by M F Adele
I fucking loved Blaire.
I would slap my stamp of approval across her ass in a heartbeat.
Novak leaned forward, glaring at me from the other side of Stone as he hissed, “Could you not think about my sister’s ass? Or at least block those thoughts from me.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “First, Blaire has a great ass. Second, that’s not what I was thinking about. This is what happens when you hear things and don’t listen to the context, nosy.”
“Did he tell you there was a wraith wandering around town?” Briggs questioned.
“He wasn’t wandering,” Novak retorted.
I quirked a brow at him. “Oh?”
“Farris is a private investigator,” my vampire informed me.
Grim nodded. “Someone’s family hired him to look into a missing person report. And that case led him here. We didn’t know any of their names, so we sent him to Charlie. Hopefully, we freed whomever he was looking for.”
“Farris who?” I inquired.
“Reynolds.”
“Never know when we’ll have use for a dick. It’d be nice to have one in our pocket.”
Jack threw a fry at me, cracking up at the scowl on Briggs’ face.
“What?” I questioned, shrugging. “It’s easier when they’re accessible and come with references. Do you know how hard it is to find an experienced dick on short notice?”
“I can attest to that,” Blaire told me. “I’ve hired him before. He’s quick to respond but takes his time to get the job done thoroughly.”
“I’ve heard Murphy talk about him before,” Palmer chimed in.
I waggled my brows. “Does he recommend the dick too?”
My mage didn’t respond, opting to hold four fingers up instead.
“I don’t know where you’re getting your numbers from, but I’m determined to find the common denominator.”
“Keep running your mouth,” Jack called. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Now, who is Murphy? Not someone from the warehouse, I’m assuming.”
Palmer folded his hands behind his head. “My brother.”
I let their conversation fade into background noise as thoughts of the warehouse bombarded me.
To know that two young shifters within the pack were responsible for all of this angered me to a point that I couldn’t even begin to articulate. And we still didn’t know who their underlings were.
They were killing, whether they knew it or not, some of the strongest shifters within the pack.
But I had no doubt that they knew these people were dying. There had been bodies inside those cages, and some of them had been eaten from. There was no way that they didn’t know what was happening.
I was well aware that I had a hard time controlling my rage on a good day.
Today would not be a good day if I didn’t stop thinking about this.
As soon as I found Katie, I was going to pounce. I had no plans of challenging her. I didn’t want her to know I was coming.
I just wanted her to die.
I knew she was a feline shifter, but I had to wonder if she always landed on her feet.
I guess we would find out.
Heat at my back pulled me from my murderous thoughts. The cinnamon and fire scent wrapped around my senses as Stone peered at me.
“Are you going to sit here and daydream about killing people all afternoon? I don’t mind, but can we plot somewhere less public? I have some more ideas for you.”
“I was kind of enjoying myself,” I admitted with a grin, standing from my chair. “I suppose we can leave, though.”
My demon ambled behind me, stretching his arm over my shoulder to push the door open. I stopped in my tracks, and Stone’s chest was tense against my back as the bell in the doorway rang above our heads.
I wasn’t sure if the Fates were smiling at me or testing my patience.
Either way, it hadn’t taken long for me to find Katie, or for her to find us. I didn’t care about how we got to this place in time. I was going to take advantage of it.
I took a step forward, and Stone snaked his arm around my waist.
“Don’t react yet; wait and listen.”
I growled low, more of a vibration in my chest than actual noise. He was right, but godsdamnit. I wanted to kill her now.
She didn’t seem to care about the danger she was in, though they had mentioned that she was intelligent.
I couldn’t see it now.
All I could see was the blinding obsession that she had with my mate. Her need for him was written all over her face, and I didn’t fucking like it.
She was the reason he’d stopped doing some of the things he loved to do, like rock climbing. She’d made him miserable.
I’d never been rock climbing the proper way.
I wondered if she’d ever flown with a demon.
She ignored us all as she gushed to Briggs about how she missed him. Then she turned her attention to Palmer, telling him how good it was to see him. My mage rolled his eyes as my wolf scrubbed his middle finger up and down his forehead.
I wanted to fucking gag.
She couldn’t take a hint, even if it would literally save her life. And she wouldn’t let either of them get a word in; she just kept fucking talking.
“So, we’re gonna go,” Jack whispered to me, pointing toward the parking lot. “Have fun with that.”
I groaned loudly, and Stone chuckled at me.
“Who the fuck are you?” Her attitude was unreal as she glared, noticing me for the first time.
Briggs glanced at me, aggravation written in the crease in his brows. “This is our mate, Katie. This is Sloane King.”
I smiled maliciously at her, planning her death on the sidewalk while hoping she would move on. I knew better, but I did so love a good chase. Novak snorted as my thoughts ran awry.
I already knew how I was going to kill her.
And it wouldn’t happen where we were standing.
“You have a mate?” she stammered, her wide eyes fixated on Briggs.
“Her pulse is racing. She knows who you are.” Novak’s mental voice held touches of laughter.
“Of course she does. Look at her fingers fidgeting.” Stone tilted his head toward her slightly.
Novak nodded slowly. “She already knew he had a mate too.”
"Doesn't surprise me," Stone mused. “She’s a stalker.”
She continued asking Briggs questions, and I suddenly felt bad for calling my vampire nosy.
“When did you get a mate and why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded.
I was ready to snap. The longer she talked, the more irritated I became. The only things keeping me from lunging at her were Stone’s arm banded around my waist and my need for vengeance.
“Can we go? I want to get ready for the hunt.”
“Will I see you guys around? I was hoping to catch up with you and Palmer.”
I bet she fucking was.
Palmer took one look at my face and smirked. “I’m positive we’ll see ya around.”
“Actually, if you're not busy, I have something I need you to look at,” she simpered at my mage.
Vaughn pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed tightly as he grinned. York bumped his shoulder against my fae’s, and I was lost. I didn’t know what was so funny about this situation.
The way she was acting was weird as fuck to me, but I didn’t know her, so maybe she was always strange.
Or maybe she was on the drug too. We already knew that she had a part in the rogue shifters. She might not be a rogue herself, but she was one of the reasons why this shit was spreading to begin with.
Novak slid into my mind, sounding much too concerned for my liking. “I can’t get in her walls.”
I narrowed my eyes, urging Palmer and Briggs to keep her talking while I picked her mental barrier apart.
They began to walk with her, striking up some bullshit conversation. The rest of us turned in the opposite direction like we were leaving
them. We took a left at the end of the block, walking down the alley between two buildings.
I continued to chip at her mental walls, not touching any of her security. Someone had trained her to build her defenses. But like my mage’s original walls, there were tiny gaps.
It took me longer than I liked, but when I finally broke through, I sent her thoughts straight to my guys. She didn’t need Palmer’s help for anything, though we knew that. She was trying to trap him.
She wanted to trap Briggs too.
Big fucking surprise.
I asked them to go along with her plan while the guys and I followed them, hidden in the veil beyond the Void.
The apartment she took them to was in town, and it didn’t take them long to get there on foot. I used the tracking marks to lead us through the Void, popping into an empty room with one wall between Briggs, Palmer, and the rest of us.
I realized two things.
It wasn’t Katie’s apartment; it was Anna’s. Her scent was all over the place, mixing with Katie’s and one other.
And there was some kind of intricate series of runes drawn on the hardwood floor.
Stone stepped back into the Void, moving to the living room so that he could watch her reactions while we listened from behind the closed door.
“She’s texting someone.” Stone acknowledged. “I can’t see who without getting too close to her.”
Katie rambled on about nothing as the minutes passed. Just when I was ready to say fuck it and kill her to get her to shut her fucking mouth, there was a knock on the front door. A man’s voice filled the room.
“You must be Briggs and Palmer.”
As I listened to him chant in his mind, it didn’t take me long to figure out he was starting some kind of spell. I glared down to the runes on the floor, but I wasn’t sure what they were. I'd never used any of the symbols before.
I hissed at York and Vaughn, “We need to disrupt the lines on the floor. Just don’t pass over the circle. I don’t know what will happen if any of us do.”
I was momentarily stunned to see Vaughn use his fae magic to wash away the writing. I’d seen him use it several times before, but I was constantly caught off guard by how effortless he made his control seem.
We heard the new man in the other room curse.
“What’s wrong?” Katie asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” he answered. “I’m gonna grab some things from my room, and I’ll be out of your hair.”
His mind was going wild, wondering what happened to his runes. We heard him walking down the hall, so York and I moved to either side of the door. Vaughn grabbed Novak, tugging my vampire into the Void with him.
When the door cracked open, the man popped his head in, and York snatched him into the room by the shirt collar. I closed the door quietly behind him.
York shoved him against my fae as he and Novak appeared once more. I gripped the man’s chin, compelling him as I made eye contact. I spoke in his mind.
“Don’t fight. I won’t hurt you. I just want to know what this was,” I purred, tapping my foot on the floor.
He smiled at me. “That was a mating spell. It took me days to create.”
“What was it supposed to do exactly?”
“I was told that it would break current bonds and force a new one between the two people standing in the circle.”
York's eyes glazed over, and I knew it was about time for him to snap. He was so sweet… Until he wasn’t. And just like my fae, those bright eyes hid violence that made my dark soul preen in their presence.
I’d been surprised that York hadn’t killed the demon in that bar fight in Hell, but I thought Briggs might have had something to do with that.
I didn’t bother asking the man—the mage—what his name was. I didn’t care enough to know.
Thorny vines wrapped around his neck. His face turned purple as York tightened them. He started to thrash around, so Vaughn and my druid took him into the Void. Novak and I followed them through.
It always took longer than I expected for someone to be strangled to death. It was sort of an anticlimactic way to die.
York's vines continued to constrict, and I squeezed his shoulder, telling him that he could stop. The mage was dead, but my druid didn’t let up.
Vaughn and Novak glanced at me, but all I could do was shrug. Murder was cathartic to me. Maybe York was waiting for his head to pop off or something.
“How strong is that vine?” my vampire inquired, listening in on my thoughts.
“Strong enough to—”
Novak reached up, swiftly jerking the vine until it was wrapped around was the mage’s spine, embedded in his skin. He slapped York on the back, tilting his head.
“That was impressive. Remind me not to piss you off when you’ve got those things out. I like my neck just the way it is.”
York chuckled, some of the tension leaving his shoulders as he muttered, “They weren’t always that strong.”
“Palmer is heading your way,” Stone told me before I could ask York what he meant.
My mage opened the door, closing it behind him as I popped out in front of him. He studied the floor for a moment and then looked up at me with wide eyes.
“That’s not good.”
Novak huffed. “Really? Because I was thinking it was gonna turn us into unicorns.”
“I know an alicorn,” Vaughn commented absently. “He’s a real asshole.”
I rolled my eyes at them. “We need to get you and Briggs out of here.”
“That spell was for Briggs,” York informed Palmer. “They were going to break the bond between him and Sloane”
“Then why did they want me?” my mage questioned.
Novak scrunched his face up, playing with his nose ring as he answered, “I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say that they wanted to kill you.”
Palmer rubbed his fingers over his jawline, raising his brows as he grimaced. “That’s grand.”
“So…” I cut in, reiterating, “We need to get you and Briggs out.”
“Right.” He nodded. “I’ll go back out there and tell her I got a phone call.”
Novak snorted. “Do you really think that’s gonna work with her?”
My mage shrugged. “I’ll give it a go.”
He opened the door, walking out as Vaughn and Novak both shook their heads.
We heard Palmer talking to Briggs, and Katie kept interrupting them. I gave it a minute, hoping they would be able to leave on their own, and then I got impatient.
I stepped into the Void, pushing myself through the wall to stand beside Stone. “Want to stretch your wings?”
He bit his lip, nodding as he replied, “I’ll find you.”
One more step had me landing in the living room between my guys. Katie’s face betrayed her shock, her mouth falling open as she stared at me. I gave her what I thought was a saccharine smile.
“It’s time to go.”
She scoffed, her gaze bouncing from Briggs to Palmer. “Does she always dictate what you do?”
“No. You misunderstand me,” I insisted, patting the air. “I was talking to you.”
“What?” she squealed as I crossed the distance.
I pulled her close to my chest as I grinned, pushing myself and her through the Void, only to be deposited in front of the cabin. I forced my wings out so quickly that skin stuck to the bones and blood dripped onto the ground.
I’d not realized how hungry I was until I tasted her fear.
“You’ve been here recently, yes?” I whispered to her. “Have you ever been skydiving?”
She gasped as I shot into the air, climbing in altitude with every powerful swipe of my wings. When I thought I was high enough, I paused, hovering as I glanced down.
Stone had caught up to me, gracefully gliding through the sky only to stop twenty or so feet below me.
“Should I go higher or do you think this is good?”
Katie shifted in my arms, her mountain lion clawing at
my chest as she fought me. I ended up with her tail in my hand, dangling her above her death as she swatted at me.
“Do it,” Stone encouraged.
I released my grip, observing with a sick sort of fascination as she tumbled through the air.
The feline roared before shifting back to her human skin. Her scream continued through her change, and I basked in all the fear she was feeding me.
The racket she made had my ears ringing, but the meal was a lovely bonus.
We both dove, tucking our wings to follow her downward trajectory.
“Can you land on your feet from here?” I yelled, needing to be heard clearly over the rushing air.
Her voice was distorted as she shouted her last words. “Fuck you.”
“She’s so thoughtful.”
Stone chuckled quietly at me as we pulled to a stop, hovering in the air. We watched her slam into the ground from about sixty feet up. The impact of her body and the crunching of bones would stick in my head for days.
I thought that might have been the first time I’d ever dropped anyone to their death before.
Or maybe the second.
It was definitely the only one I remembered being in control of. I couldn’t hold myself responsible for the things my demon alter did to Blue’s horde in the Underworld.
We descended, landing on either side of Katie’s remains. Her body was in all kinds of fucked up angles, but her skin was still beautifully intact.
“I’d been hoping for a splat. You know? Like when you drop a watermelon on concrete? I guess the grass had some cushion to it,” Stone muttered, tilting his head to inspect her face.
I couldn’t help but say, “Fun fact. Did you know that when the human body falls, it reaches terminal velocity at around one hundred and twenty miles per hour? Faster if they tuck their limbs in when they freefall.”
“It’s sort of mind-blowing to think about how fast we were just flying.”
“Mmm,” I agreed, pulling my wings back in before digressing. “I’ve always wondered how fast I could fly while going straight up or even horizontal.”
“You don’t know?”
“No idea, but it’s on Dolyn’s endless list of experiments.”
Stone nodded thoughtfully as he stood. He stuck his hand in his pocket, bringing out his phone.