Returned

by Samantha Stone

  Banshees were only ever women, and their male relatives almost always human, barring magical diseases such as becoming a vampire.

  But money could buy magic. For the right price, maybe even the muscle of creatures.

  As they drove away, the dog sticking his head out the back window, his tongue flapping in the wind, she kept the image of the property in her mind. And then it came together, the niggling piece that kept her from closing her eyes and slumping against the seat so she could sleep until they were safely back in Louisiana.

  Zach Murphy. Zachary Murphy, principle dancer. Of course she’d known his last name this whole time; she simply hadn’t put it together. Then again, she hadn’t wanted to think about Zach since she’d witnessed him go from healthy and hale to no body to be found in so little time that death seemed to be a very real, very terrifying consequence for a single mistake.

  Then again, she didn’t exactly plan on kidnapping anyone.

  Was there a chance Zach had been her cousin? It was a horrifying thought, not because the man was dead, but since he was so willing to hurt his own family.

  Alex stopped the car in front of a bridge as it lifted up, allowing a huge sailboat to glide underneath them. They were crossing the Tchoutacabouffa River, headed for I-10, whereas the boat was probably sailing for Biloxi Bay. She made a mental note to come out to the house the pack owned near here. A beach vacation sounded perfect.

  Was someone from the pack out here now? If not, she could hole up there for a few hours and recoup. She really didn’t want to go home, and she didn’t want to go to the pack, either.

  They’d lock her up until she was thirty.

  Wishing she’d kept in touch enough to know if they were here, she signed idly to Alex, who knew about the pack’s house in nearby Pass Christian. That asshole could’ve let me keep my purse, she told him with a sigh. I’m probably going to have to get another phone. Since her purse had been left in a parking lot, she’d need a new driver’s license and a set of keys to replace those they had probably been taken when someone picked up her purse.

  Because there was no way her discarded bag would be in that lot when she got back. Never had she been happier that she kept her credit card at home.

  Watching her sign and the bridge lower, Alex reached behind them to the floorboard of the backset and pulled out…her purse.

  I saw him take you, and I let him so I could put a stop to whoever was after you. He gripped the steering wheel tightly as if he expected her to sign something back. When she didn’t, shocked he’d been watching her, he continued despite the safely lowered bridge. At least there wasn’t another car waiting behind them.

  I’ve kept an eye on you since—he stopped and gripped the wheel so hard it shook. Then it disappeared the same way Zach had. It didn’t take long for a replacement to arrive in his hands, perfectly functional, with the exact appearance of the last wheel. How often did he destroy things without meaning to?

  I’ve never not looked out for you. Ash, same as what Zach had become, floated around the car. It was the very same substance she’d been wiping off her clothes and face for months…ever since he’d left.

  He had been watching her. Always.

  If she hadn’t told him someone was after her, ready to kill her a second time, she would’ve been more than slightly creeped out. But she’d confided in him about her fears, having known they’d come for her. Then, she hadn’t known who they were, but remembered shadowed humans with guns. They hadn’t taken anything with them, and they’d known exactly how to kill her mother, an immortal. A bullet through the head could kill most creatures.

  Knowing he’d been there for her was salve on an open wound.

  Wanting to take his hand, she merely nodded instead and reached inside her purse for her phone. The car started to move again, but she could feel Alex’s eyes on her.

  She had more than thirty missed calls, most of them from Mary, Raphael, and Wish. Each member of the pack, and some numbers she didn’t recognize, had called her at least twice.

  They loved her, but overbearing was an understatement to describe the lot of them.

  Her sister and brother-in-law would keep. Her leg wouldn’t. She dialed Aiyanna using FaceTime, hoping the healer wasn’t busy.

  Aiyanna answered quickly. The panther shapeshifter asked her something, worry darkening her usually cheerful features. Leila balanced her phone on the dashboard—badly—so she could use both hands.

  My batteries are dead; I can’t hear anything. Leila waited for Aiyanna’s nod. I’ll tell you where to meet me if you promise not to tell Mary and Raphael where I am.

  Aiyanna’s brows shot up, her amber eyes going wide. Why wouldn’t I tell my Alpha and his mate where their sister is? she signed slowly, frowning.

  Leila pulled her trump card. Because of this. Taking her phone, she put the camera so it showed her battered, very broken leg. If she jostled it much more, it would turn into a compound fracture. Putting the phone back on the dash, she signed, If you don’t agree to this, I’m going to be in pain for a hell of a lot longer than I want to be. And Cael can’t say anything, either.

  It was a cruel move, playing on Aiyanna’s weaknesses. The healer had an almost compulsive need to help others. She wouldn’t be able to leave Leila like this, no matter how much she hated lying to her Alpha. But Leila didn’t have a choice; if she let Aiyanna involve Raphael, she’d be taken away from Alex immediately.

  Literally. Two werewolves in the pack could use their air abilities to travel anywhere in less than a moment’s time. It was described to her as moving through air particles, with the element pushing them in the correct direction. Cael, Aiyanna’s mate, was one of those weres. If she agreed to meet Leila, Cael could bring her in seconds.

  It would buy her some time with Alex. The man hadn’t only been her boyfriend—he was her best friend. He was who she wanted to be with right now, despite her lack of trust in him.

  Embarrassingly, the thought of leaving him made her heart clench.

  She wasn’t being reasonable, and in the process, she was mistreating Aiyanna.

  It’s been a long day, she thought miserably.

  Fine. Aiyanna scowled at her, but she seemed more concerned than angry. Neither Cael nor I will tell Raphael, Mary, or anyone else in the pack about this.

  Cael appeared over her shoulder. Don’t make us regret this.

  Leila nodded. Meet us in twenty at the house on the coast. Bring some batteries for my processor, please.

  She hung up and realized Alex had stopped the car. Behind them, the dog scratched the seat, his mouth barely open in what looked like a whine. Apparently, the awkwardness between Leila and Alex made him uneasy. Leila couldn’t blame him.

  I’m not going with them, she signed without looking at Alex. I’m furious with you…but I want to stay with you. She bit her lip. At least until I don’t have crazed humans trying to kill me.

  Chapter 4

  I want to stay with you. Those words, despite her anger, gave Alexandre hope for the first time since he’d been given his memories back and realized he was a completely different person than he’d thought. Everything he’d lived for—protecting the innocent, his pack, Leila—had been stripped away by the truth of what he was.

  Maybe everything didn’t have to change after all.

  He faced forward, unable to respond to Leila anyway since he was driving and couldn’t sign back to her. Not even the dog made a sound as they drove for the pack’s beach house, a small wooden home on stilts that he’d helped paint lime green the summer before. Leila and her sister had painted the inside shades of teal, and afterward, down at the beach, Leila had been covered in blue spots the size of dimes that had run through her shirt to stain her flawless skin.

  Her body, lithe and athletic, had taken his breath away. He’d told her exactly that…after calling her Smurfette.

  A hand whacked him in the shoulder, and he turned to see Leila glaring at
him.

  What’s so funny? she asked, clearly unamused.

  Once they pulled up to a stoplight, he signed, I was remembering the last time we came down here, back in August. Alex didn’t try to hide his smile.

  He cherished those memories, the ones with her and the pack. It did no good to try to avoid them, as he had for the past five months. Thinking about her, and those who used to be his friends, was the only source of good in his life.

  Alex treasured his times with Leila most of all. As soon as she’d lit up his life with her innate trust in him, they instantly fell into companionship. It wasn’t purposeful but as if sheer magnetism drew them together. His mouth dried, and he suddenly found it hard to swallow. They had been inseparable. He needed that back like he’d need to regrow an essential limb.

  Without the memories of her and his packmates, all he had was a float of warlocks that showed loyalty to no one and an amount of power he could hardly control, much less use like he wished.

  Not to mention, warlocks worldwide planned on the destruction of all creatures. Once he’d regained his memories, it wasn’t such a surprise. This had been in the works for close to one thousand years…and Alexandre had been an active participant for a long time before becoming were.

  The fact was, warlock numbers had been dwindling. Other creatures were afraid of them for what they could do—which was, essentially, anything. This fear drove werewolves, the Fey, and even vampires to kill whatever warlocks they came in contact with. There was no peace between warlocks and any other races; at best they were tolerated.

  So to defend what he was, and the few men he could call allies, whether they truly were or not, he’d helped this plan along. The reason they took him from that ball, away from Leila and the new life he’d built for himself, was because they needed him and his power to finally implement the plan.

  Basically, I royally fucked up.

  That wiped the smile right from his face.

  When they pulled up to the house, Aiyanna and Cael were already waiting in the driveway, the former with her hands on her hips. Alexandre threw up a glamour to keep Cael from attacking him before he parked. The man already looked furious, his arms crossed, stretching his mate’s name tattooed across his biceps. That’s new.

  The glamour in place, Alexandre got out of the car, freed the dog before he jumped out of the window in excitement, and picked Leila up in his arms. Despite the bruise coloring half of her face and her leg hanging had an unnatural angle, she appeared tired more than anything else. Having watched her all this time, he was aware she’d cried for him often. Some of the life had left her when he did.

  Guilt slammed into him, making him stumble. The bright sunlight revealed the true extent of the damage he’d done to her. I don’t deserve you, he thought, grinding his teeth.

  And still, this incredible woman wanted him to stay. At that moment, he didn’t know what would happen in the coming weeks or months, or how their relationship would play out. He did, however, know one thing for certain: from this second onward, the only person who could keep Leila away from him was her, and no one, not even herself, could bring her harm.

  Never again.

  He dropped the glamour. Aiyanna gasped, turning her attention from Beau to Alex, but Cael didn’t blink.

  “I smelled you, asshole,” Cael snarled. He didn’t move from his stance beside his mate, but Alex knew he could be at his throat in less than a second if he wanted to.

  “Yeah, baby, and he smells like unwashed dog,” Aiyanna told him. Her wry grin faded when her gaze moved to Leila. “I hope the other guy looks a hell of a lot worse,” she murmured, meeting Alex’s eyes.

  He nodded, letting some of his own fury show. “There’s nothing left of him.”

  Aiyanna clapped her hands together, her engagement ring glinting. All right, let’s get you healed so you can change your batteries. I feel rude talking when you can’t hear me, she signed.

  Leila moved her head weakly, and Alexandre didn’t hesitate a moment longer. He brought her inside and put her on the bed in the room she’d stayed in last time. The cheerful décor seemed out of place with the day’s events, with a metal painted turtle smiling at him from the wall, and the obligatory glass vase filled with seashells.

  “This isn’t a day at the beach,” he wanted to snarl.

  Eyeballing the too-happy turtle, he moved out of Aiyanna’s way while the dog bounded up on the bed beside Leila. He lay down by her side, putting his large brown head on her collarbone so he could watch Aiyanna and Cael’s every move.

  Immediately, Aiyanna went to work on Leila’s leg. A few minutes later, when sweat began to bead on her brow, Cael put a chair behind her and gently pushed her to sit. Once her usually golden brown skin took a gray turn and her eyes fluttered to keep open, she stopped.

  There was bruising on Leila’s leg, and none of her other injuries had been addressed, but the pain that made her teeth clench and flared bright in her eyes diminished exponentially. Now she sat up on the bed, reaching out to take the batteries from Cael, who’d taken them out of their plastic casing while Aiyanna worked.

  That dog snores, Leila commented, gifting a fond look down at the animal practically lying across her. She inserted the batteries and blinked. He wondered if she braced herself for the onslaught of sound.

  “What’s Fido’s real name?” Aiyanna asked. She reached out to pet the beast.

  Leila and Alex exchanged a look.

  How about Beau? Leila signed. Doesn’t that mean handsome in French? She aimed her questions in Alex, the corner of her mouth tipping upward. I think he’s handsome enough, don’t you?

  Alex couldn’t help from surveying the dog in question, as if he were contemplating the name. Of course, he didn’t care what they named the beast so long as it pleased Leila.

  “Oui, and I think he passes muster.” Alex smiled. “Beau it is.”

  Beau huffed, but he didn’t bother opening his eyes.

  “Alex.”

  Alexandre turned at Cael’s voice and was met with the other man’s fist. In his surprise—and the sudden pain in his nose—he released a jolt of energy he had to redirect for the damned turtle art.

  The turtle, along with layers of paint and some drywall, disintegrated.

  If Alex hadn’t caught himself, Cael would be gone instead of the stupid art piece.

  When Cael made another move, Alexandre released a controlled blast of sparks meant to both sting and keep the other man away. Instead of backing off, Cael lunged toward him, heedless of his peril.

  “Stop!”

  Everyone stopped to look at Leila. Blood trickled from Cael’s nose, and a blood vessel had burst in Aiyanna’s eye.

  Alexandre remained utterly unaffected.

  Flushing, Leila signed, It appears I have my voice back. At Aiyanna’s confused expression and Cael’s low growl, she added, Zach, the guy who kidnapped me, gave me something that kept my vocal folds from working right. It was the only reason I couldn’t have rescued myself. With that, she frowned at Alexandre.

  Even trying to look fierce, she appeared as fragile and vulnerable as always. With large sapphire eyes, porcelain skin, and such a slight build, she was the picture of innocence. Alexandre knew better—having watched her dance too many times to count, there was no doubting her strength. She was a true athlete and could probably hold her own better than anyone gave her credit for.

  No one would let her try. Every time the pack was in trouble and kept Leila away, she took it personally. Given, only Alexandre had known how hard it would be to kill her since they hadn’t realized she was immortal. He suspected that wouldn’t change now that they were aware of the truth.

  “I think,” Alexandre started, meeting her gaze, “you could’ve taken him out if you’d been able to hear him. The coward waited until you had that disadvantage, which tells me he didn’t think he could take you without the extra boost.”

  Pride practically radiate
d from Leila. She lifted her chin. You’re right. Her eyes narrowing at Cael, she told him and Aiyanna what happened at the estate, including her doubts about a possible relation to the senator.

  What you really need to take from that is what Alex is capable of. Don’t mess with him, Cael. If you start it and Alex doesn’t finish it, I will.

  The look she shot Alex after making that proclamation dared him to contradict her. At a loss, he held up his hands in surrender.

  Surprisingly, Aiyanna laughed, her almost-gold eyes sparkling with humor despite the lingering redness. “We expected no different, little screamer.”

  “Just because we anticipated this doesn’t mean we think you’re being smart.” Cael’s mouth was a thin line, and his voice was rough, aggressive. “You realize he’s a warlock, meaning he’s a murderer. He has power on him, right now, that I can bet came at the cost of someone else’s life.”

  Alexandre regarded Leila, whose expression hadn’t changed. “It was a life, like Zach’s, that caused harm. The world is a better place without him.”

  “Do you think any warlock is capable of making that judgment?” Cael snapped.

  “As well as a convicted werewolf can,” Alexandre shot back.

  Beau was between them, snarling at Cael before they could go for each other’s throats. Leila was still pointing at them; she’d gotten Beau to intervene.

  “Tell me where you are tomorrow, and I’ll take away the last of the aches and pains,” Aiyanna told Leila quietly. “Cael, baby, I think it’s time we left.”

  His eyes softened when he took his mate’s hand, but Cael was as angry as ever when he addressed Leila and Alexandre. “I’ll let you tell Mary and Raphael what happened.” He gestured to Leila’s phone on the bed beside her, which was currently ringing silently. Mary. “But I guarantee choosing Alex will lead to bloodshed. He abandoned our pack and then declared war on us.” Cael lowered his voice. “Alex left you, as well.”

  Leila moved so quickly that she must have been feeling better. In one fluid move, she took a lamp from the side table and threw it directly for Cael’s head. He shot across the room using his air ability, bringing Aiyanna with him. The ceramic lamp shattered.