“I wanted everyone to see your hypocrisy. That you’re really a werewolf.”
I heard a sound behind me and gasped in alarm. Someone was trying to sneak up on me, out of sight from the snipers! And I couldn’t even stand, magic being useless against Templars.
A bloodcurdling yowl made my ears pop as something slammed into something else behind me. I struggled uselessly to climb to my feet, splitting my attention between the Templars in front of me and the murders happening only paces behind me.
Olin and his Templar buddy stared in disbelief at the wet ripping and crunching sounds interspersed with throaty purrs from something very big. The screams ended abruptly.
Even a few of the sniper lasers darted back and forth nervously.
Giving up on standing, I glanced back to see Phix padding over to me, her semi-furred – but still human – breasts coated in crimson and gore. She hissed through long feline fangs at the two surviving Templars – the sneaky ones were now merely lumps of torn, steaming flesh and guts near the mop bucket, ironically. She hooked the back of my coat with her claws, wincing at my grunts as she pulled me back behind her, standing down the remaining Templars on her own.
“Mine,” she said, hunkering low between us.
“Use your boobies to keep them distracted,” I murmured, not really caring where the hell she had come from or how. She glanced back, frowning. “They’re scared of them.” I blinked my eyes several times, trying to block out my pain and clear my head. I spat out some blood.
Something – probably an Angel – had just swooped down to take the Seal of Solomon that had fallen from my jacket pocket, so I was hesitant to try tapping into my Angelic powers. And in my current state, I was scared to try anything new anyway, which left me with regular magic. A Gateway. But I felt too tired to try.
Olin roared at me, pointedly ignoring Phix. Maybe Templars really were allergic to boobies. “I will kill you for this! I will destroy every abomination in this town. The vampires, the Hellfire Club, the shifters, and you!” I wasn’t sure if he was more pissed with me for revealing his secret, or for Phix’s sudden arrival.
Phix let out a haunting, high-pitched yowl, arching her back as her claws cracked through the pavement. I waited for her to skip sideways a few steps like an angry cat, but she didn’t. I glanced back up at Olin, keeping him in my sight as I placed a hand on Phix’s ass to support my attempt to stand. It worked, barely.
I let out a pained breath, finally looking back up at Olin. “It’s hard to take you seriously when you’re foaming at the mouth like that, werewolf. Can Templars get rabies?”
“We’ve lost the advantage,” the second Templar warned, “unless you want those wolves joining in the fray. Snipers, this… thing,” he said, indicating Phix, “And the Ring is gone,” he added, sounding more concerned about that than anything.
“Because her demon took it!” Olin snarled. I pointedly ignored the second Templar, my mind clearing, but suffering a different form of beating at his words.
“Please, sir. Leave before this gets even worse. I… would like to talk to her for a minute. Alone. I’ll meet up with you after, and tell you everything.”
“You’re already on thin ice,” Olin warned. “Don’t fail me again.” With that, Olin shot me one last look, promising vengeance, before he left, careful to keep his distance from me and inadvertently piss off the snipers or Phix.
The second Templar holstered his pistol and let his hands hang free at his sides.
I patted Phix on the ass. “I can manage a talk but be ready for a quick exit. I probably need a bandage or two.” Phix assessed me for a moment, dipped her head, and then retreated to the two dead Templars.
She began eating them in big, fat gulps, not even bothering to chew. She also never broke eye contact with the surviving Templar as she ate his friends. I turned to him, my eyes cold and my soul a pile of ashes.
“So, Beckett, whatcha wanna’ talk about?” I asked him.
If I didn’t kill him, Phix would. If Phix didn’t kill him, Claire would. The list stretched on and on. Beckett Killian was a dead man. I’d let him have his talk, first. Last rites.
It was the Catholic thing to do.
Chapter 43
Detective Beckett Killian lowered his scarf and studied me. “What’s it like being a Tit?” I asked him.
He blinked, frowning in confusion. “What?”
“A Templar In Training. A Tit. A boob. A nipple shrine—”
“I get it,” he muttered, cutting me off.
“Do you? Do you fully understand the depth of what you’ve done?” I asked, gritting my teeth from both the pain in my broken heart – of betrayal – and that of my injured body.
“They helped me find my wife’s murderer!” he snapped. “You seemed too busy to live up to your promise. Helping everyone else but me.” He was panting, fists flexing at his sides.
I blinked at him a few times. Then I burst into a harsh laugh. “Poor little Beckett. Couldn’t wait a few months while I saved lives to get his revenge for someone already in the grave!” I shouted. “Do you have any idea how childish that sounds? How pathetic? People are dying, now! Your petty vengeance can wait just a little bit longer in light of that!” My shout echoed off the walls.
He glared back at me. The red dots from the snipers never left his chest, but he didn’t seem concerned about them.
“You promised to help me,” he rasped, barely restraining himself. “Then you go off on an extended romantic vacation, and when you do finally return, you begin prowling the streets for car thieves and gangsters. Sending me random text messages through Claire about future locations where I might find the broken bodies of monsters, but that I have to be careful how I handle it, or explain it, to my fellow policemen. You relegate me to your personal janitor. Your fixer to make you feel like you’re doing some good. And not once do you even mention helping me find my wife’s killer. Like you promised. Avenging everyone else but me. While you ask me to help you do it.”
I stared at him, my face hot with outrage. “Instead, you use the information I send you to throw Templar hit squads my way. How very noble of you. Well, it looks like you have new friends to watch your back.” I pointed at the dead Templars behind me that Phix was still munching on. “Practically Saints, back there. Good judges of character. Hunting down evil monsters while working for one!”
Beckett grimaced in disgust at Phix’s meal. Another thought hit me like a kick to the gut. Judging by Olin’s parting comment, I was pretty sure Beckett had been in charge of the Hellfire Club operation, which hadn’t turned out well for him.
I shook my head at him. “You were there, at the Hellfire Club, weren’t you?” The sudden look on his face confirmed it. “Hiding in the shadows, calling us after you failed, pretending to be concerned.” I spat more blood on the ground. “You’re beyond saving. You’ve been doing this for a while now, using me… Your actions literally kept me busy enough to not help you,” I said in disbelief, shaking my head.
He blinked, as if the thought had only just hit him. Then he gritted his teeth. “They helped me when no one else would,” he said. “Their ways may be extreme, but they’ve all suffered at the hands of Freaks. Now, they fight against the Freaks. We fight against the Freaks.”
“You work for one, you idiot!” I shouted. Then I took a breath. “What if your wife had been murdered by a human? Would you then turn around and become a serial killer, murdering anyone who shared some of his traits? Perhaps he had dark hair, so all people with dark hair must now be put to the torch. Is that your rationality? One bad person changes the course of your life?” I snapped.
“We should not be enemies, Callie. We both hunt—”
I interrupted him with a harsh laugh. “We…” I said, shaking my head. “Looks like they’ve got their claws sunk deep, which means they’ve been brain-washing you for a while, now. Should have known since you already have a scarf.”
He nodded. “Few weeks after you left town
with Nate Temple for your… vacation,” he said it in a tone that let me know just how much my choice in men had bothered him.
Which meant Beckett had been working with the Templars for months. He hadn’t waited long at all. Or maybe they hadn’t waited long in recruiting him. Perhaps I was blaming the wrong person. Beckett was still at fault for being conned, but perhaps the Templars – Olin – had targeted Beckett specifically, wanting to convert one of my allies to his cause to get to me.
That didn’t diminish my anger right now, but it was something to consider. It meant that Beckett might be intended as a distraction, something to keep my focus off what the Templars were really doing here – the Ring.
“No matter how justified you think they are, we are not the same. I don’t kill indiscriminately. I hunt bad Freaks, not all Freaks.”
“They helped me avenge her. Tracked down her killer,” he said, eyes trailing off.
I studied him. “And did you taste your sweet, sweet revenge?” I asked harshly, already knowing the answer from the look on his face.
He averted his eyes.
I let the silence fall between us. I wasn’t horrified to hear he had killed. He had taken out a murderer. Unless… the Templars had led Beckett to the wrong guy. Some innocent Freak…
“I’m sure they gave you all sorts of proof. Things you’re familiar with as a detective.” He kept his eyes down, and I grimaced in disgust. “Do you feel better now?” I asked, deadpan. Then I pointed at his scarf. “That’s a trophy, isn’t it? For killing your first Freak.”
Instead of answering, he set his shoulders. “I didn’t expect the world to turn to rainbows and sunshine, after. Just a job that needed doing. I saw enough to know he was the right man.”
“I think they get that tattooed on their lower backs after their first kill. I got the right man. Then they just add tally marks for every alleged monster they kill after. So their righteous bros can get a good look at it in the sauna. A Temp stamp instead of a tramp stamp.”
Beckett’s eyes narrowed. “They only kill Freaks,” he said, as if it was an answer.
I arched a brow at him. “Oh?” I leaned forward in a mock whisper as if imparting a secret. “What about Olin?”
He didn’t rise to the bait. “Maybe you’re the misguided one, Callie. Ever thought about that? You’re so busy protecting them that maybe you aren’t seeing them clearly. They are monsters. They literally hunt humans! Maybe that’s why you haven’t helped me. Because you choose to protect a fellow Freak rather than aid a weak human!” He grunted, jerking his chin at me as he curled his lip. “You don’t even look the same anymore. You look harsher, angrier, darker,” he muttered. “Seems like proof to me.”
I scowled at him. “That has nothing to do with this!” He grunted dismissively. I shook my head in disbelief, wincing at the pain that flashed through my ribs. “Unbelievable, Beckett. Your oath was to protect and serve, not to threaten and kill. Easy to mix up, I guess.”
He snarled instinctively at my mockery of his oath as a police officer, but then seemed to distantly consider my words. He didn’t let that doubt show for long, but I noticed it.
“You’re blind with hatred,” I finally said.
“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
I scoffed. “Don’t do this, Beckett. They’re lying to you. Or not telling you the whole truth.”
“They hunt the bad guys, Callie. What’s wrong with that? Someone needs to help this city.”
“And what do you think I’m trying to do?”
“You’ve been hunting the bad guys… as long as they’re not your friends. Then they get a pass.” He held out his hands, indicating my hidden allies and their rifles.
I took an aggressive step closer. “They’re using you to try and get to me. They don’t care about good or bad. They want us all gone.”
Beckett met my eyes. “Maybe that’s not so bad.”
“I’m working with a fucking Angel. And Nephilim! How can you accuse me of being evil?”
“And you think the Angels have clean hands? Do you have any idea how many have tried to take that ring from us lately?” he snapped. “As soon as we found it, we’ve been under attack. They all want it, and they want it for themselves. The Angels don’t care about us. Never have. They have their own agendas and will crush anyone who stands in their way.” He stared at me for a long while, his breathing ragged. Then he just shook his head and left.
I turned to share a look with Phix. She was cleaning her blood-stained paws with her tongue.
“That is a riddle I do not pretend to understand,” she said softly. I sighed, agreeing with her. At least now I knew for certain how the Templars had been tracking the Freaks. Because I had led them right to each target. “Let’s get you patched up. Those wounds aren’t life threatening, but I see a hospital in your future unless you know a healer.”
Before I could answer, gunfire rang out, peppering the building to my right. I flinched instinctively, spotting a feathered blur swooping down from an adjacent building.
It struck me like a giant fucking pillow and I heard Phix yowling in protest. Rather than carrying me away, the world simply winked out of view like I had fallen asleep.
Chapter 44
I opened my eyes, subconsciously holding my side. But my pain was… gone. I stared down at my fingers in disbelief. They tingled, but I could bend them, even though I had been sure I had fractured or sprained them. I took a deep breath, but my ribs didn’t hurt either. I felt tired, but I had been healed, apparently. That was a good sign, right?
With a deep breath, I slowly spun to study my surroundings. I was standing in a white circle drawn on polished concrete, a ring of candles just outside of it to bathe me in soft light. Shadows stretched on into the distance, and there was an emptiness to the air that let me know I was standing in a big empty building.
It was much too big to be located in a residential area, so I was guessing a commercial storage building or warehouse. I tried reaching out to my magic and came up against the wall of thrumming energy. I snarled. The circle was blocking my power.
I noticed a hulking, feathered figure standing in the shadows and instinctively locked down my mind. I was surprised to find that the protective circle around me didn’t prevent this. Then again, circles trapped energy within their boundaries, so it kind of made sense.
“Who the fuck are you?” I growled.
Nameless and his Nephilim would have taken me to their brownstone, not this… garage.
“He, the fuck, is Eae,” a familiar voice said, stepping out from the shadows to my right. I hadn’t noticed his presence. He looked beaten down. Tired. He hid it behind an easy smile, but I knew him well enough to pierce that façade.
“Nate?” I asked, feeling as if the ground had been taken from under my feet. What was he doing here?
He nodded with a grin. Then his face froze and he leaned closer, studying me intently. “Jesus, Callie. What happened to you?”
Not what a girl wanted to hear from a man who had jumped into her dreams only to leave her high and dry before the dream concluded. I still felt the dream’s sensation of his fingers clutching my jaw, wrapping around my neck as he cupped me like a goblet. “Werewolf Templar,” I told him, assuming the look on his face meant I was still splattered with blood.
He blinked at me. “No, I meant you. You look… older. Only by a few years, but…”
I narrowed my eyes dangerously. “You might want to work on your delivery, Nate.”
He cracked a faint smile, but I could tell he was troubled by what he saw. From my deal with Phix. It hadn’t seemed alarmingly noticeable to me when I had looked in the mirror, but Nate was pretty perceptive. And he knew subtle changes could have big meanings.
“We’ll talk about it later,” I said, glancing pointedly at the circle trapping me and then arching an eyebrow at him.
He nodded, continuing to study me like a piece of art he was considering purchasing. “This mig
ht sound like a feeble attempt at a recovery,” he admitted, “but I think I like the new look. Less innocent church girl, more devil may care chic.” A slow grin began to replace my momentary anger. “Are the glowing white eyes new?” he asked.
My smile cracked. “What?”
“Maybe just when you’re angry. Like when you first plopped down here. It’s gone now.”
I furrowed my brows at him, trying to quell my sudden unease. Was it something to do with Phix? “Girls do not plop down in places, Nate.” He chuckled and I turned back to the winged figure watching us. I scowled at him. Because I recog—
“Asterion mentioned something about a date,” Nate said, too casually.
Surprised at the interruption, then all over again for the statement itself, I slowly turned to stare back at Nate for a good five seconds. “How about we save the reunion until after I kill this Angel?” I said. Because I had seen enough of him to realize he was the cowboy Angel I had fought in the Templar Vaults. Nate had said his name was Eae.
And together, they had trapped me inside a circle.
Eae growled at my comment. Well, maybe a not-so-friendly warning grumble.
“What is the meaning of this?” I demanded, losing any semblance of patience.
“We needed to check on a few things… Precautions,” Nate said, pointing down at the circle.
“You two really shouldn’t have healed me,” I laughed darkly. “Because now I feel strong enough to break this pretty little circle,” I said, gritting my teeth.
Eae scoffed in disbelief, but seeing the confident look on my face, his eyes narrowed.
“It’s actually for our protection,” Nate said, pointing behind me on the floor. I turned to see a juice box. I slowly swiveled back, arching a brow at him. He shrugged. “Thought it might cheer you up. A peace offering.”
With nothing else to do in my circle, I stabbed the straw into the juice box and took a big sip. They watched me entirely too attentively. I froze, and then threw the juice box to the ground. “What did you do to it?” I hissed, staring down as it leaked juice onto the concrete floor.
Feathers and Fire Series Box Set 2 Page 21