by Kali Argent
She continued talking to him, coaxing him from his slumber, and just when she was beginning to worry that they’d waited too long, Nikolai moaned. Relief flooded her, but it was short-lived when he grabbed Lynk’s arm in both hands, holding the shifter immobile as he drew on the cut in long, deep pulls.
Lynk must have read the anxiety on her face, because he held her gaze and nodded. “I’m good. Focus on keeping him calm.”
Grateful to have something to do besides watch and worry, Kamara continued stroking Nikolai’s hair and caressing his face. She talked about random, inconsequential things, like the color of the moon and how much she looked forward to spring. It felt like she’d been droning on forever, but in reality, it probably hadn’t been more than a couple of minutes when Nikolai released his hold on Lynk and blinked up at her.
“Hello, cara mia.” Taking her hand that had been caressing his cheek, he turned and kissed the center of her palm. “Nice night.”
Kamara chuckled as she wiped away a stray tear that had trickled down her cheek. “You scared me.”
“Apologies, but I was in no danger.”
“Told you,” Miles muttered from somewhere behind them.
Nikolai ignored him. Lifting himself into a sitting position, he wrapped one arm around Kamara and offered his other hand to Lynk. “Thank you. I know it couldn’t have been pleasant.”
Lynk shook Nikolai’s hand, then shoved to his feet. “We should get moving. It’s a long walk back to the cabin, and I’m freezing my balls off out here.”
Nikolai stood as well, pulling Kamara up with him. “I’m sorry I worried you.” Tapping the underside of her chin, he tilted her head up for a slow, sweet kiss. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“I guess that makes us even.” Nothing quite like a near-death experience to bring people together.
“Always.” He kissed her again, then linked their fingers together, pulling her toward the direction of the cabin. “Let’s go home.”
The Revenant bunker wasn’t home, not in the traditional sense, and especially not since they’d be leaving it soon. She’d learned long ago that a home wasn’t a place, though. It wasn’t four walls and a roof. Home was an abstract concept, a feeling defined by those around her. Home was where her heart beat, and no physical location could give her that.
Falling into step beside her mate, she squeezed his hand and smiled to herself. She couldn’t be certain, not yet, but she felt that maybe this was where she belonged.
Just maybe, she was already home.
CHAPTER SIX
Flames roared in the stone fireplace, dancing merrily over the charred logs. Occasionally, the wood would crack, falling into the ashes and sending a spray of embers against the gray stones.
They gathered in the small living room, some lounging in frayed but comfortable chairs and some crammed together on the threadbare sofa, leaving the rest of them to find real estate on the hardwood floor.
Kamara lounged in a powder blue, high-back club chair, stained with sweat, beer, and blood, if her nose could be trusted. Seated on the floor in front of her, his legs extended, ankles crossed, Nikolai leaned back against the front of the seat, sighing contentedly as she combed her fingers through his silky, flaxen hair.
It had been two days since they’d found Duncan and Nikolai had nearly died. In that time, the male had spoken to no one, and he’d refused to leave his room. Roux and Cade took turns sitting with him or trying to get him to eat. He needed help, real help, more than any of them could give him.
Come morning, he’d be leaving with Miles, Thea, Rhys, and the twins, all headed to Kansas City. There, he could heal with other humans, and hopefully, regain what the Abraxas vampires had taken from him.
Thea had steadfastly declined to abandon the search for Abby, but when Luca had explained that it would be better for Duncan to have someone he trusted with him on the long trip, she hadn’t been able to refuse. Since Rhys went where his mate did, no one had even given him a choice. It had just been assumed that he’d travel with them.
Once they had Duncan settled, the rest of the group would meet them in Colorado. It wasn’t goodbye, not really, but it sure felt like it.
“Fuck,” Cade breathed as he shuffled into the room.
Everyone perked up, watching him intently as he made his way to a squashy armchair covered with orange-and-brown tweed upholstery that looked like it had come straight out of the seventies. Considering the many holes and broken threads, maybe it had.
Sharing the sofa with Roux and Luca, Deke leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, and stared at Cade as if the man held the secrets to life. “Did you find out anything?”
It had been just after lunch when Roux had trotted down the stairs to proclaim that Duncan wanted to speak with Cade. For hours, they’d sat alone in the upstairs bedroom in the far corner, and despite most of their team having extra-sensitive hearing, no one had been able to catch more than a mumbled word here and there.
So, they’d waited, restless and impatient for any news, all of them hoping that Duncan could provide some information that would lead them to their missing friend.
Cade shook his head as he sagged into the armchair. “He’s confused, and he’s afraid of hurting someone else, but he wants to help. He didn’t tell me much, but I think I know where we can find Abby.”
Luca’s dark gaze flickered to the male, then away just as quickly.
“There’s an auction once a month,” Cade continued. “That’s what he called it, but from what he described, it sounds more like adopting a dog from the pound, and it’s not just humans. Shifters, other vampires, werewolves, they’re all held in cages during this so-called auction.”
Kamara didn’t remember anything like that, but then again, she’d already concluded that she and Duncan had very different experiences in the compound.
Cade shifted in his seat. “He says it was mostly females being bought and traded.”
Nikolai tensed. “Traded?”
Cade nodded once. “Some of the Gemini are more like hostages. Their families or packs come to trade something or someone to the Abraxas coven to get them back.”
“That’s fucking disgusting.” A cold chill swept over Kamara, and her stomach heaved. “How the hell are we supposed to stop something like that?”
“We don’t,” Luca answered as he leaned back on the sofa and propped his right foot on his left knee. “After our last visit, I have no doubt they’ve filled the gaps in their security and doubled the number of personnel.” He shrugged when everyone stared at him. “It’s what I would do. I’m sorry, but we were lucky the first time. We’re not going to get back in there, not without a damn army.”
Logically, Kamara knew he was right. Dismantling an operation that big would take months, maybe years, and they’d need a hell of a lot more allies to accomplish it. The NYPD had taught her to compartmentalize, to approach a dangerous situation rationally, and to accept that she couldn’t save everyone.
That didn’t make it suck any less.
“What about Abby?” Roux asked, twirling her hands together in short, jerky circles. “We know she ended up in Colorado with a pack of shifters, but it’s a pretty damn big state.”
“Not to mention it’s crawling with shifters,” Deke added. “She could be anywhere.”
Sighing, Cade pinched the bridge of his nose. “Duncan said something about a shadow walker. The guy who took Abby, the guard called him something like that.”
“A ghost walker?” Lynk Foster had been sprawled out on his side on the floor, but now, he shoved to his feet and began to pace in front of the fire. “Are you sure?”
“No at all,” Cade answered, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace. “I’m just the middleman.”
Kamara had never heard the term, and apparently, neither had anyone else. “What’s a ghost walker?”
Threading both hands through his pure-white hair, Lynk paused, turning to pin her with eyes the color of pale moonlight. �
��In short? Me.”
Deke cocked his head to the side. “Elaborate.”
“Shifters with white pelts. Well, shifters with white pelts that aren’t supposed to be white.”
Kamara nodded. Stopped. Frowned. “What?”
“I’m a tiger shifter,” Lynk explained, pacing once more. “My fur is white when I shift, like my hair is now.”
“Ah, got it. So, like a red fox that’s white, but not an arctic fox.”
“Precisely.”
“If it’s so rare, how is there a whole pack of them?”
“Actually,” Cade interrupted, “no one ever said every member of the pack are these ghost things, just the guy at the auction.”
True, but Lynk appeared much too agitated for that to be the case. Kamara could hear his heart racing, beating so fast she feared he might pass out or have a stroke right there in the living room.
“You know something.” She said it casually, hoping to keep the accusation from her tone.
“Going back to your analogy, a red fox can birth a kit with white fur and vice versa. Not so with shifters. Ours is hereditary.”
Deke snorted. “We’re talking about a family pack? What’s the big deal? There can’t be more than five or six of them.”
Stopping his pacing, Lynk folded his arms across his chest and leveled a menacing glare on his captain. “Not even close.”
Recognizing the rising tension, Kamara cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention, then continued in a calm, clear voice. “Lynk, tell us what you know. You’re worried, and I think we need to know why.”
After a few deep breaths, Lynk dropped his arms to his sides and shook his head. “First off, we’re talking about a couple of generations of shifters. Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, not to mention their mates—you get the picture. If it’s the pack I think it is, then we’re looking at forty or fifty pack mates. Probably more when you start counting guards and servants.”
Ah, now they were getting somewhere. Kamara sat up taller in her chair and angled toward the big shifter. “You know them. That’s why you’re so worried. Who are they?”
“A pack of lion shifters, the Ikande family. They’re to the shifter world what Nik’s family is to vampires.”
“Yes,” Nikolai scoffed, “and we see how well that’s working out for me.”
Lynk just glared at him before continuing. “My point is that not only is the pack itself strong, but they’ll have a dedicated unit of Wardens surrounding them.”
“That’s still less than the St. Louis pack,” Deke interjected.
Roux added, “Not to mention the Abraxas coven.”
“Lynk?” They were all missing the point, and as her stomach rolled, Kamara hoped her intuition was wrong. “This albino trait or whatever you want to call it, it’s a bad thing, isn’t it? Something they want to breed out of their bloodline.”
He didn’t answer her, but there was no need. The look on his face said everything.
Kamara swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Oh, god. We have to go. We have to leave right now.”
Eyes welling with tears, Roux placed a hand over her stomach. “Does that mean what I think it does? They’re buying women so they can breed them?”
“Yes,” Lynk admitted, “but it may not be as dire as you’re thinking. The Ikandes are all about rituals and traditions. These females will be courted, which involves a lot of wining and dining, but no physical contact until after the mating ceremony.”
“How long is this courtship?” Luca demanded.
He hadn’t addressed her, but when he spoke, Kamara recoiled, and she made a mental note never to cross the captain. He didn’t wear his anger on his sleeve, nor did she detect any variation in his pulse, but his tone dripped with venom, and the cold, deadly gleam in his eyes leeched every bit of warmth from the room.
“It lasts a season. Courtship begins the first day of winter, spring, summer, and fall. So, for example, courtship starts the first day of winter, and the mating ceremony happens the on the first day of spring.”
“At the same time the next round of courtships begins,” Nikolai deduced.
Nodding, Lynk stared down at him. “When did your guy say Abby was taken?”
“Sometime last month.” Holding his hands out, palms up, Nikolai shook his head. “I’m sorry I can’t be more specific.”
“Let’s assume it was before the winter solstice.” Rising from the sofa, Deke rested his hands on his hips as he addressed the room.
“Which means there’s still time before spring.” Roux stood as well, her posture tense but determined. “We still have to find this pack, then figure out how to get inside without being mauled to death.”
Sitting quietly on a barstool at the kitchen island, Deidra hadn’t said a word during the entire exchange. As everyone started hammering out details and making plans, she slid off her seat and kicked the barstool, sending it scraping across the hardwood floor where it came to an abrupt stop against the leg of the breakfast table.
“I’m in,” she declared. “Whatever the bloody plan, I’ll be there.” Then she stomped out of the room, traversing the stairs two at a time to the second floor of the cabin.
Kamara gaped. She was glad to have the she-wolf on her side, but she couldn’t fathom what had caused such a violent reaction.
“What the hell was that about?”
In answer, Luca stood and shook his head. “Leave it alone.” To the rest of the room, “Get your shit together and rest up, because we hit the road at sunrise.”
“Where are we going?” Kamara asked, but Luca was already striding out of the room.
“There’s a Revenant safe house on the southeast side of Denver,” Deke answered.
“Isn’t that a little close?”
“The packs mostly stick to the western part of the state, in and around the national forests.” Resting his hand on his mate’s shoulder, Deke gave her a little nudge to get her moving. “We’ll start checking the gear.”
“I’ll help,” Cade offered, struggling to push out of his chair.
“You need rest.” The guy was former SWAT, and Kamara knew he wouldn’t be happy on the sidelines, so she decided to put it in terms he’d understand. “You’re no good to us or Abby if you can’t even stand. Nik and I will help.”
“You’re not going,” Deke declared, earning him a scathing glare from Cade. “You can hate me all you want, but you’re in no condition to fight.”
“Besides,” Roux added quietly, “I think Duncan could really use a friend right now.” She glanced toward the staircase. “A human one.”
“Fine,” Cade answered, his tone clipped. “I’ll go to KC, but I’m not staying there.”
When Kamara tensed behind him, Nikolai sat up a little straighter and rubbed her calf. He’d noticed the unusual attachment Cade had to Abby, but anyone with eyes could see that Luca shared a past with the human female. If it came to a fight for her affections, he had a feeling, Cade would find himself on the losing end of that battle.
“Do you love her?” he asked bluntly.
Cade paused in the middle of the small room and stared down at him. “Who? Abby?”
Nikolai nodded. “Is that why you’re so willing to die for her?”
“We’re all risking our lives to save her,” Cade reminded him, but to his credit, he didn’t sound hostile for once. “No, I don’t love her, not like you’re thinking.”
“I’ve seen the way you look at her,” Roux interjected, and she sounded as worried as Nikolai felt.
“It’s not like that.” Resting his hands on his hips, Cade stared down at his feet and sighed. “She reminds me of my sister. I failed Maddy, and when I met Abby, it was like being given a second chance.” He huffed and rubbed his right hand over his face. “I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t make any sense, but every time I close my eyes, I see Maddy. Losing Abby would be like losing my sister all over again.”
There was a story ther
e, something deeper and darker than he was willing to share, but Nikolai didn’t ask. Everyone had a past they didn’t want to face, himself included, and he wouldn’t pry into such an obviously painful memory.
“I better go pack,” Cade mumbled, striding out of the room without meeting anyone’s gaze.
“Same here,” Roux added, taking her mate’s hand and leading him toward the stairs.
Nikolai waited until the room had emptied, leaving him alone with Kamara, then he stood and offered her his hand. They’d spent a lot of time together in the two days since the incident in the forest, and they’d talked about everything and nothing. Still, she was hiding something from him, and each time he’d tried to bring it up, she’d deflected him.
He couldn’t help her if he didn’t know what was wrong, and he didn’t plan to leave the room until she told him.
“What are we doing?” Taking his hand, she rose from her seat, letting him lead her over to the sofa. “Uh, okay. What’s going on, Nikolai?”
Seated, he angled toward her and took both of her hands in his own. “You wanted to talk in private. Let’s talk.”
“That was four days ago.”
“Yes, and you’ve been avoiding the subject ever since.” Whatever she wanted to say to him had her spooked, but he wouldn’t let her evade the issue so easily. “Talk.”
With a sigh, she dropped her head back against the cushions and stared up at the ceiling. “I mostly just had some questions.”
No, she had a secret, but he’d let her get there in her own way. “Then, I’ll do my best to answer them.”
Rolling her head, she stared at him, her face an unreadable mask. “Why can’t I hear your thoughts? It kind of makes this thing we have feel unbalanced.”
Naturally, her very first question, and he didn’t have an answer for her.
“I don’t know, but I’m hoping that when I claim you, that will change.”
It dawned on him for the first time that she may not want to complete the mating bond with him. He didn’t know how to feel about that. Since they’d met, he’d spent every night with her, curled around her protectively, holding her tightly in the safety of his arms. He wanted more, and his instincts cried out for him to claim her, to make her his, but he’d never force her. It had to be her choice.