Stalked (Rogues Shifter #2)

by Gayle Parness

  He saw the anger in my expression. "Bridgett isn’t doing anything to harm the fae. You’re wrong. Maybe her dad is, but not her.”

  He stood and faced me. “This is a serious situation. You are an ally and so you are obligated to help my people if it is within your power.” His tone turned harsh. “I will question Bridgett, whether you are there or not. If you are there, it might be easier on her. You can relax her with your energy.”

  “You can too.”

  “I will not be offering her any comfort.” The anger in his face frightened me.

  "But you won’t hurt her, will you?”

  He turned away. “If she has harmed my people I have the right to kill her.” I watched his hands clench as he tried to hold in his fury.

  I reached out and grabbed his arm roughly. “Would you hurt my sister?”

  As he stared at me, his violet eyes slowly lost their rage, but his mouth remained set in a thin line. “I will try not to, but I must have this information. They must be released. From what you describe, they are below ground and surrounded by iron. A Seelie fae kept away from the sunlight and fresh air and surrounded by the metal that poisons us, is suffering constantly, barely able to sleep or eat. Some of them have been missing for six months. If Bridgett knows where they are, she will tell me. I will do whatever I have to do to force her to tell me.”

  I walked away and sat down on the couch, putting my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. I wanted to call Bridgett to warn her, but I knew that Liam would stop me, and in the end it wouldn’t matter. He’d find her and he’d make her talk. These were his people. If it was me, and Garrett or any of my friends were being held and tortured by the fae, wouldn’t I question Liam’s brother if I thought he had information? Wouldn’t I hurt him to get to the truth?

  Still I knew that if I showed up with Liam and forced myself into Bridgett’s mind, or forced her to betray her adopted father or his pack, that would be the end of any chance I’d have to get close to her. I’d lose her before I ever really had a chance to know her. It might even destroy her, and I’d be responsible.

  Liam was standing very still and watching me with an intensity that I’d never seen him wear before. Liam was dear to me, a trusted friend who’d saved my life and Garrett’s too. How well did I know Bridgett? Maybe she has been involved with kidnapping and torturing Fae. She said she was afraid about something. Maybe it was all getting out of control and she wanted to confess to someone. Maybe she would give us all the information without hesitation.

  Yeah, maybe I was Tinkerbell and Liam was Peter Pan.

  I stood slowly and walked to him, meeting his violet eyes with my emerald ones. “Liam, I’ll do whatever I can for you. I’ll try to get her to tell us where your people are and then I’ll help you get them out. I’m doing this for you, Liam, not for the fae Elders, or the fae people. But if you—damage her—I may not be able to forgive you or myself.” Liam nodded solemnly but said nothing. “I’ll leave Garrett a note and then we’ll go.”

  I knew that Liam would protect me from any danger we encountered. Still I shook as I wrote a quick note with a brief outline of my dream and our decision to question Bridgett. I would call him if we learned anything. Liam had gotten a bag with some fruit, bread, cheese and water for me, since I hadn’t eaten anything and I’d need my strength. I ran downstairs to tell Ralph that I was going out with Liam and that he should keep an eye on things for me.

  “Which car should we take?” I asked Liam.

  “There is no need.” He strode forward and wrapped his arms around me. Instantly I was traveling through the ley lines with Liam holding me against him. The heat of the magic flowed through my veins in a pulsing rhythm, like a heartbeat: like the earth’s heartbeat. It was like flying the air currents without wings or sailing over the cresting waves without a boat: exhilarating and terrifying all at once. I clutched at Liam’s shirt and buried my head against his shoulder and he responded by tightening his hold, trying to make me feel secure. Just as suddenly I was standing on a wooded hill facing the school where classes were just letting out. I could see Bridgett exiting the building and walking toward her car. Liam stood in the shadows of the trees, so I waved and called out to her.

  “Hey, Bridgett!”

  She looked up and smiled, seeming genuinely happy to see me. She trudged up the hill and gave me a hug which I returned a little stiffly, knowing that this may be the last time we’d ever hug each other.

  “Hi, Jackie. Why are you up here on this hill?”

  “Could you come with me to talk to someone? He’s a good friend of mine.”

  “Sure, I like all your friends.”

  I led her into the woods a little ways and then Liam appeared in front of her. She gasped and stepped back, obviously very familiar with what Liam was.

  “You’re one of them. Get the fuck away from me, fairy.” She turned to run away, but I grabbed her hand and stopped her. I caught a whiff of cut grass and recognized the scent from the corridor in my dreams. My heart sank as I realized that Bridgett was involved in the kidnappings and may not survive Liam’s interrogation.

  “He just wants to ask a few questions.”

  “I don’t talk to them. They murdered my mom.”

  “That is a lie.” Liam's voice chilled my heart.

  “My dad doesn’t lie to me, so shut the hell up.” She tried to pull away but I was much stronger and now had a firm grip on her arm. She took her cell phone out of her pocket, but I knocked it away, picking it up and putting it in my pocket.

  She looked at me like I’d slapped her. “What are you doing? We’re sisters. You can’t side with this guy.”

  “Liam is a very good friend. He doesn't want to hurt you, he just needs information. Six of his people have been kidnapped and are being held prisoner. Do you know where they are?”

  Bridgett immediately looked at the ground. “I don’t know shit.” She yanked her arm, trying again to break free of my grasp. “Let go of me.” Her voice cracked in a combination of anger and fear.

  Despite her words, I could smell the lie and so could Liam. He’d kept his distance this whole time, but as soon as it was evident she did know something, he moved closer. “Bridgett, your adopted mother died when your father had too much to drink and ran their car off the road. He only ended up with a few minor injuries, but your mother was not as lucky.

  “That’s not true.” She started to cry, her voice pleading. “Please let me go. I’m—I’m going to be in trouble if I don’t get right home.”

  I grabbed her other arm and made her look at me. “People are being tortured. Their families are desperate to find them. You need to do the right thing and tell us where they are.”

  “Yeah? Who says that's the right thing? They’re not human or shifter or wolf or even vamp. They’re fae.” She said it like it was something disgusting. She’d been brainwashed for the last ten years into believing that the fae had killed her mother. Liam’s eyes were locked on hers and his hand rested on the hilt of his blade. This wasn’t good. If Liam got rough with her, it would just confirm every lie that she’d been taught.

  I shook her slightly to get her attention. “I don’t have time for your stupid prejudices. Tell me where they are. They may need medical help. I don't want to force it out of your head, but I will if I have to.”

  She hesitated. “He’ll kill my dad.”

  “Who?”

  “The tall fae who’s paying us.”

  “Kennet?” I glanced quickly at Liam, but his eyes were only on my sister.

  “He doesn’t tell us his name, he just tells us who to get next and where they’ll be. He has dark purple eyes and really long hair, almost white, and his smile is mean looking.”

  Liam had drawn his blade and was starting to move toward Bridgett. I released one of her arms and held up my hand. “I need more time.” As soon as I was distracted she wrenched away from me and took off running like the wind. She was peeling off her clothes as she went so I follo
wed, doing the same. “I’ll catch her, bring my clothes,” I yelled back at Liam as I pulled my shirt over my head.

  Being in cheetah form was exhilarating and I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t trying to keep up with the cheetah in front of me. She was fast, but I was faster, mainly because I was larger and my legs were longer. I quickly caught her, pouncing on her back and stopping her momentum. She growled at me and bit into my leg, so I cuffed her snout with the back of my paw and she let me go, giving me the opportunity to slam her face into the dirt.

  I hissed and forced myself into her mind, “You will tell me the truth.”

  I felt her shudder and shift back to human underneath me. As Liam stepped into the small clearing with our clothes, I moved away so that my claws didn’t dig into her vulnerable human skin. Even as angry as I was, I didn’t want her bleeding. While I shifted back to human form and dressed quickly, Liam guarded her with his blade drawn, his eyes glowing gold with fury. He was showing incredible restraint, and I knew it wasn’t going to last if Bridgett didn’t start to talk.

  She lay on the dirt in the fetal position crying quietly. She wasn’t very strong, and shifting had completely exhausted her. Liam dropped her clothes on the ground near her feet so she put them on and then leaned her back against a tree looking truly pathetic.

  As wretched as she looked, I’d had it with being nice. “You and your dad have been working with the fae Lord who tried to kill Ethan: a fae who’s been trying to force me to have his child. You need to tell us what part you played in all of this. If you don’t tell me where these people are being held, I’ll leave you to Liam’s mercy.” Her eyes were wide saucers and her body shook with fear as she stared at the blade that dangled in front of her face.

  “I brought them food. I’m resistant to some magic, so I was able to go in and out of the cells without the prisoners affecting me. They’re chained up, so they can’t physically touch me. I’m not as resistant if they touch me.”

  “Are they chained with iron or steel?” Liam’s voice was a deadly whisper as he moved the blade closer to her neck.

  She nodded her head. “I think so. I didn’t have anything to do with capturing them.” She looked pleadingly up at me. “You’re not going to let him kill me are you?”

  The point of his blade had made its way under her chin. A trickle of blood ran down her neck to pool at the base of her throat. He answered her in a hoarse whisper. “Bridgett, you knew they were there. All of this time you knew and you let them suffer. Would you like to know how it feels for a fae to be chained in cold iron?” Liam’s mouth had turned down at the corners and his eyes were cruel, no longer glittering with their usual good humor. I began to fear for Bridgett’s life.

  He reached out to touch her shoulder and she suddenly went very still as if his magic was freezing her in place. Then her body slumped and she wrapped her arms around her stomach and started to sob and groan, gasping out, “But I...I didn’t know. I thought they were just chains like any other chains. I didn’t know.” I tapped into the lines to see her yellow aura become muddy and dark. She was sinking into a deep depression, obviously in great pain.

  I put my hand on Liam’s and looked into his swirling eyes. “We need to know where they are," I sent, and he lifted his hand from her shoulder and stepped away. I could see the control he needed to do that simple action in the set of his jaw and the tautness of his body. He wanted her to suffer as his people are suffering. He wanted her death to be painful. He was on the edge and I had to keep everything from spinning out of control.

  I crouched down next to her as I watched her aura grow clearer. “How was it done? How did the weres know where to find them?”

  “The tall fae told the weres where they’d be. He’d send the fae out of Faerie on errands and the pack caught them by shooting them with tranquilizer darts or tasers.”

  “Tell us where they are, Bridgett.” Looking terrified she nodded and gave us directions to a building in the woods only about 10 miles from our current location.

  I turned to Liam, “I’m calling Garrett. Bridgett, you’re coming with us.” Garrett picked up instantly and I gave him the shortened version. He said he’d pick us up in five minutes, so during that time I grabbed a piece of bread and some cheese and handed it to Bridgett while I ate a piece of fruit. I sat on the ground next to her as we shared the water bottle.

  She was trembling uncontrollably. “Is he going to kill me and my dad?” I glanced at Liam who was zoned out and mentally communicating with someone in Faerie. I shivered when his cold eyes focused once more on Bridgett.

  I had to be honest. “I can’t help your dad if he tortured these people.” Her terrified expression made me wince. After the death of her mom, no one in Bridgett’s life had ever guided her in the right direction. Her father and his pack had used her, forced her to help them. “I’ll do whatever I can to protect you.”

  Garrett arrived and we got into the Saab, me in the front and Liam next to Bridgett in the back seat. His blade was drawn, stretched across his lap. Bridgett couldn’t stop staring at it. I felt grateful to be traveling by car as one trip through the lines was enough for one day. Liam could have taken Bridgett on ahead, but I'd insisted that we travel together, feeling it was safer—especially for Bridgett.

  As we drove toward the location that she’d described, Garrett took my hand. I managed a small smile in his direction. I knew that he understood the rock-and-a-hard-place situation I was in. He sent, “I’ll try to convince him not to kill her. But just try to imagine what you would feel if it was Ethan or Sinc held prisoner and tortured with silver chains for months.”

  “That’s the problem, I understand completely. But I’m torn apart over Bridgett.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  After traveling on a narrow dirt road for a few minutes we caught sight of a brick building very similar to the one in my dream. Garrett hastily parked where the car would be partly concealed under a copse of leafy trees. When we’d all gathered together at the tree line, Liam turned to me and handed me a knife which had been strapped inside his boot. “Keep her here by the car. Keep her quiet.” He was his warrior self, having left behind the compassion of the healer in order to deal with his enemies. I’d done the same when I’d battled Antoine.

  Liam was my friend, my teacher, and our fae ally. However, there was a very good chance that he might decide to kill my sister.

  “Three weres will be down there guarding them.” Bridgett’s eyes were pleading for mercy as she offered Liam this small piece of information. Liam only nodded and turned to Garrett, motioning for them to move toward the building. They reached the metal door, opening it and going silently down the stairs. I watched the door shut behind them.

  “Jackie, let me go, he’s going to kill me.” Her hands had been tied together with a strand of rope that Garrett had in the trunk. It could have been silver chain, which would have made her writhe in pain the way the fae prisoners did. "Cut the rope so I can get away." She tugged at my arm.

  I watched her struggle with her bindings as my heartbeat sped up. This was it. This was where I had to decide to support Liam, who might kill my sister, or Bridgett, who was involved in the torture and imprisonment of six fae allies. My shoulders sagged as I shook my head. I just couldn’t let her go free. Frustrated because I had to make this impossible choice, I reacted in anger. “Be quiet, Bridgett, or I’ll knock you unconscious.” Garrett’s life was at stake too. Plus the alliance with the fae couldn’t be broken.

  I caught the sound of another car driving up the road. I ducked both of us behind the Saab, knowing that the car would be visible if they looked up the hill. Unfortunately we had no other option.

  I heard four car doors opening and shutting. I held the blade against Bridgett's back to keep her quiet and peeked around the rear of Garrett’s Saab. Kent Brownlow and four other wolves including the young wolf from the club, Jason Garner, stood by his SUV. Kent sniffed the air and turned toward our hiding place, noticin
g the car and frowning. He signaled to Jason and another to circle around behind us and then walked straight toward us with the other two wolves flanking him.

  There was no way to hide now, so I sent to Garrett, “Brownlow is here with four others. Stay below.” I stood up and held the knife to Bridgett’s neck, keeping a firm grip on her shoulder and nudging her forward so he could have a good view. Holding Bridgett as a hostage might be the only way I’d survive this encounter. I was strong magically, but there were five of them, not counting the three downstairs. Of course, Kent didn’t need to know that I had no intension of hurting her. I kept my shield up and took in a large amount of ley line energy.

  “We’re going to free the fae you have imprisoned here.”

  “You look like you’re here alone, Melanie. Or should I call you Jackie?”

  I didn’t want to tell him that Garrett and Liam were already busy downstairs. “If you know who I am then you know what I can do, Kent.”

  “Dad, they’re going to kill us.” Bridgett was shaking so hard, I was afraid I'd cut her by accident.

  I saw his features soften when she spoke so I tapped into the lines and read some of his thoughts. He knew I wasn’t alone and that he was probably a dead man. His main concern was how to save her life and I watched a plan form in his mind.

  “Shut up.” He snapped at her. She stiffened and trembled even more. He took another threatening step forward and then his expression morphed to shock as he looked to my right. I smelled the scent of wolf blood and turned to see Jason Garner standing silently beside me. I’d never heard him come up behind me, which was unusual with my enhanced senses. He carried a bloody knife that glowed with power and was dripping with the blood of the other wolf he’d accompanied to circle behind us. He didn’t attack me. Instead, he seemed to be protecting us as he took a fighter’s stance and stared at Kent.

  Only one thing would make sense. “Are you Brina?” I asked.