He nodded. “Yeah. He can’t sense my mother since he was held captive by HARP.” Lincoln glanced out the window. “I need to go back over there for a tattoo, I was hoping I could pick it up after if you do find one.”
Liz smiled, leaning against the counter. “I’m not sure I have anything specific to angels. I’ll see what I can find.”
“Thank you. I’ll be back as soon as I’m done.”
* * * *
Jones and Mena stalked through the woods looking for any signs of life. There were traces at the smaller house that was supposed to be the young man’s, but everyone had left. The most recent people there were all angels.
When they went next door they found traces of life fading. Jones paused, tilting his head.
“Odd. Why is it that this vampire is falling asleep close to noon? A Shadowstalker, and one who isn’t old enough for the sun to stop ruling her sleep patterns. Unless it has something to do with her being with a Nephilim.”
“Maybe. Though what?”
“Not a clue, but we’ll have to go in there and find out. No one else is around. Let’s go short-circuit the security, then have the crew meet us.”
Silently, they snuck around to the side. Security wound tight around the building, both magical and electrical. They would only have a few uninterrupted minutes. In and out, fast and dirty.
“Call our ride. We need them here by the time I step outside with our cargo.” Jones gave her a cruel smile. “You stand watch.”
She dialed and he moved around the house until he sensed her beyond the wall. Not wanting to risk burn Victoria to a crisp, he kept going until he was where the next room would be before placing his hand on the steel shutter and forcing his will. The window covering busted inward with the glass.
Hopping over the ledge, he felt the silent alarm going. Rushing through the room, he burst into the hall, and then her room. He saw the sprawl of dark hair, the scent of sex still thick in the air. He wound the blanket around her and ran through the house.
As he opened the door, the blackout van pulled up.
Mena threw open the back and they all jumped in as the van kicked into gear before the doors were shut.
“Fast as you can go, away from town. It won’t take long for them to catch up.”
Clark nodded. “I’ve already worked the illusion. They’ll see nothing but a VW bus painted with flowers. Doubt anyone will suspect anything from us.”
“Perfect. Take us back to the pits.”
* * * *
Lincoln’s heart started to pound in his chest. His eyes snapped open, and Fallon placed a hand on his shoulder to ease him back in the seat.
She frowned. “I’m not done yet. You’re a champ, and have done remarkably well. Let me finish.”
“Not that. Something’s wrong with Victoria.” He shook his head, lying back and rubbing his hand over his face.
Then he heard sirens. What if there’s a fire. Or maybe someone broke in. What if she’s exposed to the sun?
Gritting his teeth, he asked, “How long until you finish?”
“Five minutes. Lincoln, relax. You don’t know for sure that’s where they’re going, and even if they are, what can you do about it right now?” Her voice was calm and even while she continued her work.
Two minutes later, she wiped his chest off and smeared some ointment over the fresh tattoo. “Here. Keep this, when the image starts feeling itchy, use it.”
Sitting up, he nodded, and took a look in the mirror. “Fallon, it’s stunning. Thank you.”
“Call Jess, tell her you need to go find out what’s going on. She’ll understand.”
“I’ll do it on my way. Thanks again.” He pulled on his shirt and hurried outside. He grabbed his phone, but before he could dial, Preston was on the line. “Where are you?”
“Walking out of Inktastic.”
“Come to Victoria’s.”
“I’ll be there in a few.” He slid into his car and dialed Jess.
“Don’t even worry about it,” Jess answered, probably aware of the situation either through a vision or Slater. “She’s more important than you being here today. Plus, it’s slow and you’ll stress me out if you’re here worrying. Take care of Victoria.”
He let out a strained laugh. “One thing. Is she going to be all right?”
“Lincoln, I hate doing this, but yes. You two will be fine. Go. Don’t waste any more time on the phone.”
“Thanks.” He hung up, and started wondering who wasn’t going to be okay. Jess wouldn’t tell him, and in the past he understood why. Now, he wanted to argue, but wouldn’t. Her logic was sound, while his was desperate.
He pulled up at Victoria’s moments later. Slater, Hayden, and Preston were all there.
Preston leaned against the hood of his Maserati shaking his head. Hayden stood beside him with a scowl. Slater paced the yard, pushing his hands through his wet hair.
Lincoln didn’t stop. He walked into the house, and back to her room. Victoria and a blanket were gone.
Clenching his jaw, he closed his eyes, and drew a slow breath.
Preston’s voice nearly jolted him out of his skin. “They came in through the next room’s window. There’s no sign of struggle or pain, but something is different about Victoria. Her essence doesn’t feel the same.”
“What do you mean?” Lincoln asked with a snarl.
His brow creased as he shrugged. “Like she’s not all vampire anymore.”
“What?”
Jophiel and Hadraniel appeared beside them. Jophiel nodded. “She is your soul companion. Her physical make up is changing. She’ll still need blood to survive, but her abilities will change. For starters, she didn’t die at dawn. There will be other differences, but I can’t anticipate what.”
“Didn’t die at dawn?” Slater asked slowly, like it was a foreign concept.
Lincoln turned to him, shaking his head. “She warned me she would. Victoria was warm when I woke up this morning, curled around me, snoring.”
He frowned. “What the hell is a soul companion?”
Hadraniel patted Slater on the back. “Something like the angel version of werewolf mates.”
“But he’s half?”
Nodding, Hadraniel shrugged. “Apparently doesn’t matter, does it?”
Lincoln turned to his father. “Is it possible for me to track her?”
Jophiel bobbled his head side-to-side. “I’m not sure, Lincoln. It works differently for each of us, and there are obviously things that can prevent a bond from working the way it normally would.”
“But if I could? What do I do?”
“Focus on her, on what you feel when you’re with her.”
“And will I get a direction? Or what?”
“Again, that depends. I don’t have an absolute answer for you. Sometimes I would see where your mother was, other times I got the direction. For a vampire, I can’t begin to guess how tracking might work.”
Lincoln took a deep breath. “A few minutes before I heard the sirens I sensed something was wrong. My heart started racing, and I had the sensation I was moving, but I wasn’t, until I sat up. Fallon made me lay back.” He shook his head. “Can I detect her if she isn’t awake?”
“Can’t hurt to try,” Slater offered.
Lincoln sucked in a breath and envisioned Victoria curled in bed that morning and how it felt to hold her in his arms. The scent of her skin, the rhythmic purr of her breathing.
He felt her being jostled in a moving vehicle, but he wasn’t getting a location, or direction. She was trapped in unconsciousness, trying to wake up but unable.
He shook his head. “I can feel her. In a moving vehicle. They’re taking her somewhere. I can’t tell where yet, or even what direction.”
Hadraniel sighed. “It might be nightfall before we can get the location then. Unless you have an idea where HARP may be holed up now?”
Preston answered, “Unfortunately we don’t.”
Slater asked, “How man
y HARP cells have you taken down?”
“Over the centuries, many. More always spring up. Though Jones’ group is one of the worst.”
Jophiel nodded. “Jones is half-fear demon, half-fae. He feeds off the chaos and fear he causes. His partner, Mena, feeds off pain. They have many half-demons and other hybrids. Some have been made into wereanimals, others into vampires. Last I saw, they animated several ghouls from their hybrids who died. He’s created the group specifically to have as many different ways to combat and bring in Others as possible.”
“Great.” Preston groaned. “We’re looking for a megalomaniac with a penchant for playing mad scientist.”
Hadraniel snorted. “You nailed it.”
Lincoln fisted his hands and sucked in a breath. “What do we do until nightfall? That’s hours away and I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that kind of patience.”
Slater’s brow arched as he shot him a look. “Keep trying to sense her.”
Jophiel nodded. “If they take her underground, which is likely, she may wake early. We can hope. Faster we get her back, the better.”
Lincoln almost asked what Jones and his crew might do to Victoria. Fear kept his tongue cemented to the roof of his mouth. There were already a million horrible images scrolling through his head. With her past, how would captivity affect her?
With nothing better to do for the moment, Lincoln walked through the rest of the house, looking for any clue about their destination. At least Declan was safe, and untouched. He came back to the group and asked Hayden, “What exactly happened?”
Hayden gave him a dark look. “Whoever took her knew they had minutes to break in, abduct her, and go. There’s no sign of smoke, or burning, so they knew what they’re doing. They broke in, grabbed her, and left through the front door where someone was ready with a large vehicle. Based on the tire marks, they tore out of here as quickly as they could.”
“Who took her?”
Preston shook his head. “I sense two hybrids. Someone drove in, but I couldn’t get a read on them because they never left the vehicle. Initially they headed back toward Seattle, but they could have changed roads at any time.”
Lincoln scrubbed his hands over his face, then hair. “I’ll keep reaching for her. I hope we find her, soon.”
Hadraniel stepped forward and squeezed his shoulder. “Whatever happens, we’ll take care of her.”
Chapter 19
Everything was black. Sounds were distant, muffled. Something was wrong. This wasn’t her bed. The air was stuffy, not circulating. She was wrapped tight in something that smelled of her and Lincoln, and though she couldn’t see the sky, she knew the sun was up.
Why the hell am I conscious at all?
Not that she could pry her eyes open, but she could sense what was going on around her. People were talking. Didn’t recognize their voices, but her guess was HARP.
How did they get in? And what about Declan?
Everything shifted as she was heaved over someone’s shoulder. She wanted to kick and claw him, force him to put her down. Better yet, dissipate into shadows before coming at him to fight. However, she couldn’t move, couldn’t open her eyes, nothing.
Panic flowed through her veins. She was trapped.
And Lincoln. What will he think when he learns I’m gone?
She was abruptly placed on a hard mattress, then she heard the clang of a door. Through her eyelids she saw bright light. She wanted to laugh. If they thought that would contain her, they had another thing coming.
Shadowstalker or not, she hadn’t fed off enough Others to have light cripple her. Now, she needed to wake the hell up.
There were creatures nearby, but she couldn’t quite figure out what. Maybe there were too many to pinpoint one. Either way, the situation was bad.
“What exactly are you?” The voice was deep, harboring a sound between a hiss and growl. “Certainly not human. Not a simple vampire, but you’re more than a Shadowstalker.”
A woman snipped, “Does it matter what the bitch is? We’ll use her to create stronger hunters either way, Jones.”
“Ah, are you jealous, Mena?”
“It’s not that, and you know it.” But there was rage boiling below the surface. She was the one to watch. “Here, put these on her. The sight of her body is offensive.”
“As you wish.” His hands lingered too long as he moved her comatose body to dress her in soft, form-fitting clothes. A light top, and some sort of stretchy pants.
Expect payback asshole.
“Come, we need to prepare the chosen ones,” Mena snarled.
Victoria was left alone, and fought harder to struggle out the confines of sleep.
* * * *
“Mena, why are you being this way? We need her blood to improve Luke and Sena.” Jones nudged her shoulder. “It’s like you think I’m trying to replace you.”
Her eyes cut over, blazing orange like her cat’s. “I know you want her fear, but lay one hand on her in any way that doesn’t bring pain, and you will lose it.”
“Threats, always with the threats. I love it when you’re jealous, but you should realize by now, I’ll never replace you.”
She snorted. “She may be a Shadowstalker, but she hasn’t fed from any Others in a long time. If she were to change another, it may not have the desired effect.”
“One way to find out. We need to hurry and get these two in place so we can begin. Sundown is in a couple hours. She’s more than a century changed, and we’re far enough underground that she’s going to wake early. We have little time.”
“Remember what I said,” she hissed.
* * * *
Lincoln snapped his keys off the counter. They were currently at Slater’s house but he knew where he needed to be. Or rather, approximately. He could sense where she was now, like a rope tied around his waist, tugging him to her.
He could hear her in his head. She attempted to talk herself into being calm, while fighting her way back to the surface of consciousness.
“Time to go,” he announced.
Slater moved in front of him, and took his shoulders. “Slow down. It’s not that simple. We can’t go running off without knowing exactly where we’re going.”
“He’s got a point,” Preston said.
Lincoln ground his teeth and shook his head. “How am I supposed to sit still when I have an idea of where we need to be going? I need to get to her and stop whatever they’re planning to do.”
Jophiel perked up. “You’re getting more than a location, aren’t you?”
“I can hear her in my head. She’s calm, for now, but I can feel the panic edging in. I need to get to her.”
Robert clasped a hand on his shoulder. “What can you see?”
“She can’t open her eyes. There are sounds. Muffled voices. She’s not fully conscious but it feels like I’m being pulled to her.”
“I need you to trust me. I’m going to go into your head and see what I can find. I’m bringing Preston with me. He may be able to track her that way. Do you consent?”
“Yes.”
Preston and Robert both touched Lincoln and next thing he knew he was lost in the dark, trying to reach for the surface. Everything went in rewind. Motions felt backwards.
This wasn’t his head. Through his bond, they were in Victoria’s. He heard Robert’s voice. “Relax. This isn’t common, but is better than trying to get clues from you. We have a direct link.”
He nodded, afraid to speak.
Lincoln, she whispered in his head—her head. Are you okay?
Yeah, he answered back. We’re coming for you. We’re trying to figure out where you are. Do you have any clues?
No. Nothing. Her tone rose with each syllable.
Robert’s voice was soft, Stay calm, Victoria. I’ve almost got enough information.
An inhuman voice outside her head entered the mix. “Restrain her. I need her blood.”
“No!” Lincoln shouted, falling on his butt. He was fir
mly back in his head. Glaring up at Robert, he demanded, “Tell me you know where we’re going.”
Slater grabbed his hand and yanked him to his feet.
Preston started for the door, nodding. “Yeah, we need to drive, there’s too many of us for Robert to flash all of us. It’s not far. Let’s go.”
“We’ll follow our own way,” Jophiel answered.
Lincoln wasn’t sure if that was a comfort or not.
Hayden nodded to his SUV. “Let me drive.”
“I’ll co-pilot,” Preston said.
Lincoln started for the backseat. “As long as we hurry, I don’t care. Let’s go.”
Chapter 20
Victoria was dazed, but nearing consciousness. Lincoln was in her head, his presence comforting.
The door creaked open. Wheels rolled over the floor. Her skin crawled as people entered. The same two from earlier, Jones and Mena, plus two more wild, mixed Others.
Another door, to what she assumed was some sort of cell, clanged opened. She felt someone close the distance.
There was a hiss from Jones. “Restrain her. I need her blood.”
Lincoln’s rage tore through her, and then she was alone in her head. Her eyes snapped open as a tall, hard woman walked toward her. She was built like a weapon. Her mouth twisted in a sneer. Delicate-looking kitty fangs matched sharpened claws. Definitely some kind of cat-like creature, but she didn’t feel like a werecat.
The door clanged shut as Mena reached for her. Victoria threw her arm out and struck a chopping blow to her throat with the side of her hand.
Before Mena could recover, she blew past her in a swirl of shadows. When Victoria reformed, she grabbed a handful of brown hair and threw several kidney punches in rapid succession.
Mena reached behind her, grabbing Victoria’s wrist with those sharpened claws. The points dug deeper as she shifted into some kind of leopard-woman.
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