by Nina Croft
“I don’t think that’s an option,” he replied. “He’s pretty specific. He won’t release her without the two of us.”
Regan opened her mouth to answer, but Kael cut in. “Why would he want the two of you?” he asked. “I can see why he wants Regan, but why you as well?”
“He wants me for the same old reason—to open the portal. He wants Caleb along because he’s a sadistic bastard.”
“And maybe as some sort of hostage for your cooperation?”
She shrugged. “I guess so.”
“What are you going to do?”
Regan was silent, and Caleb answered. “We go of course. We get Catrin out of there, and then we kill the bastard.”
“Or we die trying,” Regan repeated his words from earlier that morning.
“Let the Council help you,” Kael said.
Regan shook her head. “We can’t—he’ll kill Catrin. Or worse—he’ll take her back to where he came from, and we’ll never see her again. Never know whether she’s alive or dead.” She stared Kael in the eyes. “You lived through that with your sister. I won’t let it happen to mine.”
Kael’s gaze narrowed. Then he nodded. “So, what is the plan? Can you beat this guy?”
“I don’t know.”
Kael crossed the room and poured out three glasses of amber liquid. “It’s early in the day, but I think we need this.” He brought the drinks across and handed one to Caleb and the other to Regan. She sank onto the sofa beside him, the box clutched in her free hand.
Caleb swallowed the drink in one gulp. The warmth of the liquid flowed down his throat and settled in his stomach. Regan did the same. She glanced at her empty glass, then his, whispered a word and they were full again.
“You know,” Kael said, “we’ll help in any way we can, but this thing is bigger than your sister. He needs to be stopped. We can’t risk the chance that he’ll make you cooperate.”
“He won’t.”
“That’s not enough. We need some proof.”
Caleb looked him in the eyes, eyes so like his own. “Our word is enough. Regan will never do what he asks. We’ll die first.”
“But will she stand by and watch you tortured? Or her own sister?”
“I know my duty,” Regan said coldly.
Caleb glanced at her, watched as she stroked her finger along the smooth wood of the box. “I loved Sardi once, but that didn’t stop me from trying to destroy him for what he was.”
Kael stared at her for long minutes, and then nodded.
“Okay. You need time to think about all this, but I’ll speak to you later today. Hopefully you’ll have more of a plan.”
He stood up and walked to the door. At the last second, he turned. “Caleb?”
Caleb had been watching Regan; now he turned to face Kael. “Yes?”
“We should talk,” Kael said. “Before tonight.”
Caleb searched the other man’s face. So far, there were no signs of the enmity Kael had shown that first time they met. But he also sensed that things would never be truly easy between them, and he was surprised by the sadness that thought brought. Maybe his mother was alive, but if not, this man was now his only living relative. All his life he’d longed to find his mother’s family. Of course, back then he’d believed her to be human, not some immortal shapeshifter.
What was an immortal shapeshifter anyway?
Suddenly, he wanted to know.
If he was going to die, then he wanted to know what he was first. He wanted to know what his mother had been, what she was like.
He possessed no illusions. From the sound of it, there was a good chance they would not survive the night. He was reconciled to that. Well, maybe not reconciled. He’d finally found someone he wanted to spend his life with, at the point when his life was, in all likelihood, just about over. He wanted Regan, but if that wasn’t to be, then as long as he took that bastard Sardi with him, he could die content.
He also needed to make sure that if he didn’t survive the night then the Council would look after his wolves. Ensure that the pack was no longer on the outside of the supernatural world but part of it.
Now Caleb looked at Kael, standing at the open door. “I’ll see you later,” he said.
“Good. Any of the guards will know where to find me.” He turned to Regan. “I’m sorry about your sister.” Then he was gone.
As soon as the door shut behind Kael, Regan turned to him and buried her face in his chest. Her drink spilled, soaking his shirt, and the scent of brandy saturated the air.
Her whole body trembled. She was crying silently, and he held her close and stroked her hair. After a while, she pulled herself up and wiped a hand across her face. Her expression hardened.
“I’ll kill him for this,” she said. “Whatever else happens tonight—Sardi will die.”
***
Regan pushed open the door and slipped into the room. The two men didn’t even notice her, and she sank to the floor and sat cross-legged, watching them. Despite the different coloring, they were curiously similar. Both tall, broad-shouldered and lean-hipped. Tension radiated from them, but she was pleased to notice there was no sense of animosity between them.
“You need to let go of your issues. They’re clouding your ability to think straight.” Kael’s tone was exasperated, but he sounded friendly enough. “Free your mind.”
“I would,” Caleb replied. “But unfortunately, there’s rather a lot going on in there at the moment. Ask me tomorrow, and I’ll give you my undivided attention.”
“Tomorrow, in all likelihood, you’re going to be dead,” Regan called out, and both men turned to look at her.
“Thanks,” Caleb muttered. “Just the sort of comment I needed to focus my mind.” He stalked across the room and crouched down in front of her. “How are you?”
“Angry. Furious.” She thought about it. “Guilty that I lit that bloody bonfire.”
“You needed to know.”
“No, actually I wanted to know, so I did it, and as usual someone else is paying the price.”
“We’ll get her back.”
“Maybe. Now you’d better get back to your lesson.”
Caleb glanced over his shoulder to where Kael stood, tapping his foot impatiently on the wooden floor.
“He’s trying to teach me to shift into something other than a wolf.”
Regan shrugged. “Could come in useful. When the going gets tough, you could shift into an amoeba and nobody would even see you.”
“I was thinking something bigger and scarier,” Caleb said. “But it seems to be irrelevant anyway. Maybe as a half-breed, I’m just not capable.”
“Caleb,” Kael called to him.
Caleb reached out a hand and stroked her cheek. “I’ve got to go.”
She nodded. “Is it okay if I stay and watch?”
“Of course. I can’t promise anything worth watching though.”
Regan leaned her back against the wall and made herself as comfortable as possible. She’d gone to pray again, then to the Council library to look for anything she could on Sardi. And found plenty. If she’d done that a long time ago, she would have realized that while his human form could be killed here, he would re-manifest in his own dimension. Weakened, but still very much in existence. Her mother hadn’t mentioned that bit.
Why?
Was it to make Regan feel safe? The truth was, she didn’t know, and until her mother deigned to put in an appearance, she wouldn’t find out. So they needed to destroy his mortal body, which would at least put him out of action for another thousand years or so.
But how?
He was far stronger than her, or even Caleb.
In the end, she needed the comfort of being in Caleb’s presence, so she had come in search of him and found him here.
“It’s easy,” Kael was saying. “Watch.”
He vanished and in his place was a small blue bird. It flew once around the room, alighted briefly on Regan’s shoulder, then flew back t
o Caleb. It landed on the floor and shifted back to human form.
“Now, you,” Kael said.
Caleb started to unbutton his shirt. Regan watched him, holding her breath.
“You don’t need to do that,” Kael said. “Shifters don’t lose their clothes like werewolves.”
“Spoilsport,” Regan murmured.
Caleb shrugged, but dropped his arms to his side.
“Now, change,” Kael said.
“What should I change into?”
“Anything but a wolf.”
Caleb stood for a moment, then he vanished, and in his place stood a tall, black …wolf. It turned its head, looked along the line of its body, and snorted in disgust.
Regan laughed softly. A moment later, Caleb was back, and he was naked. She stopped laughing and stared. He was quite the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Her eyes moved from his body to his face.
He scowled. “Well, that went well.”
“Looks pretty good to me,” Regan said, and Caleb turned to her. He held her eyes for long moments, then turned back to Kael with obvious reluctance.
“Try again,” Kael instructed. “And concentrate on what you’re doing, not on the witch.”
Again, and again, Caleb shifted, but each time it was his wolf who answered the call. After the fifth time, he swore, loudly. He ran both hands through his short hair so it stuck on end, stared at the ceiling, then looked back at Kael. “Maybe you’re going to have to accept that I can’t shift. I’m half-werewolf, and maybe wolf is all you get.”
“You can do it,” Kael growled. “You’re just being stubborn.
“Is that something I get from being half-shifter or half-wolf?” Caleb growled back.
Kael shook his head, but the rigid line of his body relaxed. “Okay, enough for today.” He shrugged. “I thought it might come in useful when you face Sardi, but it will have to wait for another time.”
Caleb appeared entirely at ease in his naked state. Regan wasn’t so comfortable; she whispered a word and gave him a pair of pants. Black, drawstring linen pants that hung low on his lean hips but left his impressive chest bare. He turned to look at her, one eyebrow raised in query.
“I was finding the view distracting.”
His lips curled up into a sexy smile.
“So what’s the plan?” Kael asked.
“We don’t really know until we see what the situation is,” Caleb replied. “We’re going to have to play it by ear. The main priority is to get Catrin out—”
“No,” Kael interrupted. “The main priority is to kill Sardi.”
“That’s not possible,” Regan said.
Both men swung around to look at her, and she scrambled to her feet, brushing her clothes down, to give herself time to think.
“What do you mean—not possible?” Caleb asked.
“I’ve been reading about it. That’s why he didn’t die the last time. He can’t be killed here on earth. His human body dies, but he reappears in his own world. But we do that, and he’ll be weakened. For a long time.”
“And you only found this out now?” It was Kael who asked, and Regan had to force down her urge to snap right back. She was at fault here; she should have known. Instead of answering Kael, she turned to Caleb.
“I thought I loved him, and I thought I’d killed him. I wanted to forget.”
He nodded once, and she knew he understood.
“Then we’ll get Catrin out, and we’ll send him back to where he came from,” Caleb said.
Kael sighed. “It will have to be enough. Now, I have something for you.”
He reached under his shirt and tugged out a chain. A silver ring hung on the end. He pulled it over his head and handed it to Caleb. “This belonged to your mother,” he said.
Caleb stared at the ring where it lay it on his palm, as though he wasn’t quite sure what to do. Regan reached across, picked up the chain, and lifted it over his head so the ring nestled in the dark hair of his chest.
“There,” she said.
Caleb’s hand came up to touch the ring. He turned it in his fingers.
“What was she like?” he asked Kael.
“She was strong and brave. Strong enough to come through this. If she’s alive, we will find her.”
Caleb nodded.
“Now,” Kael said. “You should get ready to leave.” He turned to go.
“Kael,” Regan called out.
He looked back. “Yes?”
“If we don’t come back tonight—you’ll finish this?”
“I’ll hunt him down and kill him.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Caleb switched off the engine, and they both sat, staring out into the darkness, neither wanting to make the first move.
Regan took a deep breath and forced her gaze to the small wooden box on the dashboard of the truck. She let the fury rise within her once again. That fury was all that kept her going. All that kept the despair at bay.
She climbed down from the cab and went around the back to release Satan and Diablo. The hounds sniffed around, small yipping sounds emerging from their throats as they picked up the scent. But then they fell silent as they made their way through the forest, back to the clearing where Caleb had fought his father. It was only two nights ago but seemed like a lifetime.
How long must it have seemed to Catrin?
They found Sardi seated on a rock at the far side of the clearing. He stood as they emerged from the cover of the trees. Regan gave him one quick glance, then looked around for her sister. Catrin was at the center of the pack of hellhounds, kneeling on the forest floor, head bowed, her arms wrapped around herself. Regan looked her sister over carefully, and some of her tension drained away—Catrin appeared unharmed apart from the bloody bandage on her left hand.
She raised her head. As she met Regan’s gaze, a faint frown flickered across her features, and she glanced down. Regan followed the look; around her neck, Catrin wore a chain with a silver star at the end. It was similar to the charm Ethan had placed around Regan’s neck that night so long ago. She nodded once to show she understood, and then turned back to Sardi.
“You’d better not have touched her,” Regan said.
He smiled a cruel curl of his full lips. “I have to admit, I thought about it. It seemed a fitting punishment for you. After all”—he glanced at Caleb, and his expression turned icy—“you’ve given yourself to another. Why shouldn’t I?” Then he shrugged. “But while she’s a sweet little thing, I like more fire in my women.”
Relief washed through her. She’d been trying not to even contemplate the idea that Sardi might rape her sister. She hadn’t believed the man she’d once loved was capable of such a thing, but the doubt lingered, festering in her mind. Still, Sardi had hurt Catrin, and for that he would pay. Her fury rose again, and she allowed it to show in her eyes.
“You cut off her fucking finger, you bastard,” she said.
He shrugged again. “You needed to know I mean business. From our past association, you might be inclined to believe I’m not serious. But I am. Very.”
Caleb shifted beside her, and she could sense his impatience.
“Cut the crap,” he snapped, “and tell us what you want.”
Sardi ignored the question but cast Caleb a look of intense dislike. “What do you see in this dog, Regan? I thought you had better taste.”
“Obviously not, but he’s right. What do you want?”
“You in your rightful place—at my side. Loving me as you once did.”
Regan rolled her eyes. “Never going to happen.”
“In which case, I shall have to settle for my second option.”
“Christ, you never said he was a complete bag of wind,” Caleb muttered. “Tell him to get on with it.”
“Are you so eager to die?” Sardi asked.
“Yeah,” Caleb snarled. “It’s got to be better than listening to this boring shit.”
Sardi stepped closer, his face tightening, his fists clenchi
ng at his side. Regan stepped between them. “Enough,” she said. “Sardi, tell us what you want.”
He stared at Caleb for a minute longer then turned his gaze to her. “I want you to open the portal to Hell and release my people.”
“And then what?”
“And then we take our rightful place in this world.” He smiled. His old smile—the one she had fallen in love with two thousand years ago. It did absolutely nothing for her.
“Come on, Regan,” he murmured, his voice soft, enticing, “you have no love of mankind. How can you have?”
Regan didn’t bother answering. There was no point with someone like Sardi. He saw humans as nothing and would never understand a different viewpoint. She tried another tack. “The Council will never let you get away with it.”
“The Council will be no match for me once I have my people here.”
She didn’t know if he was strong enough to take on the Council or not, and she didn’t want to find out. She took a deep breath. Time to move this on.
“Let Catrin go, and we’ll talk about it.”
“Not until you do the spell.”
She gritted her teeth. “You said if we came alone, you would release her.”
“I lied.” He shrugged. “But believe me—I have no wish to harm her.”
“Further,” Regan muttered.
“Further,” he agreed.
“If you lied about this, how do I know you’re not lying now? How do I know you’ll let her go once I’ve opened the portal?”
“I will swear an oath. You know such things are not lightly broken.”
“And what about us?” She indicated herself and Caleb. “Will you let us go free as well?”
“I swear to you, open the portal, and I will let the three of you go free.”
Regan wished it was an option. She wanted so much to go free. For the first time in so long, the future held a sense of excitement and anticipation. She wanted a life with Caleb more than anything she’d ever wanted before. She could almost taste it.
But it wasn’t going to happen. No way would she open the portal to Hell, but she couldn’t let Sardi see that. They needed time to work out how to free Catrin. She didn’t see how—she was closely guarded—but perhaps Caleb would have an idea.
