It was the best they could do, short of going in and attacking, which would likely get them killed and the priests in trouble, if not injured or worse. “Okay.”
Luuk stopped Jameson when he would have started moving, and cupped his cheek. His dark eyes burned into Jameson as he leaned closer. “If I could have my way, we would go to the Regency. It was the most luxurious hotel here at one time. I would wrap you in warm blankets, and bathe your soft skin, and make love to you until neither of us could move. That is what I would wish to do if we knew the Fathers were in no danger.”
Jameson’s knee joints, the traitorous things, turned rather gelatinous and he clutched at Luuk’s hips. “I—” was as far as he got before Luuk’s mouth was crushed to his. Jameson mewled and curled closer to Luuk, everything in him going tight and hot. Luuk’s tongue speared into him, finding every one of his favourite spots. Luuk jerked him closer with an arm around his back, and he pushed a hard thigh between Jameson’s. Jameson rutted and whimpered when he couldn’t hold it in, then he tore his mouth away and panted as he tried to keep from coming in his pants.
“Sorry,” Luuk murmured, kissing Jameson’s temple. “I didn’t mean to get carried away.”
Jameson nodded, not trusting his voice yet. He’d open his mouth and squeak like a mouse, he just knew it.
Luuk held him steady until Jameson trusted his legs wouldn’t give out on him. Another few minutes and he was ready, able to run without pinching off a part of himself.
They began making their way back, cutting across several blocks before turning down a street parallel to the one the church was on. It hit Jameson then, and he knew Luuk, too, when they were across from the church. The alley was dark and grungy, but the scent of garbage couldn’t quite obliterate the hint of shifter carried on the wind.
“Goddamnit.” Luuk’s fear wrapped around Jameson like an arm, squeezing his chest and adding to his own concern. “Goddamnit, Jamie. I can’t leave the priests with them. But if we go in—”
“We could get them killed. That is true. Like it or not, we’re going to have to observe, and I do think that’d be better done from the rooftop. As close as these buildings are on this side of the street, we could probably make the jump from one to another if it became necessary.” Jameson could picture it, like a scene from an action movie. Probably, though, it’d be a heck of a lot scarier in real life, but he’d already faced some pretty terrifying things.
“Right. Okay. Up you go.” Luuk brought them to a fire escape and hooked his hands together for Jameson’s heel. Rather than argue that he didn’t want Luuk straining himself, Jameson accepted the leg up and quickly scaled the ladder to the rooftop.
Luuk was right behind him, and they settled between two large exhaust fans encased in brick on three of four sides. They could just make out the steps and door to the church. The night was mostly silent, a few vehicles rattling past but overall, Jameson thought they would have heard any sounds of abuse with their acute hearing. Unless the priests were gagged—
“Stop!” Luuk scolded, hooking a hand behind his neck. “Don’t think the worst, Jamie. Let’s try and have some faith. If nothing else, Piotr and Norbert would want that of us.”
And so they sat, and waited, and tried to believe a good outcome was possible for not only themselves, but Father Piotr and Father Norbert. Jameson had managed to calm the worst of his fears when a siren screamed and startled him and Luuk both. They pressed their hands to their ears, the high-pitched whining and clanging painful for them.
But it was more painful to see the emergency vehicle pull to a skidding stop in front of the church.
Chapter Fourteen
Luuk grabbed Jamie’s hand when Jamie would have headed for the ladder. “Wait. Let us see what’s going on here.”
“You know, Luuk. You know it’s one of the priests!” Jamie’s anger brought a sooty scent to the air as he glared from Luuk to the emergency workers hustling into the church.
“I’m afraid it is, yes, but let us see for sure first, and see who comes out besides our priests.” Luuk didn’t believe there was an injured shifter, at least not for the emergency crew. He frowned then movement on further down the street caught his eye. “Jamie, look.”
“What—” Jamie turned his head to see what Luuk had first noticed in his peripheral vision.
“I would lay diamonds to dust those aren’t humans.” Not with the way they were moving, stealth and speed and noses tipped up to sniff the air. And they were heading the way he and Jamie had come from. “Damn it!”
“They’re going to come right back to us, aren’t they?” Jamie scowled and tugged his hand in Luuk’s grip. “We did nothing to cover our scent, and moving against the wind then with it won’t make a difference with our footprints and—”
“It will be okay, love. We haven’t come this far to fall to them now. Look.” Luuk sucked in a breath as Jamie cursed softly as they took in Father Piotr’s pale form on the stretcher. “I will kill them.”
Without another word, mental or otherwise, Luuk and Jamie headed to the ladder. The shifters on their trail would find them, and now he saw two of them drop back. Those shifters turned and began running back to the church.
It would be better to take on two then the others rather than have a half-dozen men trying to kill him and Jamie at the same time. Luuk’s heart pounded once, then he forced himself to calm. Somehow he would make this up to Jamie. They would survive the coming battle. Luuk would accept no other possible outcome. He would take Jamie somewhere so they could gather their strength, see if there truly was anyone helping them after all these years.
Jamie’s faith in him, in them, was as unwavering as Luuk’s. They didn’t even try to hide as they hit the ground running. The two shifters on their way back would go to the other side of the church, and they wouldn’t see Jamie and him running. Luuk was hoping for the advantage of surprise.
Within seconds they were darting up the steps. Luuk jerked the door open and almost collided with Father Norbert. “What happened?” he gritted out, noting the priest’s redrimmed eyes.
Father Norbert was shaking, wiping at his cheeks. “Father Piotr and I did not tell them anything. When they—the shifters looking for you and Jameson—would not leave, Piotr became upset. His heart is not strong like it once was. He was angry at their disrespect for the house of God, for their hatred. It was too much. I—I do not know if…”
Luuk blinked against the tears stinging his eyes. He couldn’t give in to them right now. Jamie sniffled softly and hugged Father Norbert, and the priest began to sob quietly.
“They are coming back,” Luuk had to say, not because he wanted to, but if they didn’t get Father Norbert to some safe place soon they would lose their advantage.
“The bedroom we used,” Jamie said, patting Norbert’s shoulder. “Please, go. We will try to respect the church, but—”
“But you cannot let them kill you, either of you.” Father Norbert’s eyes flashed and he raised his head. “And right now, I am not so concerned with the church. If you try to follow such rules…”
Luuk was well aware of the consequences. He nodded and Father Norbert, proving himself more spry than he appeared, dashed up the stairs. As soon as Luuk heard the lock slip into place, he and Jamie went to wait. They shouldn’t have but mere minutes.
He and Jamie each took a spot behind a broad counter. He didn’t like having to squat, but there was no other way to remain fully hidden. When the back door creaked open, Luuk looked at Jamie. “One, two, three!”
If Luuk had thought for even a second that these shifters weren’t their enemies he and Jamie would have been dead. They’d barely stood to leap when the other two yelled and came at them. The knives in their hands were proof they had no intentions of being friendly.
Luuk roared with a fury he’d carried for years, and he slapped at the first shifter’s hand. Alpha Anax that he was, despite the fucking coup, Luuk brought his claws forth and tore through skin and tissue, r
ipped away tendons and fractured bones.
His would be assailant screamed and started to shift. Luuk wasn’t letting that happen. He lunged and threw his entire weight at the other shifter, taking him down. “Shift and I’ll tear your throat out,” he growled as he held the man by his neck. The tips of his claws cut into the skin and freed trickles of blood. “You!” he snapped at the one Jamie was fighting. Jamie was beating the life out of him, almost. Luuk’s heart swelled with pride and concern.
“Jamie, stop.”
Huffing, Jamie did, thought he stayed straddling the unconscious shifter. “He almost stabbed you, Luuk, when you dove onto that jerk. He’s lucky I stopped when you said to because I wanted to tear him in half.”
“I know exactly how you feel, but more bloodshed…” Luuk shook his head. “Not in the church, if we can help it.”
“So what do we do?” Jamie asked. “The other ones will be back soon, right?”
Luuk nodded. “But we won’t be here, and neither will Father Norbert. Make sure your man is unconscious.” Luuk grinned down at his captive. “Say goodnight.”
“Good—” A fist to the temple ended the idiot’s parroting.
“Let’s get them up to the room. We’ll bind them with an entire roll of that sticky tape. Sticky side to skin, of course. Should make shifting very difficult, if not impossible.” He wasn’t sure about that, but it would have to hurt more.
Jamie lifted his burden and Luuk did the same. They made it up the stairs and Luuk scowled when Father Norbert opened the bedroom door before they got there. “That wasn’t very”—he bit back ‘smart’—“safe.”
Father Norbert shrugged. “I knew it was you.”
Luuk didn’t have time to argue. “Can you grab the tape?”
They didn’t totally bind the unconscious shifters, but it was a near thing. Luuk grunted and hooked his arm through Father Norbert’s. “Now, we all leave this time.”
Father Norbert tried to dig his heels in but Luuk and Jamie both manoeuvred him to the window. “Think, Father Norbert, please. We need to leave, at least for a little while. Jamie and I can’t leave you here. The other shifters are returning and they know we were here. What do you think they will do to you? And what is the point of letting them do it?” He leaned in until he was almost nose to nose with the priest. “Pride?”
“Revenge,” Norbert muttered with a huff. “Not that I can have that. I haven’t the strength. Even though it is a sin…”
“You don’t mean that,” Jamie said earnestly. “You don’t. You’re hurting and angry, and scared. We have been exactly where you are, for years now. You can’t let those feelings win, you can’t. Now let’s go so we can find somewhere to rest and check up on Father Piotr.”
Father Norbert had turned a fine shade of red as Jamie spoke, and now he murmured an apology before stepping to the window. “I am sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologise for,” Luuk told him. “We brought trouble here, and if we don’t hurry, there’s going to be a whole lot more of it.”
He and Jamie helped Father Norbert to the ledge then quickly joined him. “Try going to the other side. Perhaps the shifters will only think to check the way we came down the first time.” Luuk scouted the area for vehicles. He hoped the Father wouldn’t freak out on him, but they needed a way to escape other than on foot. That meant stealing a car, temporarily. He spotted a likely car and smiled as he imagined what he’d have to do to get Father Norbert to get in the damn thing. At least he could some amusement in this horrid day.
Chapter Fifteen
Jameson was a little awed at Luuk’s ability to break into and hotwire a car. Just another skill he hadn’t known his mate had. Even their mental link didn’t automatically fill them in on every little thing about each other, which was why they still got to discover interesting titbits sometimes.
Luuk and Jameson had both been surprised when Father Norbert didn’t protest. The priest had dove right into the backseat and hollered “Go!” the second he’d been able to. “I just want to keep everyone alive,” he explained when Jameson had gaped at him. “So please, hurry up!”
Jameson had seen the church doors opening at the same time Luuk did. Almost an hour later, after Luuk was sure they hadn’t been followed, he turned in at an expensive-looking hotel. It looked expensive to Jameson, at least, but he was long since unused to luxuries.
“Father, if you will go get two rooms?” Luuk tipped his chin at Jameson. Jameson dug out a stack of money. “This is all Monopoly money to me.” Luuk snorted and plucked out several bills that he then handed to Father Norbert.
“This should be enough. Perhaps they won’t give you grief about not having any ID—” “I have my ID with me, but it would perhaps be best if it wasn’t necessary to use.”
Father Norbert tugged at his cassock—Jameson still wasn’t sure that was what the thing was
called. He’d been raised up Baptist and Catholicism had been the root of all evil when it
came to religions, at least to the Baptists he knew. Jameson believed people were evil, some
of them, at least. He wasn’t wont to condemn an entire religion.
“I’m going to ditch the car, then Jamie and I will catch a cab here. Less chance of leaving
a scent trail.” Luuk waited until the priest was inside the hotel before he pulled away. “Let’s hope they have rooms,” Jameson muttered. “We need some cell phones, maybe.
One of those prepaid kinds if they have them here. You could call Maarten, let him know
we’re alive—”
“Maybe,” Luuk said, turning into what looked like an alley. “If it can’t be traced. I
won’t put him or us in more danger than we’re already in. The Fathers, either. Come on, we
need to get out of this car before the police track it down.”
“Okay.” Jameson opened the glovebox and found a few napkins. “Fingerprints?” “Shit.” Luuk took one and began rubbing at the surfaces he’d touched. “Not that my
prints are on record or anything, but I don’t want them to be, either. Is there anything in
there with the owner’s name and address on it? I would like to reimburse them for the
inconvenience I’ve surely caused.”
Jameson found a pen in the glovebox and the registration as well. He wrote down the
owner’s name and address then wiped his side of the car down. Once done, he then went to
the back seat and cleaned it as well. They tucked their napkins in their duffle then headed
out of the other end of the alley where they scaled a fence. “This way.” Jameson jogged out of
the stuffy little area and skidded to a halt before he could slam into a man walking down the
sidewalk. “Sorry.”
The man waved a hand and kept going. Jameson looked at Luuk. “Now what? Cab?” “Yes.” Luuk took his elbow in hand and began steering them away from the direction
of the hotel. “There’s a store right ahead. We could check there quickly, then get a cab. I don’t
want to leave Father Norbert alone for long in case there are problems.”
“You think we were followed somehow after all? Why did we even leave him then?”
Jameson scowled at the ground, angry and tired and scared.
“No one followed us,” Luuk said with more patience than Jameson figured he
deserved. Luuk wouldn’t have put the priest at risk. “But if there are no rooms or he got a
room and called the hospital, and…”
“No.” Jameson almost stopped and stomped his foot, he was so frustrated. “Father Piotr
can’t die, Luuk. Not now. I don’t think I can handle one more loss.” The sob startled him. He
hadn’t felt the buildup, the burn in his chest or nose or eyes. He’d simply opened his mouth
to breathe, and now he was falling apart on the damned sidewalk.
“Jamie, love.”
Jameson
didn’t know where they were, if Luuk had moved them off the sidewalk or
what, because his eyes were blurred with tears and he couldn’t think. Luuk’s arms around
him were the anchor he needed, though, the warmth and love flowing from his mate into
Jameson the reassurance that helped him to calm down before he truly lost it and howled
and screamed and cursed Fate.
“Sorry,” Jameson sniffled, rubbing his face on Luuk’s chest. “I don’t know what’s
wrong with me.”
Luuk’s arms tightened and he growled, “There’s nothing wrong with you, Jamie.
Nothing. Look at what you have been through. You’ve earned the right to shed more than a
few tears.”
Luuk wasn’t crying, though. Jameson wished he was as strong as Luuk, but he
supposed they wouldn’t have worked so well then, probably. And maybe he was stronger in
ways that Luuk wasn’t. Jameson liked to believe he and Luuk balanced each other out, but
many times, when a dark mood hit him, Jameson knew he wasn’t Luuk’s equal in any way. “You are,” Luuk snarled, his temper flowing into Jameson along with the love and
adoration. “Don’t think less of yourself for this. You are every bit my equal, and a better man
than I am. Fate wouldn’t have matched us together were we not perfectly suited for each
other. I never cared for a weak-willed or weak-minded man before we found each other,
don’t believe I was handed either of those types as a mate, Jamie.”
Jameson sniffled again and scrubbed at his nose with his forearm. “Okay. But I’m still
sorry I fell apart.”
“You did so because you have a loving heart and worry for Piotr.” Luuk tipped his chin
up and Jameson had a split second to marvel at the warmth in his eyes before he closed his
own as Luuk kissed him. It was a chaste kiss, but Jameson needed it. When Luuk raised his
Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 07 - Revolution Page 6