Joel gritted his teeth. “We were never together. We will never be together.”
She paced in front of him as if considering. “Think on this long and hard, lover. If I can’t have you, no one can. Don’t make me kill you again.”
With a suddenness that gave Joel a start, the demon form enveloped her.
“He makes you weak. He makes us weak. Kill him and let me drink his soul.” The creature raised its gore-splattered sword.
“Go ahead.” Death was preferable. He deserved it. This time he’d embrace it.
The demon eyed the blood-coated blade. Brought it to her mouth and licked the gore. Blood dripped down the side of her mouth.
But then it became Amber again. “Joel, Joel, Joel. You’re breaking my heart.”
He spat. “You don’t have a heart.”
“Hmm.” An evil smile creased her lips. Her eyes blazed. “Maybe I just need to take your little plaything out of the picture. Maybe I just need to kill Kayla to make you see we belong together. Would you like that?”
“Don’t you dare touch her.” Joel pulled at his shackles.
Amber’s brow furled. Her features steeled. “You do care for that little whore. You bastard.”
She turned and strolled from the chamber, leaving him alone with the dead, a chill coursing through him.
Chapter 16
Kayla, Chris, Wylde, his two wolves, and Jason Pike with twenty-five of his rangers raced up the ramp of the Xi-1 and buckled in for takeoff. In the air, the craft was the fastest vehicle on the planet.
It still wasn’t fast enough for Kayla.
She drummed her fingernails on the arm of the plane’s seat. It would take an hour to cross the Atlantic. Her stomach knotted. A suspicion they were too late niggled at the back of her thoughts.
Joel.
She couldn’t lose him. She cared too deeply for him.
Cared?
Hell, that wasn’t it at all. She fucking loved him. Why had that been so hard to admit?
No man had ever meant more to her than him. His boyish charm, quick humor, and those chocolate brown bedroom eyes.
And he was in the clutches of that murdering bitch.
She clenched her teeth as a frustrated sigh escaped her lips. Too much was out of her hands.
Down the aisle, Natasha padded toward her. Dark gray fur, tinged a shade darker than Wanda’s. Kayla had come to be able to distinguish the two wolves as individuals rather than a set. They did seem to have completely different personalities.
With definite alpha characteristics, Natasha was the bolder of the two. Always taking the lead as Wanda followed. What had her mate, Tony, been like?
And how had Wylde come to be accepted by the pack?
So many questions, but Wylde seemed so closed off, so withdrawn from the human world. Was he more animal than human? Did she dare ask?
Natasha stopped at Kayla’s side, golden eyes staring up. The wolf cocked her head. A low rumble issued from her throat.
Wylde moved up the aisle to sit in the seat across from her. “She’s saying not to give up hope. Joel is a powerful human.”
How much did the wolves understand? “I just have this really bad feeling.”
“I don’t discount your intuition. In fact, Natasha’s consolation is all the proof I need that something is indeed amiss. I just pray we arrive in time to help him.”
A whine trembled in Natasha’s throat.
Wylde raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. She is saying she hopes you do not end up like she and Wanda.”
They’d both lost their mates.
Kayla reached out her hand, allowing Natasha to sniff her. “How are they handling their loss?”
“I’m worried.” Wylde’s expression darkened. “They would both have preferred to fight and die with their mates. Only their devotion to their pups kept them out of the battle. Now it is revenge that drives them. That’s why I couldn’t deny them this opportunity, even though Agent Braddock didn’t want them to come.”
Kayla tentatively stroked the fur on the side of Natasha’s head. “Will revenge help ease their pain?”
The wolf leaned into Kayla’s gesture, and appreciative rumble issuing from deep in her throat.
“I don’t know.” Wylde ran his hand along the fur on Natasha’s back. “Wolves usually mate for life. I worry because now the pups have grown enough to look after themselves. Natasha and Wanda may feel their reason to live over and just give up. It’s not unusual under circumstances like these.”
“How about you? How are you handling the loss?” Had anyone thought Wylde might need counseling? Would he even have gone?
“I’m . . .” His eyes went unfocused.
After a long moment he continued. “. . . conflicted. The wolf in me sees the opportunity to rise to alpha in the pack. My human part sees how ridiculous that is. I could have been the pack alpha before, but chose not to. To a certain extent, as the only surviving adult male, I have become the alpha by default now anyway.”
She was intrigued. Wylde probably knew more about wolves than anyone else in history. To not only live with a pack, but to be made part wolf himself. Wolf DNA was a part of him. How deep did that run? “Why wouldn’t you want to be your pack alpha?”
He chuckled. “There are certain obligations to being the alpha that I’m not really qualified to fulfill. Come mating season things could get a bit awkward.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t considered that. Though she really didn’t know much about wolf packs.
As he continued to engage Kayla in conversation, Wanda wondered over to lay her head in his lap.
Kayla stroked Natasha’s coarse pelt. Answering his queries and probing deeper to make sure he was as okay as he appeared on the outside. This was the most talkative she’d ever seen him.
“We are approaching the island.” Maggie’s voice boomed over the intercom from the pilot’s cabin.
Thanks to her conversation with Wylde, the time had flown by.
And the time for talk was finally past.
~ ~ ~
Word came over the intercom that the international naval force blockading the island had begun bombarding the southern defenses in hopes of pulling forces. Still, Maggie did two strafing runs across the clearing on the northern part of the island where they planned to touch down. Eventually, the defenders scattered.
As the Xi-1 settled into its landing, Chris, Wylde and his wolves, and Pike’s Rangers began filing through the plane’s two exit doors.
Jason Pike pulled Kayla aside. “Let them secure the area first. You’re not bulletproof.”
She wasn’t about to wait. Joel was out there somewhere.
“I am when I phase.”
Jason frowned at her as she phased through the vehicle’s floor.
Taking cover behind one of the big wheels, she solidified and pulled her POS. She wouldn’t be much help in this part of the operation, but at least her boots were on the ground.
The dust of landing still swirled in the air, mixing with the heavy scent of airplane fuel exhaust, causing her to sneeze. Okay, maybe this hadn’t been the best idea after all. She scanned what she could see of the surrounding terrain for any movement.
Sandy, arid, with only the occasional scraggly bush or tree, the vista offered few places an assailant could hide. Figures moving in the distance were easy to spot across the flat expanse. And they were all running away from the craft thanks to Maggie’s excellent strafes.
The terrain also offered no place for Kayla and her allies to hide or sneak through. She had no doubt Ghaim knew they’d landed. Troops pulled south to defend against the assault there, would be streaming back toward them soon enough.
They needed to move.
Helmeted and Kevlar encased, Jas
on Pike approached. “Phaze.”
Admonishment lurked behind his tight expression. He’d used her superhero name in the field, as was proper. Still, he obviously thought of her as fragile and in need of his protecting. He, of all people, should know better.
She shrugged. “I was trained by the best. Trust me.”
“Okay, I get it. I worry too much about you. My male chauvinist pig is showing.” He rolled his eyes as the corners of his mouth ticked up into a slight smile. “In any case, we need to move out.”
A huge, modern structure, recently built at the island’s center area and ringed by a high wall, served as the Ghaim center of operations. Kayla hoped she could phase through and open a door because getting over or bashing through that wall would take time they didn’t have.
The Xi-1 launched into the sky, hovering overhead.
Maggie’s voice crackled in her ear-com. “I’ll keep an eye out from up here.”
An eye in the sky could be a great help.
“Natasha, Wanda, what is it?” Wylde confronted the two wolves who had a bite hold on his pants pulling him toward the east, away from the fortress.
Wanda released him with a growl.
“What girl?” He pulled Natasha’s jaw-lock from his pant leg, but knelt beside her, running his hand through her thick pelt.
A combination of growl and whine, Natasha held Wylde’s gaze as she communicated something to him.
“She says there’s a young, human girl here telling her we need to go east right now.” Wylde shrugged.
Kayla was the only human female in sight, and she doubted Natasha was talking about her.
Chris scanned their surroundings. “I’m picking up some kind of energy pattern. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before, but there is definitely something by the wolves.”
“Wylde?” Could she trust him?
“I’m going east with Natasha and Wanda. Anyone who wants to come with me is welcome.”
Movement to the south caught Kayla’s eye. Ghaim forces were headed their way. “We should stay together.”
Jason Pike sighed, but nodded.
Shots rang out from the distance, and Pike’s Rangers returned fire.
“They’re still too far away, but we should move out before they close in. There’s no cover out here.” Jason raised an eyebrow at her.
Somehow Kayla had become the group leader. Even Pike’s Rangers looked to her for orders, though she had no doubt if Jason disagreed with her, they’d take his side. “East.”
Wylde and the two wolves took off at a lope. Jason stayed at her side as Kayla followed. His men dropped behind, pausing now and again to spin around, drop to a knee and fire on the approaching force to slow the pursuit.
Chris jogged up on her left. “I could fall back and mess them up.”
His bright yellow and red costume was a new design, made of her Mutalon treated fabric. It would certainly attract attention. Any bullet holes should heal themselves. This constituted the first field test. More than likely she’d soon be finding out if it worked.
“Go, but be careful.” She still wasn’t sure how she’d come to be in command of Xi Force. Joel belonged in this position. She needed to find him.
For that and so much more.
Chris fell back toward their pursuers. Moments later from behind, gunfire erupted announcing he’d made contact.
He’d be fine. Chris had the same type of titanium weave under his skin as Joel. Bullets just bounced off.
Ahead, the wolves and Wylde crested a low ridge. Something beyond must have brought them up short.
“What?” Kayla asked as she joined Wylde, but she didn’t need an answer.
The ridge became the rim of a huge crater. Dominating the bottom of the bowl was a large, ancient-looking structure. Spires rose above thick walls surrounding a medieval-looking fortress of dark stone. The sun winked off high arched windows on the upper floors.
“Out of place, for sure.” How the hell had something like this come to be here?
Reports showed every building on the island being razzed two years earlier to build the new, modern structures and defenses for Ghaim. This castle looked to be centuries old. Had it been buried here? Recently uncovered?
The crater didn’t seem to be dug so much as blasted from the earth.
Chris rejoined them as they approached the fortress gatehouse. “They shouldn’t give us any more trouble. Not as many of them as I would have thought.”
This was almost too easy.
Nothing could be seen moving within the fortress or on the battlements. A thick layer of moss coated the lower walls. Kayla ran her hand over the dense growth. The top layer crumbled to dust, bone dry in the desert air of the island, but underneath moisture still lurked in the spongy flora. “This hasn’t been here long.”
“Are you kidding?” Chris scanned up the crumbling stone wall. “This place looks ancient.”
“Yes, ancient.” Tons of stone and mortar. “But it hasn’t been here more than a few days. This moss is drying out. This growth would never have started if the building had been here all this time.”
It was as if the whole fortress had been picked up and moved from some humid environment to this arid island. How had it come to be here? Why was it here?
No time to ponder. If Joel was in there, they were going to get him out.
Massive wooden doors secured the gatehouse. The wood had a weathered, oily appearance. Chris tugged on the corroded brass rings that served as doorknobs. “Locked.”
Kayla phased. “Not for long.”
~ ~ ~
A group of Ghaim security troops, scientists, and grunts gathered in front of a swirling vortex of energy. Joel recorded everything. He wasn’t sure how Amber summoned the phenomena or what it was for, but it certainly bore study.
Amber shifted into her demon form and stood in front of the vortex with Port at her side. “Follow Boris through and you will be fine. If anyone freaks out, you have my permission to kill them or leave them behind. I will meet you at the rendezvous point shortly.”
Port turned and strode boldly into the energy field.
Was it a dimensional gateway of some kind?
Hovering over them, Amber’s demon form herded the others. “You are my loyal ones. Be bold, keep your faith in me, and we will prevail.”
When the last of them disappeared she dispersed the field. Then she landed and morphed back into her Amber form.
Big green eyes full of deception, she approached.
In front of him now, she took his chin in her hand, forcing his gaze to hers. “Necromance wants me to kill you. She says you make me weak. But together we could be so strong. Join me, love me, and you will be at my side when I rule. You will have power over everyone else but me.”
She was mad. Over the edge. “What of the demon?”
“We are one, but I control it.” She morphed into her demonic form once again. Pale skin, black hair, bat wings.
She ran a taloned finger down his cheek, slicing skin to the titanium weave underneath. “We are power incarnate. Don’t make her kill you . . . again. The mortal does love you. And because of that, we will let you live to serve us. In return we will put you above all others. You would command legions and rule millions.”
It wasn’t even a choice. “Go to hell.”
The laugh that left her lips was barely human, a gurgling chortle that filled the room. Perilous, a nightmare vision. The sneer cascading across her lips was pure evil. “I told you.”
She shifted back to Amber. “Joel, no. don’t. I need you alive. I need you at my side.”
“I’d rather die.”
Then the demon returned. “The choice is made. The sacrifice is mine.”
Raising her blade, the demo
n positioned the tip over Joel’s heart. The eyes flickered momentarily to green. “I’m so going to kill Kayla for stealing you from me.”
Then the sword slid through his skin and split the titanium armoring underneath to glide inside him. Slicing, rending. Agony shot through his chest. His vision clouded.
The demon pulled the blade out and licked Joel’s life’s blood from the sharp edge. “So delicious.”
His mind whirled as strength drained from his limbs. The demon took wing once again, and smashed through one of the high-arching windows on the other side of the chamber.
A chilling wail filled the air.
Then everything swirled to black.
Chapter 17
Dead. Again.
Joel floated above the scene of his demise. The gush of blood from his stomach ebbed to a trickle. His body slumped, suspended by his shackles.
To his right, the glowing ball of light beckoned. At least it was the light. Joel would have thought he’d earned a trip to the other place. Heaven, or wherever, was certainly more than he deserved.
I’d best take it while it’s still being offered.
He’d cheated death once. Maybe the torture and pain inflicted on him by Amber had been his punishment. In any case, it was time to move on. He felt the glowing orb’s pull. This time he would not resist.
His one regret, as he floated toward the light, was that he hadn’t made love to Kayla. Damn the rules and regulations, he should have taken her in his arms. Taken her to his bed.
“No.” He sighed.
That would have been selfish. He’d never deserved someone as special as her, especially after the things he’d done. Well, the things his body had done.
Kayla deserved so much more. So much better. And she’d find it, he was sure, now that he was out of the picture.
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