Escape (Elite Supernatural Trackers Book 3)

by Heather Renee

  She turned into another flurry, but it didn’t last nearly as long as it had when she did mine. Once again, her suit was similar to mine, but silver just like her hair.

  Using Blake’s ability, I could tell she wasn’t okay, though. “I know you’re not ready to make a decision, but if you want to talk about it, I’m here for you.”

  “I know.” She smiled and flew off without the snarky response I was hoping for.

  I followed her upstairs to find the table covered in magical weapons the guys had pulled together. Sure, our magic was our biggest resource, but a blade forged in demon blood was never a bad thing to have on my hip, either.

  Jaxon, Blake, Mason, and Spencer all seemed to be in their element, and that made me feel better. Everyone needed to have their heads fully in the fight, or we risked losing more people. At the moment, Nixie was the only one I worried about, but she’d survived for over five hundred years. I hoped she was capable of knowing when to bow out.

  Zeke and Owen had come up the stairs behind me. “See? You had nothing to worry about.” Owen wrapped an arm around Zeke and pressed their heads together, but I had to look away. So many of us had too much to lose by going against the Luccovinos. And what for? Zeke didn’t owe us anything. It was my fight, but somehow, we’d all come together and found our own reasons for taking a stand.

  “I think we’re ready,” Spencer announced.

  “Not without us,” Deacon added as he and Ethan came around the corner.

  My head shook. “Not a fucking chance. You two have been through hell.”

  Nixie flew between them. “And I fixed them, so let them use their rage and fight if they want.”

  Of course she had. My hands flew in the air. “Sure. Who am I to stop you?”

  I didn’t know Deacon’s motivation, but I understood Ethan’s even if I didn’t like it. They’d taken his best friend, and he wanted retribution, but I worried with so many feelings involved, it would only get him killed as well.

  But I didn’t even try to argue. He was a big boy, and I had my own issues to worry about.

  “So, who’s going with who, and where are we coming in at?” I asked, then immediately stepped away as all of the alpha males began talking over each other.

  Rubbing my head, I tried to calm myself, but using Blake’s power on my own emotions didn’t exactly work. Finally, the loud voices stopped and only one person spoke.

  “When we were there last time, the fifth entrance had been sealed off and I’d had to circle back, so we only need four groups. Me, Cara, and Blake will be the first, heading in from the south door, then Mason, Deacon, and Nixie will be at the west entrance. Followed by Spencer, Greggor, and Ethan at the north, with Zeke and Owen taking the east. Any arguments?” Jaxon stared everyone down, daring them to disagree.

  Thankfully, nobody did.

  “Then, let’s go. It’s midafternoon and probably when they’d least expect us,” he added.

  This was it. The moment we’d been building up to for what felt like forever. I wanted to say something profound, spill everything from my heart, but I didn’t. I couldn’t allow myself to say what would sound like goodbyes.

  Portals began to open, and Nixie met my gaze. I didn’t like being separated, but I knew the distraction tactic was as good as we were going to get, and the groups needed to be even. She flipped me off, and I blew her a kiss—our version of showing we cared—and it was exactly what I needed to get my head in the looming battle.

  Jaxon held my hand, a gesture I couldn’t remember him ever doing before, but I liked it. I raised my head higher and took a step through the portal with Blake right behind us. As soon as the opening closed, I turned toward the empath and he nodded.

  Giving him back his power was easy, and I was happy to do it. The additional emotions had fucked with my head, but still, I watched him closely to make sure we didn’t need to step in again.

  “I’m good. Jenna will be okay. The Luccovinos will all die.” I tilted my head, and he added, “Well, except for you.”

  I grimaced. “Glad to hear it.”

  Separated from everyone else, we moved into position. Spencer had handed out the ear comms like we’d used on our first visit to a Luccovino compound, and I could already hear Nixie and Mason bickering. It was like music to my ears.

  I followed them to the south entrance and realized one thing hadn’t been discussed. “What about the prisoners? We’re just going to let them go free?”

  Jax nodded. “Some of them. The rest we’ll hunt down. We’ve done it once, we’ll do it again. It’s better than them all burning to death when Blake sets this place on fire, and it’s our main distraction.”

  I waited for the smirk or laugh, but neither came. They were absolutely serious about burning the place down. Well, I guess we knew what our immediate plans after the fight were.

  Blake opened the door, and I took a deep breath before we entered the prison quietly, heading straight for the cells. Prisoners were already running past us, but they were all female, meaning Mason, Nixie, and Deacon had gotten in fine.

  Blake didn’t have physical magic like Jaxon and me, so he watched our backs as we unlocked the cells while telling people to get the hell out. What surprised me the most was when some of them didn’t leave. They followed behind, speaking with Blake and wanting to know how they could help. Those were the people who didn’t belong in here and I hoped didn’t die in our fight.

  Those who stayed spread throughout the prison, instructed to find the others with us and watch their backs. Within the first five minutes of our arrival, we had the cells emptied, and chaos had erupted just as we hoped.

  “Well, if this doesn’t get their attention, I’m not sure what will,” I said right before the alarms within the prison began to go off.

  “Anyone who had hoped to leave but didn’t yet better find a corner. We’re on lockdown now,” Blake said.

  “What’s that mean?” I asked, glancing around, trying to see if I recognized anyone, but there were only a couple of familiar men out of the two dozen who stayed.

  “Nobody goes in or out until the alarms are off. Doors are sealed, and a magic shield would have gone up the moment the button was pushed,” Jaxon answered.

  “Where is the button?” At least one of the Luccovinos was going to be there, and I wanted to be as well.

  “The warden’s office, but I don’t—”

  My feet were already moving before Jaxon cut himself off and followed. I wasn’t going to drag this out. Whatever was going to happen, was going to happen now.

  A red-headed female and two males stepped into our path. “You can’t have her,” the female snarled.

  “Kristen, give us Jenna. She doesn’t want to be here,” Blake said, remaining in control on his own.

  “What did you do to my friend?” she screamed, taking several steps forward.

  “We kept her safe when others left her for dead. Now, tell me where she is.” Blake’s voice rose, and I could tell his patience wasn’t going to last long.

  “No. You can’t have her back. I will make her see we belong together in this new life. She needs to see how great it can be. Instead, she’s starving herself like a fool!”

  Poor Jenna. They were probably trying to feed a human to her. We needed to get to her before she was forced to do something that she wouldn’t be able to live with.

  “Blake, I know you’re likely being nice out of respect for Jenna, but I think we’re done now,” I said.

  “I think you’re right.” He and Jaxon took on the two dudes while I went for Kristen, merely so I could force Jenna’s location out of her.

  My hands grabbed on to her shoulders, and I sent a steady pulse of electricity through her body. “Where is Jenna?”

  Her fangs snapped at me. “I won’t let you have her.”

  “You don’t have a fucking choice.” Kristen wasn’t nearly as strong as the previous vampires we’d gone up against, so I pushed my powers on her a little harder until
she began to whimper.

  “One more time. Where is Jenna?”

  She fought my magic but didn’t last much longer. “Third door on the right.”

  Blake heard and was already on his way as I dragged Kristen behind me, nearly unconscious from the continuous flow of electricity I was sending through her. I had a strong desire to kill her, but I wasn’t sure if Jenna still cared about the bitch even after the kidnapping.

  Jaxon grabbed an arm and helped carry the vamp until we found Jenna. Then, Blake turned back toward us and yanked Kristen from our grip. “You fucking hurt her.”

  “She wouldn’t drink the blood and only wanted some dick name Blake,” Kristen spat. “She deserved it for being a selfish bitch.”

  Blake didn’t need to hear any more. He dropped her to the ground and pulled out one of the demon blades. His eyes met mine and Jaxon’s, seeming to ask for our opinion.

  “Do it. We’ll never be able to trust her, and Jenna shouldn’t have to make this choice,” I said, then peeked around to see her broken body chained to a wall, which further cemented the decision of Kristen dying.

  The blade plunged into her chest, and she turned into dust as Blake moved for Jenna. “You guys go. I’m going to keep her safe here.”

  “We’ll send Nixie to help you get her back to the house, Brother,” Jaxon said as we left him to tend to his woman.

  As we moved back toward the chaos, I reached out to Nixie and wasn’t paying attention to what was in front of us until Jaxon tried to pull me behind him.

  Son of a bitch. We didn’t even make it twenty feet before grandmother dearest—or Corrina, as we’d been told—moved into our path. Well, whatever. This was what we came here for. As long as she didn’t slip past us and hurt my friends, I was ready.

  “Granddaughter. How nice of you to join us,” she sneered.

  I didn’t bother responding. Instead, I ran straight for her, not feeling even a little guilty that I was about to pummel the face of an old lady.

  My hands filled with power, and I had them outstretched, ready to make contact. I was going to fry her damn head off, just like I’d done to the vamp who killed Gabe.

  Pain rocketed through my head as she smirked at me and wiggled a finger in my face. “Not so fast.”

  I was frozen mid-lunge with Jaxon right behind me.

  “You seek to destroy us, but I won’t let a child ruin everything I’ve built. You will obey me, or I will bring your world down around you with one innocent bystander at a time.” She pulled a blade out and turned my immobile form around with her free hand. “I think I’ll start with this interesting specimen first.”

  Her knife cut a thin line from Jaxon’s cheek to ear before she moved to the other side, likely cutting his neck while she did.

  Rage and power like never before built inside me. She was pushing me beyond anything I’d ever felt before. After having been subject to Blake’s power, I used the same methods to focus myself, because my wrath alone would not save Jaxon. I had to be smart about my next move

  Corinna’s spell held me hostage, but a thought occurred to me. If I could steal magic from another being, why couldn’t I take it from a spell?

  Channeling my energy into the power around me, I closed my eyes to keep Jaxon’s hurt from distracting me and pulled on the spell. My body shook as I took in the original magic. I had no idea what additional powers the Luccovinos were capable of, but whatever I was taking in, fueled me enough that my desire to kill was stronger than ever.

  Her hand gripped my face. “Open your eyes. Face your punishment like a woman!”

  “How about I kill you instead?” My hands wrapped around her neck once the spell had been syphoned into my magic, and I used it on her, freezing her in place, but I didn’t stop there even as her eyes turned red and fangs elongated. I was no longer afraid of how they could hurt me.

  My hands moved from her neck to her chest as I pulled anything I could from her, even the vampire bits. Instead of getting sick like all the times before, I felt myself growing stronger. Euphoria was filling me up until something pricked my lip and I realized I had fangs of my own.

  Well, that was a side effect I wasn’t prepared for.

  Ignoring the blood Corinna was eyeing, I used every extra ability I’d gathered into my core and forced it out of me and straight into her chest. When I felt like I had nothing else to give, I stepped back and watched as her body convulsed and sparks of magic flickered around her.

  Bumping into Jaxon, I placed my hand on his shoulder, taking in the spell so he could move again but never letting my eyes leave Corinna’s body until she crumpled to the floor.

  Even when Jaxon was no longer frozen, he didn’t move, but I did. I needed to know the bitch was dead. It didn’t matter if she’d birthed my sperm donor. I had no love for the woman who threatened to take away everything I’d gained in the last several months.

  Giving her a swift kick to the ribs first, I bent down and felt for a pulse. Her skin was already cold and beginning to deteriorate. “One down, three to go.” I grinned and turned back to Jaxon.

  Okay, even I knew I shouldn’t be smiling at just murdering someone, but emotions were high, and I couldn’t think too hard about it. This had to be done. It was us or them, and I would always choose us.

  “Cara.” Jaxon held his hands out cautiously. “How do you feel?”

  Amazing. Powerful. Like I could tear down a building with the flick of my fingers.

  “Fine,” was all I went with, though. Seemed like the safer option given how freaked out he seemed. “Why?”

  “Your eyes are red, and you have fangs.”

  Using my hand, I felt the sharp points which had made me bleed just moments before, but I didn’t mind them. In the moment, I thought they would be useful, a nice distraction to those who didn’t expect me to be all vamped out.

  “Well, your blood isn’t calling to me, so I’m sure it will go away. Probably happened because I syphoned that psycho of everything that kept her breathing.”

  He still didn’t seem to think I was okay, but we didn’t have time to dissect what had happened. Screams were sounding from further along the prison hall, and we had to move. When I reached for his hand, Jaxon pulled back, and that’s when I finally accepted the problem was bigger than I was willing to admit.

  “Jaxon, as much as I care about you, I don’t have time to deal with this. You either walk the other way, or accept I might be a little more fucked up than we both thought, and come with me anyway. Either way, I’m going to help our friends who are here fighting because of me.”

  He reached for me hesitantly. “I’m sorry. It’s just… different.”

  “And hopefully temporary. Now, let’s use it to our advantage and go.”

  Finally, he agreed and took my hand. We raced toward the shouts and found where the main part of the fight was, but I didn’t see any of the other Luccovinos on my first scan. “Should we help them?” I asked.

  “No, the fight seems pretty even to me. Let’s keep moving,” Jaxon answered.

  I contemplated going to turn off the alarm that was still blaring, but I liked the thought of knowing the bloodsuckers couldn’t escape, either. So, I dismissed it and moved along. The good news was that by the time we’d made it halfway across the room and punched a few of the guards out, my fangs were already gone.

  But, the hope that things weren’t all that bad was dashed as we stepped into the hallway that we’d chosen and both of us were yanked into a room.

  Chapter 22

  My body instantly became a bundle of lightning, and I was ready to act, but the culprit was backing up with his hands in the air, confusing the shit out of me.

  “I don’t want any trouble. I want to help you.” Gino stood before us, the brother who had posed as the warden and told us to leave Mandora.

  “Why should we believe you?” Jaxon snarled, but my mind was already rapid-firing through what I knew of Gino, and I decided to let the bloodsucker explain if he
was so inclined.

  “Why?” I demanded when Gino didn’t answer Jaxon’s question.

  “Because they killed my brother. Emilio was a good man, but because he wouldn’t bend to their will, they killed him. I sat by long enough, letting them do what they wanted, and when I learned of your existence, I made a promise to protect you like I never did him. I was his big brother, and I failed him.”

  Well, shit. I hadn’t seen that coming.

  “I killed your mother already,” I said bluntly, hoping to draw a response out of him.

  He didn’t even flinch. “Then you’re even more powerful than they feared.”

  “Where are the other two?” Jaxon asked, finally catching on.

  “I’ll tell you under one condition.”

  My brow raised. Maybe he wasn’t completely on our side. “What would that be?”

  “You promise to kill me.”

  I was pretty sure I’d never been more shocked by a single sentence in my entire life. “Um, come again?”

  “Not today, but one day, when I’m ready, I will come to you and ask you to end my life. You’re the only one who can.”

  Huh. Greggor hadn’t been kidding. I had half-thought he was being overdramatic about me having to kill them, but if Gino was asking me to kill him, I was a little more believing.

  “Okay, fine.”

  Jaxon held up his hand. “Wait a minute. Why should we trust you?”

  “You have every reason not to. Lock me in this room until you’re done, steal my powers, I don’t care. Just end the others. They’ve caused enough torment in this world.”

  “Why haven’t you done so yourself?” Jaxon asked, a question I probably should have thought of as well.

  “Because if I killed one of them, then the others would come for me. I couldn’t do it on my own and succeed fully, but you have a whole army here. It’s now or never. If either of my brothers escape here today, it will be decades before you get another chance like this.”

  I glanced at Jaxon, waiting for his approval. I was going to continue on without him if he didn’t give it, but I wanted it badly, so I waited a few precious moments that we didn’t really have to waste.