by Leah Kent
"We're going to take what we need from her, and then you can have fun with her if you want to before she goes. I know that I'm going to enjoy myself when that home wrecking bitch gets exactly what she deserves at my hands."
Peter stood before her, unwilling to lean forward to kiss her as he knew she wanted. Murder. Victoria had done him wrong, made a scene, and gone against him, but was what she had done to him enough to warrant this?
"I don't understand why you're so into this," Peter said. "I know I told you all about what a bitch she was, but it was because she was a bitch that we got together."
In an instant her eyes turned from soft and sultry to cold, hard coals. Peter frowned, disturbed by how animalistic they looked. Jessica had always been wild, but sometimes just how primal she was scared him.
"You know," Jessica breathed, "there is more to this world than what you have to do with it. I have my own reasons and my own motives. All you have to concern yourself with is that you're getting what some satisfaction from this, too."
Lewis would arrive soon, and with him their plans would unfold. There was little time to change his mind, and how could he when Jessica looked at him like that? Between her flirty demeanor and the cold, dangerous gaze she fixed him with, there seemed little room for him to back away.
"What about her parents?" Peter asked. "Are they going to walk out of this? How are we going to deal with them?"
"Peter," Jessica said flatly, "you told me that you were looking for revenge no matter what. This is our no matter what, okay baby? Sometimes you've got to give a little to get what you want, and I need you to give this to me. Don't get cold feet. If you're as serious as me as I am about you, you'll stick with me to the end no matter what."
She reached forward and took his hand firmly in hers, squeezing it in reassurance. The words she spoke were cooed, near saccharine. As uncertain as he was, Peter knew he'd do it. Jessica was the most breathtaking woman he'd ever seen and he couldn’t tell her no.
"Okay," he said. She smiled.
"That's what I like to hear. Now all we have to do is wait for Lewis, and then the fun really begins."
And what a wait it would be.
The Lion’s Victory
Candice Parker
Island Cove Publishing © 2016
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Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or used fictitiously. Any similarities to any people living or dead, is purely coincidental and is not intended by this author.
The use of stock photos in the making of this book no way implies that the models condone, endorse or participate in the fictitious conduct that is within this book, by implication or expressly. The person(s) depicted are models and used for illustrative purposes only.
The book is for sale to only mature audiences. It may contain sexually explicit content with vulgar language which may be considered offensive to some readers. Please be responsible with where you store this book.
Chapter One
All Victoria remembered was the light of her parents' living room fading away into prickling pinpoints of black. When she opened her eyes and found herself in the dark she had no idea how she had gotten there or where she was, but the feel of unfinished concrete beneath her told her it wasn't anywhere she wanted to be.
Deep, steady breathing brought her back to reality. The air here was musty and damp, and she knew that it had to be underground. As her eyes adjusted shapes began to form, and when Victoria found the strength to turn her head she saw the small slit of a window she recognized well. This was the basement of her childhood home, the lights all out, only a small sliver of light allowed in from the window. Why was she in the basement?
"Mom?" Victoria asked, mouth feeling like it was full of cotton. Her tongue was numb. Had she been drugged? It felt like she was waking up from a surgery.
There was a muffled sound Victoria recognized as both human and feminine from deeper in the basement. Although it was distant, she recognized it. Her mother. But their coffees had been in the living room, and—
Peter.
The image of his face, cruel and cold, appeared before her eyes like a single frame of a still image inserted into a movie. Just before the darkness had consumed her, Peter had been there. And the pain. He'd struck her on the back of the head, she realized. After that he must have thrown her into the basement. Victoria was only a short distance away from the stairs — had she rolled down them while she was unconscious? Her body didn't feel worse for it — she hardly felt sore.
"Mom, I'm coming," Victoria mumbled. With care she sat up, head swimming. Peter had struck her hard, but when she raised a hand to inspect the back of her head for damage, Victoria felt nothing. There was no sticky wetness where blood would have congealed, no break in her skin, and not even any sore spots. Yet she was sure that he'd struck her. Hadn't he? Everything was so fuzzy now. Maybe he'd just stuck her with a needle and she'd passed out from whatever was inside.
That had to be it. As Victoria righted herself and crawled across the unfinished basement floor on her hands and knees, every inch of her body tingled. Peter had drugged her, and the drugs had affected her memory; there was no other explanation for how strange she felt.
"Mom, where are you?"
Another muffled noise directed Victoria forward. She navigated around her dad's workbench and the stacks of boxes filled with items to be sorted before she had arrived. Against the darkness she could make out the outline of her mother seated in a chair. Next to her was another form, and Victoria could only guess that it was her father.
The smell of her mother's perfume, a subdued lilac aroma, hit her nostrils and reminded her of home. Relief washed over her, and Victoria felt tears begin to form in her eyes. Whatever evil things had happened upstairs, she was back with her family now. Everything was going to be okay.
"I'm here. I'm going to help you. Don't freak out when I reach out to touch you, okay? You must be tied up if you haven't freed yourself by now."
Victoria reached through the darkness and located her mother's leg. Soft fleece met her fingers; she was still in her pajamas. Peter must have stopped by without warning and taken the both of them by surprise. Victoria had never known him to be aggressive, but if he was capable of overthrowing two adults and then throwing her down the stairs, she supposed she never really knew him at all.
The suspicions she'd had turned out to be true; her mother was tied to the chair. Ankles bound to the legs of the chair, arms secured behind and tied at the wrists, Peter had done a thorough job. Victoria worked to undo the knots, and once her mother's hands were free she rose to undo the gag herself.
"Oh Victoria," she gasped when at last she was able to. "Baby, are you okay? I was so worried..."
As wonderful as it was to hear her mother's voice, Victoria had to help her father. She repeated the process of undoing his bonds and, again, he took the initiative to undo his gag.
"Did Peter hurt you?" he asked, voice severe with concern. How good it was to be home and cared for. Despite the dire situation, Victoria couldn't help but smile.
"No, dad. I'm okay. I promise."
"What happened?"
Neither of them knew she'd broken up with Peter, or about Gabriel and how serious they had become. How was she supposed to explain something to them that no mortal could understand? If she told them that their only child was ready to have children with a man she'd just met
they'd think her rash and crazy. Maybe it was true. Gabriel had proven that he wasn't to be trusted, after all.
"I broke up with Peter," Victoria told them, "and he isn't taking it very well."
"That's an understatement," her father muttered. "When he showed up here, he told us something had happened to you. We let him in, and then... Well. Here we are."
"The girl that was with him... She was strong, and she knew what she was doing. She looked normal enough, but do you think she could be part of a gang?" Victoria's mother said.
"A girl?" It didn't surprise Victoria one bit that Peter had moved on, but it still stung. Of course, she had moved on as well. "Mom, I haven't spoken to Peter for weeks. I don't know what he's doing or who he's seeing anymore. I never thought he was capable of violence, so maybe it is her doing. Did he hurt you?"
"We're okay, just ruffled. We need to find a way to get out of here. After they threw you done I heard furniture being moved upstairs, and I'm sure they must have blocked off the door."
Held hostage in their own basement, harassed by the man Victoria had once loved, things were looking bleak. Not even her mother, who was slender and graceful, would be able to fit through the window to get help, and a quick inspection of her pockets found her cellphone missing; Peter must have taken it after she passed out.
The last time she'd been in a situation like this, Gabriel had come to her rescue. This time around she'd told him not to contact her, and she hadn't told him where she was going. There was no way that he'd come crashing in to save the day — this time the job was all on her.
"Let me try the door," Victoria murmured, casting her glance in the direction of the stairwell. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, but it was still difficult to make out anything other than outlines. "I know that it's risky, but it seems like our only option. The three of us together can take on Peter and that girl. I'm sure of it."
"Honey..." Victoria's mother protested.
"Let her," her father said. "Whatever they're trying to do to us is going to be worse than whatever fate we meet upstairs. I'd rather go out fighting than waste away waiting in the dark."
All her life Victoria had thought that her dad would be a good soldier, and his courageous attitude only proved her point further. He was strong and kind hearted, just like Gabriel. Gabriel. The thought of him had popped up naturally, and it stung, but Victoria had no time to waste on him. It was time to grab life by the horns and forge her own destiny. It was time to save herself.
With her mind cleared from the haze she'd woken up in, Victoria turned and navigated through the dark and towards the staircase. Her mother and father followed behind, and they ascended the stairs in single file with Victoria in the lead. At the top stair Victoria stopped to listen. She couldn't hear voices or footsteps, and wondered if Peter hadn't just left after trying to trap them down there. It would be like him to take the coward's way out of things. He'd always manipulated and schemed behind the scenes to get even, and she felt like he wouldn't stick around to see they met their ends.
"Coast is clear," she whispered. "I'm going to try to open the door, and if I can get it open, run. Get to a neighbor's house and call the police. Okay?"
"You got it," her dad whispered back. Victoria was sure her mother was terrified.
"Here I go," Victoria whispered. She turned the handle and tried to push the door outward only to meet resistance. Her dad was right — they'd barricaded the exit. But Victoria wasn't ready to give up that easily. She pressed against the handle, and when that didn't do anything, she shouldered the door. Whatever they'd stacked on the other side was heavy.
Victoria put her full weight against the door, pushing with everything she had. The same tingling sensation spread through her, reminding her how recently she'd woken up from her drug-induced state. But just when she thought all hope was lost, the barricade on the other side of the door began to move and the door inched open at a crawl. Liberty waited just beyond it; all she had to do was push just a little more...
When the door had finally opened enough to allow her passage, Victoria tumbled through and into the laundry room. She'd been about to urge her parents to follow her when an abnormal sandy color caught her attention from the corner of her eye. When Victoria looked towards it, focusing her attention on the doorway that let into their kitchen, she knew that escape wasn't going to be that easy.
Standing in the doorway was a lion. Well, not quite a lion, Victoria realized. A lioness. The heavy, majestic manes she'd seen on all the other lion shifters until now was absent, and she was smaller than the beasts Victoria was accustomed to. Smaller, but equally as ferocious. Her brown eyes were narrowed and predatory, and Victoria saw the muscles of her shoulders roll as she readied herself to pounce.
"Don't come up!" Victoria shouted. "Close the door!"
But even as she cried out, the lioness pounced. Victoria darted to the side, skidded across the laundry room floor, and scrambled for the vacated doorway into the kitchen as the creature rounded on her and made chase.
The sound of the basement door slamming registered, and Victoria knew that her parents were safe — for now. As she broke into the kitchen, the snarls of the lioness following, she saw Peter sitting at her kitchen table. He had his arms folded on the table and had rested his chin upon them as she escaped the laundry room. Victoria had no time to consider his mood as she ran for the back door, desperate to get outside. The lioness was right behind her, and Victoria felt the sting of her claws rip across her back even as she sprinted. Scalding wet gashes crippled her, but Victoria pushed past the pain and yanked the back door open. She had to get help, but now that lion shifters were involved, who could she turn to? The lioness would tear a police officer apart just as easily as she would Victoria. The only man she could trust to help her was the one she'd just told to leave her life forever.
The cheap alarm system her parents had installed had not been disarmed, and the siren blared as the sensor on the door left the one it corresponded with upon the doorframe. Peter had jumped up from his chair by now, and he cursed and covered his hands with his ears. Victoria launched herself through the newly opened space and into the backyard. It was fenced off to offer privacy, blocking any neighbors from getting a good view. What Victoria would have paid for it to be gone; the lioness would be able to chase her through the back without fear of being seen.
And yet, she didn't. As Victoria scrambled across the back patio and around the side of the house, the lioness remained in the doorway. Had Victoria looked back she would have seen her scent the air. Unfortunately, Victoria wasn't that lucky.
As she turned the corner to run across the front lawn and to her car, Victoria crashed into another person. The startled cry was choked back as she hit the ground, landing on her ass.
"You've got to get out of here!" Victoria exclaimed to the newcomer, scrambling to right herself. Now that she'd stopped moving the pain of the fresh wounds on her back was debilitating, and she found herself unable to get onto her feet without blinding agony. Unable to move, Victoria looked up his body instead. The man who stood before her was a familiar face, but one she was terrified to see. Standing tall, shoulders back, was the same man who'd kidnapped her from the motel parking lot all those nights ago.
"Oh my God," Victoria gasped. The fiery pain from her open wounds shot through her back, preventing her from scrambling backwards. Even if she had, there was a lioness inside the house who was ready to end her life. At least, so Victoria thought. The injuries she'd sustained were proof enough that the lioness meant her harm.
"I prefer Lewis," the man announced, looking down upon her with his brown eyes. Eyes Victoria recognized — they matched the ones the lioness had fixed her with. "What are you doing out and about, my little Liston hopeful? I was told that you were barricaded safe and sound, waiting to be dealt with."
Warm blood spilled liberally down her back, and Victoria's mind started to prickle again, like it had when she'd just woken up in the basement. A numb, t
ingling sensation followed and ran down her spine to ease the pain of her injuries.
"Wait a second," Lewis murmured, his eyes sharpening quizzically. "You're not the same girl from a week ago. There's no way."
There was no time to consider what the words he'd spoken. The burning had stopped, and no longer in substantial pain, Victoria launched herself up from the patio and ran past him, down the side of the house and back onto the street. Adrenaline had kicked in. Even though she was bleeding and in bad shape, things were going to be okay. Back on the main street no lion would dare to follow her, and in a suburb in plain daylight Lewis wouldn't dare try to kidnap her.
But as safe as Victoria was, her parents were still in the basement, captured by the very lion shifters Finneus had warned her about. There was no time to take care of herself when there were two more lives to save, especially when Victoria didn't know what the lions' plans were.
There was only one man she could turn to, as much as she didn't want to face him so soon after leaving. It was time to go back to Gabriel to ask for his help.