From the Grave

by Karina Espinosa

  “It’s not what it looks like, Cas,” I replied.

  “Oh?” He raised a brow. “Pray tell, what is it actually like? I have to file a police report with the SIU and I would love to do it properly.” He sat on the edge of my bed, crossing his broad arms, his too-tight t-shirt about to burst.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. Fuck. This was exactly why I didn’t want to get him involved. He was so “by the book.” We were all screwed.

  “Its fine, Mackenzie,” Bash said. “I already told him the truth.”

  My eyes snapped open. “Say what?!”

  “I can’t believe you weren’t going to tell me, Grey!” Cas shouted, throwing his hands in the air. “This is a pack matter. The SIU respects that and would have kept out of it!”

  “Really, Cas? When there’s a rogue wolf biting humans? That’s not an SIU matter? Get real,” I scoffed and looked away. Briggs would have been crawling all over this, and Cas knew it. “But now you have to get involved?” With today's very public explosion, there was no way it could stay within the pack.

  “He’s going to do us a solid, Mackenzie,” Bash said.

  “Briggs wants me on the case with Finn. We’ll stay out of it as long as you keep us abreast with what’s going on. We’re a team, we trust you,” Cas added.

  Michaels, Finn, Cas, and me were probably the best team at the SIU. I trusted those guys with my life, and right now they were trusting me with this case. I wouldn’t let them down, which meant I had to do it right.

  “Why are you doing this?” I quirked a brow. “Briggs is going to be all over you knowing I’m involved.”

  Cas rolled his eyes and stood from the bed. “There’s always a way. And what do you mean why? I just told you we’re a team! We’ll still provide you with any resources you’ll need. We got your back, Grey.” He grinned as he leaned over and ruffled my hair.

  Of course, he did.

  The drive back to the warehouse was uneventful and quiet for the most part. I filled them in on what happened, making sure not to leave out any details. Unfortunately, something was still bothering me. Enzo was tricking me every single time with a human. A suicide bomber, at that. But how? How could he convince a human to follow him so blindly? I didn’t need to check to know there was probably an earpiece in the other human as well. The range on those comms wasn’t far, so he was near. He was in the vicinity and we’d missed our opportunity.

  “What’s wrong?” Bash asked as we walked passed the double doors into the warehouse. “You look troubled.”

  “That’s because I am,” I grumbled. “Is Natasha still around?”

  Duke nodded. “The warlock’s magic was running out, so we chained her back down in the cage.”

  The magic was running out …

  “I have to talk to her.” I made my way down to the basement.

  “She won’t talk. We’ve tried everything,” Duke said.

  “Have you?” I quirked a brow. “Do you know what stumps me about Enzo? How the hell did he convince a whole gaggle of humans that killing their maker would cure them of their werewolf curse? Humans, by nature, are curious creatures. Someone would have been bound to ask questions, or hell, been excited to have been bitten and be different. Why are they all angry?”

  “We’ve been going about this the wrong way,” Bash agreed as he eyed me.

  “Exactly.” I pointed at him. “I’ve been obsessed with finding Enzo, but why not follow the humans he’s manipulating instead? Let them lead us to him.”

  Duke smiled widely. “That’s genius. He’s building a human army. Let’s find his hunting ground.”

  “Which means we need to talk to Natasha.”

  The girl was chained with silver shackles that even made me wince once we walked in the room. It brought back flashbacks of when Jonah’s father had locked me up in a silver cage. It’d made me so sick, I was barely lucid. Jackson had been the only one to try to rescue me. It’d backfired, but it was the thought that counted.

  Natasha, on the other hand, hadn’t shifted yet; silver didn’t affect her as it did us. She was cool as a cucumber. Maybe not, seeing as she’d been locked up for a few days, but I was counting on that because, if my theory was correct, it would work to our advantage.

  “Are you thirsty?” I shook a cold bottle of water in front of her. Droplets of water fell around my hand, and her gaze followed them to the floor. “Remember me?”

  “Here to gloat?” she croaked, and I wondered how long it had been since she was given something to drink.

  I shook my head. “I’m here to talk.” I rolled the bottle to her. “If it makes you feel any better, I spent the day in the hospital after Enzo tried to blow me up.” I gave a small laugh.

  She chuckled. “Good.”

  I could hear Bash’s growls behind me, but I ignored him. I needed her to trust me. Even just a little.

  I squatted down to be at eye level with her. “But, of course, it wasn’t Enzo …” I sighed heavily and looked away. “Just another innocent human.”

  “What?” she whispered.

  My gaze whipped her way. “You know, the suicide bomber you guys set up. I know you don’t care, Natasha, but I do. I just want the killings to stop.”

  “The killings?” she repeated.

  “You may not know,” I pulled out my badge, “but I’m a detective with the NYPD. This can go sideways for you if you don’t cooperate. Everything you’ve dealt with these last few days? No human will believe it. Why? Because supernaturals have their own department within the force. You’re under our jurisdiction which means our laws. And I enforce them.” I stood and dusted off my hands. “It’s time to start talking, Natasha. Or things are about to get really ugly.” I extended my claws.

  Her eyes grew so big, I thought they’d pop out of their sockets. She reached for the water bottle with shaky hands, uncapped it, and took a sip.

  “What do you want to know?” she whispered.

  “Good girl,” I smirked and turned to the Alphas behind me. They watched me in astonishment. “Unchain her and take her into your office. We’ll have a proper interrogation.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Duke smiled and saluted me.

  From the moment I met Natasha, I knew all she wanted was to cure herself of the wolf. She was different from the other humans I’d encountered, and I was curious as to why. The night the pack had been wolfsbaned, it was also a rescue mission. There was a connection between her and Enzo, and I planned to figure it out.

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Bash asked as we stood outside his office. Duke was inside with Natasha, waiting for us.

  “There’s more to her than we know, Bash,” I murmured. “She isn’t a drone like the other humans.”

  “You think the others were compelled?”

  I nodded. “It only makes sense. Why else would they follow him so faithfully?”

  “Why not her?”

  I shrugged. “They’re in love.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t buy it. The guy is cynical. He also wouldn’t leave behind the woman he loved.”

  “Maybe she is in love with him. He’s using her.”

  “Then she’s a loose end and he’ll be coming for her soon,” Bash whispered. “We have to be careful.”

  “Why hasn’t he already? None of it makes sense. It’s why I want to talk to her. She can answer a lot of our questions. She’s lucid. Even if she’s been compelled in the past, it can only last for so long.”

  Bash and I entered his office, ready to finally get some answers. Before Natasha was brought in, she was allowed to take a shower and was given clean clothes. We were civilized, after all. Hopefully, it wouldn’t bite me in the ass.

  “I hope you’re ready to talk, or I might have to file my nails with your teeth.” I grinned.

  Natasha grimaced and sat up straighter in the chair. She cleaned up well once the multiple days’ worth of filth was washed off. I grimaced at the thought and swore. Men never thought about that shit. I felt
awful for leaving her in Sebastian and Duke’s care. Then again, she was the enemy. I shook my head. Why did I feel bad? Of course, I did, I’m Mackenzie. I’m a sucker for this shit. But I also won’t let myself get played.

  “I’ll tell you what you need to know,” she relented.

  I tsked. “Wrong answer. Not only what we need but what we want to know. And what I’m curious about right now is your relationship with Enzo. What’s that about?”

  She shook her head and sucked in a breath. “You’re asking the wrong questions.”

  “I actually think I’m asking the right ones.”

  Natasha peered up at me with the saddest eyes I’d ever seen. “Obviously, there isn’t a relationship. If there were, I wouldn’t be here, would I?”

  Bash had been right. Enzo ditched the dead weight. Now, why wasn’t he worried about loose lips?

  “True.” I propped myself up on Sebastian’s desk in front of her. “Men are funny like that. You can’t trust them to be as loyal as we are. I mean ‘we’ as in women. We would go to the ends of the earth for the ones we love. Right?” She nodded but wouldn’t look me in the eye or say a word. “Sad we can’t say the same about them. Makes me wonder what else besides their love they might have lied about.”

  Natasha sniffed. “I know what you’re doing.”

  “I know.” I shrugged. “You’re a smart girl, Natasha. Which is why I’m so dumbfounded that you fell for Enzo’s tricks. How does someone like you fall into that kind of trap? Tell me.”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she mumbled.

  “Try me.”

  She gripped the armrest, and the Alphas tensed beside me. I wasn’t worried though. I listened to Natasha’s heartbeat, and while it was racing, I could tell it wasn’t because she was about to do something stupid. She was still human. Her heart was racing because she was going to divulge something embarrassing she didn’t want anyone to know—even strangers like us. As a female, I understood that.

  “I met him a few weeks ago … on campus,” she started. “It was late at night. I typically take summers off, but I failed a class last semester and decided to make it up when there were smaller class sizes. Practically everyone was gone anyway, so I thought nothing of it. I was studying at the library when I was attacked. We both were … by them.” Natasha glared at Duke and Bash. “I’d seen him earlier in the library, but I didn’t notice he’d left with me—”

  “And you don’t find that suspect?” Duke asked.

  “He was bitten too! I saw the mark!” she screamed as tears rolled down her cheeks in droves. “I’m not an idiot. I saw them!”

  “No one is calling you an idiot, Natasha,” I whispered and handed her a tissue. She snatched it from my hand. “But we have to be realistic. Did you see any wolves that night? Did you see Sebastian or Duke?”

  She clamped her mouth shut and looked at the floor.

  “It’s time you admit to yourself that you’ve been played,” Bash grunted. “The sooner you do, the quicker this will be. We don’t have time to babysit your feelings.”

  “Bash …” I muttered.

  “Enough, Mackenzie.” He waved me off. “I know what you want to do, but enough. She isn’t a little girl. She’s a young woman, an adult, who, at the next full moon—which no one has acknowledged—will be shifting into a wolf, a Luna. This story Enzo concocted is garbage, and the sooner she gets over it, the faster this will go. This situation is life or death. I don’t have time for lovesick puppies.”

  I fisted my hands at my sides. I never agreed to the good cop/bad cop routine.

  “I get it!” Her eyes widened. “He lied to me. You don’t have to rub it in my face!”

  Duke pressed his lips together in sympathy. “I know, darlin’. I apologize for my friend’s brashness. He lacks some home training. You see, when someone wants to kill ya, it can put you on edge. I’m sure you can imagine.” He motioned toward her. Thankfully, at least someone was on the same page as me.

  “To be honest, I don’t know much,” she said. “Enzo told the same story to all of us.”

  “Who is us?” I asked.

  “Most of the ones bitten came from my school. College students.”

  “What can you tell us about Enzo?” Bash asked.

  She shrugged. “He’s not from New York, if that’s what you mean. He was orphaned at a very young age. A fire killed his family.”

  Duke and Bash’s gazes snapped to each other.

  Enzo wasn’t Killian.

  Enzo was a survivor.

  10

  We chained Natasha back up in the cage for the time being while everyone got their thoughts together. She wasn’t safe anywhere—not until Enzo was captured or dead. I should have felt guilty for wanting him dead, but after everything he’d put us through, I wanted him gone. Enzo had been a lone-wolf running away from Bash’s Tracker Pack that night ten years ago. It was his family they’d killed, and he survived. He’d been plotting his revenge ever since. It was all making so much sense. The first night we’d somewhat met, he’d said:

  Mackenzie Grey. I’ve heard about you. Everyone has. The Freedom Princess. The lone-wolf Luna who set us all free.

  It should have been a clue. I’d picked up on the us, but I’d never put two and two together—until now. I made it possible for this to happen. The thought alone made me lightheaded.

  “Mackenzie,” Bash said, interrupting my musings. We were in his bedroom supposedly getting some rest, but we were stiff as boards. “I know what’s running through that mind of yours.”

  “Do you now?” I mumbled like a petulant child.

  “It’s written all over your face, Mackenzie. You have a horrible poker face.”

  I smacked his arm and turned on my side, giving him my back. “I’ll have you know I’m an excellent poker player!” Truth be told, I only played solitaire on my computer as a kid.

  “Right,” he muttered. “Mackenzie …”

  “What?”

  “If I ask you to sit this out, would you?”

  I spun around to face him so fast, I thought I’d get whiplash. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me?”

  He squinted his eyes and grimaced. “Just hear me out—”

  “No! If you want to blame me for lone-wolves having this kind of freedom, go ahead, but this is still your secret that created this. Don’t forget it!”

  “I’m not blaming you, Mackenzie! But Enzo obviously doesn’t care about anyone, and I’d rather not risk your life—not again.” He ran his hands through his hair. “You don’t understand the agonizing feeling that coursed through my veins when I saw you just standing there as a bomb exploded a dozen feet away from you. I couldn’t do anything to help, and when you flew back … Watching it was unreal, Mackenzie. I don’t know if I can handle that again.”

  His eyes glowed sapphire as they drilled into me, keeping me in place. It wasn’t control Bash wanted—he was scared. And I was being a shithead.

  I cradled his cheek in my hand. Closing his eyes, he burrowed his face into my palm. Bash inhaled deeply, taking in my scent as if he feared he’d forget it, but that was impossible. We’d never forget each other.

  “Sebastian,” I whispered, “I risk my life like that every single day. It was just the first time you saw it. But this is what I do for a living. This can happen to me at any time. It comes with the job description.”

  “I don’t like it,” he breathed into my palm.

  I laughed. “I know, but it’s no different than when we were at war.”

  “I can’t lose you, Mackenzie. I just can’t.” His eyes popped open, and the intensity of his stare warmed my body.

  “Why do you think I went searching for Enzo on my own? The thought of losing you was overwhelming, Bash. I was blind with fear.”

  He grunted. “We need to talk to each other like this. When we don’t communicate—”

  “Things get lost in translation,” I smirked.

  “Exactly.” He smiled and gripped my c
hin, pulling me in for a kiss.

  His lips were so soft as they spread mine and his tongue teased its way into my mouth. I could taste the mint from his toothpaste. Bash pulled me against his hardness. I lifted my leg over his hip, bringing myself even closer. He gripped me tighter and slid his hand down my back to grab my ass. I moaned.

  “I love you, Mackenzie Grey,” he said and continued to kiss me feverishly.

  Sebastian Steel rarely expressed himself, but when he did, it always sent a shock of electricity through my body that made every nerve ending in my body tingle uncontrollably. My toes curled, and my body tightened around him like a cobra. I wanted him to say he loved me again and again until I was sick of it.

  Flipping him onto his back, I straddled him and moved my hips back and forth.

  “Mackenzie,” he growled. Taking control, Bash tossed me onto my back and ripped my underwear off. Directing himself between my legs, he slid inside me, and I had to bite back a howl.

  The ring around my vision glowed silver as he thrusted in and out, going faster and faster. Our moans and grunts sounded far away, like my head was in a cloud of lust as we lost ourselves in each other. The warehouse rattled with our fever. The temperature in the room increased, and when I looked into his sapphire eyes, I lost it.

  “Talk about being discreet.” I sighed as I got dressed the next morning. Last night’s activities had been a bit … raucous. I blushed at the thought and was almost embarrassed about going out to the main floor to meet with the captains. Almost.

  “It’s a friendly reminder to the pack that you’re mine.” Bash winked at me and grinned.

  “Ha!” I snorted. “Not a single pack member is interested in me. Not with all the baggage I come with.” I was trouble, and every wolf in the Northeast didn’t want a single thing to do with me. Sebastian was the only idiot who did. I laughed at the thought. If only Jonah were still around …

  Shit! Jonah!