by Olivia Gayle
But she couldn’t be sure, and that tore her up inside.
The dogs were still baying, but there was a sharpness to their bark now. Ever peered down the hallway that Eleanor had disappeared down, then headed that direction toward the back door. The sound of the dogs was much louder back here, and Ever peeked her head outside.
Her heart sped up when she saw the two men. The shortest had Aidan’s mother slung over one shoulder, holding her casually as if she didn’t weigh a thing. They were both watching her, malicious smiles on their faces, as if they’d been waiting for her to come out.
Shifters. She would have bet money on it. There was a feral quality to their smiles, as if their canines were too long for human mouths.
“Little human,” one said in a high pitched sing-song voice, “oh little human, come out and pla-ay.”
The sound sent shivers up Ever’s skin, and she swallowed a whimper. Everything inside Ever was telling her to run, to get away from these men, but she forced herself to stay rooted in place. What did they say, never run from a wild animal?
“What do you want,” she asked, her voice shaky.
Their grins widened and they just stared at her. The voice clamoring in her head to get out of there pronto escalated to a scream, but she stayed put. When one of them stepped forward, it took everything in her not to move away. Her chin trembled, but she maintained her stance.
Until he Shifted, his body curling in on itself and face elongating, and between one moment and the next a giant hyena took the man’s place.
The sudden change spooked Ever enough that she started backwards, only to trip over the threshold. She fell onto her backside, then screamed as the animal lunged, grabbing her arm with its mouth and shaking.
Pain blossomed, stealing her breath. She smacked at the large head, but almost as quickly as he’d attacked, the hyena fell back. Ever stared at her arm and the torn flesh in horror.
“It’s been a while since I had a good chase.” The other man licked his lips, setting the unconscious Eleanor onto the ground. “I’d like a taste too.”
Panic rose in Ever’s throat as she cradled her mangled arm against her. When he started to shift, going down onto all fours, Ever gave up on being strong.
She ran, tearing through the house, and the two Shifters followed, cackling madly.
Chapter 22
“So take all the shittiest shit you can think of a man, and funnel it into your dude, Hendrix.”
Davis Landry’s excitement at being part of their mission was palpable even through the tinny speakerphone. The younger man had been given free reign by the Brahm to hack anything he wanted if it would answer the questions. Marshall’s primary objective at the moment was to figure out the inside threat to their town; to that end, they were at Kevin Reynolds house trying to figure out what had caused the boy to snap.
Marcus’ voice came from the bedroom. “I found a computer. Wow, big set up too.”
“Sweet. Hook in with that USB drive I gave to you.”
“Tell me what you found on him,” Marshall said as Marcus began fiddling with the computer tower.
“Oh, there’s a file on your boy. He’s pissed off enough people to have a record, but it’s the other stuff he’s doing that’s more fascinating. For that, you gotta read between the lines.” Davis sounded smug. “Fortunately, you’ve got me and I’m just that good.”
“Tell me about the property first.”
“One-oh-one-six Route Fifteen was purchased with cash six months ago.” A few mouse clicks and an aerial photo was pulled up on one of the top monitors. “Contained a cabin with barely a footpath for access at time of purchase.” The image changed slightly. “Note the two large steel buildings and an airstrip now showing at the far end.”
“Someone’s been busy,” Marshall murmured. “Okay, tell me what we know about Hendrix.”
“Like I said, your boy’s got a record. He was part of the Portland pack until he was kicked out two years ago for sedition. Also suspected of raising his ranks illegally by taking humans and turning them against their will, although this was never proven.”
“What about the northwestern Brahm?”
“Wasn’t informed until after Hendrix had already escaped and taken his group with him. No action was taken. He laid low for a while, off the radar, but I was able to track his movements east by monitoring his known followers.”
“And Hendrix himself?”
“He’s described as charismatic and powerful, although there’s no mention of any actual abilities aside from regular shifter strength.” Davis had a habit of speaking fast, as if he had to get the words out before he forgot them. “Apparently, he wanted a shifter-centric religion so decided to make one himself, focused around the “goddess” Luna, a chimera. The reigning Alpha didn’t like the competition, saw your boy as a challenge. Hendrix took eighteen people with him from the Portland pack but, from what I’m seeing here, sounds like there’s more working for him now.”
“Okay,” Marcus called from the bedroom, “I’ve got your thing installed, try booting up now.”
“Hang on to your socks.” Tapping sounds came from the phone, and Aidan could almost imagine his brother’s fingers flying over his keyboard. “Well, I can say this just based on the programs he had installed: your boy fancied himself a hacker, although he had nothing near my leet skills.”
Leet skills? Sometimes Aidan thought he and his younger brother spoke entirely different languages.
“Looks like he got into Coelho Construction and got your girl’s house demolished. Pretty elaborate ruse actually; the company did three inspections beforehand to be sure, and seemed to think they filed the right paperwork.”
“So,” Aidan said, glancing at his father, “you think Kevin was our mole?”
Marshall shook his head. “Someone had to be coaching him on what to do. Nick Coelho’s construction company is aboveboard; he’d rather lop off an arm than screw up like that.”
“Yeah, found some emails already that point to an outside source. Running a trace on them now?”
“What about the girl, the sister Sonya? What do we know about her?”
“Already gotcha there boss. Normal human girl, twenty-six years old. Was adopted by her first foster family, went to college to be a veterinarian, but didn’t finish the post-graduate stuff. Worked at a vet’s office as a vet tech up until four months ago when she somehow tangled up with our guy. Her folks filed a missing persons report three days ago, right before her sister rolled into town. She was friends with a couple coworkers based on her social media stuff and—well now, that’s interesting. One of those friends seemed to have fallen in with an “interesting crowd” as she puts it and started subtly posting about werewolves and Shifters.”
The phone vibrated with a text, and Marshall picked it back up. Aidan peered over his father’s shoulder as he pulled up a picture of a laughing girl. Aidan could see the resemblance immediately; even with the short hair and rounder features, she looked so much like his mate. The sudden urge to go find her, just to make sure she was okay, came over him and he had to tamp it down.
She was safe, at least for now. He trusted his mother and Derek to watch over her, and would see her in a few hours, hopefully after taking care of the situation brewing near their borders.
“I’m having a hell of a time tracking these emails. Whoever sent them to your boy knew what they were doing; they’ve been routed all over the world, and I can’t get a lock on a single location.”
Marshall was still staring at his phone, his body unmoving. The silence stretched, and Aidan could feel a prickle along the back of his neck. “Dad,” he said carefully, reaching out to touch the other man, only to stop short when green eyes turned on him.
Green, blazing eyes that held little humanity in them.
Oh shit.
Aidan immediately dropped his hand and stepped back, averting his gaze. Marshall’s Beast was close to the surface, and Aidan had no idea what had brought it
out. He needed to tread carefully.
“Dude, what’s happening? You there bro?”
His brother’s questions weren’t helping. “Hang on a second, Davis,” Aidan said, keeping his voice low and calm. He stared at the other man’s neck instead of eye-to-eye, watching from periphery as his father slowly came back. Let his father see he was no threat, allow him to get ahold of himself. Maybe later he’d ask what his father had seen, but for now they needed to get into the field.
The Brahm’s eyes went to the picture on his phone, then back to his son. He blinked, and between one second and the next the brightness that had flared before was gone. “We’re heading out there now,” he said in a low voice, stalking to the door.
Marcus and Aidan shared a troubled look, but followed silently behind. Marshall exited the house, moving swiftly down the front stairs, only to pull up short abruptly.
Julian was leaning one hip against Marcus’ car, his arms folded as he watched the three other men leave the building. He pushed off from the car and met them halfway, uncrossing his arms in an unconscious open gesture. “Let me come with you.”
“Go home, Julian.” Marcus moved around the other man, heading for the car, but Julian didn’t give up.
“Look, I know I’m an asshole, and I screwed up earlier. In fact, I’ve been screwing up royally for years now, and I don’t know how to stop that.” He blew out a breath. “But a kid is dead, and I feel responsible. So, I want to help.”
There was a stubborn set to the other man’s jaw, but Aidan could smell the truth in his words. Even Marshall paused, looking back at the werepanther. Julian looked away, obviously not wanting a repeat of earlier. His lips thinned, mouth turning down bitterly. “Please.”
Oh, that must have hurt. Aidan suppressed a grin, finding he quite enjoyed watching the arrogant panther get taken down a notch. Oddly enough, his plea seemed genuine. Aidan was good at smelling lies, and Julian was telling the truth. Even the Brahm seemed to be considering the offer.
“Um, guys.” Davis’ disembodied voice filled the silence. “I think we have a problem.”
At the same time he said that, another line beeped in on the call. Marshall peered down at the phone in his hand. “What happened?”
“An alarm was tripped at the Landry ranch. Don’t know what’s going on though.”
Aidan’s chest squeezed painfully as he felt all the blood rush out of his face. Oh god, his mother and his mate.
Marshall glanced at Aidan, then said, “Davis, keep working, I need to take this call.” He tapped the screen on his phone, then brought it back up to his ear. “Derek, we just got the message ourselves.”
“Eleanor isn’t answering her phone, and I just got a text about the alarm.” Aidan could hear the entire conversation even though he wasn’t holding the phone. Perks of being a shifter. “What the hell is going on?”
“Whatever’s happening with that human and her sister might be bigger than we thought.” Marshall glanced at Aidan, then turned toward the door. “Did you find the place?”
“I followed the girl’s scent all last night to a place out in the woods.”
“Remote location, with three buildings and a helipad?”
Derek paused. “Yes.”
“Okay, go after your mate. We’ll let you know if we find anything ourselves.” He ended the call, then dialed Davis again. “Get me every detail you can about that compound, and see if you can tap into live satellite feed.”
“Yes, sir.”
Marshall looked at Aidan. “If they went after Eleanor,” he said in a low voice, “then they likely have your mate.”
“No shit.” Aidan’s entire body was on fire. He had the insane urge to rip out his father’s throat for making him stay back like this. “If anything happens to her,” he growled, hands fisting by his sides, nails digging into his palms as the bear struggled to get out and find their mate.
“It’s faster if we take our car.” There was no sympathy in Marshall’s gaze, but his words were soft. “We’ll find her, Aidan, I promise.”
Finding her wasn’t what Aidan was worried about. It was what he might find—a human versus rogue shifters never fared well—that terrified him.
Chapter 23
A cool hand smoothed across Ever’s brow. “Come on Ever, please wake up.”
The female voice was familiar, but the haze fogging her brain made it difficult to identify. Ever groaned, trying to pry her eyes open. They felt swollen, almost glued shut, and didn’t want to budge.
“Ever?”
She tried to sit up, only to have pain spasm through her body. Ever gasped out another moan, laying back down and hoping that would help lessen the pain.
Nope.
The girl holding her made a mewling noise, hands running across Ever’s forehead. “I’m so sorry I dragged you into this. I never should have called you.”
Her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. What she wouldn’t give for a drink of water right now. Her body felt like somebody had slugged her with a bat—repeatedly. “S’okay,” she whispered, looking up into her sister’s face.
Sonya had always been the curvier one, with a round face and plump figure. Now, however, she looked gaunt, with dark circles under her eyes. Her hair had grown longer since Ever had seen her, no longer the short bob she remembered, and suddenly Ever could see why the old man Avery had been confused.
Misery lingered in her sister’s eyes, and Ever sought to fix that. “You look like shit,” she said, and managed to get Sonya’s lips to quirk into a quick smile.
“You’re one to talk. Want to sit up?”
Only then did she realize her head was lying on Sonya’s lap. The fear on her sibling’s face tore at Ever’s heart, and she tried to rally, to assure her sister that everything would be all right.
Except that, when she put her hand on the cement floor to push herself up, hellacious pain shot up her entire right side. Her arm gave out, elbow smacking on the hard floor.
If she’d thought it hurt before, now it was excruciating.
“Don’t move!” Her sister’s frantic voice barely pierced the red haze that hovered around Ever. “Please, they…don’t move, okay?”
Shivers started in her chest at the thought, but Ever had to know what happened. Her sister must have read her mind because she propped Ever up so she was sitting. The room spun a bit, but she gritted her teeth and surveyed the damage.
Her left arm was covered by a crude shirt bandage, but it was the size of a football and looked lopsided. The jeans around her right leg were shredded so that only tatters remained, and she could see her blood dark across the skin there. Her calf had several punctures, the holes blackened by blood and mud, and she was missing her shoe.
“You ran,” Sonya said, her arms tightening around Ever’s shoulders. “Didn’t you?”
Yes, she’d run. Ever squeezed her eyes shut at the memories. She’d made it through the house and out the front door, but hadn’t gone much further before they were on her. The hyena had taken particular pleasure in throwing her about with its teeth. “I thought they were going to kill me,” she whispered, shivering and clinging to her sister’s arms.
“They try to Change you first, hence all the bite marks.” She sounded miserable as she continued. “I was one of the lucky ones, although I didn’t realize it at the time. Most others…most of the ones they tried turning died.”
The pain didn’t go away, but now that Ever knew what to expect, she could deal with it. For the most part, anyway. There was a feverish throbbing behind her eyes, and she could feel the air chill around her clammy arms. She looked around their little room. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know,” Sonya replied softly. “I was unconscious when we got here. They don’t take me out of here except to…”
She trailed off as footsteps sounded outside. Ever could feel her sister shivering against her back, even as the room spun. She clung to Sonya's arm and waited for the steps to recede again. "We'll g
et out of here," she whispered, "I promise."
Someone wrenched on the handle and then the door swung wide. The man standing there wasn't any of the ones that had taken Ever; he was lean, his dark hair unkempt, but his grin revealed even white teeth. "Aww," he said in a mocking voice, "does the newbie think she'll be rescued? How adorable."
Sonya's shivering grew, but she stared back at the other man fiercely. "Leave her alone, asshole."
The man seemed to enjoy Sonya's anger because his grin widened. "Looks like you need another lesson in humility," he said, then reached forward lightning fast and grabbed her hair.
Ever tried to ward him off, desperately wanting to protect her sister, but he just batted her hand away. Pain shot through her as Ever realized she'd reached out with her broken arm. Her sister was jerked out from under her with a sharp cry, sending Ever crashing back against the cement floor. Her skull cracked into the pavement as the door banged shut again, and she slid back into unconsciousness.
When she came to again, Sonya was back, stroking her hair. A dark bruise had formed on one cheekbone, and Ever lifted a shaky hand to stroke it. "I'm going to kill him," she said, her voice stronger than she felt.
In response, Sonya's arms tightened around Ever. "Get in line."
Some of the tension eased in Ever's chest. "There's the sister I know and love," she murmured, her shakes growing harder. God, she was freezing, as if all the cold in the room was seeping into her bones.
"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. Watch this." She held her hand out in front of Ever's face. For a moment, nothing happened, then her fingers elongated, the skin growing dark. Her nails also grew thicker, until her sister’s hand resembled a really scary bird talon and less anything human.
Ever stared at it, waiting to feel any shock or surprise, but it seemed those emotions had been bled out of her. Then again, she’d seen the Change before and knew her sister was a newly-formed Shifter, so maybe that was it.