She looked up at Ryan. “If these are your best guys, we’re totally fucked. You realize that, don’t you?”
He smirked. “Love, they are the strongest and the best at what they do. Like you, they are out of their element.” He pointed to Purson. “I’d like to let Purs have a go at trying to see information in the vision.”
“You said you didn’t want to do that except as a last resort.”
“I said I didn’t want myself in your vision and trying to control it. One of Purson’s talents is looking deep within a person’s soul and bringing things to the surface that are concealed, either incidentally or on purpose.”
She glanced at the guy. He wasn’t bad-looking. He had brown hair, piercing blue eyes a different shade than her own, and wore an amulet around his neck that looked like it was made of bloodstone.
She turned back to Ryan. “What’s he going to do to me?”
“He’s sitting right here,” Purson mumbled.
“Shut up.”
“Enough,” Ryan mildly said. “Let him hold your hand. Do you trust me?”
“You already told me you don’t have a problem with lying.”
“I thought we’d already established that me lying to you would be futile?”
True. Elain blew out an aggravated breath and held out her right hand, palm up.
Ryan nodded to Purson, who got up, rounded the table, and took her hand in his. With his other hand, he held on to his bloodstone amulet and began silently chanting something. His lips moved, but he made no sound.
She felt…something. Like someone moving around in her brain.
Then, he looked at Ryan. “I can’t. She’s got a barrier up that I can’t get through.”
Ryan crossed his arms again. “What happens here stays here, Elain. I swear it.”
She pointed up at Purson with her left index finger, never taking her gaze off Ryan.
Ryan nodded. “I promise you, what he learns will not leave this room. He will only speak of what directly pertains to the vision.”
Hoping she didn’t regret this, she finally dropped the mental barrier she’d been keeping in her mind against not only Lina and Mai, but against Baba Yaga as well. A barrier to protect Connor’s true identity and origins.
Purson rocked back on his heels. “Whoa,” he muttered before she felt him racing through her brain again. Finally, after several minutes, he released her hand and stepped back. “Nothing new or helpful,” he softly said. “The vision is kind of like a 3D TV replay. It’s not an interactive game where she can discover things that aren’t there.”
“That’s why we can’t pick up or interact with stuff in the vision?” Elain asked.
He nodded. She didn’t miss how he was now wiping his right hand against the leg of his jeans and had taken another step back.
She pulled her mental barrier firmly into place again.
He looked at Ryan. “You know she can…um…do…um…right?” His voice sounded a little shaky.
Rattled.
Ryan arched an eyebrow at him. “I do.”
“I mean, I know some of the vampires can still…but…wow.”
Elain’s head snapped around, focused back on Ryan. “Vampires? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Didn’t your men tell you about them when they took you out to Yellowstone? Plus, I believe we’ve discussed them in passing as well.”
“I—” She remembered Brodey or Lina or someone, maybe even Ryan, mentioning something about vampires, but she’d…
She swallowed hard. “Never mind,” she said, feeling as rattled as Purson had just sounded. “I’ve got enough on my plate already.”
* * * *
Elain finally returned home, her brain spinning. It sucked that Purson hadn’t been able to give her any insight into the vision of the nuclear bomb, but at least she felt like less of a slacker for it.
Ryan had suggested the Triad try to see more of the vision, but also added it could simply be that the situation was too fluid for them to get accurate information. That whatever track they were pursuing might already be working toward stopping the cataclysm in the first place, hence why they couldn’t see the woman’s identity.
He’d also offered one last parting nugget of advice, after it was just the two of them once again alone in his condo.
“The…activities that you three know for certain can trigger your visions,” he’d said. “Try that. Frequently.”
Elain felt her face redden. “Okay,” she muttered. Thanks.”
She’d returned home to the back lanai and walked inside where her three men were taking care of Connor and Ellie.
Ain, Brodey, and Cail looked up at her return, as did Jasper.
Shit. Now that she thought of it, she should have taken Jasper with her, but she hadn’t known about Purson and his particular flavor of skills.
Another time.
Ain finally said it. “Well?”
She shook her head and sank to the couch. “I met Ryan’s head guys, but they don’t have any helpful advice, either.”
Brodey walked over and sat next to her, pulling her into his arms. “You’re doing your best, sweetheart,” he said.
“It’s not good enough, though.” The thought of all those people possibly dying haunted her.
“You can only do what you can do.”
“They did say that maybe we’re having trouble because something we’re doing now is having an effect and changing things.”
“Well, there you go. Look at that as win.”
“It’s not a win if we haven’t stopped it from happening for sure.” And Elain wanted to know who that old woman was. She felt positive the mystery woman in their vision was a cockatrice.
Elain had no problems or reservations whatsoever over taking her out if that was the case.
“Maybe take a day or two off?” Cail suggested. “You’re all working yourselves pretty hard.”
“I’m apparently going to have a really long life,” Elain said. “That would make missing this timeframe by a day because I took a day off pretty difficult to live with.”
“I don’t have any good answers for you, babe.”
“No one does,” she sadly said, snuggling in Brodey’s arms. “That’s what sucks. I keep looking around for someone who might have more knowledge and experience than we do, and the fingers keep getting pointed right back at us. That freaking terrifies me.”
“But Ryan and his guys are on our side, right?” Ain asked.
“Oh, yeah. Absolutely. They’re now all up to date with what we know, and how we figured it out.”
Lina and Mai had spent the afternoon with Zack and Kael, going over—again—the three cockatrice spell books they had in their possession to see if there was anything they’d missed.
What the others didn’t know was that one of the books had been in Brighton’s possession for a century or longer.
Ryan had not yet figured out how or where Brighton had acquired it. Ryan’s guys knew this part of the equation, as did Lacey.
But because of the cover-up to keep Elain’s men—and Lina and Mai—from finding out what Brighton had really been up to, as well as the fact that Elain and the Bolivia jaguars were protecting Marston Hill, it’d kind of complicated things somewhat.
It was bad enough Elain would need to fake her way through the public memorial they would have at the fall Gathering in Yellowstone. Pretend to be the distraught sister-in-law.
Brighton had nearly killed Ellie. Would have killed her, had Elain not dug deep and mastered control of that aspect of her powers the way she had.
And he would have killed the rest of the children and banished Elain to that other realm via the rock pile.
She closed her eyes and breathed in Brodey’s scent.
“Are you okay, babe?” he quietly asked.
“Tired,” she said. “Pregnant.” Her stomach rumbled. “Hungry.”
He helped her sit up. “The double burritos of doom are going to be hard on you, huh?�
� That was what they’d playfully dubbed the twins she was pregnant with. A girl and a boy.
The reincarnated souls of Brighton and Colina. This time, Brighton would have a chance at a normal life without the batshit conspiracy theory bullshit. Colina, the men’s little sister killed by cockatrice, would have a chance for a long life with people who loved her.
She didn’t yet know what they would name them in this life, but she wanted them to be able to live without the cloud of their previous lives and deaths hanging over them.
“Not nearly as hard as I’m going to be on myself until we’re sure we’ve got this damn bomb stopped,” she said.
* * * *
Ain had exchanged a glance with Cail as Elain sat curled up in Brodey’s lap. While they were there, Ain tipped his head to Cail, who got up and followed him to their home office and shut the door behind him.
Well aware that both Brodey and Elain had sensitive lupine hearing, Ain opted to silently speak to Cail. One benefit of being Alpha triplets, at least.
“We need to talk.”
“What’s wrong, Prime?” Cail asked.
“I’m really worried about Elain. Look at how exhausted she is already this early in her pregnancy. What is this stress going to do to her and the babies?”
Cail sat at his desk and stared up at his brother. “She didn’t have any problems when she was a month away from delivering Ellie when she fought that woman at the rock pile. This is as hard on me as it is you, but she’s got a job to do.”
“Mai’s pregnant, too—”
“And Mai was on the run from the Abernathys while pregnant.” Cail let out a sigh as he scrubbed at his face with his hands. Then he spoke aloud, keeping his voice soft. “I trust her. Do you trust her?”
Ain stared at the office door, sensing Elain out in the living room but too distracted by Brodey to overhear them. “Yeah,” he whispered. “You know I do.”
“I know she’d never do anything to endanger our children or us,” Cail said. “I know that just like I know the sky is up and dirt is down. That means I know she would never do anything to risk herself now, while she’s pregnant.”
That pulled Ain up short. “You think she’d put herself at risk later?”
“I think she’d risk her life to save others, yes.”
“But she did put herself at risk while pregnant with Ellie.”
“She was with Lina and Mai and trying to save Lacey.”
“And Mai nearly died.” He couldn’t interpret the look on Cail’s face. “What?”
“I’m not so sure there wasn’t a bigger plan afoot—maybe still is—that we’re not yet privy to. We already know Baba Yaga’s been scheming. Maybe she deliberately set things up so that it would work out that way.”
“Why?”
Cail held up his hands, helpless. “All I know is I love Elain, and I trust her. The only way I’m going to get through life is blind trust in her.”
He stood and rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “The question is, Prime, can you in that one way stand aside and let her be her? I am convinced it’s no accident we met her. I am convinced, based on what we now know, that she needs the three of us to be her ground, her safe haven. So that’s what I’m going to be.”
He squeezed Ain’s shoulder before leaving the office, closing the door behind him.
Ain sank into the office chair. All he’d ever wanted was for them to meet their One, love her, cherish her—protect her.
How the hell was he supposed to do that when she was who knew how much stronger than he was?
Of course he’d give his life for her. In an instant. Yes, he recognized her strength.
That didn’t mean he didn’t resent Baba Yaga and whatever plans she’d set in motion. Because it felt in some ways like his dream had come true, just to be snatched from him again.
He also couldn’t help but wonder if the deaths of their sisters, their parents—Brighton—weren’t also part of that old hag’s greater plan.
But Goddess help that woman—Immortal or not—if her plans included harming Elain or his children. Because he would make sure his last breath was spent taking that damned old hag out if she did.
Chapter Seven
Aliah hadn’t been “back,” as she thought of it, quite a month yet. It was sometimes hard for her to remember to “be” Carl.
Like making sure she walked into the correct bathroom.
Right now, she was a guy.
It’d also been difficult not to sometimes waste time doing things to get back at Carl for his fuckery over the years.
Like the night she’d gone to a gay biker bar with a large bottle of lube and let dozens of patrons ream her at both ends for several hours in the back room while she sensed Carl’s mind was huddled, curled up in a corner of his brain and rocking back and forth.
She’d even remembered to jack off in the process several times, her own pervy brain loving the hell out of it.
It was a diversion. A way to take her out of her thoughts.
Revenge was the only way to keep her mind off Cameron—both her mate and her missing son.
As she’d driven home to Carl’s place that night, with over a dozen loads of cum leaking out of Carl’s ass, and burping up the taste of cum several times, she’d glanced in the rearview mirror.
“I can’t wait to see what it feels like to fuck a pussy with this cock, Carl,” she’d said out loud. “But I wanted you to see what it feels like to be the bitch for a change and know how deadly fucking serious I am about you cooperating with me. Not that I suspect you’ll be in charge of any fucking this body does for a while. I plan to train your body to like taking it up the ass so if I do ever get my own body back and make it home to Earth, I can show up with a strap-on and giggle as I watch you get hard and bend over to take it from me. Oh, and you’re welcome.”
Unfortunately, she couldn’t waste her time doing nothing but fucking.
Even in the name of revenge.
She’d snuck back onto wolf land a few days after becoming Carl, once her shock had worn off and she’d realized who and what she was. She found no sign of her missing baby. No graves, nothing. It’d been so long, she couldn’t even smell his scent in the cave.
She didn’t dare go back to the rock pile for fear of losing Carl’s body. Only if she could be sure of regaining her own body—and being with her baby—would she give up Carl’s body.
For now, she needed his money, his power, and his connections.
She also didn’t have her spell book. She’d waited until the Inglesons were out one day to break into their house and steal their computer. There were a few more pages of the Grimoire Lilitu on it that hadn’t been on her laptop, which Carl had managed to get his hands on, of course.
Carl had purchased property in Florida, in Arcadia, near the damned wolves living there. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Elain Pardie, the wolf she’d crossed paths with, lived close by.
One of the three bitches who’d sent her to that fucking hell hole in the first place.
Aliah didn’t know, but could only hope her baby was there, in Florida. It was her only lead.
Maybe Carl had formulated different plans and had less violent intentions, but if her baby was alive, Aliah wanted him back in her arms.
Well, in Carl’s arms, but that was beside the point. She would put people in place at the property in Florida the way Carl had intended, only their goal would now be to observe, track, and discover whether or not her baby was there.
And then safely retrieve him if he was.
Once that was done, Aliah could start eliminating both her competition from other nests, as well as the wolves and other shifters.
They’d never see her coming.
They couldn’t. Carl Shupe had not, apparently, dinged any of the wolves’ or other shifters’ radars up until now. He’d been smart and stayed far away from them in terms of dicking them over, attacking them, or infiltrating them. He had businesses that looked legal, on the surf
ace.
Only now that she was inside Carl’s head and inside his office with full access did Aliah realize the hidden depth and reach of Carl’s network.
A network that even extended into Eastern Europe.
It rattled her a little, at first, to realize how close on her own trail Carl had been. It was stupid of her not to realize he’d bribed people to keep an ear out for her activities once she’d contacted him about the book.
She wouldn’t make those kinds of mistakes again. With access to Carl’s brain and memories, now she could more carefully plot her course.
He’d been impacted by the book, too, and he’d only seen the scans. He’d never held the real thing in his hands, felt the power flowing through it, a living, breathing book with secrets handed down from the Dark One himself.
The sire of their race.
She also had a pretty good idea where the Dark One had originally come from.
It could not be a coincidence that the rock pile, which had also been mentioned in the book, opened a portal to a realm described as one where the Dark One originated.
Even more imperative Aliah concluded all her work here on Earth—including getting her son back if he still lived—before she reopened that portal and possibly lost access to the power being Carl gave her. She didn’t know what would happen when she did that. As Carl had pointed out, she’d been short-sighted…before.
Not any more.
Now she would deliberately plan and make sure she had all contingencies taken care of before acting.
As Carl, Aliah now had the resources she’d lacked before to put her plans into effect.
She also had a place to escape to, with her son, if things went to utter shit here on Earth.
Or, just maybe, she could position herself here on Earth to be a valuable ally to anyone from that other realm who wanted through. Give them a way to cross and take over.
Connect with the Dark One, or his descendants.
Wolves? Dragons? Bears? Dolphins?
What bullshit.
They were an otherworldly race. They rightfully deserved to rule this plane.
She knew she could easily be the one to do it, if she didn’t fuck things up in the process.
The Fire Road Page 5