Hell Spawn: Shifter Squad 09

by J. C. Diem

  “You tell me.” If what I’d attempted had worked properly, then they should now be linked.

  My dad’s eyelids fluttered and he opened his eyes. They latched onto Kala and they stared at each other in wonder. Linked to her, I felt it when their bond snapped into place. They were both startled and looked at me in shock.

  My desperate plan had worked far better than I’d intended. I’d just wanted to save his life, but using Kala’s energy had resulted in an unexpected consequence. “Oops. I didn’t see that coming,” I said uneasily.

  “See what coming?” Kala asked. She spared a look at me and frowned when she saw my guilty expression. “What did you do?”

  “I, um, think you just became bonded like alphas.”

  “I can feel you in my head,” my dad said in a shaky tone. He put a hand to his chest to find it had healed.

  “I can feel you, too,” Kala said unsteadily. I sensed her sudden sorrow and she sent me a quick flash of what he was feeling. Most of his emotions were centered around Katrina and switched between guilt and longing. I hadn’t realized the depth of love that my father still felt for his dead wife. Kala didn’t think there was any room for her in his heart. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said and left the room.

  My dad stared after her then looked at me. “What did you do to us, Alexis?”

  He rarely used my full name. I felt as if I was five years old again and was being scolded for doing something naughty. “I saved you the only way I knew how.”

  “Did you have to bond us together?”

  “Yes. You needed her energy to sustain your life. If I hadn’t bound you together, your body would have died, but your soul would still be trapped inside it. You would have become undead like Zeus.”

  He shuddered again at the prospect of being able to turn into a vengeful killing machine. “Did you know that Kala was in love with me?”

  “No. But she was telling the truth about sleeping with other guys who look like you.”

  “You mean Cole and the zombie?” he said with a grimace.

  “She never actually slept with Kendricks, but she did have sex with the werelion and a vet who looks a lot like you. There was also a bug guy, but he only had a passing resemblance to you.”

  He shook his head in bewilderment, but I didn’t explain about Mitchell Salvador, the entomologist we’d met in Florida. “I take it she’s been with a lot of men?” His disapproval was clear.

  “You can’t blame her for that,” I said in her defense. “All werecats sleep around. It’s in their nature.”

  He rubbed his face with both hands. “Does that mean I’m going to start sleeping with every woman who looks at me sideways?”

  “Nope,” I said with disbelief that we were having this conversation. “You and Kala are bound to each other. Neither of you will be able to have sex with anyone else ever again.”

  “You mean we’re just like you and Reece?”

  “Yeah. You’re soulmates.” He didn’t look particularly happy about that and I patted him on the shoulder. “You’ll have the rest of eternity to get used to the idea,” I told him and he looked alarmed.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your soul is bound to Kala’s, so you’ve become like her.” He still didn’t get it. I laid it out for him starkly so there could be no mistake. “You’re immortal now.”

  I left him alone to contemplate the idea that instead of joining my mother in the afterlife, he would now live forever. While I was just as shocked as he was that he was bonded to Kala, a selfish part of me was glad. I only hoped he wouldn’t come to hate us both for saving his life.

  He won’t hate you, Reece said. It will take some getting used to, but he could never hate you. Philip loves you almost as much as I do. He blew me a mental kiss, which brought a small smile to my face.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  I gave Kala enough time to have a shower and dress then stood outside her bedroom door and waited. She knew I wasn’t going to go away until she’d talked to me. She reluctantly opened the door and I stepped inside. Closing the door again, I leaned against it and crossed my arms. “So. You’re in love with my father.” It sounded more accusing than I’d intended.

  Her eyes welled with tears and her lips trembled, but she managed to keep control this time. “I didn’t plan on falling for him,” she said defensively. “It just happened.”

  “I thought werecats prefer to play the field.”

  “We do,” she said miserably. “I did my best to try to forget him.” She was silent for a moment as she searched for a way to explain. “Remember when I told you that I had a thing for Thomas?” I nodded and she continued. “To me, your father has all of the same qualities that he had. He’s handsome, brave and kicks butt. He’s everything I’ve been searching for without even knowing that I was looking.”

  “I guess this explains why you were so attracted to Cole, Kendricks and Dan the vet.”

  Sinking down on the edge of her bed, she put her hands over her face. “I can feel everything your father feels. I know every thought that’s going through his head.” She dropped her hands and looked at me in despair. “There’s no privacy at all. How do you stand it?”

  “I don’t want there to be any secrets between Reece and me. We love each other unconditionally.”

  Her expression grew haunted. “That’s how Major Levine felt about your mother. You don’t know how lucky you are to have a love that goes so deep.”

  “Give him time,” I told her. “His entire life has just changed. He went from being human into an immortal werecougar who is bonded to a woman he barely knows.”

  “Some part of him hates me for what I’ve done to him.” A tear spilled over and she looked so vulnerable that I crossed the room and sat beside her. She’d just confirmed my greatest fear. If he hated her for turning him, then that meant he hated me for the part I’d played, too.

  I hadn’t locked the door and my father pushed it open. His expression was anguished. “I don’t hate you, Kala,” he said. “Lexi is right, it’s going to take time for me to get used to this.” He’d borrowed one of Flynn’s t-shirts. It was two sizes too small and fit him like a second skin. For once, Kala didn’t ogle him.

  Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she nodded without meeting his eyes. She’d been too distraught to put mascara on this time. “We should get back to the others. We have more important things to worry about than our problems. Like saving the world, for instance.”

  I hated to see her hurting, but we’d have to deal with this later. Right now, our focus had to remain on rescuing the rest of the EERI captives.

  I pulled her to her feet and we headed for the door. Without mascara ringing her eyes, it was hard to tell she’d been crying. Only her desolate expression gave away the depth of her sadness.

  Leaving the base, we travelled to Oklahoma and trooped inside Cole’s house. Mark rose from the couch and stepped forward to pull my father into a hug. When he pulled back, his expression was grave. “I know the circumstances aren’t ideal, but I’m very glad to see you’re still alive.” Reece had relayed the gist of what had happened, sparing me the awkwardness of trying to explain it.

  Reece and Flynn joined them and shook my dad’s hand. Flynn clapped him on the shoulder with a smile. “Welcome to the Shifter Squad, Major Levine.”

  Reality hit my father then. He couldn’t be a soldier now that he was no longer human. It was doubtful that the army would ever be able to trust a shifter. Kala’s back stiffened at the thought that went through his mind. Turning on her heel, she headed for the kitchen. I caught a glimpse of her emotions and she was stricken with guilt and sorrow.

  I gave my father a disapproving look. I couldn’t feel him in my head unless I concentrated hard. He was linked to Kala rather than me and I couldn’t read his emotions as clearly. He looked away guiltily.

  Kala returned a few minutes later with a mug of coffee. Ignoring everyone, she plonked down on the
couch to brood.

  Cole entered the room and came to a dead stop when he saw my father alive and intact again. His nostrils flared and his eyes widened. “Why do you smell like a shifter?”

  “Because he is one,” I said. “The wounds the golem gave him would have killed him. The only way to save him was for Kala to turn him.”

  The rex looked from my father to Kala and then to me. “What have you done to them? I can smell death magic all over them both.”

  “I forced them to become bonded like an alpha couple.” The death magic would fade from them, but it would linger for a while.

  Sounds of shock came from everyone. Mark’s look of utter astonishment would have been funny under any other circumstances. Apparently, Reece hadn’t told them the extent of what I’d done to them.

  Cole’s eyes turned flat with rage. “You know how I feel about Kala, yet you chose to force her to bond to a lesser being rather than to me?”

  Kala was on her feet and was in his face in an instant. “The only thing you feel for me is lust! I’m just a plaything that you want to possess. You only want me because you can’t have me.” Her look of contempt hit him like a slap. “You think being a pure blood werelion means you’re superior to everyone else. You’re wrong. You’re just a spoiled brat.”

  The insult was too much for the rex to take. He drew his hand back to slap her and my father went into a blur of motion. He caught Cole’s arm in a crushing grip. His gun was pressed against the werelion’s temple, ready to blow his brains out. “I warned you what would happen if you ever touched her again,” he said in a deceptively quiet voice.

  Cole’s terror was palpable and he swallowed audibly. He didn’t realize that he’d already be dead if my father had really intended to kill him. Like it or not, we still needed his help. I was just glad that my father could control his rage enough to recognize it. “I apologize,” he said to Kala. “I allowed myself to lose control. It won’t happen again.”

  I stood and Reece rose with me. “You’re right,” I said. “It won’t happen again. If it does, I’ll kill you myself.”

  Reece swept his gaze across everyone, lingering on the alphas the longest. The oracle wasn’t present, but she could hear our conversation from beneath the oak tree. “What you’ve seen on the news so far is just a prelude to what is coming,” he warned them. “Our enemy grows in strength while we sit here squabbling. Kurt Jorgen did his best to demoralize us when he attempted to kill Major Levine. Thanks to Kala and Lexi, he failed. We don’t have the time to worry about our petty problems. The end is coming and we have to be united.”

  The alphas remained doubtful. They knew we were in a fight for our lives, but they hadn’t grasped what the consequences would be if we failed.

  “I didn’t want to have to do this,” I said, “but I feel I don’t have a choice.” Deep down, I’d always known that it would come to this. Drawing on the power that only Reece and I had, I reached out to encompass every shifter on the property. To my surprise, the non-shifters were drawn in as well. “Reece and I are supreme alphas,” I said to them all. “You will obey us without question until our task is finished.”

  Almost everyone fell to one knee and bowed their heads. Even Ava and Sabine were bound by my decree. “Yes, alpha,” they said as one.

  Only Reece, my father, Mark, Kala and Flynn were exempt from it and only by my choice. Everyone else would be my minions until this war was over. There would be no more arguing or attempts to kill anyone, unless I ordered them to. This was what Fate had intended for me to do all along. With Reece at my side, I was always meant to be the absolute ruler of our kind. I’d resisted for as long as I could, but we were now at the point where I couldn’t afford to be squeamish. I was Fate’s champion and the entire world was counting on me.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Now that Kurt was aware of our plan to free his prisoners, he’d moved them from the bases where they’d been incarcerated. His mistake was to keep them in large groups, which meant Ava was able to track them all down again.

  During the next couple of nights, we broke into most of the EERI compounds until there were only three left to infiltrate. In the meantime, Jorgen’s army had been busy demolishing random cities and towns near Wardel.

  The army sent in troopers to try to stop the golems, their minions, the zombies and the demons. Usually, they arrived too late. The few times they didn’t, the soldiers had been killed along with everyone else.

  Guns had little effect on the stone creatures. They simply regenerated each time they were hit. Grenades and tanks had a far better effect, but the golems were too fast and simply dodged out of the way. Any demons that were killed just returned to the pit and came right back out again. Only the birds, animals and arachnids stayed dead and didn’t return to the battle.

  Once darkness fell, Viktor D’Ath sent his growing army of zombies out to kill and feed. Night and day, there was no respite from the attacks. Panic had spread and flights overseas were booked out as desperate people tried to leave the country. They didn’t realize that there was nowhere for them to run to. Nowhere would be safe from what was coming. Over a million lives had already been lost, but this was only the beginning. Billions of humans would die if we didn’t hunt down and somehow destroy the half-faery.

  Mark had searched through the entire PIA archives, but he hadn’t found anything that could help us. Not even Ava had an answer to how we could eradicate Jorgen and end the apocalypse. Until we found a solution to that problem, I’d focus on rescuing the remaining captives.

  All squabbles and rivalries had been forgotten since I’d assumed control of our group. Everyone was now focused on our task. We gathered around Ava as she searched for the final three groups of supernatural creatures. “They’ve been moved again,” she said to no one’s surprise. Bringing up a map of the US on her laptop, she pinpointed the areas where they’d been moved to.

  “One of them is near New Orleans,” I noted and dread raced up my spine.

  “It’s a trap,” Kala said flatly. I hadn’t seen her smile since she’d become bonded to my father. They were keeping their distance from each other as much as they could. “The creepy little weirdo knows your history with the city. He’ll have something planned to try to throw you off your game.”

  “That’s very astute, Agent Walker,” Mark said approvingly. Her lips moved upwards slightly, but even his rare praise wasn’t enough to lift her spirits for long.

  “What could he possibly throw at us that we haven’t already encountered?” Flynn asked pragmatically. As usual, Sabine was by his side. Even in the midst of war, I’d never seen him so happy. I was glad he’d finally found someone he could relate to. They might not be exactly the same species, but they were enough alike to suit them both.

  “Remember the trap the zombie necromancer sprang on us?” Reece said and shook his head at the memory. “None of us could have foreseen that attack.”

  My father must have caught the images from Kala because his mouth dropped open. “You were attacked by a herd of zombie cows, sheep and pigs?”

  “Yeah,” Kala said. “Mark fried them with some kind of supercharged accelerant.”

  “You know,” Flynn said slyly, “I’m pretty sure even their corpses would have been more edible than the turkey you cooked at Thanksgiving.”

  She managed to hold out for a few seconds before she broke down and sniggered. Mark sent Flynn a grateful look at managing to break through her misery. My father looked down at the carpet and smiled. He’d heard of her legendary lack of cooking skills and now saw it directly from her memories.

  Zeus had been doing his best to console her during the past couple of days. He knew she was unhappy and leaned against her legs with his head on her knees. “Not even you wanted to eat that bird, huh, fleabag?” she said. He cut his eyes to the side guiltily. “I don’t blame you,” she said and stroked his head. “Everyone hates my cooking.”

  “The cake you baked
for Lexi’s eighteenth birthday wasn’t that bad,” Reece said.

  Her eyebrow rose sardonically. “How did you describe it again? Oh yeah, you said it looked like a dog turd with icing on the top.”

  “The icing was pretty good,” he mused. “But I almost broke a couple of teeth on the cake.”

  “It can’t have been that bad,” my father said in appalled amusement.

  “Believe me, it was,” Mark said with an apologetic look at Kala. “For the health and safety of us all, we’ve banned Kala from kitchen duties permanently.”

  “Except when it comes to coffee,” I added quickly. “She makes the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.”

  She sent me a grateful glance that at least someone was going to back her up.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Flynn said with a serious expression, “if we get desperate enough, we could get Kala to cook some more turkeys. The smell of all that garlic and butter should be enough to kill just about anything.”

  Tossing a cushion at him, Kala stood and flounced off in a huff. Flynn’s deep laugh echoed through the house. My father watched her leave and I couldn’t read his expression. Neither of them had reconciled themselves to being bonded yet. I felt guilty for putting them in this position, but my relief that my father was now un-killable outweighed my guilt by far.

  “Time is wasting,” Mark said, bringing us back to our mission. “Since we know it’s probably a trap, we should infiltrate the EERI base near New Orleans first. There’s no use putting it off and hoping that we’re wrong.”

  We’d gained several more alphas during our rescue missions, mostly canines and felines. I’d brought them all beneath my power and none had attempted to challenge my authority. New packs had been formed more out of habit than necessity. Alphas needed to be in control and the shifters needed someone to lead them.