by Dana Archer
“And Lyla?” Cedric tips his head. “Is our future mate well?”
“Yes.”
“Then, where is she? You were supposed to bring her back to me.”
The question stirs my anxiety. I stamp it down before it has a chance to alter my scent. “I couldn’t. My twin was there. He saw it all. He tried to hurt me for what I did too. I left so I wouldn’t have to kill him. There was no other way I could’ve walked out of that house with Lyla, and I couldn’t do it. You told me to eliminate the threat to her. Ezra’s not a threat to Lyla. Sam was.”
“So Lyla witnessed her sister’s death at your hands?”
Again, the worry surfaces. If Cedric believed my words, he wouldn’t be asking these questions. The fact he is sets me on edge. I have no other recourse, though, especially with the faraway look on Izzy’s face. I don’t know what Cedric wants her to do. She’s been with him long enough to fall under his compulsion.
“Yes.” I answer as expected.
“Then why don’t I smell Sam’s blood on you?” Cedric tilts his head and scrutinizes me. “Not even a single drop.”
My pulse kicks up a notch, betraying the truth I’ve sought to hide.
“Where’s Lyla? What have you done to our mate? I have a doctor ready to implant Nina’s eggs into her tomorrow night when the full moon reaches its peak. We need her, or we’ll never get to see Lyla pregnant with our babies, and I’ll never prove to Asa I’m prepared to be alpha. They’re taking Nina away after they harvest her eggs for us. Permanently, Uriel. We get one shot at impregnating Lyla. One shot at becoming alpha, and you didn’t bring our mate home so she can secure our roles.”
I swallow against the bile in my throat at the erotic scenarios Cedric described when I’d been under his influence. I was completely on board with sharing my true mate with him. I also promised to act as his bodyguard, the one who’d face any threat to his position as alpha. I would’ve been willing to sacrifice everything—my heaven and my honor—for Cedric. Just because he told me to do so…thanks to the demon he conjured. And only thanks to the demon he conjured. Not Cedric on his own.
“Lyla’s at her home. Safe. That’s what you wanted me to ensure. You wanted her safe from the threats to her. I did that. I eliminated the threat to her just as you commanded me to. Sam’s dead. You never said anything about Ezra being a threat.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t smell her blood on you. It’s not a scent I’ll ever forget.” Cedric hands Izzy a spiked collar, shoves her away, and stands. “I spilled enough of Sam’s blood during her training to know the scent. And the blood soaking your clothes is not hers.”
The sight of Izzy snapping the collar around her throat quickens my pulse. It’s a death collar, not a dog collar or some sex-game accessory. Blood trickles from the points pressed into her skin. She hooks a leash to the collar, then kneels at Cedric’s feet while I focus on this game. I have to play it right. If Izzy shifts, she dies.
“It is Sam’s.” I give my lie credence with the force of my will. “I killed her. She’s dead, and Lyla is safe.”
Cedric catches the loop of the leash attached to the death collar affixed to Izzy’s neck. He draws her to her feet, then runs a hand down her cheek to the pressure-triggered collar that’ll sever her head instantly if she shifts into any of her cat forms. Izzy leans into his touch as if the simple caress means the world to her.
Had I not seen the empty look in her eyes, I might believe the display is genuine. Izzy’s not infatuated with Cedric, though. Her free will has been stripped from her, just as mine was, and her soul is to be the payment for the control Cedric wields over her now. There’s no other explanation for Izzy’s actions. The woman who was willing to betray me to get a lead on her mother wouldn’t still be here after getting it. I saw Cedric give her a paper with an address on it. Of course, the next thing I remember was kneeling at Cedric’s feet, my free will gone. Who knows what happened between those two memories?
“It’s time, little whore.” Cedric runs a hand over Izzy’s hair. “Time to make yourself pure.”
Izzy nods, then walks away, striding out the parlor door without giving me a second glance.
I follow her retreating back with my gaze while my heart beats harder. “Where is Izzy going?”
Cedric returns to his chair, then crosses his arms. He stares at me for a long moment while I debate whether to charge him or play the role expected of me. Finally, he grins. “To remind my alpha and those who think to cross me that all it takes is one little slip and predators become prey. Or die when I tell them to die.”
My cats’ enhanced senses clue me in to the other sounds echoing in the row house: Izzy’s feet smacking the stairs as she runs to the upper floors, then a door opening. The faint sound of police sirens isn’t one I’d expect to hear in this house. Izzy’s no longer in the house, though. She’s on the roof.
All she has to do is shift, and Kade will lose his niece. And I’ll lose my honor.
I turn my back on Cedric and run, pushing my body past what I dreamed possible. The strength of my true mate fuels me. I’m more than I ever was alone. I’m whole.
Slamming my shoulder into the door leading to the roof, I burst onto the flat surface, sliding on the icy slush, and zero in on where Izzy’s standing on the ledge, the front street below her.
“Izzy!” I rush forward. Izzy doesn’t turn, though. She stretches her arms to the moon. “Isadora Alexander, stop!”
Head cocked to the side, Izzy looks over her shoulder. “Izzy Gomez. Not Alexander. I’m not an Alexander. I’m dirty. Unworthy. A whore.”
“You’re not.” Arms stretched out, I slow my approach. “You’re a leashed warrior.”
With a smile, she slides her loose grip over the leather strap hanging from the collar. “Soon to be unleashed. Soon to be worthy.”
“Why?” I take another few steps closer. “Have you met your true mate?”
Izzy scrunches her brows at my question. “Have I?”
“Yes.” My breathing quickens with my lie. If she has, I have no knowledge of it. “And he’s waiting for you. Why are you here and not with him?”
Lips pursed, she shakes her head. “I’m not pure.”
“You are.” I approach her, but I don’t grab her. All she has to do is shift. I can’t stop her from taking her cat’s form. Only she can save herself. “I see your aura. It’s pure. It’s beautiful.”
Izzy’s lip quivers. “You’re lying to me. Lying! I’m not pure. I’m not wanted. I’m expendable.”
“You’re not.” I climb up next to her and grasp her wrist. “Why else would your true mate send me here to save you? He wants you back. He wants to tell you how beautiful you are, inside and out.”
“No.” Izzy shakes her head, her body rocking on the narrow ledge. “No! I don’t have a true mate. I don’t deserve one!”
“Because you’re dirty, Izzy.” Cedric’s voice drifts to us with a lulling quality even I feel, and I am no longer under his influence. “You’re a dirty whore. Nobody wants a whore.”
A sob shakes Izzy’s chest. She presses her balled fists to her eyes as Cedric’s laugh taunts her and me. I can’t kill him and save Izzy at the same time.
“There’s only one way to make yourself pure again, little whore.” Cedric’s voice lowers. “You know it. I know it. All that’s left is for you to embrace it.”
Izzy nods. She drops her hands, and the wash of power prickling over my body tears a raw curse from my throat. Heat seeps into my palm from her burning skin, and the prickling of fur teases me. She’s going to shift.
“Izzy, no!”
The words are out of my mouth, but I’m too late. The image of her lioness superimposes over hers. She steps off the ledge while her image fades.
I do the only thing I can. I follow her.
With my fingers wrapped around the death collar, I wrench the metal, snapping it, a moment before Izzy’s lioness emerges, then I wrap my arms around her as air rushes by us
and roll, my back to the ground. We hit with enough force to shatter my spine. Numbness spreads, my muscles spasming as my bones mend. The slight opening is enough. Izzy, in her lioness form, pushes away from me. Kade tackles her. Screaming surrounds us. It’s not ours. It’s not Izzy’s. Another human has watched us fall, maybe even Izzy shifting.
Another Category C scene is upon us, and the male responsible is gone. I don’t need anyone to tell me that. Every agent stationed around here knows a Category C scene takes precedence, even over catching the man responsible for it.
We played right into his game. And he won. This round. Cedric won this round. He won’t win the prize. Lyla is mine.
And a predator never gives up his prey.
Thirty-Four
Lyla
The water swirling down the shower drain ran red, but no wounds remain on my body, except for Uri’s bite on my shoulder.
With my hair lifted away from my neck, I turn, viewing the four raised entry points in the mirror from every angle. What first made me cringe at the sight now speeds my pulse. Uri’s mate bite is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. No band of gold would ever be able to signify our bond the same way. Only this savage bite can come close to displaying the primitiveness of our relationship.
Every shifter who sees this mark will automatically know I’m owned by a predator.
The grin on my lips is wicked. I chuckle at the naughty glint in my eyes and hurry through the motions of pulling on clothes, then I’m jogging downstairs in a pair of boxers and a tank top that shows off my mate mark. Here in my house, I don’t have to hide what I am or what Uri is. Beyond these walls, our masks are waiting—him, the law-abiding agent, and me, the self-proclaimed patron saint of the homeless. And nothing could be better.
Nothing could be better. Except for the fact Cedric’s escaped.
I pause at the bottom of the step and glance at where Ezra is standing near the open sliding-glass doors leading off from the kitchen. The cold air drifting in from outside brings the scents on the air. Until Uri and the other shifters return from securing the Category 3 scene that’s thankfully not as bad as it could’ve been, Ezra is my only bodyguard who can take on Cedric in any of his big cat forms. Sam has her gun, though. There are other human agents stationed outside too.
I’m safe.
“If Cedric is blocking his scent, both his human scent and his cats’ scent, he’s essentially blind to me.” Ezra glances over his shoulder. “And unless the humans here know what he looks like, we’re sitting ducks.”
“They have a sketch.” Sam stands, leaving the kitchen chair pulled out and the open computer on the table, then she moves to the sink, turns on the water, and grabs the coffee pot. “He’s not getting away. Every agent in this state, along with every human police officer who knows about shifters, is on alert. We’re going to find him.”
Sam’s tone would normally stop me from stating the obvious and cutting into her confidence. Tonight, I can’t. The risks are too high. “We’ve had a sketch of Cedric for twenty years. Unless someone’s specifically looking for him or he’s caught in a criminal act, he’s going to move among the unknowing residents of this state without drawing a second glance. With only a few dozen people looking for Cedric, the reality is we’re likely not going to find him.”
“And you can’t guarantee those who see him will say anything.” Ezra walks toward the kitchen. Odin falls in step with him, brushing against his leg and pushing slightly into him to turn Ezra away from the chair Sam didn’t push in. “It’s already been proven. Whether out of fear or indifference, he’s been in and out of this town without anyone reporting him.”
“Including Bryon.” Sam smacks her hand against the faucet handle, killing the flow of water, and sets the full carafe on the counter. “He knew Cedric was here. He didn’t do a thing about it. He should’ve—”
“He didn’t.” I cut my sister off before she falls into the woulda-shoulda-coulda game. “I don’t like what happened, but I can’t change it. Neither can you, and neither can Bryon. We have to move on and deal with what happens now.”
“And what’s that?” Sam leans against the sink and crosses her arms. “Living in fear for the rest of our lives?”
“Uri won’t let that happen.” Ezra pushes in the kitchen chair Odin saved him from smacking into. “My twin will hunt relentlessly until Cedric’s dead.”
I’m not sure I like that idea, but I know I won’t be able to stop my mate from seeking revenge or protecting me. Cedric’s death is the only sure way to guarantee my safety.
“Let’s not jump to any assumptions until—”
The obnoxious rock song I chose for my ringtone—a guarantee I won’t ever ignore a call—blasts through the downstairs. I rush to the living room and grab my phone off the desk where I’d left the purse Uri gave to me. I hesitate at the unknown number, but as the song plays, I give in to the compulsion and answer. The only people who have my number are friends.
“Hello?”
“You wanted me to care. For you and for Uri. Now I do.”
“Bryon?” I glance over my shoulder. Sam’s eyes widen, no doubt reflecting what’s in my expression. Although Bryon’s had my number for ages, he’s never once called.
“I’m borrowing some woman’s phone. I don’t have time to talk or explain, but Uri needs to head to the park. Right now. Tell him to bring backup.”
“Why does Uri need to take backup to the park?” I repeat the details for Sam. She already has her phone out and is texting someone.
“Colin’s next. He doesn’t know it yet. He just wants to say goodbye to his brother.”
I grab the front of my tank top, the tightness in my chest spreading pain through me. “How do you know this?”
“You wanted me to help you. Now I have to. You’re…you’re family.”
My eyes burn. I squeeze them even as tears leak out. “Thank you, Bryon.”
“You don’t thank family. When they’re in trouble, you help them. Simple as that.”
The call ends. I turn to Sam and deliver the news I hoped never to utter. “Colin’s going to die.”
The color drains from her cheeks, leaving her ashen. “What do you mean he’s going to die?”
“That’s what Bryon said. I don’t know how—”
The phone Sam is holding vibrates. She glances at the screen, then hurriedly types a reply to the text. After a moment, she types something else, her fingers flying over the screen, then she stares at it. Finally, she raises her defeated gaze to mine.
“Colin apologized for not being the man I needed. He said he failed me. He failed us.” She swallows hard. “I replied back that I didn’t know what he was talking about. There is no us. And he replied he knows and that’s why he’s sorry. He was going to go be with his brother. Visit for a while. Maybe stay there. Then nothing. My last text failed to deliver.”
“He turned his phone off.” Ezra offers the suggestion I was about to make.
“And we need to move.” Nobody else I care about is allowed to die because of Cedric.
With Sam on one side of me and Ezra on the other, I’m as protected as I’ll ever be. Actually, I would’ve been safer at home where we left Odin. There was no way I was going to be able to keep Sam there, not with Colin in danger, and sending her alone was out of the question. If something happened to her, I’d never forgive myself.
“Uri, Kade, and Rick are here. They’re spreading out into the park to look for Cedric and Colin.”
Ezra delivers the fact Uri already gave me. Likely either his twin or alpha relayed the details to him using the mental pathway I’ve only learned about since being with Uri.
Sam studies Ezra with a raised brow, but doesn’t question him on the source of his information. She crouches and brushes her hand over the soft ground, then lines up the tips of her fingers with the indentations in the wet earth.
“A large animal walked through here recently. Not a jaguar. Not a bear or wolf. Maybe a lion? I
don’t know.” Sam looks up at Ezra. “Any scent left?”
He shakes his head, then presses a single finger to his lips.
Muscles taut, I freeze, my stare on the heavily wooded section of the park where Doyle was found hanging and where we expect Colin to visit. After a moment, a sleek black jaguar drops from the tree limbs but doesn’t hit the ground. Its body jerks, then thrashes against the noose hooked around its neck. The jaguar’s image fades, and the man’s replaces it.
“Colin!” Sam’s voice cuts through the night.
“No! Sam, don’t—”
Sam runs forward before I can warn her or stop her from springing this trap. Because that’s what this has to be. And we’re going to lose.
Not if I can help it.
I turn to Ezra and take his hand. He nods, no doubt understanding my intent, then races with me after Sam.
When your family’s in trouble, you help them. Simple as that.
Thirty-Five
Uri
The sight of my mate running after her sister tears a snarl from my throat. Not even seeing my twin by Lyla’s side pacifies it. Cedric has sprung another trap, this time focusing on Lyla’s family, not mine. And just like last time, he’s forced us to act, not think. Maybe hoping to catch Lyla with fewer protectors? I can’t say, but I know what to do.
I run forward, abandoning the concealing thicket of shrubs. Cedric already knows we’re here. Now I need him to meet me, not slink away.
It’s time to end this thing between us.
Colin’s thrashing body slows by the time Sam reaches him. She wraps her arms around his legs and holds him up, loosening the taut rope he hangs from. Ezra knocks her out of the way, jerking Colin’s body again as gravity yanks it down, and Lyla holds her sister back while Ezra makes quick work cutting Colin from the same branch Doyle ended his life on.
Colin’s unmoving body doesn’t bode well for saving yet another member of our family. Blood ties mean little. Lyla cares for her sister. Her sister cares for Colin. Therefore, I care for both.