My decision. To lose the goodwill of the alpha who would decide whether I was allowed to spend another hour in my sister’s company. To cling to the tenuous possibility of connection I’d built with the Samhain Shifters, hoping they’d protect me from Rowan’s inevitable backlash. Could I really trust that someone other than me would watch my back?
Between me and Rowan, Tank nodded. As if he could hear my thoughts and was making me a promise. He didn’t dip his chin to hide his face either. Just stared straight into my eyes.
“Don’t do something you’ll regret,” Rowan snarled. “I’ve offered you an easy two years, but I could instead force you into the harem. Do you want to be pawed by a different stranger every night or will you...”
Whatever he intended to offer, I didn’t listen. Instead, I flung the salt into Marina’s face.
Chapter 33
Marina screamed and Rowan roared. The air reeked of fur. From us. From them. I blinked against the awfulness and found Lupe and Tank four-legged, holding the doorway against an unbeatable tide of wolves.
“Give me anything you want to keep, A-bear,” Ryder suggested, voice surprisingly calm as he brushed past me in human form. He grabbed a chair and slammed it against a window. When that didn’t work, he grunted and hoisted up the small but solid desk to repeat the move.
Ryder was right. The windows were our only way out. And Marina was already rising, with no puddle of salt left to throw at her....
So I joined my team mates. Tossed my jacket to Ryder then shifted. Dove at the fae with teeth bared.
Marina tasted foul. Like rotten fruit writhing with maggots. And I didn’t get the impression the chunk I’d taken out of her thigh really harmed her either. Instead, I barely dodged the hand that lashed out, grabbing for my muzzle....
I sidestepped, kicking with my hind feet. Not at Marina, at the ground. The sandy scatter of salt granules sprayed upward, not enough to injure but enough to push her back.
One step. Two. Enough, barely.
Because delay was all Ryder needed. The window shattered. “Move it!” he roared.
He was still human. Weighed down by various shed possessions plus a wooden chair leg. He used the latter like a club as a McCallister wolf tried to enter the room from outside the window. His furry foe yelped while Ryder roared a second time: “Any day now would be nice.”
Obeying, though, meant leaving Rowan’s horde of wolves to tear at our hindquarters. Lupe and Tank backed toward me. I joined them, shoulder to shoulder. A rush of air, then the desk landed between us and our foes.
We spun and ran, three abreast as if our muscles were wired in synchrony. Leapt through the space where window glass had recently blocked our egress. Sprinted after Ryder, who seemed to know where he was headed.
Before we got there, Marina’s voice spiraled upward, the scent of maggoty peaches flying off her. “You are mine, Athena D’Argent. Stop where you are.”
Rot choked me. Pushed into my lungs. Swiveled my body backwards....
Then Tank was pressing me forward with the mass of his furry body. The maggots in my lungs wriggled once then receded.
A car door opened. I leapt inside.
RYDER NAVIGATED OUR retreat like a race-car driver on crystal meth. And, as distance yawned between me and Marina, I finally found myself able to catch my breath.
To catch my breath and shift, looking frantically for a cell phone. I hadn’t toed Marina’s line, so she’d go after my sister....
Tank was ahead of me. “Code red,” he barked into his phone. That must have been what he asked Ryder to carry for him. He’d chosen his phone and I’d chosen my leather jacket, a gift from my mother that even now lay crumpled on the floor at my feet.
And why was I thinking about phones and leather jackets when my sister was in danger? “Harper?” I asked, not wanting to intrude, but needing confirmation.
Tank nodded, gaze distant as he pressed the phone closer to his head.
“On it,” an unfamiliar male voice crackled through the speaker. “We’ll report if there’s any problem. I don’t expect one. She’s right in front of us.”
The call ended and the car swerved, pushing my naked shoulder into Tank’s equally naked chest. Then his arm was around me, holding me safe and still as he swiveled to peer backwards.
“Three cars,” he told Ryder.
From the front passenger seat, Lupe’s voice was calm as she interjected: “Take a left.”
Tires squealed, but this time my torso didn’t move. Just my stomach, sloshing in the direction the car had been going before settling into our new trajectory.
Tank’s phone rang. The instant he accepted the call, I grabbed it out of his hands. How could I not when I’d heard Harper’s voice?
“No, I won’t!”
“Give her the phone,” I demanded, hoping Tank’s friend would obey me. And he did, without question. Another crackle, then my sister’s refusal echoed in my ear.
“I don’t know you!”
“Harper.” When she didn’t answer, I yelled it. “Harper!”
“Athena?” The sounds of struggle faded. “There are strange men....”
“They’re friends. I need you to go with them.”
“Get on the highway,” Lupe said from the front seat. But Ryder didn’t signal and change lanes. Instead, he waited for the last possible instant before spinning across oncoming traffic. Tank’s arm was all that prevented me from flying into the window.
And...all of that was irrelevant. Because my sister, for once, wasn’t willing to heed my advice.
“I don’t want to leave! Clara knows where I am. When she stops being mad, she’ll call me. And my phone is inside the house.”
I considered sending her in to get it. But Tank’s head shook. There wasn’t time. Plus, if Nick got involved....
“Listen to me,” I said instead. “It’s important you go with these men right now. If you do, I’ll give you a”—I paused, trying to think what Harper wanted—“a puppy.” Which would mean I’d be the one with a puppy when she went back to school in less than a week. But I’d manage.
Only—“I’m not twelve.” From the tone of Harper’s voice, I was losing her. Losing my ability to manage the situation.
“They have a sedative,” Tank murmured in my ear. “If necessary, they’ll use it.”
No. That wasn’t happening. My sister wasn’t going to wake up woozy, kidnapped by strangers....
Instead, I promised what I knew Harper wanted far more than a puppy. What she wanted, but I had no idea how to give.
“I know you hate vacations with your father,” I told her. “If you go with Tank’s friends now, I’ll find a way to make sure you won’t have to do that again. You and I will be a normal family. We’ll have a house where you won’t be ashamed to bring friends over. I promise. I’ll find a way to make it work.”
HARPER CAVED. I COULD tell she didn’t really believe me. But the dream was enough to tempt her to give in and leave with her bodyguards. The dream...which I had no idea how to turn into a reality.
“We’ll figure something out,” Tank assured me. As if he’d read my mind. Or, more likely, given the way I was still tucked beneath his arm, he’d read the tightening of my muscles.
“I hope so,” I answered. But there was no time to deal with it now, not with Rowan’s wolves following us so closely.
We shook them, though. Or, rather, Ryder shook them. Wound in and out of traffic until no one followed. At which point, Lupe ordered us in an unexpected direction—
“Back to camp.”
Tank’s eyebrows rose. “Don’t you think that’s the first place Marina will look for us?”
“That may be. But camp is where Butch intended to spend his vacation.”
And Butch hadn’t been at the McCallister compound. Marina had taken his place there. Which meant our team mate was in danger...or worse.
“There are swords in the trunk,” Lupe continued. “From this moment on, your weapon needs to
be your most cherished possession. Eat with it. Sleep with it. If you see fae, it’s your only real defense.”
“Slide over,” Tank murmured. My cheeks reddened as I realized I was still pretty much on his lap.
“Sorry.” I scooted away, the loss of his heat almost physically painful.
But Tank drew me closer instead. “No, not that way. Half the seat flips down....”
Then I was completely on his lap, his muscles pressing into my skin like the most enticing sort of massage chair. The evidence of his own approval hardened against my butt and....
“Could we save that for later?” Ryder grumbled. “Some of us are trying to drive.”
Tank, to my surprise, merely chuckled. Whatever rivalry he and Ryder had engaged in was over. Between fighting against each other and fighting beside each other, what could have been a jibe turned into more of a brotherly tease.
I was the only one whose face burned.
“Can you reach the swords?” Lupe demanded, breaking the moment. Her voice was curt, reminding us that pack togetherness was a hazard.
“Just a sec....” I slid my arm into the darkness of the trunk and fumbled around until I drew out a bundle of scabbarded weapons. One for each of us...plus one.
For Butch.
The car fell silent after that, nothing but darkness outside and inside. Tank and I kept our eyes peeled for ambushes, but no one stopped us. And, at last, we turned up the familiar gravel drive near the lake.
Camp was empty. The air, when we rolled down our window, smelled like fallen leaves and dew.
No sign of wolves, past or present. Still, the rest of us raised our swords and eyed shadows while Lupe strode directly toward Butch’s cabin. The door opened. The light flicked on.
Around the silhouette of Lupe’s back, I caught sight of our final team mate. He was here. Seated, meditating on the bare floorboards.
No, not meditating. A sword had been thrust through his back.
Chapter 34
My heart twisted. That’s the only explanation I can give for the pain in my chest, the difficulty of forcing oxygen down my windpipe. I was frozen. We were all frozen.
No, that’s not true. Tank pushed past us, pressing his fingers against Butch’s jugular. For a long moment, we held our breath. Then Tank shook his head.
“Alright.” Lupe’s voice was firm. “Now we know. Time to get out of here.”
“We can’t leave him like that.” I’d thought the words, but they came out of Ryder’s mouth. As unlikely as it seemed, our most uncouth member and I were united in wanting to show Butch’s body respect.
Lupe shook her head. “No time. We need to regroup. Samhain is Wednesday.”
My brow furrowed. “But Marina’s already crossed over.”
“And if she has free rein, she’ll open the node so wide that half of her friends and neighbors can enter. This job is more important than ever.” Lupe’s eyes narrowed. “And she thinks you’re an asset to her. Why is that?”
Busted. The information I’d never shared solidified in the air between us. For half a second, I stood frozen. Then Tank’s hand settled against the small of my back.
That warmth, his silent support, gave me the strength to speak. “When we were staying here, I saw her at the boat dock,” I started, only to be interrupted by Ryder’s gruff negation.
“No. We saw Tank there.”
“You thought that was Tank?” No wonder Ryder had teased me. If I’d trusted my team mate enough to ask for more information at the time, I would have realized Marina possessed fae glamour. None of us would be in this mess.
My gaze slid to Butch, his torso somehow as erect in death as it had been in life. His loss was inconceivable. This werewolf who’d been the voice of reason among us during Ryder and Tank’s battle. The one who’d uncomplainingly ferried me around during a full day of errands. Who’d supported us all even though he didn’t trust us to accept him for who and what he was.
I swallowed. And this time I told Lupe the entire story. Stealing for Marina. The crazy huge check she’d given me in exchange. My weakness—wanting to make life better for my sister—hung out like butt cheeks in an ultra-mini skirt.
And...Lupe shook her head. “That’s not enough for her to have a hold over you. You’d have to give her something. A gift with no payback.”
A gift. Was that what the wolf bracer had turned into? “Can I see your phone?” I asked Tank.
He raised his eyebrows but passed it over. Logging onto my bank account’s website, I winced at the negative balance.
“Marina’s checks bounced.” I’d forgotten the financial element in the midst of the other awfulness. My inability to pay for Harper’s boarding school, to buy off my stepfather, tightened like a noose around my neck.
“That would do it,” Lupe agreed, not noticing my reaction. “If the check was only glamour, you technically gave her the bracer for nothing. A gift. The perfect way for her to get a hold over you.”
Ryder winced, suggesting Lupe had explained this issue in more detail before I became part of the team. Beside me, Tank’s fingers found mine and squeezed.
Lupe, though, was the one who continued speaking. “You’re a liability to us. We need you far away from the node on Samhain. I appreciate your past assistance, but as of tonight you’re off the case.”
“NO. IF SHE GOES, I go.”
Tank’s voice came from behind me, but I felt it rumbling through my skin. When had he pulled me back against his body? The warmth felt good, and yet....
I stepped sideways so I could look up at him. “Tank. This is important.”
His hand landed on my hip. As if creating empty air space between us was inconceivable. “I agree. This is important.”
“We don’t have time for hormones,” Lupe interrupted. “The node’s location is unidentified. Butch called to say it had moved, but now I don’t know if that was Marina or Butch on the phone.”
Ryder erupted into a cascade of cursing that brought the faintest smile to my lips. Then I frowned as something occurred to me. Butch’s knowledge of the node. Lupe’s use of his full name in an attempt to freeze Marina. His unwillingness to share his darkest secret....
“Butch really is fae?”
“Part fae. Part werewolf,” Lupe said absently. She’d pulled out her phone. Hunting for a replacement for me and Tank? It was inconceivable to think she could face down Marina and the entire McCallister pack with only Ryder by her side.
“So, shouldn’t a sword through his body cast him back into the fae world rather than killing him?” Plus, if he was dead, why would Marina have sounded so pleased about learning his true name?
Lupe’s finger stilled. “Butch clearly doesn’t have that much fae blood in him. But perhaps....”
The sword sticking through Butch’s body now looked like an opportunity rather than a horror. Two hands—mine and another’s—landed on the sword hilt at the exact same moment. And, to my surprise, Lupe lowered her eyes and stepped aside.
“You do it.”
Pull the sword out of Butch’s back and hope he would gasp back to life rather than collapse into a puddle of decaying meat? I took a deep breath and...
“Wait.” Now it was Tank beside me. Tank, who pulled Butch’s shirt away from his skin with one hand then used his own sword to sever the fabric in one ripping stroke.
When I cocked my head, not understanding, Tank explained: “I don’t want him to heal into it.”
As if he expected Butch to not only survive days with a sword impaling his lungs, but to bounce back within seconds. I liked the way Tank thought even though such a recovery felt impossible. Butch’s skin, when I accidentally brushed it, was stone cold.
“Now,” Tank murmured.
The single word gave me the strength to yank the sword backwards. Ignoring the churning in my gut, I kept pulling. Metal rasped against bone. Shreds of skin scattered onto the ground.
There was no blood. Shouldn’t there have been blood if Butch was s
till living? Instead, our team mate collapsed as if the sword was all that had been holding him upright.
Collapsed into the arms of Tank and Ryder, who eased him onto the floor boards. Butch was dead, I was sure of it.
Ryder was equally certain. His expletives seared with the heat of an oven.
But Tank wasn’t ready to give up. He pressed two fingers into the indentation of Butch’s throat a second time then smiled. “He’s alive.”
BUTCH WAS ALIVE, BUT he wasn’t conscious. Definitely wasn’t about to hop to his feet and swing a sword.
“I’ll take care of this,” Lupe told us. “Ryder, feel free to take one of the Jeeps by the boat shed. You’re off duty until Wednesday morning.”
She didn’t even glance at me and Tank. We were dismissed. Off the team. No longer relevant.
Or, no, that wasn’t true. “Athena,” Lupe called as I turned away. “You’ll still be paid. Tomorrow morning, I’ll cut you a check.”
And...I was furious. Yes, cash had been one of my incentives for joining the Samhain Shifters in the first place. But Lupe’s reassurance made me sound like Nick, being paid off to let Harper continue boarding school. “I don’t...” I started, knowing even as I spoke that there was no way to argue the point with someone who could overpower me with a single word.
But Tank spoke over my refusal. “Fae. Can they feed on mate bonds or just pack bonds?”
Mate bonds? I twitched even as Lupe’s lips pursed. For a moment I thought she wasn’t going to answer. Then, reluctantly:
“Pack bonds only, as best we can tell. Yes, you’ll be helping rather than hindering if you go along to guard Athena’s back.”
“Good.”
Tank’s hand on my spine pushed me out of the cabin. And I went, even though I hated it. Went because he was twice as strong as I was, his physical ability to overpower just as much a given as Lupe’s ability to force compliance with an alpha order.
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