by Raven Steele
The rest of them began to pull on their shirts also.
“No!” Briar called. “Leave them off!” Several of the females in the crowd cheered in unison. My eyes were only for Mateo—his lion’s grace while he walked, the flexing of every muscle in his body. Even from here I could smell his soft, earthy scent. The Kiss burned inside me, needing more, needing him.
“Show’s over, ladies!” Luke called. He pulled Briar into his arms and, grabbing her jaw, kissed her long and deep. Angel’s expression darkened at their display and he walked towards the edge of the group. The crowd began to disperse and a seriousness fell back over them as they began to prepare for Korin’s possible arrival. I watched Mateo, who had stopped walking to keep his eyes on Angel.
Holding hands, Briar and Luke began walking toward the house, but Angel called out. “Briar. Can I talk to you?”
Briar hesitated, then spoke to Luke. “Go ahead in the house. I’ll meet you there in a sec.”
Luke shot Angel an angry glare. “Why?”
Briar sighed. “He needs to talk. I’m sure it’s important.”
“If it’s so important, then I should be there, too.”
“Like you were at the college?”
He scowled. “I told you I was sorry.”
“I know and yet, I’m still not sure what was so important that you couldn’t be there. Regardless, I’m Alpha here. I asked you politely to go inside and let me talk to him. I don’t need a reason to ask you to do this. Please don’t make me use my bitch command.”
He narrowed his eyes, then spun on his heel and marched towards the house. Briar watched him for a few seconds, her eyebrows pinched, before joining Angel. I was about to follow Luke inside to give Briar and Angel their privacy, but Mateo blocked the path. He gave me a soft smile. “That was amazing.” He purposely didn’t mention the fight between Luke and Briar, or what was going on with Angel.
“You seem pretty happy to have just lost a fight.”
“That’s not why I’m happy.”
I eyed him up in down, taking in his perfect and sweaty male form. “What is it then?”
“Aris compelled me and made it so Korin could never force his control over me ever again.”
“Already?”
He took hold of my hands and held them between us. “It was incredible. I felt this power go inside me and just,” he fumbled to find the right word, “destroy everything Korin has ever compelled me to do. I’m free! I can talk about anything. Ask me!”
I thought about a good question. “Did Korin ever order you not to come see me?”
His smile disappeared. “Yes, many times. I could never tell you that before. So many times I wanted to sneak away to check on you, but his compulsion held me tight.”
I searched his eyes, feeling the truth behind his words, and Mateo’s grip on my hands tightened. “He has taken so much from us, but no more. Korin can’t compel me. Whatever Aris did to me, I know his power is stronger than Korin’s. It might not last forever, but it will last for a long time. Enough for us to fight him.”
Angel’s voice rose over our conversation, his voice strained. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay any longer. It’s too difficult.”
I couldn’t hear Briar’s reply, but I could tell by the way she was standing she wasn’t happy about it.
I glanced back at Mateo. “Did you know he was considering leaving?”
He nodded. “He told me earlier.”
“Because of Briar?”
He was silent for a moment, then he nodded, staring into my eyes. “The heart wants what the heart wants. You know it is hard for vampires to deny the bonds between the people they love. Angel is very patient, but even he has his limits.”
Swallowing hard, I tore my gaze away from Mateo to watch Angel and Briar, who were arguing now.
“So he loves her then?”
“I cannot speak for him, but I do believe so, yes.”
“I’ll miss Angel. He is a good friend to us both, especially you.”
Mateo took my hand and led me towards the house. “He will be here if I need him.”
As we walked in silence, I thought of what it meant to have Mateo uncompellable. Parts of it worried me. “Korin will try to compel you again, and when he does, you mustn’t let him know it didn’t work. You have to keep on pretending until the right time.”
His mouth tightened. “I know. We’ll make it work, my anima gemella.” Just then, his phone rang. He pulled it out. “Speak of the devil.”
“Korin?”
He sighed. “He’s compelled me to receive all his phone calls, so I have to answer.” He clicked the green phone button lit up on his screen. “Yes, Korin?”
“I need you at Winter’s Cove.”
I could hear him over the line and swallowed around the growing tightness in my throat. I hoped this wasn’t about what happened at the college. If someone recognized me, they could’ve easily seen him, too.
“I will go now.”
My eyes wandered to Briar and Angel. Angel was tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her back was to me so I couldn’t see her expression, but her legs looked weak, like she might collapse.
“Good,” Korin said. “I’m not there yet, but will be shortly.”
Mateo grit his teeth together. “If you aren’t going to be there, then I can leave later. I’m busy—”
“I am not asking for your schedule. Go there now, and wait for my arrival. Michael can keep you busy, if you need something to do.”
“No, I don’t—” Mateo growled, then halted, shoving his phone in his pocket. Korin had hung up on him.
“You’re leaving.”
“I have to.” His eyes bore into mine, and he took my hand. “Though if I truly had my free will, I would stay.”
“I know. But you have to go.”
He nodded, pressing his lips against mine in a soft kiss. Then he turned around and began walking around the house towards his car, glancing back only once to look at Angel and Briar.
I did the same, briefly. Angel had stepped away from her. The space between them looked painful.
Not wanting to invade their privacy any more, I slipped inside the house. The sun would be rising soon, and I couldn’t wait to sleep. It had been a long night, and I was in need of a hot shower.
The inside of the house was mostly quiet. The shifters who hadn’t gone to their homes for the night, or really day at this point, had crashed in one of the many rooms upstairs.
Aris and Luke were sitting on the sofa talking quietly about the night’s events. I don’t think Aris realized how bad Rouen had become until he experienced it tonight firsthand. Part of me felt guilty for bringing him here after everything he’d gone through in Coast City, but in a way, he was like me. The monster inside him craved fighting as much as it did blood.
After a minute, Briar came back in, slamming the door behind her. I strode up to her, wondering if I should say anything about Angel.
“We need to do more to get this place protected as soon as possible,” she said before I could say anything. Her voice was curt, short. Apparently, she didn’t want to talk about it. “Korin might show up, maybe even with the Phoenix again. We need to be ready.”
I nodded. “I agree. But you also need sleep.” Even as I said the words, I felt the beginning of the sun’s rays tug at my bones. “We all do.”
“There’s not time.”
Luke stood to face her, his expression blank. “Gerald and over a dozen others are patrolling now. With dawn so close, I think we’ll be okay.”
She sighed, her gaze meeting Luke’s in frustration. He mirrored the look. Even if Briar wanted to sleep, she had some things she needed to work out with Luke. “Fine.” She looked at me. “We’ll talk again when you rise.”
I reached out as if to touch her. “I mean it, Briar. Get some sleep.”
She nodded and swiped at her head. “I will.”
“What would you like me to do?” Aris asked, picking up a du
ffle bag, which he must’ve brought from Coast City. He stood next to Luke.
“There’s a coffin downstairs for you.” I headed toward the basement door. “Follow me.”
On the way to the basement, Aris said, “You sure have your hands full.”
I eyed him sideways. “Korin’s made things difficult.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. You’re fighting an internal battle I’m afraid you’re losing. I can see it in your eyes.”
I turned toward the boiler room where the coffins were kept and stopped when I reached them. “Can we talk about this another time? I want to shower and crash.”
He searched my eyes. “Of course.”
“Here’s yours.” I nodded to the left. “And this one’s mine. The bathroom was at the bottom of the stairs back the way we came. Do you want to go first?”
“You go ahead. I need to get in touch with Oz and make sure he’s okay after everything that happened at the college. I’m hoping Briar exaggerated.”
My gaze dropped to the floor. “I wish she had.”
I turned away and walked back to the bathroom. I took a long, hot shower, scrubbing the blood from my skin with my fingernails. The sight of it made me hungry again, but I forced myself to think of something else, of another time before I had the Kiss. I missed those days immensely.
When I was finished, I grabbed a robe hanging from the back of the door to sleep in. It looked and smelled clean. I’d have to raid Briar’s closet when I woke up for clothes.
I returned to the coffins, towel drying my hair. “How’s Oz?”
“Sleeping, I think. He didn’t answer.” Aris looked up at me. “All done?”
I nodded.
Aris left me alone, and I did the one thing that didn’t take effort or cause me pain. I climbed into my coffin, closed the lid over me, and let darkness pull me under.
I woke up just after the sun set and snuck upstairs to get dressed before anyone noticed me. Aris was already awake. I could hear him talking in the kitchen, introducing himself.
It took me a few minutes to find something clean to wear in Briar’s closet. I ended up in torn jeans that showed more of my skin then covered it and a gray tank top. After running a brush through my hair, I headed toward the kitchen, hoping there were plenty of blood bags.
The downstairs was packed with shifters and other people I didn’t know. I lowered my head and maneuvered my way to the kitchen. Marge, Loxley, and Samantha were there, talking loudly and cooking up food for everyone. Everyone else looked like they’d been given assignments, all moving with purpose and carrying supplies or weapons outside. I spotted Luke, Aris, and Oz outside inspecting a crate of weapons. Some of them looked like Oz’s blaster.
“I smell Samira,” Briar’s voice said. She came into the kitchen a few seconds later just as I tore into a blood bag. She looked me up and down. “Nice outfit.”
I lowered the blood. “Is that what you’d call this? I look like a wolf attacked me.”
She smiled big. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“Meh.” I nodded behind her toward all the action. “What’s going on?”
“Just preparing. Roma and Owen sent some witches here to spell the place.” She looked though the kitchen window and met Luke’s gaze. He winked at her.
“I take it all is well between you two now?” I asked.
She shrugged. “More or less.”
I searched the crowd for Mateo, but didn’t see him. I didn’t have a message from him on my phone either. I hoped everything with Korin went okay.
“When’s Roma coming over?” I asked.
“She’s just finishing up another one of her nasty, magical concoctions we can try to get us into the cathedral, and then she should be here to put her own protection spell on top of the others’. Plus I called Eddie. He thinks he can do some illusions to cause confusion to anyone who crosses the property uninvited.” Briar shrugged. “Not sure what that means, but I’ll take any help I can get at this point. Last night was a total shit show. We may have just started a war we aren’t prepared to fight.”
“Then let’s do something about it. Let’s take the war to them. We just destroyed their supply of drugs. We need to keep hitting them where it hurts, keep them too busy recovering, and we can kill them while they are weak.” Renewed energy thrummed through me at the thought of what we’d done at the college. I needed more of that—destroying everything that belonged to Korin and more.
One of the witches began to move around the room, casting spells while the others walked outside. Briar dug inside her pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “Denise.”
Denise, Lynx’s distant cousin, with long red hair, a shade lighter than Lynx’s, turned around. “Yeah?”
She looked so much like Lynx that just the sight of her made me miss my friend. I hoped she was well and learning a lot—especially something that could help us stop the Phoenix—and not losing herself in the process.
“Fire Ridge is pretty big. Use my bike to reach the edges of the property.” Briar tossed her the keys.
Denise flicked her finger and the keys hovered in the hair. “Sure. No problem.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I quickly looked to see if it was Mateo, then sighed at the unknown number and shoved it back into my pocket still buzzing.
“And thanks again, Denise!” Briar called out. “Lynx would be proud of you for working with us!”
Briar glanced at my phone in annoyance as it continued to ring within my pocket. I wasn’t going to answer it. Anyone who had anything important to say to me was already here.
I glanced around at all the work going on. It was good we were preparing, but so was the Phoenix. I thought of all the people who had gone missing in Hell’s Peak.
I gripped Briar’s hand to get her attention back on me. “We need to find another way to get inside that cathedral. I’d bet my life the Phoenix is creating some kind of Hyde army in there. It will be a major blow if we can stop that from happening, but Roma’s magic just isn’t working. We need to find a plan B.”
My phone buzzed again. I scowled at the interruption.
Briar also stared at it in annoyance. “I want in as much as you do, but how?”
Loxley came to my side. I frowned, hoping she hadn’t heard too much. I still wasn’t sure about this young shifter who felt different from all the others. More powerful. More ancient. Plus, we’d seen her near Raven Street. There was more to this shifter than anyone knew.
“Samira?” she asked timidly.
“Yes?”
“There’s someone at the door for you. He said his name is Teddy.”
“Show him in.” My phone continued to ring.
“Would you please answer that damn thing?” Briar said.
“No. They can leave a message.” I dropped it back into my pants pocket.
She worked her jaw like she wanted to say something, but didn’t.
Teddy walked into the room looking much better from the last time I saw him. I opened my mouth to confirm it, when Briar practically attacked me, feeling for my phone. “I can’t stand it! You have to see who’s trying to call. It could be important.”
I tried to shove her away, but she managed to get her hands on the phone. She scowled at the vibrating screen.
“Don’t answer it!”
Naturally, she answered it. “Samira’s phone.”
I huffed in frustration.
She listened to the deep voice, one that sounded familiar, on the other end, then handed it to me. “It’s for you. The dude sounds like an asshole.”
Scowling at her, I held the phone to my ear. “What?”
“That’s no way to greet your Master.”
Chapter 21
Air caught in my chest, a knot in my throat. I walked away from the group up against the wall where I could talk semi-privately. Briar followed.
“Korin,” I ground out the word.
Briar’s face paled, and she brought her hand to her mouth. “Shit!
”
“I know what you did, Samira,” he drawled. “Did you love Faithe so much that you’ve become suicidal?”
“Don’t mention her name!” Anger billowed inside my chest, making it hard to breathe. I avoided eye contact with Briar. “You don’t deserve to say it.”
He chuckled. “She gave herself to me, willingly. I deserve everything I have. Including you. You will come to Winter’s Cove immediately. You have some making up to do for your petulance, and I have just the thing in mind. It’s a fitting punishment.”
“I don’t think so.”
The line went silent. Inside, my rage boiled over. I was tired of doing whatever Korin wanted. I wasn’t going to stand by and let him command me anymore. Let him come and take me. I would allow the Kiss to devour me fully, and then I would kill him. Even if it destroyed me in the process. Korin didn’t deserve to live on this earth any longer.
“I don’t think you understand the position you are in, Samira.” His voice held a deadly note.
“I think I do.”
Another long pause. “Have you seen Teddy?”
I froze, my heart pounding in my chest. He brought up Teddy for a reason.
“What?” Briar mouthed the word, her face stricken.
Forcing my feet to move, I turned to see Teddy and Loxley laughing and talking.
“It’s just that,” Korin continued when I didn’t answer him, “it’s been a while since I’ve seen him, and last I heard, he was visiting your friend, Briar. Do you think that she would mind telling him I miss his presence?”
My breath caught. He knew I was here with Teddy. He could be standing outside just waiting to kill everyone. And Korin wouldn’t just come for me. He would take every single person in this house. Roma and Eddie weren’t here yet, and even if they were, I wasn’t sure their magic would be enough to stand against Korin. Not yet, anyway.
“I’ll let him know, and I’ll come to you soon.” The words hurt my mouth.
“Wonderful! Oh, and my son desires more of your blood. You will give it to him, won’t you?”
My heart sank. “Yes,” I grit out, my teeth grinding.
“Come immediately. And bring Teddy. I would love to hear everything he’s been up to these past few weeks. Do you understand?”