“Not exactly,” Echo hedged. “Someone convinced this Lexi person they were you and to transfer all that money.”
“So, maybe this conveniently timed phone call came from someone other than Lorcan?” Syx bobbed his head thoughtfully. “Well, we can clear that up easily enough.”
“On it,” Eyce said, rising from the table and pulling his cell phone from his pocket. “Keep talking. I’ll be right back.”
“What did you mean about them not being missing?” Onyx asked again, though much calmer than the first time.
“I didn’t mean that exactly. We think they all left around the same time, right? But we assume they all went in different directions. That doesn’t really seem plausible.”
“I’m still not following you.” Onyx was beginning to understand why Hex had so many headaches.
“What if they didn’t leave? What if they were taken? I mean, yes, they’re still technically missing, but if they’re all in the same place, we have a better idea of where to find them,” Vapre tried to explain.
“And where would that be?” Fiero asked.
Before anyone could offer an answer, Eyce walked back into the kitchen from the living room, and the back door swung open. Everyone was on their feet at once, Myst pushing Mac behind him, while Onyx shifted to stand in front of Echo.
Craze looked at them all with wide eyes and held his hands up in surrender. “I just went for a walk to clear my head.”
“Sit your ass down and start talking,” Hex ordered. “You’re lying, and I want to know why.”
Onyx eyed Craze warily as the man came further into the room and sat down in the seat Fiero had recently vacated. He wasn’t the only one either. They had no way to know if they could trust their ex-lover, and it made him twitchy. He didn’t want Echo anywhere near the man.
Very slowly, everyone resumed their seats, Fiero snagging the chair beside Onyx and leaving Hex to pace. “If something happens to my friends because you’re a lying fuckwad, I will gut you like a fish,” Echo said calmly. “I promise you won’t be able to heal from what I do to you. So, you have about two minutes to make this right and prove to me why I shouldn’t do exactly that.”
“I don’t have a reason why you shouldn’t, and to be honest, I wouldn’t fight back.”
“Explain,” Eyce growled.
Onyx had never heard so much hostility in one word before. If Craze didn’t start giving them some answers soon, things were going to turn ugly fast.
“Your story doesn’t add up.” Echo paced right alongside Hex. “If it’s so dangerous for us to get to Jinx and Syn, then how did you talk to them?”
“I just talked to a member of Lorcan’s pack,” Eyce added. “Lorcan is missing as well, so it definitely wasn’t him who called earlier. None of the pack have seen Jet and Pax either.”
Craze propped his elbows on the table and dropped his forehead to his hands. He spoke without looking up. “I don’t know about Lorcan, or any of the others. I swear, I don’t.”
“Then where are Jinx and Syn?” Myst asked icily.
“Exactly where I said they were.” Craze finally lifted his head to look at them. His eyes were red-rimmed, and he swallowed several times before he spoke again. “I told Jinx and Syn about the vampire clan that moved into the area. I wanted them to be on their guard and understand why they couldn’t go off on their own.”
“So why did they?” Onyx asked.
“They were feeling guilty about attacking Echo. I should have just kept my stupid mouth shut!” Craze shook his head and pulled at his spiky blond hair. “I wasn’t even thinking. I made some stupid comment about how it would be nice if we had someone inside the coven that could feed information to us. I was just thinking out loud, ya know? I fell asleep and when I woke up they were gone.”
“When was this?” Hex paused in his pacing to face Craze.
“The same night as the new moon.” Craze sighed. “I knew exactly where they’d gone, but by the time I got there it was too late. They’d already been initiated into the coven.”
“Why didn’t you just tell us that?” Mac fidgeted in his seat as he spoke.
“Because I fucking ran like a coward!” Craze yelled. “First I plant the idea into their heads, then I get there just in time to watch them being beaten and fed the blood of the coven leader, and I did nothing to stop it!”
“You didn’t try to save them?” Echo asked incredulously.
“They were surrounded by thirty goddamn vampires! If I’da made a move, Jinx and Syn woulda been dead before I could reach ’em.” The man’s southern accent slipped in the more agitated he became. “I’m strong, but I ain’t strong enough to face down thirty vampires. I hung ’round the next day, tryin’ to figure out a way to get to ’em, but this clan is a lot bigger and a lot stronger than we thought.”
“We would have helped you,” Echo said, but he’d abandoned the scathing tone. “Why didn’t you ask for help?”
“This is my mess,” Craze snarled. “I didn’ wanna drag y’all into it. I know y’all think I’m some big asshole, and Jinx and Syn deserve bettah. Yer prob’ly right. I have to get ’em back, though.”
“You really don’t know where Gage and Sony are?” Mac whispered.
Craze glanced over at the smaller man and shook his head sadly. He took a deep breath and looked to be trying to compose himself. “I’m sorry, Mac. I’d tell you if I did.”
“We don’t think this vampire clan showed up out of the blue,” Onyx said slowly before looking to Syx and Vapre for help. Something niggled at him, but he wasn’t sure exactly what. As the brains of the group, if Onyx could spark a thought for the two, maybe they could come up with the answers.
Instead of saying anything, though, Syx smiled at him and nodded. “Keep going.”
“We think they’re mostly likely connected to Ares.”
“Right.” Vapre nodded.
“So, these vampires would already know all about us.” A light went off in Onyx’s head, and he pushed up straighter in his chair. “They would know Jinx and Syn were there to deceive them.”
“Exactly,” Syx said. “Which leads me to believe they somehow used Jinx and Syn to lure the others out of the house.”
“So, you think Gage and Sony are being held by these assholes?” Mac shot up from his chair. “No!”
“Yes.” Syx growled and banged his fist down on the table.
“We have to get them!” Mac yelled.
“If they’re as strong as Craze says, that’s damn near impossible.” Onyx looked away as he spoke. He didn’t want to see the anger, desperation, or disappointment in Mac’s eyes.
“I’m willing to bet they don’t have just Gage and Sony, but Jet, Pax, and possibly Lorcan,” Vapre snarled. “It’s a trap, and they’re using them as bait.”
Chapter Seven
“When do we leave?” Echo knew his men would go. He knew their first concern would be for him. “It will take all of you to get them out, and it’s not safe for me and Mac to stay here alone. We’re coming with you.”
“How long until sunup?” Hex asked. Echo was a little surprised that the demon wasn’t going to argue with him.
Echo glanced out the kitchen window. “An hour, give or take.” It still unnerved him that he could feel when the sun was rising. If he wasn’t a vampire, then how did he know that? There were a lot of questions about this whole daemon thing that he needed answered. Shit just kept popping up, though, and he hadn’t had a chance to even think about, let alone understand it.
“Our best bet is to go in during the day. Craze, do you know where they’re being held?”
Crazed nodded and jumped to his feet. “Yeah, I can get us there.” He took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “Thank you.”
Hex waved away the gratitude and focused on Echo. “Baby, we’re going to need a lot of go-go juice. Do you think you can handle that?”
Go-go juice? Echo chuckled. “Yeah, I can handle it.” Thank the gods his powers we
re still intact after dying. He shuddered a little but kept the smile plastered on his face. When was he going to get over that? He’d died. Big deal. It wasn’t like he was buried in the ground somewhere. Still, the thought always left him feeling cold—no pun intended.
“Okay, then everyone suit up.”
The warriors all moved as one, rising to their feet and leaving the room with Craze and Mac right behind them. Echo tilted his head to the side as he watched them go. “What are they doing?”
Hex smiled and brushed a stray lock back from Echo’s forehead. “They’re getting their gear.”
“Daggers, swords, and black leather pants—like real warrior stuff?” Echo asked excitedly. The thought of seeing his mates decked out in leather and shiny blades should probably terrify him, but it didn’t. It actually made his dick twitch inside his cotton pajama bottoms.
“Yep.” Hex skimmed his fingers down Echo’s chest and cupped his growing erection. “You like that, don’t you?”
Echo licked his lips and moaned. “I think I like that a lot.”
Hex wrapped his fingers around the back of Echo’s neck and tugged him into a kiss that set his head spinning and his cock throbbing. They were both breathing heavily when Hex pulled away and released his hold on Echo’s groin. “We’ll play after we save the day.”
Gripping his aching shaft through his pants, Echo groaned. “Cock tease.”
“It’s not teasing if I come through.” Hex pecked him on the lips again and swatted his ass to get him moving. “Put some clothes on and meet me at the front door in ten minutes.”
Echo was dressed and waiting in five. He fidgeted nervously, pacing back and forth in the entryway at the foot of the stairs while he waited on his mates to join him. When they finally emerged, Echo thought he’d swallow his tongue.
Hex wasn’t kidding. They were all dressed in black leather pants and plain black T-shirts. Black boots and heavy belts adorned with an array of knives in different sizes rounded out the drool-worthy picture. They looked dangerous—and absolutely the sexiest men he’d ever laid eyes on.
Hex laughed and kissed him on the forehead when he reached the foot of the stairs. “I told you.”
“Told him what?” Fiero asked.
“Echo seems to have a fetish for leather and knives,” Hex answered with a smirk.
All eyes turned to him, and Echo swallowed hard. “I want to strip you down and lick every inch of each one of you.” Good grief, he’d actually said that out loud. Shaking his head to try to clear a bit of the lusty haze surrounding his brain, Echo turned and reached for the doorknob. “This is going to be a distraction,” he mumbled under his breath.
Hex’s hand landed on the back of his neck and urged him around to face the big alpha. “No distractions,” Hex said seriously.
Echo dipped his head. The magnitude of what they faced finally crashed down on him, and his knees began to tremble. “Don’t you dare die.”
Stroking his fingers down the side of Echo’s neck, Hex frowned. “Where’s your necklace?”
“Upstairs in my nightstand.” Echo’s throat burned at the hurt look in Hex’s eyes. He curled his hand around his mate’s wrist, moving the warrior’s palm to his cheek to nuzzle against it. “I haven’t worn it in a while. It’s too important to me, and with everything happening, I was afraid it would get lost or broken.”
His answer seemed to appease his lover, because Hex grinned crookedly and stroked Echo’s cheek. “This is a two-way street, Echo. You will do exactly what we tell you to do, and no arguments. Not this time, baby. Don’t you dare die.” He growled Echo’s words back to him.
Echo nodded, though he wasn’t even sure if he could die anymore. Would he re-die? Was that even possible? It was definitely something he needed to find out, but this probably wasn’t the best time to test it.
One final check to make sure everyone had what they needed, and they hurried out to pile into two separate vehicles. Echo slid into the backseat of his SUV between Onyx and Mac. Such a beautiful car his men had bought for him, and he’d only driven it once. He didn’t much like driving, though, so he wasn’t too fussed with it.
Hex drove as usual, with Eyce in the passenger seat. Everyone else piled into Syx’s SUV and off they went to face down rogue vampires and rescue their friends. Cakewalk, right?
Echo fidgeted, squirming in his seat and wringing his hands together. So many things could go wrong and probably would. If all the vampires would be sleeping and they couldn’t come out in the sun, how hard could it be? Judging from the amount of steel his mates were packing, he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“I still don’t understand why this is going to be so hard,” he finally admitted. “I mean, we have powers, and the vampires can’t come out in the daylight. Why is everyone acting like we’re facing down Armageddon?”
“I imagine that they’ll be holding Gage and everyone else in the lowest part of the building—a basement or something similar where sunlight won’t reach,” Eyce answered, turning in his seat to face Echo. “We have to get in, find them, and get out.”
Echo nodded slowly. “But how hard could it be to kick their asses?”
“Craze said there were thirty or so vampires at Jinx and Syn’s initiation. Which means there is probably double that in the coven. Vampires are fast, Echo. Yes, we have powers, but we usually need a moment to concentrate before we can use them. They won’t give us that time. It’s eight of us facing sixty or more of them.”
“Nine,” Echo amended. “I’m not just here to look pretty.”
No one argued with him, but he saw the way Eyce’s eyes tightened at the corners and knew his mates would do all they could to keep him out of the fray. Well, just let them try. He had no intentions of sitting on the sidelines while the men he loved put themselves in danger.
Watcher, daemon, angel, or whatever they wanted to call it, he was now faster, stronger, and his power was easier to manipulate. If he had to kick his mates’ asses for their own good, well then so be it.
They sped along the dirt road that would lead them into town. Well, Echo assumed that’s where they were going since he’d never actually been into the town before. No one said anything, and he was grateful that Syx had chosen to ride in the other vehicle. Hatching a plan would be damn near impossible with the demon listening in on his thoughts.
Echo stared down at his hands, concentrating with everything he had. He didn’t know how he’d produced the bright light when he’d assaulted Gage in the kitchen that day. He did know it was powerful, though. He’d been trying to reproduce the glow ever since, but so far nothing. A crying shame, because he had an inkling it could be very useful against the vampires.
It felt like no time at all had passed when brake lights in front of them drew Echo’s attention. The SUV pulled off the country road onto an even bumpier dirt trail and stopped completely. Hex pulled in behind Syx, pulled the emergency brake, and cut the engine.
“Are we here?” Echo looked at the trees surrounding them. He was really coming to hate the forests surrounding their home. Nothing good ever came from trekking out into the woods. And what about the town? Had he been lost in thought and missed it?
“You didn’t expect us to just drive up to the front door, did you?” Eyce winked at him, his smile big and eager as though he was looking forward to the battle.
Echo guessed he probably was. His mates had been born for this. The last two thousand years of having nothing to fight had probably been wicked boring for them. He rolled his eyes and gave Mac a little shove to get him moving. “Let’s go before Eyce wets himself.”
Mac looked at him with wide eyes but hurried to scramble out of the vehicle. “Echo, I can’t help,” he whispered when they were both standing beside the SUV. “I want to help, but look at me.” He spread his arms wide. “I’m just a human, and smaller than average at that. I can’t fight vampires and win.”
“No one expects you to,” Echo said calmly. “Just stay behind the r
est of us, and do exactly what we tell you. If someone tells you to run or hide, you do it. Okay?”
Mac nodded firmly. “I don’t care about dying. I just want my mates back, and I don’t want to fuck anything up.”
“You won’t.” Echo grabbed his friend’s wrist and pulled him toward Syx’s vehicle. “Just don’t say anything. They’re going to try to talk us into staying, but it’s not going to happen. Got it?”
“I’m not staying here.” A rather impressive growl rumbled up from Mac’s thin chest.
Echo had no intentions of being left behind. He wasn’t above using whatever weapons he had in his arsenal to get his way, either. So, when Onyx called his name, instead of groaning like he wanted to, he pasted a winsome smile on his face and turned to his mate.
“Mac, would you please wait with the others? I need a word with Echo.”
Mac looked at Echo for confirmation then nodded reluctantly when Echo waved him on. Stepping closer to the warrior, Echo kept the smile on his face. “Yes?”
“You need to feed.”
The smile slid right off of Echo’s face. He’d expected Onyx to argue with him and demand he stay behind. He even expected a little begging and bribing. This, however, he never saw coming. “Why?”
“Do you feel stronger after you feed?”
Echo thought it over for a minute. “Yes.”
“You need to be at top strength, babe.”
“Not you.” Echo wanted to smack himself in the forehead when Onyx instantly shut down.
His entire body tensed and his eyes became shuttered. “I’ll get one of the others,” Onyx responded in a monotone.
“I didn’t mean it that way.” Echo grabbed his lover’s wrist to prevent his escape. “I took blood from you last night, and a lot of it.” He reached up and stroked Onyx’s face. “You need to be strong as well, love.”
Onyx’s eyes softened, and he leaned into Echo’s touch. “I’m sorry that I jumped to conclusions.”
Echo didn’t know what had happened in the demon’s past to make him think he wasn’t good enough for the love Echo felt for him, but once they rescued the others, he intended to change Onyx’s way of thinking. The man never said much, but Echo guessed Onyx felt more than any of them. He was hurting, that much was obvious, and it broke Echo’s heart that he couldn’t take that pain away.
Evans, Gabrielle - The Hunger [Fatefully Yours 7] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) Page 6
