Shapes of Autumn (Boxed set, books 1 - 5)

by Veronica Blade

  He’d saved her and that was all that mattered. Anything else he may have done wrong was forgivable. “When can I see him?”

  “The thing is…” She gulped. “You already have.”

  I’d already seen him? She couldn’t have been referring to Charles who was dead and buried. I prayed she didn’t mean William who’d been run out of town by Charles. They were perfect, unlikable examples of the werewolf species. But if either were my father, they wouldn’t have tried to kill me, right? I hadn’t noticed any other werewolves except Renzo and Alura.

  “I believe you know him as Renzo Soriano.” She eyed me intently.

  I sprung from the settee to loom over her. “Renzo?” I growled. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “Tesoro, sit. Talk to me.” She patted the spot where I’d just vacated.

  I ignored her request, glaring as I paced. “Renzo is my dad? The same Renzo who scared the hell out of us and threatened Autumn? The same guy who’s been around for weeks and is now beating the crap out of me every day during training?” I was shouting now and didn’t care that everyone, even Renzo, could hear me in the other room.

  My mom flew off the couch and bared her teeth. Fangs, actually. She clamped her fingers on my shoulders. “Sit down, Zack.”

  “No.” My hands bunched into fists. “I’m going to find Renzo and kick his ass.”

  I slipped out of her grasp and made my way to the room where Renzo was probably listening, but in an instant, my mom was blocking my path. “You will not fight your father. I need you to listen to me. There’s so much you don’t know.”

  I wouldn’t fight her to get to Renzo. I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “So good to have you back. But I’m sorry. I can’t stay. I need some space.”

  “You can’t leave.” She sidestepped to stop me and I took that opportunity to get past her.

  I barreled through the door, zeroed in on Renzo, and charged. My fist landed in his ribs and he doubled over. “You son of a bitch!”

  “Zack!” my mom shouted behind me.

  Autumn’s mouth dropped open and she stared at my mom with huge eyes. Shaking off the shock, Autumn moved in front of Renzo and blocked me from hitting Renzo again—who hadn’t made an effort to defend himself. “Don’t do anything you’re going to regret.”

  I struggled to calm myself as I shot Renzo a look of loathing. “All this time and he didn’t tell me he was my dad.”

  Autumn flinched, but she didn’t glance at Renzo. As if she wasn’t surprised.

  Fury raged through me and I rounded on her. “You knew?”

  She shook her head. “I just found out a couple—”

  “Which means you’ve had time to tell me.” And now I wondered what else she was keeping from me. Maybe her secrets were the real reason she’d broken up with me. Fire burned my brain and streaks of red clouded my vision. “For all your preaching about telling the truth, you’re the biggest liar of them all.”

  “You don’t understand.” Autumn clung to my arm. “Zack—”

  “You have no right to speak me.” I shrugged her off. “You’re not my girlfriend, remember?”

  “Zack, it wasn’t her fault and I had my reasons for not telling you.” Renzo rubbed his rib where I’d hit him. “Give me a chance to—”

  “Stay away from me! Both of you.” I backed out of the room.

  “Tesoro, listen to them. Please,” my mom called out, following me. She’d probably seen me punch the love of her life. Both of them had known for nearly a week that the other was alive and neither could manage to tell me?

  The three people I needed most in my life had kept me in the dark. Lied to me.

  Unable to look into my mom’s pleading eyes, I whirled and headed through the door into the king’s study. But I could sense them behind me and I didn’t feel like talking. I needed a few minutes to myself, time to think.

  At the door to the bedroom Autumn and I had shared, I paused with my hand on the knob. My gaze strayed to the next door over that led to the corridor and beyond. They’d follow me for sure. And somewhere in the palace vamps were waiting to kill us. But if I ran fast enough, they wouldn’t be able to see me. They could follow my scent but I’d be over the stone gates traveling faster than they could track me.

  Maybe I’d come back tomorrow. Maybe not.

  I whooshed out the door, past Kayla and Tony, then bulleted through the house and out the front door. Across the lawn and over the tall stone wall, lightning struck. I convulsed as the violent dose of electricity ravaged my body. My feet stumbled across the top of the wall and I landed on the other side in the soft dirt.

  My muscles ached and trembled. Damn Cedric and his security systems. Damn myself for forgetting about them. But I had to keep going or someone might nab me, and it was probably too late to go back. I was already on the other side and vulnerable. Running was my best option—if I was even able to do that.

  As I shifted my weight to rocket across the neighbor’s lot, something sharp pierced my shoulder blade. Ah, crap. My knees buckled beneath me, but I shot my fists in every direction, hoping they would land on someone. I tried to morph in hopes of using my fangs on whoever had drugged me, but I didn’t have enough strength or focus. Even if I had, I wouldn’t have been able to stop them from getting the cure. Images swirled and spun around me, and I was plummeting. And then the night sky turned pitch black.

  Chapter TWENTY-THREE

  Autumn

  Zack! Come back, it’s not safe. I waited for a reply, but only silence met me. Somehow, I could still feel our connection. Just like I had sensed when Favianne’s human side had died, I would’ve sensed if Zack had been killed, right? He had to be alive. I tucked my bottom lip under my teeth to keep it from quivering. “He’s not answering.”

  Except for Cedric and Regis who stayed behind to monitor the cameras, we’d all ventured out to the front lawn, sticking close together for safety as we searched the grounds for Zack.

  “His scent ends here.” Dathan sniffed near the wall, his neck arching so he could smell the air above. “Kayla says he’s not showing up on any of the cameras on the other side. She’s checking recent footage, but it will take a few minutes to go through them all.”

  “He’s not answering me either. That’s not like him.” Favianne’s hands fisted as she paced. “Doesn’t matter how angry he is. He’d at least talk to me, tell me he’s fine.”

  “For all we know, he could already be dead.” Tony’s gaze darted to Favianne. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have blurted that out.”

  Favianne flinched, glancing at Dathan.

  “You may still be too young and weak for consistent telepathic conversation, especially over this kind of a distance.” Dathan bounded to the top of the wall and scanned the other side, his body jerking as the invisible force zapped him. He jumped down and shuddered. “That was unpleasant. If Zack escaped over the wall, which appears to be the case with how strong his scent is here, the jolt took him down long enough for someone to capture him. Let’s get inside before something happens to one of you.”

  Panic seized me, my chest tightening. “We won’t find him by going back inside.”

  “Inside. Now,” he hissed, pointing at the front door. “I’ll explain upstairs. Go.”

  Everyone moved in unison, our necks craning in every direction in hopes of spotting anyone lurking. But not a soul stirred, as though the palace’s occupants knew that now wasn’t a good time to be around.

  Favianne! In all the excitement, I hadn’t had a chance to show her how thrilled out of my mind I was that she was alive. And by the smell of her, she’d been turned into a vampire.

  I waited until we’d been safely ushered into the king’s suite before I threw my arms around her and held my tears in check. Now was not the time to fall apart. “I can’t believe you’re here. Missed you so much.”

  “Not as much as I missed you.” She gave me a hard squeeze.

  “You’ll have time for reunions later.” Dathan scowled
at each of us until we were all sitting. “Zack’s just unconscious. Definitely not dead.”

  His confidence in Zack’s condition caught my attention. “How could you possibly know that?”

  “I can sense his state of mind.” Facing away from everyone else, Dathan shoved his hands in his pocket.

  “But…” Kayla studied him, squinting in disbelief. “There’s only one way to get that kind of a connection.”

  Dathan scoffed. “Healing him was necessary in order to catch the culprits who tried to murder Cedric. And then, of course, I required the cure.”

  “But Zack didn’t sustain any major damage. He didn’t need emergency healing,” Tony said.

  I had needed healing though, and Dathan had given me his blood. I waved my palms around the room. “Wait. Does this mean you and I are connected too?”

  “You let them both drink from you?” Kayla’s mouth dropped open. “You’ve never shared your power with any of us.”

  “It wasn’t life or death.” Tony scoffed. “They’d already killed the attackers.”

  Dathan abandoned his spot by the window and stalked to where Kayla sat. He loomed over her with a glare. “Zack was already wounded and weak when gave he his own blood to save Cedric’s life. Preventing Zack from becoming insane with hunger was the least I could do after his act of heroism.”

  Kayla slumped under his stare.

  “And thanks to his foresight, we have a way to track Zack.” Cedric turned to Dathan. “What else can you tell us?”

  “Unconscious… and by the strength of the connection, I’d say he’s nearby, possibly on the estate somewhere.”

  Favianne rose from the chair. “You think you’ll be able to find him?”

  “I believe so. But there’s something I need to do first.” He strode to Cedric’s desk and jabbed his finger into a button. “This is King Dathan, your true king,” he grumbled into the microphone. “The young male werewolf has been kidnapped by one of our own.”

  As Dathan spoke, his voice boomed from the speakers outside the door in the corridors. “Every one of you will be in the training room in five minutes. Those who don’t show up will be treated as traitors and killed on sight.” He released the intercom button.

  “Now what?” Renzo stood. “My son has been taken and the ones who have him very likely aren’t on the premises anymore. They sure as hell aren’t going to meet with you and leave their captive unattended. So you’re going to meet with a bunch of vampires who probably weren’t even the ones who took him? We could be using this time to look for Zack.”

  Dathan’s lip twisted. “I’m merely removing obstacles from my path. Since we don’t know which of our people are trying to overthrow us, we’ll keep the ones here contained while we track Zack.”

  Brilliant. Another reason to be grateful Dathan was on our side. Apparently Renzo didn’t object because he kept his mouth shut.

  “Cedric, you stay here and watch the monitors. You’re our secret weapon, since they believe you’re dead.” Focusing on Renzo and Alura, Dathan flicked his hand like they were inconsequential. “Can’t have you two ruining this by getting sucked dry by some vampire. You’ll be more useful here with Cedric in case anyone tries to gain access to the suite. Favianne, I can’t use you without proper training,” he told her. “Stay behind with Autumn and help the wolves. Vampires, let’s go.”

  As soon as they filed out of the room behind Dathan, Favianne began to pace. Alura’s foot fluttered nervously while Renzo brooded in his chair. I couldn’t blame any of them for being restless. Waiting in the king’s suite and knowing Zack was out there somewhere, possibly hurt or nearly dead, made me light-headed and my hands clammy. I would rather have been out there with Dathan.

  “I hope they bring back some weapons,” Alura said. “All I have is this dagger in my boot and a crossbow in Autumn’s room.”

  “Fortunately I keep a supply here in my suite. But we’ll get armed in a bit,” Cedric mumbled before returning to the monitors.

  I loved that Cedric was so badass and always prepared for anything, even having a store of emergency weapons—unlike Renzo, who wasn’t badass at all. I made a small effort to hide my resentment while saying, “When we have Zack back, the least you could do is tell him you asked me not to say anything about you being his father. Now he thinks I betrayed him.”

  “You broke up with him.” Renzo’s eyes narrowed at me. “What do you care?”

  Favianne snapped to attention. “You two broke up?”

  “Yes.” I jumped to my feet, my arms stiff at my sides as I stood in front of Renzo. “Because you talked me into it. Kept going on and on about the different species thing and how much danger we were in, had me convinced it was the right thing to do.” Much to my humiliation, a whimper escaped me. “And then you threw me under the bus.”

  “You did this, Lucio?” Favianne whispered. “Interfered with two kids in love?”

  Renzo hung his head. “Their lives will be a hundred times harder if they stick together. They’re young. They’ll fall in love with someone else. Maybe someone more appropriate.”

  “I was about their age when I met you.” She knelt in front of him and covered his hand with hers. “When you were gone, I didn’t fall in love with anyone else.”

  “Favianne, it’s different with us.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

  “What, we weren’t different species?” she asked, slanting her head and leaning away from him. “Or are they not the right kind of different species?”

  A corner of his upper lip turned up. “Maybe it’s not a matter of species, but the right kind of love.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t be the one to judge,” she chided, looking down at their joined hands. “There was a time when someone tried to tell you who not to love.”

  Renzo caressed her hands. “She doesn’t love him enough. And to be honest, I don’t think he cares for her as much as you’d like to think.”

  “And you know this how? You have so much to learn about your own son.” Favianne yanked her hands from his, then backed away and sat next to me. “When Zack is back, I’ll speak to him,” she told me.

  I could kiss Favianne for standing up to Renzo. I wanted to do more than that though. The compulsion to morph into a bear and add to his facial scars had me squirming in my chair. Instead, I put that energy toward convincing my eyes not to leak.

  I gave her a sad smile. “I appreciate the thought, but he’s not any happier with you two.”

  “He’ll come around.” She leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. “I’m sure of it.”

  “I hope so.” I sniffed and raised my chin to check her out more carefully. “You’re totally hot, by the way. You could probably pass for a college student.”

  Her lip twitched. “The perks of quick healing. Our bodies are constantly regenerating and keeping us in our prime.”

  “Are you three finished?” As soon as Cedric had our attention, he pointed to the monitor. “Dathan is keeping all the vampires in the training room until further notice. Kayla, Tony, Braulio, and Regis will be guarding all exits—obviously Regis’s presence is no longer a secret either. That leaves you guys and Dathan to find Zack.”

  That didn’t sound encouraging. “But we have you and Dathan on our side. And these.” I tapped my incisors.

  Renzo smirked. “We both know your fangs don’t have the same bite as ours.”

  My lip curved up. “I’ve killed one werewolf and a couple of vamps. With Dathan’s blood, after a little more training I could probably take you.”

  He lifted his lip to show his teeth and leaned forward. “I’ll be ready when you want to try me out.”

  “Lucio, what is wrong with you?” Favianne stuck her hands on her hips. “I’d appreciate you taking less interest in their relationship and more in your own.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” He blinked at her from the settee.

  “It means that now is not a time for prejudice and clinging to old id
eas. We must save our son and once we do, your hostility for the girl he loves won’t help rebuild your relationship with him. Or me, for that matter.” Favianne sighed. “I need you to be the man I know you can be.”

  That was the second time today someone insisted Zack loved me. Maybe he’d come close to that before I’d dumped him, before I failed to tell him about Renzo. I seriously doubted Zack would ever want me back now. My chest hollowed out at the idea that Zack would want nothing to do with me.

  Renzo rose from his seat and stomped toward her. “He’s only eighteen and couldn’t possibly have any clue what he wants.”

  “And when I was his age, I got married. To you. It’s okay for me but not for them?”

  A low rumble came from Renzo. I opened my mouth to tell them not to fight over me, that it wasn’t an issue because we had broken up anyway.

  “Can we stay on topic?” Cedric snapped, his brows pulled down.

  Three knocks, followed by another, signaled Dathan’s return. The door opened and he glided through the gap. “Let’s go get your boy.”

  Chapter TWENTY-FOUR

  Autumn

  “We’ll need stakes, tranquilizers…” Cedric marched to the corner of his office where Regis had emerged from the secret tunnel earlier. Just like before, he ran his hand along the wall, pushed, and the door eased open. He disappeared through the doorway, and a light switched on just before he motioned us to follow.

  Gleaming metal of every shape—guns and rifles on hooks, crossbows, a variety of blades, and some things I couldn’t identify —covered the walls. Zack would’ve gone nuts in this place. And it was almost as big as the weapons room in the gym.

  “How’s your aim?” Cedric asked, handing me a crossbow.

  “Uh…” I stared at the thing, wondering how I would load it.