Misfit Fortune

by Stephanie Foxe

  She opened her mouth to object when a flood of fear rushed down the pack bond. Genevieve. She was in trouble. Gritting her teeth, Amber gave her strength. The only thing she could do to help right now.

  “What have you done?”

  “Me? Nothing at all. I’d never do anything to hurt another pack.” He smiled, all teeth, like a wild animal growling.

  Amber’s hands curled into fists. It would be so simple to jump across this car and rip his throat out but she knew Agent Horan would claim it was murder. “You didn’t just bring me here to gloat. What do you want?”

  “Disband your pack. Join a different one. As a peace offering, I’ll even let you choose. I bet Jameson would take you in. He seems to have a soft spot for you.”

  Genevieve’s panic fluttered in her chest next to her heart. Carter must have threatened Jameson somehow. Enough that he’d force Shane to call things off.

  She leaned in, holding Carter’s gaze. “No.”

  He grinned. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

  “Why? Are you planning on finally fighting me yourself instead of sending minions to do your dirty work.”

  He opened the door and stepped out of the suburban, the smug expression never leaving his face. “I’ll see you again, Hale.”

  Carter walked away. She curled her hands into a fist. Bram had been right. She was out of her depth with all this plotting and scheming.

  The driver’s door opened again and Horan peeked his head in. “Looks like there was a mix up and there isn’t a warrant out for your arrest after all.” He hit a button and her door unlocked. “Apologies, you’re free to go.”

  She stepped out slowly, moving into Horan’s personal space. He took an involuntary step back. She could smell the instinctual fear wafting off of him from having a predator so close. Red bled into her eyes as she pulled on the dominance that made her an alpha.

  “Keep in mind that to them, you are expendable.”

  “To who?” he asked, playing dumb.

  She brushed passed him, doing her best to maintain an even gait. She wanted to sprint back to her truck but she knew she was still being watched.

  Chapter 54

  Genevieve

  Genevieve raced through the library parking lot on two legs. She wanted to shift but if Steven was hurt she’d need her hands.

  As she rounded the building, the burn of silver dust was the first thing to hit her nose. The second was the smell of Steven’s blood.

  His back was against the brick wall and a stream of powdered silver was shooting out of his repurposed mace canister. Two wolves were advancing on him, their lips curled back in a snarl.

  Genevieve howled, shifting as she raced forward. The larger, black wolf broke off and ran toward her. She darted to the side, leaping onto the wall then pushing off to land on his back.

  His teeth sunk into her back leg but she had him by the scruff of the neck. She bore down, shaking his neck hard enough that he lost his footing and his grip on her leg.

  The pack bond swelled in her chest and strength flowed through her. Steven’s shouts cut through the snarls but she couldn’t understand him.

  She bit down on the wolf’s vulnerable belly and ripped a chunk of flesh away. He howled in pain and scrambled backwards. Pressing her advantage, she struck again, opening a deep gash on his neck.

  He didn’t just retreat this time; he turned and ran. The other wolf followed.

  She was tempted to give chase but Steven was sliding down the wall clutching his arm. His textbooks were strewn all over the pavement along with his shredded backpack.

  Shifting back to human form, she raced to his side.

  “Oh god. That was terrifying,” Steven said shakily.

  “Where are you hurt?” she demanded, hands hovering above his arm awkwardly. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t even have a first aid kit.

  “Just…just my arm.” He moved his blood-coated fingers away from the wound. It would need stitches. His eyes drifted down her body. “You’re naked.”

  “That doesn’t matter, we have to go. They might come back. I don’t know why they ran like that. Two against one they could have taken me.” She helped him to his feet, holding him upright when his legs nearly gave way.

  “My books. I can’t just leave them here. I need my notes for…for my thesis.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “It’s important!”

  “Fine, lean against the wall.” She made sure he was going to stay upright this time, then hastily gathered the books and the notepad. The silver dust coating them burned her skin immediately but she didn’t care. She barely felt it.

  “Crap, it’s burning you, I didn’t think––”

  “It’s fine. Come on.” She gritted her teeth against the sting of the silver. Her muscles were weakening every place that it touched, only offset by the strength that Amber was sending her.

  Steven leaned on her as they hurried back to her car. She threw the books in the backseat. Her phone, which was sitting in the center console was ringing off the hook.

  “Answer that,” she instructed Steven as she peeled out of the parking lot.

  “Hello?”

  “Steven? What the hell is going on?” Amber demanded, half-shouting.

  “I’m with Gen. I got attacked by two werewolves but I’m okay. Mostly”

  “Is Gen hurt?”

  “No, she’s fine. Well, she touched silver powder.”

  “Get back to the house as fast as y’all can.”

  “He needs stitches!” Genevieve shouted, knowing Amber would be able to hear.

  “I don’t think it’s safe to go to a hospital. Carter just had me temporarily arrested. I can stitch it up,” Amber said.

  Genevieve mashed down on the accelerator. “He what?”

  “I’ll explain at the house.”

  “She hung up,” Steven said, lowering the phone.

  She nodded. Tears stung at her eyes as the adrenaline began to fade. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  Steven put his good hand on her shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”

  “It’s literally my fault. You were attacked because I’m dating you. And I left you vulnerable. I’m a terrible girlfriend.”

  “You came to my rescue. If anything, I’m a terrible boyfriend for needing to be rescued.” He was silent for a moment. “Thank you. For coming.”

  Her grip on the steering wheel tightened. “I think you should stay at the pack house until this is all over.”

  “Not even going to argue with you,” he said with a short laugh that ended with a hiss of pain. “Ow. Moved too much.”

  Chapter 55

  Amber

  “I didn’t realize nurses could give stitches,” Steven said as Amber adjusted the angle of his arm.

  “They can’t most places. I got an advanced certification to up my chances of getting a job.” She tied off the last stitch, glad her skills weren’t any rustier. “It didn’t help with the job search but I guess it’s a good thing I learned.”

  He lifted his arm, inspecting her work. “Is it going to scar?”

  “Yes, but it won’t be too large once it’s fully healed. Ceri’s potions will help and, if you really hate it, the elvish stuff can make it good as new.”

  “No way, I want to keep it,” he said with an unexpected grin. “I can tell everyone I was attacked by a werewolf. This will give me cool points. And this experience is going to be really helpful with my studies. There’s just something…different about facing off against a giant werewolf that wants to kill you. I could see the bloodlust in their eyes.”

  “Yay?” she said hesitantly. Steven was odd but she figured this reaction was better than him freaking out.

  Ceri hurried back into the dining room with another salve and a basket full of potions. “Genevieve was covered in silver dust. Did she roll in it or something?”

  Steven cringed. “No…that was my fault. I asked her to get my textbooks and it got all o
ver them when I was spraying it at the other werewolves.”

  “Ah. Are they still in her car?”

  He nodded. “I’ll get them out and clean it. I don’t want it getting all over her again.”

  “I can help. We’ll have to clean it carefully,” Ceri said, pulling out her salve.

  “So, umm, Gen didn’t get a chance to really explain what’s going on,” Steven said hesitantly, looking back and forth between the two of them.

  “Well, it’s complicated.” Amber tossed the last of the bloody bandages into the trash next to her foot. “The reason you were attacked was to try to scare me into compliance. Or just scare me.”

  “Attacking the squishy humans is smart,” Steven said, nodding along like this was some kind of science experiment and he was fine with being the guinea pig.

  Ceri gave him a baffled look, shaking her head. “Generally the squishy humans aren’t happy to be targeted.”

  “Oh, I’m not happy about it, it’s just that it makes sense.” He gave Ceri his arm so she could apply another potion. “What are they trying to get you to do? Or not do?”

  She hadn’t even had a chance to explain that to the pack. “Let’s wait for the others. I won’t leave you out of the loop though, promise.”

  “Hey Ceri, I’m out of the soap stuff. Do you have any more?” Genevieve shouted from the bathroom.

  Ceri hurried out of the dining room to help her.

  “Steven, I had a question. This is a total long shot, but you’ve studied history and magic. Have you ever heard of Raziel’s key?”

  He frowned. “That name Raziel sounds angelic. I haven’t really studied their history.”

  “Ah okay.”

  “But I’ll look into it. Is it related to what’s going on?”

  She sat back and shrugged. “We think so, we’re just not sure how.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be right over,” Ceri said as she walked back into the room. She hung up her phone with a deep sigh. “Bad news. Thallan has gone missing.”

  Chapter 56

  Ceri

  Ceri hurried across the lawn. In the midst of all the chaos, she’d forgotten about Thallan. And apparently that had been a mistake. She was tempted to just let the crazy elf stay missing –– he was probably locked up in a drunk tank somewhere –– but she felt weirdly responsible for him.

  The doctor’s motorcycle was parked near the porch and the front door was standing open when she jogged up.

  Dr. Stone was waiting for her just inside the entryway. “Any idea where he might be?”

  “There’s a bar that has an early happy hour I think he’s been going to. I’ll have to find the address.” She pulled out her phone and searched the name of the bar. “How has his therapy been going? I know you can’t share the details but could you tell me if he’s…improving?”

  “I thought it was going well when he stopped raging so much but I was mistaken.” Stone scratched his stubbled jaw. “He’s a crafty old bastard.”

  “What did he do?”

  “I’m not sure yet, which is what worries me. He’s up to something though.”

  “Great,” Ceri muttered. “Can I text the address to the number you called me from?”

  Stone nodded. “That’ll work.”

  Something tapped against her shoulder and she looked back to see the tarot card that still haunted her was waving at Stone.

  “Ah, I see our little friend is still with you.”

  Ceri sighed. “I looked at it and listened to what it had to say. Why won’t it go away?”

  Stone approached, coaxing the card out from behind her back. It hovered above his hand, basking in the attention. “That’s a good question. Typically, it means the lesson the card is trying to teach you is still being missed. With this little guy, it could also mean you don’t understand what you’re being warned about still. Or…you haven’t found what you need yet.”

  “That’s all very vague.” Ceri glared at the card. This was why she hated tarot. Every piece of advice was just vague enough that everyone could relate to it, without actually meaning anything. It was nothing more than a mind trick.

  “It’s vague until it’s not,” Stone said cryptically.

  She could feel the enamel grinding off her teeth as she held back what she wanted to shout at him.

  The serious expression on his weathered face cracked after a moment and he laughed, hand to belly. “You should see your face.”

  Even the tarot card seemed to be laughing.

  “Seriously? This is how you entertain yourself?” she demanded, hands on hips.

  “Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” Stone said, wiping tears of amusement from his eyes. “Anyhow, to be less vague, try asking the card to show you what you’re missing. I guarantee it’s trying. Whatever this is, it’s something you’ve been avoiding dealing with for a while. I suspect you already know what it is and just don’t want to admit it.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Ceri said, unable to look at it him as the memory of her spirit fading from the spirit realm as the darkness pressed around her flashed through her mind.

  He shrugged. “Whatever you’re afraid of, it’s better to face it than keep running.”

  “I’ll let the others know Thallan is missing. Call me if you find him, please.”

  “Will do.” He nodded in farewell, then headed to his motorcycle. She stood there, lost in thought, until it rumbled to life and Dr. Stone left.

  Chapter 57

  Evangeline

  Snow floated past her window. She’d been staring outside absently for what felt like hours.

  She kept expecting to see a shadow pass by. They’d been attacked so often lately she could barely get her muscles to unclench. Sleep was impossible. Especially with the nightmares.

  If it wasn’t memories of blood and bullets when she closed her eyes, it was fire. Her demon side was growing stronger. Her uncle wanted her to find someone else to give her mark to in order to increase her power further.

  She suspected the real reason was that it would balance out the growth of her angel side. With a wave of her hand, she changed the view out her window to a beach. Palm trees, aqua-blue water, white sand. Even though she knew it was just an illusion, it still looked real.

  The view stuttered and wavered before shattering, revealing the cold once again. She sighed. There was no escaping reality for long.

  “Evangeline,” Kadrithan whispered from the shadows. “I don’t have long.”

  She shot upright. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “We don’t have much time so I cannot explain everything as in depth as I would like.” He stayed in the corner of her room, nothing more than a blob of darkness in an already dark corner.

  “We were attacked twice in a week,” she said angrily. “You should have been here.”

  The shadow grew darker, a flash of angry red streaking through the center. “I was injured.”

  “So was Charlie.”

  “You’ll have to yell at me later, Eva. I need to tell you about your parents, and the reason you are being hunted so intently.”

  Evangeline went still, her heart pounding in her chest. “About time.”

  Chapter 58

  Genevieve

  Genevieve tossed her keys on the kitchen counter with a sigh. She’d been hoping to come home and see Steven but Derek had stolen her boyfriend.

  Instead of sitting at the house alone all day, Steven had opted to go with Derek to the mechanic shop. He knew nothing about truck engines. Or motor oil. Or…wrenches. Derek had claimed they were going to bond as humans.

  She opened the fridge and glared at the emptiness that greeted her. The one day she got off early, and she didn’t even get extra time with her own boyfriend.

  A vaguely familiar sounding car came down the driveway. It was quiet. She tilted her head to the side and listened closely. Maybe even elf-spelled. There was only one person she knew that drove a car like that but she had no idea what Agent Icewind would be doin
g here.

  As she headed toward the front door there was a polite knock. The front door unlocked on it’s own.

  “What the hell, house. You’re supposed to keep strangers out not just let them in,” she muttered, jogging to get to the door before the house decided to just open the front door all on its own.

  She peeked out the window and saw Icewind standing outside, just as suspected. When she went to open the door, it flew back, almost hitting her.

  “Excited to see me?” Icewind asked in confusion.

  She cleared her throat. “Something like that. The door sometimes…malfunctions.” Shaking her head, she put on a smile. “Anyhow, what’s up?”

  Icewind crossed her arms. “I’ve been suspended.”

  “What?”

  “Horan, the dirty little rat, reported me for harassing and stalking a suspect. I don’t know how much he paid that asshole to lie, or how he got photographs of him in my apartment without me noticing, but it worked.” Icewind shook her head, a muscle in her jaw twitching as she ground her teeth together. “I’d kill him if I thought it’d help me get my job back.”

  “Great. Well, come on in. I assume you didn’t just come here to deliver the news in person,” Genevieve said, stepping back and waving the agent inside.

  The cabinets fluttered as Icewind crossed the threshold and she could have sworn the house made a noise. She frowned. That was a weird response to a visitor but the house didn’t seem upset at least. Maybe she really liked elves.

  Ceri walked into the living room, flipping through a book distractedly. “Who was knocking––”

  Icewind nodded in greeting. “I should have known it was you that somehow convinced him to let this pack move in. You did almost talk me into changing my mind about seeing him.”