by JL Madore
“I’m sorry,” he says, gutted. “I failed her.”
“Bullshit,” Keyla says, storming between us. “You need to back your bear ass down, furball. You weren’t here. You have no right to weigh in.”
“She’s right,” Jaxx says, rounding the corner of the living room. “Get your head in the game, Bear. While Doc, Lukas, and I are tryin’ to save Hawk’s life. You need to track the security footage and figure out who the fuck took her and where they might’ve gone.”
Jaxx’s voice is rarely laced with the command of an alpha, but it is now, and my bear responds instinctively even if the man is out of his mind. “I’m on it.”
“I’ll help,” Hannah says, rushing to keep up.
“I don’t need your help,” I shout.
“Yes, you do, B,” she says, frowning as I turn on her. “I’m a skilled IO and I know this area at least as well if not better than you. Stop wasting time. Get your ass in there and call up the feeds we need to review. Two sets of eyes will get through it twice as fast.”
My bear lets off a house-shaking roar, but I do what she says and head into the office.
Hannah’s right. She’s one helluva keen investigating officer and in less than five minutes we’ve got the battle up and running for review. Going through and highlighting key frames, we get the make and model of the helicopter, and identify three men using the FCO face recognition software she has access to.
“Pull up their profiles,” I bark. “Let’s find out who these guys are working for.”
Kotah’s scent is building from out in the hall and I curse. “Come in, buddy. I’m sorry.”
Our wolf rounds the corner and my bear writhes inside me at the sight of his glassy eyes and battered body. I’ve seen the footage. I know the beating he took. I shouldn’t have needed to see it in video replay to know he fought with every breath he had to keep her safe.
He’d taken out three and freed his sister before racing back to take on the ones attacking Calli. He’d done his best against insurmountable numbers. I hit my chest with my fist and clear my throat.
“I’m not mad at you, buddy—I’m mad at me. We should’ve been here. I led Jaxx and Hawk away from you guys because my priorities haven’t been the five of us. This is on me. I’m sorry.”
I hold out my arms and he doesn’t hesitate.
“I swear I tried…”
I bend my head and press my cheek against his head. Breathing in the acrid scent of his anguish I’m reminded that no matter how much we lean on him, in reality, he’s still a kid. He’s a twenty-year-old student who’s lived a life of privilege. Yes, he’s had emotional hardship, but that’s not the same as the physical scars life hands you over the years.
I ease back, press my lips to his forehead, and brush his tears with my thumbs. “Not your fault. Let’s get her back.”
He licks his lips and swallows. “How do we do that?”
“We figure out who took her and what they want. Are they part of a Darkside plot? Are they with the Black Knight? Are the two the same thing? Are they—”
“—all employed by the royal palace,” Hannah says, straightening.
“What?”
She gestures to the screen. The photos and profiles of five of the men have now been matched and their information was gathered as part of their security screening to work for palace security. “Who at the Prime Palace would want Calli kidnapped and taken by force.”
Kotah goes deathly still and a furious roar rips from his throat. He turns and between the desk and the door, he’s flipped into his wolf form and is gunning it on four feet back to the living room.
“Oh fuck!” I vault over the desk my boots squeaking on the floor as I chase behind him. “Kotah, wait.”
But there’s no reasoning with him. His wolf has taken over and the man is lost to his fury. The screaming in the living room tells me I’m too late. I round the corner and Kotah has his mother pinned to the area rug, his teeth closed around her throat.
“Kotah, stop!” Keyla shouts. “What’s wrong with you? What happened?”
“Everyone back off,” I shout, pointing to the two royal guards conflicted on whether they should be protecting their Prima or respecting the Prime in Waiting. No one is moving, so I try it again with feeling. “Back the fuck off!”
Raven tugs at Keyla and the guards back away. I kneel on the rug next to Kotah and make sure he can see me. “Easy, buddy. As much as I know you want to rip her throat out, we don’t have all the facts here.”
“All the facts about what?” Keyla shouts. “What’s gotten into him? He’s never violent.”
“He’s never had his mate targeted and taken from him.” I reach to stroke the stunning chocolate and silver coat of my mate. His shoulders tense and his mother whimpers beneath the clasp of his teeth. “Easy buddy. If you kill her, you’ll regret it later. I know you will and somewhere in there, you know it too.”
“Kill her?” Keyla snaps. “Why would he want to kill her? She torments him, yes. I know he holds no affection for her, but he’s never wished to do her harm.”
“The men who attacked you were all registered as palace guards,” I say, keeping my voice calm and my tone even. “They didn’t make any move on your mother, did they? No. Because an assault on the Prima is grounds for death. They targeted you and dragged you away so Kotah would be focused on you instead of Calli.”
“No,” Keyla says, shaking her head. “There has to be a mistake. Mother’s manipulative and heartless but she’s not stupid. She knows Calli’s the phoenix. She’s the harbinger of unity for the realms.”
“Your parents don’t want the realms united,” Raven says, her hand at her throat. “I overheard them talking about how there are so many unknowns in opening the portal it could destabilize this realm and weaken their position as rulers.”
Kotah’s growl grows louder and tears fall down the Prima’s cheek. She’s attempting to talk but she can’t. Kotah’s hold on her throat is preventing all movement.
“Let her live, my man,” I say, trying again to touch him. This time he doesn’t threaten to crush the Prima’s windpipe, so I take that as consent. I run my fingers into his long, luscious coat and try to connect with the man inside. “She might have answers we need to finding Calli. She’s our best lead in discovering who has her and where they took her. C’mon, Wolf. You have to let her go, if only for Calli’s sake.”
Kotah
I hear the wisdom in Brant’s words, but it’s a struggle to force my wolf to comply. With everything in me, I want my mother to pay for her part in whatever Calli is suffering right now. It doesn’t surprise me that my parents would conspire against me to keep the portal gate closed.
It does surprise me how much it still hurts.
“Kotah,” Keyla says, kneeling beside me opposite Brant. “Please, big brother. Let her go. We’ll find out who did what. Focus on getting your mate back as quickly as we can. Calli needs you to be thoughtful here not reactive.”
I hear the tears in my sister’s voice and I’m sorry for putting them there, but she’s wrong. I already know who is behind this abduction as firmly as I know that the bitch will deny it until her dying day.
But she’s also right. Finding Calli is my priority. With one last growl, I roll off my mother and shift back. I’m on my feet and pacing in my next breath, putting distance between me and the woman I could kill without a second thought.
“Why Mother?” I ask rebounding. “Are you angry that she means everything to me? Do you really fear becoming irrelevant so badly that you’d condemn the people of two realms access to family and loved ones? Or are you simply such a fucking bitch that you can’t stand to lose my compliance?”
Keyla and Raven help her onto the couch and she juts her chin. “How can you believe these lies, Nakotah? I am your mother. I gave birth to you. I raised you from a pup and nurtured you—”
“No, you didn’t. You belittled me and left me for others to deal with. We both know you and fat
her never gave two shits about me. It was Naquilla you wanted, the boy who should’ve been prime. He’s dead, Mother, and I’m an Omega. Every time I disappointed you, I felt how much you wished I died instead of him.”
“That’s not tru—”
“Sure, it is,” I say, throwing up my hands. “I can’t help what I was born and won’t apologize for it. I stopped caring what you and Father say long before I was chosen as one of the Guardians of the Phoenix.”
“Nakotah, I don’t know what’s gotten into—”
“Save the moral indignation, Prima. It wasn’t Calli who turned me against you and Father. It was you and Father. Now, the only thing you’re good for is telling us who has her and where they’ve taken her.”
“I told you, I have no idea.”
“And I know it’s pointless to appeal to your better nature because you haven’t got one. Get out of this house and out of my life. I hope to never see you again. In fact, make it your life’s mission to avoid me because the next time I do, Brant might not be around to talk me down.”
“Stop this impudence!” she shouts. “I am your mother and I’m telling you—”
I flip back into my wolf and advance with my jaws snapping and my growl wild. She flinches and rushes to her feet. Raven guides her past the coffee table and into the care of her two royal guards. Keyla rushes to see them out.
I shift back to human form and don’t let my knees unlock until the latch of the door clicks shut and I’m more confident I won’t chase after her and rip her to shreds.
“Kotah,” Keyla says. “Do you honestly think she did this to you… and to Calli?”
“I do. She knew where we were when none of us told her or anyone else. The men were all part of her staff. She and Father don’t want the portal gate opened… yes, I think she did this. I’m sorry. I know you try to maintain a relationship with her, but I’m done with both of them.”
Brant squeezes my shoulder and gives me a sad nod. “Come, Wolf. Let’s get to work and find our mate.”
CHAPTER NINE
Calli
Talk about crash and burn. The wind whistles in my ears as I plummet to the ground. My magical flight extinguished almost as soon as I gained momentum but I’m still a couple of hundred feet off the ground. The pain of my body breaking on impact is indescribable. I blackout after I hit hard and plow the earth into a trench. With a throaty whoosh, everything around me goes up in flame and I’m engulfed. I close my eyes, too lost to care.
Each time I wake up, I feel a little closer to being alive.
My phoenix healing ability is incredible.
By the third…or maybe it’s the fourth trip back to consciousness, it’s morning. I hear the voices of men in the distance and roll to my knees to take a look over the lip of the trench I made in the earth.
Have my kidnappers found me?
I breathe a sigh of relief to see the red truck and a small fire response team. They’re taking in the smoking char of what would’ve been some poor farmer’s fall crop.
Oops, my bad.
When their attention shifts to another section of the field, I stand, check my footing, and make my way toward the firetruck. I manage to get all but the last thirty feet before they notice me and their eyes flare wide.
“Any chance I can get a fire blanket to cover up?” I say, covering my essentials the best I can.
One of the firemen jogs to the engine and grabs one from a compartment inside the truck. He rushes over and holds the blanket up for me to wrap myself inside. “Are you okay? What happened? Where’d you come from?”
I let the weight of the blanket over my shoulders ground me and try to think of a reasonable answer. “I, uh… I was in a car explosion last night and woke up here.”
“What happened to your clothes?”
“They caught fire.”
“See,” the farmer said, “I told you there’s a connection. Maybe she shucked her clothes off in my wheat and started the fire. It’s not an act of god, it’s vandalism.”
The man in charge is wearing a white shirt and driving a fire chief truck. He offers the farmer a patient smile and shakes his head. “Mr. Moke. I don’t see how discarded clothing could burn hot enough to do this kind of damage. By the time she got from the explosion site to here, they would’ve been burned off. Don’t worry, we’ll investigate.”
“But I need this crop, Chief. The insurance company won’t cover my costs if I can’t prove—”
“Don’t panic, Mr. Moke,” I say, butting into the conversation. “I’ll have someone from my husband’s company come out to assess the damage. You don’t need to make a claim. I’ll make sure he covers the market value of what the crop was worth to you. I’m sorry for any trouble this caused.”
The farmer narrows his gaze and frowns. “Yeah? You sayin’ you did it?”
“Not intentionally, no. But with the explosion and the fire, you’re right to think it might be connected. My husband will settle up. Don’t you worry.”
Now it’s the fire chief’s turn to eye me up. “That’s quite an offer, miss. And who is your husband?”
“His name is Hawk Barrons.”
There’s a dawning of understanding I wasn’t expecting and the chief nods. “That would make you Calliope, yes?”
I take a step back assessing my routes of escape.
The chief raises his palms and waves off my panic. “You’re in friendly company, Calli. I’m Grant Davies. I believe we have a friend in common, Brant Robbins. Big fellow, bit of a bear at times. He’s my kin.”
I let off a gasp of relief. “Yes. Can you call him and tell him where we are? I don’t know where I am, and my phone burned up in the explosion.”
Hawk
My rise to consciousness is neither pleasant nor quick. Maybe it’s the drugs dripping into my arm via the IV or maybe it’s the mental quicksand I’m fighting not to be swallowed up. Either way, something about my situation doesn’t sit right. If only I had the mental juice to figure out what it is.
“Hey,” Doc says, from his seat in the corner. “Glad to see you awake. Can I get you anything?”
“What happened?”
“You caught two bullets during your chase down. When Jaxx and Lukas found you and Brant, you were taking your final bow.”
“Brant’s all right?”
“Perfectly healthy. I had to wrap his forearms for the damage done by two guard dogs, but he’s all healed up now.”
I remember disjointed flashes of Brant fighting off something and him cursing quite spectacularly while doing it. “Did we get the kids?”
“Four. Hannah and her team are investigating the theory that they’ve been divided into cells and are being held in different places along the Pacific Coast. Last I heard, she thought she found a potential link to a small town in Northern California. Lukas is with her now helping with the questioning and going through the statements of the teens.”
I swallow and reach for the edge of the sheets. Doc is on his feet and jogging over in the next breath. “Not yet, Hawk. Give it another hour or two. I almost didn’t get you back and I’d hate to see you waste my efforts by dying now.”
“I appreciate the concern, but—” It strikes me then, the something that’s not right. “Why am I healing normally? I would’ve thought Calli would heal me. She healed Jaxx and Brant when they were both near death.”
Doc’s expression tightens. “Women, right? You can never predict what’s going to happen.”
Only… I can. “Calli is fiercely protective of us. She wants the five of us to work. There’s no way…” I toss back the sheets and swing my feet to the floor. “What’s wrong? Where is she?”
The rush of blood leaving my head collides with my rising adrenaline and I have to brace my palm against the mattress to keep from keeling over.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Doc says, moving to steady me.
I push him back and snap my teeth at him. “My mate! Tell me now.”
“I’
ve got this,” Jaxx says, striding in. He takes one look at me and frowns. “Thanks, Doc. Seriously, I’ve got him.”
Doc shuffles out of the room like his ass is on fire and my hawk screams a shrill cry in my head. “Where is she? What’s wrong?”
Jaxx grabs a t-shirt and a pair of nylon jogging pants off the dresser and brings them back. “I’m going to tell you and you’re going to remain as calm as you can manage so Doc lets you leave this room, yeah?”
“I’m not feeling calm, Jaguar.”
“I feel you.” He grabs a cotton swab off the end table and presses it over the needle puncture as he frees me from the IV. “While we were busy with the raid, a force of more than twenty men invaded the compound and attacked. Calli was taken.”
“How the fuck did a hostile force find us?”
“We’re still working on that.” Jaxx grabs the t-shirt and helps me get it on. The bullet wound in my chest makes lifting my left arm very uncomfortable, but I ignore the pain. “Our location wasn’t a complete secret because a couple of hours before the attack, the Prima showed up with Raven and a small entourage. Somehow they found us and thought it would be a nice afternoon for a housecall.”
“Fuck. Was the Prima taken too?”
“No. Calli was definitely the target. They left the Prima and targeted Keyla, splitting Kotah’s attention. Calli insisted he help his sister and while he fought his way through her attackers, Calli was Tasered and tossed in a helicopter.”
He shakes out the pants and holds them open, easing my feet in them one at a time. He leaves them at my knees and starts back at the bottom again with socks and shoes. The alpha in me despises the show of weakness but the mated bond soothes my rage enough to accept the help. “Why aren’t you more upset? What do you know?”
“Brant and Kotah found an internet news story about a car explosion further up the coastline near Seattle. Reports describe a fiery burst in the night sky that seemed to launch from the explosion and crash shortly after.”