She used sex as a drug, going back to it to relieve the pain in her mind. Hell, these days she was getting to be as big a slut as Thunder was.
She pulled her cellphone from her pocket and dialed Gabriel before she could talk herself out of it. Her hands trembled, but she held the phone to her ear. She needed to apologize to him. To tell him what was going on and bring him back, so they could tackle this thing together.
“Cunningham,” he grunted when he answered.
Val hung up at once. She groaned as she pressed her head back against the bricks. She needed her head screwed on straight… how much more could she take before she fell apart?
Chapter Ten
Blizzard
Yellow tape crisscrossed over the door. Gabriel frowned grimly as he stepped into the house of the latest scene. It had been two weeks since he had discovered that the vampires were selling venom-laced drugs. In that time, the cases of ‘overdoses’ had nearly tripled. Even though the Brotherhood had sent a few dealers his way, he hadn’t been able to weed them out.
And now here he was, at the scene of the first fatality.
From the strong wild scent in the house, it had been a shifter who succumbed. Gabriel’s stomach twisted as he followed Katie to the bodies. Two people, a husband and wife, lay on the kitchen floor. Her hands were locked around his bleeding throat, a knife in his hand plunged into her chest. Both their faces were twisted with rage and horror.
Gabriel turned away, fighting the need to vomit. Not because of the scene or the blood splashed around, clearly indicating a violent struggle. It was because these two, who had pictures of a happy life together, had ended up like this. He breathed shakily, his stomach clenching.
When was this going to end?
He had put out warnings, telling the local news that there was a bad batch of drugs in the area and even going so far as to encourage people to bring them in exchange for a return of money, street value and no charges or arrests. He knew it was a long shot, but had hoped that this could be avoided. Now there were two people dead and a child in the hospital, having witnessed his parents brutally murder each other.
The Brotherhood was no help. So they had turned him onto a couple of leads. Just enough to get him to stop poking around. Just enough to make him think that they were going to be helpful. But they weren’t, and he should have known better than to think that they would be. No. He needed to be more proactive. If Jackson was going to give him the runaround… well, he was going to start hauling his boys in.
To hell with Typhoon and Thunder and all the others. This was his town. People he was meant to protect. There would be no more families torn apart because of the fucking vampires. It had to end. One way or another. Today.
***
Jackson still wouldn’t answer his calls. Which left Gabriel with only one course of action. He didn’t like marching up to the house Jackson shared with his mate, but what choice did he have?
He knocked firmly on the door and when Ava answered, he fixed her with a severe look. “I need to talk with Tornado.”
Ava pursed her lips. Her eyes flashed, but she didn’t tell him to get lost as he’d expected. “What about?”
“There was a homicide linked to the drugs tainted with vampire venom early this morning. He’s not taking my calls and I need to knock some sense into that dumb head of his and make him tell me what’s going on with Cromwell.”
Ava hissed between her teeth and waved her hands at him, as if to tell him to be quiet. Behind her, he heard the murmur of voices. Visitors? Civilians? No… As he listened a little harder, he heard that it was young voices. Val’s girls. The air rushed from his lungs. Did that mean that Val was here, too? Should he confront her, force her to finally talk to him alone about what had happened? If she meant what she said, then that was it. He’d back off and they could go back to their pleasant antagonism. But he had to hear it from her, when there wasn’t anybody else around for her to keep up appearances.
“Look,” Ava said, bringing his attention back to her. “I get it. You’re worried and you have nobody to blame except Jackson.”
“That’s not it at all.”
“No?” Ava snorted and rolled her eyes. “And that’s why you come marching up here and start banging on my door and shouting like that? Because you’re not blaming my mate for what’s happening? I don’t want you here. There are other ways to get ahold of Jackson without charging up to his home and terrifying his nieces.”
Gabriel bit back a growl and lowered his voice so that the girls wouldn’t be able to hear. “I have tried other avenues. Jackson is deliberately avoiding me. I know there is more going on with the vampires than I’ve been told. I get that I’m not part of the Brotherhood anymore, but when it comes to vamps—”
“If you needed to know, I’m certain that Jackson would tell you.” But there was doubt in her eyes.
Gabriel took a step back, teeth bared in a grimace. “Whatever. Just pass the message onto Jackson. I need to talk to him. Right away. Tell him… tell him I’ll give him a freebie out of it.”
Ava frowned, but nodded. Gabriel turned on his heel and marched away. He felt himself trembling. This wasn’t the first time he’d offered Jackson a ‘freebie’. The promise to do something—anything, without questions—in exchange for a single action which may or may not give him something in return. He’d done it once before and Jackson had held onto that promise for years. But this situation was worth it. He needed to know what was happening if he was going to stop it.
He needed to know.
***
He was at the morgue, sadly looking over the bodies of the victims from the previous night, when Jackson and Val walked in. They both glared at him with distrust in their eyes, but all he could manage was to nod at them in relief. At least, to Jackson. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Val.
“Thank you for coming.”
Jackson snorted.
“The situation is getting worse.” Gabriel gestured at the two bodies. “Please… Let me help make sure these are the last two to die in whatever schemes Cromwell has.”
“We can handle Cromwell,” Jackson shot back, folding his beefy arms.
Frustration started to rise in Gabriel’s throat. It came out as a snarl. He still refused to look at Val directly, but he could see her distrustful sneer well enough. “Vampires are the threat here, Tornado. Not me.”
“I said—”
“So, when it was you against Typhoon, with your mate’s life at stake, it was fine for you to call me in for backup, but now when it’s bigger than one person? These two were married. They had a son that watched his parents kill each other because they were poisoned with vampire venom. This is about saving lives. Children’s lives. Don’t think I missed all the guards you had around your place earlier. You know this is dangerous.”
Val looked at the faces of the dead couple and Gabriel finally allowed his gaze to land on her. She looked troubled, more so than he’d seen in a while. Dark smudges bruised under her eyes and there were premature lines making her face look years older. He took a step toward her and she drew back, threatening eyes turning on him.
“You shouldn’t have called us in over this,” Jackson said. “It’s a tragedy, but if there was anything to tell you—”
“There is something. There is something to tell me and you’re not telling me.”
“We don’t need help from you.” It was Val’s turn to speak. “We don’t need help. Not from a coward who runs away and pouts when he’s beaten.”
Gabriel knew exactly what she was referring to. His wolf whimpered, a surprisingly submissive reaction when normally it would be raring for blood. It wanted her to listen, to understand. Bile rose in his throat, a bitter taste. He hadn’t told anybody why he had left the gang. They all made their assumptions and he hadn’t thought it necessary to correct them. Now, though...
“I didn’t leave the gang because Jackson beat me when I challenged him for the position of alpha.” He had m
eant to snarl it out, but it came out sounding tired. He shook his head. “I left because I knew if I didn’t, I’d end up killing him.”
Saying it out loud brought forward a rush of emotion. The strength of it made him reel, but he was glad to have finally said what he had been holding in for so long. He let out a slow breath, gaze flickering from Val to Jackson to see their reactions.
The two of them glanced at each other.
Jackson shrugged. “Hardly makes much of a difference, does it? We’ll be in touch.”
“No, you won’t,” Gabriel growled.
Neither of them replied to that as they walked away. Val hesitated at the door, but then only closed it. Alone with the dead, Gabriel stood growling softly. Now what?
***
Late that night, Gabriel was woken by a fierce pounding on his door. He had not been sleeping, but the noise still startled him. He got to his feet when suddenly a window shattered. His wolf surged forward, sizzling beneath the surface in case of an attack. He dropped into a crouch as a person sped into the room.
It was Val. Covered in blood, her clothes hanging in strips around her, indicating a partial shift. Her eyes were wide, horrified, and her jaw hung open. Her gaze roved the room several times before it focused on him. She skidded to a stop, panting hard.
“Val.” Gabriel moved to embrace her and she skipped back, away from him.
“They took my daughters.” Her voice was hardly more than a whisper. Suddenly she launched herself at him. Her whole body shook with sobs as she beat against his chest with her fists, not nearly at her full strength. “They took my daughters!”
Gabriel caught her wrists even as dread washed over him. “And we are going to get them back.”
Tears still streamed down her face, but Val nodded. Gabriel pulled her in close even as he started toward the gun cabinet in another room. He unlocked it and then opened the safe for the ammunition. Val, still sniffling, loaded herself up. Without a word, they headed outside again. Val slid into the passenger side of the police cruiser and hunched down so she couldn't be seen from outside.
“Where to?” Gabriel asked.
“My place.”
He nodded and headed there. From the corner of his eye, he saw Val shivering and shaking. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but didn’t know how. Eventually, she spoke.
“What did I say to you? Before Thunder arrived at the safe house. I know I said something awful. I just can’t remember.”
Gabriel frowned. “You said… that we only slept together because of the vampire venom. I don’t recall if there was anything else.”
“That’s not so bad. A lie, but not so bad.”
Gabriel flicked the sirens on and stepped on the gas, pushing it as fast as he dared. “Honestly what you said in the bar hurts a lot worse. Not that you care.”
Val straightened. “I do care. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say those things. Well, I meant to say them, but I didn’t mean the actual words. If that makes sense. God. I’m sorry, Gabriel. I am so sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with my head. I want you so bad that I can’t sleep at night, but whenever I see you, it’s like all this rage starts choking me.”
“I hurt your brother. I almost killed him.” Gabriel’s shoulders sagged. “I betrayed you. It’s only natural, Val. But… but it would be nice if you’d be a little more honest with other people.”
She let out a shaky laugh that quickly turned into a sob. “I can’t lose my girls,” she cried, pressing her hands to her eyes. If I lose them… then I’ve got nothing to live for. I can’t… I can’t lose them, Gabriel. Please, please help me get them back. I know I have no right to ask you, but please—”
Gabriel cupped her face with one hand while keeping an eye on the road. “I will do all I can, Val. I will not rest until your girls are back in your arms. Now. I assume Jackson will be at your place when we get there?”
“Yes.” She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t think he’ll be happy that I brought you.”
“Tough luck for him. He’ll understand. What about Thunder?” They were almost to Val’s place now and he eased off the gas. Various bikes were already parked on the road and lawn. Even from here, he saw the front door smashed in.
“Thunder went back to Ivywood.”
Gabriel nodded. He brought the cruiser to a halt and climbed out, Val beside him. Jackson appeared in the doorway. To Gabriel’s surprise, he looked relieved to see the two of them and strode forward. He grasped Gabriel’s arm and nodded.
“Looks like I’ll owe you a freebie after this,” he murmured.
Val laughed, once more choking on a sob. “You guys do know that sounds like a sex favor, right?”
She collapsed into sobs again. Jackson pulled her in close to his chest, his expression both fierce and at an utter loss. In this moment, he wasn’t an alpha. He was a big brother whose nieces were in danger and whose tough-as-nails sister was falling apart. Gabriel waited for a beat, but his wolf was already demanding he take over, so he did. This once wouldn’t hurt.
“What have you started to do?”
“I’ve got men out looking for Cromwell and other vampires. They picked up a trail. I also sent some others to the cave where Astrophel tried to kill Ava.”
Val pulled away from her brother, face determined. “Cromwell burned the contract of peace. He declared war on the Savage Brotherhood. He wants to reclaim vampire supremacy and Artemis can shift into a kite. He wants to sacrifice them to bring back ‘the master’, whoever that is. He’s not going to be dramatic like Astrophel was, he’ll have taken them into the heart of the mountain, so he can be assured of victory.”
Gabriel stared at her. His brain reeled from the information. That changed… everything. This wasn’t an attack on Coalfell anymore, this wasn’t about the Brotherhood wiping each other out. His wolf snarled, hackles rising. He wanted to shout at them both that this was information they ought to have given him before, but he made himself stay quiet. They should have told him, but that was beside the point now.
“Then the best way to get them back will be to infiltrate the vampire kingdom itself.”
Jackson ran a hand through his hair, eyes wild. “We’ll die if we try.”
“If we rush in like an army, yeah,” Gabriel agreed. “But Val is called Shadow for a reason and I’m pretty good at stealth. We go in alone.”
Jackson opened his mouth, but Val interrupted. “Yes. We go in alone.”
He closed his mouth again. His shoulders sagged. Gabriel could see he wanted to protest, but it was a credit to him and how well he knew his sister, that he didn’t. Val reached for his hand and gave her brother a small smile. Fear shone from her eyes, but it was quickly being consumed by determination.
“No matter what happens, I am going to make sure my daughters get out of there alive.”
Gabriel’s wolf whimpered. He reached out before he could stop himself and brushed his fingers against Val’s stomach. If he listened hard enough, he could almost hear the beating of her unborn child’s heart. He wanted to tell her to stay behind. To not risk herself or her child. But her daughters were in danger and he knew the only thing that could stop her from going after them was death.
“Get all of your children out,” he murmured. He’d die if he had to, but she had to live.
Val pressed a hand over his. She met his gaze. “My girls are our first priority. No matter what else, they get out. Even if it means you leave me behind. Otherwise, I’ll kill you myself.”
A surprised laugh bubbled up his throat. Without stopping to consider that Jackson was still watching them, Gabriel leaned forward. He brushed his lips against Val’s and she threw her arms around his neck. The kiss was passionate, desperate and full of things neither one could say. When they broke apart, Jackson looked like he had been slapped.
“Didn’t see that coming,” he mumbled, then his face hardened. “When you get back, we’ll have to have a long talk about this. Now get going.”
“Yes, sir.” Clutching Val’s hand, Gabriel raced back to his cruiser. Time was running out.
Chapter Eleven
Shadow
The cloying scent of vampire venom mixed with the buzz of cocaine made Val’s ears itch. She and Gabriel had rolled themselves in the tainted drugs to help mask their scent as they infiltrated the mountain. Though she hadn’t purposefully breathed any of the drugs in, there was a certain amount of transfer that was bound to happen.
The entrance to the vampire’s kingdom was easy to find. The scent of them was strong around the cave mouth and grisly skulls were carved into the opening. They slipped inside, and it soon became apparent that either this was a trap, or Cromwell wasn’t expecting anybody to attempt this. There was hardly anybody here. Once they’d killed a couple of vampire guards to find the path clear, Val started to get uneasy. What if they were in the wrong spot?
They continued on, until the low murmur of voices reached them. Then Gabriel suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm.
Val looked around for a trap, but the wolf’s eyes were only on her. His grip tightened as he spoke in a low voice. “Before we go and probably get ourselves killed, there is something I need to tell you.”
What the hell was he doing? “We don’t have time for this, Blizzard.”
A look crossed his face, but she didn’t know what it meant. “You can kill me later. My wolf wants you. It has for a long, long time. It’s more than mere lust, Val. It wants to be with you always, and it hurts every time you look at me with hatred. If we get out of this, then I think there might be a possibility that you and I are—”
“Stop.” Her leopard urged her to take his words and reciprocate them, but her heart pounded, and her head spun. This was the worst possible time for this conversation. Not when they didn’t know what they were going to find. “We don’t have time for this, Gabriel. You can pour your heart out when we get my girls out of here.”
He nodded once, and then leaned in. Her leopard pleaded with her to accept the kiss, to lean into it and pledge herself without words to him. Instead, she reared back and punched his shoulder, putting distance between them again. What was he thinking? Was it the cocaine? Maybe she should have come alone, if he couldn’t keep his mind focused on their mission.
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