Hard to Find (Hell Hounds Harem Book 4)

by Briana Michaels

  She looked so fucking good all sexed up like that. Bishop’s dick pressed hard against his zipper. He wanted to pull it out and stroke his length and come all over her, but now was not the time.

  Bishop’s voice was gravelly, “This,” he gestured towards the apex of her thighs, “is not over between the two of us. I’m not finished with you, Sweetness.” Hell, with everything inside him screaming right now, Bishop doubted he would ever be finished with her.

  Tilly tried to keep her composure. Taking the cool marble steps barefooted was a shock to the bottoms of her hot feet. Was her body overheated because of what just happened between her and Bishop, or was she coming down with a fever?

  She felt Bishop’s presence behind her. Holding onto the banister, Tilly managed to not trip on the hem of her dress. Finally, she reached the first floor. Good grief a woman could get some serious cardio in a house like this. Those stairs alone would have her thighs screaming in a couple climbs. So would the Hound who was just between them, she thought. “Knock it off,” Tilly mumbled.

  “Knock what off?”

  “I…” she frowned and waved Bishop off, “I was talking to myself. Sorry, habit.”

  “I’ve got the same one myself. Drives the others crazy, but sometimes you only have yourself to talk to. At least you know you’ll listen. Well, sometimes you’ll listen to yourself, right?”

  What a strange thing to say. They stopped and looked at each other for a long moment and then Bishop took the lead and she followed him into the kitchen. Everyone but Valor was still there, sitting around the table with empty plates.

  “I put Valor’s in the fridge for later,” Sara said while rubbing her belly. “Yours are on the counter.”

  Tilly wondered who the father of Sara’s baby was. The woman was affectionate with each of the guys she’d come with. Tilly couldn’t figure out which one was her man. Hell, for all she knew, Sara was dating all four of them – not that Tilly was judging. Hell, she was envious.

  What woman wouldn’t want a harem of hotness? And they were each so attentive to her – not that Tilly would have ever allowed herself the privilege of a relationship, let alone several. But the fantasy was really fucking nice.

  “Where did Val go?” Bishop frowned.

  “He’s pursuing that lead,” Jack’s tone was edgy and sharp. “We’re to stay with you until he returns. Now, are we going to try this last spell or not?”

  “She should eat first,” Bishop didn’t look happy as he plopped down on a stool at the kitchen island. Tilly’s head got a little fuzzy for a second and she grabbed a seat at the table – away from Bishop.

  As Sara cleared away the dirty plates, Jack pulled out a large book. “I can’t promise this is going to work,” he said with a light British accent. “But it’s really all I have left I can offer you.”

  Tilly nodded, “That’s fine.”

  “Look,” Jack scooted closer to her and dropped his voice, “this is going to be scary and probably hurt like Hell. I’ve never even preformed something like this, but…” he ran his hand through his short-cropped hair, “Bloody Hell, this doesn’t feel right. I really don’t think we should try it.”

  “Do you have a better idea for what we can do for her?” Bishop asked.

  “I don’t,” Jack frowned. “Curses aren’t broken easily. Most of them usually lift when the one who set the curse perishes. From what I was told by Valor, this is a bloodline curse. Passed down from daughter to daughter, correct?”

  Tilly stood and tugged on her dress. Holy Hell, she was roasting. “Yes. My family has only ever had girls. Each died before their twenty-eighth birthday.” She tried to play it cool even though all eyes were now on her. She hated the looks on their faces. All that pity. All that I’m so sorry bullshit folks made with their furrowed brows and downturned mouths always pissed her off. “Soooo, are we doing this or what?”

  Jack looked over at Bishop for a hot second.

  “Don’t look at him. Look at me,” Tilly got all up in Jack’s face, “Bishop has nothing to do with this. It’s my curse, my body, my fucking decision.” And as soon as she was cured, she was so fucking out of here. She’d already handed over the information to Tanner about Marco’s whereabouts so she didn’t owe them anything. They owed her now. And it was time to collect. She had shit to do. First, get cured. Second, get fucked - because what Bishop did to her upstairs had her seriously riled up. And third, she was going to burn her Bucket List and live a life that was more than a temporary existence.

  “Let’s do this,” she waited to see what Jack wanted her to do.

  Jack’s gaze hardened with concern. “Okay,” he said quietly. He flipped through his book that had discolored tattered and ripped pages that were testimony to its age and hard use. It smelled like wood smoke and frankincense. Artwork of ugly monsters and odd symbols littered the pages, along with pieces of objects attached to some of the pages that unfolded to expand.

  Tilly recognized some of the writing, but not enough to say something intelligent about it. This book was way older than the ones she’d worked with before. It made her feel confident whatever spell Jack was going to use on her would work. She felt a shiver of excitement. Ancient magic was potent stuff. The stronger, the better.

  “We’re going to need a place that’s easy to clean up,” Jack said.

  Tilly felt the blood drain from her face. “That bad, huh?” Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Should we just stay in the kitchen or go outside?” Did she sound eager? That’s because she was.

  Of all people to suggest a place, it was Kalen – a big, long haired guy with green eyes and broad shoulders. “I think we should do this outside. Enough has gone on in here as it is, wouldn’t want residue to linger.”

  Tilly didn’t miss the shift in the air as everyone remained silent. Okay, so something was up. Whatever, their business wasn’t hers, she just wanted to get this over with.

  Initiating the launch sequence, Tilly headed out of the kitchen and towards the door. The front lawn was just as good as the back. It’s not like there were any neighbors to spy on them. This mansion sat on a huge hunk of property designed for seclusion. Besides, the front yard was closest and she was a little worried she would lose her nerve with how reluctant everyone was acting around her.

  Jack and Kalen came out with her. The wind was so fucking brutal, it whipped her dress around her body and she huddled into herself a little. The coldness felt good on her face but she had to hold her dress down so she didn’t flash anyone. “Should I lay down or stand, Jack?”

  “Let’s have you on the ground.” He started pulling things out of a big box he brought. “Wolf, pour this around her.”

  While Tilly laid flat on her back in the grass, Kalen made a salt circle around her.

  Others gathered around but she didn’t pay attention to them. Instead, Tilly focused on the night sky. So many stars could be seen from here. The sky was wide open and for a minute she felt like everything had turned upside down and she was floating, drinking the night, and wearing the moonbeams like a second skin. It was the magic, of course. Nature never spoke to her except when she was about to perform a ritual or spell.

  “Is this Hoodoo?” she asked when Jack started drawing symbols on his arms, probably for protection against whatever he was going to put into her.

  “It’s a blend of magic that’s much older than Hoodoo.”

  Okay. Tilly could handle that. In fact, the idea of Jack using older magics on her got Tilly a little buzzy in the head. Ancient magic was generally untapped energy now, so hopefully whatever spell he used would be potent enough to break her curse. Here’s hoping…

  Jack pulled out a small blade and stepped into the circle with her. She figured blood would be involved at this level, so she wasn’t surprised when he sank down to his knees and grabbed her hand. Some low, deep, snarl broke her focus away from Jack. “Is there a dog around—” Her words cut off when she saw Bishop’s face. He looked like an animal. His head was dipped down low
, a growl rippling out of his throat as he glared at Jack.

  “Heyyyy,” Tanner cautiously approached Bishop. “Over here, Hound,” Tanner said authoritatively, “Eyes on me.”

  Bishop didn’t budge. He continued to stare at Jack and another growl ripped from his mouth. Now he was showing teeth. Holy shit, what the hell was going on here? Tilly wanted to say something but didn’t have the courage. Bishop looked frightening this way. Sexy, in a shifter-killer sort of way, but still…

  Oh for the love of Pete, she watched way too many horror flicks to be thinking that shit at a time like this.

  “Hound!” Tanner yelled and clapped his hands.

  That got Bishop’s attention. Now the sexy shifter-killer snarl directed his snarl at Tanner instead of Jack.

  “Ready?” Jack placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

  She bit her lip and nodded quickly. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and prayed to anyone who would listen. Please, please, please…. OW! Just as she was about to jerk her hand away, someone held it down. Then her other arm was pinned to the ground. Her feet too. She popped her eyes open as fear started to work its way into her system.

  Kalen leaned above her head with a strap of leather in his hand, “Open.”

  She obeyed and Kalen placed the strap in her mouth to bite down on. Okay, okay, okay. You got this, girl. You’ve been down this road so many times already. You know the drill. Burn, hurt, get sick and pass out. She just had to get to the passing out part and the rest would be easy-peasy lemon squeezy.

  Tilly’s vision turned fuzzy again. Panic slammed into her when Jack began his incantations. You got this, you got this. Annnnd here came the burn. Tilly closed her eyes and tried to get into a headspace so she could handle this type of magic. She tried to get into the state of mind where everything went kind of numb, black and quiet. She’d never done something like this with so many people around her. Tilly was used to being all by herself. She couldn’t find her focus at all. There were too many voices around her. Too much movement. Too much!

  She opened her eyes again and the stars in the sky burst into color bombs. Balls of fire slammed into her, crushing and burning her. A tremendous weight pressed down on her. No, it held her down. She couldn’t budge.

  Next, Tilly tried to lift her head but it was pinned to the ground with the rest of her. She blinked fast as the burning stars set her on fire. She was ablaze now, the pain so agonizing, her head exploded with it. Fragments of bone and bits of flesh littered the world. A hissing… a hissing so incessant and loud filled her ears and drowned out the chanting voices.

  Again, Tilly tried to fight against the forces pressing against her. She felt her body tear in half. Blood welled in her mouth and she spat out the leather strap and all her teeth. Her skin melted off her cheeks. Spikes pierced her fingertips, driving all the way in until they hit her palms. Matching ones stabbed her eyes and the burning stars disappeared. She tried to scream but her throat melted into the back of her neck and dripped onto the grass.

  Her lungs turned to ice. One more attempt at inhaling and they shattered like slivers of glass that cut and ripped her chest wide open. Blood poured out of her along with fire and poison and malice and anger. Die, die, die, die. She needed to die. It was her only escape. Die, die, die, die!

  Tilly’s body bucked against the weight crushing her. This was too much, she held on by her broken fingernails. Let go! Let go! Tilly convulsed, her bones exploded under her skin, shattering and splintering through her body.

  Fires consumed her, at her, destroyed her. Tilly sucked in hot air and screamed.

  Chapter 24

  Valor called ahead to ensure enough packs were lined up at designated portals so his journey would be quick. Instead of it taking him seven hours to get to South Carolina, he made it in three. Anytime a Hound asked him what he was up to, he answered with, “I’ve a lead I’m following to find the twins.”

  When a Hound offered to go with him and help, Valor declined and said that although he appreciated it, this was just another chase that would most likely lead to a dead end like all the others had. If they insisted to accompany him anyway, he would decline more forcefully. In the end, he won every argument. Perhaps it was because he had a hair-trigger temper lately, so they didn’t push him too much. Or maybe they just respected Valor enough to back the fuck off. He didn’t know. Didn’t care, either. Once Valor arrived in the town Marco Moreau lived in, he shook hands with Byrne, the Hound who secured this district. “Thank ye, Byrne. I appreciate the lift.”

  “You sure you don’t want me to come with?”

  “No, I’ll be fine.”

  Byrne leaned forward and looked out his front windshield, “Full moon tonight. You need to be careful out here. Like New Orleans, this town has a lot more that goes bump in the night than most cities.”

  “I’m prepared,” Valor tapped his concealed weapon and grinned.

  “You’re awfully close to Marco Moreau’s place,” Byrne warned.

  Valor pretended like this was news to him. “Who is Marco Moreau? A drug lord or something?”

  “Or something,” Byrne grumbled. “He’s just a guy we keep a pretty close eye on. He’s got more money than God and thinks the world should bow at his feet, the cocky son-of-bitch. We’ve caught him running in a few circles who dabble with cult shit lately.”

  “Is he human?”

  “As far as I can tell, yeah. But he’s rich and powerful down here. Lives up the road about a mile.”

  Yeah, Val knew that. “Oh really? So close to town?”

  “Not everyone likes seclusion,” Byrne teased.

  “Well, thank ye for the lift.” Valor stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut.

  Byrne rolled his window down and leaned out, “You sure you want to do this on your own?”

  “Aye, I’m sure it’ll be nothing. If the twins were here, I’d ken it. I’m only coming to make sure it’s just another false lead.”

  Byrne frowned, “Fuck Hound, I’m so sorry you haven’t found them yet. My pack has kept their eyes and ears open. Drake and Sebastian will be found eventually. You sure I can’t go with you… even for emotional support?”

  “Do I look like a Hound that needs hand holding, Byrne?” Valor’s voice was clipped.

  “You look like a Hound that’s run himself ragged. I’m only trying to help.”

  “Then come when I call you,” Valor turned and walked away. As Byrne drove off, Valor sighed and dropped his shoulders. He felt like shit. He was exhausted and starved. He needed a good fuck and a long nap. Before that could happen though, he needed to find that motherfucking book.

  There was no way he could tell Byrne or any other Hell Hound about this mission. He didn’t want anyone else to get in trouble if this whole thing went sideways. If Lucifer found out what he planned to do with that book, the Devil would have Valor’s head on a spike. No reason to make it a pack affair.

  Valor had Byrne drop him off at a busy intersection and he walked the rest of the way. It was night, the air was chilled – not as bad as back home – and Valor hated the noises of the city even in these late hours. He preferred the silence and seclusion of his mansion. He liked to see the stars.

  This solo mission felt wrong. Val’s stomach twisted in knots as guilt ate at him. He had to do this though. He had to exhaust every fucking effort to find the twins or he wasn’t worthy enough to be an Alpha.

  Valor’s long strides made quick work of getting from point A to point B. Marco’s house was a historical masterpiece. The landscaping was pristine, from the trimmed bushes to bright white fencing. A brick walkway lead to a deep red front door. The sitting porch boasted a bench swing and hooks for ferns. It was all Southern Charm.

  Charm. Hmmm, Valor reached out and touched the fence, expecting to feel a pulse of magic or some enchantment on the perimeter. Certainly anyone who collected dangerous things would want to keep them protected and locked up tight. If Valor was a collector of precious items, he�
�d protect them well.

  To Valor’s disgust, the perimeter was clear. It certainly made his job easier though. He opened the gate and walked straight up to the front door. Valor wasn’t going to knock. Instead, he crept around the house, checking each window, each doorway, every little space, wondering when he would find the trigger alarm that would zap his ass or at least alert the cops of an intruder.

  Nothing. There was nothing. It made him more wary.

  Valor pulled out his knife and, with his Hell Hound powers, scaled the house to the second story bedroom window. Peering in, expecting to see a man sleeping in his bed, Valor was shocked at what he saw instead.

  “Maiden, Mother and Crone.”

  Bishop lost his shit. As Hounds held Tilly down on the ground and worked some fucked up ancient spell on her, all he could think was Stop! Maybe it was because she was convulsing violently, maybe it was because she was screaming so loudly, maybe it was because she couldn’t possibly survive this much magic in one dose. Fuck!

  “Stop! Stop! Stop!” Bishop grabbed Jack’s shoulders and pulled him away. He succeeded in breaking their physical contact, but Jack continued reciting the incantation over and over again. His eyes were glassy and distant, his voice low and strained, arms stiff from the energy he summoned.

  “God Damnit!” Bishop wanted to kick them all away, snatch Tilly up, and make a run for it. The only reason he didn’t was because this was what she’d asked for and he wasn’t in a position to tell her what to do. She was right, this was her body, her curse, her motherfucking choice.

  It wasn’t helping her though. Just look at how she was flopping like a fish! She began making gurgling noises and blood started to pour from her nose.

  “Hounds!” Sara called out, “Stop!” She had to say it two more times before Jack was able to snap out of it. The other three members of Sara’s pack ceased their chanting the first time she said stop.

  Jack stumbled and fell to his knees, “Bloody Hell, that was intense. I couldn’t pull back once it started.”