“Just put the damn movie in.”
Tieran cracked up laughing and inserted the video. Two grown, very macho men living in the same house and their tastes ran to girlie movies. The machine clicked and whirred performing its functions when the otherwise quiet of the house was shattered with a pounding on the door.
“What the hell?”
“Christ, that scared the shit out of me.” Tieran followed Caelan to the door despite his bark that she “Stay”.
What did he think would happen? The killer would come to the door and knock first?
“Open the door, Prime,” came the angry growl from the other side.
Caelan opened it in time to save the wood from another brutal beating from Hayward’s fist.
“What the fuck do you want?”
“Where the fuck is he?”
Two grown men circling each other. Great, bring on the sumo diapers. The air vibrated around them making the hair on the back of her neck prickle. She wasn’t the only one with problems. Caelan’s skin seemed to bubble and move. His fingers elongated then shortened right before her eyes.
Tieran shook her head, fighting off the illusion. Only it wasn’t an illusion. It was real, she just hadn’t seen it before. They bristled and snarled and snapped at each other, yet neither was in full wolf form. Or human for that matter.
She stepped between them and held up her hands, spreading their bodies apart. Caelan was the first to react. His shift disappeared, his eyes cleared. Hayward’s lip curled up in distaste. It would take more than a calming influence to pacify him. The man looked like he was out for blood.
“What is going on, Detective?” she asked. If Caelan couldn’t be sensible, she could.
“He’s fucking gone, that’s what. Your precious little brother is an escape artist,” Hayward spat around her, never taking his eyes off Caelan.
Shock kept Tieran frozen in place.
Caelan stepped back. “What?” He was as genuinely shaken up about Eli’s disappearance as she.
“Don’t play the goddamn innocent card with me, Prime. He’s gone and there’s another mate missing. Still think he’s not the fucking one?” Hayward sprang around Tieran and lashed out at Caelan with fingers ending in claws.
Tieran screamed in warning but Caelan was quicker and easily dodged the swipe.
Caelan stilled, breathing heavy, his face white. “Another one?”
She saw him swallow. It wasn’t Eli. She knew that for certain. Something was very wrong.
“Where would he go, Prime, and you’d better think fast, ‘cause if I find him first, I’ll rip his throat out with my bare hands.”
Caelan jerked at the malice emanating off Hayward. He’d never seen the man like this. And where in the hell was Eli? When they’d last left him, Eli hadn’t looked like he would have been able to stand, let alone finagle his way out of those cuffs and run. So where’d he go? And why hadn’t he called and asked for help?
Because he wouldn’t want Caelan involved.
“You’re running out of time, Prime. And so’s the girl.”
Caelan waved him off. “Maybe if you had picked up the right man, there wouldn’t be a missing girl. Go out and do your job and find her. I’ll worry about Eli.”
“Sure,” he scoffed. “And help him get away with murder.” Hayward lunged again, this time his snout forming on his face.
With a quick roundhouse, Caelan threw him off.
Damn it. He had to find Eli. The quickest way to do that would be to shift and hunt him down in wolf form, leaving Tieran here alone. Something he loathed doing. He could call his dad and have him come over. They only lived a few miles away, it wouldn’t take him long to get here.
Jesus. What the hell could he do?
“You’re wasting time, Prime.”
“Fuck you, Hayward.”
“Go, Caelan.” Tieran dragged a sympathetic hand down his arm and clasped his fingers. “Find your brother.”
He hesitated, then nodded. “I’ll get the keys.” He might waste precious time when he could be out looking, but he couldn’t leave her alone here. He’d drop her off at his parents’ house then be on his way.
“No.”
The emphatic word stopped him.
“I can see in your eyes what needs to be done, so do it. I’ll be fine here alone.”
Caelan blew a breath out through clinched teeth. “Fuck. I don’t want to leave you.”
“Ahem.” Hayward cleared his throat. “Go, Prime,” he sneered. “I’ll stay here with your mate.”
I’ll just bet you will. Probably just to make sure I come back. “Don’t you have better things to do? Like finding the missing woman?”
“Caelan,” Tieran warned.
“I have a whole task force out there looking for her,” Hayward gritted. “Besides, whenever you find that traitorous brother of yours, you’ll find the woman. Let’s just hope she’s still alive when you get there.”
“You son of a bitch.” Caelan swung his fist, connecting with the soft tissue of Hayward’s cheek with an audible thud. The detective stumbled backwards and lifted a hand to his face. When he’d steadied himself, he grinned and moved his jaw back and forth.
“I’ll remember that.”
“Caelan, please. Go.” Tieran put her hands on his chest and pushed.
He stared at his mate, the woman he loved, and saw the pleading in her eyes. She was right. Getting arrested wouldn’t help his brother. Not to mention all the time he was wasting on this asshole.
“I’m calling Dad. He can be here within fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll call him, you go,” she assured him.
Caelan glanced at Hayward. Despite the animosity between them here tonight, the man was a cop. A good one, too. Or had been until he’d decided Eli had murdered mates. The smug bastard loved this. His smirk turned into a grimace and he had to work out the kinks in his jaw again.
Served him right. The satisfaction of smashing his face was worth every ounce of pain still flaring through Caelan’s hand.
“Fine,” Caelan said, and scratched his number on a piece of paper he found on the foyer table. “Call him now, don’t wait. I don’t trust Hayward to stay if he hears something is going down.”
Tieran nodded and pushed him toward the door. He yanked off his shirt and pants before opening it and shoved his clothes into a bag, which he could carry in his teeth to be put on later.
Uncaring of his nudity in front of another shifter, Caelan locked Tieran’s face between his hands and kissed her long and hard. She squirmed beneath the onslaught of his lips and tongue, then melded into him and held on for dear life. With a moan, she caressed the small of his back, tickling him. He’d find his little brother and finish this off. It would never be enough. Not in a million years. She had to put up with him for the rest of her life.
Breaking the kiss, he stepped back and opened the door. Her eyes widened as his body contorted in its shift. Caelan embraced the oh-so-familiar change and stood on four feet before her. His heart thumped.
A tiny tear escaped the corner of one of her eyes and fell to land with a plop on his wet nose, making him sneeze. Instead of more tears, she laughed and laid a hand on top of his head then ruffled the scruff of his neck. Damn. She was the most beautiful creature.
“Be safe,” she whispered and knelt in front of him, her head tilted in wonder. “You are the most magnificent—”
“Time’s a wastin’, Prime.”
Caelan growled. Prime, that’s right. I am Prime. When I get back, I’ll help you to remember, Hayward.
Tieran’s mouth twisted at the interruption. “Go,” she mouthed.
He turned and leapt off the porch, heading for the woods. He knew of two places Eli might run to. With one last look over his shoulder at his mate, he raced into the trees.
* * *
“Better lock the door. Wouldn’t want the Prime thinking you’re not safe.”
“You know, you’re a real condescending bastard,”
Tieran hissed and picked up the portable phone from the same table where Caelan had scratched his parents’ phone number. She walked into the living room and stood looking out the window toward the trees where Caelan had disappeared. Waiting here seemed as good a spot as any.
Seeing her mate change before her very eyes had been the most amazing and magical and unthinkable thing. She wondered if she’d really just imagined it. Maybe she was sleeping. Having a dream.
“Put the phone down.”
Tieran jerked at the low growl behind her. A shiver ran down her spine. Slowly turning around, she faced the detective. He licked his lips, like a wolf licking his chops, ready to devour her. When he grinned, sharp white teeth poked out from beneath his lips.
Keep it together. She swallowed. “Why should I do that?” Please God don’t tell me I’ve made a mistake in trusting this cop. “Caelan asked me to call his father, remember?”
He laughed. “Now why would you want to do that when the party’s just starting?”
Oh hell. A time like this and you’d think her eye would be twitching like crazy. She had a feeling instead of seeing this vision, she was going to be living it. Caelan? You forgot something, come back. Crazy psycho killer here. Mate Killer.
“Put the phone down!” he barked, making her jump.
She carefully laid the phone down as if it were made of the finest crystal. Too bad she couldn’t hold onto it. It might have made a pretty decent first strike weapon. Wouldn’t hold him off for long, but she could have at least gotten a good crack in.
“All this time, it was you?”
Of course it was. Same build, same height, same hair color. He and the twins might easily be confused, especially in one of her dream-like states. She’d thought the same yesterday when first meeting him.
Think. Think. Nobody’s coming to save you.
Distract him.
“Why are you doing this?” That’s it, make him talk. “Gramama? A little advice here.”
“I’m here, Tulla. Hold him off a little while longer.”
“That’s your advice?”
“Because it should be me here living in this house,” Hayward snapped. “Not that pansy-faced boy and his twin.”
Boy? The detective didn’t look any older than Caelan. Who was he calling a boy?
“I am the strongest of the pack,” he continued, stalking toward her. “My grandfather should have been Prime. When his leader died, leaving no heir, there was a scramble for the position. Three men fought as wolves. Two of them died. The Graham cheated. My father told me so.”
Oh my God. The man was delusional. Because of a story passed down through the generations, he thought he should be Prime. Tieran edged away from the window, keeping her back to the wall. The door on the other side of the room, behind Hayward, seemed a mile away.
“Every fucking day of my life I am reminded of what should be rightfully mine,” he snarled, reaching behind his back.
When his hand came forward, a wicked-looking knife sat cradled in his fingers. The same knife he’d used to kill the woman in the warehouse. The woman he’d killed and pinned on Eli. He twisted his arm in front of her, taunting her with the knife. His watch shifted on his wrist, revealing the tattoo hidden beneath every time the back of his hand faced her. Tieran’s breath caught. It was the same as Caelan’s.
“Why not just kill Eli?” She crept ever closer to the exit, somehow dragging him further away as he moved around the sofa. In his demented state of mind he wasn’t even aware of her direct route to an out. “He stands to take over if something happens to Caelan.”
“Not from jail he won’t.” He took a longer stride around the end of the sofa.
Damn. He was on to her. An evil grin spread across his face.
“You can run, but you can’t hide,” he said with a glance at the door.
How cliché was that? she thought insanely.
“But I thought you didn’t know where Eli was. Aren’t you the least bit worried this will backfire on you?”
With an evil grin, Hayward shook his head.
“Oh my God. You let Eli go, didn’t you? You set him free so it would look like he escaped and came here to kill me. This whole thing is a setup to lure Caelan away from here.”
The smile widened across his face. She was getting sick of that smile.
“You’re a smart girl,” Hayward said, moving closer. “It was easy to get rid of Eli. Release him from his bonds, tell him he was free to go. He fell for it, like I knew he would. Dumb fuck. Eli made it easy for me to tell my captain my prisoner had somehow escaped. Just think of all the commendations I’ll get when I ‘find’ him.”
Tieran swallowed. “So you didn’t kill him?” Please God don’t let Caelan be searching for his twin’s body when this was all over.
“Not yet, no.” He never stopped his stalking. “But, I kind of like the idea of him spending the rest of his life in prison while I take over the pack. It’ll give him something to think about.”
“And what about Caelan?” she taunted. The doorway was only about five feet away. She could make it. To do what, exactly? Grab the lamp? Bash him over the head? Not likely. “Don’t you think Caelan will be a little upset about your plans? Were you afraid you couldn’t take both of us on at the same time?”
Jesus, shut up, Tieran. His nostrils flared, his eyes lit up with pure hatred.
“Caelan will be lying beside you in the grave,” he roared and lunged at her.
She screamed and tried to dodge him but wasn’t quick enough. She’d only taken one step when his hand fisted around her ponytail and yanked her backward. His arm bent around her neck, squeezing her air off, the knife edging dangerously close to her face. Tieran clawed at his arm, gagging and choking. Her toes barely reached the floor as she thrashed in his hold.
There was no purchase beneath her feet. No leverage with which to kick off. Red spots danced in her vision. She was going to die and never see Caelan again. Or the baby growing in her belly. A baby created with their passion for each other. A baby who didn’t deserve what was happening, who would never even get the chance to follow in his father’s footsteps. It was a boy, too. A dark-haired, golden-eyed boy, the spitting image of his daddy. She saw him clearly.
“Yes, think, Tieran. You see him clearly.”
Her lungs burned. The boy turned, running in the grass and pushing a toy airplane in the air. His hair was mussed and he was laughing. Alive.
He was alive, which must mean she wasn’t going to die.
Renewed strength overwhelmed her. She dug her fingers into the arm strangling her. Time to fight. Tieran lifted her leg and kicked back with all her strength, slamming the heel of her tennis shoe into Hayward’s knee.
He buckled and howled in pain, releasing her with a shove forward at the same time. Her forehead hit an end table with a sickening crack, sending her sprawling to the ground. She lay there, stunned, and on her stomach while her head swam.
Tieran gasped, short, pathetic breaths that were all she could handle passed her smashed throat.
“You bitch,” he bit out.
As if. She crawled to her knees and swiped at her sweaty forehead. The red evidence that came away on her hand said there was more than sweat up there. A trickle of blood ran down her cheek. Swaying on her knees, she watched several crimson plops fall to the floor and soak into the cream-colored carpet.
“You’re gonna pay for that.”
No, I think you’re going to pay for the gash on my head, wolf-boy.
He limped over and pulled her to her feet by the hair. She winced but stayed silent. Content with the knowledge she would live through this night, she stayed stoic.
Caelan was another matter. She hadn’t seen him in her vision, just the boy. Would he die tonight leaving her alone for an eternity?
No. Not if she had anything to say about it.
The point of the knife pricked her battered throat.
“Move.”
Not much choice but to move
when he kneed her, prodding her forward and toward the door. His unsteady gait got stronger as they walked silently, except for the harsh breathing, into the kitchen and out the back door.
Where were they going?
* * *
Caelan turned in the circular clearing in front of his parents’ house, his chest heaving from the heavy run. He hadn’t found Eli in the first place he thought to look, the ramshackle barn they’d played in for hours on end as kids. It was one of the few places either of them felt totally safe.
The lights glowed brightly in several rooms of the house. Caelan cocked his head. Was Eli here? He wouldn’t make his presence that obvious. Had his dad left in that much of a hurry or…
He didn’t let himself finish the sentence. Bounding up the front porch steps, he shifted into human form and groped beneath the potted plant by the door. After unlocking it, he threw it open and rushed inside. The TV was on, some comedy by the sound of a crowd erupting in laughter.
“Son? What the hell you doin’, boy?” Liam laughed.
Caelan closed his eyes briefly, sweat coating his naked body. Fuck. “Why aren’t you at my house, Dad?” he asked cautiously.
“Well now, why would I be?”
Caelan swallowed. “Son of a bitch.”
“What’s going on, Son?” his father asked, all business now.
“Hayward just showed up at the ranch. He said Eli had escaped and another woman was missing.”
“Where’s Tieran?” Liam threw his newspaper to the ground and began unbuttoning his plaid shirt.
“There, with him,” Caelan choked.
“What are you waiting for, let’s go get her.”
“What about Eli?”
His father laid a gentle hand on Caelan’s bare arm. “He was in the hospital at least up until two hours ago. I know because that’s when your mother left him to go play Bridge. Realistically, do you think he was capable of leaving under his own steam? With as bad as his concussion was, even if he could have shifted he still had to get out his cuffs and past the guards. Someone had to have let him out. Think, Son. Who stood to gain by doing that?”
Seeing Eye Mate Page 20
