Without saying a word, he slipped what looked like a key into the knob, tilted it and banged a tool against it. He stopped and listened before doing it again. Deane turned the key the rest of the way, unlocking the door. It appeared this wasn’t the first time he’d gone into a home uninvited. He opened the door slowly, edged into the unlit garage and waved the others in.
Jax stared at the sleek shapes parked in the dark. The guy had expensive taste in cars, except for the unwashed SUV at the end. Jax got closer to it, realizing he’d seen it before. Under his breath, he asked, “Isn’t this Garren’s?”
The others joined him and peered in through the windows. Deane nodded. “Aye.”
Aerilyn moved beside Jax and held his hand. She looked at him with wide eyes, reflecting the same anxiety he was feeling. This wasn’t what he would have imagined doing at the beginning of the night, but all he cared to find out now was if Garren was alive.
“Things just got real,” Emery whispered. She turned to Deane. “Does Alaric know where we are?”
The enforcer nodded. His grimace was visible through the dark. “I sent him the address, but he’s waiting to hear back from me.”
“Maybe someone should stay here to watch for Ramsay in case he comes back,” Jax muttered, looking at Aerilyn. Things were getting weird, and he didn’t want her in danger.
She shook her head vehemently. “I’m not staying behind. I don’t want to be alone.”
Before she was even asked, Emery spoke up. “And I’m not leaving my partner’s side.”
“I think it’s best we stick together. Safety in numbers.” Deane walked to the door that led into the house and gestured for everyone to follow.
He rested his hand on the knob and turned it with ease. He slipped inside the darkened home. Emery moved ahead, flanking Deane, moving with her back to the wall. Jax and Aerilyn crept behind, staring at the ornate and dated décor.
Just as Emery passed the doorway into the kitchen, arms wrapped around her neck and nearly yanked her off her feet. She let out a yelp. She quickly regained her balance, turned and swept her foot behind his. She fell back onto the dark figure, tumbling out of sight into the other room.
Jax’s heart raced as he and Deane rushed to help her. On the tile floor, Emery elbowed the man, who groaned, and she wriggled free, rolling off of him. The attacker’s face was shadowed, but his strong jaw and smooth skin revealed his youth. Deane wrapped his arms around man’s shoulders and lifted him from the ground.
Aerilyn brushed past Jax to get to her friend. Emery wasn’t the sort to cower from an attacker. Though Emery was gasping for breath, she pushed herself onto her knees and punched the man in the groin.
“Where’s Garren?” Deane demanded.
The blond-haired man couldn’t speak after Emery’s blow. The wince affixed to his face turned into a grimace. He opened his mouth. His pale teeth gleamed in the dim as he tried to bite Deane’s wrist, but the enforcer was too fast for him and let go just in time.
Jax clenched his fists, prepared for a fight. The man’s gaze swept across the kitchen at the number of people standing in the dark. Faster than Jax expected, the man spun around and ran from the room.
They raced after him and found an open door that exited into the backyard. His dark form moved away toward the boundary wall. Jax started to follow, but Deane blocked him. “Let him go. We need to find Garren before he comes back with Ramsay.”
“Bastard,” Emery whispered hoarsely. “I hope he comes back.”
“No, ye don’t,” Deane said, shutting and locking the back door.
“To hell I don’t.” Emery put her hands on her hips and raised her brow. “I’d like to introduce him to my animal half.”
Deane cocked his head. “I guess ye’re feeling all right then?”
She gave a vengeful glare through the windows into the backyard before continuing into the foyer. A sweeping staircase led upstairs. Deane and Emery began to ascend to the second floor when Jax stopped in his tracks.
A large painting in a gilded frame hung above them. Soft lights lit the portrait, and the early twentieth-century figure stared out in pride. His long brown hair fell down to his shoulders, and his lips curled into a knowing smirk. The three-piece suit and bushy mustache could in no way conceal his identity.
It was his icy blue eyes that Jax recognized immediately. He’d seen them before, scowling at him in the dark from under a hood. The man who’d left KT drained of blood and paralyzed on the floor of her garage. Her attacker was smirking at him once again.
Eighteen
“That’s him,” he hissed and raised his finger at the painting.
“Ramsay?” Aerilyn asked with a frown.
He didn’t know how it was possible, but he was confident it was him. “That’s the man who attacked KT.”
Deane and Emery stopped in place to look where he was pointing. Their confusion was etched on the shadowy creases of their faces.
Aerilyn stared at a shiny plaque at the base of the painting. A name and date were etched into it—Ramsey Wilkenson, 1924. “That’s Riley’s father, but that’s not possible.”
The whites of Emery’s eyes shined through the dark, and she turned her face to the second floor. “Oh, balls.”
“We don’t have time for this.” Deane shook his head. “We need to find Garren if we can.”
He moved up the stairs in a fluid motion, and the others hurried to catch up. Deane checked the first two rooms, finding a guestroom and a study. A large master bedroom at the end of the hall held a four-poster bed that showed signs of use. The sheets spilled onto the floor, and the side lamp had been left on.
The enforcers searched the room and disappeared into the walk-in closet. That’s when Jax heard the muffled sobs. Jax stared at a frowning Aerilyn. They followed the noise into the closet. Deane and Emery were standing with their ears to the wall.
The interior was trimmed with panel molding. Very few clothes adorned the shelves and racks. Jax scanned the surface and spotted a keyhole.
“Here,” he said. “But we need a key.”
Aerilyn left the closet and Jax followed. She ran her fingers along the dresser and started opening drawers. Jax went to the bedside table and did the same. He found a thick history book lying beneath a lamp. Its top cover lifted up. He grabbed it off the table and fanned the pages. Something dropped to the floor. Jax bent down and picked up a metal key.
“This might be it,” he said and returned to the closet where Deane and Emery were checking the built-in shelves.
The key fit perfectly. Pulling, he swung open the wall panel, revealing a hidden room. He hoped to find Garren, but instead, a dark-haired teenager blinked up at him. Red ochre smeared the walls. The boy sat in a dried puddle of blood. The sight of it turned Jax’s stomach.
The teen’s face was stained from tears. He looked up at his rescuers and frowned as though he was more confused seeing them than they were seeing him.
Aerilyn gasped. “Riley?”
She threw herself at his feet, searching for his wounds. Her breath caught in her throat. “Are you hurt?”
Riley shook his head. “It’s not my blood.”
That was when she noticed the tipped glass, its interior coated with red residue. Aerilyn offered her hand to him and helped him onto his feet. She put her arm around him to hold him steady.
He looked at her sideways and asked, “I don’t understand. How are you here?”
She shared an uncertain glance with Deane, who moved forward and took the boy from her arms. He grabbed Riley’s shoulders and stared him square in the eye. “Is your dad coming back?”
Riley had never looked so unwell. His skin was nearly translucent it was so pale. Dark circles trapped his empty eyes. It seemed an effort to speak. “I don’t know, but I have to stay here.”
“That’s not going to happen. We need to get ye out of here, mate,” Deane answered gruffly. “But I need to know if anyone else is here. We’re looking for a friend.”
Riley blinked at the mess on the floor. He barely choked out, “That came from someone.”
Fear’s icy fingers took hold of Aerilyn’s chest. A shaky breath rattled her lungs as she stood beside her student. She didn’t understand what was going on, but she wasn’t about to let anything happen to him.
Deane let go of Riley’s shoulders and muttered to Emery, “There are a few more rooms we haven’t checked. We need to hurry.”
Before she could ask, Jax was beside them, trying to help her student out of the hidden room and into the master bedroom. Riley didn’t have much energy. He stumbled to his knees and pulled away. “I’m not leaving!”
Deane turned back and grabbed Riley’s stained shirt, lifting him off the ground. “Listen, mate, this is no place for a kid. I’ll drag ye out of here if I have to.”
Aerilyn tried to move beside them so she could protect Riley from Deane’s clear frustration. Once she wound her way around Jax to get near enough, Riley went limp and collapsed to the floor.
Deane growled, “He’s passed out. We don’t have time for this.”
“I’ve got him.” Jax bent over, and with Deane’s help, they lifted Riley’s arm around Jax’s shoulder. Jax secured his grip around the teen’s waist and partially dragged and carried the boy into the hallway.
Aerilyn followed closely, worried for her student. Jax caught her eye and assured her, “I’ve got him. See if they need help.”
She hurried after Deane and Emery’s dark silhouettes. Her friend had unlocked a door near the stairs and had already gone in. Her voice filtered into the hallway. “What the hell?”
Aerilyn rushed into the room, joining Deane and Emery. Laid out unconscious on a table was Garren hooked up to an IV. His chest and arms were bare. By the light of a single floor lamp, she could see numerous puncture wounds on his arms and neck.
Aerilyn swallowed. “Is he alive?”
Deane’s fingers felt at his jawline. “He has a pulse. Let’s get him out of here.”
He pulled at the tape holding the IV in place and ripped it from Garren’s arm. Deane lifted the limp body from the table and rolled Garren over his shoulder. His brows pulled together and sank into a deep scowl. There were very few times Aerilyn had seen the enforcer so angry. She stepped out of his way as he carried their unconscious friend from the room.
Deane hissed over his shoulder at Emery, “Let’s get them into Garren’s car—look for the keys and a way out of the garage. We’ll do damage control at the lodge.”
Emery whizzed by her in a blur, hurrying down the stairs. Aerilyn turned to look for Jax and found him half walking, half carrying Riley to meet them. She felt the painting’s eerie eyes on her as she rushed to the first floor and cast a final glance over her shoulder at Ramsay’s portrait watching them flee the house.
The sound of the garage door’s motor filled her ears as she held the entry door open for Deane and Jax. Emery had Garren’s car on and was opening the back doors when Jax rushed up with Riley. The boy was lifted inside and slid out of the way in time for Deane to flop Garren onto the backseat, too. Emery helped pull him in before the door was shut.
In a flurry of movement, Jax tossed his truck keys to Emery, who ran down the driveway to open the front gate while Deane ushered Aerilyn into the passenger seat of the SUV.
His voice chased her inside. “Go directly to the lodge. Alaric knows we’re coming.”
Aerilyn buckled up in a daze and realized Jax was beside her in the driver’s seat. He put it into gear and started rolling down the driveway following Emery onto the street. Aerilyn looked in the rearview mirror and watched Deane close the garage and run behind them to his van.
She’d never been involved with anything like this. She was a guardian. She helped identify fledgling shifters and taught them the skills they needed to assimilate into the Society. Emery was made for this. She was quick on her feet and always ready for a fight. The shock of the moment began to wear off, and Aerilyn felt herself shaking.
She turned around. Riley had tilted against Garren, who was folded over. Their limp bodies seemed so lifeless.
“Hey,” Jax said beside her.
She whipped her head around to look into his eyes.
“You okay?” he asked as he turned off from the neighborhood street. “I don’t know where I’m going.”
In that moment she realized they needed her. She gritted her teeth and pointed ahead. “Take a right at the end of this road. Go east on the highway all the way into Denver.”
Nineteen
“Prop the kid on one of those chairs,” Deane muttered as he carried Garren’s limp body onto Alaric’s couch.
Jax nodded and brought Riley to the opposite side of the room to put him down. Aerilyn sat beside her student and eased his head against the back of the seat, holding him in place. Her concern was evident, but Jax could see the steady rise and fall of the boy’s chest and hoped he’d regain consciousness soon.
He wasn’t sure about his friend, though. Jax joined Deane at the couch to check Garren’s pulse to make sure his heart was still beating. He didn’t like the sight of the comatose enforcer.
“Step aside, please,” a woman said from behind Jax.
He looked over his shoulder at a dark-haired woman. Her almond eyes were directed at Garren lying on the couch. She put her hand on Jax’s arm and set a case on the floor.
“Make room for Doctor Khatri.” Alaric hurried into his office. “She needs to check on Garren.”
Jax got up and stood beside Deane, who was watching with crossed arms. Alaric joined them, glancing at his daughter, then at the doctor tending his enforcer. A blonde burst through the door. A sob broke from her lips once she saw Garren.
Alaric rubbed his jaw and muttered, “There might be more privacy in the hallway. Can we talk?”
Jax followed Deane and Alaric out of the office and into the darkened hallway. Emery breezed by them carrying a cup of water and a plate of food and explained, “For the kid.”
“Join us when you’re done.” Alaric watched her enter the busy room. Moments later, she came back out and closed the door.
“I need information.” Alaric looked at Jax. “Deane called on his way in to tell me what happened, but I believe you have a few details to add?”
At first, Jax wasn’t sure if he was being accused of something. Then he remembered the painting hanging in the foyer of the estate they’d broken into. “The man who attacked KT—I think he’s Riley’s dad.”
Deane crossed his arms. “There was an old painting in the house of a young man who both Jax and Aerilyn identified as Ramsay.”
Alaric gave a single nod. His eyes narrowed as he stared each of them down in the dark. “And who’s responsible for allowing my daughter to walk into this dangerous situation?”
A guilty expression touched Emery’s face, and she looked down at her hands. Before she could say anything, Jax answered, “Aerilyn is. She made the choice.”
Alaric’s eyes narrowed even more as he glared at Jax, and an uncomfortable moment passed when no one said a word. It may not have been wise speaking to his girlfriend’s father in such a way, but he didn’t like how Alaric treated her. She was a grown woman who could make choices for herself.
Beside him, Deane cleared his throat and said, “None of us would have let anything happen to her. She’s family.”
Jax glanced at Deane, who met his gaze with serious eyes. He may have wanted to help defuse the situation for Aerilyn’s sake, but Jax appreciated the comment nonetheless.
The door to Alaric’s office was thrown open, and Doctor Khatri called out, “Garren’s regained consciousness.”
Alaric rubbed his chin and turned toward his office, but paused to ask, “What about the boy? It was a breach of protocol bringing him here.”
Deane moved toward the door. “We don’t have to tell him anything more than we have to for now, but he might have information we need.”
“If you could have seen him
when we found him… he might need our protection,” Emery added.
Alaric lifted his chin. “I’ll keep that in mind. For now, let’s see what Garren has to say.”
Jax felt Alaric’s sharp gaze trace over him before he led his enforcers back into his office. Jax stood in the dark for a moment, unsure whether he was welcome to join them, then decided he didn’t care.
He slipped into the large room. A circle of people were standing around the couch, and he heard Deane’s accented voice ask, “Can ye tell us what happened?”
Jax edged closer to hear and to get a better view. Garren was still lying on the couch, but his eyes were open. He didn’t seem very alert—dazed, actually. When he started talking, his voice came out in a lazy drawl. “I tracked Ramsay to his house and was observing the place from my car when I got out to take a closer look. I was around the back of the property when someone came up behind me, and that’s all I can remember. My memory’s fuzzy.”
“Can you move?” Alaric questioned.
“No,” Doctor Khatri said. “It seems he is unable to move his limbs. His body is unresponsive to touch.”
Jax stepped even closer. “When the paramedics came to get KT, she couldn’t move. She couldn’t even talk.”
Garren’s eyes lifted, and he slurred, “Hey, brother. I didn’t see you there.”
Jax raised his hand in greeting, unable to bring a smile to his lips.
Doctor Khatri opened her bag and looked inside. “Sounds like a venom of sorts, maybe a paralytic and hypnotic. I’ll collect some blood to send to the lab.”
Deane squatted down beside the couch and asked, “Do ye remember anything else?”
Garren’s face was still. His brow lifted ever so slightly. “Not a thing.”
The doctor touched various places on Garren’s arms and neck, pointing out bite wounds in silence. Emery used her phone to photograph and document the perforations.
“Those look like the marks on KT’s neck,” Jax muttered. “What the hell?”
Half-Blood Descendant: A Paranormal Series (Half-Bloods Book 1) Page 19
