by Kim Schubert
Once the palace disappeared from view, I picked up with the orb conversation. “Why do I have to travel in an orb? How will I get into an orb?”
“Easily, you are a soul. The space you consume now is because, as we’ve established, you expect to. But you don’t need to. You must be contained when we travel through the portal, or we risk losing you. There will be nothing to hold onto to keep you with us,” The Magician answered.
“How do I get back in my body?”
“I will break open the orb over your body. Your soul should be pulled right back in.”
I nodded, not taking issue with the “should.” It was a gamble, but one I was willing to take.
Chapter 5
Logan looked over the reports from Tommy.
“They’re gone?” he repeated.
Tommy shifted the images on his three large computer monitors. “As far as I can tell. Granted, their shacks are well hidden, but I haven’t seen any movement in the past twenty hours.”
Logan rubbed the back of his neck. “We are going there.”
Hudson grunted from the doorway, “Idaho?”
Logan growled, “Had you properly taken care of this, I wouldn’t be cleaning up your messes.”
Hudson averted his gaze. “I guess this is your time to prove why Logan shouldn’t kill you,” Tommy offered helpfully, turning around in his chair and taking a bite of his red vines.
Logan pulled the remaining candy from his hand. “Breakfast,” he commanded.
“Oh geez, the nutrition police are after me.” Tommy rolled his eyes, bumping playfully into Logan before heading downstairs.
“You were able to get ahold of Raphael?” Logan asked, following Tommy downstairs.
“I left a message,” Hudson replied.
Logan nodded, hearing Ginny’s babbling as the children got ready for school.
“Are we going to visit her?” Hudson asked.
“Yes, before we leave. Kass and Darren will be dropping off Hannah and Harrison and coming with us to the hospital.”
“Three kids, that seems like a lot for Katie.”
“Ali and Grant are here also.”
Hudson nodded, finding a place at the table and picking up the plate. Logan kissed Ginny’s messy cheek. Tommy was busy shoveling eggs into his mouth, trying to talk over the other kids. It was loud and messy. Logan couldn’t imagine going back to his life before the children, the noise, and Olivia.
“You want me to call Mark and Jerry?” Hudson asked, filling his own plate.
“No, I already texted them. Jerry needed a few hours to prep.”
“It’s strange having a witch on board. I’m surprised you allowed it.”
Logan turned to Hudson. “Who Mark loves is none of my concern. Jerry is an excellent asset to the packs and a loyal friend.”
“To Olivia,” Hudson threw in there.
“Who is my mate, so tread very fucking carefully or I will rethink my stance on not killing you,” Logan growled.
Hudson smartly did not make eye contact as he moved to sit down.
Tommy watched them both closely. “You need to me to stay home?” he asked.
“No, I do not want to hear about it from Olie that I let you miss school.”
Tommy smiled. “Yeah, she’d have your ass. But hey, don’t tell her about the car trick. I want that to be a surprise.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “No promises.”
The kids left the mansion in protected vehicles thirty minutes later. Logan snuggled with Ginny for a moment before handing her off to Katie, who was wrangling Harrison and Hannah.
“I’m going out of town for a few days, so I’ll need you here.”
Katie nodded. “I got your message. I came prepared.”
“Good. You have Ali’s number if you need help with the kids?”
“I’m here,” Ali called, pulling her hair up into a bun, her Star Wars pajama bottoms flapping with her quick step.
“Good. Kass and Darren will be back in about an hour. I will be in touch after we touch down in Idaho.”
Ali nodded. “Go get ‘em tiger!” she said, quoting a cereal commercial.
Logan laughed, “I’m a lion.”
“Oh crap, right, my bad,” Ali backtracked.
Logan kissed Ginny again and headed out.
Kass and Darren were waiting in the car. Kass had said it was easier if she didn’t go in. The kids were less clingy.
“Ready?” he asked.
Kass looked sick but she nodded, sliding in the back. Hudson was smoking a cigar in the front seat. Logan stopped looking at him through the glass. Hudson smiled and waved.
“Darren, stay in the car,” he warned, before ripping Hudson’s door open.
He was surprised; it spoke volumes to Logan’s lax attitude over the years that Hudson didn’t see it coming.
Lifting Hudson out of the car by his throat, Logan smashed the back of his head into the drywall, creating an indent. Logan was close to killing him, his beast was demanding it and he tightened his grip. Hudson flailed under him, kicking and coughing.
“I am going to say this once. You will not smoke in, near or around this home, around the children who occupy it or my guests. Your behavior has cost me greatly and if you continue to think so selfishly, I will cure my problems by your death.”
Logan dropped him into a pile.
“Get in the car,” he commanded. Hudson coughed, putting the cigar out before hacking and stumbling into the car.
“Sorry,” he wheezed as his throat rebuilt itself.
“You should have killed him.” Kass’s voice reached Logan’s ears. He looked in the rearview mirror in surprise.
Her face was drawn, eyes red and puffy. “She would have. If the situation was reversed and his mistake left you dying in a hospital bed, she’d make him suffer for weeks, drawing out his pain until he knew nothing but the sound of her voice and the feel of her blades.”
Logan bowed his head, starting the SUV. “I know,” he answered Kass. “I’m removing him as Alpha of the West.”
“You what? I thought you were thinking about it?” Hudson whined.
“I have been thinking about it, and I’ve decided the best place for me to watch you is here,” Logan growled.
Hudson crossed his arms over his chest.
Kass leaned forward. “Be grateful Olivia isn’t awake yet.”
Hudson cast a look back at her. “You seem pretty confident in her torturing abilities.”
Kass smiled and something feral peaked out. “She’s gifted, and I’ve been lucky enough to see her in action.”
“She is,” Logan agreed. “The woman knows her way around a blade. Rumor has it, the last time a male pissed her off, she skinned his manhood alive before making him eat it.”
Hudson covered his crotch, the blood draining from his face.
“You are alive because you are an exceptionally talented and dirty fighter. We are going to need that in the coming days,” Logan said. He wasn’t sure if the explanation was for Kass or his own beast.
“But your manners could use some work,” Kass added.
“Right, sorry about that. I forgot not all Supernaturals live forever.”
“No one lives forever,” Logan stated.
The rest of the drive to the hospital was silent.
Logan led them to Olie’s new room, a private room with a shifter guard by the door. She nodded as they headed in.
“Holy fuck,” Hudson whispered. “I didn’t know — I didn’t know it was this bad.”
Kass sobbed silently, clinging to Darren’s strong embrace.
The breathing machine inflated her lungs. Logan still felt the warmth inside of him, but he didn’t know if it was more or less than before. He just knew she wasn’t there.
Kass stepped forward, cradling Olie’s hand, raising a shaky hand to stroke her pale face and oily hair.
“Hey beautiful, you come back to me. We all need you here. Hannah and Harrison need you, I need you.�
� Kass shut her eyes tightly. “Please Olie, please come back.” She bowed her head before turning back into Darren’s arms.
Darren helped her outside with a last look at Olie’s prone form.
“She’s so tiny,” Hudson whispered. “From the way the kids were talking I thought — I didn’t — I figured she was fine.”
“She’s not.” Logan said, moving to take her hand as Kass had. He pressed a kiss against the cool palm, not bothering to speak. He would find whoever did this and make them suffer. Olie wasn’t the only one who had studied torture.
He turned and Kass’s words weighed heavily on him. Would Olivia be disappointed he hadn’t killed Hudson?
The shifter in question followed him out. There was no point in sitting and watching her still form, it only drove him closer to losing his grip on his humanity. His lion was powerful, but not rational. Killing everyone and everything wouldn’t help, at least not until he found the rebels.
The ride back was silent. Logan dropped Darren and Kass off at the mansion. He watched the garage door close with a sense of finality before backing the car out of the driveway again.
“You got everything?” Logan asked Hudson.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he answered, his thoughts clearly preoccupied.
Logan grunted, heading to the airstrip.
The owner of the private hangar was a shifter, and after he heard about the humans bugging his aircraft, security had been increased. Logan showed his hangar ID to the new guard gate before he was allowed passage.
Logan parked the car roughly and he and Hudson got out, without luggage, heading to the plane.
“What is your Beta doing?”
“Looking for a new job.”
Logan nodded, boarding the plane.
“Where are Mark and Jerry?” Hudson asked.
“They need more time. They are going to meet us out there,” Logan answered.
Hudson nodded.
…
“I feel like Link in Zelda,” I huffed, continuing on the quest to get me back to my body.
“Who is Link?” Doyle asked.
“It’s a video game Tommy plays. You control this character called Link to gather all these items to do shit with.” I hadn’t actually played past the first level, so I didn’t know what the end game was. “Okay, so once we gather all the ingredients for this spell, you cast it, shove me into an orb and we three walk to where my body is?” I asked.
“Correct, only you will be carried, not walking,” my father stated. “The spell will be pulled to where your physical body is.”
“Probably in a hospital,” I’d bet. Oh man, that was going to be fun, waking up with a minotaur in tow. Logan was going to freak! I smiled at the thought of being reunited with him, and every part of my soul-infused body ached.
“But no one else can follow us after we three go through?” I clarified, thinking of the hell on Earth my mother would create if she was able to get through.
“Correct, the portal will be open for a very small window,” The Magician confirmed.
So I could leave here and never see my mother again. It seemed fitting that she rot in this hellhole. Pending I didn’t get the opportunity to kill her first. If I had to choose between getting out of here or killing her, I was picking freedom.
The red earth sprawled out in front of us and my feet were dragging before long.
…
Logan was working through his massive pile of emails on the plane when Ali’s image popped up, requesting a video conference.
“Hello?” he said.
Ali was not on the screen, but a wine-colored redhead with vibrant, ice blue eyes was.
“Who are you?” Logan growled lowly.
“I told you,” Ali said from the background.
“I am Anna,” she stated, appraising him. There was something familiar in her gaze. “Olivia’s will has appointed me as Head Executioner while she plays in dreamland. I thought you should know we are moving her to your house.”
“She needs to be near a doctor,” Logan growled, leaning forward, his hands digging into the leather chair.
“No, actually, she doesn’t. I verified with the doctor overseeing her care that there is nothing more they can do until she wakes up. Her body is healing, at an exceptionally slow rate, but I believe once it is stable she will wake up. Aside from the non-existent medical reasons, I don’t like being spread so thin at the manor. If someone is trying to kill you, obtaining your daughter is a particularly easy way. I have increased the guards here and brought some of my own.” She sounded smug. Logan was debating turning the plane around.
Anna regarded him for a moment. “Just be glad I am not following through with her wishes to be taken off life support.”
“WHAT?” Logan bellowed, his claws tearing through the leather chair. He stood, throwing the computer off his lap.
Hudson tackled him. “We are on a plane!” he screamed over and over. Logan thrashed in his grasp, destroying chairs and Hudson’s flesh alike.
Logan threw him across the airplane, damaging another seat and shaking the plane dangerously in the process. His shoulders shook from repressing the shift. His mouth crowded with his fangs, he tipped his head back and gave his lion voice, a terrible, fear-inducing roar.
He looked into Anna’s smug face on the floor, tilted at an angle. “You do anything to harm her, and I will end you.”
Anna smiled. “Spoken like a true mate. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on harming Olie. If I did, I’d have to take this gig on permanently. That just sounds awful.”
Anna leaned forward, brandishing perfectly polished teeth. “Take care of your problems in Idaho. I won’t be running the shifters while you are gone.”
“Put Ali on,” Logan hissed, pulling the laptop off the floor, far too loaded up with adrenaline to sit back down in the ruined chair. He heard Hudson groan in pain, but his gaze didn’t leave the monitor.
“Hey,” Ali said, pulling the laptop toward her.
“Has she harmed anyone?” Logan demanded.
She cast a glance over to where Logan guessed Anna was sitting. “No, but she has upset the majority. She caught Tommy sneaking in to see Olie. She didn’t handle it well.”
“Did she hurt him?” Logan asked, willing his claws to retract so he didn’t damage the laptop.
“Not physically. But whatever she said to him had him scared silent.”
Logan growled, “I’m coming back.”
“No, it’s okay. We’ve got it under control. Whatever her faults are, she is exceptionally good at security—and functions just like Olie,” Ali added in a whisper.
“We were raised together. Of course I am like her. Except for her love of children, I never had that problem,” Anna informed them both. Her bored tone dripped from the screen.
“We can handle this, Logan,” Ali reassured him.
He nodded. “Verify that what she said about Olie’s health is true. If the doctor has any concerns, do not move her, do you understand?”
“Crystal clear. I just wanted—” Ali pulled a breath. “I wanted you to know where she was going to be,” she said, her eyes brimming.
Logan nodded, “Keep me informed.”
Ali nodded before Anna popped into the screen, hanging up the call.
Logan closed the laptop with excessive force, tossing it into his ruined chair. He listened to Hudson groan again, his gaze flicking to him as he sat up, apparently regaining consciousness.
His mind was swept back to when the sex tape was released, and he felt himself sucked into the memory of that day.
Logan looked on from the side of the stage where Olivia was barking orders, her sex tape having been released in front of all the shifters who sought arbitration. He was going to find out who had released it, and he was going to kill them, slowly.
Darren had found the recording and shown it to him shortly after their dinner with Olie and Kass. It was heartbreaking to watch. It was also the first chink in Olivia’s armor L
ogan had ever seen. She never showed weakness. She was a ruthless killer who enjoyed her profession.
Yet somewhere beneath that thick exterior, she was still a vulnerable woman. He had overlooked that fact; his lion never had.
As the challengers for her seat at his side formed a long line, she cast a look of pure determination at him. He inclined his head ever so slightly to ask if she wanted him to stop it. She shook her head, able to read his body language easily, calling the first participant up.
She was determined and stubborn to a fault. He tried to remind himself he was engaged, but watching her, hands on her curvy hips and rounded ass, he was having a hard time.
…
“When you said oasis, this was not what I had in mind,” I told my father, looking at the expanse of jungle in front of us.
“There is a wide stream that feeds all this vegetation. We need to make our way to the bottom and follow said river until the sun kisses the sky. That’s where we will shall find what we seek,” he answered.
“Could that be more cryptic?” I grunted, taking the first tentative step down into the steep ravine.
Doyle lumbered next to me, the lose dirt sliding under his massive weight.
“Be careful,” I warned.
“I do not fear falling,” Doyle stated.
I rolled my eyes, “Whatever.”
I swear my fucking father glided down, without any dirt staining his brown trousers or black jacket. Doyle and I, on the other hand, had red dirt smeared everywhere. At the bottom, the ground was painfully moist and I rubbed my hands against a tree trunk just to get the clumps of dirt off. Doyle did the same with his entire body.
“Alright, try to stay dry. We will have to bunk here tonight and temperatures can drop quickly,” my father informed us.
Awesome. In case anyone was wondering, I’m not the camping type.
…
The plane touched down a few hours later.
“See about having the repairs made while you wait,” Logan instructed the crew. They all nodded cautiously.
Hudson was waiting for him at a rented jeep. “She reminds me of Olivia.”
Logan was jerked out of his thoughts by Hudson’s words. “Who?”