Not Quite Whole

by Kaye Draper

  Jules gave me a patient look. “He was just attacked, viceroy. I’m sure Carlyle meant for the fire to harm the humans gathered here. And of course, fire would be blamed on the firebird. Quite harrowing.”

  I glared at the annoying butler. “No, really? I hadn’t noticed!” I threw my hands up in frustration. “I meant he’s burning up. When I grabbed his hand, he almost blistered my fucking fingers. He could be burning up from inside or something, and he’d never say a damned thing. Is it because of what Carlyle just did? What’s wrong with him?” I wanted to growl, and pace, and get out my claws. Theo was in danger from something I couldn’t see or protect him from, and it was driving me crazy.

  Jules stepped directly into my line of sight, blocking Theo from view as Angel waved a graceful hand at the idiot sovereign while they argued. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one fed up with Theo’s stubbornness.

  “What’s wrong with the sovereign is you, Viceroy.”

  I stopped pacing and yanked my gaze up to stare into the butler’s deadpan expression. “What?”

  He lifted his chin a notch and gave me an arrogant glare. “He won’t die from it. However, your proximity appears to...upset...his magic these days. I wonder why that is, all of the sudden?”

  I glared right back at the asshole. “No fucking clue.” Gods fucking damn it. It was probably because we’d fucked. Some bullshit fiend instinct thing I had no clue about. No wonder Theo wanted nothing to do with me.

  Jules shrugged one shoulder and made a dismissive sound in his throat. “Was that all, Viceroy? I’m afraid I have other duties to attend to.”

  I huffed at him in annoyance. “By all means, feel free to fuck off, since you’ve been so helpful.”

  He sketched a brief, elegant bow. “Happy to be of service, Just Sam.”

  I growled as he walked away.

  Could I possibly fuck things up any worse?

  Chapter 10

  At least one good thing came of the stupid press conference—Carlyle’s attempt to make it look like Theo had lost it and barbequed a bunch of important humans backfired. Instead, most of the involved parties pulled together to support their sovereign. It was all over the newspaper and radio how Theo’s foresight in hiring cur staff had saved everyone from a magical attack.

  Take that, fucker.

  The whole incident also had the deadly consequence of galvanizing Theo into action. He sure as shit wasn’t going to play nice with Carlyle now. Not after the man had threatened the people under Theo’s protection. He took his duty to the human citizens of Westhold just as seriously as his commitment to the other species. Maybe even more so, because most humans didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell at defending themselves against magic.

  I shifted my grip on the steering wheel and eased up on the gas pedal. I might be able to navigate the broken road between Westhold and the little blip city we were headed toward, but the guards driving the three transports behind me didn’t have my reflexes or my experience.

  I darted a glance at my passengers. Speaking of lacking reflexes and experience.... “You’re staying in the Rover,” I said for what must be the hundredth time.

  Theo met my eyes in the rearview mirror and arched a brow. “So you’ve said, Viceroy.”

  I narrowed my eyes for a second before I returned my gaze to the road in front of me. That wasn’t a fucking agreement. “The rest of us can handle it, Theo,” I ground out. “You need to keep your precious royal ass safe or there’s no point. You die, Carlyle wins.”

  He huffed. “I’m not going to sit back while other people settle my vendettas. I’m not some crime lord from an old movie.”

  I glanced at Fin, where he sat beside Theo in the backseat. The leprechaun shrugged. “He’ll learn. He just needs to get shot a few times first.”

  I sighed.

  “Theo,” Angel said softly from where he sat on Theo’s other side. “I know you want to handle this in person. But maybe Sam’s right this time. I don’t know what we’d do if we lost you.” He reached over and squeezed Theo’s knee.

  For a second there, Theo’s expression softened and I thought the phoenix might actually listen to his enchanting lover. Then his eyes met mine again. “You’re letting Angel go in with you.”

  For fuck’s sake. What was this? Why did I suddenly feel like the parent of a sullen toddler? “No, I’m not. He should be back home looking pretty and talking to politicians for you. But he’s an asshole who wouldn’t listen. So he can sit in the car with you instead.”

  Angel gave me a toothy grin. “Sam’s not the boss of me.”

  Oh, so he’d caught on about how they were both acting like kids then. “Am too,” I muttered.

  Fin sniggered. Emerson turned awkwardly in his seat to look at me. “You’ve got to let them help, Sam. Otherwise they’ll think they’re weak.”

  I rolled my eyes. Emerson and his insights. “Like I give a fuck.”

  The ogre smiled at me, humor dancing in his red-brown eyes. “You’re a really bad liar, sweetheart.”

  That earned him an emphatic middle finger.

  I slowed as we approached the battered metal fence that surrounded the village of Stonefield. The place was a fucking dump. But it was better than a shack town. Theo’s investigation and my poking around at backwater rest stops had indicated that Carlyle came this way. Emerson had been able to confirm it with his new gadget. My amazingly nerdy half-ogre held the tablet in one massive hand now, studying the lights on the screen. “He’s definitely here,” he said calmly, pressing a button to adjust some setting or other. “Keep going straight.”

  If Carlyle had even a single brain cell, he’d know we were here. He had to have spies or wards to alert him to the presence of a line of armored vehicles entering the city where he was hiding. But then, the guy was a moron, and he didn’t own Stonefield. So who knows, we might be able to drive right up to his front door.

  It took longer than I liked, giving Theo’s idiot cousin plenty of opportunity to prepare while we meandered over the uneven roads that wound through the village. It was a game of hot and cold as I followed Emerson’s directions to a surprisingly nice house in the middle of town.

  “For fuck’s sake,” I said as we approached.

  Theo sighed. “It’s just like Carlyle, to set himself up in the lap of luxury even as those around him live in slums.”

  I huffed. Sure, Theo lived in the lap of luxury too. But he wasn’t ignoring the city as it fell apart around him. He was working to fix it. This.... The two houses next to Carlyle’s hiding spot were literally falling in.

  Cities like Stonefield sprang up all the time, little pockets of humanity that appeared like a spark from a fire...only to burn out of existence just as fast. It wasn’t easy to keep a city safe and thriving since the rift. It made me appreciate Theo’s job even more. Half the bigger cities that were actually thriving were run by crime lords and psychopaths. Of the rest, most were run by gritty, cowboy types like the sovereign of Golding. A few lucky rich business tycoons had been smart enough to hire people to help them stay in power and keep their cities running. Then there was Theo. The phoenix was a breed all his own. Literally.

  Clearly Stonefield didn’t have any of those types for a ruler. Looking at the place, I’d give it five years, tops, before it was just another scattered ruins you’d come across in the wastelands on a hunt.

  I parked and checked my weapons, my eyes rapidly scanning the area. “You all know your jobs. And if I didn’t give you jobs, and you refuse to stay the fuck in the car, then stick close to someone with a gun.” I glanced at Emerson out of the corner of my eye as he picked up his metal-spiked weapon. “Or a club, I suppose.”

  I took a deep breath and hoped everyone in this car was going to go home alive after this. Carlyle might be dumb, but he’d also proven to be petty. And if playing politics with Theo the last few months had taught me anything, it was that the petty ones could be downright nasty when they finally realized they had lost.

&
nbsp; I let out my held breath and slid out of the car, slamming the door behind me as I pulled my gun with one smooth motion. It was about time to end this stupid shit. My cat wanted to taste blood.

  With just a few quick, silent gestures to Theo’s head guard, I slipped around the car and toward the back of the pretty house. The place was painted a cheery yellow color that made me sneer in disgust when I had to cross between it and the neighboring house. The smell of cooking street drugs wafted toward me from the run-down place next door, and I met the eyes of a skinny, scruffy guy on the side porch. When he saw my weapon, his eyes narrowed, and his hand darted down to pull a shotgun out from under his folding chair. He must be security for the drug makers inside.

  I shrugged and hiked a thumb at the fancy-ass house to my right. He arched a wrinkled brow at me and nodded.

  Apparently, even the local drug cartel hated Theo’s asshat cousin. Good to know we weren’t going to have the neighbors rushing in to help.

  I moved as silently as I could, hugging the side of the house, Fin with his sawed-off shot gun and half a dozen guards with automatic weapons following behind me. Another small group had split off to approach from the opposite side of the house, while Theo stayed with the ones up front, firmly positioned between Emerson and Angel.

  I was really hoping I was right, and the coward would come running out the back door. Because I was afraid Theo would be all noble and law-abiding if he had to handle Carlyle. I wouldn’t be. I’d fucking shoot first and ask questions...never. A quick glance into Angel’s golden eyes before we split up told me he felt exactly the same way. Carlyle wasn’t going to make it out of this alive, no matter what Theo said about little things like due process and mercy. No one else was going to fuck with Theo’s position or risk his life and the lives of his citizens ever again. We’d make sure of it.

  The quiet noise of an engine idling reached my ears before I poked my head around the corner of the house. A sleek, partially converted limo sat in the back drive. A couple thugs were tossing a few over-stuffed suitcases into the trunk while the driver sat behind the wheel and two more of Carlyle’s people stood guard by the door. Shouting erupted from somewhere inside the house. I nodded to the guard I could see peeking around the other side of the house, then I stepped out and leveled my gun at the man closest to me.

  “Everyone on the ground,” I called out as our people fell into place around me. It all felt so dramatic, like something on a dumb cop show from the early 2000’s. But nothing is ever that simple and organized—at least not when I’m on a hunt. The guard nearest me hit the ground like he’d been shot. But the woman beside him spun and threw a knife at me.

  I sidestepped and the blade just grazed my upper arm, cutting through my favorite leather jacket and nicking my skin. I shook my head at her. Why were people so stupid? She dove to the side, moving fast for a human, clearly well-trained. But I wasn’t human. Clearly, Theo’s hiring policies regarding curs worked in his favor. The woman was dead before she hit the ground. A blast of gunfire rattled beside me and one of the thugs staggered off the porch, full of holes.

  The limo’s taillights flashed as the driver shifted into gear. “Fin,” I bit out, already moving. He went to his knee and leveled his shotgun, blowing out the back tire, then covering me while I ran for the driver’s side of the car. More of Carlyle’s people had come pouring out the back door, including a bunch of drunk, half-naked women, and I was pretty sure their less-than-fearless leader was about to make a dash for his getaway car.

  I seized the doorhandle. Locked, of course. Bringing up my elbow, I slammed into it window, hoping the glass wasn’t reinforced. Jarring pain radiated up my arm. For fuck’s sake. Carlyle hadn’t been quite so dumb when he chose a car, even if a fucking limo was useless. I raised my gun to the glass. It was undoubtedly bulletproof too. But this wasn’t my first rodeo. The armor-piercing ammo I had loaded up was able to plow through layers of metal or dragon scales. It would work on glass just fine.

  Chunks of glass pelleted me, and the driver slumped over the wheel, dead. I dropped to a crouch and made my way around the front of the car just as a frantic-looking human who could only be Carlyle came rushing out the back door surrounded by a trio of hulking guards. “Don’t move!” he yelled, his voice wavering in the smoke-filled air. One of the thugs dragged someone out from behind him, fisting his hand in the woman’s hair and pressing a handgun to her temple.

  I recognized her as one of our people. Her nose was broken, and she was glaring daggers at the assholes around her. “I know how Theo feels about the lives of his precious sheep,” Carlyle snapped. “So, I’m going to get in that car, and you’re going to watch me drive away, or her brains will be on the outside.”

  I snorted. Did he honestly think the woman was that incompetent? Maybe it was because she had tits. Whatever. All it was gonna take was one second of distraction and she’d have that dillweed with the gun writhing on the floor begging for his mommy. I’d sparred with her before. She was vicious.

  I stood and Carlyle’s eyes darted to me. It was weird. He was like a bargain bin version of Theo. They were clearly related. All the features were similar...but somehow, Carlyle was just a cheap imitation. The light didn’t glint off his hair the way it did Theo’s chestnut curls. His build was every bit as mundane as Theo’s, but somehow when the sovereign squared his shoulders, it made him seem powerful. This one just seemed like a spoiled brat about to start stomping his feet. But what really capped it was the eyes. Theo’s bright blue eyes were always filled with something that made you sit up and pay attention, even when he was at his weakest. Carlyle’s dark blue gaze was completely uninspiring. It was the look of someone who thought the world owed them something, just because of who they were. I’d had enough of that shit from the pack that raised me and the humans who shunned me all my life. Carlyle’s disdain didn’t faze me.

  His unimpressive blue eyes raked my body and he snorted. “Death wish, cur?”

  I sighed. “Carlyle Featherington, in the name of the sovereign of Westhold, I ask that you stop being a fucktard and let the lady go, blah, blah, blah, rights, etcetera.” I waved my hand. “Last chance.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “You must be the freak viceroy. Theo really is crazy if he expects the human populous to just accept his disgusting half-breed fucktoys as elected officials.”

  I shook my head. The thug holding our female guard hostage had let his guard down just enough for one of our people to get in a shot. Blood sprayed the woman’s face as the guy grunted and fell, griping the new hole in his neck. The woman immediately spun and kneed the one next to her in the nuts, sending him to his knees before she punched him in the face. I kept my gun on Carlyle as chaos erupted around us. He hid behind his people. But my people were better. All too soon, his meat shield was gone. He lunged for the car, but I leapt in front of him, blocking his escape. The moron slammed into me like the slow, clumsy idiot he was, a waft of cheap booze and fear filling my nostrils. I shoved him and he tripped, falling to the ground at my feet.

  “You’re not going anywhere, asshat,” I said calmly. I raised my gun to shoot him in the head, but of course Theo and his people chose that exact minute to come strolling out the back door.

  Okay, so...strolling was an exaggeration. The guards around Theo stomped a bit. But Theo himself shuffled. He leaned on Angel, his once immaculate silver-gray suit jacket stained with blood at the shoulder, and his blue eyes burning.

  I growled. “What the fuck happened? I told you to stay in the fucking car, idiot!” I wanted to rush over to him, for some stupid reason I wasn’t going to examine right now, but I still had killing to do. Carlyle tried to crawl away while I was distracted, and I kicked him in the ribs. “Down mut!”

  Angel’s voice was even, but the chill in it would make a snowman’s balls shrivel. “Someone stabbed him in the back.”

  I sighed and sighted down my gun at the man on the ground in front of me. Theo yanked himself out of Angel’s arms
and hurried down the back steps. “Sam, wait.”

  I arched a brow but didn’t look at him. “No, Theo. You’re too damned soft. I don’t want to hear about due process and mercy. People need to know the shit he’s pulled won’t be tolerated.” I gritted my teeth. “Go. Take the guards and wait out front.” He didn’t need to see his relative’s brains.

  Theo came to stand on the other side of Carlyle—probably so he could glare at me a little better, but I still wasn’t looking at his face. I didn’t want to see the disgust and loathing as he realized just how much of a cold-hearted shifter I could be.

  “Bring them,” he said, his voice carrying with the command.

  I lifted my head then, following Carlyle’s anxious blue gaze to the line of people Theo’s guards were frog-marching around to the side of the yard. “This man is no more a human than I am. He simply hides it better,” Theo said calmly, turning slightly to regard the people who were now kneeling on the ground. “I want a world where none of that matters. I want peace. But I’m not naive enough to think that comes without a cost. No one endangers my city. No one goes after the people I love just to wound me.” He swayed slightly, probably from blood loss, the moron.

  “Hurry it up,” I hissed. “There’ll be plenty of time for speeches at the fucking trial you’ll insist on having.”

  He turned to me and his eyes flashed. “Step aside, Sam.”

  I didn’t lower my gun. “I’m a killer, Theo,” I ground out. “That’s what you hired me for. Let me do my damned job. This is one time we don’t need your bleeding heart getting in the way.”

  Carlyle shuffled to his knees. “Prometheus, please,” he whimpered. “Theo. We’re family. You won’t let this thing shoot me.”

  I snorted. I was going to enjoy this way more than I should.

  Theo let out a long sigh. “No, Carlyle. I won’t let Sam shoot you.”