by A Lonergan
Micah gritted his teeth together before his shoulders slumped in defeat. “Fine, but you aren’t going to go in there to get her. We stick to the original plan. Rafe, you have to stay here.”
Chapter 48
Tracey
By the time all of my knives were strapped to my legs and waist, the Guardians were ready to go. They took longer to get ready than any body else I had ever met. Women included. I slipped my hood over my honey-colored hair and prowled into the clearing behind the manor. I could make out the broken sofa through the window to Jade’s cottage.
My lips thinned out as I pressed them together. Each man wore a stoic expression and tonight wasn’t the night to try to find out who had done it. That could wait. Even though I did want to put a knife in the big oaf that did it.
I rolled my shoulders, then my neck as the Guardians strolled in. Micah wasn’t dressed for combat, but I imagined he didn’t have to be. He could walk into the place. The only thing that would hinder his story of kidnapping was that he looked too good.
My blade sang through the air before it sank thickly into his shoulder. The force of it knocked him back a few steps before he yanked the knife out of his skin. He hissed as it went. Blood poured from the wound before the skin started to stitch itself back together.
Knox had his fingers wrapped around my throat before I could pull another knife out. “What the hell are you doing?”
I grinned as his fingers tightened. “There is one flaw in your plan.”
Rafe growled across the small area. “Release her.” His demand cracked through the air like a whip. Knox immediately dropped his hand but he didn’t step away from me. He took a step closer. His pupils were completely blown and there wasn’t any color left in them. This was what happened when they hunted. I inched closer to him, answering the challenge. With Rafe I couldn’t stare him down, it hurt too much. Knox? I could do it until my eyes fell out. His lips twisted into a wicked grin.
“What’s the flaw, Tracey?” Rafe broke our stare down.
I cleared my throat and took a step back but I didn’t break eye contact. I wouldn’t show weakness. Not to Knox. I spoke while I stared into his eyes. “If Micah goes in there, Damian isn’t going to trust that we didn’t hold him hostage. He might not be a wolf but he has more than enough wolves to smell us on him. He needs to look the part or he’s going to be very suspicious.”
Rafe nodded and my next knife lodged into Micah’s other shoulder with a sickening crunch. Micah grunted as he pulled this one out. Mav leaned over and his fist shot across Micah’s face. Rafe was the only one that winced.
There was something seriously wrong with us.
Somehow the plan continued to change from the moment we were done beating Micah senselessly. He was bloodied and bruised. Unfortunately for him, we had to give him wolfsbane to make any injuries stick, so that meant they hurt pretty badly too. He was also stuffed into my trunk and knocked out cold. Thankfully the wolf had given us directions to this place before we knocked him out. We had to be believable, if not thorough.
The gravel crunched under my tires as we neared the estate. There wasn’t much nervous energy in my car. More adrenaline than anything else. I had managed to block most of the electric energy in my vision so I could drive. Granny had explained one too many times that powerful witches sometimes couldn’t control seeing the golden threads in the world around them. Because of this, many of them had drivers, but in the witch community… the more power you have, the more influence, which means more money. Granny was a powerful witch but she had given it all up for my grandfather. She had given it all up for love. I could empathize with that but I couldn’t understand it. I had never loved. I had never had the urge to find it. Being a dominant female wolf didn’t make it easy to find a date, and now I had witch to add to the resume. Knox’s black motorcycle came to a stop on the passenger side of my car.
He couldn’t just be hot, he had to have all the hot accessories to go with. He slammed his booted feet to the earth and I tried to ignore the desire that rolled through me. I sighed. He was the most annoying man on the planet and I found him hot. I had always found him hot but I had managed to ignore it enough so he wouldn’t scent my desire in the air.
Well, actually, I didn’t want anyone to smell it. That was the most frustrating thing about being a wolf. Something that most wolves learned to ignore, but the Guardians? They were still in their prime. They loved to know that the women wanted them and I hated that the most. Mav was right behind him on his bike then Archer pulled up in his black SUV a few seconds later.
Knox kicked open my trunk and the desire I felt went away quickly. I frowned as I slammed my car door. “Can you be more gentle?”
Knox rolled his head my way and raised a brow. “Why would I do that? We have a prisoner in here.”
“The prisoner isn’t my car,” I pressed my lips together as I rolled my hand for him to hurry up. Micah immediately jumped from the back and rammed his head into Knox’s nose. I couldn’t keep the smirk off of my face as blood sprayed. Micah hardly made it a few feet before Mav threw his massive body onto him and tackled him to the ground.
Micah jerked his shoulders around while Mav forced him up. “He won’t negotiate with you. He doesn’t care about me that much.”
I cracked my neck as I surveyed the woods around us. This time the magic came to me full force. The brightness of the interwebs of magic almost brought me to my knees. I pressed my hand to my chest as I narrowed my eyes to get a better view. We were completely surrounded. “We are here for Damian. We have something that he might want back.”
A woman stepped from the woods, her onyx skin glistened in the moonlight. “What could we possibly want with him? He’s probably given up all of our information.”
Micah spat at Mav. I expected the big brute to lose his cool on that one. He simply smiled as the salvia rolled down his cheek then splattered against his shoulder. “Damian spelled us against torture. You know that.”
A man walked out of the woods behind the woman to look at Micah with weary eyes. “He doesn’t look like he’s working with them. You know what a shit actor he was, especially when we would go scouting for new wolves.”
For good measure, Mav grinned as he punched Micah in the stomach. The poor man fell to the ground and Mav didn’t stop there. He continued to kick the poor man while he was down.
The woman held her hand up. “Stop, Damian will want to see him.”
Knox leaned against my car as Archer marched forward. “You won’t get him back until we see Jade.”
There was a snicker from the trees. “You won’t be seeing Jade. She isn’t taking visitors at the moment.” His voice made my stomach drop. They were hurting her. “But we will be happy to make a trade with you.” The man that came out of the woods had long blond hair that brushed past his shoulders. He wore fighting leathers similar to ours and based on the golden threads pulsing around him, he had a lot of magic at his disposal. When his eyes landed on mine, his brows furrowed with confusion.
“What do you have in mind?” Knox watched him with a bored expression.
“Jade told you that she didn’t need rescuing, why would you come back for her? She is perfectly happy here.” The man didn’t look at me again as he spoke to the men. Good, I hoped he underestimated me. I was going to rip his heart out first.
Archer shrugged. “You’re right, we miss Jade, but there are bigger fish to fry here. The King of the Rogues for starters. We would like to meet him.”
The man grinned. “There it is. You sense power here.”
I rolled my eyes. How insufferable. Power-hungry men were the worst. The big bad witch rolled his eyes back to me. “I would love to dissect the magic inside of you.”
A growl ripped through the air and shook the ground beneath my feet. Knox stalked toward the man. “You will not look at her again.”
Chapter 49
Tracey
The estate was hidden with magic. As soon as we passed t
hrough the trees, we were walking on a concrete driveway to a massive modern-looking castle. Behind it was a rubble pile that had once been the residence of all the witches and wolves Damian had under his thumb. Now it looked like it was ancient ruins. Barely anything was left of it.
The man must have sensed power inside of Knox because he didn’t look in my direction again, either that or he didn’t want to poke the bear. I couldn’t ignore how hot the possessiveness was, but on another note… It was extremely annoying. But everything Knox did got on my nerves. He was just that kind of person. He could sneeze and somehow he would make it irritating.
The man leading us flicked his fingers to the left and the oak door swung open with zero effort. No one stood on the other side. We were walking into the den of monsters and nothing worried me more. My eyes surveyed everything around us as Archer shoved our prisoner forward and he stumbled walking up the steps. My fingers twitched for a knife or even my claws to poke through. I didn’t like this at all. Everything inside me was screaming danger!
The magic in the air had stilled. There didn’t seem to be any magical energy around us as we continued into the keep. At the end of the long hallway, a man stood with his back toward us. He was either awfully stupid or too powerful for his own good. When he turned around his magical aura blinded me momentarily. How could he even see? He had to be able to see through the walls with that much magic.
I inhaled deeply through my nose and the magic settled a bit but not enough for me to get a good read on him. What I wouldn’t give for Granny to be here. Archer shoved Micah forward and he scrambled across the floor. My lip lifted in a sneer.
“Disgusting,” I whispered as I crossed my arms over my chest.
“The Crimson Clan,” the witch grinned. “Yes, it’s finally nice to meet all of you.” His hair was brushed back away from his face and there were little spots of red on his hands and shirt. My stomach clenched. No.
Knox cocked his head. “Crimson Pack.”
His grin only grew. “Yes, my apologies. I’m Damian.”
I swallowed hard but at least he didn’t look at me. Mav took a step forward. “By order of the Pack Law, you must stop creating and harboring wolves against their will.”
“You’re the enforcers of the Pack Law now?” Damian’s grin stayed in place. He was a handsome bastard but I could see the cruel calculating look in his eyes.
Knox cracked his knuckles. “No, not entirely. But we will be someday.”
Damian jutted his head forward while he sucked on his teeth. All that mattered was that we got Micah in. We needed to get out sooner rather than later. “I don’t answer to Pack Law, but my plans are to abolish it.”
Archer took a deep breath as he leaned against the wall. “Is Jade okay?”
Damian’s eyes remained on Knox. “Yes, she is currently dining with my five-star chef.” His words smelled like truth but there was something else. He wasn’t being completely truthful. Archer took a step forward and a growl rumbled through the area.
Damian shook his head. “You came into my home, you try to negotiate with one of the men you kidnapped and you expect me to care about what you want or don’t want?”
“We only miss our friend,” I whispered. It was true. I desperately missed her and all I wanted to do was get her out of here. That was all that mattered. I didn’t care if he wanted to rule the world, we could stop that later.
Damian’s eyes roved over my body. It took every ounce of willpower to keep my eyes lowered to the ground while he did it. I had to look submissive. “The witch and the wolf. All wrapped up and delivered right to me. What is better than that? You’re even prettier than Jade.”
Knox growled again but this time it wasn’t as threatening. We were in the belly of the beast. He would be stupid to provoke a powerful witch in his own domain, with even more powerful monsters lurking around where we couldn’t see.
Damian smirked. “Yes, and you’re powerful.” He inhaled and I finally looked up at him. His face held wonder as he closed his eyes to savor the scent. “I do love a challenge. I might just let the witches after you. They love half breeds even more than I do.”
Lie.
He snapped his fingers and a man marched from a doorway to the left. He scooped Micah off of the floor. “Take him to the infirmary.” The way he said it made me believe he was bringing Micah somewhere else. “As for all of you, I hate to say it but whatever you hoped to accomplish today, it won’t be happening. I have lots of things to plan, starting with the downfall of your Alpha.”
My jaw ticked.
“How about this?” Damian watched as Micah was half-dragged down the hall. “I know you have the children and I know you aren’t here just for a simple talk. I’ll let you go but only so you can tell your Alpha what’s coming for him.”
Chapter 50
Jade
“You need to eat,” the man said from the doorway. His hands shook as he pushed a tray into the cell I had been forced into. I had fought and scratched but it was no use. My body was too weak to escape the prison I had been thrown in. I kicked the tray away with my bare foot and slid back into the dark corner. Starving myself was better than eating the wolfsbane in the food. I shook my head hard and it felt like the room was spinning. He exhaled hard. “You don’t understand, he said you will eat or I will be punished. My family will be punished.”
I didn’t want to see the poor man’s family punished but I also wasn’t going to be weak in here. Whatever Damian had done to my skin, it was a sickly color and I had a feeling I was running a fever. Every few seconds I either felt like I was on fire or ice cold. I shook my head again. There was nothing I could do to help this man. He had to help himself. If they all rose up, they could have more power than Damian. They could liberate themselves but there was nothing I could do while I withered away in the darkness.
There was a shout before a door slammed down the hall. It rattled the bars on the door to my cell. I didn’t worry about getting my hopes up on anything exciting happening. Damian was probably in another mood and coming to take it out on me. I curled my arms around my knees and rested my chin on the tops of them. As the shouting grew closer, my hands began to shake.
I would fight. I would try. I wouldn’t allow him to hurt me again.
My fingers balled into fists as I prepared for him to try to hurt me again. My body trembled as I tensed. Except, it wasn’t Damian that came flying through the door. It was Micah with a guard behind him. My shoulders straightened as I pushed out of the corner. The guard tossed him into the cell with me. He tumbled across the cobblestones and came to a skidding stop at my feet. His face looked like it had been beaten into a pulp.
The chef that had delivered my food had disappeared. The door to our cell slammed closed. Micah rose off of the floor in a jerky fashion.
“What are you doing?” he croaked out as the guard went to turn to leave.
The guard didn’t turn back to us but threw over his shoulder. “You aren’t one of us. You are probably the reason Damian is insane right now.”
“Did Damian tell you to do this?” Micah yelled. The guard didn’t answer and we were left alone. Micah wasted no time. He whipped around faster than an injured man should have. He knelt down beside me and took my hands in his. “It’s time to go, little wolf.”
I reared back. “What?”
Micah shook his head as he surveyed the walls and pulled me to my feet. “We don’t have much time, Jade. You need to get up.”
My body shook as I was forced to my feet. Pain laced straight through my stomach and it took every ounce of my power not to double over on the injury causing me so much pain. I sucked air through my teeth and managed to stand up straight.
“We can’t get out of here.” I shook my head. There was no way out.
Micah rolled his eyes. “They’ve drugged you enough they don’t have any cameras down here. There is only one line of electricity running through this dungeon. It isn’t enough for cameras and lights. All t
he guards are worried about the threat above us, currently.”
I frowned as I followed him to the door. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and yanked on the iron. It didn’t protest as he pulled it free from the wall. He was careful to place the massive door on the ground and leaned it against the wall. It hardly made a sound.
“The wolves will be listening, we have to be careful.” He tucked my hand inside of his. “Are you okay to run?”
His eyes dipped to my stomach. My eyebrows pulled together. “What do you know?”
“Did he carve a ‘D’ into your stomach?”
I pulled my hand out of his and took a step away from him. “What’s going on?”
“That’s for Rafe to explain. He felt your pain and the same thing happened to him.”
I gasped. “Damian must have used magic. He wanted you all to come out and find me. This is a trap.”
Micah put his hands on either of my shoulders. “Damian is preoccupied above us. That is all that matters. We have to get you out. There are tunnels down here. Thank goodness I didn’t have to try to find you. Damian made all of this easier for me.”
I held my hand up. “What about the children?”
Micah grinned. “They’re safe. We got them out. He kept all of his eggs in one basket.”
“Tunnels?”
Micah nodded. “Yes, there are tunnels down here. I went over the blueprints of the house months ago. I didn’t know if I would need a way to escape. Thankfully I did that or this would be going a lot worse right now.”
It couldn’t be that easy and I refused to believe anything otherwise. Until we got to my pack, I wouldn’t feel safe. I wouldn’t feel like I won. I didn’t know if that would be enough. Damian was more powerful than we knew and he was holding it all back. He would find me again. I pressed my back against the wall and refused to go on.
