Rowena's Revenge (Broadus Supernatural Society)

by Theresa Marguerite Hewitt

  “What’s that?” I have to keep from screaming when one of the things chasing us crashes into the back passenger door, rocking the vehicle and making Blaine swear as Penton’s eyes find me. His hand sweeps back and cups my cheek, calming me the instant his skin touches mine.

  “I need you to stay in the vehicle, no matter what.” As soon as the words leave his lips I’m shaking my head in disagreement, but his grip on my face tightens and his eyes seem to blaze in the darkening interior. “You will stay in here, and so will you, Blaine.” He moves his stare from me to my other, still swearing, mate, and Blaine tells him to fuck off. “You will both listen. A Ghouls bite is almost certain death to a Were; your sister almost died from one.” He looks back down on me with an enormous sadness in his eyes, and I feel the pain that runs through his heart. It’s so intense it makes my chest hurt and tears find my lashes as I slowly nod.

  “Now, just keep driving. Head for the address I gave you, and when you get there, call the number on the paper.” Penton places his hand on Blaine’s shoulder, getting him to take his eyes from the road for only a second and nod. I can sense what he’s about to do and I want to scream out ‘No!’, but I can’t, there is something keeping me silent. My lips move, but nothing comes out and I let the tears fall onto my cheeks as Penton looks back down at me.

  I feel so small under his stare as I’m sandwiched between the back seats and the front on the floor. I can see the love in his eyes as he smiles slightly, the back of his hand wiping some of the moisture from my cheeks as he brushes his finger across it. I’m begging him to stay in my mind and he shakes his head slowly, sadness replacing the love in his eyes.

  Before I can reach up and grasp his hand, he’s gone and the passenger door is swinging open wildly, letting in the cold and the snow of the New York air. I’m frozen in place as my mind tries to comprehend that Penton just jumped from our speeding vehicle into the dark, snowy thruway.

  “Fuck! Get up here Row and shut that door!” Blaine yells as he swerves again, and I scramble to my knees, sliding into the leather seat and reaching for the door handle. Just as my fingers wrap around the now freezing plastic my wrist is surrounded by a slimy, long clawed hand and a startled scream leaves my mouth as I try to jerk the door shut.

  The glowing red eyes find me as I look above, on the roof of the SUV, and the hand squeezes my wrist tighter. I feel Blaine’s hand tug on the waist of my jeans, trying to pull me back in the car as the Ghoul hisses at me, the things dark skin oozing something onto my hand, and I can see it dripping down the sides of the car. Blaine tugs on my waistband one more time as an ear piercing howl rings through the night, even breaking the gushing wind swirling around us and the Ghoul looks up, his hold loosening, and I take advantage, sliding in the car with Blaine’s momentum and slamming the door shut.

  In the dark interior of the Landrover my wrist is throbbing, but I pay no attention. Blaine is breathing as hard as I am, and sneaking a side long glance in his direction I can see his features are fighting to go back to all human; his canines elongated along with his fingers, which are sporting razor sharp claws encircling the steering wheel and his eyes glowing bright hazel, the transformation no doubt from my struggle with the Ghoul.

  I reach my hand over and place it on his thigh, squeezing lightly. “I’m okay, B. I’m okay. Just drive.” I nod toward the road as he sneaks a look at me, the anxiety and adrenaline rolling off of him in huge waves, making my leopard pace and chuff, ready for an outlet or a fight. I run my hand up the side of his rib cage and around to the back of his neck, trailing my fingers along his hair line and massaging them into the tense muscles, trying to get him to chill just a little, and I sigh when his shoulders sag slightly and he releases a long breath.

  “What the fuck,” he says matter-of-factly and rests his head back, speeding up even more and turning off the thruway. We make a million turns as his cell tells him the directions and my nerves are on edge. I can’t stop looking out the window, hoping to see Penton standing on the snow covered sidewalk with a bright smile on his face, but with every red light that turns to green, my heart falls a little more.

  I know Blaine can feel my anxiety, as I hear him sigh, feeling his hand slide over mine as I keep my attention out my window, praying for Penton to appear out of thin air and be okay. B’s fingers wrap into mine and squeeze, his wolf issuing a small growl, pulling my attention to him and his bright hazel eyes.

  “He’ll be okay, Kitten,” he says softly, reaching up and running the back of his fingers across my cheek, and I can’t help but lean into his touch as his wolf tries to reassure me with another short, tender sounding growl. “We’re here.”

  As Blaine puts the SUV in park, I take a deep breath and look around me, taking in the snowy Buffalo street. It’s a dead end, gated off with almost cookie cutter houses lining each side each with a single light post out front, shining bright in the dark night. The driveway we are in has a house a little bigger than the others, and as I look at its almost gothic appearance the front door swings open, bathing the front porch and our car in light. A shadow of a man stands there, waving for us to come on in and Blaine pats my hand, getting out of the car without a word.

  “Come on in!” I hear the man yell as I open my door, fighting the wind to keep it open for only a second before it slams shut when I slip out. The distinctive scent of wolves is on the wind, and looking around me once more at the houses lining the street, I see more than one front door open with shadowy figures illuminated by the inside light as they watch us. A Pack, keeping a watchful eye on its Alpha; I’m guessing.

  There is also a hint of something baking, maybe at a factory, and it smells so familiar. I stop to take in the scent for a split second and try to get it to register in my mind. Cheerios? I think to myself, remembering the one cereal that I’ve probably had a million times, because it’s cheap and lasts a pretty long time when packed into a backpack. Definitely Cheerios.

  “Welcome.” The man smiles, and as I get closer I see his sky blue eyes and short, brown hair framing his face. “My name is Duncan. Penton is with you, is he not?” The man looks around us and as Blaine leads me around, into the house, I can feel Duncan’s Alpha presence radiating from him in hot waves.

  “He left us on the thruway. Told us not to leave the vehicle ‘till we got here, but he assured us he will come back.” Blaine sets one of the bags of clothes down near the stairs as I keep close to his side, trying to push away the awful thoughts of what might be happening to Penton. B’s hazel eyes slip down to my face and I see the sadness as he wraps his arm around my waist, bending to place his lips to my forehead for only a second.

  “Penton can certainly take care of himself,” Duncan kind of chuckles to himself, facing us and pointing for us to come into the house further. “Please, are you hungry? My wife is in the kitchen making the kids snacks for tomorrow; I’m sure she’d be fine making you something.”

  “That would be great.” Blaine smiles, taking my hand and pulling me behind him. “Maybe some coffee too?”

  “Certainly.” Duncan slaps Blaine on the back and the two start a line of typical small talk, but I don’t really listen. I sink down into one of the chairs at the table and stare out the window, blankly watching the snow blow around as the wind wails at the glass.

  I don’t care that I still have my jacket on and am sweating beneath my sweater and tank; I don’t care that I’m not being proper or nice to my hosts. All I want is for Penton to walk through that line of trees I see in the backyard, over the chain link fence, and into my arms so I can feel him near. That little amount of time I spent reliving my past with him when I was Helen showed me that he is a part of me already. The way my heart seemed to beat only for his pleasure as he held me in the tall grass, and the way his laugh slid over my skin melded my leopards need for his bond and she is pacing like crazy in my mind, making me tap my fingers on the table rapidly.

  “Here, Hon,” the sweet voice breaks through my worrying and a w
arm hand surrounding mine pulls my attention from the window to the smiling and beautiful female Alpha standing beside me. Her pretty brown eyes wash over me, stealing my mental block for only a second, but it’s all it takes for the sadness to creep in at full force and bring tears to my eyes, my chest tightening as she pulls the other chair up and sits beside me, her hand still covering mine as the other pushes a cup of coffee to me. “He will come back, but for now, drink this. It will help calm your nerves.”

  Pulling my hand from hers as she pats it one more time, the understanding in her eyes lets me know she has felt what I’m going through at some point in her life, to some extent. I wrap my hands around the mug, sighing as the warmth seeps through into my chilled hands. As I bring it up to my lips, the distinctive scent of whiskey finds my nose and I stop, sending a questioning look over to Blaine standing by the counter. He’s looking right at me and nods, not breaking his conversation with Duncan and I shrug my shoulders. Hell, the whiskey will help my nerves and it’ll warm me up in a second, so I put the mug to my lips and let the hot, spiked coffee slide on down with a sigh afterward.

  Damn, it does taste good and I take another sip, only sparing the window a short glance before looking back into the she-wolf’s brown eyes. She’s smiling and replying to something that Blaine and Duncan are talking about, but as her hand covers mine again on the table I can’t help but feel safe. My leopard relaxes, which she rarely ever does around other women supernaturals, and I can’t help but sigh and look back out to the blowing snow.

  “You are like her.” The she wolf kind of laughs lightly to herself and I give her a questioning look. She shakes her head, still smiling while reaching behind her and grabbing a picture frame from a shelf and holding it out to me; tapping her finger on the glass at the photo of a smiling family. It’s three men, a woman, and three toddler age boys. “That’s your sister, Siofra, and her mates,” the she-wolf says with another smile as she looks over the photo and I’ll admit I can’t help smiling either while looking at the happy scene.

  The woman in the photo, my sister Siofra, has the same blue eyes as Duncan and her smile, even though captured in time through this photo, seems to reach into my heart and wrap around it, filling me with a sense of security in my time of worry over Penton. I take notice of her green eyed mate and his possessive hold on her hand that rests on his leg, the two other, rugged looking men, and the three giddy looking boys; all of their eyes shining bright with love for one another.

  “They look happy,” I say, trying to hold in the sadness, but I can tell I haven’t done a good job as the she-wolf’s expression turns sympathetic and she pats my shoulder. “What is your name?” I ask in a yawn and shake it off, looking down into my cup and seeing that I’ve downed almost all of the whiskey spiked coffee without noticing it.

  “My name is Sindy.” She kind of laughs, patting my hand again before she stands, nodding to Blaine. “You better get her up to bed.”

  “No,” I protest, trying to stand when I see Blaine walking toward me, but as soon as I move, my head swims and I have to sit back down to gain my bearings. I see the smirk on my mate’s lips as he wraps one of his arms under my legs and the other around my back, pulling me up into his arms and I slap his chest, getting him to laugh. “I want to stay up and wait for Penton. Do you think you can just get me drunk and shuffle me off to bed? I won’t go down that easy.”

  “Oh yes you will,” Blaine whispers in my ear as he carries me up the stairs. Over his shoulder, I can see Duncan following us with our tote bag in his hand and a slight smile on his lips. I let out a frustrated sigh and try to wiggle from Blaine’s arms, but he just tightens his hold, squeezing me to his chest. “You need to get some rest, Kitten.”

  I can hear steady, rhythmic breathing coming from behind a few of the closed doors in the hallway he is leading me down so I keep my protests to a whisper as not to disturb the sleeping children, but I punch Blaine in the chest as he crosses the threshold to a dark room. He sits me down on the bed and rubs the spot where I hit him as Duncan sets the bag down and leaves, closing the door behind him without a word.

  “How do you expect me to rest when Penton is out there?” I try to say quietly as I sweep my hand out toward the large window letting in the moonlight, but I know in my slightly drunken state my slurs are still loud and I clamp my mouth shut, slapping my hand down onto the bed in frustration.

  I throw myself back against the pillows and stare up at the shadowy ceiling as I feel Blaine start to tug my boots off and hear them hit the floor. I try to slap him away, but his quick and talented hands have me down to my bra and panties in a blink, and he’s tucking me under the warm comforter as I roll onto my side and sigh, looking him in the eyes.

  “That cup was more than just a lil’ liquor, wasn’t it?” I try to give him the best accusatorial look that my drunk ass can manage and he just laughs, confirming my suspicion. “You’re a bastard. I want to stay up and wait for Penton.” I try to sit up, but his warm hands push back down on my shoulders and lay me back against the flannel sheets. They do feel good and I shift, the liquor in my system taking over and causing me to sigh as Blaine’s hand roams over my cheek, neck, and chest.

  “Just sleep, my Kitten,” he whispers, his lips only a whisper above mine as his warm breath washes over me, filling me with his scent. “I’ll be back with Penton before you wake.” His lips cover mine in a hungry, possessive manner and I couldn’t keep the wanton moan from slipping out if I wanted to, and it echoes through the dark room.

  Wait? He’ll be back? He’s going out there without me? The thought only crosses my mind before Blaine’s touch leaves me and I’m lost in a sea of sleep. Just wait ‘till I wake up, B, I dream to myself, I’ll kick your ass ten ways to Sunday. Damn right I will.

  ~~~~~~

  Blaine

  Releasing Rowena’s lips and leaving her passed out in the bed is hard to do, knowing how mad she’ll be at me when she wakes up, but I can’t have her getting hurt so I shut the door behind me quietly, facing a smirking Duncan. The Alpha is a lumberjack of a man and I can feel his authoritative power radiating off of him, making me feel at ease.

  “Ready?” he asks, tipping his chin slightly toward the door at my back and I nod, following him down the stairs and meeting up with at least a dozen of his men as they come in through the front door, bringing the chill of the wind with them.

  They all nod at me, and I’m guessing that their Alpha has already filled them in on the plan; to go see if we can find Penton to make sure he is alright. Even though he told Row and I to stay put and wait for him, I just can’t. There is this force pulling at my chest, telling me to go look for him and my wolf is restless, pacing back and forth and growling deep every time I tell myself to stay. He knows we need to be out there and there is no point in trying to deny the animal within. I see Duncan in the corner of the kitchen, a cell phone up to his ear and the piece of paper Penton had given me in his hand, and the second instruction Penton had given me pops into my head. I forgot to call!

  I rush through the crowded living room to Duncan’s side about ready to tell him that I’m a dumbass when he throws his hand up, shaking his head. “It’s okay. This number is my brother and I haven’t harassed him in a while.”

  He hands me back the paper and I finally look at the number. ‘Marcus, Senior F.S.C.C.A. Agent-1-555-655-5525’ is scrawled on the crinkled surface and I have to clench my jaw to keep from grinding my teeth. The Federal Supernatural Control and Containment Agency is one reason we are on the run, and flashes of my night breaking Row out of their New York facility flow through my head as the paper turns to a small ball of garbage in my fist.

  It had been snowing like a bitch, but I had followed her scent to an abandoned looking building and I had smashed in the bottom window, not caring about the alarm or gash on my elbow as the sirens sounded and the blood dripped down my arm. I only cared about her, about finding her and getting her out of that prison. I had beaten three different
guards before I found her huddled in the corner of a cell, stripped naked with no blankets, aiming to keep her from starting fires.

  My body shudders as I’m remembering the moment our eyes first locked through the bars; the defeated, broken expression pulling at my heart and making my wolf whimper out loud to her, calling her to us. As she slid on her knees toward me, her eyes never leaving mine, I knew she’d be my world from that moment on, and as I come back to the here and now, standing in the living room, I know I can’t let her down now. I need to bring Penton back safe, so that we can move on and get her where she will be safe.

  Because no matter what, all that matters is that Row is safe. Above my life I hold hers and I’ll dive head long into the dark night to try and stop anything that is coming to hurt her or my brother, Penton.

  My brother, I catch myself, rolling the thought throw my head. Yeah, he is my brother and I’ll do any damn thing for him.

  ~~~~~

  Penton

  As soon as I hit the pavement, jumping from the speeding Landrover that continued on and took my mate to safety, I missed her. I wanted to rewind time and jump back in, going back a hundred miles to stop myself from taking her into the past and showing Rowena her life as Helen, because it has given our location away to this evil, sadistic bastard of a Warlock, Cearbhall.

  The snow is picking up and the wind is blowing it around in icy gusts as I slink around through the trees to the side of the thruway, just waiting for the next Ghoul to attack; my lip curling back as their decaying scent wafts around me. Ghouls are an abomination of a creature; once humans who wanted to be vampires, but lacked the specific gene needed to take on the full transformation, they are left in a zombie like state between mortal and immortal, between life and death. The vampire who tried to change them is at fault for their suffering, being able to smell the specific gene on humans to tell whether or not they would survive the change. Whoever this vampire is was careless and greedy, and it makes me wonder how Cearbhall got them to hand over their little army so he could mutate them into this horrifying state.