Andromeda's Reign

by K. S. Haigwood

  Roel’s fingers curled into fists as Peanut and Tracy got out of Finley on the passenger side.

  “Roel, take it easy, man,” Peanut said. “We’re here to save Mena. You can go ten rounds with the lion later.”

  A gun shot rang through the air, and my head whipped up just as several more sounded off. I felt a searing pain shoot through my shoulder. Clenching my jaw, I turned my head to see a dark stain spreading around a hole in my black shirt.

  “Shit,” I muttered as I covered the wound with my other hand. “Run for cover!”

  Chapter 52

  Friday, February 6th 2015 9:43 PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Slade

  Slade’s blood roared in his ears as he watched his friend—his Alpha—fall. “Fuck, Ace! You’re hit!” Slade shouted as he scrambled to get to Ace, each pained draw for air sucking any semblance of restraint from Slade.

  Ace’s chest pumped up and down with each heavy breath. “I’m fine,” he said on an exhale, and then grimaced as he removed a blood-stained hand from his shoulder.

  Slade shook his head as he ripped his t-shirt off. “I don’t think you are—”

  Ace’s fierce amber eyes pegged him hard, stopping Slade in his tracks. “I said I’m fine. It was a clean shot, went straight through. I doubt any of the silver from the bullet was left behind.” The pain was clear in Ace’s voice, and if Ace were a lesser man, he’d be mourning him now. But Ace’s stubbornness was a quality Slade admired, and if it could save him, it would.

  “Will you stop trying to be a hero?” Slade growled. “I’m not talking about your shoulder wound. They got you in the neck, too.” Ace could be stubborn, but Slade had the market cornered on ‘Impatience with Fucktards’, which was what the Ace situation was right now.

  Ace’s eyes flickered uncertainty, and then widened in panic as he reached up to touch his neck, but Slade got there first with the shirt. The color drained from Ace’s face as a sheen of sweat broke out across his brow.

  “Easy, buddy. Now is definitely not the time to get that ticker of yours pumping fast. I’m not sure if they hit the jugular. Hang tight,” Slade said, and then looked all around, searching for Mercury. He spotted Revelations and Genesis ducking in front of Charlie, dodging flying bullets and shooting back every chance they got. “Have you seen Mercury?” Slade shouted. “Ace has been hit!”

  They stopped shooting and stared at Ace.

  “I’ll be fine,” Ace said as he struggled to sit up. “I have to get to Andra.”

  Revelations turned his head and shouted toward a group of people crouched beside another vehicle. “Mercury! Ace has been shot! Get your ass over here and work your medical magic! I’ll cover you!”

  Ace groaned as his head lolled back against the front fender of Finley. “Can’t… Dizzy… I—I’m going to be sick,” he said, and then he turned his head and threw up on the pavement beside him.

  Slade cursed under his breath.

  “Is he shot?” the vampire yelled, but didn’t wait for an answer before running over to assess Ace’s injuries, getting there three steps ahead of Mercury. Phoenix’s fangs elongated. He pierced his wrist and put it to Ace’s mouth. “Take from me. It won’t fix everything now, but it will stop the bleeding and keep you alive.” Ace’s head swayed on his neck as he fought against Phoenix’s wrist, but the vampire was persistent. “Drink, damn you!”

  Ace jerked his head away. “Andra,” he said weakly. “Find her, Phoenix.”

  “I will. I promise that I will, but you have to drink my blood or you will never see her again.”

  Ace dragged in a ragged breath. “Tell her… tell her that I love her.” Ace’s body relaxed as his eyes fluttered shut. Slade tried to calm the panic raging through him. And the anger. Someone had taken a pot shot at his Alpha, and he’d be damned if they’d get away with it.

  “Tell her yourself,” Phoenix said, and then grabbed the back of Ace’s head and forced his wrist back on Ace’s mouth. “Drink it!” Ace swallowed once, twice, and then started coughing the blood back up. “Swallow,” Phoenix said, and Ace’s coughing calmed enough to swallow once more. Phoenix pulled his wrist away and licked the puncture wounds, keeping his anxious eyes on Ace the whole time. “Maybe that’s enough.” The vampire turned to Slade. “Get him home. He’ll die soon if you don’t get those wounds tended to and make sure there was no silver left behind.”

  Slade looked around, realizing that the shooting had stopped, but all of Ace’s pride were looking at their Alpha from their hiding spots, with concern and tears in their eyes. Slade gave Phoenix a nod, wondering why the vampire would save the life of a man who was in love with the woman he loved. “Okay. I’ll drive. Mercury, get in the back with him. And for God’s sake, don’t let him die.”

  Friday, February 6th 2015 10:01 p.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Roel

  Roel threw his arm out, pointing toward the road and the glowing taillights of the Suburban. “What the hell was that about?” Roel shouted. “Why the fuck did you just save his life, Phoenix?”

  Phoenix brushed off Roel’s rage, keeping calm as he turned to place his hand on the irate shifter’s shoulder. “Are you certain that Mena won’t die if he does? The bond will only let them be away from each other for eight hours. What would one of them dying do to the other?”

  Roel blinked, and then averted his eyes from Phoenix, letting them fall to look at the pavement at his feet. Truthfully, he didn’t know what would happen to her if Ace died. Something told him that he should be better educated on that subject, but he wasn’t thinking clearly. That damn Alpha was bringing out his bad side, a side he swore would never resurface.

  “Will it kill her if he dies, Roel?” Alex said.

  Roel shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said quietly.

  “Then how about we focus on finding her and getting this bond thing squashed,” Alex said. “Want to?”

  “Yeah. Sorry. I just lost my head for a minute. I thought Phoenix was saving Ace so he could keep Mena—”

  “I’m a little more selfish than that, pup,” Phoenix said on a chuckle. “I have a fool-proof plan. Mena will be all mine soon. She won’t even remember that stupid Alpha lion and his pride after the witches reverse the bonding ritual. I struck up a deal with the Alpha’s best friend. He’s adding a little something to the spell that will give them both amnesia.” When Roel’s eyes popped wide, Phoenix held up his hands. “Calm down. It’s only enough to erase their memories of the last week. Ace won’t even remember coming to Montgomery and Mena won’t remember naming her wolf. But the important thing is that neither of them will remember bonding with each other and, since the bond will no longer exist, they won’t feel compelled to need each other.”

  Roel stiffened as a bad feeling crawled under his skin. “How are you going to keep something like that from her? She’s going to know—”

  “The compound got broken into, a few were killed—which actually happened, right? I’ll tell her that she was knocked out and has been recovering in my chamber the whole time that has lapsed.”

  Roel’s expression turned grave. “I’m sorry about Jaxon. I—”

  Phoenix looked away, toward the now empty rooftops. “It wasn’t your fault, Roel. It was Ace’s. He won’t know it, but he will pay for what his cousin did by losing his mate to a master vampire that is smarter than he is.”

  Roel sighed. “I hope you know what you’re doing. Mena’s going to be pissed if she ever finds out.”

  One of Phoenix’s eyebrows rose. “Didn’t you convince me to fly over seventeen hundred miles in the daylight to get her back? That is exactly what I’m doing. I expect you’ll help me keep the secret a secret.”

  Roel’s stomach was doing flips. He had a bad feeling—a really bad feeling—about this. “I’ll keep my mouth shut, but I won’t lie for you. If she suspects something and asks me about it, I will not lie for you. I can’t, Phoenix. She’s my Alpha. I won’t destroy her trust i
n me.”

  Phoenix nodded once. “That will have to do, I suppose, but, just so you know, she made me promise that I would find a way to reverse the bond. It was the bond that made her fall in love with him. I’m sure of it. It made her forget the way I made her feel. She wanted this. I’m sure she won’t mind that she forgets what it feels like to love him.”

  “That makes me feel a little better,” Roel said, and then there were two loud pops as two men appeared beside them. A second later, another pop sounded and a taller and much bigger guy joined the group.

  “The rooftops are clear,” the tallest guy said.

  The guy with a bow strapped to his back nodded. “We found the entrance. Fallis cloaked us and we followed them.” He glanced around. “Where’s Ace?”

  “He got shot,” Alex muttered. “Who are you three?”

  The tallest guy leaned down and got in Alex’s face. “Your worst nightmare come true.”

  “Don’t make him piss himself, Baddon,” Phoenix said as he waved his hand at the three men. “Baddon, Damien, Fallis… all ex-demons from Hell. They’re here to help.”

  Alex’s eyes were wide as they shifted to look at Roel. “But they just appeared out of thin air.”

  Roel chuckled. “Sure beats the hell out of flying, right, Peanut?”

  Alex flipped him the bird.

  “Show us where they are keeping Mena,” Phoenix said to Damien.

  Chapter 53

  Friday, February 6th 2015 10:19 p.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Slade

  Heather opened the front door of the house and rushed out to Mercury and Slade as they lifted Ace out of the back seat of Finley. Ace groaned in his sleep.

  “It’s okay, buddy,” Slade said. “I got you. You’re going to be fine.”

  “Andra,” Ace mumbled.

  “She’ll be fine,” Slade said as they carried him through the front door and into the living room. “Phoenix said he would find her. I don’t like the asshole, but he seems to be a man of his word.”

  Slade’s cell started ringing and, after he got Ace laid down on the couch, so that Mercury could look at his neck and shoulder, he took it from his back pocket. Seeing that it was Karma calling, he wanted to dismiss it, but something might have happened. He hit the green button and put it to his ear. “Yeah?”

  “I overheard something that I think you should know about,” Karma said.

  Slade’s eyes moved from Ace’s still form to Mercury. “You got this, man?” Slade said, and after Mercury waved him away, Slade walked out of the room. “What is it?”

  “Remember the two guys that showed up right before the enemy started shooting at us?”

  Slade nodded out of habit, thinking that the big guy that was possibly dying in the living room was more important than hearing anything Karma had to say about the two guys that arrived from Andra’s pack. “Yeah, I do. Get to the point, Karma. I need to get back to Ace.”

  “I heard Phoenix tell them that he asked Clay to add something to the bond reversing spell that will give Andra and Ace amnesia. He said they won’t remember each other at all after the bond is destroyed.”

  Slade braced his hand on the wall, stopping the swaying action his body was trying to do. His eyes closed as he sucked in a sharp breath. “Please tell me you’re joking. Did he say Clay agreed to do it?”

  Karma’s exhale was heavy in his ear. “It sure sounded like it was a done deal. Phoenix said the extra ingredient Clay is putting in will only make them forget the last week, and that Ace won’t even remember going to Montgomery and bonding with her.”

  A curse slipped past Slade’s lips as he ended the call without telling her ‘thanks’ or ‘goodbye’.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Heather said.

  Slade’s eyes closed as he shook his head, and then he huffed. “Physically, yes… maybe. Mentally, he’ll be fucked for life when he finds out his best friend sided with the enemy. Have you seen or heard from Clay?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Heather said, and then looked at the den door. “He’s in there with his sisters and another guy getting the spell ready.”

  Slade’s feet moved of their own accord toward the den. After he opened the door, his rage-filled eyes locked on Clay, and he didn’t stop until he had his fingers wrapped around Clay’s neck and the guy’s back pressed against the far wall.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?” Slade shouted in Clay’s face. The guy was terrified. Slade could sense it, but that only made things worse, because it confirmed what Karma said as the truth. That’s what the asshole had been hiding back at the parking lot before he left with his sisters.

  “Let him go!” Rainey yelled from behind him, but he didn’t loosen even one finger around Clay’s esophagus.

  “I don’t think I will, and if any of you try and make me, I’ll rip out his throat,” Slade said through a clenched jaw. Clay’s face began to turn blue, and Slade eased his grip enough to keep him from passing out. “Know that before I ask you this I already know the answer, so lying to me isn’t a good idea. Nod if you understand.” Clay nodded vigorously. “Did you agree to put something in the spell that would make Ace and Andra forget about each other?”

  Clay gripped Slade’s forearms as he squeezed his eyes shut. A few seconds passed before he nodded.

  Slade reached to the holster on his belt and palmed his pistol. He put the muzzle under Clay’s chin.

  “No!” Embyr cried. “Please, Slade, don’t kill my brother.”

  “If you kill him,” a male voice said, “you will never make it out of this room alive. I swear on my own life that you won’t.”

  Slade ignored them. “Unless you want both of us to lose our lives tonight, I’d suggest you give me the extra ingredient you were going to add to the others. I’d hate to put another hole in your head, and I’d hate it even more to die tonight, but I’ve made my peace with God. Have you?”

  Slade felt Clay try to swallow, but the grip he had on the guy’s throat prevented the action from happening.

  “Let him go,” Rainey repeated. “Let him talk, Slade. I don’t think he would have added anything to the spell without good reason.”

  “You got something to say?” Slade said, and Clay nodded. “You better pray it’s good enough to save your ass.” Slade let Clay go, but he leveled the gun at arm’s length, pointing it right between Clay’s eyes. “Just so you know, your best friend got shot twice tonight, once in the shoulder and the other was in the neck. He’s in the living room right now, fighting for his life.”

  Panic registered in Clay’s eyes and, without thinking, he took a step toward the door. Slade flicked the safety off with his thumb. Clay froze and slowly raised his palms in the air. “Please, Slade. Let me go to him. Maybe we can help him.”

  “He doesn’t need any help from you. You’ve done enough damage already, with your betrayal.”

  “I haven’t betrayed him, Slade,” Clay said, anger rising in the tone of his voice. “Ace’s feelings for Andra are real, but I’m not certain hers are. Do you want him to wake up after we reverse the bond and be brokenhearted because she went back to the vampire?”

  Slade nodded once. “Yep.”

  “Are you kidding me? He killed the last girl he fell in love with who chose another man over him. Think about what that would start. The vampires and her pack would destroy Ace and his pride.”

  Slade’s eyes narrowed as his head cocked to the side. “Wrong. He took her while Justice was asleep and kept her knocked out so Justice wouldn’t be able to sense her location. They could only be apart eight hours before collapsing, so Justice couldn’t get to her before she died on her own, four hours later. Ace didn’t know what was happening, so he didn’t know how to save her. He never meant for Emily to die. I know, because I was there. I don’t know where you got your information from, but it wasn’t Ace. What’s the real reason you want to do this?”

  Clay reached to the back of his neck and massaged the tense muscles there
. “That’s it—”

  “Horse shit!” Slade snapped. “Tell me what made you want to risk your friendship to do something so stupid!”

  Clay sighed. “Ace said he missed the band and wanted to come back on tour with us, but he said he couldn’t because of the bond, because of her. He couldn’t leave Andra for more than eight hours. Her pack is in Alabama and his is here, in Las Vegas. This isn’t working, Slade.” He pointed toward the door. “That lovesick fool in there is not the Ace I used to know. She has changed him—”

  Slade flipped the gun around and pistol whipped Clay in the head with the butt of it, knocking him out cold. With a snarl, he turned to face the people in the room, ready for anything. It was the first time he noticed that Katrista was in the room, and all three of Clay’s siblings were holding her back with a sort of invisible magic. The girl had serious anger issues going on toward him.

  “I didn’t shoot him,” Slade said. “I should have, but I’ll let Ace take care of him after he finds out the truth. Let her go. If she really wants to fight, my lion can take care of her.”

  “Katrista…” Rainey said. “Let it go.”

  Katrista glared up at Rainey, but finally nodded. When they released the magic they had her pinned down with, she shot out of the room so fast that Slade had trouble tracking her with his eyes.

  Slade sighed as he held out his hand. “Give me the ingredient he was going to add to the spell.”

  “Can’t,” Embyr said. “It has already been added to the others. We were just getting ready to do the spell.”

  “Make another batch without it!” Slade shouted, like they were dumb. Hell, he kind of thought they might be.

  Rainey shook her head. “We bought all the supplier had and used everything. Still, it may not be enough for a successful bond reversal spell.”

  “Damn it!” Slade shouted then kicked an end table over. He ran his hands through his hair and gripped the long tresses, pulling on them until his scalp hurt. “Wake him up. Get the spell started. We’re running out of time.”