by Deanna Chase
Of course she did. I was well prepared for the ass chewing. I wasn’t supposed to let Dax out of my sight, and yet I hadn’t even thought to go after him when he’d snapped at me and then stalked off.
“Thank you, Director,” I said into the phone.
“Don’t thank me yet. Once you find him, bring him straight back to the Void. He’s not to be out in the general public until this matter is resolved. Do you understand?”
“But—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Kilsen. I had one condition, and you broke it. Marrok is dangerous. Bring him in or there will be consequences.”
“Yes ma’am,” I said, only to realize a second later that she’d already ended the call. “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.
“You can say that again.” The tech connected the phone to her computer with a USB cable, and her fingers flew over the keyboard as she tapped her program that killed the security features on his government-issued phone. “Whatever Marrok did, he’s in deep shit.”
“You have no idea,” I said.
A moment later, she handed me the phone. “It’s an open book now, so don’t let it land in the wrong hands.”
“I won’t. Thanks.” Without another word, I spun on my heel and sprinted back to the parking lot. The moment I slid back into my Charger, I activated the tracking device on his phone.
A map of New Orleans popped up on the screen. A blue dot indicating the location of the phone appeared, followed by a thin blue line that led out of the city. But when the line reached the edge of the bayou, it stopped mapping and a spinning wheel appeared on the screen.
I waited and waited and waited, and still the wheel continued to spin.
“Dammit!” I wanted to throw the phone, smash it against something, but instead I tucked it into the console and laid my foot on the gas. I’d just have to pray the app started to work again or else I was going to hit a dead end out in the bayou.
I couldn’t recall ever pushing the Charger as hard as I did that night. During the straightaway on the freeway, the speedometer topped 140. If not for the two other cars on the road, it’s possible I’d have pushed it to the limit. But even I wasn’t that crazy.
In no time, I crossed the line into the back roads of the bayou, only to have the app blink out on the phone. I gritted my teeth and pulled over into a gravel parking lot in front of a broken-down shack that had an impeccable sign that read: Gators, Bait, and Hurricanes.
I tapped the icon of the tracking app on the phone. Nothing happened. I tapped it again, got it to flash up on the screen, but it closed immediately. After a few more tries, I cursed and tossed Dax’s phone into the passenger’s seat. There was clearly something in the area interfering with the technology.
“Now what?” I said out loud to nobody. I couldn’t just go back into town. Dax was out here somewhere. But if I just started driving around, not only would my chances of finding him be next to zero, if I did manage to stumble upon him, my element of surprise would be nonexistent. And if he was in trouble, all I’d manage to do would be to get myself ambushed before I could be of any assistance. I had to find him another way.
The orange moon was high in the sky, casting an eerie glow over the bayou. I stared up at it and started to feel a tingle of energy wash over my skin. It was faint, but it was there.
Magic. It was in the air, it permeated it, and it was likely what was blocking the technology I needed to find Dax’s Trooper. Someone had cast a spell over the entire area. Gooseflesh popped up on my skin. Whoever had cast the spell was powerful, perhaps more powerful than I was. There was only one way to find out, and that was to fight magic with magic.
I pushed my door open and uncurled from the protection of my vehicle. Once I was outside, the magic was more noticeable. It brushed against my skin and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It was thick and ugly and meant to harm. There was no question I should’ve had backup in this situation, but my sense of urgency was off the charts. If Dax was out there, I had to find him, and soon.
Standing with my hands over my head, I stretched my arms out toward the moon and called up my magic. The familiar warmth started in the pit of my stomach and spread through my limbs, instantly calming me. I pictured Dax’s handsome face in my mind and opened my heart, letting all my emotions for him free. Love and trust and bonds of friendship overwhelmed me, bringing tears to my eyes.
I blinked and barely noticed when the tears rolled down my face. All I saw was Dax’s dark eyes and the love that reflected back at me every time we shared ourselves with one another. My skin tingled with the memory of his touch, and my heart skipped a beat as I recalled his gentle kisses. Then I focused on his wolf and his fierce protectiveness. All my memories of him collided, swirling in a collage of chaos, making my head spin.
“Dax,” I whispered and was gratified when my magic responded. The chaos stopped, and clear as day, I saw Dax standing in front of me, naked as if he’d just transformed into his human form. I smiled at him and said, “Show me.”
He shook his head in defeat.
I frowned. “Just show me where you are.”
He waved a hand, opening a window into his world. All I saw was a dark room with Dax lying naked on a wood floor. His hands and feet were chained to rings that were screwed into the wall. There was nothing to show me where he was or how to get there. Disappointment crashed into me and I took a step back, rocked by my failure.
Dax turned back to me with regret in his eyes. It was as if he was admitting defeat.
“No!” I cried. “You will not give up. You hear me? You will fight this, fight them, and you will stay alive and sane until I find you. Understand?”
He shook his head again, this time a flash of pity flickering in his gaze.
“Daxon Marrok, don’t you fucking dare.” I pointed my finger at him, waving it in his face. “I will find you, and you will not turn into some crazy monster. Get it through your thick skull right now. Phoebe Kilsen does not lose. You will still be the same Dax as you were last week, the Dax I know and love, when I find your sorry ass. Don’t give up on me now, because I sure as hell haven’t given up on you.”
The pity and defeat had vanished. This time when his gaze met mine, I was rewarded with fierce determination. Then he nodded and disappeared into thin air.
21
Dax woke with a start. Phoebe’s face was swimming in his mind, and one word stuck with him. Survive.
Phoebe was out there, and she was coming, he was sure of it. All he had to do was stay alive and keep Leo from being infected with the toxin.
A small sliver of light shone through the tiny crack between the barely open door and the frame. It was enough to show him that he was still chained to the wall. But at least this time when he moved his arms, the pain was dulled, indicating he was healing. It also meant there was a strong possibility he could shift his way out of his restraints.
The most common way to keep a shifter locked up was to drug them with a substance that would keep them from shifting. But thanks to Phoebe’s magic and the five-pointed pentacle she’d convinced him to let her tattoo into his skin, he was immune to that particular substance.
Dax sucked in a deep breath and braced himself. After the beating he’d taken, the sane thing to do was to wait at least forty-eight hours before trying to shift. But Dax didn’t have any time to waste. If he was going to protect Leo, it was now or never.
In the next room, his captors were still having a heavy debate on whether to wake Leo or not. One thought they shouldn’t. He was ready to drug Leo right then and there. Another argued they needed to be more careful, make sure they didn’t kill him with an overdose. She said he was too pretty to die. Another thought they should wait for King. Others agreed, then a loud argument broke out. Dax didn’t really care about the particulars. He just knew he needed to be free and ready to fight for the kid.
Every muscle already ached. Every bone felt bruised and battered. Weariness seeped deep inside every cell
. His entire being begged for sleep, for healing, for nourishment. He ignored it all and went to the quiet place in his mind where he pictured himself shifting into his wolf.
The dark gray image of himself sauntered out into his mind, and in the next moment, excruciating pain made him bite down hard on his tongue to keep himself from crying out. Thousands upon thousands of sharp needles stabbed into every inch of his skin while his bones felt as if they were disintegrating inside his body. His entire world was one deep pool of torture.
He wasn’t even sure he had the energy to survive the shift, and he had a moment of wondering if he’d ever wake from his hell or if he’d just descend to the fiery gates for eternity. He’d never much believed in heaven and hell, but in that moment, he was a believer and he knew his place. Dax had spent much of his life pretending he was one of the good guys. But he knew now he was a beast, just like every other wolf and vampire out there. A beast who deserved what he got, deserved to suffer. Deserved to live forever in the nasty underworld with no joy, no sunshine, and most of all, no compassion.
Then his paws scraped the floor. The cloud of despair lifted, taking his delusional dreams with it. Dax blinked. The dark room came into focus, and he was relieved to realize no one was watching over him.
The voices from the next room rose as the argument turned from injecting Leo with the toxic Scarlet to locking him up in chains. Dax paused, contemplating his next move. If he walked out into the other room in wolf form, there was no telling how they would react. He could only do that if he planned on physically attacking them. With Leo unconscious, he’d be no help, and Dax had already seen the ramifications of a fight that was six to one. Who knew how many other shifters were holed up in the broken-down shack? He’d have to do this another way.
Standing there in the dark, Dax once again focused and kept his jaws clamped tight so as not to howl out the pain. Though this time his shift wasn’t as horrible as the last. Good. That meant he was healing. Within seconds, he was standing barefoot on the rough floor. He didn’t even bother to look for clothes. He already knew there weren’t any. If they’d wanted him dressed, they’d have clothed him before they shackled him to the wall.
His footsteps were silent as he made his way to the door. He had to take a moment to let his eyes adjust to the harsh light. Once the room came into focus, he blinked a few times, not at all sure his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him.
The room was bathed in red velvet—the walls, settees, and armchairs. Gold accents were everywhere from the arms of the chairs to the tassels on the curtains to the table off to the left where Leo was lying on his stomach, his bare ass mooning the entire room. The group had disappeared and all that remained was a young shifter with dark black hair, barely twenty years old, who sat with his legs draped over one of the ornate gold arms of a red velvet armchair. And another one who appeared a few years older was standing by a pair of french doors, smoking a cigarette while he stared at Leo with a hunger in his eyes. Not blood hunger. No, that was pure lust.
Dax’s stomach rolled. Not because the shifter appeared to be interested in men but because the guy was turned on by an unconscious person with wounds marring his body, most likely inflicted by him. Dax cleared his throat.
The kid scrambled to stand up and instead ended up flailing right out of the chair. The smoker turned and stared at Dax, sweeping his gaze over him and lingering at Dax’s hips.
“Nice cock,” he said, his voice gruff. “Too bad you won’t get to fuck your woman with it ever again.”
Cade, Dax thought. He recognized the voice. Dax registered the man’s words but understood them for what they were. Cade was just trying to throw Dax off guard, get under his skin to make sure he had the upper hand should this confrontation turn to violence. Dax wasn’t taking the bait.
“I bet you’d like to get your hands on it though, right, Cade?” the younger one said with a snicker as he got to his feet. “If Grandpa here was a little younger, he’d be just your type. Big, dumb, and too pretty for his own good.”
“Shut your fucking mouth, Boomer,” Cade ordered. “No one asked for your commentary.”
“What did you do to Leo?” Dax asked, ignoring their exchange.
Cade shrugged one shoulder. “The usual. A few blows here and there until he passed out.”
“No different than a Friday night at the queer bar, eh, Cade?” Boomer said under his breath.
Cade moved with lightning speed and brought his fist down so hard on the younger shifter’s cheekbone Dax was surprised it didn’t shatter.
Boomer let out a roar, then scrambled to his feet as two of his teeth fell to the carpet. He clamped his hand over his mouth and mumbled, “You fucked up my teeth, you piece of shit.”
“Don’t ever talk about my sexual preference again, got it, asshole?” Cade ordered as he glared down at the other shifter.
“Jesus, psycho. I was just fucking around,” Boomer said.
Cade grabbed him by the shoulders, roughly spun him around, and then kicked him in the ass and said, “Get the fuck out of here. And don’t come back unless you’re summoned.”
Boomer scurried from the room, leaving Dax and Leo alone with Cade.
Cade waved a hand toward a pair of armchairs. “Have a seat, Agent Marrok.”
Dax glanced once at Leo, then back at Cade. The shifter was wearing ripped jeans, a tight black button-down shirt, and pristine white tennis shoes that looked like he’d just pulled them out of the box.
“Please. I’m intensely interested in how you managed to escape your shackles,” Cade said.
No shit, Dax thought. But he’d be damned if he told the other shifter anything unless Dax got something out of it. “Wake Leo first, and then I’ll tell you.”
Cade chuckled as he shook his head. “Can’t. The drug will wear off soon enough. Until then, let’s talk.”
Dax’s gaze darted from Leo to the french doors and then to the door across the room that led into the rest of the house.
Cade sat in one of the chairs and rested one ankle over the opposite knee. “You can try it, but I guarantee you won’t get far. The place is crawling with King’s pack, most of them crazier than an outhouse rat.”
King. That was Hailee’s leader. Well, Dax thought, at least he’d definitely found ground zero. One way or another, he was going to find out exactly what was going on with the toxic Scarlet and the poisoning of New Orleans’s shifters. Dax sat down in the chair, leaned back, and mimicked Cade’s relaxed sitting position.
Cade’s eyes gleamed with interest. “Good. I can see you’re a man who can be reasoned with. You just might be the shifter we’ve needed all along.”
“For what?” Dax asked.
Cade snorted. “I’m the one asking questions. Not you.”
“If you want me to answer, there has to be a give and take,” Dax said and lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug.
“That’s fair,” another man said from behind them.
Dax glanced over his shoulder and had to work to keep his rage in check. It was Red, the shifter who’d put his lights out back at the Void building.
Cade jumped up from his chair and waved for the other man to sit. Once Red was settled, Cade asked, “Can I get you anything, sir? Water? Bourbon? Whiskey?”
“Two steaks. Rare. Have Hailee bring us two bourbons on the rocks,” Red said without even looking at Cade.
Hailee. She must’ve woken from Phoebe’s spell.
“Yes, sir.” Cade said, sounding completely different from the cocky asshole who’d just been sitting across from Dax.
Red gave his minion a condescending smile, then turned to Dax. “Good evening, Agent Marrok. I see you’ve already met some of my pack. Eager bunch, aren’t they?”
“Your pack?” Dax asked. “I assume that means you’re King.”
“You catch on quickly.” He snapped his fingers, and instantly a small blond woman hurried into the room.
“Yes, sir?”
“Please b
ring Mr. Marrok some fresh clothes. Jeans and a T-shirt. No shoes.” He turned his attention back to Dax. “Don’t want you to think you’re free to just walk out of here.”
Dax let out a bark of laughter. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Right.”
Within moments, Dax was clothed and had a bourbon in his hand. He raised his drink and took a good long look at the amber liquid. “Want to tell me what this seduction is all about?” he asked King. “You already have me here. As far as I know, I’m infected with the toxin that turns shifters insane. Looks like you hold all the cards in this poker game.”
“Maybe I just want your cooperation.”
“For what?” Dax asked.
“The coming war with Allcot and his bullshit company,” King said without hesitation.
Dax blinked. “Is that what all this is about? A shifter-vampire war? What do you hope to gain? Looks like you have all the money you could possibly need.”
King snorted. “You think this is mine?” He stood and walked around the room, gesturing to the gaudy furniture and ostentatious artwork. Dax hadn’t taken a good look at the paintings before, but now that King had pointed them out, he studied them and noted that each and every one depicted vampires biting women while shifters guarded their masters.
“This place belongs to a vampire,” Dax said. It wasn’t a question, but King answered anyway.
“I think you know him.” He waved a hand and Strix walked in with Iris at his side. She was wearing a see-through lace teddy and matching robe that did very little to cover any part of her. She had her arm around his waist and was leaning into him with her head resting on his chest while he caressed her bare arm. There wasn’t any part of her that looked like she wasn’t exactly where she wanted to be.
Had Iris played Phoebe? Had she been in on Strix’s game all along? Dax quickly glanced at her left hand and spotted the silver ring. Relief rushed through him. If Iris hadn’t wanted Phoebe to find her, then surely she would’ve taken the ring off before she let Strix pick her up. Maybe she was a better actress than any one of them had given her credit for.