by J. C. Diem
“You were aware of the murders that Gareth was committing,” Mark said, getting them back on track again.
Nina hesitated then nodded at the accusation. “I knew word would get back to you and that you would be forced to investigate.” She turned to judge Reece’s reaction. He kept his face neutral and she turned pleading. “It was the only way I could draw you back here so I could see you again, son.”
“I’m sure you could have found a far less destructive way to gain our attention,” Mark said dryly. “You know what our job entails and what our purpose is. Why would you put your youngest son in jeopardy like that?”
“I knew Garrett wouldn’t allow you to kill his brother. Our loyalty to our family is far stronger than his perceived obligations to you.” Her sneer at our boss didn’t endear her to Reece.
“Did you think we would just let Gareth go after what he’s done?” Reece asked her softly. “He’s mentally unstable and he needs to be put out of his misery.”
Nina frowned and dismissed his words with a wave. “I can control him. There is no need for him to die. If you become our alpha we can control him together.”
“How can you possibly control him?” Mark asked. “Once a shifter begins eating humans nothing can make them stop.”
“We are alphas,” she said simply. “All lycans must bow to the authority of their rulers. If we were to command him not to harm humans he would be forced to obey.”
“Why would I allow Gareth to go free after the deaths that he’s caused?”
Nina growled and Ned stepped forward to put a hand on her shoulder. He wasn’t an alpha and was probably her second in command. She settled down and made a proposal. “I will forget the blood debt that you owe me for murdering my husband if you bring my son back to me and if you allow Garrett to remain with us.”
“Reece is fully capable of making his own decisions,” Mark said. He received nasty glares at his insistence of using the name that he’d given his adopted son. “As for Gareth, know this.” His voice lowered, but none of the shifters had to strain to hear him. “I will have a team of people watching West Virginia at all times. If I hear of one more suspicious human death, we will return in force. I will personally make sure that every last member of your pack is wiped from the face of the earth.”
Nina lunged forward at the threat, but Ned caught her and dragged her back again. They spoke in low voices, casting frequent glances at Mark before returning. “Agreed,” Nina said in a clipped tone. “Now, bring my son to me.”
Kala rolled her eyes at her arrogance as Mark gave the order. “Flynn, bring the van.”
I saw Gareth watching me in the rearview mirror when I opened my eyes and relayed the order to Flynn. His eyes were crinkled at the corners in a grin. He’d literally gotten away with multiple murders. It seemed that he’d receive no punishment for the crimes that he’d committed. The cuts that Kala had inflicted on his body had had no impact on him at all. He might not be capable of suffering physical pain, but I had an idea that mental anguish would be very different.
“I’m curious,” I said to our captive as Flynn set the van into motion. “How does it feel to be used by your mother like that?” His eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. “Nina doesn’t even care about you. She just wanted Reece to come home so he can rule your pack. If he stays, you’ll have to bow to him.”
He muttered something that I couldn’t make out because of his gag then subsided into a sulky silence.
We arrived at the property after a short drive and pulled up behind the SUV. I climbed out and rounded to the back of the van. Ignoring the curious stares from Nina Carter’s pack, I opened the door and Zeus jumped to the ground. I kept my gun trained on the captive as Flynn climbed into the back and unchained him from the wall. Cuffing his hands behind his back, he hauled him out of the van. Zeus moved to stand guard beside me.
Nina strode forward but she didn’t go to her son. Instead, she came to a stop in front of me. Zeus immediately began to growl at her close proximity. Shorter than me by several inches, she stared up into my eyes. Hers were so like Reece’s that my breath tried to hitch. When her stare drew out, I realized what she was trying to do. “You can’t control me,” I said. “I’m an alpha whether you admit it or not.”
Breaking our eye contact, she sniffed contemptuously. “You might eventually become an alpha, but what pack would follow you? You were bitten, which means you have the pedigree of a cur.” Walking over to Gareth, she examined him then turned to Mark. “Unchain him,” she ordered.
At Mark’s nod, Flynn unlocked the handcuffs. Pulling the cloth out of his mouth, Gareth dropped it to the ground then moved with almost shocking speed. He turned around and leaped through the air to land in front of me.
Reece anticipated him and moved to intercept. Standing toe to toe, Gareth was an inch or so shorter than his brother and was less heavily muscled. He was a poor imitation and would never measure up to a true alpha.
“You will never touch Lexi again,” Reece ordered, staring his brother in the eye. Gareth cringed and I felt something pass between them. Lowering his head submissively, he shot a hateful glare at me as he was dragged backwards by Ned and another wolf.
“You see?” Nina said proudly. “Ruling the pack is in your genes. You were meant for this! Stay with us and rule as you were born to!”
Her speech was impassioned and Reece was almost swayed. Turning, he took in Mark’s sad expression and Flynn and Kala’s unease. Lastly, he looked at me. My bottom lip defied my tight control and trembled at the thought that he might leave us.
“I can’t,” he said at last. “I have obligations.” It came out slightly bitter.
“You know your bond with her can be broken,” Nina said. “You deserve better than to be tied to a mongrel.”
“I’ll think about it,” he said tightly then turned and walked to the SUV.
Surprised relief was mixed with my dread that Reece hadn’t turned her down flatly. He hadn’t agreed to stay, but he also hadn’t said no. Maybe leaving the area would give him the perspective he needed to reach the right decision.
₪₪₪
Chapter Ten
“I really thought Reece was going to stay with them for a minute there,” Kala said once we were on our way back to our compound.
“So did I,” Flynn agreed.
“Can you give us any insight into what he’s thinking?” Mark asked. He was behind the wheel of the van with Flynn sitting beside him. Reece had opted to drive the SUV back to our base alone.
I shook my head. “He’s keeping me out of his thoughts.”
“Why would he want to live with a pack that’s as whacked out as that?” Kala asked.
“Because they’re his family and they share a bond,” I replied tiredly.
“He shares a stronger bond with you,” Flynn pointed out.
“Yeah, but that can be broken.” I’d once mistakenly believed that our bond would last forever. Reece had felt so alone and lonely even while surrounded by his team that he’d resorted to turning me. He now knew that there were other options out there for him. Not all of the females in the pack were related to him. It was now apparent that he could choose one of them to be his mate if he wished.
Depression rose at that thought. Without him, I’d be the one who was lonely and alone. I wondered if I’d pine to death like the werefox that Mark had told us about if Reece was no longer my mate.
Zeus whined and I clamped down on my thoughts. It wasn’t fair of me to spill my misery onto him.
“Is anyone hungry?” Mark asked when we reached our compound.
Kala looked at him like he was crazy. “Do you really need to ask?”
“I’ll make us lunch,” he replied, ignoring her sarcasm.
We smelled food as soon as Mark opened the door to the main area. Reece had beaten us back to the base and had already made a start on a gigantic pile of sandwiches. Kala made coffee for everyone and we sat at the dining table to eat.
&nbs
p; “We need something to take our minds off all this,” Flynn said and waved a hand in the air to indicate the tension that we were all feeling. Zeus watched him avidly. He was waiting for something to drop to the floor so he could pounce on it and gobble it down. “A new mission would be ideal right about now.”
“I may have something,” Mark said. “I received a call from a source a couple of days ago. I’m not positive whether anything out of the ordinary is involved, but it wouldn’t hurt for us to check it out.”
Kala gestured impatiently for him to continue. “Don’t keep us in suspense. Where is the job?”
“It’s in Oklahoma. I haven’t committed us to the mission because we still have unfinished business.”
“Oklahoma is close to Louisiana,” Flynn said with a glance at me. What he meant was that it was close to New Orleans. We hadn’t seen or heard from Katrina since we’d left Bradbury. I had the sense that she was waiting for me to come to her now. The vampirism that infected me would eventually take over. Why bother to stalk me when we’d soon have to hunt her down and kill her to save Reece and me?
“We can either detour to New Orleans to kill my Mom, or we can head to Oklahoma to look into whatever the job your contact told you about,” I surmised and Mark nodded. “What exactly is the mission if we go to Oklahoma?”
“Bodies have been going missing from several funeral parlors during the past few months,” he replied.
“So, we’d be hunting corpse thieves this time?” Kala asked then sniggered. “Hang on, we’re not going after another bokor or necromancer, are we?” Her amusement faded at that possibility. We’d faced both in New Orleans and they’d been dangerous and difficult to hunt down.
“I don’t think so. My contact hasn’t heard any rumors about zombies being spotted so far.” That was a relief. I’d had my fill of the walking dead to last me a lifetime.
“How many bodies have gone missing?” Reece asked.
“Thirteen,” Mark replied. “They’ve disappeared without a trace and the police are baffled.” His smile was wry.
Hardly anyone was aware of the dark underworld that existed right beneath their noses. Now that I was a part of that world, I found it hard to believe that so few people knew the truth. Then again, supernatural creatures were very good at hiding their existence from humanity. True monsters wouldn’t want to become known for fear of being eradicated. We might live in modern times, but humans could still turn into an angry mob armed with flaming branches and pitchforks at the drop of a hat.
“If this has been going on for months, then it can wait for a bit longer,” Reece pointed out. “Our priority should be to find Katrina and end her before the taint spreads even further.”
Mark caught the glance that Reece and I shared and became concerned. “Just how advanced is the vampirism becoming?”
I hesitated then told him the truth. “Let’s just say that the crosses that were erected to keep Katrina out are doing me more harm than good.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have had them taken down.” He was torn between feeling guilty that he’d caused me pain and exasperation that I’d kept it a secret from him.
“I wasn’t sure whether she’d really backed off at first. Then I guess I just didn’t want everyone to know that I’m turning evil.”
Kala bumped her shoulder into mine. “You’re not evil, Lexi. You just have an undead fiend for a mother. Once she’s gone, you’ll be fine again.”
I was becoming less and less sure that killing my mother would put an end to the darkness that was rising within me. The taint would eventually spread to the point of no return. Once that happened I might as well put a bullet in my brain and put myself out of my misery.
“It’s agreed then? We’ll head to New Orleans first?” Mark waited for us all to nod then reached for his cell phone to make a call.
I continued to eat as he arranged for the jet to pick us up in the morning, but the food didn’t want to go down. We were finally going to have the showdown that I’d been both dreading and looking forward to.
Neither Reece nor I could personally shoot my mother. We could only offer our support and backup to the rest of our squad while they did the honors. If either of us killed her we’d die right alongside her. Death magic forbade vampire minions from killing their masters. We had to assume that the rule applied to us even though we hadn’t actually turned into the undead ourselves yet.
Reece looked at me from his seat across from mine. We’ll finally be free from her, he thought.
Free at last, I agreed. We’d be safe from the taint and then he’d be able to make a decision about whether he would stay with us or if he’d return to his pack. He dropped his eyes to the table before I could try to glean his thoughts.
Losing my appetite, I handed the remainder of my sandwich to Zeus. If he didn’t get so much exercise patrolling the grounds, I’d have been worried about the amount of food that he ate. Like us, he tended to burn off the calories quickly.
“Are you going out to the range?” Kala asked when I headed for the stairs.
“Yep.” That was my first choice of activities whenever I was feeling down, which proved just how strange I was. Shooting targets always had a calming effect on me.
“I’ll come with you.”
She wasn’t going to let me wallow in my misery and I gave in without arguing. “I’ll meet you out in the hall.”
Zeus opted to remain behind once he realized what our intentions were. He parked himself beside Mark, hoping for some scraps. I caught our boss glancing around to see if anyone was watching before sneaking some bread to Zeus. It hadn’t taken long for the Rottweiler to worm his way into his heart.
I returned with my backpack and met Kala in the hall next to the armory. She’d retrieved a sniper rifle and ammo from the indoor range. By mutual agreement, we avoided talking about the woes that were plaguing us.
We stayed at the range until the sun went down then returned to the base. Personally, I couldn’t wait to leave and I sincerely hoped we’d never return again. After a rather subdued dinner, I headed to my room to pack.
A couple of doors down from mine, I sensed Reece pacing. He’d decided that his obligations to his team outweighed his duty to his family, but he was tormented by his decision to stay with us.
Zeus had conquered his fear of the stairs and was lying beside my bed. I sank down to the floor beside him and he put his head on my knees. “Why can’t life just be simple for once?” I asked him without expecting an answer. The question was too complicated for him to understand. He didn’t share our complexities. All he cared about was me, food and playing fetch.
“Maybe Reece will be less confused and unhappy once my Mom is dead and the vampirism is gone from our systems.” Saying it out loud like that made me realize just how messed up our lives truly were. I could only hope and pray that curing our rising darkness would be that easy.
₪₪₪
Chapter Eleven
After a hasty breakfast the next morning, we headed to the garage. I warned Zeus that we’d be trapped in the car for four hours. He had a last minute toilet stop before clambering inside the SUV.
I didn’t look back as we left the compound. Tensing for the searing pain as we neared the gate, I was pleasantly surprised when nothing happened. Leaning forward to peer through the windscreen, I saw that the cross was gone.
“I got up early and took it down before breakfast,” Flynn explained.
“Thanks,” I said with a smile. Zeus leaned forward and swiped his tongue across the back of Flynn’s neck.
“Eww! What was that for?” he complained.
“That’s his way of thanking you,” I explained and Kala snorted out a laugh.
He used his shirt to wipe away the saliva. “Tell him his thanks aren’t necessary.” At his cranky tone, Zeus put his head on the seat between us and stared at Flynn beseechingly.
“Look at that face,” I said. “How can you possibly be mad at him?”
“Okay,” I lied. I had no intention of telling Zeus how to act. As long as he didn’t start biting people without due cause, he was free to be himself as far as I was concerned.
The object of my thoughts switched his gaze to me and it instantly became even more worshipful. I didn’t really deserve his affection. In fact, I’d put him in harm’s way several times, but he loved me anyway. Zeus didn’t care that I was a monster. He would love me no matter what. It was depressing that his loyalty was stronger than Reece’s, even though our bond was much weaker.
Meeting my gaze in the mirror, Reece hunched his shoulders. He hadn’t made his final decision yet and that was part of the problem. If he’d loved me there wouldn’t have been a decision to make.
Usually at least some conversation was exchanged during our long trips. This time we remained mostly quiet. Mark turned the radio on, which at least broke the morose silence.
His phone rang when we were about an hour away from the airport. He turned the radio down and answered it. “This is Agent Steel.”
“Mark, this is RJ,” a voice whispered. “You know the disappearances I told you about in Oklahoma?”
“Yes. We have something to take care of then we were going to head there next.”
“You might want to change your mind about that,” his contact said heavily. “I thought you should know that it isn’t just corpses that are going missing now. Some kids were snatched from their beds last night.”
Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “How many?” he asked tightly. After losing both his daughter and unborn son, any mission that involved kids hit him hard.
“Four so far.”
