by Kali Argent
Deke had an uneasy feeling he already knew the answer. In the months directly following the Purge, Ravager attacks happened almost weekly. There hadn’t been merchants in the Square during that time, and most people had been afraid to leave their homes. Guards and civilians alike had been dying at alarming rates, and life in Trinity Grove had been a constant nightmare.
Then, one day, the attacks had stopped. A week went by, and then two, and then an entire month without Ravagers prowling the streets. Hope blossomed. Each day, things got a little better, but no one had thought to ask the most obvious question—why?
The Revenant had their suspicions, but with the disappearances happening so sporadically, they’d never been able to gather proof. By the time they realized someone else had gone missing, it was too late to do anything about it.
“What?” Roux asked, her voice tight. “Why are you looking at each other like that?” Struggling to her feet, she began pacing the narrow strip of floor between the television and the coffee table. “Why are the Wardens kidnapping people? Where are they taking them?”
“Sit down.” Exasperated, Deke sighed and reached for her, only to have his hand batted away. “Roux, you need to rest or that leg is never going to heal.”
“I’m fine,” she bit out through clenched teeth. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Ravagers.” Lynk lifted one shoulder when Deke glared at him. “We don’t have proof, but we think the Diavolos are sacrificing civilians to the Ravagers.”
Roux gasped. “Bethany?”
“I don’t know who that is, but if she’s missing, it’s a good bet she was taken.”
“Wait.” Roux held her hand up, but she didn’t speak for several seconds. “Okay, let me get this straight. Wardens—on the orders of the Diavolos family—are kidnapping people out of the city and just hand-delivering them to the Ravagers.” Resting her hands on her hips, she looked up and glared at both of them. “Why aren’t you doing anything to stop this?”
“What would you have us do?” Deke held both hands out to the side, palm up. “We don’t know who is going to be taken or when.” Humans didn’t exactly have rights to protect them against such things, but he didn’t say that to Roux. “Hell, we don’t even know where they’re taking them.”
“Gabriel said the Ravagers hunt a couple of miles from here. That seems like a pretty good place to start.”
Deke nodded. “They do, but we’ve only ever seen a few at a time. Today’s attack is the most I’ve seen in one place in over a year.”
“We’ve searched those woods a dozen times,” Lynk interjected. “We still can’t find their den.”
A muscle in Roux’s jaw ticked, and she held her shoulders back, her spine rigid. A thin vein along the side of her neck had begun to pulse, and color rose in her cheeks. Deke understood her anger, but without more information, neither he nor his team could do anything to change the status quo.
Standing, he approached his mate with slow, careful movements, much like he would a wounded animal. “We don’t know how many there are. If today was any indication, I think it’s safe to say we’re outnumbered.”
“Even if we knew where they lived, it would be fucking suicide to storm their den.”
Glancing at Lynk out of the corner of his eye, Deke growled. “Shut it, Foster.”
“No,” Roux whispered, “he’s right. We have to do something, though.”
“We will.”
Pushing up from the sofa, Lynk drained the rest of his beer before setting the empty bottle down on the coffee table. “I have to get back before people start asking questions.”
“Won’t they wonder why you were talking to Deke in the first place?”
Meeting Roux’s gaze, Lynk shook his head. “There was an attack in the Square, and I’m debriefing Captain Collins on the specifics.” He nodded and strode to the front door. “I hope you find your friend.”
“Poor Bethany,” Roux muttered once Lynk had left. “Do you think she’s still alive?”
“Honestly?” Deke pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on top of her head. “It’s probably better if she’s not.” He warred with himself for nearly a minute before he added, “There’s something else you should know.”
Leaning back, Roux blinked up at him, her expression so trusting he almost changed his mind. As it stood, he had to swallow several times before he could manage to force the words past the tightness in his throat.
“Greg’s missing.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It didn’t seem real. When Deke had first told her of Greg’s disappearance, she hadn’t believed him. She hadn’t wanted to believe him. When three days passed without any sign of her friend, however, Roux had been forced to accept the truth.
Worse than knowing Greg had either been kidnapped by Wardens or eaten by Ravagers—or both—she’d had to look Cade in the eye and lie to him about it. He already distrusted the guards. If he found out what the royal family and their small battalion of elite soldiers were up to, he’d storm the proverbial castle gates and end up getting himself killed.
She wanted to tell him about the Revenant, gain his support for the cause, but even if he believed her, he’d never align himself with the Gemini. Cade saw things in black and white, with no room for gray areas, much like she herself had viewed the world before she’d met Deke. Maybe he’d come around eventually, but in the meantime, he could cause a lot of damage with that kind of knowledge, and she couldn’t afford the risk.
With her problems mounting, worry and stress had become constant companions. A small part of her, however unrealistic, clung to the hope that they would find Greg alive. While she’d made amends and apologized for punching Cade in the face—repeatedly—she still felt like shit for lying to him. She couldn’t return to work until someone repaired the mangled door, and since the attack on the city, Deke had been protective to the point of being suffocating.
Just that morning, she’d exited the bathroom after her shower to find him standing in the hall waiting for her. The incident had sparked a heated argument that only spiraled further when he’d suggested she lock herself in the bedroom until he returned from patrol.
“He’s driving me insane!” she ranted to Abby as they sat around the kitchen table with extra-large glasses of wine later that evening. “He follows me around the house. I’m not even ‘allowed’ to sit on the deck, and I thought his head was going to pop off when I asked when I could return to work.”
“I know.” Abby shook her head, making her long, golden ponytail sway. “Peter has been the same way.”
“Okay, what’s the deal with you two? I mean, c’mon, we’re friends now. You can tell me the truth.”
Abby’s lips curved against the rim of her glass, and she took a long drink before she answered. “There’s honestly nothing to tell. I love Peter like a brother, but there’s never been anything romantic there.” She adjusted her black, fitted T-shirt where it had bunched around her hips and sighed. “Can’t a man and a woman care about each other without it needing to be more?”
Roux thought about her relationship with Cade and Brody, and to a lesser extent Greg and Denny. Yes, she’d tangled the sheets with Cade, but she wouldn’t call what they’d had a relationship. Furthermore, the five of them had formed a sort of family. They cared about one another, protected each other, but Roux felt nothing romantic for any of them and vice versa.
“Fair enough,” she conceded. “So, what do you propose we do about their paranoia?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t think they’re being paranoid.” She snorted when Roux gaped at her. “We could have died. You get that, right?”
“Yes, but we didn’t.”
“Put yourself in Deke’s shoes. How do you feel about him going out on patrol after what happened?”
She hated it. Every time he walked out the door, her heart stopped beating. The first night, she’d paced the floors and chewed her fingernails down
to nubs while she waited for him to return. Yes, she’d been hurt in the fight, but so had he. Without his supernatural ability to heal, he’d probably still be in bed, or worse…a grave. Next time, he might not be so lucky.
“Stop being logical,” she complained, “and pass the booze.”
“Okay, this is getting depressing.” Popping up from her seat, Abby grabbed her glass and the second bottle of red wine. Then she jerked her head to the side, motioning for Roux to follow her into the living room. “Let’s watch a scary movie.”
“You’re serious?” Still, Roux stood and pulled her pink, cotton sleep shorts down so as not to be indecent. “You do realize that we live in a scary movie, right?”
“Yes.” Turning when Roux entered the room, Abby held up the DVD case for the Dawn of the Dead remake with a bright smile. “But we don’t have zombies.”
“Barbie, you are seriously twisted. You know that, right?” Standing in the kitchen entryway, Roux glanced back toward the patio doors and bit down on her bottom lip. “It’ll be sundown soon.”
Once night fell, she still had nearly three hours until Deke returned from his patrol. She’d never been afraid of the dark before, not even when she’d been a little girl. The attack had shaken her more than she’d admit aloud, and she dreaded being alone. She was afraid.
And she hated feeling so weak.
“Don’t worry.” With a knowing grin, Abby lifted both arms and flexed her biceps. “I’ll protect you.” Popping the disc out of its case, she bounced over to the DVD player. “Besides, curfew only means I can’t go anywhere unescorted. Deke can walk me home after his patrol.”
“Maybe he should drive you.” Abby and Peter only lived a couple of blocks away, but Roux didn’t like the idea of anyone being that exposed, especially since many of the residential streets didn’t have streetlamps.
“Okay,” Abby agreed easily. “Now, stop worrying, and go make us some popcorn.”
Over the next few hours, they drank wine, ate popcorn, and watched a scary movie. They shared a blanket, both of them holding it up close to their eyes. Abby screamed when zombies ate people, and Roux jumped at all the right places in the movie. When the popcorn ran out, they baked a frozen pizza, and by the end of the movie, they’d nearly finished their second bottle of wine.
Two friends enjoying a Saturday evening at home, indulging in junk food and too much alcohol—it felt…normal. For a little while, Roux managed to let go of the guilt, the worry, and the fear. For just a couple of hours, she could pretend everything was right in the world.
Of course, being sloppy drunk definitely helped.
“Roux?” Deke called when he walked through the front door just after midnight.
Lieutenant Lynk Foster followed behind him, his white hair tied back at his nape and gleaming in the soft light of the table lamps. When he spotted Roux and Abby staring at him from the sofa, he arched one fair eyebrow and rested his hands on his hips.
Bounding over the back of the sofa, Roux stumbled across the living room and basically fell into Deke’s arms. “There you are. I was just talking about you.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “That one needs a ride home.”
Lynk’s gaze shifted to Abby once more. “I can walk her.”
Roux shook her head, but she couldn’t stop giggling. “Too dangerous.”
“Believe me,” Lynk answered with a low growl, “I’m scarier than anything out there.”
Chuckling, Deke pulled Roux in closer and kissed the top of her head. “He does have a point.”
“Abby, do you know this guy? He’s an albino giant.” She started to giggle again, and it took several seconds before she could regain her composure. “You know, like the abdominal…admonable…the abam…the yeti.”
“Kitten, look at me.” Taking her chin, he forced her head back until she stared up at him. “Flushed skin, dilated pupils, slurred speech, uncharacteristic giggling,” Deke listed, and he sounded slightly horrified. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were drunk.” He looked toward Abby with narrowed eyes. “What did you do to her?”
“Me?” Slapping a hand to her chest, Abby fell back against the sofa cushions and gasped. “She’s a bad influence.”
Deke huffed at the tiny blonde female. “What did you do to her, Abby?”
“Wine,” Roux sang. “I had awesome wine.”
Groaning, he pulled her against his chest and tucked her head under his chin. “Exactly how much of this ‘awesome’ wine did you drink?”
“All of it,” Roux answered around a yawn as she snuggled deeper into his embrace. “I drank all the wines.”
Deke made a sound somewhere between a sigh and chuckle before lifting her into his arms. He spoke to Lynk for a couple of minutes, and he said a few words to Abby, but by that point, Roux could barely keep her eyes open. Surrounded by Deke’s warmth, inhaling his unique scent, she felt safe, and soon, she began to doze.
She woke long enough to say goodbye to Abby and Lynk, and once again when Deke carried her to bed. Snuggling into the pillows, she mumbled her thanks, though the words sounded distorted, even to her. Then Deke pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and kissed her forehead, bringing a sigh of contentment from her lips.
Roux didn’t know how much time had passed when the mattress dipped behind her, but she squirmed closer to her mate, pressing her back against his broad, naked chest. Strong yet gentle, his arms circled her, enveloping her in a protective embrace.
Her earlier annoyance with him forgotten in a haze of alcohol and affection, she linked her fingers with Deke’s, holding tight to him as she drifted off to sleep once more.
* * * *
Monday morning dawned gray and dreary with the temperatures hovering in the upper sixties. Summer had finally released its hold on the city, and the crisp winds coupled with the scent of falling leaves to make the overcast skies a bit more bearable. Halloween, pumpkin pies, spiced lattes, Thanksgiving dinner, hooded sweatshirts, tall boots, and everything in between—Roux loved autumn.
The front door of the registration office had been replaced during the weekend, meaning she could finally return to work. The prospect both excited and terrified her in equal measure, but she couldn’t be afraid for the rest of her life. She’d faced raiders in the Deadlands, fought off hungry vampires, and she’d boldly charged a werewolf right in the middle of the Square.
Nothing in life had ever prepared her for the likes of the Ravagers. Almost a week had passed since the violent incident, but Roux couldn’t reconcile what she’d seen, the things she’d done. Feral and ruthless, the Ravagers attacked without prejudice. What terrified her more than their savagery, however, was the gleam of intellect she’d seen in their eyes.
She didn’t know how much of the person they’d once been remained, but their attack had been coordinated, their grunts and growls taunting. Nearly a dozen had slipped quietly into the city. They’d evaded the guards, the Wardens, and all the merchants gathered around the fountain. No one had seen them or heard them until it was too late to do anything except run.
Tension still hung over the city center like a heavy blanket. Where there had once been laughter and conversation, silence stretched eerily through the streets. Only a handful of merchants had set up around the fountain, and several businesses remained closed, including the library. Some store owners had even ceased operations permanently.
While the front window of the bakery hadn’t been repaired yet, Peter had insisted on reopening the bakery. He’d said that with everything happening, people would need a good cup of coffee and a sugar rush more than ever. Roux, however, figured he did it to keep an eye on Abby, and she approved.
Walking hand-in-hand with Deke toward the registration office, she nodded as they passed people on the sidewalk. She didn’t speak, and she avoided eye contact, afraid of seeing her own fears reflected in a stranger’s eyes. With time, the city would rebuild what it had lost, and the residents would fe
el safe to venture out of their homes again. Roux wanted to believe that, but in her heart, she had a terrible feeling something much worse loomed on the horizon.
“You don’t have to do this.” Coming to a stop in front of her office building, Deke held her by the shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes. “There’s nothing wrong with needing a little more time.”
“Time isn’t going to change anything.”
Sighing, Deke leaned in and brushed their lips together in a tender kiss. “I had a feeling you’d say that. Why can’t you just do things the easy way?”
Roux rolled her eyes and snorted. “I’ll be fine, Deke.”
“I know you will.” His gaze traveled to a point over her shoulder, and he dipped his head once. “Thank you.”
“Anytime,” a deep, masculine voice answered from behind her.
Spinning around, Roux gaped up at Cade. “What are you doing here?” Then she looked back at Deke, watching him as he watched Cade, and realization dawned. “No. No way. Absolutely not.”
“You want to work today?” Deke asked, his tone hard and unwavering. “This is the deal.”
“I don’t need a babysitter.” She also didn’t need to spend an entire day trying to avoid Cade’s knowing stare and deflecting his questions. “There are guards everywhere.”
“I’m not arguing with you.” Deke looked over her head to Cade. “Gabe will join you in a couple of hours. I have a double shift today, but I’ll be by at six to take her home.”
Roux held her hands up as the muscle in her jaw began to tick. “So, I need two babysitters?”
“Actually,” Cade drawled, “Brody is coming around noon, so you’ll have three.”
“I’d have the entire fucking guard standing watch around this building if I could.” Deke tilted her chin up and kissed her lips again. “Don’t push me, kitten.” Then he turned, marching across the street to the bakery without further comment.
