Entangled With the Thief (2 page)

But she wasn’t ready to stop talking. “Did you tell Mom and Dad?” He didn’t think she could sound any more apologetic.

And it was Luke’s turn to hesitate. His mother and stepfather had been on vacation when Cassie disappeared, and he hadn’t even thought to contact them until two days later. As alpha of his territory, looking out for his people was his job, he couldn’t go crying to his parents whenever something went wrong. So he had stalled and stalled. “Not yet,” he finally said. “I knew that I would find you.”

Cassie narrowed her eyes, but she didn’t ask for more reasons. “So maybe they don’t have to know?”

“We’ll talk about that later.”

His sister let it drop. She changed the subject. “There were two vampires that took me, though I only saw one after the first night. After that they—” she cut off and furrowed her brow. After a moment she continued as if she didn’t remember pausing, “I can’t remember how I got to the clearing, but I knew you were coming for me.” She smiled and leaned further back, perhaps relaxing for the first time since she’d entered his house that night. But she sat back up and stiffened.

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked.

Cassie shook her head. “I don’t know. My back must be bruised or something.”

Luke stood. “Can I take a look?” He didn’t have medical training, but he thought he could tell the difference between something minor and something severe. “Or I can have Kenny come take a look. She’s a paramedic.”

Cassie lay down on her stomach. “Sure, take a look.” She hiked up her shirt to reveal a mass of bruises centered around her spine. The ugly purple, black, and blue covered her back, Luke had no idea how she hadn’t noticed it until that moment.

He gently pressed his hand down on the bruised flesh. “Does this hurt?” He asked.

Cassie’s voice was muffled by the blanket. “Like it’s bruised,” she answered.

“I’ve got some ointment that should help.”  He left her alone for a moment to grab to bottle from his bathroom. But he’d only stepped into the hallway when the hackles on the back of his neck rose. He turned around and stormed right back into Cassie’s room.

His thief, the woman who’d stolen the Scarlet Emerald right from his vault stood over his sister, one hand hovering over Cassie’s back.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he snapped.

It was a good question. Mel had made it to her hotel before that nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach forced her to turn around and break every speed limit to get back to Luke’s house. Witches didn’t play nice, they didn’t let their captives free, not as easily as they let Cassie go.

And once she saw Cassie’s back things started to become clearer.

She froze when the alpha entered the room. It had only been a week since they’d last seen each other, but somehow she’d forgotten exactly what it felt like to stand next to him. Luke Torres took up all the space in the room when he was mad. He wasn’t as hugely muscular as some men; his build was more compact, lithe. But he was taller than Mel, and exuded the confidence of a man who ruled over people who respected him.

He had brown hair long enough that Mel had to clench her fists to stop the compulsion of running her fingers through it, and dark brown eyes that locked her in place. In the yellow light of Cassie’s room, his skin looked magically dark gold, though during the day it would be a more normal light brown.

Mel didn’t know why she felt so drawn to him. She’d been around plenty of powerful men and women in her life and never had she felt the urge to be near them, or to do wicked things with them.

But Luke brought out something in her, something that called her to help when she knew he was being threatened by a force he couldn’t understand. But she didn’t answer his question. It was his sister who needed her attention. “Do you know who did this to you, Cassie?”

The blonde girl looked over her shoulder, confused. “One of the vampires, I guess?”

Mel studied the scrolling dark lines weaving over the ridges of Cassie’s spine. She traced a finger over the hex. No, this wasn’t the work of a vampire.

Strong hands gripped her shoulders, shoving her away from the teenager and against the wall. Luke put his forearm over her throat to hold her in place. “What the
hell
are you doing here?” he demanded.

Speaking around the vise of his arm proved difficult, but Mel made the effort. “Can’t you see that no vampire did that?” She pushed against him but he didn’t budge. She didn’t expect him to.

“Your concern for my sister’s injury is appreciated, but you have no right to be here.” He crushed his arm harder against her and spoke inches from her face.

It was Mel’s turn to be confused. Even with no experience with witches, how could they be stupid enough to think vampires could hex a girl? Mel let herself go limp, waiting for Luke to lower his guard just enough. When he did, she looped her ankle around his knee, kicking at the awkward angle and causing him to buckle forward.

She jumped to the side and hopped to the other side of Cassie’s bed, putting the girl between the two of them. Luke wouldn’t risk hurting his sister. But Mel had to talk fast before he recovered enough to avoid the girl. “This is a hex. I saw a witch in the forest. Something is fishy about this and I came to warn you.”

That gave the alpha pause. “What would a witch want with my sister?”

Cassie watched the back and forth, remaining silent.

Mel didn’t know the answer. But she needed some of her own. “Why did you think that this was a bruise? It’s clearly magic.” She waved her hand over the girl’s back without touching her.

Luke took two steps closer, but he didn’t move to hurt Mel again. Progress. “I know what a fucking bruise looks like. There’s nothing magic there.” He jerked his head up and he met her eyes. “How do
you
know so much about magic?”

It was a valid question, and one Mel hadn’t meant to answer. Shapeshifters customarily kept their distance from witches. Centuries of conflict made collaboration a difficult prospect. And Mel’s situation was stickier than most. “I’ve worked with witches,” she finally said. “It’s a requirement in my line of work.”

His shoulders tensed and she knew she shouldn’t have mentioned theft. But all ground was shaky when it came to dealing with Luke.

“Why should I believe you?” He couldn’t have sounded more doubtful if he tried. But clearly something was keeping him from springing on her and locking her back up in the cell in his basement.

“Because—” The door flew open before Mel could finish speaking, and Maya Nunez, Luke’s second in command, burst in, pointing a gun at Mel’s face. The woman seemed older than Luke, though Luke was only in his thirties and most of their kind were older than him. She had bright red hair that she must have dyed constantly to maintain the vivid color. That hair brought out the red undertones in her brown skin and made her seem lit with an inner fire.

The other woman didn’t take a shot. Seeing that Luke stood coiled to strike but unmoving, and that Cassie lay peacefully on the bed, she lowered her gun. Mel knew not to make any sudden movements. Luke might have been the strongest person in the room, but one look in Maya’s eyes and Mel knew she was the deadliest.

“Are you alright?” she asked Luke, not taking her eyes off Mel. Her voice held the faintest trace of an accent, though Mel couldn’t identify it.

Luke looked at Maya and seemed to come to a decision. “Is there anything strange about Cassie’s back?” he asked.

Maya didn’t question the request. She approached the girl and examined her exposed back. “She’s been bruised, possibly slammed against a wall, based on the pattern. I’d guess this happened at least two days ago from the coloring.” Maya looked at Mel. “So why are
you
here?”

Mel had to keep from gnashing her teeth. But it made a certain kind of sense that no one but her could see the hex. The more specific magic was, the more power it had. Mel pulled her phone out of her pocket and snapped a picture of the design on Cassie’s spine. She tossed the phone to Luke. “Now do you see it?” she asked. She didn’t know if it would work, but if it didn’t, she was out of ideas.

The color drained from Luke’s face. Cassie finally sat up. She adjusted her shirt to cover herself and approached her brother. “What is it?”

Luke handed the phone to his sister and looked over at Mel. “How?”

Mel shrugged, but while speaking to Luke she saw Maya shift on her feet. She spoke slowly, swinging her head to the side to make sure the window was in view. “You’ve caught the attention of a coven.”

Maya sprang at her, but Mel was already moving, diving out of the third story window and rolling when she hit the grass below. It hurt like hell, but she couldn’t let that slow her down. She sprinted for her life, hoping that Luke called off Maya before they unleashed the proverbial hounds.

She didn’t let herself believe she was safe until she was halfway to Denver once more.

Maya had her gun out before Luke even realized that Mel was out the open window. “Let her go,” he told his security chief. “She’ll be back, I’m sure.”

Cassie studied the picture on the phone. Luke couldn’t quite believe it himself. When he’d looked at Cassie’s back, it was clearly covered in regular bruises. But when he looked at the picture that Mel had just taken, he saw the darkly lined scrollwork which weaved its way over every visible part of her spine.

“It doesn’t hurt,” said Cassie. “It looks like a tattoo, but it doesn’t hurt like one.”

“You have a tattoo?” It wasn’t the most important thing, but a big brother liked to know about what was going on in his sister’s life.

Cassie – rightfully – hit him in the shoulder and stuck out her tongue.

Maya holstered her gun and shut the window, closing the curtain as well. “Your thief is hiding more than we thought.”

And wasn’t that the truth. Luke knew she was coming. How could she resist when he’d put his own business card and stolen her pretty necklace right out of her safe deposit box? But seeing her in his house once more, standing right over his sister –  that had been a surprise. The first time they’d met, he had been caught by the sight of her hair. Bright red, coming down in perfect waves, as eye catching as neon. Of course, that was a wig. But what was underneath was so much more interesting. Not her hair, which was naturally brown. But the woman herself. He’d become entangled with a thief.

“Are you surprised?” He asked Maya.

“If she pulls a rabbit out of her hat, I’m done.” Maya threw her hands up. The warning wasn’t necessary. Shapeshifters couldn’t create magic, witches couldn’t change shape. Some things were constants in the world and Luke didn’t expect that one to change.

Luke turned to his sister, “Do you remember this happening? Who did this to you?” With proof of magical involvement in front of him he had to act. “Do you know how you got to that forest?”

“You think I’m like a Trojan horse or something?” asked Cassie. She wasn’t looking at either of them. Instead, her finger traced above the pattern immortalized in Mel’s phone. Her voice was hollow, “I should remember this. It had to hurt, it
does
hurt a little. But I only ever saw vampires.”

Luke drew his sister in to a hug, holding her lightly against him and resting his cheek against her blonde temple. She was nearly as tall as him, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t comfort her. He pulled the phone from her hands and handed it over her shoulder to Maya. “See what you can grab about Mel. And see if there’s anything on the hex.”

Maya nodded and left the siblings alone.

Cassie sniffed and backed away, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “I thought it was going to be over.”

So had Luke, but some things were just too convenient to work out that way. “How did you end up in the forest? Any idea?” The tip had come quickly, Maya had been so sure and Luke hadn’t questioned it. And now it seemed that he should have.

Cassie sat back down, this time in one of the chairs. She rested her elbows on her legs and her head in her hands. “There was a house. After…no.” She smacked a hand down and let out an anguished breath. “Let me start from the beginning.” But she wouldn’t look at him when she spoke.

Luke nodded. He wouldn’t let himself be angry at her. Not yet, not until she was okay.

“Okay. I was in the cell downstairs with Mel.” Cassie glanced over to see if he would say anything.

And Luke didn’t interrupt to ask why. He was very proud of himself for that and tried not to let it show.

“She tied me up in the bathroom, lectured me about being stupid, and took off. And then I was down there for a while. But it couldn’t have been too long because Mick would have woken up. Maybe twenty minutes?” She twisted her fingers together and remembered to breathe. “And then I heard footsteps. Fast, and not nearly as graceful as anyone in your pack. So I stayed really quiet. But they found me. Two vampires. They untied me, threw something in my face, and got me out of the house. I don’t remember it very well. It was all fuzzy. Almost like I was super drun…” she cut herself off and smiled at Luke.

Luke had to laugh. “I’m completely shocked that my eighteen year old sister has consumed alcohol. Please continue.”

“Anyway, I was loopy. I don’t remember if Mick was still in the hallway or not, and I blacked out once we were in the car. I woke up in a small house. I could see the mountains from my window. It was on the third story so I couldn’t jump out. And then…” Cassie’s eyes went distant, and she slumped to the side of the chair.

Luke rushed over, heart racing. He shook her shoulders, calling her name.

“And I woke up in the forest, all tied up.” She straightened in the chair and met his eyes. “When did you get over here?” She looked between the far side of the room and Luke. “You’re fast, but not that fast.”

Icy terror flooded Luke and he did his best to keep his expression neutral while he spoke. He didn’t want Cassie to be afraid. To be
more
afraid, anyway. “You passed out. Do you remember that?”

Cassie paled. “No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Luke grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “It’s okay. We’ll get this figured out.”

He knew just who to call for assistance.