A primes passion, p.29
A Prime's Passion, page 29
Already, the feline and man were working the puzzle in his mind, putting the pieces together while the wolf rose to the fore and took control of the hunt.
Grady. Brandon.
Zee found him trying to kill Shale.
Niko had updated Boone after Zee told him about the syringe.
A day had passed since then. It seemed impossible, that only a day had passed since he threw Grady’s miserable ass into a car for Saint and Etan to deliver to Boone, along with the syringe.
He’d been called back to the city by Brigid, his help needed to help stabilize Shale after the big male had been poisoned.
It had been dark when he’d returned, dark and late, and he’d been worn thin. Although he wanted to deal with Brandon, in his state of mind, he would have been more likely to rip the man’s guts out. As much as he wanted to do just that, he’d left Brandon for later, when he had more control.
Would there be a later? There was a growing darkness in Nikko’s mind—an awareness—that built even as he processed the pieces of a puzzle he was only now seeing.
Boone had a preliminary report from one of the medical techs at the hospital. An injectable form of iron typically used to treat an iron deficiency in humans had been used to poison Shale. Zee had told him Brandon had used iron in an attempt to poison Shale. Had the Day siblings not been at the hospital, there right outside the room as Brandon went about his fatal task, Shale likely would have died.
There was no truth to the bullshit mythology about shifters and silver.
But the Fae and iron?
The Fae could die from iron poisoning. Painfully.
How had Grady... Brandon known about Shale’s ancestry?
Niko hadn’t.
They were watching him. They looked. His history isn’t hidden. You never looked. We never looked.
Why had Brandon done so?
The pieces falling together in Niko’s mind teased his killing rage back to the surface.
No. The Appalachia pack hadn’t dug into Shale’s background because Niko and Shale had been friends for years; he’d trusted the big bastard with the laughing green eyes and lyrical voice instinctively, as had his beasts. More, his father had trusted Shale. The pack had followed suit.
So if Brandon had looked into Shale’s background hard enough to find his Fae heritage, it was because somebody other than Niko, his father, the former Prime, or anybody within the pack had wanted the knowledge.
“There’s somebody close.”
Zee’s quiet warning had the beasts inside him crouching down in readiness.
Nobody threatened him or his pack.
Nobody threatened his woman.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
There was a howl.
It lifted in the evening air, lonely and angry, and sent a shiver down Zee’s spine. She hadn’t spent as much of her life in a wolf pack as Nico had. It didn’t matter. Her wolf knew the unique song of a fellow Therian.
Nobody spoke, but along with that connection to Niko, she sensed an increased urgency and now it had a focus.
Hannah.
The sound of a firearm, the old-fashioned kind not often used outside of recreation these days, echoed through heavily forested terrain. The wolf’s song ended abruptly and they all flinched at the sharp yelp that followed.
It was a painful jolt to the senses, obscene with its plaintive, broken pain.
Zee drew in a deep breath, her instincts screaming at her. Her nose caught the scent of something—no, somebody familiar, but it was more than that.
Shit!
Snarling, she grabbed Niko’s arm and spun, using their momentum to take both of them to the ground.
“Down!” she ordered in a low voice to the scout who’d veered to avoid crashing into them.
Analise had already dropped, flat on her belly, legs stretched out behind her so she made the lowest profile possible.
“There are more people here. Too many. New scents,” Zee whispered, panting hard, struggling to control the wolf that kept trying to take her over.
“How?” Analise demanded. “I’m only picking up on that handful of scents.”
“I don’t know how to explain it, but... ” Zee pressed her bare palms to the earth and hissed. “My brothers... ”
Her growl went savage.
Niko rested a hand on her shoulder.
“They’re still alive,” he said.
“I know. They better stay that way.” Closing her eyes, she reached out, stretching her senses toward one brother in particular, while fisting her hand in the grass. She didn’t know why.
But Zee knew, on a deep, visceral level, that she could reach Saint if she wanted. If she tried. They were, after all, part Fae and earth connected all Fae.
The ground pulsed under her hand.
Startled, she looked down and saw a faint, warm glow, softly golden, seeping into the ground.
The air went tight a second later and she gaped at the black void that sputtered into view in front of her.
Saint all but fell out of it, blood and other things spilling from his left eye socket. Niko leaped up, catching him before he could hit the dirt.
Shots came flying toward them, but Niko, with feline grace and speed, twisted and spun, putting them out of reach by lunging behind a massive forest giant, the tree’s trunk so broad, none of the shooters could get to the Therians taking shelter behind it.
Zee started to crawl toward them, but movement caught her eyes and she swung her head around. Stunned, she gaped at Etan as he stepped through the black void, a woman’s body draped over his shoulder. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and a wildness she’d long associated with Saint. As Etan went down on his knees in front of the void, the gaping black maw seemed to sputter, as if failing.
“You did it, bro,” Etan said, catching himself before he dropped the burden on his shoulder. He jerked, a bloody rose appearing in his free shoulder, a bullet from their as-yet-unseen assailants tearing into him. Etan kept moving until he had the cover of a tree at his back, like Niko. “Let it go, Saint. You with me?”
“Yeah.” Saint’s voice was slurred, but strong enough.
The void closed.
Niko stood, his eyes meeting hers across the distance. He held a finger to his lips, then pointed up. Mute, and still several yards away, she watched Niko’s claws slice out and then he jumped, those sharp claws sinking into the trunk of the tree high overhead. Soon, he was lost to her sight, the branches barely rustling to mark his progress.
Thunder rolled across the sky, punctuated by a brilliant play of lightning.
He’ll be fine, she told herself. Pain shot through her head, a ghostly echo and she whipped her gaze around to focus on Saint, slumped against the trunk.
Zee’s heart lurched at the pain she sensed inside her brother. Already crawling to him, she forced all her rage down and slammed a lid shut on top.
People will die for this.
Saint turned his head toward her, having to twist in an almost unnatural manner since she was coming up on his left. She refused to concentrate on the ruin of his left eye. He was alive. He’d heal.
“Damn right,” he mumbled, hand lifting toward her, only for it to fall a few seconds later. “Fuckin’... iron. Bastards. Too bad for them the shot went in and out.”
“In and... ” She swallowed her gorge as she realized what he meant. She finally reached him and launched herself at him, swallowing her sobs so they didn’t give away their location. “Saint... ”
“Shhh... ” He wrapped his arm around her.
She wanted to cry again at the oddly cold feel of his skin. The iron, she knew. Poisoning him.
“Don’t cry,” Saint said, shaking his head. “You got us out.”
She blinked and drew back.
“What?”
He smiled, head lolling. “Fuck, ‘m tired. Heard y’ call me. Felt you... fuck, that rush of energy was something else, lil’ sis. Gave me enough to try gave me something to lock on.”
He wasn’t making sense, but he didn’t have to. He was here and alive and she’d make sure he stayed that way. “Let me see your head.”
He tried to refuse, but finally yielded. It might have been out of sheer lack of strength though, because his head slumped in a way that made her think he just didn’t have the courage to hold it up.
The gathering darkness of night fought against her, but she blinked rapidly to force her eyes to acclimate to the lack of light. Her stomach tried to rebel on her once more as she probed the exit wound, the rough feel of bone, tissue, fluids and other things that should never be exposed to the light of day making her queasy. “Fuck.”
“He’ll be fine,” Etan said, edging in closer. He put Hannah down, taking use of the cover provided by the broad tree to shelter the two wounded. “Let me in, little sis.”
“Couple of mama hens,” Saint muttered, his head resting against the trunk.
“Mama hens?” Etan snorted. “Punk-ass bitch. I remember you whining that one time after I got into a fight with an Atargarian—thinking a bite was going to kill me.”
“You’re the bitch,” Saint said, his voice thicker. “Picking a fight with an orca over a girl. Bet you never told Zee about that, you di... ”
Saint passed out.
Zee sank back on her heels and covered her face with her hands. One sharp, broken sob escaped, barely muffled by her hands.
Analise had shifted into her wolf form, then belly-crawled over to them. The sleek gray lupine beast blended easily with the shadowy forest as she nosed Zee’s knee. Then, after a dip of her head, she slunk into the woods to keep watch.
Zee sucked in air, grabbing onto control by the tips of her fingers and holding on. It was a mad scramble, but bit by bit, her mind cleared, adrenaline pushing out emotions and rage so she could think.
“You good?”
At her brother’s voice, Zee gave a jerky nod. She had no idea how much time had passed. Dragging in a breath, she caught the still-wet scent of Saint’s blood. Minutes. Only minutes. But still, those were precious minutes she couldn’t afford to spend worrying about her brother or Hannah or anything else that didn’t involve making sure her people—yes, hers—were safe.
“I’m steady,” she said and her voice was actually just that—steady.
“Alright.” Etan rubbed her shoulder.
“I want to check the wound again.”
Etan was quiet while she did so and she breathed a little easier as she felt the wound once more, already a little smaller. Not much, but a little. The iron in the bullet would make the healing slower, but Saint was too strong for one bullet, iron or not, to kill him. It hadn’t struck him in a vital area, unlike Shale—fuck, it had gone through his head, but he was strong and he wouldn’t bleed out, so he’d be okay.
As she sat back on her heels, Etan touched her shoulder again, grounding her.
“Saint will be fine. He was telling the truth, you know—about how he felt you. That saved us. He was hurt too bad to shift, drained down to the bone. He kept snapping at me to leave him. Hannah and me, we weren’t going to do it. We were pinned down. Fuck me if I know how it happened, but we were trapped. Then there was this... pulse. Even I felt it, but Saint went all night-glow for like two seconds and—I don’t know how, but... ”
A rustling in the trees ahead had him lapsing into silence.
“They’re trying to surround us,” Zee murmured, looking up and scanning the perimeter.
“Good luck with that.” The words came from behind her, delivered by Niko as he lowered himself from the trees.
Etan shot him a dark look and shook his head. “You and your freaky ass retractable claws.”
Niko didn’t so much as crack a smile as he hunkered down next to them, said freaky retractable claws still visible. Not all Therians could hold a hybrid form.
It was child’s play for a Prime, the strength and control required negligible. Niko’s claws, like a typical Therian wolf’s in a hybrid form, were long and hooked. But, like those in his mother’s feline Therian family, the claws could grow even longer and they were strong enough to support his body weight as he scaled trees.
“How many did you get?” Zee asked softly.
“Six. I let one more escape after taking his weapons—wanted him to spread the word.” Voice almost imperceptible, he directed his question toward Etan. “How many were you able to count?”
“I counted nineteen—and ten of them I couldn’t locate by scent. So there could be more hiding that we can’t pick up on. I only know they were there because I saw them with my own fucking eyes.” His mouth went tight as he looked from Saint up to the Prime. “You get me? I couldn’t scent them, Niko. Hannah didn’t seem to pick up on them either. Saint bitched about us leaving, said there were more men out there than we thought, but since when has a wolf’s nose ever lied?”
Niko frowned, his eyes scanning the area around them as if searching for a threat.
Zee put her hand on the ground and Etan tracked the movement with his eyes, nodding. “Yeah. That’s how Saint sensed it, too. Whatever they’ve figured out, it can fool a wolf’s nose, but nothing can trick the earth and the Fae... well, you’re connected to the earth.”
“Zee?” Niko’s voice was soft and low. “Can you feel them?”
She closed her eyes, already reaching out with those other instincts—the Fae in her, that part of her she barely understood. The Fae within her rose, stretching to fill her, almost like the way her wolf did just before a shift. Then, as the Fae magic engulfed her, leaving her so full of that wild magic she doubted she could hold any more, she sank it into the earth—her wolf took control there, instinctively guiding her before panic could take control.
“Zee.”
“Shhhh... ” She held up her free hand toward Niko, sinking deeper into the connection between her Fae self and the earth.
It reached and reached and reached.
“Zee, you’re glowing.”
Opening her eyes to see Niko crouching in front of her, she drew in a breath and looked down. Air trapped in her lungs as she caught sight of her hands. She had to force herself to breathe out, only noticing her lack of respirations when her chest started to ache.
She was glowing, her skin luminescent, as if the moonlight now lived within her and shone through.
“Whoa,” she breathed out. “Pretty... but... this will make it all too easy to find me.”
Niko traced his fingers across the back of her hand. She gasped at that light contact, her senses now unbelievably acute.
“You can tone it down,” Etan said. “I’m not sure how, but it’s a control thing. Try to will it... the same way you did when you were first learning to control your shift.”
She did so, falling back on exercises Therians started learning as toddlers.
It took several sputtering attempts before she managed to make it fade away, several more before she could clear her mind of the magic-thick air well enough to think, or speak.
Once she could think past the rush of unfamiliar power, using her wolf to help steady her, she focused on what her Fae magic had sensed through the connection to the earth.
“There are fifteen left. Five are wounded and two of those are too badly hurt to fight—one is close to dead, blood loss. I could feel the lingering echo of the ones you killed.” She sucked in oxygen, desperately needing it to combat the spinning in her head. Then, as she tightened her fist in the loose dirt, she listened to the whispers of the earth. “Wow... that’s a rush. Okay, they’re coming in on the south and east, trying to circle to the north. The dead bodies... Niko? Yeah... two pushing to the north just found a couple of corpses. They’re... wary.”
Something else whispered through the earth to her. She opened her hand, then closed into a fist once more as those whispers rose to a thrumming crescendo. “Not wary,” she whispered. “No. They’re scared. All of them. They’re scared of you. They’re all willing to die... ”
The stream of knowledge dried up.
“Why?” Etan asked.
“I don’t know. The earth is only sensing the fear. Shit—they’re moving again. We have to take them out now before they close in. Now.” She shot to her feet, damp earth falling from her fingers as she turned to Niko. “We need to get to them, Niko.”
Niko’s expression went taut. “There are still thirteen armed humans out there, baby. And if they know what Saint is... ”
“No.” Zee shook her head, the gold of a wolf swirling with her intense green eyes. “Don’t you dare ask me to stay behind.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Thunder rolled across the sky as they left the others. Nobody had been happy about it, but there had been little choice. Niko had taken Saint into his arms and carried him while Etan hefted Hannah and carried her over one shoulder, leaving him with a free hand to carry one of the weapons that had been dropped by a now-dead intruder.
Niko’s destination had been a narrow fissure, not deep enough to be called a cavern, but with enough depth and width to give shelter from the storm. It had been used by pack members caught out in bad weather more than once, although usually only one or two at a time.
Once the wounded were safe from the storm and had solid rock and earth at their backs, Niko and Zee focused on their target.
The rain started to come down in a steady drizzle not long after they left the others.
Niko swore, but Zee was unperturbed.
She easily found the tracks left by the humans, coming across the first body in under five minutes.
The first corpse, one of the men Niko had taken out when he realized the enemy wanted them surrounded, lay propped with his back against a stunted tree that was giving way to decay and time.
He’d clearly been left as a message, since Zee knew Niko wouldn’t have wasted any time positioning him in such a fashion—or hunting down the head he’d ripped off and likely tossed in another direction. The headless form, head now propped in his lap, did nothing if not attract the eye.
