“I know I’m not the alpha male you’re used to being with. I don’t need to be the centre of your world like you are mine. But until the next change in my life, I will follow you.”
Just as Malcolm was about to get out of the cab and head back to the trailer with the proverbial tail between his legs at another bridge burnt, one of his long legs already out of the door, Kelly grabbed him by his collar and hauled him back in.
She yanked him to her and opened her mouth to accept him in, hot and slick and savoury, as passionate as it was unhurried. The angle was awkward, but Kelly told him without words how much she’d wanted him to say those exact things.
She didn’t need love. She knew love took time, but she hadn’t let herself admit even to herself how much she wanted him to be with her, to join her in the pack, because to admit it had been to admit defeat—the defeat of loving someone who would abandon her in a New York minute as soon as the opportunity arose. She didn’t always love the men with whom she had sex, but she could. In spite of how infuriating Malcolm could be, he had finally decided to reject the most infuriating part of himself—his denial.
She didn’t need an alpha. She just needed a man who wanted her in spite of knowing who and what she was. It was a special kind of man who could watch his choice of woman get fucked several times by someone who wanted to kill him, yet still want to be with her because he thought she was a good person.
“Hey!” someone yelled at them through the windshield. “There are kids here, you know.”
Kelly bit her lip as she pulled away, trying not to laugh. She raised a hand at the lady leading her two children back to her car and mouthed, “Sorry.”
The lady briskly walked off. Malcolm closed the truck door, and Kelly started the engine.
“I’m going to take you back to the sanctuary,” Kelly said. “And then I’m coming back and I’m going to kill him. I hope that’s okay.”
“By yourself?” Malcolm asked.
“I notice you’re not objecting to murder.”
“I usually do,” Malcolm said. “But I didn’t object to Renee killing the hell out of Grant and not just because of what he did to me. It’s pure self-defence. But you’re going to take him on alone?”
“You think I can’t?” Kelly asked.
“It’s not that, but wouldn’t it be easier with help? It would be a distraction for him to have to deal with more than one person.”
“He’s been siphoning power from werewolves, vampires, witches and who knows what else for decades. A few extra fighters aren’t going to distract him enough. But it will distract me, because I’ll care what happens to those people. He won’t. This isn’t up for discussion,” Kelly said, speaking up before he could.
He thought it loudly enough for her to hear— We’ll see.
* * * *
As soon as they buzzed into the sanctuary, Kelly couldn’t stop giggling.
“What?” Malcolm asked.
“Apparently the shifters and the werewolf pack got along well in our absence,” Kelly said. “They had a picnic.”
“They had a picnic?” Malcolm said incredulously.
“It was Renee’s idea.”
“Of course it was,” Malcolm said. He rolled his eyes, but Kelly could tell that there was no real resentment behind it.
They pulled up to where she set up her trailer, taking care not to run over any of the dogs excited by their arrival.
Both she and Malcolm spotted Jake running to get Ki in the shapeshifter barn.
“Shit,” Malcolm muttered. There was no mistaking the pain in the creases of his face.
“I’m sorry,” Kelly whispered. “Should I leave now, see the wolf pack before I go?”
“No,” Malcolm said. He shook his head emphatically, almost as if he were convincing himself. “No, Ki won’t blame you. They knew it was a long shot. I knew it was a long shot. Hell, I’m more surprised that the whole thing wasn’t a con, at least in the traditional sense.”
“You and me both. But I’m still sorry.”
“Stop apologising,” Malcolm said, a little testy. “It just makes it harder.”
Kelly bit her tongue not to apologise for that as well. She was given an excellent distraction as Butch Cassidy came running.
Cats always knew when their witches came home.
He yowled and meowed in a greeting that managed to be both enthusiastic in its happiness that she had returned and affronted that she’d left at all. Kelly bent down and he rubbed his cheeks over her hand to his heart’s content as she listened to rapid footsteps vibrating through the earth.
Ki and Max sprinted out from between the buildings. Jake followed at a more leisurely pace. Renee came out onto the porch, followed by werewolves Leon and Lily. The dogs amiably edged away from the latter two, but because the shifters and human had hung around with wolves a lot lately, they had gradually got used to associating the smell with something acceptable. That acceptance was a possible problem, since the dogs were supposed to fear the scent. But the pack wouldn’t be around forever, and soon the smells left behind by them would fade into barely more than a memory.
Leon and Lily were the first to know that Malcolm was still a werewolf. Their noses were stronger. Once Ki and Max reached his scent, they slowed down. Ki’s face fell.
“I guess it didn’t work,” Max said, putting an arm around Ki’s shoulders in quiet reassurance. “We didn’t think it would, but I guess we just hoped… Cult or money trap?”
“Long story,” Malcolm said.
“I thought ‘Father Abraham is an evil, murderous bastard’ covered it nicely,” Kelly said, picking Butch Cassidy up to kiss his forehead. She opened the trailer door so that he could run inside and re-establish his personal territory by shedding and finding his litter box.
“Another one?” Renee asked.
“This one is worse,” Kelly said. “It’s more accurate to say he’s an amoral eugenicist whose notions of grandeur are not entirely delusional. He’s a very powerful witch, and he needs to be stopped. I’m going to stop him.”
“Okay, this really does beg for exposition,” Jake said.
“Yes, do explain,” Kelly said to Malcolm. “I’ll unhitch the trailer.”
“You can’t get out of this that easily,” Malcolm said, grabbing her arm before she could head to the truck.
She looked down at where he held her and raised an eyebrow.
“Fine,” he said. He released her and promptly turned around to address the others. “Anyone else have a problem with Kelly confronting said evil, murderous bastard all by herself?”
Renee, Lily and Leon were the first to raise their hands, but Jake, Ki and Max weren’t that far behind.
“I think you really need to explain,” Renee said.
“With the other werewolves,” Malcolm added.
“Then you’ll need to explain someplace that’s not here,” Renee said.
Malcolm pointedly took in the sight of her surrounded by four werewolves.
“A few wolves at a time are okay. It’s the pack that’s too much,” Renee said with a smile. “Our lunch spot would be good,” she told Leon and Lily, who went running into the woods.
“You can talk as fast as you want to save time,” Renee said, brushing her fingers against Kelly’s arm. “I’m going to get the four-wheeler. Want to ride with me, Max?”
“I’ll get Britt,” Jake said.
Kelly’s lips thinned. If she were not so committed to Renee and Malcolm, she would just make a run for the truck and unhitch it with a thought before flying the car over the gate. She could do it. But surely she had time for at least a cursory explanation. Besides, she needed to eat, clean up and sleep for a few hours before making another eight-hour drive.
As she headed for her trailer to make herself a sandwich, a certainty settled with uncomfortable weight on her shoulders— The collusion between human, werewolf and shapeshifter was a good thing, but it wouldn’t end well.
* * * *
&n
bsp; “So you really think you’re going alone?” Renee asked after Kelly and Malcolm had finished the story.
They had both agreed without prior discussion not to talk about the last spell in the Book of Shadows. It left a gap that Kelly thought the others would notice, but they were more concerned about Kelly.
“You’ve got to be joking,” Jada responded to Renee. “No offence, but you’re a small person with a big gun that means precisely shit to a hardcore witch like that. Right?” She nodded at Kelly to back her up.
“Well, you’re human, which might actually save you from him,” Kelly said. “But I wouldn’t put myself in his path, because Jada’s right. Silver isn’t his kryptonite like it is ours. He doesn’t have to be fast enough to stop a speeding bullet. He can just take the gun away from you. But the truth is that none of you can fight on an even level with him. He’ll strip your hide from you before you even think about attacking.”
“So can you,” Malcolm said. “You’ve done that to me, too, remember?”
“I think it’s well established that I have that kind of power,” Kelly said, trying to ignore the way that some of the werewolves nervously considered her, particularly Damien. What she had done to Malcolm before wasn’t the exact same thing, but after the awakening of her magic, she was certainly capable. “Which is the point. Don’t think I don’t appreciate that you want to help, but how can any of you possibly help?”
“What if he has reinforcements?” Leon asked. They were the first words Kelly had ever heard him say. “You said he had a large werewolf as a bodyguard, and he has a whole organisation of humans who use magic. Sounds like potential foot soldiers to me.”
“Yes, but they’re expendable to him,” Kelly pointed out. “You guys aren’t expendable to me. I’ll be trying to keep you safe, but he won’t be doing the same with his people. I don’t see how that would be an advantage.”
“If he were the only one fighting, that would put us more at risk. But if he brings his followers into the fray, then you become the focus of his attention while they take care of any additional complications.” Leon smiled grimly, as though that was as far as his lips curved. “And we can take some of them out.”
“Do I have to keep reminding everyone that they can take you out, too?” Kelly said. “And we don’t know whether he’ll have his followers with him. He’d be much more efficient on his own. Surely he knows that, just like me.”
“We didn’t let Renee go out alone. What makes you think we’re letting you?” Jake asked.
“When the girl killed Grant, you mean?” Damien asked, leaning back and resting on his elbows. Jada was sitting next to him on one side and Leon on the right. Renee set her jaw and said nothing.
“Look,” Kelly said, “I’m taking the truck, not the trailer, and I’m not letting anyone else in the truck. My magic is a little volatile right now, so if you try, I might throw you kind of far. You can try to pack yourselves in Renee’s truck without violating some kind of law. But you won’t catch me. This is not your decision. It’s my fight alone.”
“He kills our kind,” Jeremy said. “I’d say that makes it our fight.”
“It’s not a fight you can win,” Kelly amended. “I guarantee you that if you go up against him there will be casualties. So you’d go into it knowing there’s a good chance you’re going to die in a fight with a man who isn’t even looking to fight you. It’s me he wants. I’m the only one who will probably get through it alive, because that’s how he wants me.”
“She’s right,” Renee said.
Britt wrapped her arms around Renee and put her chin on Renee’s shoulder. Britt hadn’t spoken up yet because she knew better than to tell Renee she couldn’t do whatever she thought was right, but she so obviously wanted to keep Renee out of the battle.
“I can’t speak for the werewolf pack, but the man hasn’t threatened the sanctuary yet, so there’s no reason to go up in arms when doing so might actually threaten the dogs and the other shapeshifters,” Renee said. “And I doubt we, as dog shifters and people, could do much to help Kelly more than she can help herself. Whether it’s a one-on-one fight or a battle, I’d rather not risk our lives for nothing. However, on behalf of the sanctuary,” she said to Kelly, “if there is something we can do to help, we’ll do it. I don’t like you going off alone. The only reason I’m letting it happen is because I trust that your magic is as strong as you think it is.”
“So you believe in magic now?” Kelly said, smiling a little.
Renee made a face. “It’s the best word to describe everything you do.”
“That’s it? You’re just letting her go alone?” Malcolm asked, pacing behind Kelly.
“‘Let’ isn’t exactly accurate, Malcolm,” Renee said. “She’s made it clear she won’t let us. We can’t stop her. Can you?”
“Well, I can’t stop her, but unlike the sanctuary, we do have a beef with that bastard,” Damien said. “It may not be personal for that poor excuse for a Father, but it’s personal for us. I take offence that we’re being systematically eradicated. It’s just rude.”
“You realise you can’t catch me either,” Kelly said.
The ones she had really been worrying about most were Renee and her shapeshifters, who were unequipped to deal with a less polite werewolf pack, much less an unscrupulous sorcerer. The werewolves could probably take care of themselves if they stayed out of the way of the main fight and focused on other Salvation members.
In that scenario, though, she worried about the magical beings that were a part of Salvation and the ignorant human beings on Abraham’s side that didn’t deserve death. And death would be dealt.
Kelly needed to kill Abraham. But no one else, not even the ones who annoyed the crap out of her, needed to die.
“Why do you insist on doing this by yourself? We’re pack. We fight for our own. We die for our own,” Landon, a large, steady blond man, spoke up from behind Tanya. Kelly had overlooked him, a man who kept his silence like Leon and whom she didn’t know.
“I haven’t accepted that invitation yet, Landon,” Kelly said gently.
“And point of fact, she doesn’t hold to that viewpoint,” Jada said.
Lily elbowed Jada.
“What?” Jada said. “Look, we can’t forget she’s killed pack before. She’s killed alpha.”
“To protect me,” Renee said.
“She received her punishment,” Damien said. “We rescinded it. David’s time as alpha was over.”
“And what about when she decides your time as alpha is over?” Jada asked. Claws slid out over her nails.
“If I hadn’t accepted that possibility, I wouldn’t have invited her into the pack,” Damien said, meeting Kelly’s eyes.
“You’re still not coming,” Kelly said. “You’re not my pack yet.”
“She’d already decided to join the pack,” Malcolm said. “She may not have told you, but she told me. We—we were going to join.”
The click of Ki’s throat was audible as she swallowed against the thickness obstructing the way.
Damien grinned. “Betrayed by your own words.”
Kelly stood up and glared at Malcolm.
“If you think I’m going to make this easy on you, Kelly, you’ve got it wrong,” Malcolm said.
“Wouldn’t it be better to make this easier on me? I can kill him and come home before the weekend. Pack requires planning, time and sacrifice. No one has to die for me. My life is not in danger.”
At first Kelly thought she was just so mad she was seeing red, but then her vision clouded over black.
“Kelly!” Lily screamed.
Her own personal thunderheads had returned, darkening and bursting with electrical charge inside her head. She dimly realised that she was falling, which meant that this wasn’t a prophecy blackout. She was never awake for those. Hands caught her, perhaps two sets—it wasn’t important to her at the moment.
“I see you, child of the earth and moon. I see you, and I am coming fo
r you.”
“Stay away,” she yelled back. She didn’t know if she was actually shouting or whether it was in her head—whether Abraham was in her head.
“Maybe with your friends at my mercy, you will make the decision that best befits you. I can save you. I am the only man for you. You were meant for me.”
“I was going to kill you quickly,” Kelly responded. She felt like she was yelling at nothing, as though Abraham had receded into the clouds. But she was still there in her storm, so he had to still be there as well.
“No one has to die, Kelly, unless it is what they wish.”
“It’s not what they wanted, you bastard.”
“Let loose the hounds of war, my dear, but I know how to muzzle wolves…and dogs. I am coming for you.”
She screamed, the sound ripping from her throat and taking flight through the lightning, a black reptilian shape that disappeared behind the rainfall. She heard a masculine cry of pain.
Kelly lurched away from the storm and into the sunshine of the early evening.
Tanya cradled Kelly’s head in her lap. Malcolm was there, too, staring at her upside down. When Kelly sat up, pain stabbed through the area behind her right eye as though she had been struck by her own lightning. She clapped a hand to cover the offending eye and fought not to fall back into Tanya’s lap.
“Shit,” she cursed, pounding the ground. “Should’ve killed him in his sleep. Should’ve just ripped out his throat right there.”
“Why didn’t you?” Leon asked.
“Because I needed to get Malcolm out. I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly reliable on the magical front right now,” Kelly snapped. “I didn’t want to take Malcolm out in the process or get him hurt if anyone else went after me for killing their leader.”
“Was that a prophecy or…?” Renee asked.
Kelly shook her head. “No, that was a courtesy phone call. Abraham knows where I am and who I’m with. He’s already on his way. Time for a new plan. And maybe some Vicodin.”
* * * *
Thirty minutes later found Kelly in the cabin living room with a heating pad over her right eye, waiting for the migraine potion to kick in, although she didn’t know whether it would work on magical pain.
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