by Jodi Vaughn
“What about here? I never see him leave that office of his. Does he have a place to sleep in there?” Granny frowned.
“I bet he does. I bet it’s behind one of the walls. Like that secret gun room.” Lucien nodded.
“He’s got a secret gun room?” Granny sat up in her chair.
“Yeah. And you’re never going to see it, so get that out of your head right now.” Jayden scowled.
“I personally don’t think he sleeps.” Lucien shrugged, forked some roast beef into his mouth, and chewed thoughtfully. “I mean, I’ve never actually seen him leave the Compound unless it’s on business or for some meeting. He’s there when everyone arrives and there when everyone leaves.”
Ava frowned. She crossed her legs and took a sip. “I don’t think being Pack Master would suit Damon.”
“You mean it wouldn’t suit you.” Granny gave her a knowing look. “I can’t imagine you two parted for any length of time.”
“Yeah, me either.” She crossed her arms and fidgeted. She hoped Barrett would hurry his ass on back to Arkansas so Damon would come home to her. She was proud of her man, she really was. She just didn’t want to be put on the back burner for a job.
“Granny, mind if I take a plate to Damon?” Ava asked.
“Sure, honey. After we eat I’ll fix a big plate. And don’t let me forget to get you a big piece of hummingbird cake to go along with it. That will put a big smile on your mate’s face.”
“I don’t need any cake to do that, Granny. I can manage that on my own.” Ava smirked.
Chapter Sixteen
Jaxon knew they were racing against time. They were literally behind enemy lines and needed to get out now.
“I want you to open the gate.” Jaxon looked at Ginny standing in front of her dead mother.
“John had the code. He changes it every day, first thing in the morning, in case I ever tried to leave.” She looked at him.
Jesus. What kind of hell had she endured these last years?
“We are limited on our options. Well, we can climb over the fence and stay on foot until we get a ride.”
She shook her head vehemently. “That won’t work. My father has eyes in this town. Cameras on every street corner, people working for him who would turn a bit of information over to him for money. The only person I ever trusted in this town was my mother.” She looked back at Caroline. “And apparently I was wrong about her too. I thought she cared. Thought she loved me.”
“Sweetheart, your mother’s mind was poisoned a long time ago by your father. He brainwashed her.” He took a deep breath. “Right now, we need to think about getting out of here. Since you don’t have the code, I can try to disable the gate long enough to drive my Harley through.”
“It will set off an alarm. It goes straight to my father.” She shrugged and studied the ground. “I heard my father tell John about it. And how he could control every move I made.”
Jaxon nodded. “I figured there would be an alarm, but there’s also got to be a delay. Probably only a minute or two. But it would give us enough time to get the gate open and drive though and get across town if I haul ass.” He cocked his head. “Are you strong enough to hold on?”
“Yes.” She nodded.
“Hurry and change back into the clothes you were riding in. I’ll get the Harley close to the gate. Once I open the gate, we need to go.” He stepped closer and touched his fingertip to the bottom of her chin. “No turning back.”
“No turning back.” She smiled.
He gave her a quick kiss and then headed out the back door. He scanned the area, making sure he didn’t see anyone, and then headed back to the tree line to get his Harley.
The dawn was breaking, casting its soft gray light across the dark ground. Soon the sleepy town would be wide awake and on alert.
He walked his Harley down the driveway. When he got close enough to the gate, he dropped the kickstand. He turned when he heard Ginny’s soft footsteps hurrying down the asphalt driveway.
“Go ahead and get on the bike. Once I disable the security system on the gate and swing it open, we are out of here.”
She and climbed on the bike, waiting for his next steps.
He walked over to the alarm box. It was hardwired instead of wireless. Using his pocket knife, pried it open. He stared at the bundle of colored wires. He wasn’t an electrical guru like some of the other Guardians. He regretted not listening to Jayden when he was showing him how to disable alarms. Now it was too late. He reached into the wad of wires and ripped them out.
Tiny sparks flew and the light on the box went dark. He grabbed the wrought-iron gate and pulled it open.
Adrenaline filled his veins and he hopped on the Harley and started the engine. Ginny’s hands wrapped around his waist and her cheek pressed against his back as she plastered her body against his. He revved the engine and raced through the open gates. He turned onto the street and accelerated.
He glanced down at his watch, mentally ticking off the seconds they had left before Boudier’s henchmen would arrive to see what the hell was going on in the house.
The Harley hummed under his fingertips as he raced through the town. He tried to keep off the main streets, but it was going to cost them time. Time they didn’t have.
He had no doubt that Boudier would get a full report within minutes about his one and only daughter on the back of a Harley with an Arkansas Guardian.
If they were caught here, there would be no justice for Ginny. There would only be death for the both of them.
He raced through the town. When he reached the interstate, he didn’t dare relax. He checked his rearview mirrors to see if they were being followed. Luckily they were not. Since Boudier had taken over the Louisiana, the state had become enemy territory. An enemy to Arkansas and any other law-abiding state.
What had just happened would send a ripple effect through every aspect of the Were world. Barrett would no doubt be mad as hell. But Jaxon knew the Pack Master to be fair. He would always stand by his Guardians, and right now Jaxon needed him to stand in his corner. If not, then they were all good as dead.
* * *
They had driven for a while and Jaxon knew they were getting close to the Arkansas border. A car rumbled up beside him, and he waited for it to pass. When the car didn’t make a move to pass, he glanced over.
“Shit.” It was Ella. That fucking Witch of Yazoo City. She was driving a tan sedan and grinning like a fucking opossum at him. In the passenger seat was a black cat. The cat howled as she rolled down the window. Its ears were blown back by the wind and didn’t look too happy.
Ella met his gaze, smirked, and jerked the wheel to the right.
He hit the brakes to keep her from ramming into them. Ginny screamed and tightened her hold.
“I hate that bitch,” Jaxon muttered. He reached inside his holster and pulled out his gun. He flipped the safety and aimed the Sig Sauer at the wheels of the car.
“What are you doing?” Ginny yelled.
“It’s either us or her.”
“She’s an immortal witch, Jaxon. She can’t be killed.”
“I’m not killing her. I’m keeping her from trying to kill us.” He aimed the gun at the tire and pulled the trigger.
The gunshot echoed. The tire blew. Sparks bounced off the asphalt. The car swerved. The cat jumped on Ella’s head. Ella screamed. The car went off the road, hit a tree, and came to a stop.
Jaxon slowed the motorcycle and pulled off the road. He glanced over at the car.
“Think she’s okay?” Ginny asked.
The driver’s door flew open. A very angry red-haired witch with claw marks across her cheek jumped out of the car.
“You motherfucker!” she screamed at him.
“Yep. She’s fine.” Jaxon pulled back onto the road and sped toward his destination.
* * *
“Get the hell off me, you crazy bitch,” Ella screamed and shook Nyx from her leg. The cat hissed and released its hold on
the flesh of her legs.
“Who are you calling crazy?” Nyx narrowed her yellow eyes.
“You’re more offended that I called you crazy than that I called you a bitch?” Ella shook her head and touched her fingers to her burning face.
“It seems we both don’t like other people putting labels on us. Besides, you’re the psychopathic witch. I’m just the harmless sidekick.” Nyx lifted her paw and licked.
“It’s borderline personality disorder, not psychopath.” Ella glared. “If you’re going to diagnose me with a disorder, then make sure it’s the right one.”
“Whatever.” Nyx glanced over her shoulder at the road. “Your werewolf is gone.”
“He’s not my werewolf.” Ella leaned down to the driver’s side mirror and winced at the claw marks on her face. “Holy shit, Nyx.” She turned back to her cat. “Look what you did to my face.”
“Big improvement if you ask me.” Nyx smirked.
“What the fuck did I do to get stuck with the likes of you?” Ella asked.
“Well, you were cursed, for starters.” Nyx held up a paw.
“Just shut up,” Ella spat out. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“So what’s the plan, genius? You were trying to take out that werewolf so he wouldn’t capture you and take you back to the cemetery. But all you did was piss him off. For some reason I don’t think he’s coming back. Now we’re the ones in the ditch. For the second time tonight.”
Ella squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten. When she opened them, she glared at Nyx.
“I don’t know why you do that counting thing. It doesn’t stop you from blowing your top. People like you don’t change.” Nyx stated.
“People like me?” Ella wished she could conjure up a black pot with boiling grease.
“You know, psychopaths.” Nyx shrugged.
“Borderline personality,” Ella glanced at her reflection in the mirror again.
“Will you stop looking at it? You’ll still get laid even though your face looks like Freddy Krueger kissed you.”
“I think I saw a pocket knife in the console of the car we stole. I’ve got a half a mind to cut your tongue out, cat.” Her hands curled into fists.
“See now, that sounds like something a psychopath would do. Murderers are psychopaths. Borderline personalities wouldn’t give two flying fucks. They’d just leave,” Nyx said smugly.
“Great idea.” Ella clenched her teeth and walked out of the ditch. With each step, her heels sank in a little farther into the dirt. “Look at my shoes. I paid a lot of money for these shoes.”
“You mean you put a lot of effort into stealing those shoes,” Nyx snarked.
“Whatever. They’re ruined.”
“What are we going to do now?” Nyx walked beside her.
“I’m going to catch a ride with someone who hates cats.” She glared at her. “So I’m not sure what you are going to do.”
“You’re just pissed because that werewolf turned you down for that female he had on the back of his bike.”
It did sting her ego that Jaxon wasn’t into her. But she’d known the second he had kissed her he was doing it to make that female werewolf jealous. It didn’t matter. What mattered was making sure she never ended up back in the cemetery in Yazoo City. She’d spent too many years living in that hellhole. Once she had escaped and made it as far as New Orleans. It hadn’t lasted long, and she was soon right back in the cemetery. Then Lucien and his female had come visiting. It was the opportunity she’d needed for her escape. She’d sworn she’d never go back. No matter what.
Which was why she was in Louisiana. If anyone could break the rules and help her, it would be Boudier. She’d heard about his reputation as Pack Master of Louisiana. He broke the rules all the time. Ella had some information that he just might find necessary and intriguing.
She’d planned on showing up at his son-in-law’s house and telling John that Jaxon had been with the little wifey. But then he’d ended up murdered before she could talk to him. So she’d followed Jaxon and the murdering wife, hoping to run them off the road and take them captive.
She’d wanted to deliver John’s wife to Boudier. All in a pretty package. But Jaxon had ruined it and shot out her tire. Now she was the one who needed saving.
“That’s not why I’m pissed. I need that werewolf and his bitch alive. The more leverage I have with Boudier the better position I will be in to bargain for my freedom.”
“Why don’t you just bat your pretty little lashes and get down on your knees…”
Ella kicked Nyx and sent the cat flying to the side of the road.
“Have I told you today how much I hate you?” Nyx hissed and gathered herself together before joining Ella back on the road.
“Yes. Four times actually.” Ella gave her a sweet smile. “But I’m not counting.”
“So now what’s the plan?” Nyx asked.
“The plan is to get another car and then find that werewolf. I’m trading the female to Edward Boudier in exchange for my complete freedom. Plus this.” She held up the envelope she’d swiped from the bar.
“How do you know he’ll grant you amnesty?”
“He’ll do it because I’m the one who saw his daughter murder his wife and his son-in-law.” She glanced at Nyx. “If I know those fucking werewolves, they will do anything to save the female they love. Jaxon will try to paint a picture that it was self-defense.”
“It was. Didn’t you see the mom stick that fork in her daughter? Actually, that one was an accident. She fell against her mother and the mom got the short end of the antler, so to speak.” Nyx shivered.
“Yes. But I’m going to tell him a different story, a story of murder. Any werewolf who murders their parents, no matter why, is sentenced to die. Not to mention I have the envelope that Ginny left in the bar. I’m sure Boudier will be very happy to get this back. Can you imagine what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands?” Ella pulled the thick envelope out of her bag and waved it in the air.
“So you would lie to the Pack Master to save your own ass.”
“It’s either her or me, and I’m sure as shit not going to be captured and taken back. I won’t be a prisoner anymore. I’d rather face death than that.”
Chapter Seventeen
“He’s bound to know what’s happened, Jaxon. I know my father, and he’ll have men waiting at the state line.” Ginny tightened her arms around Jaxon’s lean waist and spoke into his ear.
Jaxon had reassured her that everything would be okay. But her gut told her otherwise. Things would not be okay. She’d set a chain of events into motion that would end them both. If she knew her father, he would kill her in front of the man she loved just to punish her.
He was sadistic like that.
Many nights she woke up, sick to her stomach with the knowledge that her father’s blood ran through her veins. She was terrified that she would turn into the same kind of monster that he was.
Every time John would force her to have sex, she was petrified of becoming pregnant. Her body had ceased to be her own. Then the day came when her worst nightmare came true. The day she found out she was pregnant.
She was ruined for Jaxon.
The rush of wind pushed silent tears out of her eyes and down her face. She was escaping one hell just to face the ultimate hell when Jaxon rejected her.
“Have some faith in me, Ginny,” he said over his shoulder.
Faith. That was one thing she’d lost a long time ago. She wasn’t sure she could ever find her faith again. Not in him, and certainly not in herself.
“Shit.” Jaxon slowed his speed.
She looked over his shoulder. Half a mile up the road, there was a line of vehicles stopped at a police checkpoint. She narrowed her eyes. Fear clawed her stomach.
“I recognize those men, Jaxon. They work for my father.”
“Your father has humans on his payroll?”
“My father has everyone on his payroll,” she answered.
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“Not everyone.” He turned the bike around in the highway and headed in the opposite direction. He took the next exit without slowing down. She tightened her hold around his waist.
He didn’t go very far on the new road before turning off again. He made several more turns on backroads. She didn’t question him, but she hoped his direction was taking them closer and closer to the Arkansas state line.
He slowed his bike and turned onto a dirt road. He kept his speed steady as he drove. He stopped when they reached what looked like a long road heading into a thick patch of woods.
“What is it? Are we out of options?” Fear tickled her gut, and she clung to him. She had a feeling they were going to be found out very soon, and she wanted to memorize the feel of him against her.
“I have a plan.” He turned down the rural road.
She squeezed her eyes shut as tree limbs brushed across her face.
“Jaxon, I don’t think this leads anywhere. I think it’s an old deer trail.”
He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “All trails lead somewhere, sweetheart. You just need to take the right one.”
She wasn’t so sure about that but decided to keep her mouth shut. She was clearly in a situation where she had no control.
She dug down deep in her gut where she’d buried her hopes and dreams and pulled out the little tiny thread of hope that everything would be okay.
* * *
Edward Boudier wasn’t a Were to fuck with. He thought everyone knew this.
So when his messenger came and told him that his wife and son-in-law had been murdered and that his only daughter was seen leaving town on the back of a Harley, he’d immediately seen red.
And he then turned and ripped the head off the messenger. All in front of his meeting with his Louisiana Guardians.
“Let me guess who that Were was that was with Ginny.” Boudier growled and licked the blood off his hands. He went hard and immediately wanted to fuck. Blood always had that effect on him.