by Lola Gabriel
“See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?” Logan teased her.
“No,” Raina admitted. “But we have to decide who does what. The mind control will break when we kill Joshua, but what if we can’t? What if it goes wrong, and Joshua gets to keep one of us under his control?”
“It won’t go wrong. We’ve been in some pretty messed up situations over the years, Raina, and we’ve always managed to find a way to get out in one piece. This will be no different. And in answer to your question of who does what, I’ll be the distraction.” Raina opened her mouth to argue, but Logan carried on before she could interrupt him. “You know it makes sense. You’re far better with the sword than I am. You’re our best chance of getting this done without either of us getting hurt or worse,” Logan finished.
Raina sighed and shook her head, but she didn’t say anything for a second. Her mind was spinning with all of the possibilities of what could go wrong. She knew Logan was right about her being better than him with the sword, but if something went wrong, she didn’t think she could live with herself if it meant Joshua retained control of Logan’s mind.
You won’t need to live with yourself, a voice in her head whispered. If you fuck this up, you won’t be alive to see the consequences.
“Okay,” Raina said quietly.
“You mean, you’re not going to waste three hours arguing with me only to see I’m right?” Logan said, feigning surprise.
Raina laughed and playfully punched him in the arm. “I don’t do that.”
“Oh, you so do.”
It felt to Raina like she had been crouched down behind the large rock beside Joshua’s cave’s mouth for days. In reality, it had been about four hours, but that was a long time to stay in one position, even if that position was comfortable, and this one was anything but comfortable. Logan was crouched beside her, the two of them watching the cave’s entrance intently, waiting for Joshua to leave.
“He has to leave soon,” Raina said. “My contact sent him the message hours ago to say she had a potential victim for him. What the hell is he waiting for? Do you think he’s quit?”
“Shh,” Logan said, and something in the urgency of his tone stopped Raina from talking immediately. He nodded towards the cave’s mouth, and at first, Raina couldn’t see anything different to what she had been able to see for the last four hours: a sandy pathway with tufts of grass sprouting in random places cutting through a grassy field. But then she spotted it. Her eyes widened, and she hardly dared to breathe.
There was a shadow on the path, and it was growing bigger. Joshua was on his way out of the cave. She watched, every muscle in her body tense. Her grip tightened on the Ure sword, an almost subconscious reaction to being in such close proximity to a Matchmaker.
A man emerged from the cave and quickly walked away to a waiting car. Raina was glad they had left their car on the edge of the town and come the rest of the way in their bear form. It would have been hard to hide a car out here, and if Joshua had spotted it, then their plan would have been over before it had really even begun. She finally dared to breathe freely again when she heard the engine fire up and the car pulling away.
“Was that definitely him?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Logan replied. “I saw his eyes.”
Raina nodded. The purple of Joshua’s eyes was so rare a color in their community that she knew the chances of it being someone with a similar eye color was almost zero.
“This is it, then,” she said.
“A kiss for luck?” Logan asked.
Raina smiled. He made it sound like a question, but this was part of their ritual. He asked her the same thing before every mission, and every mission, she obliged. It had worked so far, and she didn’t doubt it would work this time. Now that she was here, ready to make a move, all her doubts about their plan had slipped away. They could do this.
She leaned closer to Logan, and he pressed his lips against hers. Even in this situation, she felt her body responding to his kiss, her bear stirring. She swallowed it down. Hopefully, if everything went to plan, she wouldn’t need to be in her bear form again until they were fleeing the scene, leaving behind a dead Matchmaker.
Logan moved his head back from hers. He smiled, and then his face turned serious.
“Let’s do this,” he said.
Raina finally stood up, and she felt her muscles cramping slightly, objecting to being held in one position for so long. She flexed her arms and her legs and stretched up, cracking her back and pulling her muscles back into their usual position. She touched her hand to her side, resting it on the hilt of the Ure sword, which hung from a holder at her side. Logan stretched out beside her, and then they looked at each other, nodded once, and stepped out into the open.
They hurried up the path and walked into the cave. The dimness took Raina by surprise. She had assumed it would be well lit inside, but it wasn’t, and she paused for a moment to let her eyes adjust. Shapes began to come into view. Large metal cages lined one wall, and Raina felt anger twisting her stomach. What the hell made these Matchmakers think what they were doing was okay? She had heard every justification in the book along the way, and not one of them sat right with her.
She turned to Logan, about to ask him where he thought the best place to hide out would be, when she heard footsteps approaching the cave. Logan’s face wore the same expression of shock and horror as her own, but he recovered quickly, pointing to a large metal shelving unit opposite the first cage. She knew instantly what he was saying. She ran for the unit and ducked down behind it just in time as Joshua stepped back into the cave. This didn’t change their plan much. She would still watch and wait for her opening while Joshua was distracted with Logan, but it left her feeling unsettled. She had hoped for enough time to scout out the cave and see if there was anything they could use to their advantage.
“Can I help you?” Joshua asked, his voice low and dangerous. Logan glanced at Joshua’s face but quickly looked away, being careful not to look him in the eye.
That’s good, Raina thought. Come on, Logan, keep him talking, bring him closer to me.
“I’m looking for a mate,” Logan said. “I heard you were the best in the business.” His voice came out confident, normal. There was no hint of nervousness, and Raina relaxed a little. It didn’t last long. Joshua threw his head back and laughed, leaving Raina with a tight knot in her stomach.
“Nice try. You’re good at this, I’ll give you that. If I didn’t already know who you are and why you’re here, I might just have bought it,” he said.
“I… I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Logan said, still playing his part.
“Oh, sure you do, Logan. You and Raina have been busy, haven’t you? And your spies have been running around all over, trying to get information for you. Did you really think you’re the only one with spies?” Joshua shook his head. “Honestly, it surprised me a little that you were so brazen. That it didn’t even seem to occur to you that I could be gathering intel on you two as you were with me.”
Raina looked at Logan, and she saw his posture change. He was poised for a fight, but anyone who didn’t know him like she did wouldn’t spot the subtle shift in his stance.
“Okay, you got me,” Logan said with a shrug. “We’ve never had to hide our efforts before, because generally speaking, Matchmakers never know they’re a target.”
Joshua considered this for a moment, and then he smiled and shrugged.
“It’s not like you’re getting out of this alive, so I might as well tell you how I knew you’d be coming. I’m sure you know I had Lexi Lord in here not so long ago. And of course, when I ran her blood test for the Sanmere protein, I got some very interesting results. Most notably, that she’s the sister of Chessa Lord, a very good friend of our little Raina. It didn’t take a genius to put that together and know you’d be coming for me. And Raina’s contact? The one who sent me the text message about my next victim? She’s also my contact, and I guess she picked me over R
aina, because she told me what you two were planning. I waited long enough to leave the cave to make you both uncomfortable, because that’s kind of how I roll. And then I disappeared long enough for you two to come out. Now, enough chitchat. Wherever is Raina hiding? Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
Raina felt a shiver go through her at the sing song quality of his voice. She couldn’t believe they had been betrayed like this, but she concentrated on her revulsion for Joshua rather than her anger. It would help her to keep her bear in check.
“I came alone,” Logan said. He took a couple of steps into the cave, but Joshua didn’t follow him. Raina knew they were going to have to just wing it from here. Joshua wasn’t going to allow himself to be led into her path.
“Oh, now, Logan, that’s hardly fair, is it? I thought we were being honest with each other.” Joshua made a tutting sound with his tongue. “And here I was willing to go easy on you two. I was going to make killing you fast and painless and let you die together. But now you’ve angered me. And you won’t like me when I’m angry.”
Without warning, Joshua changed before Raina’s eyes. His skin turned blue, and crusty red marks appeared on his face. His eyes widened until they were entirely purple. Raina noticed, with horror, that Logan was looking straight into them. She couldn’t distract him now. If she did, she would give away her position. She would have to let Joshua have his fun with Logan while she waited for him to come closer.
“Find Raina and kill her,” Joshua told Logan with a smile.
Fuck. Now what was Raina meant to do?
For a moment, Logan didn’t move, and Raina was starting to think that he was immune to Joshua’s mind control, but then he turned in her direction. He was heading straight for her, and she knew she would have to reveal herself. If he came at her while she was crouched down like this, she would be dead in seconds.
She had no intention of killing Logan to stop him from killing her, though. If it came to that, she would let him kill her. But she would at least try to hold him off until she found a way to get through to him and break the hold Joshua had on his mind.
“Logan, don’t do this,” Raina said, stepping out from behind the shelves.
“Ah, there she is!” Joshua clapped his hands together like an excited child. “And there’s that world famous Ure sword that will soon be mine. Raina, darling, you could just hand it over now, and I’ll make your death painless.”
Raina ignored him, focusing on Logan and only Logan. She looked into his eyes, but they weren’t his own. They were unfocused, glassy. She began to slowly circle with him, waiting for him to strike, wondering what to do to get through to him. She could try to anger him enough that he turned, and that would break the mind control, but it would also make it easy for Joshua to fry him with the sparks. She just had to hope she could reach him through her words.
“Logan, it’s me, Raina. You don’t want to do this. I’m your mate. I love you. You only think you want to do this because Joshua has gotten into your head.”
Logan made no sign he had heard her. He moved closer to her, and he struck out towards her with his fist. She jumped aside in time to avoid being caught, but she saw the power he put into the punch, and she knew he wasn’t messing around. She was going to have to be damned careful here.
He came at her again, and again, she managed to duck away. She knew what she was going to have to do now. She was going to have to fight Logan and hope she could knock him unconscious, and then take Joshua on alone. It was pretty much a death sentence, but at least Logan wouldn’t have to live with the guilt of knowing he had killed her, not even for a little while.
She swung her own fist at Logan, and he dodged it.
Come on, Logan, see me, really see me, Raina thought. Her swing seemed to anger Logan, and he swung at her again. She barely managed to avoid him smashing her in the face, and she took a painful punch to her shoulder.
He followed up with a swift uppercut that caught her in the jaw. She was still wrong footed from the last clumsy attempt at avoiding his fist, and before she knew what was really happening, pain exploded through her jaw, and she was flying through the air. She landed hard on her back, the wind knocked out of her, but she kept her grip on the sword.
Logan was walking towards her, a malicious grin on his face. This was Raina’s last chance. She had to find a way to reach him, and quickly, or she was going to die. Of course Logan, in his current state, didn’t know she wouldn’t hurt him. She raised the Ure sword.
“Stay back!” she commanded. Logan laughed and kept advancing. Reluctantly, Raina lowered the sword again. Logan reached her. Towering over her, he kicked her in the ribs, and she cried out in pain.
“Stop messing around and end her,” Joshua said. Logan stood with his feet either of side of Raina, and then he squatted down, raising his fist above her face. Raina smiled up at him, ignoring the fist.
“Logan, when you get your own mind back, know that I forgive you, and that I will always love you,” she whispered. She gasped in a breath when she saw Logan’s eyes flicker. His face changed. Gone was the vacant, unfocused expression. He was Logan again. He had fought the mind control.
He stayed in position, squatting over her, his fist raised. His gaze locked on hers for a moment, and then he flicked his eyes ever so slightly to the left. They needed no words, they were so in tune with each other, and Raina knew what he was telling her to do. She gave a barely perceptible nod, and as Logan began to swing his fist down, she swung the sword in from the left. Logan threw himself to the right, making it look like the sword had stabbed him.
“Goddammit,” Joshua swore. “I swear I have to do everything myself around here.” He started towards Raina, who ignored the pain in her jaw and her ribs and sprang to her feet, the sword clutched in her fists. Joshua smiled, and she lowered her eyes before he could get into her head.
She heard a roar from her side. Logan, in his bear form, flew past her, slamming into Joshua’s chest before he knew what was coming. Logan had timed it perfectly, not giving Joshua a chance to fire from his hands. He pinned Joshua to floor, snapping and snarling over his face.
Raina ran forward and lifted the sword above her head. She brought it down, fast and sure, and she smiled with satisfaction as Joshua’s head rolled free from his body and warm blood coated her.
Logan changed back to his human form and jumped to his feet. “Shit, Raina, I’m sorry. Are you all right? I can’t believe I hit you.”
“It wasn’t you. Not really. And it’s not like I won’t be healed in a few minutes,” Raina reassured him.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her full on the mouth. She let herself melt into him for a moment, enjoying the feel of his lips on hers, of his body pressed against her. She broke away long before she wanted the kiss to end.
“We can do that all night back at the hotel—”
“Is that a promise?” Logan interrupted her.
“Yes,” she laughed. “But we have to leave. Now. Joshua has spies. One of my own contacts was working against us. They might come out here to check on him. We don’t need that, Logan. We did what we came to do. That’s one dead Matchmaker and hundreds of safe women across the district because of that.”
Logan wrapped his arm around Raina’s shoulders, and they headed for the cave’s mouth. They stopped in unison when they heard a voice behind them.
“Excuse me? Can you help me, please?”
Raina and Logan exchanged a glance. The voice was quiet, full of fear.
“He’s got a woman here,” Raina said.
They ran towards the back of the cave, and sure enough, in the last cage was a woman. Raina was sickened once more when she saw her. She was barely more than a girl.
“Don’t worry. You’re safe now,” Raina said. “Do you know where Joshua keeps the cage keys?
“In his pocket, usually,” the girl replied.
Raina nodded to Logan, who moved back towards the front of the cave.
“
What’s your name?” she asked.
“Amy,” the girl said. “I’ve been here for almost a full day. I thought I would die here. But then Joshua told me his plans for me, and I almost wished I would just die.”
“Were you unconscious or something when we came in?” Raina asked. Amy shook her head. “But you waited until we were almost gone before you called out.”
Amy nodded. “I was so afraid. I wanted to believe you guys were good guys, but I kept thinking, if you were powerful enough to beat Joshua, what might you do to me? Then I heard you say that women would be safer because he was gone, and I knew I had to take my chances.”
“You made the right choice. I promise you that you’re safe with us.” Raina smiled. “I’m Raina, by the way. Logan and I, we travel the world stopping monsters like him.”
Amy smiled. Raina saw it reach her eyes, and just like that, she knew Amy was tougher than she looked, and that she would be okay.
Logan came back with the keys, and they opened the cage. “It’s quite a walk to our car, but once we get there, we’ll drop you off wherever you want to go.”
Amy stepped out of the cage and smiled back at him.
“Thank you,” she said. “Both of you.”
“Anytime.” Raina patted her gently on the shoulder. She turned to Logan. “I’m going to call Lexi and let her know Joshua is dealt with.”
2
Lexi rushed out of the office, already late and knowing she was going to hit traffic on her way to the hall. She asked herself, not for the first time, who the hell planned a wedding on a day they had to go to work first.
The answer was the same as always. If she hadn’t done it this way, the wedding might never have happened. At least not for the next thirty or so years. Winning Mitchell’s case so spectacularly had certainly caught the attention of the world of law, and later that week, she had been called to Jared’s office. He had congratulated her on the case, and then he had given her the best gift she could have hoped for. He had announced he was taking early retirement and she would be taking over the firm. With Watson already long gone, retired, and part of the firm in name only, the firm became Lord, Hughes, and Watson. It was Lexi’s dream come true, but it made for a lot of long days. She was in the office pretty much seven days a week.
