“What’ll you have?” the bartender asked.
“AB positive, if you have it.”
There was no response, but I assumed it was a nod.
“So, what happened, man?”
One of them blew out a breath. “Shit’s crazy,” he whispered. “The minute I woke up, they had us on a man hunt. You guys are lucky you weren’t there.”
“Fuck, did they find her?”
There was silence.
“The Elders are pissed. Lucian shouldn’t have let her stay in the first place. I don’t know why he fucks with those wolves, anyway.”
“Hundred bucks says they kill Lucian.”
“Oh, for sure. There’s no way he’s getting away with this.”
A small gasp escaped me, and I had to bite my bottom lip. They couldn’t kill Lucian. Not for my mistake. I couldn’t take any more of this. We had to get Amy and Lucian out of the vamps’ clutches as soon as possible.
I was about to zero in on their conversation again when I heard a familiar voice.
“Check everywhere. The bathrooms, the backroom … I want every square inch of this place covered. She’s in here,” Cassidy Chang commanded from the entrance of The Third Eye.
“The SIU is here,” I whisper-yelled to Jackson as I slid off the barstool and started to back away. I spun around and looked up, and sure enough, directly behind me was an emergency exit door.
“Shit,” Jackson growled. “There’s a damn horde of them in here. Let’s get the hell out.”
As we pushed the door open, an alarm started blaring and blazing red lights began flickering everywhere. We must have tripped the alarm. It could either work in our favor or against us. We slipped outside.
The exit took us to a back alley that was fenced off, so we had no choice but to jump the fence. For two wolves, that was a piece of cake. Jackson and I looked at one another and grinned. Getting a running head start, we dashed up to the fence and scaled it with three expertly-landed jumps. Landing on all fours, we didn’t wait or look behind us, we just ran. As soon as we emerged from the alleyway, we made a hard right onto the busy street and swerved between the mass of people, attempting to get lost in the crowd, yet not lose each other. When the traffic light turned green, we hurried to cross the street and went down another dark street filled with houses. The shouts of Get off my lawn! followed us as we cut through people’s backyards, but we just kept running and jumping fences, trying to put as much distance between us and The Third Eye. As soon as we made it to another busy street, we saw a couple exiting a taxi and ran to catch it before anyone else.
The biggest mistake we made was parking Jack’s SUV at The Third Eye lot, because now when they checked the car registrations, they would know Jackson was with me. There was a slim chance they wouldn’t run the tags, but I doubted Cassidy was that reckless. He knew I didn’t have a car, which was to my advantage. Either way, we would have had to ditch the car and take a taxi back to the Bronx and the shelter of Bobby’s safe house. Luckily it was only a twenty-minute drive, and I noticed the SIU didn’t have the witch with them to do another locator spell on the spot. Knowing my team, they were probably still searching the streets for me.
We finally made it to Bobby’s safe house, and even though we had a lot to talk about, there was nothing but silence between us. Our adrenaline was still pumping from the thrill of the chase, but mainly because we had both hoped to hear something about Amy by now, and we hadn’t. Hopefully Bobby had better luck than we did.
“They’re gonna kill Lucian,” I finally said.
“We don’t know that,” Jackson retorted as he paced in front of the kitchen door.
“Those vampires at the bar were pretty sure.”
“We can’t put any stock on idle gossip, Kenz. Let’s wait until tomorrow morning to hear what Bobby says.”
I ran a hand through my mangled dark hair. “I fucked shit up. I royally fucked up, Jack. I’m going to get everyone killed.”
He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. His grim look was all the confirmation I needed. In my misguided effort to save Amy, I condemned her to death. And this time, it would be for real.
4
The next morning Jackson and I were up bright and early, waiting for Bobby to walk in and give us information about what was going on with the vampires. After almost getting busted by the SIU, we were in no mood to take any more risks. It was obvious I had a locator spell on my ass and a bounty on my head. Things weren’t looking too bright, and the safest place for me was this house. I hated to admit it and I’d deny it if asked, but Bobby was right; I should have just stayed indoors. The adrenaline kept me up last night and I barely slept a wink. When I did sleep, nightmares of Lucian and Amy getting killed plagued my dreams. To say I was restless this morning was putting it mildly.
“Coffee?” Jackson asked as I stumbled into the kitchen.
“God, please,” I groaned as I shuffled in and slouched on one of the bar stools. “I feel like death.”
He poured two mugs of steaming coffee and pushed one towards me. As the smell of java hit me like a five-ton truck, I perked up real quick.
“No sleep?”
I shook my head and accepted the coffee, inhaling deeply before taking a large gulp.
“I didn’t sleep much, either,” Jackson admitted.
“We’ll get her back, Jack.” I eyed him carefully. Unlike most wolves, Jackson was more level-headed and tactful. It was what made him a good leader. But this was different. It was Amy. There was only so much he could contain before his animal took over. “Before you know it, she’ll take the cure, she’ll be human again, and this nightmare will be over.”
He exhaled loudly. “I don’t even care anymore, Kenz.” Jackson looked me dead in the eyes, unblinking. I’d never seen him this serious. “She can stay a vampire, for all I care. I love her just the way she is, Kenz. I just need her back. Safely.”
I nodded and sipped my coffee. It was a big deal for Jackson to accept her the way she was, and I wished Amy would’ve been here to hear him say it. When she became a vampire, it put a strain on their relationship. So much so, that they’d broken up. Then again, she bit him, but I digress. Historically, vampires and wolves didn’t get along, and Jackson was definitely not a vamp lover back then. He eventually got over his prejudices, but it took them a lot to get to the place they were at now.
Just then, the front door knob started to jiggle, and Jackson and I quickly looked at one another. Either we were getting robbed, or Bobby was back. We ran out of the kitchen and to the foyer hallway where we met the warlock halfway.
“Honey, I’m home,” Bobby grumbled as he lugged a duffle bag over his shoulder and kicked the door shut behind him.
“Long day at the office?” I smirked and leaned against the wall, watching his clearly out-of-shape-self struggle with the heavy bag.
“A little help would be nice,” he replied sarcastically. “This is your stuff, by the way.”
“C’mon, little guy.” Jackson relented and took the bag from him like it weighed no more than a feather.
I raised a brow. “What did you do, bring my whole closet?”
Bobby shrugged. “I figured you wanted options, and let’s be honest, your apartment is a mess. I just grabbed what I could and left.”
That caught my attention. My eyes widened. “You were in my apartment? How?”
“I’m a warlock, duh?”
I rolled my eyes. “That doesn’t answer my question. I’m surprised they’re not staking out my place in case I return.”
Bobby snorted. “Oh, they are. I had to use an invisibility spell to get in and out. Which, might I add, isn’t easy to perform, and is quite taxing.”
“Well, thank you.” I took the bag from Jackson and started to look inside. Fresh undergarments, clothes, shoes, hair products … everything was in there. I wasn’t surprised to see that my gun and shield were missing. They were probably taken the minute the SIU went into my apartment.
Bobby sighed. “You were right about the SIU getting involved. They’ve started a formal investigation and there’s already a warrant for your arrest, Princess.” I wasn’t surprised about that. “As for the vampires, they don’t care about the SIU. They want to mete out their own punishment. Right now, it’s a race for whomever finds you first.”
“That’s not good, Kenz.” Jackson looked at me with a worried face. “The vampires are ruthless. They won’t kill you; not right away, at least. Not until they exhaust themselves torturing you. And since they’re immortal, that could last a long time.”
I gulped. I was better off with the SIU, but that was only if I turned myself in.
“What else, Bobby? What did you find out about Amy?” As dire as my situation was, I couldn’t think about anything else. I’d been tortured before, but Amy’s well-being was still my primary focus.
“Your friend was captured. She’s not being mistreated that I could tell, but she’s their prisoner and is being kept in a cell. They’re hoping you’ll return for her.”
This was exactly what I was worried about, and why I had to hide the cure somewhere unpredictable, somewhere they wouldn’t think I, of all people, would hide it. Because I was that predictable. I would plan a rescue mission to get Amy out, because that’s who I am. They already knew so much about me because I’m the damn Freedom Princess.
“Fuck!” I shouted, flinging my mug of coffee at the wall. The glass shattered everywhere, splashing caramel-colored liquid across the walls.
“Hey!” Bobby shrieked. “That’s wall paneling! Easy with my house.”
“Relax, Kenz! We’ll figure this out,” Jackson promised, approaching me like a feral animal. “They think you’re on your own, but you’re not. That ignorance will be their fatal flaw.”
I shook my head and brushed him away. “We can’t possibly break her out. It’s too dangerous.”
“Damnit, Mackenzie!” he yelled. “We’re not leaving her there!”
“They know my every move, Jack!”
“And when they realize you’re not coming for her, what do you think they’ll do to her then? She’ll be considered disposable to them,” he growled.
“Lucian won’t let that happen,” I muttered, but even I barely believed my own words.
“Lucian has no clout!” Jackson screamed. “Not anymore. If anything, we might need to bust him out, too.”
A million thoughts raced through my mind. I couldn’t slow them down enough to follow the thread through, but one thing he said was certain. We couldn’t depend on Lucian to step in, because if those vampires from the bar last night were right, then Lucian’s life was in danger. And the minute Amy ceased to be of use to those vamps, so would she.
“Might I give a suggestion?” Bobby interrupted. I nodded stiffly. “If you’re going to do a jail break, your best bet is to do it during the day. The cells are underground, which is the tricky part, but I might be able to help with a spell or two.”
Jackson’s chocolate eyes gleamed, and for a moment, he looked so much like his brother as he smiled excitedly and a small, almost invisible dimple peeked out. It almost shattered me into a million pieces.
“With a good, formulated plan, we can do this, Kenzie,” Jackson pleaded. “We just have to trust each other. Do you trust me?”
I didn’t even have to think about it. “Of course I do.”
“Then let’s do this. Let’s go save our girl.”
My Achilles heel will always be the people I love and my desire to keep them safe. While I might be known as the Freedom Princess and others might think my true fight is injustice, it’s really keeping those I love alive. I would sacrifice everything for Amy. I’d done it many times before and would continue to do it now, even if it killed me. Even though we weren’t blood related, she was the closest I would ever have to a sister. She was my chosen family, and I’d proven countless times before that I would do anything for family.
“I made you this potion.” Bobby handed me a small vial with purple liquid inside. “Once you take it, it will cloak you for four hours outside of this house. After four hours, it’s fair game. The SIU will find you.”
I eagerly took the potion from Bobby and nodded.
“All vampires sleep underground during the daytime, so you’ll have to be very careful,” Bobby cautioned. “The only advantage you’ll have is that they’re weak during the daytime, whether they’re in the sun or not. If you can, lead them upstairs to the cathedral, where I’ll be waiting to shatter the windows and let the sun in, thus giving you the upper hand. Once you have her, get out as fast as you can.”
“Any chance your secret friend gave you a map of where the cells are?” Jackson asked.
Bobby shook his head. “You’re going in blind. If you had something of Amy’s – a lock of hair, blood, anything I could trace her with – it would help to find her, but you’ll just have to do the best you can.”
“Wait!” I jumped down from the bar stool. “Did you pack my hair brush?”
“I think so, why?”
I ran to the living room where I’d left the duffle bag and dropped to the ground, tossing items from the bag. I sifted through all the underwear and tank tops, looking for my hair brush. Tangled in a bra strap, I found the royal blue hair brush and pulled it out of the fray. I stood and ran back to the kitchen, holding it victoriously.
“Check for red strands of hair,” I practically yelled at Bobby. “Amy’s always using my stuff, including my brush.”
Jackson and I both leaned forward on the kitchen counter with rapt interest as the warlock looked through my messy hair brush for a lock of Amy’s bright red hair.
“You really need to clean this more often,” he grimaced.
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll put it on my to-do list.”
After a few tense seconds of searching, Bobby slammed the brush on the counter and held up a piece of long, curly red hair. “Eureka! With this, I can make an amulet that will point you in Amy’s direction. Jackson will have to be the one to wear it, though, because the magical properties will interfere with your potion.”
I didn’t care. What mattered was that we had a way to find her.
“Give me an hour and it’ll be ready.”
We left Bobby to work on the amulet, deciding to use the time to shower and get ready. We had to be prepared to leave as soon as it was ready. I didn’t want to waste any time or give the vamps a fighting chance during the evening, so the earlier we left, the better.
Once I had on clean clothes, I felt like a new person. Having to wear the same clothes for almost two days, even though I’d showered, was really gross. I tossed my dirty clothes in the washer and met Jackson downstairs.
“No killing,” he said as I took a seat across from him in the living room.
I did a double take. “I wasn’t planning on it. Why would you say that?”
He looked down at his feet and shrugged. “You’re impulsive, Kenz. I just wanted to reiterate the rules with you. We don’t want to start a war with the vampires.”
I laughed. “You don’t think this mission to free Amy is already a declaration of war?”
“I’m serious, Kenz.”
“I am too, Jackson. What we’re about to do will start a war between vamps and wolves. Are you prepared for that? Because if you’re not, back out now.”
We sat quietly in the living room for a few minutes as he processed what I said. He had to be one hundred percent sure he wanted to do this. Once we got started, there would be no backing out. What I did was an isolated incident as a lone wolf, but his involvement complicated things. It was an outright pronouncement. He had to be ready for the repercussions.
“My dad is going to kill me,” he groaned.
I chuckled and patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, my father will, t
oo.” He relaxed a little as we bonded over the thought of our mutual destruction meted out by our parents. Luckily for me, Alexander was more forgiving than Charles. “But to answer your earlier plea, I promise not to kill. Snapped necks only. Scouts honor.” I raised three fingers in salute.
Jackson bumped my shoulder with his. “You’re not even a girl scout, Kenz.”
“You never know, I could have been.”
We continued to hash out our plan while Bobby finished up the tracking pendant for Amy. Tensions were high as time inched forward and we started losing daylight. For now, we had a solid plan as long as nothing went awry. But we had no contingency plan in case it did, and that always made me nervous. It was a deadly risk.
“Alright, the amulet is ready.” Bobby walked into the living room holding a gold chain with an amber, almost see-through stone as a pendant. “Here you go,” he offered proudly, handing it to Jackson.
I peered closer at the necklace and noticed there was a swirling liquid contained within the stone. “What’s that?” I scrunched my face.
“It’s a replica of Amy’s essence.” Bobby shrugged as if it were no big deal.
“Her what?!” Jackson and I shrieked at the same time.
“Her essence. It will call to her the closer you get. It will feel warm, and then you’ll feel a tug around your neck telling you which direction to take,” Bobby informed us as he cleaned his fingernails. None of this seemed to bother him, but I was having a minor freak-out. Having a part of her essence in that stone was like having a piece of her soul. If I’d known this was what he was doing, I would have thought twice about agreeing to it.
“Let’s just go, Kenz,” Jackson urged. “No point in stressing about it now.”
He was right. What was done was done.
“You knew I dabbled in dark magic, Princess,” Bobby sighed. “Don’t act surprised.”
I growled but didn’t say a word. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, and right now, I was begging for help.
Taking a deep breath, I followed Jackson out of the house, drinking Bobby’s concocted potion on the way out so I wouldn’t be tracked by the SIU. The minute I stepped outside, I was cloaked and invisible to prying eyes.
Curse Breaker Page 4