by Lisa Oliver
Think. If I was a paranoid fold leader and I had someone living like a slave, where would I keep them?... The basement. The choice was obvious as far as Cam was concerned. Sure, the woman was supposedly bond mated, but that was a forced pairing, so it was unlikely there was any love lost between the pair. It also bugged Cam that she hadn’t called Fergus like she usually did, which means perhaps getting caught with the phone and being punished for it.
The panic Cam predicted had already started; women screaming, men bellowing, gunfire masking the sound of children crying. Cam was up and over the wall before anyone had noticed him, his spot chosen specifically because it was the closest to the leader’s house. He debated shifting, but that would make it impossible for him to talk to Fergus’s momma when he found her. Besides, if she was behind locked doors, he needed opposable thumbs. Moving quickly and silently, he headed straight for the basement window, which was exactly where Fergus had said it would be. The shadows and the confusion provided excellent cover.
The bars covering the window were a new edition. But a quick glance showed they’d been shoddily installed. Reaching into one of his many pockets, Cam pulled out a multi-head screwdriver, and got to work. He only needed two of the bars off – the rest could stay. He would have gotten them off faster, but he had to keep checking his surroundings. So many people were still in panic mode, running around with no fixed destination in mind – Just another example of a council fuck up.
The last screw was out, and Cam was just lifting the bar off the frame, when the wailing started, first one woman and then another and another. Oh, mother of gods, please tell me that bastard hasn’t activated any chips. Cam’s need to get into the basement intensified. Using his boot, he smashed the glass, kicking out the shards so he wouldn’t get cut. He didn’t even look into the darkened room; he just dived through the window, expertly rolling on the solid concrete floor in a way that had him back on his feet quickly.
Come on lady, please be here, please be here. If she wasn’t, then Cam was going to have to make his way clear over to the other side of the compound, and that wasn’t going to be easy with so many people around. Looking around in the gloom, all Cam could see was boxes stacked at least six high. Gun cases. Cam curled his top lip. The leader wasn’t only paranoid, he was planning for fucking Armageddon.
Moving silently relying on his animal’s keen eyesight, Cam sniffed hard. The smell of gunpowder and oil made it hard to pick out any other scents. Keeping his back to one wall, Cam moved down the rows of gun cases; there had to be over a hundred of them packed in rows. He was nearing the end, and hoping to find a door, when he heard a whimper. At the same time the sickly stench of blood hit his nose.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Cam scanned the aisles between the boxes. There, in the far corner was a heap of what looked like clothing, but as he got closer, he could make out the slender form of a person. A person who was bleeding heavily.
“Hello.” Cam kept his voice low. Even though he was sure any security would be too busy dealing with the chaos outside, it was always ingrained in him to be careful. “Are you all right? Do you need assistance?”
“Who… who are you?” The mound of clothing stirred, and a face appeared. Cam held back his gasp with difficulty. The face was so like that of his mate, it was uncanny – the same eyes, nose and the shape of her mouth. But whereas when Cam left Fergus’s, his mate’s face was beautifully relaxed and smooth, his mother’s was covered in bruises, angry cuts carved in both of her cheeks.
Cam forced his facial features not to change. “Ma’am, you don’t know me, but I’m your son Fergus’s mate. There’s currently a council raid going on upstairs, but that’s got nothing to do with me. My only task is to get you out of here and back to Fergus.”
“My Fabulous Fergus has a mate? That makes me your momma too.” Momma tried to smile even as her eyes filled with tears. “You make sure you look after him, please, and tell him…”
“You can tell him yourself,” Cam said brusquely as he bent to pick her up. But momma pushed him away.
“I can’t go with you.” Pushing aside the clothing covering her body, momma waved to indicate her legs. “I’ll never walk again. He made sure of that.”
Cam’s gut clenched, and he took a few moments to breathe through his mouth. He’d seen some sick things in his life, but the sight of momma’s mangled legs and feet ranked as some of the worst. The wounds were dirty, some healing, others looking as though they’d only been recently inflicted. But the broken bones and mangled skin meant momma was probably right.
His lips tightened. “I’ll just have to carry you then.”
“No.” Momma leaned back. “I can’t let Fergus…”
“Fergus is exactly the reason I’m not leaving you here to die,” Cam said fiercely. Every instinct was telling him he was running out of time. “He’s not going to care if you can walk or not. He loves you. He misses you and he’s going to be damned pissed at me that I left him in bed and snuck out, just to save you. So, you need to be in my arms when I see him again. It’s the only thing guaranteed to save me from his anger and disappointment and I’d rather piss you off than him.”
Momma chuckled; the sound cut off as she grabbed her ribs. “The Fates chose well for my darling son.” She lifted her arms. “Do what you have to, and don’t worry about hurting me. I can keep quiet. I’m not going to let you and Fergus argue just because of me.”
“Yeah, well he’s just inherited fire breathing abilities,” Cam said, hoping to divert momma from her pain. “I don’t know who was more shocked, me or him.” Wrapping the coat around momma’s legs, he swung her into his arms as carefully as possible, before making his way back along the wall.
“Fire breathing.” Momma’s head flopped on Cam’s shoulder. “I always knew his dragon side wouldn’t come out unless he found his fated mate. That’s why I never told him.”
“You can tell him all about it when you’re well.” Cam had reached the basement window. Looking out, it was as if Armageddon had already hit the compound. Dead bodies laid strewn around, some in guard uniforms, while others were shifted bulls. What was more disturbing was the bodies of women and children lying dead without a mark on them. “The chips,” he said urgently. “Are you fitted with one of those chips?”
“You know about them?” Momma shook her head. “No, he didn’t bother chipping me. He’d already run Fergus off, and then he took the two other children I was forced to have. I don’t know what happened to them, and I can’t even feel sorry they’re gone right now. According to he who shall not be named, I’m just broken and at the moment, that’s exactly how I feel.”
“Then we’ll just have to get you fixed again. Hold on, this is going to be tricky.” Climbing out of a window, was a lot more difficult than jumping in one, especially with the added weight in his arms. But Cam had spent decades training for just this type of moment, and he wasn’t about to fail now. Free from the building, he eyed the height of the fence. It would be a lot easier going through the front gate, and with that in mind, he sprinted over to the fence, and started to follow it around to the front of the compound. The less time he had to worry about people surrounding him the better.
There were at least a dozen guards milling around the compound gate, and Cam hesitated. They would know his face, but Cannel and Brown hadn’t said anything about him rescuing someone out of the compound. The last thing momma needed was to be taken away, interrogated, and god knows what else the damn investigating team would want to do with her.
Later, he would blame the stench of blood still coming off momma, and his intense focus on the guards at the gate for what happened next. “You’ll do perfectly.” A snarling voice sounded in his ear as the unmistakable shape of a gun barrel pressed against Cam’s temple. “You’re going to shut your mouth and start moving. Thanks to you and the mess in your arms, they’re going to let me walk right out of the front gates.”
“Oh, my gods.” Momma’s fingers clutched Cam’s
shirt tight and her head pressed closer to his neck. “Don’t hurt this man. Please don’t hurt him. He’s got nothing to do with any of this.”
“You always were too soft, Marybelle.” Cam caught the edge of a sneer in his peripheral vision. “Walk.” The gun pressed hard enough to leave an indent. Cam took one step, then another. He knew the moment they’d all been seen, when a shout went up and the sound of a dozen rifles cocking were pointed in his direction.
Scanning the faces, Cam looked for anyone among the guards who had an ounce of experience. The problem with shifter faces was they all retained a twenties appearance. So, the faces weren’t a clue, but body language was. Cam discounted twitches, slouches, anyone who looked the slightest bit worried. Cannel appeared from the front of the house, but Cam discounted him immediately. He just needed one guard.
There, in the back, Cam saw a face he recognized, and held the man’s eyes. He saw the flicker of recognition, a quick glance around, and then the man nodded, so slight it was easy to miss. Cam took another step.
“You won’t get away Albert,” Cannel called out. “The moment you stop hiding behind the innocents, you’re dead.”
“I’ll sue you all for incompetence,” the voice behind Cam was harsh and arrogant. “Council guards killing women and children. Planning a night raid in a family compound. My whole fold dead and for nothing. You’ve got nothing on me.”
“It was you who killed the women and children. We’ve got the chips,” Cannel yelled. “And the control app.” He held up a tablet. “We’ve got the kids we saved from the auction last September, and the dead guards that came from your fold. I’ll bet my life your finger print is the only one that opens this tablet and that makes this whole thing an open and shut case. You’re not worth the cost of a trial.”
“Then I’ve got nothing to lose,” Albert cackled. “I’ll take you all with me.”
The moment the gun muzzle moved from Cam’s temple he yelled, “Et ad sinistram.” Holding momma tight against his chest, he dropped and rolled to the left. He saw Albert jerk as the guard who Cam recognized shot him right between the eyes, and the hail of bullets that followed left Albert’s body riddled with holes.
“It’s going to be all right,” he whispered to momma who was shaking in his arms. “We’re going to go home, and Fergus is going to cry, and laugh and ply us both with honey muffins until we’re so stuffed, we can’t move.”
“You won’t be moving anywhere.” Cam looked up to see Cannel and Brown looming over them both. “You’re holding the only material witness to this investigation in your arms. She’s coming with us.”
“That makes you a lying bastard.” Trying not to jostle Marybelle too much, Cam got to his feet. “I’ve got her, I rescued her, just like we agreed, and I’m taking her home to her son.”
“I told you,” Cannel was back to his smug self. “I would disavow all knowledge of you the moment you came into this compound, which means you’re trespassing on a council investigation. This woman is the only remaining member of the fold left alive and she’s coming with us. Hand her over or you’ll be arrested and won’t be tasting your mate’s honey muffins for quite some time.”
Cam snarled as he scanned the area, looking for an out. The guards were still at the gate, and he wouldn’t be able to run far with Marybelle in his arms. Shifting was out of the question, but there was no way he was going to let the council get their hands on Fergus’s momma. His ears picked up an unusual sound. Like wings flapping – big wings. Looking up, his snarl turned into a smile as a giant purple dragon circled then dropped into the compound with a thud. The flop of black hair hanging between the dragon’s ears told him exactly who the lovely beast was.
“Do you want to say that again?” Cam asked. The ground shook beneath his feet as the dragon stomped over. “Do you want to explain to my mate that you’re arresting me for saving his momma who you plan to interrogate when she’s been gravely injured. Do you want to tell the one man who gave you all the information you needed to break the slavery ring and the plot against shifters everywhere that you’re going back on your word to me?” He pointed at Fergus who had large smoke rings coming out from his long nose. “Tell him. Go on. Or I will, shall I?”
“Leave. My. Mate. And. Momma. Alone.” Every word was punctuated with well-placed flames. Cannel and Brown jumped back as the grass they were standing on scorched black.
“You can’t keep relying on your damn dragon to save you,” Cannel yelled. “It’s an offence to threaten council guards.”
“Then stop threatening us.” Cam caught the eye of the man he used to work with years before. “You there, can you help? I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name right now, but I know you to be a decent man from when we worked together. These men and I had an agreement. This lovely dragon is responsible for the intel that allowed this raid. This woman, who’s badly hurt and needs medical attention is his momma. That guard,” he pointed at Cannel, “promised us that if Fergus told him all he knew, then no one would bother us anymore. Can I count on you to make sure that promise is kept?”
“I’m jealous as fuck you found your mate, man, and pleased as fuck you remembered your training or things could’ve gotten right messy with trying to apprehend the fold leader. Dead is the only result for scumbags like him, and without your cues, it wouldn’t have happened.” The guard nodded. “Catch your ride. I’ll make sure you won’t hear from us again in a professional capacity, on my wolf so be it.”
“I appreciate that, I truly do. Look me up in Arrowtown sometime if you’re ever in the area. I run the local bar, and my mate runs the bakery, you’ll always be welcome.” Cam turned and eyed the impressive looking dragon. “Your momma needs the doc really quick, Fergus. Can you get us there?”
The dragon bent his long neck, sniffing at his momma. Marybelle’s face was white, the strain showing in her eyes, but she reached up, a beautiful smile so like her son’s gracing her face. “Hey baby,” she murmured quietly as she stroked the side of his nose. “Your mate promised us honey muffins when we get home.”
“Momma hurt.” The deep guttural dragon tones were tinged with sadness.
“Not for much longer, baby. Just take us home and I’ll be fine.”
Cam couldn’t identify the look his dragon was giving him, but he hoped, from the nudge he got on his shoulder, that they were going to be okay. Making sure Marybelle’s coat was tucked around her as much as possible, he navigated Fergus’s leg and found a spot to sit, with her still in his arms, on his dragon’s back. I didn’t think I’d be doing this a week ago, he thought as the magnificent animal took to the skies.
Chapter Twenty
Voices. Fergus could hear voices, but they were muted as though coming from far away. His body ached – his shoulders, his back, even his legs felt like something was pinning them down. He yawned, forcing his eyelids to work. Opening them, he found himself staring at Cam’s worried face.
“I had the weirdest dream.” Fergus managed a small smile, because seeing his mate’s face was definitely something to smile about. “I dreamed I was a huge purple dragon, and I was flying so high in the night sky. And then I saw you…” Fergus’s eyes widened. “Momma was hurt. People were dead all over the ground. Tell me. Tell me it was all a dream.” He looked around, his breath quickening as he didn’t recognize where he was.
“Babe, it’s okay.” Cam’s hands cupping his face kept Fergus grounded. “You did turn into a dragon. You saved me and your momma, baby. Don’t you remember?”
Fergus thought hard – something difficult to do when his whole body felt as if he’d been hit by a truck. He remembered waking up… the note… “You left me,” he cried, as everything came flooding back. “You didn’t talk to me, tell me, nothing. You left me a note.”
“And I would do exactly the same thing again in a heartbeat if it meant saving you from facing the bullies from your childhood.” Cam’s weight settled on the narrow bed Fergus was on. “Babe, you’re at Doc and Joe’s
house. You managed to fly into town, landed on the main street and collapsed in a dead heap. You attracted quite a crowd.”
Fergus rubbed his head. “I don’t remember that bit. It looks like I shifted though which was probably a good thing. I couldn’t imagine shifting my bull form as a dead weight, let alone my dragon.”
He looked up, meeting Cam’s eyes squarely. “I understand why you did what you did, and I didn’t doubt for a second you were supremely qualified for what went on. It’s just, you made an assumption on how I’d react if you told me what you were going to do. The note said you expected me to be angry with you. You didn’t give me a chance to show that might not have been the case. You made a major decision, one that affected both of us, without talking to me first and that hurts.”
“Shit.” Cam closed his eyes, his chin dropping to his chest. “I’d far rather anger you and have you yell at me, than hurt you any day. I’m so sorry. That was never my intention. I just wanted your momma to come home to you.”
Fergus bit his lip. The bottom line was, his mate put his own life on the line to save the only woman Fergus had ever loved; the woman who’d shown him unconditional love every way she knew how, right down to pushing him out of the fold when his life was in danger. And their mating was so new.
Sliding his arms around Cam’s neck, he pulled the man down and nuzzled his face against Cam’s cheek. His mate’s scent filled his nose, soothing him like nothing else could. Just inhaling his mate’s uniqueness helped ease the aches in his body. He stroked Cam’s head, just enjoying the closeness, as Cam’s breath tickled his neck. “Did you mean it,” he whispered, “in the note, I mean. Did ‘love Cam’ mean what it says?”
Cam nodded. “Every day since I met you.”
Fergus tightened his arms around Cam’s neck. “Next time you want to be romantic, take me to dinner first,” he teased.