A grunt from Vaughn had me narrowing my eyes at him, and I was done pussyfooting around. As second, it was my job to keep the peace and step in when it was warranted.
"Spit it out already. What's going on?"
Surprisingly, it was Lorca who answered. "This is giving me hives. It looks like it's all set up and the target is all but gift wrapped for us." He glances up from his packet, addressing Vaughn, "This may as well say they know who it is and where they'll be tonight, but they're calling us in to handle it? Why?"
Vaughn tossed his set of papers on the hotel suite’s table. "We can't back out now. If we do, we can be sanctioned and sent to the Council. In the meantime, we'd be sitting in the Clan gaol." We all gave a shudder at that. Any clan prison isn't a place you want to end up, especially if you were an Enforcer.
"We're being set up as executioners." Bane had the right of it. We'd all come to the same conclusion, glancing uneasily between us.
"Let's do what was requested and get out of the area. We can't refuse unless we have something legitimate to take to the council. And if we refuse, we'd have to make a run for it. The Regent would never let us leave if he thought we were a threat."
We all nodded in agreement without enthusiasm. Usually, we were antsy to get started; tonight we were somber but determined to finish our job.
I had the mom and kid cloaked, and we'd made it through their small house and down the stairs without a hiccup. I'd used a sleeping powder on the guard at the rear, a quick burst of breath and some rope, along with a handy shed to hide him in, and voila– a clear escape. Or so I’d thought. The fine hairs all over my body were standing at attention, my alter’s intuition sensing something I couldn't. I silently stopped the females in my charge, so I could better focus inward on what my animal was trying to tell me.
I was so shocked at what she was telling me that I nearly dropped my cloaking. Frantic was an understatement; she did not want me confronting or even seeing who was hunting us.
That settled it then. It was going to take everything I had to pull it off. I’d be lucky to make it to the safehouse with my cargo. My talents were amazing, but they came with a price. Severe lethargy and a need for sleep soon followed any large expenditures.
I could sense hesitation in the mother when I had her pick her daughter up and face the southernmost wall. A family portrait hung just to the left of us, a bittersweet memory of better times gone by. This wall was the closest to the wooded area behind the house. On the other side of the small copse, our getaway vehicle awaited our arrival.
Gathering my energy, I harnessed and bent it to my will, pushing it through the hand I clasped tightly and into the girl. With the faith of the desperate, the woman followed my lead, and we sunk through the paint and plaster to emerge from the outer wall. The rush of air that escaped her was the only indication she hadn't been sure we'd make it.
I could feel the exhaustion coming on and urged my feet, and hers, to move faster. My alter screeched at me not to turn. I obeyed, not looking back even though I could feel the hunters’ attention on us. She'd never acted this way before, and I could only assume it was something she was doing instinctually. Regardless, I wasn't about to argue with her.
We broke through the other side after I checked that we were clear and made our way to the nondescript station wagon I had stashed off the road. Functioning through sheer strength of will alone, I used my alter’s enhanced night vision to guide our way until it was safe to turn the headlights on.
My uncle had gotten too bold in his position as Regent, a place he held only until I found my mates and became eligible to take my right to rule. I knew he had to be aware that I was the one undermining him. So far, he had no proof. By bringing in the hunters, and a quad at that, he could only mean to catch me in the act. Were I caught, it would be treason, and I highly doubted he'd wait for the Council to decide my fate. It was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened and he set his trap better than I could escape.
Bane
She's our mate. Out loud I reiterated, "She's our fucking bondmate! What the actual fuck is happening here?"
My anger and frustration were directed firmly at our illustrious leader. This is what’d had him so twitchy since we pulled into town.
"Tonight confirms it, yes." Vaughn, for once, seemed at a loss. We'd been searching, and now we were in one hell of a pickle if we tried to claim her.
Quietly, Iliam asked Vaughn, "Is she who I think she is?" I glanced back and forth between them. Adding it all up, I started to shake my head in denial.
"She’s the Ghost Clan's Anassa in-waiting, and we've been called to commit regicide. And she's also apparently our bondmate." The palpable fury in Vaughn's voice had my hackles up.
It dawned on me then why he'd made us scout unnecessarily before we entered the house. "You knew! You sensed her, and you made us let her go. We could have–"
A sharp motion from Iliam cut me off, and a slow clap drew my attention to our audience outside. Of course, we'd been well and truly set up.
None other than the Regent himself and a contingent of his personal clan soldiers awaited us. The man wasn't physically imposing, especially for a shifter. Hair just long enough to curl and a Van Dyke beard the same sinful black as his hair and eyes. They complemented his slim figure and the vicious delight in his gaze.
"My, my. This couldn't have turned out better had I planned it. Even I couldn't have imagined this turn of events. I'd only planned to lay the death of the little bitch at your feet. Now, now," he chastised, twitching a finger side to side like a metronome when we bristled at the threat to our bondmate. "I have leverage over the brat. All I have to do is arrest you for letting a thief go. Bad things happen to enforcers in gaol. Once you're gone– it's only a matter of time for her. Bond in place or not."
The Regent was gleeful in his madness, for that's what it surely was. He must’ve gone mad to consider such actions, let alone try to implement them.
"The Council won't stand for this, and you know it." Vaughn spoke with confidence, but knowing him as I did, I could tell he was concerned by the tension in his body.
"And who is the Therian Council going to believe? An Enforcer Quad who let a mark go for no apparent reason? Or the Regent who hired them to apprehend a thief?" The Regent tsked and shook his head as if we were naughty children to be reprimanded. "Arrest them."
I waited, as did we all, for Vaughn to give the order to resist, but it never came. I glared at him in silence as our hands were bound behind us until a hood obscured him from my vision. We were searched and divested of our weapons and communications devices and corralled into the back of a vehicle. When we were secured and the transport under way, he finally deigned to explain himself.
"There were more in the area, and we likely wouldn't have made it out. We’ll have a better chance when they think we're compliant and locked up." I didn't agree, but he was the leader and Iliam hadn't jumped in either, so it was probably a good course of action even if it chafed.
"Lorc, I want you to shift and hide. As soon as those doors open, we'll make them come in to get us. I want you to run, get to the Council and tell them what happened. Get our bondmate first if you can." Vaughn's directive chilled my soul.
We’d never split up, not since we'd formed our Quad. Lorca's denial was swift to come.
"I'm not leaving you all. We'll get out. Together." The easygoing man could be stubborn as a mule when it came to those he cared for, and I could just hear the stiff set of his jaw in his voice
"Lorca, there won't be a chance after we get within those walls. Not without assistance. The Regent only has to kill us to make our bondmate ineligible to rule. Not to mention other consequences for her." Iliam's prediction wasn’t idle. We all knew it. Without us, our mate would slowly die. Even if there were a way to counteract that, she still wouldn't be able to continue the bloodline. The Regent could, and probably would, petition the Council to be named Anax, a new king instead of a queen.
Vaughn wasn't done though. "Get a message to the Council, then you can get our bondmate and come for us. The Council must know in case we fail."
In case we die, he means.
The rest of the ride went by in silence after Lorca shifted and hid. The rest of us quickly did a partial shift and freed our hands, before shifting them back and playing possum.
The soldiers not being amused was an understatement.
"Where's your fourth? Don't make us come in there!" The soldier had balls, but he couldn't hide his anxiety.
"We have hoods on, you dumbass. How are we supposed to know where he went? Better yet, how did you lose a prisoner?" I taunted them, getting the expected reaction.
Finally, it was go time. Ripping off our hoods, we attacked. The reinforcements didn't take long to arrive, and that part hurt like a bitch, but Lorca got away. I smiled through my bloody teeth and spit in the face of the soldier in front of me. It was lights out after that.
Lorca
My weasel form was small, but it was fast with my shifter magic, and it blended in with the forested area I'd escaped into. A plus to being hidden from the majority of the populace was seclusion– even the prisons. The bad deal was I'd be shifting back naked, and our hotel was probably crawling with soldiers waiting for me to show up.
Plan B it was. Steal a cell phone and call the Enforcer's HQ to get a message to the Therian Council. It took hours of hanging around a park, but I finally got my chance when a lady left hers on a bench to chase a toddler across the playground.
I ended up leaving my message with the Commander who wouldn't give me the Council number. It wasn't ideal, and the man was an ass, but it's not like I could do anything else about it at the moment. He assured me he'd get a message to the Council himself and that two teams were being sent to straighten everything out. Thank fuck we had a pristine record. He'd been uncomfortably interested in our bondmate– asking more questions than. I had answers for in regards to her. Worried the Council might not act quickly enough, if they didn't understand the importance of the issue, I complied.
Clearing the call log, I left the phone on the ground under the bench to avoid being seen. Determined to find my bondmate and rescue the rest of my Quad, I set off to get what information I could and find some damn clothes.
Vaughn
It had been twenty-four hours in this hellhole, and we'd been individually interrogated for most of them. They wanted our missing member in a bad way. We were in separate cells, me across from Bane and Illiam. I'd only woken up a short time ago after passing out from the beating I'd received. My panic was instantaneous when I only saw Bane and an unoccupied cell.
"Where is he?" Bane just looked at me, devastated.
"They took him again after they threw you in. We should have fought." He was resigned, and that in itself spoke volumes.
Had I fucked up? I still didn't think we would have all survived. But this? This was maybe worse.
It was hours of guilt-ridden anxiety before they returned with Iliam. The guards were silent as they threw his motionless body in his cell and shut the door with a clang. Instantly, Bane was reaching through the bars, trying to get to him.
"Ils. Come on, man. Wake up." Bane could just reach his hand, and the grip that he had on our wounded quadmate was barely returned.
"Iliam, no, you have to shift. Fuck, I'm so sorry." Grief was already settling in. There would be no medical care given, and judging from the wet rattle, Iliam needed immediate intervention. Even our advanced healing couldn't fix this. Especially if he wasn't able to shift. "Bane, can you help him?"
"He's not absorbing it. I think he has something stopping the change." Panic colored Bane's voice, and there wasn't anything I could do to help.
I started yelling for the guards, panic tainted my voice. When they came, I thought they were actually going to help Illiam. Instead, they took Bane. He tried to reason with them, we both did, but they refused to acknowledge our pleas and wrestled Bane out of cell and down the hall.
I was an utter failure. I'd let my Quad down and made the wrong call.
"I invoke my right." The strained words escaped from Illiam, barely audible.
"Iliam, no!" He couldn't do this when there was still a chance. I was terrified he'd be lost to us forever if he went this route.
"I invoke my right to the Order of the Wraith." The demand heralded the magic that sped Iliam's death.
If he was found worthy, he would join the Order as a Wraith Guardian. If he was found lacking, his soul would burn eternal.
His body disappeared when the magic was gone. My Quad brother was gone. I waited hours for Bane to be brought back, nearly losing the non-existent contents of my stomach at the blood and gore that covered him. He was barely conscious, and on the way past my cell, I caught his bloodshot eyes.
"He invoked the Wraith." Bane's eyes briefly widened before he did the same.
They didn't even get him in the cell before the ancient magic took over, as if it had been lurking in wait, after taking Iliam. That fit with the legends– in the hopes of being reunited, members of the same Enforcer group would choose to follow their comrade.
My thoughts and heart went out to my bondmate and last Quad member, and I could only hope that they found each other.
The guards tried to get my cell open, but it was too late.
"I invoke my right to the Order of the Wraith." The magic hit hard and fast, and I was gone a moment after the final word fell from my lips.
The asshole had upped the stakes. He'd penalized nearly the entire Clan for harboring fugitives. I knew it was a trap, but that money wasn't his. The narcissist had everything converted into gold and was having it transferred to the Manor's treasury. Hitting the security truck en-route was going to be my only chance to retrieve it and reverse the effects his greed was having on my clan. Something was affecting me as well. My alter had been in a tizzy all day, and it was making me antsy.
I didn't bother to wait until the truck was out of the city, knowing it was to my advantage to strike now. At a stoplight, I darted under the truck and quickly chewed through a line that I immediately discovered was the fuel line. Yuck.
I retreated to the curb and stayed as hidden as possible while I made my way to the car I had left on the only highway leading into Clan lands. I shifted and dressed before I headed out to intercept the transport truck.
The truck had made it further than I'd thought it would, but the driver had still had ample warning and pulled off at a service station. I waited for the first guard to check out the issue while the second stood watch. The cursing that rang out had a satisfied smile curving my full lips.
The driver came out from under the rig and stomped off to the mini mart, leaving the second guard alone. I took my chance that my cloaking would hold even with the protections I'm sure the Regent had demanded be in place. I had my sleeping dust handy in case things went tits up, but so far so good. I slammed the passenger side door and gained the attention of the guard who came running to investigate. As soon as he opened the door to check inside, I blew the dust in his face. A quick flip of his legs, and I shut the door to hide his awkwardly positioned body.
Not wasting time, I went around the back and used my ability to unlock the door, pulling it shut behind me without latching it. The gold coins and bars were secured in another safe inside the truck. After making short work of the lock, I hefted the heavy ass things out and into bags I had brought along. Who knew what tracking devices or charms were being used. It was a gamble just taking them.
The yelling in the cab clued me in that I'd run out of time sooner than anticipated. I had most of the gold, and it would have to do. I slipped out as carefully as possible and at least got the door shut, if not locked. The weight of the bags was a bitch to carry but being cloaked at leas
t let me walk quickly instead of having to sprint.
The shouts increased in volume with a clang of the doors being opened to reveal the empty vault. I lugged my bags across the bridge to where I'd left my car.
Now to figure out how to return the money.
I slowed for a red light when my alter went rabid. I lost control for a moment, and sailed directly into the intersection full of traffic. The airbag deployed, but it didn't help the minivan that T-boned my driver's side door. I lost consciousness moments later, the wails of my alter following me into the darkness.
Lorca
Something bad had happened, and I had a feeling it was my Quad. I'd managed to get a phone and in touch with the Commander again, and he'd only kept saying I needed to meet the teams for news. Trying to find my mate hadn't gone well as of yet, and I was out of options to quickly resolve the situation on my own. Against my better judgment, I met up with the Trio and Quad from HQ.
I'd barely made into the hotel parking lot when my fears were confirmed.
"Enforcer Lorca, you are under arrest for aiding and abetting the thief known as 'Avarice', escaping the Ghost Clan Regent's custody, and desertion of your Quad. You will stand trial with the Therian Council House post haste." The Quad leader didn't appear to enjoy arresting me. It was ingrained in us during training to uphold our duties, but we didn't always have to agree with them.
Hexes and Handcuffs: A Limited Edition Collection of Supernatural Prison Stories Page 18