by Morgan Wylie
Rylen preferred to stand during the meetings—whether it was to show his dominance or he simply liked to stand no one knew for sure, perhaps even a little of both.
“What’s on the docket today, boss?” Mather asked with one arm behind Lola on the couch. He tugged her hair and she swatted his hand away like siblings.
“Alana and I wanted to share with you something that Black Widow revealed to us right after Alana woke up after saving me from the building.” Rylen paused for dramatic effect. “Last night, we realized that the problem was not entirely taken care of as we had thought, otherwise, we would have brought it up earlier.”
“What’s up, Rylen?” Enock asked but looked over to Alana, studying her, checking her heartbeat as he often did when he was concerned about someone. Alana blushed under the scrutiny.
“Alana has been cursed.” He watched their reactions. The girls gasped as he had expected them to, except for Mai. Her non-reaction made him ponder what it was she knew. He would have to deal with that sooner rather than later.
“How?” came from Lola.
“Why?” Vi asked, peering into Alana’s eyes as if she could see something different about her. Before Rylen had a chance to answer the questions, Lucius’ voice was heard over the murmurs.
“By whom?” Lucius asked.
“Yes, that is the better question since I don’t know the why of it yet.” Rylen glanced over at Alana, and she nodded her encouragement for him to continue his explanation. “The curse was placed by none other than our Black Widow.”
“What?” Lola gasped. “Why would she do that to her?”
“We are still working on that part, but it has something to do with her father. However, Black Widow gave us what we believed to be the resolve for the curse—or at least part of it.” He bit the inside of his cheek as he pondered that there could be more to it than he originally believed.
“And you believed her, Rylen?” Vi asked with the start of what might have been incredulity but eased off at Rylen’s raised eyebrow.
“Yes, I believed her. I did not detect any sort of mistruth, but perhaps I missed an omission. Like I said, we are still working on that part.”
Lucius’ stare had not left Alana since the announcement. “What is the curse, Alana?”
Alana looked up, slightly surprised, from where she had been studying a snag on the rug intently. “Oh, um… well as far as I understand, I have been cycling through life and death like a reincarnation. If I reach my twenty-first birthday and haven’t yet found my counterpart with the power to fully unlock my magic, then I fade away and am reborn in a sense, as a small child starting all over.” She spoke with sadness that she didn’t fully understand since she wasn’t even aware when it happened.
“And you don’t remember anything from previous lives?” Vi asked skeptically.
“No, I don’t”—Alana paused—“it seems that some span of time passes between lives as the people I knew and called friends or at least acquaintances had either moved on or died. Very few were in on it, I guess. I’m still figuring that part out.”
“So you said it wasn’t entirely broken?” Enock inferred. “What do you mean exactly and how can we help?”
Rylen nodded. “We believed it to be broken as she is my mate and her magic had been unlocked… or at least some of it.” Rylen’s face fell in momentary discouragement. “Anyway, last night she fainted, and Doc said her body is approaching its twenty-first year and beginning its ‘fade,’ for lack of a better term.”
“Whoa, that’s kinda heavy,” Lola whispered loudly. Vi and Enock nodded. Mather picked at his laces, his expression deep in thought. Lucius stood tall as he looked toward the door, and Mai folded her hands on her lap and stared at the bookcase across from her as if she could read all the words from the pages that way.
“So what can we do, Rylen?” Mather asked with genuine concern, afraid there might not be much they could do to help.
“I’m not sure, I’m afraid.” They all looked up at him in confusion. “We have to figure out a way to fully unlock Alana’s power, and I believe the only one who can do that is her…” Alana gazed up at Rylen also slightly confused. Rylen looked down at her where she sat with tender emotion shining through his eyes. “Alana, love, it’s all in here.” He kneeled down in front of her and placed his hand sideways on her chest. “The power has always been inside you, but you have to find the key to unlocking it… or the motivation or whatever it is that is blocking you. We will do everything in our power to help you, whether it be more magic training or giving you all the knowledge you need to understand it and make you comfortable with it, but in the end, it’s up to you to fully embrace this side of you. It has been subdued and hidden from you, and I can’t imagine what that must be like for you, but it is a part of you, and you have to find yourself inside you.”
The room was silent around the two talking as if they were in their own private quarters, but the others remained for support. They needed a point of unification with her, and if keeping her alive worked, then he would use that to her advantage.
Alana saw his heart and desire through his eyes. She slowly nodded in understanding. “I’ll do everything I can to stay with you, Rylen. It’s just a lot to take in all at once.” A single tear flowed down her face. He caught it and held it to his heart.
“Alana, I will do whatever I can to help,” Lola offered gently with a small smile. Alana smiled back her appreciation.
“Thank you.”
“We are all with you and on your side,” Mather announced with a slight glare toward Mai who looked away.
“I appreciate it. You don’t know me and don’t have to, but I appreciate your support… if not for me, for Rylen.” Rylen moved her over on the couch and scooped her up, placing Alana on his lap as he sat down, getting comfortable in the awkward situation. He couldn’t bear to not have her close to him, especially not knowing how much time they might have together.
“Next order of business,” Rylen declared, moving on to a different subject. “We have another mission. This one is a job. It’s not mandated by Widow, but I think we need to at least put a skeleton crew on it to keep up appearances that we are still in business. We don’t want our regular clients to look elsewhere for their business needs while we take care of our in-house situations. Otherwise, the vampires from Triumph might begin to encroach upon our means of living, and we don’t want that.”
Various “no’s” and shudders of unease swept through the room. The vampires had tried to encroach upon the territory once before, but they had quickly backed off once Rylen and the PAC settled into town and got comfortable with the locals, creating strong business relationships with many of the people in power or of the affluent societies of Seattle. The PAC did have several vampire members that had chosen to follow the rules of The Web, but most stayed with Triumph and their unsanctioned ways.
“What’s the job, boss?” Mather asked, boredom reflecting in his tone.
“Thank you, Mat, your excitement has volunteered you for this particular job.” Rylen smiled, but Mather dropped his head back and groaned. Enock threw one of the small throw pillows from the couch at his head. Mather jerked up with a growl and a glare pointed directly at the vampire amongst them.
“Enough, boys,” Lola droned and rolled her eyes. “They can be such children sometimes.” She looked over at Alana on the other side of Vi and they both chuckled, making Alana smile. At first, she appeared uncomfortable sitting on Rylen’s lap in the midst of the team, but after the change of subject, she had snuggled in and relaxed against his chest. Lola watched them for a few more seconds. Seeing Rylen happily look at the back of his mate’s hair and kiss the top of her head made her smile. She had never seen him that way with any other woman before. This was the real deal for him; he had found his mate and she would do everything in her power to keep him happy. Alana made him the better version of himself, and he hadn’t been that way in a long while. As a shifter, Lola had thought Rylen’s b
east had been getting restless reaching out, knowing his mate was near but unable to find her, and as a result, he had reacted harsher than necessary at times. Now, he was complete in his true focus and could come back to the forefront… well, as soon as they ensured the safety of his mate’s life.
“Mather will assemble a small team for a security detail at a high-profile banquet and auction complete with politicians and city officials. The event is this evening and is black tie.”
Mather groaned. He hated to dress up.
“Come on, man the ladies all love you in a tux,” Enock teased.
“Shut up, man. If you’re not careful, you might find yourself dressed up like a penguin alongside me,” Mather taunted in return.
Enock sat up straight as if he had just been schooled into good behavior, miming the locking of his mouth and throwing away the key. Mather smirked then turned his attention back to Rylen. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, you can get your details in Headquarters from Poppy. She will be your coordinator,” Rylen said straight-faced, but there were slight snickers from the others. Mather kept his mouth shut but ground his teeth together. “Any problems with any of that, Mather?”
Mather inhaled through his nose slowly. “No. No problems at all,” he said flatly, forcing a small smile.
“Good. That’s all for now. Remember, please don’t hesitate to bring to me any info you can dig up on reincarnated lives or unlocking magic. Dismissed.” Rylen held Alana close to his chest and whispered something into her ear that made her blush and giggle like a little girl. He smiled. They were the last to file out of the Den.
“Boss?” came a voice from further down the hall. “Boss!” the voice shouted louder over all the noise from everyone leaving.
“I’m here,” Rylen called out, not sure who was looking for him until he saw the guard from the hotel lobby above. He was one of the few vampires they had staying with them at the Lair. He was also the same guard who brought them the letter threatening Gracie the other day. “Bastion, what brings you down?” At his words, his team silenced and turned to watch Bastion continue forward to Rylen.
Bastion maneuvered between everyone now standing in the hall as they started to make way for him. A gasp came from Lola as she spotted what Bastion had in his hand. Rylen zeroed in on it as well. It was another letter. Although, this one was a gold manila envelope—whereas the one before had been a cream card stock—with elegant gold lettering like an ornate invitation. Bastion held it out to Rylen, but before Rylen took it, Mather came up and snatched it out of Bastion’s hand.
“Where did it come from? How did you get it?” Mather interrogated the guard.
Bastion swallowed loudly in the face of Mather’s sudden rage. Rylen placed his hand on Mather’s shoulder, calming him. He took a step back to allow Rylen forward to question the guard. “Go ahead, Bastion. Answer the questions please.”
The guard nodded jerkily. “The mail carrier for the hotel was unloading his usual mail and then said that some guy on a bicycle rode by fast and threw it into his pile. It had your name on it, so the front desk handed it to me. The only ones who touched it were the mailman, Jillian at the front desk, and myself.”
Mather held the envelope up to his nose. He closed his eyes and visualized the trail of scents. “I recognize all the scents that he mentioned, but there are no others.” Mather growled. “How are they doing that? It has to be some kind of magic.” His eyes lit up. “That has to be it, Rylen.”
Rylen scrunched his face in thought. “You’re right, Mat, but I am not getting any trace of magic off of it, either. So you’re not the only one handicapped here,” Rylen offered peacefully.
“Point taken,” Mather admitted.
“What does it say? I don’t care who it smells like right now, what does it say?” Enock beckoned.
“Yes, what does it say?” Lola was practically chewing off her nails with dreadful anticipation.
Rylen carefully opened the envelope so not to disturb any possible evidence. He pulled out a full eight by ten piece of paper with cut out block letters like you might see on a ransom note in a crime show.
“Rylen?” Alana asked coming up beside him.
Rylen’s face fell, all color leaving his face. He turned the letter around to show them all at the same time.
Did you think we wouldn’t find out about her?
We have so much in store for her.
Watch your backs.
“Why are you all blocking the hallway?” Gracie’s voice broke the fallen silence. “What’s going on?”
Chapter Six
“Lucius, where are you going?” Gracie called after him, but he didn’t respond and continued to storm toward the elevators leading to the upper floors, housing the guys’ private apartment. “What is going on here?” Gracie prodded again.
The group stared at her and then at Rylen. No one spoke, unsure what to say.
“Gracie, we got another letter.” It was Alana who broke the silence. Everyone turned to glare at her, but she shrugged. “What? She deserves to know what’s going on, especially since it affects her. Don’t you think she probably already knows about it anyway… or at least could find out about it?” she asked rhetorically. They all stood down and turned back to watch Gracie’s reaction. She didn’t seem at all surprised. Gracie smiled at Alana.
“Thank you. I knew I liked you.” She beamed a smile that could almost be contagious were it not for the present circumstances.
“Yes, Gracie. We just now received another letter. It’s basically the same but worded slightly differently,” Rylen showed her the letter.
“Except, it’s not, is it?” Gracie replied ominously.
“What do you mean?” Vi pried.
“It’s a totally different letter. The paper, the tone, the style… it’s from a different party,” she explained. “It seems to me, that two parties are looking for me.” Gracie’s explanation was quite calm for someone who was in danger from an unknown source.
“Do you know who it is, Gracie?” Rylen asked. “Have you seen anything in your visions?”
“Not specifically. I just know they are coming for me,” Gracie said quietly. “Why did Lucius leave? I was hoping to ask him about my bodyguard,” she jerked her thumb back at the guy practically tripping over her heels. “I need a break. He is practically breathing down my neck,” she whined in light of all that was going on.
“Gracie,” Rylen incited, “it’s for your protection. Now more than ever before.”
“I know. He means well, but they obey him like he is their master. When he tells them not to leave my side… that’s what they do,” she sidled herself up to Lola, reenacting her bodyguards as they stick to her almost literally. “When I ask them for a bit of space, they say I have to take it up with Lucius… so that’s what I was going to do. I was on my way to take it up with Lucius.”
“So take it up with me, then,” Lucius said from behind them all as the elevator door finished opening. He came out dressed in all black, his shock of white hair falling forward over one of his eyes.
“I, uh…” Gracie seemed to be slightly tongue-tied but shook her head and snapped out of it when she saw her bodyguard out of the corner of her eye. “I need to talk to you about your guards. While I appreciate it and all they and you are doing, can you ask them to back off just a little and give me a bit of space? Please?”
“No,” was all he said as he pulled out his compact Ruger from the back of his pants. He handed the small pistol out in front of Gracie. She simply stared at it in complete shock before she looked up into his eyes and saw her reflection in their gold depths. “Take it or keep the bodyguards as they are,” Lucius instructed flatly with no room for negotiations.
“All right, Lucius. I’ll keep the guards as is,” Gracie conceded. “Thank you.”
“And be ready for more,” he tacked on as she turned solemnly back the way she came. She looked over her shoulder at him once more with sad but understanding eyes and
nodded at him.
“I think you broke Gracie, Lucius. What the fuck?” Enock growled.
“She needed to understand the seriousness of this and not remove her safety nets. I knew she wouldn’t take the gun.” He turned and continued down the hall as if they weren’t all congregating there with nothing better to do. “I’m altering the assignments on her and the Lair.”
“Post it, Luc,” Rylen instructed as he watched the back of Lucius turn the corner and head out of sight. Rylen shook his head. He wasn’t always sure what to make of Lucius and his actions, but he never questioned his loyalty to him or the Lair—that was a given.
“So while Luc has the entire Lair practically on lockdown, what’s our next move?” Mather asked from the side wall.
“You focus on tonight, and we will come up with a plan for this”—he waved the letter in the air—“but I want you to take this to Poppy and see if you can get any scent or determine if it’s like the last one. Also, find out how that plan of yours is coming along.”
Mather gave a salute to Rylen and turned in the same direction as his brother but headed to Headquarters. A moment later, Mather shouted from around the corner. “Rylen, get your ass over here! It’s Gracie.”
Rylen ran through the remaining group and followed Mather’s voice. He was almost to the kitchen and back lunchroom. Gracie had propped herself against one of the stone walls, leaning against it as if her life depended on it. She was breathing heavily, and her hands were pressing in against the stone. Her guard was right beside her, holding her up by her arm. As her body began to sag toward the floor, Mather caught her before she could fall down completely.
“Get her to the lunchroom and sit her in a chair,” Lola instructed as she went to grab her other arm to help assist Mather.
“I got her, Lo.” Mather reached down, easily scooping her up into his large arms, and hauled her into the eating area and found the nearest chair, depositing her gently onto it.
Rylen knelt down in front of her. “Gracie?” he called and swept a lock of her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Gracie girl, can you hear me?”