Accepting Fate

by Rivers, Brandy L

  “Let’s get out of here. There’s nothing else to find.”

  * * * *

  Coltrain sat in the private quarters of the hidden warehouse. He’d made his way there without running into any of the Council, and hoped to find out what they were doing in his office.

  Tapping his fingers, he thought about which pets he kept in the cells. There were several reanimated corpses, but they were too far gone to pass for human. The ghouls were too monstrous. The vampire he presently had in captivity was Flynn, and he was easy to control.

  Hoping his pet could glean some intel from his office, he rose from the desk and strode toward the section he had walled off and reinforced for the undead. There was a smaller, well-warded section for the druids he’d been experimenting with. Unfortunately thus far, he found that younger, weaker druids were the only ones he could glean power from. Older, more experienced test subjects were put down when he couldn’t get past their natural protection.

  Mike’s lack of training meant he was the exception. He had an abundance of power. Perhaps Gwen’s interest in Michael was the same as her insane need to save her brother. Greg had been a worthless excuse for a caster, wanting to bottle away his “evil power.”

  Flynn sat hunched in his cell, staring blankly at the wall. He cowered as Cole approached.

  He took pleasure in capturing Flynn’s gaze and pouring his power into the command, “You will take this phone and go to Death’s Door to film the state of my office. You will not be seen, and will not be caught. You will come back as soon as you have visual confirmation on the state of my office, or sunrise comes. Do not dally.”

  Flynn rose to his feet, nodding like an eager puppy. Cole opened the door and Flynn snatched the phone before disappearing in a blur.

  Chapter 22

  Gwen moved around her kitchen, quietly putting breakfast together. Mike was still asleep, but he’d been up late. That picture… breathtaking. So much talent.

  Her phone rang, and she snagged it off the counter. Preston. It didn’t surprise her. “I figured you would call sooner.”

  “After you jumped on my case when I woke you the other night? Nah. I figured I ought to let you sleep.”

  She grinned. As much of an ass as he could be, he had a sweet spot. “Well, what did you find?”

  “You’re not going to like it, Gwen,” he warned.

  “No shit. I already don’t.”

  He groaned. “Well, this is worse than you were envisioning. Looks like he has undead locked away. Seems to be twenty or so. Cells full of them.”

  “Didn’t we expect that? Or am I the only one who thinks that darkly?”

  “He also has a handful of druids he’s using to test his methods, but his journal says he hit the jackpot with Mike. He’s also looked into Roxy, but he’s found that werewolf/druid hybrids aren’t worth the hassle.”

  “Shit. Seriously?”

  “That’s why he wants to use Amanda. Give him hope by promising her to him when he’s done.”

  “Yeah, that’s not surprising. Any clue how many druids he has?”

  “Depends on how many have lived through his trials, but he has killed a few already.”

  “Oh fuck, this keeps getting better.” She hooked her hair behind her ear and flipped the omelets. “How much do you think I should tell Mike?”

  “You’re the one who knows him best. I could ask Tremaine, but he’s preoccupied at the moment. Something about long-held secrets.”

  Gwen smirked. Figures the old man would have avoided telling his partners about his father. Granted, she suspected he was half-something, but didn’t know what.

  “Let me guess, you want me to keep Mike out of sight until we get this squared away?”

  “Yup. For his safety. Think you could convince him to come stay out in Edenton? He’d be safer.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “I have an empty apartment. The two of you are welcome to it.”

  Sighing, she thought about it. Was worth a try. “I’ll talk to him. He has practice today. Maybe after that.”

  “Think that’s a good idea?”

  “I have a feeling he might insist. Do you really want a dog in your apartment?”

  “I’m not worried about a dog. And practice for what?”

  “His band. The one Roxy’s in. This is their first practice since before Roxy’s honeymoon.”

  “Keep an eye on him. If he says you can’t go, insist.”

  “He wants me there. Already asked me to come.”

  “Okay. Let me know what’s up. You can have the keys anytime.”

  “Thanks, Preston. And I get it, I’m on Mike duty. You’re all taking care of Cole.”

  “Honestly, Gwen, with how you feel about him, which would you rather be on?”

  She licked her lips. “Mike duty.”

  “That’s what I thought. Chat with you later.” The call ended and she set the phone aside.

  “Mike duty?” Mike asked as his hands encircled her waist, and his mouth grazed her neck. “What was the rest?”

  She turned in his arms and kissed him before answering. “Meaning instead of chasing after Cole, which I would love to put an end to his sick games, I’m happily choosing to stay with you and keep you safe. You’re far more important than me having a hand in Cole’s downfall.”

  Mike frowned, his head tilting. “I’m not sure if I should be happy about that, or insist we are both part of taking Cole down. Except I have a feeling I’d get in the way.”

  “Happy, I hope. I admitted you’re more important to me than pretty much anything else.”

  He grinned. “Besides my sister, you’re up there for me too. Fast as it may be.”

  Was it enough? She had to wonder. She was ready to fall head first into them as a couple, but worried he wasn’t there yet.

  “Beyond that, Preston thinks it would be a good idea if we stay at his old place, in Edenton. He’s recently moved in with his girlfriend. Has an empty apartment. Sasha isn’t a problem.”

  “For how long? And why?”

  “Until we catch Cole. They’re already working on it. Plus, ninety percent of Edenton are Others. A lot of werewolves live there. Plenty of different types of Others. If Cole comes looking for you, we’ll get him before he gets you.”

  He drew a breath, his brow pinched. “Does that mean practice is off?”

  Smiling, she shook her head. “As long as I’m there, no. Someone needs to be there to keep an eye out for Cole in case he attempts to make a move.”

  He licked his lips, eating her up with his gaze. “At least I have a sexy babysitter.”

  Shaking her head, she laughed. “You’re making me out to be a cradle robber.”

  With a sheepish shrug, he changed topics. “So, practice, then swing by my place to grab my stuff and Sasha. Then head out to Edenton. Think there might be some place we could move practice to out there for now?”

  “I can ask around. How often do you normally rehearse?”

  “Four to five days a week.” He tapped his fingers on the counter. “This is the first session in over a month. Jordan has new material. We may wind up doing more.”

  “Okay. We’ll find you a place, if the group is good with coming out. One thing, any of them strictly human?”

  Mike nodded. “Doug. He doesn’t know anything about this world. Roxy’s books give him a headache.”

  “Good to know. So going to In 2 Deep after practice is probably out.”

  “Yeah, I would say so. Don’t want to freak Doug out.” He grinned. “Although, I don’t know. He’d probably be too busy checking you out to notice anything weird.”

  “Me?”

  “He has a thing for feisty women.” He stole a quick kiss. “Staying in Preston’s place, huh? Somehow, that seems weird. I’m trying to ignore the fact you were in his bed.”

  Gwen shook her head. “Over twenty years ago, babe. And I was too drunk to remember anything but waking up next to him with my eyes gunked shut from
what was apparently an ugly cry. That was in another state, a lifetime ago.”

  Mike took a step back. “Tell me he wasn’t the cause of the ugly cry, and I’ll forget this whole conversation. Otherwise, Preston has a world of hurt coming.”

  She couldn’t resist a smile. “You can blame Coltrain—Cole, for the waterworks. It wasn’t very long after that mess.”

  “And he…” Mike’s face was red, his hands balled into fists, the sudden rage lit desire inside her.

  “Hey, hush. We were both drunk, and according to him, I was begging for it. You can’t blame Preston. He did try to fend me off at first, but,” she sighed, “I convinced him I was over the asshole before dragging him to bed.”

  “And you weren’t?”

  She shook her head. “Clearly not. So don’t blame him.”

  “Okay. Forgetting the whole discussion.”

  “Breakfast is nearly ready.”

  “Mmm, good because I’m starving.”

  * * * *

  Roxy stood at the bathroom counter after heaving her guts. On top of morning sickness, she was nervous about whatever was going on with Mike. He wasn’t real forthcoming with answers, and Isa and Toryn didn’t give them much to go on.

  She wanted to shake him and demand information, but also knew Mike wasn’t cooperative when he wasn’t ready to spill.

  Trevor slipped through the door and pulled Roxy into his arms. “Morning sickness, love?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine. Hungry though.”

  His brow arched. “If you say so.” Grinning, he backed toward the door. “Is it okay if I come to practice? Maybe while you’re busy, I can get answers out of Gwen about what really happened last night. Mike is still freaked out about everything.”

  “He’s coming around. He did go into the woods with a bunch of werewolves.”

  “True, but he now has to deal with a vampire ex. His whole world expanded in a matter of days. Not everyone is as accepting as you.”

  She sighed. “No, but he knew all along about Others.”

  “Point taken. Still, Gwen has a better grasp of the situation than anyone else. Can you fault me for trying to get a few answers out of her?”

  “Nah, go for it. I intend to try getting more information out of my brother.” She glanced at the mirror and smiled slightly. “Thankfully, I look better than I feel at the moment.”

  “If I could take the morning sickness from you, I would, A Chroí.”

  “I know. You’re everything I need and more. I love you.”

  Chapter 23

  Gwen was tucked under Mike’s arm when they stepped into the mostly empty warehouse. Doug looked up and was immediately dumbstruck.

  Mike bent to whisper, “Told you he’d fall for you.”

  One corner of her mouth lifted. “Don’t worry, loverboy, you’re all I want.”

  “That’s a relief.” He waved at Doug. “This is Gwen, my girlfriend.” Mike looked down to see her reaction. Then took a relieved breath when she grinned back at him. “This is Doug, one of my oldest friends.”

  “A pleasure,” Doug said politely, then gave Mike a shake of his head. “About time you found a girlfriend, dude.”

  “Had to wait for the right one.”

  Jordan came up to them. “Hey, Gwen. Nice to finally meet you. I’ve already heard about you distracting Mike.”

  “Oh, do tell,” she teased.

  “All good, I promise.” He chuckled, and slapped Mike on the back.

  Roxy and Trevor walked in with the perfect timing. “Good honeymoon?” Doug asked.

  Trevor’s face lit up. “Aye, it was amazing.”

  “Truly was,” Roxy added.

  “Good to have you back,” Jordan told her with a soft smile.

  “Thanks. Let’s get to work. I hear you have new songs.”

  Jordan moved to set up his drum set. Doug grabbed his bass.

  Roxy took Mike’s arm and dragged him to the furthest corner of the practice area. “Talk to me. Why are you helping Amanda now?”

  He sighed. “You know how you can’t hate Jordan completely?”

  She sneered.

  “Hey, he did worse to you than she did to me. Anyway, it’s the same sort of thing. She’s in trouble, and she needs help. Besides, I’m not the one helping her. People back in Edenton are. Don’t worry, she’s hidden somewhere—I’m not even sure where—but she’s safe.”

  “She’s a vampire.”

  “Uh, yeah. Who hasn’t bitten me. And you’re a werewolf, Sis. I’m not complaining about that, am I?”

  “Well, shit. Fine. If she hurts you, I’m killing her for real.”

  Mike grinned. “Deal. So here’s what happened. She showed up at Shenanigans. Overheard Gwen and me talking about how deep things are getting, and Gwen asked why anyone would give me up. We were talking about Isa.”

  “Awkward,” Roxy muttered.

  “Nah. Isa and I are good. Better than we’ve ever been. Sex fucked it all up.” He snorted. “Anyway, Amanda butted in, said because she was scared. She was shaken up, freaked out. Cole compelled her master, trying to get me brought to him. Amanda did something that kept her master from commanding her to do whatever it was Cole wanted. She showed up at the bar. Then Robert came and blinked us away. She’s safe now, and can’t be tracked.”

  “Oh, so something like the cabin,” Roxy muttered. “Good. Then she’s fine. How about keeping you okay?”

  “Yeah, well after practice, we are going to stay in Edenton a bit. Gwen’s working on getting us a practice space out there.”

  “You’ve got it bad.”

  “I’m not denying it. Think we can make practice work in Edenton?”

  “What about Doug?”

  Mike shrugged. “He can ride with you or Jordan, take him in and out, and not stop along the way?” He shook his head. “It’s all I got.”

  “Okay, okay. Though, you should probably talk to Jordan. He keeps asking me what’s up with you.”

  “He giving you any shit?” Mike asked lightly. He knew the answer. Jordan had cleaned up his act, hundred-eighty-degree turn around.

  “Nah. It’s finally like when we were kids. I can be around him, even laugh and smile, and not feel like he’s going to fuck everything up.”

  “I’ll talk to him. Maybe have him come out once we’re settled in Edenton this evening.”

  “What’s that look for?” She asked with a raised brow.

  Sighing, he looked away. “Nothing that matters. I promise. Weird, but I swear it’s fine.”

  “If you say so. Come on, let’s practice.”

  * * * *

  If Nights Embrace’s live performance was half as good as their practice—and she had to imagine better—they must put on one phenomenal show. The songs were original, inspired, and enlightening. They warmed up with a few of their older songs, then started in on Jordan’s new ones.

  Gwen was impressed. She knew Roxy wrote most of the lyrics. The band seemed to riff off each other to find what worked for each song. She found herself caught up in their enthusiasm.

  Trevor questioned her about the night before. She relayed the entire tale of Amanda showing up and what happened.

  His response was, “I’m not sure I could be so eager to help someone who hurt Roxy.”

  “You don’t seem to mind Jordan.”

  “Aye, but that took some time. He’s lucky I didn’t pound his face in.”

  She had to laugh at that, but understood fully. Thing was, Amanda couldn’t hurt Mike. He truly had moved on, and she held no power over him. After last night, all doubt was gone.

  In fact, she wasn’t going to wait for him to tell her how he felt. She was going to do it once they were alone. Maybe not at Preston’s old place, but they could have a nice quiet date in Edenton.

  The longer they played, and the more she watched Mike, the deeper her desire ran. He was sexy when he drew, but watching him play guitar left her soaking wet, and aching for him in a way that should have embarrassed her
with wolf-boy and his super-snout sitting next to her. He was polite and managed to ignore her reaction.

  She was relieved when they started packing up earlier than expected. Roxy was hungry, and Trevor was more interested in getting her home than bringing back food.

  * * * *

  Mike slid his guitar in the case before he moved over to Jordan. “Hey, I’m going to be out of town for a while. Want to come hang for a bit tonight? You could bring Leanan if you’d like.”

  Jordan’s brow arched. “Sure, what’s going on?”

  “Come out and I’ll tell you. It’s less than an hour away.” He nodded toward Doug and lifted a shoulder.

  His oldest friend nodded. “Tell me when and I’ll be there.”

  “I’ll send you a text with our location. We’re picking up Sasha and then heading out.”

  “See you then.” Jordan waved before Gwen took Mike’s arm and pulled him outside.

  Once they were in the truck, Gwen looked over. “No rushing in without me. We stay together. Okay?”

  Mike nodded. “Sure. Did you really think I was planning to ditch you?”

  “No, but you sometimes start walking too fast. I look funny running to keep up. We want to look natural big-man, so slow your pace for me.”

  “All right. Until we get to Edenton. I saw the way you were watching me. I need to be buried deep inside you until you’re screaming my name.”

  She groaned. “Yes, fucking, please.”

  His grin was full of desire. “I invited Jordan over later. Maybe I shouldn’t have.”

  Pulling onto the street, she shrugged. “We’ll have time before and after. Not like I’m going to get tired of you.”

  He pulled her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss. “I hope not.”

  * * * *

  Both Mike and Gwen’s places had been watched all night, and none of Cole’s scouts had reported a damned thing. He was losing patience. He should have heard something by now. Anything.