Eternal Embrace

by Billi Jean

  “Jaxon, my house, my job, I can’t just up and leave. Not now. I have horses—”

  “We can stay there, watch over the place. You come back tomorrow and hand in your resignation, okay? Or better yet, email it,” Hunter added with a wink.

  Joey considered it. Jaxon didn’t say anything, merely let her decide, she sensed. The trust in his blue eyes made her heart skip a beat or two. He wanted this—her with him. There was no way she was letting him go now. “Okay, that will work. Just don’t forget to feed my horses.”

  Viktor grumbled, but winked when she frowned at him. “We will see to your animals,” he said, crossing his arms with another show of displeasure. For Jaxon, she realised when Jaxon muttered something about wolves under his breath.

  “Great, then that’s settled. Besides, no matter where you go, we’re just a text away, right?” Hunter said. “Viktor can just live without the city life for a few days, and maybe even clean the stalls, too, huh?”

  Viktor gave Hunter a sour look, but the witch’s grin grew.

  “We’re not in the green, yet. Arm yourselves, and be ready for anything, Jaxon,” Viktor said even as he turned to stalk off, Hunter by his side.

  Joey turned, found her pipe and grinned at Jaxon’s fierce scowl.

  He grabbed her arm with the pipe in it. “Tell me that’s not your weapon.”

  “Well, it worked,” she said, smacking the end against her palm a few times. “Surprisingly, this is a good weapon, you know.”

  The grimace he gave her made her want to laugh, and even though she sensed now was not the time, she couldn’t hold in the smile, so happy he was near, right here, she couldn’t stop. His scent eased all the other nastiness. Did he know that? That he smelt like his cloves with a hint of something woodsy? The combination of his presence and his scent made her feel safe, warm and so much more…herself, she realised.

  “Damn, I hate having you in this, baby,” Jaxon muttered, kissing her brow. “We get this done and I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  That sounded promising. He crushed her tighter in his arms, making her heart rate spiral. His erection burned against her stomach, letting her know exactly what he had in mind when he did get her alone. Want rushed her system, so strongly she dug her nails into his back and nipped at his chest.

  “Fuck, Joey!” he whispered in her ear. “Save that, baby. Let’s do this, then I have some making up to do, huh?”

  He sounded so eager about that, she laughed and hugged him tighter. “Yes, make-up sex, please. Soon, and I have to warn you,” she cautioned him when he propelled her forward, after Hunter and Viktor, “I’ve come up with all kinds of naughty ideas to punish you with.”

  He stumbled next to her, gripped her waist and breathed out her name, sounding so miserable she kissed his throat.

  “Soon, very soon, mmm?” she teased, moulding her hand to his impressive erection one last time.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Holy fuck, this is…” Hunter cut off.

  Jax could only agree. This was insane. Sick on a level he could barely comprehend. He wanted Joey out of here so badly he had to battle himself to not snatch her and shift away.

  All around them, rows of cells held victims of the Death Stalkers’ bid for dominance. Some of the immortals were unconscious, others so filled with the pain, the cruelty they’d endured was evident in their haunted stares . Blood splattered the floor of several cells, and more stained the tables lining the walls to their left, apparently used to cause more harm. Large medical equipment stood near an open area illuminated by long, low overhead florescent bulbs, hanging down from wires. Spotless silver tables lined the walls and several state-of-the-art computers took up space in the corner near a doorway. Vials and glass bottles full of indistinguishable liquid set his teeth on edge and had Joey murmuring in dismay next to him.

  Hunter dealt with most of the prisoners by knocking them out with a spell, while Viktor hauled them out of the brightly lit cellblock and to the waiting truck. He had no idea what they would do with them, but that wasn’t his concern. Hunter would hand them over to Torque and the council would deal with them, no doubt.

  For now, getting them out quickly was his biggest concern. The place gave him the creeps. It was like a hospital, or worse, a lab. A lab built to experiment with humans and immortals. Exactly like the labs under the London club. He wanted Joey nowhere near this place. He understood completely what Torque must have experienced with Beauty.

  Humans occupied a few of the cells, and those were all they had left to free—except for the changelings—the wolf-tiger animals the Death Stalkers had changed genetically or magically to work for them. Whether those were immortal or mortal he couldn’t say.

  Joey kept close. She killed him with how hot she looked, and nearly had him shifting her away every time he thought of this place housing her and doing whatever the fuck these monsters did to their victims.

  She gripped his arm, and just that small touch soothed him. “It’s okay? You don’t sense them returning, right?” she asked, looking at him with a worried little frown marring her brow.

  Did she understand how her trust hit him like a blow to the chest?

  He swallowed and shook his head. “No, they are gone. The guy I fought?” he said, keeping her walking but close by his side. “That was the head of this evil. When he fled, they all would have.”

  “You knew him?”

  He nodded. Yes, he knew Gerald. He’d hunted him off and on for years, ever since Gerald had forced the dark vows on Elizabeth and turned her to evil. Yes, he knew Gerald. The warlock wouldn’t release this area so easily.

  As soon as they approached the next occupied cell, he pulled to a stop. “Human.”

  “Oh, God, what did they do to him?” Joey cried.

  Jaxon squeezed her small hand. The guy had taken a beating. Cuts marred his chest as well as burn marks of some kind. His face looked like bloody hell and his arms and legs hadn’t gone untouched either.

  “We’ll get him out. If he’s up for it. If not, we’ll still get him out, just maybe not conscious.”

  Joey eased her shoulder against him, seeking comfort. He hated her seeing this—the evil side of an immortal’s life. He wanted to show her the good—pamper her with every luxury he could think of—not expose her to this shit.

  “It’s okay, I’m okay, just”—she covered her mouth and nodded towards the human—“just get him out of there, Jaxon.”

  He brushed her red hair out of her eyes and exhaled. “We’re almost done,” he assured her, then concentrated on the human. This one wore a slice along his abdomen, stitched crudely together with what looked like staples. Bruises marred his tough torso and his arms. They’d shackled his wrists high above his head, held taut because he strained against them, looking pissed off and ready for battle.

  “Fuck,” he breathed when the man jerked at the chains around his wrists, and new blood started to flow over the old. “Dude, are you going to let me in there to get your ass free? Or do I have to knock you out first?”

  “Jaxon!” Joey spluttered next to him.

  “He’s out of it, baby, no way—”

  “I’m fine. Get me the fuck out of here,” the guy growled.

  “Oh, yeah, you’re fucking perfect, dude.”

  “Jaxon, please.” Joey stepped to the bars and fit the key in the lock. “We’re here to help you. If you don’t settle down though, this guy behind me?” She tossed him a cute look and turned back at the now silent human. “He’s going to hurt you some more just to get you out of here. I can take a look at your…at what they’ve, er…done to you.”

  The guy shook his head and settled back, his chains rattling against the metal wall behind him. The whole place looked like a damn kennel, but constructed out of stainless steel and some impressively thick bars, leaving the front of each cage open to the cameras Hunter had already fried.

  “I’m good. Get me out. My team is here, too.”

  “Okay,�
� Joey told the human but didn’t move to open the door. She glanced at Jaxon with a questioning look. He squeezed her arm, so damn proud of her he could barely keep his shit together. She worked with him as if they’d been together for centuries, not a few days. He needed to share her blood. His fangs tingled and he bent to brush a quick kiss to her lips.

  “Good job, now let me get him out.” He shoved the cage door open and faced the human. “Here’s the deal. I’m going to release you and you’re going to do your best not to piss me off. You make one wrong move, and I won’t hesitate to kill you.” He let his fangs lengthen, knowing his eyes had flooded black as well. There was too much at stake here, Joey for one, for his emotions to be anything but calm. “Understand?”

  The man narrowed his dark eyes, but he nodded sharply. Jaxon was impressed. Most humans would have gone apeshit over him revealing his power, but this man watched him, patient as fuck, ignoring how much pain he had to be in, and stood tall.

  Having made his point, Jaxon retracted his fangs and closed the distance between them. “What’s your first name?” he demanded, breaking the first shackle free with a twist of his hand, showing the guy just a taste of his strength.

  “Grayson, my name’s Gray,” he said slowly. “Who sent you?”

  “No one you would know. Now, how many of your men are here?” Jax broke the other shackle and stepped back watching Gray. Either the guy was going down, or he’d pull his shit together and get out of here on his own.

  Gray stood taller, rubbed a hand through his short black hair, and winced. No doubt from the pull on his sliced stomach. He rubbed his chest and his frown grew. “Shit, that hurts.”

  “Yeah, I bet. How many?” Jax demanded, stepping back and out of the small cell. Joey glued herself to his side.

  “Six, there are six of us,” Gray finally offered, assessing them both with an eye for details Jax didn’t like.

  “Yo, that’s one of them,” Hunter said, walking up, “the team watching the club in London. There are four more in the cells. All are out of it though, so you’re going to have to help Viktor carry them to the truck.”

  “Shit, are you certain?” Jaxon demanded. He didn’t want to leave Joey here, and she wasn’t going to tag along with him while he hauled humans out of this underground maze.

  “Four? There should be five.” Gray seemed to have gathered his strength quickly, and if Hunter was right, Jax wasn’t surprised. The man was one of the military tagging them. They’d have to settle that shit, but as far as tough went, the guy appeared to be harder than nails.

  Hunter nodded, squinting down the cellblock. “Yep, sorry, just five of you, but…” She paused and grimaced over at him and Joey.

  “The changelings,” Jax guessed.

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Changelings?” Joey whispered at his elbow.

  “The Death Stalkers, they have some kind of power now, something that shifts a person’s form and binds them to the dark order,” Hunter responded before he could silence her.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Gray demanded. “What is a Death Stalker?” He shot a look at Hunter, then seemed to relax a bit. “You’re the girl from the club. You were taken with a few of my men.”

  Hunter didn’t deny it, but she didn’t jump in with anything either. No immortal would openly admit to a weakness, and Hunter, the little witch, wasn’t spilling a thing.

  Jaxon grinned at her, more than willing to help. “Yeah, about that time you were—”

  “Hey, that’s nothing to do with this. Besides, I got out. What men are you talking about? We broke everyone out of that mess, and there were no humans there. More importantly, just how dumb can you guys get? Did you notice, in all those reels of film, that we were dangerous and this”—she indicated the prison—“was even more hazardous to your health? Why the hell would you get mixed up in this?”

  Gray didn’t say a word, and Jaxon bet his last dime the guy wouldn’t either.

  Viktor shouted for Jaxon and they all froze, turning to confront three of the changed beasts. Sure enough, they had heads as large as a tiger’s, bodies shaped like wolves but triple the size of a normal wolf. Their paws alone were large enough to kill a man with one swipe. But they didn’t do more than approach and stop when they reached a few feet away.

  “Don’t hurt them,” Joey said, gripping his forearm so tightly her nails pierced his jacket and skin.

  “I wouldn’t, Joey. We’re here to aid them, not hurt them,” he assured her quickly. She blinked at him, as if just realising she’d spoken. His instincts roared to life so hot and fast he jerked her away from the beasts and turned to face her.

  “What?” he demanded, shaking her a little when she seemed to lose focus.

  She grimaced and massaged her temples with her free hand, like her head suddenly hurt.

  “Talk to me, Joey.”

  “I don’t know, I just…I just sense they won’t hurt us,” she whispered, sounding like she was a second away from freaking out on him. She took a deep breath, making her breasts swell tightly against her black satin blouse. His body heated, pumping enough lust to his cock he had to fight his needs for a long, intense second. “I just know,” she finally said.

  He shot a look at the beasts, over at the human then at Hunter and Viktor.

  “What should we do with them?” he asked when no one else said a word.

  The beasts all lifted their heads marginally, but enough to let him know that talking about them as if they weren’t there wasn’t cool. Shit, could this get worse?

  “Uh, yeah, well, I vote for letting them decide,” Hunter offered. “But we need outta here. We’ve already been here too long and my creep vibe is going off.”

  Creep vibe?

  Joey huddled a bit closer to his side. “What does that mean?” she demanded.

  “It means it’s time to go. If they can understand, well, they’ll follow, won’t they?” Hunter asked.

  “Or they will go on their own,” Viktor added, looking worried. “We can aid them, can we not, witch?”

  Hunter frowned and shook her head. “I have no idea, but we could try. I’m not that kind of witch, but Sorcha or Zack might know.”

  “Zack, from the Scarlet?” Viktor asked, sounding stunned. “That pup can’t even manage himself in a good sword fight.”

  “It’s not all about weapons of steel, Vik, I keep telling you that,” Hunter said, eyeing the beasts thoughtfully.

  “Look, that’s about enough. We need to go. It’s nearly dawn,” Jax reminded them.

  “What about my man? Are you saying one of these things is my teammate?” Gray suddenly demanded.

  Hunter squinted over at the guy, but merely shrugged.

  “Oh, man,” Joey whispered and squeezed his hand.

  He tried to send her the strength to get through this.

  He wanted the changelings with them, but if they chose to go, he couldn’t blame them. He’d heard of how the beasts had come to Star and Ranger’s rescue under the vampire house. He’d also been on the council when Zack had described trying to ease the immortals out of the beast form. The young mage seemed to think with time, they could reverse the damage. But if the change was permanent…

  He glanced over at their human wild card. One of those beasts was likely his man. But what the fuck was he supposed to tell the guy? There were no reassurances in this battle. Hell, there wasn’t even a battle here—not really.

  “Look, we have no idea if your teammate is now walking on all fours or not, and that sucks, I know, but we need to leave. I agree with Hunter. Staying here? Not a good plan, my man,” Jax said.

  “Vampire, you don’t hold your low blows,” Viktor growled.

  “Hey, this shit is not my fault,” he snarled at Viktor and the Lykae raised his hands, palm outward.

  “I never said it was, Jaxon. But this man is not equipped to deal with the evil staining his men. I agree, though, we need to leave.”

  Jaxon settled down. Joey’
s grip tightened in fear and no doubt to keep him close. The thought helped him gain control. “This is his team, his mission and now his deal. All I need know is, are you in any shape to help defend yourself?”

  Gray’s grimace deepened and he nodded. “Give me a weapon. I’ll wake my men, they can walk out of here, if not I’ll help carry them myself.”

  “No. Here.” Jax called a gun from his home. When it landed in his palm, he tossed it to Gray. “It’s loaded. You go with Joey and try to wake your men. Viktor and I will get these others out, then we’re out of here.”

  Viktor nodded, and flashed his pearly whites. “Humans, they will have to go to the compound.”

  Gray stiffened but didn’t say a word.

  “Hunter can take them then, because one more hour is all I have,” Jaxon growled. In two, Joey would need sleep, and he wanted to make love to her before. Maybe even convince her to share his blood before she rested. He released her hand to propel her gently on her way. “Move it. I want you out of here, got it?”

  She surprised him with a quick kiss and a sexy smile that hardened his body to the point of pain. “You. I got you,” she whispered with a truly wicked look. His fangs tingled and she nearly got her neck bitten.

  “Darlin’, in about ten minutes I’m going to remind you how much.”

  She raised one of her delicate eyebrows and walked away. He pinned his gaze on her lush ass. How had she fought in a skirt and high heels and survived?

  “Come on, lover boy, let’s haul these guys out of here,” Viktor said at his elbow.

  “Shit, fuck you, asshole.”

  “Me? I thought you wanted—”

  Without warning, the wall to their left shifted, starting to spin in an odd, silver glow.

  Hunter’s shout sounded above the hurricane winds tossing through the room. Joey suddenly landed at his side, shifting, he realised with a burst of pride. She latched onto his arm and he brought his bedroom to his mind, readying his body to shift them away. Something crashed into his head, knocking him sideways, and dim lights flashed behind his eyelids.