“Then we’re going to have problems. You can’t protect her.” Stephan flicked his hands and claws replaced the fingers.
Jax laughed. “Nice trick, but guess what,” he mirrored the motions with the same results. “I can do it too.” He dropped to a fighting stance. “You can’t take me.”
Garret grinned, stepping out from behind Stephan. “You think that you can take both of us?”
Jax crouched and took a deep breath. Centering his thoughts, he channeled his panther. The beast inside him snarled at the idea of someone wanting to hurt his mate. He’d do anything to protect her. “Try me.”
Stephan launched himself forward and swiped at Jaxon’s stomach. Catching his claws with his own, Jax pushed Stephan back into Garret. The panther inside him told Jax to run, that he couldn’t win this fight, but when he turned to leave the hotel room he found a fully shifted panther was blocking his way. “You must be Sarah.”
He backed up, and cried out as claws pierced his stomach. He looked down at the blood and his panther lost it. He pulled away from the claws and spun around to see which brother they belonged to.
Garret stood there examining the blood dripping down the claws. “Smells normal, means you’re not an immortal. Goodie, means we can kill you.”
Stephan snarled. “No, let him suffer.” He rushed Jax who stumbled back and over Sarah. Shifting as he landed, he let out a roar and Sarah backed away. He turned his gaze to the brothers and bounded towards the closest one. Stephan caught him, but stumbled back. Jax used his momentum to take the male to the ground and went to tear out Stephan’s throat, but was pulled away and thrown into the wall.
He crashed to the ground. Struggling to his feet he shook his head to fight off the exploding pain there. He let out a growl as Garret’s claws caught him in the side. Jax snapped at Garret as he laughed. Jax crouched but was taken out from the side by Sarah. Her weak attempt to pin him was easily recovered from, but her jaw locked around his foot. The pain shot up his leg and he bit the top of her neck, tearing her away from him. He crouched in the corner. Favoring the front left paw, he snarled as Garret closed in.
“Hope you said goodbye to Kass.” He laughed and went to swipe at the downed panther, and then the phone rang.
The entire room froze. Stephan picked up the phone. “Yes? Oh, no, I’m sorry for that. No, no, it was just the TV.” He paused. “Why would there be a fight in our room? No reason the get the authorities involved. Oh, fuck, you’re kidding me.” Another pause and Steven slammed the receiver down. “Clear out, now, leave him. One of the other customers called the police because of the noise.”
Jax watched as they gathered a few things and then turned to Sarah. Stephan knelt by her. “This is going to hurt, sister, but I promise I’ll take care of you after.” He put a hand on her head and closed his eyes. Jax watched as the panther whined and the bones started shifting under the fur. The familiar cracks and pops told him that she was being forced back into human form, as the fur retreated he could see that her hair remained the same black color of her cat. She passed out in Stephan’s arms. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped her in it as Garret led the way out.
Jax closed his eyes, calling on the human inside him. His human form swallowed his panther, but left him shaking from the pain of the injuries. Stumbling to his feet, he knew he’d attract unwanted attention stumbling naked through the hotel, so he grabbed some discarded clothes and dressed. He searched the ruins of his clothes and found his phone. He slid open the balcony door and stepped out into the cold night air. Jumping to the street below him, Jax landed with a grunt. Cradling his wrist to his chest he started to stumble down the alley, ignoring the trail of blood he left.
A shadow appeared in front of him, making Jax look up. “Lucius?”
The vampire stepped out of the shadows and looked down at him. “Look what I found, a kitty.” He snarled down at him. “What have you been up to?”
“Can we talk about this later? I’m bleeding out.” He leaned against the alley wall. “And the cops are coming. I’d hate to have to explain all this to humans.”
Lucius grabbed him by the shirt and flashed them back to the manor. Throwing him to the ground once they materialized, Lucius snarled down at him. “Explain. The scent of Kass’ family is all over you. What the hell have you been up to?”
“I went to see them.”
“Why?”
Jax leaned his head on the floor. The cold tile against his skin helped clear his head. He calmed his breathing, trying to work through the pain. “To get them to leave Kass alone.”
“You’ve been working for them?” Lucius knelt in front of him. After a beat of silence he grabbed a hand full of Jax’s hair and pulled his head up. “Answer me.”
“Yes, I went back to tell them I didn’t want the job any longer. I hadn’t known they were out to hurt Kass. I thought they just wanted their family back and you were keeping that from happening.” He glanced at the vampire. “I need help, please, I can’t heal all these wounds.”
Lucius gave a wicked grin. “Give me a reason I shouldn’t drain the rest of your blood.”
“Because I didn’t know and I won’t let them hurt her. I don’t want anything to hurt her.” His cat stirred inside him, trying to hold on. “Please.”
“You will stay away from her.” Lucius straightened and backed away. “Agreed?”
Jax closed his eyes. The thought of staying away from Kass made a different pain spread in his chest. “Agreed.”
The vampire disappeared and then reappeared with bandages, water and a cloth. “Stupid to go up against two shifters of that clan.”
“Three.”
“Three?” Lucius asked as he started with the stomach wound, cleaning the blood off and bandaging it. “Sarah was there as well then.”
Jax tried not to arch at the pain. “Yes, she didn’t have control though, it’s almost like she was a new shifter.”
“She’s apparently being taught control, but has spent too much time in kitty form, according to Kass.” He moved to the wound on Jax’s wrist. “Took a bite out of you, did she?”
“Where’s Kass?”
Lucius put unnecessary pressure on the wrist. “She’s on a hunt, won’t be back until morning, plenty of time to get you patched up and out of the way.”
“Of course she is, off being your little killer.” Jax whispered and closed his eyes. “Why does her family want her? One of the brothers said power.”
“She’s special, her mother was special. Originally her family wanted her killed, but now I think because of the war, they have realized she could be an asset to them.” Lucius tugged on the bandage.
Jax gave a lazy smile. “Yeah, she really is special.” His eyes drifted shut as his body told him sleep would help him heal.
“And you’re going to stay away from her.” Lucius reminded him.
Jax opened his eyes. “Yeah, and I’m going to stay away from her. You going to be able to take care of the clan?”
“Yes, as long as Kass listens to me, I can protect her.” He started out of the room. “Be somewhere else come sunrise, Jax.”
She listened to the sound of feet against the concrete as she crouched by the bush, hidden in the shadows. Kass and her panther both agreed that they needed to wait. The woman needed to be a little bit closer before they tore out her throat. Kass wiggled her hind end further down. Her tail twitched back and forth as the shadow of the human came closer. Just two more steps. One more step. Kassity pounced and took the screaming human out. The human side tried to hesitate, but her panther counterpart decided it was time to strike and tore out the woman’s throat.
The blood felt warm as it slid down her throat, leaving a burning in her stomach, but it helped calm her panther. Kass looked down at her kill and lapped up the blood around the woman’s neck. Fighting a losing battle, Kass couldn’t control her panther’s thoughts of eating the rest of the human. A scream made her ears twitch and her eyes left her prey. A child stood on
the side of the road watching her. She pushed away from the body, her eyes meeting the wide frightened eyes of the little human. The smell of fear filled her senses as her nostrils flared. Her panther wanted to pursue the scared human, but Kass managed to squash that feeling down and run to the alley, using trash cans to help her over a wooden fence at the end and disappear into the night.
Kass stumbled into the mansion, her vision blurry and motions shaking. A familiar smell hit her nose, but she ignored it. She couldn’t believe Jax would come back here, not after he disappeared right after they...she shook her head and forced her door open. The content beast in her entertained the idea of following the scent, but exhaustion won out. Collapsing on the bed she closed her eyes, praying for sleep to take her before she thought about her kill. She groaned as she recalled the way that the flesh tore and the blood splattered. Worst of all she remembered the wide, frightened eyes of the male child as he took in the horror. He couldn’t have been more than five. Faster than she thought was possible she was in her bathroom, hunched over the toilet emptying the contents of her stomach. After a while the vomiting turned to dry heaves. Wiping the sweat from her forehead she found her way back to the bed. She curled up and let the silence take her.
Quinn tapped his fingers against the arm of his chair. His three children were standing in front of him, each of them looking guilty. Sarah’s hands were clenched as she tried not to scratch at the silver collar at her neck, but her eyes never left the ground. He called his experiment with her a failure because she acted more like a changed shifter than a born one. Something he hadn’t expected. His sons on the other hand he expected more of. Garrett and Stephan were both nursing wounds from another panther.
“So he mated her.”
“So he says.” Garrett muttered. “He returned the money to us and claims that he’s done.”
Thinking, Quinn drummed his fingers more. “We need her so we can deliver her to The Circle. She is the strongest of our kind.”
Stephan growled. “Well, what do you want us to do? The mercenary has gone soft and Kassity is under Lucius’ protection.”
“We’ll have to go get her ourselves. She knows that we’re after her. She’ll panic and screw up. Especially if she’s lost touch with her panther.”
Garrett’s eyes widened just a touch. “We’re talking about kidnapping Lucius’ prized cat. That’s different than Jaxon coaxing her out.”
“I didn’t expect the mercenary to actually accomplish that. Once The Circle has Kassity we will be protected. Lucius won’t be able to touch us.”
Stephan bounced on the balls of his feet. “So what? We just go in and drag her out of the territory?”
“Silver cage and drugs, boys. Just wait for her to fuck up.” Quinn leaned back in his chair. “In the meanwhile, I’ll continue working with Sarah.” He saw his daughter stiffen at his words and he chuckled. “We’ll make a warrior out of you yet.”
Chapter Ten
“Kassity.”
Kass groaned and rolled over as she pulled the blanket over her head, trying to ignore Lucius’ voice.
“Kassity.” He nudged her in the back with his foot. “Get up.”
“I don’t want to. Late night. Don’t feel good. Go away.” She grumbled from under the blanket. “And I’m still naked.”
He chuckled. “Not like I haven’t seen it before. Now get up.”
She uncovered her head and rolled over to look at him. “What part of ‘I don’t want to’ don’t you get?”
“You are due at work tonight and I need you to start searching for that stone.” He snapped at her. “Now get up.”
She sat up and rubbed her eyes, holding the blanket to her with her elbows. “Okay, I’m up.”
“How did your kill go last night?”
She froze at his words. Her mind flashed back to the boy on the street screaming at her. “It was successful.”
“What made you hesitate in that answer?” He squatted down to look at her. “Don’t lie. Is she dead?”
She blinked at him. “Of course she’s dead. It was just...strange being conscious for it and not having to guess about the kill.”
“Your human emotions didn’t get the best of you then?”
She shook her head, "No, they didn't. I managed to work through it."
"What did it feel like, Kass?"
"Like I was fighting against myself, almost as if I was a new shifter. I had enough control not to go after a bystander." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
Lucius stood. "What do you mean bystander, who saw you?"
She swallowed. "It was a young boy, couldn't have been any older than five. I don't know what he was doing out so late without-" She looked up at him, eyes wide. "His mother. I killed his mother in front of him."
"I'm surprised you didn't scent him before you killed her." Lucius pressed his lips together. "Not ideal that he saw her killed. It'll have to be dealt with, I wouldn't have wanted a child to see that."
"You sent me to take away his mother, but you don't want him traumatized by seeing it? What kind of sick fuck are you? The boy is going to be scarred for life no matter if he saw it or not." She held her head down and took deep breaths as the nausea crept up on her. "Fuck, I think I'm going to be sick."
He shook his head. "Seeing something like that happen is different than just being told. Yes, both will harm his mind, but now he's going to forever have the image of a panther taking out his mother burned into his mind."
"Great, let the manhunt begin." She muttered. "One other thing I wanted to talk to you about." Standing, she brought the blanket up with her and met his gaze. "I thought I smelled Jax's blood when I came home last night. What happened?"
He shook his head. "Nothing happened, don't worry about it."
"Lucius, that's not fair, what happened? I know I smelt his blood, I can still smell a faint trace of it on you." She snapped. "You expect honesty from me, and yet you won't grant me anything."
He snarled at her. "Because I own you Kass, how easily you forget that."
"You're right, I'm a pet panther, I get that. But you smell of the man you told me that I could mate."
"Don't worry about it. He's alive and that's what should matter. If you run into him you can ask him yourself and he can tell you." He held his hand up when it looked like she was going to protest. "It is not my story to tell, and I wouldn't want to ruin anything he has worked for or accomplished with you."
Kass frowned. What a weird way to word a sentence, what had Jax done? "Okay fine, but you promise me he’s alright?"
"I did not harm him, if that is what you are worried about, and I promise you that he is able to heal from whatever happened. Now you have places to be and people to see. Tegan is in her room resting, I'm afraid she won't be any help, but you might want to start with her."
"She’s not at her apartment? She normally fights tooth and nail to stay there." Kass chuckled. “She really must not be feeling well then.”
He shook his head. "It's not safe for her to be there right now, not until we know who messed with her mind and what their intentions were. I can't risk her safety and I hate the fact that I gave into her whim to have a place of her own. I don't care if it's above the bar or not. This is proof she is not safe anywhere but under my watch."
Kass shook her head. "You know something, she is human, just as I am-kind of, but she deserves to be treated more like one. I know she's been at your side for years, and I know she is something special to you. Her hair stays white and that her eyes are always covered up like you're hiding her. But seriously, if you want her to actually work with you instead of against you, treat her better." She turned to get dressed.
"If I give her more freedom than she's in more danger, I cannot risk her being taken from me. There are those out there that would do anything for someone like Tegan, and it would ruin everything." He sighed.
The look in his eyes caught Kass’ attention, but she knew better than to mention it. Concern and
compassion reflected in his dark eyes as he spoke about Tegan. “She's more than human then." Kass assumed as she dropped the blanket and went to the closet for clothes. Over a bra, she pulled on a tight black shirt and a loose pair of black pants so that she would be comfortable as she worked at the bar. "You must really be fond of collecting things than. A rare panther, Tegan, what else have you collected?"
“Get going.” He left and let the door slam behind him.
Kass knocked gently on Tegan's door and walked in when she heard a soft, "Come in." She smiled at the sight of the girl sitting in an over-sized chair, reading a book. Her white hair was pulled up in a bun, and her ever-present sunglasses covered her eyes. After the conversation with Lucius, Kass wanted to ask Tegan what she was, but refrained.
"Hey, I wanted to talk to you." Kass sat on the ottoman in front of the chair. "About the stone."
Tegan’s hands clenched the book, every muscle in her body going tense. "Sent it away.”
“Yes, I know that. Where did you send it?” Kass tried to move the book out of the way so she could at least see Tegan’s whole face.
The woman shook her head. “Sent it away!”
“Okay, so you can’t tell me where.” Kass leaned back and thought for a minute. “Was it a place you knew?”
The shaking of the head slowed, but Tegan lowered her book. “No.”
“Was it to an enemy?”
“No.”
“Was it to an ally?”
“No.”
Kass frowned. “Then where the hell did you send it to?”
“Away.” Tegan pulled the book back up to read. With a sigh, Kass stood and paced the large room. In the corner a desk was covered in paper and pens. She went and picked a piece of paper up and grabbed a pen. She gently pulled the book from Tegan’s hand. “We’re supposed to be talking, remember?”
Tegan huffed. “Obviously it isn’t working. Lucius sent you in here because I screwed up and sent the stone away. He wants you to try and force the information out of me, regardless of if it hurts or not.”
Kass hadn’t realized that this could have been painful for Tegan and silently cursed the vampire. “I just want to help.” She slid the paper and pen to Tegan. “You sent it away, and that’s all you can remember with your mind.”
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