Peanut was a different story altogether. Roel had to give the guy a direct order to get out of the taxi, one to walk into the airport and one to get on the plane once he figured out they were flying. He was praying one of Ace’s pride members would lend the guy some clothes, because there wasn’t time for Alex to go home and pack a bag, not that he would have let him out of his sight for that length of time anyway.
The bloody envelopes were clutched tightly in Lea’s hand. Roel had offered to put them in a Ziplock bag, but she’d only shaken her head. He didn’t have a clue what was in them. Maybe a will, since Jaxon was her dad? Or maybe they were letters from him. He knew they hadn’t been opened yet, because neither of the wax seals on them had been broken.
Reaching over, he gently took her right hand with his left, and laced their fingers together. Her hand was freezing, and he wondered if she was cold. “Are you cold? Can I get you anything?” He felt like a dumbass, asking her, but she looked so fragile. It was tearing him apart, and he needed to do something for her.
A moment passed, and then she looked over at him, but her eyes were still dazed-looking. She shook her head.
“You’ll let me know if you need something, right?” he said as his eyebrows drew down. Lea nodded, and he sighed as he turned his head to look at Peanut. A small smile played across his face as he studied the newest member of the pack. “You okay over there, buddy?”
Alex’s knuckles were bone-white as he gripped the seat arms. His back was ramrod straight and his head was thrown back against the seat, with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. His white fingers were about to rip the arm rests off the seats. “I’m swell,” he said through a clenched jaw.
Roel chuckled. “Dude, we haven’t even taken off yet. Take a nap. I’ll wake you up after we land in Sin City.”
“Land?” Alex said, and a sweat broke on his brow, dampening the hair around his forehead. “Don’t you mean crash?”
Roel grinned. “We’re not going to crash. Relax.”
“Ninety percent of plane crashes happen during landing or take-off,” Alex said. “I knew from the moment I told you that I was afraid to fly that you would make me get on a plane. I should have kept my damn mouth shut.”
Roel glanced up when two flight attendants came into view at the front of the aisle. One of them had a mic to her mouth while the other demonstrated what she was saying, using hand gestures.
“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Amy and I’m your chief flight attendant. On behalf of Captain Simmons, Co-Captain Reeves and the entire crew, welcome aboard American Airlines flight 2374—”
“Oh, shit,” Peanut muttered. “I had a premonition about that number. We have to get off the plane, Roel.”
“Shut up,” Roel said. “You’ll be fine.”
“—nonstop service from Montgomery, Alabama to sunny and hot Las Vegas, Nevada,” the flight attendant continued, oblivious to Alex’s fear. “Our flight time will be six hours and four minutes. We will be flying at an altitude of thirty-eight thousand feet—”
“Oh my God… Oh my God… Oh my God,” Alex said as his whole body began to visibly shake.
Roel’s eyes grew wide as the attendant continued on.
“At this time, make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position and that your seat belt is correctly fastened—”
Alex’s eyes shot open and he frantically began tugging on his belt. “Is it right?” he said a bit too loudly.
“It’s good,” Roel growled. “Now, calm the hell down.”
“Also, your portable electronic devices must be set to airplane mode until an announcement is made upon arrival. Thank you.”
Alex whipped his head around to look at Roel. “Will the plane crash if my cell phone is on?”
Roel sighed, exasperated. “Just turn it off.”
“What if someone else keeps theirs on?” he asked in a panic. “Will the plane crash?”
Roel got in his face. “Listen to me, we… will… be… fine.”
Alex shook his head. “I can’t do this, Roel. You have to let me stay here.” Roel had never seen anyone look so desperate in his entire existence. For a split second, a wave of pity washed over him, but he stifled it with obligation.
“Mena and Phoenix need us, Rhodes. I need you to help me kick Ace’s ass. You’ve wanted to do that for a while. Think about that instead of being in the sky, okay?”
Alex swallowed, and then finally gave him a small nod, but when the plane started moving, he clenched the seat again and squeezed his eyes shut.
Huffing loudly, Roel said, “I don’t need you freaking out the other people on the plane. I’m giving you a direct order to go to sleep. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”
Alex didn’t respond, but his grip loosened on the seat and, after a few seconds, Roel could hear the guy snoring softly beside him.
It was nearly impossible to refuse a direct order when it was given, but if someone did try, it hurt like a bitch.
Friday, February 6th 2015 2:46 P.M. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ace
Silence filled the room as I sat up. Not one fucking soul was talking—or even breathing that I could tell—but I could feel that all eyes were on me, accusingly. The thing was I didn’t have a damn clue what I did to deserve all the attention I was getting. Though I could guess one of the reasons I had a sore jaw.
Not that I didn’t know I had it coming, but that vampire damn near broke my neck with his right hook, which was probably his goal. My brain was still rattling around in my skull a bit. I was a little disappointed he’d only swung once. Andra didn’t seem to be all that angry with him, not as much as I would have liked her to be anyway. To be honest, her hostility felt like it was aimed at me for some reason. I knew she would be upset when she found out my original intentions of bonding with her and putting her in danger, but I could take care of her… and Justice. He wouldn’t touch her or anyone she loved. I was going to make damn sure of that.
Andra’s panic spiked as Phoenix stalked away. Another moment passed, and then I heard shuffling sounds and a thump. What the hell was that? Surely the vampire hadn’t walked outside in broad daylight. Was he giving up that easy? I hadn’t expected that. He was definitely gone, though; the strong scent of cotton candy no longer filled the air around me.
A sharp sob broke the silence, and my head shot in Andra’s direction as a massive amount of sadness and anger wrapped around my heart and threatened to burst it. What the hell?
“Andra?” I said, swiftly getting to my feet, but I could sense her backing away from me and the smell of salt from her tears was thick. God, she’d shut me out of her mind and wouldn’t let me touch her. What the fuck was going on? What had I done? It had to be a misunderstanding. As far as I knew, I hadn’t done anything that would upset her this much. I realized that she was angry about my original intentions, but her emotions seemed a bit extreme for that to be the only thing troubling her. She still didn’t know what I had done to retaliate against Justice all those years ago. A few more assuring words that her, her pack and Phoenix’s clan would be safe were all she needed to hear.
Someone had gotten a text a few minutes earlier, but I’d been too focused on the way Andra was feeling with Phoenix pouring out his heart to her to pay the others in the room much mind. Now, it seemed more important than ever that I find out what that text said. “What is it, Andra?” I pleaded. “Tell me what I did, please.”
“You selfish bastard,” Andra whispered through the crying. “I wish you’d never agreed to bond with me. I would have been better off dead. That was my original plan, and it would have solved everyone’s problems. Now, this? Oh, God, I can’t deal.”
Her depression consumed me, and I felt like crying myself. I craved to feel anger, but her sadness was too strong to break through. Why wouldn’t she tell me anything? I could fix it. I knew I could. I swallowed. “I can’t fix it if I don’t know what the hell I did wrong!” I managed to shou
t at her, but didn’t bother wiping away the wetness trailing down my face. I took a step toward her, needing to touch her, but some stupid fucker decided it was a good idea to put their hand on my chest in an attempt to stop me from getting close to her. Obviously, the individual didn’t know me well, or else they would have never stood in my way of getting to something I wanted.
I found my anger, and welcomed it with open arms. “Dumb move, asshole.” Gritting my teeth, I reached up and locked my fingers over a male’s hand then bent his wrist back until I heard a snap. The sound of a bone being broken was immediately followed by a cry of pain. I didn’t care. Nobody was going to keep me from getting to my mate.
“Shit,” Heath swore softly.
“Heath!” Tracy cried.
Okay, I felt a little bad for breaking Heath’s wrist. It looked like the number of apologies I’d have to make was growing at a rapid pace. I supposed it was better to get this one out of the way now. “Sorry,” I muttered. He didn’t respond, but my head snapped up and I blindly searched the room, not knowing where Andra had run to. I couldn’t feel her anymore. Not at all. She had meditated. “No! Andra, talk to me, please.”
“I need space, Ace,” Andra said. “Leave me alone and let me try to figure out what we should do next.”
“I can help you if you would just—” I started, but a door creaked open then swiftly shut. “Did she—” I knew she had left the room, without confirmation from any of the others. I broke into a run toward the door and tripped over the casket. I was airborne for about two seconds, before my right side crashed into a coffee table. It splintered and crashed to the floor under my weight.
I grunted as I got to my feet and ran for the door again. If my memory served me correctly, there weren’t any more obstacles in my path. Clumsily, I felt around the wall until my fingers grazed over the doorjamb then the door handle. Jerking the door open, I yelled down the corridor to my left, “Andra!” When there was no response, I turned my head to the right and shouted her name again.
I didn’t know which direction she went, so I braced my palms on my knees and sucked in air through my nose and blew it out through my mouth, repeating the process several times before someone walked through the den door and stood beside me.
“Let her cool down,” Slade said calmly.
A grimace contorted my face as I stood upright. “What the hell did that text say, Slade? I can’t fix something if I don’t know what’s broken.”
“They didn’t tell me, but if you’ll go back in there, we’ll find out together,” Slade said, his voice calm and low.
I sighed, and then rested my palm on his shoulder. My attention was shit at the moment, and I didn’t want to bump into or trip over anything else. Slade could lead me back into the room for answers.
“Hey,” Clay said, from my right. “What’s going on? Andra just jumped in a truck and peeled out of here.”
The blood drained from my face and my knees were having trouble holding my body up all of a sudden. I opened my mouth to speak, but Embyr spoke first.
“She looked upset,” she said. “We tried to ask her what was wrong, but she started crying then got in the truck and left.”
“Slade…” I said, and then found my knees with my palms again.
“I know,” Slade said. “I’m going after her. You two get him in the den, so he can find out what happened. Be prepared, he may need protection. Whatever he did—or they think he did—it was bad.” Slade patted my back twice. “I’ll get her back, Ace. Don’t worry, man.”
Don’t worry? Is he serious? There are slayers out there hunting our kind, her specifically. Surely he doesn’t expect me not to worry for her safety and my sanity until he gets her back to me.
I fucking hated that I couldn’t see. It needed to be me going after her. I felt helpless.
A frustrated growl rumbled up my throat. “I want at least five vehicles tracking her, Slade, not just you. They could be watching our every move.”
“I’ll have four people that are watching the perimeter go, too. We’ll split up in case she didn’t head toward town.”
After a few seconds, I nodded. “Yeah. Go. And hurry!”
“Come on, Ace,” Clay said. “Let’s go see what’s doing.”
I sighed, feeling exhausted and mentally defeated, and when Clay took my arm to guide me in the den, I jerked it away from him and walked in on my own, hitting my right shoulder on the doorjamb on the way in. If he thought I missed the hint he gave Phoenix about there being a way to reverse the bond, he was dumber than I thought.
Clay huffed by my side, and then he moved in front of me and addressed the room. “What’s going on? Ace hasn’t done anything wrong. I’ve been here since last night. He’s been here the whole time. I vouch for him.”
“He bonded with Mena,” Phoenix said, and his voice sounded muffled. So he’d gotten back in the casket. “That’s what he did wrong.”
“Elaborate, please,” Embyr said.
One of the girls sniffled, and then said, “Justice raided Phoenix’s compound with his men, and killed some of Phoenix’s clan. Phoenix’s second in command lost his life.”
I reached up and gripped my hair as I screamed out my frustration. I was going to slaughter that motherfucker with my bare hands! God, why did it have to be now that I was blind?
“How do you know this?” Clay said to Heather.
“Here,” Brad snapped. “Read it for yourself.”
A whoosh of air expelled from my lungs as I turned my head toward Clay. “Out loud,” I growled.
The more Clay read of the text, the hotter my blood got. When he reached the threat at the end, I honestly couldn’t blame Roel, but now I knew we had a bigger problem.
“He shouldn’t have left,” I said. “I’d bet everything I own that Justice isn’t still locked up.”
“He can’t get out of silver bars, Ace,” Heath said. By the tone of his voice, he didn’t sound like he was still upset that I’d broken his wrist.
“You underestimate him,” I said in a stern voice. “He was a freaking Houdini when we were kids. He could get out of any bindings or imprisonments. Nobody knew how he did it, but he was fascinated by the art of illusion and magic. He’s been alive just as long as I have. He’s had plenty of time to plan ways to break out of anything. It’s always a possibility that Alphas will be captured before they are put to death. I guarantee that Justice has thought of everything.”
I didn’t want to tell them about the slayers. They didn’t need to know that I had put Andra in even more danger than they already knew about. But if she wasn’t back in fifteen minutes, I wouldn’t have a choice. The clock was ticking. The hourglass had been flipped and the sand was pouring freely. Our time apart was preciously dwindling. The meditation only lasted three to four hours, but the bond wouldn’t allow us to be apart for more than eight. Hopefully Slade would find her and get her to come back, but a bad feeling was nagging at me.
I felt my back pocket for my cell phone then swore under my breath. It was in Charlie.
“What?” Clay said.
I turned my back on the room and whispered so only he could here. “Did she take the black truck that was in the circle drive?”
“Yeah. Why?”
Relief filled me. Maybe there was still hope. “Dial my number and hand me the phone.”
After a moment, Clay’s cell was placed in my palm. I put it to my ear, hearing the first ring as I felt my way out of the room and pulled the door closed behind me. I thought it was about to go to voicemail, and that I would have to go back in and have Clay do a redial, but the call finally connected and I heard Andra breathing.
I released a breath I hadn’t been aware I was holding in, and then said, “Andra! Where are you? Please come back, baby. It won’t bring your friends back or fix anything, but we need to talk this out. I know you’re upset, but you can’t just leave like that. It’s not safe or smart. There are slayers out there hunting us.”
The phone
beeped, signaling an incoming call, but I ignored it, waiting for her to respond. My eyebrows drew in when she didn’t say anything. “Andra?”
A girl—not Andra—spoke, “There is more to your world than you know, Alpha Lion. We heard there was an Alpha moonrising wolf problem, and we were sent to take care of it.”
“What?” My voice cracked around the word, and my heart quit beating as the breath caught in my throat. My back met the wall when my knees threatened to buckle again. I locked them so I could keep standing upright. “Who are you? Where have you taken her?”
“She sounds like she means a lot to you,” the girl said, sympathy filling her tone. The phone beeped again. “I’m sorry to tell you that we can’t allow someone like her to live. Let this go, Ace. Forget you ever met her.”
“She’s not a moonrising wolf anymore!” I shouted into the phone, and then forced calm over myself when I realized this woman could kill her just because of my stupidity. “Listen, I’m bonded to her. She isn’t a moonrising wolf. She never was. She called out her name before the full moon. Let her go. I’ll do anything, please,” I pleaded. “Take me. Take me!”
With a roar, I rushed to the opposite wall of the corridor and shoved my fist through the sheetrock when the line clicked dead. The door of the den swung open.
“Ace!” Clay’s hands touched my shoulders just as a sob tore from my chest and I screamed. “Oh, fuck! What the—”
The cell phone in my hand started ringing, and Clay ripped it out of my hand before I could clear my head enough to figure out where the button was located to receive the call. It could be them again, wanting to negotiate, to take me up on my offer of taking me instead. I grabbed for him, but he was out of my reach, and I found nothing but air then floor with my hands and knees.
“Uh, what’s going on out here?” Brad said as I scrambled to my feet and followed the sound of Clay’s voice.
“—yeah,” Clay said, and then he sighed. “I’ll tell him, Slade.”
There wasn’t enough oxygen in the house. No matter how deeply I breathed, I just couldn’t draw in enough to fill my lungs completely. What did Slade know? What did he tell Clay?
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