by Lisa Ladew
She stopped while she waited for an answer, shining her light down a short flight of concrete stairs.
Come and see.
An image of teeth, shiny and white and huge, flashed through her mind. Fangs. They made her think of animals, wolves even. An attractive thought to her. She’d loved wolves since she was a little girl. She shivered again, even though the tunnel was not cold. Some unknown yearning spiked in her midsection, but she boxed it up, pushing it away so she didn’t have to deal with it, then started down the steps, making no noise in the almost-dark.
She reached the bottom of the stairs, still not one spider seen, and entered a small room with one chair and one table. She could see at a glance it was empty and apparently bug-free. Nothing moved, nothing creeped, nothing waited to ambush her. On the table sat a lantern, and her eyes were dragged to it like an anchor to the bottom of the ocean. It was what had been calling to her.
A faint glow peeked out through the cracks of the lantern-something inside. She rushed to it and picked it up. As her hands touched it, the bottom clicked and turned, and fell to the ground with a clatter. She flipped the lantern onto its side quickly, so whatever was there would not fall out onto the ground also.
She didn’t need her light any longer, so she stuck it in her pocket. An ethereal glow pulsed through the dark cloth the two items there were wrapped in. The light touched her, played over her chest and face. With a steady hand, she reached into the bottom of the lantern for her prize.
Her fingers grazed the cloth and she felt a great evil turn a ragged eye toward her. Rogue sucked in a breath, feeling small and scared, wanting to hide somewhere, and despising the desire. She clamped down on it, negating it, making it not so. She was scared of nothing. Nothing with less than eight legs, anyway.
The voice spoke, and although she still felt it in her chest, it also emanated from the bundles at her fingertips.
Do not fear Khain. You were born to defy him.
Rogue felt the truth of the statement in her bones, even though she didn’t know what it meant. She bared her small white teeth at the open air, turning in a circle and growling into the empty room. The evil presence slipped away, but she knew she had not made it go. Something had hidden her from it.
Rogue turned her attention back to the small bundles wrapped in cloth. She dropped the lantern to the ground and kicked it aside, putting one bundle softly on the table and focusing on the other. She unwrapped it slowly, holding her breath until the small package inside was revealed.
It was an inch-high pendant on a strong gold chain, with a wolf on one side and an angel on the other, light pulsing in the eyes of the two creatures. Power emanated from it so clearly, she could feel the pulses pushing through her fingers, pumping her blood the wrong way. A quick peek at the other bundle revealed it was a similar pendant.
Mine. She stared at it in awe, running her fingers over it, knowing it meant something to her, something that would explain much of her life. She also knew that it was not quite hers. It was her sister’s.
Rogue startled as the thought went through her brain. Sister?
As a small part of Rogue’s mind worried that thought independently of her being, she stared at the wolf and caressed its smooth cheek, sinking down onto her knees to cradle the pendant in her hands and focus more intently on it. Her cop and the wolf, they were connected somehow. And the angel? Did it mean something?
Her head bowed, she stared and thought, thought and stared, losing herself in a way that would have horrified her if she had realized what was happening.
***
Rogue lifted her head and looked around at the dark room, blinking her eyes, shifting her weight from knee to knee, aches and pains telling her she’d been kneeling for a long time. Her light had begun to dim, telling her the batteries were in danger of dying.
She’d done it again. Damn it!
She looked down at the now silent pendant in her hand. That odd, comforting hum she’d felt in her body was gone.
She squeezed her fingers around the small piece of jewelry. “What now?” Her voice echoed through the small room in a way that made her think of the tunnel outside.
The voice came again, but it was faint, not as urgent as before.
Go about your life. You’ll know when the time is right to reveal us.
“Reveal you to who?”
That image of an identity-less, cocky cop came again, making Rogue lose awareness of her own body as her mind went where it wanted, pulling her away from reality.
She drifted to the dirty, but bug-free, floor, lost in a dream she didn’t want, but couldn’t shake free of.
Chapter 7
Mac hit the station door at a fast clip, bouncing it off the back wall, hurrying to get through it. He was ten minutes late for the meeting Wade had called, thanks to Bruin and his limes. At the crash of the door hitting the wall, a few males in the duty room looked up, but none of them said a word, all dropping their heads to their work again. Until Bruin came through the door behind him. Shouts of, “Bru!” and “Hey, bear,” rang out.
“Big bad wolves,” Bruin said to the room, bowing his head, getting a few thick chuckles back from the patrol officers in the room.
Mac made a face. The bears didn’t seem to like Bruin much, but he sure got along with all the wolves. Some greedy part of Mac’s brain didn’t like that, especially since no one in the room had said a word when he’d walked in. Fuckers. He didn’t need them anyway. Mac growled under his breath and walked faster, rounding the corner of the hallway that led to Wade’s office.
Sebastian was standing there, leaning against the wall, his attention focused inside Wade’s office. No surprise that he wasn’t inside. The scary fucker didn’t do well with people, especially females. They were almost universally terrified of him.
Mac’s attention zeroed in on Sebastian, never wavering from the guy’s tattooed face, even as his peripheral vision and his other senses pulled in everything else there was to know about him. He smelled relaxed. Good. But like he had a secret. Bad.
Mac focused hard, readying his muscles for a fight, sucking the swirling hallway air into his nostrils for every bit of information he could gather. You never knew if Sebastian would want to fight or not, and even if he didn’t want to fight, his animal always did. Sebastian couldn’t always control his shift, and when it happened without his conscious control, it was lightning fast and violent. Mac had mopped up his messes a few times.
From behind him, Bruin rounded the corner. Mac could hear his big bear feet slapping on the concrete. The guy could be unbelievably stealthy when he wanted to be, but now was not one of those times.
Sebastian’s head swung their way and his eyes narrowed when he saw Mac, then went positively ice-chip when he looked behind Mac and saw Bruin. Mac tensed further, curling his hands into fists, poking the wildness inside him. Wake up. We might have trouble.
His animal took over for just a second, jumping to the forefront to see out Mac’s eyes, smell what Mac smelled, focus on what Mac focused on. His animal grinned and licked his lips. Fun fucking times if Sebastian went loco.
Mac allowed his animal leeway for a second, then clamped down hard. Sebastian was the only male on the planet Mac pulled his aggression for. Because if he didn’t, they would be reduced to fangs and claws and blood in just seconds, guaran-damn-teed. Sebastian was built that way just as much as Mac was, and since Mac couldn’t count on Sebastian to be the bigger male, ever, Mac grudgingly did his best. But he did not like the way Sebastian was eyeing Bruin one bit. Sebastian’s hatred for bears was well-known, even if the reason wasn’t.
Sebastian spoke, his shoulders tense, his voice deadly tight, his knuckles white as he held onto the doorway, possibly in an attempt to stay where he was. His eyes were on Bruin the whole time. “This is a motherfucking police station, not a smelly cave.”
Mac heard Wade’s voice coming from his office, and dimly wondered what Wade would do if he and Sebastian came to bites righ
t there in the hallway. Would he really make good on his promise to ship them both off to the Kalamazoo substation, prophecy or no prophecy? Sebastian was rumored not to be bindable, which Mac had never believed until he’d thrown off his own bind in the very office he was headed to, at the sound of a female’s voice on a video.
He almost lost his focus as he remembered the sound of that female’s voice. It had been like that first bite of something tart and sweet and unforgettable that makes your salivary glands cramp, it’s so good. Rich and strong, but feminine with a hard edge, like a flower with sculpted razor blades for petals. He licked his lips and felt his animal take a new kind of interest in Mac’s thoughts. The fighting or the fucking. His animal liked them equally. They both did.
Mac eyed Sebastian with new interest. He hadn’t gotten his fight earlier, maybe he could talk Sebastian into going off with him somewhere. Wade would never know. They could throw the fuck down, using Bruin as referee. The big bear was strong enough to stop them, and he’d never breathe a word to-Sebastian took his eyes off Bruin long enough to look in the room, his attention focused into a laser sight. Mac heard Crew’s voice, and Beckett’s sharp intake of breath.
Then Wade spoke up, his voice hard. “You know he’s not hurting her, Beckett. Relax, or you’re going to take a nap.”
Ah, so Cerise was already under. Sebastian would have to wait. Mac’s animal and his desires would have to wait, too. Mac wanted to know what Cerise was going to say. Chewing on Sebastian wouldn’t be near as satisfying as chewing on Grey and that’s what they were after. Information on Grey. A lead. Something.
It had been just over two weeks since Khain had snatched Grey and Cerise’s pendant, taking them Rhen-knew-where for God-knew-what. Half of the KSRT were betting Khain still had him, while the rest figured the demon must have killed him by now. Mac himself figured something else entirely. Grey had escaped, was his guess. His fervent hope. Mac wanted to be the one who nailed that fucker to the wall. Who was he kidding? He wanted to be the one who nailed them all. He was the only one he trusted to do it right.
Mac pulled up short of the office and stuck his head in, standing only three feet from Sebastian, whose attention was also pulled inside. He was surprised to see only Wade, Beckett, Cerise, Dahlia, and Crew. Where was the rest of the first fuckup family?
Somewhere close, he was sure. They never went anywhere without each other anymore. It wasn’t safe. Wouldn’t be, until Khain was gone. If that ever happened.
Bruin came up behind him, took a look, then leaned against the wall opposite the door, crossing his arms over his chest. His smell went from mellow, to uber-mellow, like he was about to take a nap standing up. Sebastian’s smell, on the other hand, ramped up a notch. Defcon 4 to Defcon 3 maybe. Mac wished he could speak ruhi to give Bru a warning, but he couldn’t. He’d have to be ready enough for both of them.
He turned part of his attention back to the room. Cerise was sitting in a chair next to Wade’s desk, her eyes closed, her breathing even. Crew was standing over her, his hand in mid-air, while he stared hard at Beckett, who looked like he wanted to tear Crew’s head off. That was a first. Those two were normally as chummy as the big spoon and the little spoon.
Wade held onto Beckett’s arm, his eyes narrowed, his irritation palpable, while Dahlia watched from the couch, seeming to try to make herself as small as possible, her eyes bouncing back and forth between the males.
Crew dropped his hand and faced Beckett, his arms dangling at his sides, his face impassive, as the hard smell of Beckett’s protectiveness filled the room and drifted out to Mac.
Wade launched another tirade at Beckett, but Crew stopped him. “I get it. I wouldn’t want anyone touching Dahlia while she was under, either. Beckett, if I wake her up, will that help?”
Beckett’s face lost its hard edges and he nodded, letting Wade pull him away. Crew stared at Cerise hard, then passed a hand in front of her face, then frowned. “She’s hard to control. Or maybe I’m not good at controlling humans.”
“She’s not human,” Mac said from the doorway, his mouth operating before his brain had a chance to kick in.
Sebastian, leaning against the other side of the doorway, threw him a look and said to the room, “Ignore Mac, brah, Rhen only gave him half one brain,” his pidgin accent thick.
Mac knew the accent was just for show. Sebastian spoke perfect English when he wanted to. He just liked to distance himself from the rest of them and that’s why he made a conscious effort to sound like he still lived out in the middle of the ocean somewhere. Mac grabbed his junk through his pants, faced Sebastian and yanked, a nasty snarl on his face. “Maybe, but she made up for it by giving me a twelve-inch dick.”
Bruin opened his eyes, pushed off the wall, and took a hand to his own crotchal area, almost curiously. He shifted the goods around, then met Mac’s eyes. “She only gave you twelve inches? She gave the rest of us sixteen.”
Sebastian snorted. His Defcon level lowered slightly, although Mac could still feel the hate coming off him in waves. Just general hate now, no longer aimed at Bruin like a rifle scope.
Mac shot Bruin a look. “If you’ve got a sixteen-inch dick, I’ll kiss your bare ass.”
Bruin bobbed his head and grinned. “You said bear ass.” He leaned against the wall again and his eyes drifted shut.
“Enough!” Wade called from in the room. “Shut your mouths, all of you!”
Mac snapped to attention and realized everyone in Wade’s office had watched the exchange. Even Cerise who’d woken up at some point. He flapped a hand at them and pressed his lips together. Get on with it, then.
Crew turned his attention back to Cerise. “I want you to think about what happened when Grey found you in the closet. Don’t try too hard, just let the memories pass through your mind as if I weren’t even here.”
Cerise nodded and stared straight ahead. Crew frowned. After a few moments, he spoke. “Are you doing it?”
Cerise nodded, her strawberry-blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders, her eyes meeting Crew’s then Beckett’s. Beckett knelt next to her chair and put a hand on her leg. “Shh. Don’t worry, you’re doing great.”
Crew shook his head. “Something about your nature makes it hard for me to access your memories. Must be your angel half.” He threw a look at Sebastian. “You getting anything from her?”
Mac frowned. He hadn’t known Sebastian had that kind of an ability. Any kind of ability, honestly. He was just supposed to be smart. A deep thinker. Someone who figured shit out. But they had to hide him away in the basement like a crazy grandma with a penchant for shooting up the visitors because he was dangerous. To everyone. Which made discovery time hard to come by.
Sebastian spoke. “Try out loud.”
Crew nodded and turned back to her. “Tell us exactly what happened. Everything you can remember. Start when you were in the closet. Don’t leave out any detail, no matter how small.”
Cerise drew a shaky breath, the lines in her face showing the fear she’d been swimming in at the time. Now standing behind her, Beckett pulled a few locks of her hair through his fingers and she closed her eyes, leaning back into him while she spoke. “I covered Lillian with blankets in the back corner of the closet. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew it was bad. I was terrified I was going to lose Beckett, and I wanted so badly to go to him. But Lillian needed me, so I stayed put. I heard footsteps on the stairs. The sound of the footsteps came straight to the closet and I knew he knew I was there. I even knew who he was, somehow.”
She stopped, squeezing her eyes shut hard. Beckett dropped his hands to her shoulders, encouraging her. She spoke. “He said something then.” Her face relaxed and Mac could see her eyes rolling under her lids as she searched for whatever it was. “He said, ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are.’ Like it was all some game. He opened the closet and stared down at me and all I could think was that he was on drugs, had to be. His skin was nasty and bloody and his eyes were crazy. He wa
s ten times scarier than I remember him being the last time I saw him.”
Sebastian poked his head farther into the room. “Wait,” he growled, and Cerise’s eyes shot open, watching him warily. He pulled his upper half back out and switched to speaking to Crew. “There was something there. She missed something. Have her go back over it.”
Crew nodded. “Yeah, I heard it. Didn’t make sense.”
“Have her do it anyway.”
Mac watched Sebastian, interested that the male was behaving like a normal person for once. Maybe he was seeing a shrink or something. Getting in touch with his feelings. Mac smirked and Sebastian threw him a dark look.
Cerise settled, closed her eyes again, a look of concentration on her face. “He did say something. Mudger, pudger, nudger, or something. I thought I misheard him, or it was a chant of some kind.”
Mac watched as both Crew and Sebastian closed their eyes, their faces gaining that same look of deep concentration. “No,” Sebastian breathed. His voice changed, sounding so much like Grey that Mac took a step backwards and looked behind him down the still empty hallway. “Mudge. Mudged. Pudge. Nudge. Mudgett!”
Crew’s eyes shot open and he and Sebastian shared a look. Mac wondered if they’d ever worked together before today. Crew had never been around much, although he was much easier to find these days. Living out on Farm Fuckup, never more than two feet from Dahlia’s side. Crew nodded, then his eyes narrowed. “Mean anything to you?”
Sebastian made a nasty face that could have meant anything, but probably signified ‘No, fellow co-worker I’m trying not to rip open because I hate everyone’. He shook his head. “Keep going.”
Crew nodded and led Cerise through the rest of the experience, but Mac had already lost interest. He shuffled his weight on his feet and glanced back over his shoulder. How much would Wade crack if he challenged Bruin to a foot race to the end of the hallway? He knew he could beat the big guy. Bruin was strong as shit, but not what anyone would ever call svelte. Which was good. A wolf had to have some sort of an advantage over a bear, well, besides smarts and good looks, of course. Mac leaned his head against the wall and turned in a semi-circle until he was facing Bruin.
