by C. I. Black
“Clayton is in position.” Lachlin handed Gage two wireless earpieces.
“In this rain? Poor Clayton.” Morgan took the offered earpiece. “Tell me he’s at least got shelter.” Sure, sometimes the job required uncomfortable conditions, but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel guilty about Clayton having to deal with it because of her.
“The weather won’t bother him.” Gage inserted his earpiece. “What’s the layout?”
“It’s under the expressway. The closest building is a hundred yards away across a parking lot. An old factory that Rika says hasn’t been in use for about ten years. Doesn’t look like there are any great sniper perches, particularly if you want to stay out of the weather,” Lachlin said. “I can’t sense anyone in the area, so they likely haven’t shown up yet.”
“And you’re certain they’re Kin and they’re after me?” Morgan slid the earpiece with microphone into her ear. She had to give Gage’s team credit; they had topnotch technology.
“There’s still a chance this is connected to your job as a marshal, but I’d say it’s awfully slim,” Gage said.
“Which means whoever we’re facing will be Kin.” And that meant Morgan had no clue as to who or what she was up against. “Did Rika have any luck drawing a connection between any Kin and the evidence in the box?”
Lachlin glanced at Gage then back to Morgan. “No. They must have picked a number at random. Just like I said earlier.”
Gage shifted but didn’t give him a dark look as Morgan would have expected. He was all business now. No combative banter and no glare-downs. “The odds that they’ll bring Kate to the exchange are low. Morgan, be ready for an attack the moment you step from the car.”
“Got it.” She fought the urge to reach for her gun. Gage had said it was dangerous for her to have it, but she wasn’t going to face a monster without it. It was all she had—since there was no way in hell she was going to turn someone to stone.
“And remember, whoever shows up, we need them alive so we can find Kate,” Gage said.
“Sure thing.” Lachlin shrugged and got back into the SUV. Morgan couldn’t tell if he was going to listen to Gage’s order or not.
Gage held out the key to the sedan to her. “We’ll be right there.”
His scent wrapped around her and her attention locked on the key. She’d have to make contact with his hand to get it.
“If things go south, get to cover.” His tone was soft, soothing.
She glanced into his bottomless eyes. “Is this really happening?”
She didn’t know where the question had come from, or the sudden doubt. Nothing seemed real anymore. It hadn’t since the attack in an alley much like this one, four months ago.
The image of her attacker’s face shattering on the pavement flashed through her mind. She had done that. She really had.
Gage took her hand, sending a shiver sweeping up her arm. He pressed the key into her palm. “I know everything seems strange right now.”
She snorted. “To put it mildly.”
“When this is over, I’ll help you figure it out.” He stroked a finger along the arm of her sunglasses, brushing her cheek. His scent wrapped tighter around her. Strong, sensual. Another shiver slid over her. He would help her. That meant spending more time together. Hell yes to that.
“Let’s do a mic check everyone,” Rika said over the earpiece.
“Lachlin, check.”
“Clayton, wet.”
“Gage, here.”
Yes, he was.
Warmth swept over Morgan’s face and it wasn’t the warmth of her unwanted abilities. She took the key and eased away from him. “Morgan, check.”
“Remember, the goal is apprehension. Lethal force is a last resort.” Gage reached for the back door to Lachlin’s SUV and turned back to Morgan. “Don’t get killed.”
“Done this before, remember.”
“Not this, you haven’t,” he said.
The SUV window rolled down and Lachlin leaned out. “Get your ass in here. We need to get into position before the kidnappers show up.”
“Not here yet,” Clayton said.
Lachlin rolled his eyes. “I can sense that.”
Morgan got into the sedan and waited for Lachlin to pull out onto the street. She could do this. Gage and his team would protect her before the kidnappers could use whatever abilities they had on her. And if it was another Naga, all the better. Spit didn’t fly well in a storm.
She drove over to 5th Street, followed it a block down to Lexington, and parked under the raised expressway cutting through the west side of town.
Now came the waiting.
She hated waiting.
The wind picked up, pelting the rain against the car in sideways torrential waves. If the weather wasn’t so bad, she’d get out and pace.
Damn, she needed to move, burn energy, do something.
She couldn’t just sit there.
She checked the time on her phone.
“You just got there,” Gage said. “Fidgety already?”
“Yeah, I’m a nightmare on stake-outs. But it’s worse since—”
“Since your powers manifested?” Rika asked.
“Not surprising,” Lachlin said. “It’s a gorgon thing. Perpetual motion and all that. Kind of like a shark.”
“Gee, thanks.” She wasn’t sure she liked being compared to a shark and didn’t know if it was an improvement over snake charmer.
“That was meant as a compliment,” Lachlin said.
Someone cleared his throat, the sound deep and raspy in her ear. “Only a few more minutes,” Gage said.
“And here they come,” Lachlin said. “I’ve got two, feels like an ogre and a cat. No human. Unless she’s enspelled, she’s not in the truck.”
Morgan glanced out the window. The silver truck roared off Lancaster into the far end of the lot under the expressway. It tore through puddles, washing aside garbage and debris, racing toward her.
Morgan tensed and cracked open the door, ready to jump. But the truck’s tires locked. It swerved, slid perpendicular to her, and skidded to a stop in a rush of water and gravel. The driver’s door opened and the man with tusks from the Whale and Ale climbed out.
Well, that explained how the kidnappers knew about her. Rentz’s muscle had probably overheard Todd trying to sell the information on her.
“Take this easy,” Gage said. “Eyes open for that MAC-10.”
“I know what I’m doing.” She eased from the car.
Rain pelted her, soaking into her jacket and jeans and beading on her sunglasses.
“Got the box?” the man asked. His tusks wavered into sight and his skin turned thick and grey.
“Where’s Kate?”
“Have you looked in it?”
Morgan squinted through the rain on her glasses. “We’re here to do an exchange. The weather isn’t getting any better. Where’s Kate?”
“Has Gage looked in it?” Tusk-man asked.
“He’s not going to hand her over,” Gage said.
“You’re sure she’s not in the truck?” Morgan asked, keeping her voice low and praying Tusk-man couldn’t see her mouth move in the storm.
“Unless she’s enspelled, no,” Lachlin said.
“Clayton, get ready,” Gage said.
A hulking shadow shifted near the pillar behind the truck.
“Did Gage look in it?” Tusk-man growled.
“Why do you want it? What are you trying to cover up?” Damn it, she really couldn’t see right with the water on the lenses.
“It’s not what I’m trying to cover up, snake charmer.”
“Then who?”
“He’s stalling,” Gage said.
“Where’s Kate?” Morgan yanked off the sunglasses.
Tusk-man threw his head back and roared.
“Move, now,” Gage said.
Lachlin’s SUV tore into the lot. Machine-gun fire exploded out the passenger window of the silver truck at the pillar instead of the SUV. Clayton
staggered forward. Bullets pounded into his chest and he dropped.
Oh God.
“Man down!” Morgan drew her gun, but Tusk-man charged her. She fired off a shot, hit him in the shoulder, but he didn’t even flinch.
He hurtled toward her, roaring. She leapt out of the way, her shoulder and back hitting the gravel. She scrambled to her feet, but Tusk-man lunged, grabbing for her. She staggered back and fired again. No effect.
“Lachlin to Clayton,” Gage said.
“Where’s Kate?” Fire licked at her eyes and she forced it back. She had to stay in control.
Tusk-man sneered. “You’ll never know.”
Gage raced toward them. He slid over the hood of the car and energy crackled around him. Thunder in the clouds above answered, booming around them.
Tusk-man grabbed for Morgan. She sidestepped his attack and slammed the butt of her pistol into his cheek. He lurched back—a weakness—and she struck again.
Behind him, darkness gathered around Gage. He drew his hand up and a whip of fire and night burst to life. He snapped the whip at Tusk-man, snaring his leg.
Tusk-man screamed and Gage tossed him into the pillar beside the truck. More machine-gun fire spat from the truck. It peppered a line across the hood of the sedan, and Gage and Morgan dove for cover behind the vehicle.
Lachlin darted to the passenger side of the truck. The man with the machine gun—Cat-man from earlier—twisted, aiming for Lachlin. Lachlin wrenched the barrel down. Gunfire slammed into the gravel beside him.
Tusk-man staggered to his feet and pounded on the back of the truck. The tarp on top flew to the side and a monster, an honest-to-goodness monster, rose from the bed. Dog-like, it snarled, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth. Water slicked its hairless body and it put an enormous paw on the side of the truck bed. It snorted, and flame and smoke licked its nostrils. Embers burned in its eyes and it locked its gaze on Morgan.
“Holy shit,” Lachlin said. “A pit beast.”
The creature jerked its head toward him.
Gage scrambled to his feet. “Run.”
The beast swiped at Lachlin, its claws digging rents into the top of the cab. Lachlin scrambled away and machine-gun fire slammed into the pillar beside him.
Gage’s whip crackled back to life. He snapped it at the beast, which sprang from the truck, and the whip missed. Lachlin bolted to the pillar and Gage cracked the whip again, slicing the beast’s side.
The creature roared and surged at Gage and Morgan. Gage snared his whip around the creature’s front paw. It tripped and slammed into the hood of the sedan, crushing it. The beast growled and tossed the car to the side. Morgan scrambled back, more fire swarming across her cheeks.
Stay. In. Control. It was too dangerous for her to release her power.
Gage’s whip tangled around the creature’s legs and he tugged it off balance.
“Get out of here,” he yelled at her.
“No way in hell.” She didn’t abandon anyone in a fight, no matter how insane it got.
Cat-man fired another blast at Lachlin, pinning him behind the pillar, and Tusk-man ran in the opposite direction, deeper under the expressway. He was getting away and that could put Kate’s life in jeopardy.
Morgan bolted after Tusk-man, but a roar made her glance back. The beast yanked at the whip, throwing Gage into the ruined car.
He staggered to his feet. The whip flared above his head and flew toward the beast, wrapping around its neck.
Something big lurched at the corner of Morgan’s eye, and Lachlin’s SUV, with Rika at the wheel, gunned forward. It slammed into the beast and drove it into the pillar. The creature howled and sagged and she could only pray it was dead.
She turned back to Tusk-man, pushing herself to run faster. She had no idea how she was going to stop him—bullets didn’t seem to work—but letting him go wasn’t an option.
He scrambled through a hole in a chain-link fence and slid down a grass and gravel hill into a gully. Morgan raced after him.
Rain beat at her, cold and stinging, and the wind tore at her hair and clothes. She ground her teeth and ran harder. She could catch him. She would catch him.
The gully ended in a large water runoff tunnel, and Tusk-man ran headlong into it. Morgan followed, gun ready, and twilight engulfed her.
A large figure lurched beside her. Tusk-man. He grabbed her gun and wrenched it from her hands. It clattered deeper into the pitch-black tunnel.
She slammed her fist into his face. His head snapped back and something crunched. She punched again, but he surged close, blocking her swing with his shoulder. He clamped a large hand over her throat and inched her up until her toes skimmed the ground.
She’d come full circle in less than twenty-four hours, with some monster choking the life out of her.
He sneered and flicked his tusk across her cheek. Hot pain burst across her face.
“That was for my sister.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” An inferno burned across her eyes. No. Control it. If she killed him, she might never find Kate. She clawed at his fingers, but just like the other ogre, she couldn’t break his grip.
He jerked her forward and slammed her against the wall again. Pain exploded in her chest and the inferno in her eyes pulsed. Please, no. For Kate’s sake.
He slapped his hand over her eyes. “Many Houses will be avenged today.”
She thrashed against his grip. The blaze threatened to explode. She couldn’t hold it back. God, she had to. “Where’s Kate?”
Her heart pounded and her limbs grew heavy. Flames beat within her, filling her head and pouring into her chest. She had to let it go, but it wouldn’t release. Not with her eyes covered. She was burning alive from the inside out.
“My House will be avenged.”
“Not today,” Gage said, his voice muffled. He sounded in front of her and in her head all at the same time.
The hand on her face jerked away. Her eyelids flew open and locked on Tusk-man as he seized the front of Gage’s shirt. The fire erupted from her eyes, rushing through her in a ferocious blast.
Tusk-man screamed. He twitched once, twice, then stopped. A crack boomed around them and a fissure snaked through Tusk-man’s arm. Another crack and another. Fissures sliced through his face, his torso, his legs.
He moaned. Oh God, he was still alive. Bile burned the back of Morgan’s throat, but the power consumed her. It poured, wave after wave, and she couldn’t stop it. She struggled to close her eyes, cover them with her hands, do something, but she couldn’t move.
“Please,” he gasped.
“Morgan, control it. Focus,” Gage said.
But she couldn’t. The fire kept spewing from her, growing stronger and stronger with each rapid pulse of her heart.
The fissure in Tusk-man’s arm ruptured and his hand snapped off, shattering on the ground. He moaned again and his other arm broke free.
God, please. Make it stop.
Her body trembled, but the power held her rigid. At any moment, she would explode from it.
Tusk-man’s left leg crumbled and he toppled over, shattering on the floor. Gage staggered forward and Morgan’s gaze locked on him.
He gasped and stiffened.
No, please.
“Morgan.”
Stop. Just stop. Why couldn’t she shut it off? She fought to close her eyes and strained to move, to breathe, to do anything.
Gage’s face turned grey. The promise of his own power swarmed around him, gathering, threatening. Her magic flared at the thought. She had to live.
No. Not if she murdered Gage.
She had to stop.
Please.
Something moved at the corner of her eye. She jerked toward it and Lachlin’s fist smashed into her face. The power vanished.
Another blow cracked against her cheek.
She staggered back. The tunnel tilted around her and flooded with darkness.
CHAPTER 10
Morgan woke
with a start, sending a wave of nausea washing through her. Pain radiated through her chest and head, and the adhesive from a bandage pulled at her cheek. Her neck ached once again and her eyes were on fire and filled with grit.
Her heart skipped a beat. Her eyes were on fire. She squeezed them shut, but the wave of power she’d felt before didn’t build. It wasn’t the same kind of fire as the magic. It was the stayed-up-too-late, opened-her-eyes-in-the-ocean, and rubbed-sand-in-them kind of fire.
“It was a fucking pit beast,” Lachlin said, his voice sharp but hushed. “He gave them a pit beast.”
He sounded in front of her and close. Beneath her cheek, the floor or blanket or whatever she was on was coarse and smelled of new car.
“Just a lesser one,” Gage said. “I’m more worried about the evidence box. It seems he wants to send us a message as well as eliminate her.”
“I prefer email.”
A vehicle door opened. She had to be in the SUV, since the car had been destroyed.
“I’m going to check on how Rika’s doing with Clayton,” Gage said. “Call me when she wakes. We still need to find her friend and I have no doubt that if these guys don’t check in with someone soon, Morgan’s friend will be dead.”
“She’s dead either way,” Lachlin said.
“Maybe the kidnapper is smart enough to keep her alive for leverage.”
“We can only hope.”
The SUV door clicked closed and Lachlin sighed. “I know you’re awake.”
She opened her eyes. She was in the back of the SUV with the backseats flipped down out of the way to make more space. Lachlin sat behind the steering wheel, his pale gaze locked on hers. She couldn’t help wondering when he’d realized she was awake and how much of that conversation he knew she’d overheard. But if he wanted to bring it up, she figured he would.
She rubbed her jaw. “My face hurts.”
“Sorry about that.”
“No, you’re not.”
His expression darkened and he pursed his lips. He was sorry. His attention jumped to the window and Morgan followed his gaze. The rain had stopped, or at least it had stopped blowing sideways. Clayton leaned against a pillar while Rika squatted in front of him and Gage stood beside him.
Lachlin turned away from them to stare out the cracked front window. “You’re dangerous.”