes narrowed, but then he saw King Daniel and his political nature took over. “Your Highness. I’m surprised to see you here.”

  “Yes, I imagine you are.” Daniel stepped up. “Is this killing field your doing? There are children here. One of those children is mine. Would you like to explain?”

  The Hell lord shrugged. “Minions. You know how it is, King Daniel. Sometimes our minions go insane. I should really be questioning you since it was one of your own people who planned all of this. An angry companion. I had no idea what she was doing until she took over my witches’ ceremony. Scorned women. You know how that goes. I’m afraid she’s dead though. I watched the primal drain her. Please tell me you’ve taken care of that thing.”

  That answered one question. Lord Sloane thought he was safe because he believed Meredith had died in the initial attack.

  Donovan went still, a sure sign that he was annoyed. “Mr. Miller is resting after his proper turn. He will join his brethren and they will take care of him. Somehow I don’t think Edward would have called you here had all this death been Mr. Miller’s fault. What did you do, Lord Sloane? What contract did you violate? Because that is the only reason a satan would have to call a demon lord out of space and time.”

  “He is not a satan.” Lord Sloane snorted. “He was abjured by his kin and I will prove it. He is nothing more than a lowly servant. I will slay this idiot and you will understand.”

  Lord Sloane turned and his claws were out. He raised his right hand….and stopped because suddenly there was a sea of satans. So many small demons I couldn’t count them all. They stood between Lord Sloane and Eddie like a bodily bulwark. It was odd because Eddie was taller than the rest of the diminutive red-skinned demons.

  They were silent, but every eye was on Sloane, and even the great Hell lord backed down.

  Gray released my hand and stepped forward. “I ask the great council of satans to negate my contract. Lord Sloane attempted to force me to descend early, depriving me of years owed me.”

  Sloane snorted. “I did no such thing. Who is here to bear witness? Son, if you mean to witness against me, you should know how this works. You did not see me. You have no firsthand knowledge of any plans I might have made. It is your word against mine.”

  “You are no father of mine,” Gray said. “And I call upon the testimony of Meredith Kyle, who gave her statement to a satan before she passed.”

  “What?” Lord Sloane breathed the question. His eyes went red and he started to walk toward his son.

  Before Trent could put Fen down or I could move, the king was between the Hell lord and my demon.

  “You will await judgement, Lord Sloane,” the king commanded. “And no matter how this goes, understand that Grayson Sloane is under the protection of the Council. From this moment on, all halflings who live on the Earth plane will now come under the protection of the Council.”

  Holy shit. I’d been trying to get that very thing to happen for months, but the king had said a bunch of stuff about how we had to wait for the politically right time.

  Looked like it was time.

  “He’s my property,” Lord Sloane snarled.

  The satans were reaching out, the four closest to Eddie placing a hand on his shoulder and then turning to reach for another’s shoulder. They connected, joining in their unique hive mind as each satan present gained the testimony Meredith had given.

  I stepped up beside Gray and Trent moved to his other side. Fen opened his eyes but looked up and seemed to understand that he was safe. He yawned and closed them again.

  “Gray belongs to us because he chose us,” I said. “We’re his family.”

  “They will always be my family,” Gray agreed. “No matter what the judgement is. You might still drag me to Hell, but I will never be your son.”

  Lord Sloane might have said something, probably something about vengeance and eating souls on the Hell plane, but the satans spoke before he could.

  “This contract is void,” they pronounced in one voice.

  Lord Sloane roared and it shook the ground. The army of satans was not moved.

  Eddie stared the Hell lord down. “Go home, Lord Sloane. I believe you’ll discover there’s someone waiting to speak with you there.”

  Sloane turned to us, and there was panic in his eyes. “Grayson, we have to talk about this. Lucifer will erase our House. Do you understand what that means?”

  “My family is safe now.” Gray’s hand found mine and he pulled it up to cover his heart. “And I think I’ll work very hard to ensure that when I die I go to the other place. Enjoy working your way up again…I’m not sure what to call you. Not father, and I think you’ve likely lost your title. So why don’t I simply say good-bye. If you ever darken my door again, I’ll kill you.”

  Lord Sloane began to say something but the ground beneath him opened. Gray stepped in front of me, putting a hand out as though telling Trent to move behind him, too. Flames shot up and the earth quaked. Clawed hands reached up, spindly fingers gripping Sloane’s legs, and we watched as he was dragged to Hell. The demon’s screams echoed through the forest but the ground closed as if it had never happened.

  All of the satans who’d surrounded Eddie bowed and then winked from existence. All save one. He stepped forward, addressing the King of all Vampire.

  “Your Highness, my master wishes you to understand Lord Sloane’s actions were not a part of his plan,” the small satan explained. “He will send another envoy if you will keep negotiations open. It is in all our best interests that the lower planes keep up good relations.”

  Donovan nodded. “I will look forward to meeting with the new envoy.”

  The satan turned back to Eddie. “And you, brother, have proven yourself worthy. Come home with us. You can do your good works there.”

  It was going to be hard to say good-bye to Eddie.

  Eddie smiled, a showing of his delicate fangs. “I have a home and I do good work there. If my mistress will have me. King Daniel, I have found the home I wish to keep, as you promised.”

  “I kind of thought you would,” Daniel said.

  “And we are more than happy to have you.” I was thrilled. After all, we were growing by the day. “We need someone to help us out.”

  Eddie strode past his “brother” to join us. “I do not know what my mistress would do without me. And young Master Fen. We must teach him to keep his clothing on. I must hurry back to Dallas and inspect the flooring. I worry those claws of his will do damage. All will be ready for you. I promise. And a good hearty meal. I must feed wolves. I’ll need a cooking staff. Oh, so much to be done.”

  He clapped his hands and he was gone.

  “That was weird,” Fen said, yawning. He put his arms around Trent’s neck. “Why did that lady shoot me? She was mean. I’m kind of hungry.”

  We were all hungry. Winning a battle can do that to you.

  Gray was free. He wasn’t going to descend to Hell. He wasn’t going to leave us.

  He was free.

  His hands came out and he pulled me into his arms, whirling around wi
th pure joy. He kissed me and my heart was wide open.

  We’d gotten caught in the trick and stuck in the trap and we’d fought our way out.

  I kissed my man, my almost husband, and a sense of peace flowed over me.

  “Uhm, Kelsey, a couple of questions,” Quinn said. “First off, who is the kid, and second, should we be worried?”

  Gray put me down and laughed.

  Trent was chuckling, too. “The kiddo is Fen and he’s coming with us, if that’s okay with him.”

  Fen nodded. “I want to go home with you and Kelsey and Gray and Lee. And Eddie. I promise I’ll wear pants.”

  “And the wolves are his friends,” Gray announced.

  Sure enough we were surrounded by wolves—the natural kind. They circled their king, but their tails were wagging as if they knew the Lupus Rex had found some peace.

  Donovan was shaking his head. “They are not coming home with us. I am not cleaning up after all these wolves.”

  “But Dad,” Lee started.

  Trent moved in and I got my arms around all my men.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Hello, gorgeous,” Gray said as I walked into the room. “I think I told you we would be here one day.”

  I looked around the gorgeous suite at the Joule in downtown Dallas. It was where he’d first seen me. Gray had stayed here years before and when he’d lain on the king-sized bed, he’d had a vision of our wedding night.

  But he was totally rewriting history. “Yeah, you’ve been Eeyore for the last few years. I believe you’ve told me more than once that we would never get here and I should move on. Face facts, mister. My optimism and Trent’s extraordinary patience brought us here.”

  “And Eddie,” Gray said. “Don’t forget Eddie.”

  He’d turned totally around on the little demon. Eddie and his staff had moved into our newly renovated apartment. I only call it that because it’s in a building. It’s kind of mansion like, but then we’d needed more space because Fenrir is a kid who needs room to run.

  His father was living with a nest of primals in underground Atlanta. Christopher Miller hadn’t walked into the light as I’d feared he might. He’d told me he had to stay alive in case Fen ever needed him, but we couldn’t convince him to go near the boy. He’d refused to meet with him and begged me to help Fen forget he’d ever existed.