by Lisa Kessler
“Coming up on the gate.” Sebastian was all business.
I checked my gun and pulled my jacket around me a little more to be sure it was covered. Sebastian stopped the car in front of a pair of giant iron gates with the Nero lion head emblazoned on the center.
“Mr. Severino is expecting me.”
The man at the gate peered into the backseat and back to Sebastian. “That’s the Alpha?”
Sebastian nodded.
“All clear!” the other man shouted, and the gates gradually opened.
Sebastian parked the car and got out. Two men—human by their scents—dressed in riot gear approached us. I tried to ignore them and helped Adam out. Why would Nero have humans working for them?
Sebastian stood between us and the armed guards. “We’re taking Adam Sloan to my father’s office.”
“We’re supposed to take him from here.”
Sebastian shook his head. “I can’t let you do that.”
One drew his gun, and I snapped to action. Instinct. I had my Ruger up and aimed at the guard’s chest. “I’d think twice before pulling that trigger.”
Sebastian glanced over his shoulder at me, then back to the men. “If she fires, you’ll either be dead or unemployed. Your choice.”
He holstered his weapon. “We’ve got our orders.”
“And I have mine.” Sebastian waved us forward. “You may follow us if you like, but the only person I will turn this prisoner over to is my father. Directly.”
I put my gun away, and we walked past them into the main building. From outside it resembled a stark stone-gray industrial revolution–style castle. High walls, small windows, and even a tower in the center. The inside wasn’t any warmer. The floors were sealed concrete, just like the walls and ceilings. The fluorescent lights gave everyone a blue tint.
We stepped into the elevator, and I started to relax, but Sebastian cleared his throat, tipping his head toward the camera in the top right corner of the space. When he’d said there were cameras everywhere, he hadn’t been kidding.
The second floor was very similar to the one we’d just left, except that the floor was marble here and the doors had nameplates. Our footsteps echoed in the empty hallway. Where was everyone?
“We lost our trigger-happy humans,” I whispered.
Sebastian’s body was tense, all his focus in front of us. “The humans don’t know about shifters. We need to keep it that way.”
I was dying to ask why, but with all the cameras I didn’t risk it. When we reached Antonio’s office, Sebastian stopped at the door and turned to Adam. “I will make this right.”
Our new Alpha nodded and faced forward. For whatever it was worth, Adam had balls of steel. His pulse was steady and even, no sign of fear. Sebastian opened the door and walked right past the reception desk. I recognized the blonde from the night before, but we didn’t talk. Sebastian was already opening the next door.
Antonio stood by the window overlooking the parking area and front gate. He turned around, slowly sizing up Adam Sloan.
He took a step toward us. “You have your father’s eyes.”
Adam didn’t reply, just stared straight ahead.
Antonio turned to Sebastian. “Thank you for the prize. He won’t replace Damian, but his death will send a message to the wolves. If they come after what’s mine, I will crush them.”
Antonio paced slowly around Adam like he was inspecting a new piece of furniture. “Your father was a thorn in my side, and once you, your brother, and your son are dead, I will finally be rid of your entire family line.” His gaze cut across to me even though he was speaking to Adam. “And this wolf is going to help us kill them.”
My gut churned, but I held my tongue.
Antonio wasn’t quite as tall as Adam, forcing him to tip his head back slightly as he spoke. “No reaction over the death of your little boy?”
Adam clenched his jaw, staring straight ahead.
Sebastian cleared his throat. “He came to us willingly in trade for his daughter’s return to her mother.”
“So he did.” Antonio nodded. “And she will be reunited with her mother…” He turned his back to us, looking out the window again. “I already have a squad headed to Reno to collect her and bring her back. Their orders are to kill the boy.”
Adam exploded, lurching forward and tackling Antonio to the ground. He looped his bound wrists around Antonio’s throat and pulled until his eyes bulged. “Call them off. It’s the only thing keeping you alive right now, you sadistic asshole.”
“Sebastian!” Antonio hissed.
Suddenly the door burst open, and a quick succession of darts sank into the back of Adam’s neck. He trembled all over and finally went limp. Sebastian knelt down, freeing his father from Adam’s clutches.
Antonio scrambled to his feet, much faster than a human his age could. His eyes narrowed at Sebastian. “You should know better than to trust a rabid dog. He should’ve had his legs bound, too.”
“He was a willing sacrifice until you taunted him.”
Antonio waved his hand and focused on the blonde. “Natasha, have him locked up on sublevel four.”
She nodded and hooked her arms under Adam’s shoulders, dragging him out like he weighed nothing. At the door she stopped. “Just a suggestion, sir, but I could snap his neck right now.”
Fuck. I tensed, ready to launch into action.
“No. I’ve waited a long time for this. Wait for him to wake up, then feed him and give him some water. I want him at his best for the Hunt.”
I had no clue what the Hunt was, but it couldn’t be good.
After the door closed, Antonio took his seat at the desk and stared up at Sebastian. “When the Alpha regains consciousness, I want you to bring Madeleine in to see him in the cage. He is to tell her this is her home now. Be sure he understands that if any other words come out of his mouth, you will kill him in front of his daughter. His choice.”
It was like standing in quicksand, surrounded by vipers. We were in too deep with no way out. I crossed my arms. “I need to check in with the Pack in Sedona before we make plans for the trip to Reno. Or is the mission off now that you’ve sent another team?”
He pushed the phone on his desk toward me. “You can do that from here. While Sebastian finishes with my granddaughter.”
My heart pounded, betraying me. He was separating us.
Sebastian’s eyes met mine. If he could hear my rapid pulse, no doubt his father could, too.
Antonio smiled like a cobra ready to strike. “Seems we have much to catch up on, Isabelle. We can start with your father…Solomon Wood.”
Sebastian stepped forward, his shoulder blocking me from his father’s stare. “She didn’t know her father worked for us.”
“You arrogant bastard.” Antonio stood, glaring at Sebastian. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out Sol’s children weren’t jaguar shifters? You thought you could dangle her in front of me and I wouldn’t recognize her?”
Sebastian had ice water in his veins. He didn’t so much as blink at the accusations. “I never gave it much thought. You had much bigger issues at stake.”
Antonio crossed his arms. “I wonder if Isabelle would be warming your bed if she knew the truth about her father.”
“She already knows.” Sebastian gripped the edge of the desk until his knuckles were white, the only clue his father’s words might be getting to him. “If we’re through here, I’ll bring her with me to help with Sloan and the girl.”
Severino shook his head. “Surely you can handle this errand on your own. If you’re bested by that wolf and a child, then you deserve your fate.” He turned to me. “And you and I have much to discuss.” He hit a button on his phone, and the blonde appeared in the doorway. “Natasha, please take Isabelle’s weapon.”
My eyes flicked to Sebastian, but what could he say? She stopped in front of me. “Do I need to give you a pat down?”
I groaned and pulled my gun out, handing it to her.
“Thank you.” She glanced at Antonio. “Will that be all, sir?”
“Not quite,” Antonio purred. “Escort my son from my office. If he tries to get back inside, we kill Isabelle.” He glared at Sebastian as the door opened. “Women have always been your weakness.”
Sebastian’s gaze locked on mine, and I wished like hell I could read his mind. Without a word, he walked out.
The door closed, and Antonio pulled a file folder out of his desk. “I don’t know what kind of sob story my son told you to lure you into his bed, or what promises he’s made, but a smart woman like you should have the whole truth before you put your life on the line for Sebastian.” He pushed a folder marked “Solomon Wood” over to me. “Go ahead, have a look.”
Whatever I was about to see, this asshole had had all night to cook it up. There was a better than average chance everything in the file was bullshit.
Steeling my nerves, I pulled up a chair and picked up the folder. The first photo sent a chill down my spine.
My father’s body lay in a back alley, and a much younger Sebastian was crouched beside him checking for any signs of life with a pocket mirror to his nose and mouth.
Being certain my father was really dead.
Chapter Nineteen
Sebastian
Natasha closed the door after me. “He’s pissed.”
“He’s not the only one.” I kept walking faster, toward my office at the end of the hall.
Unlike my father, I didn’t have anyone guarding my door. Pressing my hand to the pad, the lock disengaged. I slammed it behind me, going straight to the wall safe behind my desk. I opened the thick steel door and withdrew a worn leather notebook. I dropped it on the desk and sank into my chair.
My father had been right about one thing. I was arrogant. I never should’ve brought Isabelle to the gala. Of course he’d recognized her. She had Sol’s eyes and his smile. It couldn’t have taken my father long to put the pieces together, and now he had her alone in his office. Worse yet, I’d tipped my hand.
He knew I cared about her.
Now Isabelle was a pawn in my father’s twisted game. I shot out of my chair, pacing by the window. This was exactly why I should have kept my distance. I’d handed him the most precious, intelligent, amazing woman, and now he’d use her against me.
Her blood would be on my hands, too.
I leaned against the window frame, my forearm above my head as I stared down at the Nero employees walking to and from the other buildings like it was just another day. They had no idea the heir to the Nero Organization wanted out.
It hadn’t been a lie when I told Isabelle I would die for her, but there was a contingency. If I made that sacrifice, she needed to live.
I needed to get my head together, or we’d both be dead.
Not to mention Adam was going to be bait for the Hunt. New moon was tomorrow night. I had until then to get him out. Werewolves only shifted during the full moon. So Adam would still be in his human form, facing roughly one hundred jaguars hunting him in the forest of the Nero compound.
Alpha or not, he’d never survive the night.
I went back to my desk and opened the drawer on the right side. My iPad fired to life. I couldn’t risk a text message, so I clicked Facebook messenger. The only card I had left to play was Vance. For now, my father didn’t know he was in the area.
Vance—We’ve got until tomorrow night. Sloan is marked for the Hunt.
I put the pad down and opened the notebook. Inside were notes in my mother’s handwriting. Most were inconsequential reminders, but a few were about her concerns for the girls at Brightwood Academy, her worry for me being forced into a dangerous life. I ran my finger across the words. The tiny ridges in the paper always brought me closer to her. I’d learned recently that she was the one who helped Adam Sloan’s father escape the compound all those years ago.
Without my mother, Adam Sloan might never have been born. Another tie between our families.
Vance finally answered.
Fuck. He’ll never survive. What’s the plan?
I wish I knew.
Natasha loaded him up with tranquilizer darts. Once he’s awake, I’ll find out where he’s being held and get in the system to clear you at the gate.
I closed the small notebook and slid it into my jacket pocket behind my rolled-up leather tool kit.
I’ll be ready and waiting for the signal.
Leaning back in my chair, I did my best to focus. I couldn’t get Isabelle out of my head. How could I have been so careless and stupid? I never should have left her with my father. I should’ve shot him while I had the chance.
But there hadn’t been one. Not really. My father was always protected. Not just by Natasha, but by the most advanced top-secret body armor available. I would’ve only been able to fire one shot before we were swimming in Nero agents, and that single shot would’ve needed to be in the head.
And even if I had been that lucky, we never would have gotten out of the building alive.
My mistake had been allowing him to get under my skin when he talked about luring Isabelle into my bed. I lost that round. That’s when he knew he had me.
I didn’t want him to hurt her.
I tugged my tool kit free and carefully took out her mother’s letter. If she had seen this day coming, there had to be a clue or something in her note. Even though I could quote it from memory now, I scanned the page again.
Sebastian,
One day, my beautiful daughter Isabelle will be your salvation. Treasure her and keep her safe when we can no longer do so. She and her sister were born because of your father, but they will be his undoing.
You will be forced to choose.
Follow your heart.
Stacia Wood
But this time, one line caught my eye.
They will be his undoing.
Stacia Wood had been a student at my mother’s boarding school, Brightwood Academy. My mother opened the school before I was born and ran it as a safe place for girls with abilities that made them struggle either with school or their families. Psychic abilities. She’d thought she was protecting them from a world that didn’t understand and treated them as outcasts.
She hadn’t realized my father’s plan for the school veered far from hers. He kept tabs on which girls had more powerful psychic gifts and arranged to make them orphans. Once their families were out of the picture, my mother usually became their guardian, and when they graduated high school, my father sent out orders to bring in the ones he thought might strengthen our jaguar breeding program.
Years ago, I’d read Stacia’s old file. There had been many clairvoyants at the school. Some girls had dreams that eventually came true, while others had short flashes of precognition right before an event happened.
But Stacia had had a rare gift. She would be assaulted by the scent of oranges at the onset of a vision. My mother had coached her to pick up a pen and write as the future played out in her mind. Her guided writings were over 90 percent correct.
Being able to see the future was a skill my father coveted. He was certain Stacia’s abilities would make her a viable candidate to carry a shifter’s child without being bitten. He paired her with his top assassin at the time—Solomon Wood.
Stacia did conceive without being bitten, which was a feat on its own, but her daughters weren’t born with their father’s shifter gene. They were human. That was the first time I’d blurred the lines between following orders and doing what I thought was best.
My father wanted those girls. I’d let him think I couldn’t find them.
But now he had Isabelle. My fault.
Fuck. I stared at her mother’s words again. She’d seen this future. Why hadn’t she given me the key to stop my father?
They will be his undoing.
That was it. They.
I made a quick sweep of my office for bugs or spy cameras. Satisfied my office hadn’t been compromised, I went back into the safe and pulled
out my burner phone. I plugged it into the fast charger and called the one member of the Reno Pack who might not hang up on me.
“Detective Sloan.”
“Sasha. I don’t have much time.”
“Sebastian?” She lowered her voice. “Have you found Madeleine?”
“Yes, but I had to bring Adam in as my prisoner to get him through the gates. My father is planning to toss him into the Hunt tomorrow night.”
A door closed on her end of the line. “That’s bad. He’ll never make it.”
“It gets worse. He’s already sent a team to Reno to collect Lana.” I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. You’ll have to protect her and Malcolm.”
“Of course, but what about Adam?”
“In case our plan doesn’t work, I need you to send some of his Pack out here. I have to speak to Raven, too.”
Sasha paused. “Since when do you make backup plans?”
“Since I started protecting people instead of eliminating them.” I rubbed my forehead.
“Welcome to the other side of the chessboard.” She clucked her tongue. “And you’ve had this big change of heart because Madeleine is your blood?”
“Yes.” I glanced at my door. “And since I became a member of your Pack.”
“Wait a minute, what?”
I picked up the letter on my desk. “I chose a side…for Isabelle.”
“Wow. I didn’t think I’d ever see this day.”
“I don’t have time to discuss this now.” I set the letter aside. “How many wolves can you get on a plane to D.C. tonight?”
A few years ago, I’d been in a relationship with Sasha. She’d been a detective with no idea shifters were real, let alone that she was dating one. When my father discovered I was “distracted,” he gave me a choice—bite her or kill her. She’d hated me for making her a jaguar shifter.
But marrying Aren Sloan had cooled her fury. She was back to being a detective, like she’d been when she was human. If she could see past my betrayal, maybe there was hope for the rest of the Pack.
Sasha popped her pen on the other end of the line. “I won’t be any help, since I’ll be a jaguar tomorrow night, too. But I could send Luke and Logan—they’re good with sniper rifles. And Jason is probably a good idea, in case Adam is injured when they find him. That’ll leave me with Aren, Jared, and Gareth here to be sure Lana and Malcolm are protected.”
