Charles (Darkness #8)

by K. F. Breene

  “What the hell is happening to me?” Charles muttered, backing away.

  She collapsed onto the bed, her face deep into the pillow. “Don’t know. Don’t care. I’m exhausted.”

  Charles knelt on the bed for a moment, staring down at her perfect body. He shook his head, hating the soft fuzzies warming his insides.

  These feelings were just because of their friendship. Had to be. They had a solid foundation of trust, and lots of laughs. Now he was getting confused and losing his mind. He wasn’t like the Boss or Jonas, giving in to the humans’ culture of being tied down to one female. No way. He was a rogue warrior. Mr Magical Dick, that was him. Everyone in the Mansion knew it.

  Nodding to himself, Charles slid off the bed and lifted her gently. Her arms snaked around his neck and her face rested on his shoulder. He felt her warm breath against his neck.

  “Stop it. Quit breathing on me.” He held her tightly with one hand so he could rip back the covers.

  “You’re ruining my chi. Shut it,” she mumbled.

  He settled her into the soft covers and pulled the blankets up over her. “You have a couple hours, then we have to go. I hope you’re packed.”

  “I am. I don’t wait until the last minute to do things, unlike you. And don’t bring that horrid blanket you’re making. It doesn’t even have a defined shape.”

  “Shows what you know. It’s going to be a wrap.”

  “No. It’s going to be something used to clean up baby puke.”

  “That’s useful, too.”

  Ann snorted and snuggled deeper into the pillows. The pull to get in beside her had Charles stepping forward. The confusion of wanting to hang out in bed with a female when there was work to be done had him scowling and moving back again.

  Things were getting a bit lopsided.

  He snatched up his clothes and stalked out of the bedroom. No way was a chick going to make him think that great sex meant marital bondage. That only happened to the chicks.

  Except maybe Jonas. And the Boss. And possibly Paulie.

  Scowling harder, Charles made his way down to the kitchen. Jonas stood beside the center island, watching Jessenta, who was in charge of organizing household duties for Sasha and the Boss, make breakfast for anyone that wanted it. Sasha sat at the small, round table in the corner, eating a piece of toast.

  “We’re going to be taking off in two or three hours,” Charles said as he grabbed some OJ out of the fridge.

  “Oh. I didn’t know you were here. Where’d you sleep?” Sasha asked. “And why are you carrying your clothes instead of wearing them?”

  “Walk of shame.” Jonas grinned as he took a sip of his coffee. “Had to get out of bed before the female woke up. Or females, plural.”

  Charles rolled his shoulders and sucked in a surge of magic, his fighting instincts going active. He had no idea why.

  The wildness of Ann’s blood zinged through him again, making the draw of magic a little sweeter, and a little more exotic.

  “Whoa.” Sasha leaned forward, eyes glued to Charles’ arms. “Who were you with last night?”

  “More importantly, whose blood did you take?” Jonas asked.

  Charles looked down at his glowing tattoos as the Boss walked in. Instead of orange, his default color, or light gold, which was what he pulled when Sasha increased his magic flow, he was burnished gold, the magic power right before stepping up into white. It was the Boss’ power level, and pretty damn potent.

  “Ann,” Charles said softly, cutting off the magic.

  “Wait.” Sasha dropped her toast onto the plate in front of her. “You slept with Ann last night?”

  “I didn’t know shifters could boost power like that,” the Boss said, standing in the entryway to the kitchen. “How much did you take?”

  “No, the real question is: how could you, Charles?” Sasha’s voice had raised an octave. The hair on Charles’ neck stood on end before more power seeped into him, the gold turning extremely dark. Sasha’s magic was on the move. That was not a good thing.

  “Calm down, babe,” the Boss said in an easy tone often needed when Sasha’s hormones became active. And crazy. “Charles wouldn’t take advantage of her.” The Boss’ dominating, and terrifying, gaze smacked into Charles, making it clear that Charles had better not have taken advantage.

  Charles threw up his hands in surrender. “She chose me. I tried to talk her out of it, but she asked if I would reject her. I figured saying no would be worse than yes.”

  “No, it wouldn’t have been,” Sasha argued. “She was sad, half-drunk, and horny. Obviously she was into it. But you know she likes you, Charles. And you also know she wants monogamy. If you are half as good as people say you are, she probably likes you even more now. It’s only going to hurt more when she realizes you are a slut and she’ll never get you.”

  “I doubt she’d want you telling him all this,” Jonas rumbled.

  “I am absolutely as good as people say I am!” Jonas snorted as Charles drank OJ straight out of the container, just to piss Sasha off. “But you’re overreacting. If she liked me, she would’ve given in before now. She just let down her guard last night, and this morning she was back to her usual snarly self. And guess what? I’m going to try and lay her again. So suck it.”

  Charles expected the Boss to reprimand him. When he didn’t, tingles of fearful anticipation worked up his spine.

  It meant something worse was coming.

  His body slammed back against the refrigerator. Bands of black scorched into his skin, locking him in place. Electricity shocked him, forcing out rapid breaths of pain.

  Charles drew in more magic, as much as he could, smelling whiffs of forest and feeling the thrill of the hunt. The black bands smoked a little, weakening. His magic was unfurling the spells.

  The electric shock turned up in intensity, the spells shifting and solidifying, making him grunt. She wanted an apology.

  She was not going to get it. He had enough weird shit going on with Ann that he didn’t need a third party trying to play police.

  “His magic is reacting differently,” Jonas said. Apparently he didn’t much care that Charles was frying against the refrigerator. “Do shifters have varying degrees of power, like we do?”

  “Yes,” the Boss answered, doing nothing to stop his insane mate. Charles would be damned if he’d beg. Not this time. Hopefully. “You can see it in their hierarchy. Tim has the strongest magic. Which makes sense since he’s the alpha. Ann must be pretty high up there, though. She’s near the top of their hierarchy, no matter what the situation is.”

  “Are you going to apologize to her?” Sasha asked in a deathly quiet voice.

  “This is none of your business, Sasha,” Charles ground out through clenched teeth.

  “I didn’t know their magic could mesh with ours, though,” Jonas reflected. “Does she have a higher level than Charles, or is it just the effect of the two combining?”

  “What’s going on?” Ann asked in a sleepy voice as she sauntered into the kitchen. She was wearing a small tank top and no bra, capturing Charles’ attention immediately.

  Her breasts were so perky and perfect. And the soft moans she made when he sucked on them…

  Jonas snorted and took a sip of his coffee as Sasha’s magic fell away. Charles staggered forward before he could catch himself, the seared skin from her magic now throbbing. As was his hard cock.

  “Punishment fits the crime,” Jonas said in a rasp, snagging a piece of bacon off the plate Jessenta laid on the counter.

  “I can think of better punishments than that,” Sasha grumbled. “But I’d ruin the kitchen.”

  “Wasn’t talking about that punishment. Good morning, mongrel. Sleep well?” Jonas snagged another piece of bacon and headed toward the doorway, saying to Charles, “Hurry up, child. I’m your ride to the Mansion. You finally got a car. Congratulations. Soon you’ll need it to tote around your kids.”

  A thrill of both excitement and fear fired through
Charles. His eyebrows lowered in response, noticing the dark eyes of the Boss on him. He met that gaze, not caring if it was seen as a challenge. He didn’t want kids yet, at least not ones he had to help to raise. If some female wanted a little sperm as a donation, fine, but no leash would be applied to his nuts because of it.

  “Nice glitter, Ann,” Sasha said with assessing eyes.

  Ann glanced at her chest and arms before shrugging. “I finally shagged the naked idiot leaking orange juice all over the floor. His party decor rubbed off.”

  “What are you taking with you tonight?” the Boss asked, sitting next to Sasha.

  Ann glanced at Charles before sticking out her hand for the orange juice. She did a double-take, her gaze snapping back to his like a rubber band. “You okay, killer?”

  Charles handed over the orange juice. “Yep.” He brushed past her and snagged a piece of bacon. “Boss, I’ll talk to you at the Mansion.”

  As he was leaving the kitchen, he heard Sasha ask, “Are you okay?”

  She wasn’t talking to him, she was talking to Ann.

  Despite himself, Charles slowed as he rounded the corner.

  “Great. He is a fan-tast-ic lay. Fantastic. Best I’ve had, and I don’t even care if it boosts his ego. That’s how good.”

  “But… you’re not… upset that he doesn’t want anything else?” Sasha persisted.

  A chair scraped against the tile. “I knew that going in. It’s fine. I scratched an itch, I know what’s behind door number three, and I’m good.”

  “Huh. Well. Okay, then. Are you going to do it again?”

  Charles started as the Boss’ big shoulders appeared around the corner. Charles was walking as soon as he could get his legs moving, but the tweak in the Boss’ lips said he knew Charles was eavesdropping.

  When a bad situation gets worse…

  “I thought you were going to find out what she’s taking tonight?” Charles asked as the Boss caught up with him.

  “I will when she’s done talking to Sasha. You got everything ready?”

  They walked through the empty living room. “Yeah—where’re the kids?”

  “They’re at the park with Emmy and Selene. What did Jameson scrounge up technology-wise?”

  They left the house. Jonas stood next to his Hummer, staring out at nothing. The male was a cranky ol’ sod, but he could do patience like nobody’s business. He just… shut off, somehow.

  “I have a device to deaden communication. It’ll cut out cell phones, walkie-talkies, any surveillance traveling through the air-waves…”

  “Anything else?”

  Jonas looked over as they approached the car.

  “I also have a coded cell phone that may work around a device of theirs that cuts out communication,” Charles continued. “Jameson doesn’t have faith that the nerds got that one right.”

  The Boss leaned against the Hummer. “We hacked into the nearest satellite and were able to get an image before we were kicked out again. It’s a large facility sprawling within the mountains. Looks high-tech. We didn’t see any elaborate defense. Just a fence and a few dogs.”

  “They have to have something to catch shifters, though,” Jonas spoke up. “Tim’s people are good. They wouldn’t have fallen into a trap. If all of them were taken, it means this facility has something shifters can’t get away from. Something they wouldn’t see when sneaking close.”

  “The question is, is that something going to affect non-shifters?” The Boss looked at Charles. “I’m giving you a week. After that, we’re coming in after you. I want you calling every few hours if you can. Feed us information as you get it. You have the maps?”

  “Yes. The cottage is cleaned out of humans?” Charles opened his door as Jonas walked around the other side of the car. Time to go.

  “It was already empty. The man who owns it is elderly. He used to use it as a summer cabin years ago. He has no family to pass the cabin on to, so we’ve established ourselves as his next of kin. His estate will be a nice source of income in a few years.”

  “Probably shouldn’t tell Sasha all that.” Charles climbed into the plush, leather seat.

  “She’s okay as long as the person in question doesn’t have kids.” The Boss stepped away. “We have to keep funding our operation somehow…”

  Jonas turned the ignition and the vehicle roared to life. Charles gave a salute and closed the door. As the Hummer pulled away, Jonas said, “So… it was good, but now it’s fucking with your mind?”

  Charles knew exactly what he was talking about. Who he was talking about. And he didn’t want to discuss it. “Focused on the job.”

  Jonas snorted. “Time to put on your big boy pants. Your balls are dropping, finally. Couldn’t pick better, either. She’s a solid female who would rip someone’s throat out to keep her pack safe. That’s good people, even if she has a terrible sense of humor.”

  “That makes two of you.”

  Jonas snorted again, and thankfully let it lie. There were other things to be worried about. Like a lab that was snatching shifters.

  The question was, did they only catch shifters, or were they welcoming to all…

  Chapter Five

  Charles pulled up at the shifter compound, a bunch of bungalows in the woods, and rolled down his window. They had another place located nearer the city but, from what Charles could gather, this acted as more of a headquarters.

  A few people stood near the main facility where the long gravel driveway ended. Ann had a big duffle bag lying on the ground as she faced Tim. Charles couldn’t hear what she said, but he saw her shrug, and get a warm hug.

  Charles glanced off to the side as a strange, violent reaction coursed through him. It must’ve been Ann’s blood.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw her hug someone else, then another, saying goodbye to her pack-mates. A few minutes later, the passenger door opened.

  “Hey.” Ann climbed in as the trunk opened. Tim put her duffle in the back.

  “Hi.”

  “New wheels?”

  Tim appeared on Charles’ side with a stern face and hard eyes. Charles rolled down the window and lifted his eyebrows. He’d never been stand-offish with the bear alpha before, but…

  It had to be Ann’s blood. It was really distracting.

  “Stay safe,” Tim said. “If anything looks wrong, get out of there. We want to get a feeling of what we’re up against, not lose two more.”

  “If they take us, there’ll be a pissed-off mage in the height of crazy pregnancy hormones showing up at their door. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”

  Tim smirked and nodded, stepping away. “Not to mention an angry Kodiak. Good luck.”

  Charles turned the car around, and headed out, pulling out the map and resting it on Ann’s knees. “Got everything?”

  “Yeah. You?”

  “Yup.”

  “You leave that horrible excuse for a wrap behind?”

  “I did.” Charles pulled out onto the main road. “Instead, I brought the makings of a dog blanket. I figured it would work for an overgrown kitty-cat, as well.”

  “Why didn’t you just say cat blanket?” Ann pulled a flashlight out of her pocket and clicked it on. She looked at the map.

  “Cats have blankets?”

  He barely saw her shrug. “Anyway, when do you need me to start navigating?”

  Charles vaguely pointed to the dashboard where the GPS was guiding them. “When that thing loses service.”

  Ann glanced at the dash before looking around the large SUV. “Big car. If I wasn’t so sore, I’d ask if you were compensating for something.”

  Tingles filtered through Charles’ stomach and pooled at the base of his dick, making him half-hard. “How sore, exactly?”

  “Don’t even bother. Been there, done that. Time to move on.”

  “That’s what they all say. Lies.”

  “I doubt it. Your kind don’t really move on, do they? They just hang around with their legs spread, h
oping for a poke.” Ann laughed at her own joke before running her fingers along the dash. “So how come you had to wait so long before getting your own wheels?”

  Charles turned onto the highway. “We don’t need cars littering the Mansion. There are vehicles for common use, and there are certain people nominated to drive if we all need to get somewhere. As the Watch Captain on my own detail, looks like the Boss decided I needed to be included as one of the drivers.”

  “Who picked this ride?”

  “I just said I wanted something Sasha wouldn’t want to drive.”

  “Ah.” Ann laughed as she took her phone from a small satchel on the floor. “Yeah, if you got something fast, she’d push you over and take control.”

  “Exactly. The Boss won’t even get her a new car—hers is fast for an old ride, but if she got her hands on something faster…”

  “Like Stefan’s…”

  “The Boss has a special switch on that. She can’t drive it unless she knows the code, and the Boss won’t tell her. Or anyone else.”

  Ann shook her head with a big smile. “It’s for the best, but that would piss me off.”

  “Pisses her off too, but there are some things you just don’t push where the Boss is concerned. That applies even to her.”

  “Well, I’m going to read now. Quit your yapping.”

  “Oh. Great. Surly Ann is back.”

  “Yup. Now you can talk dirty all you want.”

  “Fancy a fuck?”

  Ann laughed and squinted down at her phone. Clearly she hadn’t thought he was serious.

  * * *

  They arrived at the cabin as the sun was peeking out over the horizon. Judging by the map, they were a good distance down the mountain from the facility. A tiny road, partly overgrown, led to the front of a small square building made of logs. It looked like the picture on the front of Log Cabin syrup. An old, decrepit porch swing squeaked as it swayed gently in the breeze.

  “Home sweet home,” Ann said in a dry voice as she climbed out of the SUV.

  Charles followed her, meeting her in front of the hood and putting an arm to stop her forward progress. “Let me go in and check it out, just in case.”