Her eyes widened. With her face still bruised, she looked defenseless. Oh, he knew she wasn’t, but he had to harden his heart against what she was about to say.
“Do what you have to do,” she whispered. “But I give you my word, on my life, that neither of those men betrayed me. Not a chance in hell.”
He rocked back. “It’s often the person you least expect, sweetheart. You’re thinking with your heart.”
She straightened and reached for a headset to plant in place. “My heart is pretty damn good, Bear. Just remember that you’re about to torture two of the only three men in this entire world who I trust. One of them took me in and raised me when my parents died, and the other has covered my back for decades.” Then she turned back around and got to work.
“Who’s the third man you trust?” he asked quietly.
“You.”
His heart clinched. He noted the hard line of her shoulders. If he did this, she might never forgive him. But he didn’t have a choice. So he motioned for Lucas to follow him down the concrete steps, and the door closed behind them both.
He strode around a corner to the block of cells. Each cell had a cot, toilet, and sink. Fortified iron bars, covered in planekite, or PK, made them impossible to breach. Jasper sat on the bed in one, his face still bruised, while Boondock leaned against the far block wall of the other.
“Gentlemen,” Bear said, standing between the cells and staring at both men. “Whatever attack you’ve planned for today is being thwarted right now. Tell me everything, and I won’t shred your skin off your bodies.”
Lucas pulled a green gun from his waistband. “Could I shoot them both? Just to get things started?”
Neither man so much as twitched.
Bear pretended to think about it. “Let’s give them a chance to speak, first.” The image of Nessa’s hurt eyes wouldn’t leave his mind, so he shook his head. He had to find out who’d tried to kill her, and it was definitely one of these men.
Fire glowed on Jasper’s hands.
Bear smiled, showing his sharp canines. “Go ahead. Throw.”
Jasper threw. The fire hit between the bars and shot back at him. He rolled off the bed and came up, his shirt smoldering. Keeping Bear’s gaze, he glared and patted out the flames.
Bear cocked his head to the side. “Do you honestly think I failed to take into account your fire when I built these cells?” He eyed the long iron bars. “A demon mind attack can’t even make it through.”
Jasper stepped closer to the bars. “Aren’t you just full of surprises. So much for the lazy grizzly hiding out in the woods.”
Bear moved closer as well. “I’m the head of the grizzly nation. If your people are so arrogant they don’t bother to pay attention to facts, then that’s your own problem.”
“You’re also the mate to my niece.” Boondock finally spoke, his body relaxed and his gaze shuttered. He had a powerful presence, probably from age and experience. His dark hair curled over his nape, and his blue eyes, so like Nessa’s, seemed mildly irritated. “She’s not garna like you torturing her loved ones.” No concern echoed in his words.
“She’ll have to get over it,” Bear said mildly.
Boondock smiled then. “She won’t. Oh, the girl is brilliant at strategy in a tough business. The toughest. But she’s all heart, and she’s the most loyal person I’ve met in my entire life. That’s one of the reasons she’s been so good at her job.”
All true words. “If you’ve betrayed her, she’ll have to forgive me.” Bear needed to decide which one to torture first.
“Can’t I start shooting now?” Lucas asked, resting back against the concrete blocks, his stance nearly mirroring Boondock’s.
“No,” Bear said shortly, fully understanding Luke’s need to get things moving. Bear was stalling because of Nessa, and he knew it. “Jasper? I bet it chaps your ass that Nessa is in charge. That pretty little thing gives you orders, and you have to take them.”
Jasper’s lips curled into a sneer that did nothing to take away from his handsomeness. “Oh, I don’t know. There are orders from her that I’ve loved taking.”
The intentional goad served to settle Bear into pure calmness. “You’ve never touched her, and we both know it. Does that hurt? That she’d choose a grizzly bear over you? An animal from a foreign land who can’t throw fire. A beast several rungs below witches. Maybe she likes it rough, man.”
Fire formed on Jasper’s arms again, and he whiffed it out. “It won’t last. She’ll leave your ass before the month ends.”
“There is that virus that negates mating bonds,” Boondock said helpfully. “We can have her free of you in no time, animal.”
“Who are the main witch targets today?” Bear shot back, eyeing them both. Watching body language.
Boondock finally showed emotion, heat flashing in his eyes. “Let us out of these cells so we can find out. It’s our people under attack, and you have us contained. We need to get to work.”
Jasper moved toward the bars again. “Maybe he doesn’t want us to work. If the witch nation goes down, he can keep Nessa here all for himself. Maybe he’s helping whoever wants to take us down. Witches and shifters have never mixed. Ever.”
All right. They were getting nowhere. Bear’s money was on Jasper. “Lucas? Unlock Jasper’s cell.”
The witch’s eyes lit with anticipation. “You coming in, bear?”
“Yeah,” he whispered, already planning to go for the jugular.
“Bear?” Logan called down the stairs. “I succeeded in finding your lieutenant. Had to go through some back channels and spend some time on the dark web, so you may need to cover me if I get caught. I’ve called him and have him online and will transfer to your phone. It’s Duncan Vincent. Haven’t found the other two guys yet.”
Bear paused. If Duncan was on the ground, he could do a lot of good. Finally. He’d been trying to reach his friend for days. Figured Logan would be the one to find him. Hopefully the kid could find his other friends as well.
Bear punched a button on his phone and slapped it to his ear, moving away from the cell. “Why the fuck haven’t you responded to my messages?” he snapped at one of his oldest friends and most trusted of lieutenants.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Duncan snapped back.
Bear pinched the bridge of his nose. “Where the hell are you?”
“Still in Alaska, per your orders,” Duncan snarled. “Freezing my furry ass off, in case you wondered.”
“My orders?” Bear shook his head. “Are you drunk?”
Duncan barked out a laugh. “I wish. Why are you yelling at me?”
None of this was making a lick of sense. Bear tilted his head. “I’ve been trying to recall you for days. You can’t be so far underground that you didn’t know that. Why have you ignored my summons?”
Quiet ticked for the briefest of moments. “Man, you haven’t called me. I’ve been trying to check in for days and have only received orders to lay low. There’s chatter. A lot of it, and you need the facts.”
Adrenaline flooded Bear’s veins. A rock slammed into his gut so quickly he could barely breathe. “Duncan? Who told you to stay low?” Even as he asked the question, he already knew the answer. Turning, heat flushed down his torso as he faced Lucas, who’d pointed his laser gun at Bear’s chest.
“Disengage the call,” Lucas said, his eyes hard and an expression on his face that Bear had never seen before.
Bear ended the call. Everything inside him stilled. “Lucas.”
“Yeah. Me.” Lucas set his stance, too far away for Bear to attack without getting shot first. “I hadn’t figured you’d conduct your own search for Duncan and the boys.”
“Logan is the best. I figured he could backup your search.” The world swirled in, rushing through Bear’s head. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. “The human prospects. The kids who overdosed.”
Lucas showed his teeth. “Yes.”
Holy fuck. “You’ve been distri
buting Apollo through the Grizzly MC?” Bear’s voice shook he was so furious. His people. Used.
Lucas lifted a broad shoulder. “You made it so easy by putting me in charge and then disappearing for three months. The distribution took a month to set up, but we’ve made millions since. Or I should say that I’ve made millions.” He moved slightly to the side to take better aim.
Bear fought his body’s demand to shift. The second he shimmered, Luke would shoot—not only him, but probably the men in the cells. None of this made sense. He clicked facts into order, but betrayal burned like a lit match through him and fuzzed his thoughts.
Lucas waved a hand. “Don’t worry about the human prospects that dealt for me. When you kicked them out, I had them taken care of. They won’t tell the DEA on me.”
Bear’s stomach lurched. “You had those kids killed?”
Lucas shrugged. “Why do you think the DEA hasn’t been back? They can’t find any witnesses.”
Shit. Bear would have to deal with that guilt later. “Wait a minute.” His head lifted. The hair on his nape rose. “You’re the manufacturer of Apollo, too.” It had to be somebody local with good connections. And a lot of money. Bear had made plenty of money for Lucas through the decades.
“Bingo,” Lucas snarled. “We have a winner.”
“Jesus Christ, why?” Bear snapped. “Why, Lucas?”
Lucas sighed. “You are so obtuse. They killed my parents. Left me an orphan, alone in this psychotic world.”
Bear frowned. “Witches killed your parents?”
“Yeah. The Coven Nine convicted my parents of smuggling, and the sentence was death,” Lucas said, his pupils contracting.
“What were they smuggling?” Bear hissed.
Boondock cleared his throat. “About a century ago?”
“Yes,” Bear snapped.
“Young female witches.” Boondock finally approached the bars. “I was still with the Guard, and I worked the case. They were kidnappers and slavers, not smugglers.” He studied Lucas. “At the turn of the century, a group of truly evil people kidnapped female witch children to force them into servitude. Not only servitude, but sexual slavery. The kidnappers had a small but well-funded group of monsters they served.”
Bear stumbled back. “What?”
Boondock nodded. “Aye. The Guard hunted them down, and the Coven Nine declared a sentence. I didn’t know that any of the criminals had offspring.”
“Or I’d be dead, too,” Lucas muttered.
“Possibly,” Boondock agreed. “At the very least, we would’ve watched you.”
That would’ve been nice. Bear shook his head. “You’ve been planning this for decades. The entire time we’ve been friends.”
“I almost brought you in,” Lucas said, smiling. “But then you mated her. One of them. Of course, I can relate. I may have had a dalliance with a witch, too.”
“Grace Sadler,” Bear said slowly.
“Yes. I tracked her down, and she was more than happy to help me take down the Coven Nine. And she’s been a good fuck. At least for a while. Until her sons both died during this campaign and she realized the scope of change I had planned.”
Bile rose in Bear’s throat, and he swallowed it down. “You tried to kill me, too.”
“Yes. I moved up my timeline, and you had to go.”
Bear coughed, his breath on fire. “Last night at the wolf bar. I was supposed to die.”
“Yes,” Lucas snapped, his face turning an ugly red. “Then that demon kid woke up and rammed the building with a truck. I had to nearly break my own head to look like I was attacked.”
Rage clawed through Bear, and fur emerged on his arms. He made it recede. “Before that, you hired those wolves. You sent forces here to attack your own people.”
“Oh, yeah. That witch you mated is going to die, and painfully.” Lucas growled. “Along with half of the witch nation. The plan is already in motion.”
Bear ducked his head, fury consuming him.
“Too late.” Lucas fired three shots into Bear’s neck and then aimed up. Pain exploded in Bear’s head as he partially turned, taking the last bullet to the temple.
He was out cold before he hit the ground.
Chapter 32
Nessa finished adding the last red dot to the world board. “We have all Alpha Level witch members identified by location, and lockdowns are commencing.” She looked at Simone. “Including you.”
“Aye,” Simone said, reading her screen. “I’m locked down. No need to keep me from working the campaign.”
“Agreed,” Nessa said, scouting the board. “The demons are moving in lower Africa?”
Nick turned to check out the screen. “Affirmative. We have seven details and will have protection in place . . . five minutes, tops.”
“Thank you,” Nessa said, turning toward Garrett. “You in touch with the king on the update I requested for area seven?”
“Yes. Your people are safe in Australia, and our soldiers are widening a net to find the attackers. We’ll get them,” Garrett said, reading a printout.
Nessa turned back to the screen. She had the entire world covered with protection and tracking forces. So much for retiring today.
Lucas loped through the secret door. “Nessa? Do you have a minute?”
She looked at him. Concern covered his face. “Is Bear all right?”
“No.” Lucas looked around the room and then toward the rec room. “I just need a second.”
“Go,” Simone said. “We’re on standby at the moment.”
Nessa nodded, her temples thrumming. God, she hoped Bear wasn’t hurting Jasper or Boondock. She had to believe he had good instincts and would think twice. She shut the door to keep their conversation private and followed Lucas into the rec room. “What’s happening downstairs?”
Lucas turned, a stun gun in his hand. He jumped and pressed it to her neck before she could scream. Electric jolts, much higher voltage than from a human stun gun, burned through her body. The pain was excruciating. She convulsed, her legs giving way. Lucas caught her and lifted her over his shoulder.
Her hair swung down.
She couldn’t move. Saliva dribbled from her mouth.
Think, damn it. There was no way he could get her out of the building. Too many guards and sharpshooters awaited outside. He turned and ran toward the dartboards. Leaning down, he smashed her head on the wood floor. “Oops,” he muttered.
Pain bloomed in her skull.
Lucas rearranged loose floorboards, and the floor opened up to a long staircase. “I made a few adjustments when Bear was in Ireland for a while.” Lucas stood and bounded down the stairs, jostling her until her ribs protested. The trapdoor shut quietly above them.
Dirt and earth pressed in.
Nessa opened her eyes to see a narrow dirt trail beneath Lucas’s feet. She tried to struggle, but her limbs were still numb. They were under the clubhouse. Bear didn’t know about the tunnel. Tears filled her eyes. Where was he?
She passed out a couple of times during the long walk, awakening briefly, confused each time. Then she’d remember, and her stomach would clench.
Finally, Lucas climbed stairs, and light flooded them. Nessa blinked her eyes against the pain and then had to shut them to keep from throwing up. Taking several deep breaths, she reopened them. She had to get away from him. The world tilted, and she found herself on the floor in what looked like a secret war room. Lucas quickly secured shackles around her wrists.
She shook her head to concentrate. A blond woman sat across from her, a collar around her throat attached to a long chain that reached outside of the room. “Grace Sadler?” Nessa croaked.
The woman nodded. Her hair was messy, her blue eyes clouded, and her neck bruised. In fact, a blue stripe marred her neck. “Aye.”
Lucas moved to her and smoothed back her hair.
She tried to toss her head, but he held tight.
He sighed. “Grace and I were on the same page for so long, and t
hen she had second thoughts.” He pointed to a large screen at the end of the room that displayed green dots across the entire world. “But I’m still allowing her to watch the witch nation end.”
“Let me free,” Grace whispered, her voice hoarse.
“Is that a planekite collar?” Nessa asked, trying not to vomit.
Grace nodded, her eyes shooting sparks.
The poison would contain Grace’s fire. And it would make her way too weak to escape.
Lucas chuckled and petted Grace’s hair. “Sweet Grace was in on the plan to dismantle the Coven Nine Council. The death of the whole nation by the use of Apollo is my own pet project.”
Grace snarled. “I fucking hate you more than them, now.”
Lucas pulled her hair. Hard.
“It’ll be okay,” Nessa whispered. “Just hold on.” Though the woman had more than likely committed treason, she’d obviously paid a high price already. Nessa looked around. Lucas had modeled his war room after Bear’s, right down to the big screen.
Lucas released his hold on Grace and moved to a computer, punching up numbers. “I’ve amassed forces everywhere to take out witches. Apollo darts for everyone,” he said. “It’ll be a crippling blow to your nation.” He turned and smiled, his expression cold and somehow blank. “My researchers are almost ready for the second attack. I’m thinking it’ll take place next week.”
Grace struggled against her bonds.
Nessa’s body and mind flared wide awake—finally. “What is the second attack?”
Lucas looked at the world board again. “Crop dusting.”
Nessa swallowed, her stomach lurching. “Excuse me?”
“We’ve figured out how to disperse Apollo via airplane over a wide range, and we’ll hit Dublin next week. The entire city.” His eyes gleamed. “It’ll be like ridding a crop of bugs.”
Nessa fought against the iron bands around her wrists, panic nearly choking her. “That’s crazy. You’ll kill both humans and witches.”
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