Charisma

by Wendy Stone

  Shadow growled again, his blue eyes glowing. The fur stood straight up along his spine and his bared fangs dripped with saliva. He was terrifying. He straddled the gun, eyes daring Daniels to reach for it. The rest of the teams came out into the sun, some of them shading their eyes. Marcus turned, his eyes meeting Mage’s and a smile came to both men’s lips.

  Marcus nodded and Daniels turned, staring at the man Marcus was looking at. The snide smile left his face and his yellow skin seemed to grow lighter as he realized what was going to happen. Mage seemed to float forward, reaching for Daniels as the man tried to back away, his injured leg getting tangled in the net.

  “No,” he said, shaking his head frantically.

  Drake stepped up behind the blue haired demon, silver skin shining in the sun as he grabbed the man’s arms, locking them behind him in an unbreakable grasp. “Yes,” he said softly in Daniels’s ear. “You son of a bitch, you’d sell us out? I can’t believe it. With all the rules you spout and the holier than thou attitude, I should have known you were boot licking somebody.”

  “Let me go, Drake. Let me go or you’ll go on report. One more mark on your record and you’re gone, you’re out of ASP and back on the street where I found you.” Daniels glared at the younger man. “I’m head of ASP, my loyalty is to the company. You all know that,” he said, glancing around at the members of ASP that he’d brought here today to flush Charisma out of hiding. He tried to move away from the tall thin Mage. His eyes darted from one to the other of the team members, finally landing on Kit.

  “Didn’t I talk to your father, Kit? Didn’t I get him to grant you this time to stretch your abilities, to find yourself as a leader and future Queen? I was the one who got you into that uniform, Kit, remember? Don’t let them do this to me,” he cried as Kit turned her head away.

  “If you have nothing to hide, you shouldn’t fear Mage,” Marcus said with a grin. “You know that. I think you shoved that line down everyone’s throat when you first brought him in, Daniels.”

  Daniels seemed to latch on to what he said. “I did that. Mage, I brought you in when everyone was terrified of you. I brought you in to the company and gave you purpose.”

  His eyes grew huge as he heard Mage’s voice in his head. But first, you made sure they cut out my tongue, so I could carry no tales of the other things you did, didn’t you, Daniels?

  “I… I…” the demon was beyond words, staring into the depths of Mage’s eyes.

  You can’t hide it from me, you know that. I’ve known you were behind that for a long time, as well as some of the other things that happened, such as the whereabouts of a certain vampire that the council long thought dead.

  “What does he mean by that,” Marcus said, reaching out and grabbing Daniels by the throat. “What vampire?”

  “No,” Daniels shook his head, ignoring Marcus, his eyes on Mage and Mage alone. “Leave me alone.”

  Mage closed his eyes, his hand coming up to hover near Daniels’s skin. The man screamed, blue blood running from his nose, covering his mouth. He tried to run, but Drake held him easily, his grip like iron. He kicked and screamed, fighting against the painful fingers that fluttered in his mind, tearing memories from him as his brain turned to mush.

  Shadow zipped up his suit, walking to Mage and putting his hand on the empath’s shoulder. “Get the information we need and then let him go. I’d like to see him with enough brain left to know he’s being punished.”

  Mage nodded and seemed to tighten his grip on the man’s thoughts, quickly searching out the location of the antidote, as well as the name of his employer. When he found that memory, Mage’s mouth turned into a snarl of his own. He was well acquainted with the infamous Hood and his men.

  He broke off the meld, his hand touching Marcus’s shoulder. The two men seemed to go into a mental conversation, one that ended quickly. “Hood has Charisma. She’s a siren, Shadow. That’s why those people could never remember her. She used her music to change their perception of what they saw. She also used it to kill his men,” Marcus glanced over at Mage. “The antidote is in Daniels’s office. He won’t live long enough to get there to take it.”

  Kadian groaned from where a couple of the ASP members had taken him, getting him out of the sun. Red lesions were burned into his skin from the net, the poison seeping into his system. “Charisma!” he shouted, fighting the hands that held him down.

  “Could you get him there?” Shadow asked Marcus.

  “I-I don’t know,” the warrior answered truthfully. “It’s quite a distance.”

  Another voice spoke. “I can do it.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “I can do it.” The voice was soft and sexy, the body belonging to it curvaceous and just a bit on the over-blown side.

  “Carmella,” Shadow smiled, relief evident in his voice. “Thank God you’re here.”

  “Every minute counts,” Marcus said. He went and lifted the limp body of Kadian James in his arms. Carmella slid out of her suit, male eyes turning to eye the beauty with appreciation. She reached up and let down her hair last, the honey blonde strands falling to her waist. Moving away from the group, she closed her eyes and began to change.

  She wasn’t as big as Kadian, but her neck was more graceful, her head feminine and her body lithe, her scales almost mauve colored. She turned her head when Marcus went to climb on board with Kadian. “I can go faster with only his weight,” she said, holding out her huge, taloned front feet and taking his body from Marcus.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” Marcus said. “The antidote is in Daniels’ desk, center drawer in an amber-colored bottle.”

  Carmella nodded, then lifted to her back legs and leapt into the sky, wings beating down hard. Within minutes, she was out of sight.

  “Damn, that girl is fast,” Marcus said.

  “Follow her,” Shadow said.

  “Why?” Marcus asked.

  “Do you remember her coming with us out here? Is she in any of the teams that we have here? Her being here was just a little too convenient.”

  Marcus nodded, letting his own wings open. “I’ll be right behind her,” he promised. Then he too was little more than a spot on the horizon.

  “Where is Marcus going?” Callie asked, holding a piece of cloth to her head.

  “Are you okay?” Shadow asked, intentionally ignoring her question. He lifted his hand to hers, pulling the cloth away from the nasty bump and bruise on her temple. It had split and bled pretty badly, as head wounds do.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said, smiling as he leaned forward and placed a small kiss on her bruise. “You’re being rather overt,” she said. “Are you trying to divert my attention for a reason?”

  Shadow stared down at the fine black eyebrow that arched at him in an almost mirror imitation of her father. He couldn’t help but smile. She knew him so well. “Now why would I do that?” he asked, turning her away from watching the tiny speck until it disappeared.

  “Because you always do that,” she answered right back, snuggling in under his arm. He heard the rumble in her chest and knew she was frustrated with him, but right now, there was little he could do about it. He had to talk to team leaders and he had to do it soon.

  “Sweetheart, you know I’ll tell you everything as soon as I can but right now, there really is no leader of ASP, what with Daniels as he is. I have to talk to the team leaders. As soon as I get things confirmed, you’ll be first to know,” he said, hugging her tight for a moment before leaving her near Lelia.

  “Yeah, like I believe that,” she called after him, rolling her eyes.

  He found Kit and Gunner, searching the small crowd of ASP members for a moment before finding Diana. Drawing them together, he started with the facts. “ASP is in trouble,” he said. “We are without a leader for the first time since our doors have opened. Daniels has proven himself a traitor as well as a criminal.”

  Diana looked up at him. She was a tall, sable-haired woman whose trademark bow was slung ac
ross her chest, her quiver on her hip. “We aren’t without a leader,” she said softly, another trademark. While men blustered, most would look up at the sound of a soft voice, words spoken without the harangue of others. “You’ve been our leader for years, Shadow. You were Daniels’ right hand most of the time anyway. We put our faith in you.” She glanced around at the others, noting their nods before turning her attention back to what mattered. “We need to find Hood.”

  “Yes,” Gunner said. He was tall, well muscled and could rival Marcus for golden beauty. In the ASP uniform, he drew many heads, not all of them female. He was a Were, though Shadow had never seen him change. “If Hood has this Charisma, she is in extreme danger.”

  “I think we can pretty much assume that she’s in his hands,” Kit said. “I’ve seen Mr. James protect her before and it would take someone pretty strong to tear her from his side.”

  “So how shall we work this?” Gunner asked.

  “Diana, you’re most familiar with the docks and the areas that Hood occupies, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. The man, and I use that term loosely, has been a pain in my ass for years. We’ve come so close to finding something on him and then it’s as if our evidence disappears. Anyone we find brave enough to flip on Hood suddenly ends up dead. We haven’t been able to get someone inside his organization and I guess the reason for that is now pretty clear.” She glared at where Daniels stood, Mage close by. Drake remained behind him, acting as human steel manacles to keep him close. “What are we going to do with him?” she growled, agitated beyond her usual calm.

  “We’ll have to bring him back to stand trial,” Shadow said. “More importantly right now, if you are giving me leadership of ASP for the moment, we need to get moving and get our teams together.”

  There were mutters of agreement from all the team leaders. “What do you want us to do?” Kit asked.

  “Your team seems best capable of handling Daniels right now, Kit. I need you to get him back to headquarters. I would like him kept in one piece and I know you have good control of your team.” He clapped his hand on her shoulder. When you get him there, take him down to the tombs and lock him up. He is to have no communication with the outside world. If Hood still thinks he’s running ASP through Daniels, he might make a mistake that we can use. I need him kept isolated.”

  “My team will guard him, Shadow, until you get back and decide what you want to do.”

  “Thanks Kit,” he said. He pulled her off to the side for a moment. “I hate to ask this of you, but if anyone sees you…” he let the sentence hang.

  “Mage will take care of it,” she answered for him, glancing at the tall, thin man.

  “Good,” he said, then stood watching the newest of their team leaders as she rounded up her team, Daniels in their midst and started back up the tunnel.

  “Diana, I need you to use every snitch you got. Find out where Hood is running his business out of. We are going to need that information if we’re to get Charisma back. She’s an innocent in all of this. That’s something you’re going to have to remember.” He nodded at her. As she was about to leave, a thought made him stop her. “Diana,” he called. “You might want to give your team ear plugs.”

  “You want me to keep my ears open and wear ear plugs,” Diana said, a small smile touching her lips.

  “Charisma is a siren. She can kill with a song. If Hood knows we’re on to him, we might be the ones he forces her to attack.” Shadow tilted his head, nodding slowly. “That’s what I’d do.”

  “Got you,” she said. “Ear plugs will be standard issue until we have Hood under wraps.”

  “Let me know when you get anything, anything at all.”

  “You got it.” Her team surrounded her as she started to walk into the tunnels. Three well built, gorgeous men, each with their own special powers and abilities, each handpicked by her. She was the only one that didn’t have the standard two woman, two man team.

  “What about me?” Gunner asked.

  Shadow drew him closer. “Did you see Carmella when we first got here? Was she at the house or with one of the teams?”

  Gunner shook his head slowly, thinking back. “Now that you mention it, no, I didn’t see her at the cars or with any of the teams. You don’t think…”

  “I’d hate to think it. Carmella has been a member of ASP as long as I have. She should have had her own team by now.” Shadow grimaced. “I really hate to think of her as Daniels’s lap dragon, but I can’t see it any other way. I need you and your team to return to the house and back Marcus up. He might need help, especially if she decides to give him any problems. I’m going to get a hold of Angel. She’s in the crypts. But they might need more than that kind of help.”

  “What will you be doing?” Gunner asked, even as he waved his team over.

  “Callie is going to the med tech on duty as soon as we get back and I plan on turning Daniels’s office inside out to see what I can find about what he’s been doing. I can’t see him and Carmella as the only pawns of Hood. Not for as long as this has been going on. We need to round up all of them and quickly, so no one can get word back to Hood. If he’s feeling cocky, he’ll fuck up some time or another. Then we nail him.”

  Gunner nodded and turned with his team toward the tunnel.

  “Leave me the SUV,” Shadow called.

  “You got it,” Gunner said. Then he was gone.

  Callie stood by the tunnel. “What are we waiting for?” she asked her mate. “Let’s go kick some ass.”

  “You’re going to get some skull x-rays and spend some time in the med unit,” he said, bouncing his finger off of her nose as he heard her growl. “Don’t argue and maybe when this is done, we can get our ceremony done and get your father’s approval of our mating.”

  He took her arm as she continued to sputter and steered her toward the house. “Come on, Callie, we’ve got bad guys to hunt and I need you in tip-top condition.”

  Callie sighed and gave up the fight. It was hard arguing with someone who was right ninety-five percent of the time, but she was getting better at it.

  * * * *

  “I think she’s waking up.”

  Those were the first words Charisma heard as she stirred in the back seat of a long limousine. Her eyes fluttered and she tried to move her hands to the painful bump on her head, but she couldn’t. They wouldn’t move.

  She tried to speak, but then felt the gag that filled her mouth. Her eyes flashed from one occupant of the car to another until they fell upon the man who sat across from her. His eyes were almost black and seemed dead, like the eyes of a shark or a snake. A shiver ran through her as she looked at him. He opened him mouth, licking his fat, greedy lips with a slimy looking tongue, then smiled at her with those sharpened teeth.

  “It’s about time you woke up,” he said, reaching out with his fat fingers and touching her leg. He pushed gently against her knee and her legs fell apart, the robe she wore parting, exposing the red pelt of fur that covered her sex and just a bit of the pink flesh between. He heard the gasp of one of his men and turned to stare at the offender, who instantly averted his eyes.

  “How’s your head?” he asked gently, sitting forward even more as his one hand slid up her thigh. His other hand checked the bloody bandage, pulling it off to expose the bruising bump on her forehead.

  She moaned against the gag as he pushed and prodded at the bump, barely noticing the fingers that brushed over her soft curls and then pushed between her thighs. He pushed inside of her, his teeth grinding at not finding the proof of her virginity. He pulled away in anger, his feet coming out to hold her feet apart when she noticed her exposure.

  “We need to speak, my dear. If I take away your gag, will you promise to behave yourself? If not, Robbie over there will shove it back in, no matter how many of your teeth he might have to take with it.”

  She nodded, her eyes darting to Robbie and then back to the man across from her. Gentle fingers pulled the buckle free from the back of
her head, then took the ball gag and pulled it from her mouth. He held it close for a moment, as if ready to slam it back in, but she shut her mouth tightly and didn’t move.

  “Very good. Now, I need to know. Did you give yourself to that dragon?”

  Charisma slowly opened her mouth, her eyes showing her confusion. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who are you?” she rasped, her mouth dry, her throat sore.

  “Who am I?” Hood repeated, caught off guard. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “N-No,” she said cringing back away from the huge man.

  “What’s your name?” he asked roughly, reaching forward and grabbing her chin so he could look into her eyes.

  Her brows drew closer together as she searched for the answer, which seemed to be shrouded behind a wall, thick and unbreakable. “I-I don’t know,” she cried, tears coming to her eyes.

  He pushed her back into the seat, sitting back himself and staring at her. “Is she fucking putting me on?” he asked Robbie as the driver pulled into the fake warehouse that covered his operation.

  “Maybe she got hit too hard and it scrabbled up her works some?” Robbie ventured. “She’s got that thing, you know, amnesia?”

  “I know amnesia,” Hood growled. “This makes her fucking useless.”

  “No, boss,” Robbie said quickly. “Treat her right and she’ll do what you want,” he whispered loudly, hiding his mouth from the girl with his hand.

  It didn’t matter, Charisma was too intent upon looking around and squirming on the seat, trying to cover herself decently.

  “Stop, girl,” Hood said. Reaching over, he pushed her thighs open again and yanked at the belt of her robe so that the entire front opened. “You’ve always liked being naked in front of men, stop squirming.”

  Nodding at Robbie, he gazed from the man to Charisma’s breasts, waiting for the man to follow his gaze. “She likes to be touched, doesn’t she Robbie?”

  “Yeah,” the not so bright cohort said. “You love it.” He reached out and cupped her breast, playing with a nipple that was hard from the cool air of the car.