Retribution of Sins

by J. L. McCoy

  “Don’t you hello me, Morrison,” he growled sternly. “Do you have any idea what I just went through?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said straight away. “I didn’t mean to. It just sort of happened.”

  “One minute Corvus is waking me up, telling me you’re having a nightmare, and the next we’re sitting there staring at an empty seat. You scared the bejesus out of me. I had no idea where you’d ended up.”

  “Well, you found me.”

  “You teleported to him, didn’t you? It’s the only logical explanation.”

  “It’s a long story,” I said, “but one I will fill you in on as soon as I get back.”

  He was quiet for a few moments, but finally said, “Tell me you’re okay. At least give me that.”

  “I’m okay, Hagan,” I said, breaking our traditional trainer/trainee protocol of me always calling him sir.

  “Promise?”

  “Cross my heart.”

  “Well, that’s a fucking relief.”

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes, so don’t be surprised when I pop up in front of you.”

  “It’ll be a welcomed surprise,” he assured.

  I said my goodbyes and handed the phone back to Ruarc, who in turn said he would speak with Hagan again sometime soon before ending the call.

  “Your relationship with Hagan has blossomed over these last few weeks,” Ruarc stated, watching me closely.

  “It has. He’s one of my closest friends,” I admitted unabashedly.

  “He is very fond of you,” he offered, appraising me. “Do you know why he was allowed to stay in Austin after Amun was captured?”

  “I assumed it was because you either wanted to keep a close eye on me or you wanted him to train me so that I could one day join your ranks as one of The Faithful.” I hadn’t forgotten the question he’d asked me once my trial was complete after I’d turned. He’d asked if I’d ever consider joining, and I said no.

  “Both are true,” he stated, leaving no room for doubt, “but there was another reason. Hagan asked to stay.”

  “What does that mean?” I questioned, not understanding where this line of questioning was going.

  “I have immense respect for Archer,” he provided instead, “and would never go against him willingly.”

  “That’s good to know,” I said, my brow furrowing with slight concern.

  “You are very special, Skye, and being that special will undoubtedly draw the wrong kind of attention to you. Hagan stayed because he cares about you and your well-being. He wants to protect you at all costs.”

  I felt my face heat as a blush spread upward. This conversation felt incredibly intimate, and I wasn’t sure Hagan would have liked me to know some of these things.

  “Some would even say he has grown to love you.”

  Yep, Hagan definitely would not want me to know that.

  “Well, I love him too, Ruarc,” I affirmed honestly. “Hagan means the world to me, and I can’t imagine my life without him in it.”

  “Does Archer know you feel this way?”

  “Archer knows Hagan and I share a special bond. As to what exactly Archer knows, that I couldn’t tell you. When I’m reading his mind, he’s not thinking of Hagan.”

  “Just be careful,” he warned, leveling me with a gaze. “If Archer feels like there is competition for you, he’ll level the playing field, if you get my drift.”

  “He wouldn’t dare send Hagan away,” I informed. “He’s aware of the bond we share.”

  “But does he know Hagan’s in love with you?”

  “Hagan isn’t in love with me,” I denied, swallowing hard. “He cares deeply, but there are no romantic feelings there.”

  “I’m just warning you. Be careful around Archer. That’s all I ask.”

  What he was suggesting was ludicrous. Okay, so yes, I knew Hagan had feelings for me, but I was more than certain they had to do with my gifts and not me as a person. It wasn’t like I had some kind of golden vagina that men couldn’t wait to fall into. I was a relatively pretty pain in the ass, but still a pain in the ass. Anyone who knew me knew how stubborn and hardheaded I was. No one in their right mind would want to step into the pile of crap I called my new life. I mean, I was soul tied to a psychopath for crying out loud. Archer was crazy for loving me, and we both knew it.

  “You don’t have to worry,” I stated plainly, leaving no room for further discussion. “Just work on finding a solution to my Amun problem. I need his soul out of me... like yesterday.”

  Nodding, Ruarc extended his hand and I shook it.

  “Until the next crisis, Miss Morrison.” He smirked, and I couldn’t help but grin back. The bastard had stolen my line.

  “Until the next crisis, Ru.”

  After letting go, I took a few steps back and centered myself. Drawing in a deep breath, I also drew in the energy around myself, thought of Hagan, and teleported.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Back on the plane, I landed roughly, at least on my feet this time, but smacked nose first into something hard.

  “Good Lord, Morrison,” Hagan griped as he grabbed me by the shoulders to help steady me. I had landed face first against his chest, and we were both sore from it. “I’m going to start calling you graceful.”

  Rubbing my aching nose, I stuck my tongue out at him and then sighed. “Do you know how hard it is to teleport?” I questioned, gazing up at him. “I never know what I’m going to land near if I just think of a person and not an actual location. This shit isn’t all roses and rainbows, sir.”

  “There you are,” I heard Corvus say exasperatedly from behind me, and I turned to face him. “We’ve been wondering when you’d grace us again with your presence.”

  “Oh, suck a lemon.” I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest as I cocked a brow at him. “I’ve had quite the time, thank you, and I don’t need your attitude on top of it.”

  “Nice to see Amun didn’t put a damper on your spirits,” Hagan drawled, slinging an arm around my neck. Addressing Corvus next, he growled, “And take it easy on her, Dark One. I’m sure she’s had one hell of a time.”

  “I’d really like to forget it even happened at all, okay. Can we just focus on the task at hand for now? Where is this address we found in Stanus’s paperwork?”

  “You owe me answers,” Hagan said silently in my head, and I nodded as a way of telling him I knew I did but that now was not the time. I didn’t want Corvus knowing more than he needed to about my little adventure to Ireland. Everything I said in front of him would no doubt make its way back to Atticus, and the less that man knew about me, or Amun for that matter, the better.

  “I’d like to know what happened with Amun,” Corvus stated, not willing to allow me to drop the subject.

  “And I’d like to be back in Austin, safe and cozy in my bed, not out here in the middle of God only knows where Turkey dealing with this bullshit, but we don’t always get what we want, now do we?”

  “You sure are adorable when you’re cranky, kitten,” he said, grinning ear to ear.

  “Lemon, Corvus... suck it,” I growled, rubbing my right eyebrow with my middle finger. That earned me a hearty chuckle from Hagan.

  Corvus was still grinning as he grabbed an old, yellowed piece of paper off the conference table and brought it over to me. Hagan hauled out his GPS and pulled the location up on the screen. From the aerial view, the address belonged to an old brick warehouse on the outskirts of a very busy Izmir.

  Glancing up at the two men, I shook my head. “Corvus, you said Stanus would most likely be in a sparsely populated location. This building is on the outskirts of a major metropolitan city.”

  “That’s true, I did say that. What I failed to mention was that while you were on your little vacation, we found references to Izmir being Stanus’s place of birth. Wouldn’t you want to go home if you had people out looking for you?”

  “Home is the last place I’d go,” I argued. “That’s the first place people tend to look.
”

  “Normally I’d agree with you, kitten, but before we found these documents in Stanus’s vault, no one on earth besides Stanus knew where he had been born. I imagine not even Weston.”

  “And how do you know this,” Hagan inquired disbelievingly.

  “It is common Dark knowledge,” Corvus scoffed, shaking his head. “His place of rebirth has always been known, but not the location of his original birth. He kept that secret to himself.”

  “Why would it matter?” I asked, not understanding.

  “Why indeed,” he answered as he raised his left brow and gave a small cock of his head.

  “Okay, my interest is piqued,” Hagan said, putting the GPS away. “Let’s check out that warehouse.

  After the plane landed, we strapped up and got ready to go. It was still light out, and it would be hours still before the sun set. Corvus argued that we should wait for him, but I reminded him that we had sixteen possible locations that we had to check in two weeks’ time and there simply wasn’t enough of it if all we did was search at night. He reluctantly agreed to stay behind, and Hagan and I went at it alone.

  We hired a taxi from a vampire-friendly service and were on the road within thirty minutes of landing in Izmir. The air was hot but surprisingly a bit humid. We were close to the Aegean Sea, and I could see a smattering of small boats out fishing while we followed the road as it hugged the coast. There were people everywhere going about their daily lives, and we passed a large market where the locals sold their wares.

  About thirty minutes into our journey, the road curved away from the sea and we traveled south into the outskirts of the town. The people became fewer and far between, as did the numerous buildings. Before long we arrived at our predetermined stop next to an old abandoned tire shop about six blocks from where Stanus’s warehouse sat. After instructing the driver to wait for our return, we got out.

  “It sure is quiet around here,” I remarked to Hagan as he closed the door to the cab.

  Looking around, I noted we were the only people in sight, and that made me uneasy.

  “Too quiet,” Hagan agreed, drawing his weapon.

  I followed suit as we put our backs against the shop and listened intently. It was completely quiet, save for a bird cawing in the distance. Motioning with two fingers, Hagan gave the cue to move forward.

  We flashed up one block, listened, and repeated until we had our backs against Stanus’s large brick building. As we listened, we noted no sounds at all coming from inside. There didn’t appear to be any surveillance equipment outside of it either. I wasn’t sure what was in the building, but I had a sneaking suspicion we’d just wasted a plane trip.

  With Hagan taking the lead, we moved together like a well-oiled machine to the metal back door. Hagan put one ear close to the door and waited ten heartbeats before shaking his head. I guessed there was no movement at all inside, which I supposed was good. I wasn’t exactly wanting to meet company anyway.

  I tested the knob and found it locked, so I used my vampire strength to snap the mechanism before we cautiously entered. What greeted us completely astounded and befuddled me.

  There sat an innocuous small house in the middle of this brick building. It was well-maintained, obviously hundreds of years old, and appeared to be made of stone. As far as I could tell, the building we were now in was erected around the small house to preserve it in some way.

  “Holy shit,” I whispered with wide eyes, glancing over at Hagan. “I think we found the house Stanus grew up in maybe.”

  Hagan’s brow furrowed as he scanned the total of it. “Why keep this?” he asked, more to himself.

  “Stanus is kind of a self-absorbed prick. This doesn’t actually surprise me. This is totally something he would do.”

  “Maybe,” he answered as he walked around the left side of the house.

  Free from any threats, I holstered my gun and decided to explore the right side. I came across centuries-old pottery and rusted metal tools near the back door of the cottage and marveled at the sight. I’d only seen the likes in a museum once when I traveled to New York.

  I was getting ready to lean into an open window when I heard Hagan yell for me.

  “Run, Morrison!”

  “What?” I asked, startled, but did as he commanded.

  We had just managed to reach the door we entered through when the first explosion went off. I fell face first into the sand, and something large and heavy landed on top of me as I was hit with a wall of fire. Subsequent explosions sounded around me, and the heavy object on top of me groaned as it cradled me under it. I realized then that the thing on top of me was Hagan. He had used his body to shield me.

  A few heartbeats after the last explosion stopped, Hagan rolled off me and groaned again. Crouching, I pushed up onto my feet and turned to him. The explosions had hit Hagan hard. He was lying on his side, and his back looked like a burned pincushion. Wood and bits of metal had imbedded themselves into him.

  “Oh!” I squeaked as I took in his state a second before rushing to his aid.

  He’d been badly burned and some of the wood was imbedded deep, one piece particularly close to his heart.

  “You’re going to be okay, sir,” I offered reassuringly, my mind fearing otherwise, as I began to quickly yank out the shrapnel.

  All I got in response was a nod and another groan.

  I worked quickly on debridement and then moved to take off the remaining shreds of his T-shirt. Once I had a clear view of his injuries, I told him to lie still. I was hoping Jameson’s blood was still working inside of me because I was going to attempt to heal him. It had been close to three weeks since I’d had his blood, and I knew I was quickly approaching the limits.

  “Stay still, I’m going to try to heal you,” I instructed before placing my hands on his raw, charred flesh. Drawing in every speck of energy I could find, I pulled it close and pushed it out through my hands. I felt the Divine Power flow from me, but not as strongly as I was used to. Still, it was enough to heal him for the most part. What I couldn’t heal would heal within a matter of minutes now anyway.

  “Are you okay?” I inquired, a bit tiredly. Healing him had taken some of my own energy as well.

  “Fuck me,” he growled, pissed off as he rose to stand. I watched as his hazel eyes began to fade to white. “That fucking asshole booby trapped the place!”

  “Well, I figured it was either that or you weren’t really feeling the retro décor Stanus had going on in there.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked, ignoring my attempt to lighten the mood, as he offered me a hand to help me stand.

  “Yeah, thanks to you. What happened in there?”

  “I found a basement and went to grab the door in the floor when I hit a laser light field. We were lucky we had a few seconds to run before it blew.”

  “Why on earth go through the trouble of erecting a building around the house if you’re just going to rig it with explosives?”

  “I don’t know, but I figure whatever is in that basement is important. Come on, let’s go find that door again before the locals gather.”

  Being careful to avoid the flaming piles of debris, we made our way through the rubble and to where Hagan said the basement was. After clearing a mass of brick and stone from on top of the door, Hagan carefully inched it open.

  “If I say run, you run, got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” I answered as I watched him open it the remainder of the way. Truth was, I was 99 percent certain that something else was going to explode, but thankfully it didn’t.

  I moved to stand beside Hagan, and we both peered into the dark hole in the ground. We couldn’t see anything from our vantage point, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Reaching behind me, I grabbed a flaming bit of wood and dropped it into the hole. It fell roughly fifteen feet down before landing unceremoniously.

  “Age before beauty?” I asked Hagan, craning my neck over the opening as I tried to make out as much as I could.

  “How ki
nd of you,” he scoffed with a cock of his eyebrow as he gazed over at me before jumping down.

  He disappeared from view for a few seconds before coming back into the light. “All clear.”

  Not wasting any time, I jumped as well and landed softly on the balls of my feet. The room appeared to be small and dusty. There was a makeshift wooden desk in the corner covered in candles and various pieces of paper and two coffins beside it.

  “What the heck is this?” I asked, glancing around the room.

  “More like whom, Morrison,” he answered, motioning to the two coffins in the corner.

  Walking over to the wooden desk, I rifled through the junk on top as Hagan checked out the coffins. There was nothing much on it of note, just some old drawings and scribbles. What I did find of interest, though, was a leather journal stamped with the letters SLO.

  “I think I found something,” I called out as I began flipping through the pages. The journal had belonged to someone named Stanus Leviticus Octavius, and my eyes rose at the prize resting in my hands. “Holy, shit. I think this is Stanus’s journal.”

  “I found something too,” Hagan called, and I turned with journal in hand to face him. Both of the lids to the coffins were open, and he was peering inside. “We have a woman and child here.”

  With furrowed brow, I remembered something and turned back to the desk. Rummaging through the papers, I found what I was looking for and picked up the page with a remarkable drawing of a woman and child. Scrawled on the bottom of the page were two names, Lucretia and Essos.

  Turning back to Hagan, I held up the drawing for him to see. “Maybe this is them?” I questioned before handing it over to him.

  Hagan studied the page then the two skeletons in the coffin. “No telling.”

  I decided to flip through the journal again, looking for clues, and the two new names caught my attention. The rest of the page was in a language I could not read, and I decided Hagan might have better luck.

  “Hey, think you can read this?” I asked, handing him the journal. After a few seconds of him scanning it, he shook his head and handed it back.