by Deanna Chase
I just wish I’d thought of that before I’d stuck my big nose in the middle of his life. I rounded the corner and made my way down to Allcot’s study. I was about to knock when I thought I heard a crash and a woman let out a cry of distress.
What the fuck? My fight reflex kicked in, and I burst through the door, ready to kick some ass. Only the minute I stepped into the room, I froze and stared in complete shock at the scene in front of me.
Allcot’s bare ass was right there in front of my face, pumping frantically away as he fucked Pandora on top of his desk. Her legs were wrapped around his hips and her head was thrown back in ecstasy as he drank from her neck, both of them moaning their pleasure and completely unaware they had an audience.
Slowly I backed out of the room and very carefully closed the door, holding my breath until I heard the tiny click of the latch. Then I ran upstairs, praying they hadn’t noticed me.
24
Dax had been planning on calling Leo, to somehow code his message so that the kid realized the two shifters needed to be followed.
But the faux Phoebe was way ahead of him. She dialed the director instead. After handing him the phone, she whispered, “Just tell her you have Phoebe in custody and that the shifters are free to go.”
Dax ground his teeth together. It was sort of true. He did have the faux Phoebe. He didn’t exactly have control over her though. And if what she said was true, there was no way in hell those two shifters should walk. But he argued with himself that they’d been model citizens over the past eight years. It didn’t excuse anything, but they could always pick them up again, right? He cleared his throat. “Director Halston. It’s Marrok…”
“Agent Marrok. I’ve been expecting your call. Is everything under control? Have you found Kilsen yet?
“Yes, fine. Phoebe’s here. I’m getting ready to bring her in, and you can go ahead and let Prim and Lincoln go. They’re safe now.”
Silence.
“Director?”
No response.
He pulled the smart phone away from his ear and noted the call had ended. But instead of reacting, he just nodded at the faux Phoebe and pressed the phone back to his ear. “There you are. You cut out for a moment. … Yes. It’s all under control. … Yes, there’s a really good explanation. I’ll put it in the report. … Thank you, Director.” Dax pressed his finger to the space where the call would end and handed the phone back to Phoebe.
She shoved it into her back pocket and nodded to the bed. “Get back on the mattress. I need a head start, and the only way to get that is to restrain you again.”
No fucking way. Dax stood rooted to the floor, watching her, wondering what she was going to do when she realized he’d refused. Another sleeping spell? He glanced at her ring, the one that he knew contained the sleeping dust.
“Dax,” she warned.
“Phoebe.” He lunged, going straight for the ring. Electric magic streamed from her hand, and it was then he noticed he was holding a metal amulet of sorts. Before, he’d thought it was her agate. No wonder the magic was different. The thought whirled through his head as he threw himself to the floor and came up, rolling back on his feet. But her magic hit him right in the chest, sending a ripple of electricity straight through him. His body twitched from the magic, but he found he was unable to force himself to move while he waited for the magic to burn itself out.
“It would’ve hurt less and been much easier if you’d have just done what I asked,” she said with a tsk and pushed him over.
He fell half on the bed and half off, but that was no problem for the faux Phoebe. She clamped his wrists and ankles back into their restraints and then tugged on some sort of pulley system until he was back in the middle of the mattress, completely incapacitated.
“You bitch,” he muttered, hating her and hating himself for not being able to outmatch a witch. He’d always known his Phoebe would likely kick his ass in a fight, but now he knew for sure. Her magic was just too powerful. That made her a great partner, but it sucked when she turned her wrath on him.
“Sorry, puppy,” she said with a saccharine smile. “But I’ll be out of your hair soon.”
“I don’t think so,” a vaguely familiar male voice said, followed by a flash of pure white magic.
Phoebe pivoted quickly, and Dax noted the scowl just before she flashed her metal amulet. Their two streams of magic collided, sparking like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
The male witch came into view, and Dax recognized him. Seth, Phoebe’s brother, stood there, magic pouring from the hilt of a dagger. It was remarkably similar to the one that Phoebe usually carried.
“Stop this, Phoebs,” Seth ordered. “It’s time to go home.”
“Stop trying to control me, you fucking bastard. Between you and Allcot, my life has been shit these past years. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You don’t mean that,” he said, shaking his head and matching her flow of magic with ease. “You and Allcot have something. I’ve seen it.”
She scoffed. “You’ve seen what I want you to see. Now fuck off. I’m going after the last two shifters that killed my real brother. You can either help or get flattened when I steamroll you.”
He seemed surprised by her revelation. Then his eyes narrowed. “What about Dax? You’re just going to leave him there in Allcot’s club, under his thumb?”
His words caused her to falter for just a second as she said, “He doesn’t work for Allcot. He works for Clio.”
Dax, unable to do anything but just listen in awe to the two of them spar, tried to make sense of what they were talking about. They were obviously talking about her Dax in the parallel universe. This Phoebe had said he was the only one she’d ever loved. But apparently not enough to go back. It surprised him that her rejection hurt him a little. She was the faux Phoebe. Not his Phoebe. It shouldn’t matter who she decided to spend her life with as long as his Phoebe came back to him.
Seth’s lips turned up into a fake smile. “Not anymore. He finally went in and took over… for you, I might add. Clio’s dead.”
She lowered her amulet and gaped at him. “Dax is bound to Allcot now?”
“Yes. Also because of you.” He moved in closer, reaching a hand out as if to comfort her.
But the faux Phoebe jerked back, tears streaming down her face, and then twirled, using both hands to knock him upside the head.
Seth was thrown halfway across the room, and Phoebe ran out but was stopped when another witch pushed her back into the room.
Nicola, Pandora’s half sister, filled the doorway and said, “Where are you headed, Phoebs?”
“Get the fuck out of my way.” Phoebe tried to barrel past her, but Nicola raised one hand, creating an impressive clear barrier.
“I don’t think so. No one wants trouble in this town,” Nicola said. “Why don’t you go back to where you came from and let us have Kilsen back?”
“Fuck off.” The faux Phoebe threw her amulet at the barrier, causing it to shatter on impact. Then she ran. But Nicola was too quick. She reached out and grabbed faux Phoebe by the hair and jerked her back. The women fell to the hardwood floor, magic and arms and legs flailing.
Streams of pure electric magic bounced around the room, some of them hitting Dax and making him seize from the sheer intensity of it. He wasn’t sure, but he thought Seth was suffering the same fate.
Then the bolts of lightning stopped, and Dax peered over the edge of the bed to find faux Phoebe sitting on top of Nicola, her hands around the other woman’s neck, choking the life out of her.
“Phoebe,” Dax shouted. “Stop! You’re killing her.”
But the crazed witch either didn’t hear him or didn’t care, because she only redoubled her efforts and started to pound Nicola’s head against the floorboards, causing a sickening crunch to ring in Dax’s ears.
“Jesus fuck,” Dax said, pulling with everything he had against his restraints.
Nicola was going to die. Phoebe—the im
poster—was going to kill her while Seth lay unconscious across the room and Dax watched helplessly from the bed.
“Nooooo!”
A warrior cry filled Dax’s ears, and just as he lifted his gaze, he spotted Leo charging into the room, Seth’s dagger in his fist, and before faux Phoebe could disentangle from Nicola, the knife plunged straight into Phoebe’s back.
The woman’s mouth dropped open, and instead of sound, only blood spilled out. She slumped over to the side, her entire body going limp.
Nicola sputtered and gasped for air as Leo dropped the dagger and sat back on his heels, his face completely white as he muttered over and over again, “I killed her. I killed Phoebe. Oh God, Dax, I killed her.”
“Get me out of these restraints,” Dax ordered.
Leo just blinked up at him, seemingly unable to process anything.
“Leo,” Dax snapped. “Get on your feet. Release me from this bed. Now!” he roared.
The yelling seemed to snap the younger shifter out of his stupor because he finally jumped to his feet and surveyed Dax’s predicament. “Sorry, Dax,” the shifter said, his voice so low Dax barely heard him. “Those require magic.”
“Fuck me.”
“I’ve got it,” Nicola croaked. She was upright and her neck was bright red, but she was very much alive. Unlike Phoebe, who appeared to be bleeding out all over the floor. With just one touch, the restraints disappeared and Dax scrambled off the bed, going straight to Phoebe.
There was excessive blood, but when he bent his face down to hers, she stared into his eyes and said, “Make those shifters pay.” Then she passed out.
“Call an ambulance,” Dax ordered. “Do it now.”
Leo scrambled to his feet, breathing hard, and a moment later Dax heard the young shifter speak into the phone.
Nicola moved to hover over Phoebe. She took one look at the wound and cursed as she pressed her hand to the injury. A pale yellow glow of magic lit Phoebe’s skin. The wounded witch jerked as if she’d been shocked but then stilled as the bleeding stopped.
“What did you do?” Dax asked.
“Just stopped the bleeding with a little cauterization. It’s going to leave a nasty scar, but it might save her life.”
“Thanks,” Dax said. He was already convinced that this Phoebe wasn’t his Phoebe. She didn’t fight like his Phoebe, and after listening to the words she’d had with Seth, he fully believed she was who she said she was. That didn’t mean he wanted her to die. Nor did he want that on Leo’s conscience.
Seth finally roused from his spot on the other side of the room. “Shit. What happened?”
“Your sister kicked your ass,” Dax said.
“She’s not my sister,” Seth said automatically.
“I gathered that.” Dax sucked in a deep breath. “I think it’s time someone explained exactly what’s going on.”
Seth ran a hand over his thick dark locks and started with, “I’ve been living in an alternate universe for most of the past eight years. A week ago, my real sister and the Phoebe you all know and love, somehow walked through that portal and was stuck when her doppelgänger slipped through to this world, trapping her there.”
25
“It looks like she’ll live,” Healer Imogen said.
Dax eyed the imposter Phoebe through a two-way mirror. The witch was sitting up, eating a sandwich. One would never guess that she’d almost died the day before. Dax turned to the healer. “Your work is impressive.”
“Nicola deserves the credit,” she said. “Her quick thinking saved the day.”
“You’re right about that.” Dax glanced over his shoulder at the witch in question. She gave him a smirk and shrugged one shoulder as if to say it was no big deal. All in a day’s work. “Is she ready to travel?”
“How far?” Imogen asked.
“Just out to River Road. Seth is ready to take her back home.”
“Sure.” She looked over at Phoebe’s brother. “How are you? Head okay? That was some hit you took.”
“Fine,” he muttered.
“All right then.” Imogen patted Dax on the arm. “When my favorite witch pops back in, make sure she comes to see me. I want to check her over again, just to be on the safe side.”
“Will do,” Dax said. Then he turned and left, heading straight for the director’s office.
“Marrok, there you are.” Director Halston had her gray hair pulled back into a long braid and was holding a thick file folder. “I’ve gone over everything you’ve reported, and the Void has decided to hold Prim Masterson and Lincoln Frost indefinitely.”
Dax nodded. “Good. Do you need any testimony from… anyone before we make the switch?”
“No, we have everything we need. But I wanted to go over the story the Void is leaking today. Make sure Kilsen is filled in as soon as possible.”
“What story?” Dax asked.
She held up the city newspaper. The headline read: Rogue Arcane Agent Goes on Killing Spree. There was a picture of Phoebe right beneath the headline.
Dax winced. “That’s going to sting.”
“Hopefully not too badly,” the director said, giving Dax the closest thing to a sympathetic smile he’d ever seen on her face. “The Void directors have come up with an explanation for why it looks like one our best snapped. The story is Phoebe had a twin who had a psychotic break. She’s the one who caused all the havoc while holding Phoebe prisoner in that run-down shack out in the bayou.”
“Phoebe’s going to hate that story,” Dax said.
“Can you think of a better one? There’s film of Kilsen fighting you, for fuck’s sake.”
The truth? Dax thought but didn’t say it. He knew why they were going with a lie, and he couldn’t even say he blamed them. The story was as close to the truth as they could get in any case. They didn’t want to tell the public there was an alternate universe with parallel lives. It invited far too much curiosity. The Void didn’t want to be responsible for two hundred people constantly trying to escape this reality for a new one. One that apparently was even worse than the one they lived in where Allcot ruled the city and occasional shifter wars broke out.
“Nah,” Dax said, finally answering her question. He shook his head. The story sure as hell was better than the city thinking Phoebe was awaiting trial and then letting her off with all charges dropped. That had been the other idea. Phoebe didn’t need the suspicion hanging around her neck. “Seems plausible enough as long as records of her show up in databases. The press will look.”
“Good. We’ve already got someone dealing with the tech trail. Now go make the swap. I’d really like to see Kilsen again.” She gave Dax a short, quick nod, dismissing him.
When Dax made it back to faux Phoebe’s holding cell, Leo was in the room, watching her through the two-way mirror.
“Hey, man,” Dax said, sitting down next to him. “How are you feeling today?”
“Sick to my stomach,” he said, and judging by the green tinge of his skin, Dax had to conclude he was telling the truth.
“Eat something bad?” Dax asked, trying to keep it light.
“Haven’t eaten since yesterday morning,” the shifter confessed.
“You don’t think that’s half the problem?”
“Dax…” He closed his eyes and clutched his hair, pulling slightly. “I can’t unsee what happened. I almost killed Phoebe.”
“Not Phoebe,” Dax insisted. “Her doppelgänger. And you did what you had to do. She was going to kill Nicola.”
“I know,” Leo said.
“No, I don’t think you do.” Dax tugged the kid to the back of the room so he was no longer staring at the faux Phoebe. “You’re a hero, Leo. Without you, this all would’ve gone down much differently. Instead, everyone is safe, and we’re headed out to make the exchange for Phoebs. Being a Void agent is often about making the tough choices. You don’t need to feel bad about doing your job.”
“I don’t, I just…” He shrugged. “The idea that I co
uld stab anyone, much less Phoebe, like that… It unsettled me, man. How do you deal?”
Dax peered at the kid. “You’ve been in fights before. Killed before too. That never seemed to bother you. Not like this. What is it, Leo?”
He bit down hard on his lip. And when he spoke, it was in the barest of whispers. “I felt like I was killing my own mother.”
Oh hell, Dax thought to himself. His confession made perfect sense. Phoebe was his mother figure. Not nearly old enough, but the one who’d been watching over him the past year, through the death of his girlfriend and his stint with drugs. She’d been by his side every step of the way. Not knowing what to say, Dax just wrapped his arms around the kid and held on tight.
It took Leo a moment, but eventually the tension eased from his shoulders and he hugged Dax back. “Thanks, man,” Leo said when they broke apart.
“She loves you too, you know.” Dax winked at the young shifter. “You just wait until she hears what a hero you were. Talk about smothering. You’re gonna want to throw her out after half a day, so hold on to the appreciation you have right now, huh, Leo?”
“I’m holding on,” Leo said.
“Good. Let’s go get my girl.”
“This is where she left us?” Leo blurted out as Seth directed them to the dilapidated old plantation. “You’re kidding me.”
“No, why?” Seth asked.
Dax and Leo shared a knowing glance before Dax said, “We actually ended up here while we were looking for her. I had a tip that she came out here looking for you. Someone spotted you, did you know that?”
“What?” Seth asked. “How? I was in the other reality.”
Dax shrugged. “No idea, but someone peeped you apparently. Anyway, we were searching for her, and this shitty road just felt like it had her energy, so we turned down it and ended up at this house.”
“I found her locket,” Leo said. “We were going to keep searching, but then we got a text that Phoebe was spotted at Howler’s, and we took off.”
