Sweet Revenge (Dueling with the Devil) (28 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Xavier checked his weapons and tucked the extra clips of ammo into the pouch strapped to his belt loop. His brother and father slid crates of extra equipment and guns into the back of a black SUV. How cliché. They could’ve been mistaken for a branch of Special Ops if it wasn’t for the females. They compiled an eclectic cre
w,
with more gathering at a meeting location near the portal to Hades. Never before had he seen so many groups in the supernatural world working together. Lucifer has created a lot of enemies. Hope it was enough.

Bell descended the stone stairs in front of the house. Her jeans hugged every curv
e,
molding to her muscled legs and firm ass. A black vest covered the remnants of what Xavier assumed was a tank top. Her daggers hung off her hips and a nine millimeter holstered just under her arm. Xavier’s body responded to the image. His pulse quickene
d,
and his cock shifted. Bell was sexy as hell when ready for battle.

She flashed him a smil
e,
eyes shining in the moonlight. His heart raced for another reason this time. Fear. He refused to let anything happen to her. All the men tried to talk their females out of comin
g,
but they only laughed. Xavier acknowledged the power the ladies possesse
d,
but it still didn’t make him want his woman on the battlefiel
d,
no matter what the U.S. Congress decided.

Hand on hi
p,
Bell studied him
.“
What’re you thinking about
?
”

“
How sexy you look with your daggers
.
”

“
You look delicious with all those guns and ammo. Makes me want to take a bite out of you
.”
She straightened the pockets on his vest
.“
We’ll have to play escaped criminal and bounty hunter one day
.”
Her laugh faded into the cool evening air.

“
S
o,
you want me to hunt you
?
”

“
Uh. No. I want to track you. Turnabout is fair play.
W
e
’
l
l
s
e
e
h
o
w
y
o
u
m
a
k
e
o
u
t
a
s
t
h
e
p
r
e
y
.
”

Using her bel
t,
he jerked her to hi
m,
stealing a quick kiss
.“
You are the hottest female I’ve ever met. Did I tell you how much I love you
?
”

She shoved him away playfully
.“
N
o,
but good to know
.”
She stepped into hi
m,
rising on her tiptoe
s,
and brushed her lips across his
.“
I love yo
u,
too. S
o,
stay alive
.
”

He helped her into the vehicle with the other females. Leviatha
n,
Behemot
h,
and Ziz rode with the girls. Xavie
r,
Jacqu
e,
Damon and the other two Boudreaux brothers rode in the lead SUV. Etienne and a few of his coven brought up the rear.

Damon solicited the help of the New Orleans pack. They would meet them at the portal with a few others who agreed to fight. The city wolves were very different from Damon’s Cajun swamp pack. They were used to urban warfar
e,
not only with other supe
s,
but also with the human gangs plaguing the Ward. The members of the New Orleans pack had a rough edge.

Xavier hated the fact
that
he not only had to watch out for Lucifer and his soldier
s,
but he didn’t trust everyone on his side either. A side effect of a solitary life
.“
What do you guys know about this New Orleans pack
?
”

“
Not muc
h
,
”
Jacque answered.

“
They don’t stray from their territory muc
h
,
”
Damon added from the back seat
.“
They have some strange laws and not many of them leave the pack. Those that do tend to never reveal their wolf genes. They live as humans. But I’ve only heard of a couple who actually left
.”

Xavier wheeled the vehicle smoothly around the curve
.“
Why are they helping
?
”

“
Apparentl
y,
Lucifer has some kind of curse on their pack. Has Watchers over them
.”
Damon seemed to be the only outsider with insight into the pack.

“
There are still Watchers out there? I thought they disbanded
.”
Jacque turned to the wolf.

“
A small group converted to work for Lucifer. They monitor the city pack. I’m not sure what’s so important about them. The pack must have something Lucifer wants in order for him to focus this much attention to them
.
”

“
Wel
l,
keep an eye on them. I don’t get a good feeling from them
.”
Xavier wheeled the SUV onto the highway.

He pulled the vehicle into the grassy field. Several other vehicles were already in the makeshift parking lot. Xavier recognized the old classic cars belonging to the New Orleans pack. Some additional vamps from Etienne’s coven had arrived earl
y,
too. The bronzed-skinne
d,
black haired warriors brandishing gold armbands and hieroglyphics must be Isis’s people. From the diversity of the crow
d,
everyone called in favors.

Xavier approached Bel
l,
as she climbed out of her vehicle
.“
Hey. Watch your back down there. Something’s not sitting right with me
.
”

“
Too many strange faces here. I’m not comfortable either
.”
She nervously caressed his ar
m,
then slid her hand into his.

“
What’s up with the Boys-n-the-Hood crew over there
?
”

“
They’re the New Orleans pack from the Ward. No one knows much about them. They don’t seem to come out of their territory often
.”
Xavier released the clip in his gun and snapped
i
t
b
a
c
k
i
n
.

“
Hey. Ain’t that the chick you brought back from the bar
?”
Bell pointed to a navy blue and white Cutlass Supreme.

Xavier waited for the girl to finish rummaging in the trunk. When she stoo
d,
he realized Bell was right. What the hell? He didn’t scent her as a were. She smelled distinctly human when he met her. Xavier marched over to the femal
e,
with Bell on his heels.

He snatched the brunette by her wrist
.“
What the hell are you doing here
?
”

“
Let me the fuck g
o
,
”
she snarled.

“
Not until you tell me what’s going on
.
”

She unleashed a switch blade and swung for his face. He let go of he
r,
ducking just in time. Before he could make another mov
e,
Bell snatched a chunk of the female’s hai
r,
slamming her to the ground face first.

Grinding her foot into the female’s nec
k,
Bell spa
t,
“
My man asked you a questio
n,
bitch. I was nice the last time I saw you. This tim
e,
not so much
.
”

Xavier tapped Bell on the shoulder
.“
Babe. She can’t talk if you crush her throat
.
”

Bell glared at hi
m,
but removed her foot
.“
She’d better start talking
.
”

Another member of the New Orleans’s pack rushed to the human’s side
.“
What the fuck are y’all doing
?
”

“
Trying to figure out what your friend here is up to. She just happens to show up wherever we are. And I don’t like the fact she keeps pushing up on my ma
n
,
”
Bell replied matter-of-factly.

The older female sighed
.“
Charit
y,
what have you been up to
?
”

Charity rubbed her neck
.“
Nothing. Everybody wanted to jump into joining this crusade. Just because the crazy pack
f
r
o
m
L
a
ke
C
h
a
r
l
e
s
w
a
n
t
s
to
i
n
v
o
l
v
e
t
h
e
m
s
e
l
v
e
s
w
i
t
h
t
he d
e
m
o
ns
a
n
d
v
a
m
p
s
,
I d
o
n
’
t
s
e
e
w
hy we
h
a
v
e to.
W
e
’
ve
a
l
w
a
y
s
s
t
u
c
k
to
o
u
r
o
w
n
.
”

“
Sometimes you have to join together for the better good of everyone
.
”

“
My gramps would roll over in his grave if he knew we were mingling with outsiders. I was just trying to find out who we were dealing with. We didn’t fair too well last time we took on Lucifer
.
”

“
Gir
l,
your parents weren’t even born when our problems started with Lucifer. And your grandfather might still be alive if he would’ve followed his own advic
e,
instead of running after that demoness
.
”

“
Don’t talk about my gramps
.”
Charity turned her back on
t
h
e
w
o
l
f
.

“
How did you know I would be in the bar
?”
Xavier interjected.

“
I followed you from Etienne’s house
.
”

“
And why is your scent human
?
”

“
Because until I find my mat
e,
I’ll remain human
.
”