by Kim Schubert
Exhaling forcefully, I looked at Angelina. “It’s a little known fact that once a couple is mated—as in forever and ever, only death can separate us—any and all favors owed to one party easily transfer to the other.”
Slowly, Blake looked down at Angelina. “Did you call in my favor with Olivia?”
Her eyes bored into me, but I was too unstable to give a fuck.
“Blake, this really isn’t the time,” the bitch tried, laying a soothing hand on his arm. He jerked away from her touch.
“Answer the question, mate.” The last word was hissed with equal measures of disgust and rage.
Angelina dropped the poor, pathetic, injured me act, glaring back at Blake. I slipped against the table and into the welcome warmth of Logan, whose hands rested gently, but firmly, on my hips.
Angelina caught the movement, her lips smirking. “And what happened to you tonight? Demon whore got it good?”
I lifted a hand to reject her comment before I remembered Bear. “Not tonight, but yeah, I did.” I watched Blake’s eyes flash amber with anger at the comment, before he remembered and looked away from me. His intense gaze focused on Logan for a moment and I smiled.
“Wrong shifter,” I informed, him gloating.
Gunner moved past the pissed off vampires into the room. “What happened, Olie?” he asked, gently probing my head. Logan helped me sit back down on the exam table.
“She fell from a sheer rock face onto more rock, after we rock climbed without harnesses,” Logan answered.
Gunner looked between us. “The Oracle?” he asked.
Angelina hissed, “You know where she is?”
I smiled, a lopsided, slightly dazed smile. “Bet you wish you had traded his favor for that information.”
She pushed into the room eagerly. “I’ll make it easier for you, take me to The Oracle and I won’t make you—“ She stopped, looking back at Blake, realizing her slip.
Anger flared his nostrils, an unneeded breath hissing though his lips. “You lying bitch. That was your plan all along, to have Olivia do your dirty work with a favor she owed me.”
My heart softened towards him, my Blake. He had been mine for such a brief moment, and in that time wrecked my entire heart. Destroyed my carefully constructed walls and broken through where others had failed. I missed him terribly.
He took an involuntary step towards me. “Olie,” he whispered, the regret, the knowledge of his mistake evident in his eyes.
I felt my tears plopping onto my lap. “It’s too late,” I whispered. He reached out to cradle my face and I pulled back, unable to look at him. “You made your decision, Blake.” I forced myself to face him. “I truly doubt I will ever be able to love another after you, but I know I deserve more than this,” I said, waving my hand to indicate the Angelina drama. Sucking down a breath, I continued, “I’ll rescue your niece, though, have no doubt. I pay my debts.”
With that, I turned to Gunner and let him administer his much-needed treatments. I didn’t hear them leave but I knew when they did, based on Logan’s body relaxing.
“S-Sorry,” Gunner stuttered. “I didn’t mean to cause problems.”
I looked at the open door, my grief changing into something I didn’t yet understand. “It was perfect, Gunner. The truth will set us free.”
Chapter 16
After Gunner had done his best with me, including a magic potion he purchased from a witch—serious doubts there—Logan and I made our way to his storage unit. We needed additional accessories for our upcoming battle with the wicked witches.
“Why do you store the good shit away from your home?”
Logan shrugged, slipping out of the vehicle as I moved around to hear his response. “When I first got here, there wasn’t a guarantee I would be staying.” He moved easily, muscle rippling under his replacement shirt as he rolled up the storage door.
“Why are you staying, anyways?”
Logan shrugged again, pulling a long black duffel bag onto a metal table in the middle of the room.
“Closer to family?” I taunted in a singsong voice.
He shrugged for a third time. Sliding up on the table, I didn’t let up. “Coming around to your senses about the hussy?”
He raised one honey colored eyebrow at me, daring me to continue. I took the bait. “Maybe you just love the excitement of being close to the Supernatural Council.”
“And by excitement you mean death and the constant threat thereof?”
I laughed. “As I recall, you brought the Puppet Master to my door.”
“Not one of my finest moments,” he reluctantly admitted.
“No, no, it certainly is a long line of mistakes made by our Alpha,” an unknown voice stated behind us.
Logan stilled in his loading, as I turned to see who was going to start shit now.
A short, silver haired idiot sauntered into Logan’s storage room. His swagger was cocky, though he had only a fraction of the muscle Logan’s body boasted of. Deep wrinkles lined his face. He must have been ancient to actually get wrinkles.
“And you are going to do something about it?” Me and my mouth.
His smug look should have concerned me, but we had just escaped death. I had told Blake no, and we were surrounded by weapons. I was feeling mighty confident.
When the other four fell in behind him, it occurred to me I really should have seen that coming.
“You take these two, I’ll take the rest,” my cocky ass informed Logan.
“Pfft, please, I’ll let you have one.”
“One? Geez, now that’s just insulting.”
He turned his gaze toward me. “It was supposed to be protective.”
“In a demeaning, I-can’t-fight-since-I’m-a-girl way.”
“Can’t say I thought it through that far.”
“If you two idiots are finished, I’ll be killing you now,” Silver Hair said.
“Who are you, anyways?” I questioned, annoyed our conversation was interrupted.
“Eli, and I’ll be taking over now. I’ve been patiently waiting, gathering power and supporters in order to rectify the grievous errors Logan has led us into as Alpha.” He stood perfectly straight. “It’s time for the wolves to be in their proper position of power.”
“I get him, Olie. I want to know how he was able to disguise his scent and approach.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, seeing the logic of Logan having to deal with the main threat. “So, are we going to do this, or is there official ‘I challenge the Alpha’ language?’” I asked, deepening my voice.
Logan and Eli both gave me disbelieving looks like, “What? That’s what the romance novels say.”
With a huff Logan tore his shirt. “Show off,” I muttered.
He shrugged. “It was bound to be ruined anyways, hanging out with you.”
A growl had me turning my attention as the dark silver wolf of Eli launched at Logan. That was the fastest shift I had ever seen. Eli’s extended claws scored the naked flesh of Logan, opening four fresh lines of blood across his chest.
“Humpf,” I grunted, as I was suddenly slammed to the cold concrete on my side, landing heavily on my right wrist and shoulder.
Good news, they were in human form, with human arms wrapped around my middle. Bad news, I couldn’t reach my dagger hidden in the small of my back. With a grunt I rolled to my other side, pinning the asshole under me, wiggling my arms.
“Hold her!” another flunkie yelled, holding out zip ties.
“Oh hell to the fuck no,” I whispered, wrenching my top arm free in a fit of both desperation and annoyance at my inattention. Clenching my fist, I cracked it into his exposed neck, shutting down his windpipe.
“Heal from that, fucker.”
Launching to my feet, I pulled the dagger at my back. “Let’s fucking dance,” I invited the other three. While they were highly unintelligent to attack us, I’d have to give them a few points in the not-a-complete-waste-of-space column for looking properly terrified.
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I’m pretty sure I grinned at that fact.
“Call the zombies!” one of them screamed, backing up.
I paid no attention to the growling next to me as Logan and Eli slammed into a rack of guns together.
“What zombies?” I asked, stepping outside of the storage unit. The three remaining shifters were moving back behind a row of zombies, two deep.
“Where is a necromancer when you need one?” I sighed. How the fuck was this even possible?
Slowly, they lumbered toward me. Not in the mood to wait, I ran at them, slicing across putrid flesh, my stomach cramping from the vile smells. Spinning around, I caught an arm with loose flesh that was ready to slam down on my already healing head. Ducking down, I buried my blade into the loose muscle in his thigh, pulling forcefully and removing the limb from his body.
I can’t say it was my most well thought-out plan, as the zombie fell on top of me while I struggled to clear off the dead flesh from my blade. With a grunt and a poorly executed roll, I dislodged the fallen zombie and cleaned off my blade.
I couldn’t tell you what made me look up, what made me check on Logan, but I did. While he was busy fending off Eli, who was trying to take bites out of Logan’s now furry hide, the asshole flunky was creeping steadily toward him in wolf form, belly low to the ground.
Not on my watch fucker, you want to take out the leader of the Shifter Nation you go through me.
“Logan, behind you!”
The shift in my attention earned me a zombie latching on to my forearm, but thankfully, not my throwing arm. I pulled out the blade at my back, balancing it by the tip before launching it with force.
Logan turned, meeting my eyes for a split second before the zombie horde I had been keeping at bay launched themselves with renewed force. I lost sight of him as I fell beneath a pile of rotting flesh.
Dammit.
Flat on my back, I struggled to keep my mouth closed as half decayed teeth chomped down on my appendages. It was bad enough that the smell would destroy this outfit. I was not going to swallow anything these fuckers were throwing out.
One of them bit through my leather pants and into the tender flesh of my thigh. I forgot myself, letting loose an open-mouthed scream.
I could hear the sounds of Logan fighting with the wolf, even above the chomping of the zombies on my body. Rolling onto my side, I crushed the jaw of the zombie on my thigh, embedding the flat teeth even deeper into my already tender flesh. My legs free, I began kicking my way out from the walking dead.
With a final heave, I stood, brushing bits of undead flesh from my jacket.
Logan nodded, acknowledging I was still breathing, before renewing his attack on the wolf.
As I reached down to remove the jaw from my thigh, I saw movement from the corner of my eye, too fast to be a zombie. My breath left me as I was tackled to the ground by another wolf. His attack sent us skidding across the floor back into the storage room, and again I lost sight of Logan, preoccupied as I was with my own shifter issues.
The wolf rolled off me, baring his teeth with menace as he crouched to launch at my jugular.
I’d had enough. Pulling a gun from the racks behind me, I took a gamble it was loaded and squeezed the trigger four times. The shifter dropped midair, landing at my feet and trying to pull himself away to heal.
“Fuck you,” I told him before emptying my clip of, thank the Gods, bullets into his head. I suppose the gun might appear a strange item for Logan to stock, but being powerful always means having enemies, both within one’s species and outside.
“I am done with this shit!” I screamed, marching back to where I’d last seen Logan.
What I saw there dumbfounded me. Logan had Eli, the silver shifter, pinned to the ground, Logan’s massive jaws clenching down on the skull of the wolf.
Lorraine was on her knees, sobbing. “Let him go, please Logan,” she whispered, hands clutched in front of her.
Hearing my footsteps, they all turned to me.
“Kill him,” was my vote.
Logan growled, tightening his jaw. I smiled upon hearing the bones crack and pop.
“I’M PREGNANT!” Lorraine screamed.
Shock alone had Logan opening his mouth, but then I saw his eyes growing hopeful. The silver wolf was no fool, seizing the opportunity to beat a hasty retreat while Logan’s gaze was locked on Lorraine.
“Aww shit Logan, REALLY? You don’t even know if it is yours! What the fuck are you doing here anyway, Lorraine?”
Logan’s eyes narrowed again as he sniffed Lorraine, completely ignoring me. Shifters could smell pregnancy. Kass had told me how Darren had been the one to sit her down and tell her she was knocked up. I was hoping she was lying, really, really fucking hoping. But when Logan’s lion gently rubbed his head against her stomach I knew it was, at least, a partial truth from her.
I refused to acknowledge the disappointment or the trickle of loss that wanted to flood my emotions. Nor was I thinking about what The Oracle had said, or my curiosity about what might have blossomed between us. Nope, wasn’t thinking about any of it.
Logan shifted back to human form and I took myself out of the storage unit. I didn’t need to hear any of this, nor did I need the temptation of looking below his nonexistent belt.
“When?” Logan whispered, dammit for still being able to hear. I moved around the SUV and slid down, staring at the bite marks on my legs.
“Only a few days ago,” her shaky voice answered. “I was avoiding you, until I knew for certain.”
“Is it mine?” Logan asked, with heartbreaking hope in his voice.
“Of course,” the hussy lied.
“Why are you here?” Steel coated Logan’s words. I was glad to see the pregnancy announcement hadn’t totally deluded him.
“I was coming to check on you.” More lies.
“Bullshit Lorraine, you were one of two people I told I was coming here and the other was my brother.”
“I’ve always said he was untrustworthy.”
“Why, Lorraine?” Logan’s voice was soft either from anger or hurt, I wasn’t sure.
“Does it matter?” She sounded tired.
“Yes.” Logan’s answer was clipped.
“You replaced me with her!” she screamed, stomping her foot. “The place beside you was for me and you let her have it.”
Silence descended.
“Who is Eli to you?” His voice was deadly quiet.
“I’ve been seeing him for a few months. He promised I would be his Queen.”
“Want me to slap her?” I hollered.
“No, she’s pregnant. But I would appreciate your help with her.”
I was not feeling excited about his wanting my help. Not. At. All.
Dragging myself back to an upright position, I winced as I put weight on my thigh. Logan’s gaze hadn’t left Lorraine, nor had he put clothing on.
“Clothing, Logan,” I reminded him. “I’ll protect the now pregnant wannabe queen bitch.”
His gaze cut swiftly to me. I rolled my eyes. “Nor will I hit her.”
He gave me a curt nod before rummaging in one of the black plastic totes.
“Who is Eli?” I asked point blank, while shifting my weight to my uninjured leg.
Lorraine fiddled with the hem of her top, shrugging.
Now was usually the time when I would smack, hit, threaten or maim someone who had just betrayed me, but the pregnancy forced a change in my approach. Unfortunately, the little life inside of her hadn’t done anything to deserve my brutality.
“Don’t play games, Lorraine, we know you set us up based on your timely appearance. And we now know Eli holds a very special place in your heart for you to BEG for his life.”
She didn’t glance at me, instead trying to hold Logan’s gaze as he arrived back next to me, standing closer to me than her.
Lorraine pulled out a winning smile, reaching out to touch Logan. He recoiled, his gaze riveted to her, her fingers brushing empty air.
“Answer her question.”
“Logan, don’t do this, please.”
“Betrayal is not something I am capable of forgiving.” Thank the Gods. “Answer Olivia.”
“Or what?” Lorraine taunted, crossing her arms. “I can abort the pregnancy.”
Logan stepped forward then, anger rippling along his arms, “You’d kill your own child for spite?”
“I can disappear, you will never see us again.”
“Switching tactics won’t help you, Lorraine,” I warned. “From this moment you will be accompanied by someone loyal to Logan or myself twenty four hours a day. You will not be allowed to grocery shop, shower, or even shit alone while you are carrying Logan’s child. We protect our own, and we protect it ruthlessly.”
I hadn’t realized I had stepped forward until I pulled back.
“I have rights,” she hissed, her chin trembling.
I smiled. “Not if you disappear.”
She turned to Logan again, properly terrified, although why I have no idea. I had just told her she would be protected to the highest degree and that scared her. I had to be missing something.
“You wouldn’t cage me up, Logan. You trust me.”
I couldn’t help the scoff that left my lips as I turned my attention to him.
“You can arrange that?” he asked me softly.
“Of course,” I answered quickly. “She has to be protected, even if it is from herself.”
His warm hand rested on my shoulder with approval as he spoke. “It doesn’t matter who he was to you, Lorraine. I will find him and I will kill him. You will be protected from harming yourself and the child. Do not think that others will not attempt to kill you as well. You are carrying my child, a powerful child.”
Lifting her chin, she attempted to appear brave.
“How does Eli have access to zombies?” Logan asked.
She shook her head. If she did know, she wasn’t spilling.
I turned to Logan. “It doesn’t matter. We will figure it out.”
He nodded, turning his attention back to Lorraine. With a pent-up breath I dictated, “Let’s get our gear, call a cleanup crew, and regroup at my security compound.”