“Kenz …” Amy reached for me, but I pulled away. “It’s not your fault.”
“I should have had more tact.”
“He didn’t give you the option, Kenzie,” Jonah said. “You have to tell the others.”
I nodded. “I need to tell Briggs. Duke just moved the timeline up. We have to find him now.”
The three of us went up to the squad room where most of the SIU was meeting. Bash and the Brooklyn Pack were still at the witches’ station, except for Jackson. He was here as a temporary leader and representative for the pack until Bash was better. We hurried in while they were in mid-discussion.
“We have a problem.” I stepped into the middle of the room. “Duke has gone rogue, and we might want to get some officers in the south wing of the building since it’s unguarded right now.” I winced.
“What the hell are you babbling about?” Briggs barked, his face turning redder with each word he spoke. I could see the vein in his neck pulsing with agitation. I really did not want to be the one to break the bad news.
I hurried by giving them the short version of what had happened at the witches’ station with Duke and what he’d gone to do.
“How do you know this?” Cassidy asked.
My gaze went to Finn, who was standing next to him, and his eyes went to Jonah, who was standing beside me, and an understanding passed through us. He knew.
“Does it really matter how I know?” I blurted out defensively. “Check the cameras and you’ll see for yourself.”
Finn was already moving to his computer to pull up our security system. Within seconds, he pulled it up on the main monitor. Two bodies were on the ground by the south exit of the building, which meant the building was compromised.
“Son of a gun!” Briggs barked. “I want this building on lockdown! Double up on security, and I want a full sweep of the property!” he yelled. “Move!” Briggs pushed past us and went into his office, slamming the door so hard, the windows rattled and the walls shook.
Everyone in the squad room got to work.
“Holy shit, Kenz. Duke is—” Jackson started.
I raised my hand to stop him. “That shouldn’t even matter.”
“But it does,” he argued. “I don’t give a crap, but the Summit is going to rain down on him. He can lose his title.”
“Because he’s gay?” I blurted, shocked.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Jackson shook his head. “Lunas aren’t the only ones in the minority. Blu was battling many demons, and being a woman was just one of them.”
“I didn’t mean to, Jack …”
“I know you didn’t, Kenz, but you put something into motion that …” His sentence trailed off, and he blew out a breath. “I don’t know how Duke is going to fare if he survives this.”
Amy placed her head on my shoulder. Jackson was right. Duke was being reckless because he figured he’d most likely die in the process, but if he didn’t, he’d lose everything either way. There was no way the Summit was going to allow a gay Alpha to run the Nashville Pack. And if for some miracle they did, from the looks on Wyatt and Beau’s faces, I wasn’t sure they would follow him. This was all fucked, and it was my fault. I’d literally dragged Duke out of the closet involuntarily.
“So where do we find your friend?” Michaels quirked a brow. “He obviously lied before. He knows where to find Enzo.”
“Unless he doesn’t,” I argued. “He could be winging it.”
Finn approached us. “I agree with, Grey. I replayed some of the security footage. He doesn’t look all there in the head, if you know what I mean. I think he’s playing it by ear.”
“Let’s get the witches to do a locator spell,” Cas suggested. “It’s the fastest way to track him.”
“All right,” I agreed. “But let’s hurry. The full moon is near, and with those bitten humans on the loose, we’ll have another problem on our hands.”
With a plan in line, I only had one thing left to do: tell Bash. It wasn’t going to be easy. After I’d spilled the beans about Duke, Belinda had scooped me up for treatment and tests, so Bash and I hadn’t spoken since then. Belinda’s timing was perfect, really. I didn’t know how Bash felt about it, and I didn’t want to be disappointed if he had any negative feelings about Duke, but I had to face him eventually.
I went upstairs to the witches’ station and down the hall to his room, where he was still recuperating. For Bash, his wolf still believed I was dead, and the emotional and mental drain it put on him was not something he could easily shift and heal from. It was going to take some time, according to Belinda. Not that I put much stock in what she said.
I knocked on his door. “Bash?” I pushed it open. “You got a second?”
Sebastian Steel was standing by the window that looked out onto the busy streets of New York City. “Yeah,” he replied without turning around.
I shut the door behind me for privacy. “I need to tell you something. It’s sort of an emer—”
“What you did to Duke—”
“Is completely fucked up, but he’s gone rogue. We need to find him,” I added, stopping him before he went further. “Hopefully, you can push past your prejudice and help your friend.”
Bash whipped around to face me, his jaw tight and eyes wide with anger. “My prejudice? Are you serious, Mackenzie? Do you really think I care that Duke is gay? He can be whatever he wants to be for all I care.” He threw his hands in the air. “I’m worried about what will happen to him now that his secret is out!” he yelled.
I shouldn’t have been too shocked. Bash was trying to help Blu when the Summit found out she was a lesbian and tried to run away with a human woman.
“I have no excuses for my actions. It wasn’t my intention to out him in front of everyone, especially his pack members. You know that though.” I stepped further into the room. He didn’t move. “Right now, I don’t have time to soothe your feelings. I need you to put on your big boy pants and either help me or get out of the way. I came here because I thought you should know. But if you’re not going to help, I’ll leave.”
“Stop! Just stop!” Bash grabbed my arm. “Don’t run away from me. I’m sick and tired of the fighting!”
“You started it!” I yelled as I snatched my arm back. “I’m coming to you because Duke ran off on his own, but you’re just picking a fight with me.”
I didn’t want to be angry, but this was an impossible situation. I was already mad at myself. I needed him in my corner, not against me. Instead, he was just piling on the shit. We were completely unbalanced. Between the secrets, our wolves out of sync, and now this, we weren’t at our best.
“This is what Enzo wants, you know,” I whispered. “He might think you’re dead, but if he didn’t, this would be a close second on his Christmas list.” I turned on my heel and walked out, slamming the door behind me.
If he was tired of the fighting, so was I.
14
The squad room was abuzz as members of the SIU geared up with bulletproof vests and strapped on their gun belts, preparing for what I hoped wouldn’t be a bloodshed. If this was Enzo’s grand finale, it would be big, and Duke was walking right into it. It was probably exactly what Enzo wanted.
I swerved through the crowd to find my team, who had my gear ready for me at my desk.
I started to strap up. “What’s the lowdown?”
“He went back to the Brooklyn Pack warehouse,” Finn explained. “We’re monitoring his movements, but it seems he’s just standing there, almost as if he’s waiting.”
“We got the all clear from Briggs,” Cassidy said. “It’s a go.”
“What about me?” Jackson propped himself up on my desk. “Can members from my pack join?”
“Since it's on pack territory, we can’t really stop you, can we?” I interrupted before Cassidy said anything.
“Kenz …” Cas warned.
I shrugged. “They have every right to come, no matter what baldy over there says.” I pointed at Briggs’s o
ffice. “This is a pack matter,” I winked at him. “Now, let’s go.”
“Not without me.” Bash cut through the crowd to get to us. “I’m coming with you.”
“Boss, you’re too weak,” Jackson argued. “Stay behind, we can handle this—”
Sebastian narrowed his eyes. “I refuse to stay back and let others fight my battle. Enzo wants me. Let’s see how he does with two Alphas. I won’t leave Duke to fight him alone.”
We all looked at one another in silence. Actually, everyone looked at me for some sort of guidance in hopes I could talk some sense into him, but I was the last person who should be saying anything to Bash at the moment.
“I don’t see what the big deal is.” Michaels shrugged. “We’ve got the element of surprise. Let’s use it. I say bring the boyfriend.”
I rolled my eyes. He was such an asshole.
“Fine,” I said, “but I want him watched like a hawk. And someone put a vest on him!”
“I’m not wearing one of those things,” Bash said.
“Yes, you will.” I poked my finger into his chest. “You will wear it, and you will like it.”
“You stubborn woman!”
“Damn right.”
The Brooklyn warehouse looked like a war zone. Smoke still filled the air and clouded the sky. The rubble from the fire was all that was left, and I wondered what would happen after today. I worried for Bash and the pack. After the massacre of the Lunas, I didn’t think they could withstand another attack, especially not one of this magnitude. I wouldn’t put it past Charles to find a way to punish Sebastian.
We sat in the back of a blacked-out truck waiting for the order from Cassidy. He’d gone out to retrieve Duke from the warehouse and get some intel. Shifting into a cloud of black smoke, Finn followed him inside, blending in perfectly.
Bash took a seat across from me. “So this is what you do?”
I stared at my boot-clad feet. “I guess so.”
Static came through our earpieces, followed by screaming, and I flinched.
“What the hell?” Michaels pulled his piece out first. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“There’s trouble.” I readied myself to get out of the truck.
“We wait for Cas’s signal,” Belinda said through the comms.
Even though she was in the truck behind us and couldn’t see me, I rolled my eyes.
“We go on my signal,” I retorted.
There was more yelling. I looked at my team which consisted of Bash, Jackson, Michaels, and Amy, with Jonah beside me. “Do I have any eyes on the warehouse?”
“None,” someone said through the earpiece. “Cas’s body cam went out when they went inside the building.”
“It looks like we’re going in,” I said. “Keep your eyes peeled for humans, but don’t let them fool you. They’re in transition. They’ll be shifting tomorrow night. Corral as many as you can and put them down with a tranquilizer—”
“Mackenzie, we wait for the signal from Cas,” Belinda repeated.
I ignored her. “Watch your sixes. Our boys are in there. Let’s get them home safely. On the count of three. One, two … three!”
We burst out of the trucks, guns blazing as we headed straight for the warehouse. I was the first to get to the entrance, aiming my gun—currently my only weapon—up in front of me and scoping the area. What used to be the main floor was now full of burnt debris. I silently waved a hand to my right for Amy and Jackson to go in that direction, and then my left for Jonah, Bash, and Michaels to follow me. Everyone else fanned out in search of Cassidy, Finn, and Duke. We checked what we could of the bedrooms, but there was nothing. The stairs weren’t safe to climb, and the exterior of the building gave us nothing.
“There’s no one on the upper floors, Kenz,” Jonah said, and I nodded his way.
“There’s too much smoke to sniff them out,” Bash said. “What about the basement?”
I looked at Bash, my eyes wide. “He wouldn’t be that stupid, would he?” The basement had an exit to the street, but it was buried in rubble. The only way out was through the main floor. Going down to the basement would be idiotic.
“If he saw Enzo, he could have followed him down there,” Michaels offered.
I worried my bottom lip as I contemplated taking the team down into the basement. It would be dangerous. The ceiling could collapse on us if we weren’t careful, and we could get stuck down there.
“This could be another one of his games,” I said.
“Well, let’s find out,” Amy said through the earpiece, and we made eye contact across the main floor.
We all met at the entrance of the basement. “Michaels, I want you to set up teams on the main floor. Be prepared for two scenarios. One, come down on my command, leaving a team behind just in case. Two, it’s an ambush and the humans arrive.”
He nodded. “Copy that.”
“Bash, if I ask you to stay behind, will you?”
“Why?”
My nostrils flared. “If Enzo is down there, I don’t want him to know you’re alive. Not yet. Michaels is right. We want to keep the element of surprise.”
“Fine,” he muttered.
I exhaled quietly. “Good. Jackson and Amy, you’re with me.”
With Jonah following, the three of us went down the stairs, watching out for the rubble as we made our way to the basement. It was dark, and I pulled my flashlight from my utility belt.
“Do you hear that?” Amy asked.
“Yeah,” Jackson said, and I brought them to a halt.
“Don’t forget I lost my hearing,” I whispered as I pointed to my ear—a side effect of losing my wolf. “We’re working with a handicapped Mackenzie. Let’s be mindful, please.”
“Sorry,” Amy winced. “Up ahead, to your right.”
“Where the Lunas used to train,” Jackson muttered. “I hear voices.”
I aimed my flashlight toward the ground to not announce our arrival in case the voices didn’t belong to our friends. We inched closer, and I could finally hear mumbling.
Being wolf-less sucks.
The debris wasn’t too bad—we could at least walk through it—and when we got closer, I recognized the voices.
“Let him go,” Duke said. “It’s me you want. Just let them go.”
Them.
Amy started to say something, but I covered her mouth. If Enzo was in there, he could hear us. Hell, if he was really paying attention, he probably already knew we were here. Before we made any moves, we needed to know how many “them” were in there.
“I’ll check it out.” Jonah went around us and into the room where the voices came from.
I shut my eyes and pretended to use my oracle sight in case Jackson asked any questions. I rolled my eyes backward, which hurt like a motherfucker after a while, and returned them to normal once Jonah returned.
“Enzo is there with four humans. They have Cassidy and another person hostage. I don’t recognize him though,” Jonah explained.
I pulled out my phone, making sure it was on silent, and typed out a message to Jackson and Amy before handing it to them.
Enzo is there. He has Cassidy, Duke, and I think Killian.
They nodded.
Only question was, where the hell was Finn?
I typed out another message.
He can hear our heartbeats but not Amy’s. Let’s use that.
They nodded again, and I put away my phone and pulled out my gun. It was time to go in.
“Be careful, Kenz,” Jonah whispered.
I swung inside the room, aiming the gun and finding a target in Enzo. “Let them go, Enzo. It’s over.”
The training room that once had been a haven for the Lunas was now a dark, filthy, burned-down pile of ash. I didn’t have a clear shot of Enzo because the humans were lined up in front of him holding Cassidy and Killian hostage. Duke stood opposite them with his hands up in surrender. I quickly scanned the room, but it was too dark and I couldn’t find Finn. He could be any
where.
“Get out of here, Kenz,” Duke said over his shoulder. “This has nothing to do with you.”
I snorted. “That’s the biggest understatement of the year.”
“You know what I mean,” he corrected.
“Mackenzie,” Enzo gleamed as he peered at me over one of his humans, “you slipped away from me. That wasn’t nice.”
I swallowed loudly and prepared for an Oscar-worthy performance. “And you killed my soul mate. That wasn’t nice either.”
He smiled widely and removed his hood. Duke gasped at his marred face. “So you’ve come for revenge.” Enzo grinned. “Oh, how the tables have turned.”
I shot at one of the humans who was standing idly nearby. It wasn’t a kill shot but one to the shoulder.
Enzo’s eyes widened.
“Release Cassidy,” I motioned to Cas who was being held by two humans, “or they start dropping like flies. I might not have my wolf, but I have exceptional aim.”
“You’re bluffing,” Enzo sneered.
I shot at one of the humans guarding Cas, aiming for his foot, and he dropped with a thud.
“All right!” Enzo raised a hand. “Who would have thought all you needed was a damn gun?” He motioned for them to release Cassidy, and my partner walked across to my side. I kept my gun aimed at the humans.
“Shoot him, Mackenzie,” Duke demanded.
“I don’t have a clean shot,” I muttered, not wanting to shoot Killian in the process.
The humans huddled around Enzo to protect him, and it only made it harder. I grabbed the back of Duke’s shirt and pulled him backward. We needed to retreat for now. He didn’t budge.
“I’m not leaving him!” he yelled. “Killian!”
“It’s okay, Duke,” Killian said.
He was around Sebastian’s age, average height, with sandy-blond hair that was overgrown and in desperate need of a haircut. I could see what Duke saw in him physically, but I still couldn’t forgive what he’d done to Enzo’s family. It was such a gray area. If Killian had reached out to Duke and the packs sooner, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten this bad. But who was I to judge him? Who knows what was running through his mind ten years ago, and right now, Enzo was in no position to play judge, jury, and executioner. None of us were. That’s what the law was for, and we would leave it to them to decide their fate.
From the Grave Page 17