Beneath the Dust (Force of Nature Book 4)

by Amber Lynn Natusch

  Just as I got a bead on him, Liam appeared from the fringe of the melee carrying something in his arms. Or someone, as the case seemed to be. The body was charred beyond recognition, its limbs dangling and shredded to bits. One leg was barely attached at all.

  Knox was there in a flash, growling at what he saw. I followed close behind, unsure if what I was about to see could be saved or if it was too late—if the fey king had once again taken someone from us, his cleverly designed plan the distraction he needed to both get revenge on the Originals and claim me in the process.

  Liam gently placed Brunton’s destroyed body on the ground and took a step back, concern in his eyes—or was it fear? I was too scared to decipher it at that moment, so I let it be and instead dropped to my knees at Brunton’s side. I placed my hands on his chest and begged for there to be even a hint of a heartbeat.

  I knew all too well that I couldn’t heal the dead.

  Kat did, too.

  When I felt the weak beat of his fading heart, I put my other hand over the worst of his injuries.

  “Help me heal him,” I said with such force that the trees shook in the distance. The birds they held immediately took flight. Fire burned in my veins, but I pushed harder, letting the magic course through me into him. Knox was next to me, his hand on my shoulder, urging me on. Brunton was barely alive; we didn’t have time to be subtle. I needed to cram magic into him, no matter how it felt for either of us.

  The end justified the means.

  The leg that was tethered to his pelvis by little more than sinew and blood vessels reforged itself slowly as the werewolf howled in pain. Liam held Brunton’s shoulders down as he writhed and bucked beneath my grip, his reaction making me push my power harder. I stole a look at Knox, who’d grown pale and sweaty beside me. His link to his brother was helping keep him alive, but it came at a price, and I wondered if, between helping amplify my magic and stabilizing Brunton, he would soon burn out.

  Or worse.

  Brunton was screaming now, his skin knitting itself together violently at an unbelievable pace. He would live—if he survived the process. If we all did.

  “Piper!” Merc called from the distance. “Piper, you must stop!”

  “Almost done,” I said to myself, digging my fingers into Brunton’s healing flesh. “Almost done…”

  “Listen to him,” Knox said. His voice was weak and faint, and it was the last thing he said before he fell to the ground next to me. I looked down to find him lying there, ghostly pale and barely breathing.

  “Piper!” Merc shouted, ripping me away from Brunton and Knox. The second his ice-cold hands wrapped around my arms, I realized how far I’d gone. How consumed I’d allowed myself to be. His grey eyes bore into mine, silently assessing me to see if my mind had broken somewhere along the way. But he couldn’t probe my head like he could others’, and his frustration in this was plain.

  “I’m okay,” I whispered. “I just—”

  “Take Knox inside!” Merc yelled at Grizz. The bear didn’t move. “Foust!” Knox’s second-in-command appeared in a flash. “Take him to the infirmary.” Foust did as he was told. “Kat, take Brunton there, too.” When she, like Grizz, didn’t move, I looked over to find her staring wide-eyed at the wounded but healing werewolf. “Kat,” Merc said again, more heat in his tone this time, “take him to the infirmary. Now.”

  Still, she didn’t move. Instead, she took a step back, panic plain in her expression.

  “I’ve got him,” Jagger said as he ran up to join us. He, too, was covered in blood, though it appeared to not be his own. He’d been helping the wounded. He picked Brunton up carefully and walked around front.

  They disappeared into the mansion.

  Kat disappeared into the woods, her teal gown shredding as she Changed. Grizz ran toward the far side of the property, looking back only once with anger in his eyes.

  “Are you all right?” Merc asked. His finger grazed my cheek, and I turned to face him.

  “I thought you—” I cut myself off, unable to finish my thought.

  “Your outburst warned us,” he said with a sad smile. “I tried to find you.”

  “Yeah—you and someone else—”

  “Piper!” Foust shouted, running toward us. “Come quick! It’s Knox.”

  Before I could start to run, Merc ghosted us to the infirmary in the basement of the mansion. We both ran to Knox. He was sprawled out on the bed, his breathing shallow.

  “Brunton must still be drawing on his power,” I said, grabbing his hand. It was cooler than normal. “I need you to leave, Merc. I have to help him.”

  He looked like he wanted to argue but then nodded, backing out of the room and closing the door behind him.

  “Hold on, Knox,” I whispered in his ear. Then I did what I could to call my magic. It took considerable effort, given that I was surrounded by thick concrete walls and my normal source of amplification was my patient, but it eventually kicked in. Knox’s blue-tinged lips regained their color, as did his skin, and his eyes fluttered open. What a welcome sight that was.

  “You’re okay,” I said, pressing my lips to his cheek.

  “What the fuck happened?”

  “I was trying to save Brunton, and I must have tapped you dry in the process.”

  Knox shot up in bed, looking around the room until he spotted his fallen brother. Once he realized our efforts had been successful, he exhaled and fell back down against the pillow.

  “Is he going to make it?” Merc asked as he entered the room. I looked over to find him smiling wickedly.

  “He is—much to your chagrin, I’m sure.”

  Merc’s smile widened.

  “Nice to see you in one piece, asshole,” Knox replied. He, too, wore a mischievous grin.

  “I thought you screened those in attendance for assassination intentions.”

  “I did,” Knox said, letting out a breath. “I don’t understand it. I specifically asked whether she wished you harm, and my lie detector didn’t register anything from her at all—not even a hint.”

  “Maybe killing Merc wasn’t her goal,” I said quietly. “Maybe it was a distraction.”

  The two males pinned me in place with their narrowed eyes.

  “Why do you believe that?” Merc asked.

  I took a deep breath to calm myself. Neither one was going to take what I had to say very well.

  “Because the fey king tried to kidnap me in the aftermath. He used the smoke as a screen and employed his magical pull to draw me to him under the guise of being Drake. And I would have gone with him. I swear, it’s like I can’t think clearly when I’m under his thrall…”

  Knox climbed out of the bed to stand next to Merc, the two forming a wall of anger and brewing revenge.

  “How did you get away?” he asked. His voice was calm—too calm and too low. He was seconds away from losing it, and that wouldn’t end well for anyone.

  “Grizz tackled me. Like literally tackled me. Actually, it was more of a blunt force blow that knocked me for yards. But it worked. I was so angry that I cleared the smoke to see who’d attacked me, and that’s when I saw the fey king. It was the sight of him that pulled my mind from the fog. I don’t think his abilities are as strong here as they are in Faerie.”

  “We knew it wasn’t over,” Knox muttered under his breath.

  “But to come to us like that so soon after your return—it reeks of desperation,” Merc added.

  “We knew he wanted me—I guess we underestimated just how badly.”

  “He can’t have done this on his own. He needed help from our side of the veil,” Knox said, heading for the door. “And I think I know exactly who.”

  I glanced at Merc before tearing after Knox.

  “Liam didn’t do this,” I yelled as I scrambled to catch up with the pissed-off alpha. “Are you forgetting that he helped us in Faerie? That he nearly died because of it? That he literally just saved me from the golems?”

  “How fucking conveni
ent, don’t you think?” he asked as he wheeled on me, eyes full of rage. “Maybe that’s been the king’s plan all along—to make it look like we can trust Liam. That bastard above all others would know how badly I’d want to believe it—to believe I finally had my brother back.”

  “Piper,” Merc said, his steadying hand on my back, “Knox is right. This possibility cannot be overlooked.”

  “But he can’t lie to you! And he answered all your questions when he came—”

  “And he’s about to answer a shit-ton more,” Knox growled as he sprinted up the stairs at a pace I couldn’t begin to match.

  Merc turned me to face him and rested his hands on my shoulders. “I need your help with the wounded,” he said softly. “May I have it?”

  I nodded absentmindedly. “Of course.”

  In a flash, we were in the backyard, the chaos of the scene still raging.

  “Where is Drake?” I asked. Merc searched for a moment, then pointed in the direction of a makeshift triage area. In the center of it stood Drake, working his brand of magic on those that could be helped. I wished there had been more wounded gathered around him. “You’ll need to move away,” I told Merc as I rooted myself in the ground. He did as I asked, giving me as much space as he could force himself to, given the circumstances. “Help me heal them all,” I whispered to the earth at my feet. A small rumble shook beneath me as the force of my magic shot forth, following the roots embedded deep in the ground. One by one, the victims went still and silent, their near-lifeless bodies filling with the power they needed to heal.

  I could sense Knox nearby and tapped into our connection to help me complete the task, but I could feel him trying to pull away—feel his anger at being disturbed. Whether he was still hunting Liam or had already found him, I didn’t know; either way, his pent-up rage was palpable, and an ominous sign at best.

  I felt the fire in my veins slowly making its way toward my core—my heart. I clenched my fists and rode out the burning. I was so close to being done.

  For the second time that night, I heard Merc’s voice in my ear.

  “You must stop now, Piper,” he said before his hands encircled mine, silently begging me to stop. This time, I didn’t fight him. With a deep breath, I released the burning into the ground and turned to face him.

  “Where’s Knox? Did he find Liam?”

  Merc nodded. “He took him inside, along with Jagger and Foust.”

  “He’s not to blame for this,” I said. “I can feel it.”

  Merc’s expression darkened. “I hope for his sake he is not.”

  Drake shot me a concerned look from across the yard as Merc ushered me back toward the house. Jase and Dean appeared before us, blocking the way. They fell in line with Merc, flanking their king as we entered the mansion again, blocking out the remnants of the chaos from the coronation. The enforcers and the pack, with Drake’s help, could handle it. We had bigger problems to deal with.

  Like a potential traitor in our midst.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The sound of a beating echoed down the stony corridor as the four of us made our way to where Knox and the boys had Liam locked away. One look at Liam’s bloody face told me that Knox hadn’t liked the answers he’d already gotten. The fact that his Original brother was still alive meant something else, though. Either Liam still had a story to tell, or Knox was keeping him alive until Brunton was awake and ready to finish the job himself.

  “How are you doing this?” Knox asked before slamming Liam into the cinderblock wall again. “How are you able to lie to me?”

  Liam wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “I am not lying…”

  His denial only fueled Knox’s rage. He drew back his arm for what promised to be a killing blow, but the second he let it fly, Merc appeared beside him, catching his hand. The silent struggle between the two was both subtle and epic.

  “Let me try,” Merc said, eyeing the alpha tightly. “If you remember, I can be quite…compelling.”

  Knox let out a low growl before taking a step back. Merc stepped in front of Liam, the two nearly nose-to-nose. The silence stretched out for far too long as Merc did what I knew he could do—influence the minds of his victims. Whether his gift would prove helpful in our situation remained to be seen.

  Liam squinted in pain as Merc used little finesse in his endeavor. Where his gift had always appeared so subtle to me before, it now seemed like a battering ram trying to bash its way to the answers he sought.

  Blood trickled out of Liam’s nose, and I wondered if Merc was slowly killing him.

  “He has to stop,” I said quietly. None of the others seemed fazed by my words. “He’s killing him! Merc, please.”

  “I have not seen what I wish to see yet,” the vampire king replied, his voice as cold and distant as it had been the day he’d tried to kill me.

  Laughter broke out in the adjacent cell, reminding me of Kingston’s presence.

  “Careful, Piper, careful…” he warned.

  “Merc, you have to stop now!” I rested my hand on his shoulder, as he so often did mine, and drew him away. Dark, narrowed eyes looked back at me as if I were a stranger. Then suddenly, they shot wide, exposing their stunning grey color.

  “Forgive me, Piper,” he said, taking a step back. I tried not to notice how Knox had positioned himself between the vampire king and me. “I find no treachery in him.”

  “That’s what I thought,” I replied.

  Knox let out a sharp exhale, then walked over to Liam. “You have to understand why I did this,” he said by way of apology. To Liam’s credit, he nodded and reached his hand out to Knox.

  “Were I you, I would have done the same.”

  Knox took it, then pulled him into a half-hug. “I never wanted things to be this way…”

  “I see that now,” was Liam’s only response.

  “There’s still the matter of the fey king’s eyes on this side of the veil,” Merc said, breaking the silence in the cell.

  “And the fey queen wanting Piper dead,” Kingston yelled from his prison. “Don’t forget that…”

  “Explain to me again why I can’t just kill him,” Dean said, fists clenched at his sides, “because every time he opens his mouth, I just want to yank his heart out through it.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not anatomically possible,” Kingston said, baiting the enforcer from the safety of his cell. He knew we couldn’t let Dean kill him, and that fact made him bold.

  Maybe we couldn’t let him die, but I was totally down for watching him get his ass kicked. Again.

  “Keep messing with him and I’ll let him prove you wrong,” I shouted.

  Heavy silence was his only response.

  “Thanks P,” Dean said, fist-bumping me.

  “Any time.”

  “The fey king…” Merc said again, his patience waning.

  “Right. Sorry,” I mumbled. Then I looked to Jagger. “Hey Jags…do you think Mack might not have learned his lesson the last time we paid him a visit?”

  “Mack never learns,” he said, worry furrowing his brow. “Never.”

  “His involvement would go against the temporary truce,” Merc pointed out.

  Jagger shook his head. “Mack has no honor. If the fey king came to him about Piper, he’d cave in a heartbeat. I guarantee it.”

  Merc’s gaze drifted to Knox. “Do you agree with his assessment?”

  “Jagger knows him better than I do, but if he says that’s how it is, then that’s how it is. I’d bet my life on it.”

  “Nobody’s making bets without letting me in on the action.”

  Kat’s voice drifted down the hall before she made her grand entrance. Gone was the silken beauty of her evening dress, replaced by leather and denim and an expression that said she needed an outlet for her growing rage. The bear was nowhere to be found.

  Kat looked at all of us crammed into Liam’s cell and then at the healing wounds on his face.

  “Looks
like I missed the real party tonight…”

  “He didn’t have anything to do with it, Kat,” I said, stepping in front of her. “The fey king came for me. Jags thinks Mack is likely involved.”

  “Which is exactly what I’m going to go find out,” Knox said, pushing past everyone to get out.

  “You can’t go alone!” I yelled after him. “Maybe he’s expecting that.”

  “Piper is right,” Merc agreed. “It’s a fool’s errand.”

  Knox halted in the doorway, gripping the metal bars like he was about to bend them in half.

  “I’m never alone—that’s what it means to have a pack,” he replied. Then a look of mischief flashed in his eyes. “Are you offering your services, your highness?”

  Merc glanced to me, then back to the alpha. Power crackled through the room.

  “If it means destroying the one responsible for this attack and the deaths of so many of my kind, then yes. I am.”

  “Then let’s get going,” Knox said, stepping into the hall. “The night is still young. Might as well add another dropped body to the tally.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Merc and Knox left orders with Jase, Dean, and Foust before the four of us made our way to the fleet of vehicles. Just as I was about to climb in, Grizz appeared from the mansion, headed for us. He was in human form and looked none too happy. For once, he couldn’t blame me for him being left behind. He’d disappeared without explanation after everything had gone to shit. I had no idea what his deal was.

  “Didn’t want to miss out on the field trip?” Kat asked.

  The man-bear scoffed.

  “We’re paying Mack another visit,” Knox said.

  “And there will be no killing until we have answers,” Merc added. “Not that you seem too keen on following instructions this evening.”

  Grizz stopped just short of Merc and let a low growl escape. Kat quickly put herself between the two of them, forcing my guardian back a step—no easy feat, given his size.

  “Save it for Mack,” she said. The man-bear did no such thing. He was in a mood, to be sure. Apparently, he didn’t much care who he took his frustrations out on—including the vampire king.