Bloody Broken (A Bloody Series Book #2)

                                                 
Bloody Broken

                                                     A Bloody Series

                                                           Book 2

                                      Copyright 2012 by Emily Barker

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

To my mother, for teaching me the love of the written word. My father, for helping me embrace my love of the strange. And mostly, to my husband, for being my real life hero.

Prologue

    A wolf paced outside a seemingly abandoned warehouse near a port in Boston Harbor. Snow came down slowly; as if so light it could barely be bothered to fall. He watched for a sign that the humans were finished with the meeting that had been going on for hours, so he could pass on the news to his Master. Not an entertaining job, but important none the less. It was the Weres one chance to prove his worth and insure his place in the Pack. He would not fail. As the air grew colder and the ground blanketed by the shifting snow, the Were grew restless. He had been given his orders, not to move from his post, not to interfere with the humans, not to be seen. He paced again and again waiting for someone to emerge. He pawed at the ground, whining at the melting snow beneath his feet. If only he were able to sit under the awning where the snow was thinner, he wouldn’t be so uncomfortable. Boston in the winter might look good on a post card, but he was from the south. Sand was more comfortable under this Weres feet. Considering his options, he decided to shift a bit closer to the building. He might as well get a closer look or sniff out how many humans were inside. Any bit of information he could glean would be helpful. He convinced himself that if he were caught that’s what he would tell the Master. He slithered along his belly through the snow across the parking lot and under a few cars parked along the alleyway. As he positioned himself along the building a voice could be heard booming from the interior of the warehouse.

    “I won’t allow it!” A male voice, deep, with a hint of a Scottish accent exclaimed.

    “You have no say in the matter Colin. Stand down. We’re going ahead as planned. I believe we are finished here. Everyone meet at Domino’s Pub this time next week to discuss Vic’s Intel.” Another male voice, clearly the leader. The wolf shifted closer to the doorway to catch more of the whispers coming from inside.

    “This is madness.” The sound of a chair being tossed clashed against the brick on the inside wall as the Scot growled his opinion. 

    “It'll be fine, Colin. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Trust me for once, please,” a muffled female voice spoke. No accent but familiar to the wolf somehow. He couldn’t place it. As he was wracking his brain the door opened and the humans inside spilled out into the ally, getting into their vehicles.  Actually, not all the members spilling out were human. At least two Vamps were among them. The wolf froze where he laid, willing himself invisible in the snow. His white fur helped, but when the last person exited the building instead of turning right toward the cars lining the street, she turned left toward the piers. She wouldwalk right passed him. He had no choice but to loop off across the parking lot toward the piers and the shelter of the crates. He heard the female's intake of breath as she spotted him.
I’m just a dog, just a big damn dog
, he shouted to himself, hoping she would think the same. At first he assumed that his prayers were answered when there was no cry of “Wolf!” But as he came to a halt behind a stack of metal cargo containers he could hear footsteps coming after him.
Who chases a giant dog down in the middle of December near the docks of the Boston Harbor? Was she nuts?
He skirted around the container, judging which way would lead to safety. If he were caught not only would he be risking causing an uproar, the Master would have his head. She skidded to a halt no more than five feet from him before he could make his choice.

    “Who are you?” She asked.

    His eyes bulged at the question. She knew what he was. Of course she did. Why else follow him? Was she a dog catcher at her day job? She was a Were too. Which meant the other he had assumed were humans were probably Weres as well. It was easy to confuse the two if the Were hadn't recently shifted. The scents were hard to distingish otherwise. He wasn’t going to shift to answer her question so he just kept backing up towards the edge of the pier. She matched him pace for pace.

    “Don’t even think about it. I have your scent, cur. I will find you.” Her eyes met his with a strength that had him instantly believing her. Despite her tiny frame she held herself in a way that spoke of experience with violence. He was barely a year away from being a whelp, a nobody. Risking his hide in a fight wasn’t something he was willing to do. Pack Master be damned if this was the shit he was going to deal with on stake out missions. Of course getting caught was his own damn fault.  He glanced back as his hind leg tripped over the lip of the pier. Icy, black water churned beneath.  He knew how to swim of course. Growing up in southern California, what guy didn’t? But this was a bit different than surfing the waves at Laguna. If he dove for it, could he shift fast enough to swim away? And if he could, would being wet and freezing kill him anyway? 

   As his thoughts swirled around his head, the snow swirled around the female, landing in her black hair, shining as she crept slowly towards him. Her boots crunched over the snow, and when she placed the weight of her right foot a hairs breath harder than before he knew she was going to make a leap for him. He lost his right to choose as her fingers grabbed for his scruff. He slid sideways to avoid her, and landed back first into the frigid water. He kicked and twisted his way to the top just a few feet away from her reaching arms. She growled. His pulse was erratic as he turned and paddled his way towards the nearest boat. He would have to shift faster than he ever had before if he was going to survive. She was already searching for a way into the water after him. He concentrated one part of his mind on swimming and the other on bringing his body into a shift. As he approached the first boat on the opposite end of the pier, his bones and muscles were already contracting. All he had to do was stay focused on keeping above water long enough for his human muscles to take over. He tried to remain calm and focus but his body was taking too long, his mind screaming
. You’re going to die here in this frozen hell, and nobody is going to give a shit. You failed.
He had almost given up and let himself just sink when the sound of an engine starting up above him startled him enough to wake up. His limbs were going numb but they were human limbs. He could almost feel his fingers wiggling. He started to kick back up to the surface. Nearly three minutes had pasted since he went into the water. Grasping for anything he could get his hands onto to keep him above water, he finally got a hold of the edge of the boat. He was attempting to pull himself over when the female flew past on the other side of the pier. She must have hotwired the boat she was driving. What the hell was going on? Nobody could be that damned determined to see him dead. He stayed down on the other side of the boat, waiting for her to circle around the end of the pier towards him. As she got closer he skirted around to the other side. In his human form she wouldn’t be able to recognize his scent even if she did catch it on the wind. Hopefully she would assume he’d drowned. Waiting for hours it seemed, as he tried to keep moving in the water to stay lucid, she finally gave up. As soon as she parked the boat and left the dock, he used what little energy he had to pull himself up out of the water and into the surface. Luckily, there was a winter coat left behind stuffed under the seat where he had landed. He pulled it on and lay quietly shivering on the deck. As quickly as his legs would hold him, he was off the boat and dragging himself down the pier. He reached the building where he had stashed his clothes and dressed. His hands were shaking so badly he could barely get the keys out of his pockets. But he did, and quickly ran to the rental he had parked around the block. The heater came on full blast as soon as he started the car but he couldn’t feel it.
I’m lucky to be alive.
He sat staring out the windshield waiting for the air to warm his skin and thought of driving back to L.A. Pack business clearly wasn’t his thing. Much more intense than he had realized. Just as he was putting the car in reverse, his cell phone went off. It was the Beta, his commanding officer. He briefly considered not answering, and then thought, what was the point of surviving tonight if the Master had him hunted and killed for abandoning his mission? He picked up and answered on the sixth ring.

    “Yes? I’m here,” he chattered into the phone.

    “Have you completed your mission?” The Beta asked softly.

    “Yes.”

    “No, you haven’t. You have completed your mission when you report your Intel to your commanding officer, whelp. What has taken so long?” He reprimanded calmly, with the authority of the Beta instilling the necessary fear behind the words.

    “I didn’t know one of the people I was watching was going to be a Were, Sir. I had to jump off the end of a pier to keep from being spotted.” No way in hell was he going to admit to being caught.

    “Who saw you?” He asked, seeing through his lie.

    “A female, sir. Short, skinny. She had brown eyes, black hair cut short.” Kind of cute now that he could think straight.

    “What sort of brown eyes? Golden?”

    “I guess so. Yeah, they were pretty.”

    “She got away I take it?” Uh oh.

    “Yes, sir. I didn’t know I was supposed to follow her.”

    “Get back here immediately.” That was all he said before he hung up. The Were closed the phone, set it in the cup holder gently and pulled out of the parking space.

    “You’re welcome, asshole.”

Chapter One

    Adam Hevenside cleared his throat. When neither of the other two people in the room looked up, he coughed gently. Still nothing. He very casually reached up and slid a beaker off the table to his right until it fell and crashed to the floor. Then they glanced up.

    “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll pay for that of course.” He grinned at the two bewildered faces staring up at him.

    “Adam. I suppose you think that was funny. A simple 'Hello' would do.” The King got up off his stool and reached for a broom in the closet behind him. He handed it to Adam.

   “As if speaking to you or your daughter while you’re both in the midst of some scientific breakthrough were even possible.” He swept up the mess and collected it with a manila folder because the King had forgotten the dust pan.

    “I’m not nearly as bad as he is, Adam. I choose to ignore you. What did you need?” Alex looked up at him after placing her finger in the book she was reading. Her Fathers blood ran deep in her alright.

    “Dominic has news from Master Orleans. Apparently a few members of the rogue group from October escaped our attention. A scout has picked up the trail of a few in Boston that he suggested we check out. Word has it that there are Vampires involved now. He wants a team put together to go after them. With your permission, I’d like to lead.” He waited for the King to answer.

    “Have you run all this by Ethan yet?” The King asked.

    “No, you’re the first. I’ll head to Ethan's apartment as soon as you give me leave.”

    “Good answer.” The King smiled. “Alright, as soon as you have a team ready, come back and let me know. I’ll be damned if my own people will be involved with these terrorists. Ridiculous,” he mumbled and sat back down. Adam took that as permission to leave. As he was turning to go, Alex called out to him.

    “Adam. Could you tell my husband I'd like him to stay home on this one? Thank you,” she smiled sweetly, and turned back to her book.

    He left thinking, not for the first time, that he was thankful not to be tied down. He chuckled to himself at Ethan's marital status.
Poor soul.
He headed down to the fourteenth floor and knocked on Ethan's door.

    “Come in Adam,” Ethan called. Adam opened the door to Ethan standing on the couch balancing on one foot, trying to level a curtain rod over the hooks in the wall.

    “Good God man, what are you doing?” Adam stared aghast.

    “Alex said she preferred red curtains over the blue so I thought I’d surprise her while she’s working. Why do the windows in this building need to be fifteen feet high? Give me a hand will you?” He glanced back.

    “No, thank you. I still own my bullocks.” He walked over to the opposite couch and sat down. “How did you know it was me at the door when I knocked?”