by Lynn Hagen
Caleb slid from the bed and dropped to his knees beside Raven. “Do you still feel him in there?”
Raven shifted and grabbed his mate. He sat up and pulled Caleb onto his lap, holding on to him for dear life. “No.”
Panahasi stood. “I’m not going to give up, but I have to warn you, since Kovachi used a blood sacrifice for his spell, I think the only way to lift it is to kill him.”
“Then we need to figure out how to do that,” Raven snarled. “You tell me how to kill a sorcerer and I’m all over that shit.”
“As soon as I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know,” Panahasi said before leaving the bedroom with Christian and Maverick following him.
Caleb peppered Raven’s face with kisses. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again. I don’t like seeing you in pain. I wanted to sock Panahasi on the nose.”
Raven tapped Caleb’s hip. “I need some sleep, slugger.”
He was bone-weary, barely able to keep his eyes open. But at least the wall would prevent Raven from waking and trying to take his mate to Kovachi.
Caleb curled in next to him and Raven tucked his mate into his side. He wrapped his arms around Caleb, inhaling his scent and finally feeling at peace. As agonizing as the pain had been, Raven would do it a hundred times if it meant keeping Caleb safe.
Chapter Ten
Caleb stared in disbelief at Chad, who stood on the other side of the door. “What in the insane hell are you doing here?”
Raven was down the hall at Kivani’s. The Dark Knights were trying to form a plan to find Bayne and rescue him. Caleb really liked Bayne and hoped they could save him.
Henry, Ryan, and Joelle were in his bedroom, food spread out and a chick flick playing on the television. It was some movie about a woman named Mary. Caleb couldn’t honestly remember. He’d just been enjoying their company and becoming really good friends with Joelle.
“Seriously, Caleb.” Chad curled his lip. “Your new boyfriend has your manners slipping.”
“What do you want?” Caleb wasn’t going to stoop to Chad’s level and justify a damn thing. He didn’t owe Chad anything.
“I came by hoping we could talk since you haven’t answered any of my texts.”
“I haven’t answered them because you’re irrelevant to me. You’re in my past, and you need to stay there.” Caleb tried to slam the door in Chad’s face, but his ex held his hand out, then barged in, making Caleb take a few steps back.
Up until now Caleb had been hesitant to tell Chad off. He knew most stalkers were unstable. But after everything Caleb had been through in the past few days, no, hell no. He wasn’t taking Chad’s shit any longer.
“You need to stop this childish behavior and come to your senses,” Chad said. “I’ll forgive you for breaking up with me if you agree it was a mistake.”
Caleb left Chad standing there as he went to the hallway closet. He dug through Jacob’s jackets until he found what he was looking for. When he returned, he smiled at Chad. “You have five seconds to get out of here.”
“Or what?” Chad glared at him. “You gonna get your new boyfriend to beat me up again? By the way, I’m filing charges against him for assault. I’m getting a lawyer.”
“I already have one, and trust me, you don’t want to go up against Saul.” He held up the small can of pepper spray. “Now leave or I’m gonna unload this full can in your face.”
Chad lunged for Caleb’s hand. Caleb wasn’t sure if it was instinct or a culmination of everything he’d been through in the past few days, but he swung his arm out, popping Chad in the eye. His ex stumbled backward, then fell on his ass.
“You’ll pay for that!”
He’d started to get up when Henry, Ryan, and Joelle came out of the bedroom.
“Who the hell is that?” Henry’s gaze dropped to the can in Caleb’s hand. “Do you want him to fall down the elevator shaft? Just say the word.”
God, Caleb loved his new friends. “This is my ex who won’t stop harassing me. He just barged in here uninvited.”
Henry stomped forward, pushing his sleeves up his arms. “Okay, elevator shaft it is.”
Ryan grabbed Henry and pulled him back. “He’s trespassing. We could beat his ass and tell the cops it was self-defense.”
“Or I could go get Spider Monkey and he could drop this piece of shit out the window,” Henry said.
“Stop calling my mate that,” Joelle argued. “Besides, I think we can take this guy. Caleb can spray him while we stomp his nuts into his stomach.”
Henry’s brows shot up. “I never knew you were so vicious. I think I’m in love.”
“He’s messing with my best friend,” Joelle defended. “Nobody messes with Caleb and gets away with it.”
Aw. Now Caleb was in love. Well, not really, but that was the sweetest thing Joelle could have said to him.
When Chad got to his feet, Caleb slugged him again, this time on the nose. Too bad he hadn’t made Chad bleed. But he did make Chad stumble backward as he slapped a hand over his nose.
“Get the fuck out before I unleash my friends on you.” Caleb’s snarl would have impressed Raven. He didn’t know where it had come from, but he was proud of himself for sounding so tough.
But no one got a chance to kick Chad out. Raven stepped into the doorway and looked at all of them before his gaze landed on Chad. His right eye was red, and Caleb had no doubt it would turn black and blue.
“What the fuck?” Raven grabbed Chad by his shirtfront and slammed him into the wall. “Do you have a death wish?”
“Caleb was mine first!” Chad shoved at Raven but failed to make him budge. “You can’t have him!”
“Where did you find this kook?” Henry asked. “We need to have a serious talk about your taste in men.”
Ryan gaped at Henry. “Pot calling the kettle black?”
“Nyx reformed me,” Henry argued.
“And Raven reformed him,” Ryan argued back. “Keep your nose out of Caleb’s personal life.”
“Uh, I didn’t need to be reformed,” Caleb said, but nobody was listening to him.
As Raven dragged Chad into the hallway, Caleb panicked that his mate would kill him. Caleb hurried after him, but all Raven did was shove Chad into the wall by the elevator. He had his hand curled around Chad’s throat. “You come back here again, try to stalk Caleb in any way, even think about him, and I’ll fucking gut you.”
Chad looked from Raven to Caleb with raw fear. “You aren’t worth this trouble, you whore.”
Caleb shot past Raven and slammed his fist into Chad’s side. Chad howled, then fell on his ass when Raven let him go. He probably didn’t need to keep hitting Chad, but damn, it felt good to finally put the prick in his place.
“Elevator shaft. Elevator shaft,” Henry chanted in a loud whisper behind Caleb.
Chad hurried into the elevator and stuck his middle finger up as the doors closed.
Raven turned to Caleb. “I should go after him and make sure he gets the message.”
“I think he got the message.” Caleb wound his arms around Raven, giving him a quick but thorough kiss. “My hero.”
“Thank fuck,” Henry said behind them. “I talk a good game, but he probably would’ve beaten my ass.”
Ryan threw an arm over Henry’s shoulder. “Not while I’m around.”
“Did you guys come up with a plan?” he asked as Raven nibbled his way down Caleb’s throat. In truth, Caleb’s hand was killing him. He’d never gotten into a fight in his life and he never wanted to get into another one. Putting some ice on his hand might be a good idea.
“Yeah, we came up with a plan.” Raven grabbed Caleb’s hand and led him back into the apartment. “But I know your hand hurts. Let’s take care of that first.”
“I’m heading home,” Henry said. “All this fighting makes me want to get naked and go wrestle a bear.”
Caleb rolled his eyes. Henry’s mate was a bear shifter.
“I’m gonna head out, too,” J
oelle said. “But call me if you need me.”
“I’m gone, too,” Ryan said. “Devil promised me dinner and I never pass up free food.”
Raven closed the door. “You don’t know how badly I want to go after that asshole and rip him apart.”
Raven had no idea how much Caleb wanted that as well. Chad had been a jerk from day one, and Caleb had been too blind to see it until months into their relationship. And even after he’d dumped Chad, he’s still been a jerk.
But Caleb’s main concern was Raven’s stability. He wasn’t sure if the wall could come down with a simple fight, and Caleb didn’t want to take the chance. Panahasi still hadn’t come up with a way to get Kovachi out of Raven’s mind, but until he did, or Kovachi was killed, Caleb wanted to make sure Raven remained safe.
That was why the Ultionem had benched Raven, and his mate hadn’t been happy about that decision, either. Raven wasn’t allowed to go after any Hunters until this problem was resolved. Caleb was glad, especially after Raven explained to him about the lists he had and how he was paid for every kill.
“So, what’s this plan?”
Raven shook his head. “First, we take care of your hand. Second, I’m not talking to you about it.”
“Why not?” Caleb argued.
Raven grabbed a bag of frozen corn from the freezer and laid it across Caleb’s knuckles. “Because you never told me Saul gave you a job offer.”
Hell, Caleb had completely forgotten about that. “I don’t think I can work for him,” he admitted. “I no longer hate him for what happened to Jacob, but being around him is too painful right now.”
Raven gave Caleb a soft kiss. “Then you don’t work for him. The bills are covered and the cupboards are stocked. We’re cool for now.”
If Caleb was honest with himself, he was grateful as fuck the pressure was off his shoulders. He didn’t like being in charge and had gladly handed the reins over to Raven.
Yeah, he was becoming dependent on someone else, but Caleb was who he was and he knew he’d screw his life up if left to his own devices. “Maybe I can find some kind of job working from home like Henry does.”
Though Caleb highly doubted he could handle being an accountant. He wasn’t that great with numbers and he wouldn’t advise anyone to trust him with their money. Not when he couldn’t manage his own.
“Baby.” Raven pulled Caleb into his arms. “You already have a job.”
Caleb frowned. “And what’s that?”
“Taking care of me.” He wiggled his brows. “As you can see, I’m high-maintenance. I need you to feed me, let me fuck you, and make sure I don’t go completely insane.” He nuzzled Caleb’s neck. “And I need to you love me no matter what life throws at us.”
“I’m still waiting to hear how that’s high-maintenance.” Caleb cupped Raven’s jaw. “And loving you is already taken care of.”
One of Raven’s brows arched. “You saying you love me?”
“You saying you don’t love me?”
Raven grinned. “How could I not? You’ve stuck by my side, and for that, I’ll always be grateful.”
“And you never showed me how to be stealthy,” Caleb reminded him. “I might need those skills one day when I have to follow you around again.”
Raven growled as he swatted Caleb on his ass. “You ready to finish packing those boxes?”
With Raven’s help, Caleb finally got Jacob’s boxes packed and stored in Jacob’s bedroom. He wasn’t sure what he would do with them. Caleb wasn’t ready to let Jacob go just yet, but now the boxes were no longer cluttering his living room.
Raven and Caleb dropped onto their bed when they were done. Raven had brought over a large portion of his clothes and personal belongings, but unpacking would have to wait. Caleb was physically and emotionally drained right now.
Raven stretched out, his shirt rising enough to show off a delicious patch of skin just above his waistband.
Caleb crawled to him, planning on seducing his mate. But Raven had closed his eyes and was now fast asleep.
Caleb chuckled. “Touché.” He recalled when he’d fallen asleep on Raven’s lap after drinking from Saul’s whiskey bottle.
He was perfectly fine curling into Raven. His mate grunted, threw an arm over Caleb, and mumbled, “Love you,” before he started lightly snoring.
“Love you, too,” Caleb said before closing his eyes and falling fast asleep, thankful his bad luck with men had finally ended. His relationship with Raven was far from perfect, but they had each other’s back and there wasn’t anything Caleb wouldn’t do for his mate.
Though Raven still owed him a new set of seat covers.
Raven, Devil, Kivani, and Declan surrounded the suburban home, along with the Santiago brothers. Tryck had an enormous chip on his shoulder where Kovachi was concerned. He’d been duped, and judging by the expression on his face, he wanted payback.
The Ultionem had ordered Raven not to hunt until his problem with Kovachi was taken care of, but they hadn’t said anything about him helping to rescue Bayne.
No one would stop him where Bayne was concerned.
Hand signals, head movements, and quiet steps had them spread out, ready to ambush the house. Tryck carried an unlit Molotov cocktail, having stated earlier that he wouldn’t light it until the fat lady sang.
Still, Raven prayed Tryck didn’t jump the gun and burn them all down in his enthusiasm to kill Kovachi. The guy was just a little too pyro-happy.
They entered the darkened house at varying points, then made their way from the attic down to the basement. Raven became enraged when there was no sign of Bayne or Kovachi. But he did find spots of blood in the dining room and ripped, used duct tape on the floor by one of the chairs.
Devil bent and swiped his fingers over the stain, then sniffed it. “Bayne was here.” He wiped his hand on his pants and rose. “It smells fresh.”
“So we just missed them?” Kivani asked.
“Seems so,” Devil said.
Tryck held up the bottle. “Then I suggest you guys haul ass. I’m gonna burn down every fucking place Kovachi has been, cutting down his safe houses until he has nowhere to run.”
Raven’s eyes widened when Tryck pulled a Zippo from his pocket. He hauled ass, shocked the wolf shifter was ready to light up while they were still in the house.
Raven made it to the Honda as the dining room window turned bright. But the Santiago brothers hadn’t run from the house. They strode onto the porch as though the house behind them wasn’t on fire.
The crazy fucking bastards.
“What now?” Declan asked. “We’re not giving up on Bayne.”
“No, we’re not,” Devil said. “Even if we have to search every fucking house and building in this city. We’ll find him, and when we do, we end Kovachi’s life.”
“Bet,” Kivani said, “but right now I need some sleep. We’ve been searching for two days and I’m dead on my feet.”
“We regroup in ten hours,” Devil said. “Take a long shower, feed yourselves, fuck your mates, and get some sleep because we’re not going home again until we find Bayne.”
Raven wasn’t sure how they would accomplish killing a powerful sorcerer like Kovachi. He still felt the pressure digging at the wall in his head, and as he promised, Raven didn’t fuck with it. But he would be glad when Kovachi’s reign of terror was over.
Then again, someone would take his place. Evil never died.
Raven slipped into Caleb’s car and pulled away, anxious to get back to his mate. It was their little secret that Caleb had a bucket of fried chicken and a chick flick waiting for them when Raven got home. Ryan seemed to have rubbed off on Caleb, but neither of them would ever tell.
He’d found a slice of happiness in his life, and Raven looked forward to every second fate gave him with his sexy mate.
THE END
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