Tegan took the pen and frowned. Having laid her arm against the paper, she took a deep breath while shutting her eyes. Kass smiled. “You sent the stone away, you must have put an address on there.”
“Sent it away,” Tegan’s hand moved, “Sent it away,” another movement, more lines with the pen. “Sent it away!” She shoved the pen and paper away and it went flying to the floor as Tegan cradled her head. “Hurts. Damn, this sucks.”
Kass left the pen and paper for the moment and placed her hands over Tegan’s. “It’s okay now. Don’t worry about it.”
Tegan moved Kass’ hands away and glanced at the paper on the floor. “Lucius is pissed at me.”
“Yeah well, I’m not too happy with him right now, so we’re all just a giant pissed off family.” Kass went and gathered the fallen items and looked at the paper. “But it looks like you gave me an address. I’ll look into it, you rest up and don’t worry about it.” Kass tucked the paper in her pocket before returning the pen back to the desk.
Tegan nodded and picked her book back up. “Thank you. Be careful, whoever wanted that stone was powerful.” She shivered. “I don’t want to run into them again.”
“Lucius said that a lot of vampires would take you if they had the chance. Why do you think this guy didn’t?” Kass asked.
“I don’t know. I know he had complete control over me, so he would know why I was valuable. It doesn’t make much sense does it?” Tegan leaned back into her chair and opened her book. “I urge you not to talk about it.”
Kass nodded and headed out the door. Her stomach still churned at the thought of last night and the meal her panther enjoyed. The beast was content for now and Kass could feel it again like a second soul. She still needed to gain complete control again or she could have an incident on her hands where she murdered an innocent. She rubbed her eyes and jumped into the car, heading into town as the moon rose above her.
Jax woke to a swift pain in his ribs; the blow seemed to echo through his body. His eyes shot opened as his hands went straight to the sore spot. He glared up at Lucius. “What the hell?”
“You were supposed to be gone by sunrise.” He crossed his arms and glared down at the cat. “You distracted Kassity from her report to me about her mission. She was more concerned about the smell of your blood.”
Jax rubbed his rib and looked down at his body. “Yeah, well, it took a little longer to heal than I thought. Sorry. Is Kass still here?”
“Nope, and I told you to stay away from her.” Lucius leaned against the wall. "Which is why you were supposed to be out by dawn."
Jax growled. "She get back alright?" His panther needed to know, especially after last night. The brothers would regroup and find another way to her. He couldn’t let that happen.
"None of your concern. Now get up." Lucius nudged him with his foot again. "Don't you have something to worry about? Like how her family is still after her, after you made a half hearted attempt to quit your job. They are still going to expect her delivered to their doorstep."
"No they won't, I made it pretty clear that I was done." Jaxon stood up and stretched, testing out where the sore muscles were and what injuries needed to be healed still. "Right. So Kass is working?"
Lucius shook his head. "She's working, but not at either of the clubs, she's doing a special mission for me and that' s all you need to know. You will stay away from her."
"You can't keep us apart." Jax pulled on the torn jeans from the night before. "We're meant to be mated."
Lucius gave a low laugh. "Meant to be mated, of course you think that. She's one of two female panthers alive in the U.S. Fate hasn't mated you, there has been no proof yet."
"Is that why you mauled her after we had sex?" Jax asked as he buttoned his pants.
"No. I was looking for something much more important, something that would have gotten her family off her back." He snapped. "But it didn't appear so it doesn't matter. You stay away from her or I will tell her exactly what you were doing when you were looking for her, who you work for, and that you planned on giving her over to them."
Jax swallowed, knowing the kind of reaction she would have to that information. "Fine, you want to play that way, I won't go anywhere near her." He snapped. "But once we find out that we're fated, then you're going to have to deal with it." He walked out and slammed the door to the room. He made his way through the mansion, trying to ignore any scent of Kass that he passed.
A girl stood in a doorway, one that he had seen working as a bartender in Lucius' bar. Her white hair looked too pristine and her eyes were covered as always. "You look like shit."
"Thanks, human, you look prim and proper." He snapped back and moved past her.
Tegan stepped forward as if to stop him, when he hesitated she continued talking. "Kass is with the wolves tonight. She asked Lucius about you before and was denied an answer. I think you are right."
"Do you know everything that Lucius and I talked about?" Maybe she could help him out.
Tegan nodded and then looked down the hall. "Kass has issues that only you can tame, but Lucius is right, she is less likely to trust you if you are working for her family."
"I didn't know what they wanted from her."
"Then you should talk to her about it, before he tells her or she finds out another way.” She smiled at him. "Kass and I used to get along until Lucius started using her against Josh."
"Josh?"
"The vampire that saved her from her family, and used her to gain access to Lucius’ Kiss. Lucius killed Josh a few weeks ago." Tegan turned away like she wasn't talking about killing an innocent person. "Good night, Jaxon, I look forward to seeing you around more."
He watched as she disappeared back into her room. Before he could get into any more trouble he ran out of the mansion and into the woods, shifting in mid-stride once he was out of view. Running in this form was the quickest way back to his home. He needed to get cleaned up and see Kassity. His panther begged to see her to make sure she hadn’t been harmed. An ache formed in his chest when he thought about his conversation with Lucius, maybe she would be willing to listen to reason. As a mercenary he never asked questions about his mission, maybe he should start now. Especially if this blew up in his face. In the mist of a war, he was going to try and prove that fate was real and that Kass was his mate. One of the last panther females. The other one he knew wasn't his mate, he couldn't calm the beast when she came after him. He was starting to wonder how Kass could be related to that nut job of a family.
Kass walked into the club and tried to ignore the pulsing music beating around her. Her beast paced below the surface as it felt trapped by the pounding beats. Scents mingled in the air. The scent of a couple male panthers tickled her nose and teased her senses, but she pushed it off. Even if her brothers were here she knew they wouldn't be stupid enough to attack in a club this full. She got behind the bar, giving a little wave to a glowering Coran as she went to work fixing drinks.
With each beat of the music her stomach churned and her head felt like it wanted to explode. She should have told Lucius that she couldn’t come in. Derrik came up and whispered something into the other female bartender's ear and then walked away. The girl came up to Kass. "Hey sweetie, you should take a break. You're looking kind of pale."
Without an argument Kass stepped out of the bar, going towards the break room. She had all intentions of going to the bathroom, but only made it a few feet before her stomach revolted and she rushed to the trashcan. She held her hair back as she threw up again until she was dry heaving. Gentle hands came and took the place of her hands, holding her hair out of the way. She pulled back up and turned around to see who had come to her rescue. Derrik stood there, arms crossed as his eyes studied her.
"Too much to drink?"
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling well."
"You shouldn't have come in."
"I know, but I didn't want to go against Lucius' orders."
"Sit."
"I'm sorry?"
"You heard me, sit." He motioned to the chair. "There's something interesting on the news that I want you to see." He clicked on the little tv in the room as Kass sat down and swallowed. As the box flickered to life Derrik handed her a can of lemon lime soda and then moved the trash can closer to them.
Kass saw the news lady look at her notes and then look up on the screen. "Our next story tonight is a tragic one. A young boy caught his mother's death on camera last night." Kass’ stomach dropped as images of her killing the woman appeared on the screen. "The boy said that his mother had handed him her cell phone to play with and the camera was one of his favorite features on it. He managed to catch this horrible footage of her death. The police report that he was questioned about the animal. The boy was too scared to comment on camera." The ear splitting scream of the child came across the speakers and Kass reached for the trash can again as her beast paced in her as if to say 'I should have killed him'.
"I know that was you, Kass."
She nodded, but wouldn't look at him.
"What is going on?"
She shook her head as she came up from dry heaving. "Can't say. Can't really control it." She mumbled as she tried to get the images out of her head. She realized now what Lucius had done to protect her human side; now she wished she hadn’t begged for her control back.
"Kassity, you're killing people. That isn't normal for a panther. What is going on? I'm worried about you." Derrik put a hand on her shoulder. "Take a few more sips of the soda."
She did as he suggested and sighed. "Lucius is having me kill people in human politics so supernatural supporters or supernaturals can take their place. That's all I know. This is the only kill that I can truly remember as a human. He stripped me completely of my control, but the other night he returned part of it."
“Completely?”
Kass looked up at him. "I'm not bonded with my panther. He took that from me a couple years ago.”
"You haven't tried to get it back?"
She hesitated for a moment. "The original way that I was able to gain control wasn't normal, it was forced and it was get control or die. I'm unable to use the same method, and I don't know how else to do it." She hated the fact her voice sounded so helpless as she explained this.
"This is so going to get me in trouble." He groaned, but pulled a chair up in front of her. "I want you to come to me on the next full moon."
"What?"
"I can help you. Lucius may want you stripped of your control, but it puts my people and humans in harms way. I refuse to have that." He touched her cheek so she would look at him. "War is upon us, and we need you to have control so you can protect yourself and help us if needed."
She shook her head. "I have no part in this war. I'm Lucius’ tool. No one really cares about the panthers, they leave us alone."
"You think that's true? The Black Moon clan is already starting to ally with other cruel rogue groups."
She froze at the name of the clan. "How do you know this?"
"They were in here talking to members the other night. Why do you look so worried about that?"
"I don't know what you mean."
He chuckled. “Your entire body tensed, your eyes widened, your heart skipped a few beats at the name. Why?”
“That’s my family. I used to belong to that clan. I...I need to go home.” She shook her head and stood. “I’m not feeling well and I shouldn’t be around people right now.”
He nodded. “I was going to suggest you go home anyways. Get some rest. I’ll see you in a few nights, and remember Kass. Night of the full moon I want you here. Understood?”
“Yes.” She grabbed her jacket off the hook by the break room door and ran out of the club.
Chapter Eleven
Kass woke with a jump from her nightmare. Sweat poured down her face, her sheets trapped her limbs in a tangled mess and her body hung half off the mattress. With a sigh she freed herself and sat up. The day had brought nothing but nightmares and now she knew the sun was sinking and it was time to start her night.
“Fuck.” She groaned, rubbing her eyes as the door opened.
Lucius walked in. “Fuck indeed. I could hear you screaming out in your sleep from down the hall all day. I thought the bad dreams had faded over the years.”
“Yeah, so did I, but it seems that recent events have brought them back up.” She ran her hand through her nest of hair and tugged at it until the knots broke apart. “Derrik told me something interesting last night.”
Lucius leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “Oh?”
“My clan is trying to gather rogues.”
“So they are in town for another purpose.”
Kass glanced up. “What is that supposed to mean?
“You’re their other purpose, Kass. You know it was Garret who attacked you.” He raised a brow. “It didn’t occur to you that they were in town for you?”
She shook her head. “I thought it was just a coincidence that they found me here.”
“You don’t honestly believe that.” He laughed. “Look deep in your heart, we’ve already talked about how someone could have known you were here. Someone had to have told them.”
Kass swallowed. “Mae didn’t tell anyone and Josh is dead. So unless you told them, not many other people know where I’m from.”
“Don’t you think that it’s strange that someone else has come into your life at the same time?” He asked as he stalked towards her.
Her heart fell at the thought of Jax betraying her. Lying to her about why he was there. “No, I don’t think Jax has anything to do with this.” She met his eyes. “I’m scared. I don’t want to go back, but I know I can’t fight them without my control.”
“I won’t let them get you. You just have to follow my rules for you, believe it or not I want to protect you.” He nodded. “You are mine. And I protect what is mine.”
She nodded and took a deep breath. “I smelt them at the club and I know that I’ve scented them in the bar. So they are after me too, but why would they be gathering rogues? The war doesn’t really include them, does it?”
“The war is among all supernatural creatures now, they may not choose a side, but they want to protect themselves just as much and form alliances.” He shrugged. “Tegan said you came by to talk to her.”
Kass nodded at the sudden change of conversation. “Yeah, got what I think is an address that I’m going to check out. I got her to write it down for me before she freaked out. How she’s doing?”
“As strange as ever, as long as I don’t mention it she seems to be returning back to normal.” He shrugged. “Seems like there’s not going to be a dull moment around here for a while.” He smirked. “Have a good night, and think about what I said.”
The door closed behind him and she rubbed her eyes again, trying to push all doubt away. Jax was supposed to be her mate, but he hadn’t been around in a couple days. There was no sign of fate except for him being able to calm her beast and it was strange for him to appear the same time the attacks started. She shook her head. “No. He wouldn’t have a reason to tell them. I hadn’t told him until recently where I came from.” She spoke to the nagging voice in the back of her head before getting up and going to her closet.
Jax pushed his way to the bar. Ignoring how his body was still protesting in places from his fight, he shoved his way through the dance floor. He hadn’t tried to visit Kass tonight and she wasn’t here when he tried the night before. Someone had said she was sick, but he wasn’t so sure. He recalled her long red hair in the moon light, and the way the beams played off her pale skin and her oh so blue eyes. His panther twitched as his cock stirred. Yeah, he needed a drink tonight. No doubt about it. He looked up at the bartender. “Oh it’s you.”
Coran sneered at Jax. “Yeah, it’s me. Kassity hasn’t shown up yet, but with the way she stormed out last night I’m not expecting her to show up. What are you doing around?”
“Why don�
��t you pour me something strong?” Jax drummed his fingers on the wood of the bar.
“You look like you’ve been through a fight and you’re trying to forget about a girl. What happened? She beat you up?” Coran laughed and poured Jax a whiskey shot. “Down it goes.” He slid the small glass over to the panther.
Jax shook his head. “No, got beat up by my employers for backing out of a job. Worth it though, so worth it.” He laughed and closed his eyes. “Now if only I could be with her.”
“Yeah, I don’t like soap opera’s, let me go get one of the girls.”
“Her family hired me to bring her back to them. Turns out, it wasn’t going to be a happy reunion.” He shook his head. “I thought all the rumors about the Black Moon clan were just that, rumors.”
Coran turned back around. “Fuck, you really took a job from them? If that’s the case, I’d stay away from Kass.”
“Yeah, so I’ve been told. There’s one problem though.” Jax downed the whiskey and motioned for another one.
Coran poured him one and leaned against the bar. “She’s a woman, go find another one to fuck.”
“I think she’s my mate, and Lucius is hiding something about her. I know he is.” Jax slammed back the second drink. “He came barging in on us, looking her over for something after we had slept with each other.” He waved to the empty shot glass.
Coran’s face went blank as he poured another shot. “Yeah, that could be a problem. You tell her that you think Lucius is hiding something?”
“She suspects the same. I’m the only thing that has been able to calm her wayward beast.” Jax played with the glass for a second. “Lucius threatened to tell her if I didn’t stay away. I haven’t decided what to do about it yet.”
The bartender shrugged and put the whiskey away. “Honestly man, try to stay away from her, but if you are fated, you won’t be apart for long. Fates are cruel.”
“No shit.” He downed the drink and looked down. “I need to get out of here if she’s coming in tonight. I really don’t want to cause problems.”
Dark War Chronicles Box Set One Page 11
