by Lynn Hagen
It had been Raven’s pleasure to end the bastard’s life.
He picked up Taggard’s heavy body and dumped the guy, and the bloody rag, in his plastic-lined trunk before driving to the funeral home over on Kent Avenue where the Dark Knights paid the owner handsomely to incinerate Hunters’ bodies.
Raven had just walked out when his phone vibrated. He waited until he was behind the wheel of his Jaguar before answering. “What’s up, Bayne?”
“You finished for the night?”
“Why, you need help?” Raven navigated the driveway and spilled onto the street, joining the late-night traffic.
“Nah, I’m done. I took down two Hunters in one night. Go ahead, tell me I’m the shit.”
Raven chuckled. “You’re the shit. So, what do you want?”
“I was just wondering if you wanted to smash some pancakes. I’m fucking starving.”
It was late and Raven had planned on going back to Caleb’s apartment, but food did sound good, especially since he’d barely eaten at the diner earlier.
“Hank’s House of Pancakes?”
“You know it.” Bayne chuckled. “They got the best blueberry pancakes.”
“And coffee,” Raven said with a smile.
“I might agree if I drank that crap. Meet you there.” Bayne hung up.
Raven called Kivani as he turned around and headed for the other side of town where the pancake house was located.
“He’s still passed out,” Kivani said when he answered. “And when you get back, you’re gonna explain to me why I’m watching your mate instead of you doing it yourself.”
Raven would if he knew the answer, but he didn’t. He’d just felt an overwhelming urge to get away, to hunt, to kill something—which wasn’t unusual, but not like this, not with a crushing desire to end someone’s life. “I’ll be there in a few hours.”
“Take your time,” Kivani said. “Joelle’s helping me babysit.”
“Is it babysitting if the person is grown and just sleeping one off?” Joelle said in the background. “I still say he’s gonna freak out when he wakes up and finds two strangers in his apartment.”
Guilt ate at Raven at the thought, but he wasn’t ready to go back. Not yet. Not until he worked out the shit in his head. “Call me if he wakes.” Raven hung up.
He’d been happy to find his mate, but Raven was a realist. If the Hunters hadn’t found out yet that Caleb was his mate, Raven didn’t want them to. Caleb hadn’t signed up for this, and damn it, Raven wanted to keep him as safe as possible.
Even if that meant keeping his distance.
Chapter Four
Caleb stared bleary-eyed at the next person in line. “Can I take your order?”
He so wasn’t awake enough for this. And the temperament of the customers at six in the morning made him want to walk out on his job. But he couldn’t. Jacob had been the one who paid rent with his fancy driver job, and Caleb had been the one who bought groceries. Over the past week he’d not only mourned the loss of his brother, but fretted over how he was gonna pay the bills.
The stress weighed heavily on Caleb’s mind. Thankfully, by whatever miracle that had come his way, Caleb’s car had been parked in the apartment’s underground parking this morning. He’d gone down to the garage out of habit, then recalled he’d left his car on the street. Caleb had turned to leave the garage, but had then spotted the Honda in Jacob’s parking space.
That had been the only thing going right for him so far. He just might need his Honda to live out of if he didn’t find a way to come up with rent.
He rubbed his eyes as a woman and three small boys stepped up to the counter. The two older boys—who looked about seven and ten—had their noses stuck in their handheld video games. The youngest, maybe around two or three, ran circles around her.
“I’ll have two big breakfasts, two sausage sandwiches, three small oranges juices, and a large coffee.”
Caleb was on autopilot as he hit the buttons on the screen. The infant took off and the woman chased after him as Caleb waited to give her the total.
“Don’t run from Grandma,” she said.
Huh. Caleb had thought she was the mother. She looked young enough. He gave her the total and watched as she tried to juggle holding on to the toddler and digging into her purse.
Caleb’s eyelids slowly drifted downward.
“No.” The baby slapped her hand.
The woman wrapped her arm around him, lifted him, and set him on the counter. At one stern look, he quieted.
“Neat trick.” Caleb smiled.
“Years of practice.” She handed him her credit card. “You give them an inch and they’ll run all over you.” She tapped the oldest boy on the shoulder and told him to go find them a seat. The other boy followed, his nose still stuck in his game.
“Why don’t you go take a seat?” Caleb said. “I’ll bring your tray out to you.” He normally didn’t do that, but she had her hands full.
“You’re a peach, sweetie.” She smiled at Caleb, scooped up the baby, and headed away.
Caleb groaned when he saw just how many people were in line behind her. But his mind wasn’t on his job. It kept going back to Raven. Caleb was completely embarrassed that he’d fallen asleep while trying to seduce the guy. Then again, when did he ever have any luck when it came to sex?
“Are you going to take my order or stare off into space all morning?”
Caleb’s head snapped up. His eyes widened when he saw Raven standing on the other side of the counter. “You just cut the line.”
“And you just took off this morning without waking me.”
Raven had come in around four a.m., looking dead tired and ready to fall over. Caleb hadn’t asked where he’d gone, why he’d left in the first place, or why he’d come back to Caleb’s apartment. He’d just waited until Raven had fallen asleep before getting ready and leaving for work.
“We can talk about that later.” He looked over his shoulder to make sure his manager wasn’t watching him. Bruce was a big-time prick who loved firing people. Caleb worked with new employees every week. No lie. He was surprised Bruce got away with letting the workers go. He’d even fired a guy for taking too long of a lunch break.
Raven stepped aside, allowing the other customers to place their orders. The entire time Caleb worked, he felt Raven’s gaze boring into him. By the time the breakfast rush slowed, Caleb’s nerves were frazzled and he was seconds away from falling over from exhaustion.
He moved around the counter and came out in the small hallway where the bathrooms were located. Raven joined him.
“When I said we can talk about this later, I didn’t mean for you to wait around,” Caleb said.
Bruce was in one of his foul moods, yelling at everyone as though they were out-of-control kids. Caleb thought the morning had run smoothly, but Bruce’s foul mood said otherwise.
“And I told you what I did for a living.” Raven leaned against the wall, tucking his hands into his front pockets. His casual pose was sexy as fuck. Caleb wanted to climb all over him and ravish his body.
“So?”
“So?” Raven grunted. “It means you could be a target. Hunters have gone after mates, and I don’t want them coming after you.”
“But you also said Hunters didn’t hurt humans,” Caleb reminded him as he thought of the drive-by. What if one of those men had seen him? “Coming after…” Caleb wiped his forehead. “I can’t stop living, Raven. I have bills to pay, have to find a new place, and—”
“Why do you have to move?” Raven cut his eyes toward the front of the restaurant, then looked back at Caleb. “You don’t think I’ll make sure you’re protected in your building?”
Caleb wished that was his only concern. “You know what? I don’t want to talk about this.”
Damn it. His chest tightened as he fought back the tears that always threatened to spill when he thought of Jacob. Caleb was not going to bawl his eyes out at work. With the way his luck was runni
ng, Bruce would fire him for crying.
“You can move in with me.” Raven winced, as though the offer had been a reflex and he regretted making it. He looked uncomfortable as hell as he stood there staring past Caleb’s shoulder.
“You need to go.” Caleb didn’t want anyone’s pity. The regretful expression on Raven’s face, and the fact he hadn’t wanted to make the offer, pissed Caleb off.
He walked away, leaving Raven standing there. When Caleb rounded the corner, his heart froze. What the hell was Chad doing here and why was he chatting it up with Bruce?
Bruce gave Caleb a withering glare. “Get over here.”
Chad wore a smug smile. If his ex-boyfriend had gotten him into any trouble, Caleb would slash the tires on the bastard’s precious Prius.
Caleb moved forward, feeling like he was walking to his doom. He heard a deep growl behind him and knew Raven had come around the corner and spotted Chad.
His throat went bone-dry and his armpits became wet. Caleb looked between Bruce and Chad. “Yes?”
“You know my policy about having friends hang out when an employee is working.” Bruce narrowed his eyes. “You’re fired.”
“What!” Caleb’s heart dropped to his feet.
“Fired?” Chad gasped. “You were supposed to kick the guy out, not fire Caleb.”
“Both of you get out of here,” Bruce shouted. He turned to Raven. “You, too. I want you all off this property before I call the cops.”
“You can’t fire me over something I didn’t have any control over,” Caleb argued. He was so angry he wanted to punch someone, namely Chad. And Bruce. Definitely Bruce.
An arm reached past him, and Caleb spun out of the way just as Raven grabbed Chad and slung him over the counter and into the work area. The employees in the back stopped doing whatever they’d been doing to watch as Bruce screamed at the top of his lungs for Raven to stop.
This was a nightmare.
Raven jumped over the counter, grabbed Chad, and slugged him, before throwing him back over the counter into the dining area. Chad was sprawled on the floor, holding his jaw as he stared at Raven with saucer-sized eyes.
“You’re crazy!”
Caleb shot in front of Raven before he could pick up Chad. “Get the fuck out of here!”
Raven stared incredulously at Caleb. “You’re defending him?”
“You know what?” Caleb took off his dorky work hat and threw it at Bruce. “Fuck all of you.” He stormed out, heading for his car. At this point he would’ve called Jacob and asked him what he should do. But Caleb no longer had that option, so he got into his car and just drove with no destination in mind.
He slammed his hand repeatedly against the steering wheel, shouting his frustrations, then pulled over to the curb in front of some craft store, where he bawled his eyes out.
He hated Mr. Capezio for getting Jacob killed. He hated Raven for making his life even more complicated. He hated Chad for getting him fired, and he hated Bruce for being the biggest asshole who ever lived.
But most of all, Caleb hated himself for having become so dependent on his brother that he felt he couldn’t function without Jacob. He should’ve cut the cord a long time ago, but Jacob had made leaning on him so easy.
Caleb wiped at his eyes. He’d decided he was done crying, done feeling sorry for himself, and ready to let everything go so he could move on with his life when a black van screeched to a halt right next to his car. A guy in a dark mask jumped out, wrenched Caleb’s door open, and pulled him free while Caleb kicked and screamed.
The guy threw him into the back of the van and it sped off.
A shot of excitement made Aleksei’s heart beat faster when the van backed into the open area of the warehouse. He’d been working on one of the more complicated spells in his little black book, and now the final ingredient was at his fingertips.
Aleksei had dispatched Ace to try to kidnap one of the mates. The job had only a slim chance in hell of succeeding since the Knights never left their mates unguarded, but luck had been on Aleksei’s side. Ace had followed Raven and saw him getting cozy with some guy in Krave’s parking lot.
He still wasn’t sure the stranger in the van was Raven’s mate, but Aleksei was skilled in interrogation, and he would find out.
But instead of Ace calling him to say he’d succeeded, he’d taken matters into his own hands and tried to kill Raven. Now Ace was buried behind the warehouse. That would teach him to think on his own.
Thankfully Aleksei had easily found out who the stranger was. Hector went to the apartment building where most of the Knights lived, saw Raven with the stranger, and staked the place out. Hector had called him an hour ago and told him where the guy worked and that he’d get his hands on him.
And Hector had delivered on that promise.
Aleksei walked out of the warehouse’s dusty office and headed down the creaking metal stairs. Hector opened the van’s back doors and pulled out a screaming guy who kicked at his captor and swung at his jaw.
Was he human? The stranger had to be. He would have shifted by now if he wasn’t. “Why isn’t he tied up?”
The guy had black hair and pretty blue eyes. He was a bit overweight, but that didn’t detract from his handsomeness. In fact, the extra pounds looked good on him.
“Ramon forgot the duct tape.” Hector glared at the driver.
Aleksei ground his teeth. “Then how in the hell are you going to tie him up in his room?”
Hector and Ramon stared blankly at him. Aleksei rolled his eyes. Luckily he was a man who prepared for things. “Go into the office upstairs and grab the roll of tape.”
Ramon dashed past him, tripping a few times going up the stairs.
“He’s stupid as fuck,” Hector said, gripping the prisoner’s arm. “But at least he’s a good driver.”
Aleksei regretted more and more that he’d left his men in Russia. The men who worked for him back home were ruthless, followed commands, and got the job done right the first time.
That was what he got for thinking Hephner’s people would be competent enough for his takeover. He should kill them all and start fresh.
The stranger slammed his elbow into Hector’s stomach and raced for the open bay door. Hector ran after him. Aleksei started to use a spell he’d learned to render someone immobile, but stopped at the last second.
If Hector knew—if any of the men knew—that Aleksei was dabbling in the dark arts, they would rebel against him. Most were morons, but they were loyalists to their cause.
Hector grabbed the guy and hauled him back. “You’re gonna pay for that.”
The prisoner spat in Hector’s face. Hector backhanded him as Ramon came down the stairs.
“Take him to the room at the end of the hall,” Aleksei said through clenched teeth. “And make sure you secure him, because if he escapes, I’ll castrate you both.”
Ramon’s head bobbed as he nodded.
The two struggled to get the stranger into the room in the back where Hector had sealed off the windows and made a small pallet for their guest.
His spell still had two days to brew before it was ready. Then all Aleksei had to do was drain the prisoner’s blood into the potion, and the Dark Knights, along with Christian, would simply crumple and die.
He turned on his heel and headed into the room. Their guest was seated in a metal chair as Ramon wound the tape around his upper body. Aleksei held out his hand. “Give me the tape and leave.”
“But I thought—”
Aleksei scowled. “I don’t pay you to think. Take the van and dispose of it.”
Like obedient dogs, the two filed out of the room, Ramon handing over the tape as he passed Aleksei.
After he heard the van start up and knew they were alone, Aleksei set aside the tape and slowly circled the guy’s chair. “Name.”
“Fuck you.” The man stared straight ahead, his nostrils flaring as he clenched his jaw.
Aleksei squeezed the prisoner’s shoulder. “I
would much rather do this the easy way. I’m simply asking your name.”
When he remained silent, Aleksei dug into the guy’s back pocket, pulled out his wallet, and extracted his driver’s license. “Caleb Keystone.” He tossed the wallet and ID aside. “See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it, Caleb?”
“What do you want from me?” There was a slight tremor in Caleb’s voice. He wasn’t as hard-nosed as he pretended. Aleksei would have no trouble breaking him.
“I just have one simple question.” Aleksei strode to the table against the wall and picked up the cigar he’d left there earlier. He lit it and blew out smoke before turning around.
Caleb’s gaze shot to Aleksei as he bit his lower lip, then he slowly shook his head. “I’m not telling you anything.”
Aleksei crossed the room and ran the pad of his finger over Caleb’s cheek. The man cried out as energy flowed from Aleksei hand to Caleb’s face. “Oh, but you will, my darling. You will tell me whatever I want to know.”
Caleb’s chest rose and fell as he panted. His eyes had gone wide as he paled.
Aleksei hunched down, took a puff of his cigar, and blew the smoke in Caleb’s face. “Are you Raven’s mate?”
Caleb coughed, then his leg shot up and kicked Aleksei in the nuts. Aleksei struck without thought, hitting Caleb so hard he rendered the man unconscious.
“Goddamn idiot,” he muttered. His stomach and nuts felt as if it had been hit by a sledgehammer. As Aleksei grabbed the duct tape and bound Caleb’s ankles to the chair, he told himself he had two days to torture Caleb for what he’d done.
Two days before his brew was ready.
And the thought brought a smile to Aleksei’s face as he set the tape aside and exited the room.
Caleb waited until he heard the door close before he cracked one eye open. The guy couldn’t hit worth a damn, but Caleb was glad he’d thought of faking unconscious at the last second.
The guy might not have a hard punch, but Caleb’s cheek was still burning from whatever he’d done with his finger. That alone told Caleb he needed to find a way to get out of there before Kovachi returned.