Chapter 14 On the RunI wiggled my hips, trying to hoist myself a little higher on Ian’s back. “Sorry, I keep slipping,” I muttered.“At least you stopped telling me to mush,” Ian shot back.“Only because I believed you when you said you’d drop me.”Ian snorted and tightened his grip around my thighs. It had taken all of half an hour of fighting our way through thorny bushes and tall weeds and mud, and more mud, before he’d rolled his eyes, stopped, and leaned over so I could climb on — and another thirty seconds before I pissed him off. But hey, in my defense? I honestly wasn’t trying to be a jackass. I thought maybe what we needed in this situation was a little humor, so sue me.Note to self: alphas had no sense of humor about dog jokes. To be fair, I probably should have been able to work that one out on my own.“You still not getting any signal?” he asked.I pressed the button on the side of Ian’s phone, where I had it awkwardly poised in my left hand. My right arm was wrapped a
Chapter 15 Out of the Frying Pan…“A cocktail lounge?” Whatever I’d been expecting when I stepped through Dor’s door, it wasn’t booths upholstered in blood-red velveteen, a long polished-wood bar, and a small stage set with a microphone and a chair. I would’ve just called it a bar — I mean, I didn’t have any pretentions to being Frank Sinatra — except that Ruby’s Cocktail Lounge was written on the wall over the bar in loopy gold script. “Seriously? And where are we?”The place was empty, as you’d think it would be in the middle of a Tuesday, with curtains pulled back from the front windows to let in natural light. But it had a seedy vibe all the same, like the ghosts of all the dicks sucked in the corners of the room were haunting the place even when the bar, sorry, lounge, was closed and the drunks were at work nursing their hangovers.Ian’s grip loosened a little, but he didn’t let me go or move from my side so much as an inch. “Kind of cliché, isn’t it? You know. The red velvet,
Chapter 16 …Plan for the WorstCharlie’s studio apartment was surprisingly dusty and plain for belonging to the same guy who thought red velvet and gold script were tasteful. At least it had a functioning bathroom, because the second I woke up, sprawled inelegantly across a faded old futon, I needed to get rid of about a gallon of coffee. The bathroom was obvious, so I staggered in there, took care of business, and staggered back out.Ian rolled over with a groan as I approached. They’d left him on the floor.I wasn’t sure if I was more annoyed or amused by that, but either way, I bit my tongue. He had a dust bunny stuck to his ear and his eyes weren’t quite focused. Poor guy didn’t need me laughing at him on top of it.Openly, anyway. I was definitely laughing on the inside.“Hey,” I said, crouching down next to him. “You okay?” Dor’s magical whammy seemed to have hit Ian harder than it hit me. I was fine, now that my bladder wasn’t about to explode.Ian blinked at me and sat up, b
Chapter 17 …And into the Fire“Why here?” Ian muttered.Dor had crossed over the northeastern edge of the Kimball territory, passing through the Kimball wards without even a ripple. I forced down the envy that rose up to choke me. I’d be capable of that kind of magic, I knew it — if I’d ever had anyone to teach me. Which made me sound like that bitch of an aunt from Pride and Prejudice, with her I’d have been a proficient if I’d ever learned bullshit, but I kind of got where she was coming from. How were you supposed to reach your potential if you didn’t even know what steps to take to get there?Anyway, Dor was a million of those steps ahead of me, and that was depressing, but it wasn’t the most important issue. I got my head out of my ass and focused. We were a mile or so inside the Kimball territory, but we were right near the road that led southeast toward the Armitage territory. I thought it was fairly obvious why we were here.So did Dor, by the way he sighed, so faintly it wa
Chapter 18 A Family Reunion“No,” someone was muttering. “No, no, no, no, no…” It took a moment for me to realize it was me, sounding like I was on the verge of a panic attack.By my tingling fingers and the way the top of my head felt like it was buzzing and about to fly away, I was past the verge and plummeting down fast.“How the fuck has he hidden from us all this time?” Charlie, coldly furious. And glaring at Dor, like this was his fault.Dor drew back, offense in every line of his stiff body. “I wasn’t looking for him,” he shot back. “Were you?”“No,” I whispered. “Oh, no.” Everything was blurring in front of me. Tears. Those were tears, making my vision go all swimmy.Charlie turned and looked at me, and then really looked at me, frowning, his blue eyes narrowed and almost glowing. “You’re afraid of him. He’s your father. I’d think you’d be the only person who’d be happy to see him alive.”I felt like I was choking. Happy? Fucking happy?“He’s not happy because he already fuc
Chapter 19 Blood Will Out“You know that would never work,” I said dully. “We both know it. But there’s an alternative.”My father frowned down at me. “This isn’t a negotiation.”“Yeah.” It wasn’t. And I had to choose my words incredibly carefully, because the faintest hint that I was getting what I wanted, rather than giving in to what he wanted, and he’d say no on general principle. “But you think I’m going to try to escape, somehow. I won’t. Break the bond between me and Ian. The ritual can work if I help, and I will. Let him live, let him go, and I’ll mate with any other alpha you pick.” His brows drew together, thunderclouds on the horizon, and I hurried on. “I would anyway, because I don’t have a choice. But I won’t fight it. Not ever again. You’ll get more out of me if it’s voluntary. And you’ll maybe be able to mend fences with Matthew, and not have the Armitage pack as enemies.”My father snorted and shook his head. “You think you’re so clever, boy. Always have. You think I
Chapter 20 The Enemy of My Enemy“This place is a deathtrap,” Charlie said, appearing at my side and kneeling down next to Matthew. His face was pale in the low light, but his eyes gleamed with satisfaction. Whatever he’d done to the shaman who’d killed his vampires had definitely boosted his mood. I was sure as fuck not going to look. “We need to move.”I couldn’t have agreed more, except that I wasn’t sure if I could or not. Matthew chose that moment to stir a little and moan. His lips tightening, Charlie hauled off and slapped him across the face, hard enough that the imprint of his fingers stayed behind.“Watch it,” Ian said, without heat. I tipped my head back a little to glance up at him. He was really going to let Charlie whale on his brother like that? He looked like he was right on the ragged edge, and I couldn’t blame him: taken down by a whole pack of wolves, beaten, gouged, bitten, strung up in chains and muzzled, and then death-cursed in a magical duel, not to mention b
Chapter 21 ShowdownWaiting was the absolute worst. Well, no. Being chained up and tortured was worse than waiting, and honestly, hiking was maybe even less fun than the torturing.But waiting sucked. Dor sat cross-legged a few feet from me, slowly running some kind of cloth over the edges of his sword, which wasn’t unsettling at all, and he seemed perfectly content to just hang out until the war started. This probably wasn’t his first rodeo. Hell, it probably wasn’t his thousandth rodeo.I kept opening my mouth, closing it again, and then biting my tongue to suppress all the words that wanted to tumble out.Since I didn’t have bitching and moaning to distract me, my mate bond was looming a lot larger in my consciousness. I could feel Ian, angry and worried and determined all at once, and after a while, I could feel all those emotions drawing closer, the bond contracting as he neared.“I think Ian’s on his way here,” I said finally, unable to bear the silence any longer. And anyway,