by Sydney Addae
Hawke stared at the keypad. “Lancaster would’ve keyed the pad for Lords only which means it would start with these two letters.” He tapped those keys. “Hmm, let’s try this one. He used it in the castle.” Nothing happened. Hawke tried a series of combinations with no success.
“LOBO.”
“Hmm?”
“Try LOBO,” Asia said, thinking Lancaster would be ballsy enough to code his signature project.
Hawke typed it twice. The second time the doors slid open. “Ego, gets him every time,” Asia said while removing her sword and walking forward. Inhaling she picked up Gordon and the hybrid’s scent.
The door closed behind them as they moved forward. “I think we miscalculated,” Hawke said through their link as they fell through the floor and hit the bottom of a metal container.
Asia’s sword fell with a loud clank as she tried to get her bearings. “Miscalculated?” She ground out and kicked the side of the cage. “Is that what you call this… this bullshit?” She hit the side again.
“Yes.”
There was barely enough room to move in her hybrid form, she morphed into her human form and slumped against the wall. Images of Gordon disappearing, the disappointment from Jasmine in her failing to break the covenant, the Liege continuing LOBO and stealing more pups, ran through her mind on a loop. Somehow they had to break that contract and stop the Liege.
“If you can stand in that corner, I’ll get us out of here.”
“Huh?” She looked up at Hawke. “What’d you say?”
“I need to morph and push out these walls. Can you kneel in that corner for a few minutes?”
She moved and knelt down while he morphed into his largest hybrid. The only other time she had seen him in this form had been during a fight against the bluebirds. The sound of bending metal hit a nerve and she covered her ears until she heard it pop. A large piece fell from the top, Hawke caught it and shoved it over the side. It took a few minutes before it hit the bottom. Wide-eyed, she looked at Hawke.
“Where are we? In an elevator chute or something?”
“I don’t think so. Let me check this wall, cover your ears.”
She replaced her palms over her ears.
He punched the side wall. It dented but nothing else. He punched each wall until his fist went through the metal. Using his long claws, he peeled the metal back until she saw a sliding door in front of it. She stood slowly as he reached forward and opened the doors revealing a dark hallway. Hawke shrank to his hybrid, glanced over his shoulder at her and winked as he leapt forward.
She shook her head at the cocky gesture and took his hand, allowing him to pull her into the hall.
“You shouldn’t doubt your mate.” He took her hand as they moved through the corridors seeking Gordon.
“I will remember that next time.”
Chapter 26
Hawke and Asia walked through every corridor, searching for Damian and Gordon. Find one, the other would be nearby, especially with the hybrids defeated and Ulric’s pack taking everything of value from the building.
Voices. Full-bloods always used their links in situations like this, being human Gordon would need to speak. Even if he whispered, the full-bloods would hear and close in on them.
Turning, Hawke and Asia walked down the corridor to his left, and stopped. Not this way. He waved in the other direction, and followed her. The voices grew stronger.
“Not on this floor. Either below or above us,” Asia said, looking up and then down.
Hawke pointed up. Asia nodded and they headed toward the emergency stairs and ran up two flights before easing the door open.
“Damn asshole. He locked the code on the lift. I knew he’d try something. Son of a bitch. We need to get down to the tunnel.”
Hawke glanced at Asia. “How much you want to bet Gordon’s talking about Lancaster?”
“Nothing. Lancaster would sell the Pope and screw the devil to stay safe. Which way?”
Hawke waved her forward. They walked down a few halls and saw the black haired hybrid standing outside an elevator. No doubt Gordon was inside.
“Why can’t I kill him?” Asia asked as she bulked to her hybrid.
“Don’t know. Killing him just seems wrong to me. But if he tries to kill you, rip him apart.”
“Gee, thanks.”
They walked forward. The hybrid charged. Asia stepped in front of Hawke and took the hybrid down. He bucked up, dislodging her. She jumped up and charged him before he reached Hawke, who headed for the elevator.
He twisted and tried to break her grip, but she had a tight hold on him and pounded his head and face with her right fist. He pushed her off with his legs, sending her backward a bit and tried to go after Hawke. She leapt forward, grabbed his ankles and pulled. He hit the ground hard. Asia dragged him back toward her as the elevator door opened. He kicked out, stood and tried to run.
She grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, punched him in the stomach and then beneath his chin. He flew backward. Moving forward, she grabbed his shirt and slammed her fist into his face in rapid succession until she saw bone.
“Stop,” Gordon yelled.
Asia dragged the hybrid forward and slammed him face down onto the floor. She lifted her sword and raised it above the hybrid. “Negotiate with him now or I’m taking this head,” she told Hawke.
“Stop, you can’t kill him,” Gordon yelled and tried to go to the hybrid.
“Why not?” Hawke asked, holding Gordon’s arm. Something wasn’t right. The man vibrated with sorrow and fear for the hybrid.
Gordon turned and shook his head. “He’s your son, Hawke. Your first born. Haven’t you looked at him? Why don’t you look at him?”
Hawke stared at Gordon processing his words. “Son? I don’t… no one told me… what?” He looked at the hybrid struggling to stand and then at Asia. “He said that is my seed. They took a pup from me and raised it?”
“Hawke…” Asia said, looking at the male on the ground.
“What do you mean he is my son? I have no son.” He met Gordon’s disturbed gaze.
“He’s your seed. One of the first bitches you mated birthed him twenty years past. You cannot kill him.” It was the demand in Gordon’s voice that pissed Hawke off, he no longer took orders from any Liege.
“Perhaps not, but my mate can.” Hawke placed his foot on Damian’s shoulder while Asia placed her foot on his back. “What is his name?” Hawke continued staring at Gordon rather than the pup on the ground. A son… he couldn’t process that right now.
“Damian.”
“A life for a life,” Hawke said, pressing harder when Damian tried to move.
“No… no,” Damian said.
Gordon looked at Asia and then at Damian.
Hawke sensed Ulric’s pack was nearby. “Never mind. The pack is here. Just pin him to the wall and they’ll rip him apart.” Hawke pushed Gordon to Asia, who caught the Liege Lord and shoved him roughly out of the way. Hawke bulked to his largest size, picked a struggling Damian up and met his gaze. Was he supposed to feel something for this pup? Hawke waited a few seconds, there was nothing. Damian’s face resembled Niall more than him.
“Stop. Hawke put him down. A… A life for a life. Take him with us, keep him safe from the other full-bloods. I’ll go with you,” Gordon said, looking at Damian.
“Noooo,” Damian screamed and tried to break free from Hawke.
Hawke tucked Damian beneath his arm and carried him out the room. Asia walked behind Gordon, who moved with a slow, dejected air. Hawke contacted Angus. “I have Gordon we are on our way out, is Chacal here?”
“Not yet, but he’s on his way. Lancaster’s a slimeball. The bastard set explosives beneath the walls down here. Byte just sniffed them out. Damn it to hell. I would love to wrap my hands around, the bastard.”
“Time? How much time left?” Hawke wasn’t surprised about the explosives, the Liege used them often. He picked up speed and took the stairs rather than trust the e
levator.
“Don’t know, yet. He just found it while searching for another exit. We’ll board the pod as soon as I find out an answer. Ulric and his pack are leaving now. We’ll meet at Radoff’s. Son of a bitch.”
“What?” Hawke took off at a slow jog down the corridors, getting lost at times and turning around.
“Fifteen minutes. Damn. Can you make it out?”
“If I can find the main hall, yeah.”
“I just updated Chacal, he’ll wait as long as he can. Follow the scent of the bluebirds, they are outside. Maybe that will help.”
“Good idea.” Hawke told Asia what was going on and inhaled. It took a few seconds, but he finally identified the bluebirds and did a three sixty turn. They had been headed in the wrong direction. With the scent locked in, he tightened his hold on a squirming Damian and moved at a faster pace. Asia picked up Gordon as they ran toward the exit.
Moments later they hit the front entrance and heard the copter. Hawke morphed to his smaller hybrid, knowing he couldn’t enter the copter in any other form than human, but he needed the extra strength to hold onto Damian.
He veered right, ran past Ulric and headed toward Chacal. The whirring of the copter blades must have motivated Damian because he used both his legs and pushed free, falling on the ground. Hawke turned, reached for him just as he leapt and knocked Asia down. Damian morphed as he grabbed Gordon and took off running in the opposite direction.
“I don’t have time for this shit,” Hawke murmured as he took off behind the two morphing to his larger form. In a blur of speed he caught them and pushed Damian from behind, sending him rolling on the ground dropping Gordon in the process. Hawke growled at the hybrid, picked up Gordon and ran back towards the copter. Once he reached the copter, he returned to his human size and all but tossed the older man inside. Asia caught Gordon and placed him behind her as Chacal lifted off.
“Here he comes,” Asia murmured.
Hawke watched Damian run toward them and jump. The first leap fell short. The next leap Damian grabbed hold of one of the skids on the bottom. His weight jolted them for a few moments but Chacal leveled out and they continued toward Radoff.
“You okay?” Asia asked.
“Not sure. I reproduced and no one ever told me. Is he the only one? Over the years, I… there were a lot of bitches.” He met her gaze. “He told me nothing came of it, that I wasn’t good for that.”
“When I worked at the castle one of the workers said something about your breeding, but with everything going on, it slipped my mind. I think there is one more, but I’m not sure.” She paused. “You didn’t know you were breeding for them?”
He scrubbed his face with his fist. “Not directly. Sex, that’s all it was, scratching an itch. I never thought beyond that. Damn.” He looked behind her at Gordon and wanted to rip the man’s heart out. “Damian has been with the Liege since birth? He knows nothing other than the bullshit you fed him?”
Gordon’s face reddened and he straightened as much as he could in the confined space. “Yes, he was born in Lancaster’s castle and taken for training once we decided he would fit. He has an exemplary education, and has been enhanced as you were. Damian is the best in his class, in a few years he will rise to the top.”
Hawke’s brow rose. “Top of what?”
“Our program leaders, you, Asia and Damian. The best we’ve produced so far.” Gordon looked at Asia. “Roderick believes your mate uses a chameleon bracelet to hide his identity. Is that true?”
Hawke shook his head. “No.”
“Not that you would tell me anyway, but he believes Angus hides behind the bracelet.” Gordon watched him and Hawke smiled. “They think you are Angus, I must tell him.”
Asia looked away. “He will love that. Poor thing, he’ll need to take one for the team.”
“You say Damian is enhanced. Arms, legs and computer chip, I picked up on those. What else?” Hawke glanced outside and saw the pup continued to hold on.
“Why should I tell you anything? You’ll probably kill him after you get what you need from me anyway.”
Hawke couldn’t kill Damian but Radoff, Ulric, hell, even Asia could, so the man wasn’t too far off. “I’m curious. You say he’s my seed, but I feel nothing for him, shouldn’t there be some recognition?”
Gordon stared at him for a few seconds and then sighed. “I hoped so, but it’s the same with him. He denies the connection which creates a problem.”
Hawke frowned. “Problem?”
“Yes, if I die, he will attempt to destroy you and yours. Which will set the stage for his destruction; I understand how mates work but he does not. Although he cannot win against you now, Damian is talented and damn good. He will not make a good enemy.”
“Are there any good enemies?” Hawke asked.
Gordon shrugged and looked away. “It does not need to be that way.”
Hawke gazed at the man’s side profile. For years he’d been held beneath their thumb, doing whatever they demanded without question. In his mind they’d been gods. This was no god sitting next to him, just a man. They were all men with huge egos and a contract that allowed them privileges they had abused.
“Hawke, calm, please. We are in a small container in the air. There will be time for you to express your anger later, after the covenant is broken.” Her hand covered his and he noticed his long curved fingernails and felt the sting of his extended incisors.
Nodding, he turned from Gordon and looked at Asia, his port in the emotional storm. “Thank you.”
She nodded and looked out the small window. The ground grew closer. He exhaled. They were almost there.
“Sir?” he contacted Silas.
“Hawke.”
“We are landing with Gordon. There has been a small complication.” He told Silas about Damian and the relationship with Gordon.
“Damn. It’s always something. Why couldn’t this be cut and dry? What do you think? Will Damian go rogue or will the Liege use him the same way they used Asia?”
“He is good. And in a few years will be better. Asia and I wrote the training plans they use for the hybrids, so his fighting skills weren’t that difficult for us to win against. That won’t be the case with other full-bloods. With metal in his limbs, he will be a real threat.”
“How do you feel about destroying him?”
Hawke glanced at Asia. “He attacked my mate, if I could kill him, he would be dead.”
“Understood. Should I have him terminated? Is there any way to rehabilitate him?”
“I don’t know. Have Angus bring him to you. Asia told me how you handled her when she was infected with the computerized chip, deal with him the same and see what you can learn. If there are more like him, that will be a problem. Like I said, he is good and Asia and I cannot be everywhere to destroy them.”
“Thanks, I’ll discuss it with my mate and we will inform Angus what we decide. Let me know when the covenant is broken.”
“Yes, Sir.” Hawke gazed out the window as Chacal sat the copter down. Radoff’s pack surrounded Damian, who stared into the copter, waiting.
Chapter 27
Hawke watched Damian for a few seconds. “Angus?”
“I’m on my way, the explosion pushed me ahead and I thought I saw Lancaster, but can’t be sure. When we got out the water, I sent Byte to search for signs, but he came up empty. Just grabbed a ride and heading your way now. Chacal says you have your hands full with your seed.”
“Yeah. Gordon’s inside, Maheegan should get what she needs first and then I’ll lock him and Gordon together in the cage while we have the ceremony.”
“Sounds like a plan. On my way, Ulric’s not far behind me.”
Hawke glanced at Asia. “I’ll contain him and then you take Gordon inside to Maheegan.” He didn’t wait for her to agree or disagree, his turbulent emotions needed an outlet and Damian would be the recipient. Like Niall, Damian represented another person or relationship the Liege stole from him. Emotionally
he wasn’t sure what he felt for what Asia called his family, but he refused to allow Damian to stand between him and a successful mission for Asia. Chacal turned off the copter, Hawke stepped out.
“Back the fuck up,” Hawke growled to Damian, who had morphed to his hybrid form.
“Fuck you,” Damian said, rubbing Hawke the wrong way. He stepped away from the blades, morphed and tackled Damian to the ground.
“Get back.” He heard Radoff say in the background as he and Damian fought. Gordon had been right, the pup was good, but not good enough. Hawke punched him in the face and the placed his hand over Damian’s face, allowing his curved nails to penetrate his flesh. Next he pushed Damian’s head into the ground.
“Go ahead Asia. Lock Gordon in a cage. Have Maheegan take whatever blood she needs and watch over him until Angus gets here to help you. I’ve got to deal with this.”
“Hawke… be careful.” Asia picked Gordon up and carried him across the area while Damian tried to buck Hawke off him. Instead of moving Hawke applied more pressure, burying the bottom of his head into the ground. He leaned close to Damian’s ear. “You attacked my mate, that’s a death penalty.”
“Mate?”
Hawke froze, closed his eyes and ignored the tingling in his mind where Damian spoke to him through a link. If he answered they would be irrevocably linked and he might have the pup killed in the end. It was up to Silas.
“My mate, the one holding Gordon.”
“Gordon?”
“He is a Liege Lord, who has done terrible things to my people. Your people.”
“No. No.” Damian pushed, but couldn’t move Hawke.
Hawke glanced at Radoff who stood a short distance and nodded. “I’ve got this. I’ll explain later.”
Radoff nodded and walked off. Chacal stood a distance, watching and then headed toward the basement. “If you don’t want anything bad to happen to Gordon right now, remain still.”
Damian stopped moving. Hawke exhaled and looked toward the building. “Has Maheegan taken his blood?” He asked Asia.
