‘
If
,’ Jask continued, ‘I can get that serryn to walk into a coven and demand the turmeric be handed over without giving even a hint that I’ve been holding her hostage to make her do it. Because I don’t need to tell you what a raging coven of angry witches could do to us should they suspect. Only, thanks to you, now that’s going to be even more complicated if word
has
leaked back that we’re looking for a supply.’ Jask looked back across at Corbin. ‘Looks like we’re going to have to move quicker.’
‘Do you think you can get the serryn to do it?’ Rone asked.
Jask looked back at him. ‘You said the serryn didn’t talk about The Alliance. You said in front of her that you stumbled on her. Is that what she thinks? Does she not know about your deal with the vampires?’
‘Only if they said something to her about it before we got there. But she didn’t mention it.’
‘So it’s possible that, as far as she’s concerned, we know nothing about The Alliance.’
Rone shrugged. ‘I guess so.’
‘Perfect,’ Jask said. ‘Let’s keep it that way.’
‘What are you thinking, Jask?’ Corbin asked.
Jask folded his arms again. ‘If this Alliance theory is true, our little serryn has a pack of her own. And you know what that means.’
‘Leverage,’ Corbin said.
Jask nodded. ‘
Possible
leverage. There’s only one way to find out.’
Corbin raised his eyebrows. ‘You’re going after them? You’re going after The Alliance?’
‘I think we should pay them a visit.’
‘She’s not going to lead you to them, Jask.’
‘Not knowingly, no. But what she
does
know, thanks to those vampires, who I think it’s safe to guess started to question her before Rone and Samson got there, is that her covert operation isn’t covert anymore. My bet is that she wants out of here and fast, to warn the rest of them – let alone get out of here before I find out. I say we give her that opportunity.’
He looked back at the youth – his eyes finally hopeful.
‘Looks like you could be about to redeem yourself, Rone,’ Jask said. ‘If you’re up for the job, that is.’
Chapter Twenty-Two
S
ophia kept her gun locked into position on Jask despite hearing more movement behind her.
The place was surrounded – that much was obvious. She shouldn’t have expected anything less.
‘You set me up,’ she hissed quietly.
Jask took another couple of steps towards her so he was only a few feet away. Stood there in his jeans, plain shirt and jacket that skimmed mid-hip.
She held her gun directly at his chest, trying not to be distracted by Daniel’s gasps for breath, forcing herself not to panic, to restrain her pounding heart – and not just from the adrenaline of the situation, but from seeing
him
again.
‘That’s not very hospitable,’ he said, glancing at the gun.
‘The bullets are even less hospitable, so I suggest you stay where you are.’
Jask broke a fleeting smile as he continued to gradually close the gap between them.
‘Tell Corbin to let him go,’ she warned, even impressing herself with the steadiness of her voice despite the tremor in her hands.
‘Drop your gun first, Phia,’ Jask said.
‘Not going to happen.’
Daniel gasped desperately for air, Corbin no doubt having tightened his grip to make a point. He slid him another foot up the wall. Any more pressure and he’d snap his windpipe.
She looked back at Jask, his calm gaze burning through whatever sense of control she thought she might be able to gain. But she kept her arms outstretched, her finger poised on the trigger.
‘You came here for leverage, right?’ she said. ‘That’s what you meant when you said you’d be able to get me to do what you wanted. Well, he’s
it
. You kill him and I do nothing for you.’
Jask’s eyes narrowed slightly. He glanced at Daniel but not long enough to take his attention off Sophia. ‘How many are in there?’
She subtly licked her dry lips. ‘Tell Corbin to let him go.’
‘How many?’
Ironically she knew the truth of their vulnerability would be the only thing to save Daniel. Besides, they’d find out soon enough. ‘None.’
Jask’s eyebrows knitted together.
‘Have you not seen the news lately?’ she asked. ‘It’s making for very colourful viewing.’
Some unspoken exchange passed between him and Corbin.
‘It’s the truth,’ she said. ‘It’s just us left. Me and him. So if he dies, you’ve wasted your time. Send your brood in to check if you don’t believe me.’
Jask took another couple of steps towards her and this time she purposefully lowered her gun to point at his pelvis. He knew she wasn’t stupid enough to attempt to kill him, but she had no doubt he wasn’t quite so sure she wouldn’t permanently wound him.
Regardless, he closed in on her enough for the gun to make contact with his hip.
He put his hand over hers, sending a jolt through her as he guided the gun down towards his groin, to an artery. ‘It’s more effective there,’ he said, his gaze lingering tauntingly on hers.
‘I know how to shoot,’ she said, his proximity unsettlingly distracting. ‘I’m aiming to wound you, not kill you.’
‘You pull that trigger and you’d better hope for the latter.’
She could just squeeze the trigger for the hell of it. The Phia she had been twenty-four hours ago would have. But she knew this was not the time for impulse. Too much depended on her making the right choice.
And as he stared deep into her eyes, their connection renewed, she couldn’t. She couldn’t even look away despite Daniel kicking at the wall in desperation.
Jask guided her hand the rest of the way so the barrel pointed to the floor, equally allowing him to move another inch closer. ‘Drop it.’
She defiantly held his gaze as he squeezed her hand.
‘Drop the gun and Corbin drops your friend,’ he added.
‘You’re lucky I don’t permanently damage the only thing you’ve got going for you.’
He almost smiled. ‘And what would be the fun in that?’ But as his hand crushed hers against metal, she could tell his patience was waning as much as hers.
Daniel’s flaying was getting weaker. Any longer and the damage to
him
would be permanent.
He’d believed what she’d said about them being the only two left. If he didn’t, he would have given Corbin the nod to kill Daniel just to prove his point.
Just as them both still being alive proved he really did need her.
And with that proof playing out in front of her, suddenly the enemy that stood before her – the unexpected inconvenience, the threat – morphed into something else entirely as her strategic brain kicked in.
‘Shall we do this inside?’ she asked. ‘So you can see for yourself?’
‘Saves me huffing and puffing and blowing the doors in.’
She laughed tersely. ‘We both know this is no fairy tale.’
‘No?’ he said, finally slipping the gun from her reluctant hand as Corbin simultaneously lowered Daniel to the floor. ‘Hansel and Gretel weren’t set up to be murdered? Beauty was never held captive by the beast?’ He took hold of her upper arm and led her back towards the entrance. ‘The ugly duckling wasn’t victimised just for being different? This sounds like the perfect fairy tale to me.’
Led over to the elevator shaft, more lycans swept past her in the shadows as they assessed the periphery.
‘What level?’ he asked her.
‘Penthouse, of course.’
She glanced past him at Daniel who was just about being held upright by Corbin. A couple of times he stumbled, but his consciousness was, at least in some way, reassuring. She should have dropped the gun sooner, but immediate surrender would have done neither of them any good. Daniel would understand. Though she wasn’t so sure he’d be quite as understanding of her next move.
As they reached the shaft, Jask guided her in first, Corbin and Daniel alongside them, another couple of lycans bringing up the rear.
Jask moved in close behind her, his chest hard against her back, his breath combing through her hair. There was something odd about being around him away from the compound, but he still had that same characteristic composure – oozing that same sense of ownership of whatever space he was in.
One of the lycans slammed the gate behind them as Jask pressed the button to trigger the elevator into ascension.
‘Using me as a human shield – how chivalrous,’ she remarked.
‘Just acquiring my preferred position with you, honey,’ he said tauntingly against her ear.
She glanced at Daniel again, who frowned across at her. She immediately broke from his penetrative stare, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with his presence.
Jask slipped the second of her guns out of her thigh holster, handing that and the other to the lycan behind before tapping down Sophia’s behind.
‘Hey!’ she snapped, trying to pull away, before seeing Corbin mid-frisk of Daniel too. ‘Have you never heard of just asking?’
Jask smiled against her ear. ‘Try not to take it personally.’ He slid his hand down her thighs, delving into her pockets. He pulled out the two syringes. ‘Nice.’
‘They’re mine,’ she said sullenly.
‘What’s yours is mine, darling. Isn’t that how it goes?’
He slid his hand into the pocket at her hip to find it empty, only to have Corbin hand him the keys from Daniel’s.
As the elevator jolted to a stop, Jask swapped his grip on her from his left hand to his right as he pulled out his own gun.
Corbin did the same, poised and ready like his pack leader.
‘Metalwork,’ she remarked. ‘How disappointing. Did you boys forget to file your nails this morning?’
But this time Jask didn’t respond, he was too focused on what potentially lay ahead. Obviously he’d believed her enough to investigate without a full-on raid, but not enough to let his defences down. She wondered if he’d have been so quick to use her as a shield if he genuinely thought they were in danger. For some reason, she believed not.
He pulled back the gate, metal sliding against metal echoing in the silence. Jask exited first with Sophia, Corbin close behind with Daniel.
She flinched as Jask pointed his gun at the CCTV camera to the left of the door before accurately blowing it out. It fizzed before dying like a dropped sparkler.
Then all four lycans came to a standstill.
She knew what they were doing. They were listening, let alone assessing airborne scents undetectable to humans. With next to no breeze, they’d be able to pick up on human scents still lingering from hours before. Not just that, but the subtleties between those scents would give them some indication of numbers.
His nod towards Corbin told her he was satisfied with what he had found so far, but he was remaining guarded. He guided Sophia to the door, caught the keys Corbin threw at him and turned them in the locks.
The door clicked open.
‘After you, honey.’
She knew it was his final test to sense any hesitation.
She cast him a taunting smile. ‘Coward,’ she declared, before pushing the door open and stepping inside.
* * *
He wasn’t letting Phia out of his sight despite the silence emanating from within; despite the fact that the only scents he could detect were those of the two humans they held; despite her casual stroll being a clear indication that she was telling the truth.
His gaze wandered down to her behind regardless of it being concealed by her unflattering clothing. It was the same style of uniform he’d seen her in when he’d first laid eyes on her – a stark reminder of what she was.
He looked into the kitchen to the left and the dumping ground of a room to his right.
‘Wait!’ he called out as she reached the threshold ahead.
He signalled for Phelan and Connor to check the rooms he’d just passed before closing the gap again between him and Phia.
Surprisingly, she’d done what he’d said, albeit like a child prevented from crossing a road. She folded her arms in weary resentment before she leaned back against the doorjamb, her eyebrows slightly raised, her tongue thrust into her cheek.
There was a time when a stance like that would have irritated the hell out of him, but now it was overshadowed by her compliance. Another small triumph on his part.
He moved into the doorway alongside her, slid his hand to the small of her back to guide her in, a move he could tell was dangerously intimate from the way she stiffened. But, surprisingly, she didn’t protest.
He indicated for Phelan and Connor to check out the hallway on the far side of the living room, only to catch the glare from Phia’s companion. A glare directed at his lingering hand.
He could almost smell the territoriality leaking from the human’s pores – a clear indication that the relationship between Phia and her companion wasn’t purely business. The evidence was potentially fatal enough, not least if he continued to look at Jask the way he did.
Phelan and Connor returned with the all-clear.
‘Told you,’ Phia said, breaking their physical contact as she backed away.
‘Do another full check of the building with the others,’ Jask instructed Phelan. ‘Give me the heads-up when you’re done.’
Phelan nodded, and exited the room alongside Connor.
Jask indicated for Phia to join him at the dining room table, Corbin following behind with her sour-faced companion.
Jask pulled out a chair at the head of the table for himself and the adjacent one for Phia.
Corbin took the head of the table the opposite end, sitting the male alongside Phia.
‘So what happened to the rest of your comrades?’ Jask asked.
She leaned back in the chair, those folded arms still betraying her petulance. ‘Look on the laptop,’ she said, indicating to the centre of the table.
He reached out and slid it towards him. He flipped the lid to reveal the last page it had been on. He flicked forwards and backwards through the news reports – sketchy at best, the authorities struggling for leads.
‘Eight in total,’ Phia announced. ‘In less than three days. With me and Dan and another four missing, that accounts for at least fourteen of us. A further four are unaccounted for as yet.’
‘So The Alliance has been uncovered,’ Jask declared.
‘You already know that,’ she said curtly. ‘I’ve no doubt Rone would have told you that was the reason I was down in the ruins in the first place. Because it was Rone who told you about me, wasn’t it?’
He looked back at the images. The thought that Phia could have ended up the same way made him feel deeply uneasy, when he had no place letting it. It seemed her serrynity had been the only thing to save her. That and Rone being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or, from the way he was feeling being near her again, the right place at the right time.
She was in deep. Too deep. But also, now, was the ever-growing sense that so was he. And subsequently his pack.
‘Who’s responsible?’
She shrugged. ‘Fuck knows.’ She tried to look self-assured, composed. But he knew those eyes too well now. She was screwed and she knew it – which made the fact she’d left the security of the factory too irritatingly rash for his liking.
He slid the laptop along the table to Corbin.
‘Well, well,’ Jask remarked, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms to mirror her. ‘Aren’t
you
in the thick of it? But then again, you did
try
to take down Caleb Dehain. That constitutes you as not just insane, but suicidal.’
‘Depends on your perspective.’
‘You took on Caleb Dehain and you were lax enough to fail.’
‘On the first attempt, maybe.’
‘So you and your army,’ he cocked his head towards who he now knew to be Dan, ‘were heading out for round two, were you?’ He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. ‘Are you so arrogant that you have no comprehension of who Caleb Dehain is? How much power he has around here? What he’s capable of?’
‘Exactly,’ she said.
‘So your group – The Alliance – really were picking off all the key players then?’
She kept her gaze solemnly on him.
‘Who the
fuck
do you think you are, Phia?’
His venom seemed to momentarily shock her, but she masked it quickly.