by R. A. Boyd
Chapter 11
The cleaner wasn’t anything like Harvey Keitel. She was better, and she asked for chamomile tea. Tall, thin, and hair the color of coffee. Her skin was almost as dark as coffee too, but her eyes were a brilliant whiskey brown. And her bedroom voice was like velvet. That tall drink of beautiful coffee would have put a phone sex operator to shame.
Misty, the cleaner, and her two associates were in and out within two hours. They scrubbed, they dusted, they got rid of all the blood. And Aaron’s body. By the time they got there, he had already shifted back to his human form. It took a while, and it scared the hell out of Riley.
There was so much blood. So much of something that had oozed out of his stomach or his intestines. She would never forget the smell.
When Jax and Cass walked through the door, the first thing her new Alpha had said was, “My God. I smell guts.”
Cass slapped him on the arm and then walked over to Riley, giving her a big hug to welcome her to the clan. Riley’s clan now. Her people.
Riley kept trying to forget that she was the one who’d killed Aaron. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. Not with her murdering anyone. It was supposed to end in civil visits when she went to pick Liv up from his house or when he dropped her off to the shop. Not like this.
She cried for him. Whoever had bitten him had taken his already deteriorating mind and raging emotions to a different level. Maybe that’s what they wanted to do anyway. Find someone who hated one of the Ghost shifters and let that hatred infect and change them into something different. Something no one who knew them would recognize.
Aaron hadn’t always been this way. He’d always been a manipulative asshole, but not evil. Just selfish. She didn’t know how she could live with herself with the knowledge that she’d killed someone she once loved. For a few secret moments that made her feel ashamed, Riley thought of how easy her life would be now that he was gone. No more confrontations. No custody hearings that he kept putting off.
Even before that morning’s hearing, Aaron kept having them rescheduled. This last bout of him not showing up must have been out of self-preservation. He wasn’t steady enough to meet her in court, and if Teague had shown up with her and Liv he would have known immediately that Aaron had been changed.
The Cleaner must have been a mind reader. She studied Riley over and after she’d told her associates how to handle the clean-up she sat with Riley and gave her a rundown of what was happening, what her next move should be. Misty put her at ease, telling her that no one would be able to trace Aaron back to her house the evening he went missing. They’d even taken Aaron’s truck but wouldn’t tell Riley what they were going to do with it. When the authorities questioned Riley, her surprise and shock at the death of her ex had to be genuine.
Misty explained how the solution they used would make blood and flesh undetectable by any forensics lab. She’d taken pictures of the furniture that had been broken and promised to have replacements by the time Riley filed a missing person’s report. She rush ordered flooring to fix the dent Aaron had punched into the floor. Teague had to promise her that a missing person’s report would be filled in three days, right after Liv realized her father hadn’t come home.
Liv.
On the way to Teague’s house, Riley had racked her brain over how to explain everything to Liv. For Riley, morning and her daughter’s arrival home was already coming way too fast. Puffing out her cheeks, she massaged the bridge of her nose and prayed. She’d deal with it tomorrow. There was no good way to tell Liv that the woman she considered her mother had killed her father.
There was too much going on in her head. In her heart. A constant growl had taken up residence in Riley’s chest. It wasn’t menacing. It was as if her animal was politely introducing herself, reassuring Riley that they would be fine. Telling her that what she’d done to Aaron had been justified. He’d threatened her mate and her cub. He didn’t deserve to breathe the same air that they were breathing.
Riley rubbed her chest in an absent-minded way, petting her saber-tooth. They’d be fine. They would grow together. They could be happy, be one. They would always rely on each other.
As Teague’s truck pulled up to his driveway, Riley could tell something was wrong. The air was heavy and full of something that smelled like burning orange peels. Jax, Damon, and Cass were standing in front of the community hall, and Cass was pissed. Her arms were waving all over and she’d stomped her foot a few times. From so far away, Riley could see that Cass’s eyes glistened with tears. She was begging her men to do something else.
“What’s happening?” Riley murmured as Teague pulled the truck to the front of his house. That welcoming growl that had been in her chest tapered into a warning snarl that rattled Riley right down to her toes. She put her hand to her neck to feel it. To stop it. Whoa, girl, she thought to her new ally. Her beast was uneasy.
Teague took a deep breath and swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple dipping into the collar of his shirt. “It’s Audra.” He took out his phone and scrolled through text messages. “Aiden texted me just as we left your house, telling me to hurry up and come home.” He turned to Riley and tried to speak, but he licked his lips a few times and then shook his head. Her mate was hurting. “When beings as old and as strong as us live this long and don’t find their mate, we start to lose who we are. Around town people think Audra is odd, maybe a little wacky. It’s more than that. Her sanity is slipping away. We can’t help her. She may have to be put down.”
Riley’s heart seemed to stop beating in her chest, and in the stillness of the truck she could now hear Cass fussing about her Audra. She’s my sister now. She’s always been yours. What the heck is wrong with you? Do something else, dang-it. Figure it out.
Cass took off running inside the community building and Riley jumped out of the truck to run after her. If her hunch was right, Cass was on her way to protect her sister. And so was Riley.
She could hear Teague’s voice calling after her, but she pushed her legs faster than she ever imagined possible and was amazed by her speed. She’d have to test it out later. As far and as hard as she’d run, Riley wasn’t even tired by the time she caught up with Cass just as she made it to the top of a set of stairs in the rear of the building. It was dark down there, and a noise that sounded like it was coming from the pits of Hell drifted up from the basement. Was that Audra?
They had to be brave for each other. Riley took hold of Cass’s hand and they walked down the steps together, fearing what they might find. The front of the basement looked like a normal storage area, but a big heavy looking door sat at the back. It was a grey stone slab with a doorknob that looked as if it should have been in some medieval castle. They walked toward it together, and when they reached it Cass was the one to pull it open.
Audra’s voice was different. If Riley didn’t know any better she’d say that both Audra and a gigantic demonic entity were yelling and screaming and talking at the same time. In tune with the other.
“Is this what happens when they go mad?” Riley muttered. She was losing her nerve. She wanted to keep Audra safe, but who would keep them safe from Audra?
Cass shook her head and stepped forward. “I don’t know. I guess. I’m pretty new to this too.”
The pitch of Audra’s dual voices shrieked of blood and death, and of taking them all with her. First she spoke English, then Spanish, and then something that Riley could only guess was Latin. She moved from language to language, the voices speaking as one.
Beyond the door, a long hallway made of dark stones loomed before them. It was framed by seven doors on each side, fourteen in all. They knew which room Audra was in. Her small arm jutted out of the window, waving back and forth so fast it looked like someone had pressed the fast-forward button on her.
Riley paused and watched in horror as blood dripped from Audra’s arm. She was moving it so frantically that it banged against the bars that framed the window, reaching for something to grab hold of. Cass u
rged her forward, and the closer they got the more they could see that her arm wasn’t just waving. It was broken. It was flapping back and forth.
“Riley? Cass?” Audra said, pulling her arm back through the bars. “Riley-girl, let me see you.” She inhaled deeply and it shook in the back of her throat like age-old phlegm. “You got claimed. Aww, Riley. That makes me so, so happy.”
Fuck it all, she still spoke with two voices. Riley walked to the front of the cell but kept her distance. She was afraid Audra’s broken and bloody arm would come reaching for her through the bars.
“Audra,” Riley said, fear and sorrow hanging in her voice. “What’s happening? We won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Ohh, Audra let out a cackling laugh that sucked all the light from the already darkened space. Her small face peeked through the window. Audra’s eyes were black as pitch through and through, and her beautiful hair framed her face in messy ringlets. “That’s crazy. Just ask the boys. Can’t none of them hurt me. Hell, I was the one who volunteered to come in here, ‘cause if I didn’t you two ladies would have come home and seen bodies littering the ground all around this place. Shit, I would have left a trail of bodies for you to follow me. But I didn’t. I need to be here.”
Damon and Teague came down the hallway, their faces sad and helpless. Riley went to Teague and put her head on his chest, and Cass did the same to Damon.
“What happened to her? She was fine a few days ago?” Riley murmured into Teague’s shirt.
Teague held her close and cradled her to him. His voice was weary. “No, baby. She hasn’t been fine in a long time.”
“And she’s right,” Damon said. “Audra is so much more deadly, methodical, more precise than you could imagine. It’s best she’s here. We have to have her put down.”
Cass backed away from her mate as if he’d betrayed her. “What the hell do you mean you need to put her down, Damon? You are not killing her.”
“Fuck no you’re not.” Riley moved away from Teague and went to stand next to Cass.
Both women stood in front of the locked cell where Audra was, still keeping their distance. It was like a dungeon. The sound of the small woman’s cries started up again. The echo of thrashing filled the space as if her beast had already clawed its way out. She needed help, not punishment.
Damon put his hands up as if soothing them, and all it did was piss Riley off even more. She may be new to this pack thing but she felt like she could take on the world. Especially when it came to Audra and Cass. Her sisters.
“Cass, Riley,” Damon said, taking a step toward them. “You don’t understand.”
Riley looked to Cass, her friend and part of the Alpha Triad. She may not have been as big and powerful as her mates, but the dominance pumping from Cass’s pours had Riley cowering away from her. The only thing that kept her steady was Cass’s reassuring hand on her elbow.
“Let them do it.” Audra’s voice flowed from the room like smoke from the depths of Tartarus. “I— I don’t want to hurt anyone, God damn-it!” She started screaming words, another language now, and Riley was startled that she could understand every single declaration of death that flew from Audra’s mouth.
It was horrible. So terrible to hear.
“What is that?” she whispered, panic tinting her words. “Teague, what is that?”
He had to tell her. She needed him to tell her. She would go insane from it if he didn’t. Riley put her hands over her ears, trying to drown out the animalistic timbre that was Audra. Why did she sound like that? It was worse than bolts and nails sliding down chalkboards. It grated against her soul as if some demon had taken over Audra. From what she was saying, one probably already had.
“It’s the Devine Speech,” Damon said. “A language that the Creator spoke to us angels, and to Adam, Eve, and Lilith in the Garden of Eden. Even without being taught, everyone knows the words. It’s the common speech of all creation.”
Tears streamed down Riley’s face as she still held her ears, still not managing to get Audra’s cadence out of her head. “Please don’t kill her. She’s our sister.”
The howling and the growls and the moans from Audra stopped. It was so abrupt, almost like a record player had scratched and fallen off a table, and no one had the strength to start it back up again.
Audra, the real Audra, put her face to the bars of her cell. Her brown eyes were hers again. “You are my sisters, aren’t you?” she said.
Sanity. It was there.
Whatever had taken over Audra that had her locked in that room was sitting on the sidelines, and the woman who loved and cared for them had returned.
Riley and Cass stared at her, amazed. Happy. Grateful. But still frightened.
“Yeah,” Riley said, putting her hand up to the window to touch Audra’s bloody fingers. “You’re our sister. We’re not going to let them kill you like you’re some mangy animal that needs to be put the fuck down.”
Simon made his way through the dark hallway. “We’re not going to kill her,” he said. “You dipshits should have led with that.” His gray eyes darted from Damon to Teague. “You are horrible mates. They don’t know what ‘put her down’ means when it comes to us. Hungry, Audra?” he asked as he turned and went back up the stairs.
“Yes,” she called after him. “I’d sure like a sandwich. And those spicy chips.”
“You got it,” he said, disappearing into the light of the hallway.
The fury and energy that had been streaming from Cass were instantly gone, and Riley could take a full breath again.
“What? What?” Cass stood up straight, her stance no longer that of an animal about to pounce on its prey.
“Then what does ‘put her down’ mean?” Riley asked, putting her hands on her full hips. Someone had a butt load of explaining to do.
Teague walked over and cupped Riley’s face, and she let him. He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. “It means we have to have her put under. Into a deep sleep until she can be around people and not try to kill them. Until a coven of fallen angels that we know of can bleed the rage from her.”
Riley looked at Cass and watched as she scoffed, her pretty face taking on an angry expression. “Umm, why didn’t someone say that in the first fucking place?”
“Wow,” Audra said, giggling. “Cass actually said fucking.”
“Oh, my God,” Riley murmured. “Oh, my God. Did you really just let us go all Ripley in here and not just flat out say you weren’t going to kill her?”
Damn-it, Riley was pissed off all over again. And relieved. And happy. God, she was so happy.
“It’s the same thing we did to Ronan,” Audra said, her voice slipping back to that unsettling gate with snarls at the end of each word. “We don’t talk about him, but since I’ll be joining him I’m going to say it. Ronan. Ro. Nan. Our brother Ronan. He’s been under for decades. Now, it’s my turn. And when I wake up, my mate will be here to help me cure myself. Which one of you dumbasses made my sisters think you were actually going to kill me?”
The men looked back and forth between each other, probably thinking of ways to place the blame on anyone but themselves.
Audra tsked and let out a quiet chuckle that was reminiscent of psychotic kids in horror movies. “Naughty. Stupid. Silly. Men.” With each word she uttered she knocked on the door, shaking it with the force of her small fists. “You’ll have to learn to say what you mean to these ladies. They don’t know what we know.”
They were all quiet, and Riley stood wondering what to do next. She didn’t want to leave Audra alone. It was too dark and lonely down there.
“Cass. Riley,” Audra said, breaking the silence. “Thank you for loving me already. This is my choice. Now, go on and leave me. I called the coven before I came down here. They’ll be here by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Are you all right with my mark being on your arm?” Teague asked Riley as they settled in to his bed.
She looked sexy as shit lying next to him, wearing one of his
tee-shirts. He smiled every time she dipped her nose to the collar of the shirt and inhaled. Her hair was still wet from when she took a shower before they left her house. It sat on top of her head in a high bun. His fingers itched to pull it down and watch as it caressed her shoulders, just so he could grab a handful of her silky tresses as he rammed into her from behind. But not tonight.
His mate had gone through a lot today. She deserved to rest. To be held. He’d have the rest of their lives to take her every way he could. But not tonight.
She was finally his. Really, truly his. She had given him back his beast and he would forever be grateful for what she’d done. His mate had saved him. Saved them both.
Riley took a deep breath and pulled her arm up to look at the two healed puncture wounds. “Does it mean the same whether your bite is on my shoulder or my arm?”
“Yeah,” he said, tucking her into his side. “It means the same. I just keep seeing you look at it as if it’s wrong.”
She smiled up at him and kissed his cheek. “Not wrong. You said it would be on my shoulder. So did Cass. I just want to make sure it counts. That I’m yours and your mine.”
Teague ran his tongue over his bottom lip. She had no idea. “Riley, I’ve been yours for years. Centuries. Fucking millennia. I knew my mate was coming and I held on to that. It’s what kept me from joining Audra in one of those cells. It doesn’t matter if my mark is on your arm, shoulder, or the bottom of your foot. It all means the same. If you want me to bite your shoulder, I will.”
She shook her head and made a cute snorting sound. “Nope. You have no freaking idea how bad that hurt. I’m good with it being on my arm, just as long as it means the same.” She quieted for a moment, and he thought she’d drifted off. “I wonder who those two guys were.”
Teague pulled away from her to look into her eyes. “What guys?”
A line appeared between her eyes, and she looked confused as she gave a quick shake of her head. “Right after I, um, killed Aaron and right before you changed, two guys came in. I think they were there to take us. Aaron called them, saying that we were ready. There were two but I only saw one. Tall, yellow eyes, dark hair. He smelled different. You guys smell like rain, forest, fur, and pine. I could even smell it on Aaron’s body. But that guy smelled like…” She glanced around the room as if waiting for the words to come to her. “Spices. Herbs. It was nice, just different. Oh, and the other guy that was with him was named Leo. They ran when they saw me and I was going to go after them. But then you shifted and all I saw was you. I couldn’t leave you.”