Authors: Trina M Lee
“What do you expect me to do about it?” Arys was flippant. “Harley’s business is none of mine. I want nothing to do with it.”
Maxwell was especially quiet. A tiny smile pulled at his thin lips. Something about him just wasn’t right. He hadn’t done a thing or exerted any power, but I was sure he was the real threat of the two of them. My discomfort grew as a sick sensation crept through me.
“Arys, honey. We just want what’s rightfully ours. You’d want the same, would you not?”
“Money?” I asked, struggling not to address the dog comment.
Claire looked at me like I was a child asking a stupid question. “Money is useless to us. We want only one thing.” She paused for dramatic effect, and it took all my strength not to roll my eyes at her. Looking from me to Arys, she looked far too happy. “Harley’s killers, of course.”
Arys laughed bitterly. “Come on, Claire. Be realistic.”
“Oh, but I am.” She peered at him, wide-eyed and sickly sweet. Leaning in close to Maxwell, she pressed her lips to his cheek and purred, “Isn’t that right, baby?”
“Wait,” Shaz spoke up, a growl lacing his words. “This is some vengeance scheme because of a dirtbag like Harley? You’d threaten an innocent life over that?”
Claire let her gaze wander over Shaz, but she dismissed him almost instantly. Her eyes found Jez, the only naturally born shifter among us. “Give us the leopard instead, and we’ll consider it a fair trade.”
I was all fangs. The bitch was crossing the line already. I felt Arys’ touch, light on my mind. He wanted me to stay calm. I was trying. Instinct told me that these two were far more dangerous than they appeared. The more of my friends that they threatened, the greater my need to fight back.
Arys leaned down over the table, getting in Claire’s personal space. “The leopard is not a bargaining chip. You know damn well that I won’t hand my wolves over to you. So get the hell out of my city.”
Claire leaned forward on the table, her face a mask of malevolence. “You have something, and I want it.”
“Why? Because of Harley? Is this really just business? Because I know there are many people who would love to fill his role. I know you Claire, you’ll take any opportunity to buy your way to the top.”
She met Arys’ challenging glare with one equally furious. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty, Arys, because love has turned you into an idiot.”
The tension in the room became unbearable. It was stifling, making each breath a struggle. I couldn’t shake the feeling that somebody was going to snap soon, quite possibly me.
Arys nodded knowingly. “This is about Harley’s power in Vegas. You think handing his killers over to the rest of the blood ring will work in your favor. The two of you aren’t fit to fill his shoes. You’re delusional to think that will work.”
Claire laughed openly at Arys, and I felt uneasy. This wasn’t going well at all. Something inside me insisted that this was all wrong. Why would these two leave Lena unwatched if she was the only pull they had over us? Even if they had someone else watching her, it just didn’t make sense. She was their leverage. Why not bring her? Something wasn’t adding up.
“Arys, you have no power here. Our intent is none of your concern.” Maxwell spoke for the first time, drawing everyone’s attention to him. His voice was low and even, holding the same sense of mystery as the rest of him. He was packing serious power. It scared me.
Maxwell seemed to stare right through Arys. His pupils dilated ever so slightly, and he flashed fang when he spoke. “You seem to be under the assumption that you have room to negotiate. We’re not here to bargain, merely to state the terms. Hand over the wolves.” To me he said, “Give yourself up willingly, and we don’t kill the people you care about.”
I couldn’t speak. I could barely breathe. This wasn’t what I’d expected to hear.
Claire looked spitefully at Arys, but she gestured to me. “Be grateful we’re only demanding something you already have in your possession. We could have come demanding virgins and children. You remember how much I like virgins.”
A twisted grin crossed her face. With one brow raised, she smirked at Arys. A sudden flash of images moved behind my eyes like a strobe light as Arys’ memories swam up from my subconscious. I was battered with visuals of his past, the torturous virgin deaths Claire spoke of. The two of them together … and so much blood. I fought back a shriek, one hand going to my head. It disappeared as fast as it had come on, leaving me shaky and confused. For a moment I thought I might be sick.
Jez’ hand was warm against my back as she steadied me. Claire chuckled wickedly, but Maxwell just watched me in eerie silence.
If Arys was aware of what I’d just seen, he gave no indication. “Go back to Vegas and earn your place, you worthless pieces of shit.”
“I was hoping you’d say something like that.” Maxwell stood, and power rose up quickly to engulf us.
I was on my knees before I realized what was happening. A shrill, high-pitched sound pierced my skull, and I screamed as pain tore through me. Arys was on the floor next to me.
Shaz grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, but I slumped against him. He was unharmed by Maxwell’s psychic attack. It had been meant for Arys and me. Jez was by the exit, looking out onto the street. Claire and Maxwell were gone. The searing pain in my head began to subside, but still I gasped for breath like I’d been kicked in the stomach.
Shaz did his best to brush off the waitstaff as they converged on us. Shoving me toward Jez, he hauled Arys to his feet and pushed us all out the door. I tried so hard to get the words out, but they wouldn’t come.
Lena. God, no
.
“Are you alright, Alexa?” Jez forced me to look at her as she dragged me along to the car.
I shook my head. It felt like I’d been scorched from the inside out. I coughed, and my lungs ached when I spat blood. Collapsing in the back seat of my car, I was joined by Arys while Shaz and Jez climbed in the front. I handed the keys over the seat to Shaz, though it took far more effort than it should have.
“Lena’s,” I gasped. “We have to go to Lena’s.” She and Kale were in trouble. I knew it. It was too late; we’d fucked up.
“What the hell happened?” Shaz was in Alpha wolf mode. He spoke calmly, but the way he maneuvered the Charger into traffic revealed the urgency driving him. “What did he do to you two?”
Arys sat up in his seat, his hands on his head. Blood trickled from his nose, evidence that he’d taken a serious power hit. “Power push. He shoved more into us than we could channel. Forced overload.”
“Did you know he could do that? I mean, why would you walk into that?” Jez glanced back at us, her face a mask of worry.
Arys and I exchanged a glance. Of course he’d known Maxwell could do it. I could do it, too. I’d done it to Harley.
“Not everyone can do what he did.” Arys offered nothing else in the way of explanation.
Adrenaline did little to ease the pain. Even as the initial blast slowly faded, the burning sensation remained. I grabbed the tissue box from the back window, taking a few and passing the rest to Arys. Another painful cough brought up more blood, and I groaned in agony.
“This is not looking good.” Jez eyed me uncertainly, but I waved a hand dismissively.
“I’ll be fine. It’s Lena we need to worry about.”
“She’s as good as dead.” Self-blame shone in Arys’ eyes. “I should have done something, tried to bargain somehow.”
“How? By handing Alexa and Shaz over to be used in a blood ring?” Jez shook her head and swore when Shaz cut off another driver. “They never gave you room to compromise.”
Shaz sped through an amber light seconds before it turned red. Under any other circumstance, I would have had a fit over the way he drove my car. With Lena’s life on the line, I didn’t give a damn as long as he got us there.
Arys slumped against the door and stared out the window. “They demanded something they knew I wouldn’t provide. This was their intent all along. Lena was just a pawn to them, a way to make us show up.”
“What were we supposed to do? They would’ve taken Jez as a peace-offering. How fucked is that?” The sound of my own voice made my head throb.
“Julian.” Shaz’ voice was low, but I heard him clearly. “We should have arranged to give them Julian.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.” I stared at him in horror. “When did you become so ruthless?”
Shaz met my gaze in the rearview mirror. The ice in his jade eyes scared me. “About five minutes ago, when I watched my mate take a hit that dropped her like a corpse. I’d gladly hand Julian over if that’s what it took to make this situation go away.”
“You heard them,” Arys interjected. “They won’t be happy with one inferior werewolf. They want something valuable enough to buy their way into a position of power.”
An exasperated sigh came from Jez. “Yep, woke up this evening and asked myself, what’s missing from my life? Oh, I know, a run-in with vampires that would love to use me as part of their blood fetish games. Now my life is complete.”
The rest of the drive to Lena’s was suffered in strained silence. I tried to focus on pulling natural energy into me. From the breeze through my open window to the tree-filled park we passed, it wasn’t enough. The moon was washed out by the city. It offered me nothing.
Arys reached across the seat to take my hand. The power of the undead washed over me, and I fell back against the seat with relief.
Power like ours had a few drawbacks, including my mortal body; Arys was able to take more than I could. I was grateful that even as he recovered from the attack, he was able to breathe that healing energy into me.
My apprehension grew when we turned on to Lena’s street. No amount of preparation would be enough for what we were about to see.
“Nobody’s here,” Arys announced as we turned into the parking lot. “They were though.”
Kale’s car sat in the visitor parking. I almost fell out of the car in my haste. On unsteady legs, I ran as fast as my weakened body would carry me to the lobby door.
It was open, the lock broken. I abandoned the notion of using the elevator and took the stairs two at a time. Shaz and Jez easily overtook me, and I was forced to accept how badly I’d been injured. When Arys and I reached Lena’s suite, Shaz was standing in the doorway. I could hear Jez inside, her voice high and panicked.
The look on Shaz’ face said it all. “It’s bad, Lex.”
Though I’d expected that, his confirmation made my heart sink. I had to see for myself. The air inside the small apartment was stuffy and smelled of blood and death. Immediately, the harsh negativity of the energy inside crawled along my flesh as if seeking a way in. It hurt and my shield was weak against it. I was raw in places that had no physical
location
. The pain echoed like a scream inside my mind.
Rounding the corner from the kitchen to the living room, I jerked to a halt when I took in the scene before me. Kale was on his knees on the floor, his head in his hands. Jez knelt beside him, but her emerald eyes were transfixed on Lena’s crumpled form across the room.
She was dead. They’d torn her throat out after slowly bleeding her from every limb. It hadn’t been a quick death or even a recent one. She’d clearly been dead for a day already, long before tonight. A pool of old, black blood stained the carpet beneath her. Her limbs were bound. A gag in her mouth had muffled her screams. Her eyes were wide open, frozen in terror.
I thought back to all the times I’d come here for guidance or a visit while she forced tea and baked goods on me. How could I have let this happen?
Tears stung my eyes, crimson drops that blurred my vision. “I shouldn’t have left her alone. I should have been here.”
“Lex, this isn’t your fault.” Shaz spoke softly.
I shook my head, unable to speak. I never would have guessed that killing Harley would lead to this. It wasn’t fair. Lena had nothing to do with any of it. She was innocent, endangered by association with me. That knowledge weighed heavily, like the weight of the world on my shoulders.
“They pulled one over on you. They killed her long before tonight.” Kale looked up at me with pain etched in the depths of his eyes. “One of us should have been here. I should have known.”
He looked at Lena’s still form, and I saw my own self-blame reflected in his gaze. Kale thought this was his fault. He was wrong.
“We didn’t know.” I was afraid to speak too loud. The faded essence of witch power lingered in the atmosphere, as if she should still be here.