by RT Lucas
“Come out come out wherever you are! Tick tock little Carberletti….time to die!”
****
Xavier stood up, looking at Alicia his tone was grim. “Sweetcheeks, I need you to take Mrs Doc somewhere safe, yeah? She’s not a soldier and I can’t have Shug distracted worrying about her. I’m going to Shift and when you’re sure Mrs Doc’s safe, get your ass back here to me – understand?” He was ignoring Shuggie’s protests as Hawkeye was on the radio organising the Soldiers and handing weapons to them both.
“I’ll be right back Piston Hips.” Alicia kissed Xavier’s cheek quickly and grabbed Teo’s hand as she and Shuggie finished their embrace. She was unsure as to what the hell was going on, but the saw the looks between Xavier and Shuggie. They were enough to let her know this was serious shit.
Flashing the two of them to her abandoned bedroom, Alicia made sure Teodora was calm, telling her Shuggie would be with in anytime soon. She did a check over of her body for her concealed weapons and walked out the door, springing the locks with her mind so that Teodora couldn't leave. She then flashed herself back to Xavier Shuggie and Hawkeye.
“Ye think it’s that bastard Martinez, after the youngling?” Shuggie checked his gun, before palming the blades at his sides.
Xavier nodded. “Has to be one of the Mafia families. Been too quiet for too long, yeah?”
Hawkeye interrupted his Commander and Lieutenant. “There was word from some of the perimeter guards that the intruders had mentioned ‘Carberletti’ Sir, but there only seems to be two attackers.”
Xavier and Shuggie both stared at Hawkeye, then each other. “Doesn’t feel like it’s your common Mafia hit – what do you think Lieutenant?” Xavier spoke as he started to strip down, allowing his wolf to start rising within him.
“Summit isnae right here, Commander – ah feel dark forces at play.” Shuggie remembered Mannan’s words as he started giving orders to Hawkeye then told him to leave and ensure that the Unit were fully informed. “Are ye sure ye want the youngling involved – if they’re after her…” Shuggie stopped mid-sentence. Xavier glared at him before the crunch of bone and crack of spine reverberated in the room. Within seconds, he had shifted to a huge grey-brown wolf, his neon eyes scanning the room as he shook his fur. Standing on his four paws, he was almost at shoulder height to Shuggie, and was growling under his breath.
Alicia arrived back into the dining room. Xavier padded to stand behind her while Shuggie moved to stand beside her in a protective stance.
“Care to share what the fuck is going on that? Wolfie is out to play and you're acting like an overprotective big brother.” Alicia was getting antsy, her hand fingers palming the dog tags around her neck.
Before Shuggie could answer Alicia, they heard a volley of bullets and cries from down the hallway. “Nae time tae explain, youngling. Are you battle ready?”
Xavier had pulled back his muzzle and his fangs showed as he lowered down on his haunches, ready to pounce. Every cell in his body was roaring “protect” and he didn’t care if it was Mafia or Supernatural forces. Sweetcheeks had been named and was therefore the attacker’s prime target. He would not allow her to be hurt – at any cost.
Alicia nodded her head to Shuggie then raised on her tiptoes, her soft lips kissing Xaviers snout as she whispered, “Chillax. You know wolfie is more protective than my Piston Hips.” Lowering herself back onto her feet, she drew her pink baby from her pocket and took her stance. The attack was imminent.
Xavier’s heavy paws padded across the floor standing ahead of Shuggie and Alicia, lowering his head and tucking his tail between his legs, ready to attack whatever was about to come through the thick steel doors. His growl was menacing and his fangs were bared.
“Dinnae take any chances, youngling. When Xavier’s like this ye need tae keep back an let him work. He is thinkin’ like an animal.” Shuggie had placed his hand on Alicia’s shoulder, searching her eyes to ensure that she understood the implications of all he was saying to her.
Alicia nodded her head as Shuggie stared down at her. She knew only too well how possessive Xav was of her. The wolf? Ten fold. She had no idea what was coming for them, but she knew Xavier and Shuggie would. Just as she was about to answer Hugh, the door swung open with a loud thud.
Tony’s left foot connected with the hard wooden door. As it splintered and fell at his feet, he walked into the room, taking long strides. He made his presence known and had to take a double take. There was a wolf the size of a tall child in the room, and his stance was deadly. Tony had never seen such a beast in all of his immortality. He couldn’t show his fear.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Snarling, Xavier pounced. Recognising Tony straight away, his need to protect Sweetcheeks, Shuggie and Teodora from him over-rode his self-preservation instinct. His teeth tore into the flesh of his upper arm, as his front paws forced Tony to the ground with a thud. He could hear Shuggie behind him holding Alicia back. There was fear and recognition in his voice. Trusting his lieutenant to get Alicia out of there, Xavier used all his power to restrain Tony for as long as he could.
Shuggie froze for a fraction of a second. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Tony Hills, ex-employer of Teodora and his former torturer. What the fuck was he doing here? How did he even get here? He had no time for questions as he saw Xavier attack. Running over to Alicia he held her tight and flashed them back to her room. There he could keep her and Teodora safe until Xavier had neutralised the threat.
****
Mabel stopped skipping as she reached the doors to the room Tony had directed her to. With his locator spell indicating exactly where the little Carberletti was hiding, she didn’t need to rush this sweet victory of hers.
Tony wanted her kept alive. Such a shame that ‘Oopsies’ sometime happen – especially on the way back to her castle. For instance, she grinned as she was going through the running commentary in her head, Alicia might try to escape, and accidentally on purpose be decapitated by some silly accident as she ran…or…maybe she would die of fright, realising that her plan to keep Mabel underground for eternity had failed. Yes, Tony would be annoyed, but one can never plan for these things.
Mabel’s crooked grin was firmly fixed on her face. “Tick tock little Carberletti….”
She easily disabled the ward that was on the locks, and flung the doors open. It was then that she saw the cowering figure in the corner, huddled in a ball and trembling.
Mabel looked disappointed. “I was hoping for more of a fight than this!” she sulked. The little Carberletti had changed since their last encounter. “I don’t approve of this meat suit, it’s too…” and she pulled a face, indicating her dislike. “No matter, Mabel will not care what you look like, you’ll be a ball of meat and blood soon enough.” Her fingers forged a vicelike grip around the other woman’s arms and she flashed them back to her castle in Romania.
Her cackle mixed with the screams of terror echoed in the room long after they had gone.
****
Shuggie looked at Alicia as she started to protest, then called out, “Teodora!” The room was empty and the doors were wide open.
“Youngling, where did you leave Teodora?”
“On my bed! I left her on my bed, told her not to move and I locked the doors with my mind. You know no one can break down my locks. Try under the bed? She maybe got startled.” Alicia was starting to freak out as she raced to her bathroom to search. When there was no sign of her, she ran back out to where Hugh was. “Duck I need a shower!” Alicia’s nails were mechanically scratching at her skin.
Back in the Kitchen, Xavier’s dark green eyes were piercing into Tony’s. He held the struggling sorcerer down, blood dripping off of his fangs and muzzle as he ripped through his biceps like a knife through butter. The bastard somehow got into his compound, and was putting his family at risk – unfuckingacceptable.
Tony knew if he stayed here any longer he was going to end up dog meat. The wolf was tearing into him
and the ‘beacon’ had lost range, which meant Mabel had his prized possession at last. With a snarl of his own Tony said, “I’ll be back for you, you fucking mutt.” Tony then flashed himself back to his Institute, intent on getting stitched up and then go about collecting what was his.
Xavier felt the man disappear from under him just as he was about to lacerate Tony’s trachea. Stretching his throat as he raised his head back, he howled and started to morph back into human form. Naked and covered in Tony’s blood, Xavier wasted no time in running full pelt through the compound to Alicia’s bedroom. He didn’t know why he thought to go there to check for her first. His instincts were telling him where to go, as though they were fragments of a long forgotten dream. He could hear Shuggie and Alicia’s voices before he even got to the bedroom, and when he saw them, he stopped still at the doorway.
“What the fuck? Are you hurt, Sweetcheeks?” His heart had stopped in his chest, imagining the worst as he approached Alicia.
Alicia’s small frame was shaking in fear as she clawed manically at her arms, her nails had shredded through the material of her shirt, blood soaking through. “I need a shower, need one now, the smell! Get the smell away from me.” Her brown eyes were wide and frantic.
Shuggie was standing in the corner of the room, clutching at a piece of material and saying Teodora’s name over and over under his breath. It was a fragment from the hooded top that she had borrowed from Alicia earlier in the night. Xavier walked over to him, slapping him hard in the face.
“What the fuck has gone on here?”
Shuggie couldn’t answer, he just kept repeating ‘Teodora’ as his body started to go into shock.
Xavier sighed deeply, then turned back to Alicia, forcing her hands down to stop her for hurting herself any further.
“The stink…that fucking stink…”
And then it all seemed to snap into place. Tony’s disappearance, Alicia clawing at her skin and the putrid smell of rotting flesh – all at the same time as Teodora being AWOL.
Fuck.
“Alicia – think carefully, yeah.” His tone was harsh but he had no time to waste. “Do you think that Mabel could have found you?”
Alicia’s eyes darted over to Shuggie then back to Xavier. “No, I chained and buried the bitch. She’s dead. Even if she wasn’t, there is no way she could trace me.”
Shuggie stopped speaking and his whole body seemed to change. Every muscle was taut and his jaw was firmly set as he clenched his fists, crushing the piece of material in them. “Youngling, dae ye think that Mabel could huv been in co-hoots wi’ Tony?”
Xavier looked between Alicia and Shuggie and answered before anyone else could. “Sweetcheeks, I think the rancid bitch is still alive. Look at the way you’re scratching and drawing blood, and this room stinks worse than a zombie’s asshole, yeah? And that was Tony back there – I know you fucking recognised the bastard, Shug. Teodora was wearing Alicia’s clothes, and still had her mother’s ring from the wedding. I think Tony was distracting us so that Mabel could kidnap Alicia, but they mistook Teo for Sweetcheeks and kidnapped her instead.”
The room went deathly quiet. The three of them had come to the same conclusion all at once.
Xavier pulled a stunned Alicia to him, holding her tight as he kissed her forehead. His eyes were staring, unwavering at Shuggie as he spoke. “We will find her, Shug – and we will save her. I fucking promise you that, yeah?”
Inside though…inside he was a burning furnace of fury, rage and retribution. Someone had made an attempt at his Sweetcheek’s safety, and although they had kidnapped the Doc by mistake, the intended target had been Alicia. The wolf inside him was pacing impatiently, wanting to taste the blood of those who would harm her.
Suddenly, out of no where, the memory of a distant voice was echoed in his head, over-riding all other thoughts…“Protect-protect-protect…” He knew instinctively that it was a call-to-arms for him as another voice rang strong and true in his membrane.
“Defender.”
****
The Archangel looked mournfully down at the Earthly Realm, tears streaming down his beautiful face.
“And so the End has begun….”
The Heist
A Tainted Blood Novel
Commander Xavier Raige, ex-Special Forces and now a leader of an elite team of mercenaries. At 6’7” he is as lethal as he is handsome. Xavier doesn’t have time to sugar the pill - he is abrupt, direct and demanding. When he accepts a new mission to stop a skilled thief that has been plaguing the notorious Belcastro Mafia family, Xavier is unaware that this job will change the course of his life forever - and threaten to awaken the wolf he has kept at bay all his life.
Alicia Carberletti is a small woman with a BIG attitude! She is feisty, sexy, independent and smart - she also admires people who know their manners! Alicia has been all alone ever since her beloved family was brutally murdered. Trying to find peace, she embarks on a holiday of a lifetime only to have it take a sinister turn.
Tainted blood, wicked lies, deception and cruel fate: when Alicia and Xavier collide with one another will events spiral out of control - or can they hold onto one another and face the dark consequences of their actions?
Together they will entice you into their world - and this new series comes with a WARNING: Once you enter, you won't want to leave!
In a world of humans, vampires, werewolves and the murky Mafia underworld, is it so easy to tell who are the real monsters and who still holds their humanity?
Coming Soon From RT Lucas and LJ Halkett…
The Lies
A Tainted Blood Novel
Alicia Carberletti has finally found the one male that she wants to spend her immortality with, Commander Xavier Raige. The only problem is that he is away on a mission to help his best friend, Lieutenant Shuggie MacAndrew, save his new wife from the clutches of dangerous kidnappers.
As Alicia starts to rebuild her father’s Mafia Empire, she stumbles across a web of deceit and lies about her family and her own past. Once the threads start to unravel, what she discovers threatens her very future.
The only one that Alicia can rely on and trust is Xavier, but as fate steps in and creates obstacles for them, will he be able to unravel the mystery that is Alicia Carberletti or will time run out for the unlucky lovers?
The battle for dominance in the Mafia world continues with ambition, revenge, love and hate making it difficult to distinguish who are the monsters – the humans or the immortals?
Acknowledgements
LJ Halkett
Cheryl Cole; The Calling - your respective lyrics are my muse.
Doc Martens - for making the best footwear known to feet!
Earl Grey Tea - without your amber liquid in my mug I wouldn’t be able to concentrate!
Dolly - Rhonda Lucas
And the best for last! My hub-a-dubs, Andy and little LJ - you are my world!
RT Lucas
Sandra, Andy, Katrina and Dr Ray Lucas - love you all unconditionally.
XavCat for bodyguarding and bullying me.
The Wee Yin - Lee Halkett, the best friend anyone could ask for.
And lastly to LJ’s husband and son - thanks for putting up with our crazy!
Both authors would like to acknowledge our amazing editor, Michelle Williams for all of her hard work and enthusiasm.
Thanks also to Eden Connors and to all in Dark Hollows Press who have made a wonderful home for Tainted Blood
Also, the authors wish to acknowledge Lindsey Halup, the first member of the #XaliArmy. She was the first to place her flag in ‘Team Shuggie’, and her support means so much.
About the Authors
Both Scottish authors are best friends and have been developing these wonderfully complex characters for years, finally putting them down onto paper to share with the world.
LJ Halkett is 35 years of age and is a wife, mother and Housing Officer for local Government. She is a smart, sassy and highly imaginative woman wh
o devours books – especially the paranormal genre. She is the master at multi-tasking and is always thinking ten steps ahead. With her passion for creativity, she brings her imagination to life in vivid detail. Family is the cornerstone of LJ’s life, and her greatest achievement is her wonderful son.
LJ was left partially sighted after a stroke and now has to write in what the authors call ‘NASA font’ and can only detect the colour red, which makes it difficult to read print on a daily basis. Her determination is a testament to her personality and as she says “Where there is a will, there is a way”.
Rhonda T Lucas is 41 years of age and divorced. She had a very successful career in Recruitment and Business Development until it was cut short due to illness. Rhonda worked in the Health Sector, Ministry of Defence and Private Sector and has a myriad of experiences to write from!
You can connect with the authors at any of their social media sites:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/Taintedblood
On Twitter: @_taintedblood_
Website: www.xali.net