by Ciara Graves
I hadn’t looked at any of the guards’ faces, and when I finally did, it was obvious they were all out for blood.
“What did you have to do with this?” Curtis asked Rubella. “What did you do?”
Rubella, still sobbing, glanced at Jenella. There would be no help for her. “I… I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I wanted what was best for us, for all of us. And they… we…” She gulped, choking on her next words. “Jenella said it would work then we would split Colton’s pack.”
Jenella cackled, the sound coming out raspy and like gravel. “Honestly. How did you become alpha?”
We’d been wrong again. Rubella wasn’t going to have Jenella killed. It was the other way around.
Evidently, Rubella came to the realization at the same time. Her eyes widened, and she paled in fear. “You were going to kill me!”
“Why not? Make it a clean slate. Not like you have the stomach to be an alpha, couldn’t even stick around to watch Colton take his last breath. Me? I laughed in Jaxton’s face as he bled out on the floor, right before his head was removed.”
Snarls rose from the werewolves all around us, and more bodies moved into the room.
“Stay away from me.” Rubella panicked, throwing her arms out as though that would ward off all the angry werewolves. Her eyes flared bright yellow as her guard stalked closer and closer. “I said get away.”
Rafael his hand. Probably to call for the backup to get inside, but one of the guards stopped him.
“You should leave,” he said.
“We still need her help solving this case,” Rafael replied. “I won’t have her killed until the killer is caught. We need information on the hitman.”
Jenella snarled and shifted into her wolf midleap, going after Thomas.
He shifted into his own wolf form as she smashed into him.
Rafael yanked me out of the way.
As those two fought, Curtis and the rest of Rubella’s guard closed in around her.
Then all hell broke loose.
A massive fighting ball of furry bodies, claws and fanged jaws tore into one another.
An all-white wolf in the center, Rubella, threw her head back and howled mournfully, blood covering her fur.
She latched onto another wolf, but two more tackled her to the floor.
I flinched at the harsh crack as one bit down on her neck hard enough to break it. Her body went limp in the wolf’s jaws. He spat her out. Thomas and Jenella were still going at it, until then he slammed her into the floor.
She raised her head to bite his throat out. He dodged her attack and slashed her across her chest. Blood spurted in his face. She yipped, but he slashed her again and again and again until she stopped moving. Her body shuddered, and she shifted back, into a human heap on the floor. Then she breathed her last. Her dead eyes stared up at the ceiling.
Werewolves might be damned hard to kill, but draining them of blood like that was a good way to do it as any.
Rubella whined, her paws twitching. A wolf I assumed was Curtis ripped out her throat with one quick move. She shifted into her human. Now dead, too.
“Shit,” Rafael muttered, running a hand through his hair.
Thomas and Curtis came toward us once they shifted back. They were covered in blood. “We took care of our end of this mess,” Curtis said. “I expect you to take care of yours.”
The hitman. Right. Guess that wasn’t too much to ask.
The dilemma was obvious on Rafael’s face. He wasn’t sure how to handle this situation. Then he nodded and motioned for Bowen and me to go ahead of him. “I trust you’ll ensure there’s no turf war?”
“We will,” Thomas promised. “I suggest you and your people get out of here before tomorrow night comes around.”
“Understood.”
The three of us moved through the house, past guards with solemn looks on their faces. This was clearly a catastrophic event.
We said nothing until we were outside. Feds stood amongst the wolves, looking at Rafael as they awaited his order.
“Stand down,” he yelled. “Pack up and get back to the hotel.”
“We have to find the hitman,” I told him. “How are we going to track him?”
“We’ll figure something out. The transport is on lockdown right now. I have to call this into No. Then the governor will lift the ban.”
“What? Why?”
“Because it’s been too long, and this sector is close to rebellion. That’s why. We won’t have a choice but to do as he says.”
I wanted to try and talk him into waiting to tell Nor the news, but Iris and the werewolf Fed were walking toward the front porch. We met them on the drive.
Iris studied Rafael’s banged up face was and explosion-torn clothing. “Why did you call for us? We were at Jenella’s house, waiting for her to get back.”
“Yeah, about that,” Rafael said, “she was here.”
“Why? And what happened to you three?” she demanded. She almost reached for Rafael, then seemed to stop herself.
“Explosion,” he muttered, then gave her a brief rundown on what we found and what we witnessed.
I was more than a little irritated. It was too late now. The news of what happened would get out. They’d assume matters were resolved. The ban would be lifted, and the hitman would escape. That was perfect. There went my bounty. To be fair, I wasn’t going to get paid anyway seeing as how the werewolves who put the bounty out in the first place were dead.
“We’re just going to let them get away with killing off Jenella and Rubella?” Iris asked.
“Pack laws,” Rafael stated. “Technically, they challenged their alphas, and they lost. There’s nothing more we can do here.”
“He’s right,” Todd chimed in. “Attempting to arrest them would only make things worse.”
My shoulder gave a strange twinge, and I rubbed it hard. We needed to regroup, figure out a plan for catching our hitman. Damn though, did I want to take a nap. The longer I stood there, the more my head felt fuzzy.
Rafael went into a bit more detail about the fight we witnessed inside the house.
Todd seemed extremely interested in every word he said.
I gave myself a hard shake to clear the fogginess.
Bowen placed his hand on my shoulder, a concerned look in his eyes.
I was about to tell him I was fine, but Todd was speaking again, and my blood ran cold.
“Pity. She was quite an impressive woman, but you know how it is, though.”
I wasn’t outside Rubella’s home anymore. My mind was back inside the room at the inn, staring into a pair of bright yellow eyes.
My gaze shifted to Todd’s, and it was like that blade dug into my shoulder and hip all over again.
I gasped.
All eyes turned to me, including Todd’s.
That voice, those words… I’d heard them before… right before the bastard attacked me.
“Mercy?” Rafael’s brow furrowed as he leaned down to really look at me. “What’s wrong?”
I said nothing, but moved around him and right up to Todd. His eyes widened, and his body hunched, taking a step away from me as if he was intimidated.
I knew better. This was the asshole who killed Jaxton. The same one who attempted to kill me. Twice. He was the freaking hitman this whole time. Using his Fed status to hide.
“Todd,” I said, keeping my tone light, “when did you become a Fed?”
“Mercy, I’m sure we can have this conversation later,” Rafael said.
I held up my hand. “When?” I repeated.
“About a year ago. Why?”
“And you work where? Here in Sector 18?”
He shifted on his feet, favoring his left side. “Naturally. This is where I was born and raised. What better way to stay close to my pack and help them out?”
Rafael stiffened. “What’s the address of the office here again?” he asked. “I forget.”
Todd smiled casually and opened his mouth, probably to ramble off
some dead-end place.
I took my chance and threw myself into his right side. He yelped in pain, staggering backward into Iris who cursed and hit the ground hard.
She yelled at me, but I couldn’t have cared less about what came out of her mouth.
Blood bloomed through Todd’s suit jacket.
“You bastard!” I lunged for him.
He kicked me in the chest, and I flew backward into Rafael and Bowen, taking them to the ground with me.
Todd bolted in the other direction.
I scrambled back to my feet and gave chase, ignoring yells to come back. “I’m going to tear your heart out!”
I kept Todd in my sights. If he thought he could outrun me because he was a shifter, he was damned wrong. Benefit of having dragon genes, even if they were recessive. They still gave me strength and speed a normal mage would not have.
The only one faster than me was Bowen.
Todd glanced back over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed in fury when he saw me easily catching up to him.
Not that I’d be able to chase him at a dead sprint forever.
He led me past the field near the house and into the frozen barren trees of winter.
He dodged right and left, zigzagging, but I stayed focused on him.
If there weren’t so many damned trees, I’d pull out my gun and shoot him in the ass, but there was little chance I’d make contact.
We ran and ran through pack territory and across the frozen stream.
He had something in his hand and raised it above his head.
A small hissing sound caught my ear right as I spotted Bowen about to overshoot me.
The round object in Todd’s hand glowed.
I yelled a warning, grabbing hold of Bowen’s shirt as Todd threw it toward the stream.
A wall of ice erupted, shooting deadly spikes in our direction.
Bowen spun us mid-air, so I landed on him, his arms closing around me protectively until the ice finally stopped shooting out of the barricade wall Todd had created.
If I hadn’t grabbed him when I did, he’d have been impaled. Probably dead.
“No,” I muttered as he released me. “No, damn it! Get back here you coward!”
“Mercy, let him go,” Bowen muttered darkly. “Let him go.”
“Are you insane? He tried to kill us!”
“And he’s not going to get away with it. The only way out of the sector is through the transport. Rafael’s already given the order to shut it down. He’s trapped.” Bowen walked to the wall of ice spikes and reached out. Another suddenly shot out and jabbed right through his hand.
“Yeah, sure. Let’s touch the magical ice barrier.” I tugged the bolt of ice free and checked his hand. The wound should’ve closed, but instead, it stayed open, his blood oozing out, thick and dark red in the cold. “You’re not healing.”
“Magic.” He hissed, holding his wounded hand to his chest. “Come on, we should get back.”
I fell in line beside him, wanting to get there so we could get a plan together to find Todd.
Bowen stopped short and grabbed my shoulder. He scowled. “And don’t you dare take off like that again in front of so many Feds. They’re not blind. If you’re not careful, they’ll figure out who you are.”
“Right just like you’ve known all along?” I backed away from him, shaking my head. “You lied. Just like Damian lied.”
“To keep you safe.”
“Yeah. Really kept me so safe, let me tell you.”
“Enough! You have no idea what we all went through that night! No idea how many we lost. Friends and family. Our worlds fell apart that night, too. None of us were the same again. None of us knew what to do. So, yes. We made mistakes with you. Get over it.”
My jaw dropped.
He was already storming off again. “
Don’t you walk away from me.”
“Or what? You want to be pissed off? Fine/ Then be pissed off, but don’t take your anger out on me, or Damian, or anyone else who wanted to keep you alive. Take it out on the real enemy.”
“I’m not allowed to go after the real enemy.”
Bowen pinched the bridge of his nose, cringing as he curled his hand tighter against his chest. “The sun’s coming out. I must seek shelter.”
“No, don’t you dare—shit. Bowen!”
My shouts rebounded off the trees, but Bowen was gone.
The storm clouds that had been content to hover over Sector 18 the last couple of days parted and a bright ray of sunshine fell right where Bowen’s footprints had been.
“Shitty timing,” I said, leaning my head back as I squinted into the sunlight. “Everything about this is shitty.”
The only good part about anything that happened today was we knew who the killer was.
I was damned certain we knew who hired him.
Some would call that a win.
Until Todd was dead, I wasn’t going to celebrate.
Chapter 16
Rafael
After watching Rubella getting killed, I hoped for an evening of not being on high alert.
The moment Mercy charged after Todd, the rest of the pieces started to click into place. Now I knew why I had such a weird feeling around him. Mercy had taken off right after he did. I yelled after them both, but Bowen said he’d stay with her and blurred away.
“What the hell is going on?” Iris demanded.
“Todd’s the hitman,” I said. “Mercy stabbed the werewolf in the side when he attacked her. It’s Todd. It’s been him this whole time. Shit!” How had we not seen it? Two alphas, he’d managed to kill two alphas. “I want everything we have on that wolf!” I shouted to the other agents standing around looking confused as I felt. “Now!”
“But sir,” one said stepping forward, “he’s not a Fed.”
“Then why was he directed to work with us?”
“We were told he was a liaison for the packs,” another agent spoke up. “That’s why he wasn’t working the case.”
“Course he was.” I kicked at the snow furiously, hoping. Mercy and Bowen managed to catch him.
Warmth hit my cheek, and I glanced skywards to find the sun finally poking its head out. If Bowen was caught in the sunlight, he’d burn which meant he would take cover leaving Mercy alone. I took off without a word, following the trail of tracks in the snow. They went much further than I expected and just when I was getting a stitch in my side, I spotted a familiar head of blond and black hair amongst the trees.
“Mercy!”
“He’s gone!” She jogged toward me. “Bastard got away.”
“The transport is still on lockdown until I talk to Nor. He won’t get away. But we have a bigger issue.”
“Oh, yeah? Please share, because this day can’t get any better,” she snapped, holding her hip and wincing. “Well?”
“Everyone assumed Todd was a liaison for the werewolves.”
“What? But how? You said he was a Fed?”
“That’s what I assumed, but I was wrong. He said he was part of the Silver Howlers’ pack.”
“Yeah?” She sucked in a few deep breaths as she straightened, glaring into the distance. “And why do I feel like that’s a bunch of horseshit, too?”
I nodded. “And the only two who could tell us where Todd came from are now dead.”
“This close. We were this close.” The sun shone brighter and she glowered at it. “Bowen took shelter if you were wondering.”
“Figured as much. We’ll regroup with the others and see what we can find out about who he is.”
The intense glare she shot me said that was not how she wanted to track Todd down. “Sure. Whatever you say.”
“You can’t go after him on your own.”
“You better hope you get to him before I do then,” she spat. “You coming or what?”
She’d already started back to Rubella’s house.
I caught up quick enough. Telling her she couldn’t come along would not go over well. She need
ed a break, we all did, but finding Todd had to be our top priority. So was calling Nor and informing him the case was half solved. We had one more night to find Todd before the full moon when we’d be surrounded by emotionally unstable werewolves transitioning to new alphas. There’d be challenges, to say the least. This sector was about to get extremely unsafe.
Back at the house Mercy and I loaded up into one of the SUVs and headed back to the inn to drop her off.
“I’ll text you in a bit,” I told her. “Sure you want to update Damian.”
“Don’t take too long,” she said then climbed out.
I waited to drive away until she was inside then hightailed it back to the hotel we’d been using as base. Contrary to what Todd had said, there was no field office located here in Sector 18. I parked along the curb and reached the large suite we’d been running the investigation out of. Iris strode in a few minutes later, followed by several other agents.
“I want everything we can find on Todd. Did he give a last name?” I asked.
“Bermin.”
“Right. Run his name and see what you can find out. His name could be a fake, but we have to start somewhere. Time is short, so let’s move.”
“What about your bounty hunter?” Iris asked.
“What about her? She’s going to stay on this case until the asshole is caught.”
“You don’t think she’s working with him? Hitman and bounty hunter?”
“I’m only going to say this once,” I said quietly as I towered over her. “Mercy has already agreed to come in for questioning regarding Liam Manchester. And in the course of this investigation, she has nearly been killed twice. You will not stand there and continue to accuse her of crimes she has not committed. Do I make myself clear?’
She clenched her jaw, glancing at the other agents in the room. “Yes.”
“Good, then help them with the search. I’m calling Nor to give him an update.”
She stormed off as I drew out my cell and called Nor. He answered, and I told him everything that occurred since I saw him last. The day caught up to me, the more I talked, and by the time I was finished, I was ready to fall over from exhaustion. It’d been non-stop since we got here and Mercy’s comment about taking a vacation was spot on. I could handle a few days off. If not more.