“What do you mean?”
Jax watched the two; their batting and snaps were still more of a warning than anything. “They’re just playing right now. Kass could overpower Sarah in a heartbeat.”
“Why are you so sure of that?” Ayden moved his hand away from the gun.
“Because Kass’ one goal in life is to survive. I’ve seen her take out two panthers twice her size. This is nothing.”
As if proving his point, Kassity pinned Sarah down to the ground and nipped at her neck. Sarah changed forms under Kassity and Jax held his breath. Last they’d seen of Sarah, she didn’t have any control over her panther.
“Kass, I’m sorry.”
Kass changed and stood up. Jax couldn’t keep his pride from showing. She didn’t shake or show any weakness from the quick shifts. “What are you even doing here, Sarah?”
“I ran to the campground dad used for hunting and I found her there. I was offered help from a vampire.” She stood up and brushed the dirt off herself. Her gaze shot to Jax and Ayden.
Jax held his hand out to Kass. “I’d love to offer clothes, but I didn’t think to bring any. Especially two sets.”
“Not to mention you totaled my truck.” Ayden snarled. “You apologize to Kass, but you are the one who attacked us.”
Sarah nodded. “I didn’t think she’d just talk to me. I’m learning to assert my dominance in different situations.”
“You totaled my truck.” Ayden said again.
Jaxon crossed his arms. “So you took this vampire’s offer for help and she brought you here. In exchange for what?”
“What do you mean?” Sarah asked and pulled her blonde hair over her shoulder, twirling it with a finger.
Kass shook her head. “We all know vampires don’t offer their help without a price. Lucius’ price is me being his killer in exchange for his protection.”
“Oh yes, because we all saw how well that worked out for you.” Sarah tossed her hair back and walked towards them, a sway in her body.
Jax wrapped his arms around Kass and pulled her close. He met Sarah’s gaze to show her that her body had no affect on him. “So what did you trade her, Sarah?”
“I belong to her clan.”
Kass tensed against him at the same time that his own body tightened. “What clan, the only clan here doesn’t belong to a vampire.”
“Are you so sure, Jaxon? I heard you abandoned them, walked out after winning one of the biggest battles this side of the war.”
Was that why his parents were so desperate for him to return? Because they thought he could take on the vampire.
“She’s part of the Circle. She’s strong, powerful, deadly.”
“And can control shifters who don’t have immortal blood.” Jaxon finished. “Which makes you one of her pawns.” His heart pounded and Kassity kissed his arm trying to calm him, but it didn’t work. “We’re not here to challenge her hold on the clan. We’re just here to help a friend.”
Sarah nodded and turned to Ayden. “Your mistress, Nuala. You’re trying to get her to safety.”
Ayden drew his gun. “Another step and I’ll shoot you. I’m not afraid of your mistress. And I can tell you that she is not a member of the Circle. She’s lying to you.”
“You wouldn’t know, you’re nothing but a Keeper.” She snarled, but held her hand up. “I can see that I’m not welcomed here. Kassity, I am truly sorry for what has happened to you.”
She turned, shifted, and ran off. Kassity sighed. “How does she have more control than I do?”
“She’s being influenced by the vampire.” Ayden growled. “Now is not the time. I need to get the truck towed and figure out if I can get a rental to get the coffin. For now, you two get to the grave and protect it.”
Kassity turned around before Jaxon could catch her. She slammed Ayden against the flipped truck. “Now is the time. Who the hell is this vampire?”
“Her name is Karina. She’s not a Circle member; I don’t know why she would tell Sarah that. But she is older than Lucius, not as old as Zaaren or Nuala. She’s scary, Nuala and I’ve met her once.”
Kass let him go. “She has my sister.”
“By all means, go in there and rescue her, but you risk becoming one of her panthers.” Ayden snapped. “And I will not have Lucius pissed off at me because his prize killer ended up with another.”
“I have immortal blood, she can’t control me.”
Jaxon shook his head. “We’re not going in there, not until I can confirm everything she said. I’ll talk to my parents and see what we can do. We won’t leave without Sarah.”
“You will if it comes down to it.” Ayden growled.
Jax knew it was true, but he couldn’t just let it go without trying for Kassity. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she wanted family and her sister was family. She’d been put through many of the same horrors as Kassity and just needed guidance; even if it was under Lucius.
Kassity swallowed. “We give her the chance to come home with us. From there we find a nice territory for her to stay in. She won’t be able to survive under Lucius. She can’t be his killer and I won’t have her stripped of her control.” She put her hands on her hips. “Jax, go talk to your parents, Ayden, go find another truck. I’ll watch the grave.”
“I’ll bring you some clothes, until then stay hidden. Then I’ll go talk to my parents.” Jax kissed her cheek.
Ayden nodded. “Just down the road, where the dirt ends, take a left, it’s about a half mile in, you won’t miss it.”
Jax watched as Kass walked off. He wanted to go comfort her, but knew they needed to focus on the situation at hand. He turned to Ayden. “If we can swing it, we’ll rescue Sarah, if not I know that we have a mission to complete here.”
Ayden nodded. “So does she, I can see it in her face. She’s focused, even if the reality of losing her sister hurts.”
“She’s been trained well to ignore pain.” Jax mumbled and then headed back towards the house, thankful that they weren’t far from it. Ayden had been smart to purchase a property with enough room to hide Nuala.
Kassity turned left when she got to the end of the dirt road. Sarah’s appearance had thrown her for a loop and she knew that Jax’s words were just comforting lies. She knew neither one of them would put things in jeopardy with Lucius. Sarah had nothing to offer Lucius and wouldn’t be welcomed in the territory. She looked up when she reached the tomb. The brick square building had vines crawling up its walls and the white door made her think of old schoolhouses. She shook her head and sat on the steps that led up to the door.
Naked and in the forest, she should have felt right at home, but all she could think about was the vampire that could control shifters. Lucius had the ability to pull a beast out and push it back, but not to fully control them. It seemed that this vampire had something different and yet similar to Lucius. Crunching leaves brought her attention forward and she snarled at the scent.
“What do you want, Sarah?”
“A chance to talk to you without the men around.” Her sister stepped out from behind a tree. She tossed Kass a dress. “It’s all I had in my car.”
Kass pulled it on and tried not to sneer at the frilly summer dress. “What did you want to talk about?”
“My mistress wants you to join us. She can free you from Lucius and give you the control you so very much need.” Sarah held a hand out to her. “I know I’ve hurt you in the past, but now is my chance to make up for it. Let me protect you like I should as your sister.”
Kass raised a brow. “I’m not trading one vampire for another. The only reason I have a lack of control right now is because I was almost killed a few months ago. Why don’t you come home with us? We can find you a nice little territory to live in.”
She shook her head. “Kass, don’t you understand? I’m happy where I am. She’s given me strength and control, something I could never get with our family.”
Kass held her hand up. “Your family, they were nev
er mine.”
“Now I have a clan, like it should be.” Sarah sighed. “Please, just come meet Karina and the clan leaders.”
“I can’t, I have a job to do.” Kass sat back on the step. “And then I’m going home. Where I belong.” She never thought she’d think of Lucius’ territory as home.
Sarah shifted in front of her and Kassity cursed. She called on her beast but the animal refused to come to the surface. She panicked, but the creature refused to come up. Sarah launched herself at Kass, pinning her to the ground.
Kass kicked her off and lowered herself into a fighting stance. In human form she was fast, but she wouldn’t be able to out run Sarah and without her beast responding she had no real chance of fighting the other panther. A vampire appeared next to Sarah, her blond hair tightly braided and falling past her waist. Her gray eyes met Kass’ gaze. The tall, slender vampire stepped forward and put a hand on Sarah’s head.
“Kassity DeBeau, is it?” Her voice was soft, but sent shivers down Kass’ back. “Panther killer of Lucius DeBeau, sister to Sarah Everet, killer of the Dark Moon clan.”
“You know an awful lot about me.” Kass kept her gaze on her. Her heart pounded in her chest and her panther started to respond to the new threat.
She chuckled. “I make it my business to know what my fledgling is up to. For instance, I know that the Circle is trying to bring Lucius in for trial. I know that he is supported by and was...raised by Zaaren, the Original. I know that his human is the blood whore to the father and that his territory will soon be under attack.”
Lucius had always said he didn’t know who had made him. Kass kept her face blank. “Then you know that to mess with his people is dangerous. He protects what is his.”
“Oh really? Is that why he left you with your family and sent Jaxon to save you? Is that why his human is always blindfolded and hiding? And why he is trying to collect Immortal shifters?” She walked up to Kassity and touched her cheek. “You can’t lie to yourself Kass, you know the truth.”
She jerked away from the vampire. “I don’t like being touched.”
“Kassity DeBeau, you presence in my territory is seen as a threat. You will reside with me and allow Jaxon to finish what business Lucius has here or you will bring war upon Lucius.”
Vampire politics. She hated them. “Lucius checked with the local vampire and we were given clearance.”
“No, he was given clearance to send two people who would not be taken as a threat here. Jaxon has connections here that you do not. You have not been accepted by his clan as his mate, meaning in this territory you are rogue.”
Shifter politics...Kassity was starting to wonder which one was worse, vampires or shifter. Kass bowed her head. “Then I was mistaken about the truce with us coming here.” She was backed into a corner. “Let me meet with Jax and let him know where I am going.”
“No.” Karina snatched Kass up by the neck and they disappeared from the forest and reappeared in a room made from stone. “You do not get to make the rules, little cat. I will stick by my word, you may return to Jaxon when his business here is finished.”
Kass snarled. “And in the mean time?”
“You stay here. Alone.” She disappeared and Kassity cursed. Nothing like getting kidnapped in a foreign land because of supernatural politics.
Jax came up to the tomb and his nose caught the scent of Sarah, Kass and death. Which meant vampire. He snarled and pulled out his phone. He dialed his parents and hoped they hadn’t changed their number in all these years.
His mother picked up the phone on the third ring. “You prepared to have dinner tonight?”
“My mate is missing, and judging by the scent I would say vampire. You haven’t seen Karina around lately, have you?”
There was silence on the other end.
“Mother?”
“She took over the clan not long after you left. She came back and we were so small in numbers that we had no choice but to take the forced alliance she offered. She’s brought in rogue and abandoned panthers from around the world.” She sighed and he paced the ground.
“She has Kassity. She can’t control Kass because she has Immortal blood in her.”
“Just like you, a great couple you two would make if the marks appeared.” Her voice sounded far off and Jaxon wanted to scream at her.
“Mother.” He snapped. “I need to get Kassity back. She doesn’t belong to your clan. She belongs to Lucius and I need her to return home in one piece.”
“Then you have to help us defeat Karina and set the clan free.”
He clenched his jaw. This was supposed to be an easy in and out trip and now he was going to get mixed up in the war on this side of the pond. “Fine.” He’d do anything for Kassity. “You get with her and get me Kassity back. Let her know that we’re not here to threaten her.”
His mother chuckled. “You are now, but there’s no need for her to know that. Welcome home, son. Meet us at the house for dinner. I’ll have Kassity there for you.” The phone disconnected.
He resisted the urge to throw the phone. If Kassity had been taken she had to have gone willingly because she couldn’t fight.
Jaxon went back to the house and found Ayden sitting at the kitchen table on the phone.
“I promise I won’t wreck it and you can pick it up at the airport. Yeah, if you could keep an eye on the house for me that’d be great. No I don’t know how long I’ll be in the states.” He looked up and met Jax’s eyes. “I have to go, I’ll see you in a couple hours.” He hung up. “Something’s happened.”
“Kassity was taken by Karina. My parents can get her out, but it looks like we’ll be in town a little longer than any of us wanted.” Jax ran a hand through his hair. “I have to meet with them tonight. My suggestion is that you and I get Nuala to the airport as soon as we can, you and her go to the states and Kass and I will follow when we can.”
“And you think Lucius won’t try to kill me for that? Leaving two of his prized people here? Not happening. We deal with this tonight, even if I have to take her out. I’m going with you.” Ayden grabbed keys from the table. “We’ll take the car.”
Jax’s first instinct was to argue, but that wasn’t going to help in this situation. “Fine. How did you not know that Karina was taking over the local panther pack?”
“I did, but I didn’t think it was worth mentioning. Quick trip in and out. The vampire and I have bad blood.”
Jax shook his head at the bad pun. “Care to elaborate?”
“She ran the slave camp that killed my sister. Back then I only knew her by name and reputation.” Ayden bowed his head. “I ran into her after the Father was put in his place. Let’s just say, if we’re going to face her, it’ll be best to have all of us there.” He walked out and Jaxon followed him, unsure how to respond to that.
Kassity looked up when the door opened. Karina walked in with Jax’s parents behind her.
Kass snarled. “What are you doing here?”
“You should be happy to see us. Karina is releasing you to our care as long as we take responsibility for any of your actions while you’re here.”
Why would strangers do such a thing for her? Certainly it wasn’t just because she was Jax’s mate. “Thank you.” Her gaze flickered to Karina as she walked to the other panthers.
“Of course, we’d do anything for family.” Jaxon’s dad placed a hand on her shoulder.
To her surprise her panther didn’t react at all to him. She tried not to read too much into the comment. They guided her out of the huge house and to a car.
Kass got in the back of the car and leaned her head back. Her panther curled back up and she sighed. The constant ebb and flow of the beast was becoming exhausting.
Jax’s parents got in the car and Kass spoke. “I’m sorry, I never caught your names.”
“Of course, I’m Ann Marie and this is my husband Lee. Jaxon has probably never mentioned us. He left and never looked back.” She answered. “He called us in a p
anic and made a deal in exchange for us getting you from Karina.”
“Which was?” She was scared to ask.
“That he would help us defeat Karina.”
Kass sat up at that. “We can’t kill while we’re here. We have the eyes of the Circle on Lucius’ territory right now. To kill a vampire while we’re here on under a truce would mean trouble.”
“That’s not our problem. Our problem is that Karina has taken over. Jaxon has obligations to his clan and those are a higher priority than some blood sucker in the states.” Anne Marie snapped.
Kassity shook her head. “You’re going to force him to ruin everything we’ve worked for.”
“Which is what, Kassity?” Lee asked.
She noted how he was much calmer than Anne Marie. “Happiness. Lucius saved my life and Jax saved my soul. We’ve worked hard to find happiness in an unlikely situation.”
“If Karina is alive then she will destroy that.” Anne Marie snarled. “Like she has for the full clan. Clan is family, Kassity, don’t you understand that?”
She shook her head. “Actually, no I don’t.”
“What Anne Marie is trying to say is that there are more forces behind the scenes here. However, you are Lucius’ killer, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know that the only way the Circle can come after you is if there are witnesses.”
“Which there will be. I’m sorry, but I don’t trust easily. I can’t trust you not to run to the Circle and tell them that we killed a vampire.”
“Kassity, we will be happy to get rid of her. It means that our clan grows in the numbers that she’s collected. It means that we gain control again.”
She sighed. “There’s no way around this anyways, is there? Jax has already agreed.”
“He has.” Anne Marie stated. “Which is why we came to fetch you.”
Kass closed her eyes and leaned her head back again. She and Jaxon would have to discuss his desire to keep her safe at all cost. It was going to cause big problems.
Jax paced the foyer of his parent’s house while Ayden leaned against the wall.
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