Breaking Free

by Layla Nash

  And still I didn’t know how to start.

  So I held my hands up and just started talking. “It’s been more than a year since my mother died.”

  Silence reigned.

  I sighed and rubbed my temples, and gave in to the restless energy and paced. Back and forth, in front of the throne. “A year. I thought I could make a lot of changes in a year. I thought things would be different. That I would be different. And I’m not. I’m the same. I realized, not too long ago, that I’m becoming my mother.”

  Raised eyebrows all around, and some of the older hyenas tensed. Searching for the weakness or the opportunity, no doubt. I folded my arms over my chest and kept moving. “I didn’t recognize that was a bad thing until recently. I don’t want to be my mother. I don’t want to cause the kind of fear and hate that she caused. I don’t want people to die and kill for me. I don’t.”

  Savannah’s lips pursed as she watched me, and I held her gaze for a while as I went on. “So I’ll only be your queen for another night.”

  Audible gasps from the assembled crowd, and a stirring as others sensed an opportunity.

  I held up a hand to cut them off, and it was a testament to how much I’d fucked people over that they still shut up and listened. “We have to do things differently. How many of you remember the days under my mother, when you couldn’t trust anyone? When the cops were out for us, the Russians were out for us, the wolves... everyone hated us. Everyone wanted to kill us. We broke the law, we cheated and stole, we fucked people over. I never wanted to be like that. I don’t want us to be like that.”

  Sav started to smile.

  There wasn’t quite as much approval in the faces of the older pack members, most of them probably seething because they’d liked the way things were before. I rubbed the back of my neck, shaking my head. “So it’s time to change. No more of this might-makes-right bullshit. There will be a queen, because there’s always been a queen and because every pack needs an alpha. But there will also be a council to represent the interests of the rest of the pack. I don’t want to become my mother, and I don’t want the next queen to become her. I want better for us. Alphas shouldn’t serve for life. There’s too much opportunity for coercion and going mad with power.”

  More rumbles ran through the room. No doubt they’d all imagined how they would run things, if they were queen. I’d thought that enough when my mother was on the throne.

  “We are going to finish what we started, not so long ago. We’re going to end BadCreek and free the innocents who are still trapped in their compound. Then I’m leaving. You will not see me again. The Szdoka reign ends with me.”

  Sav nodded very slightly, her eyes glinting with what could have been pride.

  I took a deep breath again and faced the cackle, wanting them to feel and want the same things I did. “We’re going to finish off BadCreek tonight. Then Savannah will be your new queen in the morning.”

  Whispers ran through the cackle and Savannah made a strangled sound, the pride in her eyes turning to panic instead. I smiled and refused to let anyone see a second of hesitation as I gestured for Sav to approach. “I trust her to rule well. I trust you all to obey her, and work with her, and start new with her in the lead. When she deems it time, she will select another queen. And power will transfer smoothly and without anyone dying. That’s what I want for us. That’s what I want for the next generation and the one after that, and for all of us. We shouldn’t have to fear dying in a purge just because it’s time for someone else to be in charge. The other packs manage it. We should as well.”

  When I dared meet the gazes of the cackle’s older members, most of them were nodding and looking relieved. Only a few watched us as though they couldn’t wait for me to depart so they could challenge Savannah, but I had faith in Sav to crack heads together as needed. The old ones wouldn’t last long, hopefully.

  I shoved my hands in my pockets, a weight lifting off my shoulders now that I’d finally made a decision. I didn’t know what I would do the next day, after we freed Smith, but at least I knew what I wasn’t going to be doing. “Anyone who doesn’t like it can leave. I’ll allow an amnesty. If you want to find your leaders elsewhere, then feel free to go. You’ll be given enough money to start over somewhere else, under the caveat that you will not come back here to start trouble for anyone else. Live and let live should be our new motto. We fight for each other, not against each other.”

  It felt right, for the first time in a very long time. I started to feel like myself, even if I didn’t know exactly who that was.

  One of the cousins in the front row cleared her throat. “Where will you go, Highest?”

  “I don’t know yet,” I said. “But not here. Far away. The other side of the world, maybe. But I trust that Sav will take care of everyone.”

  Savannah made kind of a gurgling noise and lurched forward. “We’re still sorting out the details.”

  I’d have to tell her to sound more decisive. Maybe we should have had “how to be the hyena queen” conversations before I sprang my decision on her. “It’s sorted. She’s the queen starting tomorrow morning. My last act will be to destroy BadCreek. Savannah will lead the forces on the compound, while I will be assisting in freeing Smith from the Betwixt. I have learned a great deal from all of you. I do not know what tonight will hold, or whether I will survive. But please know that I have felt a great deal of pride in being your leader.”

  With that, I turned on my heel and strode off, down the dais and out the side door. My vision blurred as a smattering of applause followed me out of the room. Maybe they hadn’t hated me as much as I thought.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Nick

  Nick waited outside Smith’s brownstone as the weather turned and a warm breeze started to blow, heralding some kind of storm on the horizon. Part of him wondered if maybe it was a magical storm that started in the Betwixt and would dump all kinds of magic and bullshit on them as they tried to free the ErlKing. It would just be his fucking luck that the last major mission he ran involved genies and magic and all kinds of shit.

  He leaned back in the shadows as he watched leaves blow down the street, pulling a cigar from inside his coat to take the edge off. He’d quit smoking for a while but it always seemed to come back when he needed to calm his nerves. He wasn’t nervous for himself. He never was. No, he wondered whether Lacey would be safe. Whether Smith would survive and still be in his right mind. Whether his sister would be fine, and his little niece or nephew would think of him after Nick walked away.

  He flicked away some ash and squinted through the smoke at where headlights approached. He thought the witch might be first to arrive, but instead it was Rafe and Ruby and Meadow. Nick hung back, not wanting to frighten Rafe’s mate, though he knew the wolves knew he was there after they sniffed and looked right at him. Meadow shuffled up the stairs and unlocked the grand front door, calling something over her shoulder at Rafe so that the wolf jumped up to go with her.

  Ruby remained behind, saying something about needing air, and instead leaned against the stoop banister as she looked right at him. “Lurking in shadows now, wolf?”

  “I’m right at home here,” he said. He offered her a smoke but Ruby waved it away, muttering something about her mate having the nose of a bloodhound. Nick smirked and tried to imagine the boss bitch alpha wolf giving a shit whether her mate could tell if she’d smoked. “Didn’t figure you’d go all feminine just for your snuggly lion cub, Rubes.”

  “You can fuck right off,” she said, pleasant as pie, and folded her arms over her chest. “I didn’t think Lacey liked smelling smoke, either.”

  “It’s not something I’m worried about,” he said. He wished—strongly—that someone else would show up. Even if it was Lacey.

  Ruby’s dark eyebrow arched. “How’d you fuck that one up?”

  “How do you think?” Nick tried to grin, even though the ice around his heart cracked. “My sparkling personality. My charming wit. My swimm
er’s body.”

  “Bullshit.” The alpha wolf eyed him, then tilted her head at the door. “You want to talk about it?”

  “Nope.” Nick studied the end of his cigar, wondering whether he’d have time to smoke the whole thing before Lacey showed up. “Life is life, wolf. It didn’t work out.”

  Ruby’s eyes glinted at him and she made a rude noise. “I always knew you were crazy, Nick, but I never thought you were stupid.”

  Nick’s wolf started paying attention. Having an alpha challenge him like that always got his beast irked and ready to fight. He could have used a couple of drinks to get ready. “I don’t think we need to rumble before we face down a genie and that pissant BadCreek jerk. So maybe slow your roll, Ruby Leigh.”

  “No, I’m not going to. We’re not going to leave anything on the table, dipshit. I’m tired of your lone wolf schtick and your woe-is-me, running-straight-into-danger outlook.”

  He pushed away from the wall. “I’ll wait out back. Or down the street. Or in the fucking sewer. I don’t care. Just as long as you’re not there.”

  “You’re not actually a lone wolf, you know.” Ruby squared off with him, blocking his escape, and bristled as she managed to look as big as a house. “You’ve got a sister and a brother-in-law, and soon some cubs to look up to you. You’ve got family. Friends. And a mate.”

  “I don’t have a mate.” Nick tried to step around her, since he didn’t believe in hitting women unless they were trying to kill him, and even then he avoided it as much as possible. “Everything else is transitory, Ruby, and you know that. Now get out of my way.”

  “Not until you get this.” Ruby sidestepped and planted her hands on his chest, shoving him back a step. “I’m surprised Kaiser didn’t try to kick this shit into your head. Maybe it’s a guy thing. Maybe you’re just too stupid to get it. Lacey is your mate. Why the fuck haven’t you fixed this?”

  “As I recall,” he said, snapping back as the wolf tore at his control. “You ran from your mate, too. So don’t get judgmental on me, O’Shea.”

  She growled and the door to the townhouse opened, Rafe sounding guarded and wary as he called into the night, “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” Nick and Ruby said at the same, glaring at each other through the darkness.

  Rafe grunted and said, “Two of them. Just fucking wonderful. Why don’t you call everyone else so we can get this shit moving?”

  The door shut and Ruby didn’t wait two seconds before she caught the front of Nick’s shirt and jabbed her finger in his face. “Do not walk away from her. Trust me on this. It’s worth it. Take the chance.”

  Then she shoved him back and turned on her heel, striding off down the street, and pulled out her cell phone to call someone. Nick leaned back against the brownstone as her strident voice filled the night as she demanded to know where Carter and Eloise and everyone else was.

  Nick scowled as he rubbed his chest and flicked the coal off his cigar. He continued to lurk outside until two cars rolled up, the dark sedan driven by a uniformed driver and bodyguard disgorging Ruby’s mate and the gorgon and her mate and Lacey, and the yellow cab coughing up the witch.

  Nick wanted to laugh or make a joke or something, since he’d never imagined witches would have to take cabs, but there wasn’t much mirth in any of the people who strode up to the brownstone. The witch hardly blinked when he materialized out of the shadows, and the gorgon glared at him even with the sunglasses she wore.

  Benedict Chase put his arm around Eloise and pulled her back a bit before the gorgon could do anything, and Nick wondered why she had already decided to be so damn angry at him. Especially since Lacey didn’t look pissed anymore. So Nick grinned at the gorgon and slouched his way over, eyeing her up and down like she couldn’t turn him into stone with a single sneeze. “Well well well. Look what the cat dragged in.”

  “I always knew you had a death wish,” Carter said. His muscles bulged as he held both Benedict and Eloise back, though the gorgon kicked a foot in his direction, like she could have somehow bridged the ten feet between them. The lion tried to propel the gorgon and her mate into the house, scowling at Nick over his shoulder. “How about we focus on the real problem tonight?”

  “Yeah,” Ruby said, almost rolling her eyes. “We can all do some yoga in the morning. But right now we need to focus.”

  Lacey glanced between them and gently took Eloise’s arm to steer her away from Nick. “We don’t need another statue, El. Especially another wolf.”

  The gorgon muttered under her breath as she stormed up the stairs, and the rest of them followed until it was only Nick and the witch at the bottom of the stairs. Deirdre looked up at the brownstone, her young face serene. “An interesting group you’ve collected, wolf.”

  “I thought you were bringing other witches with you,” he said. He squinted down the street, hoping there were more cabs waiting. “Did everyone lose their brooms?”

  “Funny,” she said. She pulled off a dainty pair of gloves and started up the smooth stone stairs. “It’s just me. No one else felt inclined to get involved.”

  Nick followed her, his heart starting to kick against his ribs. “Then what does that mean for our chances?”

  “I imagine it narrows them slightly,” she said, not looking back. “Does that concern you?”

  “Of course it does,” he snapped. “This has to work.”

  “Oh?” The witch stopped at the front door and looked back at him. “Why?”

  “Because otherwise we don’t get Smith back,” he said. Maybe he could shake her. Maybe witches wouldn’t mind being shaken to knock some sense into them. The wolf thought biting and chasing was a much better option. “And BadCreek remains a problem.”

  “And the hyena stays behind,” she added, arching a perfectly-plucked eyebrow. “Though your wandering feet are already searching for their next trail.”

  “How does everyone know everything about everything?” He gripped double handfuls of his hair and managed to check his watch. “We’re running out of time. Get your ass inside so we can start this.”

  The witch’s expression cooled and he reconsidered the shaking plan. Did witches carry tasers? Maybe they didn’t need them. Or pepper spray. Something about the way her eyes narrowed made him think she didn’t need pepper spray or a taser to protect herself. Deirdre tapped a single finger against her chin as she considered him. “Being distracted during something like we are about to do will get you killed. Will get all of us killed. And I don’t feel like dying tonight. So it is very much my business whether you and the hyena will be able to keep your attention on the business at hand. Will that be a problem?”

  “No,” Nick said, gritting the words out between his teeth. He might have cracked a molar, trying to keep from cursing. “It’s over. She made her choice. We’re going to clean this up and that’s the end of it. Okay?”

  “Very well.” Deirdre inclined her head and went into the house without another word.

  Nick scrubbed his hands over his face and took a steadying breath. Maybe dying in the middle of this particular mission would be the least worst thing to happen that night.

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Lacey

  Eloise didn’t want to let go of me as we wandered through Smith’s fancy townhouse and into the backyard, and she stared around her at all the knickknacks and other bits and pieces all over the house as we went. “I always kind of thought he’d live in a cave. Or the forest.”

  “Why?” I glanced at her and tried not to think of where Nick had gone with the witch. What if they got started without us?

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged and ignored Benedict’s grumpy snort, and the gorgon looked back at where they’d come. “Who was the dark-haired chick with Nick?”

  “The witch,” I said. “She’s going to go into the be-whatever to free Smith.”

  “And the genie,” she said. “And the BadCreek dude. And they’re all just going to fall out of the sky in the middle of the b
ackyard?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. I refused to look for Nick. I knew we had to talk, because I didn’t want us to part company on those terms. I didn’t know what I was going to do about him, but maybe inspiration would strike.

  When everyone was in the backyard, watching the witch as she approached the massive oak tree, Benedict stood near Ruby and Meadow while Carter and Rafe prowled the perimeter. Nick hung back, not exactly nervous but definitely on edge, and my hyena started to tense as well. She wanted to be closer to him, so we could fight together. We were stronger together.

  Eloise stuck by my side, even when I tried to get her to back up so she could paralyze people from a distance, and fiddled with her sunglasses. “Babe, this is freaky as hell.”

  “I know.” I rested my arm on her shoulder, frowning as I watched the witch pace and mumble, occasionally raising and lowering her arms as she went. “Never thought witches existed.”

  “No kidding.” She looked up at the sky where the new moon hid behind some branches and more clouds. “The kids would be beside themselves excited. Anais is into a wiccan witch phase thing, drawing runes on everything and repeating weird shit. Like being a medusa isn’t bad enough.”

  “I’m not that kind of witch,” Deirdre said. She didn’t pause in her pacing. “But there’s a bookstore on Fifth she should visit, if she’s interested.”

  “Thanks,” Eloise said, though I couldn’t tell from her expression or tone whether she meant it or not. Her cousin was hell on wheels even without the possibility of hexing people, so maybe Eloise would be forbidding Anais from getting anywhere near Fifth.

  When Deirdre went back to her mumbling, I leaned closer to Eloise so I could keep my voice down and avoid bothering the witch. “Where’s the rest of the pride?”

  “They’re closing in on the compound. Ruby will give the signal and then they’ll go in after everyone.” Eloise glanced at her watch, then back at the sky. “I’m glad the moon won’t expose them. I suppose this magic shit works better under a new moon?”