by Jami Gray
“Fucking coward.” Xander’s face was hard. “They Shadow Walked into his home, and then slashed his throat so deep it pretty much decapitated him.”
“There are very few Wraiths who can Shadow Walk,” Ryder pointed out, throwing Raine off balance. “They need to have some Fey blood to accomplish it.”
“You’re a Wraith?” she blurted.
“What?” He flashed her one of his annoyingly smug smiles. “You thought I was here because I’m Natasha’s flavor of the month?” He laughed as red tinged Raine’s cheeks.
Her voice was gruff, disconcerted at being so off the mark, “My apologies, Ryder.”
His smile got a bit larger, but his eyes remained flat. “Bet that hurt, uh?”
Raine ignored him. “I thought Shadow Walking was an ability known only to Wraiths?”
“Not always,” Cheveyo cut in, catching the last part of their conversation. “It’s not a widely mastered skill, but there are those outside of the Wraiths powerful enough to do so.”
“Look,” Xander said. “It doesn’t matter who trained the killer to Shadow Walk, only that he can.”
“Okay, so he comes in behind Chet, and slashes his throat.” Visions of the man she killed earlier stopped Raine. Had her strike been so deep he was nearly decapitated? She didn’t think so, and she didn’t want to ask Cheveyo in front of the other two. She shot him a look to find him watching her. Again the weird sense he could read her mind flashed through her. She cleared her throat. “Xander was the weapon a blade?” She didn’t break eye contact with Cheveyo.
“No, it was too ragged. I’d say it was claws.” Xan-er’s answer snapped Raine’s head around. “We aren’t sure if it’s shifter or demon. The smell is off.”
“What do you mean?” Raine’s voice was sharp and her pulse sped up as the image of a ragged, torn throat whipped through her mind.
“I mean it didn’t smell right. There were familiar elements of shifter and demon, but like nothing I’ve ever encountered before.” Her attention didn’t waver. “Kind of like you, McCord.”
The blood drain from Raine’s face. “What do you mean, kind of like me?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear this.
Xander kept her voice flat. “You smell a bit like Fey, a bit like Magi, a bit like shifter, all intertwined with something feral. You’re not as clear cut scent wise as say, Gavin or Ryder here.”
Ryder’s face lost its boyish charm and turned harsh as he studied Raine. “How sure are you that McCord didn’t kill Chet, Xander?”
“The scent has a different twist and it’s male,” she said, her tone scathing. “Which is why she’s still breathing, demonling.”
“Besides,” Cheveyo pointed out. “She can’t be in two places at once.”
Raine blocked out their conversation as she struggled to put the pieces together. “It was the Kyn out at my place who had to set the spelled trap for Chet.” Her words stopped the conversation cold. “Which means they split their strengths. This Kyn has to be Quinn’s lover.”
“I agree,” Cheveyo said. “It’s the only explanation on how they were able to penetrate Chet’s home and get out to your place.”
She began to pace. “So this mysterious Kyn heads out to my house with two men, on the possible chance I would be an easier target. While my anonymous caller is sent out with his own group for Chet, more manpower, so they think he’s the bigger threat. In the meantime, Lawson lures Gavin out to the middle of nowhere and her little band of merry men takes him down.”
“They keep underestimating us,” Xander pointed out.
Raine nodded. “And Quinn’s lover isn’t as experienced as we are.”
“How do you figure that?” Ryder asked.
Cheveyo was the one to answer, “The spell meant to trap Chet failed and their only option was to kill him. The spell used here to shield the hiding men was basic but strong. You don’t have to be skilled to shield, but you do to disable a Wraith.”
“So Quinn’s lover isn’t a Wraith?” Xander asked.
“I don’t think so,” Raine said. “There were too many mistakes. Basic mistakes no self-respecting Wraith would make.”
“It doesn’t bring us any closer to figuring out who Quinn’s lover is,” Ryder stated. “If anything it makes our suspect pool a hell of a lot bigger.”
“Doesn’t matter.” She folded up Gavin’s map. “We go after the one we know for sure, Dr. Lawson. We break her, we get the other two.” She felt their stares and looked up. “What?”
“You are one cold bitch, McCord,” Ryder broke the silence. With a wicked grin he added, “It turns me on.”
Raine snorted. “You’re a sick puppy, Ryder.”
His soft woof, woof followed her back to her SUV.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
While dawn painted the sky with soft pinks, deep blues, and a range of purples, Cheveyo led the mini caravan back to Taliesin in Gavin’s convertible. Raine rode alone in her SUV, music pounding through the speakers and into her body, a futile attempt to block out her thoughts. Nightmare images of her past were now superimposed with Gavin’s face. By the time she pulled into the parking lot her head throbbed.
Exhaustion left her ragged, and after dutifully reporting to Mulcahy who sported a rare five o’clock shadow—his own indication of a sleepless night—she headed to her office. The research team was pulling information on Lawson’s lab. Armed with the possible location of a lab, they managed to identify a tricky paper trail among Eden’s inheritance. They were now in the process of tracking down the security plans. There was no way to utilize Shadow Walking, not if Gavin was badly injured. Therefore, Mulcahy assigned a team to keep an eye on the lab and note security details before Raine’s team went in tonight.
Behind the drawn blinds and closed door of her office, Raine waited for the research team’s call. Her concentration was shot, but she managed to make one phone call on the slim chance of finding out information on Quinn’s lover. Unfortunately, Alexi never answered. Since it was still early, it wasn’t unexpected.
Curling up in her chair, Raine stared sightlessly out the window. Her mind ran in useless circles, and her emotions were in turmoil. Fear-laced worry and anger pushed against each other like never-ending waves. Drained, she closed her eyes and let oblivion take her under.
It didn’t take long for the dreams to start.
She was crouched naked in a cage and in the room Gavin was strapped to a metal table. Blood dripped steadily from the edges, and his screams echoed in her head. White lab coats moved around, taking samples, writing notes, making observations. The click click of high heels on the hard floor brought her gaze around. Another white lab coat adorned the redhead with a hard smile twisting her face.
Eden moved passed Raine’s cage without a glance and stopped next to Gavin. “You’ll make such a good solider, Mr. Durand,” her voice, cool and even, seemed to echo and fade. “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt for long.”
Mocking laughter filled the sterile room, ebbing and flowing like the ocean, louder, then softer, then louder.
Struggling harder against the bars, Raine snarled, “Leave him alone, bitch!”
The woman ignored her completely, leaning over and stabbing a needle into Gavin. His scream echoed off the walls, making Raine cover her ears while she muttered, “No, no, no, no,” uselessly.
A shadow fell over her cage and when she pried opened her eyes she found Gavin’s jade green ones caught in a twisted mask of wolf and man. “This is your fault, Raine.”
She reached trembling fingers through the bars to touch him, but he wrenched away.
His voice came from a snarling muzzle in an accusing growl, “Why didn’t you stop them? You should have killed them all.”
“I’m sorry.” It came out in a whisper. “I’m so sorry.”
The cage disappeared, leaving her naked and kneeling in a dark hallway. Getting to her feet she ran, desperate to find the door to Gavin and get them both out. Snarls, groans, and whispers followed
her fleeing form. They grew louder, pounding at her until she screamed with despair, even as she covered her ears in a futile attempt block the noise beating at her mind. They crashed against her barriers, tearing at her sense of self, stripping her of all control.
Like a thrown light switch, the noise flicked off into sudden, deafening silence. All that remained was the harsh sounds of her breath, rattling through hollow chest. Dropping her shaking hands from her ears, she opened her eyes.
She stood at the end of the hallway in front of a full-length mirror. The reflected image wavered, and she leaned closer only to find Gavin’s half-wolf, half-man face. She centered on his green eyes, trying to bring his image into focus, but green bled to silver until she faced a feral woman. Her tangled dark hair and blood-stained hands tipped with pointed nails, matched her mouth stretched to reveal sharp, tearing, red-rimmed teeth. She crouched on the floor, her hand disappearing into the thick black fur of a large leopard.
The instant Raine met the leopard’s silvered gaze the world went still, holding its breath. Raising a hand to touch the woman, she stared as the woman’s hand reached out to touch her, too. Just before their palms met, Raine let out a sharp gasp, which snapped her awake, her heart racing.
She rubbed her trembling hands across her wet face, and waited for her phone to ring.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The rain from earlier had stopped, although the cold bite in the air left no one in doubt that winter was coming. Raine took the clouds obscuring the moon as a good omen.
She deftly dropped the now-dead security guard behind the tree, confident Ryder and Xander had the other two taken care of. Cheveyo held the concealing spell, also known as the Abdo spell, steady. At her signal, he followed her to the side door.
Suspending all movement, she waited, listening to the night. The side door was still propped opened by a rock. They got lucky when the newly deceased guard indulged in his unhealthy nicotine habit. Otherwise, they would need the dead man’s eye and finger to get through the door. Since Raine refused to wait any longer, they were going in half blind.
The research team managed to uncover dated security permits, but they weren’t able to find anything more current. They confirmed fingerprint and retinal identification were required for entry, and bypassing the interior electronic surveillance needed an access code.
Raine and her team discussed the possibility that the security had been upgrade at some point in the last few years. However, Mulcahy pointed out that the interior security may not have been upgraded, especially if Dr. Lawson was working on Kyn subjects. The magic inherent to the Kyn tended to interfere with electronics, making it unwise to invest money in a high-end security system, which would bring unwanted attention to a forgotten lab.
Raine wasn’t so sure, and when she recognized the finger/retinal scan on the outside doors, her doubt crystalized. The security measures bore an uncanny resemblance to those used at Talbot’s labs.
Day watch confirmed a small staff of about five individuals, plus three security guards. When Raine’s team arrived, the outside guards grew to five and two of the staff members left.
As far as Raine was concern, four to eight was not bad odds. She sent Xander and Ryder to remove the two guards on the far side. Then she watched as Cheveyo proved not all witches held tight to the three-fold law. He shot off a spell that took out the guard coming around the corner, while Raine snapped the other guard’s neck. That left the cigarette smoking guard who so nicely left the door open.
Signaling Cheveyo to call the other hunters back, she kept her attention trained on the surrounding darkness. The witch sent a small pulse of magic toward the talisman Xander wore. A sort of magic communicator, the talismans enabled the two groups to signal each other without noise, keeping the shielding spell in place.
Raine was impressed with Cheveyo’s skill. It took tremendous ability to hold the Abdo spell in place on two separate groups while working with the talismans. Being head witch brought some definite advantages.
The shadows deepened and reformed into Xander and Ryder as they moved around the corner. Raising a brow, Raine caught Xander’s short nod, confirming the guards were down and out.
Motioning for the others to follow and spread out, she headed toward the thin beam of white light coming from the propped door. With efficient hand signals, she directed each member to their assigned positions. Cheveyo would cover any video cameras with a perception spell known as the Conspicio spell. It made anyone watching the cameras believe nothing was happening in the hallways—kind of a magical looping of the security feed. The down side to the spell—when the magic hit the wires, it would most likely short the cameras out, eliminating the element of surprise.
Raine was willing to take the chance.
She reached up and silently pulled out the fighting knife from her back sheath. The black-coated weapon was an intimidating total length of thirteen inches. The eight-inch, double-edged, carbon-steel blade held a blood groove. She tightened her right hand around the solid hilt. Releasing one of her wrist blades to her left hand, she flicked a glance over the three beside her. Everyone was armed with various blades, except for Cheveyo.
The small group moved up behind the door. Xander grabbed the door handle and waited. Positioned on the opposite side with Ryder, Raine gave Xander a nod. She yanked it open giving Cheveyo a clean shot at the cameras. Working quickly, his hands swept through the spell gracefully, his fingers appearing to flick off some small insect. The rush of his magic, rushed by Raine’s aura, as she slipped into the front position, poised for a confrontation.
A high-pitched whine came from the two cameras aimed at the door and a small whisper of smoke puffed from one of the casings. The other still worked, its green light blinking steadily. Staying low and in front of Cheveyo, Raine headed swiftly down the narrow hallway to the closed beige door. A small computer pad sat to the left of the door. She stepped to the side to peer through the heavily reinforced slat window as Ryder came up. Nothing moved in the brightly lit outer hallway. Lifting her chin to Ryder, he placed his hand on the metal handle. Standing as close as she was, Raine watched the red ring in his eyes bleed over the brown, his power focused on the now twisted metal handle.
She finally figured out why Natasha sent him. It seemed his Fundo demon father left him an affinity with metal. Which meant none of the locks in this place could stand against them, as Ryder was able to soften or strengthen any metal with a touch. It also gave Raine a hunter with no weakness to silver or iron. Cheveyo was a strong asset, but Ryder wouldn’t hesitate to kill quickly, something they might need before the night ended.
A soft thud caused her to shoot Ryder a sharp look. He held the handle in his left hand as he pushed the door open with his right. Before the alarm on the door could sound, Cheveyo sent another small burst of magic into the pad, disabling it.
The antiseptic smell hit her first, causing old memories to rise. She fought the fear, scrabbling for control, and motioned the others through. Following Xander, Raine kept her hand on the door until it closed.
Now it was Xander’s turn. She stepped forward, raised her head and closing her eyes, all the while drawing in deep breaths. She turned until she faced the left hallway, cocked her head, and opened her eyes, indicating she caught Gavin’s scent.
Raine covered their backs as they traversed the sterile white hallway. The edges of old fear and panic beat at her, but she forced it back by concentrating on getting to Gavin. The murmur of voices brought the small group up short just outside the double doors leading to the main lab.
The floor plans indicated a simple lay out. The main floor held a larger space, most likely the lab, a couple of smaller rooms, and the reception and security areas. The basement was an unknown, but Raine bet that would be where they would find Gavin. The problem was, to get there, they had to go through the doors in front of them, and then cross through the main lab.
She pushed her braid aside and resh-eathed the short sword
in a practiced move. She let everything go quiet inside her until there was nothing but anticipatory silence. She moved to the front of the group. At her nod, Ryder sent his magic barreling into the metal doors. They blew off their hinges and half way across the lab, leaving a wide path of destruction in their wake.
The two men on the right side of the room, jumped to their feet, and set their backs to the far wall. The doors shot through the lab with Raine in their wake. She caught the older, dark-haired one by the throat, and had his feet dangling off the floor before the younger, blond haired man could react.
Xander was right behind her, and the scream bubbling up in the blond’s throat was abruptly cut off as a wickedly sharp blade was laid none too gently against his neck. Xander bared her sharp teeth and the man’s legs collapsed under his weight, terror leaving a smelly stain at his crotch.
Savage joy danced through Raine as horror widened the washed out eyes of the now-gasping man she held. His hands scrabbled at her left wrist and would’ve drawn blood if her sleeves were shorter or looser. She placed the point of her wrist blade just under his right eye, pressing the tip in until a drop of blood appeared and the frantic hands at her wrists abruptly stilled.
“Where is he?” Menace rode her voice. She loosened her grip enough so he could suck in a breath and find his voice.
“Who?” his question emerged thin, shaky.
“Don’t fuck with me.” She pressed the knife deeper, letting his blood bead on the blade and forcing a terrified whimper from him. “All I have to do is push this in, straight to your brain. Answer the damn question.”
“Down—downstairs,” he stuttered, sweat popping out on his brow.
Raine threw him to Cheveyo, who stood beside her. “Bind him. He’s going to take us downstairs.”
Cheveyo yanked the man to his feet, securing his arms behind his back, and with a soft word froze his vocal cords.
The computer monitor the two men had been huddled around snagged Raine’s attention. Glass slides lay near the powerful microscope sitting beside the computer. She looked closer, identifying blood on two of the slides. Rage swept through her. The paper-thin substance on the third piece of glass was skin. Snatching it up, she stalked toward the younger man Xander still held.