When the rest of the Ghouls saw her, they ran into the night, leaving a mess in their wake. Standing under a street light, my savior turned around—her flaming red hair whipping back and I gazed into the eyes of my best friend.
“Amy,” I choked as blood spilled out of my mouth.
“Grey!” Finn and Michaels rushed over to me.
I attempted to lift a finger to point at her but I couldn’t move. Amy bared her fangs and hissed at me in aggression.
“Amy,” I repeated, knowing she could hear me. When my team made it to me, she spun around and ran down the street so fast, she was only a blur.
8
“Let me help you!” Michaels demanded as he tried to lift me. “Stop wiggling.”
“I can go up the stairs on my own. I’m not an invalid!”
After the ghouls attack, I was beyond broken. I’d been rushed to the station where the SIU witches were waiting for me. If it wasn’t for their healing powers, I’d be in a hospital for at least two weeks recuperating. I wasn’t in the clear—not like I would be if I’d shifted—but the broken bones and ribs were healed. I still had bruising and soreness, but that was manageable.
We reached my apartment door and Michaels took my keys from my jacket pocket and opened it up. I hobbled through the threshold and stumbled face first onto the wooden panels.
“Easy there,” he said, catching me before I face planted. Michaels directed me to the living room sofa and I fell into a heap with no plans to move.
“Thanks, Michaels.”
He nodded as he took a blanket from my linen closet and covered me up.
I no longer lived in the Alphabet City apartment I’d shared with Amy. When I returned to New York City, the apartment was too big for me and contained too many memories. I couldn’t handle being there alone.
“Grey…” Michaels started. “We need to talk about tonight.”
I shook my head. “Not now.”
“Yes now,” he insisted. “What the hell was that? It was like you wanted to die. Should I be concerned? Are you suicidal?”
I scoffed. “No! How can you say that?”
“I don’t know, you tell me. I can’t explain what happened.”
“I was overpowered, Michaels.”
“Yeah, the odds were stacked against us, but you gave up the fight too soon. I’ve seen you in worse situations.”
My eyes didn’t meet his. I couldn’t look at my partner with the accusations he was throwing my way. Was I suicidal? Hell no. So what the hell happened to me tonight? He wasn’t completely off base.
“Well, maybe it just wasn’t my night. Stop reading into things.”
His jaw ticked and his neck reddened. “Fuck, Mackenzie! You’re going to drive me to drink, damn it. Don’t brush this off like I’m the one who’s loosing his mind. I’m tired of always watching your six. I’m the human! Instead I’m stuck babysitting you because you won’t shift!”
“Get out!” I yelled as I sat up from the sofa. “Get the hell out!”
“Get your shit together, Grey!”
“Fuck you, Garrett! You don’t know shit!”
“I know plenty! You’re weak, Mackenzie. If you don’t start letting your wolf in, you’re going to get yourself killed!” He paused. “Unless that’s been the plan all along.”
“You’re craz—” I’d started to say before I tumbled off the sofa. “Ahhhh!” I screamed. My eyes zeroed in on my ankle. The wooden flooring waved like ripples of water as a hand shot out of the floor boards and clamped onto my leg. “Get off!” I yelled as I dragged myself away but all it did was pull whoever it was further out of the ground.
“Grey!” I heard Michaels in the background, but he sounded far away. There was a loud crash of glass somewhere and a sting prickled my hands. The person coming out of the floor poked its head out and I gasped as his wooden face morphed into human. I recognized him. It was Andrew.
“Yer nae going anywhere, sis,” he sneered as he gripped my ankle tighter. “I’m coming for ye.”
“Mackenzie!” Michaels drenched me with water and I sucked in a heaping of air before reorienting myself in my apartment.
“What the,” I panted. My eyes scoured my living room, looking for Andrew. “He was here! Andrew was here!”
“Andrew? Who’s that?” Michaels looked around with me. “No one is here.”
“No…” I muttered. “He was here. I saw him.”
“Your eyes, they weren’t…normal.”
“What?”
“They went white, like you rolled your eyes back,” he said inspecting my face and our surrounding area. “You’re not okay, Grey. Far from it.”
I took the next few days off work. Briggs didn’t have a problem with it, if anything he encouraged me to get some rest. We lost our only lead on the case and things looked bleak.
“Last we spoke, you told me about the Skinwalker, but you only touched the surface of your time in Los Angeles. Why?” Dr. Jones asked as I laid on her couch.
“There’s not much to say,” I shrugged. “I ran away for a year and then I came back. That’s it.”
“I’d beg to differ,” she said. “When you speak of Los Angeles, I sense happiness.”
Of course I felt happiness. It was the only time I ever felt carefree as a wolf. The Lycan were hunting me at the time, but I was so well hidden that had it not been for Emma, they would have never found me.
“I was at my strongest in Los Angeles,” I said. “I felt invincible, like nothing could hurt me.”
“And you don’t believe that now?”
I shook my head. “I learned my lesson. No one is untouchable.”
“Are you feeling sick?” Dr. Jones arched a brow. “You just had a bout of nausea.”
“I’m not sick.”
“Then it was a memory?”
I nodded.
“Tell me about it,” she said.
I hadn’t spoken to anyone beside Amy about what happened those days in the abandoned train tunnels. I’d felt disgusted and stupid for letting it happen.
“When I left Los Angeles, I learned of my heritage, that I was the bastard child of King Alexander MacCoinnich,” I took a deep breath. “Many came looking for me to join their Packs. Some were polite, but others were not.”
“Take your time,” Dr. Jones said as she handed me a bottle of water.
I took a sip. My hand shook so much, I spilled water on myself.
“The Detroit Pack sent the Fae after me, but I was able to fight back. The Chicago Pack, not so much. The humans had arrested me, and amidst the chaos, they were able to kidnap me. I wasn’t strong enough to fight back.”
“What did they do?”
I turned my head to stare at Dr. Jones. She had taken her glasses off, and her face softened.
“He broke me.”
“Who?”
“The Alpha of the Chicago Pack. He made me weak. Breakable. Easy and dirty,” I sneered. “He made me second guess myself. Even after his death, he’s still around.”
“He died?”
“I killed him. It’s the only fond memory I have of him.”
When I started to get cabin fever from being cooped up in my apartment, I decided to go back to work. I still had the Bobby Wu case to crack.
“Welcome to the land of the living,” Cas joked as I passed by his desk. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been run over by a FedEx truck,” I grumbled and took my sunglasses off. Sleep was still an issue, but I had to get some shut eye.
“You look like shit, Mackenzie,” he commented once he saw the fading bruises. Cas came and sat on my desk. “Have you not shifted?”
“What do you think?”
“It’d be easier if you did. All that bruising and pain you’re in would go away.”
“I know,” I sighed. “I’ve been moon-bound for so long now that I can’t imagine going through that pain again to unbind myself.”
He nodded. “As you know, I usually head up to the
Cadwell Estate with my Pack for the full moon. If you want, I’ll stay behind and shift with you.”
I eyed him with curiosity. Cas didn’t seem like a bad guy, he even had a baby face to boot, but the cynical side of me was hesitant. I’d been burned one too many times.
“Let me help you, Mackenzie.”
“Why? Whats in it for you?” I questioned.
“Absolutely nothing. Scout’s honor,” he held up three fingers in a pledge.
“Were you ever a Boy Scout?”
He smiled. “Never.”
I laughed. “Fine. I’ll accept your offer…under one condition.”
“Of course,” he grinned.
“I want to know what your deal is. Are you trying to get into the Royal Court or something?” No one was this nice. I’d been shitting on this guy since we met and, besides kicking my ass in the ring, he’s been kinder than anyone in his position should be. It made him untrustworthy in my book. I’ve had too many people try to use me as a stepping stool to power and I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
Cas tapped his pen on his desk before tossing it. “Truth? You remind me of someone. Someone I was close to.”
“And?”
“And…she died.”
My stomach churned. “Who was she?”
Cas looked away for a moment, regrouping himself. “She was my sister. My baby sister.”
“You said you only had a little brother.”
“I do. He’s the youngest. Jenny was the middle child. She was about two years younger than me.”
I rolled my chair to his desk to avoid any eavesdroppers. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”
His eyes glossed over, and like most wolves I’ve met, he cleared his throat and puffed out his chest, swallowing his sadness and showing strength.
“When Lunas reach maturity age, they are able to leave their home Pack and join another if they’ve found a mate. Jenny had fallen in love with someone in the Chicago Pack. He wasn’t a bad guy, but like most wolves, we die young. He left Jenny widowed at twenty years old and condemned her to a life with the Chicago Pack.”
I felt sick. If Cas didn’t continue, it was fine because I already knew where this story was going. I had my own story.
Cas chuckled. “You remind me a lot of Jenny. She was a Luna and she knew her place, but she had a free spirit that had she been alive to meet you, I’m sure it wouldn’t have taken much arm twisting to get her on your cause.”
“I bet she was amazing,” I whispered.
“She was,” he nodded. “She fought the Pack trying to get back home until they killed her,” he paused, “And we couldn’t do a damn thing about it. She died in disgrace because she was a Luna who had tried to flee her Pack.”
My nails dug into my thighs as I listened to Cas, and it made me happy that I put an end to Logan St. James. He was dead and he still continued to haunt the living. How could someone so evil, have gotten away with so much?
“I’m so—”
“Don’t apologize,” Cas cut me off. “I’ll forever be grateful for what you did. You did what I couldn’t do…thank you.”
Call me Mister Softee, but this was all it took to get me to warm up to Cassidy Chang. What happened to his sister and many others, was the reason why I revolted against my own blood. His testimony was one of many I’ve heard before, and of many I haven’t heard yet. His need to help me made sense, and I’d accept it. Not because he owed me—he didn’t—but because I needed his help.
9
“C’mon Mackenzie, you can do this!” Cas pushed. “Don’t quit now.”
I was on all fours, my clothes tucked by a tree, and the ripple of my spine making me see stars. The pain was so excruciating, I thought I was going to pass out. We were deep in the woods of Central Park, away from the humans.
“Alright, take a break,” Cas said and handed me a bottle of water. I collapsed onto the grass and accepted the drink. The pain subsided and I could breathe again.
“I can’t do this,” I muttered.
“It’s the third night, don’t give up now.”
I’d been about to speak when I turned to my side and vomited everything I’d eaten in the last two days. Cas had been true to his word and shifted with me during the full moon. It was the third night and I didn’t think I could take anymore. I was still hurt from the attack the other night, add the wolf trying to come out and I felt like I was dying.
Cassidy pulled my hair out of the way and rubbed my back. “Let it out.”
Once I was done dry heaving, he handed me the water and I rinsed my mouth. I was embarrassed and regretted accepting his help.
“Are you not grossed out?” I spoke away from his face.
“Does that even matter?” He said. “Don’t worry about how I feel.”
He helped me to a sitting position and brought over a blanket for me to cover up.
“Uh…Cas?”
“Yeah?” He looked down at me before popping a squat.
“You know I’m not like…available or anything…right?”
He tilted his head and then his eyes widened. “Are you serious? You think I’m doing this because I’m into you?”
I put my hands up. “You said it not me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Listen, you’re attractive and a good person—what’s not to like? But I know where your heart stands, and its not with me. There’s just something about you, Mackenzie, that I feel like I need to fix.”
That took me by surprise. “You think I’m broken?” I couldn’t help but sound like a child.
He shrugged. “All I know is that you can be so much better than you are now, and I want to help you get there. One day, you’re going to rule our people, and we’re going to need the legendary Mackenzie Grey.”
My eyes stung as the conviction in his words seared into me. His heart beat steady and I knew he was sincere.
“Okay,” I murmured. “Help me.”
Cassidy grinned. He stood and extended a hand to help me up when the ground beneath us began to tremble. I tumbled and he held me steady.
“An earthquake in New York City?” He questioned and it was exactly what I’d been thinking.
“It can’t be,” I said and went for my clothes. I dressed quickly and we followed the tremors. I was weak and dehydrated, which was the absolute worst position to be in at the moment.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I exhaled. I wasn’t, but I needed to suck it up. I needed to be strong again. I needed to be the old me.
“It’s coming from the lake,” Cas hollered, and I followed him out of the woods. We froze as a beam of light flew up to the sky from the water’s surface.
“Cas…” I started, but I was stuck. How could I ask what I wanted to without jinxing us. It couldn’t be…could it?
“Mackenzie, run!”
The beam exploded and a tsunami rolled toward us. We made it a few feet into the forest when the wave hit and dragged us back to the bank of the lake. I rolled to the edge and I must have knocked out for a few seconds because when I opened my eyes, I was being dragged away from the lake by my legs.
A throbbing on my forehead made me reach up, and I realized I was bleeding. In a daze, I peered up and the person bringing me back to shore was not Cas.
“Let go of me!” I croaked. I attempted to stand but he was stronger. I didn’t need much to know who it was. The red and black cloak was a dead giveaway. He tossed me next to Cassidy’s body, and for a moment I thought he was dead. His eyes were wide open staring at the water, but then I saw him blink and I put it together. Wolfsbane.
“Stay still,” the killer demanded.
“As if I’d listen,” I scoffed and kicked at him. My foot met his jaw and I scrambled up to run away, but he got ahold of my ankle and I fell back down as he dragged me toward the lake. Before I knew it, there was a pinch in my neck and I smelled the citrus tang of wolfsbane as it entered my system. Limb by limb, the numbing toxic paralyzed me until all I
could do was move my eyes. I’d never experienced this, only heard from first-hand accounts, and they hadn’t exaggerated. I felt trapped in my own body and it gave me a minor bout of claustrophobia.
“There we go,” the killer said as he rearranged my body to face the sky—and tilted my head to the side to look at the lake. I could no longer move my head to see Cas.
The serial killer we’d been searching for the last few months unhooded himself and I couldn’t even flinch in reaction. His whole face had been burned off, and he was left disfigured.
“Hello, Mackenzie Grey,” he sneered. “It’s nice to formally meet you. My name is Mad Hatter, welcome to my Wonderland,” he giggled. “Oh I forgot, you can’t speak. Well don’t worry, it might be for the best.”
The Mad Hatter flung his bag to the front of him and pulled out an unmarked can, gloves, and a metal tube.
“You must be wondering what is going on, why you were chosen, and if I am going to kill you,” he whispered in my ear. “Don’t fret, Princess, I would never kill you,” he smiled. He put on the gloves and connected the tube with the can.
My eyes widened to an astronomical size as I realized what he was doing. Tears rained over my nose and down the side of my face.
“Shhhh,” he placed a finger over my lips. “This will only sting a bit.”
The Mad Hatter pulled down my sweat pants and underwear around my knees and I hyperventilated from the inside. This couldn’t be happening.
He raised the blow torch and tested it out away from me before stretching my skin at my hip and bringing the heat to the Celtic triquetra tattoo that was positioned there for my protection.
I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t move. All I could do was blink as he burned off my flesh. My vision went in and out, blurring from the tears and pain. This was my personal hell and I couldn’t breathe. The smell of charred skin filled my senses and my flesh sizzled and melted away.
“There,” he smiled at a job well done. “Now we won’t have any issues.”
OMEGA: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Mackenzie Grey Book 4) Page 6